Strict Standards: Declaration of description_walker::start_el() should be compatible with Walker_Nav_Menu::start_el(&$output, $item, $depth = 0, $args = Array, $id = 0) in /home/thehexva/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/Variance/functions.php on line 123 Strict Standards: call_user_func_array() expects parameter 1 to be a valid callback, non-static method sidebar_generator::init() should not be called statically in /home/thehexva/public_html/blog/wp-includes/plugin.php on line 429 Strict Standards: Non-static method sidebar_generator::get_sidebars() should not be called statically in /home/thehexva/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/Variance/includes/m_s/multiple_sidebars.php on line 52 Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/thehexva/public_html/blog/wp-content/themes/Variance/functions.php:123) in /home/thehexva/public_html/blog/wp-includes/feed-rss2.php on line 8 Hex Vault http://www.thehexvault.com/blog www.hexvault.com // www.thehexvault.com // www.hextcgvault.com Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:33:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.7.41 Deck of the Week: Blood / Diamond Midrange http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/12/06/deck-of-the-week-blood-diamond-midrange/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/12/06/deck-of-the-week-blood-diamond-midrange/#comments Sat, 07 Dec 2013 00:33:52 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1536 Read More »]]>
   Last week’s Hex alpha patch brought us quite the early winter gift. With a boatload of cards added and another large grip of them changed the alpha meta is sure to be shaken up quite a bit. Just like everyone else I’ve been pretty excited to start experimenting with some of the new cards and see what I could come up with. There has been one particularly straightforward card which caught my interest and made me want to try out a few different strategies. Persecute has been changed since it was first spoiled, initially it was a somewhat clunky card which could potentially net you mass removal against a swarm deck. However, now the card has become one of the most efficient removal spells while still also maintaining a high level of flexibility. Blood already has access to Murder which is one of the gold standards as far as removal goes and I suspect this is why persecute is an uncommon as Blood might otherwise have too much powerful removal in limited formats. With that said, rarity isn’t the same problem for 60 card decks so now there is definitely potential to overload on removal, which just so happens to be one of the keystones of a midrange deck.


Generally midrange decks try to fill in the gap which falls somewhere in between “agro” and “control.” If we’re going this route we want to build a deck which has enough removal to stave off a strong early game presented by aggressive troop-based decks, and follow that removal up with a package of efficient and hard to deal with threats which begin to come into play towards the middle of the game. On the flip side, against slower decks we are aiming to put out threats faster than our opponents can deal with them. Starting off with the removal package we have both persecute and murder as already mentioned, we could go further into blood by adding in terrible transfer but that is likely to be too slow for us. Ruby is definitely an option since it has both Burn and Ragefire but both of these might be a little too narrow for us in terms of what troops they are able to deal with. This leads us to Diamond where we find Inner Conflict which fits very well into our game plan, not only is it fairly cheap but it is able to deal with a wide variety of threats which could prove to be problematic for us (I’m looking at you Fist of Briggadon). Not only does Diamond give us access to Inner Conflict, but we’re also able to add in a number of evasive threats which suit our deck very well.

Without further ado let’s look at the decklist: (I excluded links for cards which aren’t up to date)

A few other considerations:
-Xentoth’s Inquisitor: many gems are currently bugged, once things are stabilized I’d include this along with the discard major blood gem in place of Corpse Fly

-Vampire King: once the king is added to the game this becomes the perfect deck for him

-Relentless Corruption: decent sideboard tech to bring in against slower decks

-Frost Wizard: if our opponents are relying on escalation then bringing this silver bullet in from the sideboard is a pretty easy decision


It seems like the tuning phase of alpha is still ongoing as is apparent with Murder (now has 2 blood threshold) and Inner Conflict (now costs 3 resources). In which case don’t be surprised if some of these cards change dramatically in another two weeks’ time. After playing the deck for roughly 20 games or so I would say that, while very strong, Living Totem often feels somewhat clunky and we may end up cutting a copy or two. The miser copy of Soul Marble is in there as a test more than anything else. This seems like a good deck with which to evaluate its strength but it is also not a card that you want to draw multiple copies of. Finally, King Gabriel is very resilient but is sometimes unable to quickly closeout games, currently this resiliency has worked very well for me but moving towards something a bit more explosive is definitely an option I will continue to consider.

Midrange decks often attack their opponents from a somewhat sideways angle, they’re able to push this even further after sideboarding. That’s not to say that it doesn’t come with some weaknesses, evasive spellshield troops like Storm Colossus dodge our removal and can often turn the game around if the opponent is able to stabalize. Furthermore, there is definitely potential for a powerful deck that includes no troops which in turn makes many of our cards into dead draws.

I hope you all enjoyed the article. Sorry that I haven’t had nearly as much time to write / vlog about Hex this month, or even really play it for that matter. Though in the time I have had to log in I’ve been blown away by the outstanding appreciation I’ve been given from all of the folks tuning in. Thanks a bunch everyone! On that note I’ll leave you with a quick video of this deck in action…

Less Fail, More Funktion

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OMG They Nerfed It!?! – Reveal & Winner! http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/10/omg-they-nerfed-it-reveal-winner/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/10/omg-they-nerfed-it-reveal-winner/#comments Thu, 10 Oct 2013 23:49:30 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1521 Read More »]]> I wanted to wait until the card made it into the build, but a number of people have data-mined it now so I figure there’s not much sense in waiting… The nerfed 3 Cost Wild card is:

 

Card: Eye of Creation

Cost: 3 + X (unchanged)

Card Text: Reveal the top X cards of your deck. You may put any revealed troops into play. If you reveal another Eye of Creation this way,  transform it into a copy of this action and play it. Put the remaining cards on the bottom of your deck.

 

Originally I saw the new card cost (“3X”) and thought they’d REALLY nerfed it since my original interpretation of “3X” was “3 times X”. After talking to Ben it turns out that the actual interpretation should be “3 plus X” – this is going to be refined to make it clearer in a future version.

 

So, who won? Well, no one got it exactly. A few people got the card and the cost. One person, however, was the first to suggest that they’d restrict the types of cards that Eye of Creation would be able to play (by guessing that we wouldn’t be able to use it to play resources) – not exactly right, but in the sprit of the actual changes (which are even more restrictive!). Congratulations, Mokog!

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HexTCG Alpha Stream Today @ 5.15pm EDT/2.15pm EDT http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/10/hextcg-alpha-stream-today-5-15pm-edt2-15pm-edt/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/10/hextcg-alpha-stream-today-5-15pm-edt2-15pm-edt/#comments Thu, 10 Oct 2013 20:01:27 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1519 Read More »]]> I’ll be streaming a few Alpha games at 5.15pm EDT/2.15pm EDT – check it out on Twitch.tv!

 

I’ll be playing a Wild/Blood swarm deck (mostly Shin’hare) most of the time. Let’s see how the hotel internet holds up!!!

 

Monikachin_1170x450

 

Colin

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Alpha Stream – Screenshots of Card Spoilers http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/08/alpha-stream-screenshots-of-card-spoilers/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/08/alpha-stream-screenshots-of-card-spoilers/#comments Tue, 08 Oct 2013 22:21:11 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1507 Read More »]]> While we all wait, patiently, for Alpha (and because it looks like the stream may not have been archived) I’ll post screenshots of any cards Cory spoiled during the stream – put your requests in the comments below…

 

EDIT: Link to the Set 1 Spoiler List (Scripted Cards as of 10/8/2013)

 

First up…

 

Diamond Aura

 

Frost Witch

 

Zombie Vulture

 

 

 

 

 

Fist of Briggadon

 

Wailing Banshee

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Eulogy for Runt 3 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/08/eulogy-for-runt-3/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/08/eulogy-for-runt-3/#comments Tue, 08 Oct 2013 22:01:02 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1486 Read More »]]> On the heels of the shocking developments regarding <<the Cost 3 Wild card that’s part of the Hex Vault competition>> ;) , another cruel blow to the denizens of the Wild shard… It is with great sadness that I announce the culling of Runt 3 from Runts of the Litter. Star of GenCon. Dependable chump blocker. And such soft fur… Runt 1 and Runt 2 are devastated, inconsolable, and angry – their comrade with the conical hat is no more… The poster rabbit for Hex thrown away in the name of “game balance”. We can only hope that his agent finds a way to resurrect him and find him a role in Set 2 or Set 3, reuniting him with his litter mates.

 

Runts of the Litter (Old)

Runts of the Litter (Old)

 

R.I.P. Runt 3 – you will be missed! Know that you were loved, much, much loved…

 

Runts of the Litter (New)

Runts of the Litter (New)

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OMG They Nerfed It!?! http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/05/omg-they-nerfed-it/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/05/omg-they-nerfed-it/#comments Sun, 06 Oct 2013 04:52:49 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1499 Read More »]]> The “Countdown to Alpha” thread on the HexTCG.com forums got me thinking…

 

I have first hand knowledge of one of the 3 cost cards having been significantly redesigned since it was spoiled. I figured I’d run a quick competition to give away roundtrip flights to/from HexCon! All you have to do is make a guess at:

  1. Which card has been changed?
  2. What is it’s new cost?
  3. How has the effect text been changed (it’s broadly similar to the original but there is a key change)?

 

The person who, in my opinion, gets closest to the new version of the card wins. Better be quick – you only have 2.5 days before Alpha (hopefully). And… it could be sooner if the card gets spoiled before that!

 

The only way to enter is to leave your guess as a reply to THIS post! Have fun!!!

 

EDIT: Because it’s a FAQ… There may well be more that one card that has been changed. I have a specific card in mind. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re completely right about the card you guess, you need to have guessed the card I’ve chosen!

 

EDIT2: Entries closed at 4:45pm PDT on 10/8/2013. Set 1 Spoiler List posted to HexTCG.com. The card I had in mind is NOT on the list… yet… As soon as CZE spoils it, I’ll announce the winner.

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Socketed Card Primer http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/04/socketed-card-primer/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/04/socketed-card-primer/#comments Sat, 05 Oct 2013 01:00:35 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1449 Read More »]]> So the other day I was riding the bus, and the bus driver asks me “Hey Funktion, what’s so sweet about Hex?” Then I’m like, “EVERYTHING… DUH!”

 

Ok, so maybe that’s not a true story (it happened on the train), but there are some pretty exciting things about Hex. One of these things happens to be my topic for today… SOCKETED CARDS (the crowd goes wild). I’m gonna give you my two cents about each of the cards and the options which I think will be particularly powerful. So lets start off by putting everything out on the table and working our way down the list.


List of Socket Gems

 

Before I get into the nitty-gritty you might have a few questions on how sockets work. Hopefully this will at least cover the basics:

  • Cards with a major socket may utilize any gem, while those with a minor socket may only use the minor gems (as depicted above).
  • The color of the gem does not need to match the color of the card.
  • Gems do not add a threshold but instead their power will only take effect if you currently have access to that color. If you play a card with the “when this troop enters play draw a card” effect, but you do not have a sapphire threshold then the enters play effect will not take place. Furthermore if you play a card with the “steadfast” gem and don’t have access to the diamond threshold it can still turn on if you’re able to play a diamond resource later.

Alright, if you have any other questions just post them down below in the comments and I will be sure to answer them for you. I really love how sockets make each card extremely flexible, there are just so many options for each card (and that’s not even counting equipment either). With that said, let’s look at some of the outstanding options for each socketed card.

 

Attaching a gem to a large body makes all the options that much more viable, and Battle Beetle is HUGE. The crush keyword and the potential for him to gain flight for a turn are both pretty scary on their own.  My favorite options are outside of the wild threshold, the fact that it’s a six cost card keep the enters play gems viable, but there are not many “terrible” choices for this guy:

  • Major Blood: Enters play to deal damage equal to its ATK to each opponent.  Even if the card gets removed before it can attack it will still hit your opponent for a large amount of damage!
  • Major Ruby: Upon champ damage to destroy a resource point.  Once the beetle starts swinging your opponent is going to have a very hard time recovering.
  • Major Diamond: Enters play to give target troop you control PERMANENT +DEF equal to this troop’s DEF.  Even if you don’t have any other troops the beetle becomes a 6/8, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon.


With a common rarity you can expect to see quite a bit of Boulder Brute in limited play, but how can you make the best use of him? For me this rock beast is probably the least exciting of the bunch, but if slam dunking huge rocks is your thing there’s still some hope to be had:

  • Minor Diamond: Steadfast.  Being able to play a Boulder Brute knowing that you’ll be able to rely on him for both offense and defense definitely helps his cause.
  • Minor Sapphire: May be played as a Quick Action.  If your opponent is hold back a large number of resources in your turn don’t be surprised to see this guy come down and ruin your day.  There’s a few similarities here between the brute and Angelic Ascension.
  • Minor Sapphire: Flight.  Yo dawg I heard you like Cloud Titan.  If you’re splashing sapphire and running Boulder Brute, I have a feeling you’re going to have a tough choice between these two gems.


If it weren’t for the socket this Vincent Price wannabe might be pretty unassuming; however, add in a minor socket and all the sudden that story changes pretty quickly.

  • Minor Wild: Cost -1.  If it weren’t for the threshold conflict this would be an incredible option.  Since you’re not actually able to play the Sorcerer on turn 1 this way it’s kinda a non-bo.
  • Minor Diamond: Cost +1. +1 / +2.  This gem makes an absolute mockery of Zodiac Shaman.  Being able to block just about any ground troop starting on turn 3 is pretty brutal
  • Minor Sapphire: Flight.  If your opponent comes out of their corner swinging with a Thunderbird, they’ll be crying pretty quickly when you counter it with a 1/3 flyswatter.


 
This massive sword wielding madame is the only PvE socketed card which we’ve seen so far.  I’d be lying if I said the combination of her socket and ability didn’t make me scratch my head.  Definitely seems interesting though in a dedicated lifegain deck running Adamanthian Scrivener & Righteous Paladin.  So the big question is what do we have access to?

  • Major Diamond: Enters play, gain life equal to this troop’s cost.  If life gain spam is the route you’re planning to take this might help you push yourself out of reach.  It is kinda funny that it makes Cassandra trigger her own ability.
  • Major Wild: Enters play, this troop battles target troop.  Having 4 defense means that Cassandra can probably survive a fight and smash on any small troops that might be a thorn in your side.

What’s crazy about the Theorycrafter is that each gem dramatically changes how he fits into your deck. Each gem requires a bit more of an explanation, and many more of them are viable than with other cards so I’m gonna cut to the chase:

  • Major Blood: When this troop enters play, it deals damage to each opposing champion equal to it’s ATK. As if this guy didn’t have enough going on in on his text box already, now you’re adding at least 3 damage to the opponents face as well as another 3/3 artifact. This might be a strong “value” play but I don’t think it’s his best option by any means, let’s dig deeper…
  • Minor Ruby: Speed. You still get the warbot just like the blood gem (and have the benefit of not having to play blood), but now you’re going to be able to exhaust him and probably do a lot more than just 3 damage. We might not be living the dream quite yet though…
  • Major Ruby: When this troop deals damage to a champion, that champion loses a resource point.  This could really turn into quite the late game win condition, once he starts connecting they are going to have a rough time coming back.  With that said though I’d qualify this as a “win more” situation.  If you’re exhausting this dwarf you’re probably already winning regardless of them losing resources.  Still in combination with some ramp & Demolition you might be able to lock them out pretty early on.
  • Major Blood: When this troop deals damage to a champion, they choose and discard a card.  Being able to use this at the end of your opponent’s draw step means that you could probably lock them out of the game even fast than you could with the resource destruction.  Just need to make sure he survives long enough for you to put him to use… or just give him speed from another source!

I could probably list another 5 gems and explain why that particular gem is better than any of the others, but that’s all just theory…

This is the handsome man previously known as Master Beast Rider.  He received a little update when we saw him at GenCon, and he was downgraded to only having a minor socket.  The tool kit he brings to the table might have gotten a little bit smaller but this uncommon isn’t to be underestimated:

  • Wild Minor: +1 / +1.  Being able to give your turn 2 Feral Ogre another 3 attack is going to really put some pressure onto your opponent.  Likewise being able to ensure that one of your early rage troops is able to safely attack could help you keep another big threat on the table.
  • Ruby Minor: Speed.  Since you’re going to need to be in Ruby to activate this anyways, being able to play a turn 2 Pyromancer and follow that up with a 6 / 4 that’s swinging for the fences is pretty outrageous (he can target himself).
  • Sapphire Minor: May be played as a Quick Action.  I don’t see myself using this combination all that often, I’m going to want to use the scout to force through attacks of my own, but the versatility is there that you could turn him into a pretty nasty combat trick.  You could even play him if you’ve got no defenders and now suddenly you have a 4/4 roadblock in their way.

On the home stretch now which brings us to our third socketed card in the common slot.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see a cycle of commons with minor sockets.  The gladiator is pretty much about one linear thing, attacking, so what gems make him more threatening?

  • Minor Blood: +2/+0 This troop can’t block.  This makes our gladiator into a 4/2 the first time he swings and he just gets scarier from there.  I expect that this will be the most common configuration for him, he’s very fragile so why not make sure that he’s going to trade with whatever blocks him.
  • Minor Wild: +1/+1.  He might not be quite as aggressive as with the previous gem, but now he can block, is himself harder to block, and doesn’t die to cards like Burn.
  • Minor Sapphire: Flight. If you’re drafting Sapphire and looking for a color to splash the gladiator quickly becomes a pretty solid choice.  Many people already consider Thunderbird to be quite a high pick, and the gladiator shouldn’t be so ashamed to have such lofty dreams.

It’s a complete coincidence that I’m doing this in alphabetical order and ending with what I believe to be the strongest of all the socketed cards (they are all strong).  The fact that Warlock Inquisitor can keep coming back to trigger an enters play gem over and over is pretty outstanding.

  • Major Wild: When this troop enters play, it may battle target troop.  If it wasn’t a may ability it wouldn’t be quite as powerful, but by moving into wild we gain access to recurring removal.  The Inquisitor is likely to die  each time he battles, but so long as he takes something down with him you’re going to definitely be building some incremental advantage over the course of the game.
  • Major Blood: When this troop enters play, it deals damage to each opposing champion equal to it’s ATK.  If you live in Florida or Costa Rica you might already be pretty frightened of massive orb-weaver spiders, if you don’t live in one of those locations you’re about to develop a new phobia.  This guy is going to definitely be a boogey-man of Hex, he just keeps coming back for more and more quickly whittling away at the opponent’s health each time.  Combos quite nicely with Hideous Conversion.
  • Major Sapphire: When this troop enters play, draw a card.  This version isn’t nearly as in-your-face-scary as the others and is unlikely to initially be the best plan of action.  A year from now though I wouldn’t be too surprised if this angle of recurring card draw hasn’t at least made some sort of impact.

That about wraps everything up for today. I’m betting that we have yet to see a couple more socketed cards, if you enjoyed my analysis be sure to let me know in the comments and I’ll do a part 2 once I have access to a complete spoiler. In case you’re not already aware I’m on a quest right now to release one piece of content each and every day until Alpha (this is day 3). Hopefully, I will manage to pull it off… and hopefully Alpha doesn’t getting delayed at the last minute, then I’d really be in trouble.

Until next time,
Less Fail More Funktion!

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Forums Disabled Temporarily http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/03/forums-disabled-temporarily/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/03/forums-disabled-temporarily/#comments Fri, 04 Oct 2013 00:17:30 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1492 Unfortunately, I’ve had to disable the forums temporarily. When I’m confident we can keep them spam-free, I’ll reopen them. Sorry for the inconvenience!

 

Colin

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Embracing the Hex Magics: Exclusive Card Spoiler – Cloudwatcher! http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/02/embracing-the-hex-magics-exclusive-card-spoiler-cloudwatcher/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/02/embracing-the-hex-magics-exclusive-card-spoiler-cloudwatcher/#comments Wed, 02 Oct 2013 23:47:57 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1478 Read More »]]> Time to spoil the second card provided exclusively to Hex Vault by the fine folks at HexTCG! Cloudwatcher, the Coyotle Mage, has expanded her magic use from Wild into both Diamond and Sapphire.

 

As you might remember from the Comet Strike card spoiler article, Entrath started out with just 2 native magic sources: Wild and Blood. After the Hex comet smashed into the world the native races suddenly found three more shards available to them: Ruby, Sapphire, and Diamond. The flavor text on the card tells this story pretty succinctly. Cloudwatcher is one of the few cards we’ve seen with an affinity for magic outside her threshold color:

 

Cloudwatcher

Cloudwatcher

 

Cloudwatcher is a 1/1 for 1 resource with a threshold of 1 Wild – nothing particularly special there! However, she has a couple of abilities available to her that suggest an affinity for both the Sapphire and the Diamond shards. Right away that tells us that we’re probably not going to see Cloudwatcher in mono-Wild decks, and instead she’ll be more likely to find use in either Wild/Sapphire or Wild/Diamond decks.

 

Let’s look at the synergy of Cloudwatcher in Wild/Diamond decks first. For 1 Diamond threshold and 1 resource you can exhaust Cloudwatcher and give another of your troops Steadfast (the ability to attack without becoming exhausted such that the troop would still be available to block on your opponents next turn) this turn. A key use for this ability will be to grant one of your large troops (e.g. Legionnaire of Adamanth, Ozawa, Cosmic Elder, or Jadiim) Steadfast so that they can beat on your opponent this turn but also be available to defend on your opponent’s next turn.

 

In Wild/Sapphire decks you can exhaust Cloudwatcher to allow you to draw a card and then discard a card at a cost of 1 resource (and assuming you have a Sapphire threshold available). This allows you to more quickly find the cards you need in your deck and discard cards that are not useful given the current board state and/or time in the game, in effect thinning your deck.

 

What does Cloudwatcher bring to the table in PVE?

 

Cloudwatcher Gear (PVE)

Cloudwatcher Gear (PVE)

 

Stormwing Breastplate (Uncommon) allows you to pay 6 resources (1 Diamond and 1 Sapphire) to return a card from your graveyard into you hand. Clearly there is obvious synergy with the Sapphire-based ability – you can freely discard cards into your graveyard and then retrieve them later as needed. I also wonder whether or not the threshold is supposed to be Diamond or Sapphire – I’ll check with the team and post an update.

 

The Storm Fan (Rare) allows you to play all Diamond and Sapphire cards for 1 less resource cost. That’s pretty good resource acceleration, and allows you to potentially speed up all of your drops past Turn 1.

 

I hope you enjoyed both of the exclusive card spoilers we’ve been able to share! I certainly enjoyed thinking about how they could be used and sharing my thoughts with you. I’d like to thank the HexTCG folks for providing them. Hopefully they’ll be the first of many! :)

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Threshold & Resources in HexTCG – Exclusive Card Spoiler! http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/01/threshold-resources-in-hextcg-exclusive-card-spoiler/ http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/2013/10/01/threshold-resources-in-hextcg-exclusive-card-spoiler/#comments Tue, 01 Oct 2013 21:11:58 +0000 http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/?p=1431 Read More »]]> Exciting news! The HexTCG folks have given me a couple of cards to spoil exclusively on Hex Vault! I’ll spoil the first card today in this article, and follow up with another article tomorrow with the second card. First up, threshold fixing and resource acceleration!!!

 

 

Before I spoil the card, let’s spend a little time talking about threshold and resources in HexTCG. It’s probably obvious to most people following the development of HexTCG that the resource system is based on five basic shards: Wild, Blood, Diamond, Sapphire, and Ruby. When you play a basic shard resource card it actually provides 2 distinct things: a threshold of the appropriate type AND a resource. This is key to understanding the resource system in HexTCG – although threshold and resource are frequently given as a package deal (i.e. basic shard resource cards), they are technically completely separate. What does that mean to me? That means that cards can potentially provide threshold but no resource, resource but no threshold, or both. In the UI, the display on the two mechanics (threshold and resources) is actually separate — two numbers that are displayed independently and can be changed independently. Time to get out of the habit of checking the numbers in the threshold symbols to calculate how many resources I have available! ;)

 

Adaptable Infusion Device is an example of card that provides a permanent threshold of your choosing without increasing your available resource count. Notably, for now anyway (and definitely in Set 1), anything that provides threshold is permanent.

 

On the other hand, when we look at resource acceleration, cards (or actions) can provide temporary resources that are only available on the turn they are played/used [X/0] (e.g. Spectral Lotus), resources on the turn that they are played and on each subsequent turn [X/X], or permanent resources only on subsequent turns [0/X] (e.g. Surge Mechanism). Chlorophyllia is even more nuanced – you essentially get 2 Wild threshold, and a resource effect that is essentially [0/2] (no temporary resources the turn you cast Chlorophyllia, but 2 resources each turn thereafter).

 

OK, now that you understand threshold and resources in HexTCG, let’s look at the card! Crimson Clarity – threshold fixing and resource acceleration for Ruby:

 

Crimson Clarity

Crimson Clarity

 

As an aside, and like most of the cards spoiled so far, I love the flavor text for this card…

 

Basically the card text says “Gain 1 Ruby threshold” (a permanent change) and “Gain 3 resources this turn” (and only this turn!), i.e. playing this card results in a net gain of 1 Ruby threshold and 1 resource. Threshold fixing and (albeit modest) resource acceleration on the same card! As an example, on Turn 2 with 1 Ruby and 1 Wild threshold and 2 resources in play, you could play Crimson Clarity and then play another troop for 3 resources. At the very start of Turn 3 you’d have 2 Ruby and 1 Wild threshold but only 2 resources available to you.

 

Crimson Clarity’s resource and threshold fixing obviously allows you to play cards with 2 or more Ruby threshold earlier than normal, even if you’ve only been able to play 1 Ruby basic shard resource card, e.g. Mancubus or Zoltog on Turn 3, Ash Harpy on Turn 4, Inferno on Turn 3 (assuming you’ve had 2 Ruby basic shard resources), etc. You could even get a Turn 4 Te’talca, Orc Gladiator, ahead of the curve, and likely with your opponent only having weaker troops and potentially being resource constrained! It can also smooth out bad basic shard resource draws when using Poca, The Conflagrator – after all, her charge power (Blaze Elemental) requires 2 Ruby threshold.

 

Crimson Clarity will probably have utility in PVP in constructed formats, especially in very aggressive decks and also decks that stray away from mono-Ruby. It’ll see even more use in limited formats, especially in decks where 2 other shards are prominent but you need to add a splash of Ruby to play a bomb and/or removal, e.g. Ragefire. Another thing – Crimson Clarity is common ensuring that we’ll see it in drafts pretty frequently.

 

What about Crimson Clarity in PVE? Insane resource acceleration! Let’s look at the equipment:

 

Crimson Clarity - PVE Gear

Crimson Clarity – PVE Gear

 

Crimson Copperhead (Common) reduces the cost of Crimson Clarity by 1 thereby giving you a Ruby threshold and a net gain of 2 resources the turn you play the card. Now you’re potentially getting all of the cards I described previously a turn earlier!

 

Lucid Gloves (Uncommon) take the temporary resource gains and make them permanent – 3 extra resources every turn, including the turn you play Crimson Clarity. Using these gloves in combination with the Crimson Copperhead, and having multiple Crimson Clarity cards in hand on Turn 1 could result in a very large and angry dragon (well, in Set 2) beating on your AI opponent by Turn 2!

 

I’m excited to see more threshold and resource acceleration in the game. What do you think of Crimson Clarity? Leave your comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.

 

That’s all for today, but tomorrow I’ll be spoiling a Coyotle Mage who has embraced the Diamond and Sapphire magic brought to Entrath by Hex… Check back soon!

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