Today I am going to talk about something that has been overlooked by a lot of the vanguard community, which are Vanilla 8k G1 and 10k G2 units.
Math is hard
Lets be honest: vanguard is a number game. 1K can make a world of difference when attacking or guarding, and usually have an opportunity cost (not playing other units with strong skills, being a fragile attacker). It is even more valuable on defense, as most older player from crossride eras can confirm. And playing vanillas give you something similar to crossride defense, without having to ride over a specific unit. A difference between 5k guard and 10k guard tends to add up as the game goes on,
Vanilla is a good flavor too
So why might some ask we play something with no effects when you have so many other options with strong effects? Well, if you ask many of the older players, vanilla IS an effect in itself and has both offensive and defensive benefits. Here is some of the breakdown on benefits:
8K Vanilla
It discourages opponent from swarming you with 7k:
Ever had games before where you took about 2-3 damage on the first turn cause opponent rushed you with 3 G1 at the start? With a 8k, this line of play is discouraged, as the max possible damage you would take that turn is 2 damage if you 5K guard to trigger pass the vg and he checked a critical trigger, It also puts their valuable boosters in great risk of being attacked next turn, forcing them to lose more hand to guard or lose the boosters. This however does not work for sub-clan 10k atacker G1, but you will still bait out those units to be attacked next turn.
5K guard anything below 13K, 10K no pass 12K VG: This happens a lot, as most G1 are 7k with effects or 6K effects like PG. Given that most forerunners will move behind the VG to provide early center lane pressure, you expect to see anywhere from 11k-12k center column. So even with a trigger the max it goes is still only 17K, and failing to connect. If you are ballsy you could even 5k guard for trigger pass, which is impossible for a 7K or below.
Calling 8K as attackers to rush opponent: There are some merits to this. They cannot retaliate back at them with 7K G1, and even 12K attackers is only 5k to guard them, which usually forces the VG to attack them which means it saved you some damage. 8K also hits 12K with any 4K(usually G3 searcher), which is 10K against most 7K G1. 2 8K in 1 column forms 16K, which is 10K shields even for 11K VG) Later you can move them back to be boosters at relatively low risk.
Opponent cannot 5K trigger pass. Similar to the situation above, except in reverse. A 7k can only reach 12k on defense with 5K, which a 8K with 5k booster automatically trumps it at 13k,
Deletor:
This is the only sub-clan 8K vanilla, so it is a special case. Most of the time deletors aim for completely different breakpoints, similar to old 10K vanilla G3 days. With enemy VG being 0 Power, the ideal numbers to hit are 5K intervals (5,10,15,20) and this allows for many interesting interactions with 7K boosters (15K), both their 12K attackers (20K) and their legion (30K), making guarding a really disgusting proposition.
Helps boost magic numbers: This applies for:
- VG that gains at least 2K power(most breakrides (13k becomes 21k),
- Crossrides (13K becomes 21K),
- Legion that gains 3K power in addition to 20K legion(23K becomes 31K),
- 11K against 9K G2 (19k is 15K guard for 1 pass),
- 10K base VG with 3K power (13K becomes 21k),
- 10K RG can hit Crossride for 10k guard (18K)
- 9K hit 17k against most 7K or less G1 (15K guard)
- 12K attackers hit 10K for 20K (15K guard)
- Goes well with +4k power to form 21K column (9+8+4=21)
10K Vanilla
Cannot be sniped at by other G2 without help:
As either VG or RG, they make it such that most G2 cannot hit you for free 5K shields unboosted. Defense wise this conserves hand size.
5K guard anything below 15K. 10K to 2 pass anything below 20K.
This is very strong defense wise, particularly so in rush decks.
Grade locking:
This is a current trend to stay in G2 for an extra turn to force opponent to ride a G3 first, therefore letting you have the first stride or legion. This provides you with a relatively safe way to stay this way without taking too much unnecessary damage. This is extremely key when playing rush decks, as grade-locking yourself prevents your opponent from performing legion or stride, basically turning off all their cards with GB1 or legion specific, turning it into a vanilla slug-fest. And since you are playing better vanillas, you can come up on top of the hustle.
Magic Numbers:
- Hits 16K with 6K boosters (10k guard for 11K base)
- Hits 17K against most 7K and below G1 (15K guard)
- Hit enemy's 10K unboosted
- with 4K booster can force 10K guard on 9K units.
Summary of Vanillas:
- Strong options early (both offense and defense), where hand resource is scarce and many big effects are not usable (no legion, stride).
- Hits magic numbers
- Shores up some of the weaknesses of slower clans (GC for example which is weak pre-stride)
- Cheap as hell budget options
- Safer staying at G2 to deny opponent from striding or legion compared to 9K base.
No comments:
Post a Comment