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[Spoiler]

1

Decks / Parallel No Cow

« on: March 31, 2024, 02:58:17 am »

This is a deck I've been using for a while, but never bothered to post... until now! It's not reliable due to being almost entirely dependant on improved mutation. Some days you get the mitosising dragon, other days you get the immaterial shaman. I usually target champions or Arena 1. And no, I have no idea why one of the parallel universe cards us unupped.

Parallel No Cow: It's lactose-free!

0161r026r0046u2046u3036u4068080381q0180e0380o0480d0480b018pj

This deck is janky as all get out. It does many things, but none of them well.

The strategy is simple: get a singularity or phantom onto the field, mutate it, pump it full of chaos power, and then PU it. Watch out for reflective shields, where you need to mutate singularities, as they are not psionic.
- phase shields for survivability
- lobotomiser for defence - if the enemy throws up a reflective shield or PUs your mutants, cut out psionic.
- quantum locket for early , and late or whatever element your mutants need to exploit their abilities (if applicable).
- If you must discard, chaos power is usually the weakest card.

I call it 'Parallel No Cows' to distinguish it from the spider cow-chaos power-PU deck I designed first that didn't have enough damage output. The deck could probably be streamlined further, but I'm not very good at that.  The quantum locket update slowed this deck down, because default-starting with was often enough to get an improve ready in two turns rather than three, and then swapping to next turn would get you to the PU nicely.

Parallel No Cows is most vulnerable to burn card/yoink, early CC/PC, and the RNG frowning upon it.

Spoiler for Here's a typical win:

{"date":1711853981878,"seed":-1587208964,"players":[{"idx":1,"name":"Niharia","user":"Niharia","deck":"0161r026r0046u2046u3036u4068080381q0180e0380o0480d0480b018pj"},{"idx":2,"ai":1,"name":"Morofuze","deck":"014tc0252g065420152v0153c0152i0153e0252k02533015370153a0152h015aa015f0025gi025f3015fg015f7015fj015fc015mq016qq027100172i0171m0171s0171201714017dg017e0017dh017dq018po","hp":150,"drawpower":2,"markpower":2}],"moves":[{"x":"accept"},{"x":"accept","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":4},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":120,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":62,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":40,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":23},{"x":"cast","c":4,"t":26},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":116,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":62,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":20},{"x":"cast","c":26},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":87,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":42,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":62,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":26,"t":62},{"x":"cast","c":18},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":119,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":50,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":112,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":95,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":24},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":101,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":75,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":123,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":38,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":84,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":123,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":31},{"x":"cast","c":5},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":103,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":106,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":99,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":88,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":89,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":123,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":106,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":13},{"x":"cast","c":10},{"x":"cast","c":16,"t":10},{"x":"cast","c":9,"t":10},{"x":"cast","c":3,"t":10},{"x":"cast","c":37,"t":124},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":48,"t":125},{"x":"cast","c":77,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":46,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":75,"t":1},{"x":"cast","c":106,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":11},{"x":"cast","c":32},{"x":"cast","c":125},{"x":"cast","c":124,"t":123},{"x":"cast","c":5,"t":125},{"x":"end"},{"x":"cast","c":96,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":68,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":79,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":106,"t":0},{"x":"end","c":0,"t":0},{"x":"cast","c":125},{"x":"cast","c":26,"t":99},{"x":"end"}]}

2

New Card Suggestions / Hot Potato

« on: March 20, 2024, 11:43:25 pm »

1 Hot Potato
0 | 1
On death, this creature deals 10 damage to the opponent.

Upped:
1 Hot Potato
0 | 1
On death, this creature deals 15 damage to opponent.

The idea is a soft protection against mass CC to complement the low HP of most fire creatures. This may be too strong in-element, so could easily be converted into an card. Alternatively, it could be reflavoured completely to go with another element - say, unstable goo, or a graviton mine. The exact damage numbers are loosely inspired by the ghost of the past and time bomb damage abilities, and could (probably should) also be tweaked for balance.

3

Off-topic / Evolutionary Relationships and Flight of Maxwell's Demons

« on: March 03, 2024, 01:08:07 am »

Early illustrations of Maxwell's demons suggested the creatures were part of the Pteroprimiforme genus, closely related to the flying monkeys famous for their role in the Wizard of Oz. However, more recent observations and images reveal the creatures are decidedly more limbless, rendering the old classification obsolete. Currently the phylogeny of the demons is highly contentious. Some researchers place them in the same clade as the hole-boring spacetime worms and plot worms on the basis of their morphology and association with supernatural gaps. An equally vocal group see this apparent similarity as a case of convergent evolution and place the Maxwell's demons firmly with the gateway guardians, along with the more common lions and spirit dogs. The Maxwell's deomons' divergent appearance, they argue, is due to the entrophic elemental alignment of the species. Genetic data is inconclusive due to the difficulties gathering genetic data from hole-boring worms and the large quantities of genomes misidentified as Maxwell's demons that actually came from unstable shapeshifters (a problem with many genetic analyses, but most common with entropic species).

The current understanding is that Maxwell's demons lack any form of wing or gliding surface. So how does a Maxwell's demon remain airborne? Is this a mistake? A legacy from when they were believed to have wings? Not at all! Maxwell's demons use their signature ability to remain airborne. Not the more potent threat of paradoxing dangerous creatures into nothing, but the one that first earned them their name and drew the mathematician Maxwell to study them.

Maxwell's demons were originally popularised for their ability to sort warmer-than-average particles one direction and cooler-than-average particles another way with little to no expenditure of energy. In captivity, they often use this in doorways to alter the temperatures of adjacent rooms to their owners' enjoyment (or chagrin), but in the wild, Maxwell's demons use this same skill to direct warm air up over their backs and cool air down under their bellies. The slower-moving cold air becomes denser while the fast-moving hot air whips past the demon and leaves a low pressure area, creating the lift the demon needs to keep off the ground. The demon propels itself and steers with a combination of undulating its long body and subtly rotating the planes of its hot/cold sorting.

Observations in a smoke chamber suggest that sufficient quantities of spiderwebs can disrupt a Maxwell's demon's ability to sort air by creating numerous 'chambers' into which the demon must sort the particles, overwhelming its ability to quickly sort the molecules. This forces the demon to land. However, the sorting ability remains and a strong draft or jet stream can blow the webs off, allowing the demon to return to the air.

Further research is required on the physiological adaptations of the Maxwell's demons to the microclimates they create. Do they have different insulatory properties on their backs and undersides? Do they recoup energy directly from the heat descending through their bodies? Further research could facilitate the development of new and more efficient infinite energy power cores.

4

Decks / Bioterrorist

« on: December 26, 2023, 01:06:13 am »

Bioterrorist

0153b0b7100271r0671n0371o017h4067gl018pp

Use the mask's ability to clear the poison from your infected and shtriga, then watch as your army of animated corpses gnaws their way through all who oppose you! Maniacal laughter sold separately.

Disclaimer: one maxwell's demon is enough to put a kibosh on all these high-attack monsters. Also, not for use in desert conditions. One physalia costs all your , leaving none left with which to disinfect your big damage monsters. After a few desert-using champions, I replaced a plague spell, which seemed to be underperforming, with a Gift of Oceanus. Arsenic might be a better choice for that singleton slot. Consider downgrading the jellyfish to protect them from fire shields and thorn carapaces.

5

New Card Suggestions / Shark of Wisdom

« on: November 11, 2023, 09:30:10 pm »

Shark of Wisdom 4
Permanent
  Deal 3 damage to the target creature.

Upped:
Shark of Wisdom 4
Permanent
  Deal 4 damage to the target creature or player. If target creature is frozen, kill it. If target player's weapon is frozen, destroy it.

An alternative build would be to have swave on both unupped and upped, and just have the upgrade effect be reducing the cost of the shark. Not sure that aether needs more creature control, but I wanted to have at least one shark that is not a creature. If anyone has alternate ideas for a Shark of Wisdom, feel free to share them here.

6

New Card Suggestions / Shark of Serendipity

« on: November 03, 2023, 01:54:58 am »

I shared this idea a while back on the Discord, but now I've drawn it. I wasn't thinking about the overlays while I did the art, though, so it may need to be recentered so the ability text doesn't cover the hammer. If this concept gets to the stage where framing is a problem, let me know - the .xcf version of the file is in layers and should be easy to adjust.

Shark of Serendipity 6
4|6
When this creature deals damage, add a random effect to the attack. Possible effects include damage, lobotomise, parallel universe, rewind, & freeze 6.

Upgraded:
Shark of Serendipity 6
5|7
When this creature deals damage, add a random effect to the attack. All existing effects are possible.

Ability text based on chaos seed and chaos seed 2.0, respectively. I imagine that the ability text on the battlefield will say "chaos" or "hit chaos" (unupped) and "chaos 2.0" or "hit chaos 2.0" or possibly "chaos 2.5" (upped).

I'm curious to see whether Shadcord/Disow champions will be prone to beguile upped sharks of serendipity over to the opponent when their chaos generates blessing/tempering/holy light.

[Spoiler]

7

New Card Suggestions / Shark of Divinity

« on: October 29, 2023, 02:37:45 am »

Shark of Divinity 6

5|6
Aquatic.
This creature cloaks adjacent creatures who do not have this ability.

Upgraded:

Aquatic.
Shark of Divinity 6
5|10
This creature cloaks adjacent creatures who do not have this ability.

The logic behind this is that the shark glows so brightly, it obscures anything near it. I figured it would draw enemy fire, so upgraded would enjoy having more bulk, but an alternate upgrade idea would be to leave the stats and instead add AoE to cloak two slots on either side. As currently worded, two sharks next to each other will not mutually cloak each other and become an untargetable core of destruction, stoppable only by shields or AoE.

Spoiler for Cheesy mock-ups:

Please ignore that I forgot to edit the stats of my shark in the second picture.

8

New Card Suggestions / Tetrad Pendulums

« on: September 10, 2023, 04:04:05 am »

The name should make the function of these cards obvious, but if I don't spell out the details, I feel like I'm being too lazy for this suggestion to be respectable.

Material Pendulum
Additive, pillair.
Each turn, switch between randomly gaining 1-2 with 2/3 chance to gain 2 and one quanta of your mark.
Upped: When played, randomly generate 1-2 . 2/3 chance to gain 2.

Spiritual Pendulum
Additive, pillair.
Each turn, switch between randomly gaining 1-2  with 2/3 chance to gain 2 and one quanta of your mark.
Upped: When played, randomly generate 1-2  . 2/3 chance to gain 2.

Cardinal Pendulum
Additive, pillair.
Each turn, switch between randomly gaining 1-2  with 2/3 chance to gain 2 and one quanta of your mark.
Upped: When played, randomly generate 1-2  . 2/3 chance to gain 2.

Am I the only one who thinks it's weird to have the tetrad pillars without their respective pendulums?

9

UI/UX Suggestions / Separate icon for ranged attackers

« on: August 30, 2023, 07:01:48 pm »

Since I've been using jetstream, I've noticed how the ranged and airborne tags use the same symbol to designate their attack type. This isn't always convenient, as if you miscalculate by one how many jet streams it takes to knock something off, you can really end up shooting yourself in the face.

Perhaps a little bow-and-arrow would be a better ranged symbol? I doodled something, though I'm not quite sure it's in matching style with the existing icons.

Why green? A, because it's distinct from all the other icon colours, and B, because elf was the ranged card I was wanting to jetstream to death most recently. If something else is better, recolouring is easy.

10

New Card Suggestions / Gravitational Lens

« on: August 24, 2023, 12:22:40 am »

4 : Gravitational lens
Permanent
 : Reveal the outcome of a randomly-determined event. The random effect, once revealed, will be locked for the rest of the turn/ply (TBD).

Upgraded would either reduce playing cost to 3 OR ability cost to . The card wants to synergise with rainbows anyways, but letting the cost become will allow it a place in entropy/gravity or cardinal tetrads without splashing any light. Alternatively, the need to splash light may prevent it from becoming overwhelming in the aforementioned duos/tetrads.

This card idea came to me originally back when the AI could see the outcome of pandemonium 3.0 by default, but it came back recently after a few frustrating matches where the AI knew when its fallen elves would 'oopsie' my monster dead or turn its own weak creature into a kleptomaniacal dragon. The most frustrating thing for me is that it is using a strategy that I cannot copy. This card would allow a little more insight without completely destroying the randomness of random cards.

Gravity is the element of choice not just because of the astrophysical name, but because as the opposite of entropy, which is full of random, it is the perfect place for a card that is an opposite of randomness.

While the synergy with mutation/improve and chaos seed 2.0/pandemonium 3.0 are the obvious uses, this could also scan your -cost cards to see what they will cost to pay (disclaimer: it's always the quanta I want to use for my non-:chroma monster), check your quantum PPM/chromatic butterflies to see if they'll give you the quanta you need to play the big card next turn or if you should just play the smaller card now, or what ability your spider cattle will get.

A few ideas for appearance of effect:
- when targeting mana generation/scramble, show +/- # next to the corresponding quanta counter
- some sort of translucent image of the outcome for mutation?
- show the text or perhaps a still from the spell animation that chaos seed mimics for chaos seeds?
- show +#/+# for chaos power
- show target symbols and arrows (if applicable) for ricochet
- And, of course, show EVERYTHING for pandemonioum 3.0!

Viable targets:
- quantum/material/spiritual/cardinal pillar/tower/pendulum
- any pendulum (mark of chroma)
- self (mark of chroma)
- chromastat (butterfly, alicorn, and blue mage that has stolen the ability)
- ricochet
- any -cost card/ability (including equalise-induced cost)
- fallen elf/druid
- mutation/improve (spell)
- Parallel universe (targeting a mutant)
- scattering wind and whim? (show what cards will come in)
- discord/whirlpool
- fate egg
- chaos seed/chaos power/chaos seed 2.0/pandemonium 3.0/pandemonium
- singularity (ability)
- georesonator
-Nymph's tears -> quantum PPM
-Gift of Oceanus (mark of chroma)
-Innovation? (show what cards come in, what card dies. That lost card is important if there's only one eternity in your deck and you need rewind a butterfly to stall out your opponent.)
-Shard of Freedom - will one lens reveal the combined effect of all shards in play, or only the shard scanned?
-tesseract (show what monster(s) will be summoned)

Possible viable targets:
-The top card of the owner's deck? While not random, it's a mystery to the player. If so, will also reveal the top of the opponent's deck if used in concert with precognition/owl.
- Might even be useable to spy on a single card in the opponent's hand.
-While shard golems aren't random, perhaps using a lens on one can send players a link to the shard golem chart to help new users figure out the complex shard of integrity mechanics.

If I missed anything, let me know. Sorry if this is a little long-winded.