Sneeks deck build (Cave Goblins)

The Cave Goblins can be very fun to play as they excel at swarming opponents. This is by no means an easy feat as Sneeks units are fragile. To play him well you will need to learn when to summon your cheap commons and how to exert pressure on your opponent. This guide will go into more detail on how to play to do this. It will not include second summoner units and mercenaries. Those will probably be added in an update to this post once I have had experience with them.  Summoner Wars is a game by Plaid Hat Games. It’s available on android / iOS / Vassal.

Basic idea
All your events and most of the commons scream out one thing: Swarm your opponent. This is a good idea. Ideally you’ll be pressuring your opponent from start to finish. However, to win with Sneeks you need to do it goal oriented / carefully. You are generally not going to win if every common you summon instantly becomes magic for your opponent. So make sure the units you lose serve a greater purpose (planned aggression). Goals can include making sure no strong counter push is possible by swarming his summoning positions, killing a big champion in one turn, caging his summoner to kill the next turn or even kill your own units to prevent your opponent from getting the magic.

Having said all that, I don’t think Sneeks is one the stronger summoners. This is because he has a number of weaknesses. First of all he’s pretty dependent on getting the right units / events as without them his units are way weaker. Secondly he’s very vulnerable to catch up events / area attacks and you will give away a decent amount of magic because of your commons dying. Thirdly the move / attack limitation in summoner wars means him having many more units doesn’t necessarily mean he gets to do more moves / attacks (this is why Fighters are important). All this together means that if your opponent manages to fend off your onslaught you’ll probably be left in a bad position.

Basic tactic and combo suggestions:
– Use Sneeks. As the Cave Goblins are aggression oriented, the early extra pressure a three dice, seven health unit can give is essential. And he can easily move out of harm’s way where necessary. If possible you want to do this every single turn, so don’t go back to the back line with Sly. Ideally he’s not completely at the front lines, although you can allow some openings to protect your commons by sacrificing Sneeks health.
– Positioning is essential with the Cave Goblins. Know which commons can get killed / who can’t. Plan ahead for the next turn and don’t have them bunched together if the opponent has area attacks. This at least makes protecting your champions slightly easier.

Deck build (10 / 6 magic for the champions / commons)
– 1 Mook
– 1 Blarf
– 1 The Eater
– 6 Fighter (3 initially)
– 6 Slinger (2 initially)
– 2 Berserker (1 initially)
– 2 Climber
– 2 Beast Rider

The idea in this deck build is to make use of the zero cost commons to get the most out of your event cards and leave the rest of the magic for the excellent champions the Cave Goblins have. Mook is an auto include in this regard as he’s easily the best common heavy champion in the game. Although he’s more of a support champion his seven health means he can be pretty useful against other champions as well. For the second champion I’ve included Blarf as he’s dirt cheap to summon and you don’t need to immediately boost him. He’s also good to get even more dice on walls or go head to head with a big enemy champion. For the last champion I’ve included The Eater. The reasoning here is that he’s incredibly useful against any faction with relatively strong commons like the Mountain Vargath. And even if they don’t use commons or retreat, he’s creating room for your own units. If I’d have to switch a champion out I’d probably consider Reeker or Krag instead of The Eater; not sure yet which of the two is better though (probably Krag). Scagg I don’t like.

The commons gives you an interesting choice. Except for the Fighters and Slingers all the other commons are situational and not zero cost, so not usable with all your events. Because of that I’ve included mostly Fighters and Slingers. Which out of Climbers, Berserkers or Beast Riders are most useful really depends on the wall positioning / your opponent / unit composition. In general I’ll build all of them unless I am in situation in which they are (about to become) useful. As their number in the deck is very low, you’ll need to decide whether you can afford to build them or not. So far I haven’t had much use out of the Beast Rider or Climber so I might replace some of them for more Berserkers.

Playing the faction
CG.gif~originalAgainst most factions you can start moving your commons forward to crowd their first wall. Move Sneeks in as well so you can hit with him the next turn. Try to do this in such a way that you are not exposing too many of your own commons. Naturally if you can take out your opponents commons, that’s great. Hitting the summoner isn’t too important yet as you want to control the board / you can’t afford to give an opponent space. One problem with your initial setup is that some of your units are in the back. This can mean killing for instance the bottom left Slinger can be a good idea (having one magic is useful for a possible Blarf hand). Finally don’t be afraid to build units instead of summoning them. Mook, the Eater and Blarf can add insane amounts of pressure and require magic. As a rule of thumb you should be using most of your cards each turn. This also means you should not wait too long with using events; even if it’s not a perfect situation. Note: Some factions, like the Phoenix Elves / the Tundra Orcs, will require a more champion heavy attack.

If you get to the mid game, your best situation is that you have most of your units on his side and that you are crowding his walls. To allow this to happen you should not place your walls in such a way that you create choke points. Those are to the advantage  of the enemy. Ideally you are able to hit any target from three sides when you want to hit it. It doesn’t matter how much magic he has if he has no summoning spots (even only having 1 makes what happens next much more predictable). In terms of event usage I’d recommend using Rage and Horde together as those do great damage. Rush and Rage also go together well. Be especially careful with Rush as once you have used both, your movement becomes much more predictable. One of the most important things to remember is that you can only move three units / attack with three units (Fighters excluded). So there’s no point in having eight units summoned unless they are blocking off walls and don’t need to move. This is also one of the reasons the Cave Goblins aren’t the strongest faction as well playing opponents can often create choke points pretty effectively.

CaveGoblins-Sneeks-ReferenceBAn eventual end game is generally not good for the Cave Goblins as they have no mechanisms to gain an economic advantage (killing Blarf yourself will give you a decent amount of magic though). However, don’t underestimate Mook together with Sneeks as an end game tag team. Blarf also is pretty useful in an end game as the magic won’t mater as much, while The Eater is generally useless as he’ll die quickly.

Match up analysis
I might do a faction by faction analysis eventually, but I’ll start this off with a few general observations. Factions that prevent wall crowding and can do easy damage to multiple targets in one turn are hard matchups. Phoenix Elves and Tundra Orcs for instance.

First summoner specific cards

CardDeckNotes
CaveGoblins-SneeksBaseSneeks has a decent amount of life and good attack dice for a summoner. This means you can leave him somewhat open against most factions. With the Cave Goblins this is essential to do as you need his three attack dice and otherwise you would be wasting his special ability. I'd highly recommend trying to use his ability often until his health becomes dangerously low. Don't be too afraid to move him for an assassination attempt, especially with Goblin Invulnerability.
CaveGoblins-GoblinHordeAttackBase (x3)As you have three of those don't be afraid to use them against a single wall or a single champion. Naturally it's great to use it in combination with some of the other events to suddenly get 10+ dice on their summoner, but killing a big champion or an enemy's initial wall with this can also be essential. Even more powerful in combination with Goblin Rage. Also note that this is not just for zero cost commons, so it's useful with Sneeks as well.
CaveGoblins-GoblinRageBase (x3)Insanely powerful event if you are in the right situation as you can get up to twelve attacks in one turn with two fighters and Reeker out. Also combo's very nicely with the other events. Once again, don't be too afraid to use one of these as you have three of them.
CaveGoblins-GoblinRush Base (x2)These can stack, so in theory you could use it to move three units six squares in one turn. It is only usable by zero costs, but still this is a powerful event if you get it at the right time. This is one event which is almost always best used as a combo event. Also, you become much more predictable once you've used both of these, so make sure they are worth it.
CaveGoblins-GoblinInvincibilityBase (x1)This reduces the chance of one of your one hitpoint units dying from a one dice attack from 66% to 17%. Very useful against most factions (except the Phoenix Elves). Make sure you use this one at a good time as you only have one of them. Also note it also works for your Champions and Sneeks, so it's a good idea to move Sneeks in for attacking when you use this card.

Generic cards

CardDeckSSCF*Notes
CaveGoblins-TheEaterBase2At his cost The Eater looks incredible for the attack dice and health you get. And against common heavy factions he's exactly that. Against any opponent using champions you'll need to feed him your own zero cost commons instead (which isn't bad as they will go to the magic pile). It can be hard to feed him when in enemy territory though, so try to minimize how long he needs to be on the board by hitting targets your opponent can't ignore.
CaveGoblins-MookBase1Easily the best champion of the Cave Goblins. Great life for his cost, average dice, but an incredible ability for any build (in the center he covers 50% of the whole game map). He can be used to attack / fight, but make sure to keep him somewhat safe as his ability is why he's in your deck. Note: With his ability the miss chance for one die goes from 33% to 16.6%. Parking him in front of enemy walls is a great idea.
CaveGoblins-BlarfBase1Blarf needs careful play. If your opponent manages to kill him while he has four attack value, you'll lose five magic at once. If you kill him yourself you'll get your magic back and you'll only have lost the one magic needed to initially summon him. So only start putting magic under him when it's pretty sure you'll be able to recollect it or kill your opponent's summoner. Also, if you never put magic under him he's still a five hitpoints unit for 1 magic which your opponent will want to deal with just for the potential risk. Note: You can Sly him out of harms way of course.
CaveGoblins-FighterBase (x8)0Using fighters allows you to have two extra attacks per turn, which is perfect if used together with Goblin Rage as this can allow you to get ten attacks in a round. They only have one dice though, so use Mook and Goblin Horde Attack to boost their strength. Also, fighters *only* attack after the attack phase, so make sure you also have units that can attack during the attack phase, otherwise they are not much of an advantage. Finally, having more then two out at once means you can't attack with all of them.
CaveGoblins-SlingerBase (x6)1As the only zero cost ranged common, you'll need to use it even though it's ability is bad. You'll need Mook to neutralize it's ability. An interesting use is combining it with Goblin Rage. That will allow you to kill two units at once from range (for instance killing a Phoenix Elf warrior and then hitting Elien).
CaveGoblins-BerserkerBase (x4)0Initially I didn't like this common much in the Cave Goblin deck. It's ability is pretty powerful, but in general you need the magic for summoning some of the excellent cave goblin champions and it's vulnerable to all kinds of anti-common events / units. However, I'd still include some of these as in some situations (especially multiple units fending you off) they are very good value. And as the champions are pretty cheap you might have surplus magic which can be used on these guys.
CaveGoblins-WallBase (x3)
CaveGoblins-ReekerReinf0His ability basically gives you four instead of three attacks per turn. Which can be pretty useful in this faction. His ability / attack dice / health isn't very good, but neither is he very expensive.
CaveGoblins-KragReinf0Similar to Reeker, but instead of an attack, Krag gives you an extra move after the movement phase. This can be a disadvantage (if you block yourself for instance), but he does get a three square move to compensate for that (which makes it hard for your opponent to anticipate him). Just as Reeker, not astonishing, but decent value.
CaveGoblins-ScaggReinf1This champion I don't really like. His ability is most useful against low life commons, but those are generally not a big problem for the Cave Goblins and most other champions deal with those just as well or better. And if he stays ranged you only get to fire with one attack value. Ignore this hero.
CaveGoblins-BeastRiderReinf (x5)-1Another situational common. It's useful to put that last hit on a summoner. It isn't zero cost though, so you can only combo it with Goblin Horde Attack, for which it can be pretty useful as it can move seven squares at once.
CaveGoblins-ClimberReinf (x5)0Another situational common as it's most useful if your opponent is hiding behind walls and it's not one of the zero cost commons. It's other ability is not that useful as it only has one hitpoint.
* SSCF = Secret Summoning cost formula = attack value + base health + 1 if ranged - (2 if common OR -3 if champion) - magic cost. I haven't included the worth of the ability as that's generally controversial.


References

All Cave Goblins cards (especially strategy section and comments are useful)
A Doug’s Guide To Summoner Wars podcast (strategy discussion and community news)
Mythacle Battleplan for Summoner Wars (deck builder)

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2 Responses to Sneeks deck build (Cave Goblins)

  1. Caio Henrique Assis Moreira says:

    Do the Sneeks count as a 0 cost unit, since he is the summoner?

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