Getting to the highest tier of ranked play in ANY card game will always involve seeing a lot of meta decks and opponents who do not make mistakes. I'm not sure how you could reasonably expect otherwise.
Some streamers just tell their viewers upfront that they care more about fun than rank and that they aren't going to worry about grinding to Master. In the end, no one but you will ever care whether you hit Master or not, so yes, it's correct to stop grinding if you don't think grinding is fun.
Invoke isn't all that random -- it's always a safe bet that it will give you something useful. The reason some people find it hard to play against is because you can't automatically read the person's hand at that point. I'm glad the game now has a way for you to generate unknown resources. It's boring when everyone knows exactly what's in the other player's hand at all times.
Also, though I cannot confirm this, it seemed like Omen Hawk did not work with Stalking Shadows. I played a Stalking Shadows expecting to see a buffed option, but the cards offered did not show the buffs. I don't know if this is a bug or intended, but it seemed like you're guessing which cards were buffed and which weren't. And if you don't pick a buffed one, you just wasted both buffs.
This sounds like an unintended side effect of the way it's coded. I say this because of the animation when you play Stalking Shadows: It seems to obliterate the card you choose, then puts two copies (one with Ephemeral) into your hand. This would be fine if they were exact copies, but I guess they are not.
This is, of course inconsistent with the card's text, which clearly says you draw the card, then make a copy. Drawing the card should never erase buffs. And even if you're just guessing wrong, the cards presented should show any buffs at the very least.
I hope they push a bug-fix patch before the three-week update. Between stuff like this and the invisible unit bug, there's a lot of inconvenience to deal with.
The Undying I feel a little more confident rejecting: sure you get re-occurring swings, but he's just not enough pressure, especially for how much you have to pay for him. I've play a lot of that guy over the past month and you really need to sink a few deaths into him before he's anything more than a nuisance.
You don't need to sink deaths into it when it starts as a 4/4. Sure, it only comes back as a 3/3 the first time, but anything that comes back is going to be welcome in this deck.
On that note, I'd also add another Glimpse Beyond. You're definitely going to want all the draw you can muster since you'll have very little that's able to stick on the board.
I would consider adding Darius in case the squirrel plan doesn't work out, and Apprehend or Shunpo to give the powered-up squirrel another attack. But maybe I'm just not believing hard enough.
It's strong, but you can only afford to damage your own board for so long. Also, the effect is counterable by most removal. It creates Fleeting spells, so you can't save them up for a massive Nexus strike.
So you have to hold it in your hand forever, then get a bunch of your guys killed at once to summon a bunch of vanilla 3/3s? That does not sound like a winning game plan from any angle.
Getting to the highest tier of ranked play in ANY card game will always involve seeing a lot of meta decks and opponents who do not make mistakes. I'm not sure how you could reasonably expect otherwise.
Some streamers just tell their viewers upfront that they care more about fun than rank and that they aren't going to worry about grinding to Master. In the end, no one but you will ever care whether you hit Master or not, so yes, it's correct to stop grinding if you don't think grinding is fun.
Invoke isn't all that random -- it's always a safe bet that it will give you something useful. The reason some people find it hard to play against is because you can't automatically read the person's hand at that point. I'm glad the game now has a way for you to generate unknown resources. It's boring when everyone knows exactly what's in the other player's hand at all times.
Thanks for the report! There's a lot of food for thought, and several interesting new decks that had not yet come across my radar.
This sounds like an unintended side effect of the way it's coded. I say this because of the animation when you play Stalking Shadows: It seems to obliterate the card you choose, then puts two copies (one with Ephemeral) into your hand. This would be fine if they were exact copies, but I guess they are not.
This is, of course inconsistent with the card's text, which clearly says you draw the card, then make a copy. Drawing the card should never erase buffs. And even if you're just guessing wrong, the cards presented should show any buffs at the very least.
I hope they push a bug-fix patch before the three-week update. Between stuff like this and the invisible unit bug, there's a lot of inconvenience to deal with.
It would be awesome if Kibler started uploading some LoR to the YouTubes!
Didn't Swim say Sunburst was going to be garbage? Pretty sure he said it was garbage. Silverfuse is the only streamer I remember being pro-Sunburst.
Except not really!
You forgot to mention that you can get all four as a bundle for 570 coins (a 25% discount).
It's worth noting that these are the first card backs that can actually give away information about your deck if you tie the back to the deck's theme.
(Other backs only advertise regions and Champions, which are always known anyway.)
Obviously, it won't matter if you're using Nocturne/Diana/Leona, but it would be relevant for a Champless deck.
You don't need to sink deaths into it when it starts as a 4/4. Sure, it only comes back as a 3/3 the first time, but anything that comes back is going to be welcome in this deck.
On that note, I'd also add another Glimpse Beyond. You're definitely going to want all the draw you can muster since you'll have very little that's able to stick on the board.
Darius seems a bit random. Wouldn't you rather dip into P&Z for a nice Sumpworks Map and Counterfeit Copies, or Ionia for Ghost and Deny?
I would consider adding Darius in case the squirrel plan doesn't work out, and Apprehend or Shunpo to give the powered-up squirrel another attack. But maybe I'm just not believing hard enough.
Seems like every Encroaching Shadows deck should have Cursed Keeper and The Undying in it, and I don't really understand the Frenzied Skitterer and Barkbeast picks.
It's strong, but you can only afford to damage your own board for so long. Also, the effect is counterable by most removal. It creates Fleeting spells, so you can't save them up for a massive Nexus strike.
So yeah, strong, but not OP.
Auto-include when you use Monkey Idol, for sure. I'll wait patiently for someone to do an Iceborn Legacy Powder Monkey deck.
So you have to hold it in your hand forever, then get a bunch of your guys killed at once to summon a bunch of vanilla 3/3s? That does not sound like a winning game plan from any angle.
Oh, Ionia, why do you have to be the way you are?
I've seen a few people dreaming up Taric-Noxus ideas. This seems like it could fit there.
Not great in most of the same old Noxus junk we're used to, and that's a good thing.
This is a nutso finisher for any decent Darius deck. Rally in Noxus is terrifying.
Waaaay too much hassle for a so-so payoff. Meme tier for sure.