‘A Druid deck…’

Druids possess a truly ambiguous synergy.

A synergy so ambiguous that it naturally falls outside the meta.

Druids receive the energy of nature, increasing their recovery power.

(2) Increases received healing and recovery by 100%

(4) Increases received healing and recovery by 200%

(6) Increases received healing and recovery by 400%

(8) Increases received healing and recovery by 800%

The Gunslinger became a definitive meta because it possessed an intuitive synergy: increased armor penetration.

The core of the Gunslinger deck was that it grew stronger the more synergy you stacked, and anyone could easily replicate it.

The fact that even lower-tier players could easily utilize the synergy was the biggest reason it became the meta.

In contrast, while the Hardcore Assassin deck could be awkwardly imitated, it lacked the elements to become a definitive meta.

The Assassin’s trait of moving to the farthest enemy after stealth, and the synergy’s trait of only dealing massive damage on the first attack.

It was a deck that could only function properly if both conditions were met and placement was carefully managed.

Of course, if a proper operation method were revealed, such problems would be solved, but it was safe to say there was no player who would do such a good deed for others.

Well, for me, it was an unavoidable situation.

Anyway, this meant that the Druid deck Chasey requested was bound to be far more difficult than even the Hardcore Assassin deck.

To utilize the Druid synergy, one first needed a means of health recovery.

The first problem was that since I didn’t know what skills champions at 2-Cost or below possessed, I had to rely on luck.

If you organized a Druid deck but the champions lacked health recovery skills, it was essentially a trash synergy with no effect whatsoever.

Of course, there were other synergies that aided health recovery, but allocating limited unit slots to other synergies would result in a jack-of-all-trades situation, inevitably weakening the deck.

The second problem was more serious.

Even if the Druid synergy was properly activated, it simultaneously lacked both attack power and defense.

When constructing a deck, one needed something outstanding in either attack power or defense for it to exert its full potential.

The Gunslinger and Assassin decks had excellent attack power.

Just as the shieldbearer deck I encountered during the Placement Exam had excellent defense.

But the Druid synergy had this indecisive recovery-boosting synergy.

It would exert considerable power during the early build-up phase where damage was lacking, but it could be seen as a synergy that rapidly loses steam from the mid-game where other players’ values start rising.

If it were simply for the sake of tier ranking, it was a synergy that should be decisively discarded…

“How is it? Did you think of something?”

Eyes full of expectation.

Having already received Chasey’s help, I couldn’t tell her to abandon the Druid synergy.

I had to devise a method somehow…

There was no answer through conventional methods.

So, I just needed to approach it with an unconventional method.

Fortunately, a strategy for her had just popped into my head.

A strategy that an average player would find difficult to accept.

First, I needed to confirm Chasey’s resolve.

“The Druid synergy is a deck with a massive risk compared to other synergies. Because if there are no health recovery skills, it has no effect at all.”

“I’ll take the risk.”

“It might be difficult to raise your tier right away.”

“I’m not going to participate in the battlefield simply for the sake of my tier.”

Despite the negative words, Chasey did not waver.

“You might not be able to play Ranked Matches right away. Is that okay?”

Unlike games with fixed champions, the synergies and champion skills that appeared in the battlefield changed every time, making it difficult to have a universally applicable deck.

To practice this, she would need to participate in Private battlefields with fixed synergies rather than Ranked Matches.

“It’s fine! I wasn’t planning on playing Ranked Matches yet anyway. I’m not ready.”

Well, since the Private battlefield in Luteran was her first experience, she was still at the stage where she needed to build up experience.

I was the weird one for participating in Ranked Matches as soon as I acquired player qualifications; most people built up experience in Private battlefields before joining Ranked Matches.

Even Hans experienced a few Private battlefields before going through Ranked Matches.

“I’ll ask a few questions.”

“Go ahead.”

Before deciding the direction of the deck, I first needed to grasp exactly what kind of deck Chasey wanted. I was consulting her deck to match her style, after all.

“How many Item combination formulas do you have?”

“I have three. Though they are formulas my father lent me.”

Three Item combination formulas?

For now, this was a passing grade in Bronze Tier.

Of course, as her tier rose, she would need to acquire new formulas suited for her deck, but it would be fine to use for now.

“Do you have any thoughts on using other synergies besides Druid? Like Mage or Gunslinger.”

If what she wanted was not a deck composed solely of Druids, but a deck that utilized Druids, there were plenty of methods.

However, Chasey shook her head firmly.

“No. It’s meaningless unless it’s a pure-blooded Druid deck made only of Druids.”

Phew-

What meaning could she possibly be talking about.

I couldn’t understand Chasey’s pathological obsession with Druids at all.

“Of course, using other champions during the build-up process is fine. I know that much is unavoidable.”

Chasey made a sullen expression.

She knew that Druids wouldn’t appear in every shop, so she had to make at least minimal concessions.

But I was an expert in this field.

“No. I’ll design a deck that uses only Druids as much as possible.”

“Huh?”

If what she truly wanted was a Druid deck, I just needed to accommodate her.

I also hated stereotypical metas and enjoyed off-meta strategies, so building such a deck was my specialty.

“Open Port. That’s the core of the operation you’ll be doing from now on.”

Open Port Strategy.

This would become the representative operation method that symbolized Chasey Einthoven.

“Oven Boat? What’s that…?”

Open Port meant leaving the battlefield empty. In other words.

“It’s a strategy of intentionally losing.”

“What?”

Chasey’s reaction was natural.

The core and true skill of the battlefield was, after all, ‘health management’.

Open Port was an absurd strategy that directly contradicted that.

“Intentionally losing…”

Why on earth?

It felt like the player knowledge Chasey had built up until now was collapsing.

Can I really trust this person?

‘No. He’s the person who even countered the Holy King’s Box Formation. I must be the one failing to understand.’

If she decided to trust him, she should trust him to the end.

Chasey’s personality of pushing through with what she decided kicked in once again.

“I could say the core of Open Port strategy is the concept of trading health for gold.”

“Trade gold and health…?”

But at the following words, Chasey couldn’t help but make a dumbfounded expression.

It was a level of strategy beyond understanding that she hadn’t even felt when receiving education from her father, Federer Einthoven.

She had no choice but to listen quietly and cram as much knowledge into her head as possible.

She couldn’t miss a golden opportunity like this.

“I’ll tell you the core of Open Port strategy.”

There are two ways to acquire gold aside from the basic gold income.

The first is acquiring gold through losing streaks.

And the second is acquiring gold through interest.

The Open Port strategy was a method that maximized both of these methods.

Born from the crazy idea of saving even the gold to be spent on champions just to see interest, the extreme interest management method was precisely the Open Port strategy.

Of course, what I would teach her was a slightly modified Open Port strategy. Games and battlefields were similar but different, so it inevitably had to go through a localization process.

“When facing a player, you must never place champions on the battlefield.”

“Not place champions at all?”

It wouldn’t be easy to understand.

Open Port strategy was fundamentally a very high-risk strategy.

It was a strategy that didn’t even work well in Bronze Tier, practically an obsolete strategy.

But in the battlefield, the situation was different.

What was the commonality when losing in games and battlefields?

It was that health decreased.

But there was one distinct difference here.

Unlike games where the more enemy champions survived, the more damage you took.

The battlefield was a place where, even if you lost, there was no additional health consumption as long as you didn’t re-hire dead allied champions.

This difference in damage calculation methods made Open Port strategy realistic.

If health was consumed to re-hire dead champions, then you just had to leave the battlefield empty so they wouldn’t die in the first place.

As the battlefield progressed, the damage taken when losing increased.

That meant, conversely, if you lost consecutively in the early stages, you could manage your health to some extent.

Keep opening the gates. Endure and persist.

Then detonate all the accumulated gold at once.

That was the Open Port strategy.

“Now, the start of the battlefield is from 40 health.”

“Start from 40…?”

Chasey’s head tilted to one side. Chasey kept repeating the number 40 to herself. She didn’t understand.

“Why 40?”

The number 40 implied many meanings, but it would be difficult for Chasey to understand this.

Because her fundamental concept of approaching the battlefield was different from mine.

I provided the specific number 40 to explain it as easily as possible.

When thinking about the overall composition of the battlefield.

The first stage, rounds 1-1 and 1-2, was monster hunting.

From stage 2, where full-scale battles with players began, the following sequence was repeated.

Rounds 1-3 – Random player

Round 4 – Shared Selection

Rounds 5-6 – Random player

Round 7 – Monster Hunting

That meant you were matched with 5 players per stage.

When losing in stage 2, you took 6 health damage per round.

In stage 3, it increased to 10 damage, and in stage 4, to 14 damage.

The moment your health reached 40 after continuously stacking losses in battles against players without wasting health on re-hiring champions was precisely.

Round 3-4. The Shared Selection Round.

“There are four core sections for the Open Port strategy to succeed.”

The monster hunting of stage 1.

The 2-4 Shared Selection Round.

The 2-7 Monster Hunting Round.

And finally, the 3-4 Shared Selection Round, the point where health reaches 40.

“First, there are two things you need to hire from the shop until then. Druids and Assassins. You can ignore everything else besides these two types of champions.”

Saving even the gold used for build-up was the core of Open Port strategy, so there was no need to waste resources on champions outside the targeted synergy.

Chasey asked back.

“Assassins?”

“Yes, Assassins.”

It might seem out of the blue, but thinking about it, it was obvious.

In Ranked Matches, the appearing synergies changed every time, so you couldn’t solely aim for Druids.

If you used an extreme strategy and there were no Druids in the battlefield, it was a direct path to 8th place.

Even if things went well and you got 1st place in one game, if you alternated between 1st and 8th, it was ultimately maintaining the status quo.

Therefore, considering the worst-case scenario, you had to aim for the Hardcore Assassin deck as well, which was good for defending your rank.

“If Druids appear in the shop, you can sell all the Assassins from then on.”

Of course, keeping minimal collateral wasn’t mandatory. It was assuming the Druid strategy, after all.

Chasey raised her hand slightly and asked a question.

“But if we’re not even placing them, is there a need to buy champions?”

“Phew-“

I really have to teach her from the very beginning.

When I let out a sigh at Chasey’s words, she lowered her head as if embarrassed.

Well, since it deviated from common sense, it wouldn’t be easy to understand.

“If you don’t utilize the shop, it’s the same as throwing away 2 gold every round. Even if your interest decreases, it’s more profitable to buy what you need.”

“Ah…”

Adding the probability that Druids won’t appear when refreshing the shop, the consumption cost increased.

And the biggest reason for buying champions early was because of round 2-7.

The 2-7 Monster Hunting Round.

Due to the nature of Open Port, where the deck wasn’t properly constructed, you could potentially record a loss against monsters.

The most difficult part of Open Port strategy wasn’t players, but monster hunting.

Monster hunting rounds were important rounds where you could obtain combination items, so even with Open Port strategy, you must never lose.

Therefore, the monster hunting round of stage 1, the very beginning of the battlefield, was the most important.

It was a round that could be safely passed just by placing champions to match the numbers, but the difficulty of the strategy changed depending on what items appeared here.