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[HotHamBoy]

I just played the Heal Draft Challenge.

Draft is really fun in this game and it's a real shame that it isn't a regular event. I'd have no problem paying 10 gems a try with normal prize payouts.

That said, 100 Gems to enter is ridiculous! I know they were giving out juicy prizes, but like I said I just wanna play draft.

Anyway, I went 1:3 and had some very close games. It was fun getting to play with some Legendaries and other cards I don't have. Electro Wizard and Log are soooo good. Executioner hits really hard.

I never got to try Heal, my opponent always had it but I never got it as an option. I'm not sure just how effective it will be. It certainly created some stalemates that stretched on for awhile. Usually it would get dropped on a giant by one of my towers which was annoying.

Anyway, make draft a regular event!

I'd like some deck advice. My current deck has about a 50/50 chance at winning. One thing I noticed is that those odds go up or down depending on my opening hand. I need the deck to be more versatile.

Here's what I'm running:

Baby Dragon LV 3
Giant LV 6
Balloon LV 4
Muskateer LV 6
Inferno Tower LV 5
Mini Peka LV 6
Arrows LV 7
Rage LV 3

 

[Mario]

I'd like some deck advice. My current deck has about a 50/50 chance at winning. One thing I noticed is that those odds go up or down depending on my opening hand. I need the deck to be more versatile.

Here's what I'm running:

Baby Dragon LV 3
Giant LV 6
Balloon LV 4
Muskateer LV 6
Inferno Tower LV 5
Mini Peka LV 6
Arrows LV 7
Rage LV 3

Maybe try swapping out Rage for Fireball? Rage is purely a combo card whereas Fireball can be used on attack and defence on its own. Rage strikes me as problematic in that it limits your options in the opening seconds if you have it in your starting hand too.

 

[elrechazado]

I just played the Heal Draft Challenge.

Draft is really fun in this game and it's a real shame that it isn't a regular event. I'd have no problem paying 10 gems a try with normal prize payouts.

That said, 100 Gems to enter is ridiculous! I know they were giving out juicy prizes, but like I said I just wanna play draft.

Anyway, I went 1:3 and had some very close games. It was fun getting to play with some Legendaries and other cards I don't have. Electro Wizard and Log are soooo good. Executioner hits really hard.

I never got to try Heal, my opponent always had it but I never got it as an option. I'm not sure just how effective it will be. It certainly created some stalemates that stretched on for awhile. Usually it would get dropped on a giant by one of my towers which was annoying.

Anyway, make draft a regular event!

I'd like some deck advice. My current deck has about a 50/50 chance at winning. One thing I noticed is that those odds go up or down depending on my opening hand. I need the deck to be more versatile.

Here's what I'm running:

Baby Dragon LV 3
Giant LV 6
Balloon LV 4
Muskateer LV 6
Inferno Tower LV 5
Mini Peka LV 6
Arrows LV 7
Rage LV 3

Your deck is fairly expensive too. Pick your go to card, and add a couple of 1/2 cost cards so you can cycle faster.

 

[Mario]

Your deck is fairly expensive too. Pick your go to card, and add a couple of 1/2 cost cards so you can cycle faster.

Some options to shave off elixir cost while retaining similar functionality might be

Baby Dragon (4) -> Minions (3)
Musketeer (4) -> Spear Goblins (2)
Mini Pekka (4) -> Knight (3)

 

[UFO]

Here's what I'm running:

Baby Dragon LV 3
Giant LV 6
Balloon LV 4
Muskateer LV 6
Inferno Tower LV 5
Mini Peka LV 6
Arrows LV 7
Rage LV 3

50/50 win ratio sounds about right with giant/balloon/ rage. Thats a very high risk/reward deck. You'd have to play perfect or you could easily go elixir broke. Theres a reason top decks usually play a lot of low elixir decks. You should really be playing zap with giant/balloon too. I'd swap rage for zap.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Maybe try swapping out Rage for Fireball? Rage is purely a combo card whereas Fireball can be used on attack and defence on its own. Rage strikes me as problematic in that it limits your options in the opening seconds if you have it in your starting hand too.

50/50 win ratio sounds about right with giant/balloon/ rage. Thats a very high risk/reward deck. You'd have to play perfect or you could easily go elixir broke. Theres a reason top decks usually play a lot of low elixir decks. You should really be playing zap with giant/balloon too. I'd swap rage for zap.

I had zap but swapped it for arrows because zap couldn't take out minions.

Rage is an essential part of the deck in my experience and usually wins me the game. An enraged balloon can take out a tower really fast. Sometimes the giant survives long enough to get the rage effect too.

My general strategy is to just rush a lane. Inferno tower draws off a lot of threats and is key defense against Golems, Lavahounds, etc. Muskateer and mini peka are good on defense, both can do a nice chunk of damage on a tower if they survive.

Spear goblins are too soft, IMO. Arrows, log and even Zap can kill them but Muskateer survives all 3. Wizard kills the Spear Goblins in one hit but trades with Muskateer. In fact, Muskateer usually survives that match up.

I like Baby Dragon because of the splash damage. It's good for hitting weak mobs while attacking a bigger target.

 

[Absinthe]

The Heal Draft Challenge was total bullshit for me. 2 games with connection errors mid game where the wireless signal shows up on your screen then all of the sudden your game freezes. And 1 game where a message kept popping up "another device is trying to connect to this game". What a joke.

It's so frustrating to have a free run and get screwed by connection issues. I have a pretty good connection 4 bars LTE and almost never have connection problems in game, yet all of the sudden it starts happening...

 

[JDdelphin]

FYI- People with deck issues and/or people that like deck theorizing in the game- if you don't know :https://www.deckshop.pro

Best/easiest database/deckbuilder out there. It helps a lot.

 

[Ferny]

Aw, I was kicked from the GAF clan cause I was on a work trip.

That's probably my sign that I need to stop playing for a bit lol

 

[Brakke]

We have a slot open in NeoGAF (#20Y9PQ). We have a 3000 trophy requirement up right now to keep out spam, we can relax it if you want to join.

 

[Dunlop]

We have a slot open in NeoGAF (#20Y9PQ). We have a 3000 trophy requirement up right now to keep out spam, we can relax it if you want to join.

I put a request in if there is still space

 

[Kioshen]

Edit: Nevermind.

 

[nampad]

Got 12 wins with my main on the heal draft challenge
So far, I don't think the spell will be used much. It can be helpful, but like rage, it is too situational.

Aw, I was kicked from the GAF clan cause I was on a work trip.

That's probably my sign that I need to stop playing for a bit lol

Sorry Ferny, didn't know you are still playing. Right now there are 3 people inactive so we could invite you back if you want to keep playing.

 

[elrechazado]

I had zap but swapped it for arrows because zap couldn't take out minions.

Rage is an essential part of the deck in my experience and usually wins me the game. An enraged balloon can take out a tower really fast. Sometimes the giant survives long enough to get the rage effect too.

My general strategy is to just rush a lane. Inferno tower draws off a lot of threats and is key defense against Golems, Lavahounds, etc. Muskateer and mini peka are good on defense, both can do a nice chunk of damage on a tower if they survive.

Spear goblins are too soft, IMO. Arrows, log and even Zap can kill them but Muskateer survives all 3. Wizard kills the Spear Goblins in one hit but trades with Muskateer. In fact, Muskateer usually survives that match up.

I like Baby Dragon because of the splash damage. It's good for hitting weak mobs while attacking a bigger target.

all true, which is why it's a trade-off. You can't have the best of everything. Cheaper alternatives give most of the benefits, while allowing you to get to your ace cards faster and more often.

 

[Nickdogmoneycash]

Went 8-3 on the heal challenge. Kind of upset I didn't get the 25k gold (that would have been really helpful), but at least I got the giant chest which got me ~30 more heal spells. It may seem obvious to some, but one thing that I've learned by doing these challenges is, when picking between two cards, always be thinking about counters for your opponent. So if you pick a log in the first round, and then have a choice between knight and skeleton army, go with the knight. Again, that might be basic advice, but I wasn't thinking about it at all my first few challenges, and was just going with my favorite cards.

 

[Cooter]

My deck right now is working really well but damn, if I make one mistake I'm toast. Lavaloons still give me trouble (I lose) and the occasional golem deck too but I sure am handling hogs and elites well.

E Whiz
Miner
Log
Princess
Musketeer
Skelly army
Tombstone
Poison

EDIT: Ok, since post I'm getting worked by golems regulary. Arghhhh I've swapped poison for fireball and that is helping a little.

Still tinkering

Been going:

E Whiz lvl2
Miner 2
Log 2
IT (rotating princess 2) 7
Musketeer 8
Skelly army 5
Goblin Gang 10
Fireball 8

I go back and forth between the IT and princess. Each have their strengths but without the IT, Golems and Lavaloon are nearly impossible. I just hate the IT so I try my best not to use it. Just bouncing from 3600-3750. I really want 3800 so I can get that awesome special offer.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I wish I could take another run at the Heal Challenge knowing what I do now about how draft plays out. But alas. 100 gems no thanx.

Edit: How do you counter Graveyard + Rage? That shit is near insta-death for a tower. Poison? I get steamrolled by that combo, muskateer is too slow to keep up.

 

[Mario]

Edit: How do you counter Graveyard + Rage? That shit is near insta-death for a tower. Poison? I get steamrolled by that combo, muskateer is too slow to keep up.

You'd have to drop a second unit in that instance.

Valkyrie, minions, skeletons, archers are all decent counters in their own right, so any would pair up nicely with a Musketeer. If you are caught short, arrows or zap is a way to clean up a bunch of skeletons in the tower and limit further damage.

 

[HotHamBoy]

You'd have to drop a second unit in that instance.

Valkyrie, minions, skeletons, archers are all decent counters in their own right, so any would pair up nicely with a Musketeer. If you are caught short, arrows or zap is a way to clean up a bunch of skeletons in the tower and limit further damage.

The problem is coming up short on the draw. It's not uncommon for a Graveyard + Rage player to bait my arrows or other defense with skeleton army or minions.



And as it is, I don't know that I can swap out what I have.

 

[Mario]

The problem is coming up short on the draw. It's not uncommon for a Graveyard + Rage player to bait my arrows or other defense with skeleton army or minions.

If you can only drop a Musketeer in defense, that means they have a 3-4 elixir lead on you which implies you might be going a little aggressive. Important to be patient and wait for your elixir to build up after a push of yours has ended rather than keeping dropping individually troops as soon as you have enough. Sometimes you just have to be prepared to let a troop go out on its own on a counterpush know it will be easily countered rather than doubling down and investing more elixir too.

In the case that you are stuck caught short, instead of putting your Musketeer outside the Graveyard area, put her slightly inside. She'll draw off Skeletons away from the tower as well as shooting them. Will probably die in the process this way, but you'll at least limit your tower damage.

 

[UFO]

Musketeer is a really good graveyard counter, you just need a troop up front to distract whatever they tank with.

 

[Wolf Akela]

Nah Musketeer isn't too great vs Graveyard. It's okay if she's your only defense. Archers wipe Graveyard clean.

 

[Mario]

Musketeer is a really good graveyard counter, you just need a troop up front to distract whatever they tank with.

Yeah, I usually pair Musketeer with Valkyrie who can not only distract and attack the tank but clears nearby skeletons too.

 

[Cooter]

I used to play miner/graveyard and a sinlge valk usually shut down my GV with no more than 100 damage. It was beyond frustraing. Archers too. I would be getting negative elixar trades the entire match. That's why I stopping playing it as my biggest offense weapon. GY does best when paired with a bower or giant.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I used to play miner/graveyard and a sinlge valk usually shut down my GV with no more than 100 damage. It was beyond frustraing. Archers too. I would be getting negative elixar trades the entire match. That's why I stopping playing it as my biggest offense weapon. GY does best when paired with a bower or giant.

Maybe I'll sub in Archers but I really don't know what to take out. I know y'all keep saying I should drop Rage but that shit is so clutch!

 

[nampad]

3 slots just opened up in the GAF clan (#QYYQCQ). Post here if you want to join, we will open up the clan accordingly. Would help if you could tell us when you are ready to join and how much we need to lower the trophy limit.

 

[Mistouze]

After ending last season at 4299, I finally secured the league 2 chest right before the season's end. Yay me.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I'd like to join the clan as soon as the current Clan Chest event is over.

Okay, here is my current deck. Thoughts?

Arrows LV 8
Spear Goblins LV 8
Giant LV 6
Balloon LV 4
Muskateer LV 6
Baby Dragon LV 3
Archers LV 7
Valkyrie LV 5

Elixer cost 3.8

So i have 1747 gold and I can upgrade my Valk to 6 or my Archers to 8 once I hit 2000. Which one should I prioritize?

 

[Mario]

So i have 1747 gold and I can upgrade my Valk to 6 or my Archers to 8 once I hit 2000. Which one should I prioritize?

I'd personally opt for the Valkyrie. It will likely be out front more often than the Archers, so the extra health will help her survive a little longer, and the extra damage will be useful against anything tanky she goes up against.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I'd personally opt for the Valkyrie. It will likely be out front more often than the Archers, so the extra health will help her survive a little longer, and the extra damage will be useful against anything tanky she goes up against.

Cool, thanks! Seems like good advice.

 

[Brakke]

Valk is probably right. Archer doesn't really have any breakpoints against spells unless you're seeing overleveled Logs, which seems unlikely.

 

[nampad]

I'd like to join the clan as soon as the current Clan Chest event is over.

Okay, here is my current deck. Thoughts?

Arrows LV 8
Spear Goblins LV 8
Giant LV 6
Balloon LV 4
Muskateer LV 6
Baby Dragon LV 3
Archers LV 7
Valkyrie LV 5

Elixer cost 3.8

So i have 1747 gold and I can upgrade my Valk to 6 or my Archers to 8 once I hit 2000. Which one should I prioritize?

Post when you are ready and what we should lower the trophy requirements too. Also, your in game name would help and say that you are from gaf when you are requesting to join.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Post when you are ready and what we should lower the trophy requirements too. Also, your in game name would help and say that you are from gaf when you are requesting to join.

Name is HotHam

Trophy req 2000.

Requesting now! Thanks!

Edit: it says closed so i guess i gotta wait a bit.

My current clan only got to Clan Chest LV 5 this weekend :-|

 

[nampad]

Name is HotHam

Trophy req 2000.

Requesting now! Thanks!

Edit: it says closed so i guess i gotta wait a bit.

My current clan only got to Clan Chest LV 5 this weekend :-|

I will open it up right now. Might be that someone closes it again when we get spammed too much.

 

[HotHamBoy]

I will open it up right now. Might be that someone closes it again when we get spammed too much.

My timing sucks :/

Ive checked a few times between yesterday night and today and it's closed. Im going to be checking every 30-60 minutes starting now...

 

[HotHamBoy]

I'm tearing my hair out here. I just backslid about 200 trophies and the only thing I did to my deck was upgrade units.

9/10 people I face have 1,2 or 3 Legendaries and I still have none.

YES, I bitched about this before and YES, I realize that a unit that has been highly upgraded is just as good, but I don't have many cards upgraded to that level. I'm thousands and thousands of gold away from that.

A player who gets a Legendary or three has high-level units at their disposal, and that's in addition to whatever units they've upgraded to 9, 10, 11.

When they only have one, it's not that bad. When they have three and they're really good, like a guy with a Log and an Electro Wiz AND a Graveyard, I got nuthin.

The game continually matches me up with people with competition-level units and it's aggravating.

Also, what the fuck do I do about Sparky?

(Also that Gaf clan is still closed)

 

[elrechazado]

I'm tearing my hair out here. I just backslid about 200 trophies and the only thing I did to my deck was upgrade units.

9/10 people I face have 1,2 or 3 Legendaries and I still have none.

YES, I bitched about this before and YES, I realize that a unit that has been highly upgraded is just as good, but I don't have many cards upgraded to that level. I'm thousands and thousands of gold away from that.

A player who gets a Legendary or three has high-level units at their disposal, and that's in addition to whatever units they've upgraded to 9, 10, 11.

When they only have one, it's not that bad. When they have three and they're really good, like a guy with a Log and an Electro Wiz AND a Graveyard, I got nuthin.

The game continually matches me up with people with competition-level units and it's aggravating.

Also, what the fuck do I do about Sparky?

(Also that Gaf clan is still closed)

Watch sparky - it charges up, and you can reboot it without it firing with zap. Use zap and then surround with skeletons or goblins or use some air units. Basically zap and drop something tanky on it or trash around it.

 

[Mario]

I'm tearing my hair out here. I just backslid about 200 trophies and the only thing I did to my deck was upgrade units.

That happens to everyone. Sometimes you just have a bad run.

Also, realize that if you stick with it you will play thousands of games over time. You'll lose roughly half of them. Don't get wound up because you lose a few in a row. A couple of loses means nothing in the scheme of things.

9/10 people I face have 1,2 or 3 Legendaries and I still have none.

YES, I bitched about this before and YES, I realize that a unit that has been highly upgraded is just as good, but I don't have many cards upgraded to that level. I'm thousands and thousands of gold away from that.

A player who gets a Legendary or three has high-level units at their disposal, and that's in addition to whatever units they've upgraded to 9, 10, 11.

When they only have one, it's not that bad. When they have three and they're really good, like a guy with a Log and an Electro Wiz AND a Graveyard, I got nuthin.

That's going to happen until you have been playing for longer. The longer you play, the more cards you'll get (and the more you'll play against them and learn how to deal with them). As I said before, patience.

As an aside, people mean it when they say Legendaries aren't more powerful than other cards at the same level. Anecdotally, I have 2 Legendaries in my deck and am 4000+ on the ladder. I reviewed my last 22 ladder matches in my history to look at how many Legendaries my opponent had and whether I won, lost, or drew. Here are the results

# W/L/D
0 2/4/2
1 2/3/2
2 2/2/0
3 2/0/0
4 1/0/0

This data reveals a few things such as

- 8/22 matches I played against people with no legendaries
- 15/22 matches I played against people with less legendaries than me
- my win rate is WORSE against people with less legendaries than me
- 7/9 losses were against people with less legendaries than me
- I had no losses against people with more legendaries than me
- my win ratio improves the more legendaries my opponent has

Legendaries may give you access to functionality or deck types that you otherwise don't have. But they aren't an automatic win condition. Indeed, as the anecdotal data above shows, they are arguably worse when you play too many of them at the cost of more staple cards.

The game continually matches me up with people with competition-level units and it's aggravating.

As has been said before by myself and others, if you are continuing to be matched up against people with better cards than you, then that means you are playing at a higher skill level than they are in general.

It shouldn't be aggravating. It should be flattering, and you should consider it a challenge.

Also, what the fuck do I do about Sparky?

Assuming you are still running this deck

Arrows LV 8
Spear Goblins LV 8
Giant LV 6
Balloon LV 4
Muskateer LV 6
Baby Dragon LV 3
Archers LV 7
Valkyrie LV 5

If your opponent places Sparky at the back, then rush the other lane aggressively. Your opponent will be forced to defend that side which will probably leave Sparky without support when it crosses the river making it much easier to take out. If they don't defend your push and double down on supporting the Sparky, then you can build your push even further and 3 crown them before they have even taken out the first tower.

Assuming the Sparky is played close to your side or otherwise gets close without you having been able to react, then tank it with your Giant. It should be able to survive a couple of hits. Mean while, use your Spear Goblins, Musketeer, Baby Dragon, and/or Archers to take Sparky out. Keep your arrows handy to take out Minions if they play them. Be careful on the placement of your ground based ranged troops because Sparky has an area effect and you don't want them taken out while it is shooting at your Giant (attacking Sparky with your Valkyrie will be difficult because of this). And make sure your Giant isn't walking past your tower because that will get splash damage too.

Worst case scenario if you are caught short, throw down your Spear Goblins to absorb 1 hit from it which hopefully buys you a little more time.

 

[HotHamBoy]

Awesome advice, guys, thanks a lot for taking the time to reply!

Back to the trenches, I guess!

 

[nampad]

I'm tearing my hair out here. I just backslid about 200 trophies and the only thing I did to my deck was upgrade units.

9/10 people I face have 1,2 or 3 Legendaries and I still have none.

YES, I bitched about this before and YES, I realize that a unit that has been highly upgraded is just as good, but I don't have many cards upgraded to that level. I'm thousands and thousands of gold away from that.

A player who gets a Legendary or three has high-level units at their disposal, and that's in addition to whatever units they've upgraded to 9, 10, 11.

When they only have one, it's not that bad. When they have three and they're really good, like a guy with a Log and an Electro Wiz AND a Graveyard, I got nuthin.

The game continually matches me up with people with competition-level units and it's aggravating.

Also, what the fuck do I do about Sparky?

(Also that Gaf clan is still closed)

I was busy with work all week. I can open it up today. We should specify the time.

 

[jamsy]

The matchmaking in this game is bullshit.

I was on vacation the last couple of weeks so I played this game quite a bit, and it's just objectively unfair. As a level 7 player, I constantly get matched against level 9s and 10s, who have more HP per tower. And not just a few HP more, something like 20% more HP! I'm not even saying anything against higher level players' probability of having higher level cards; when many games are decided by just a few HP, having 20% more at the start is an insane advantage.

It's like - I have not once got matched with a level 4 or 5 player. Very rarely do I get someone who is also a 7. Why is it OK for me to constantly get pitted against level 10s?

This wouldn't be as big of a problem if the rewards were appropriate, but how is it fair that when I beat someone that has 20% more HP, I don't get rewarded more (than if I beat someone with less HP than me)? This is just stupid. .

 

[Mario]

The matchmaking in this game is bullshit.

I was on vacation the last couple of weeks so I played this game quite a bit, and it's just objectively unfair. As a level 7 player, I constantly get matched against level 9s and 10s, who have more HP per tower. And not just a few HP more, something like 20% more HP! I'm not even saying anything against higher level players' probability of having higher level cards; when many games are decided by just a few HP, having 20% more at the start is an insane advantage.

Easy fix.

Stop being such a skilled player, fall back down the ladder, and you'll be matched against easier targets.

 

[jamsy]

Easy fix.

Stop being such a skilled player, fall back down the ladder, and you'll be matched against easier targets.

I'm not saying I'm very good, but only taking the trophy score into consideration for matchmaking and disregarding the player level is garbage. Imagine this was a fighting game and your opponent has 20% more HP; the outrage would be tremendous. And yet, it's OK here?

Why isn't there any additional reward for taking on more difficult opponents? What is this 30 trophy per win nonsense?

 

[Mario]

I'm not saying I'm very good, but only taking the trophy score into consideration for matchmaking and disregarding the player level is garbage. Imagine this was a fighting game and your opponent has 20% more HP; the outrage would be tremendous. And yet, it's OK here?

Why isn't there any additional reward for taking on more difficult opponents? What is this 30 trophy per win nonsense?

Because "more difficult" is subjective given people have different cards, different skill levels, different ranks, and different card and castle levels. Ranking only on trophy count is actually arguably the most pure and fair form of matchmaking because it matches people who are "equal" taking all the factors into consideration.

If you want a competition without the levels and card levels being a factor, then play the challenges instead when you get to level 9.

 

[JoeNut]

If you're matched against higher levels all the time then you're doing something right!

 

[Frostt]

If you're matched against higher levels all the time then you're doing something right!

Im constantly fighting higher level players (commons 11 while mine are 9, epics 5 and mine are 4-5, rares 8 or 9 while mines are 7) and is very annoying. Matchmaking should be like that

 

[Mario]

Im constantly fighting higher level players (commons 11 while mine are 9, epics 5 and mine are 4-5, rares 8 or 9 while mines are 7) and is very annoying. Matchmaking should be like that

How should it work?

Also, if you want to play where there is no level advantage, are you playing tournaments at least?

 

[Cooter]

It does get frustrating playing higher levels but you are winning against the players at a similar level so you ran out of "equal" opponents to play. Dem the brakes.

 

[Mario]

It does get frustrating playing higher levels but you are winning against the players at a similar level so you ran out of "equal" opponents to play. Dem the brakes.

That's the thing about the matchmaking though. The way the ladder works is self correcting. It is presenting you with roughly equal opponents taking everything into account because the combination of your skill, cards, and levels is baked into your ladder position and those on the ladder around you.

 

[Frostt]

How should it work?

Also, if you want to play where there is no level advantage, are you playing tournaments at least?

And clan battles as well. They fun. I feel the matchmaking was a lot better before the last client update. Feels a lot worse now. Something changed then. I dont have a solution but Supercell is working on it to make it better (from what i was told via inapp support), i hope they make the game fun again