Blitz da Snots! - 2016 Worlds Runner Up, 2017 Unofficial Euros Champion

Orks Astra Militarum

6-0 in Swiss at Worlds 2016. Undefeated in the Unofficial Euros 2017.

Krusha of Ku'Gath. Bane of Kith.

Da bestist Orks in da galaxy! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH

First thing’s first, Worlds 2016 was an amazing experience that was really well organised and had some great prize support. I got to meet a bunch of awesome people and had a great time.

As some of you know, I’ve been playing Nazdreg pretty heavily since about June/July. I was going to run him in the UK Nationals, but backed out at the last minute to play Worr instead, which was a mistake especially since I ended up going 10-0 with Nazdreg in the side events. I did pretty decently with Nazdreg in the BCL as well, only going out in the top 16 match because my stupid brain deciding to forget that I had a match organised, thereby causing me to miss my game. The deck I used in the BCL and the UK nats side events can be found here: http://www.cardgamedb.com/index.php/wh40kconquest/warhammer-40-000-conquest-decks-section/_/warhammer-40-000-conquest-decks/promise-of-gork-bcl-top-16-r1038.

So now you might be asking, why did I take a deck I made the night before to a World championship given that I already had a decent deck already with a proven track record? Because I’m a janky motherfucker, that’s why :P. I thought about a decent strategy just before flying out to the States, decided to quickly throw it together with a bunch of proxies and brought a few side board cards in case it was going to matter. Played this deck in 3 games the day before Worlds started, including against Nathan’s Kith, and won all 3 of them, which made me think “shit, this piece of jank is actually on to something”, so that night I made some tweaks and simulated hand draws for about 90 mins then did it again in the morning when I woke up. Seemed to working well enough, so I thought “screw it” and go for the silly deck, especially since I didn’t at the UK Nats. After going 9-1, I think it’s safe to say that it was a good choice ;). Probably helped that I put my cards in blue sleeves as well, however, since blue is the Ork colour for luck :)

One thing that was interesting was that I had initiative in almost every game (if not every game) and was against an opponent that mulliganned in almost every game. I always took initiative when I won the roll since the deck favours rushes, whilst the Kiths and Eldoraths always gave me initiative due to the incorrect mindset that it’s the correct thing to do against Orks. Whatever they gained in knowledge they quickly lost in combat presence :)

------ STRATEGY -----
This is what I call a “mid-range elite” build. It’s a take on the high-low deck archtype, with more 2 cost units than you’d normally see. This works in decks that have options to reduce the cost of non-elite units, as well as elite units, ideally with the same cards, as well as elite specific cost reduction. For this deck, such a card is a Bigga is Betta, but it could easily be Sae’lum Enclave, Bonesigner Choir or Promise of Glory in other decks (my other Ork deck uses both Promise of Glory and BiB, for example). Ideally, there needs to be around 6+ direct economy cards in order to keep the deck stable, and since BiB and STC only cover 4 of those I needed something else to fill the gap, hence the copies of Death Serves the Emperor + Fall Back (which also work brilliantly together). The deck does favour quick wins especially against command focussed decks, since the big units + Clearcut Refuge allow for some early planet rushing, especially if they’re running a cheaper command deck.

The units used were focussed on Ork synergy, to maximise the usefulness of the Sneakaz, BiB, Brutal Cunning and Teleporta Pad. Battlewagons deal with swarms and big non-AoE elites (even some AoE elites depending on the timing), Blitz Bommers add on the pressure and Brutes clear out annoying keywords, whilst also being good against big elites. Throw a Clearcut into the mix and all those elites become incredibly difficult to deal with irrespective of what they’re against, and when Fall Back + Pad is backing them up they can even recur. Sneakaz add a much-needed combat trick into a generally combat trick lacking faction, whilst also allowing for the Bommers to use their Reaction mid battle or triggering Brutal (or both). Snakebite and the Enraged Ork are both solid Clearcut targets that also do a decent job preventing a command snipe, whilst the Traders and Pirates take care of the command everywhere else. Wroth was a meta call to help deal with Ominous Wind and initial command disadvantages, whilst also being another big body for Brutal, and did quite well in a surprising number of games. The only wrong choice was the Blood Axe Strategist, since I thought it would help the planet 1 bullying push but ended up being unneeded in the games that I drew it in, either because it was too expensive or because it was too risky to trigger it. A Shoota Mob would have been a better include.

Onto the events, this is where it gets fun. Backlash is an obvious choice, with 3 being included due to my initial trepidation that I’d actually win command. Death Serves the Emperor (DStE) + Fall Back, as mentioned before, are economy cards that are delayed in their triggers but still strong nonetheless. Rok Bombardment clears swarms, especially since I normally have the hp advantage, whilst Brutal Cunning helps to manage over damage, as well as being a clutch way to power and Enraged Ork if all else fails. Finally, Squiggify is a desperation combat trick that normally gets used as a shield, but sometimes gets triggered on an elite since many people will assume that Backlashs are useless in the match up.

Supports are somewhat obvious at this point. Kraktoof does a good job guaranteeing kills whilst also managing damage distribution, STC aids economy, the Pad provides bully based mobility (plus minor Terror protection) without the restrictions of a Corrupted Teleportarium (but also without the situational flexibility), and the Clearcut outright wins games.

----- BATTLE REPORT -----

Round 1: Eldorath

The guy mulliganed into a hand with an Exarch + Rouge Trader against my Battlewagons + some other things (inc either an STC or a BiB, can’t remember). He plays the Exarch to 2 (Iridial) and discards a Wraithknight + shield, whilst I play the Battlewagon to 1 and other thing to 4 and commit to 5 (or the other way around), so that Nazdreg would be opposite his command capper. He went to 3 (Y’varn) so I completely swept command. He did drop a second Exarch at 2, but at this point I was able to drop another elite as handily cleared his presence. Going into round 3, he swept command but I locked down first, which meant that even after double Gifting in the 2 dead Exarchs it just wasn’t enough, especially since they were killing the Snotlings but not triggering off of them.

1-0


Round 2: Kith

He mulliganed as well. I had a fun start with initiative by playing an Enraged Ork via BiB, following it up with Wroth, causing him to discard a Palace and a Pact. Given that he didn’t follow up that Palace with another one, I was very happy to see it go. I was then able to play a Flash Gits as well which pretty much made the game an uphill struggle for him, in which I ultimately won early.

2-0


Round 3: Ku’gath

This was against Asher whom ended up going 4-2 in Swiss and getting 10th place (although he ultimately dropped out of the cut to play Netrunner, so I blame him for my first cut match being against Varun). He mulliganed into a hand with just a Nurgling, which certainly helped since the first planet was Y’varn. I put a Blitz Bommer opposite it and commited down the line, which he did as well. Given the opening flop was Y’varn, Carnath, Tarrus I wasn’t feeling great especially since my deck isn’t as elite heavy as a Ku’gath deck and unlikely to field fewer units, but even though he did get the signature Gut + Pillage & Tarrus trigger at Carnath it wasn’t enough to keep him in the game. At the crucial battle he tried to double Terror my elite to which I double Backlashed, prompting him to call me a “horrible person”, to which I reminded him that he tried to terror me twice ;)

3-0


Round 4: Ku’gath

This was against Rick Reinhart (2016 US Champion) and was the toughest game of Swiss by far, if not the tournament (excluding the final). I had to use some clever Teleporta Pad tricks in order to keep my warlord safe, including commits opposite his elites. One round he placed a Possessed on planet 1, so I played an Enraged Ork opposite and passed. He commits to 1, I commit down stream. I Clearcut the Ork up to 11 hp, he swings with Ku’gath, I Pad over Nazdreg and immediately retreat, forcing him to hit the Ork with his Possessed. As I’m about to bloody his warlord he Terror’s it, but if he didn’t I would have probably won the game there and then. I ended up getting a modified win due to time on the penultimate round, but if the game had kept on going it could have been anyone’s game (I think I was slightly more favoured, but that’s without knowing what final elite he would have played).

4-0


Round 5: Kith

This was against Josh Wright, whom snuck into the cut at 15th place and ended up in the top 4. After the game with Rick I was brain dead so I thought this would be an instant loss for me, but fortunately I got the hand I needed and just let the deck go on auto pilot. Ironically the headache actually cleared by the end of the game

5-0


Round 6: Ku’gath

This was against Seth Rosen, the 2016 Worlds Runner Up. Early pressure made it difficult for him to really get a foothold anywhere, which meant that my train did its job. Using a surprise Sneakaz late game to bloody his warlord forced the concede.

6-0


------ TOP CUT ------

Top 16: Shadowsun

The Varun/Pejh faceoff was back, following our 90 match at the UK Nats in which his Ku’gath just about beat my Worr. This one was on the stream, so if you don’t want to be spoiled look away now. Unlike the Nats, I actually drew units, and thanks to him playing straight into my hand by taking the card wins on the first round I played a Wroth that dropped 4 cards from his hand second round. After that I made sure that I won command everywhere whilst guaranteeing the planets I needed, resulting in a big final battle where his massive Firedrake + horde of Techmarines was against my Partywagons + Squiggoth Brute. Thanks to him hitting the standing Battlewagon first, I triggered DStE, allowing me to fund every trick in my hand, resulting in 2 Sneakaz readying my Brute twice and killing his Firedrake. Pretty much game once that died

7-0


Top 8: Eldorath

This was the only Eldorath in the cut, which was surprising given the general consensus that more would reach the cut. He had an early command advantage but I was able to pressure him with my Battlewagon, meaning on the second round I had my Wagon at first opposite his Council, with my Warlord + something at second opposite his Vyper (exhausted) + Eldorath. I killed his Council, he gifted it back to kill he Battlewagon. I DStE then use the resources gained to play Fall Back, which he Nullified (I think he should have Nullified the DStE but forgot to), which stopped me from then Pad’ing it back into first. However, the Snotlings left behind killed the Council, to which he Gifted it back in again, forcing me to send Nazdreg to first and win the planet. At second, he Gifts the council AGAIN to win that battle, but not soon enough to stop the Vyper dying, meaning that the trigger (Plannum) was irrelevant. The extra resources from the DStE pretty much won the game for me from this point onwards.

8-0


Top 4: Kith

This was against Josh, whom I played in the Swiss. I was little worried that he might be on to my deck at this point, but fortunately I churned out the fast win thanks to some Flash Gitz and Partywagons. Him forgetting to trigger Kith’s ability for the Khymeras certainly helped, however

9-0


Finals: Kith

Finally my luck ran out. Muliganned into a cheap unit hand given half the cards were elite boosters (Fall Back, DStE, Backlash, maybe an STC as well) with no elites. Fortunately he didn’t have much either, but having a bad hand as Nazdreg is a lot worse than a bad hand as Kith, especially since I didn’t have much to take advantage of it. He drew all of his tricks and shields early which made winning planets without elites hard as heavy hits generally forgo shields, however I was eventually able to claw my way back up. I think the critical mistake I made was to not play the Brute to Iridial instead of the Blitz Bommer given he had passed on deploy actions and commit Nazdreg, instead, to Ferrin to guarantee the resources for a Backlash, which Nate confirmed with me afterwards would have been where he would have committed. Then I would have probably not needed to use the Brutal Cunning, allowing me to play a Battlewagon in the final battle which would have won me the game, or failing that the extra 2 cards may have found me the all important Rok Bombardment. Regardless, it was a really tough game that was well fought out on both sides. It certainly does not prove, as many have been saying, that Kith is “broken” or the Queen of the meta, but rather that player skill trumps overall (although a decent hand helps too ;) ). I have to say, though, that getting my Enraged Ork up to 20 hp in the world finals was just great

9-1 (the WAAAARGH is brought to a halt)



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---------------- Unofficial Euros 2017 ---------------
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I was going to play Morn, but half the field ended up being Dark Eldar so I thought I'd add to the diversity instead. The turnout was only 10 people so we decided to do 4 rounds of Swiss with no cut so that everyone could get the maximum number of games in. I used this deck again, with the only change being as follows:

-1 Blood Axe Strategist
+1 Shoota Mob

The main reason for this change is because at Worlds I felt like the Blood Axe was too expensive for what it was and in all of the games that I've played with this deck since I've never once triggered its ability, so I switch it for a cheap Ork command unit that can double up as a Teleporta target in a pinch.

Round 1: Ku'gath
He played an interesting midrange elite mix with an opening playing of a Slaanesh's Temptation opposite my opening Rouge Trade on Iridial (planet 4). Since there was a lot of money planets out I was able to ignore committing there and just get more money, whilst his command game generally struggled. On Round 2 (or 3?) I was able to bloody his Bannered Ku'gath, but in order to still win the planet I had to let my own warlord get bloodied as well (which was worth it in order to push for an early win). By the time we were at my victory condition, his only hope was to commit Ku'gath opposite Nazdreg, since he was coming in with a Nurgling, then immediately Ork Kannon or Warpstorm before I could Clearcut Nazdreg (assuming I had no shields). He guessed it wrong, and I had shields, so it was gg.

1-0

Round 2: Kith
He plays Palace, I play a Pirate, he plays Raid. After all of the playing around Raid that I did at Worlds, I completely forgot to here. It was an annoying mistake to make, but fortunately I was still able to do what I wanted to do just without the spare resource (I should have played my Blitz Bomma first). I was able to do ok with command on the 1-1 planets so that the Palace wouldn't affect me too much, and he focused the Palace on resources to stop me being able to do tricks. However, da Orks are da bestist so I was able to stomp him all the same.

2-0

Round 3: Kith (Angron55)
He flew all the way over from Ireland just to come to this tournament, and I respect him hugely for that. That being said, an opening Visions taking out my only elite followed by a Murderbird taking out my third unit (with me playing my second in between and only having 3 total) put me off to a horrendous start. All of his discards in that game (4-5 total) hit units so I was struggling to really contest a presence, but I was able to commit tactically enough for it not to be an obvious win along with stealing his Slyth. After conceding the first 2 planets with only 1 unit being played, the Orks came back in full force and proceeded to sweep through the sector. An oversight of the Squiggoth having natural Brutal got Kith bloodied on round 4, and Kraktoof/Brutal Cunning shenanigans helped clear out the field of annoying little Khymeras and Bloodied Reavers.

3-0

Round 4: Baharroth
I love Clearcut Refuge. A single Enraged Ork being able to take down a Wraithblade (+ Gift of Isha), Fire Prism and Soaring Falcon with just 1 Kommando Sneakaz and a Rok Bombardment is great. The game started interestingly with him playing a Fire Prism to 2 and me playing a Battlewagon to 1, then in the HQ phase him playing Hunter's Ploy twice, giving us both 12 resources. We then both proceeded to near empty our resource caches down to 2-4 resources each, meaning we spent about 32+ resources between us in one round. He got out 2 elites plus a command unit and I got out 2 Flash Gitz, a few Pirates/Traders, most of my deck's supports and maybe an elite. After that round I ended up being too far ahead for him to recover from, and given that I had the resources to spread combat units to all planets, Baharroth was rarely safe.

4-0