Making the guides themselves isn't too hard, it's climbing to a good rank that is the hard part 😅 I still plan on making guides like these every now and then. I just need to find games I enjoy and am motivated to climb in first.
Hey! Came here from BGG. Congrats on mastering the game! All great insight. One thing i cannot agree on is placing goat in B tier or whereever it was. For me it is strictly the worst spirit on board B and second worst after dragonfly on board A. Simple math might point out it is on the same level as the elk but i think more matters need to come into our consideration here with the most important being animals. In the case of mountains there are only 2 animals that use them the fish and the eagle (you call it vulture? hah) with the fish being difficult to utilize effectively as it needs a lot of water and with water to score optimally you probably need to have either lots or just a bit of it. In the case of an elk it is way easier (5 animals that need high trees i just call them trees and the lower ones bushes hah). Also even though marginal Trees give you more freedom with their placement not requiring two next to one another and that might matter. Finally there might be a little less competition for the brown tiles compared to the greys. Elk is the only spirit that uses them and there are 2 for the greys. Both can be stolen by the cat or the stork for houses but they are the same for them. I've also managed to hit top 100 on BGA but i think the closest i was to nr 1 was sth like 24 hah. Congrats on your achievment and let me know what you think if you have a while ;)
I think there are many different ways to look at it. I won't defend the Goat/Ibex too much. The main thing to me is that there is a clear gap between the top 3, and a clear gap between the top 5. The bottom 5 Spirit Animals I will usually pick depending on starting tiles and animals. So... Goat/Ibex vs Elk 1. Order of placement. A mountain is a mountain, you can place it whenever you want. A tree requires you to go brown (brown) green. So when a tray pops up that is green/water/water that you really want to deny from your Turtle opponent, you can't effectively use the green yet. 2. Risk. A stack of 2 mountains will score 3(+4). A stack of 2 brown will score 0(+0). When you have a stack of 2 brown you are saying "I really need a green tile now". You might say it's easier to deny the Goat/Ibex because there are 23 mountain tiles vs 40 brown/green tiles. But because you are reliant on the order that you place them there can definitely be situations where your opponent has a ton of tree bases and you deny all of the green (or the opposite, they never get a chance to build tree bases). 3. Animals. It kinda works both ways. If you say the tree animals are better/there are more of them, surely that means trees are more contested ;) But I do think the animals are about equal. I rate the Bat and Squirrel pretty highly. The Croc is average. The Kingfisher and Wolf are probably bottom 2 animals in the game. The bush animals are pretty good, although there is a ton of overlap with most of them needing cubes on the bushes. I also rate the Vulture and Fish pretty highly. Bear and Macaque are great. Llama can be good. I like that you can finish the Manta Ray, Bear, Llama patterns before eventually building your tall mountains, something trees cannot do. Definitely not saying Goat/Ibex is better, but I don't think it's as bad as everyone says. And again, when it comes to the bottom 5 Spirit Animals it's more important to look at the trays and animals instead of thinking that the Stork is just better in a vacuum.
Strategy guides are back Personally, I'm generally rating the cat spirit and the elk over ibex. I had games where it was difficult to find enough rocks just to finish the ibex pattern. It's easier for the opponent to deny rocks only compared to both wood and grass. I also think butterfly is the best spirit in the game. Good luck for the next arena season
That's an interesting way of looking at it. At the same time, rocks are rocks. You don't get stuck waiting for 1 tree trunk while all the green is in the trays. I prefer that you're not reliant on the order you get them in. But to be clear I'm not happy getting any of the ones you mentioned. I think the first 5 are quite far ahead of the bottom 5. Good luck to you too!
It depends on the tile. I'll usually start mountains or water on the edges of the map, while buildings or trees can be a bit more centralised (to be used in more patterns). You can certainly look at all the animals available and plan for multiple of them, and with enough experience start planning for animals that haven't even appeared yet!
Disagree on cat being so low, although it is difficult to use effectively, I’d rate it with the owl, marmot, and stork. It’s definitely not dragonfly level, that thing is basically not a consideration on side A.
I can see it being on the same tier as Stork, and maybe even above Elk and Ibex with the higher scoring potential. You could not pay me to take it over the Owl or Marmot though. Unless the tiles/animals were really favouring buildings. But that's also personal preference, there are many ways to win a game.
![[Gittin Gud] - Marquise de Cat Advanced Strategy Guide for Root](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7ocZH1B3WX8/mqdefault.jpg)
Great guide! I would love to see more in depth analysis of games and or strategies. I like that you are playing it on Sunday BGA day.
Making the guides themselves isn't too hard, it's climbing to a good rank that is the hard part 😅
I still plan on making guides like these every now and then. I just need to find games I enjoy and am motivated to climb in first.
Hey! Came here from BGG. Congrats on mastering the game! All great insight. One thing i cannot agree on is placing goat in B tier or whereever it was. For me it is strictly the worst spirit on board B and second worst after dragonfly on board A. Simple math might point out it is on the same level as the elk but i think more matters need to come into our consideration here with the most important being animals. In the case of mountains there are only 2 animals that use them the fish and the eagle (you call it vulture? hah) with the fish being difficult to utilize effectively as it needs a lot of water and with water to score optimally you probably need to have either lots or just a bit of it. In the case of an elk it is way easier (5 animals that need high trees i just call them trees and the lower ones bushes hah). Also even though marginal Trees give you more freedom with their placement not requiring two next to one another and that might matter. Finally there might be a little less competition for the brown tiles compared to the greys. Elk is the only spirit that uses them and there are 2 for the greys. Both can be stolen by the cat or the stork for houses but they are the same for them. I've also managed to hit top 100 on BGA but i think the closest i was to nr 1 was sth like 24 hah. Congrats on your achievment and let me know what you think if you have a while ;)
I think there are many different ways to look at it. I won't defend the Goat/Ibex too much. The main thing to me is that there is a clear gap between the top 3, and a clear gap between the top 5. The bottom 5 Spirit Animals I will usually pick depending on starting tiles and animals.
So... Goat/Ibex vs Elk
1. Order of placement. A mountain is a mountain, you can place it whenever you want. A tree requires you to go brown (brown) green. So when a tray pops up that is green/water/water that you really want to deny from your Turtle opponent, you can't effectively use the green yet.
2. Risk. A stack of 2 mountains will score 3(+4). A stack of 2 brown will score 0(+0). When you have a stack of 2 brown you are saying "I really need a green tile now". You might say it's easier to deny the Goat/Ibex because there are 23 mountain tiles vs 40 brown/green tiles. But because you are reliant on the order that you place them there can definitely be situations where your opponent has a ton of tree bases and you deny all of the green (or the opposite, they never get a chance to build tree bases).
3. Animals. It kinda works both ways. If you say the tree animals are better/there are more of them, surely that means trees are more contested ;)
But I do think the animals are about equal. I rate the Bat and Squirrel pretty highly. The Croc is average. The Kingfisher and Wolf are probably bottom 2 animals in the game. The bush animals are pretty good, although there is a ton of overlap with most of them needing cubes on the bushes.
I also rate the Vulture and Fish pretty highly. Bear and Macaque are great. Llama can be good. I like that you can finish the Manta Ray, Bear, Llama patterns before eventually building your tall mountains, something trees cannot do.
Definitely not saying Goat/Ibex is better, but I don't think it's as bad as everyone says. And again, when it comes to the bottom 5 Spirit Animals it's more important to look at the trays and animals instead of thinking that the Stork is just better in a vacuum.
@@NoWondersTV Great points! Thanks :D
Woot, excellent - thanks Sam!
Strategy guides are back
Personally, I'm generally rating the cat spirit and the elk over ibex. I had games where it was difficult to find enough rocks just to finish the ibex pattern. It's easier for the opponent to deny rocks only compared to both wood and grass. I also think butterfly is the best spirit in the game.
Good luck for the next arena season
That's an interesting way of looking at it. At the same time, rocks are rocks. You don't get stuck waiting for 1 tree trunk while all the green is in the trays. I prefer that you're not reliant on the order you get them in.
But to be clear I'm not happy getting any of the ones you mentioned. I think the first 5 are quite far ahead of the bottom 5.
Good luck to you too!
Great video. Is it often a good idea to start in a corner to leave room for a completely different pattern in the other half of the board?
It depends on the tile. I'll usually start mountains or water on the edges of the map, while buildings or trees can be a bit more centralised (to be used in more patterns). You can certainly look at all the animals available and plan for multiple of them, and with enough experience start planning for animals that haven't even appeared yet!
Disagree on cat being so low, although it is difficult to use effectively, I’d rate it with the owl, marmot, and stork. It’s definitely not dragonfly level, that thing is basically not a consideration on side A.
I can see it being on the same tier as Stork, and maybe even above Elk and Ibex with the higher scoring potential. You could not pay me to take it over the Owl or Marmot though. Unless the tiles/animals were really favouring buildings. But that's also personal preference, there are many ways to win a game.