It is an easily countered BG. He copied it and attempted to find a way to make it more difficult to counter. We found a few vulnerabilities that we were able to counter, but not all.
I don't think it's spineless to take a BG someone made -- whatever the contexts and associations -- mod it and run it; certainly not if that person then needs to endure the unremitting vitriol of the forums. Courage really doesn't play a part in picking a BG, for me. Ladder points aren't worth enough to make playing a junk deck some act of noble bravery, or playing an abusive combo deck the work of moral cowardice. "Winwhoring" is definitely a pretty phrase, and even if the idea which that word conveys isn't why I picked up the deck, there really shouldn't be such a stigma against that either, at least when it comes to picking a deck. Trying to cheese out wins by insulting your opponent until they quit, hacking, rigging the ladder system so you always queue against people who conspire to feed points -- yeah, those things are a bit scummy. Picking a deck, though, is a part of the game, it's there and open, and that choice is like picking where to move units on any given turn. Sometimes pressuring the shrine for an early kill is the right tactical move; sometimes picking up an unconventional combo deck is the right strategic choice. Saying "right choice" means clarifying goals, though. For me, that means following the explicit rules of the game. It's why I joined up, and it's how I at least play. (Here's a really long post from a different thread about goals in games: http://forums.poxnora.com/index.php?threads/discussion-corner-overpowered.16163/page-3#post-209288) I picked up the deck for two reasons, one simple and immediately related to the game, the other with a social end. First, because I feel the deck is good against what people are running right now; it's a strong meta-game call. Unfortunately for the deck, and fortunately for other players, it's totally, consistently beatable with the runes out there right now, which leads into the second reason: I wanted people to get used to adapting to new BGs. The Pox community and competitive format is astoundingly unyielding in numerous ways, and one of those is tweaking BGs in the context of a meta-game. Because the deck is good right now, but would be terrible if people knew how it worked, it makes a perfect candidate for encouraging that. I've never tried to hide how the BG works, in any way or to any player. On the contrary, there's now a full post in the split forums which goes into detail on the pieces of the deck, play sequences, how it works, and to what it loses. I've taken the time after every match to explain how the combo works to anyone who didn't understand it or wanted more information. I'm not looking for scummy wins here, where people get taken unawares and left in the dark. I'm running the deck because people aren't running anything against it right now, but I've done my best to speed up that future where people have answers. Whenever I ran into a player in ranked who wasn't running counters, they took a hit to their rank and had to eat the loss -- that's the competitive price for being maladapted.
what is with all the salt guys, i hope the hate isnt all too serious. kalasle is also quite the combo-decker, he just isnt as innovative as ipox upfront. he is by no means a shameless copycat who ran the exact same bg just for wins.
It's threads like these that reassure that I probably won't ever queue ranked again. Not because I don't want to face an iPox bg, but because the community continues to stifle different play styles. And apparently is still butthurt about ap lock, which was the best damn bg in a long time.
I also like how people comments that it had an okay counter and it wasn't as bad as AP lock, but apparently one of the endgame combos allowed you to win with it. So sokolov made sure that wasn't there. Sheesh. You guys really are something. A bad something, not a good something.
The deck actually still works fine, just you now win in about 2-3 rounds with a 100 DMG Adaptive champ and spamming board wipes rather than sniping the shrine.
So basically everybody here is saying that Kalasle is without spine and copying a BG is bad...now explain it to me why do you post in your faction forum showing Bgs?why do you run a meta Bg? is it not just a copy of the most reliable Bg around? are you also without spine? Kalasle post this Bg in spilt faction a while ago,I faced it and explained also how to beat it...I really don't understand this community
you run Stitched right? so you are copying the first guy who run a Stitched bg?or the third one?or if you were the first Stitched player ever other player are copying you...shame on them
I think that the game has ultimately garnered a community that sees it as a miniatures game first. Bit different. That's shaped the game, though, because of Pox's constant dev communication.
It's simple. People fear something different and the only way they can combat it in the short term is by shaming. For shame on the shamers. Oh wait On 2nd thought maybe just ignore them and keep doing what you're doing. Haters going to hate.
The hate in this thread is disgusting. I'd have expected nothing else from certain narrow-minded hate machines, but I'm disappointed in some others.
At least Kalasle took the time to actually think about the bg, take it to pieces and try to find out it actually strenghts and weaknesses. All in our guild could follow his findings and thus also how to beat it. He did not mindlessly copy it to go for free wins with average knowledge about many things. If Kalasle was interested in free wins he would not have been guild leader, he would not collect as much data for the rules clarification, the damage calculator etc. Pox isn't twitter.
AP lock was a Firking train wreck. You either drew the right counter or you lost the entire game as all your champions were equipped with black label brew, earth god sigil, or mind shackle. Your champions were able to generate 2-3 ap at most each turn. Always the same bg FW/IS split with RD spam, hammer stuns to stall, and wicked aura on pre gedden nerf wretched witch stacking on top of magnetic rover. Time and time again I watched unskilled and skilled players alike auto lose 80% of the time to whoever was running this ap lock bg. It was a sadistic bg designed to provide joy solely for the player running AP lock. Hekpohmat, Hollywood, and friends rode this abuse ***** AP lock bg til someone finally realized it was cancer with virtually no counter. I think you need to learn to recognize many of the bg you considered "diverse" were broken cancers with virtually no counterplay. There is a line between diverse and broken.
I've seen a lot of comments on how this bg is easy to beat/counter. Anyone care to enlighten me on how? Also, as an aside, while I appreciate the creativity and genius of iPox, I feel that bgs that essentially make the other player a spectator aren't good for the game.
First, if you have faith in your ability to properly judge when and how to rush, that's always a good option. If you just want to include counters, put in something with Backlash or Nora Leech. The UD and SP spell seals also work. Your opponent will, at some point, deploy 2x Infestor and pass the turn. Drop your counter rune in a safe place, outside of your opponent's cast presence on the next turn. Proceed to play a normal game and crush their mediocre BG.
