Minis Strategy and Party Lists

hy

1893966 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:31:20 GMT

so newguy here, but thats not important right now

I have been playing this game for a good time now, and finaly stumbled upon a party I see a future in, but I want some other opinions. so, here it goes;

Arugal:
YTSS
Iceblock
(I had a arcane blast under him at first, but i decided that would be a waste)

Rethilgore:
Lycantrophy
dodge (I want another card here, but dont really know what)

Bog Elemental
Elemental Charge
Soulseeker.

the way I play this is: put out bog elemental, let him lurk around, then put out rethilgore, buff the bog with Lycantrophy. next turn teleport arugal within range of the weakest enemy around and voidbold. hope for a crit. when someone attacks arugal, iceblock (as long as he stays within 6 to 10 ) as soon as you get past tick five. run in with the bog, elemental charge and bash the strongest character you can find (you can roll nine dice, and with soulseeker, you have a potential of 11 damage on that roll) rethilgore is more of a buffer who you just need for the lycantrophy and some extra damage

what do you guys think ^^ ?

"HIJ" 24 honor horde party

2455033 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:28:42 GMT

Ok so I made a post and got a few people to give me ideas but i need more!!! This "H. I. J." formation team focuses on the fact that each member can make additional attacks on a critical hit with its basic attack. The plan is to focus fire and with a max volley of 27 Damage (4+4, 6+5, 5+3), "U'z dead!" That being said, and with very manageable 24 honor (6 kills), the match should be over quick. Blessing of Might helps get critical hits and hit in general. Another key point is that everyone has above average defenses, and with the help of Flash of Light, Holy Light, Healing Wave and Ji'lan's Regen, they should be able to survive a huge amount of punishment. I plan to make the enemy come to me with some boomstick and chain lightning harassment, making this team ideal for missions with victory locations or King of the Hill. Let me know what is good and not good about "HIJ," also let me know if you have seen this team before, cause I'm the first to use it of my local gaming group!

-Haruka Skycaller - 8 Honor
*chain lightning
*healing wave
*purge

-Illiana Sunshield - 7 Honor
*flash of light
*blessing of might
*cleanse

-Ji'lan - 7 + 2 Honor
*expose armor
*felsteel boomstick
*evasion

Mana tap team 22-24 honor horde party

2455033 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:41:38 GMT

just an idea i came up with, what do you think.

- Champion Shadowsun - 8 Honor
* Shadowform
* Shadow Word: Death
* Mass Dispel

- Illiana Sunshield - 7 Honor
* Flash of Light
* Blessing of Kings
* Bulwark of Azzinoth - 2 Honor

- Daxin Firesworn - 7 Honor
* Shadowburn
* Summon Piztog
* Corruption

23-25 honor Cairne party

2455033 — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:26:30 GMT

- Cairne Bloodhoof - 10 honor
* Cairne's Thunderclap
* Breakthrough
* Heroic Strike
* Felsteel Boomstick - 2 Honor

- Ona Skyshot - 8 honor
* Distracting Shot
* Arcane Shot
* Multi-Shot

- Hulok Trailblazer - 5 honor
* Hood of Primal Life
* Mark of the Wild

Funky Parties: The Las Vegas Launch

1555012 — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:03:21 GMT

I've got a nice little intro written for this party, but it's on a different pc, so I'll add it tomorrow. In the meantime, let's get right to business:

The Las Vegas Launch

Elana Starbreeze
- Master tactician
- Summon Old bones
- Silk bandage

Cairne Bloodhoof
- Sunder Armor
- Cairne's Thunder Clap
- Signet of Eternal Life

Slitherblade Tidehunter
- Mutli-shot
- Summon Old bones
- Misdirection

The idea: grab the epic and throw it off the board. A party that can stay near the edge. Multi-shot to get past the protectors. Another option is to run this with irana - flux and polymorph, and to get crits on cairne with nightmare blade, though I like the non-variable version.

More details tomorrow.

F

Looking Ahead to Vegas

2442750 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:46:40 GMT

Thank you, UDE events organizers, for eliminating 3x Mortimers (or 3x anything, for that matter) from contention. Tri-color constructed will be a hoot!

I'm thinking that Vashj/Savin/Haruka looks pretty effective. Has the map been released yet?

The end of the Rock/Paper/Scissors debate.

1205778 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:00:38 GMT

Ladies and gents, we have solved the eternal dilemma of who wins the competition. The answer is...
None of them! That's because an old favorite has returned to town to wreak havok on the Hill.

Back in Black, er, Green, ah whatever; 24 Honor
Archmage Arugal
-You too Shall Serve
-Arcane Flux
-Battlecast Pants
Bleakheart Hellcaller x2
-Santuria x2
-Fear/Death Coil
-Corruption x2
-Dark Portal

YTSS handles everything that matters. Ice Block, Bulwark, Foreman's Reinforced Helmet, you name it, it fixes it. And when you have the hill, Arugal's crit equals 2 VPs. Having a spawn point next to the hill certianly won't hurt either.

Meta Staples

2465615 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:08:16 GMT

Gauntlets and Meta threads are hard to manage, and I say that after striving to do so for many months.

Instead, this post is about featuring some staples you're sure to need to test against.

Epic parties came into power with the introduction of Spoils of War, so I'll begin with each faction's most encountered tournament epics.

Monsters:
Kael
Vashj

Horde:
Cairne

Alliance:
Jaina
Jaina
Jaina
Jaina
Jaina
Jaina
Velen

Kael parties exhibit a lot of control, and when you're sporting stats like his, you'd better. Beware of Flamestrikes.

Vashj parties feature as much offense as you can pack into three minis. Beware of Crits.

Cairne has made a splash throughout the meta, but he's yet to really impact the meta. Still, his pallies make him dangerous. And fun!

Velen is still powerful, despite his errata, and I've seen his parties play a very shamanic style game--meaning, offense, defense, and healing. The wall variants have been the most successful, but he's yet to see as much success as the Jaina parties.

Jaina seems to be everywhere, anymore, and while many players claim to hate her passionately, her power and control cannot be denied. That pet of hers can individually wreck teams, and her AOE while 4-dice small is one of the best on-card attacks the alliance has. Jaina's true power is how well she buffs ranged allies. Beware of pets!

Savin with Bulwark is seemingly the most played defensive character in the game, and what he brings to the Velen Wall parties is impressive, defensively. Many folks claim that defense doesn't win games, and while that may be true in many cases, it remains a fairly viable strategy, given a variety of maps.

Locks will always be one of those parties you have to contend with. It used to be all about Bleakhearts and Kialas, then nearly every THX variant fell in love with Daxin, and now the community's majority's crush on trip Mortimers may have contributed to the decision to feature Tri-Color (one character from each faction) events at DMF:Vegas.

Mages, especially Jainas but to a lesser degree Iranas and Jezbellas, are putting the blue teams into top 8s all over the place. While physically weak, in a meta full of magic users, their resits make them formidable.

Hunters have emerged periodically to take events by storm, DMF: Anaheim and Worlds 2009, for example, and they bring a lot of answers to a caster-laden meta.

Many common themes spread throughout the meta, and while this list can be no-where near comprehensive on the first go, I aim for it to be a good spring board from which you can launch in your party building.

Magic Damage
Ranged Physical
Equipment
Healing
DoTs, DoTs DoTs
Pets, Pets, Pets, Pets, Pets

A few warriors have made it to prominence in light of King of the Hill, but theirs is not an impact on the meta that I expect to last, particularly after discussing things with many of the famously known players of this great game.

If you're among the players planning to make it out to Vegas, I hope these highlights have brought you some insight for your Tri-Color testing.

Cheers!

-teh Sig

Minis Gauntlet-- Core Set

2465615 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:38:40 GMT

Check in often, as this outline of the meta adjusts after each major event or in recognition of recurring trends in the meta.

THE TRIED AND TRUE --The Gauntlet

AMA – Azarak, Azarak, Morganis. DMF:SF Champion team. Map-reliant by most accounts.

BIG - Bolvar, Irana, and Graccus. Defensive power and offensive versatility with ABC reusability.

Hellcallers -Tripple Hellcallers or Hellcaller/Hellcaller/Arugal designed to win through tick ups.

HHT - Haruka/Haruka/Thangal. The team that spawned all other THX variants.

Killer Kialas -Tripple Magistrix Kiala with the best warlock lockdowns in the meta.

Ogres - Boulderfist Warrior and Crushridge Ogre, lately with Frostsaber Prowler.

THD - Thangal/Haruka/Daxin. DMF:Koln Champion team.

THE HOPEFULLS -- The evolving meta.

Blessing of Shadow - Namrah, Namrah, Savin. An amazing new powerhouse in development.

By The Wave - BTW with Blindloc, Tidehunter, Wavecaller for powerful sea-synergy and magery.

E3 - All three Elementals with two or three Elemental Charge ABCs.

Goblin Fog -Goblin Shredder, Enraged Fire Spirit, and Harvest Golem. Fog of War, Fear Generator, and Group Synergy.

MEX - Up for a lot of discussion of late, taking Moonshadow, Elendril and a caster, typically.

MMP - Moonshadow, Moonshadow and Phadalus for druidic utility and shamanic might.

Nocturnal Madness - Rethilgore and various friends or Rethilgore and Arugal

The SIMs - Savin, Irana, Moonshadow for 1 tick 5 dice Starfires to annoy opponents.

THX - As THD above but with Omedus, Ona, or someone else as the typical 3rd mini.

TRIPLETS --Prevelent enough to warrent their own category.

Dizzies – No longer sees much play as trips but has returned to prominance with 1 Elendril and 2 Dizdemonas.

EFSes -- An upstart team that took Koln by surprise, knocking AMA out of the top 8.

Harukas – An extremely high-cost team but one with incredible defense and versatility.

Blindlocs- What's not to love about 3 Flamestriking mages for 12H with 3 Blindlight Murlocs?

Rubies – An explosive team featuring an amazingly good and decently cheap mage.

Mojo Shapers – Totems, Chain Lightnings, hefty physical attacks, and low-low honor.

Timmos – A challenging team with great, explosive physical power if played well.

Cheers!

-teh Sig

Wish I could be at Realms to play...

2442750 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:12:23 GMT

Lady Jaina Proudmoore
Irana x2
- Greater Water Elemental
- Ice Block x2
- Counterspell x2
- Flamestrike x2
- Polymorph x2

Even if someone beats you to the hill, you can probably nuke that character in a single tick, and there's even a good chance you'll have the opportunity to teleport one of your Iranas onto the hill in the process. It's not foolproof, but the sheer number of dice combined with a pair of Arcane Brilliance effects make it a sturdy party. Hopefully someone likes it and takes it for a spin...

24 Honor Horde Party

2455033 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 19:04:37 GMT

I made this team this morning, played it once and won. It seems awesome, any comments welcome. Im trying to make a really balanced "Tournement" team.

Illiana Sunshield - 7 Honor
*flash of light
*blessing of kings
*cleanse
Haruka Skycaller - 8 Honor
*strength of earth totem
*magma totem
*grounding totem
Ji'lan - 7 + 2 Honor
*expose armor
*felsteel boomstick
*evasion

Ogre Party Time At Realms!!!!

1069235 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:56:33 GMT

So you need purge to get rid or Ice Block? Breakthrough to knock them off the hill or Distract them off? Why not use a fun team for realms then? I am not saying it could work but if i make it during the first Quals then I will probably play it for fun in the second Qual.

Boulderfist Warrior
Break Through
Mortal Strike
Boulder Toss
Crushridge Ogre
Grounding Totem
Healing Wave
Chain Heal
Purge
Dagg'um Ty'gor
Distract
Evasion

Amon Life Tapping

3093069 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:37:32 GMT

Amon Darkheart must be one of the most valuable warlocks available right now. The ability to trade life for ticks is truly amazing, and with ten life to spare, his four tick six shadow damage attack can be reduced to one tick for six damage, trading three life in the process.

Six damage every turn is very impressive, but along with that, Amon shall require quite of bit of healing if he hopes to keep up this massive dps output. In a party centered around him, I would suggest two very good healers.

I have Zaritha and Moonshadow in mind when building this party. Obviously, Moonshadow is going to want to stay near Amon, especially on ticks 5/10, due to her inate ability. Apart from that, she can use Rejuvination as extra healing, and also help out with Gift of the Wild, on Amon before tick five for better dps, and on herself or Zaritha after tick five for better healing.

Zaritha is an exceptionally heavy healer. She has a built in heal, and can also use Healing Wave, Chain Heal, and Healing Stream Totem. Additionally, her heal crit adds the much needed defence to Amon, if only for a small time.

There are a couple more facets, both positive and negative, about this party. Firstly, it is 18 honor for massive damage output and healing. However, the party lacks very strong physical defences, which makes it vulnernable to heavy melee attacks, especially if the user has very bad luck with dice, regardless of the amount rolled. Also, because of the healing totem and the need for adjacency, this party will most likely be required to stay stationary to work at its best, which is a problem when each member is picked off one by one. And, since Amon is doing most of the work, this party would not fare very well against very high resist characters, like Kialas.

Essentially, the point of this party is to quickly annihilate the opponent with shadow magic before the enemy has a chance to strike.

Janktober

2144941 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:46:34 GMT

Just an idea i had while driving into work, was wondering if someone wouldn't mind punching it full of holes.

Elanna x2 with MT and Fury
Vi'gor with Cat form and Rejuv

So after the pets are on board, tick 4 everyone is healing 1, then again healing 1 on tick 7, not to mention the four "+1 damage" and extra attack on each of those ticks.

the realms tech!!

2152536 — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 23:44:56 GMT

allright guys, i left booking my trip to the last minute and as i went to pay for it someone else bought it up.. therfore i miss out on realms.

so i thaught i may as well post what i was planing on playing, maybe it can help someone.

Namrah
-shadowform
-mass dispel
-psychic scream

savin the lightguard
-bulwark of azzinoth
-flash of light
-blessing of protection

lady jaina proudmore
-ice block
-counterspell
-summon greater water elemental

the idea of the team was simple, drop savin in the middle to supply a wall and dropping jaina and namrahs attacking cost, with namrah hitting for 7 dice every 2 ticks and healing all 3 guys and taking out the opponents abcs, it seemed to good to pass up.

handles most matchups with ease.

cheers

What will beat Haruka/Savin/Vashj in Vegas?

2465615 — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:24:46 GMT

Imagine this ABC Selection:

Chain Heal
Healing Wave
Flash of Light
Cleanse
Purge
Bulwark of Azinoth
Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros
Soulseeker
Boots of the Crimson Hawk

That's right, I'm talking about the biggest and baddest meta-defining staples of them all, each from various stages of the game.

Haruka was the first rising star, power-housing out of the gate with game-defining elements of what it meant to be broken or not. Vashj stuck a boot on the end of her tail and used a couple of those extra arms to hold aloft a mighty staff, soon-after establishing her dominance in the meta. And Savin has risen to become one of the most answer-demanding defenders in the game, thanks to his trusty shield.

Now, a strong case can be made for Morova, as has been pointed out in the Strategy forums already--source unknown, but my money is on this towering inferno of honor as one of the parties you have to have a solution for to break through to days 2 for events holding Tri-Color Constructed.

The results from Realms will be interesting, but with the constructed format for DMF Las Vegas featuring a return of this previously side-event only format, we're looking at a new, exciting era in World of Warcraft Minis.

We'll have to talk about parties that aren't influenced overly much by map-selection until the scenario for DMF:Vegas is announced.

Can you topple this looming threat?

Cheers!

-teh Sig

Realms this weekend - what about...?

2442750 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:45:27 GMT

So the chatter has been full of Amalars, Jaina/Jezbella, Cairne, and Mortimers (mostly because of me - I'm still convinced that if I were able to make it to Sacremento I could demonstrate how gross they can be in this meta). But has anyone tested:

Wilton Thorne x3
Breakthrough x2
Dodge x2
Heroic Leap
Foreman's Reinforced Helmet x2
Sunder Armor x2

He can get to the hill on tick 1, his brothers can redirect ranged attacks from him, if he gets knocked off, he can Breakthrough back on, and if he actually needs to, he can sunder and swing. I would debate tossing Sulfuras into the sideboard in place of 1 copy of Sunder Armor

Magistrix Enaria

2086719 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:46:55 GMT

Magistrix Enaria is my single favorite mage in this entire game, to date.. and she's horde to boot!

when it comes to strategy games in general i am what's considered a "chess tiger"... meaning that when it comes to games i play aggressively and just want to win and have the game be over with in a ferocious bang... Slow games have always bored me and lack the edge of excitement for the players and audience that may be watching *cough*velenwall*cough*

at first i did some fun playtesting by pairing up 2 magistrix enaria's with thrall.. i posted a topic on these forums a while back called "BOOM".. it had interesting results, but i got mixed reviews with it as once i started hitting the harder parties with a lot of control.. the party wasn't as great..because thrall was controlled and killed in most instances and he showed to be the weakest link of the party

the party is still a bunch of fun in casual play though

for those that like aggressive games and like to keep it simple.. the abc's are as follows

2x Flamestrike
1x Arcane Blast
1x Arcane Flux (to buff Thrall)
1x Wrath of Air Totem
1x Chain Lightning

you can add in the final 3 ABC's to your own playing style.. try it out.. the party is a lot of fun

then after changing up the party tactics for a little more competitive games i dropped thrall and went with a 3rd Enaria.. catching your opponent by surprise is the real deciding factor here.. and i'll tell you.. velen wall doesn't stand a chance; or for that matter...any party that contains an epic.. and let's be honest.. most of them do

3x Polymorph
3x Flamestrike
3x Counterspell

and again this party idea is very simple so there is no way to really screw this up other than shitty dice rolls.. but we've all been there.. you start by letting your opponent come to you.. as they will have to due to you being at the bottom of the vp ladder with a mere 12 vp to make.. polymorph all of them and blast away... depending on the party you're up against..you may only need 1 or 2 flamestrikes... because hunters are one of the worst nightmares for this party i reccommend polymorphing them first, and be extremly cautious in your first positioning moves

by polymorphing them all; this gives you the edge you need to position and fire away

the only party i can clearly see that this party would ever have extreme difficulties with is 3x Magistrix Kiala's and maybe a party of 3x Razaani Nexus Stalker's due to their 4 resists.. the average 2-3 resist parties still don't stand a chance

have fun and enjoy!

Vs. Cairne in Arena

3082830 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:39:58 GMT

Any thoughts how to beat Cairne in an arena match? I faced him last week and the charge/crit/ instant kill seems hard to beat w/ no respawns.

I need some help making "fun" war bands...

3066084 — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:50:16 GMT

Hey now! I need a little help here as I’m trying to get my good friend interested in minis. He and I have played a few times already, so he knows the rules as well as I can teach him. The problem is, he is very easily intimidated and hates to lose (something that happens frequently when first starting this game). However, I know him well and I know he will love this game, just as much as I do. What I would like to do is, put some really fun teams together for him and I to play, to try and hook him. Myself, I’ve only been playing the game for a few months so I could use some help. My buddy already said that he doesn’t like “standing still” in the game, so I guess walls are out of the question…So if you guys could list some fun war bands, I would greatly appreciate it.

BEST team for map king of hill? realm 4!!

721265 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:32:15 GMT

i m a very noob what is the best team for this map?

Help to make a party w/ cairne

3045983 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:00:44 GMT

just now i bought cairne bloodhoof. btu i confused making a good team with it. anyone have a suggestion?

i have a dirty secret..

2152536 — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:43:55 GMT

hi all, i just thaught i would do a little boasting before i spend 30 hours flying over to win worlds =]
i have been doing ALOT! of testing on the map and the scenario, about 30 hours a week for the last 3-4 weeks.
i have come up with 2 parties that have the goods, but 1 is far superior then the other, worlds is all about the flag baby!!!

so heres a team that i was planning on playing, jusyt to get you thinking..

team speed freaks..

GOBLIN SHREDDER-
*fog of war.
*silk bandage.
*swiftness potion.

RETHLIGORE-
*lycanthropy.
*swiftness potion.

FROSTSABER PROWLER- (the beast!!)
*bear necessities.
*cornered.
*rip to shreds.
*x-51 rocket helmet.

as i said its all about the flag, in testing the games over quickly as no one can catch these beasts, and range is ineffective.

truly broken, try it and tell me what you think, and for the record this is the second best team in the format =p

When I say Namrah,

2465615 — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:26:37 GMT

When I say Namrah, you think what?

Cheers!

-teh Sig

Dralor and the druids

2593882 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:54:03 GMT

So on paper I am always making teams that are based on a rogue and Mortimerx3. I have been writing up a Dralor, Moonshadow, Vig'or team more recently. I finally play tested it this sunday but the team BigBowler was playing against it was B.I.G. It was srprisingly effective. In the first game it actually pushed Big off of the VP. Still It has it's issues.

1. What do I play when etangled Roots is not needed? I went with starfire and it was ehh.......

2. Will this team be able to handle Mortimers if they can jump out of the roots? I think if they are played spread out (Matt Whaite Style) I can catch them by letting them choose who to sacrifice. But I am not sure not having actually played it out yet. No one in my group (all two of us) has 3 morts. My thinking is to run Vig'or after one and Moonshadow and dralor after another. To deal with Jhroon I will just use evasion. Marvelous card choice vs big! Ignoring Jhroon to get to Mortimer. Kill Mortimer to get rid of Jhroon. Both Druids will sport Cat form. This build handle dots ok but what if they went for the tick up Pet instead of Jhroon? Would I be likley to get locked down?

3. If I can catch one of them what happens then? Will they get away with the game with me not having Rootsx2 back online until after ten?

4. VS big I split up my party to avoid doubble AA.O.E. That at times stopped me from getting Hemorage from all my guys. Was this the correct choice tactically for me?

Abc so far follow

Moonshadow

Entangled Roots

Cat form

Starfire

Dalor

Expose Armor

Evasion

Ambush?

Vig'or

Cat form

Entangled Roots

Starfire

Ok fire away! Thanks in advance.