Challenge edition Infinitor vs. Stuntman, Void Guard Writhe and Void Guard Mainstay in Mordengrad.
Ow, ow, ow, ow, owwwwwwwwww!!!
Challenge Infinitor is no joke and despite all the great access to minion destruction and irreducible damage, there is just no way to keep up with the constant spam of manifestations. Instead, a few select removals from Writhe’s Swallowed by Shadow kept Mainstay and Writhe alive just long enough to get the job done. Erratic Form was also key to keeping enough cards in hand to mitigate damage.
Looking forward to seeing how others handle this, and hopefully better than I did.
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Yeah I got slaughtered three times today (all without music, because Mordengrad). I honestly don’t know how anyone is beating this… I wouldn’t be above copying somebody else’s walkthrough just to get the Fine, because everything I tried was a miserable failure. The one time I managed to do okay at staying alive for a while, I wasn’t making any progress against his HP, and ended up dying to the black hole. The best game ended with him at like 27. Stuntman just seemed to be dead weight most of the time, but doesn’t seem like he’d be a useful corpse.
My third try was the charm. I just barely squeaked by with Mainstay alive, as in, if I hadn’t beaten Infinitor that turn, Mano a Mano would have taken him out.
Also, word to the wise, use Mano a Mano. c_c
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Here’s what I remember from my game. I’ll see later on if I can walk through and repeat my earlier victory.
Summary
For the most part, I ignored the manifestations except for Swallowed by Shadow in the early game. Infinitor is going to be on his flip side the entire game whether you want him to be or not.
For Mainstay, the first card I played was Durasteel-Studded Vest. This keeps him alive longer and makes it painless to play Shard Strength later on. (he takes 1 point on his turn, but takes one point less on the other turns) Also, using the power on Durasteel-Studded Vest a few times in the early game gets access to good cards and lets you discard some equipment into the discard. This comes in handy later on when you have a few Drop the Hammer cards in your hand and let’s you burst for some good damage. It’s also good to have a good hand of cards because there are lots of extra plays later on (from Stuntman incap and from some of Mainstay’s cards) and even some discards from Device Assembly Line. Kick the Tires lets you draw a card, play a card and destroy a few cards for good effect (think I destroyed Leader of the Pack and Sweet Rhonda) Otherwise, I remember playing Preemptive Payback, School of Hard Knocks and Lonesome Highway once Mainstay was the lowest hero.
Writhe was a cloak destroying machine the entire game, which meant Erratic Form was necessary. This meant Writhe was drawing 2 cards a turn, one to play on his next turn and one to discard to avoid damage. (usually Infinitor’s 3 point shot) I did play Swallowed by Shadow to get rid of the worst manifestations in the early game. (Crushing Cage on Mainstay and whatever was doing a lot of damage) I also had Unnerving Target out in the early game, which forced the environment targets to get hurt if they did do some damage. Otherwise, it was cards like Darkly Dreaming, Distorted Perception, and Nowhere to Hide.
Stuntman did go down early and pretty much always gave an extra card play to Mainstay, though he can let one of the other heroes ping for 2 damage. I played Training Montage right away and then put out Dramatic Cliffhanger. I also played L’Embuscade every chance I got for the 5 damage on Infinitor. A second Training Montage put out No Time to Bleed, as Infinitor kept pinging for 1 point, so I at least hit back. I did play The Usual Solution to destroy Battalion Command Center so the environment deck didn’t get out of control and gave me more time to deal with Infinitor.
Oh- of course we should use that! I never did- I always look at the damage being done back and get scared, but with Shard Strength and Dura-Steel Studded Vest, that’s 6 damage on Infinitor and only 2 back. That’s a good trade!
Please, if you could post a log I’d be grateful. I’ve lost all hope.
I can’t post a log because I play on iPhone, but here’s a walkthrough. Could be better plays, but this gets you through the mission. The first spoiler is helpful clues to try on your own. The second one is my full walkthrough.
Summary
Except for Writhe’s first two turns, you ignore the manifestations. Writhe’s first two turns are used to play Swallowed by Shadows. After that, let Infinitor destroy the most damaging ones. (Recalescent Hellion, usually) Erratic Form lets you destroy the cloak for good effects, cycle through your deck, and and keep a lot of cards in hand for damage reduction.
Stuntman needs to get The Usual Solution to get rid of Battalion Command Center. Otherwise the environment will get a lot of cards out that make life rough. Use Training Montage to to get to that card. After that, do as much damage as you can to Infinitor before you he goes down.
Mainstay plays Dura-Steel Studded Vest then Shard Strength and then pretty much whatever he wants. If you discard equipment, Drop the Hammer becomes very powerful later on.
Summary
Turn 1:
Put the Crushing Cage on Mainstay.
Stuntman plays Training Montage (pick up the extra cards) and then Dramatic Cliffhanger. Uses his power to hit Infinitor.
Writhe plays Swallowed by Shadow and destroys Crushing Cage then gets his Shadow Cloak.
Mainstay plays Durasteel-Studded Vest then uses the vest’s power. Discard a second vest and Sweet Rhonda.
During environment phase, destroy Dramatic Cliffhanger. Play Training Montage (again taking damage for extra draws) then play No Time to Bleed and ping Infinitor.
Infinitor @ 61
Turn 2:
Destroy a Lambent Reaper. Destroy No Time to Bleed and hit Infinitor. Writhe discards Portable Dark Lab to save some health.
Stuntman plays the Usual Solution, hitting Infinitor and destroying Battalion Command Center.
Writhe plays Swallowed by Shadow, destroying both Recalescent Hellions then gets his cloak back.
Mainstay plays Shard Strength and then pings Infinitor.
Infinitor @ 45
Turn 3:
Destroy Recalescent Hellion. Writhe discards Unnerving Target to avoid damage.
Stuntman plays L’Embuscade then pings Infinitor.
Writhe plays Erratic Form then skips power phase. Discard second Erratic Form at end of turn.
Mainstay plays Preemptive Feedback then pings Infinitor.
During environment, Stuntman destroys L’Embuscade to hit Infinitor. We let the Black Hole Generator out instead of discarding. Writhe does not discard.
Infinitor @35
Turn 4:
Destroy Twisted Miscreation. Discard Nowhere to Hide for damage avoidance. Do not destroy Preemptive Feedback. Stuntman goes down.
Stuntman has Mainstay play Mano a Mano on Infinitor.
Writhe plays Nowhere to Hide and skips power phase.
Mainstay plays Bad to the Bone then hits Infinitor a bunch, including destroying Preemptive feedback at end of turn.
Destroy Blade Battalion Platoon.
Infinitor at 8
Turn 5:
Destroy Lambent Reaper.
Writhe has Mainstay play Drop the Hammer, destroying Durasteel-Studded Vest and then playing another Drop the Hammer and Infinitor goes down.
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Well l can take some pride in managing to win with only QuirkyDM’s hint rather than the full walkthrough. But it was a very painful experience, requiring me to disregard most of my own instincts in order to stick to the path you laid out. Emptying Writhe’s hand and skipping his power constantly just felt icky, and Ansel was of course outraged at having to be sacrificed so the tougher two could prevail. But man can Mainstay ever lay the smackdown! Two Drop the Hammers for 7 in one turn, and that’s without saving Bad to the Bone for that same turn (it’d have to be after the Hammers, but still). Infinitor blinked and his health was gone, but the heroes were clearly dead the next turn, so “whew” appears to be the word of the hour.
Feel like I should share this Near Mint while it’s still recent. Mainstay did a lot of punching.
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