What do you do?
- You have enough Red/Orange gems to play your first and second turn as you desire
- You have two souls from the Journey of Souls pursuit
- Think about what you would do and why
The latest balance patch brought not only several cards from obscurity to prominence, but an entire tactic: blocking. Blocking is one of the core mechanics of Magic, where attackers are declared against the opponent and the defensive player chooses to intercept, or block, the attackers, thus choosing how the combat resolves. This is the defender's choice paradigm.
Mythgard uses the opposite paradigm, attacker's choice. Normally this wouldn't allow for "blocking", but due to Mythgard's clever use of lane mechanics, the "trident", the defender still has a reasonable chance to dictate how attacks are made.
Why the rise to relevance?
Combat tricks, or spells that alter minion stats. Most of them were just buffed above the playability threshold. As several of these effects are non temporary, blocking has simultaneously become more important and more difficult.
Why is it more important?
In addition to increasing the viability of combat tricks, the patch also brought more ways to aggressive decks to close out the game. This means there is more pressure on the defensive players life total. Decisions to block have to be made sooner or the defensive player risks getting overrun.
Why it it more difficult?
There are more options and they are less telegraphed. Pre-patch the most common combat modified all came with hints: Cairnhenge/Demolition Speedway(Rainbow), Ollama Ring (double-yellow), and Infuse(Power). Matryoshka and Spear of Destiny weren't telegraphed, but were far less common. Now, any deck could conceivably burn a blue gem on turn 2 and play Honed Edge or turn 3 and play a Godsblud Transfusion.
In addition, the buffs also increase the health of the minion, making it more likely to survive combat. So, they get to kill our minion and leave behind a threat. Blocking seems like a terrible idea!
It's not as bad as it looks
Before the patch, the commonly used buffs were artifacts or enchantments. These buffs can affect multiple minions over the course of the game and in some cases multiple minions in the same turn.
Combat tricks are one and done. After their target is neutralized they do not generate further value. This is an important thing to consider when deciding whether to block. Often you are making a 1-for-1 trade, your minion for their trick, sometimes with the added bonus of negating some combat damage.
The answer
Block the Strigoi Pup with your Eager Recruit. It may be tempting to Ignition the pup, but then you haven't gained initiative, and you still have the potential threat of a trick. Instead, if you block and they use Honed Edge you have traded your minion for their trick. On your second turn you can then play your Ignition (completing a 2 for 2) and your minion. You have given yourself the potential to seize the initiative (or at worst maintain parity).
While this scenario was specifically constructed to show a scenario that it is correct to block, actual games are rarely as straightforward. Your future plays or even what burns you have to make could affect your decision. Almost every time you block you are putting yourself at risk, the goal is choosing times when the risk is worth the reward.
When not to block
When you are the beatdown
When playing your minion elsewhere forces your opponent to alter their game plan
When the value of the blocker is greater than their trick
When to block
When preventing an attack is more important than losing your blocker
When the value of your blocker is less than their trick
When the value of potentially removing their minion outweighs the loss of potentially losing yours
When they had an excellent opportunity to use a trick and didn't
When they have few cards in their hand
When the opportunity cost is high (when it prevents them from doing something else powerful)
When it sets you up for an advantageous counter-play(like the Ignition example above)
In practice, you get the most value from blocking early or late in the game. Early in the game you risk small minions for the potential of greatly upsetting your opponents game plan. In the late game, you are potentially saving large life swings from big minions like Sapo, or by blocking lifetap minions with low health minions.
How to block
Generally, it is best to block straight across, this prevents them from moving away and protects against things like (Idolon, Temptation, Valkyrie Enforcer, Murmur)
Use Defender, Lurker, and positioning to limit how they can declare attacks
"Block" from out of range. This can be with Swift units or with the Impel power. This can force your opponents to pre-buff
Identify the reason for the block:
trying to trade? Block Strigoi Pup with an Eager Recruit instead of a Parsa Recruit to prevent a trapezist blowout
trying to bait a spell? Use the smallest minion that will force your opponent's hand
trying to chump? Don't waste an Eager Recruit when a Parsa Recruit will do
serious about blocking? Use something hard to kill, AngelLoop would frequently use Raziel and Bragi as speedbumps against faster decks.
Pick the right turn. Aim to setup multiple blocks in the same turn, or on the turn your opponent will want to use their resources in another way. This limits your opponents options.
Calling the bluff / Making them have it
Sometimes you weigh the probabilities and make a block that is great if they don't have a specific card. And they have it. For some reason it always feels worse to lose a minion to a combat trick than a normal removal spell. But this scenario is no different than playing around Wonder Drugs or any other card. (see How to Play...Around Cards)
The goal is to always make the plays that will give you the best change to win. Sometimes making the correct play doesn't lead to the result you want, but that doesn't mean it wasn't the correct play.
Things are different now
The powerlevel buff of combat tricks has changed how you have to think about and play the game. Choosing the correct blocks at the correct time is now more important than ever. And in some cases, it might change how you have to build your deck, It could mean adding cards to make blocking easier, like Mavka, Yahui, or Goliath's Web, or cards that can punish tricks like Valkyrie Enforcer, Orbital Jamming Satelite, and Detained/Deported.
As with anything new, try things, see what works, what doesn't. Mythgard is a deep and complex, and learning and adjustment is required if you want to continue to succeed.
Bonus Content: Blocking Enchantments...
...with enchantments. This is a little bit different, but too small for it's own article. Certain enchantments you want to threaten (Bald Mountain, Whitemoon Arena, Night Market, etc) to prevent your opponent from generating repeated value. While others you want to avoid as it makes winning combat difficult (Cairnhenge/Speedway, etc) or repeated combats on that side benefit your opponent( Bemeini Falls, Heaven & Hell, etc).
So, when placing your enchantments think about what affect it will have on the battlefield. Beyond the direct counters, Hekate's Wheel, or Goliath's Web for Seahaven/Shadow Trapeze think about how your placement might deter them using their enchantment. A well placed Soma Oasis might "turn off" certain lanes without you ever having to commit minions. Alternately, think careful about how to avoid invalidating your own enchantments. Pro tip: Don't play Serpent Den near Demolition Speedway.
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