Friday Faction Highlight: Jungle Elves Part 2
More tricks for every occasion
Happy Friday everyone! The reinforcements for the Jungle Elves solidified their role in my mind as the assassination faction. Don’t be fooled, they’ve got all sorts of nasty tricks to surprise kill or injure enemy summoners. The more I play them, the less I see them as a rush faction, they’re really closer to the Cloaks than say the Shadow Elves in my mind. They’ve got so many dirty tricks to play, and this new set just added to it.
Commons
Elephants are my least favorite common from the reinforcements. Now they’re not a bad unit, they’re a tanking unit, and that doesn’t fit how I play Jungle Elves. I play Jungle Elves when I want to be aggressive and in my opponent’s face all game long. If you are more defensive oriented, and like the idea of rampaging through commons with an elephant, these are the guys for you. They are pretty beastly for a common, but I still like lioneers a little better.
Gorillas feel like a Tundra Orc unit to me. What do I mean? Really simple, for those of you who are favored with good rolls, you’ll love these guys. I mean, with a couple of chant of hastes, you have a chance at one shotting Elien if the rolls are with you and he’s open. Sadly, if you’re like me, and the dice don’t love you so much, these guys are just a plain 2 attack for 2 magic. That’s not a bad deal, so you may want to consider popping a couple of these guys in your deck.
Now, Jungle Guards are fascinating. The first time I saw them, I said ick, who would play that? Some of you are probably already rolling your eyes, maybe you’re a better judge of units than I am at first sight, but I promise, I’m a quick learner. In this case, I give a shout out to Rich, who showed me how awesome they are. Chant of growth, range two diagonal attack is disgusting! It’s really hard to set up a defensive formation against that! And if it’s a surprise summon, it’s even worse. I love these guys.
Champion
Alright, so only one new champion this time, but she’s pretty fun. Kadara’s got the standard 2 attack five cost profile, but with the far shot ability, she’s best used as either a harasser or a surprise assassination summon. As a harasser, her job is to plink at commons or champions and stay out of the front lines. As an assassin, basically you want to try to either summon her against someone who left their summoner open, but who was out of range for normal attackers. You can also use her when by stripping defenses on a summoner, so use a lioneer to knock out someone who’s in the way, then take a potshot at long range on their summoner. Remember though, if you’re using her at close range, you’re doing it wrong (unless you’re desperate).
Deck Ideas
Fun with Dice
1 Abua Shi - Summoner
1 Makeinda Ru - Champion
1 Khan Queso - Champion
1 Miti Mumway - Champion
4 Lionesses - Common
4 Gorillas - Common
6 Archers - Common
4 Lioners - Common
This deck is for those you who are feeling lucky today! You want to roll dice, and lots of them. With this one, try to get a couple of gorillas out and chant of haste them for a rush. Khan Queso is basically in the deck to be a throw away champ, you can summon him if you’ve got plenty of magic, but a high cost curve deck like this one will only be able to get out two champions, but that’s okay, because you have gorillas! You basically want to use the massive amounts of hits you can throw out to beat your way to victory. Yes, this deck is more of a whimsical deck than a serious tourney deck, but come on, tell me it doesn't sound fun!
The Toolbox
1 Abua Shi - Summoner
1 Makeinda Ru - Champion
1 Shikwa - Champion
1 Miti Mumway - Champion
6 Lionesses - Common
2 Jungle Guard - Common
4 Archers - Common
2 Elephants - Common
4 Lioners – Common
This one’s for people like me! I like to have an answer to everything. The key to this deck is knowing that not every card will be useful in any given situation, so you can’t be afraid to just toss it in the magic pile. This deck just wants to answer anything an opponent can throw at it with something else. They try common rushing? Elephants are your friend. Are they turtling? Surprise Jungle Guard for the win. Champion charge? Shikwa and Miti. You get the idea.
Conclusion
I love the Jungle Elves, easily one of my favorite factions, they’re actually very close to beating the Phoenix Elves in top 3 favorite factions. The Jungle Elves are good at almost everything, and with their events, they’ve got pretty much an answer to anything that comes your way. They’re definitely a go to faction for aggressive players like me. The Filth are up next week, so stay tuned!
