Last time, I talked a little bit about the spell damage potential of the Rogue, as well as the synergy with spell damage cards and the Wild Pyromancer. This time, I have played a match and will be showing you several stages of the match.
The most sensible place to start seems to be the deck layout, which I did little more than allude to in my previous post. You can click on the images to make them bigger, if you need to.
Not exactly, the most perfect MLG constructed deck, but it synergises well and as I previously mentioned, I haven’t even unlocked all the Rogue cards yet. Anyway, let’s jump into my match. Unfortunately, I was going first – so here was my revised opening hand, after I junked most of my original one.
Not great, by any means. Sadly I did not see the Wild Pyromancer for a while, so I was robbed of my early play plans. As you can imagine, I was left without any real plays until turn three. Sure, I hit the mage for 1 with my dagger on turn two, but that was about all.
When turn 3 finally came, it was time for the first spell damage creature to enter the fray. I would have preferred to hold onto it until I had something in my hand to make use of the spell damage buff, especially since the Mage had a Bloodfen Raptor on the field, but it was either that or play nothing at all.
Suprisingly, the Mage did not immediately target the Kobold. Instead, they did damage to me and left it alive, which left some interesting potential for turn 4. The heart of the cards were with me this day, as I drew a Fan of Knives, which was helpfully buffed by the Kobold.
That obviously cleared the board, and left the Kobold free to deal 2 damage to the enemy hero. We traded blows for the next couple of turns, with the more efficient trades going to me. I played a Senjin Shieldmasta, which obviously further protected the Kobold which should have died a turn after it was played. Two creatures were then traded for the Senjin, and then they played the Elven Archer, leaving them with some very flimsy board control.
Come turn 7, I had the option for a Lord of the Arena, but that would have used pretty much all of my mana. So, since I had another Senjin in my hand, I decided to go for that and left 2 mana free for the second Kobold in my deck. This again left me with a Taunt wall and a protected spell damage buff.
Then, it was time to bust out a buffed Backstab on the Bloodfen Raptor, before playing a Scarlet Crusader, which was then followed up by a Combo Headcrack. I was then safe to deal a further 5 damage to the enemy hero. Including the headcrack, which had been buffed by the Kobold, I dealt 8 damage to the enemy hero.
The beginning of turn 8. As you can see, they had pretty much used all of their creatures to mostly clear their side of the board and have board control in their hands. I was left with nothing but a mere Scarlet Crusader to defend my honor. I had 8 mana at my disposal, so the Lord of the Arena finally had his time to shine. The SC was used to get rid of the bear, and the hero power took care of the Murloc. Board control was once again in my grasp.
Sadly, it did not last long, as it was then hard countered by the ever annoying Polymorph, which was then naturally taken out with a handy Fireblast. Turn 9 saw some nice synergy for me though, with a Raid Leader and Frostwolf Warlord combo coming out.
The mage made quick work of the Raid Leader, but the heart of the cards were once again with me as I drew and promptly played an Archmage for yet more of that lovely Spell damage increase. We were equal in terms of creature count, but things were about to get quite unpleasant for our Mage friend.
Turn 10 quickly came around, with my Archmage now frozen by a Cone of Cold and my Frostwolf Warlord taken out. I played a Gnomish Inventor for some quick card draw, which then gave me a buffed Fan of Knives. Given the weak status of his creature, this was hastily played for removal and yet more card draw. Headcrack, proving to be the most valuable Headcrack ever, was once again Combo’d out, ending the turn.
Despite the Mage’s best efforts, the Victory was already within my grasp. All it would have taken is one Flamestrike, but it seems the Mage did not have it. So, as the end game came upon us, I played my final Frostwolf Warlord, followed up by a Headcrack. This took the mage down to six health, and all that was needed was for my creatures to deliver the final blow.
Now, as ever with a card game, luck is very much a ruling factor. I was very lucky to get the cards that I needed, but I feel that this match was still a very nice demonstration of this beautiful synergy.
