Refining Oldhim- Matchup Guide

Levia hits just as hard as Rhinar, but is more likely to lean in on the 'go again' package to support her damage output. For versions of Levia that focus on blood debt, we are looking to pivot and pressure them to the point where they either are forced to defend and stop our damage (accepting damage from their blood debt) or are simply unable to come back on the offensive. Endless Winter can be fantastic in this match for closing out the game. Levia is resource hungry, and when we tax her, she will have a tough time paying her debt under that kind of pressure and low life. 

Her armor density is a problem. Until Scabskin Leathers and Carrion Husk are out of the way, Levia will have an easier time reclaiming tempo and threatening us with a lot of pressure. Don’t be afraid to throw out some offensive tools early before Levia can get the engine rolling to try to reduce life or bait out some equipment blocks.

Against Bravo (and in the mirror against Oldhim), we want to shift to more of a midrange strategy while still being able to grind it out and defend against our opponent. Holding up armor to try to avoid detrimental dominated crush effects is crucial to playing this match well. Lean on Oldhim’s earth defense reactions, and Crown of Seeds + Rampart to prevent damage, get around dominate, and counter Bravo’s fatigue strategy with Anothos. These combinations and abilities can prevent damage without putting cards in our graveyard.

Aim to put pressure whenever possible and hold up defense reactions to play from arsenal in a pinch. Use Remembrance to pull back big threats like Endless Winter and Oaken Old, and use dominate to close out the game. Play quickly, but don’t get sloppy because this will be a grind for time.

Look to start each and every turn with Heart of Ice to bait out auras if you have resources to complete the rest of your turn. Try to manage your opponent’s auras and break down their spectral shields wherever possible.

This match is tough and grindy. Play efficient, and keep mistakes to an absolute minimum. It’s a bad match, and one I am working on remediating with sideboard/deckbuilding choices.

If your opponent drops Library, don’t be afraid to hold back your yellows in hand. It feels bad to hold them or play them, but we have to do something against Library or the Prism player will snowball out of control.

Our match against Mech is great thanks to Rampart of Ram’s Head and Forged for War. Be sure to track when your opponent closes the combat chain with a non-attack action, so you can get extra blocks in with Rampart and prevent your opponent’s strategy. Pistol/control versions of Dash will have a hard time going up against the shield, and boost variants will be at serious risk of fatigue against us.

While we don’t know if the opponent will be playing aggro or control Katsu (or something in between), Heart of Ice provides a lot of value and makes it very difficult for the opponent to get value out of Flic Flak, Sink Below, and any other defense reactions they may be playing. Blizzard will tax the ninja player and often disrupt their turn significantly. If you have the resources for the rest of your turn, look to activate Heart of Ice each and every turn as your first action.

Try to put on pressure, and don’t be afraid to use Crown of Seeds to cycle your arsenal card when facing down a Command & Conquer on the other side of the table. Grind it out, use Crown and Rampart to efficiently block Kodachis, and look to pile on the pressure with your pivot and close this one out. This can be a grindy match, so play efficiently with your time.

Briar is capable of putting out an impressive amount of damage in either of her builds. We have a better time against the go-tall version, as opposed to the go-wide aggro strategy that is enabled by Fyendal’s Spring Tunic + Rosetta Thorn swings for 2+2. Look to play defensive and pivot with Awakening. It’s crucial that we flip the tempo when both sides approach low life, so we can prevent our opponent from going too wide and pressuring with Rosetta Thorn’s added effect.

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Chane is largely unproven in the new meta, but is still likely capable of producing some powerful plays. Oldhim excels at the fatigue strategy, and Chane will naturally burn himself out with enough Soul Shackles. It’s much harder for Chane to get an Ursur token now, so there is less to worry about in late game when the Chane player’s banished zone grows tall. Look to pressure hard and force the pop of Carrion Husk then hunker down and weather the storm.

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Unfortunately, Viserai usually runs the Sonata Arcanix package and is very defensive. Usually, we want to try to pressure the opponent as much as possible from the start, gain some life to prevent a swarm of Runechant, and stay alive through the big attack phase. Look to punch back hard with Awakening if you still have some gas in the deck, and shuffle back some crucial cards with Remembrance. Pressure is key here to avoid getting one-turn-killed.

Boltyn is a go-wide hero, and is very dependent on large hand sizes to achieve powerful plays.

Against Saber Boltyn, look to bank your defense reacts and Blizzard to prevent their big Lumina Ascension turns. It’s crucial that we try to prevent as much life gain as possible from Boltyn, and also limit the number of times Boltyn can swing at us with the combo.

Against Radyn Boltyn, keep track of when your opponent charges and look to block Radyn whenever possible. Channel Lake Frigid can be a great tool to make it difficult for Boltyn to have efficient turns as long as you can sustain it.

Awakening can be used to generate lots of pressure and pivot to close out the game. Keep your life and armor healthy, and swing back with hammer and other effects to gain value and win out the match.

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Dorinthea will be grindy, but this matchup is improved in that we have tools to get around dominate, prevent damage, and can efficiently pressure back and put some resource taxes on Dorinthea. Look to trade blows, overblock Dawnblade, and put the pressure on in the late game. Zealous Belting creates a more proactive gameplan, and having the extra card count can help if the game goes long. Try to prevent Dawnblade from getting counters, but don’t be afraid to let Dawnblade get a counter if you can pull off a great Awakening turn and swing the tempo back in your favor while also stripping the counter from the blade.

This should be a free win, since we have arcane barrier 3½ (thanks to Crown of Seeds). Just layer on the pressure and get aggressive with your attacks, holding back a blue or so each turn to protect yourself with Arcane Barrier. Start your turn with Heart of Ice, then make your opponent decide what they want to do. From there, enjoy your turn knowing the Kano player likely can’t efficiently capitalize on you ‘tapping out’.