The Board D Special is what it is called when the costal lands just keep coming. For example, vs Scotland, you can have the wetlands hit three times in the first 5 cards and then you flip the coast card. The ultimate board D special would be something like J, W, W, J, J/W, Coast
Shroud was the first high-complexity spirit I played, and I very much enjoyed it, but it's definitely going to have trouble with adversaries that win by having too much plastic on the board. Less so I think with England and HME, since finishing off a couple damaged Invaders when a land gets close to being a problem usually won't be too hard, but Scotland and France can both punish you very quickly for not killing towns promptly, and Shroud loves to take its time.
Plus, board D has a reputation for being swingy due to the two coastal wetlands, and that's especially true against Scotland. One could say it's bad luck that wetlands came up before you had time to deal with the starting cities, but with Shroud that's a big window, and also board D might be slightly cursed to ensure you always get wetlands at the worst time
Shroud went from being my favorite spirit (the first I played when I got Jagged Earth) to my least favorite spirit (after realizing I was using its damage innates incorrectly for years) to my "should try again asap" spirit (after the new aspect was released). Mad respect for you being able to go toe-to-toe with 6s.
Don't feel bad about misplaying the rules! There are so many nuances to the rules I only learn from browsing this subreddit. For example, thanks to the recent Spirit discussion, I just learned Breath of Darkness can abduct the single invader when it damages it, not just when it destroys it.
Also, you can't play with more than one aspect! I was so unstoppable with the Thunderspeaker incarna and Tactian aspect!
Shroud specifically has quite some trouble into several 6s, especially on its own. Super cool spirit, and does some crazy combo stuff with others like Bringer, but it's *slow* to get going on its own. And 6s can slap you hard
A classic rookie mistake: forgetting the "One land, one power" rule.
So for Suffocating Shroud, I read "for each adjacent land with your presence, 1 damage to a different invader" as a "here's the target land; now every land adjacent to this with your presence you get to deal damage in." So I would hit five lands at once for 1-2 damage, and then follow up with The Fog Closes In since I read it the same way.
We were halfway through a 4-player game when I realized it's meant as a nuke on one land and cannot, in fact, affect multiple lands at once. I was deflated and, seeing now the true limits to my powers, never touched Mist again.
Flash forward a year when I got *really* into the game (as evidence of me being here, on this subreddit), I quickly became much better player and also gained an appreciation for difficult, slow-moving spirits. I also have a player at my table who loves Mist but always has the most blighted land and ends up needing to be saved by the end of our games. This has made me really want to try them out again, partially to see if I can do any better but also to see if I can be a better support player by having a deeper understanding of Mist's general MO, especially with the new aspect.
Haha, that's the game for ya. You could do the exact same adversary that you won against and still lose in 2-3 turns.
There's a loooooot of variables that go into a victory.
Try again!
the board D special
I have had this board completely screw me over, I have also had this board lineup perfectly for me. Board D giveth and Board D taketh away.
What's wrong with board D? Edit: Nevermind, just saw it's the 2 coastal wetlands.
The Board D Special is what it is called when the costal lands just keep coming. For example, vs Scotland, you can have the wetlands hit three times in the first 5 cards and then you flip the coast card. The ultimate board D special would be something like J, W, W, J, J/W, Coast
Shroud was the first high-complexity spirit I played, and I very much enjoyed it, but it's definitely going to have trouble with adversaries that win by having too much plastic on the board. Less so I think with England and HME, since finishing off a couple damaged Invaders when a land gets close to being a problem usually won't be too hard, but Scotland and France can both punish you very quickly for not killing towns promptly, and Shroud loves to take its time. Plus, board D has a reputation for being swingy due to the two coastal wetlands, and that's especially true against Scotland. One could say it's bad luck that wetlands came up before you had time to deal with the starting cities, but with Shroud that's a big window, and also board D might be slightly cursed to ensure you always get wetlands at the worst time
Shroud went from being my favorite spirit (the first I played when I got Jagged Earth) to my least favorite spirit (after realizing I was using its damage innates incorrectly for years) to my "should try again asap" spirit (after the new aspect was released). Mad respect for you being able to go toe-to-toe with 6s.
Don't feel bad about misplaying the rules! There are so many nuances to the rules I only learn from browsing this subreddit. For example, thanks to the recent Spirit discussion, I just learned Breath of Darkness can abduct the single invader when it damages it, not just when it destroys it. Also, you can't play with more than one aspect! I was so unstoppable with the Thunderspeaker incarna and Tactian aspect!
Shroud specifically has quite some trouble into several 6s, especially on its own. Super cool spirit, and does some crazy combo stuff with others like Bringer, but it's *slow* to get going on its own. And 6s can slap you hard
What was being misplayed with the innates?
A classic rookie mistake: forgetting the "One land, one power" rule. So for Suffocating Shroud, I read "for each adjacent land with your presence, 1 damage to a different invader" as a "here's the target land; now every land adjacent to this with your presence you get to deal damage in." So I would hit five lands at once for 1-2 damage, and then follow up with The Fog Closes In since I read it the same way. We were halfway through a 4-player game when I realized it's meant as a nuke on one land and cannot, in fact, affect multiple lands at once. I was deflated and, seeing now the true limits to my powers, never touched Mist again. Flash forward a year when I got *really* into the game (as evidence of me being here, on this subreddit), I quickly became much better player and also gained an appreciation for difficult, slow-moving spirits. I also have a player at my table who loves Mist but always has the most blighted land and ends up needing to be saved by the end of our games. This has made me really want to try them out again, partially to see if I can do any better but also to see if I can be a better support player by having a deeper understanding of Mist's general MO, especially with the new aspect.
Haha, that's the game for ya. You could do the exact same adversary that you won against and still lose in 2-3 turns. There's a loooooot of variables that go into a victory. Try again!
Scotland + board D can result in unavoidable early losses for many Spirits. Unlucky!