Weekly One-shot #61: Twisted Vengeance

It's an advanced vengeance game featuring the Vengeful Five vs. the Freedom Five, in Grandpa/Freedom Six form, in Time Cataclysm! Good luck!

I minted it, but it was a very challenging fight. It's very hard to keep Equipment or Ongoing cards in play with Ermine, especially with the cards she plays. The key lies in taking out the villain characters in a good order (i.e., take out Ermine first), and utilizing the environment wisely. Time Cataclysm's first play is Crushing Hallway, but considering Ongoings are hard to keep in play anyway, it might be wise to keep it in play just for the sake of hitting all villain targets for 4 melee damage each. Heroes will also be hit by it... unless you could somehow, I dunno, get all hero targets not named Legacy immune to damage somehow... maybe... ;-)

Mint.  Got to use Heroic Interception twice, thanks to Calypso.  Kept Crushing Hallway out.  Mostly went straight for the villains and ignored the rest.  Ermine died first, then Fright Train, then Proletariot, and then Baron Blade and Friction went down together when we hit Fixed Point.  Fixed Point didn't actually do much - it kept AZ alive to get some extra hits in, but I would have won anyways, and Friction wasn't dead by the time I reached her turn.  Nearly screwed up in that Crushing Hallway went off before Fixed Point died, but a) I still had Tachyon at 1 hp even though everyone else was below, and b) I got to choose the order in which things were destroyed, so it didn't matter anways.   I finished with all my heroes except Legacy alive, but only Tachyon above 0 hp.

Mint, but it was close. Absolue Zero had 2 HP, Legacy and Tachyon had 1 HP, and Wraith and Bunker were incaped.  I played Foam Genade round 1 so probably saw a completely different set of environment cards. Interestinly, Absolute Zero rebounded from -3 HP to 6 HP thanks to Fixed Point which is probably what enabled the heroes win.

Interesting. I never considered keeping crushing hallway out. Having multiple uses of heroic interception and take down was very nice. I took FTrain down first followed by Ermine then Friction. Baron Blade was the last man standing as usual. Got the win with everyone in the signle digits.

Fun fight, and yeah, Crushing Hallway definitely hurt the villains waaaay more than it hurt me. Mint, with everyone still standing (and with positive hp), with Wraith even finishing in double-digits (well... 12, but still! Took down Ermine hard and fast as once she's down, you can actually start building up. Fright Train was next, followed by Proletariat, Blade and finally Friction, though she got to stick around until the start of the environment turn, due to Fixed Point.

Heroic Interception, some well-placed throat punches and careful micro-management of who gets hit (to avoid Nemesis bonus) can really save you from a LOT of pain in this one.

Starting to despair after my second attempt. D: Proletariat brings out Everyman's Strength right before Fixed Point, so I can't get rid of it, and my HP just evaporates. The first time, I got a Fueled Freeze, which was a fantastic play, but somehow missed it this time. Attempt 1: Proletariat with 6 HP. Attempt 2: Blade and Proletariat, both with double-digits. It seems, once Surprise Shopping Trip comes out, that's it.

Fine for me.  The first game was a mess of not reading advanced effects and missing ongoings that were in play.  The second I was super close, but I still managed to get messed over by Fixed Point (Baron not dying leaving devices with DR).  The 3rd game everybody lived with low HP, but hey, everybody lived.

Mint.

Everybody at 5HP or under at the end.  Felt lucky to have Fixed Point come out on the turn that Legacy played Take Down. That was VERY helpful.

All heroes had their shining moments, but I felt like Wraith was my MVP. Smoke bombs kept Legacy from incapacitation, Razor Ordinance with MicroTargeting Computer dealt the most damage of any other power by far (it's the power I used to activate with Legacy most often, too), and Throat Jabs and Grappling Hooks were essential, I found. A co-MVP was Legacy with Take Downs and Heroic Interceptions.

Ermine first (took longer than I wanted), Fright Train 2nd, Friction 3rd (wanted it to be Proletariat, but he kept hanging on!), 4th Proletariat (took a long time), and Blade was last. Blade, because of Negation Bands, was almost at full HP by the time I got to him, and it looked grim, because all heroes were in low single digits, but with no other help, Blade went down pretty quickly (a couple of well-placed Razor Ordinances went a long way).

Legacy at 1HP, Bunker 4HP, Tachyon 3HP, Absolute Zero 5HP and Wraith 5HP.

Huh.  In my game, Everyman's Strength came out several turns before Fixed Point, and I never saw Surprise Shopping Trip.  This game has a lot of effects that change how the decks play out - try adjusting your path and see if you can find a more optimal set of environment plays.  I never got rid of Constant Prattle until I killed Ermine, and I never used Adhesive Foam Grenades.

I never saw Everyman's Strength nor Surprise Shopping Trip.

I got rid of Constant Prattle on Bunker's first turn.

Lots of variables on this one.

Yah, in my second game (that was a fail), I took out Defensive Formation early, which meant that all the clones dropped shortly after, so Everyman's Strength was brutal.  As a result, in my third (successful) game, I left Defensive Formation out and completely ignored the clones.  That way Everyman did almost nothing.  I didn't take it out until a late game when Fueled Freeze let me take out Defensive Formation, Everyman's Strength, and Speedy Sidestep all at once (and AE for 5 thanks to IP and Apertures).

Just curious, but why would you ever want to prioritise taking out Constant Prattle over Baron Blade's Enhanced Physique?

I prioritized taking out the Pantsuit as well; maybe I should try dropping Prattle instead and see what happens.

Yeah…just had a feeling Ermine was going to be annoying in this one…I almost always save Blade for last in Vengeance games and tend to ignore his play area until I need to address it. May be not the soundest strategy, but it worked in this instance.

That's what I do in almost every Vengeance match I play. Constant Prattle synergizes  too well with Friction, and I really hate how it works with Heavy Hitter. By contrast, Heavy Hitter can be mitigated more easily once Constant Prattle is gone and you know what's on top of a hero's deck (that hero has a draw 1 play 1, you have a way to play the top card of a hero deck, etc).

I leave Constant Prattle out situationally, if I have a way of trash-searching like Vernal Sonata or Reclaim From the Deep at the start of the game, or if I happen to have a match with Tachyon but without Friction. Otherwise, it gets trashed ASAP, before Enhanced Physique (usually my second Ongoing target).

Mint. I blew up Constant Prattle in round 1 and was rewarded in round 2 with some sweet, sweet Fueled Freeze action. Damage MVP Wraith had a triple Impromptu Invention that set her up for good just after Ermine went down. Burned an LSB early (7 damage) to make sure that happened. My kill order was Ermine / Fright Train (same round), Proletariat / Blade (same round), then finished off Friction. All heroes survived with 2-3 HP.

Oh, and like others, I left Crushing Hallway out, it helped as much as or more than it hurt.

Three tries, and I just can't figure out how people are beating this. I took out Constant Prattle first this time, which allowed me to get that Fueled Freeze when it was needed, not to mention I don't know that I ever saw Everyman's Strength. By the time Crushing Hallway came out, though, I couldn't afford the damage to the team. I couldn't keep cards in play, I couldn't recover from the constant destruction, and no matter what I did, the villains were just dealing more damage than I ever could. It didn't help that Vyktor showed up eventually and started straight killing my heroes.

If you're careful about which ongoings you play and destroy, you can get an extra round out of Heroic Interception. Just make sure someone else has an Ongoing out for Ermine to blow up, then put HI back on Legacy's deck. Makes quite a difference. I screwed that up on my Mint run or I probably would have had a hero or two over 10 HP.

Didn't work. Legacy drew it the round after, then Blade hit him and made him discard it. I ended up losing my last three heroes to Vyktor on that game.

Here are a few tips that might help.

1. First round, legacy will be unable to do damage, but can make himself immune to melee. This will spare you some pain with Fright Train, friction, and proletariat.

2. Take out Baron Blade's ongoing ASAP. Constant prattle is annoying, but Ermine is target #1, so she won't be around long. 1st round, you can use Bunker's Locomotion to get rid of it.

3. Let Crushing Hallway stay out the entire game. 

4. Wraith's base power works great against Ermine and Fright Train. Until Ermine goes down, use it and sacrifice equipment from AZ and Wraith in order to keep Bunker's flak cannon out. 

5. Make ABSOLUTELY sure that you have a sacrificial ongoing in play before Ermine's turn if you want to keep things like Heroic interception in play during the Hallway... two sacrificial ongoings if Calypso is out. 

6. Once Ermine goes down (don't be afraid to use an early LSB for 5 damage or so to do it) drop Fright Train. He cranks out a lot of consistent damage, and if you've been using Last Stand on Legacy and Wraith's turn, he'll be close to dead. Don't be afraid to use things like Throat Jabs purely for the extra damage. 

7. Once the Negation Bands come out, chip away at them with Bunker's cannon, but let the Hallway finish them off. Focus on powering down Friction. 

8. I know it's tempting to use the 2nd Heroic interception, but consider waiting a turn. Legacy can do damage to finish off the bands, put down fortitude to tank a bit... it all depends on what you need at that moment. If Everyman's Strength or Fixed Point is out, go for it.

9. Get rid of Everyman's strength ASAP  and defensive measures, if you haven't already.  I prefer stripping him of defenses early on, so that the Hallway can do it's work unhindered.

10. Once Baron Blade is gone, finish off Friction. The constant damage from the Hallway will have everyone low, but hopefully you have more heroes up and running, and the hallways should have crushed her stolen gear by now...

11. Get AZ's equipment set up ASAP once Ermine dies  I'd reccomend getting the focused apertures out first, then modular realigning a null point so that you can tank a bit, then isothermic.  At that point...

12 Proletariat is the last one standing. Gang up on him. 

As usual, I've been trying to play a couple of warm-up matches (same heroes/villains/environment) to get used to the combos/strategies....  Geez, this matchup is tough!  I've played about 5 warm-ups, and lost every single one.  What you need against this group of villains is damage, LOTS of it, and quickly.  Unfortunately, this group of heroes takes so long to get set up and going, and with Ermine taking out 1-2 cards a turn, I can never get anything going soon enough to avoid getting slaughtered.  I try to take out Ermine first, but since everyone is SO dependent upon loads of equipment/ongoings to do consistent damage, I can never keep anything in play long enough to be able to beat up on her -- it usually takes me 3-4 rounds to be able to knock her out.  By that time, all of my heroes are down to single digits (or close to it), and the villains are all still in the high teens/20s.  

I think I'd prefer this matchup with the *NON*-Freedom Six versions of the heroes; Legacy could instantly buff everyone instead of waiting for Inspiring Presence, AZ could begin healing himself almost right away while he waits to get his combos in play, and Wraith could use her base power to avoid getting creamed.

[UPDATE:  Tried the actual one-shot, and Minted it.  I think this is one of the rare one-shots where the actual game is easier than the practice rounds.  The Fueled Freeze was a godsend, Blade never got out the Implosion Beam (which makes Tachyon almost useless, and makes it nearly impossible to keep up with all of the Ongoing/Equipment destruction), and Surprise Shopping Trip never came up.] 

[2ND UPDATE:  I was so P.O.ed at this villain setup that I put together a special team to give them a beat-down:   Regular Legacy, Scholar, Ra, SkyScraper, and Regular Wraith.  Even on Advanced, it wasn't a challenge:   Drawn to the Flame and Legacy's buffs meant 4+ AOE damage every round, and between Scholar's card draw and SkyScraper's throwing out Links as destruction bait Ermine didn't do much.  Ended with 17, 25, 23, 15, and 19]

You'd miss the regular damage pumped out by AZ and the Wraith, then, not to mention the card draw of Tachyon and at several points of this match, Bunker's ability to reliably get rid of Ongoings is an absolute necessity too ;)

Just beat it with my entire team in negative HP.  Thank you Fixed Point!

My first few tries, I lost due to Fixed Point, because Proletariat had a clone in play with negative health so all damage still got redirected to it.  Nasty.

I don’t remember how, but I minted this one. Just for the record.