Krusk deck build (Sand Goblins)

Krusk’s Sand Goblins are a stronger faction then their cave goblin cousins. One thing they share though is that both are best when used offensively. The main reason the Sand Goblins are much stronger is that Krusk his events and summoner power can move (enemy) units. This guide will go into more detail on how to play him well. It will not include mercenaries for now. 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
SandGoblins-KruskKrusk has no direct ways to gain an economic advantage, so against most factions you need to be sufficiently aggressive or you will lose economically. Luckily Krusk has a number of tools to carry out that. These are Sandstorm, Taunt, Mirage and Silts. The whole idea is to use these to either gain an economic advantage (Taunt / Sandstorm their units to kill them efficiently) or to assassinate (all four can be used for this). Key in all this is that you need Krusk near the action and enough units close to their commons to be able to Taunt (and probably to protect Krusk). For this goal it’s ok to lose some commons as you need to apply enough pressure to force your opponent to react and thereby provide openings.

Playing him defensively is not necessarily bad, but only if necessary / you can afford it in the match-up. All in all I think his deck is above average in terms of strength. This is because he has an answer to both heavy common and heavy champion play and is able to push the opponent into a corner with Sandstorm / Silts. I wouldn’t call him top-tier as five of his event cards are pretty weak, he is weak to catch up events and his commons in general aren’t very strong by themselves (and sadly you get a bunch of Scavengers in his starting position).

Basic tactic and combo suggestions:
– Use Krusk and Silts. Sandstorm is crucial in getting things set up exactly the way you want it to be. And Silts can do insane things; like swap with an enemy summoner trapping him behind enemy lines. Silts also combo’s well with some of the champions.
– Use Krusk in combination with Mirage and Taunt. Taunt for instance to remove a few defenders, Mirage to summon a new unit from an unexpected position and Sandstorm to put the enemy summoner in a position that he can be attacked from all sides.
– Wall crowding / take down is a situational strategy with the Sand Goblins. It can be effective against an opponent with one wall as you can use Sandstorm and Mirage to block off summoning spots. If the enemy gets an early wall though it’s not that effective as you lack ways to quickly take out walls.

SandGoblins-Krusk-ReferenceADeck build (17 / 18 magic for the champions / commons)
– 1 Silts
– 1 Biter
– 1 Sand Wyrm
– 2 Scavenger (2 initially)
– 6 Javelineer (2 initially)
– 5 Shaman (1 initially) (I’d remove a Jav & Scav for 2 more Shaman in the app)
– 5 Slayer

Two out of the three champions were a pretty easy choice. The first champion I want is Biter as I really like his value for his cost (and I don’t mind his negative ability). Secondly I’ve put in Silts as there are so many ways to make creative use of him and he works very well with both Biter and all the Sand Goblin abilities. Do remember that he is pretty darn expensive and doesn’t work that well in a one on one match up. The last spot is pretty hard. Kreep is pretty interesting as he’s very cheap and a natural fit with Silts. However, I dislike his ability to get discarded just a bit too much. Tark I also like especially since if the opponent tries to summon a lot of units to counter him as they can get taunted. Still, he has low health and doesn’t pack that much of a punch. And even Stink is interesting, although I feel his ability is too weak for his cost. So I ended up including Sand Wyrm. He also works well with Silts and I like being able to choose how much dice he will roll with. If I end up replacing one I’ll probably try replacing Sand Wyrm with Tark (for a stronger end game).

Common wise it’s a lot easier. As I dislike both Bombers and Scavengers there are only three other commons to use: Javelineer, Shaman and Slayer. I’ve included the most Shaman as those are in my opinion the most powerful (note that there are only 5 included in the master set). I’ve included a lot of slayers to at least have the option of using them if I want to go more common heavy. In general I’ll probably build them most of the time as they only seem really useful in either defense or to take out a wounded champion. It may be better to include even more Shaman’s and take out 1 Javelineer. The Shaman is just that good.

Playing the faction
cardbackIn general you’ll want to go second unless you can (try to) kill 1-2 commons with your Shaman / Javelineer (or safe 1-2 of your own units). Using a Taunt early can be very powerful as many factions kill their commons off quickly (as long as you can actually kill the taunted units). Killing your own Scavenger’s is not a bad idea, but you might want them to apply pressure first / use them as bait / Taunt beacons. Against ranged factions the Javelineers will be invaluable and they tend to entice the enemy to come fight you. Your first Shaman and Krusk should be kept safe, but pretty close to the front lines so you can use them to kill Taunted units / threaten to Sandstorm the enemy summoner. Also build magic quickly, as you want to be aggressive and you need to be able to use Sandstorm where necessary and threaten to use Silts. Finally watch out for early assassination options, with the right events it’s very practical against the lower health summoners.

This is not a faction that can very easily swarm walls. So focus on killing commons and building up enough magic to be able to summon a champion. You should always have at least two magic so the enemy has to take Sandstorm into account. Ideally you’ll be applying so much pressure that your opponent will summon more commons (or a champion or even overextend his summoner). That will give you more Taunt targets or you can Sand storm his champion / summoner into a position in which you can assassinate it. In this stage you should be watching out for all kinds of crazy combinations with Silts / Mirage / Taunt / Sandstorm. Taunt basically means only champions are reliable blockers for your opponent.

SandGoblins-Krusk-ReferenceBOne thing to watch out for is that will all these options, you will use your abilities / events too much or at too early a time and that might cause you to lose the economic war. Understanding in which order you need to use these and how you can use them to re-position the board is what needs to be learned to perform an assassination effectively. Keeping for instance Mirage and a Taunt in your hand for just the right time can be crucial. If you are being attacked yourself your champions (Sand Wyrm especially), Sandstorm, Taunt and possibly a Slayer should be able to defend your position. Against ranged factions you might end up using Duck & Cover as it can be used to cover an advance (Shiny is pretty much always useless though).

If you managed to make sufficiently efficient trades during the game then the end game can be highly favorable as killing multiple commons for free is generally a huge magic swing. How good your end game will be, is dependent on which units you have left / how much magic you have to work with. Silts, Sandstorm and Shaman’s especially are excellent in the end game.

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 can assassinate you back are very dangerous as you are pretty reliant on Krusk participating in the ‘relative’ front lines. Another faction to watch out for are for instance the Deep Dwarves and the Filth with their huge economic advantage.

First summoner specific cards

CardDeckNotes
SandGoblins-KruskBaseSandstorm is Krusk's trump card. An ideal use for instance is to use Taunt to remove a few guarding commons and then using Sandstorm to move the enemy summoner / champion (and i.e. a champion of yours) in a position to hit him for a bunch of dice. Also, very important: It doesn't cost your attack so you basically get a 3 die attack on one unit and 2 one die attacks on other units (and two more attacks with other units). Try to always 'threaten' to be able to use Sandstorm even if you are not directly going to. And don't use it too freely as it is pretty expensive (i.e. two one health units that you can easily kill with normal attacks instead). An ideal use would be when you need to for instance kill off a few 1 health commons while using your real attacks on a big champion.
SandGoblins-DuckAndCoverBase (x3)This event is situational. It can be very useful against very ranged oriented factions as it will at least force them to move next to your units (or not attack). Other then that it can often be built. Also note that it works against abilities like Gror's.
SandGoblins-TauntBase (x3)This is insanely effective against any faction that runs commons as you can use it to drag their commons to where you can safely and easily kill them. And you have three of these events. The only limiting factor is the three distance of one of your units (so try to position accordingly). If your opponent doesn't use commons because of this event it's ok to build one or two (if possible hang on to one in case you do need it). You can't taunt the same unit twice with the same event, but you can do two Taunt events in one turn (generally not that useful). Be careful not to bite off more then you can chew, it's not much use to drag towards you two very big commons that survive.
SandGoblins-ShinyBase (x2)Easily the worst event in the deck as Scavengers are not good. I'd build these unless there's a very specific situation in which you are actually happen to get a Scavenger with a card under it.
SandGoblins-MirageBaseThe strongest event in his deck. Mainly because you can reshape your side of the battlefield according to your wishes. It's main use is to re-position your walls to an unexpected spot and then summon from them to assassinate a summoner or champion. It can also be used to block off units that have advanced too far on your side or simply to put them out of the action for quite some time by blocking them off of what's really happening. In general you don't want to build this event. Note that if you don't get any walls, you can also use it just to move your starting wall forward / heal it.
SandGoblins-WallBase (x3)

Generic cards

CardDeckSSCF*Notes
SandGoblins-BiterBase2This I feel is a very strong champion. Yes, he has a negative ability but in most situations that's not too harmful as you'll be at least be able to hit something for three dice. And he's dirt cheap. He can't be pushed away as he can't be moved (this can be both an advantage and a disadvantage). Also note that you can taunt / sandstorm away units he's stuck on or use silts to swap with him, so there are some options to free him (Sandstorm can't move Biter himself though if he's stuck).
SandGoblins-SiltsBase-2Initially he really sounds underwhelming: Two attack dice and six health for seven magic. However his ability definitely makes up for that price as it can be used to do all kinds of insane things: Swap with Sand Wyrm for six dice on a target; swap with an enemy unit to hit that unit from multiple sides; swap after your first movement and even swapping off of a vine wall. That list can go on. He's best used in combination with Sandstorm, Taunt and Mirage. Also note that you can trap units with him.
SandGoblins-KreepBase2If you plan your turns carefully and get lucky at the right times Kreep can be incredible value. However, against good opponents you will be rolling to discard him a few times during the game (unless you have Silts out at the same time). Personally I prefer strategies that involve less of a dice roll to be effective. You can also use Sandstorm to keep him safe.
SandGoblins-ScavengerBase (x7)0Not a very good unit. He limits your option because you can't choose whether to put a unit under your Scavenger so you can't get magic with him. And even if you get cards under him the most you can do with him is hit for three dice with Shiny. And you can't even get the cards from under him yourself as they will be discarded on wound markers. Do not use.
SandGoblins-JavelineerBase (x6)1An excellent common as it can draw enemy ranged units towards you or shoot with impudence from a distance. With two health and one attack for one magic it is good value. It's only weakness is that it throws only one dice, so it's not a common that's very useful to have a lot of on the board unless you are facing a ranged faction with lots of one dice units.
SandGoblins-ShamanBase (x5)1The best common of the Sand Goblins. With it's two ranged attack for one magic with no negative ability it's among the best ranged commons in the game. It's ability is costly over time so it's preferable if you don't have to use it (so don't use it to just be able to ping a wall). Still using it is generally better then losing the unit to your opponent. Note that it's ability to move after attacking can also be used to combo ranged attacks to get six dice in on a target in a straight line (like Scam & Vlox) or just move it to block something. Note that you can also use the magic you just got from killing something to escape.
SandGoblins-SandWyrmReinf1Incredible innate value as you get four dice and six health for six magic. However he has a great drawback in that he can't be aggressive very well without losing attack dice. One way to circumvent this is to use Silts and / or Sandstorm to move him. In that case he can be a beast for his price. Also consider him for his defensive flexibility as he can move around quickly and be summoned to throw four dice instantly.
SandGoblins-StinkReinf-3While this is an interesting concept for a champion I feel he's too expensive or too weak for what he does. The six magic you are spending will only be compensated if he helps you roll better on a lot of rolls. By that time you'll probably be dead. Note that he can also help on Sandstorm rolls.
SandGoblins-TarkReinf-1Another champion that has an interesting ability. One on one against one other unit he's incredibly powerful as he can lock down that unit completely. This will especially shine in the late game or in situations in which there's only one avenue of attack. All in all I'm not sold him due to his low health. Also note that he doesn't work against summoners.
SandGoblins-SlayerReinf (x5)0These are pretty interesting due to their stat line. Two attack with two health for two magic is ok'ish, but three attack for two magic is great. I'd primarily use these to do an assassination on a champion or to defend from a strong champion. Note that it's ability doesn't work on summoners though. Situational but useful common.
com-BomberReinf (x5)1This common basically has Fury if it rolls a six. In theory it could attack indefinitely if you keep rolling sixes, but in practice it's worse then a slasher (which does three damage if it rolls a six). Also it being discarded is costing you a magic. And yeah, that saves you from giving away a magic, but you no longer have a unit on the board. I would recommend not using these.
* 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 Sand Goblins cards (especially strategy section and comments are useful)
Mythacle Battleplan for Summoner Wars (deck builder)

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2 Responses to Krusk deck build (Sand Goblins)

  1. starwatcher16253647 says:

    good analysis. I just recently picked up summoner wars myself; I have the master set only atm. Your recommendation be alliances or original for my next acquisition?

    • Cognitive bias says:

      Hmmm, tough call. The first few factions are easier to play, but less well balanced. Alliances is more complex mechanics wise, but more balanced. If you are not daunted by that I’d probably go for Alliances. Especially as it has a nice big box to store all factions in and a new, better, board.

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