QQ's Introduction to Deck Building
Hello this is QQinfinity, your resident Top Hat lover.
I am biting the bullet and writing the first strategy guide for this channel here because being informative is kind of my whole deal™️ (ask the other old members of the discord).
You can find table of contents in the Pins 📌
Now disclaimer:
I am a player of the Taiwanese server, which first came out in 2021 autumn, and I joined HPMA in 2022 January; I then 'quit' HPMA in 2022 July, and now I came back 2023 June after a full year of hiatus.
The information within this guide will not perfectly match the current state of global server nor the current state of taiwan server (since I am literally one year behind the others). But seeing as no one seems willing to share, this is all you're getting. Besides, knowledge is knowledge anyway.
The aim of this guide:
This guide will attempt to explain the basic mindset and attitude necessary to build a decent deck that will compliment the echo of your choice. Hopefully after reading this guide you will make better informed choices when adding cards and formulating strategy. While this guide will include a few sample builds, please DO NOT take it as gospel, and adjust the cards to your preferences and playstyle.
Also this is mostly dueling. Not forest.
The Venn Diagram:
Imagine a Venn Diagram (two circles that overlap). One circle is SPELLS, and the other circle is CREATURES, while the central intersection is MIXED.
Generally, Harry and Hermione echo will want a deck predominantly composed of Spells, Newt will want a deck full of CREATURES, and everyone else is a different degrees of MIXED where they lean closer to having more spells or having more creatures.
It is highly discouraged to make a harry/hermy deck with more than one or two creatures (which are usually either Three Headed Dog, or Skrewt, or Golden Snitch＊), same for Newt decks having more than one or two spells.
【continued......】
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Reading your effects (cards and echoes)
The reason Harry and Hermione want to stick to spells, is because Harry's spell that are 3 mana and less will get damage/healing buff, and Hermione will boost the most expensive spell in her hand after using three other spells. Their echo effect do not benefit from the addition of creature cards at all. Which is why to maximize their echo effect, less creatures is always better for them.
On the other side of the spectrum, Newt's echo effect will generate a 1 mana cost creature after playing three creature cards. Again, to maximize his effect, less spell is better.
While the other echoes are still dependent on specific cards and will lean more heavily towards more spells or more creatures, the final result will generally be a mixed deck. Like Neville or Hagrid, their main focus will be one or two creatures, but will include supportive spells. And Snape or Bella, who prefer spells but will bring creatures of specific functions for support.
Picking your cards:
While it is possible to separate cards into categories like 'support' or 'damage dealing', etc. For the purpose of DECK BUILDING, I propose an alternative sorting system that will make it slightly easier to pick your cards.
Your Main Focus/Central Card
The One (or Two) card that will be central to your strategy.
Your complimentary cards/support
Four or five cards that will boost your central card or will give extra value to your central strategy.
Counter-Picks/Tech Cards
One or two cards picked specifically to deal with weaknesses or problems that your strategy struggle with.
Picking your Echo Bonuses
The mentality for echo bonus is usually "It's got ONE bonus that I really like. It will have to do." and not bother trying to optimize echo bonuses too much until you get to a really high level. You need to farm gold echoes and spend lots of coins, even then you won't always get bonuses you like.
yEr a WIzaRD, heRRy
Harry's echo grants damage and healing boost to all spells that are 3 cost or lower. Naturally, we include cheap spells. Your main combo are the following: Oppugno + Broom & Inflatus + Bewitched Snowball. These are the cards that deal the highest damage in Harry's arsenal.
Due to the fact that Harry spams a lot of cheap spells, we can benefit from the discount effect of Three Headed Dog. Note that you should ONLY use the dog when its 0 cost. Not when its 3 cost, not when its 2, and not when its 1. Only use at 0 cost.
With that in mind, here are a collection of cards that synergise well with Harry, written in the aforementioned three category format:
⭐Central Cards:
Bewitched Snowball, Oppugno
:MagicalWand: Supports:
Inflatus or Incarcerous (for snowball)
Broom (for Oppugno)
Expulso (very useful for Harry after damage buff)
Nebulus
Stupefy
Expelliarmus
Episkey or Essence of Dittany
Portkey
Prior Incantanto (Note: copied 3 cost cards becoming 4 cost CAN benefit from echo buff. Have fun with double Snowball)
Three Headed Dog (discount)
Golden Snitch ＊function includes extra mana for casting and movement cards for kiting)
Manticore (not recommended, but you could use this if you desperately need more movement)
Skrewt
🗒️ Techs:
Acromantula Venom
Incendio
Atmosphere Charm
Crucio
Ideally, Harry echo should not include any of the cards listed in the Techs section. Harry echo demands high precision and a noticeably higher skill level to play well. Using your cheap spells smartly to dispatch swarm of creatures, stupefy to pinball Piertotum Locomotor, breaking dragon eggs with Max Range snowballs, etc. Instead of relying on the tech cards like venom or atmosphere charm.
Echo bonuses to look out for:
Priority, in order, Bewitched Snowball, Oppugno, Expulso, Broom, Stupefy (or Expelliarmus), everything else in the support card section.
https://youtu.be/UdRphSFXxfg
Among harry's choice of companions, there are TWO very important cards that you will wish to squeeze into the roster. Luna Lovegood Companion and Prof. McGonagall companion. Unfortuntately, neither Luna companion or Prof. McGonagall are available in global yet. But as they are integral to future Harry echo combos, we will talk about them for a bit.
The moment you summon Prof. McGonagall, she will transfigure every unit on the map into a small critter. Transfigured units take extra damage, and are slowed (and unable to attack, if they are creature or companion units). This is essentially a screen wide time-out button.
While she is on the field, every time you use a card, she will transfigure a random unit on the field. Which means if there is only the enemy wizard, she will consistently transfigure them, constantly slowing them and let you deal extra damage.
After you have cast 8 cards, she will summon a single piertotum locomotor statue.
Ideally, you wait until 9 or 10 mana, put down Prof. McGonagall, and spam all your spells in quick succession. You can hide/protect her with Nebulus, prolonging her presence on the field and creating pressure through slow effect/summon statue.
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While Luna Lovegood companion is on the field, every time you cast a spell, she will summon a random creature of corresponding cost -1. For example, cast a 3 mana spell, she will summon a random 2 cost creature for you. After accumulating a total of 20 mana, she will summon a Thestral, which deals high damage in a small area. Again, protect her with Nebulus, and spam your spells after waiting for 10 or 9 mana. She will summon a swarm of creatures for you, and if enemy doesn't kill her quickly, will summon a hard hitting thestral.
But for now....
In global, we suggest using Lottie, Ron, Hagrid.
Replace Lottie with Grawp or Frey Twins, or Cassandra.
Hermione Granger, Minister of Magic, Queen of HPMA
It is no exaggeration that Hermy echo has dominated (and continues to dominate) the HPMA meta with her simplistic yet powerful echo effect.
Her echo effect involves halving the most expensive card in hand and boosting it's card level by 1 (50% probability for level boost) after playing three spells.
And so the usual way to build her is to pick One very expensive spell, and bring a whole bunch of cheap spells to facilitate her echo buff. Some variations pick Two very expensive spells and let the echo effect buff them in rotation.
However we will discuss the two most popular hermy deck, the Hermy Thunderstorm, and the Hermy Firework/Whizbang.
I am not kidding when I say that Thunderstorm and Whizbang are almost always banned every month.
⭐Central Cards:
Thunderstorm, for thunderstorm
or
Whizbang, for Whizbang
:plus: Supports:
Oppugno+Broom (solid damage and cheap spell)
Expulso
Nebulus
Portkey (for thunderstorm)
Prior Incantanto (if aiming for double thunderstorm)
Incarcerous (whizbang component)
Inflatus (whizbang component)
Incendio or Sectum Sempra (your secondary source of dps)
Three Headed Dog
Stupefy
Expelliarmus
Side Along Apparition
Essence of Dittany or Episkey
Snowball
Blast Ended Skrewt
Golden Snitch＊
:tasks: Techs:
Acromantula Venom (grounded creatures)
Accio (snipe companions and dragon eggs)
Atmosphere Charm (healing reduction, vs. hagrid and neville)
Confringo (newt creature swarm)
Crucio (ron or grawp or fiendfyre)
Aquamenti (all of the above mentioned functions, but with less efficiency)
Sample of Thunder Hermy and Whizbang Hermy.
Again, Luna and Prof. Mcgonagall are very strong picks for her, but its not available yet.
Lottie/Grawp/Frey Twins are all worth considering. Cassandra is helpful in dealing with creatures but bad against spells. Use Hermy companion as 1st if you want double thunderstorm.
Ron as second companion, or Hermy.
Hagrid as third.
Thunder Hermy brings Portkey? Why Portkey?
You can throw the boot into enemy nebulus and break the fog. The portkey will grant vision, allowing Thunderstorm to hit things that are hiding inside.
Bewitched snowball follows a similar logic. The snowman with the aoe slow effect also grants vision into nebulus, but it is a lot less reliable than portkey since people can just dodge snowball, potentially letting it roll past the nebulus entirely.
If you don't find snowball to be a good fit for your deck, replace Snowball for something more useful, like three headed dog.
Proof that boot can pierce nebulus
https://youtu.be/PliDf95F7mI
Sample of Whizbang
Remember that your echo discount occurs after three spells.
So generally you'll be using: cheap, cheap, cheap spell, then play the buffed expensive spell.
For thunderstorm, cheap cheap cheap (example, oppugno into broom, then expulso) to discount the thunderstorm in your hand. Then you play thunderstorm. If enemy has nebulus, you wait for 2 additional mana, play thunderstorm and immediately throw portkey into enemy nebulus. For the sake of optimization, cheap->cheap->portkey->thunderstorm (after waiting for mana to play both portkey and thunderstorm immediately).
For whizbang, cheap cheap spell, then a control spell, then whizbang. (example: oppugno into broom, then wait 7 mana, incarcerous into discounted 4 mana whizbang).
Additional footages of Thunder Hermy:
https://youtu.be/SiCZcWDwt2I
https://youtu.be/ssUWv5phr64
What is Double Thunderstorm? And Triple Thunderstorm?
Prior Incantanto allows you to copy a spell you previously used. Through precise control of card rotation, it is possible to play two thunderstorms in quick succession. This is known as the double thunderstorm. To achieve this, the sequence of cards should be:
Cheap, cheap, cheap, buff the thunderstorm but don't play it yet.
Then, cheap, cheap, discounted thunderstorm, into discounted prior incantanto copied thunderstorm.
The Hermione companion will immediately use an identical spell when you put her down and cast a spell. So Hermy companion is required to achieve triple thunderstorm.
(In the future, after Dumbledore companion releases, its possible to achieve quadruple thunderstorm, because dumbledore will enhance a spell you cast to trigger twice. So its dumble-enhanced thunderstorm that triggers twice + priori thunderstorm + hermy companion thunderstorm)
Regular thunderstorm sequence
Regular Whizbang Sequence
Echo bonuses to look out for:
Thunderstorm or Whizbang
Prior Incantanto, Oppugno, Expulso, Nebulus, Inflatus, Incarcerous, Three headed Dog, and anything in the support card section.
You can also fish for bonuses on your companions, particularly Hermy companion. Every level she gains means the spell she copies hits harder, she has slightly more HP to survive a bit longer.
Newt: Fantastic Duels and How to Win Them
Technically, as long as your newt deck is filled with creatures, it will have a decent chance to work out fine. However we will dig into the finer points of what makes a good newt deck.
Newt excells in the 'zerg rush' strategy, where the aim is to fill the field so full of creatures that enemy has no heads or tails on what to kill first, and every attempt at kiting the creatures just means getting attacked every step of the way from different angles. Hence, slow creatures or creatures with high cost are not recommended to be included into newt decks. (Looking at all of you Opal Eye, Piertotum Locomotor, Dragon Egg and Fiendfyres....)
Although "Fast" is the keyword here, Newt could use some immobile creatures to great effect too. Like Firework Box, Acromantula Nest or Whomping Willow. But these are counter measures for going against creature decks. Their value diminishes greatly when up against spell decks. Which is why we will not include them in our sample build.
I will provide you with the sample build of Ashwinder Newt
⭐Central Cards:
Ashwinder, Bombtastic Bomb
:MagicalWand: Supports:
Niffler
Phoenix ＊ (this is complicated. we will explain later)
Golden Snitch
Manticore
Matagot
Pixie
Monster Book (primarily to pierce nebulus. books have low damage and are really frail, spend mana elsewhere until necessary)
Centaur
Blast Ended Skrewt
🗒️ Techs:
Acromantula Nest (against grounded creature decks, like Hagrid Fiendfyre/Statues, or Neville Dragon Egg)
Firecrab (creatures in general, good at tanking thunderstorm)
Whomping Willow (slightly more useful against spell deck, can tank thunderstorm but badly)
Firework Box
Crucio (if you REALLY hate Ron :VolCry: :VolCry: :VolCry: :VolCry: )
Wait a minute, but what about including ___ (insert creature name here)?
Oh, you mean things like Fwooper, Troll, Unicorn, Erumpet, Thunderbird and countless other creatures that have not been listed?
Sorry to say, but they are just not good creatures overall.
Newt's echo effect will randomly create thunderbirds and erumpets for you. For 1 mana cost. There is no reason to draft the actual thunderbird or erumpet cards into the deck.
Troll is too slow, Unicorn takes too long to heal (and gets countered by atmosphere charm and venom). Fwooper is too frail and flies around randomly, potentially sending enemy creatures into random directions as well. Though Fwooper is very excellent at countering enemy creature decks, it is still a frustrating card to use and easily killed with 2 mana oppugno or 3 mana cards. Most damning is the fact that these are all 5 mana. Too costly but not providing much value in return.
Spiders and Occamy is Just Bad™️. Stack of Monster Book of Monsters takes 7 mana but dies to a single cast of Incendio which is 4 mana, putting you at a 3 mana disadvantage. Please don't ever use stack of books with Newt.
Swelling Solution?
Not necessary. You could use it if you want, but Bombtastic Bomb is so much better, and we are already using Bombtastic Bomb.
Consequently, Manticores (after they finish dancing) grant a substantial speed boost to anything nearby. A well timed Manticore dance finish can make your pixies and matagot blazingly fast along with Bombtastic Bomb.
For companions, we suggest Lottie or Cassandra first. Again, Cassandra is bad against spells but good against creatures.
Ron second, OR, bring Ivy as second companion. Ivy can vanish enemy Ron, and since most people put him as the second companion, Ivy is placed second to counter him. If you really hate Ron for sweeping away all your creatures, consider including Ivy.
Hagrid or Prof. McGonagall (once she becomes available) as 3rd. And yes, Prof. McGonagall can trigger off creatures too. Which is why she is also valuable addition for Newt.
Video samples of me playing Newt (I forgot to remove Hagrid as first companion, that was embarrassing :IvyCry: )
https://youtu.be/WFjjQBcCEqc
https://youtu.be/rpvjsdwg7bQ
Putting aside the fact that some cards are not available, the general strategy is clear:
You play a few creatures, then once you have a couple of echo generated 1 mana cards in hand, and an Ashwinder (or are about to draw the Ashwinder), wait till 10 mana. Then place down Ashwinder, and quickly spam all of the other cards.
When against spells, place Ashwinder closer to the center so the little fire snakes can reach the wizard at the backline.
When against creatures, place Ashwinder further back, since enemy creatures will be running towards us you don't need to place Ashwinder too close and put them in danger.
Personally I found that the sequence of: Ashwinder + Bombtastic Bomb + Niffler, then spamming all the 1 mana cards, to be my most comfortable way to play.
Sadly, Golden Snitch is not available. So the spam will be a lot slower. But it should still be frightening to go up against.
-----
Echo Bonuses for Newt
Whatever your central card is. For this sample deck, it happens to be Ashwinder and Bombtastic Bomb.
Then, in order of importance: Matagot, Pixie, Acromantula Nest/Whomping Willow, Firecrab. And literally any other creature under the sun that you could feasible include into your deck. (that are not named in the 'why not these creatures?' section)
Addendum: echo bonus no longer apply to generated cards, sorry guys. Don't aim for thunderbird or erumpet bonus now.
What's up with phoenix?
Phoenix, on its own, is a very bad card actually. However it brings some very interesting side benefits, of which we are aiming to take advantage of right now.
The hidden function of phoenix is that it compresses your deck. every deck must contain 8 cards. But if you have phoenix, after playing phoenix it does not cycle back into the deck anymore until it dies three times. This essentially makes your deck become only 7 cards temporarily at the cost of spending 7 mana.
This is very important because if your deck is 7 cards and you can arrange your card order correctly, it will loop seamlessly, and you will always get the cards you want. however if you have 8 cards, then there is an element of RNG in your card cycling, there is a chance that you wont get the card you want.
This is very advantageous for decks that aim to cycle through cards quickly to spam their cards. Of which we are doing with our Ashwinder Spam.
Consequently, some Harry or Hermione decks included Phoenix! Yes, they did. And they also were aiming to compress their deck through phoenix. However I've never personally liked them. So for any brave souls wanting to experiment with quick-cycle Harry or quick-cycle Hermy, this is the clue of one of their gimmick. Good luck figuring out the rest of the deck.
Snape: What is that Mysterious Ticking Noise™️? :SnapeReally:
It's a time bomb!:VolCry: 💣 It's a time turner!
This is the section on how to build a Snape deck. Snape's echo effect will enhance his normal attack damage, and allow it to bounce to an extra target every second attack. Which is why to build his deck, we must play around this strength of empowered normal attack.
The unique thing about Snape deck is that Time Turner and the Kevin Companion are absolutely mandatory. No room for negotiations. You want to play snape, you bring these two. No exception.
But consequently, Snape can include literally every card in the game into their support category, depending on what strategy you're aiming for. Creatures, spells, as long as they are not Really Bad Cards™️, you can give them a try.
⭐Central Cards:
Time Turner (MANDATORY)
Kevin (also Mandatory)
:MagicalWand: Supports (TOO MANY TO COUNT):
(But for consistency's sake, here I will include my personal preferred cards for snape)
Oppugno
Nebulus
Expulso
Golden Snitch
Expelliarmus
Stupefy
Incarcerous
Acromantula Venom
Inflatus
Accio
Swelling Solution
Niffler
Matagot
Whomping Willow
Firecrab
Pixies
Ashwinder
Bombtastic Bomb (ESPECIALLY if you are a snape deck with extra creatures)
Portkey (if you run creatures, also funny with firecrab)
Manticore+Bludger
Incendio
Acromantula Nest
Crucio
🗒️ Techs:
Howler
Atmosphere Charm
Sectum Sempra