Please Help Me Improve - Two Questions [Scoia'tael]

[Mystikast]

Please Help Me Improve - Two Questions [Scoia'tael]

Hey all,

I played Skillege all during the closed beta, so I've decided to give Open Beta a chance with Scoia'tael.

This is the deck I currently play:

http://gwentify.com/decks/open-beta-dwarf-resilience/

A couple questions if you don't mind:

1) http://gwentify.com/cards/saesenthessis/
Saesenthessis
Every dwarf deck I see runs Saskia (http://gwentify.com/cards/saskia/) for a guaranteed 7 and deck thin; however, I feel Saesenthessis is overlooked. His whole purpose in the game is based around either dwarves/elves -- and since everything in my deck is dwarf or elf, it seems like a logical choice. THAT BEING SAID, HE NEEDS +1 BASE STRENGTH. Often times I can get a 13 or so power Saesenthessis; however, I am not sure the extra 6 (potential) power is worth throwing an extra card down over Saskia. Can you all please advise?
tl;dr Saesenthessis or Saskia?

2) http://gwentify.com/cards/cleaver/
Cleaver
Again, I feel obligated to play the card as it is a dwarf deck and he is a dwarf that can lock, but at my current meta, I am not getting much use out of him. I am debating swapping him out for a marching orders: http://gwentify.com/cards/marching-orders/ - this will thin deck a bit and throw barclay on the board.
tl;dr Cleaver or Barclay?

3) Replacing Saesenthessis/Saskia with Zoltan: Animal Tamer
http://gwentify.com/cards/zoltan-animal-tamer/
This is clearly the weaker of the two zoltan, but I feel like the ability to do 2 dmg to either side might be very useful, especially against decay/ticker type cards.

These are the two/three main issues I am facing now, but if anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know. My biggest problem right now is scorch and single-card buff decks (hence the http://gwentify.com/cards/mardroeme/) I am not having an issues with weather as it currently stands.

Thank you all for your help, I greatly appreciate it.

 

[Ninschi]

Hm - there is still some space to improve your deck, but lets start with your questions:

1.) Saskia>Saesenthessis.
I see your point, but the thing with Saskia is that even when she comes down as a 13 (and that is by no means guaranteed - you need alot of preparations for her to shine), 13 is actually a very mediocre value for a gold card as you should aim for something like 15/16+. Well, Saskia is now just a 7, but she is a 7 without costing you a real card. So, similar to Roach she instead upgrades one of your cards (your leader in this case) which gives you a) a good tempo play (4+7+X) and b) an option to thin out your deck.

2.) Cleaver is a viable option and probably better than Marching Orders. An alternative that I can recommend would be Olgierd as he is no dwarf, but perfectly synergizes with the way your deck plays. Your main objective is to take a round and convert your carryover into card advantage. Brover also only pulls Silver-Units(!) - so I would prefer to not decrease his options to 4. Olgierd is also a pretty good secondary ADC target

3.) Zoltan Animal Tamer is ok (I guess) as he can create alot of value in conjunction with your resilient units. An alternative is (as always) Geralt:Igni, because it can really help you to push for a round (and thats actually all that Dwarfs should care about).

Some final conclusions:
I can see that you are running a budget list, but I would really try to get rid of some cards you currently play:
- 1 Adrenaline Rush. This card does smth your deck is already good at and creates 0 tempo and is a terrible top deck. Get rid of it!
- 1 Alzurs Thunder. Dwarfs tend to play very proactive. For that reason, you rather want to create points for your own units. Replace it with a third Thunderbolt Potion - these are great!
- Royal Decree. Especially with Saskia you limit yourself to 2 fetchable Gold cards. Too often a dead card.
- 1 Dwarven Mercenary. 2 should be enough. Try 2-3 Dwarven Skirmisher instead - they are also Dwarfs

 

[Mystikast]

Ninschi - thank you very much for your advice.

I like the idea of removing alzurs Thunder, any advice what to replace it with?

as far as Adrenaline Rush goes there is a problem when other characters lock my resilient characters that I've buffed to 20 or 25 power. Adrenaline rush is the only way I know of to get them to carry into the next round otherwise the 25 power Defender or yarpin won't carry.

also, may I ask, why the idea that I am running a budget deck?

as far as I know, these are the best possible cards for the deck. Do you have any suggestions on what to replace them with?

this is my only deck and I have 2kscraps left I'll gladly spend to make it better.

again, thank you for your help.

 

[Ninschi]

It's mostly the fact that you are running Royal Decree which is normally only run in budget decks.

As far as Adrenaline Rush goes - I see your point. Thing is, you need to be aware of your decks functionality. Dwarfs is tempo. Pure, brutal tempo. The term "aggro deck" is not really used in Gwent, but Dwarfs is probably the closest you can get. Your main objective is to win a single long round and then win the following round with your carryover (due to resiliency). In that regard, Adrenaline is just bad as it neither helps you to push the long round nor does it help you to win the following. It instead only serves as an anti-lock card / prolongues the game to a third round which is not necessarily in your interest. Thing is, if you dont win the long round, all your carryover strength is worth nothing! Adrenaline Rush is making it harder for you. Your carryover should be strong enough with only 2-3 resilient units - you don't always need 4.

I would recommend you to get some inspiration from the following [Gwentlemen] deck list:
http://www.gwentdb.com/decks/21192-bytzi-dwarfs-gwentlemens-open-top-16

It is not updated for the current patch so Roach might not be needed anymore, but the rest remains very solid. Scirmisher, Wardancer and Geralt Igni should help you to win the crucial rounds. Give it a try, adjust it a little to your taste and enjoy the ladder climb.

 

[Restlessdingo32]

I think most ST decks run Saskia because it's such a good tempo card, pulls from your deck (thins) and many of the alternative ST golds either underperform or are too situational. It's great in Dwarf decks since it gives a great tempo play with Brouver.

Saesenthesses is subpar, IMO. There are better golds to choose from.

Cleaver is equal power to Ciaran if you run both Dennis and Yarpen (+1 from Dennis, +1 to Yarpen when played), but he doesn't provide the move mechanic nor is he agile. For these reasons he's less useful compared to Ciaran.

Zoltan is just better than Tamer. Tamer is at most a 13 pt card, whereas Zoltan is 14 pts. Zoltan also buffs base strength (Olgierd synergy), helps more vs weather, can help line up tbolts and stuff like Gigni.

I see zero reason not to run Ithlinne. There are so many ways to get big swings out of her (double tbolt), hinder weather (Rally+CS, double Immune Boost since the patch), etc. The versatility is too good to pass on, even with the nerf.

Olgierd is a good include because hes a 15 pt card if played R1, more if pulled with marching orders/buffed by Zoltan. Provided he doesn't get locked anyway. Gigni is also a great option since it can really lay the beatdown on other faction tempo plays/buffed units. He can be tricky, however, as getting too greedy with him can cost you (need to play it when it gives good value, otherwise it can be a dead card).

I find Marching orders/ADC are viable choices as well since stacking up on thinning cards (Saskia, Barc, ADC/Marching orders, perhaps a Wardancer, Brouver) is the only way to ensure consistency for Dwarves. If you get bad draws vs certain decks you're just done, basically.

Alzurs is alright I suppose. It can help with bears (SK), Vrans (consume always feels like an uphill fight to me, for some reason.....), and a number of other things. Other possible specials include AR, Shackles, TBolt/Immune Boost, FL (at most 2, I run 1), and a number of others.

I prefer Skirmishers over Mercs. Running 2/1 at the moment (2 Skirmishers/1 Dwarven Merc). They are worth more points, give minor control, and invaluable against cards like gravehag. Either or is viable, however. Believe it or not, tossing in a single trapper can throw the opponent off and also sneak in good value. Nobody expects it, and most opponents have no concern with row stacking outside of ensuring offset units (to avoid Gigni faceroll).

Some general stuff....

1. It is often better to funnel some buffs toward non resilent units. This keeps your resil units safe from removals (another reason I prefer Skirmishers, since they start at 8-9) and mitigate locks/resets a bit.
2. For weather I find putting value on weather of 8ish pts works best. Don't instantly clear it. Instead let it go and play movement/CS once it hits for 6-9 damage (bit less if it's put up by a unit, such as weather from monsters). This ups your chances of getting more than 1 weather per clear, and uses your resources more efficiently. Immune Boost is also ridiculous for mitigating weather. The CS unit is also a great choice since you gain tempo and can better line up Gigni/Tbolt/Boost.
3. Keep track of opponent counter cards, obviously (Peter, Auckes, Resets, Removals, Coral, etc.). You can almost always bet the opponent has them.

That is about everything I can think of atm.... Happy hunting.