What Defines Ogroids?
There are essentially two payoff cards for Ogroid archetype: King Chrum and Enraged Cyclops. At the reveal stage, these cards were analyzed in The Tide Rises Expansion Review.
Enraged Cyclops
Enraged Cyclops got nerfed pre-release from Timer:5 to Timer:7. I’m definitely not a fan of this change. It makes the card more draw dependent and more awkward in mid/short length rounds. Consequently it forces Ogroid decks to go more all-in and limits creative deckbuilding.
Knowing the exact Patch 11.7 state right now, also balance-wise the change seems to be rather unnecessary. Enraged Cyclops are the only good bronze amongst Ogroids. In such a scenario, +2/+3 value with respect to Power vs Provision curve gets nullified by weak bronze package companions in Round 1 (Incubi or Ghouls can’t really help in R1)
Enraged Cyclops need at least 6 Ogroids in hand to get instantly proceed at the end of the turn. Perfect R1 hand would consist of 2xEC – it forces no more than 2x non Ogroid cards then.
Another sad thing about rework is that playing Phooca or Nekker first may be impossible.
King Chrum
King Chrum power is equal to the number of other Ogroids run in the deck +2. Point potential is roughly 2x base power. Always better with the second say in R1/R2; with first say could be countered with removal/purify.
Ogroids - Card Pool
None of the old Ogroids (but for Defender) has been played in the preceding meta. Tugo doesn’t fit very well in typical pointslam Ogroids. Lord Riptide is good. Jotunn got a rework after which plays as a blant 15 points for 10 provision, forcing clog of the deck with an underwhelming 2x Ice Giant. Golyat got +2 power boost, after which it still lies below power vs provision curve because sometimes it could terribly backfire vs removal.
No buff to Pugo is disappointing; compare this card for example with pointslam cards like Berengar or Axel:Three Eyes.
Cyclops got +1 power buff, but has little synergy with Ogroids. Nevertheless, may be necessary evil with so little control.
Ice Troll became a panzer +1 engine fueled with Might. Very slow – could conditionally get launched after 2 turns if Might is satisfied. Would be played in Ogroids, but brings no real improvement.
Might
While Ogroids are very good at going tall early, the Might mechanic is not exclusive and defining to Ogroids archetype.
Only one row with +10 power unit is needed for King Chrum to trigger Resilience on deploy. Tugo Might ability is not something typical Ogroids invest in. Ice Troll Might ceiling doesn’t matter for whole archetype, could only support R1 power a bit. In terms of cutting edge, Might really matters only for the Lord Riptide ceiling!
How Many Ogroids For Payoff?
Enraged Cyclops – 6 other Ogroids in hand. 2 non-Ogroid max. 15 non-EC Ogroids in deck give 91.8% chance of getting 6 or more non-Cyclops in hand on red coin.
The situation is more complex with gold cards because mulliganing them out from the initial hand denies some value. That’s another part where Timer:7 seems awkward, because there are way more than 2 thematic non-Ogroid cards to include in the deck:
- At least 1x tutor for King Chrum to find him in R1/R2
- Ozzrel/Witches’ Sabbath as Chrum payoff
- Girdle Of Giant Strength (not essential, but thematic)
- Triss: Meteor Shower as a hidden engine
… and many more non-thematic ones, like necessary control tools (Dorregaray/Heatwave/Aerondight…).
Leader Choice
Carapace helps to setup/retrieve broken Might. Stacking up Lord Riptide armor or even more importantly – guaranteeing King Chrum resilience makes Ogroids more consistent when matched against decks having counterplays. Unluckily, there is little else to protect with boost + veil when it comes to greedy engines in Ogroids.
Fruits of Ysgith could go well with Pugo (if he had better stats…), but more importantly offers up to 18 points to spread to contest each round and guarantees 7p Nekker Warrior. Fruits could also become Cyclops targets.
Force of Nature supports Ogroids + Thrive hybrid, but unluckily Timer:7 nerf to Enraged Cyclops makes it less justified. Engine cards (especially Scenario to support vanilla Nekkers) would make it easier to contest long rounds.
Strengths
- King Chrum is the highest ceiling play in Ogroids; deck performance greatly depends on his value. From red-coin KC could be played for carryover without counterplay almost everytime unless the point gap is roughly >20. It brings 30+ effective points on a regular basis in such a scenario. It is hard then to lose last say in R2 bleed; even if using tall punish in R2 opponent is still one step behind.
- Enraged Cyclops play a bit over power vs provision curve, but with Timer:7 there are some drawbacks; sometimes awkward sequencing or even Timer>1
- Incubuses could be great payoff bronze for Enraged Cyclops especially combined with Triss:Meteors Shower.
- Ogroids support a provision efficient control card: Lord Riptide, which could trade up vs many engines.
- Strong short round thanks to pointslam cards and Ozzrel/Sabbath payoff (unless KC gets banished and Old:Speartip countered)
Weaknesses
- While Ogroids are Pointslam, paradoxically many control cards trade very well vs them.
- King Chrum trades down to hard removal, which is especially troublesome on blue coin; there could be no good moment to play KC.
- Most cards in Ogroids play below meta level; most value comes from King Chrum abuse. Therefore Ogroids are susceptible to bad draws; bronze package is weak.
- Due to lack of control Ogroids struggle vs engines.
Example Decks
- Renfri Triss Ogroids (Truzky)
Greedy Ogroids version, focused on powerful pointslam cards (Renfri, Triss, Ozzrel, Incubi). If skilled enough to draw King Chrum and Renfri, this build should be able to steamroll most decks, especially from red coin.
The drawback is low consistency and lack of control; Renfri roll and Lord Ritpide are all resources.
- Shinmiri’s First Day Ogroids
Interesting approach. Compared with Renfri version, this build has way less points, with King Chrum being the only real win-con. The upside is more control (Bridge Troll + Cyclops combo; leader could setup power for Cyclop throw; Heatwave) and consistency. Also synergy of Witches’ Sabbath with Triss: Meteor Shower is spicy.
Gold choice for more control oriented Ogroids here seems lit, but bronze package could be tuned at will. Especially feel free to experiment with Incubi.
Conclusions & Final Thoughts
- Ogroids are an underdeveloped archetype (unconcise bronze package, high discrepancy in power between old and new cards), reliant mostly on King Chrum abuse, which could regularly work on red coin.
- With Timer:7 pre release nerf to Enraged Cyclops, Ogroids became more rigid and unrewarding when it comes to creative deckbuilding. With so few changes amongst other Ogroids and such a narrow pool, I’d rather like T:7 to get reverted. My real wish though would be Provision => 5, Timer =>5 and many reworks amongst other Ogroids to improve their value (Pugo, Phooca, vanilla Nekkers (both for better floor), moving Bridge Troll ability to other unused MO bronze and rework, Ice Giants decoupled from being underpowered feed for Jotunn…)
- Ogroids coin polarization due to King Chrum is unhealthy.
- I predict Ogroids to end in low Tier2 in the late season.