Computer Learning: Data_Doll.EVR

You may know me as Paranoid of the Data Doll channel on Discord. Early in my Flesh and Blood career, I encountered Data Doll and was instantly enamoured. I’ve always been interested in unconventional deck concepts, and the prospect of overcoming her shortcomings by maximizing her ability intensely appealed to me.

Rather than seeking out existing wisdom, I built a deck based on my own theories of how an item-centric hero should be built. That deck... was not good. While, in theory, it had a powerful end game of a fully-powered Teklo Plasma Pistol earlier than control Dash could achieve it, the 3 intellect and large quantity of items made blocking all but impossible. I simply didn’t have enough time to set up before I died.

So I stepped further out of the accepted Mechanologist mold and added generics. Only three at first: two Tome of Fyendals and an Art of War. This was still not good. Art of War was all but useless, and I didn’t yet have the experience required to avoid boosting away Tome. I refined it further, cutting the Art of War and adding two Fate Foreseens in order to further delay my demise long enough to mount my comeback.

After plenty of practice, the deck worked the way I wanted it to- but it still wasn't a deck that could win. I had reached my ceiling with the limited resources available. So I changed my strategy slightly. Rather than building the best deck I could with the materials I had, I started building with materials I didn’t yet have. I worked under the hope that Everfest would contain items to affect intellect, and kept the goal of maximizing items central to the potential deck.

With Micro-processor, all my hope paid off. It transformed my labor of love, too weak to win against any remotely playable deck, into a deck that made the top 8 in a Skirmish. It’s by no means a meta changer, but it does make Data Doll a potential option.

The goal for a Data Doll deck is to get as many items out as possible- and ideally, without paying for them. The most important items are Micro-processor, Optekal Monocle, Plasma Purifier, Induction Chamber, Teklo Pounder, and Dissipation Shield. Beyond that, there are other useful cards, which you may choose to include based on personal taste and meta. But the above items are the core.

Micro-processor is self explanatory. It fixes the top of the deck and gets items out. It is the most essential card in the deck, and unlocks the full potential of our hero power. In pursuit of our Micro-processors, Optekal Monocle is included for the purpose of helping us find Micro-processor as quickly as possible. Once we have a Micro-processor, the value of Optekal Monocle diminishes greatly.

Teklo Pounder is good for softening up the opponent. It either weakens their next turn, or takes them down to a life level low enough to where Teklo Plasma Pistol is a lethal threat.

Plasma Purifier and Induction Chamber serve as the endgame; once you have all four of them out, you'll pivot into a pattern of holding 7 resources and cycling through rounds of repeated pistol fire. At that point, victory is within reach.

Dissipation Shield is there to compensate for Data Doll’s deficiencies in blocking. It’s especially good against Wizards.

There are a few items that at first appear good, but are underwhelming or even bad in practice. Absorption Dome tops this list. Odds are extremely low that Absorption Dome will get more than 2 counters, and that just doesn’t make it a worthwhile inclusion.

Signal Jammer is decent, but it’s useless in most matchups except as a blue. Wizards can respond to the Data Doll trigger, so Kano can empty his hand as soon as Signal Jammer is banished. It’s slightly better against Iyslander, but isn’t the best strategy and still only inconveniences them. Where it really shines is against Runeblades and, to a lesser extent, Warriors; so it’s not necessarily a bad inclusion, depending on the local meta.

Dissolution Sphere is a solid card, but not as good as Dissipation Shield. The main advantage it offers is against Viserai; but even against other heroes, it helps when calculating break points. I include two, but it can easily be replaced.

Hyper Driver is really good if you get it early to mid game, but by the end it doesn’t make much impact, I include a single copy. I would not consider any other items.

For attacks, Zero to Sixty, Zipper Hit, and T-Bone are the most central. The basic rule of thumb is to focus on attacks that cost 0 or 1, with the possible exception of Throttle.

For beginners, it’s best to stay completely away from generics- so swap out Fate Foreseen and Tome of Fyendal now. In the long run, we do want to get back to those. Fate Foreseen is primarily there because of its four defense, chosen over Sink Below because fixing the top of your deck is more important than crafting your hand in most cases. Items in hand are not quite as useful as items on the top of your deck, but they can be pitched for attacks and Teklo Foundry Heart activation. Tome of Fyendal- in tandem with High Octane- is a combination familiar to Dash players, and can be used in Data Doll to provide an explosive turn while gaining much-needed life. It can be tricky to work around generics when Boosting, but the potential benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.

Equipment is relatively straightforward. Data Doll is unable to block reliably from hand, so maximizing block values from equipment can offset that to an extent. Teklo Foundry Heart is far and away the best option for the chest piece, as it gives more chances to banish items and a potential resource advantage. The helm is Arcanite Skullcap against everyone except Wizards- or as a budget option, Ironhide Helm. Against Wizards, Viziertronic Model ii lets you get Arcane Barrier 4 while keeping Teklo Foundry Heart.

The best boot option is Achilles Accelerator. It lets you recover from Boosting a generic, play Tome of Fyendal without a High Octane, or attack an extra time with Teklo Plasma Pistol.

The arm equipment options are much more varied; my inventory includes Ironhide, Ironrot, Nullrune, and Bracers of Belief. Many decks run Goliath Gauntlet, but when I ran only 2 Throttles, Goliath Gauntlet was too risky, as banishing or blocking with Throttle was a real possibility. Bracers of Belief work well with Micro-processor and opting to guarantee a red card on top reasonably well. They can apply to any attack action card, and let you look at the top card if you have no other option allowing for better planning. However, I consider blocking more valuable than dealing more damage in most instances, so I only use Bracers of Belief against Oldhim.

Everfest gave Data Doll more resources and ways to overcome that crippling intellect of 3. While she still can’t compare to the top tier decks, her upgrades have made winning with her a real possibility- provided you build her right. And get lucky. She’s an incredibly fun hero, and mastering her was more rewarding for me than any other hero. By the end of a long game, her side is covered with items; whether or not your opponent knows exactly what the items do, it can be intimidating. To anyone interested in trying this unique hero, I welcome you to join the elite group of Data Doll players.