Phoenix Elves Faction Highlight

[Truth]

There is a Phoenix Elves Faction Highlight up. http://www.plaidhatgames.com/sum_news.html#article6

[Hogg]

Cool. These articles give a good feel of how the decks should be played.

[jsmkd]

Great article I love this Faction. I can not what for the expansion.

[champrjk]

The elves are the only faction I haven't tried yet. The highlight only adds to my desire to try them out.

[mrkurtb]

I've been trying to figure out why I love to hate the elves. Don't get me wrong, they are very fun to play, it's just that I get extra pleasure from smashing them. I've come to the conclusion that this irrational desire to beat them down is due to the card art.

The card illustrations make them come to life as haughty, disdainful snobs. I don't know what it says about me but I especially love for my group of uncivilized, immoral (and probably smelly) orcs to take Fancy Prince Elien down a notch or two (actually four).

[Truth]

I've been trying to figure out why I love to hate the elves. Don't get me wrong, they are very fun to play, it's just that I get extra pleasure from smashing them. I've come to the conclusion that this irrational desire to beat them down is due to the card art.

The card illustrations make them come to life as haughty, disdainful snobs. I don't know what it says about me but I especially love for my group of uncivilized, immoral (and probably smelly) orcs to take Fancy Prince Elien down a notch or two (actually four).

Totally! John Ariosa, the artist, did an awesome job of making these guys appear disdainful and bitter.

[Jexik]

I too enjoy smashing the Phoenix Elves.

[paradox22]

I enjoy the feeling of beating them... only becasue they are SO HARD to beat! :mad: :D

[XCoconutMonkey06x]

Too true. If your opponent really knows how to play them and sets up their walls really well, it can be a pain to crash through as you get riddled with arrows from afar and Blaze Stomped©.

All in all, I really like these articles. Really helps one get a better grasp on how each particular faction works. I know my first game with Tundra Orcs, I got beaten soundly because I was too tentative with them. After reading about the Cave Goblins, I know how they should be ran and what units I can lean heavily on.

[Creationist]

These are great articles. The elves are very fun to play, but it is true. You must be careful with Elien or youre screwed.

[hahma]

Well I played against these Bitter Elves today after dinner at my sister's house, as we exchanged gifts. My nephew got the goblin/dwarf set last month for his birthday and he beat me with goblins after Thanksgiving dinner. I gave him the elves/orcs set today and he beat me after Christmas Eve dinner with the stinkin' elves.

I told him, "Man, it must be nice to not have to roll dice for kills and building magic with the corpses of my troops." ;)

My Freeze's came late in the game, while his Burns came at a critical point after I put two wounds on his Summoner with my champion (can't recall his name, but he rolled 5 dice and needed 4 or better to hit), I would have gotten him next turn, but he whipped out a couple Burn cards and did some other evil elf thing to kill my champion that had no wounds on him previously.

Oh...me and my orcs will have our revenge on those snobby, bitter elves.

[dkartzinel]

I've really enjoyed the previews, between them and the battle report, that was what helped me decide what to buy. I'd love to see the other two factions profiled, and perhaps also a special on Khan Queso, 'cause I'm not quite sure what to do with him.

[nyys]

Well now I realize why I've had my but handed to me twice when playing the Elves. The Orcs are going down next time... I hope.

[killercactus]

This is the only faction I've had the pleasure of playing so far. They do seem kind of prissy and arrogant, which I bet makes them extra fun to kill.

And yes - not rolling dice is very nice indeed. ;)

[gamjuven]

I just played 2 games with the elves vs. the orcs. They were both great games and both very different. The first game the elves won. It was very close, with both factions decking out. The elves won by walling the orcs out and at the end summoning Maelena to kill the aggressive Grognak. The elves not having to roll is huge. That is just such a big deal. The units are very good and the heroes are excellent as well. The events are very important and don't sit in your hand like goblin events can. The elves are quite fragile though (ie the summoner)

The 2nd games ended on turn 3 or 4. The first turn saw an orc fighter raging 3x, and with the help of a shaman killed 2 elves and wounded Prince Elien 2x. The elves came back and looked pretty good but the orcs put up walls to block the elves and then a quick summon of a shaman got him in range of the prince and a lucky shot won the orcs a game.

I think the elves have the potential of being the best faction because of their consistency with attacking but one false move and their summoner is dead. It is difficult to protect him completely. A fun faction though.

[Jivatma]

Those flea-covered....prissy-nose.....no-good, rotten dirty elves!

This is by no means "hate mail." Just more of my opinions on how to deal with these pesky critters! My ways are by no means correct or absolute. The great thing about Summoner Wars is the dynamic aspect of a "deck." The more you play, the more scenarios you will have. Also, I'm in a good mood, thus my writing is flamboyantly playful. Take it all in stride as I mean no ill-will towards anybody.

Prince Elien (pronounced - Princess I-lean)
cons
-3 ranged attack dice. only him and Thorkur have this kind of ranged killing power :(
-Fire Blast. 2 instant wound damage. Makes for approaching this guy a very difficult feat
-the "Throne." 2 spaces behind the Elves' start wall is the Princess's royal throne. This is the most easily defended area on the Elves' side of the board
-Event Cards. They all hurt. Burns, Precise. -ugh- Its enough to make a wild, Fury'ing Orc Fighter calm enough for his wife to nag him into doing dishes...

pros
-HAHAHAHA She's a girl :P See the funny part is it's not a girl. It's a boy, but so many people confuse the name. See I've totally confused the name already. :D
-4 Life. Ouch. Thats border-line common unit life there. Some champions can kill her with one roll already :D

Yikes. Thats a one-sided list. Elves' must have cheated or something.... Do not fret though! With hard work and tenacity and maybe a few weighted dice, You too can overcome this frilly, gender-confused Elvish wizard.

PRO TIPS
-4 life! hahahahaha! if you get a chance to swing on Elien, swing away. I promise you, every hit is worth it. She doesn't have enough life to go toe-to-toe with some common units, let alone champions. Even a few of the opposing Summoners will fare rather well against Elien.
-The "Throne." 2 solutions! (a)break it down. (b)go around. If you can swarm the wall quickly and efficiently, Elien will have to run. Swarming and wall destruction is a valid tactic against the Elves because they rely on the walls more for protection then as summoning points. If you cannot destroy it in time, try crowding Elien. Giving him multiple targets, yet only one clean shot is a good way to ensure a few hits.
-Unit Management!! As we'll get to it, All of the Phoenix Elves units are statistically (or guaranteed through abilities) at least 1 hit. Don't throw common units into the fray. Orc Fighters tend to just be fodder and free magic for Phoenix Elves. USE THEM SPARINGLY!!! To continue the analogy, Orc Smashers are Phoenix Elves' worst nightmare as far as common units go.
-Board Position!!!!! Board Position Board Position Board Position Board Position Board Position Board Position Board Position Board Position Board Position Board Position......Phoenix Elves have a Drake, Blaze, Stepping Warriors, and nasty nasty burn cards. They can easily decimate a bundle of troops if you're not careful. Try to keep your units spread out, yet easily within reach once your turn comes back around.

Event Cards

I'm not going to sugar coat it. Phoenix Elves have only one "mediocre" event card. The rest are so gorram amazing, they're hard to toss out. Here's to hoping Event Cards are the only event cards your opponent draws at the beginning of the game. Sadly, I can't ofer any tactics against Event Cards. I hope you can shoot Tex! Rachel Loveguard is the only thing that "might" hurt. Don't worry though! There's only 4 damage in burns and 3 SotP's.... -cry-

Spirit of the Phoenix
Ugh! Go. Away. Precise. Lets face it, Precise Sucks! Well Opposing it sucks. This is one of the few event cards that can target your summoner, And giving Precise to a 3-dice ranged attacker is a scary prospect. There are also only 2 units (Archers and Guardians) in the Phoenix Elves Deck that has 1 attack. In a smart player's hands, Elves' SotP will do 2 damage always. An occasional rarity is the 3-damage Drake or Elien. All-in-All, Try to protect your valuables. Keep your high cost commons protected and keep your expensive champions away from the fray. A few champions love to be in the middle of everything, so let them have their fun. (kudos to Gror and Krung and The Eater)

(Greater) Burn
Pre-movement attacks? Free magic? What is this bologna!? Bloody Cheating pointy-eared freaks!!!! Sadly burns hurt. Especially if your opponent hoards them and saves them for a champion. Krung isn't so good when he's burned down to 5 life the turn he comes out. Keep pushing forward though. Kill everything you can. A Phoenix Elf player cannot hoard burns and keep your minions at bay for too long. If you push had enough and hopefully with some rigged dice rolls, He may be forced to use the burns on common units. Or if you're extremely lucky, he'll dump them away to magic! -insert evil laughter and thunder crash-

Magic Drain
So we've declared them cheaters. They're defiantly arrogant and prissy. This card just adds to the list. THIEVES!! cutpurses! scallywags! GET THEM! HANG EM UP AND CUT THEIR TOES OFF ONE AT A TIME!!! oops. sorry folks :D This card is much more manageable then the other Event Cards. With smart, completely fair and unbiased rigged dice, and careful unit and board management, you can keep a fairly even ratio of units versus the Elves. With that this card becomes quite useless. The other option is to only keep 1 magic in your pile. Its hard to do though. The last option is by far the hardest, but just kill kill kill and build so much magic that it won't matter if they steal 2 magic.

A Hero Is Born
This by far my least favorite card in all of Summoner Wars. It doesn't combo well at all. Sometimes it works though so no harm, no foul. At the least its a free magic. On the other hand, at least you'll know They're holding a Drake before they summon it :D

Common Units

Warrior
cons
-ouch. 2 attack dice
-groan. 1 summon cost
-rage. Blaze Step
pros
-hahaha 1 life!
-whaaaattt?? Blaze Step

Defensively, These are a joke! Free Magic is fun and very very tasty as a mid-afternoon snack! But please, Don't feed the Ragnor after 3. Offensively These are the bane of any deck. or one cost The teleporting destructor of doom comes and goes without warning or...well you get the idea. Blaze Step is a tricky double-sided sword. Depending on the abundance of Elven walls, Blaze stepping could prove to be very good :D If an Elven player Blaze Steps too aggressively, they run the risk of blocking up their walls. If they need a little help blocking, be the bigger man and step up. On the other hand you don't want to leave these guys alone. This is the killing force of Phoenix Elves. If you can shut these guys down, Elves will have to rely on dice rolls, And well, we all know what kind of dice to use against dirty, rotten, stinkin', cheating, thieving elves, right? >:D

Guardian
cons
-ugh. 2 life....
-sigh. precise...
pros
-2 summon cost?
-1 attack dice :D

Who knew such a trainee had the kahunas to stay around for so long. I mean look at the way he holds his weapon. He doesn't even looks like he wants to be here! Most Phoenix Elves players have a plethora of magic to spend. Don't be suprised to see these guys come out in droves. The typical 1-attack dice unit has a .666667% of wounding a unit. (2 out of 3). Not these guys. 100% wound marker every time. Thats bad news. But it's an easy fix. Board Positioning! Don't leave weakened units near these guys! Its okay if an Elven player uses 2 guardians to kill your one 2-life unit. Its one gained magic, and one "wasted" attack! Let the stupid Elf think he's winning.

Archer
cons
-4-range. WOW
pros
-weak! YES! I knew those Elves weren't so tough!

1 life, 1 attack 1 cost. I personally don't see these guys around too much. They must be the nerd caste of the Phoenix Elves. I haven't much seen them put to very effective uses either. Their Range is huge and they are garunteed 2 attacks on a melee unit without any retaliation, however most of the time, there is often need of other units to attack with. With their apparent weaknesses and obvious lack of skill with the blade, these guys are easy prey. Kill Kill Kill and let your magic grow!!!

[Jivatma]

Champions

Fire Drake
cons
-sob. 7 life
-cry. 3 attack dice
-bawl. Breath of Flame
pros
-7 summon cost :D
-Strangely enough, Breath of Flame?

This guy is a BEAST!! As smelly and whiny and dim-witted as those Elves are, I've come to a startling conclusion. THIS IS A DDDDRRRRRAAAAAGGGGGOOONNNNN!! Run away! Run for your dear life. There is nothing good or easy about this kill. The only apparent upside is the expensive summoning cost. This guy comes out too early and gets chipped away pretty quickly, or he comes out too late as icing on the cake and and prissy, snobbish, "In your face" taunt by a dirty, low-down rotting Elven Player. Only the most stubborn players should attempt to combat this creature. Interestingly enough, in most games I've seen the dragon used as more of a Summoner hunter then a monster. With his uncanny ability to shoot through walls and ping away at running summoners until he gets close enough to chomp, this guy is nerve-rattling good at chasing away a summoner.

Maelena
cons
-cheaters. 5 cost
-hackers. 5 life
-imba. Burning Blade -_-
pros
-sad ain't it. there's nothign good about seeing Maelena....

Maelena is not a card you want to see summoned. EVER. She's got 2 dice in addition to a 1 dice precise. She kills common units, She kills champions, She scares even the hardiest Tundra Orc. Shockingly however, 5 life is a very manageable amount. It's not too much, nor too little. She will hurt and you WILL lose some units to her and her support units, but a few turns of focused fire should bring her down fairly quickly. And thats exactly what you should do.

Kaeseeal (pronounced Kay-see-all)
cons
-booooo. ranged champion. One of the few!
-Blazing Conscription
pros
-hehe, i'm not sure if shes prophetic or if her parents had a funny lisp.
-manageable

While not as scary as Maelena, she is still a handful. Shepractically nullifies all melee units as if you fail to kill her she'll steal a melee unit for the turn. Stealing a champion like Gror or Ragnor could prove to be very disasterous. I recommend hit and run tactics or just plain range. She has 5 life again which is very manageable and shouldn't prove to be too painful with a concentrated effort. I am a bit curious to why she is holding a dagger and she is a ranged unit. I guess she must have inherited her father's brains :D That or she has quite a few daggers under the robe...

[mrkurtb]

Good stuff Jivatma.

I don't think I'm as big of a fan (or enemy depending on your perspective) of Spirit of the Phoenix as most people. I often don't use them. I weigh .333 * Attack Value damage versus what it will yield as magic (often 1 Warrior Unit) and usually decide the value in Magic is greater. The exceptions are during crucial spots in the game such as when taking on summoners, finishing off an opponent's champion, etc.

[Quintaton16]

I am a bit curious to why she is holding a dagger and she is a ranged unit. I guess she must have inherited her father's brains :D That or she has quite a few daggers under the robe...

I believe that the ranged attack actually comes from that little tongue of flame above her other hand. Like the Shamans' ice magic but fiery and better aimed.

I agree mostly, except for Spirit of the Phoenix . I seem to have trouble using them, because I always want to hold out for more powerful attacks to use it on. I also keep thinking that if I get lucky I'll roll all hits anyway and then I won't have to use it at all.

[jsmkd]

I agree mostly, except for Spirit of the Phoenix . I seem to have trouble using them, because I always want to hold out for more powerful attacks to use it on. I also keep thinking that if I get lucky I'll roll all hits anyway and then I won't have to use it at all.

But they are Elves they do not belive in luck. If you want luck go with the blue guys.

[Jivatma]

I agree mostly, except for Spirit of the Phoenix . I seem to have trouble using them, because I always want to hold out for more powerful attacks to use it on. I also keep thinking that if I get lucky I'll roll all hits anyway and then I won't have to use it at all.

What exactly are you waiting to use it on? There are only 2 units with 3 attack, The drake and Elien. All other units save for archers and guardians have 2 attack power. Don't be afraid to use it on a common unit.....

I mean. HAHAHA! stupid elf! you'll rue the day you build magic with a SotP! :P