Monday 11 May 2015

Defend! - Shadowfang Rush.

Hey guys, neXi here, and this blog post is probably gonna be a little bit bigger than normal. I'm doing a series where I show how to defend certain rushes that are tricky to deal with, particularly if you've only played against them once or twice.

Today, we're going to talk about defending a rush from this angry ruffian.

"I AM A CAT  WITH WINGS"

I'm sure most players have lost to a nasty rush from this nasty feline before, so it's probably a good idea to know how to defend it. First things first, if this is the fastest thing in the set and there aren't many other good options, then you should be ready for this rush.

There is certainly a way to defend it with just base set, but before we begin I think it's important to note that if there is another line within the random set that beats it, like perhaps something like protoplasm, then maybe going something like that is better.

The specific rush I will be talking about is the P2 turn 3 double Animus rush. This is known as the 12-Fang. The build goes something like this:

1: Drone, Drone.
2: Drone, Drone.
3: Drone, Animus, Animus.
4: Shadowfang, Rhino.

This is a very powerful line of play that inhibits any heavily defensive, high econ, or just low pressure strategies. Especially because the P2 can get a Shadowfang and a Rhino every turn until he is forced to defend with more Rhinos or Engineers.

However there is a way in the base set to defend this rush. However, it's important that getting a single animus on turn 3 will not lose you the game due to other units in the random set. Usually if they aren't going to go for this strategy, Player 2 will spend the other 4 gold, on a conduit or an engineer on turn 2.

The counter-play to this rush for Player 1 is the following line of play.

1: Drone, Drone.
2: Drone, Drone.
3: Drone, Drone, Animus.
4: Tarsier, Tarsier, Drone.
5: Rhino, Rhino, Engineer, Engineer.


From here, the board should look something like this:


The problem for Player 2 at this point is that when the Shadowfang comes online, it attacks for 2, but this only kills an engineer, and the Rhino cannot attack because it has to defend. Player 2 also has to build a Rhino, only to immediately sacrifice a 2 energy rhino, which is hugely inefficient. It's much clearer that Player 1 is winning when they just repeat turn 5 again the next turn.


The Drone is left back so that holding back drones to stop the Player 2 attacking with the Rhino to attempt to kill a Rhino (however sub-optimal this line of play is or isn't.)

This turn coming, Player 2 has to build 2 Rhinos and immediately sacrifice them, barely defending. After next turns attack from Player 1, Player 1 is able to defend with the Rhinos without energy left. Player 1 is clearly winning here, as Player 2's defense gets more difficult, and Player 1's Defense gets much easier.

Now that we know how to beat a standard P2 Shadowfang rush, I think it's important to look at random units in the set that could complicate things. 

The following units are regarded as the most synergistic units with the Shadowfang rush are these units:



All of these units have the potential to make Shadowfang rushes even nastier than they normally are. Perforator allows the dreaded Player 1 10-Fang rush to have a flexible blocker the turn after it starts, and frostbite allows the Rushing player to add even more breach pressure with any spare gold, particularly when the player goes double rhino in the 12-fang rush.

Corpus allows the shadowfang player to defend very easily, easier than before. The same can be said for blood pact, being able to defend in a tight shadowfang set is important, and both units allow you to defend for a few turns relatively easily.

As for other counters, It was rumoured that going Blue-Green base set could stop the 12-fang rush, however when I tested it with one of the more seasoned players in the game, I found that there was a timing for the shadowfang rusher to get a blastforge when a few of the Rhinos ran out of energy. Replay is here: ZU@J0-Ck7Cg

If you think the line for this one could have been played differently with a different outcome, let me know! I'm happy to take a look at it.

Hopefully this helps you in dealing with Shadowfang rushes.

Thanks for reading, neXi.

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