Set 2 Card by Card Review - Gowen

[teasel]

raise shield (and we can all agree that DF>HP) also didn't gets too much love...
again i understand is to all the units,and that the lizard still loves it but to me it just doesn't seems worth the waste of 2 SP and the turn and nobody on the field still has proved that

[Candi]

Can we all agree that Def>HP with so much LeBeau hate in the world? I guess if you play Gowen and pack an EX DeFau then you think it's a great idea, everyone should super buff!

Yes defense > HP in most cases - but this is a special case, it's Gowen. Gowen decks rush beat and kill - defense or HP is all survivability, Dryad + Fairy Dance + Devouring Lizard = Imminent doom. Then again, we all know what happens to the big fat creature - it gets smushed by something mean and likely grimoire.

Raise Shield came with Refess Set 1 - when Refess was under powered and struggling to maintain field position. They couldn't afford the grim when they had more important cards to play. Now that Refess *can* hold their ground we may see Raise Shield coming back into the game - or not since they have more fancy grims to throw around (re: judgment hammer). ]

Meta determines the value of any given card - in set 1 Raise Shield was not part of the metagame so it was ignored and tossed aside for the most part. With set 2 we get Fairy Dance, is it in the meta? I've heard so - I don't play much at the moment, so I don't *really* know - I do spend a lot of time in the chat room talking to the regular players (Xovian, Romdeau et. al.) and they seem to feel Fairy Dance is an important part of the metagame as it stands. I can see how it can be a very useful card - and I am sure you can too - though you just haven't run across it.

If you had never run up against Holy Dragon / Coatl files would you still disbelieve their power? In all honesty, I did - never fought it yet but there's enough whinnying about it that it is definitely a power house.

But, as you said, to you it is a waste of 2 SP - to others it's a blessing (lol).

EDIT: It's not the cards but how you use them.

[DanTheTimid]

I think Raise Shield would have seen alot more play if it was 2 sp like fairy dance, at 3 sp it was costing you a turn and a halfs worth of sp, you literally had to save up to play it, very hard to do when refess doesn't have any good level 1 units, and it made it even harder to get alot of defense boosts out of raise shield since if your saving for it, thats less units your playing to the field and less your reviving every turn as well. Conversely Gowen has a ton of great level 1 units, is the king of swarm so they can very easily have a large field of units if they so desire, and fairy dance costs only 2 so it requires no saving. Combine that with all the current meta combos its popular with or against and Fairy Dance has ALOT more potential to be useful then Raise Shield ever will (unless its ever errata'd, poor over priced card).

[Phades]

[card=252]Petrification[/card]
eeeehhh you can see this as a crappier version of soul bind,or as a way to buy an extra turn assuming a creature is on your side of the field... not really that spectacular altough you could abuse the fact that the creature gets agi 0 and hit it with mystere assuming you are splashing gowen in a falkow deck (not likely to happen)

2/5

Take that card and slap it on something fast and nasty. Then take [card=176]EX: The Red Mantle / DeFau[/card] and slap it on it.

Yeah it takes 2 turns and 1 extra SP to pull off, but you should be able to net a death in the process while stalling his nasty unit and get +30 atk out of the deal. Yes it is complicated and can fail, but this is the style of synergy that gowen is already known for. There is a certain falkow character that comes to mind in conjunction with this combo, but that is getting a little too specific of a target.

General purpose work, yeah it can only ensure one death and whatever is buffed probably won't survive long in today's game, but it is something to consider. Also considering today's game, defau would make a decent sacrifice to an assassin SS making him a rather complicated grimoire after all things are said and done.

[Romdeau]

Phades, you cannot use this card in synergy with EX Defau as the grim lasts only for a turn; even if Defau is set immediately after it is played, the effect is gone.

[Candi]

Phades, you cannot use this card in synergy with EX Defau as the grim lasts only for a turn; even if Defau is set immediately after it is played, the effect is gone.

Hrm, card wording can be interpreted that the engaging is for the turn - but what would be the point of giving a unit AGI = 0 and engaging it if the stat mod is turn only? Anyone tested it?

[teasel]

umm i said it what would be the point

not really that spectacular altough you could abuse the fact that the creature gets agi 0 and hit it with mystere assuming you are splashing gowen in a falkow deck (not likely to happen)

there are also other cards that care about agi like the ones who deal damage to every slow creature/fast creatures

[Phades]

Usually grimoire stat adjustments are permenant which made the card deceptive. Actually i dont even understand why they made the card in the first place then, since you could just use Rougeerst insteadl. Of course this is in the same set where they gave every sphere +sp cards, so i guess they weren't thinking that far down the line.

[Romdeau]

It's my understanding that Gowen has a few units now that bypass DF and directly subtract HP (Devouring Lizard, Hungry Ork )-so this could a round of free ownage if they have a lone killer on the frontlines that is just one speedy and damage dealing dude (Chaos Ogre, Earth Dragon, Fenir, etc.). If I were playing Gowen and I had the right DF bypassing units, I'd consider tossing this into my deck as well.

[Phades]

It's my understanding that Gowen has a few units now that bypass DF and directly subtract HP (Devouring Lizard, Hungry Ork )-so this could a round of free ownage if they have a lone killer on the frontlines that is just one speedy and damage dealing dude (Chaos Ogre, Earth Dragon, Fenir, etc.). If I were playing Gowen and I had the right DF bypassing units, I'd consider tossing this into my deck as well.

60~70 damage (assuming salamander soldier) is not nearly enough considering how slow those 2 units are. This is also ignoring the fact that devouring lizard can only target units already engaged and costs SP. Basically, if the opponent has 2 units on the field at 3 or greater agl (originally) the strategy fails, never mind not hitting hard enough to make it worthwhile.

There are other considerations as well, like corruption that could potentially overwrite the 0 AGL clause for anything that would target it. Basically, since the attribute change is not permenant, the only use this has is if you are playing the dragon emperor and you think an assassin SS is going to trigger, so you set this card to use on yourself, which protects the emperor from the assassin and gives it +30 defense to soak damage from whatever might be plinking at it that turn. Otherwise it seems like a total waste of a turn.