Why should warrior wait until turn 5 so they can cheat it out?
Unkilliax should cost 1 mana. Game should end turn 1
It should start on the board for both players! For free!
NO, you should automatically win if it’s in your starting hand!
The answer to this, much like literally anything else in this entire game, is to either burn them down before they stabilize, or neutralize their key component to their combo. There’s a lot of luck involved in either of those, but that’s the nature of the beast with CCG’s in general, to say nothing of Hearthstone.
So what this means is if you’re in a mirror match or are otherwise also going long win con, you need to save a dedicated answer for Unkilliax. Something that neutralizes it without it dying. Like Reno, or some form of polymorph, or bounce, or theft. Or if you’re going mid-or-short win con, just concede if they get more than 8 mana.
Please provide a list of methods of killing 2 zilliax followed by 2 hydration stations. I would sincerely find this helpfull as i can’t do it very well.
I already did:
This isn’t a new, novel, or otherwise unheard of phenomenon. This is a situation that exists in literally every single CCG ever made. There are threats, and there are answers. If a certain threat is powerful enough to “become meta” then a smart player will tech an answer to that specific threat, because “it’s meta” and they’ll see it often - especially in an online medium wherein opponents are random and “everyone” net decks. (no, obviously not EVERYONE - hence the “air tag quotes” - but “enough” people do it such that threads like this pop up)
This is why you see that “turn opponents into murlocs” card in shaman’s meta, or “bounce a card” in rogue, or that Yog titan thing that steals a minion. This is why you see priests teching the silencer minion. This is why DK’s still tech their Sylvanis-with-charge (and sometimes double dip into Sylvanis herself as well). This is why Reno continues to be so prevalent despite the fact that many, many games can be fully decided on or before turn 5. This is why Secret Hunter REALLY wants to ensure ice trap is up. I could go on for days.
You don’t build a “counter-meta” deck because metas are about consistency. Something powerful enough to win half the time or more, is likely not going to buckle due to your unprecedented “every single card in this deck costs 10 mana” shenanigans or “I’m going to use nothing but basic paupers” silliness. Sometimes you’ll win, because luck is always an inherent factor, but most often you won’t, because power discrepancies exist.
Which, if you’ll notice, is why I said “if you can’t answer them by turn 9, just concede.” Literally, if you don’t have the answer to their threat, you’re going to lose. That’s just how it is.
But in terms of “CAN it be answered?” Yes, absolutely, and the quickest way to find that out (aside from listening to the advice I gave here) is to try it yourself. (or, if you can’t afford the dust, watch UNEDITED streams / lets plays and see what happened during the losses those players suffered - they all follow a trend, I assure you)
It isn’t an automatic “IWIN” just to throw the deck list together, or even play it well. Sometimes, your opponent topdecks the perfect answer. Or, sometimes you never draw acid + Unkilliax combined until far too late.
That’s true. Excavate paladin is the only surefire way to deal with the warrior plan, Thank you for the serious response i appreciate it. The dk strat might work well. I could not bring myself to play priest. It might do well against it but just no - too much dust to make it work.
I’m not sure exactly when the shift began, but somewhere along the last decade or so I devolved into some sort of cantankerous curmudgeon in terms of my online personality. I chalked it up to me “just getting older” for a few years, but the last month or so I really, REALLY looked at my post history across multiple forums and was like “wow, big oof Dim, why did you think that was an okay thing to say?” Half the time, if someone had posted what I was saying, at ME, I would have reported them for trolling or worse.
So while I make no promises to never eff up again, I am trying to course correct and become a more positive online presence moving forward.
Fair critique on both points. The reality of CCG’s is that luck and money are always going to overwhelm skill and effort when push comes to shove. Even the literal top-tier tourney winners get mana screwed / flooded in MTG, and if HS even has sanctioned tourneys still, I’m sure luck-decking happens there as well. That’s the entire reason pauper formats and “house rules” communities exist in the first place.
The key is to recognize your limitations and manage your expectations / goals accordingly. I’m never going to be even in the top 1,000 Legends bracket in this game. I can reach Legend rank, if I commit significant time across a few weekends and grind nothing but netdecks. But I will never be “that guy” who “wins” the bracket. You know what I mean?
“But I could be if I really wanted to!” is the fantasy that speaks in the back of my head. Which is true, as far as it goes. I could also be dead-butt broke if I spend that kind of time and money attaining it though, neglecting my job and bills and other RL obligations. The ROI just doesn’t make sense, fiscally or psychologically.
So the TL;DR here is manage your expectations based on realistic goals. Have fun, try to stay positive. And perhaps try an aggro deck style if you’re consistently losing to control style. Force them to answer your board prior to them establishing their late game threat.