Bravos Commons

Bravos Common Roundup

This is the first in a series of looks at the commons in the demo decks to look at my views on them. I will update the article when more commons are officially released.

ONE MANA

Ratatoskr

This is a relatively simple card at common whose stats 1/1/1 for 1 from hands and 3/3/3 for 3 from reserve are on a par with expectation (every 1 biome stat is worth around 1/3 mana). As such it is not particularly remarkable and seemingly doesn’t do lots. However, it is a very useful card, nonetheless. As a turn 1 play it needs something with more mana to beat it, meaning that the other player needs to spend 2 mana at least to win the side. If you are going first and you have Booda, then it will be difficult for the opponent to win the other side unless they expend 3 mana, so you will likely advance on one side and possibly both if you are going first and have a 2-mana play.

In the later game from hand, it is a nice 1 mana play to out-Trump your opponent if they play something just larger than your own. It’s solid in the reserve, but I’d say it was not that powerful. The rare version is a little better from the reserve, but I’d much rather have rare Hua Mulan.

So, I rate Ratatoskr as a good solid card, but not a great card.

TWO MANA

Bravos Tracer

The Bravos Tracer is the epitome of an aggro card in Altered. It’s a 3/3/3 for 2 mana from hand OR reserve, though it has fleeting, which means you are only getting one use out of it. It’s a great turn 1 or turn 2 play as you are getting lots of stats on the board for very little mana. Like Ratatoskr above its also a good last turn play to be able to use a final 2 mana from your pool to add that extra character in with decent stats to win a side. Because the card has fleeting it is relatively weak in terms of power level from an overall point of view, but for an instant bang for your buck it can’t be beaten.

The inherent card disadvantage of fleeting is outweighed by your ability to forge ahead early. Once you are ahead by a couple of points all you need to do it win one side. I feel that your deck needs to be able to make up that card advantage somewhere along the way later, lest you run out of steam, but I think this is an essential card in a fast Bravos speed deck.

The rare version of Bravos Tracer is a win more card with boosted stats 4/3/4. It’s definitely better but I’m not sure yet whether its an essential rare in the Bravos deck.

Bravos Pathfinder

The Bravos Pathfinder (with my favourite artwork) is completely on par for its cost 0/3/3 for 2 mana, but I find it very useful in battling in single biome spaces. Because you are getting more stat for your mana in the area you are hopefully focusing on, you can get the odd boost that will help you compete for a relatively cheap cost.

With a Booda turn you’re already doing well so middling turns 3-5 you will have 4-6 mana spare for another one or two plays and potentially 5 power in the biomes you are looking for. So, although it is not a splashy card, I think it’s a really good mid to late play on the board. Once again, I’m interested to see the rare version of this one.

Intimidation

This may be controversial but I’m not a big fan of this spell, though I accept that it does have its uses. It’s a delay at best spell which trades your two mana for up to 4 mana of the opponent for this turn. Since its also fleeting you are only going to get to use this once, so its got in built card disadvantage to add to your opponent still having a card in hand.

If the thing that you are bouncing has a really good come into play ability, then you are letting them have that ability a second time on the turn after. Since the spell is not restricted to your opponent there may be tricks whereby you can bounce your own good come into play ability to re-use on the turn, but I currently don’t see a good target for that in the Bravos deck.

The best use at present seems to be to bounce a Coneman or an Ordis Carrier I think. It’s useful on the final turn, since the opponent will never be able to use that card again, but as with a lot of Bravos cards this is card disadvantage for a slight profit. I’d be interested to see what the rare upgrade of this one is.

Chiron (2/3)

Chiron is another character I’m not high on in the Bravos deck. It’s potential stats of 2/2/2 for 2 or 3/3/3 for 3 mana from reserve make it on par. It does have another trick up its sleeve though of being able to transfer those stats across from itself to another character. So if your opponent uses all their mana to play a character on one side to win it, you can play a character on that side and then play Chiron on the other side to win that side and boost your character on the other side to hopefully win or tie it.

I think its slightly more useful from reserve for that, since you get 2 boosts from reserve which is more likely to make the difference. I’d rate Chiron as an average card in the deck.

Physical Training (2/3)

The other Bravos spell I’m much fonder of than Intimidation. The hand cost for the spell being 2, means you are getting 3 boosts for 1 mana cheaper than you should. Later when you have more mana you get a more standard boost of 3/3/3for 3, but the spell is slightly under costed and unlike Intimidation you get to use this twice.

Let me get the Atlas combo out of the way straight away. Yes, the Atlas / Physical Training combo is very good, but you need to be wary of using it against certain opponents. Getting a 6/6/6 on both sides is very good, but against a faction with good removal you could be wasting most of your turn spending 7 mana when Ymzir only need two mana to banish your entire turn.

Against Muna (who have no removal) it’s a much safer bet. Sometimes I’d much rather use this on a 1 or 2 mana creature and get them really good stats, leaving mana in reserve for a surprise second play than go all in with Atlas. This is a very versatile spell that I usually enjoy seeing. Booda and Physical Training are also buddies as the opponent banishing Booda is not an effective use of their spell.

THREE MANA

Haven Bouncer (3/3)

The Haven Bouncer is one of the essential tools that you have available in Bravos to be able to mitigate the card disadvantage that you are giving away elsewhere. Yes, it’s only 2/2/2 in stats for 3 from hand which would normally be over costed but you get Sabotage for that 1 mana to take out a sneaky reserve play from your opponent. So, you are giving up 1/1/1 in stats to take out potentially more from your opponent. Coming from the reserve you get a standard 3/3/3 for 3 which is on par. I like this card a lot and I wonder if the rare version will have sabotage from reserve as well. Bravos has few ways to really mess with the opponent in the promo deck and this is the best.

Haven Veteran (3/3)

There must be some good climate in the Haven as the Veteran is also a really good card. It is a simple card that is ahead of the cure on stats, being a 4/2/4 for 3 (which should normally cost 3 and 1/3). The simple stats which are slightly skewed gives you a good bang for your buck in the forest and water biomes. A truly solid card that I’m not unhappy drawing. Again, I wonder what the rare upgrade on this one is.

Hua Mulan (3/4)

Let me say this straight up. The rare Hua Mulan is the best card in the Bravos deck and the upgrade from common to rare is something I will always want. The common is however good in its own right being a 2/4/2 for 3 mana (which is slightly over costed on the way in) and a 4/6/4 from reserve for 4 mana (which is under costed). The advantage with Hua Mulan is on the reserve side and if she’s in your reserves and you are going first, I would play her before she gets sabotaged.

The rare version is just bonkers, with her never leaving the game unless you opponent has some kind of removal for her, or you choose not to keep her in your reserves. The rare version is the best card by far in the Bravos deck.

FOUR MANA

Sadly no 4 mana cards.

FIVE MANA

Atlas (5/5)

Atlas is a big dumb dude that is 6/6/6 in stats for 5 from both the reserve and the hand. It pairs well with Physical Training (provided you don’t have an opponent with removal) and is slightly under costed. It is very useful in a tied game play off as the gigantic ability is still useful then. Having said that I find Atlas to be an all-in play that you are taking a big risk making. It is useful at times and in the right matchups, but I find myself making him into mana orbs more often than not. So, this is a card I’m on the fence about at present. An Atlas with physical training actually can’t beat Ordis with the Ordis Carrier a previous turn Jeane d’Arc and a charge. So, he’s okay, but I would like to see what a rare Atlas brings us.