tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-282036472009-02-21T14:33:14.215ZChris Dyer is a lead playtester for Warlord, has been UK Champion in both Open and Campaign formats <i>at the same time</i>; he placed 2nd overall at his first KoHIT (2004) and highly in the second KoHIT (2005).TaKtiXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219076908889511315noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1149603129308108932006-06-06T14:56:00.000+01:002006-06-06T15:13:32.990+01:00

Remember when Campaign was just released? All of a sudden everyone, their mother and their dog was playing an Uthanak deck. There was nothing complicated or tricky about these decks: they just threw big, multiwounding Nothrogs at you faster than you could handle. And the biggest and nastiest of those was Arra'dann.You have to understand that the game was pretty simple back then. There wasn't much

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1149515690078913902006-06-05T13:34:00.000+01:002006-06-05T14:54:50.083+01:00

I was chatting to Mat over the weekend and he mentioned that we didn't have an article about the basics of deckbuilding up yet. So here it is. If you're already an accomplished deckbuilder then skip this one and move on. If you're starting out, or struggling to build solid decks then read on.First off, there's a couple of articles that cover this elsewhere on this site. Pete has an old article

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1149168577816969282006-06-01T13:42:00.000+01:002006-06-01T14:29:38.090+01:00

A lot has been made in a number of posts on this site about the mental side of the game. (So many that I'm not going to bother linking them: trust me, they're there.) The gist of all those articles boils down to this: You're not just playing two decks against each other, you're playing your opponent as well. This is an incredibly wide topic, and there's a number of ways to use the mental side to

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1149078708391367742006-05-31T13:16:00.000+01:002006-05-31T13:31:48.400+01:00

You'll forgive me (I hope) if I get a little sentimental during this postSo, Epic is on the horizon, and before too long we'll be waving goodbye to Campaign edition. I feel kind of sad about this. See, I started playing the game with the release of Siege, and by that time there were already a lot of cards in the pool, well known strategies and a very strongly established environment. Then

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1148996328241830452006-05-30T13:59:00.000+01:002006-05-30T14:38:48.683+01:00

Right, I've come home from a Bank Holiday weekend spent with my parents, shorn of hair but replete with ideas. However, before I get to those I'll finish off this section. My number 1 influential card from Eye of the Storm is...Blind the GodsSeldom has one card changed the game so much. Remember when Lord Winter first saw Excessus? We're talking that level of shake-up. Now, I don't have anywhere

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1148646477742526132006-05-26T13:02:00.000+01:002006-05-26T13:27:58.110+01:00

On to card number 2, and Rod gets a point here. Actually, he gets two points, because I've cheated a bit. Y'see, I had two potential cards to go in this slot, and I couldn't decide which one better defined what I was looking for. And then I decided to stop worrying about it and choose them both, because this is my blog and I can do what I want. So, with that petulance out of the way, my number

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1148563271805354692006-05-25T13:52:00.000+01:002006-05-25T14:21:11.813+01:00

Card number 3 is one of those player designed ones. I really hope you like the art on this card, because it's going to be all over the place. I mean literally everywhere. This card is so amazingly useful in so many decks that you'll be sick of the sight of it. That's why I've chsen it as influential - it's sheer versatility is enough to have a considerable impact on the game.I'm talking, of

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1148474455632331562006-05-24T12:30:00.000+01:002006-05-24T13:45:47.853+01:00

So, on to card number 4. While this card is very strong and will fill out a number of decks, that's not why I've picked it. I haven't picked it because of the (possibly quite considerable) impact that it wall have on Campaign, and I definately haven't chosen it for the negligible impact it will have on Open. I think this card is influential purely on it's implications for Epic Edition. So,

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1148386359519555222006-05-23T12:47:00.000+01:002006-05-23T13:12:39.526+01:00

So, I had this great entry all worked out in my head, then Pete stole it. That's okay, I'm not bitter. I'll just write something else.Whenever a new set comes out the environment is bound to change a bit. For a start, there's six new warlords and 150 new cards to play with. Some of those cards will make older warlords better, some will make them worse. So, I figured I'd take a look at the five

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1148301469174652092006-05-22T13:11:00.000+01:002006-05-22T13:37:49.183+01:00

Long winded title, huh? This could equally be called "Why isn't Bronwen the best deck ever?"Let me break it down. Bronwen Tansiq is a Warlord so endlessly full of possibilities. When Altus Darkheart was first revealed a room full of players at Prince of the Storm all simultaneously reached for their new Elf Warlord, threw in three copies of Out of Step and Killing Strike and sat down and

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1148036779372944122006-05-19T11:29:00.000+01:002006-05-19T20:24:24.406+01:00

Every now and again I'm going to throw out a few tips that I think have helped me to acheive my tournament record. Jeremiah has already covered the mental side of a big tournament, (something that really can't be stressed enough: these are stressful, tiring events and keeping yourself in the right frame of mind will help you take a big step towards success) so I'm going to look at another angle:

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1147950502332476572006-05-18T11:19:00.000+01:002006-05-18T12:08:22.350+01:00

Straight away, I want to quash any rumours that Warlord is a game about luck. It's not. It's a game involving luck. If it was all about luck you wouldn't see the same names appearing consistently in the cuts of tournaments: these guys aren't there because they're blessed with good luck, they're there because they're great players. By the same token, people who say "I never win games because I'm

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1147874719675804552006-05-17T14:00:00.000+01:002006-05-17T15:05:19.686+01:00

The third element in your first turn is the hand you've drawn. Now, this has a lot to do with deckbuilding, which may well be a topic I cover later. For now, let's just look at how you use your hand.First things first. Barring any card draw, or warlords like Durin Kortouched or Saunginel, you're going to see 5 cards in your opening hand. To use that hand to it's maximum potential you have to end

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1147859253237066842006-05-17T10:06:00.000+01:002006-05-17T10:47:33.250+01:00

In adition to your starting characters you have one very important asset on the first turn: your Warlord. That's the most important card you have in play: for one, it's by far and away the most powerful character on the table at the start of the game, and second it's crucial to the victory of the game. Utilizing your Warlord effectively without undue risk is crucial, not just to the first turn,

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1147788549547154432006-05-16T15:04:00.000+01:002006-05-16T15:09:09.546+01:00

I possibly should have done this first, but whatever.First off, you all know about the official website, right? Good.http://warlordccg.comThe Temple of Lore is THE place for warlord information. If you're not familiar with it already, go and check it outhttp://temple-of-lore.comJeremy Black, the lead designer, has a Blergh! here. It's like a blog but...different. He updates it sporadically, but

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1147788149771372142006-05-16T14:30:00.000+01:002006-05-16T15:02:29.786+01:00

Warlord has always been a quick game. It's designed that way. Look at your deck, and then ask yourself how many turns a game usually takes. At this late point in the CE arc the average is probably somewhere around 3 turns.Of those turns, the first one is the most critical. Why? If you're playing a blitz deck the first turn represents your best chance to do damage to the opponent. If you're

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1147786083324560102006-05-16T14:17:00.000+01:002006-05-16T14:29:21.996+01:00

So yeah, I'm Chris Dyer. Mat has already explained a bit about me above (though he got some things wrong, never mind) so I won't bother doing that. Instead, I'll answer what might be a more relevent question...Why bother doing this?Well first off, I love Warlord. Seriously. I love the game, the people who play it and the places I get to travel to. I think it's a great game, both due to it's

Chris Dyerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02913796712768926706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28203647.post-1147784101473114592006-05-16T13:30:00.000+01:002006-05-16T14:58:35.676+01:00

Chris Dyer is a lead playtester for Warlord, has been UK Champion in both Open and Campaign formats at the same time and he placed 2nd overall at his first KoHIT (2004) and highly at his second KoHIT (2005). The only reason he wasn't in the EU World Conquest team for 2005 was because he couldn't make enough qualifiers - I attended EL:ITE and took 7th place with one of his decks, if that had been

TaKtiXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00219076908889511315noreply@blogger.com0