Jungle Elves Reinforced
More animals arrive.
I hope you are all having a great weekend. Hopefully you are reading this post on Monday after a full weekend enjoying the beautiful outdoors because I'm stuck here studying at a Starbucks. So for my study break, I will be quickly covering the Jungle Elves Reinforcements, as a followup to my Jungle Elf strategy article. Check out our recently posted Blagog-cast -- we share our thoughts on the recent previews.
The Jungle Elve's reinforcements are a bit different from most other reinforcements. For one thing, they have 1 champion and 3 commons whereas other factions usually get 3 champions and 2 commons. This is probably a due to the fact that all 3 Jungle Elf starters are beasts.
Since this is our first reinforcement review, let me reiterate that reinforcements aren't necessarily better, but bring new elements to the table. I liken them to specialized tools as opposed to a full-blown upgrade. For those of you wondering, power creep is not a real problem in the world of Summoner Wars. I can have a customized Cave Goblin deck tailored to abusing the zero cost commons, and still get thrashed by a deck out of the box.
If you read my article covering JE, you are probably thinking that I hate their reinforcements. That's not entirely true; I just find the Elves out of box more fitting to my play-style. Super-aggressive champion rush. A lover of economics, I am firm believer in hedging your weaknesses. In my opinion, Jungle Elves Reinforcements does exactly that, it makes up for their weaknesses in commons.
First up Kadara. Personally, I think she is a great alternative one of the other cannons Shikwa or Ru. She is one cheaper, which can come in hand in tight spots. She also has a decent ranged attack -- which becomes pretty deadly considering Abua Shi's ability and movement effect cards. She is a great closer to finish of a summoner.
The commons really make up for the weak JE starter commons. Lionesses and Archers aren't the greatest commons given their low health and situational abilities. Even Lioneers might not be your cup of tea. Here are some lovely replacements. I'll review them in order of personal preference (least favorite first). Jungle Guards.
ONE DOES NOT SIMPLY PAY 4 MAGIC FOR A COMMON. They're expensive. Think about it. Two of these guys are worth a Krung. Yes, they are strong (once again the key is the JE movement events), but Ilike to save my magic for champions.
Elephants are little walking Miti Mumways. Once again, the theme of hedging weaknesses is here. Here is another example of how these big beefy commons can replace those wimpy little archers. I'm also not a huge fan of these guys because of cost, but Trample is a nice touch.
My favorite common in the reinforcements are the Gorillas. Decent attack, decent health, decent cost, very cool ability. The art is also fantastic here; it's a gorilla carrying around beatsticks. If you're feeling lucky, use Abua to buff these guys up.
My typical Reinforced JE deck would include Kadara subbed in for one of the three starter champions with Gorillas and Jungle Guards replacing all the archers in the deck.
