I think there's a lot to be said about the play pattern differences. With an empty arsenal, GB still gives you an easy line to check if arrow is on top, load one from hand, and still get Azalea dominate with a 'natural' play pattern where you retain agency on whether and how much to buff vs saving the arsenal, etc. With a face up arsenal you still get to check the top with GB to minimize the temptation of 'blind' Azalea-ing at times. With a face down arsenal, you get to dig with crosswrap, and then still check if you want to Azalea with GB. With a buff face down arsenal in DD, you can crosswrap, but if you see a great arrow on top that you want to dominate, you're forced into losing the buff on that arrow with dominate because you must draw the card to load arsenal (after playing the buff). There's way too many variables to try to fully map it all out (face down, face up, arrow, non-arrow, additional opt, etc), but as an early dedicated Azalea player, I've always felt some occasional tension with DD and the forced draw at certain times. Thus far brewing with GB, I'm not feeling many/any cases of tension in most cases with GB.
It's worth noting that if you draw an arrow off the top as azalea with DD you can't normally use it so it's effectively a dead card, compared to being able to use SSGB as a pseudo-opt to guarantee the dominate+aim counter value by loading from hand and keeping the arrow on top for AZ ability.
Yeah, the flexibility is very good! Especially getting around those no arrow hands. If you have a no arrow hand, you can opt for 1 off crosswrap, blind azalea for 1, and then blind greatbow for 1, allowing you to dig 3 cards deeper for an arrow as a last ditch effort. I've found the play patterns to be very interesting to work through in game and in goldfishing.
Great video! Just a couple of points that were missed in the comparison - For aim counter value, it was compared to a textless attack (or the arrow without the aim counter). These should be compared with the other arrows that would have been run in that slot with a DD list. So compare the value against Fatigue Shot/Sleep Dart/Hamstring Shot. The second one is that while the chances of gaining a card off sandscour is accurate, the part that is disregarded is that you will often need to hold an additional arrow in hand in case the sandscour doesn't find one. So when you do get a card from sandscour, you now have a suboptimal card left in hand that you would have liked to block with - but couldn't.
Hey Levi, thanks for your added insights! It's definitely important to take a look at the opportunity costs and play pattern differences that the Greatbow requires compared to Death Dealer. I find when I first try to analyze a new card, keeping it in a vacuum allows the easiest direct analysis, and then if the numbers show any promise, then all the play pattern and deck restriction stuff has to be looked at as well. Thanks for the great extra analysis!! -Jacob
Loyalshadow is right! Silver the Tip would indeed end up giving the arrow the aim counter. The new quiver in Outsiders would also give an aim counter if greatbow is equipped. -Jacob
Yeah, it seems right on the cusp of having enough aim counter effects. I think 6 hemorrhage bore, 6 drill shot, and 3 dead eye are actually a good amount of relevant effects to start out, especially since dead eye applies to any other arrow. If we got one or two more cycles of aim effects I think the deck would actually be very very strong -Jacob
@@CardAdvantage what about immobilizing shot as a pseudo red in the ledger, as sideboard for aggro decks? I have yet to test it out properly, but drill shot alone makes me want to jump the hoops with GB. It feels like a very univeraly good card, and consistency is something that Azalea usualy lacks.
This aged well 😊
I like this kind of short form data driven content.
Thanks PlayTimeTCG, glad you enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun researching for it and making it!
-Jacob
I think there's a lot to be said about the play pattern differences.
With an empty arsenal, GB still gives you an easy line to check if arrow is on top, load one from hand, and still get Azalea dominate with a 'natural' play pattern where you retain agency on whether and how much to buff vs saving the arsenal, etc. With a face up arsenal you still get to check the top with GB to minimize the temptation of 'blind' Azalea-ing at times. With a face down arsenal, you get to dig with crosswrap, and then still check if you want to Azalea with GB.
With a buff face down arsenal in DD, you can crosswrap, but if you see a great arrow on top that you want to dominate, you're forced into losing the buff on that arrow with dominate because you must draw the card to load arsenal (after playing the buff).
There's way too many variables to try to fully map it all out (face down, face up, arrow, non-arrow, additional opt, etc), but as an early dedicated Azalea player, I've always felt some occasional tension with DD and the forced draw at certain times. Thus far brewing with GB, I'm not feeling many/any cases of tension in most cases with GB.
I always recommend when completing an analysis to sum up the findings in a simple answer is it better or is it worst and display that on screen.
Thanks for the feedback, I'll definitely apply that in the next analysis video I make!
-Jacob
It's worth noting that if you draw an arrow off the top as azalea with DD you can't normally use it so it's effectively a dead card, compared to being able to use SSGB as a pseudo-opt to guarantee the dominate+aim counter value by loading from hand and keeping the arrow on top for AZ ability.
Yeah, the flexibility is very good! Especially getting around those no arrow hands. If you have a no arrow hand, you can opt for 1 off crosswrap, blind azalea for 1, and then blind greatbow for 1, allowing you to dig 3 cards deeper for an arrow as a last ditch effort.
I've found the play patterns to be very interesting to work through in game and in goldfishing.
Silver the Tip also finally has a use, as it also gives you an aim counter for loading an arrow from deck.
Let us know in the comments what other cards you'd be interested in seeing analyzed like we did in this video! - Jacob
If your vote isn't for a Rok analysis, it should be ;) - Sean
@@CardAdvantage Rok is one of the coolest weapons. Really hope to see it work
Awesome analysis, always a good time watching Jacob's analysis
Thanks Card Advantage for featuring our Supreme Leader! Great comparison and analysis, Praise be!
Great write up. Thank you
Solid breakdown! Interesting how the great bow gains value!
I could listen to Jacob talk all day.
Nice analysis man
thank you sean
Thanks for the analysis! I will be trying both with your conclusions in mind. I do like taking bigger risks over consistency, but that's just me. :)
Great video, Jacob!
Killer analysis Jacob :)
Killer video, as always!
Great video! Just a couple of points that were missed in the comparison -
For aim counter value, it was compared to a textless attack (or the arrow without the aim counter). These should be compared with the other arrows that would have been run in that slot with a DD list. So compare the value against Fatigue Shot/Sleep Dart/Hamstring Shot.
The second one is that while the chances of gaining a card off sandscour is accurate, the part that is disregarded is that you will often need to hold an additional arrow in hand in case the sandscour doesn't find one. So when you do get a card from sandscour, you now have a suboptimal card left in hand that you would have liked to block with - but couldn't.
Hey Levi, thanks for your added insights! It's definitely important to take a look at the opportunity costs and play pattern differences that the Greatbow requires compared to Death Dealer. I find when I first try to analyze a new card, keeping it in a vacuum allows the easiest direct analysis, and then if the numbers show any promise, then all the play pattern and deck restriction stuff has to be looked at as well.
Thanks for the great extra analysis!!
-Jacob
Hi there, can you analyse whether is buckle worth in Bravo and how many is correct if it even worth going into the deck.
I can definitely do that! Of the new guardian cards, that's the most interesting one in my opinion! Thanks for the comment :)
-Jacob
I prefer it. The ability to psuedo opt is great
I am curious if the card "Silver the Tip" would give you an aim counter as well?
It would! Sandscour only checks if an arrow goes from the deck into the arsenal face up so it would get an aim counter. :)
Loyalshadow is right! Silver the Tip would indeed end up giving the arrow the aim counter. The new quiver in Outsiders would also give an aim counter if greatbow is equipped.
-Jacob
Thank you! HalleluYAH!
Pls do this for Hanabi vs Plasma Barrel, great little vid
Fuego
sadly there's not enough aim cards to really benefit from aim counters enough to make the math work
Yeah, it seems right on the cusp of having enough aim counter effects. I think 6 hemorrhage bore, 6 drill shot, and 3 dead eye are actually a good amount of relevant effects to start out, especially since dead eye applies to any other arrow. If we got one or two more cycles of aim effects I think the deck would actually be very very strong
-Jacob
@@CardAdvantage what about immobilizing shot as a pseudo red in the ledger, as sideboard for aggro decks?
I have yet to test it out properly, but drill shot alone makes me want to jump the hoops with GB. It feels like a very univeraly good card, and consistency is something that Azalea usualy lacks.