Best ASCENSION cards at each price

TheDukester wrote:

jeb wrote: But hey, first turn, {4}/{1} hand, head-to-head: Twofold Askara or Arbiter of the Precipice. You take Arbiter?

First turn? I'd take it every time. The early opportunities for thinning combined with the immediate deck-cycling are just too good to pass up. Twofold, OTOH, will spend a few turns being an Apprentice clone.

Same answer for second turn, too.

Absolutely true. 100 times out of 100 I take Arbiter there. I'll try to catch up to the rest of the thread in a minute but this one is super obvious to me. Twofold is a great card, but it's not #1 at the 4-slot unless the game is at least half-over.

hotseatgames wrote: My former main strategy was to build as much combat power as possible. Unfortunately, too many games result in a dearth of monsters, so that strategy is just not consistently viable.

My new angle focuses on drawing as many cards and banishing as many cards as possible.

That's pretty much THE strategy, at least in these circles. Of all the guys I regularly play with, we all seem to build draw decks, it's just such an important strategy.

I do play the computer at level 2 several times a day though, and I find she seems to beat me 40-45% of the time, playing almost straight aggro, I've tried to replicate that strategy both vs the computer and online, and it almost never works for me, certainly not as frequently as it does for her.

It's really tough to say 'the best,' obviously, since each buy and kill is situational based on your deck, your opponent's deck, the rest of the row and how far along the game is. But I'll try to agree/disagree with Jeb's rankings and just carry the discussion from there.

At {1}:
Best: Arha Initiate -- worth a VP, replaces itself when drawn. Harmless.
Case could be made for: Lifebound Initiate. Can ring up a lot of extra VP if taken early, but late game can clog up a deck that is running smoothly. Obviously improves if you are Lifebound heavy and can use it to power up Runic Lycanthrope and Dandelion Witch.

Arha is a decent choice. If both Void and Arha initiates were on the board I'd probably take void, but Arha isn't bad. Lifebound is 3rd or maybe 4th best IMO- Guardian of Sadranis needs to be in play at this spot. For a power deck it is insane- It turns an awful kill like Samael's Trickster into 2/3 of a Wind Tyrant, and lets you get ACTUAL value out of Sordid Asp rather than just the implied value of preventing a 5-honor swing.

At {2}:
Best: Temple Librarian -- Amazing card. Gets through the deck faster, sets up your hand, worth a point, replaces itself++. Nothing close at this price.
Arguably: Deathseeker -- Strictly better than Heavy Infantry. But come on--compared to Temple Librarian?

Yeah, Temple's a solid choice here, and hard to disagree with. Honorable mention to Seer of the Forked Path (if you or your opponent has a defined strategy, knocking harmful/beneficial cards off the board is SO important- for example if you are going mechana you need these to keep Corrosive Widows & Sea Tyrants off), and also to Great Omen Raven- kinda meh by itself but combined with other lifebound effects (the two Stone Circle cards especially) can really make a LB deck tick.

At {3}:
Best: Lunar Stag -- Strictly better than Mystic, and if you go through your deck quickly, taking this for 2 VP everytime it shows up is good stuff.
Cases can be made for: Burrower Mark II -- replaces itself when drawn and is worth 3 VP. Nice buy at {3}. Shadowstar -- Worth 2 VP and can be the key to pushing you over the 5 power hump to get some of the juicy badguys. Runic Lycanthrope -- Starts out strictly better than Mystic and can be nuts in a Lifebound deck.

I like Lycan a little better than Stag, because its potential power can put you over the top to certain monsters pretty easily, esp with a LB initiate or something. But Lunar Stag is more generically useful I suppose. Some love here should go to Arha Sensei for its extreme versatility and banishing.

At {4}:
Best: Twofold Askara -- Unless you suck, this is autobuy if available. It duplicates your best card in hand. I would take this over everything else even if it was worth only 1 VP.
Arguably: Arbiter of the Precipice -- Taken early, the tightening effect on your deck is so worth it. Late game appearance in the center row makes me frown. Dandelion Witch -- Man alive, can I get a ton of points off this thing in the right deck. Replaces itself!

As I stated before I absolutely switch Arbiter & Twofold in these rankings, although I admit twofold CAN be more devastating late-game, Arbiter can get you TO late game with a much more efficient deck, and let your mid-game turns mean a lot more. Dandelion Witch is an engine card- if your opponent has 3-4 lifebound already you HAVE to buy it away from him or it can just win the game. You could make a case for Reclamax here too, TBH- I think it's slightly undercosted at 4.

At {5}:
Best: Flytrap Witch -- Toughest level to pick for me. There's a lot of good stuff here. But 2VP for the card itself, 2 VP every time it pops up, and replacing itself makes this a potent purchase, regardless of build.
Cases can be made for: Tablet of Time's Dawn: Tricky card. You have to cough up 2 VP and a draw to play it and hope that the turn you get from it yields more. It usually does. Eternal Askara -- can solve some problems (e.g., Sordid Asp out there and you are ahead) and gives you VP to boot. I could talk about Stone Circle and Ascetic of the Lidless Eye here too.

I have written elsewhere about the trickiness of Tablet, so I agree with you there. I think Ascetic is the #1, but that's just because I'm a draw whore. Witch gives you vp, but in the absence of a way to multiply her out, Ascetic is more generically useful bang-for-buck. Eternal Askara is a card that I fight with because it's terminal and is mostly dead in your hand if there are 0 or 1 monsters on the board, but its 3 VP makes it an acceptable buy at times. Early game Watchmaker's Alter is something that both players can aim for and whoever gets it knows not to go construct, so it can define both players' decks pretty easily.

At {6}:
Best: Nairi, Henge Queen -- 8VP for {6}, basically. Maybe more. Don't take her if there's zero chance you will draw her, you can likely turn up 6VP of Mechana with your loot otherwise. But if you will draw her, possibly twice? Or, please God, with Twofold Askara? Mercy.
Case could be made for: The All-Seeing Eye -- Great ability. Drawing more cards is important, and drawing them when you want to is even better.

This is one I debate back and forth with myself, because you want Henge Queen early because you want to see her a lot, but you ALSO want All-Seeing early because you want to get it fast to draw. I think this one really comes down to what you have already and what else is on the board- if you're going for a LB deck and can get even more points off the queen via Witch or Snapdragon, she's the way to go.

At {7}:
Best: Project Alpha -- You can almost never get this without some kind of Mechana construct help, so it's at least going to net you a point a turn as you rake in Heavy Infantry or Initiates. Probably the only {7} cost card that you can count on drawing and using before the game ends. Especially good with Rocket Courier X-99.
Case can be made for: Sadranis, Dark Emissary -- By the time you can play him there is a world of dead critters to select from. You should with confidence be able to blow up constructs with a Sea Tyrant, hit the hand with Vaultbreaker Wurm, maybe sneak 5 VP with Sordid Asp, &c.

Sadranis is pretty sexy, I'll admit...surprised to see no love for Master Dartha at this spot. If you can get him early enough he will absolutely change the game, although his low points make him tough to justify late game. You're probably right even though I have a soft spot for Dartha.

At {8}:
Best: Hedron Cannon -- You can't count on being able to draw Adayu, the Chosen. If you can Stone Circle and draw him for sure--then take him, and you are sure to get more than 8 VP for {8}.

Adayu is sexy if you have twofold and/or the Circle, like you said, but Hedron is 8 for 8. Can't pass it up.

At {3}:
Best: Sordid Asp -- No question. Gains you or prevents a 5 VP swing.

Yup. Gorph has surprisingly good points at this spot and is often overlooked but Asp is a must-kill for either side of the equation pretty much.

At {4}:
Best: Corrosive Widow -- 3VP and it will eat up a draw of the opponent, in addition to potentially stalling development, depending on how much they needed that construct.

I disagree here- I like Mistake of Creation better, because Banishing from a monster slot is always good. Helps you control the board (clear off a bad asp or Sea Tyrant, etc) AND thins your deck. 1 more point than Corrosive. If they have exactly 1 construct out and it's a beatstick like an All-Seeing Eye or Grand Design, sure, knock it off OR if you don't have a discard pile to banish from. Other than that though I prefer Mistake.

At {5}:
Best: Sea Tyrant -- 5VP and potentially ruinous for the opponent. And in multiplayer? Fuhgeddaboutit.

Seems reasonable. Best points at this level, and yes, crushes construct strats at inopportune times. Look for Wind Tyrant if you're just short on something though, it can carry you to an early Dartha or Adayu.

At {6}:
Best: Xeron, Duke of Fuck You -- This is it. You are TAKING points from an opponent and giving them to YOU. Yes, we have all gotten an Apprentice with him, but man, if you take something even remotely decent? Best card in the game.

Earth Tyrant, IMO. Yeah, this guy CAN be devastating, and if you know your opponent has been banishing bad cards a lot so you are GUARANTEED to hit a winner, roll the dice, but I prefer the better points and the sure thing.