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Rockin' with The Cultists
by Anansi Thu Jun 25, 2009 10:05 pm
Spamming with Style Smile since 1963..
For two weeks, I ran the so-called, "elf cultist spam" in ladder match. I got flamed A LOT, have been called a noob, and even referred to as "not using a proper deck." Still, I got the data that I wanted. I don't give a damn to criticisms anyway and I want to punish Saboteurs too (too bad, my punisher squad got punished by saboteurs on one occasion). By the way, I made this for those who are interested in investing cc's for Cultists of Aradaan (as I've seen lots of new players looking for this in the Marketplace) so that they can have an idea of what they can expect.
THE DECK
Two squads of:
1 Grovekeeper Dyrbral
5 Cultist of Aradaan
1 Treehold Barrier
Highest Rating: 2304
Lowest Rating: 1993
Not bad for a "spam" eh? The deck has 70% win percentage or even higher in some occasions.
DECK DISSECTION
Hero: I used Landen at first but he's just too fragile and slow. I know he can one-shot flying units but most fliers can be easily outrushed (with the exception of the Giant Eagles). I could have used Wilaren too but I find him a bit slow. Still, he can be better than Landen in some cases. After some dry-runs, I ended up with the Grovekeeper. What he lacks in sheer power is compensated by his stayability plus he has 4-wait and can easily be deployed. He can also be used as a "wall" if he comes in the frontlines if facing a slow squad, he can "tank" some damage, although the chances of that occuring is a bit slim as the cultists are blazing fast.
Units: I could have used 12 cultists but I opted with 10 plus 2 'holds, sacrificing speed for some stayability. Some people will surely argue about this but I thought of the same concept with the Basic Bashers post that I made - 10 rushers plus 2 baddies, but the panther doesn't seem to sync too well with the elves so I went with the 'holds and got better results. The 'holds can act as tanks too if ever they're able to come out in front plus with them in play, the cultists are able to survive to take a second hit from the eagle which is good since eagles require two hits to be killed by 2-power archers.
Here are some battle links to show the effectivity of the tree holds:
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32c401-4138-4b9b-862c-6734c0a8012d
Without the treeholds, winning this one would be hard as the orc infantries can pretty much one-shot my cultists.
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32acb0-ed14-4112-b672-0254c0a80130
I would have lost this match too without the treeholds as the drake could have killed both cultists.
Why 2 treeholds? Well, I just followed the formula that Fujita Aoki used in the Basic Bashers. Having 2 already slows the deck and anything beyond that will surely be detrimental.
Author's Note: While writing this one, I've been using pure-cultists but I was only able to reach 2100ish with them plus dropped down to 1960ish. Still, this isn't enough proof to say that running cultists with treeholds is better.
HOW THE DECK WINS:
It's pretty much simple and I think no battle links are needed to sum this up. The deck wins by uhm outrushing your opponent, dropping his/her morale to 0 before giving him any chance to react.
HOW THE DECK LOSES:
The deck has lots of holes too as the Cultists can be easily killed due to their low health. Red Drakes are a big problem as one drake can easily kill 2 of your cultists. Losing 2 cultists is enough to hurt the deck's speed.
battle links:
vs undead tramplers
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a2faca5-09e0-4fe6-9d21-618bc0a80129
Fighting animated tramplers is pretty much an auto lose as they can come out pretty fast when tiered up, can one-shot your cultists, and can come out from the dead. In this link, I was able to drop a treehold but that barely helped as Dez's deck is just too much for the Cultists.
vs a human "pseudo-rush"
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a34133d-6f38-425d-82ef-6111c0a80129
On this link, I fought a human pseudo-rush with retaliators and some flying/zap support. I was able to drop his health to 1 but notice how the deck slowly ran out of gas in the end? That's a problem too while eagles take 2 shots from regular 2-attack archers to kill.
vs orc/undead control
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32c490-c60c-4382-9505-4694c0a8012e
This match is pretty much one-sided as Root Beer dropped the orcish blaster early. This could be much more one-sided if I used human cultists.
vs human saboteurs
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32c4e8-e728-40da-a9e0-462dc0a8012e
The moment I saw the Zarin opening, I knew it was over as he can tank and zap a cultist at the same time. It's really a shame losing to a saboteur deck, but hats off to Y2trips as he made an unconventional saboteur squad.
vs human/elf control
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32b928-2904-4e92-ac18-2d69c0a80127
The Alric opening plus the werewolf and icebow archer early out = game over...
vs demons
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32ac44-1378-42d6-8d56-0cfcc0a80127
We can see here how cultists can be easily handled by the drakes as the treeholds were not able to protect them (hence Blaze's comment about how worthless treeholds are). Still, this demon deck is pretty much the bane of cultists because of Flaming/Firebreath plus Recycle. Outrushing this deck is perhaps the only way the cultist will be able to beat it.
vs elf basics! (yep! basics..)
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32ac02-31b4-4e0f-9bdc-4615c0a80126
It seems that the deck ran out of gas here plus Forest Crawlers are just too overwhelming for the Cultists... really.
FINAL
Well, still lovin cultists? This post was made not to dissuade people from using cultists but to show some of their strengths and weaknesses (even though there is a huge space given to losses than the wins). Still, there are other builds out there like using Gwyn + Demonic Ritual instead of barriers. In my case though, I only have T3 Rits and I don't think they are fast enough. I haven't tested the deck post-Mercs though. There are lots of fast units in the Mercenaries expansion but most have morale loss to play. Perhaps this can prove helpful to this deck as you only have to deal a small amount of damage and let the opponent end the match on his own, but don't take my word for this as I haven't done any testing yet. Perhaps I'll try if I can get my hands on an Apocalypse spell or two, but for now, I'll leave this up to the others who want to try Rocking with The Cultists...
For two weeks, I ran the so-called, "elf cultist spam" in ladder match. I got flamed A LOT, have been called a noob, and even referred to as "not using a proper deck." Still, I got the data that I wanted. I don't give a damn to criticisms anyway and I want to punish Saboteurs too (too bad, my punisher squad got punished by saboteurs on one occasion). By the way, I made this for those who are interested in investing cc's for Cultists of Aradaan (as I've seen lots of new players looking for this in the Marketplace) so that they can have an idea of what they can expect.
THE DECK
Two squads of:
1 Grovekeeper Dyrbral
5 Cultist of Aradaan
1 Treehold Barrier
Highest Rating: 2304
Lowest Rating: 1993
Not bad for a "spam" eh? The deck has 70% win percentage or even higher in some occasions.
DECK DISSECTION
Hero: I used Landen at first but he's just too fragile and slow. I know he can one-shot flying units but most fliers can be easily outrushed (with the exception of the Giant Eagles). I could have used Wilaren too but I find him a bit slow. Still, he can be better than Landen in some cases. After some dry-runs, I ended up with the Grovekeeper. What he lacks in sheer power is compensated by his stayability plus he has 4-wait and can easily be deployed. He can also be used as a "wall" if he comes in the frontlines if facing a slow squad, he can "tank" some damage, although the chances of that occuring is a bit slim as the cultists are blazing fast.
Units: I could have used 12 cultists but I opted with 10 plus 2 'holds, sacrificing speed for some stayability. Some people will surely argue about this but I thought of the same concept with the Basic Bashers post that I made - 10 rushers plus 2 baddies, but the panther doesn't seem to sync too well with the elves so I went with the 'holds and got better results. The 'holds can act as tanks too if ever they're able to come out in front plus with them in play, the cultists are able to survive to take a second hit from the eagle which is good since eagles require two hits to be killed by 2-power archers.
 |  |
Here are some battle links to show the effectivity of the tree holds:
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32c401-4138-4b9b-862c-6734c0a8012d
Without the treeholds, winning this one would be hard as the orc infantries can pretty much one-shot my cultists.
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32acb0-ed14-4112-b672-0254c0a80130
I would have lost this match too without the treeholds as the drake could have killed both cultists.
Why 2 treeholds? Well, I just followed the formula that Fujita Aoki used in the Basic Bashers. Having 2 already slows the deck and anything beyond that will surely be detrimental.
Author's Note: While writing this one, I've been using pure-cultists but I was only able to reach 2100ish with them plus dropped down to 1960ish. Still, this isn't enough proof to say that running cultists with treeholds is better.
HOW THE DECK WINS:
It's pretty much simple and I think no battle links are needed to sum this up. The deck wins by uhm outrushing your opponent, dropping his/her morale to 0 before giving him any chance to react.
HOW THE DECK LOSES:
The deck has lots of holes too as the Cultists can be easily killed due to their low health. Red Drakes are a big problem as one drake can easily kill 2 of your cultists. Losing 2 cultists is enough to hurt the deck's speed.
battle links:
vs undead tramplers
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a2faca5-09e0-4fe6-9d21-618bc0a80129
Fighting animated tramplers is pretty much an auto lose as they can come out pretty fast when tiered up, can one-shot your cultists, and can come out from the dead. In this link, I was able to drop a treehold but that barely helped as Dez's deck is just too much for the Cultists.
vs a human "pseudo-rush"
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a34133d-6f38-425d-82ef-6111c0a80129
On this link, I fought a human pseudo-rush with retaliators and some flying/zap support. I was able to drop his health to 1 but notice how the deck slowly ran out of gas in the end? That's a problem too while eagles take 2 shots from regular 2-attack archers to kill.
vs orc/undead control
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32c490-c60c-4382-9505-4694c0a8012e
This match is pretty much one-sided as Root Beer dropped the orcish blaster early. This could be much more one-sided if I used human cultists.
vs human saboteurs
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32c4e8-e728-40da-a9e0-462dc0a8012e
The moment I saw the Zarin opening, I knew it was over as he can tank and zap a cultist at the same time. It's really a shame losing to a saboteur deck, but hats off to Y2trips as he made an unconventional saboteur squad.
vs human/elf control
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32b928-2904-4e92-ac18-2d69c0a80127
The Alric opening plus the werewolf and icebow archer early out = game over...
vs demons
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32ac44-1378-42d6-8d56-0cfcc0a80127
We can see here how cultists can be easily handled by the drakes as the treeholds were not able to protect them (hence Blaze's comment about how worthless treeholds are). Still, this demon deck is pretty much the bane of cultists because of Flaming/Firebreath plus Recycle. Outrushing this deck is perhaps the only way the cultist will be able to beat it.
vs elf basics! (yep! basics..)
http://www.warstorm.com/battle/view/4a32ac02-31b4-4e0f-9bdc-4615c0a80126
It seems that the deck ran out of gas here plus Forest Crawlers are just too overwhelming for the Cultists... really.
FINAL
Well, still lovin cultists? This post was made not to dissuade people from using cultists but to show some of their strengths and weaknesses (even though there is a huge space given to losses than the wins). Still, there are other builds out there like using Gwyn + Demonic Ritual instead of barriers. In my case though, I only have T3 Rits and I don't think they are fast enough. I haven't tested the deck post-Mercs though. There are lots of fast units in the Mercenaries expansion but most have morale loss to play. Perhaps this can prove helpful to this deck as you only have to deal a small amount of damage and let the opponent end the match on his own, but don't take my word for this as I haven't done any testing yet. Perhaps I'll try if I can get my hands on an Apocalypse spell or two, but for now, I'll leave this up to the others who want to try Rocking with The Cultists...
Anansi- Posts : 50
Join date : 2009-04-04
Location : The Dreaming
Re: Rockin' with The Cultists
by ktchong Fri Jul 31, 2009 8:16 pm
Here's a newbie thinking about making an investment into a couple squads. Please analyze these:
1s:
1x Gwyn Lightbringer (T7)
3x Cultist of Aradaan (T5)
1x Treehold (T5)
2x Recycle (T7)
2s:
2x Gwyn Lightbringer (T7)
6x Cultist of Aradaan (T5)
2x Treehold (T5)
2x Recycle (T7)
2x Mobilize (T4)
I wonder how well these squads will perform in matches. What are their potential strengths and weaknesses?
For 2s, I'm thinking about using Gwyn and Recycle to continuously reclaim Mobilize, which should repeatedly boost the Cultists'/Treeholds' ATK and HPs again and again.
I may replace one of the two Mobilize's with a Battle Preparation (T5) to hasten the cycle. Is having the Battle Preparation more effective?
1s:
1x Gwyn Lightbringer (T7)
3x Cultist of Aradaan (T5)
1x Treehold (T5)
2x Recycle (T7)
2s:
2x Gwyn Lightbringer (T7)
6x Cultist of Aradaan (T5)
2x Treehold (T5)
2x Recycle (T7)
2x Mobilize (T4)
I wonder how well these squads will perform in matches. What are their potential strengths and weaknesses?
For 2s, I'm thinking about using Gwyn and Recycle to continuously reclaim Mobilize, which should repeatedly boost the Cultists'/Treeholds' ATK and HPs again and again.
I may replace one of the two Mobilize's with a Battle Preparation (T5) to hasten the cycle. Is having the Battle Preparation more effective?
ktchong- Posts : 10
Join date : 2009-07-31
Re: Rockin' with The Cultists
by Anansi Sat Aug 01, 2009 1:19 am
Hmm.. In the first build, I'd suggest going full cultists rather than going with treehold to maximize the offensive capability of your deck. Also, I think going with Apocalypse instead of Reclaim would be better. In 1S, players only have 20 morale so assuming your two Apo's will get in, which is 12 damage, you only need to do 8 damage with the cultists.
The problem with the second build is the difference between the wait time of Mobilize and the Cultists. By the time Mobilize hits the board, there is a huge chance that there are no more cultists to boost or your opponent's morale is already gone. Plus, you're running way too many spells and that would jeopardize both the offensive and defensive capabilities of your deck since the spells you're running are both too situational and the chance of drawing multiple spells is too high.
Still, if you want to try these builds, I'll try to improvise, perhaps using T4 Gwyn and Reclaim (I think the T4 version of Reclaim is even better as the higher tier comes out too early and there is a huge chance that you can only scoop one or two cards) and gladly send you some challenges so that you can see for yourself. Just send me a PM or reply to this post if you want to do some testing..
The problem with the second build is the difference between the wait time of Mobilize and the Cultists. By the time Mobilize hits the board, there is a huge chance that there are no more cultists to boost or your opponent's morale is already gone. Plus, you're running way too many spells and that would jeopardize both the offensive and defensive capabilities of your deck since the spells you're running are both too situational and the chance of drawing multiple spells is too high.
Still, if you want to try these builds, I'll try to improvise, perhaps using T4 Gwyn and Reclaim (I think the T4 version of Reclaim is even better as the higher tier comes out too early and there is a huge chance that you can only scoop one or two cards) and gladly send you some challenges so that you can see for yourself. Just send me a PM or reply to this post if you want to do some testing..
Anansi- Posts : 50
Join date : 2009-04-04
Location : The Dreaming
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