Unconventional Deck ft. Wave Master

The deck has no general game plan which means it has no straightforward ways of winning. It's to the point that I'm not even sure which mini is the win condition, because from my record every single one of them can be one.

This is a personal deck of mine and I'm not expecting anyone to ever play it XD, but if you want to try it, here's the best I can do to guide you.

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SEMI GENERAL GAME PLAN??
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Your WAVE MASTER is always going to be important, it will always play a key role in a fight, either as a key carry, key support, or key utility.

That being said, it's very important to not let him die early, your WAVE MASTER has to outlast at least your opponents hero. Because most games (99%) is gonna come down to how cooperative your WAVE MASTER is with your team of minis.

Playing WAVE MASTER generally has three modes which I like to call aggressive (by putting it in the front, launching a mini forward), passive (by putting it in the back, no launching), and defensive/situational (launching a mini, but not at the front.

Which mode you play is going to be dependent on what your opponents have in their arsenal. Figure it out yourself :P (jk, I'll sprinkle it throughout the guide).

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THE RAGTAG GROUP OF MINIS
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So yeah... here's the weirdest part of the deck.

While your group of minis doesn't really have an obvious synergy or direction of play, each mini can only function well when there is another one supporting it, and that's weird right?...

°w° BOWLER °w°

Probably the main reason why the deck looks so weird. BOWLER is more likely to be your win condition if:
-no war toot
-you're planning to launch your mega knight
-your opponent has little to no super tanks, or infiltrators

If it is your wincon, get the 3rd and 1st star, 3rd is usually the priority. The BOWLER wincon can spread big damage (6 dmg on every troops that got hit after every 2 attacks), if you put it generally at the sides of the map, near the front preferably. It can help snipe far away minis and gizmos, and it can combo stun with your MEGA KNIGHT as well.

If it is just for support, get any star you see fit in the situation, 1st star can get you a lot of value, 3rd star makes him a stunner and helps spread damage against long rangers, 2nd is too niche to pick most of the time.

On it's base, 2 dmg for mid ranges is actually pretty decent for a tank. It's base dps is just a bit higher than the "musketeer".
You can keep it around without upgrading it, just be wary if you need the elixir.

Launching the BOWLER usually means you want it to die first because it holds the lowest value currently, doing this can get your other minis more value by letting them stick around for longer, the bowler becomes a decent tank while still potentially getting it's clash value (This play is generally not recommended, but can be an amazing play).

o_o' MEGA KNIGHT o_o'

This mini is probably your main catapult ball. MEGA KNIGHT is more likely to be your win condition if:
-you're planning to launch this mini
-you're against "archer queen"
-your opponent has a lot of rangers/tends to stack the backline or uses training camp there
-no war toot

If it is your wincon, get the 3rd star as it can get you a lot of value in a short time, and then add the 2nd star or 1st star, to me the 2nd star is preferable. This wincon is stuns galore.

If it's for support, you can go starless for him, or get at least one of any star that you need. I usually get the 3rd star, but I believe it's more flexible than that.

It has 1 dmg and a relatively slow attack speed, but the hp makes him safe from ever getting one ko'ed by a "pekka". He's probably the best mini without a star upgrade.

Launching the MEGA KNIGHT is preferable than any other mini, because it can get the most value from it. It'll tank and stun to enable your other troops. So, launch it anywhere it can stun the most troops, but be sure that it won't die too quickly. There are certain scenarios where you don't want to launch it, like if your using saint mirror, or your opponent plans ahead with "pekka" placements supported with 1star "ice wizard".

>∆< BARBARIAN >∆<

Your best dps mini is the most worrying dps mini in my opinion. BARBARIAN is more likely to be your win condition if:
-you're sure you won't get it killed first
-you need a tank killer
-you're playing sauna
-you're against "countess"

If it is your wincon, the 2nd star is 99.9999% always first, and then get the others as you see fit, I generally go for the 1st one first, but the 3rd can potentially get you more value. This wincon can get a lot of damage with your other troops being his meat shield. Your tanks provide hp and stunnage for the BARBARIAN to get his stacks, and your two weaker units have lower hp than your upgraded BARBARIAN, which makes them good stall for the "countess".

If it's not a wincon, you either want to invest it on other troops, or at least get the 2nd star. Your barbarian can still get stacks by protecting the back rank, and it can make a huge difference.

The base BARBARIAN can help deal a decent damage if you get stuns galore, or if you're lucky enough to keep it alive. Generally have it on the field only if there's no elixir left you can invest on, and if there's no drawback for having him on the field (he can be a potential countess and skeleton king fodder).

Launching the BARBARIAN means you're launching one with a star on it. I've never find use for launching a starless BARBARIAN, launching a second star on round one accompanied with a miner usually gets you first flag against "countess". You can also launch to get stacks on unprotected gizmos and potentially help destroy it in the process. Usually you don't want to launch a BARBARIAN late game, cause there's probably already too many units on the field, you're just gonna kill it.

!_! MINER !_!

Who doesn't know the MINER, if he is not your biggest concern then he's probably the elephant in the room. MINER is more likely to be your win condition if:
-long rangers are on the field
-your opponent is energy hungry
-your opponent doesn't stack in the back
-you're against "royal champion"
-you're playing sauna

If it is your wincon, it's preferable to upgrade it in a slow manner because your MINER doesn't get much value if you don't have more minis on the field. On which star you should get first is very dependent on the situation, typically he needs two of them to pull off a wincon value. A well placed wincon MINER with good upgrade planning and predictions can very well be key to most of your MINER victories.

If it's just for support, choose one of any star to get, get rid of pesky rangers with backstab, disable your opponents with dissipate, and cleave for witches.

A base MINER can still be good, at least better than the BARBARIAN, early game is where base MINER strive, with 2 dmg and backline utility. Generally, you don't want your miner to be anywhere near a gizmo, unless another troop can help destroy it.

Launching a MINER from my experience only gets it to the backline faster, you'll waste it's shield if you launch it from the front because it will still dig underground mid flying animation. If you launch it from the back while keeping your other troops in the back, you can potentially make it tank non global rangers and distract supporters such as the "ice wizard" (I'm still not sure if you can actually do this).

+_+ HEALING RANGER +_+

Yes, this one is indeed in the deck, and this one can also be a win condition, surprised? Me too. HEALING RANGER is more likely to be your win condition if:
-you're planning on comboing it with the BOWLER wincon
-you feel safe enough to put it close to the BARBARIAN
-your opponent has no anti heal
-your opponent can't reach this mini
-you're playing with hot pot, sauna, or even pancaker

If it is your wincon, getting the 3rd star first is most preferable, cause believe it or not, every single member of this team can take benefit from it. Your second star can either be the 1st or 2nd star, after you get to two stars, you're better off investing elixir on the rest of your minis. The HEALING RANGER wincon can help you create chaos even further, boost your BOWLER, BARBARIAN, and WAVE MASTER for more stuns and damage.

If it's just for support, I usually get either the 1st or 3rd star, since to me they feel more valuable on the HEALING RANGER if I'm only getting one upgrade.

On it's base this mini is okay, it has decent attack speed and provides healing. Getting dmg boost from BARBARIAN is an easy way to abuse her attack speed. Fun fact, I've won several early to mid game flags just because a level one got in a sauna XD.

I don't think you want to launch this one :v

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CHOOSING GIZMOS IS HARD
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This deck also doesn't really have a preferred gizmo, despite having fun and funky sauna troops. Choose wisely, any gizmo can be useful at any time. Special mention goes to the king tower, because sometimes you need to destroy other gizmos and this deck has quite the difficulty to do that. Pocket artillery probably provides the most value, since this deck has to kind of slowly rack up damage, the instant 10 dmg can help a lot

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OBJECTIVES TO GO FOR
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There is a few simple ways to determine this. One of the simplest objective is to determine what you have to counter, then use your minis accordingly, 1st star BOWLER can one shot most low hp supports and rangers, BARBARIAN in the back rank to get stacks for countering "miner" and "prince", MINER for supports and energy users, etc.

The other objectives can be determined after you figured out your wincon, like so:

MEGA KNIGHT wincon
You generally want your other troops to help surround the opponent while also in position to help protect your hero.

BOWLER wincon
Get as many troops as you can to the backline and front, be mindful of your troops survivability, watch out for gizmos, counter infiltrators with the correct hero or mini, and position your BOWLER accordingly.

MINER wincon
Put extra care to where you want to put your MINER, generally far from gizmos, the digging distance can affect interactions, make sure the MINER is safe and can do what it must, make sure your troops protect each other, they're not as strong since you've invested elixirs on your MINER.

BARBARIAN wincon
If you can make as much chaos as possible while keeping the BARBARIAN safe, then you're in good shape. Playing the defensive/situational WAVE MASTER by launching other minis from the middle is a simple way to do this. This will allow your troops too die in an orderly fashion and not simultaneously, it's the mode where your BARBARIAN will be most safe and can get stacks faster and safer. Make sure all your other minis do their job since the BARBARIAN needs a lot of coverage.

HEALING RANGER wincon
Keep the HEALING RANGER safe with good positioning, upgrade your other minis wisely to help keep your HEALING RANGER safe while she enables your upgraded minis to create maximum chaos.

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YOU FEEL LIKE LOSING
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Matchups to watch out for are definitely a thing for this deck. Your playstyle is going to change drastically as you discover more of the opponents deck.

"Monk" makes launching a bit harder, your objectives can be unclear depending on your opponents minis, but generally dissipate can be valuable, stuns galore is appreciated if there is no war toot, get your BARBARIAN ready, HEALING RANGER can prevent your troops from dying off of monks basic attack, so that he has to charge super normally.

"Countess" most of the time require BARBARIAN wincon, or a lucky timing from BOWLER wincon, prepare your tanks, quickly disable and dispatch supporting minis, make sure lower hp minis are present for "countess" fodder, and babysit your BARBARIAN

"Pekka" and "ice wizard" combo
The only devastating thing about this is that your MEGA KNIGHT is going to have a tough day, get your BOWLER MINER and BARBARIAN, or a pair from any of these three, the faster you kill the "ice wizard" the better.

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ACTUALLY PLAYING IT
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You'll realise the more you play, that not a single mini here can function without the presence of other minis. They are extremes, each mini excels in only one job, unlike the general meta minis which are very versatile. And other strategies are more straightforward and has less objectives than this deck.

But this deck has a synergy that's difficult to spot and quite complex. It's because in this deck, they don't really cover each others weaknesses that well. What they do well in is enabling each other indirectly, especially with the help of your WAVE MASTER.

Just by launching any troop you can get BARBARIAN stacks, well placed 1st star BOWLER eliminates low hp troops, MEGA KNIGHT and your hero covers the entire map indirectly, combo stuns get your smaller troops some damage participation, and just by having lower hp minis on the field, your BARBARIAN can get value for "countess".

You'll be surprised by how much chaos you can make with the right planning and positioning. Every deck feels like a whole different way to counter, and to me every win feels so satisfying :v

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THOUGHTS TO KEEP
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This deck is still going to be a pain to learn even after you read this guide. The deck is objective based, and these are not simple objectives.

A general rule to remember is, make sure you got the game mechanics down, take notes out of small interaction details, like how an hp boost from upgrading can make a big difference, where your launched minis go if the lane is occupied, or where your opponents minis go when the MINER takes their space. Noticing these can make huge impacts.

Remember, this is not an easy to win deck so be patient with it,
if you've managed a win streak with the deck, be proud of yourself :3