Insights on the Matriarch

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1

I’ve noticed a lot of people saying they are having trouble with the Matriarch… even to the point of not having fun playing against her. Personally I found her to be very difficult at first, but after a bit of practice I’ve learned some things. Now I find her to be challenging (but not impossible by any means), and fun. So for anyone struggling, here are some tips. [All this is for Advanced Mode]

Your Team: Random teams can often have a tough time against the Matriarch, because there is a specific set of things that you are looking for in a hero, and not every hero has that. Most heroes have at least two of these, but some of them (Zero) don’t have any. Ra has only 1. Here’s what you’re looking for.

  1. Villain deck control. And not from Infared Eyepiece. Eyepiece is great most of the time, but not against Matriarch because chances are you’ll just find a bird or another bird. No, what you want is to slow matriarch’s card play. Tempest’s Into the Stratosphere is top notch because you can play it on the Mask and then stall her for a turn. Visionary can do the same by digging the Mask out of the trash with Suggestion. Tempest’s is a little better because you don’t have to kill the mask first, and it deals damage to the Villain while you’re at it. Legacy’s takedown is also a nice solution.

  2. Target X deals less damage. Primarily this ability will be used on Matriarch and Carrion Fields. You want to reduce the “revenge” damage for killing a bird down to 0 if you can, or down to as low as possible if you can not. Stun bolts are king. Wraith is a super good hero for this reason. Tachyon also fills this role nicely for a while, but once Huginn and Muninn are both out, she can have trouble getting through Matriarch’s DR unless someone is helping her, this puts a stop to the Hypersonic Assault trick that is so useful early game. Fixer could do this with the right cards, but will fall prey to the same dilemma as Tachyon once Huginn/Muninn are in play. Expatriette can do this with liquid nitrogen rounds, but because they are destroyed when used, then unless she also has Speed Loading, you can not do this reliably… so despite having what we want in her deck, Expatriette is not a good choice on this front.

  3. A way of dealing damage to all targets… when and only when you want to. This is why AZ’s cold snap does not qualify. Sometimes you want to kill all the birds. A lot of the time… you don’t.

  4. Damage reduction. The more heroes with DR, the easier this is. Tempest, Haka, Legacy and even Fanatic will serve nicely. Incidentally, Matriarch is the only villain that I regularly play Undaunted against, as a DR of 1 against 1 damage is actually pretty helpful. With enough DR you can just let the birds attack you.

Some other tips…

  1. Know when to kill the birds and when NOT to kill the birds. Look at the total damage you’ll be taking. For example, if Carrion fields is in play, its almost always better to NOT kill birds and let them attack you than do actually kill them. UNLESS, of course, you can reduce the damage from Carrion Fields to 0. [Chastise works here, but it doesn’t work on Matriarch. Same with Zealous Offense]. Once both Huginn and Muninn are out, it gets very hard to make an efficient trade for killing birds. You’ll need to zap Matriarch with some -damage.

  2. Try not to rely on Ongoing cards. Primarily you’ll want to play equipment and one-shots. Occasionally an ongoing is very helpful, I’m not saying don’t play them ever. But the fact is that Horrid Cacophony destroys a lot of ongoings all at once, and can frequently wipe out hero Ongoings. If/when you play ongoings, you need to be aware of how easily they can be taken away from you. Only Huginn can destroy equipment cards, and only 1-2 per turn.

  3. With that said, there are some ongoings that are extremely useful while they last. Next Evolution is one of them. Calling Psychic lets your other heroes wipe out all the birds with little Revenge damage from Matriarch. Everyone will be reduced to Legacy’s current HP, but that can mean taking a lot less damage than you otherwise would. The ongoings that give DR are also generally worth playing, even if you lose them soon.

  4. If I’m understanding this correctly, and I think that I am… a target that is indestructable isn’t necessarily a target that can’t take damage. So knock Huginn/Muninn down to 0 HP, and they will stay in the game… but be instantly killed once they become no longer indestructable: EG, when Matriarch flips.

  5. You’re going to want to kill Matriarch before/soon after she flips. Otherwise her healing abilities will make things very tough for you. So wail on the Matriarch when you can, and when she flips go all out.

2

This is a great guide to The Matriarch! Very well done.

Also:

You are 100% correct.

3

Of the nine tips you mentioned, Tachyon (The Matriarch’s Nemesis) is only useful for one of them, and only early on in the game.

I’m sorry…but that really sucks. The fact that a hero isn’t able to meaningfully affect her Nemesis throughout the whole game throws all the fun away for me. I’m really hoping Tachyon gets another Nemesis, because a speedster super-scientist being shut down by a goth girl with a mask (who is supposed to feel insignificant because of Tachyon’s success even though The Matriarch can mechanically wipe the floor with her) takes all the heroics out of the game for me.

Is there anything else that Tachyon can do late game other than be an extra +1 for Psychic damage to Heroes punching out Fowl and Hero Ongoing destruction from Horrid Cacophony? Because if there truly isn’t, I don’t know that I want to play The Matriarch ever again.

4

Tachyon can unload for enormous amounts of damage… Isn’t that what Tachyon does normally?

5

Yes. Against every villain she deals enormous damage, which is awesome. What about Tachyon makes her special against The Matriarch? Hypersonic Assault is one of the only cards that can wipe the board without The Matriarch whittling down characters. Is she better equipped to fight Huginn and Muninn than other heroes? The Mask? Carrion Fields?

Legacy can stop Baron Blade from drawing cards, and tears apart his minions and devices with Flying Smash. He can prevent damage Blade does when he is flipped and boosts the whole team to remove Blade’s Mobile Defense Platform quickly. Tempest has AoE effects like crazy that clear the board of Voss’s enemies like mad, and his Into the Stratosphere can save the game if used on cards like Gene-Bound Guard and Forced Deployment. There is a lot of synergy between the heroes and villains in these Nemesis duos.

Dealing a lot of damage is appreciated, but what does Tachyon do to help the heroes against her Cohorts, Domain, and Fowl cards, i.e. The Matriarch’s entire deck? She has cards that can AoE, but only one of the two prevents damage being dealt. It just feels like Visionary, Unity, or The Wraith are more her rival than Tachyon is, considering the game changing effects their cards have against The Matriarch’s deck. Tachyon running around the battlefield, generating enough Burst to deal a lot of damage while the other heroes deal with everything The Matriarch is throwing at them for the entire game just doesn’t seem…heroic. It also doesn’t feel like you’re on a team. Tachyon dealing a lot of damage to The Matriarch being the only particularly noteworthy thing mechanically just…well, it reminds me of when Megatron turned into a gun that Starscream fired. Yes, she technically deals the damage, but the team has to pull the trigger for her to pull it off.

6

Well, in counterpoint, Tachyon has 2 of the things I mentioned. Maybe 1-and-a-half. She can attack all targets at once, and she can make X target do less damage (with Hypersonic). Hypersonic is quite a good card because it can kill all the birds and stop matriarch/carrion fields from doing damage at the same time, and with the speed at which Tachyon draws cards, getting a few of them is usually not a problem. Sonic Vortex and Accellerated Assault also deal damage to all targets (Sonic Vortex may or may not I suppose, depending on how many bursts are in the trash and how many targets there are).

Because of the Nemesis rule, Tachyon can still get at least 1 point of damage through to Matriarch with a Hypersonic Assault with Munin in play, meaning that she’s only really shut down when both Hugin AND Munin are in play. Which sometimes happens very quickly, and sometimes it doesn’t.

And when Matriarch flips Tach is usually in a good spot to deal her a bunch of damage, but like you said, thats kind of what she always does.

Is Tachyon particularly effective against the matriarch? Well, probably not more than Wraith, or Tempest, or Legacy. But she can still do allright. It depends on what you draw. A quick Huginn and Muninn is not going to be good for ANY team, and its especially not good if Tachyon is supposed to be your star player. Beyond that though, she is still good at doing other things that need to be done. Envinronment control, helping heroes draw cards, that sort of thing.

I guess in short I agree that Tachyon is nothing special against her nemesis, the way that Wraith is against hers. But I think you are putting too much faith in Nemesises in general. I often find that Legacy is WORSE against BB because of the nemesis rule, as he doesn’t tend to deal a lot of damage himself. Usually its a little boost to the heroes. But I certainly am not dismayed if a hero is not particularly good against their nemesis (especially if its already a strong hero, like Tach). Sometimes you get the bear… sometimes the bear gets you.

Incidentally, take Legacy on your team, and Tachyon can always get 1 point of damage in to Matriarch with her Hypersonic, assuming you have Galvanize on.

7

Smoke bombs pretty much eliminates the Carrion Fields issue. Put Twist the Ether on the Matriarch and use Absolute Zero, and you have the game in the bag. I suggest using Bunker, since Ammo Drop with the birds is amazing.

If you have the Matriarch’s revenge taken care of, you can use Demoralize to automatically fuel AZ’s Coolant blast for huge amounts of damage as his power each turn.

Legacy is also nice, as he can use take down to stop the birds and use interception to protect everyone else.

8

Personally I’d not suggest that strategy. It relies on Twist the Ether and Zero. One of which is an ongoing card and therefore easily destructable, not to mention rare. As for Zero, without that particular combo, he’s not good for much against the Matriarch.

Nor would I suggest demoralize, for the reason that if Twist the Ether gets destroyed and there are still birds to be played, you can take a lot of damage very quickly.

Smoke bombs are very good, as is just about anything from Wraith.

Bunker, again, I’d not suggest. Yes, its fun to draw like 15 cards with Ammo Drop, but after that he’s sort of lackluster. he does have heavy plating, which is good, and can deal global damage, but only with External Combustion. He can be an ok hero against the matriarch because of his card draw and Omnicannon, but I wouldn’t say you need him, or that he’s better than just about anybody else.

9

The problem I’ve noticed with Bunker against the Matriarch is that, for Bunker to be good in general, you don’t just need cards. You need time. And the Matriarch, as a rule, doesn’t give you that. Though Heavy Plating and Recharge Mode would help.

10

I suppose aside from mechanics, I find her thematically frustrating. Baron Blade is trying to crash the moon into the Earth, Voss is trying to take over the Earth, Spite is slaughtering all of the inhabitants of Rook City, but The Matriarch? She’s reciting bad poetry and commanding birds to peck at people. Having a speedster genius like Tachyon not be absolutely stellar against a woman wielding common birds just really takes me out of the whole “hero” thing more than anything. Plus, Tachyon’s crowd control with the birds isn’t nearly as useful as consistently as it is with Voss or Dawn or The Organization, considering the sheer number of Fowl cards that get out on the field combined with the revenge damage she inflicts on the party. I understand that she isn’t completely useless against The Matriarch, and I respect that. I’ve just noticed the most effective combos don’t really mention Tachyon in them. From a mechanical standpoint? Not terrible. From a thematic standpoint? Wicked sad.

By the same token, I’m posting in a topic in the Rules and Gameplay board, so that is something to consider. I understand and appreciate your tips and tricks, and I’ll have to give them a try against The Matriarch next time I convince my group to give her a shot again. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even have some fun!

11

I felt the same way about Matriarch’s theme when I first saw her. With the core villains, you knew what the fight was about and what you were trying to prevent by fighting them. Matriarch doesn’t seem to have a plan, and it’s hard to tell why you’d be fighting her, especially if no one is playing Tachyon.

Plague Rat is the same way. Seems like if you had a “back away slowly and leave him alone” card, the fight wouldn’t last a round.

12

Well, whatever Plague Rat and Matriarch are up to, I would imagine it involves at the very least, killing innocent civilians. The heroes wouldn’t be worth much if they just let them do that.

Most villains have as their agenda some variation on “Take over/destroy the world.” Does that mean the villains who don’t aren’t worth fighting? I don’t think so. I’m sure comic book history is littered with villains with somewhat lesser goals, who nevertheless need to be brought to justice.

13

I played a game against the Matriarch earlier today with Argent Adept, Legacy, Nightmist, and Tempest. They were chosen randomly, but they were a fantastic set. What actually happened was that Legacy, Nightmist, and Tempest drew their stall cards, and the Adept supported that with a thrilling Sonata. They stopped the Matriarch’s deck progress cold and simply beat her down. The only turn she played a bunch of cards was the first one.

All else being equal, in what order do you think you should kill the cohorts, the Mask, and the Carrion Fields? You probably don’t have to kill the Carrion Fields if you have Stun Bolt or Hoist Chain or something like that, but the Mask and the cohorts still present a problem. How much of a priority do you place on that versus just sending the damage at the Matriarch?

14

Well, it depends.

I try to kill the mask first, no matter what.

I also try and wait until both cohorts are out, since they ressurect each other.

I’ve always had smoke bombs, so I never worry about Carrion Fields.

15

This. Except I don’t always have smoke bombs. It’s really situational. The team has to collectively figure out what they’ve got and what the best way to counter the cohorts and the Carrion Fields on any given turn.

When I play, games tend to take a long time. I want to examine all of the options and try to find the best one.

16

The thing about waiting for both cohorts to arrive is that they are really hard to damage together. It seems like you might as well make sure that one of them goes down quickly, as long as you can. And well, I play on advanced, so it’s definitely to your benefit to take one down to zero before they both are laughing at you with DR 2.

17

Well, what I meant by that was this:

Hope Munnin comes out first, and take it down to 1 or 2 HP. DR1 shouldn’t be that hard to deal with.

Then, once Huginn comes out, kill Munnin and then just destroy Huginn, since he won’t have any DR to protect himself.

Or, you could play on advanced, take them both down to 0, and wait for her to flip.

18

I’m really unsure about the mask.

The absolute best thing you can do with it is pump it into the Stratosphere over and over. Second best is probably killing it and then Suggesting it.

But if those aren’t options, it gets a little more confusing. Darken the Skies brings out the mask up to 3 times. Suppose that you kill the mask whenever you see it. That means (lets be generous and assume you’ve hit the nail on the head and dealt EXACTLY its HP in damage each time) if you kill it 4 times, you’ve dealt 36 damage to the mask. The Matriarch only has 70 hp. That’s like… half of her life. If all that damage was against the Matriarch, you may have won the game already.

OTOH, the mask is certainly disruptive, basically allowing the Matriarch to do twice as many things on her turn. That’s a tough nut to swallow (hah, mixing metaphors ftw).

And sometimes I feel that you actually want the mask out. EG: After Huginn/Muninn hit the field and their HP is low or down to zero, it almost seems beneficial to let the Matriarch burn through her deck so she can flip and you can actually start being effective. But at the same time, you don’t want her going through half her deck when she does flip because then she will heal up for a bunch.

19

The Matriarch is one of few villains I think Haka actually really shines against.

He can use savage mana to eat the mask and the cohorts, making them useless. He has lots of ongoing cards (3 dominions, intercession, punish the weak) he can play just to be cannon fodder for Horrid Cacophony.

he can also tank with Ta Moko, and deal out minor but consistent damage over the course of the game. Taiaha helps to buff that, too. Then Haka of Battle with Savage Mana can obliterate her when the time is right.

My optimal team for Matriarch is Visionary, Wraith, and Haka. Wraith because she can use Smoke Bombs to negate Carrion Fields and several of the birds, as well as put out lots of damage both concentrated and over several targets. Also stun bolt and throat jab.

Visionary can use Twist the Ether on the Matriarch (and maybe Haka or Wraith), help manage the environment deck, and optionally set all of the birds to “auto-die” mode. She also has lots of non-limited ongoings (again for Cacophony fodder) and can bring back ongoings after they are destroyed as well. With only 3 heroes, Cacophony is a lot easier to manage.

If I need to add a fourth or fifth, I like Legacy, followed by Absolute Zero. Legacy has plenty of ongoing cards as well, and can also shield team mates from danger, increase their damage, heal, and if he uses Lead from the Front with Fortitude and Smoke bombs, he can be at -2 damage from most sources, and -1 from the rest. AZ can, of course, use my (apparently trademarked) Twist the Ether + Coolant Blast trick on the Matriarch for massive damage.

Now, I have a question. Let’s say, we’re playing against the Matriarch on Advanced. Haka has savage mana out and kills Huginn and/or Muninn. Now, of course they are indestructible until she flips, but once she does, they are destroyed. Does he get credit for killing them, since he did the damage that killed them? or do they just die?

20

The damage dealt by Haka did not destroy them, the Matriarch flipping did, so he doesn’t get the ‘credit’ for it. If it was otherwise you’d have to keep track of who did what damage all the time, in case something lowers Max HP, which would be death by not inflicting damage too and subject to ‘claiming’.