Here's your guide to the different draft heroes and what to pick with each one. Due to the "Russian Roulette" nature of tournament, I obviously cannot be thorough with my guide, and so I will only cover each heroe's strengths, weaknesses, and favorite cards. This guide consists of tips both for the beginner and the advanced draft players.
For the original (easier on the eyes) version, click
here .
General tips*
*Your hero should be your first pick; your card picks are very much affected by your hero, and so a card that may be a no-brainer pick for one hero, can be garbage (or atleast, not that useful) for the next.
*Base your choices upon your previous picks. This one may seem obvious, but it's not always followed-through as should. If you managed to score 2-4 economy cards, it would be a shame if the rest of your deck consists of very cheap cards. If your deck is very skull-oriented, it may be smart to pick Corruption over what is the first-choice by many - Shrine of Rebirth (SoR).
*Always try to have at the very least 2 cards that react to immediate threats, preferably with ignore-intercept ability. A Banker or a Wench on the field can become your opponent's winner cards if you cannot take care of them.
*Some cards should be dismissed only on very rare occasions: Stratagem, SoR, Mayhem, Deceit, Seduce, Goat Poultice, Ceremonial Dance.
*Don't buy out your bank. This tip is useful all around WoO, and especially in draft. Just because you can afford something doesn't mean you should buy it, ask yourself whether or not it's going to be useful in the near future (can my opponent kill the Wench next turn if I place it now?). The reason for this, is that cards already restocked can't be restocked again (under normal circumstances) and thus the cards you actually want are more likely to appear in your bank.
*Heroes can be divided into 2 groups: Versatile and Specialist. The Versatile heroes (Lucca, Anibaldo, Daru, Ashkar) should have decks that cover as many aspects of cards as possible (economy, immediate threats, healing, 1 food converter, etc). The Specialist heroes (Doge, Aline, Ashkar (yes he's both), Xalia) should have decks that cover one or two fields very well (although, they should still have economy cards, for example).
Sang Ashkar This magical dude is easy to work with, and is precisely why so many like him. His ability usually allows for immediate-threat reaction regardless of what your bank has to offer, and magic in general is the most useful resource.
*The obvious: Focus on cards that compliment your magic generation, such as Daramek Idols, or Endazu Inscriptions.
*The not-so-obvious: Ashkar's magic generation also equals ecnomy, much like Pocchi's gold generation. When picking your cards, allow some (and I mean only some) room for the more expensive cards regardless of whether or not you picked economy cards.
*Favorite card: Boar Fetish.
Doge Monteferro So cheap, very restock, much Metris, wow! This guy's cheap and so should be his cards. Either that, or make him money. Or both. Preferably both. Deceit, Robberry, Sabotage, Usury (handle with care), Palisade, Subterfuge, Ransack, Impresonate, etc, are all (usually) good picks for Doge.
*The obvious: More often than not, since we're so focused on economy, by the time we reach card #5-6 our deck is pretty solid at making money. At this point cheap cards are obviously no longer that crucial, and moving to the next price range can be a good idea.
*The obvious 2: You can buy out your bank. Not always, ofcourse, since we do find some cards unneeded and are thus better to keep in bank - but generally, clicking your bank a lot is hardly as dangerous as anywhere else on WoO.
*The obvious 3: Metris and lots of it. Doge likes Metris. Metris allows Doge to place 2 Undermines on field, Forgery whatever your opponent does manage to buy, and still keep your bank at a competitive pace.
*The not-so-obvious: Doge has the potential to be the strongest hero. That does not mean he's the best one, he only has the potential to be the best. A Doge with Treaty and Fetish will easily make a better Ashkar than Ashkar himself. The bottom line of this tip here, is that your card picking needs synergy more than in other decks, since cards appear a lot more often. The leader of the Specialists group, if you will.
*The not-so-obvious 2: Synod/Lackey (both increase the restock rate by 1) are amazing under the correct setting. With enough economy cards, you will be able to click your bank 4 times a turn, a combo that can hardly be outfought by any other deck. However, you have been warned, the same 2 cards can ruin your game without enough gold in your hands.
*Favorite card: Deceit.
Xalia Underrated for some reason, this hero has the potential to end games before they even begin. Think Metris burn, but with cards from outside of Metris (such as Rite of Combat), with ignore intercept, and with +1 skull every turn. See why she's strong now?
*The obvious: Pick cards that compliment your skull generation (Assasin, Corruption) and/or cards that compliment your natural damage generation (Rite of Combat, Coup de Grace).
*The not-so-obvious: (Only applies if you managed to pull off a burn deck) pay attention to your enemy's units on field - Do you really need to kill them? Would letting them live give your opponent too much of an advantage? If not, let them live; you're in a race and your enemy's units are draining your precious resources for no good reason.
*Favorite card: Assasin (do note that an Assasin without protection won't be worth much.)
Countess Aline Unlike Xalia, this one is overrated (not saying she isn't strong though). My take on the reasoning behind that, is that her advantage is always so apparent - you place the unit and it just activates, so easy to work with.
*The obvious: Focus on allies, preferably ones with strong on-turn abilities (Banker, Informant, Marshal, Flower, Yarakeen, Rat Catcher, Bishop, Tavern Wench). Survival is not as important.
*The obvious 2: Complimenting Aline's ability through Lackey, Overseer or The General can be amazing. A Wench suddenly seducing 4 units, or a Ballista doing 8 damage is not a dream with 1 or 2 of these in your deck. Not to mention what Yarakeen can do.
*The not-so-obvious: Aline can build decks that have her units on the field every turn, all she needs is a Rat Catcher and a Feast/Repopulate (any cards that enhance that, such as Overseer, Marshal, etc, are always nice). A combo such as this can hardly ever be handled by most decks (can you picture your 4 charge Flower, your Banker and your Marshal appearing every turn, and on top of a General on field too?)
*Favorite card: Repopulate.
Baroness Anibaldo I find the reactions to this one quite funny. Many deem her too strong, many don't even understand the appeal. In reality, she's just balanced. You need less focus on everything when building your deck (meaning your coins are great for economy on their own, great for reacting to threats on their own, great for resource denial on their own, etc, etc). This does not mean you shouldn't focus on a versatile deck at all, but she can handle some aspects of a versatile deck on her own, even without your help.
*The obvious: Compliment her ability (as always in this guide) with cards like SoR, Vespitole spells, etc.
*The not-so-obvious: Many (well, most) Daramek and Endazu cards cripple her. Redrawing Orphan Gang instead of a coin - bad. Redrawing Ibshuk instead of a coin - bad. Redrawing Flower instead of a coin - bad. You get the picture, focus on Vespitole and Metris.
*The not-so-obvious 2: Feast or Repopulate combined with Vespitole allies reveal Anibaldo's true power, keep that in mind when building a deck.
*Favorite card: Shrine of Rebirth.
Shofet Daru Ah, the most versatile of them all if you ask me. I have so much to say about him, that I have nothing to say. Basically, he can handle any number of decks quite well, and play all 4 factions pretty nicely.
*The obvious: Daru can redraw scary Daramek allies quite often, or (as in, instead!) play his Vespitole cards better than anyone else. The extra card draw means not only that you're more likely to draw Vespitole cards that begin a chain, but also that your chain has a higher chance of surviving. Cards from outside of Vespitole, however, act as coins in the manner that when they appear your chain is broken. Keep that in mind when building your deck.
*The obvious 2: Rites. Combat, Brood (in this order). Rites. He just uses them so well.
*The not-so-obvious: Daru's magic number is 5. 5 cost cards are something he handles quite well due to his extra draw, meaning Barge, Burglary or Arson synergize well with his ability. Experiment with this tip, as it can be dangerous if followed too religously. (By the way, 1 Deceit in your deck and his magic number is suddenly 5.5).
*Favorite card: Rite of Combat.
Lucca A very underrated hero, much to my surprise. This guy is probably my leading 8-0'er. He's versatile and can use most decks quite well. His 2 obvious advantages are economy and resource denial, so lets play on that, shall we?
*The obvious: Lucca likes to deny resources, so follow that and pick some (don't over do it though!) resource denial to help him out.
*The obvious 2: 1 or 2 economy cards and Lucca can ignore what the price tag says (when deck building). Again, don't over do it!
*The not-so-obvious: This game has, other than resource-denial cards, resource-draining cards. A Palisade reappearing to protect your units means your opponent has to pay 2 resources on top of any resources you're already stealing from him. A charged Hedge Guardian is 10.
*Favorite card(s): Tied at Usury/Hedge Guardian. Both can lead to a very nice lockdown on your opponent's resources.
Counter strategies: The Versatile group (excluding Lucca): You can't counter-strategy a strategy that tries to cover everything, other than being good at what you do. All 3 heroes dislike bank denial and Undermine though. Shame it's only 2 turns.
Doge Monterferro Resource denial. More and more - it's never enough. If you managed to only let him buy 1 card every turn, you've completely negated his ability. Yay!
*Main counter-cards: Embezzle, Undermine, Arson, Embargo.
*Nemesis: Lucca.
Xalia Her ability becomes very weak when she has to use her skull every turn, and even weaker when using her skull every turn isn't even enough to handle all threats. Make it a goal of yours to try and place atleast 1 more health of units than she can afford to kill with damage.
*Main counter-cards: Bishop, Barge, Peacock, Repopulate, Rat Catcher, Ballista.
*Nemesis: Countess Aline (only because her decks usually consist of many allies/allies returning to field often).
Countess Aline Take away her allies, and she becomes hopeless. How does one do that? Seduce, Mayhem, Malediction and Wench (in that order) all can win you games. Bank denial is nice too.
*Main counter-cards: Seduce, Mayhem, Malediction, Wench.
*Nemesis: Xalia.
Lucca Two stratgies weaken Lucca quite a bit. One is using up your resources, the other is saving them up.
1) Using up your resources every turn means they cannot be stolen. That's the obvious counter strategy. The problem with this strategy is that you cannot save up and buy big guns, so:
2) Saving up your resources can be used to weaken Lucca's ability, but, when should we do it? When we start to overflow with resources. And how does one overflow with resources when they're denied from him every turn? Using allies, ofcourse. Manage to keep 3+ allies on the field and then saving up your resources won't be as problematic.
Strategy #1 is obviously easier and more commonly used, it's strategy #2 that is sometimes overlooked or not used at all.
*Main counter-cards: Resource draining (fight fire with fire!).
*Nemesis: Lucca. Heh.
