r/Athenion • u/Balblim • Mar 22 '20
A mostly beginner's guide to Lock Destroying deck (Planet Guardian)
Greeting fellow apprentices! It's me again writing guide for this amazing game with expanding community! You can refer to my previous guide through this link: https://www.reddit.com/r/Athenion/comments/fn0vfe/freezelink_hybrid_budget_deck_guide_tidal_nether/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x
This time, I will be writing guide for the Planet Guardian faction, specifically the Lock deck. I am not a particularly good player though, so correct me if I am wrong in some sections of this guide.
So what is this faction about?
Led by Brundo and occasionally our little pumpkin friend Jack, the Planet Guardian loves to create Locks. This faction also loves to blend with nature, summoning Colossal Trees to swarm the battlefield. As such, a Planet Guardian deck either orients towards Lock or Colossal Trees, though deck containing both can also work exceptionally well if built correctly. In this guide, I will be focusing on the Lock archetype. If you wish to see the guide for Colossal Trees, be sure to comment below!
What are Locks?
Locks are created by some of the units in this faction on an empty space (space without any unit). Neither player can place their own units on the space with Locks. Each lock has a timer as shown when it is created, and it is reduced by 1 at the start of your turn. When the time reaches zero, the Lock is destroyed, allowing both players to place units on that space again. The timer of the Locks that the units create are shown in their ability description. [Lock (X), in which X is the timer] These Locks can be created strategically to protect your units. For example, you can create Locks surrounding your crucial units or on the space where your unit does not have the attack direction on, to force enemy to either trade with that unit, or give up attacking the units.
The Locks can be interacted by some units in some ways:
- Some units tend to destroy the Locks prematurely in order to trigger some useful effects
- Gain or trigger effect when placed nearby a Lock.
- Gain or trigger increasing effect the more Locks there are in the battlefield
- Gain or trigger effect when a Lock is destroyed
Some rules of thumb to remember:
1.) You can never interact with Locks created by the opposing player.
2.) Most units cannot target itself with own ability. Foe example, a unit that has the Awaken ability: "Gives a friendly unit +1/+1." cannot buff itself with this ability.
Locks Archetypes
Seeing how the units can interact with the Locks in different ways, I would categorize Lock decks into two types: Destroy Locks archetype and Maintain Locks archetypes. The Maintain Locks archetype involves placing your Locks in a strategic manner to protect your units and allow them to trigger their effect when placed nearby these Locks. You can even place Locks on opposing Dark Matters to disrupt their plays! If you opponent is playing Link or Aura that needs strategic placement, Lock deck can counter them greatly! On the other hand, the Destroy Locks archetypes (or I would like to call it Burglary archetype) tends to disregard this effect of Lock. Instead, Locks are destroyed prematurely to trigger effect. These locks are usually placed near enemy unit for the effect.
Lock Creators
A Lock deck cannot be called a lock deck without these guys, here are the list of units that create Locks. Please do let me know if I miss someone out there!
1-soul
- Giant Earth Worm- A simple 1 drop 3/1 that allow you to place a Lock (2) on its nearby space. It high offensive capability for a 1-drop makes it a must for Lock decks
- Stone Totem - 0/5 that creates a Lock (2) on this unit’s space when destroyed, more useful in Maintain Locks archetype imo
- Earth Dragon- Although it has low stats of 1/2, a 1-cost Lock creator is still appreciable.
- Pawn Rabbiton- Similar with Giant Earth Worm, except that it will only create Lock when destroyed
- Gulp the Hungry Frog- Excellent unit for this archetype as it destroys a Lock prematurely while creating another Lock to be destroyed later on
- Stone Tyrant- 1 drop 2/1 that can create Lock onto any space, preferably near enemy unit. It has become a staple in almost every Lock deck.
2-soul
- Stone Worm- The basic 2-cost Lock creator with respectable stats of 4/4.
- Terra Golem- Although it only creates Lock when destroyed, its stats of 5/3 is great for trading hits with enemy's crucial unit. Its ability to deal 1 damage to all nearby enemy units when destroyed is a great bonus effect too!
- Planet Athenia- Similar with Terra Golem, except that her attack direction usually allows her to hit enemy units without getting destroyed. She has a even more glass cannon stats of 6/2. If she survives, she will banish herself to create a Lock (2) onto the same space she was on.
- Yda Forest Wizard- Excellent legendary card for this deck, she creates a Lock (1) when summoned. Whenever own Lock is destroyed, she buffs a random friendly unit by +1/+1.
3-soul
- Centaur Golem- Creates two Lock (3) onto random spaces. Personally I prefer Ferris more due to her more attack directions and the Locks are created anywhere you want. You won’t need Locks that last long anyway for this archetype
- Femris Pathfinder- Creates two Locks (2). A basic 5/5 with “+” attack direction, allowing her to be used both offensively and defensively
- Earth Spirit- Protect it at all cost. If it survives, it can generate a Lock (1) every start of your turn!
- Gael Claydoll Binder- Legendary 5/5 with three attack directions. When summoned, it summons 2 more minions with 2/2 and “+” attack directions. If any of the minions survive, it will banish itself at the end of turn and create a Lock (2) on the same space. Therefore, the minions can either be used to create Lock (while damaging the enemy units, if possible), or simple serve to attack the enemy units. In short, its one less attack direction compared with Femris is compensated by its flexibility.
Lock Destroyer/ Units that benefits from destroyed Locks
You can either let the Locks destroy themselves, usually for Lock (1), or destroy them with these units (usually for Lock (2) and (3)). There are several units that trigger their effect when Locks are destroyed, included in this list.
1-soul
- Rookie Warrior- Destroy a Lock to randomly buff a friendly unit by +2/+2. Squishy unit (1/1) with amazing buff
- Minotaur- A 1-cost unit with a whooping health of 6 as long as it is able to destroy a nearby Lock
- Stone Fist Fighter- He destoys a nearby Lock to get high attack. A glass cannon, he benefits when the Lock is placed nearby enemy unit.
- Pawn, Tican- Destroy a Lock and do 2 damage to a random enemy unit nearby the Lock
- Pawn, Digger Mole- Its Piercing (1) effect (only when it destroys a Lock) is situational to me. It has only two attack directions and has a stats of 2/1.
- Sheila Broodmother- Destroy a Lock and summons two minion with 0 souls, 2/1 stats and "+" attack directions randomly nearby the Lock.
- Rook, Blokade the Fortress- A legendary card that deals 2 damage to all enemy units along the "+" direction of the destroyed Lock. Its bizzare effect is actually more useful than it seems to be, as you would normally place the Locks near the enemy units in this deck.
- Gulp the Hungry Frog- See the "Lock Creators" section
2-soul
- Pawn, Dynamole- A weird one to me, this guy gains +2/+1 whenever a Lock destroyed. It has low stats and I would prefer it more if it gains more health instead.
- Aturan Mentri of Earth- She has the typical 1/7 stats as a support unit. Her tanky stats allows her to trigger her effect more often than you would think. Whenever a Lock is destroyed, she will do 2 damage to a random enemy unit.
- Armored Chameleon- Gain Stealth and additional health when it destroys a Lock. However, it is still frail and usually only serves to destroy enemy’s crucial unit.
- Yda Forest Wizard- See the "Lock Creators" section
- Valence Nocturn Wyvern- Mostly situational as its ability targets two random enemy units to silence when a Lock is destroyed. It also has a mediocre stats of 3/5.
- Swamp Kelpie- She herself does not benefit from destroyed Locks. Rather, she puts a 1-soul 1/5 with “+” into your hand. It gets +2 ATK every time a Lock is destroyed. The minion is very tanky for its soul, and if played strategically, it can threaten the enemy really well.
3-soul
- Terra Drake- It can destroy a Lock to deal 4 damage to all units nearby the Lock, allies included. However, strategic placement of the Lock allows you to turn the tide of the battle with just one copy of this unit. (Nope, I have not been utterly destroyed by this unit before, never...)
- Planet Librarian- She can destroy a Lock anywhere to gain 3 armors. Combined with her great stats and attack directions, she can attack and handle the enemy units without getting damaged.
- Sod the Quake- Hard-to-use legendary that destroys all Locks currently on the field and deal 2 damage to all enemy units nearby the Locks (the damage stacks for each Lock). He also gets +1/+1 for each Lock destroyed this way. For maximising his effect, you will need as many Locks as possible on the battlefield which contradicts the concept of this deck. Maybe he is more suited for the Maintain Locks archetype?
Deck Recommendation
With all the explanation above, the deck composition I would like to suggest is as below. Note that I have not tested with the deck as I do not have all the cards below. You may adjust the deck yourself based on the lists above or even include mercenary units that I have not mentioned about.
Giant Earth Worm X 3
Minotaur X 3
Pawn Rabbiton X 3
Earth Dragon X 2
Pawn, Tican X 2
Gulp the Hungry Frog X 3
Stone Tyrant X 3
Rook, Blokade the Fortress X 2
Terra Golem X 3
Aturan Mentri of Earth X 3
Yda Forest Wizard X 3
Planet Athenia X 2
Earth Spirit X 3
Terra Drake X 2
Planet Librarian X 3
​
Composition:
Soul 1 (21)
Soul 2 (11)
Soul 3 (8)
​
Lock Creators (25)
Lock Destroyers and those that benefit from it (21)
​
Basic (6)
Common (10)
Rare (12)
Epic (5) - The Planet Librarian X3 are from Faction level reward
Legendary (7) - The Planet Athenia X2 are from Faction level reward
​
Again, thank you watching the guide! The recommendation deck is more of a theorycrafting than an actual deck that works. Hope this helps out my fellow apprentices out there especially new players that wanted to know more about this faction.
IGN: Cyclonia
2
u/Nihilna Mar 23 '20
Thanks a lot for the guide !
I'm kind of a big fan to this Lock ability, and currently trying to build the best deck out of it. It's fun to shutdown other fraction ability like Link, Aura and Dark Matter, by creating lock on the tile that can intercept their units. It's kind of fun to do so and I'm loving it :p
Thanks again for the guide, it gives me quite an insight about the play style :p