Deep Dive – Doombringer Limited

G’day Hexers! Doombringer Kha has entered the world of Entrath and he’s looking to end everything we’ve ever known. One thing Kha has most certainly failed to end is my passion for limited. Today I’d like to share some quick advice that is relevant whenever new cards are introduced.

Before diving into limited (evo/sealed/draft), I always recommend familiarizing yourself with the quick speed cards available. This is important because planning out combat with tricks in mind will ensure that potential blowouts are taken into account, and thus you can minimize the damage they cause.

As the saying goes—knowing is half the battle! Knowing the possibilities will allow for informed decision making when it comes to deciding when to make a double block, whether it’s safe to attack, whether or not it is safe to take the hits to your champion, and so on.

With that said, let’s take a look at the common & uncommon quick actions and troops that I think you should keep in mind when battling it out in limited.

There are also some Core Commons that we need to think about…



Looking at the above cards we can clearly see that some are more dangerous than others. In the case of Protection Racket (holy moly this card is amazing), the potential for blowouts is staggering. If my opponent is attacking very aggressively and I was to set up my blocks to trade as many of my troops for as many of their as possible, then I could be setting myself up for a massive blowout that decides the game.

To play around a trick like Protection Racket, one course of action that you could take when on the defense is to only block maybe 1 or 2 attackers, thereby forcing your opponent to decide if it’s worth using such a powerful trick or not. If you’re the aggressor then it may be correct to not swing with all your troops. Keeping back enough to ensure you still have a fighting chance in the aftermath of a blow-out trick like this one is a worthwhile consideration.

Obviously there are many variables to take into account and it will be game dependent every time. Just be sure to think about the possibilities (taking into account the thresholds and resources available and so on) in order to make the most optimal decisions. If you suspect that the opponent has a specific card, then you should weigh up the pros and cons of playing around it or not and work out how much it impacts the game either way.

As you gain experience with a format, you’ll be able to determine the style of deck your opponents are running faster and faster, which in turn will give you an idea on the type of tricks they are likely to be utilizing.

Let’s say you’re against someone running Ruby and they are dumping out lots of aggressive troops. It’s likely they are running a card like Flayer’s Steel as it can allow aggressive decks to continue swinging past more expensive troops and possibly even advance their board at the same time due to its low cost. Flayer’s Steel is also a common, so that increases the likelihood it will be in those kinds of decks as well.

If you’re against someone running Diamond with a decent amount of deploy effect troops and your opponent has a habit of leaving open 2 resources, then it’s probable that they have Daybloom. In this type of scenario, be sure to take into account the stat gains as well as any other special effects when working out your best line of defense/offense.

In best of 3 matchups, I also recommend viewing your opponent’s crypt before each game ends to remind yourself of the cards they played. This will help you out in subsequent games (provided you haven’t already killed that sucka twice), especially when it comes to knowing what tricks they are utilizing and potentially what reserves cards you should bring in.

As for familiarizing yourself with all the other new shiny cards that are available, it honestly isn’t as important since they aren’t going to take you by surprise like quick cards. And, even those won’t if you’re actively thinking about the possibilities.

In terms of drafting and deck building, that is where your card analysis will come into play. To help out with this, I’ve made 3 videos that highlight some of the more powerful options; my top 10 commons, uncommons, and rares, as well as honorable mentions for each.

As always I hope my ramblings have been of some help. For those of you that are entering the limited battlegrounds for the first time with Doombringer, I also recommend checking out my videos on B.R.E.A.D and Curves here:

I’ll see you all in the battlegrounds! Thanks for reading!

Havoc | Twitch | Twitter | YouTube

Havoc has been playing HEX since the beginning, and there aren’t many days in a year where he doesn’t jump into a game. We can’t seem to get rid of this crazy aussie. He even managed to get himself and his dog Bella onto a card. He also has numerous achievements over the years, including 1st & 3rd in FiveShards Cup of Fate tournaments, 1st in a Pro Player tournament, and Several Bash & Clash Top 8’s.

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