It’s not every day you pull two Robin Hoods alongside three other solid bureaucrats in a sealed pool. I’m going to try not to play a ton of Waru & Mack in constructed, so I figured this might be my best chance to test them out!
Uniques
Ganesha - 3/7
While the cost of a card from your hand limits some of the more fun combos you can achieve with Mechanical Training (F), Parvati (R), and another Ganesha (F), the reduction in cost by from 7 to 5 makes it substantially easier to fairly reanchor your characters. Despite its mostly intact stats, the average rating is probably due to me thinking Ganesha (F) already requires too much mana and/or setup to get enough value out of the trigger.
Edit (2024-01-08): 5/7
It turns out this Ganesha is pretty good at fairly reanchoring your characters, mostly due to the 2 mana cost reduction. If you’re able to start the turn with two or more anchored and boosted characters - most likely an Aloe Vera, Sneezer Shroom, and/or Spindle Harvesters - this can win the game by reanchoring them all for up to two turns in a row. The cost reduction means you can sometimes drop a Lyra Thespian (F) on the same turn and trigger the double-boost twice.
The deck
I settled on Bravos-Lyra-Ordis.
I landed on Bravos for its well-statted plays and the sabotage from the Haven Bouncers. Ordis had the two Robin Hoods, and the faction was at least deep, if not particularly strong. Lyra offered some of the only removal in my pool as well as one or two nice rares.
The rest of my pool: what did I miss?
The only other faction I seriously considered was Yzmir. Kraken’s Wrath (C) performed better than I expected at the draft earlier this week, and my pool was certainly light on removal. The Kadigiran Alchemist (C) and Lyra Skald (R) also looked appealing, but the 5th, 6th, and 7th strongest Yzmir cards looked weaker than the corresponding ones in Lyra.
Waru & Mack kept things interesting and leveraged my Ordis cards, but I’m certain the deck would have been stronger out of Kojo & Booda.
I think I was right to be a little wary of the 2 Tiny Djinn (C) absent any synergy, though I’m not quite sure why I dismissed the Lyra Chronicler (C). The 0 in the mountain region can be awkward, but the stats alone make it quite a bit better than several of the cards I did end up running.
The games
As soon as we finished building our decks, I looked up to discover that all three other players had chosen Sigismar & Wingspan as their hero. This might be a tough one…
Round 1 (L): Sigismar & Wingspan (Bravos-Muna-Ordis)
I kept a relatively aggressive opening hand with my Foundry Mechanic (F) and Ordis Cadets (C), but they also led with a 1-drop into a 2-drop, so I couldn’t do better than trade. I felt like I had to fight just to keep up with their Ordis Recruit each turn. Even my most tempo-heavy play one turn had me clawing onto a single advancement while they progressed on both sides.
The critical moment came on T4, I believe, when I topdecked my first bureaucrat and slammed down Robin Hood (R). I was feeling like I might have a shot until they answered with Anubis (R), sacrificing their token to force me to lose my Robin.
Down on both resources and expeditions, I had to make awkward plays to maneuver around the threat of their reserve Anubis on the following turns. I drew into several of my other bureaucrats in the last turns of the game, but by then I couldn’t afford to sleep them and let my opponent advance. They were able to easily close out the game by playing strong, on-rate characters.
Round 2 (L): Sigismar & Wingspan (Axiom-Ordis-Muna)
I remember this being an especially awkward opening hand, where I had to mana a large character and my spells but still wasn’t left with anything I was thrilled with. I drew my Ordis Attorney (C) early enough to feel comfortable sleeping it for the token and card draw. Still, it felt pretty bad against Sigismar in particular, as I effectively had to let a solo Ordis Recruit win an expedition.
Either on T3 or T4, my opponent was able to get down a Brassbug Hive (C) and still win an expedition while guaranteeing their long-term advantage. At this point, it felt especially bad to have put my Cloth Cocoon (C) into mana from my opening hand. I put up a fight against the Brassbugs, but I remember having to make plays like choosing not to sleep a Robin Hood (C) so they couldn’t get within one advancement of victory.
Still two advancements away, they put their Brassbug companion-side with their Ordis Recruit. They led with an Esmeralda (F) companion-side, getting an amazing resupply in the form of a Jian, Assembly Overseer (R), ready to target their Brassbug Hive with its support ability. I played a Robin Hood (C) hero-side, which they ate with an Anubis (C) for all their remaining mana. I could have played a Haven Warrior (R) to put myself in position to win companion-side or block hero-side, but whichever I chose, they were able to beat with a free Brassbug.
Round 3 (W): Sigismar & Wingspan (Bravos-Ordis-Yzmir)
This game, I got to live the dream of sleeping my Robin Hood (R) as the first player on T2. My opponent took a brief lead that day, but they resigned the following one with a non-advancing Thoth (R) while I got to double-advance and play a Mighty Jinn (F) to get an extra mana orb. This let me replay Robin Hood the following turn with 3 mana leftover to advance on the opposite side while they spent 4 mana on a 3-drop and passed with 2 unspent mana.
They led on T5, and my ramp and Robin Hood tax gave me a window to drop a tough 2 Kaibara, Asgarthan Leviathan (F) ahead of schedule, winning both expeditions. They had strong plays from here but nothing that could simultaneously block me on both sides.
After the game, we discussed their decision to Gift of Self (C) their Ratatoskr (C) on T1 after I gave it fleeting with my Lyra Cloth-Dancer (C). I was advancing anyway, but they effectively gave up an advancement for two cards, though the Ratatoskr wasn’t going to reserve anyway. I lean on the side of waiting for another window where an Ordis Recruit wouldn’t make a difference. Their play ended up getting particularly punished because they couldn’t afford to play all the cards they drew due to my constant Robin Hood tax from T2 onwards.
Takeaways
Sigismar & Wingspan continue to be a menace in limited.
What makes Waru & Mack work is the ability to consistently sleep a bureaucrat each turn while another wakes up. Without a bureaucrat to play each turn, there were scenarios where I would forfeit one day while overcommitting the following day. Drawing your only bureaucrats late often means not being able to afford to sleep them, which defeats the purpose of running Waru.
Sabotage seems like it would be at its best when you get a critical mass of it, or when you can line it up against a particularly strong card. My sabotage cards performed slightly under expectation because my opponents still had enough cards in hand that removing resources didn’t appear to affect the quality of their plays.
Overperformers
- The Hatter (C): I was concerned it might be tricky to get this into reserve for its support ability, but it wasn’t hard to find a region where water didn’t matter.
- Kaibara, Asgarthan Leviathan (F): It’s likely this speaks more to the combined strength of mana ramp, a slept Robin Hood, and going second. Still, when this came down and wasn’t answered, I 2-0’d my opponent that day with a single card.
Underperformers
- Anubis (C): Forced sacrifice gets quite a bit worse against a field of Sigismars. I put this into mana every time.
- Lyra Cloth-Dancer (C): The target I hit never seemed worth the tempo I lost by playing this.
- Ozma (C): My deck was so low-tempo that I never got to the point in the game where the arrow effect would be manageable to trigger. It was too idealistic to think I could line this up with a slept bureaucrat.