How to Conquest Solforge

Hey, Pwndnoob here. With the Conquest Tourney coming up I want to discuss what you can expect in the conquest tournament and how YOU can have success in this peculiar format.

Darkforge Uprising: Prelude to War Preview: Remembrance

It's that time again! Today it is my pleasure to introduce Remembrance, one of the cards soon to be available in the Darkforge Uprising: Prelude to War (or 6.2) release.

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A Stasis Warden Primer - Or How I Stopped Worrying and Broke the Meta

Hey everyone, Pwndnoob here, I want to start off by apologizing for breaking the meta. For everyone playing Stasis Warden decks or who have been inspired, I expect a world full of counters. For everyone else, sorry about bringing "boring" pure control into the meta. I swear it's fun for me, or I wouldn't have been playing it for 2+ years. I'll be going through the techs in the list I played for the Golden Gauntlet, alongside metagame analysis and general tips and tricks in piloting the deck.

Golden Gauntlet: Winning Decklist Primer

The third Golden Gauntlet has come and pass! I managed to win the entire thing, therefore, I'm here today to provide a primer on the deck that I played through the Golden Gauntlet.

Darkforge Uprising: Patch Notes Breakdown

The new set is upon us! And with that, several changes to older cards were made. I'm here today to explain what these changes actually mean.

Darkforge Uprising Preview: Ignir, Khan of Ashur

Wishful Thinking: Tribal

Welcome to the second edition of Wishful Thinking! This time we'll be over tribal cards, of which there have been several notable cards in the past, like Uranti Warlord and Xrath's Will, but currently there aren't really any competitive (maybe robots?) tribal decks, and I hope to expand on that pool with my wishful ideas. (NOTE: THESE ARE NOT SPOILERS.)

Darkforge Uprising Spoiler Roundup

Another large card set is upon us, and abundant spoilers are being scattered to generate excitement for the citizens of Solis. Battlebranded has taken up the mantle for providing a compilation of all the new spoilers so that you can view them in one place.

Draft ChamPion: Episode Three

Hello again! It's time for another draft video from me, Pion. This time I've divided the draft and games into different videos. Let me know how you like your Draft ChamPion videos packaged, and I will do my best to meet your preferences. Happy watching!

Wishful Thinking: Aggro

Welcome to the first instalment of Wishful Thinking, where we look at several cards I came up with, according to a theme. Obviously, these aren't real cards (hence the series' name), but it's always fun to imagine, no?

Draft ChamPion: Episode Two

Welcome back fellow Forgeborn! It's time for another draft video in which I go through my picks and plays.

Draft ChamPion: Episode One

Greetings Forgeborn! 

I'm Pion, and I'm here with a new play-by-play draft video series. In the first video I'll go through the reasoning behind the cards I pick during the draft. In the second video I'll thoroughly explain the lines that I take. Take the opportunity to learn from a Draft ChamPion. Enjoy!

World Championship Metagame Preview

Hi everyone, it's been a while since the last really high profile tournament so I thought we could all use a quick refresher on the current metagame.  This article will require you to know/learn what each of the cards do as I have opted to discuss more strategy options instead.  However if you will join me an hour before the event on my stream we here at Battlebranded will be going through the basics for the fresh faces keen to learn how it all works.

Chance and Luck in Solforge

While chance and luck play a role in all TCGs, there is often a debate as to whether some games have begun to favor luck rather than skill. If a game requires no luck it becomes deterministic and predictable, punishing new players and being unenjoyable for the audience. Likewise if luck is too prevalent the randomness of results would discourage more experienced players from participating, devaluing any concept of a competitive nature in the game.

In the game of Solforge many players fall victim to the fallacy that luck plays a more important role in their matches, and is the primary reason behind their losses. However the weekly standings and win rates beg to differ. Top performing players manage to keep fairly consistent win rates, suggesting the level of skill within the game outweighs the effects of chance. The intent of this piece is to look at the four main places in which probability and luck actually factor into Solforge:

Order of play

Draws

Chance-based card effects

Batch order sequencing

Comparing the aspects behind luck in Solforge and other TCGs, such as Magic and Hearthstone, one might be able to strike an ideal balance between luck and skill that players can attempt to control, and game designers should strive to work around. Remember, when you win it’s due to your skill, but when your opponents win they just got lucky. 

Here Be Dragons: A Comprehensive Overview

Seeing how Dragonwake is going to be a card (spoiled here), and some ladder folk suggested an article about Dragons, here it is! A comprehensive overview on the Dragons you'll find on Solis.

Ambushed: The Leylines and Their Uses

The Leyline cycle, a series of cards with the Ambush mechanic introduced in Reign of Varna, they allowed players to adjust their decks according to the metagame or shore up its weaknesses effectively with relatively minimal deckbuilding cost. In this article, I'll be analysing the various Leylines in detail, alongside the how and when of deckbuilding with them.

Deck Breakdown: Zoo

Today we go over a deck that came with Reign of Varna's release, Zoo.

Draft ChamPion - Reign of Varna Review: Draft Edition

Hello fellow Forgeborn!

Let me introduce myself. I'm Pion, a veteran Solforge player who have been around since the time when games were played on the forum using Excel spreadsheets. Ever since Draft was implemented it's been my favourite format. Draft decks have a different face every time and they let you make use of under-appreciated cards that may never see the face of constructed. Once you've entered a draft, regardless of the size of your collection, you're on the same levelled playing field as the player who only has a starter deck.

Today I will be reviewing the Reign of Varna commons and rares in a draft environment. I will focus on the roles the different cards play in a deck more than giving a general grade. I hope this approach will get you thinking on what roles the cards you draft are intended to play, more so than just having an overall pick order. Without further ado, here are my thoughts:

A Story of Rare Occurrences: Angry Angry Abominations

Today, we do a little story time, and cover a deck that I spontaneously cooked up, which resulted in this spontaneous article too.

Battlebranded Reign of Varna Review: Constructed Edition

The Reign of Varna is upon us! And with it, new cards for us to tinker and have fun with. This particular article will examine the heroics and legendaries released in this set, alongside some notable rares and commons.

The Eon & Pion Show - PROgeny

Welcome to the first of a series where Pion and I take a deck into the constructed queue and give insight into our plays and thoughts. This one featuring PROgeny.

Revealing Necromobea

Necromoeba is never going to be the best card in your deck.  Sure he beats most things in a fair fight but what sort of sucker fights fairly in constructed.  SolForge is full of brass knuckles and knee-to-groin tactics and sadly, Necromoeba just can't hang with the big boys in that respect.  What he is though, is the answer to a question, an important and frequently recurring question.  When your strongest cards all ask "Do you have a creature in play for me to synergise with?" Necromoeba has you covered like the true friend that he is.

Progeny, He Who Slays Wegu

And I present to you, Progeny, the Wegu Slayer. I know set 5 is just around the corner, but if anyone wants a deck that beats the 90% meta game of Conjuwegu I have found the cure for this disease. The answer is not 3/6 robots with oppressive abilities, it is not 6/6 upgrade board wipers, it is not in the form of free creatures being brought in off of other creatures, no... our hero is in the form of a 2/2 that just never dies. You either die a 2/2 or you live long enough to see yourself become the 6/6. .

A Beginners Guide to Building a Collection and Tunning for a Meta

This guide is for all of those "Spikes" out there that want to know how to get the most bang for your buck, and start getting that crazy high win rate and even possibly winning the next WCQ.  I won't be touching on basic rules, as there are already a lot of very good videos and guides out there for that kind of thing, as well as some deck building and drafting guides for getting your feet wet. This is for the player that already has a bit of a feel for the game, and wants to be put on a path to advance your logical thinking and analysis well playing. This guide is primarily for players looking at playing in competitive constructed, with a little tips and tricks section at the end! Hope you enjoy.

Draft 101: Lane Placement

Once again in another edition of the Draft 101 maybe series, we go over the subtleties of lane placement in the draft environment.

Draft 101: Spelling Your Victory

It's a common known fact that most spells in draft aren't up to snuff, but newer players might not know why. Well no more! In this draft article, we look at spells, and why a vast majority of them are actually cards you should avoid picking.

Selling Your Soul to BroodMaw

There was a lot of speculation about the viability of playing Duskmaw in the traditional Broodqueen build. Some adamantly refused to believe it would work because it would add 6 Nekrium cards to the deck, throwing off the balance for Broodqueen's allied trigger and Bramblewood Tracker's free drops. Well it turns out the BroodMaw deck is ridiculously strong.

Normally I stay in the casual realm of Solforge, playing decks for fun rather than farming competetive queues all day - but some of you who visit the Ladder may have noticed I've recently been putting up solid numbers. This will be a guide to the deck that lead me undefeated through a ladder tournament, snagging an invitation to the Standard portion of the Kael Cup and skyrocketing me from being unranked on the ladder to a comfortable position in third place. After my success on the ladder I piloted the deck through six queues of this weekend's Forgemaster event, maintaining a win rate in excess of 90% across 24 games.

Decks to try in Forgemaster

With the Forgemaster Weekend Warrior just around the corner, we go over some (Note: A LOT) of the top tier, interesting and fun decks that both new and experienced players alike can enjoy.

Welcome to the New Age - January WCQ

What happens in Solforge when your life total hits zero?

January WCQ Review (10/1/15)

Its that time again! Last Saturday, 65 participants faced each other, and we look at those survived the gruelling seven rounds of Swiss, the Top 16!

An In Depth Look at BQ (WCQ Follow Up)

 

This was an article I wrote for my team mates over at A1 for the WCQ. This is the results of many many games played preparing for WCQ, of which I never actually got to play in. My one team mate Ivantheawesom managed to top 16 with a carbon copy, and Ipwnfour managed to win, with some tech of -1 WWP, -1 Hermit, and +1 Soul Reap and +1 Aetherphage. They said this article helped them to varying degrees, but a lot of it is obvious if you have played a fair amount with the deck. This is mostly for people looking at playing BQ, and don't really know how the games go. I hope you enjoy, we all put in a lot of work and I am very happy for Ipwnfour for winning the WCQ!

Murder for Fun and Profit: A Story of Removal

Lately, several ladder folk and I had a brief discussion about removal in the game, and while that conversation didn't exactly lead to anything, I wanted to talk about a brief history, and the evolution of removal, along with some card ideas of my own.

The Story of a Wannabe Brew (#2)

Well let's see what the search brought up for this new brew! Don't ask me why I was searching this, or why this buddy popped up. I was expecting some MJ action...OMG... Tarsus is MJ risen from the dead... It all makes sense now, they both wore purple. Half Life 3... Never mind.

Nuada's Non-Denominational Holiday Trees

With the new AA Nuada, Faith's Flourish, I have had a burning desire to try to base a deck around her that will work well. So I asked myself, would it truly be in the holiday spirits to try to have this deck be any colors other than red and green?