The Principles of TAV

I know I promised you "a noble piece of cheese"...and it's coming. But first I thought I'd mention that the full, complete, and official Antigonish variant rules will be posted here within the next few weeks (working on them as we speak). Before then, let's go over the guiding principles of TAV. The philosophical tenets that provide the underpinnings of the format, distilled down to their most concentrated essence. There are only four:

Principle 1 - Speed, For Lack Of A Better Word, Is Good.   

Starting off by paraphrasing Gordon Gekko! TAV is a format that embraces speed. Spellfire games shouldn't take hours to complete. Unlike some who bellyache about "speed cards", TAV players embrace them. What other format actually sought to quicken the game?! Toss down that Menzo, use a Caravan, slap down a Caer Allison, WIN. Sweet. Your opponents don't like it? Let them do something about it!
 
Principle 2 - A Spellfire Deck Consists Of 55 (or 56) Cards. Use a dungeon if you wish, but don't bother me with alternate deck sizes. They just slow down the game, and see Principle 1.

Principle 3 - There Are Only Two Banned Cards. 
And their names are Poor Oriental Lord and Wealthy Oriental Vassal. Consider yourselves lucky to even see those cards named on this blog. I like to pretend that they don't exist.

Principle 4 - "One Attack To Launch, And In The Darkness Raze Them!"
...Or not, but in that case you discard your champion and give up a spoils. :)

And with that Tolkien allusion, I'm out for now.

Next time: The cheese arrives.                        

Standard Decks vs TAV Decks

I know I promised you the top 5 cleric spells, but let's save that for next time.

Sometimes people wonder if they can just use their standard Spellfire decks to play the Antigonish variant. The answer is yes, if you want to lose badly.

The two formats are pretty incompatible from a deck construction viewpoint. In Standard you want to load up on champions, since you are going to be attacking numerous times each turn, and you can't raise a realm unless your opponent is out of defenders. Since each champion (with rare exceptions) can only attack once per turn, you need to fill your deck with a good assortment of potential attackers.

In TAV, on the other hand, you only need to defeat ONE defender to raze the enemy realm. Therefore you can put less champions in, and instead load the deck with a wide assortment of instant-kill cheese. Even though you only need to win one round of combat, you only get one round per turn, so you have to make the most of it. Instant-kill cards give you the best bang for your buck, so to speak.

Now TAV decks are not great at all in Standard. Too few champions, for one thing. Also, the cheese doesn't work, because all you've done is beat one measly defender, which incidently doesn't get you a spoils with which to restock your hand. So a TAV deck dies a slow, painful death against a good Standard deck when playing by that format's rules.

That having been said, however, the average Standard deck gets completely defenestrated against a TAV deck when playing by TAV rules. There's just no answer for the firepower that can be brought to bear in one combat round. And all those extra champions in the Standard deck just end up clogging the pool with useless "chumps" (to borrow a term from Magic: The Gathering).

Take a look at this (very good) Standard deck. 

http://www.claymore.co.za/spellfire/sfomigod.html

The owner of that deck says it's basically undefeated in its current form. Now take a look at my last post detailing my Gib deck...or back a few posts to my Tournament deck list. Not to brag, but either of those TAV decks would absolutely destroy his deck. It would be all over in seven turns, maybe eight. 

But should I dare to play Standard against him with either of mine...I'd lose.

So which format is "superior"? Obviously I'd say TAV, but that's because I love a fast-paced, exciting game of Spellfire, where realms are razed easily and the spoils flow like wine...

Next time: The Top 5 cleric spells...for real this time!

Dungeons and TAV

Dungeons. The last card type added to Spellfire before the game's cancelation in 1997. The card type that many Spellfire players still have a love/hate relationship with, all these years later.

Up above, you can see The Azure Tower of Onad the Fallen (Dungeons 24/100). This is the dungeon I use in my tournament deck today. Back when Hayden and I were putting together the rules alterations that eventually became the Antigonish Variant, dungeons were one of the main areas I wanted to change from standard Spellfire. This post will go over the rules regarding dungeon cards in TAV, and my rationale for altering them from standard.

Rule change #1 - Dungeons in Decks: Unlike in standard, you shuffle your dungeon into your deck in TAV. It's drawn just like any other card, and may be played during phase 2 of your turn. Rationale: To me, dungeons are personal rule cards. You don't start the game with your rule card in play, why should you start with your dungeon in play? Draw it as normal. As for the phase 2 rule, I'm not a big fan of the "play your rule card during phase 0" thing either. In fact I came within a hair's breadth of changing that rule as well in TAV. Ultimately it was left alone, but the dungeon is played at any time during phase 2, when you are placing realms and holdings into your formation. The playing of a dungeon does not affect your ability to play a realm or holding.

Rule change #2 - Attacking Dungeons: Just as in standard, you can choose to attack a dungeon instead of a realm in TAV. Unlike standard, however, there must be a "path" to the dungeon you wish to attack. This means there must be a way for your champion to walk there (no unrazed realms in the way). Rationale: This is very similar to the way a non-flying (or swimming, or earthwalking, etc) champion can't attack back realms. If there are unrazed realms "protecting" the dungeon, it cannot be attacked until those realms are either razed or discarded. A champion successfully attacking a dungeon is not removed from the game, nor do they suffer any type of penalty for winning the combat and discarding the dungeon. Play continues as if the champion had just razed a realm.

Rule change #3 - Dungeon Spoils: When a dungeon is successfully defended, the defender gets a spoils, which is playable in the same way as a spoils gained from razing or discarding a realm during combat. Similarly, when a dungeon is successfully discarded by an attacker, the attacking player gets a spoils. The differences between dungeon spoils and regular spoils that exist in standard have been erased in TAV. Rationale: A spoils is a spoils. Why confuse things with two different types? 

Rule change #4 - Discarding Dungeons Outside of Combat: There is no special requirements or rules when using a Wish, a Gib Kcir, or any other card to discard a dungeon. These cards function normally. The requirement to discard the casting champion when using Wish (or any other card) to destroy a dungeon is not in effect in TAV. Rationale: Why make a rule that affects two or three cards, total? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Rule change #5 - Where Do Dungeons Go?: Unlike in standard, there is no "special" pile to put a dungeon into when it is discarded. It simply goes to the discard pile. Have a way to get it back? Go for it. Play it normally during your next phase 2. Rationale: Why shouldn't you be able to retrieve your dungeon the same way you can retrieve your rule card? Dungeons are basically personal rule cards, and should be treated as such.

That's about it. I feel these rule changes make dungeons a more fun and less onerous part of the game of Spellfire. Be sure to send me your opinion about them or any TAV-related rule!

Next time: the Dirty Bird!