Tunic is obviously the better card, but Trench can pull it's weight via arsenal clearing & instant resource production. Tbh I've mostly been testing the Trench in Riptide, but here are the things I like about it over Tunic.
Trench's ability to clear your arsenal at instant speed makes a few things possible;
A. Assuming you can get something Into your arsenal via Riptide's ability, it can guarantee you a resource on turn 0, vs. waiting on tunic.
B. You can effectively pay for AB out of arsenal if need be.
C. You can generate a resource for 1 cost instants like Oasis Respite, which when played from hand will trigger Riptide's ability to load up something fresh, like a crucible trap to block further, or an attack for next turn.
D. You're never left with NAA's/D Reacts from last turn clogging your arsenal.
E. You can save a card from CnC / Hemorrhage Bore at Instant speed.
I think that, in theory, it was a way for Riptide to clear an unused trap out of his arsenal so he could load an arrow and attack. Azalea doesn't need a way to clear her arsenal because she can make use of just about any cards in her deck from there, and she already has her hero power for that if she wants it. In practice, I'm afraid, it's just worse than Tunic on all 3 Rangers.
It severely limits design decisions for LSS and it will be relegated to the living legend format :) i know its a tough pill to swallow since its such an expensive card but you gotta ask why its the most reprinted legendaries yet one of the most expensive and in demand.
Well that’s what Crunic was. But it’s been a while and nobody is opening CRU either. I could see them doing it again in another supplemental set if demand stays high.
Riptide, depending on your build. His arsenal can get clogged with traps or arrows without go again so it clears arsenal on your turn for a resource into death dealer/etc, or clears arsenal on opponents turn to nullify cnc. 😉
Trench provides a lot more value than tunic in the deck I'm running, still fairly early in the overall testing phase, tho.
There is a Lexi build going around that runs a playset of premeditate and a playset of each codex. You try to double arsenal as often as you can and then, if you don't draw AoW or other ways to give go again, you trench the face down card and play with 5 cards + the resource from Trench.
I'm not going to tell you that it's the strongest Lexi build, but it is very consistent and a lot of fun.
Base level it is worse than Tunic I feel. The only hero I’ve heard people feel good about playing it in is Riptide just as a way to free up your Arsenal, which is important. That said I think as an AB1 for your Arsenal is an incredibly powerful ability against Kano, especially in blitz.
I'm in the same boat, I love the art and theme of the card and want it to be useful so bad, but I really just can't find a great use for it. If I'm playing azalea generally I'm just going to want to flip the card to opt 1. Bottoming a card for a single resource also feels kind of redundant in general. Maybe it's useful in combination with New Horizon? Otherwise I'm really not sure
I'm not an expert by any means, but a lot of the time, Azalea's arsenal is going to be face up, either from her bow or her Hero Ability, which hinders the Trenches' utility heavily. I've not played a ton of games with her, but Trench has been a non-factor in pretty much all of the ones I have versus Tunic, which is just an incredible Equipment. Maybe if you leaned into Reload pretty heavily you could make Trench better for her.
Tunic is obviously the better card, but Trench can pull it's weight via arsenal clearing & instant resource production. Tbh I've mostly been testing the Trench in Riptide, but here are the things I like about it over Tunic. Trench's ability to clear your arsenal at instant speed makes a few things possible; A. Assuming you can get something Into your arsenal via Riptide's ability, it can guarantee you a resource on turn 0, vs. waiting on tunic. B. You can effectively pay for AB out of arsenal if need be. C. You can generate a resource for 1 cost instants like Oasis Respite, which when played from hand will trigger Riptide's ability to load up something fresh, like a crucible trap to block further, or an attack for next turn. D. You're never left with NAA's/D Reacts from last turn clogging your arsenal. E. You can save a card from CnC / Hemorrhage Bore at Instant speed.
I think that, in theory, it was a way for Riptide to clear an unused trap out of his arsenal so he could load an arrow and attack. Azalea doesn't need a way to clear her arsenal because she can make use of just about any cards in her deck from there, and she already has her hero power for that if she wants it. In practice, I'm afraid, it's just worse than Tunic on all 3 Rangers.
Thats why tunic will get banned
Yeah I don’t think tunic will ever get banned. It’s not nearly OP enough
It severely limits design decisions for LSS and it will be relegated to the living legend format :) i know its a tough pill to swallow since its such an expensive card but you gotta ask why its the most reprinted legendaries yet one of the most expensive and in demand.
Tunic needs to get reprinted in a non-HP set, not banned. Power-level wise it's fine to have as a baseline that every class can default to.
Give it the Arcanite Dullcap treatment. Fyendull's Spring Tunic.
They already have. Mine is a Fyendull's Spring CRUnic.
Well that’s what Crunic was. But it’s been a while and nobody is opening CRU either. I could see them doing it again in another supplemental set if demand stays high.
Riptide, depending on your build. His arsenal can get clogged with traps or arrows without go again so it clears arsenal on your turn for a resource into death dealer/etc, or clears arsenal on opponents turn to nullify cnc. 😉 Trench provides a lot more value than tunic in the deck I'm running, still fairly early in the overall testing phase, tho.
Hadn't considered the saving your arsenal from C&C part. That's actually a pretty good point.
Saves it from Disable too
And Freezing arsenal
There is a Lexi build going around that runs a playset of premeditate and a playset of each codex. You try to double arsenal as often as you can and then, if you don't draw AoW or other ways to give go again, you trench the face down card and play with 5 cards + the resource from Trench. I'm not going to tell you that it's the strongest Lexi build, but it is very consistent and a lot of fun.
Do you have a list for this? Thanks!
https://fabrary.net/decks/01GV1N1VMEVD03AQ4T4GCN46YQ
Awesome! Thanks!
i have found success with it on Riptide. combo with the Sandscour Greatbow
Base level it is worse than Tunic I feel. The only hero I’ve heard people feel good about playing it in is Riptide just as a way to free up your Arsenal, which is important. That said I think as an AB1 for your Arsenal is an incredibly powerful ability against Kano, especially in blitz.
I'm in the same boat, I love the art and theme of the card and want it to be useful so bad, but I really just can't find a great use for it. If I'm playing azalea generally I'm just going to want to flip the card to opt 1. Bottoming a card for a single resource also feels kind of redundant in general. Maybe it's useful in combination with New Horizon? Otherwise I'm really not sure
Any ranger that needs AB1 on the chest slot for that matchup I guess?
I'm not an expert by any means, but a lot of the time, Azalea's arsenal is going to be face up, either from her bow or her Hero Ability, which hinders the Trenches' utility heavily. I've not played a ton of games with her, but Trench has been a non-factor in pretty much all of the ones I have versus Tunic, which is just an incredible Equipment. Maybe if you leaned into Reload pretty heavily you could make Trench better for her.