by Chris Medico
Hello and welcome to the draft preview for the Aftermath expansion. Once again we will be discussing some of the key cards and strategies available within the set and how they might play out within limited play. Rules for the Emperor Edition Draft format can be found on the L5R Rules site if you need a refresher: http://rules.l5r.com/EE_Booster_Draft.
Being the final set in the Emperor Edition arc, Aftermath introduces some of the ideas and concepts that will play out as we transition into Ivory. The combination of new abilities and a solid mix of different types of available strategies should lead to dynamic format that changes based on the mix of packs that are used. To dig deeper into the format that will be played at your local release event, here are the core concepts of a draft environment:
- What are the mechanics and themes of the set?
- How do I stop an early attack?
- What are the strongest common and uncommon cards, and how do I take advantage of them?
Reservations for One
Aftermath introduces two new mechanics that greatly expand your options: Reserve and Discipline. Reserve gives you the ability to buy a personality or attachment in the middle of a battle, while Discipline allows you to reuse a Strategy an additional time by removing it from the game and paying an additional cost. Both of these abilities give you access to increased card advantage and utility that can give you the leg up versus opponents who do not have it available.
Reserve can make a big difference regardless of whether you are honor or military. It has the potential to give the attacker an extra body if they need it or just stay in the province and wait for your opponent to defend while you build up your forces. On the defense it can help shore up your numbers or give you presence against a cavalry attacker. While every clan received a Reserve personality, it is important to note that some are at a higher rarity than others. This means that while Kakita Ujirou and Tamori Shinji serve the same role in a defensive draft deck, Ujirou is far more likely to bust down your door and run into battle, sometimes even for free if your opponent is a Mantis player, making playing a Mantis military deck versus a Crane opponent a more risky proposition.
Discipline has some interesting draft implications beyond just the reuse of a Strategy. Since The Governor’s Estate requires you to discard a card to use the action, Discipline cards are a great tool to get around the cost. Normally you cannot use a Discipline card twice on the same turn, but pitching it with the stronghold and then using it from the discard pile gives you two actions from the same card. This is exemplified in cards such as Banzai!, which alone is just a +2 force bonus, but when used in this manner can provide a 4 point force swing instead.
Putting a Stop to Aggressive Behavior
Aftermath-only draft is a bit slower than the pure Gates of Chaos format, but that does not mean that you cannot pull off an early attack. There are a significant number of cheap personalities, the most notable of which is Goju Obayashi who can provide a large amount of force in a cost efficient manner. Add in a cheap attachment and a force pump from the stronghold and you are at province taking force with only a small amount of investment. The best way to prevent this line of play is Breaking the Rhythm, a very strong Common that enables you to stop force bonuses or penalties without any presence. This card is incredibly versatile and can counteract a multitude of different force affecting actions that your opponent will play.
Another Common way to prevent these attacks is Strategic Withdrawal, which can pare down your opponent’s force while protecting one of your personalities. It also gives you the means to run away with a bowed personality if a battle has gone south or even straighten a key personality on the defense when paired with Return to Action.
The Nexus of Truth
Aside from the usual collection of quality Rare holdings, there is a common holding that plays a large role when drafting Aftermath: Nexus of Lies. A 4 cost holding that produces 4 gold is very powerful when you typically will only be buying a facedown 2 producing holding on the first turn. However, do not overlook the honor loss trait that is also included on the card. Since everyone will be running The Governor’s Estate for their stronghold, each copy of Nexus will increase self-inflicted honor losses by 4, which can quickly get out of hand if you have multiples. This makes cards with normally innocuous honor losses like Legion of the Fallen and A Small Favor a much riskier proposition in high honor clan pairings.
Aftermath continues the development trend of having interactive personalities for every clan at lower rarities. This should provide many opportunities for back-and-forth battles where you and your opponent trade actions and try to gain the upper hand. Whether it is modifying force with Bayushi Mifuyu, bowing someone with Kaiu Gorobei, Reserving in and drawing a card with Matsu Ryohei, or giving in to temptation with the Onyx Champion Kitsune Kichi and her companion, you should always be able to influence the results of a battle in interesting ways.
There are also a large variety of Strategies available to mix up the format. Terrains once again play a large role as both Hold the Walls and Lonely Battlefield create blanket force reduction that can singlehandedly change the course of a battle. Lost Equipment, Lost in Transit, and Suffer the Consequences help you deal with problem attachments. A Warrior’s Brutality, Marshal Your Strength, and the aforementioned Banzai! can aid you in out forcing your opponent or make up for force penalties. Unholy Strike provides a surprise kill action or enables your other melee or ranged actions to hit larger targets. All together these cards should allow you to build an interesting fate deck that is full of options and leads to a different game play experience each time you draft.
Maintaining Proper Discipline
While my team and I joined playtest during the development of Gates of Chaos, Aftermath was the first expansion that we were able to test from the beginning and work with Bryan and his design team throughout the process. It was great to see the positive feedback on the previous expansion and I cannot wait to see how Aftermath plays out. As always, feel free to comment on the forum and lets us know the results of your release drafts and your thoughts on the format.
Good luck and watch out for evil badgers.
No comments :
Post a Comment