What We're Playing: Mark's Guardians

I am a Guardian loyalist, and with the release of Heavy Hitters, I am spoiled for choices.

Bravo stays consistent, and is buoyed by the new cards. Might and vigor haven't played too much of a role in my builds so far, but the gold has started to flow off of Test of Strength. Miller's Grindstone has been a good include over Titan's Fist for some matches, as it can help disrupt plans better than the Fist can.

Some players are using the drink/beer card that gives might and vigor, and I can't fault them: that can often be a better choice than sending the hammer to simply go unblocked, but this is likewise why I'm experimenting with Helm of Isen's Peak.

One of the things I like to do with gold as Bravo is spend it. I'll pitch a blue into gold, floating 1 and drawing 1. From here, it's likely going to be a hammer for 6 and a seismic off the Tectonic Plating, where before it would have been either arsenal or hammer for 4. In the worst case scenario, I'm advancing my pitch stack and arsenaling a red or yellow instead of a blue.

Standing Order has been a major part of this movement away from Crown of Providence and back towards Helm of Isen's Peak. It's been a sleeper common for much of its 5 years, but I think it's got some power left, capable of creating a pivot turn out of a single vigor, capable of being cracked after a pummeled Zealous Belting. It might not pan out, but I'm keen to keep trying!

Victor has such a satisfying loop for me, although he can be a bit precarious to keep afloat. If you fall behind on gold, you might have to cash in your shield… but I've been experimenting with double-wielding the Miller's Grindstone, switching between the two when one gets worn down. Aurum Aegis will probably win out in the end, but that's the point of the experiment: to see if it's worth it to step out of expectations and see what lay there.

I liked the idea of using Rise Above and Fate Foreseen with the clash mechanic, but the timing is awkward and the fixing is ultimately subpar compared to breaking a gold for fixing that can target your opponent. Sometimes they are winning with their only card that can win the clash (Swing Big or Command and Conquer), or you are on one of the few cards that won't win, etc. Victor's ability is better than the supplement that these appear to offer.

Performance Bonus has been a nice aggressive include over Pummel for now, but everything is in testing until the next big tournament. This card has natural synergy with Victor’s hero ability, and can incentivize the opponent to block your first attack, buttering them up for your follow-up. It can also just be nice to have more options to take on angels and dragons!

Betsy is a lot of fun to keep experimenting with. I'm currently trying out things like Earthlore Empowerment, Towering Titan, and the like. Betsy appeared at first to be a very forward-leaning Guardian, but I'm starting to think that she's more conservative and pitch-stacking than Bravo. You really want to get some gold up for the Good Time Chapeau, and line up your overpowers with Pummels or dominated Thumps. Once you can buy a turn and have kept yourself at high life, resolve a Towering Titan (or one of its lesser cousins) and head into the next turn sending one of the new tower attacks.

It's a neat concept, but this didn't bear out in my testing: what I played against was typically too fast to get around to a combo like that. Overpower just isn't as good as dominate - but let's not catch ourselves thinking that it's not enough. Cards like Lunging Press have more power than ever, as your opponent will often be able to deflect an overpower exactly, but likely not with that extra +1 after they've already done the maths.

Betsy needs to get started in order to snowball. She can be extremely powerful, even into Kayo or other Guardians – but she can likewise just fall flat. You want to put your Money Where Ya Mouth Is on Anothos, and start landing 8 or 10 overpower while wagering gold. Lining up a Money on Thump is also nice, but try to get in the Betsy overpower for the 8 damage – that can be a difficult block number for most classes to hit.

I recommend trying to build up to two gold before starting the snowball attempt, as it is a terribly precarious position to have no gold, and that's where you will be if your first gold wager with the Chapeau doesn't pop off.

Scouting the Periphery didn't seem like it was really helpful enough; you need more defense than that inclusion offers, and it usually tells you what you already know - you probably won't beat a Brute at clash, you probably will beat a Ninja - and the extra damage doesn't put us over the top enough on the build I was trying.

But if you watch the table and get ready to Bet Big at the right time, you can absolutely get out of control, making yourself an avalanche that offers double digit damage turn after turn, rolling might and vigor each turn into the next and not relenting until the timing has settled and there's red on the sand. Start defensive, buy some health, and pitch stack if you can into a late game where the opponent crumples.

Victor and Betsy both have stumbling blocks to overcome, or hurdles to jump, in order to get maximum value. There is interesting interaction here, you don't just get to pop off while the opponent has nothing to say or do about it. This is still a fight, and if your opponent blocks well or gets a good topdeck against your bad topdeck, you can suddenly be stumbling over a cliff that is quite difficult to overcome in an aggressive meta.

I can't wait to see how these decks grow and thrive! Bravo might have the most developed strategies, but I'm thinking that the fundamentals that Guardians have been learning for as many as four years will still serve them well here. Play for cycle two, maintain a healthy position, use your armor later rather than sooner. Tuck away nasty surprises for the late game. Buy a few turns in a row, and grind them to dust.

Here's a Victor build to walk away with.