http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad/msg/0418bb8cd8eade4a
and
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad/msg/41f40d275885cf21
To beat Imbued, you have to play a little differently.
So here are some suggestions on how to do that.
* Know what the Imbued deck is capable of right now. For example, if
there are four Imbued on the table and two have Judgment, that deck can
bleed for at least 11, even if there currently isn't a Laptop in play and
none of them have Strikes. It can come together in a single turn. I used
to hide my Strikes in my ashheap (well, not intentionally conceal them,
but avoid drawing attention to them) and somebody would ask how many of my
guys had strikes. I'd scratch my head, look through piles of cards for
just a quick moment and announce "none." Of course, next turn they'd all
have Strikes.
* Know what the Imbued deck is capable of right now. For example, if you
try to bleed and play Lost in Crowds, your only stealth card, only to get
blocked by The Unmasking + Discern when there's an untapped KRCG and an
unburned Second Sight, you haven't played very well. You can count how
much stealth you need. Don't hope to top-deck three stealth cards or just
go in blindly.
* Know what the Imbued deck is capable of right now. Many Imbued decks
run Sudden and/or DI and recycle them with Anthelios and Parthenon. With
Angel of Berlin in the mix, they tend to be high on OOT masters. Has the
Imbued deck played an OOT already or can he still Sudden your Jack or DI
your Forgotten Labyrinth? If you don't know instantly, shame on you!
* Know what the Imbued deck is capable of right now! That Ivory Bow will
hit you for 2 agg. You don't want to block with Cailean counting on your
Guardian Angel to save you. Don't do that! Jack Harmon gets a maneuver.
Jennie gets guys out of incap. Travis makes pool. You need to know this
stuff!
* Tap them out! Anarch Troublemaker doesn't work, but Majesty can do okay
(they often don't want to burn Reacts for fear you'll have Entrancement)
and Earth Meld is even better. But be smart about it. Using Champion,
for example, doesn't tap an Imbued. I once watched a game where a
Stanislava deck would bleed with Stanislava first every turn, get
Champion'd, then bleed with other minions. So sad....
* Play into the table hate. Not only do a lot of people hate facing
Imbued, but Imbued tend not to be very good cross-table buddies. I know
people used to complain bitterly when I played them because I wouldn't do
anything to my prey for ages, then I'd just clean up once I could bleed
for 20 every turn, so basically it's the worst of both worlds - your
predator has no predator, but if somehow you survive that, he suddenly
does and you both die fast.
* Finish the Imbued decisively. You know how much pool they have. You
know how many guys they has out and whether they're untapped and how much
intercept they can have. You can make a pretty good guess to how many
untaps they can manage. Use this information to build the perfect ousting
hand.
* Be quick about it! Imbued decks are sometimes very slow or can slow
down the table (especially when there are players present who still
haven't learned what the cards do). The clock is your enemy. Beat it,
even if the cost is losing to a fellow methuselah. Losing to the clock is
worse.
* Keep the pressure up if it looks like they're going to get too many VPs.
Imbued don't get to wake up a whole lot, so unless you're facing a deck
that is successfully pulling off a Darby Dance, it'll typically have to
tap out when it's in the lunging phase. By keeping pressure high, you can
make it a lot harder for that deck to try to lunge.
* Play possum if the deck seems too defensive or isn't going forward much.
If you can get him to tap a bunch on dumb actions, then bounce a bleed or
two into him, you should be able to finish him, if you've got sufficient
payload on hand (which is the other thing you'd need to be working on).
I could probably come up with more, but it's been a while. I think
Imbued, crafted carefully and played well, are still one of the strongest
archetypes, but they are not unbeatable and don't even have to be
miserable to play against or at least won't tend to be any worse than
weenie AUS.
Matt Morgan
---
> * Know what the Imbued deck is capable of right now.
You know, there is often a lot of chaff on the internet. Matt's post
is definately NOT chaff (nor is witness1's which follows), it is quite
excellent guidance for those not familiar with killing the Imbued.
And the gist of the whole post boils down to that one simple statement
above.
I advise any reasonably competitive player who has an innate dislike
of Imbued to actually construct a deck and play them a couple of
times. The greater your dislike, the more you need to actually play
them a few times.
First, you'll probably slightly hate them less afterward simply
because they'll no longer be a mystery. You'll immediately know how
much intercept is sitting there, and what the bleed potential is.
This is the reason I built my first Imbued deck knowing I would see
them on the tournament scene. I've never regretted it.
Second, if you still hate them after you know their ins-and-outs,
you'll be armed with more practical tools and experience highlighting
their weaknesses. Your immediate reaction won't be "Oh crap, the
Immune" - it'll be "OK, I know the answer for this problem, I just
need to assemble it"
In addition to Matt's comments, I would add the following general
guidance.
* Understand that the pillow is your friend. If you are predator/prey
of the Imbued and have an opportunity to pillowface any Imbued with a
reasonably high likelihood of success, do it. There are few more
impactful actions you could consider. It's unlikely that you'll even
eat damage from burnt convictions if you're successful. Note that I
don't globally advocate cross-table pillowfacing, though there may be
times that action sets up 2 successive VPs.
* Know what to attack. If you are playing a combat deck - based
either on rush or intercept, Jennie "Cassie247" Orne is your primary
target. Kill her (completely, we're talking pillowface here) and your
job gets easier from there. The second target is usually Travis
"Traveler72" Miller, controlling minion growth rate. Fortunately for
you, these two minions are also among the highest cost to influence,
so you're impacting both function and pool when you roast them.
* Know what to block. If the Imbued player has several minions with
Judgment, stop Vigilance. Don't count on stopping equip actions,
anything important is coming down via Angel of Berlin anyway.
* Know what to block. If a player is Darby Dancing (you couldn't stop
the Vigilances earlier), stop the movement of the equipment package -
not whatever the player is doing when he has the equipment. Follow
the attack priority for your blocks if you can (Jenny first).
* To a lesser extent, plan your deck around seeing allies. When you
construct any non-combat deck, you should consider addition of a
couple of cards specifically impacting allies, preferably ones not
impacted by React with Conviction. It pays dividends not just against
Imbued, but also against many other commonly seen deck archetypes
(block decks with Carlton, War Ghouls, Shambling Hordes)
* Consider the Uncoiling in tournament-level decks. Again, it's not
just for Imbued - it handicaps any deck which relies heavily on The
Unmasking or Anthelios.
Darby Keeney
Last Updated October 23rd, 2009 by The Lasombra