2/3 and Me: My approach to Allies
I've basically been grinding Allies decks exclusively since the ALC season started. I was always impressed with the decks, but realized it takes a certain level of technical skill and a solid game plan to truly succeed with them, so I avoided playing it in competition during FTC. Even for a so-called "easy" deck like Wind Allies, I've found I was able to still put a lot of thought into my plays and have seen great players able to demonstrate their skill with the deck. I've also grown to truly enjoy and appreciate playing Allies mirrors because you can grind with your opponent until an endgame where the winner is finally decided by who drew better, and you can tell if you were equal in skill with your opponent or not. A mistake in an Allies vs. Allies matchup usually leads to a blowout. If you have ever played Chess and watched the advantage meter move one way or the other when a move is made, that's how I feel when I make plays with an Allies deck. The mirror in particular is a constant tug-of-war for advantage and constantly changing who is the attacker and defender.
Before we go into strategy and tactics, let's explain what 2323 means. People have heard me memeing it at locals and asking me why I run things like Esteemed Knight or Trained Sharpshooter in my decks when I never get their Class Bonuses. Basically 2323 is "I play two 3-cost 2/3 Allies on my first turn" (assuming you are going second, this is basically 6 into Memory and playing the 2 Allies which plays your whole starting hand of 8).
In Grand Archive, 2 attack damage is a lot more valuable than 1. There's a reason why so many people are running Bulwark Sword and willing to pay 2 to get 1 extra point of attack damage for that turn. 3 is a magic number for an Ally's health because it basically means that your opponent must attack with at least 2 of their own Allies in order to kill one of yours. This is why the statline of 2/3 has become a standard in GA and why you will see many Allies decks run nearly twelve 3-cost 2/3s in their deck. It has become very important to make sure you're always able to fight for board against other Allies decks or threaten quick kills against control decks. It would take three attacks from 1 attack damage sources to deal with a 3 health Ally. When your Allies have 2 attack power, it only takes two attacks, and should they land an Attune the Winds, it's still only two attacks to clear. When your average hand size sits around 6-8, two Allies is usually your max.
Here's every Allies player's dream. You're playing into a slow deck, you lose the dice roll and you go second. You open two 3-cost 2/3s. You play them and put the other 6 cards into your Memory. You're swinging into your opponent for 4 damage, which is over 25% of their health, on the first turn. Next turn, if you materialize a Bauble, you can threaten to play two more Allies, or one Ally and an anthem effect like Inspiring Call or Attune the Winds. You're already putting your opponent at 13/15 damage and forcing them to do something to clear your board, slow you down, or level up, otherwise they are dead next turn. You can almost equate this to having live Fireballs on bodies that will consistently deal their damage if left unchecked. Of course, that is assuming your opponent does nothing. A game of Grand Archive is usually never that simple, but I hope I have made my point on why the 2/3 statline is so important and why Allies is such a successful deck.
Next, I want to go over my thought process of card ranking and how I navigate my opening hands.
For a few exercises let's use one of my lists.
Wind Allies:
https://shoutatyourdecks.com/decks/30565127-f356-4c29-a71f-14e61ef60d74
Some new friends who just started playing admitted they don't give much thought when playing out their cards. They try to play their best units possible and hope it sticks. This is completely understandable logic, but how should you proceed if you want to get to the next level? Let's try this. If I asked you to construct your dream 7-card hand in an unknown matchup, what would you choose and how would you play it turn one? Explain your reasoning.
Here's what I would choose:
Lurking Assailant, Dream Fairy, Trained Hawk, Swift Recruit, Gildas, Deflecting Edge, Favorable Winds
OPENERS/EARLY GAME
Navigating your first turn well is very crucial as it sets up every subsequent turn. Have you ever won a game and your opponent said "Darn, I needed one more turn to get you!"? It feels great when you made the correct call to go all-in and knowing that you set up each of your turns well. Every point of damage matters. How well you preserve your board matters. Now, how would I play out the above hand?
If it was an unknown matchup, I would play my Swift Recruit playing my Trained Hawk and Gildas into Memory. I keep Lurking Assailant and Dream Fairy in hand as they are among the best cards in my deck. I consider Swift Recruit to be one of the worst Allies in my deck unless it is a matchup where I need the Intercept to block a Rending or huge swing to my Champion. I have the Deflecting Edge in hand if I truly want to protect it, but I would likely let Swift die because I am happy if my opponent wastes removal or an attack on him and gives me Floating Memory on top of it. I would hate to play my Lurking out if there's a chance my opponent will have something like Focused Flames to kill it. If my opponent plays a 2 attack Ally and attacks Swift, I likely would not Favorable Winds. If my opponent blunders and has only 2 attack on board and two or fewer cards in hand, I would definitely Favorable Winds to save him for board presence and get the Floating without risk of Raccoon (which costs 2). If they basically did nothing, I would probably run out the Favorable end phase and take the quick level up to 1. Favorable is definitely a great defensive gotcha against other Allies decks, but leveling up and getting a free Sword is definitely worth it because you make Deflecting free, Inspiring Call will cost 1, and you can more easily clear their board. You also turn on the possibility of the Lorraine 2 + Hurricane Sweep combo sooner.
After your opponent's turn, you have a plethora of options. Did they play a Fairy or Shimmercloak? Punish them with the Trained Hawk. Did they play a 2/3 or you need damage? Take it in one attack with a balanced 4-attack Gildas. Did they play something annoying like a Shieldmate or Lurking? Dream Fairy them.
If you know your opponent is playing Allies, you could just play the Lurking so that they can't interact with it and you can still develop a board. There is also logic in not playing anything and hope to clear their board on the crackback if they run out two Allies while dodging any Fairies. If it were me, I would probably go with the Lurking and next turn develop the Gildas and hold up Deflecting and Favorable.
If you're going second and you know you aren't against an Allies deck, it's much easier. 2323. Hope to draw two 3-cost 2/3s and just put everything else into Memory and attack. If you are facing another Allies deck, you'll have to give consideration to their defensives. You'll also have to be careful if you're playing a Water deck, as they can Frostbind your 2/3 which can determine the game instantly. So it might be better to play an evasive Ally with stealth such as Lurking or Shimmercloak so they can stay on the board while you hold up your own defensives in hand.
I talked a bit about ranking the cards in my deck based on what you consider to be the most important. This is obviously different in each matchup, but in general, how would you order the Allies in this deck?
Here's my order:
Lurking, Dream Fairy, Aesan Protector, Gildas, Shimmercloak, Windrider Vanguard, Esteemed Knight, Trained Hawk, Woodland Squirrels, Swift Recruit
Obviously, this is very subjective and generalized. There are definitely arguments that Gildas, Aesan or Dream Fairy are the game winners. You'll find that the values of each card continuously change during each game depending on the situation, your opponent, and your skill piloting your deck. The point is to assign values to your cards in each matchup you play. You also want to study other decks and know which are their most important cards.
Let's go through a few examples from games I've played:
I am playing against Water Allies; I have a board of 2 and they have nothing on board. My opponent has 3 in Memory and the classic 3 in hand, which represents Frostbind, Fracturize, and Song of Frost, of course. I decide to play my Swift Recruit out when I also only have 3 in hand. Why? It's going to get Frostbinded and I basically just trade 1 for 1. I am already winning on board. If they let it resolve, I'm in a great position to threaten Attune and Inspiring. If they counter it, I trade my Swift Recruit for a Frostbind. I will take that trade every day because I would rather Swift get countered and be able to hold up Deflecting Edge, Favorable Winds and Zephyr without as much fear of being countered. My opponent also basically dooms themselves into losing a card before their turn, so at best they can go up to 7 cards, which is only one 2/3 and they have no way to clear my board or represent Water's famous Big 3 hand. Knowing the value of your cards in each matchup while paying attention to card advantage is a great way to get the edge on your opponent. This is as much of a lesson for the Water player as well, as they probably should have let the Swift resolve, then attempted to fight back for the board with as many Allies as possible. If you run only one Ally out at a time, they at best do 1-2 damage and then immediately die next turn. It proved to be the wrong decision, but the logic of the Water player was to trade the card, stop my tempo, and prevent me from interacting on their turn. They just didn't have any cards to do anything.
Another example is from a different Water Allies game. Stealth Allies are a big reason why Wind is favored in this matchup. Water's outs are some number of Freezing Hail and sometimes Stillwater Patrols. Your success in this matchup will be dependent on how well you can protect your stealth Allies and on how well you choose your targets for your Dream Fairy. In this game, he punished my Shimmercloak with his Stillwater Patrol. I Dream Fairy'd the Patrol next turn. I ended up running away with the game because he was never able to find Freezing Hails for my Fairies and Shimmercloaks. He ended up having multiple Patrols in Memory/hand. Other targets I would prioritize are: Lunete, Lurking, and Corhazi Trapper. They're very difficult to interact with, so hopefully you are put in situations where you can slowroll your Dream Fairies for priority targets.
MIDGAME
The midgame is a maze of constant back-and-forths. It's something you eventually understand based on instinct and experience. Should I push more damage here? Should I clear the board so my opponent stops getting value from Hasty Messenger? Do I give them the Floating? If you're not playing in a high-level competitive event, or even if you are, do what I do: limit test. See what happens if you do and if it goes terribly wrong, don't do it again. Eventually, you will become a product of your experiences. Since I can't help so much with the midgame, I'll share some of my tips and tricks of how I navigate some of the popular matchups with my Wind Allies deck.
Erupting
I despise this deck. I'm not the type who likes to one-turn-kill (OTK) opponents. It just isn't my style. So, I don't like playing against them and I definitely don't like losing against them. Our deck is very fast so chances are you will be able to kill them pretty quickly. My tip is to get your Nullifying Lantern out early. Don't be too greedy and throw a game because you think you have time. Even if they eventually end up Spurn to Ash'ing your Lantern and you can't protect your Zephyr, they'll need to spend a turn to remove it, buying you some time. Make sure to keep their Influence count and Fire cards in graveyard in mind along with your own health total. When you move to game 2, bring in the Azure Trinket and the Quicksilver Grail. Make the Lantern under the Grail your first materialization, then Azure Trinket when they have 3 Fire in grave. The biggest card to watch out for is Innervate Fury. I will often leave my opponent at 4 damage before pushing a lot more damage the next turn. When they do activate it, I try to have too much health on board via Attune on 3 Allies. Another way to outplay it is to ask them how they want to split damage on your board of three 2/3 allies. The most common is they are going to 3/3/1 to clear 2. If you Favorable Winds, you'll lose nothing and likely win on the spot.
Fire Zander Aggro
This is one of the rare matchups where you are not the beatdown (or aggressor/attacker). This deck is very fast and can kill faster than our deck. So in the same vein as the Erupting matchup, make sure to get the *Safeguard (Thanks Shawn and Christian!) and Tariff Ring out early so you don't die to quick Rending Flames + Blazing Throw combos. Make sure to get good trades and control their board when you can. Swift Recruit, Esteemed Knight with Intercept active, and Aesan Protector are key cards to protect your life total.
Rai
Once you know they're on Rai, go FAST. They'll be going down on cards to level to 3 the first few turns, so you'll be free to swarm the board and buff your units. You'll want to be mindful of Anger the Skies which does 4 damage to the board, so try to Attune twice or hold Favorable Winds if possible. I would also hold your Trained Hawks and Sword of Seeking durability until you see a Vanish from Sight come out. It is usually very irritating to take damage on a turn where you aren't supposed to take damage. Psychological/emotional damage, if you will. I won a game against a Rai who had 5 health left by playing 2 Trained Hawks and swinging with my Sword of Seeking with True Sight active after he Vanish from Sight'd. It was great.
Allies
Fight for board presence and get card advantage either through drawing or getting good trades. It's a complex matchup that I touched on with "Openers/Early Game." Try to think about what would annoy you or plays that would totally beat you and try to use those on your opponent. Try to think about what your deck does better than its variant and cards you should watch out for. If they're Water, you obviously can't go for the 2323 because you might run into a Frostbind which will make you lose on the spot. You'll also have to be wary of Lunete and Corhazi Trapper. Freezing Hail will deal with your Shimmercloaks and Dream Fairies. How will you deal with their Snow Fairies? Probably with Hurricane Sweeps, Lorraine 2 with Sword of Seeking, etc... What is your deck's advantage? Stealth minions are difficult to deal with, Wind is faster off the ground, landing Attunes is backbreaking, Aesan is huge, etc... Just try to think about all of your options!
BOOK MOVES
I next want to introduce the idea of Book Moves or Set Plays. In Chess, a Book Move is a move that when presented with a situation, it is accepted as the standard, common, and usually correct move. In the context of Grand Archive, think of something like your opponent playing Creative Shock on your End Phase and discarding a Floating. Your opponent plays Stalwart Shieldmate or Incarnate Majesty, you Dream Fairy it. You have a Gildas and keep it balanced over multiple turns by playing a 3-cost and using Baubles to maintain 7 in hand. You Fracturize a Shadow's Twin on load. Even 2323 is a Book Move. As you continue to play Grand Archive, you'll get the muscle memory of all of these Book Moves through all of the matchups you play.
Check Your Math
Book Moves are great. I probably do 90% Book Moves when I play. However, it's always important to know when to rely on them and when to all-in if you have the victory. I was at a tournament and one player was playing Water Allies while the other was on Wind Allies. The Water player played a 3-cost down, putting three Allies down and held up 4 cards in hand with some combination of Frostbinds, Fracturizes, and Song of Frosts. He attacked with all his Allies and Champion and saw that he was 1 damage off. If he had just kept any Ally in hand, he could have played it and ended the game. His opponent had no cards in hand. His opponent leveled up next turn and ended up coming back to win the game. The Water player made a Book Move to simply play an Ally and keep up interactions in hand. In many circumstances this is a great move and nobody would say he was wrong. Sadly, in this case, it was the wrong move.
I had a similar loss where I was playing against Erupting. I attacked with all minions and ended my turn. I saw that my opponent only had 4 health left and no cards in hand. I saw an Inspiring Call in my hand along with an unused Sword of Seeking attack on board. I could have ended it there, but I did not want to push damage for no reason. I got Erupting Rhapsody'd next turn and lost the game.
My point is that sometimes you must go for it. You might feel like you are overextending, but TCGs can commonly become "you have to make them have it," with "it" being the perfect defense and also the ability to punish your board or defeat you next turn. Doing the math is an important part of playing Allies decks as your margins for victory can be very sharp against certain decks like Wind Crux.
ENDGAME
Your endgames will look pretty similar. You'll likely have 3+ Allies on board that may be buffed with Attune and you're trying to push through for damage. If your opponent has leveled up to 3 and stabilized, they're probably going to do a lot of powerful things and it will be hard for you to close the game out. You'll just need to keep leveraging and maximizing damage while trying not to die with your lower total health.
CONCLUSION
These are the types of thoughts and calculations the more experienced players have when they are deciding their lines of play. As you grow more familiar with the game, you'll be able to have these thoughts as well. A general tip would be to ask yourself these questions before making a play: Does my play make sense? Am I winning if I do this? If I lose this card, will I be in a losing position? Can I defend? As you go through the motions, you'll find yourself making quicker and better decisions as you become more familiar with your deck, your matchup, and GA as a whole.
All in all, I hope this was helpful to someone, or that it was amusing to read at least. If you already understood everything here, that's great! You are probably already experienced with TCGs/GA and are on your way to becoming a great player. If this has been helpful for you, I'm really glad I was able to help. Lots of newer players or friends have asked why they haven't seen results despite playing winning decklists, so I've been meaning to sit down and help walk them through it, but hopefully this can be a good starting point. If you're brand new and all of this is hard to process, don't worry! We all started somewhere and I hope you can slowly take bits of this information and understand it as you go along your GA journey.
Until next time!
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