Volin

Hello Skyfolks!
 
Even though not everyone plays it, 4 player rPvE lvl 9 battlegrounds is probably the most popular game mode in general. About time for a competition! The latest big balance patch, which has been around for a while now, made me realize I've never seen a rPvE match with 4 different colors. I'm curious to see your replays!
Since I can't participate in my own contest, of course, I'd be happy to spend some time with you, if you'd like. Let's see how I can help!
Replay analysis - strategic tips
Anyone who has played their first rPvE lvl10, or speedrun with me knows I am a patient teacher and will gladly share ALL my knowledge if you just ask for it.
And even if competitions are aimed at players above the average, we also know that there are (hopefully) many very good players who want to participate, but whose experience in speedrun is much smaller.
That's why I'm happy to offer my strategic support to any team that wants it. Deckbuilding, routes, interaction, little tricks - I'll be happy to take a look at your replays over the next few weeks and try to support you from the outside as much as possible.
My only condition: provide me with a replay and ask specific questions about it. If I see something obvious outside of the questions, I will of course mention it.
I just want to make sure that you make the same effort as I do and not have a lot of theoretical discussions in advance.
 
Team finding
Although I would not recommend you to take this service, I would like to offer it: If you are looking for a "fixed" group for this contest, but can't find any players ingame or on Discord, feel free to contact me - if there are enough players, I can help you to group up. If necessary, you can also register here as a group of 2 or 3 and I will help you find the last members.
However, I strongly recommend you to actively form your groups yourself via Discord or ingame, otherwise you will lose valuable time and players will hang in the queue until I have 4 requests together.
 
General tips
There are free voice chats in the official Skylords Reborn Discord - use them! I promise you, the top teams will be those, who had fast and good communication. Act as team. Ask yourselves constantly: What can I do for my companions? How could my team support me in my task? Teamwork and strategy are worth more than any good individual performance. Stick to the meta (as far as possible). Voidreturn is usually essential in Speedruns. This should (presumably) be your first priority, to which you subordinate EVERYTHING else. Do not hesitate to restart! Once the basic framework of a strategy is in place and a first time has been reached, it is often not worth finishing games where a lot has already gone wrong. Talk to each other and just restart the round! And please keep in mind that there are harder tasks and easier ones. It is not uncommon for the same player to ask for a restart over and over again. This may not be because your teammate is bad, but often because their task is difficult. Speedruns are often at the limit, otherwise they wouldn't be a speedrun, so things just go wrong sometimes. Think outside of the box!  
I wish all participants a lot of fun! And if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.
 
 

^Is it still August?

This is a good suggestion. Will see what I can do.

Very cool guide, thanks a lot for it!
Is it also viable to use bloodhealing on a night crawler spawned by infect?

Glad you want to start a little series here. Pure Bandits is an underrated and underplayed deck in my eyes. The firepower is incredible! You just sometimes have problems keeping your units alive. You show how this can be done to near perfection in the replays. How well Unity (b) and Blood Healing harmonize, i had not thought to this extent. The parts when you have to kill the last base including the Command Walker Boss were impressive to see.
Well played Volin. Looking forward to more!

UPDATED to match 1y-patch from 18.12.21
Hey all,
since we have many requests here, but few decks are shown pro-actively, I would like to show some of my RPVE decks (deck kits) over the next few weeks.
Each of the decks will be limited by a "theme", they will prolly not all be end-to-end meta approaches - especially since they are relatively simple to get to the point in the BG: Bata = Meta
And the rest will run behind. But since I'm a little bored with the Batariel right now - let's take a look at what other fine decks for rpve are out there. This first will touch the meta hard anyways 😄

Theme/Scope: In any row , as much meta as possible and as independently as possible from other players help/heals.

Playstyle: Micro > Macro
Budget: most expensive
Addresses to advanced/expert players

Core Deck: 
- Unity (B) and Bloodhealing give the needed sustain
- Heavy spell dependent - the meta makes dmg, distracts enemy via Frenetic, Infect gives dmg and meatshield, the  dmg spells clean up most of the units

- heavy voidmanipulation via Shrine of War or Cultist Master/Furnace of Flesh enables you to perma use of your spells and abilities
- strong T4 options unit wise, with mass Bloodhorns as main carry
- T3 is carried by spells and can handle ANY situation
- T1/T2 is very flexible and can be designed according to taste

T1 - Either or
Fire: Nomad (G), Mine, Eruption (possible BG10 addons are Blaster Cannon, Suppression or Sunstriders if needed)
Shadow: Forsaken, Soul Splicer (G), Motivate (possible BG10 addon is a good mate supporting your t1 with fire :P)

T2 - in any case
No matter what your t1 has been, your want a shadow orb as your second. If you started fire you want now to move asap to your double shadow, if you started shadow you want to raise your Boosters NOW 🙂  Isn't shadow T1 better then? Perhaps sometimes but not in general. Every start has its own pros and cons, the pros of a fire start is that it is lean, fast, self healing, team-friendly and due to its spells strong and flexible. I often prefer to run into a BG9 T3 camp with 3 nomads and my fire spells rather then having a few Forsaken and almost no support.

Cool-kids-t2-stuff is
- Best-in-Slot solution is probably Shadow Phoenix/Embalmers Shrine (almost mandatory for BG10)
- Gladiatrix (Gladis shine only really with Green Support, but mass Gladis with good positioning can do the job, more an advanced players solution I assume)
- Windhunter is the T2 alternative to Gladiatrix now (Bithday Patch) and outshines Gladiatrix in stats
- Firestalkers (nice siege, cheap throw-away t2)
- Harvester or Shadow Mages can be pure Shadow options if that suits, Undead Army can scale quite ok'ish with Bloodhealing into T4)
- Skyfire Drake is not big carrier, but can do an insane job on some maps
- Bandit Minefield is okish, but usually not worth the slot in this meta approach. If you come from Fire T1 to Shadow T2 you already bring your mine and if you start Double Shadow ... you get it 😄
- Undead Army shines with Blood Healing and is almost a must-pick for harder situations. This combo is way more flexible as the Grim Bahir option that I posted in the first run
Be aware that map depending is one of the weakest (not weak, only in relation) options aviable but usually not much of a problem.

T3 - you want to have now - time to shine!
At the T3 stage Void Manipulation and your -spells kick in the door! Though some nice T3 units are aviable the only options for this deck are imo Cultist Master (if you prefer Culstist/FoF over SoW) and Fallen Skyelf (as boss-killer support in T4).
T4 Camps can be taken out with Nomads/Forsaken and spells and so can be handled a possible close camp.

As far not mentioned interesting T3 cards are:
- Incredible Mo (not really needed here but always nice to have one)
- Soulshatter (if there is a possibility to take it, do so! You want to have as much dmg-spells as possible)
- Amii Monument (only for solo, but there very handy)
Last word on t3: No, I did not oversee Sandstorm - not worth a slot 🙂

T4 - finally

Carrier is the Bloodhorn (BH) - fast, strong dmg, heals nice via stampeding buildings. Get out 2 and play more as soon it is possible, if you play a second unit get it in the mix after the second BH. Always let 250+ energy left to have spell energy.
Before engaging a camp bind your units together with a Unity (b)
First spell when engaging is either Frenetic or Cluster (Amok can do the job too), the other second, asap Infect then further according to the remaining priorities. I like to use Bloodhealing on Undead Army skelletons or Grim Bahir crawlers - that a reason for the Grim Bahir for me, though ofc this is not mandatory.
Bloodhealing does a nice job too on a BH with Unity running, it does not loose much HP.
Earthshaker is a nice skill, but does not perform as stong as we know it in this deck due to the mass BH spam 🙂 If you have room it can prolly clean up last buildings, but I tended to cut it.
Just to say it: OFC you can do various T4 units in the mix here, but naming them all would go beyond the scope of this. Though this is more a deck-kit then a deck, I want to give ideas how to play a faction not to give an overview over the faction as a whole.

Any more options:
- The classic shadow buffs (Life Weaving, Unholy Power & Hero) do a great job on BH!
- Never go out without your Disenchant
- Warp is always nice to have
- Offering (g) can resett your stong spells, if you decide to do so, prolly cut the Cluster (P) (this will get an even nicer option with the comming Grim Bahir changes (Test Server))
- purple Amok gives a nice damage buff and can either replace one Frenetic or be added. Beware to play it not on your units, as they will take friendly-fire then. Also be aware not to play it on your teammates units (same reason) and this is grief play.

Bosses you struggle with ... none that comes to my mind.
Any other dangerous situations for this deck: Engaging Twilight Dragons with a spell-protected (Twilight Negator) Willzapper nearby (a ugly situation for most decks). Play your Unity as late as possible and strike HARD with the first engage!

If more questions come, please feel free to ask or discuss this, I will edit this "guide"

Personal, tested(!), samples of my decks are
BG9 allrounder for random maps with random groups:

 
BG10, adapted for 1Player-MOTM 2021-06

BG10, 4player, random maps with random groups, assuming SoW by Mate btw one Joker slot

 
Replays deleted as they are broken due to patches.
I attach a few replays to see it in action. Be aware, non of this replays is "perfect" or aim to be that. This are raw takeouts to give you an idea how this can be played.
I played this deck a lot in the last weeks and can assure that it can work in ANY BG9 situation completly independent from other players heals and can even carry a group. Even the BG10 performance was not as bad as you may think without the perma present green splash 😄

BG10solo_pureBandittest
A random BG10 solo in below 23min, easy Bandit map, but still not bad I think. Lost my t4 orb in the second last camp that forces me to retreat. This was my first test in BG10. Here a pure BH T4 w/o Grim Bahir

BG10_4player_Pure_Bandit_Test
Super nervous played mess - my first group attempt in BG10. In 14min I ran sleeping into a dragon = thx for the rescure group ^^ But hey, this is normal BG10 random group gameplay, nobody is perfect.
Really not a carry here, but neither a total fail. Straight average BG10 shit

BG9_Bloodhealing Showcase <- recommended!!!
A quite strong performance in a 4player BG9 with Command Walker Boss in the End (for me alooooooone) 🙂

BG10_SOLO_MOTM_ PureBandit_rank7
And as last one the current 1player MOTM. This is a first try, I swear, and far from clean, but still a good perfomance I think and at least for now it is a top10 time.


Finally: You have feedback, suggestions, nice replays or storys about this deck, please feel free to post below! I am looking forward to your reactions 😄

Is this helpfull? Want more of this?
 
 
 

I know the quest states it clear, but I was surprised anyway that my "play X nature cards" didnt go up while doing some PvP.
To encourage more casual PvP from PvE guys this could help to do some quests while learning how to PvP in a casual way. This "barrier" drives me back to rPVE to complete my quests.
(And yes I know I can change the quest types to PvP, but that begs the question why there is this split in quests anyway.)

Buy upgrades I for everything you use frequently first.
It is tempting to answer "T3/T4", however, it is crucial to upgrade your main units in early game (usually archers and T2 unit you spam), however, in late game T4 is what matters the most. I'd suggest not upgrading T3 too much, focus on T1,T2,T4.

You may want to farm some upgrades on Advanced or Expert maps (Advanced for II, Expert for III) so that you won't have to pay for them in gold (I suggest this particularly for ultrarare II III cards)
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oMsqJ1IMx8hied3W1ZRtQ5YbpgD2_kBezviNSmSovjM/edit#gid=1527833434

Hey all,
as the last deck that I showed was more an super-expensive expert deck, let's speak about the most beloved beginner faction this time - Stonekin.
Prologue:
Even though I don't want to present simple solutions with fixed 20 cards, I have to split the Stonekin topic into 3 parts. There are always nice cards that you can not take because of the limited slots, or other cards that offer other options, but that would be just another deck. Stonekin is a great example.
So that the tension is not quite so unbearable, already the outlook for you:
1/3 will be a classic Stonekin deck with (any row), a macro deck, with a small budget and equally popular among beginners as well as suitable for them.
2/3 will be a bit more expensive and a bit more advanced, taking advantage of the -meta. The deck becomes (slightly) faster, significantly stronger, but in the same measure becomes more "vulnerable" and requires significantly more intervention from the player.
3/3 will follow with the next patch as I have some changes in view on the test server. Here we will focus on the freeze mechanics and build a nice strong, but even more micro-intensive deck. A great fun!
1/3 Classical Stonekin
Theme/Scope: classic Stonekin deck with (any row), prefering Stonekin-Faction over pure Faction where it makes sense, easy to play

Playstyle: Macro
Budget: low budget
Addresses to beginners

Core Deck: 
(as RPVE Decks mostly happen in T4, every RPVE Deck considering should be done from T4 downwards imo - just to explain my approach)
- Our scope sets Grinder as core unit as there are only 3 cards in this orb range. The other 2 cards have no value for us here, as they are about defense, a thing that we don't even consider for a second in Battlegrounds. Always forward, never backward.
- The Grinder is an incredibly good tank, but unfortunately does very little damage - we need a Damage Dealer (DD) and here Gemeye offers itself, more on this below
- Since we don't have good void manipulation ourselves, we rely more on armies than spells in all tiers. ("more" does not mean only)
- We use our nice crowd control (CC) spells that we have through all tiers
- We use large area buffs and heals for maximum efficiency with only a few interventions
- the 2 dmg Spells that we have speed up killing alot
 
T1: Either or
Basically, with any deck, keep the T1/T2/T3 as large as necessary and as small as possible
 
Nature Start - A classic, the most common start, and yet something to talk about, many do a lot "wrong" here
- Windweavers (WW), Surge of Light and Ensnaring Roots are usually set and enough for any rpve9. This is the gold standard.
- Dryad (B) is a great addition, but to me a waste slot as it is not needed. Shaman is a nice Quality of Life (QoL) addition but usually not needed either. If you want to take one of this two cards don't play too much. Usually build not more then 2 Dryads or 2-3 Shamans. For BG10 I would recommend Dryad (B), even more then a Shaman. If you play Dryad (B) I would recommend beginners to switch them to dmg (not using sleeping) it makes them easier to hold in line with your WW.
- Treespirits or Mana Wings are Rare, aren't they an option to Windweavers? Not a bit, WW are the superior nature allrounder. Mana Wings can be a rare solution against Lost Souls (if you play a MOTM where you know you face LS) as some of their strong units can't attack flying. But this is a too rare case to use Mana Wings as allrounder
- Melee Units or Amazon are simply no beginner options, please just trust me. Most melee T1 units lead to unintended pulls and Amazon is too weak for BG imo.
- Other T1 options that are worth mentioning: Mark of the Keeper as Upgrade for BG10, Hurricane is great against S- Units but usually not worth the short T1 stage (nice BG10 Upgrade), Fountain of Rebirth can be a nice addon in 4player groups, solo not worth the pick (BG10 and such... 🙂 )
In BG9 usually bring out 4-6 Windweavers, root smart and have one Surge of Light ready and T2 should be clear. Against LS play 6-8 WW, one of the rare cases where you want to pull enemys to you a bit out of the camp and clean beasts one by one. Fokus your fire a bit and your troops will do better.
 
Frost Start - the underestimated alternative, a shitload more damage but less sustain
- Frost Mages mixed with Masterarches in ratios between 1:1 and 1:2 supported by Homesoil/Ice Barrier can handle any BG9. If you choose to go for blue T1 then there is no way around Homesoil/Ice Barrier, use this combination the whole match until late T4 for your Gemeyes
- again melee tanks are no option in the scope of a beginner deck, though this is a valid option for more sustain melees usually do more harm then they give a benefit (aka unintended pulls)
- Nice BG10 addons can be: Glyph of Frost, one of the Wintertides, Lightblade (very micro intense), Frost Sorc (very micro intense)
Use your Homesoil (eventual Ice Barrier) to clear T2, ~6 Units deal insane dmg with that support, Barrier can be used to heal units too in some cases.
 
T2 either or - the opposite of the T1 choice
As we want to make a stonekin Deck, lets go Stonekin with our T2, where we get great options in our faction. As both colors come with some great splash cards at t2 too, we will focus on Stonekin and only go for "mandatory" splash cards, like the omnipresent Oink - never go out without your Oink! 🙂 Again we want to have a most lean T2, so pick at maximum 2 of the following considerable Units:
- Razorshard (G) is my hidden champion here on the paper he may look not that great (another S-Counter, you need to use ability, delayed damage), but he performs outstanding against most BG9 enemys, he gives your remaining T1 force a nice basic heal that gives a shitload of sustain
- Crystal Fiend (B) moooore sustain though is audio sucks - a really strong option, but beware that your army does not only consists of supporters and healers, a common "mistake"
- Stone Tempest a bit fiddly but a good M counter and providing nice CC via his knockback, though in some cases annoying
- Aggressor - ok'ish unit as L counter if needed, please consider that he is rather a supporter too then a damage dealer
From the Mono color units the following might be worth mentioning: Stormsinger (any) as strong air-counter or Burrower as swift sieger.
As most of the above mentioned are pure supporters or more-supporters keep some/all of your T1 force alive. Usually at T2 a Breeding Ground is not worth (building). After getting mix in - depending on the T3 situation - 0-4 of the above Units. All your T1 options are still viable and your army supported even with your T2 spells now should be fine to deal with anything and everything. The following spells are nice at T2:
- Oink, as said, never have a deck with a that goes without
- if you started Frost you still can consider to take a Surge of Light. Usually T1 spells are not worth a T2 slot, this is an exception
- Matter Mastery, expensive but strong and fun, can be used in combination with Homesoil if you started frost
- in rare cases: Gravity Surge (B) but Stormsinger would be prolly a better T2 choice for most uses here
- and finally the big question "to freeze or not to freeze" -> Coldsnap 
  It is a super strong tool in some rare cases but often used brainless, where it hurts more then it helps. I like to have it with me for seldom super hard T3 camps or to stop a frontline in late match when I am completly on my own. Always have in mind, that freezed enemys only take 50% dmg, which is a very significant penalty. Freeze is very strong against Lost Souls T3 camps, Coldsnap while running in and take out spawner + other buildings to weaken the Lost Vigils.
And please be very careful about freezing units for others, decks that have high burst damage or also rely on triggering their infects can be put in quite a hassle by a single freeze. As a rule of thumb, if you want to help your mates, buff or heal them, but unsolicited freezes are rarely welcome.
 
T3  (?)

Let's speak about void first.
Stonekin has two obvious options here, either Shrine of Memory () or Shrine of Martyrs () that both can be made available at T3, if we stay in the scope of Stonekin and mixed T2. I don't consider Shrine of Martyrs to be usefull in a deck that is not build around freezing, and even then it is doubtful. Shrine of Memory is very weak too, and I think leaving it out at all can be an option, but after hundreds of games with and hundreds without I have the weak feeling that the 2x 100 energy are just about worth the investment.
I find it very difficult to make an absolute statement here, but my cautious recommendation goes in the direction of SoMem, hence the choice of headline ""
As my Stonekin T1/2 units give usually give a very solid mix I tend not to take any T3 units for the usually quite short T3 stage - spells and my remaining force needs to do the job. If you want to take in a unit, it must be something really beneficial like taking in an XL unit like Deepcoil Worm or Deepfang. There are ofc other nice'ish units, but noting that really adds something that you couldn't do with your T1/T2.
You may now say "Hey, it's Stonekin, what about Rageflame/Stone Warrior" and you are right, those give an excellent combo. But still in this deck they would be aliens and not really solve any ugly T4 camp situations for which you would take them in now. I will have a close look on those two in part 3/3 of this "guide".
Spellwise T3 brings two mandatory ones for me, for this deck:
- Revenge
- Stone Shell (G)
Easy to use, both stack, and make your already strong force almost invincible.

Next "mandatory" pick: Thunderstorm - a perfect allrounder you want to have with you if you play a green splash. If there is a Shrine of War from your mates, use your Thunderstorm all the time either for waves (don't stop for them) or when you fight camps. Thunderstorm is as Curse of Oink - this card can't be wrong in most of your decks.
Other spells worth mentioning would be
- Equilibrium (G) if you feel need for more heal, here it is. Usually this should not be needed but can be a nice filler if you feel better with it
Neither Enlightenment nor Frost Shard would add something at T3, so they are not considerable for me.
And now comes the part where opinions differ: Support Buildings
- Wheels of Gifts are no option for me in this deck whereby I have to emphasize here "for me" just as much as the "no" option. Wheels bind 540 (405 with construction hut) energy that can't be invested in units. Solo even with taking muuuuch time it is hard to reach even the break even point where the wheels are useful. In groups ofc wheels pay out earlier, but are usually not really worth slowing down one player that strong.
The problem is compounded by the nature of the Stonekin faction, as individual units are not as strong here, but they become stronger when combined, having almost 2 units less on the field hurts me a lot there. Another reason for me to do without the wheels is that only one wheel buff is very profitable for ourselves, namely the attack buff.
On easy maps, a skilled Stonekin player doesn't even need a single heal, to buff this further with Wheels (partly it wouldn't even stack) would be absurd for me.
However, I also know my Battlegrounds so well that many factors are no longer random for me, but well predictable, that it is very difficult for me to fully take a beginner's perspective here. 20% is 20% more - and if you feel better to wait 1-2 min and take that 20%, then do it!
- Healing Gardens - a great buff! But still I rarely play them, as I consider most content well doable if all decks around are build well, it's a bit the same as for the wheels. But again, of course, if you feel the 300 energy for 2 HG is worth it, then play them (in a group). I would also prefer the HG over the Wheels.


  T4
We have 2 Units in our Faction at T4, as both work together well, why not build around them?
- Grinder is our tank, usually I would only want to have one slot for it and take one of either affinty. Honestly, the fewest will use the skill. But it's not completely useless, though, so give it a try. I therefore slightly prefer the purple. I think having 2 is recommended, the more the better ofc. Grinders benefit greatly from grouping, I would want to set up 2-3 straight up and have 4-5 towards the end, then they are actually almost immortal, especially if you buff them nicely.
- Both Gemeyes are great for me, I like to have them both. Usually I play 1 green, put out all my purples and play Grinders or further purple Gemeyes when the cooldown is off. I would recommend to charge the purple Gemeye for this deck sooner or later. Ofc the green can be cut if you have other preferences.
- always leave some energy left for 1-2 spells
Ofc other Units can support this mix, though I don't feel a need for it. Primeval Watcher for example could go as supporter, Giant Wyrm as super budget DD.
The two spells I recommend the most here are Regrowth and Ice Tornado. The former is mandatory in most unit based decks though I don't often feel the need to use it in a Stonekin Deck. The latter is a great damage spell and should be set in the back of most camps, while you fight the frontline. Also it is a nice support for bosses or just as helper to increase dmg on endless crossing fights. Tornado and Thunderstorm should be used all the time if a Shrine of War of a group member is running.
Maelstorm can be an option to get even more sustain, but hey, freezing, we had this topic - be smart when you freeze!
There are other cool spells in this color range, but none that I would consider for this deck
 
Any more options throughout the the tiers?
- Incredible Mo is important against LS, if you play random maps make sure there is one around or take yourself (Yellow buff to avoid anti-range debuff)
- Amii Mon for solo purpose ofc possible
- construction hut if you considered any of the Buff Buildings or Amii
- Frost Bite (P) does work on bosses, usually not worth the slot to me but hey it needs to be mentioned
 
Bosses you struggle with:
- Hellhound can be dangerous, avoid to face him with a too small army alone. Keep your buffs up, take out spawner via Tornado and perhaps focus the boss then
- fear very early Urzachs and Infester, keep your Gemeyes out of range but close enough for your Grinders to count for their passive heal
Any other dangerous situations for this deck:
- early bosses, especially when you are on your shitty SoMem. Know your deck and retreat if needed in time
- Ugly T4 situations end in quite a "zerg" - even t3 units do not change much about that
- usually not a deck I want to bring to BG10 random maps/groups as it is too slow for the given time frame
- Willzappers in early match, reason enough for me to justfy Matter Mastery (that is useless against Lost Souls)
Personally tested Deck proposals, as always from Spells over Units to Buildings
BG9 allrounder

BG10 Solo


Replays:

BG9_4pl_motm_Stonekin_noheals
The very easy current motm, I guess I did not even use a regrowth in that match, perhaps one lazy one in the end. If maps are that easy usually this deck cannot ever be beaten.

BG10_1pl_MOTM_Stonekin
Current super easy motm tempted me to do it with a stonekin - slow but steady, deck above.
I will add a replay of a close and ugly T4 situation (current motm 3/4 comes to my mind) the next days. This is noting you want to have with this deck, but still doable.
BG9_4pl_MOTM_Stonekin_close_t4_fight
As I have seen many people struggling with this Pos3/4 (I am sitting in 4 here) I was a bit afraid to play it with this deck. A very low rank, Deck lvl 7 sat next to me. He touched every next camp in advance to trigger useless further spawn and brought non-optimal units to the field - a perfect stress-test for our Stonekin deck.
And what shall I say, have a look yourself, we are super-clean t4 in ~8min. Far from being fast, but for this map and situation still rock-solid imo.
 
If you have feedback, suggestions, nice replays or storys about this deck, please feel free to post below!

As always, all information without guarantee and with strong personal preference.

See you in the Battlegrounds!
 
Thanks to https://www.deepl.com/translator for helping me with some partly translations
BG9_4pl_motm_Stonekin_noheals.pmv BG10_1pl_MOTM_Stonekin.pmv
BG9_4pl_MOTM_Stonekin_close_t4_fight.pmv

I improved my record for Insane God Solo- 8.30.4

New time for rPvE 10 1player 

Hey there! I play a lot of pure frost rpve i would recommend mountain rowdy in T2 he is such a good tank and a great dot and home soil also increases his aoe dmg, the slow also very usefull. I run ice age green cuz the small regen feels a bit better in the early game. Personally i run avatar of frost but core dredge is also super good t3. Your T4 is perfect i usually run 2 witches and they are more than enough. Ward of the North does not work with ice shields so u better cut that card and use +1 T2 unit e.g.: stormsinger or war eagle. Also dont run amii ritual maybe run construction hut to build ur shrines faster then destroy them

Hey Krasy, Your t1 is in both decks perfect. Mountaineers is mainly a personal preference. Alternatives could be War eagle or Stormsinger. On t3 I experienced that 1 unit is overall enough, especially with spell support. My choice would be the Core Dredge, but Avatar works too. Shrine of Martyrs should be an auto-include in a pure frost deck with freeze spells. On t4 you run 4 different units. I would cut battleship as it feels a bit out of place, I would pair it more with a construct deck. I wouldn't run Amii Monument -> Regrowth. The sustain you got from the Dreadnought + all the shields will 9 out of 10 times be enough. Because the deck is also more on the side of creature heavy, the power you spend on Amii Monument would be kind of a waste as it basically blocks the same amount of power as a Ironclad does. 
Depending on charges, you can also choose to add the other Ironclad as those, besides spells, are you most reliable damage
For the Winter witch, do not spam those, 3 should be enough at all times. 

New time for Treasure Fleet expert Dutchy: 14.49.00

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https://skylords-reborn.fandom.com/wiki/Skylords_Reborn 

Reported mistakes there can be easily fixed.

I am pretty sure you can just ask any pvp player and he will be able to give you tipps and or tricks.

Keep in mind, the free PVP decks are fully upgraded and give you a good card pool.


If you can not find anyone who wants to help you, just join Toggy's stream on Wednesday, the Fightclub is there to practice and improve!

Regarding the free PvP decks:

Every week you can select up to two decks that are fully upgraded and can compete in the PvP meta. For our new players, here is a quick recap:
- Select the sword on the top right of the menu to select your 2 free PvP decks.
- Free PvP decks are fully upgraded decks, that can only be used in PvP. 
- You can select two new decks every week, if you want to switch things up.
- You can freely swap around cards in those decks with cards in your collection to customize the decks to your liking. You can do this by clicking the tab in your inventory on the top left (see the image).

If you are a new player and have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. This tournament is for you, and we would gladly help you get started in PvP! 

Eeeh ... that survey result comes with a hefty caveat, really. It's basically asking "The shiny thing is very rare. Would you like it to be less so, so you could also more easily have the shiny thing?" Obviously a decent chunk of people will say yes to that, regardless of what the state the rarity actually is.

Promos should just be eye-candy. As far as the Twilight-edition promos you, you don't need them and you never will. The only one that could be argued as enabling something meaningful is the promo Construct, for a Construct-deck. But that's just as easily done with Offering and Rifle Cultists. All the other ones have irrelevant gameplay implications, so what's the big deal? Well, speaking of tangible upsides for promos they have the unfortunate gameplay implications of allowing the regular version and the promo version of a card to be in a deck at the same time. Again, most of the time that's irrelevant but for neutral cards it supports a new deck archetype in the legendary-deck with Ravenheart and possibly also Mo. A problematically high price tag for a deck. But also more of a novelty deck as well, so it's not too bad.
Sure, since video games are a visual medium the aesthetics are important. But it's not like the base-versions look like shit. I can also understand the desire to "show off" seems fulfilled in a more meaningful way if it's tied to personal accomplishments instead of getting lucky or slamming a fistful of cash on the table.
But here is a question you didn't consider: What purpose do promos serve for the game right now?
Well, the follow up question is: Where do you get promos from? You get them from boosters. Exclusively from boosters. Which means if more promos are to enter the game, then boosters have to be opened. And that's an absolutely fundamental part of the game. People have to keep opening boosters for the entire show to run. You already regularly see people arguing that you'd be better off to just buy from the AH straight up. Well, the supply has to come from somewhere. And while regular cards naturally serve as a draw, the fact that you can also ONLY get promos from opening lots of boosters provides vital additional incentive.
I do however agree that the game currently lacks long-term goals for players to work towards. I also agree that a stale meta is rather detrimental to the overall health of the game and makes people miss the wealth of options the intended boundaries offer, making it instead seem shallow and solved, hence less interesting. But the position of promos does not have to be undermined or changed in order to work on that.

Hello Skylords, Skyladies and other Skybeings.

It has been some time since the last event and now we are back!
Welcome, to our first PvP Rookie Contest, where every participant gets a booster!

What kind of event will it be?

PvP 1vs1 - Rookie - Best of 3 (Bo3) - Double Elimination (format might change if enough participate)
All Rookies from far and wide,
are welcome to join us in a fight!
We want to see you brawl, compete and maul,
live on stage.. Fight them all.
No real restrictions, not many rules.. Show us what you got and claim the pot.

Join Toggy and Hiko this Friday afternoon, to the clashes of swords!

When will it start?

We are accepting entries until the start of the tournament (08.10.2021 18:00 CEST).
We will stream the tournament on the official Twitch channel of Skylords Reborn.
The stream will start 17:30 CEST.

How can I participate?

Since we already have some experience from past tournaments hosted by Toggy, we will also host this tournament on Challonge.
You can register for the tournament there. You will also find the bracket on Challonge at the start of the tournament. Please use the name of your ingame account to speed up communication in finding your opponent

What are the rules?

The access to this tournament will be restricted to players only, who...
... are not pvp gold rank or above
... have a w/l ratio of below 60%
... feel like they are rookies
Please note: this tournament is for our less experienced players, we will personally check the entries.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No bug abuse, cheating or insulting other players. Penalties may vary from a warning to default loss.
  Disconnecting during a game results in a default loss. It is possible to have a remake, if both sides agree.
  Not showing up to your match after 15 minutes results in a default loss. The plan is to play a round of matches every ~30 mins.
  After your match, go to Challonge and insert the result. This is done by clicking on your match and selecting the winner/stats . The brackets will be updated automatically.
  Use your account name for the tournament. If your Challonge account differs from your Battleforge account name use the "Sign up with an alternate name" feature or change your name for the tournament in the settings. This will speed up finding your opponent. If you do not register for the tournament with your Battleforge name we can't find you for the prizes! 
   You follow all restrictions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Map Pool!

The first match of every round will be played on the following fixed maps, after that it is the losers choice.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1st Round:  Haladur 2nd Round: Simai 3rd Round:  Elyon 4th Round:  Lajesh 5th Round:  Uro 6th Round:  Yrmia 7th Round: Haladur 8th Round: Simai 9th Round: Elyon --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Sounds fun! What's the prize pool?

The following prize pool will be adjusted according to the amount of participants:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st place                12 general Booster packs
2nd place              10 general Booster packs
3rd place               8 general Booster packs
4th-6th place        6 general Booster packs
7th-9th place        4 general Booster packs
10th-12th place    2 general Booster packs
participation         1 general Booster pack
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In conclusion

This event is a simple Rookie 1vs1 Tournament with basic rules.
Your Event Mods will be: DutchyDutchy and DDrazard

To summarize everything:
You have to signup on Challonge before the start of the Tournament to be able to participate. Please use your ingame account name on Challonge. You have to play the first match of each Bo3 on the associated map of the Map Pool. Keep in mind, that everyone plays a minimum of two Bo3's (Double Elimination) We will stream some of your games on Twitch. The stream will start 30 minutes before the start of the tournament.
Future events
If you are interested in helping with these kind of events for the community, or want to host one yourself, don't be afraid and simply reach out!
Send me a PM on the forum, or direct message via Discord (Minashigo Hiko#1126).
We are happy to assist you with upcoming events and with sponsoring your prize pool!
We hope you have a lot of fun with this event and are looking forward to casting your games!
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,
Skylords Reborn Team and Toggy

Greetings Skylords!

It's been three weeks since our last community update so it's time to bring you up to speed with everything going on in Skylords Reborn!

Adding new voice-lines into the game
In our last Community Update we made our new Sounds Converter open source in the hopes of improving the sound quality for adding new voice-lines and sounds into the game. 
We are happy to tell you we discovered a different, albeit non-optimal, conversion method. Using this new method, we are able to convert certain files in the mp3 format into the snr format required by the game. This allows us to improve the sound quality to a state where we start to feel confident in adding new voice-lines into the game, especially for our upcoming new cards.
There are still a few things to figure out, for example the fact that some sounds are hardcoded into unit models, or how some special voice-lines are triggered. For the former, we are still in need for volunteers for the "3D Tool Developer" role.
However, in the following weeks you can expect a post asking for volunteer voice actors. If you want to make your mark on the Skylords Reborn legacy, this is definitely one way to do so! We will be in need of both male and female voice actors, and will share more info on how to apply soon.  
 
Open Sourcing effect editor
After our success with open sourcing the Sound Converter, we will now also be open sourcing the Special Effect Editor. As mentioned in a previous Community Update, with this tool we are able to edit the special effects of BattleForge and create new ones from scratch. This is particularly useful for spells, since they are for the majority special effects. Many units also have special effects on their models though, like the flames of Batariel or the frosty cold effect emitted from Frost Mage.
If you want to give it a try or contribute, you can find detailed instructions how you can get started here. You can compile the tool yourself, or just download it here.
If you feel like you got some cool results, please reach out to us. We are looking for some volenteers to help us out with the effects for new cards. 

 
An update on Defence RPvE
As we mentioned in a previous Community Update, multiple game modes are currently in development. One of them is Defence RPvE. Instead of the normal RPvE where you attack to clear the map of enemies within the time limit, here you have to defend waves of enemies. 
We are not ready to release this game mode, since there is still a lot of work to be done.  However, since a lot of people are curious about how it will work, we figured to give you a glimpse of what the mode will look like. Keep in mind these features and mechanics might still change in the future. 
DRPvE will be playable by 1 to 4 players. It's a co-op scenario where you will all work towards the same goal. If you play alone or with 2 players, the other spots will not get enemy waves. 
You play against one of the 8 enemy factions, randomly chosen. Each of those factions has one custom final boss. For each phase, 3 out of 5 units are randomly chosen from the available options for that faction. This means that even if you play against the same faction twice, you might have a different experience on both runs.  
There are 4 phases of enemy attackers, with each phase being concluded by a mini-boss. At this point the current wall will be destroyed and you will unlock the next tech-tier. During the small break you can advance to the next wall and build up new defences. 
Each player will also have a switch that can be activated as soon as the mini-boss of the current phase has been spawned. If all players press it, the new phase starts immediately, allowing different timings of RPvE runs. 
Each position/lane (see the picture) gets a free unit or units at phase 2. 
Optional objectives
- There are 2 guarded shrines that cast spells to defend themselves. Destroying those will reward you with global buffs and energy.
- There are 4 bases, one for each of the dual color factions. Defeating those will reward you a free unit of the corresponding faction. 
Below you can see the map. You spawn at the bottom, and slowly make your way to higher placed defence positions. 

As mentioned before, we are still hard at work on this game mode. We are currently working on the bosses for this mode and are in need of a Map Artist to work on the look and feel of the map. If you want to help, please reach out to us!
We are curious what you think so far, so please let us know in the comments. 
 
Tournaments & Events
• FINISHED: Skylords Open #11
Last week marked the return of the Skylords Open, with its 11th edition. This was the first 1vs1 tournament since the big balance patch, so if you are interested in PvP (or want to see tier 4 in a pvp tournament!) be sure to rewatch the stream. 
• NEW: Upcoming tournament
Our event manager is currently planning the next tournament but details were not finished in time for this community update. Please keep an eye on our forums in the coming days for the announcement. 
• Host your own event / tournament
Want to host a tournament or event? Please reach out to our Event Organizer Hiko to have your event prizes sponsored by us. If you have a cool idea for a PvE event, or want to host a PvP tournament, please don't hesitate to reach out to us, we will gladly assist you. 
 
New Team Members / Open Positions
We are developing exciting new cards and game modes, but we would love to speed up the progress. If you want to help, we would love to have you on our team.  
Below are three roles highlighted, but you can find more information, desired traits and all our open positions here. If you are unsure if you qualify, please reach out and have a talk!
 
Open Position - Global Moderator
As a Global Moderator, you are at the highest level of moderation and responsible to moderate and help players on multiple platforms. In this position you are expected to have a good grasp of how moderation works and how to handle sensitive data that you will receive access to in order to perform required moderation tasks. You will be responsible to moderate the forums, process Discord tickets from our Discord bot, answer moderation questions that come to us via e-mail and handle in-game reports. To support you with this, you will work closely with several of our internal moderation tools. Next to this, you will have the chance to shape our moderation tool that is being developed by our web developers by discussing workflow and feature improvements with them.


Open Position - Map Developer
As a map developer you are responsible to script new official maps or alter scripts of existing maps as a cause of map balance updates. BattleForge maps are created using the BattleForge map editor and the scripts are written in LUA.


Open Position - Map Designer
As a map designer you are responsible to design the gameplay experience of a map from start to finish. This includes make a rough proposal for the layout and feeling of a map, design the story and goals of the map etc.
 

In Conclusion
We hope you liked this Community Update, thanks for reading! 

Here is a scratch code you can redeem in-game for a mini booster: COMM-UNIT-YNEW-S012
The code is valid till October 23rd. 
We will update you again on October 23rd.
As always, we are open to feedback so please let us know! 
Archive
Community Update #9
Community Update #10
Community Update #11

As far as I know that is intended.

It's already being worked on, depending on what you mean by "improving the game".
Have you followed Shrine of Martyrs, Battleship, Dreadnought and more balance changes?

Also you're probably looking for this, Balance Discord is where everything happens:
"The Skylords Reborn discord for discussing balancing changes. All card and map balancing changes can be discussed here. All changes can be tested on our test server before they hit the live server. Instructions for joining the test server can be found here: how-to-join"
https://discord.gg/NvSUwpf

Non native English here. 
 
I want to aks/suggest if to rework or atleast reduce the "crystal fiend" sound volume. It's a great unit/card but me and I think many others find it to be pretty noise. Making it tiring to use. 
 
Friendly greetings in-game name: methal0-1
 
 

Figured people would like to know the final results: 

This has not been implemented yet and also was not in the past. It is still in the to-do list.