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Ragnar Ambush
Submitted by
SmoothCriminal15
, Feb 19 2016 07:44 AM | Last updated Feb 24 2016 09:27 PM
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Space Marines Astra Militarum
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Ragnar hunting deck for store tournament. Taking suggestions. 1. Block Oponents Command 2. Win Commands 3. Bloody their Warlord 4. Whatever you want
Warlord
Order by: NameTypeCost
Total Cards: 0
Results! I went 3-1 to take 6th out of 18. Not half bad for a relative newbie!
Quick Synapsises: Game 1 vs Worr I mulliganned and still ended up with Lone Wolf, Honored Librarian, and Rogue Trader being my first deploy phase. Not ideal, but I had great confab draws on my next few turns. The first 2 planets were green, and when planet 6 flipped, there still wasn't a 3rd green face up yet. I have away the first 2 planets in exchange for dominating command, then won the next 3, including a stack of 10+ marines on the winning planet (5).
Game 2 vs Cato I probably should have mulliganned. I got slaughtered on command all game. A couple poorly planned commits sealed the deal. I just didn't have cards. Well played by my opponent. Not so much by me.
Game 3 vs Cato? I'm not sure who I played against. It was a quick game where I used my command advantage to choke cards and won on 4th planet.
Game 4 vs Zogwort My opening hand had 3 Sentinels and a Void Pirate. I dominated command and combat pretty heavily. When I played my Daring Assault Squad on the winning planet (4), my already likely victory was sealed.
Takeaways: I did miss having that 3rd Crushing Blow. Drawing the Daring Assault Squad wasn't always fun, but it was a great card to have. Might take that down to a 1x for a Lone Wolf or a Tactical Squad or something.
I'm going to start by saying that I'm still pretty green to the game, so I'm very open to criticisms.
The goal is like most Ragnar decks; to get a bloodied or dead warlord, or at least to bully them around. Catachan outpost allows my command units to get early warlord damage and synergies nicely with Ragnar's Warcamp (which can be do clutch, but I won't usually play it without Blackmane's Hunt or 10+ resources). I find that blocking my opponent's economy is better than seeking my own as I don't need very much to run effectively. I usually start actively hunting around turn 3-4.
My main problems so far has been drawing far too pirates, traders, psykers, and promotions late game. Hopefully the change to more combat friendly 1-cost units will help.
My opponents have been playing around Lone Wolf pretty well, so I'm down to 1 for the time being.
My other problems are Worr, Morn, and Kith, probably in that order. I don't have a ton of games under my belt, but those are the only decks I fear. Bring on any other match up! Any tips for those?
An Exterminatus could probably be a great add, for when I lose the edge of those swarm/control decks.
*EDIT* Added White Scars Bikers and Daring Assault Squad for more punch and to hopefully handle Worr easier.
Thoughts? Hints? Tips? Insults? Bacon?
Sample Hand:
Total Shields: 0
Average Shields Per Event/Attachment: 0
Total Command: 0
Average Command Per Unit: 0
A little more punch with a lower cost: righteous initiates 2 cost, SM synergy for events, and more survivability thanks to unstoppable. Makes a decent resource grabber who can at least slap a warlord around for trying to snipe. I love eager recruits, but have recently switched to Elysium assault squads due to another deck thread convincing me. They are free to play when you lose a soldier and free up that 1 resource for indomitable/other events, but you have to have soldiers. Which is not an issue in current build (and if you replace 10th company/Ratling or run 2x of each with the righteous you'll have even more), and they have to die. I know it's not exactly in "fashion" but I also feel no mercy is a great card for Rags. Maybe drop 1 outpost for it, as +2 attack is great but a lone wolf or Librarian that can't be shielded is so game breaking at the right time. Just keep in mind that it's a dangerous card due to exhausting your warlord, as your only unique unit.
As for certain WL matchup best advice I can give is play as them for a while, get a feel for the weakness/strength of their decks. If you don't have the time for that, read the WL deck strategy threads. There are some great insights into how to beat a warlord by knowing how people play them, and how they try to shore up his weakness or support his strength.
My opinions are mine and subject to change so please feel free to ignore me.
I've gone back and forth on no mercy, and so far I've reached the conclusion that Crushing Blow and Catachan Outpost both fill the same role and others without bowong Ragnar, albeit not quite as well, and synergize with the rest of my deck.
The original version of this deck had Elysium Assault Team, which I did like. But cuts were made, and I chose the Recruits for control of the timing.
I won my most recent game by dropping an Eager Recruit at a bloodied WL who was alone at a planet. Pumped with Catachan, he shielded 2, Crushing Blow for the finish. I'm finding these types of plays to be game changing, bloodying, killing, or just putting enough damage on a WL that he's scared to fight.
The synergies with Righteous Initiated are glaringly obvious, and I'm surprised that I haven't seen it before. I think I'd like to add a pair if I could squeeze in a third Promotion to use it the way you described. Without it, his command presence is cancelled by so many 1-cost units. I think it would require more playtesting than I have time for. I can't think of 3 cards that I would cut. A psyker and my cardinis? But I'm definitely going to work him in for future games. Punishing WLs for sniping is my favorite. That's one reason that I have 3 Catachans, 3 Deadeyes, and 3 Psykers.
Thanks for the tips! I'll be pondering this all day lol
My Ragnar deck is almost identical to this, but I suggest mixing up between White Scar Bikers and Honored Librarian - Ragnar does not have the shielding power and Librarians will melt in certain scenarios.
The only thing I would say is dropping an eager recruit allows you to control timing but you need a shield/indomitable to keep him breathing at a planet with a warlord alone, as the warlord will always have initiative. EAT is more of a trap... As the warlord has already swung and is now exhausted. Having both makes the ambush of a WL Hunter a complete nightmare for opponents. But you are right, cuts must be made.
As for the righteous, not sure what you'd cut, but in my current deck I focus less on winning command and more on just board control/cancel command. So I don't have a lot of 1 cost command presence. It's probably not the best way to go, but I am currently play testing to see if it's not just me being angry about all the choke decks that I lose to.
Is there a way to edit the deck/strategy? I think I want my 3rd Promotion and Sanctioned Psyker back.
I'll be rolling with the Eagee Recruits for now. I can still play them after the WL exhausts to attack. Not enough time to playtest much, but I'll possibly change my mind in the future. The 0-cost is obviously intriguing.
I'll be switching out 1 Lone Wolf for a White Scars Biker. Maybe a Librarian as well, putting my 3-costs at 2 BA vets, 2 Librarians, 2 Bikers, and 1 Lone Wolf.
Serraph1133, my 1-cost command units have been great for cancelling my opponent's command.
As far as editing the text, I think you have to edit it in the actual deck builder and save it... not 100% and somebody with more tech savvy can correct me if I am wrong. The one cost units are great for delay and command cancellation. I have a few in my current rebuild for just such reasons, but my strategy is more about board control than command. So your choices are just as valid as any advice I could give. As said before take all advice with a grain of salt, and then do what suits you best, after all play style is a dictator of card selection as much as anything else. And I have seen some amazing decks that would cause most players to wonder why the deck was built for not having what people consider "auto includes", or using "trash" cards in new ways. They may not have been successful in tournament play, but they do cause the player to look at cards in a new light, which can only strengthen deck building skills. Good luck at the tournament and let us know how it goes.
I'm increasingly moving away from Righteous initiates until Mavros is released. They are *awful* at big battles for a 2 cost unit and only useful if your opponent tries to solo command snipe them with your warlord. I think I am a "pass" on them with Ragnar for the time being.
Awful? Really? I find that they screw up opponents battle math more often than not, and as I generally consider them resource gathers and warlord deterrents that makes them better than the other 2 cost 1 hammers resource that SM has access to, the only notable exception is the tactical squad. In big battles the opponent has to swing with at least a 3 attack unit and hope I don't shield or indomitable or they have to take a 3 swing themselves. Of course they can choose to ignore it and let it swing for one repeatedly. That's either forcing an opponent to "waste" a big swing on something that could backfire, or take 2-3 damage over the course of the battle. With the option of Catachan and/or crushing blow these guys are ridiculously complicated to handle. Add in that your most direct comparison in this deck is either Ratling or tallarn, both of whom are more easily dealt with due to lower HP and lack the Initiates 3 swing and damage reduction, and no indomitable. The less apt comparisons being traders, pirates, and psykers whom swing for 0 and are completely ignored at big battles. The righteous have earned a place in my Rags deck, one I am not likely to give up any time soon.
I think that the only unit they should be compared to is Blackmane's Sentinels, in terms of what you get out of your card/resource investment. These offer more combat potential without the mobility. Facing against these guys in a big battle, I'd save them for one off the last units to kill. That said, I put them about equal. The main drawback that I see is that if they're being deployed for command purposes, an opponent can cancel them out for 1 resource. I could see myself deploying them on planet 2-3 if there's an important battle coming up. I think that would be where they get the edge over sentinels, imo.
I think that the only unit they should be compared to is Blackmane's Sentinels, in terms of what you get out of your card/resource investment. These offer more combat potential without the mobility. Facing against these guys in a big battle, I'd save them for one off the last units to kill. That said, I put them about equal. The main drawback that I see is that if they're being deployed for command purposes, an opponent can cancel them out for 1 resource. I could see myself deploying them on planet 2-3 if there's an important battle coming up. I think that would be where they get the edge over sentinels, imo.
The tournament was a lot of fun! Went 3-1. Unfortunately, so did a lot of players, and my opponents all went 2-2, putting me at 6th out of 18 and not in the final 4. Still very happy with my performance, though!
Oh absolutely! Thank you! I'm definitely not disappointed. Still questioning the 2x Daring Assault Squads, but I'm happy with how the deck performs, overall.
Oh absolutely! Thank you! I'm definitely not disappointed. Still questioning the 2x Daring Assault Squads, but I'm happy with how the deck performs, overall.
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As for certain WL matchup best advice I can give is play as them for a while, get a feel for the weakness/strength of their decks. If you don't have the time for that, read the WL deck strategy threads. There are some great insights into how to beat a warlord by knowing how people play them, and how they try to shore up his weakness or support his strength.
My opinions are mine and subject to change
The original version of this deck had Elysium Assault Team, which I did like. But cuts were made, and I chose the Recruits for control of the timing.
I won my most recent game by dropping an Eager Recruit at a bloodied WL who was alone at a planet. Pumped with Catachan, he shielded 2, Crushing Blow for the finish. I'm finding these types of plays to be game changing, bloodying, killing, or just putting enough damage on a WL that he's scared to fight.
The synergies with Righteous Initiated are glaringly obvious, and I'm surprised that I haven't seen it before. I think I'd like to add a pair if I could squeeze in a third Promotion to use it the way you described. Without it, his command presence is cancelled by so many 1-cost units. I think it would require more playtesting than I have time for. I can't think of 3 cards that I would cut. A psyker and my cardinis? But I'm definitely going to work him in for future games. Punishing WLs for sniping is my favorite. That's one reason that I have 3 Catachans, 3 Deadeyes, and 3 Psykers.
Thanks for the tips! I'll be pondering this all day lol
My Ragnar deck is almost identical to this, but I suggest mixing up between White Scar Bikers and Honored Librarian - Ragnar does not have the shielding power and Librarians will melt in certain scenarios.
I added some beef and put my command back in. I'm still torn between Promotion and Crushing Blow for the last slot. But it's running pretty well.
I'm increasingly moving away from Righteous initiates until Mavros is released. They are *awful* at big battles for a 2 cost unit and only useful if your opponent tries to solo command snipe them with your warlord. I think I am a "pass" on them with Ragnar for the time being.