First off, we are all dying to know, what is the significance of 1992?
This is just a personal tag to differentiate me from others named Vince.
When did you first start playing Shadow Era?
The first glance I took into this game was probably at the end of 2011, but I did not know the rule of the game and was not patient to read the rule book (I doubt if there was a rule book at that time). So the real first time I started playing is at the end of 2012.
How did you find the game?
Originally, I was addicted to strategic card games like Yugioh, Three Kingdom Killing, which was a board card game based on the mechanism of Bang! and dead popular in main land China. Since in America, it was not convenient or to say not available to play them. I tried to look through App store to find out whether there was other interesting games like them. Then I got Shadow Era.
Have/do you play other Trading Card Games? If so, which game(s)?
Before getting into Shadow Era, the only TCG I played was Yugioh. After it, I tried Magic 2014, Might & Magic: Duel of Champion, Infinity Wars, Hearthstone, Order & Chaos Duels, Cards and Castles, and so many other TCGs of which I perhaps forgot the names.
How often do you play Shadow Era?
If I were very free, I usually play more than 4 hours per day. If I were busy, I may play it 4 hours per week.
Why do you enjoy Shadow Era?
The primary reason is that it is really fun, and I believe many SE fans think so. The secondary reason is that this game involves in deep-strategy and mathematics. The last reason is that it is really cheap to play comparing to other TCGs like yugioh and MTG.
What do you hope we will see in the next set?
Bring in new concepts or mechanism from other games like cards can trigger effect after sacrificing from Order & Chaos Duel, technology points from Age of Empire, and so on. It is not always false to adopt other games’ advantages, it may influence the balance by doing so. However, DT is over conservative to design cards and over careful in balancing so I think it is a good suggestion.
Did your guild play a major part in your preparation for the tournament? How?
Yes, my guild mates usually treat me like a brother, since the concept of brotherhood is written into code of conduct in BP. They share opinions and discussion about meta and techs before the grand final. During the grand final, they scouted for BP players who got qualified. The most important part they’ve done well was to cheer our guild up!
Which match during the tournament gave you the most trouble?
The most trouble occurred in the games against Pjoe’s Knight of Unaxio Loest, since I did not have any solution to this 4cc ally, which can be fostered rapidly by Amulet. The secondary trouble match was from the champion, who ran a weird bb that totally got me teched. He analyzed the meta properly and brought a neat deck which rocked in the specific meta. So credit to him. The most surprising thing was that I never thought it would be so rough to play against BB with MS cuz the decks I used in QM somehow countered BB.
Were there any decks that you were surprised to see or any you expected to see but did not?
Pjoe’s deck freaked me out when the first time I saw it cuz I, frankly, believe I had faced majority of competitive decks. The most surprising thing was that I did not see any Priest! I still believe Zhanna is T1, she might not be adapted to WC meta though.
How did you decide on Moonstalker?
According to the data I collected from regionals and wildcard tournament, there was supposed to be tons of loest, Amber, BB, Zal, Victor and Garth. According to my original experience from QM, my MS (not the one I used in WC) counters BB, Zal, and Amber. Wulven tribe can play death race style due to lightning hunter, dread wolf and shaman so loest is not a big trouble for me. Victor and Garth sit in the interval of the least used hero in the hero pool I mentioned above. I totally, belived in my skill so they are not trouble for me as well. Thanks for the meta, I knew there would not be any priest and would be few Baduruu so I came up with the conclusion that there would not have been any decks completely countered MS.
Similar to the previous question, why Wulven Tribe?
Lightning hunter can play death race. Shaman complements the shortage of Wulven tribe. Death from above counters Knight of Unaxio.
What, if any, other heroes were you thinking about taking?
After WC was over , I immediately revealed my confidential preparation deck for WC, which is Baduruu, in BP forum. The other candidates are Amber and Homunculus Aramia.
What was your reasoning behind bringing just 1x Howlfang?
First, to complement resource curve of the deck. Second, it is a tricky card to buff my allies. My opponents may miscalculate the damage I can deal since they would not know when I would cast it. The last reason was that it can accelerated because I conceived WC meta would have been extremely fast.
It is argued that in an all Wulven deck Death from Above is stronger than Now You’re Mine, yet you used 4x Now You’re Mine and 2x Death from Above. Why is this? Were you more worried about rush?
Yes, I was worried about rush. NYM can trade allies in the early game where I dont have allies on the board. Besides, I dont think there would have been so many 4cc allies so I just complement trade cards with DFA.
You brought 4x Wulven Predator, were you expecting to see a good amount of stealth?
IMO, he is one of the most solid 3cc Wulven ally cuz I dont need to watch my opponent’s hand with Wulven Scout (I can predict) and Bad Wolf is like a non-ability Wulven in the current meta. Besides, I predicted someone would bring in Millstalker and I would have encountered a mirror match. Also, Wulven Predator can somehow restrict Rogue from casting nightshade and night owl without thinking.
What decks (if any) were you afraid of seeing? Do you know of any decks in the tournament that would have given you trouble?
There were two decks I was afraid of seeing. One is Baduruu, and another one is Zhanna. According to the reveal of decks used in WC grand final, Sisy’s BB may be the worst match up for me.
Some have said BP Maxi1230 was the MVP of the tournament for beating BP Hachi’s “Millstalker”. Do you think that’s true? Do you believe your deck could have won?
If maxi1230 did not bring Nowhere to Hide, I would say he is MVP to win Hachi’s millstalker. Anyway, he won and I give credit to him. Because I originally predicted someone would use Millstalker, I could win due to Wulven predator, shaman, and Howlfang.
Thank you for your time and congratulations on your second place finish!
Deck:
