What is your best Faction

[jsmkd]

I have one of each set so i thaught that i would have battles to see how my best faction is. so i did one on one with all of them.i found that the elves won all of there battles, the orcs went 2,1, the Dwarves went 1,2, and i am bad with goblins they were 0,3.

Did anyone else do this and what is your best Faction?

[DrLivingston]

I've played in two games.

Orcs vs Elves and Elves won
Goblins vs Elves and Elves won

But, really, none of the people I've played with nor myself have any idea what we're doing yet.

We know it's fun.

We can tell there's a lot of strategy/tactical stuff that we're just starting to see.

But saying Elves are our best faction seems a little premature for us.

My son's favorite is the Elves. He summoned the dragon and it was lights out for my poor Goblins.

My favorite is the Goblins--I have high hopes that someday I'll know what I'm doing with these guys. Beyond how to feed them to Dragons.

Rym's favorite is the Tundra Orcs--he's convinced that he will beat me in our next game with them.

[Jim]

I think that declaring what the best faction at this point is like saying what the best <insert type of sport here> team is after only the first game of the season.

Maybe after you've played 40, 50, 60, or so games.

[rym]

Maybe after you've played 40, 50, 60, or so games.

Now that's the life right there.

[mrbistro]

The PE will win a lot at first simply because they're the easiest faction (of those released so far) to play. Someone new can sit down with the PE and see what they need to do easily enough, where the other 3 benefit from understanding how they work.

[Pickledpie]

Personally I think I am best with the Dwarves, especially when paired in a multiplayer situation with a strong attacking faction, like the Elves. How ever, the Goblins remain untried and I've got a feeling that swarms will do well in this game. We'll see...

[Creationist]

I have only used the Elves and Orcs. Personally, I think I'm better with the Orcs. Elien is just too fragile for my liking.

[Truth]

I've played in two games.

Orcs vs Elves and Elves won
Goblins vs Elves and Elves won

But, really, none of the people I've played with nor myself have any idea what we're doing yet.

We know it's fun.

We can tell there's a lot of strategy/tactical stuff that we're just starting to see.

But saying Elves are our best faction seems a little premature for us.

My son's favorite is the Elves. He summoned the dragon and it was lights out for my poor Goblins.

My favorite is the Goblins--I have high hopes that someday I'll know what I'm doing with these guys. Beyond how to feed them to Dragons.

Rym's favorite is the Tundra Orcs--he's convinced that he will beat me in our next game with them.

The elves vs goblins is a bad match up for the goblins. You'll see more as more sets come out, since each set is a specialist, some sets are strong against one faction and weak against another.

[ultimobean]

Well i don't know about that truth. You and I have had many confrontations where i played as the goblins and beat you and you played as the goblins and beat me. I truthfully think that yes the phoenix elves may have a more tactical advantage but as with any game if you play smart and have the right combination of cards you could easily take the game.

To me its like playing a game of chess always thinking ahead looking at possible opportunities and advantages and hoping that the other guy makes a mistake.

[Truth]

Well i don't know about that truth. You and I have had many confrontations where i played as the goblins and beat you and you played as the goblins and beat me. I truthfully think that yes the phoenix elves may have a more tactical advantage but as with any game if you play smart and have the right combination of cards you could easily take the game.

To me its like playing a game of chess always thinking ahead looking at possible opportunities and advantages and hoping that the other guy makes a mistake.

Its not that I think the PE are so much better than the Gobs in general. It is when the PE are facing the Gobs that I think the PE shine the brightest. The things that the PE specialize in make them a particularly tough matchup for the Gobs.

[Creationist]

Now, I have played all of the factions. This is my order
1. Tundra Orcs
2. Cave Goblins
3. Pheonix Elves
4. Guild Dwarves

[Jexik]

The more I play, the more I like them all.

I like the angry elves.

I like the smashing orcs.

The heroic dwarves.

The swarming goblins.

But not in that order. I don't want to put them in order.

[paradox22]

I love them all, but I've had the most success with the Cave Goblins... I love their sneaky summoner paired with goblin invincibility, and I love the finesse of trying to work in 5 attacks/turn. Being able to summon swarms of units for free, and save magic cards for champs is awesome too. Hell, I even love the creepy giant pink hairless buck-toothed monstrosity that is The Eater!

GOBLINS FTW! :D

[Cleon]

I have played a game with each faction once and have been against each fraction. 1-0 with all; have yet to lose! :D. I did play the Tundra Orcs against the Phoenix Elves at GenCon, before the release, and won that match too but I don't really count it.

So I'm in question about my best faction. I don't think it's the Phoenix Elves though. I also don't know about my favorite faction......need to play more. I look forward to playing a game or too against my cousin John later today.

[XCoconutMonkey06x]

I'm all about the Tundra Orcs. First game I got whipped. Then I faced them with PE and got a better idea on how they were run. Top that with an article I read here with some tips & tricks on them and now I like to believe that I perform pretty well with them now. It seems to me that each faction appeals to a different sort of playstyle. TO really plays to how I like to run my decks/armies.

[Incognito]

All we have is the Elves vs Orcs (we have ordered Goblins and Dwarves but that'll be a while). The Orcs took the first two games, and the Elves have been outright dominant in the last five. I personally am 4-1 with them, so to answer the OP, our favorite is the Elves (not because of their success necessarily, but them whole mitigating luck).

I find it is really hard when the Elves can cut through walls fast, and all their champions are excellent at killing non-Common units. Warriors are very good at killing Smashers (although Smashers are boss), especially in conjunction with Elien. Elves tend to have so much excess magic from killing Fighters with Guardians (which is 'extra', that is it boosts my magic above the opponent's) that Freeze is never a problem. My dad and I are both aggressive discarders, so the game moves fast. The Elves are usually hanging back picking off Ice Walls and enemy Commons. Anyone have any tips on beating Elves with Orcs?

[Quintaton16]

For some reason I have a lot of trouble with the Orcs. It seems like their play style demands mad rushing and smashing of enemy skulls, but for Walls of Ice Shard to help, you have to fall back to your side of the field. I find myself putting far too much faith in 1-attack Fighters, simply because my only other options, the Shamans, are even less reliable. So much for my early prediction that the Orcs should be the easiest to play. It is probably also a reflection on my playing style. I like to gamble, but I am doubleplusbad at it.

Right now I am playing by far my best with the Elves and Dwarves. Out of four games with the Dwarves, I have won twice by taking down the enemy Wall and annihilating him from there, and once by using both Heroic Feats on Oldin to make the most of one attack on Prince Elien. Ironically, the other game with them was a blowout also, but the other way.

I suppose it boils down to play style. I personally am a quality-over-quantity player, and I hate feeling forced to rush madly forward. I think the Elves match my personality the best, but the Dwarves might be a good influence on me, since they force me to do things I don't like to do but should, like attack Walls and set up defensive formations.

[Jexik]

I tend to be a quality over quantity player in Summoner Wars too. I tend to use the Smashers and their Champions the most, sprinkling in Shamans and fighters where it makes sense.

But I think there are multiple routes to success in SW.

[rym]

I've finally managed to play a game or two using all the factions, and I have to say that the Tundra Orcs are still my favorite. A close second are the Guild Dwarves, and I mean a close second.

Until Saturday night, I'd never played the Phoenix Elves, but have lost to them (at least once) each time I've faced them (in the hands of each of my friends). The Phoenix Elves seem to be the unit my friends want to play first the first time they play the game. I don't know why. I gave the Elves a go Saturday, and won with them. They aren't my favorite, but seeing them across the board enough times taught me what to do and what I can expect if the cards are right.

I would love for the Cave Goblins to be the unit for me, but they are so fickle, and both times I've tried to get them to work, they've caved - no pun intended. I definitely see the potential in them, I just haven't gotten the cards to work right for me - yet.

[Jexik]

I've had a couple of extremely successful games with Guild Dwarves recently. I'm surprised by how little stock the general Summoner Wars population seems to put into wall destruction and crowding. Defenders + Engineers = Awesome. Their heroes are varied and powerful. They might be my favorite faction now, or about equal with the Tundra Orcs. They seem to be the most tactically and strategically flexible, and with a nice assortment of Events to boot.

[Quintaton16]

I've had two games now where I killed the opponent's only Wall with BtW and Engineers. My opponent never drew another Wall until it was far too late. The Dwarves have given me my fastest and most dominating wins. In the right hands, I definitely see them as the future Glastatrons of Summoner Wars (and not just because of the ability copying).

[Creationist]

I have played around7 or 8 games and I think I work best with Cave Goblins now. I seem to have found a fun strategy.

[Jexik]

I played against my friend Joe (AKA spider_poison from 'scape), and he's really good at this too. After playing some 10+ hours of Summoner Wars in one weekend, he says he thinks the Phoenix Elves are the best, but thinks he likes the Guild Dwarves better. We both felt that the Tundra Orcs can certainly handle those two factions decently well, but that the Cave Goblins didn't really fit the playing style that emerged.

[pixlepix]

Cave goblins, second elves. But the fact that we disagree means this game is even more awesome.

[Anavasoothed]

After playing about ten games of summoner wars (I just got the Orcs and Elves in last night :D), I am beginning to favor the dwarves, unexpectedly. Steady and true, they work to my style. Though I really love each faction. Even the elves, whom I thought would take a beating and sit on the sidelines, are keeping right up with it. I am most excited to see what the expansions offer to these factions. Will the be 10 copies of a single new unit type? Or a mix for each available faction? Oh the possibilities!

On the Goblins vs. Elves as a bad match up. I definitely saw the complete reaming of the goblin units early on. My opponent had almost lost hope, against my hoard of Elves. But, with a little bit of push, he was able to get one of his goblins right up to Elien, and trade it for Sneaks. Were it not for me drawing two Spirit of the phoenixes on my turn, and having a champion right there, I would have been torn to shreds. And if he hadn't wasted Goblin Rush and Goblin invincibility, things wold have been many ways in his favor. Though I won, I can definitely see that Elien's fragility calls for Sneaks to use is superior whacking ability to great advantage.

[darkbladecb]

I have found that, yes, the Elves can be a problematic match-up from the Goblins, but I more find this is due to the horrible starting setup for the Goblins vs. the Elves. This can be mitigated somewhat by going second. The Goblins have the ability to kill lots and lots of things in a turn and, though the Goblins do end up getting sliced through, the sheer numbers of attacks per turn, if used correctly (by not having too many excess commons on the board), can be extremely problematic.

A lot of this comes from my group having played a good week to two weeks of the game (playing every day for at least a game or two in that time) with just the Dwarves and Goblins and a lot of our strategies at the time were built around the appropriate timing of playing units, as it's extremely tempting with both of these cheap armies to just drop everything that you can from your hand. This is a mistake, as you just leave inactive fodder for your opponent that is going to stand idle on the board. Particularly if you like to place walls in a forward position, it is more advantageous to be able to drop 2-3 units into the opponent's territory each turn and force them to react to you. If the Elven player is forced to play defensively and the Goblin (or Dwarf) player is aggressive in their assault, but defensive in their placement of units on the board, it can be devastating.

[killercactus]

I'm undefeated with everyone except the Dwarves, but I haven't played enough games yet for that to really matter. I think my best faction is the Elves, though I haven't really been challenged in any game I've played with Elves or Goblins.

[Quintaton16]

I played against my friend Joe (AKA spider_poison from 'scape), and he's really good at this too. After playing some 10+ hours of Summoner Wars in one weekend, he says he thinks the Phoenix Elves are the best, but thinks he likes the Guild Dwarves better. We both felt that the Tundra Orcs can certainly handle those two factions decently well, but that the Cave Goblins didn't really fit the playing style that emerged.

I agree completely with Joe/s_p. Elves are the first faction that appeal to a true tactics buff. Strategy is pretty limited, as I've found that it is obvious what to keep and what to toss, and events are pretty easy. Tactics are easy to grasp, but they play very elegantly and it's quite easy to analyze the battlefield and pick out killer moves. They allow the player to really feel in control of a battle.

The Dwarves are different. Played well they can absolutely dominate, but played poorly they quickly get overwhelmed by other units with flashier specials. They are a lot scarier to play than Elves because you have to put them out in harm's way and your body count is usually pretty high. I find the Dwarves the most fulfilling faction to win as, because I feel that they make me stick my neck out and just try to hang on until I can unleash a huge steamroller of crazy heroes through the hole left by a dead wall.

[Quintaton16]

I played against my friend Joe (AKA spider_poison from 'scape), and he's really good at this too. After playing some 10+ hours of Summoner Wars in one weekend, he says he thinks the Phoenix Elves are the best, but thinks he likes the Guild Dwarves better. We both felt that the Tundra Orcs can certainly handle those two factions decently well, but that the Cave Goblins didn't really fit the playing style that emerged.

I agree completely with Joe/s_p. Elves are the first faction that appeal to a true tactics buff. Strategy is pretty limited, as I've found that it is obvious what to keep and what to toss, and events are pretty easy. Tactics are easy to grasp, but they play very elegantly and it's quite easy to analyze the battlefield and pick out killer moves. They allow the player to really feel in control of a battle.

The Dwarves are different. Played well they can absolutely dominate, but played poorly they quickly get overwhelmed by other units with flashier specials. They are a lot scarier to play than Elves because you have to put them out in harm's way and your body count is usually pretty high. I find the Dwarves the most fulfilling faction to win as, because I feel that they make me stick my neck out and just try to hang on until I can unleash a huge steamroller of crazy heroes through the hole left by a dead wall.

[Tidus]

I like the phoenix elves as long as you use them right.

[Dromar]

While I like Sneeks the best, I feel that Elves are the strongest race based on the strategy I've been implementing with them.

The Elven commons are the best in the game IMO:
Firewalkers are mobile and strong, especially with the Spirit spell.
Guardians are early-game killing machines, and 2HP makes them an annoyance for the opponent to kill.
Archers can get free shots in some situations throughout the game due to their high range. Oddly, I've found that, while being the best range unit in the game so far (IMO, though closely followed by the Spearman and Shaman), they're the worst Elf common, and I almost exclusively discard them for magic, because even though they're good, everything else is better.
Burn and Greater Burn are great spells, and Elien can usually get one or two easy kills at some point throughout the game.

Anyway, my strategy basically revolves around being as efficient as possible with the commons, getting as many "free/easy" kills as possible, long enough to summon a champ, and then running Elien into a corner and building walls around him. Easy 13 HP. Once I've done that it's up to my opponent to completely exhaust my army; he no longer has any way to assassinate Elien. Without that option, I've found that the Elven commons are just too efficient for my opponents to handle.

[infamous1]

i find that i play the most defence with the elves, picking and choosing my fights,placing my walls mid to back on my side, keeping my archers back and jumping my warriors around attacking walls and near by enemy units, also jumping around to protect my summoner. 2 gardians and a champion often make my attack party and push deep into the enemys side of the board.

i also find that i play defence with the dwarfs, i usely put one wall forward one wall mid and one wall back, fighting in my zone more then theres, making them come to me through my walls and defenders to be attacked by my ranged units and making the most of the spearmen up close and personal, i take as many free hits on there walls as i can, after i push back with a champion on one side of the board and push with what commons i got on the other side, seems to work well for me so far, if i start with the right cards i'll try to take down the walls right away, but with the dwarfs i find that by mid to the end of the game if i win i have destroyed all the walls anyhow,

the orcs i find i attack more then defend, the attack comes in waves, i push with commons a smasher followed by fighters discard my shamans and fight until my luck runs out, once this happens i then fall back and rely on my summoner with a champion, shamans also make good defence, with two life and two attack, but are more of a destraction then effective at killing things, (just not that lucky with them) using my walls and champion i usely get enough magic to push again, summoning another champion to attack i push with my summoner too, as back up he usely follows a champion. this two wave attack style works quite well and knowing what champion to use and how to place your wall cards in key defence positions seems to be the key for me.

the goblins are the most aggresive, i attack and attack and attack, they seem to have the most stragty, with up to six attacks in one turn (if using the eater, counting eating a unit as an attack) and with the right event cards the goblins can quickly kill almost anything in a turn or two, i put mook in the middle of the board as support and to draw attacks away fom my commons, the eater works well on big commons but i don't commonly use him that often, if i do it's to crush an attack by commons, i keep blarf back and slowly build him for the end battle, the key for me to win though is with my commons and event cards, i also find goblins 2nd to the dwarfs at attacking the walls, but attacking so fierce with the goblins often has me using all my cards faster then the enemy, and if the enemy can hold out aganist the onslaught a counter attack can be devestating,

so far the goblins are all my friends first choice, (but one)

only one friend likes the elves because his dice rolling abilty sucks,

i like to pick the orcs, although probley not my best they are the funnest to use... when there "luck" is high, the dwarfs 2nd 'cause in my opion they have the most options, attack walls, play "D", suprise pumped up attacks, etc.

all my friends dislike playing the elves the most, with auto hits theres not much "chance" to roll a miss when attacking,

i dislike playing aganist the dwarfs the most, probley because i like the orcs and the dwarfs are quite effective against the orcs.

well thats what i think so far, but with time any and everything my change... thats why i like this game so much, so many posibilitys.

ps. i know i suck at spelling and typing... as long as you understand what i'm trying to say it's all good:p

[AzureEternal]

I really dig the Orcs. Although a lot of what they have to offer is dependent upon luck, if you use all the units and walls correctly, luck or no luck, you can unleash a pretty dominating offensive.

[VertigoSmooth]

I just got my two starter sets in and have played all of three games, so I'm way too new at it to pick a favorite. One thing I did notice is the elves auto damage mixed with magic stealing is pretty powerful. I played Tundra orcs vs. Penopticons elves and I just couldn't get enough magic going to do anything. Between him auto killing my cheap commons and stealing my magic pile I was left with hardly any magic the whole match. I did notice how powerful the orc summoner was though. Overall it's a great game from what I have experienced so far and I can't wait to play some more.

I really want to play wth the dwarves, considering I always seem to favor dwarves in games(maybe because I am one, hehe)


Dustin

[darkbladecb]

The Dwarves are my favorite. After having gotten the most reps in with them, I find it absolutely depressing--particularly when playing the Tundra Orcs--to not have any Besiege the Walls around. I take that card so much for granted.

I also have a man crush on Thorkur. He's won so many games for me. Is it the beard? Or the runes? I don't know. But he gets the job done.

[Tidus]

I play the Tundra Orcs the most. I recently played the Phoenix Elves and they happened to do very well though so... i don't know. If you can make good combos the Tundra Orcs are great though.

[gamjuven]

I only have the goblins/dwarves starter so this is rather limited at the moment. I have found that new players want to play as the dwarves (not sure why). I think playing as the dwarves is less fun than the goblins, and less fun than I am imagining the other factions are (wow that's a horrible sentence). I am also finding that the goblins have won most of the games I've played. My first game was against my fiancee and that was a very very close game that the goblins won, but other than one other very close game the dwarves have only won one matchup against the goblins, and that happened due to me exposing Sneeks too much (the exhibitionist he is).

The goblins can move just so quick and kill so many units a turn ( and more importantly replace ones so quickly), that they eventually win. The turns are a roller coaster ride with each side losing 3 units a turn, but eventually the goblins win that war, with some ridiculous summon and key event card playing. I recently was very close to losing but managed to play a goblin rush, rage, and a horde attack along with a slinger and fighter that got adjacent to the summoner and killed him (4 attacks of 2 will do that to ya).

I also think in general the goblin champions are better than the dwarf champions. They are easier to get out and are very devastating when used correctly.

In terms of the other factions I am really looking forward to playing the orcs and elves. The orcs seem like they have a ton of luck associated with them (which my fiancee will love since I think she offers daily sacrifices to the dice gods for her ridiculous luck).

The elves I am thinking are the best but only if the person playing them is very good. Now I do think they are beginner player friendly simply because their units can auto wound (which is huge). But this boon is also the reason I think they will be the best with the best player. This game has been correctly associated with chess, only with luck and dice rolls. Well with the elves there is frequently no luck involved (at least with offense). The risks you take you can calculate with a fair amount of certainty. You know your unit will kill that 1 life common unit if you want it to, and with abilities like blaze step there is a ton of strategy. I also think it takes a chess-minded player or a very intelligent player to play the elves because of the frailty of the summoner. Like a chess player needs to protect his king an elf player will have to use a lot of strategy to keep that prince alive. To a new player I think this will lead many players to love the elves, but one mistake with that summoner could lead to a loss very easily. Now a very good player that doesn't make mistakes I think can control the game in a fashion to win most of the time. The elves seem like they can control so easily, that it's a failure of strategy more than a failure in luck if you lose with the elves (unless you play the orcs and they frenzy (sorry heroscape term) 300 times. Not much you can do about that.

That was very long winded but I'm thinking I am agreeing with joe (spider_poison) when it comes to the elves and I would not want to play him if he uses the elves, because he calculates everything. My friend happyjosiah (from heroscapers), is also like that, and happens to be very very good at chess. I don't think I will allow him to play as the elves.