Trial Of Zeal - strategies

Fedaykin

has anyone conquered node 3.3 ???

obviously, Cast Out will be needed, but which walker is best? I tried Nahiri (lvl 56), but got wiped out, as my Cast Out never showed up, nor did Swift Reckoning.

hawkyh1

Fedaykin said:

has anyone conquered node 3.3 ???

obviously, Cast Out will be needed, but which walker is best? I tried Nahiri (lvl 56), but got wiped out, as my Cast Out never showed up, nor did Swift Reckoning.

maybe could try dovin to help get more card draw?

HH

G_pretender

G_pretender said:

Any ideas to beat 3.2, sammut is wicked fast. 

Beat her. 

Nissa 1 deck, Rhonas with web mantle takes care of her creatures. Power out big creatures with Animist Awakening and bounty of the luxa. 

Monkeynutts85

Rogan Josh said:

Monkeynutts85 said:

another thing that annoys me is why is ORIGINS still available if anything that set isnt even standard legal anymore......

Origins is standard legal.

3.1 and 3.2 went down first time with Saheeli and some rare/mythics from Origins. 3.3 is still giving my trouble. i haven't leveled Doven so he's useless at the moment. 

In this game it is..

In paper is isnt....

BFZ/OGW & SOI/EMN are legal in paper standard, but are restricted in MTGPQ......

Eglyntine

Fedaykin said:

has anyone conquered node 3.3 ???

obviously, Cast Out will be needed, but which walker is best? I tried Nahiri (lvl 56), but got wiped out, as my Cast Out never showed up, nor did Swift Reckoning.

I use Dovin with a lot cycle spell cards, cast out and Aetherharvester, Jhessian Thief, and Empyreal Voyager as my creatures. I still don't beat the third node all of the time because the game just will not give you the cards in time before the steamroll begins. But Dovin works better because of his first ability giving you 6 mana and then when you get the opponents creatures locked down his second and third abilities help kill him.

I don't even bother with trying to get monsters out until I get the cast outs out because they just die too quickly.

Fedaykin

mournfen said:

For 3.3 
Dovan:

Hixus or Cast Out (not both due to a bug)
Baral - can be replaced with something to help with mana or more lifelink
War Oracle
Turn to Frog
Talent of the Telepath
Glint-Nest Crane
Whir of Invention
Confiscation Coup
Glimmer of Genius
Censor/Fragmintize/Fumigate/Flex spot really for situational purpose

I got max points on this node

I don't have Turn to Frog (wish I did as Imprisoned in Moon is not allowed anymore), and I don't have Hixus or Baral or Censor or Fumigate. I did put together a deck with 8 of those cards: Cast Out, War Oracle, Talent of the Telepath, Glint-Nest Crane, Whir of Invention, Confiscation Coup, Glimmer of Genius, and Fragmentize. The other 2 spots I used Authority of the Consuls, and Swift Reckoning.

I tried it out on node 3.3.
Well, that was a mistake, as whir of invention summoned authority of the consuls twice and I only got to use cast out once. The swift reckoning did it's job several times, but I couldn't keep up with what he was putting on the battlefield, and I got wiped out big-time. I leveled my Dovin up from 36 to 42 before trying that deck. With only one support (cast out) I will have a better chance. I took out authority of the consuls and added Vizier of Deferment. 

Should I also take out Swift Reckoning (don't want to use it on a cast-out creature obviously)? I could replace it with either aerial modification or solemn recruit or prakhata pillar-bug. 

Laeuftbeidir

G_pretender said:

G_pretender said:

Any ideas to beat 3.2, sammut is wicked fast. 

Beat her. 

Nissa 1 deck, Rhonas with web mantle takes care of her creatures. Power out big creatures with Animist Awakening and bounty of the luxa. 

Advice :
"Play a god"

I do it with Oketra, granted.. But that's no strategie for most players.

@Fedaykin you were lucky that the whir fetched authority.
Don't do a it as you described!
The card doesn't play a support, it fetches it and places it on the board ->  no come into play effects will be triggered from the support, making cast out useless.
I hope you read this before your next reload!

Confiscation cup can be very potent here, but it's a choice with a high risk - low level pw, expensive card.
You should add some bounce options, that will give you more time until you can play your only win con. Replace what else you don't need with circling cards / draw cards. Bouncing is better against creatures with enbalm than killing them in most cases.

Eglyntine

Here is what I am using for the third node hopefully it helps or gives you an idea of something you might have similarly in your deck:

Using Dovin:

Creatures:

Jhessian Thief (9 mana, To help with drawing cards and she gets + 1/1 for every spell/support)

Aethersphere Harvester (11 mana, For lifelink but do not use him on 3.2 she has a support that locks down flyers)

Sacred Cat (8 mana, For lifelink on Node 3.2 to replace harvester. Not a big cat to start but she is an Embalm creature so when she does die she can come back)

Empyreal Voyager (16 mana, For energy after opponent's creatures are locked down. Again don't use on Node 3.2 as he is flying),

Vizier of Deferment (She is only 4 mana to cast and while only a 2/2 creature she disables target creature until your next turn. I use her like a spell until I can get Cast Out locked down. I replace Empyreal Voyager with this one for 3.2 and 3.3)

Spells:

Forsake the Worldly (5 mana, Cycling and destroy support)

Renewed Faith ( 6 mana, Cycling and gain 10 life if cast, 5 life if cycled sometimes 5 life is the difference in this event. I have literally been down to or hp before I got the last Cast Out cast.)

Hieroglyphic Illumination (4 mana, Cycling, draw 2 cards. You need all the cards you can get.)

Flood Waters (4 mana, Cycling, Each creature has their power reduced to 0 until your next turn. Helps slow the steamroll until you get them locked down.)

Turn to Frog (9 mana, to kill the 4 required creatures on Node 3.3)

Supports:

Irritated Farmland (6 mana, Cycling, gives potential cascades or matches you wouldn't normally have.)

New Perspectives (5 mana, gives mana to cycling cards and draws 3 cards)

Cast Out (We all know what this does)

My typical strategy, don't keep anything in your hand until you get those Cast Outs on the board. I do keep a creature on full mana at the top inactive to help with cycling mana. Casting them on the board is a waste of mana and creatures since they will just kill it. I cycle or cast card drawing cards until I get Cast Out. Then when Cast Out is on all three creatures, I release the my creatures and build up to get my second and third ability supports out. All while babysitting getting rid of the boss supports and keeping Cast Out shields recharged.

On. 3.3, I don't cast Turn to frog on a creature until I have a Cast Out ready the same turn. He gets pumped up fast.

That's it. Even with this set up it doesn't always work. But it does work well a lot of the time. 

Fedaykin

Eglyntine said:

Here is what I am using for the third node hopefully it helps or gives you an idea of something you might have similarly in your deck:

   I'm not going to quote your entire post.

Eglyntine said:

That's it. Even with this set up it doesn't always work. But it does work well a lot of the time. 

That was a great explanation of useful strategies. Thank-you, I definitely have a better idea how to play node 3 now.

Don't have several of the cards you mentioned, but I can try similar cards, and keep my fingers crossed (or at least my swords).   ;-)

Laeuftbeidir said:

@Fedaykin you were lucky that the whir fetched authority.
Don't do a it as you described!
The card doesn't play a support, it fetches it and places it on the board ->  no come into play effects will be triggered from the support, making cast out useless.
I hope you read this before your next reload!

I will remove Whir since it ruins cast out, I'm glad I read your post before trying this next round.

Fedaykin

ok, something is wrong with the way cards are dealt (just kidding)...

I put together a deck to try with Dovin (level 42) on node 3.3:
sup:   cast out
 cr:     empyreal voyager
           war oracle
           vizier of deferment
 sp:     floodwaters
           fragmentize
           approach of the second sun
           talent of the telepath
           glimmer of genius
           tezzeret's ambition

I kept discarding empyreal, oracle, and approach to make room.
I cast telepath 3 or 4 times, glimmer 3 times, and tezz's ambition 2 times, and in all those 15 or more cards, cast out didn't show up at all. I had it at the beginning so was able to cast it once, but that was woefully short of getting it the 3 times I needed.  

Eglyntine

It happens like that some games. I went through almost 25 cards one game and never pulled a Cast Out or the Vizier. The the game is very much against you winning.  Just keep trying. 

This last game I played, every time I put out Dovin's supports to raise my creatures and get life back the AI would cascade them away before my next turn.

I was also supposed to take 60 damage for the third objective, so I Cast Out the first two creatures and for 3/4 of that game he never cast that third creature. He just kept casting Destroy Target Creature supports.

Just keep up hope. I would definitely trade something out for some sort of mana support to help plow through cards you do want to cast. Makes the cycling of cards go faster too.

hawkyh1

Fedaykin said:

ok, something is wrong with the way cards are dealt (just kidding)...

I put together a deck to try with Dovin (level 42) on node 3.3:
sup:   cast out
 cr:     empyreal voyager
           war oracle
           vizier of deferment
 sp:     floodwaters
           fragmentize
           approach of the second sun
           talent of the telepath
           glimmer of genius
           tezzeret's ambition

I kept discarding empyreal, oracle, and approach to make room.
I cast telepath 3 or 4 times, glimmer 3 times, and tezz's ambition 2 times, and in all those 15 or more cards, cast out didn't show up at all. I had it at the beginning so was able to cast it once, but that was woefully short of getting it the 3 times I needed.  

I feel the deck is imbalanced.

maybe try
 
supports:
cast out
aether hub(empyreal is expensive to cast)

creatures:
empyreal voyager
war oracle

spells:
floodwaters(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)
fragmentize
glimmer of genius(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)
skywhaler's shot(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)
alchemists vial(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)

add one additional suitable card, maybe vizier of deferment
or anchor to the aether.

strategy would be to cast and draw cards as they come along
with the help of aether hub. it's ok to kill embalm creatures as
zombie versions don't stack with their original versions. avoid
reinforcing creatures. instead keep charged cards in hand.
keep on delaying you opponent until you can get out dovin's
3rd ability.

(glimmer of genius can be replaced by that cycle and heal 5
card. preferred dovin level 46 and above)

HH

Eglyntine

I would not even cast Empyreal until you have all creatures locked down. He is just there to help later.

hawkyh1

Eglyntine said:

I would not even cast Empyreal until you have all creatures locked down. He is just there to help later.

you need empyreal voyager to keep the energy
flowing into aether hub in order to cast temporary
disable/kill cards while you wait to draw cast out.
it also helps together with dovin's 2nd ability to
stand a better chance on drawing cards that you
need when you need them.

HH

Eglyntine

Sound strategy but don't forget as well, Dovin's second ability will help with that too and you draw additional cards in the process.

BigMcHuge

I've been using the following to decent success on 3.x. Sometimes you just get hosed on gems/draw, but most of the time it's manageable:

Dovin lvl 60

Sup:
Cast Out
Drake Haven

Creature:
Angel of Invention
Glint-Nest Crane
Totem-Guide Hartebeest
Vizier of Deferment

Spell:
Hieroglyphic Illumination
Forasake the Worldly
Renewed Faith
Glimmer of Genius

I'm tempted to pull Drake Haven to guarantee a pull from the Totem-Guide, but it's really nice to pump out a ton of drakes once the lock is in place in order to speed the game up.

Eglyntine

BigMcHuge said:

I've been using the following to decent success on 3.x. Sometimes you just get hosed on gems/draw, but most of the time it's manageable:

Dovin lvl 60

Sup:
Cast Out
Drake Haven

Creature:
Angel of Invention
Glint-Nest Crane
Totem-Guide Hartebeest
Vizier of Deferment

Spell:
Hieroglyphic Illumination
Forasake the Worldly
Renewed Faith
Glimmer of Genius

I'm tempted to pull Drake Haven to guarantee a pull from the Totem-Guide, but it's really nice to pump out a ton of drakes once the lock is in place in order to speed the game up.

I never would have thought of the Totem Beast. Good find on that. I literally just pulled Drake Haven from an event booster right before I read your post.

I just tested your suggestions in my deck only I replaced Jhessian Thief with the Totem and replaced the mana support with Drake Haven. Then I tested in the TGs, WOW!

Thank you for the suggestion of the Totem Beast.

Fedaykin

hawkyh1 said:

maybe try
 
supports:
cast out
aether hub(empyreal is expensive to cast)

creatures:
empyreal voyager
war oracle

spells:
floodwaters(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)
fragmentize
glimmer of genius(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)
skywhaler's shot(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)
alchemists vial(draw this instead of cast out, not a problem)

add one additional suitable card, maybe vizier of deferment
or anchor to the aether.

strategy would be to cast and draw cards as they come along
with the help of aether hub. it's ok to kill embalm creatures as
zombie versions don't stack with their original versions. avoid
reinforcing creatures. instead keep charged cards in hand.
keep on delaying you opponent until you can get out dovin's
3rd ability.

(glimmer of genius can be replaced by that cycle and heal 5
card. preferred dovin level 46 and above)

HH

I tried your deck out with Hieroglyphic illumination as the 10th card: on Node 2.3 it worked like a charm, and I got all 3 enemy creatures locked down with cast out. Never needed skywhaler's shot, even though I had one ready to use. 
Then when I tried it on node 3.3, cast out never shows up, or only shows up once in 20-30 cards, 3 times in a row !!! I think there must be a weighting factor in that node's programming to slow down the use of cast out.  ;-)

Gilesclone

I don't have Dovin Baan.  I managed to beat 3.1 and 3.2 with Sorin.  Cast Out is the key and you need to get lucky.  I tried  3.2 with Kiora, Drake Haven, New Perspectives and the 7 blue/green cycling cards I own and had no success.  I don't know if it can be done without Cast-Out.  
I have Saheeli Raj, 7 mono-color PWs, (and Arlinn Kord RIP).  I can't imagine a viable strategy with any of them, but I'd love to be wrong.

Laeuftbeidir

@Gilesclone
it can. But support destruction is more important than anything else in 3.2 +3.3