Cutting anchored 3-drops from Fen (Fen & Crowbar) [Standard]

I’ve been gradually tweaking my spell-centric Fen list, but it received a massive upgrade when I took notes from some of ElWiwi’s innovations.

I took this list to the Monday A.W.O.L. weekly where I went 5-1 for 3rd out of 60. It was especially exciting to practice the Lyra mirror in the semifinals against Gamanight’s Nevenka & Blotch, which went on to win the entire event!

The deck

One of the most attractive things about Lyra is how versatile the faction is. Since they have access to efficient answers for just about every situation, what they need most is card draw so that it can piece together those answers more reliably. This makes Magical Training (F), Ouroboros Inkcaster (R), and card advantage uniques invaluable.

The last two times I played this deck, I left with two main takeaways:

The first was that the deck was most of the way towards a spell-centric build but still had vestiges of a character-centric gameplan to anchor out 3-drops. ElWiwi found the solution, which was to cut The Hatter (C) entirely. A 4-drop is very hard to play from hand, which is where The Hatter will often end up if you’re drawing with Magical Training (F). What’s more, a spell-centric build won’t have as many targets to anchor.

The second takeaway was that high-cost uniques are problematic in your opening hand and have the downside of making you tap out before your opponent. I’ve since gotten ahold of two 2-drop uniques that provide card advantage and can be played early or easily weaved into a turn.

The result of these changes is a deck that’s more consistent and that I feel is equipped to handle just about any deck in the game right now.

Card choices

• Magical Training (F): Drawing to your other cards while passing priority is so valuable that it would be hard to convince me to run any fewer than three copies.
• The Hatter (C): I’ve removed all three copies, as discussed above. Nowadays, this is very hard to profitably play from hand, and you’ll rarely be able to line the support ability up with a desirable target in a spell-centric list.
• Aloe Vera (F): It’s just not as easy to anchor this out as it was when the game launched. I’m still including one copy because the anchor and resupply are so valuable when you can find a window for it, but any more copies will just sit in hand against any hero with efficient removal.
• Cloth Cocoon (C): Three copies are essential right now: Teija is running The Spindle, Sigismar is running The Monolith and Grand Endeavor (R), Treyst and Bravos are running Haven, and many Afanas players have characters that self-anchor.
• Studious Disciple (F): This could be a Flamel (F) or a Mighty Jinn (F) if you don’t have uniques that provide card advantage.
• Hooked (F): When this is good, it’s great. 1 mana makes this so easy to fit in at the end of a turn, most often to turn a 0-2 into a 1-1.

Uniques

My rating system

Paper Herald: 6/7

Ouroboros Inkcaster (R) is one of Fen’s strongest cards. This Paper Herald (U) is a 2-2-3 Inkcaster that works when played from reserve. Not being able to return characters isn’t much of a downside for a build with a lot of spells, since they’re usually what you want to bounce anyway.

When paired with Magical Training (F) or A Cappella Training (C), this offers one of the strongest D1s Fen is capable of.

This is typically a value card, but if you’re already full on cards, you can spend the support ability for tempo.

Studious Disciple: 6/7

Cheap card draw is critical for a spell-centric Fen, and you’re not going find a much better rate on condition-less card draw for 2 mana.

The low stats mean you have to do some work to play this without falling behind. The fact that it does have 1s all around is huge, though: it can block an Ordis Recruit, and it can win in any region solo when backed by removal.

The cherry on top is that it has the support ability on all Studious Disciples; if you’re ahead on cards - which you often will be after playing this once - you can use it for its support ability to make the cards you drew cheaper.

Cernunnos: 7/7

Discarding a card from reserve costs less for Fen in general and especially for a spell-centric build. Even if there’s nothing in your reserve that you can afford to pitch, you can usually play a Magical Training (F), Off You Go (F), or A Cappella Training (C) to feed this.

Takeaways

The Fen vs. Nevenka matchup is a resource war. Nevenka is the aggressor due to her ability to boost for early wins, then close the game out with Small Step, Giant Leap (F). Fen’s passive resupply makes her favored the longer the game goes on. In R5, my Fen started light on card draw and lost because I left myself vulnerable to sabotage and failed to hold up A Cappella Training (C) at a key juncture.

Uniques that can be played on the first day of the game are extremely valuable. You get your power spike early and have an additional card that you’re happy to keep in your opening hand.

Games where I see an early Magical Training (F) go much better than those where I don’t (compare R3 Teija to R1 Teija).

The games

Link to the tournament on BGA.

Round 1 (W): Teija & Nauraa

This was a pretty unusual game where I saw none of my card advantage and had to make every spell count.

I started the game with Off You Go! (F) and Cloth Cocoon (C), two of the key cards in the matchup. I kept Anansi (C) over Tinker Bell (F), figuring that Anansi (C) would go even against Dracaena (C) and set up a stronger play from reserve, while Tinker Bell (R) wouldn’t have a sabotage target if my opponent played an anchored character.

My slightly greedy keep was punished by a Spindle Harvesters (R) + Ogun (F) start by my opponent to 2-0 me. Fortunately, Anansi (C) + Off You Go! (F) was enough to trade next turn while removing the Sneezer Shroom (R) they anchored out.

Even, better, the resupplied Hathor (C) was able to pick Off You Go! (F) back up, which helped me 2-0 and de-anchor another Sneezer Shroom (R).

With a Cloth Cocoon (C) in hand, I couldn’t afford to keep the Off You Go (F) in hopes of eventually recurring it. I needed to guarantee I had characters to play next turn. Drawing into a second Cloth Cocoon (C) and a resupplying into A Cappella Training (C) made me feel good about the decision.

Having two characters ended up being essential to threaten both expeditions. I spent a Cloth Cocoon (C) on the unboosted Dracaena (C) rather than the Sneezer Shroom (R). Either would go 1-1, but the Sneezer Shroom would be outsized by an awoken Anansi (C) next turn and would be targetable by the other Cloth Cocoon in hand if need be.

I drew into Off You Go! (F) and resupplied into Hathor (C). Facing down two water regions, my cards were effectively all spells. Since I had left up the fleeting Sneezer Shroom last turn, Off You Go! removed it and prevented them from replaying it.

I followed up by spending a Cloth Cocoon and a bounced Off You Go! on their Spindle Harvesters from reserve and Dracaena (C) from hand, respectively. Passing would have let them 1-0 or 2-0 me with Beauty Sleep (C) from reserve. I briefly considered using the Off You Go! on the fleeting Spindle Harvesters, but if my opponent had any character in hand that didn’t self-anchor, I would go 0-1 to Beauty Sleep. Running out removal to put them below 3 mana for Beauty Sleep was the only way I could hope to trade expeditions.

I drew into a Twinkle, Twinkle (C) and resupplied into an Ouroboros Inkcaster (R). To trade expeditions, I needed to Off You Go! their Dracaena, sleep one of their characters, and only once they had passed out of Beauty Sleep play the Inkcaster against their slept character.

At 1/1 on expeditions, I was in a bad spot. My best shot was to pass priority as long as possible, sleep one of their characters, then hope my only character could take me to tiebreakers. The first part of that plan was playing the resupplied Magical Training (F) for 3 from reserve. Miraculously, I drew into my only copy of Small Step, Giant Leap (F) which let me pull out a very unlikely win.

Round 2 (W): Treyst & Rossum

I didn’t have the all-important A Cappella Training (C) in my opening hand, but I was able to keep Tinker Bell (F) for sabotage and Cloth Cocoon (C) to remove the eventual Haven, Bravos Bastion (F).

Tinker Bell went 1-2, but at least my opponent didn’t have characters that could get more cards into their reserve.

Despite being able to block a water-only or mountain-only region, I saved Tinker Bell for a juicier sabotage target. Instead, I played an Ouroboros Inkcaster (R), hoping to return the resupplied Hooked (F) to hand. My hand was awkward, meaning I didn’t have a follow-up play, but my opponent didn’t know that, so they fortified the other expedition instead of contesting the Inkcaster.

One of the characters my opponent played was Ada Lovelace (R). I was the first player, so my decision to hold off on the Tinker Bell (F) paid off since I could now sabotage one of their strongest cards.

Studious Disciple (F) contributed a key point in water to edge out my opponent’s Tinker Bell (C), while Hooked (F) pulled an Axiom Salvager (R) from an uncontested region into a region where it was irrelevant for just 1 mana.

My opponent and I traded on D4. They turned on their hero ability while I stayed ahead on resources by having a pair of Ouroboros Inkcaster (R)s return each other to hand.

My opponent finally found their first Haven on D5, but I had the Cloth Cocoon (C) at the ready. Since I was ahead on cards, I was free to use Studious Disciple (U) and Studious Disciple (R)’s support abilities to remove the Haven for 1 mana. This was absolutely critical, as it gave me just enough mana to trade, which is usually hard to manage on the turn you remove a Haven.

1 and 2-drops let me pass priority long enough to Cloth Cocoon (C) their biggest threat, which earned me a 1-0. I was feeling pretty comfortable at 1/2 on expeditions, but a resupplied Small Step, Giant Leap (F) ended the game instantly.

Round 3 (W): Teija & Nauraa

From R1, I internalized that Teija leading with a Spindle Harvesters (R) means there’s likely to be a follow-up of Ogun (F) or Chiron (F), so this time I immediately went for the Cloth Cocoon (C). Sure enough, my opponent followed up with Ogun (F). I went 0-1, but I had neutralized an anchored threat, and my opponent was priced into playing Ogun for minimal value.

On D2, I anchored out my 1-of Aloe Vera (F). I had kept it in my opening hand, since Muna is unlikely to have an efficient way to answer it.

My opponent anchored out another Dracaena (C), but my resupplies and card draw let me find all the answers I needed. I slept the newly-anchored Dracaena (C) to trade, gave fleeting to my opponent’s entire board, and bounced the Magical Training (F) back to hand.

Putting my opponent low on cards gave me the freedom to replay the Aloe Vera (F) anchored and return a Magical Training (F) to hand with an Ouroboros Inkcaster (R). I could have pushed for a 2-0, but I wasn’t under immediate pressure, and a build-up turn would let me make better use of my resources later.

Drawing into Cernunnos (U) effectively ended the game. After my opponent passed, I was able to discard their Lyra Thespian (F) while flipping the companion expedition, then win hero-side uncontested while drawing with my Studious Disciple (U).

Round 4 (W): Teija & Nauraa

I was lucky to start with Off You Go! (F) and Cloth Cocoon (C) in the opener again, but as the first player, I wasn’t able to stop my opponent from anchoring and boosting onto a Spindle Harvesters (R).

On D2, my opponent anchored out an Aloe Vera (R). Off You Go! was even better than Cloth Cocoon here, since I could the send the Aloe Vera to reserve, beat the Spindle Harvesters with a reserve Anansi (C), and force their reserve to overflow by two. Meanwhile, the Hathor (C) I had run out on D1 let me return the Off You Go! to hand.

Drawing a Tanuki (C) let me sabotage their Aloe Vera. I went 2-1 while they set up The Spindle, Muna Bastion (R) and replayed their Spindle Harvesters (R) to receive the at-noon boost.

Notably, I resupplied into Small Step, Giant Leap (F) but let it overflow because I couldn’t afford the risk of not having enough characters to play, which could prevent me from getting to the point where Small Step would win.

My opponent reanchored their double-boosted Spindle Harvesters with the Lyra Thespian (U) they resupplied into; they couldn’t afford to wait since I had a Tinker Bell (F) in reserve. I had the Cloth Cocoon (C) from my opening hand to remove The Spindle, but was luckily able use the copy I resupplied into instead. With The Spindle gone, I could Off You Go! on the Spindle Harvesters, content to go 0-2 to minimize the threat for next turn.

My opponent played a second The Spindle, Muna Bastion (R), but I had the Cloth Cocoon (C) again. Their last card was an Aloe Vera (R), and I felt I needed to remove it with a reserve Off You Go! and cost-reduction support ability, despite having to go 0-1 to their 1-1-1 Sneezer Shroom (C).

Light on characters and out of removal, I couldn’t stop my opponent from taking us to 2/1 while anchoring an Aloe Vera (R) and boosting it with Chiron (F), but I was able to use the extra mana to sabotage, draw up, and give Chiron fleeting to leave my opponent out of cards in hand and reserve.

Despite its stats not making a difference, I played out a Martengale (C) in the event that I needed the cost-reduction support ability next turn. I anticipated the next day being the final day of the game, so it was okay to let A Cappella Training (C) overflow.

I drew into Twinkle, Twinkle (C) with Magical Training (F), then pitched the Magical Training to remove the larger Aloe Vera (R) with Cernunnos (U). After my opponent played out their hand, I cast both sides of the Twinkle Twinkle (C) to close out the game. The Martengale (C) support ability was convenient but not necessary: the Twinkle Twinkle (C) and Ouroboros Inkcaster (R) support abilities would have let me play the Paper Herald (U) as-is.

Round 5 (L): Nevenka & Blotch

My opponent started the game by passing priority with an A Cappella Training (C). With two Ouroboros Inkcaster (R)s in hand, I wasn’t willing to let my opponent turn off their ability, so I passed with an A Cappella Training (C) of my own.

They played a Kadigiran Mage-Dancer (R). I considered giving it fleeting but didn’t want to go 0-1. I then considered playing against the Kadigiran Mage-Dancer to force them to roll, but I instead played the odds and played my Ouroboros Inkcaster (R) to the other expedition.

Drawing into a Tanuki (C) let me sabotage the Mage-Dancer. I resupplied into an Off You Go! (F), so I opted to burn an Inkcaster support ability to play my other Inkcaster to return the Off You Go! (F) to hand.

My opponent was ready, though, and played a Tanuki (R) to sabotage it to prevent my Inkcaster from returning a card. This was a disaster, since I spent a card from reserve, played an Inkcaster into a losing expedition, and couldn’t return a card to hand, for a swing of three half-cards.

I resupplied into a Tinker Bell (R), but my opponent was the first player, and they won the die roll on their reserve Tanuki (R) to sabotage my sabotager. This swung the card advantage war further in their favor. We were tied on expeditions, but I’d want to be way ahead on cards at this point, and instead we were dead even.

I resupplied into a Magical Training (F) in reserve. I was desperate for card draw and considered leaving it there to pick up next turn with the Hathor (C) I had in hand. I decided this was too vulnerable to A Cappella Training (C) and/or sabotage, so I just chose to play it from reserve to draw for 3 mana. I’m still not sure this was correct.

The upside of this line is that it forced my opponent to act first. As a result, I could play an A Cappella Training (C) on my opponent’s Hathor (C). It also forced my opponent to play another A Cappella Training (C) with no target just to pass priority.

This is where I made my biggest error of the day. On 2 mana, I tapped out to play my Hathor (C) blocking theirs to force them to roll or commit more. With my opponent at just one card in hand, however, I absolutely needed to leave mana up for A Cappella Training by playing a Martengale (C) to the uncontested expedition for no blocking power.

The Martengale (C) play trades if they don’t have another character, which is a win for me. If they have a 2-drop, I’m most likely going 0-2 and losing my character anyway. However, if they have a 3-drop, I would happily take the 0-2 to be able to A Cappella Training it and leave them without any characters.

As it turns out, their last card was a Cernunnos (F). They won hero-side, succeeded at the die roll to win companion-side, and, critically, ensured their Cernunnos would hit reserve to be played next turn.

My hand next turn was filled with forest-mountain characters, so while I could easily block their mountain-only region, I had no choice but to let their Esmeralda (C) through on water. My opponent was a Small Step, Giant Leap (F) away from victory, but my one consolation was that I had given their board fleeting, so they were completely out of cards and relying on the top of their deck.

Unfortunately, I drew and resupplied into Martengale (C) and Studious Disciple (F) for limited stat power. My opponent played a Kappa (U) and hit the 50/50 die roll to draw a card. Despite not being able to beat its 5 in water, I could theoretically stall for a turn by pulling it to a non-water region with Hooked (F). My opponent drew into more stats, though, and they were easily able to win one expedition to close out the game.

Round 6 (W): Sigismar & Wingspan

I had a near-ideal start of A Cappella Training (C) on my opponent’s Ordis Trooper (R) with my Paper Herald (U) to win one side and return the A Cappella Training back to hand.

The Paper Herald (U) did its job by forcing out a D2 Kelon Burst (F); my opponent couldn’t afford to let me have more free A Cappella Trainings. I didn’t have a 2-drop to follow up, so I played the A Cappella Training to pass priority and threaten to give my opponent’s 1-drop fleeting if they wanted to 2-0. They just passed.

My opponent played a Kadigiran Alchemist (F) on D3, and I was able to pass priority, which pressured my opponent to pass so as not to play into A Cappella Training. I put them between a rock and a hard place, since once they could no longer act, I discarded their Alchemist with Cernunnos (U) to turn the day into a 1-0 in my favor.

On D4, my opponent dropped a Grand Endeavor (R). We were at parity on expeditions, so this gave me a window to 2-0 and pull into a two-expedition lead.

I had an extraordinarily lucky draw + resupply: Small Step, Giant Leap (F) ended up in hand, and my reserve was stacked with Cernunnos (U) and two Anansi (C)s. My opponent sabotaged the Cernunnos (U) with an Ordis Spy (C), but I was able to play out a 3-3-3 and 2-2-2 Anansi, then Twinkle Twinkle (C) their The Frog Prince (U) to go 2-0.

My opponent moved forward a second time with their Grand Endeavor (R), but my Small Step gave me the final progression I needed.