Updating old AI decks

[Sloth]

In the next two days I want to update the old AI decks that have a theme, by adding some new fitting cards. Please help me by pointing out some cards I missed.

Guidelines:
- If you want a quick glimpse at a deck I suggest using a text editor (Wordpad).
- Remember not all cards in forge are usable by the AI.
- It doesn't have to be powerful cards, just cards that support the theme.

So here are the decks I plan to update. If you have suggestions for another deck I will add it to the List. If you think "Hey! I designed this deck. Keep your Hands off it." speak up. If you want to update one of the decks, please volunteer. I certainly need some help.

After the deck names and their theme, I list my possible additions:

Abraham Lincoln (WUR Flying creatures and Flamebreak):

Earthquake
Fault Line
Tremor

*******Done********


Bart Simpson (Keeping creatures tapped with auras: Entangling Vines, Paralyzing Grasp etc.):

Kismet
Frozen AEther
Mystic Restraints
Roots
Thirst
Eternity Snare
Harrier Griffin
Kor Line-Slinger
Seasoned Marshal
Alaborn Cavalier
Flanking Troops
Theft of Dreams
Borrowing 100,000 Arrows

*******Done********


Bela Lugosi (Vampires):

Vampire Nocturnus

*******Done********


Blackbeard (Soldiers):

Aven Brigadier
Ballyrush Banneret
Captain of the Watch
Conqueror's Pledge
Daru Encampment
Daru Warchief
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Field Marshal
Mobilization
Patrol Signaler
Raise the Alarm
Rhox Pikemaster
Veteran Armorsmith
Veteran Swordsmith


*******Done********


Boba Fett (Done), Comic Book Guy (RW Dragons) (Done)

These decks only differ in about 5 cards (with Comic Book guy having Moat), maybe one can become RG with Sarkhan Vol and Viashivan Dragon?

The real Tribal Dragon deck can be mono red (since all synergistic cards are red). We already have one: Rogue.

*******Done********


C3PO (Goblins) (someone should make a medium and easy version of this deck, a mono red goblin deck is also nice to have)

Boggart Birth Rite
Dragon Fodder
Frogtosser Banneret
Goblin Arsonist
Goblin Burrows
Goblin Chieftain
Goblin General
Goblin Grenade
Goblin Guide
Goblin King
Goblin Lackey
Goblin Marshal
Goblin Matron
Goblin Piledriver
Goblin Warchief
Knucklebone Witch
Mogg War Marshal
Reckless One
Siege-Gang Commander
Warren Instigator

*******Done********


Darth Vader (Battle of Wits):

Invincible Hymn
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
Peacekeeper
Meekstone
Magus of the Moat
Wall of Reverence
Windborn Muse
Propaganda
Ghostly Prison
Moat
Collective Restraint
(But maybe it's better to remove all enchantments to always get Battle of Wits with Enlightened Tutor)

*******Done********


Galahad (Knights):

Thistledown Liege
Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers

*******Done********


George of the Jungle (RW Battlegate Mimic):

Balefire Liege

*******Done********


Joe Kidd (WB Nightsky Mimic)

Edge of the Divinity
Mortify
Agent of Masks

*******Done********


King Edward (WUBRG Elementals)

Nova Chaser
Supreme Exemplar

*******Done********


Magnum (UG Shorecrasher Mimic)

Favor of the Overbeing
Fable of Wolf and Owl
Overbeing of Myth
Vedalken Heretic
Jhessian Infiltrator
Lorescale Coatl
Voidslime

*******Done********


Mr Slate (WU Merfolk)

Sejiri Merfolk
Stonybrook Banneret
Stonybrook Schoolmaster

*******Done********


Napoleon (WBG Walls, Rolling Stones and Doran, the Siege Tower)

Stalwart Shield-Bearers
Perimeter Captain

*******Done********


Morpheus (G Elves)

Eladamri, Lord of Leaves
Elvish Archdruid
Elvish Champion
Elvish Harbinger
Elvish Vanguard
Lys Alana Huntmaster
Nissa Revane
Rhys the Redeemed
Wirewood Hivemaster


Picard (WUG Elves)

Safehold Elite
Rhys the Redeemed
Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
Tolsimir Wolfblood

*******Done********

R2-D2 (WU Black Vise + Bounce)

Note: This Deck has white only for two copies of Disenchant. If noone comes up with a reason not to, this deck will be changed to mono U.

Trinket Mage
Upheaval
Sunder
Hoodwink
Vision Skeins
Frozen AEther

*******Done********


Rocky (WUR Pro red, Flamebreak + Tremor + Pyroclasm)

Hazerider Drake
Vedalken Outlander

*******Done********


Rogue (R Dragons)

Crucible of Fire
Dragonmaster Outcast
Dragonspeaker Shaman
(more dragons)

*******Done********

Wilma Flintstone (BG Woodlurker Mimic)

Sapling of Colfenor
Nath of the Gilt-Leaf

*******Done********

Landwalker and Fear decks:

There are six decks with easy, medium and hard versions which contain a few landwalker or feared creatures. These decks need new themes and new interesting cards. An Ally and a Giant based deck(s) could be considered.

Crocodile Dundee (was Mountainwalk)
Da Vinci (was Swampwalk) -> ***Done***
Kojak (was Islandwalk) -> ***Done***
Seabiscuit (was Fear)
Sherlock Holmes (was Forestwalk) -> ***Done***
Wyatt Earp (was Plainswalk) -> ***Done***


Edit by Moderator Chris to show the changes to the old walker decks.

[Chris H.]

In the next two days I want to update the old AI decks that have a theme, by adding some new fitting cards. Please help me by pointing out some cards I missed.

Boba Fett, Comic Book Guy (RW Dragons)

These decks only differ in about 5 cards (with Comic Book guy having Moat), maybe one can become RG with Sarkhan Vol and Viashivan Dragon?

The real Tribal Dragon deck can be mono red (since all synergistic cards are red). We already have one: Rogue.

`
A long, long time ago someone asked what the best deck was. Dennis responded with it might be one that the computer can play and give us a challenging match. Gando and I created some AI decks, including 2 dragon decks.

Rares needed some AI decks for the original quest mode and he borrowed the AI decks that Gando and I had created. Our two dragon decks were fairly similar, the card pool was a lot smaller at that time.

It looks like both decks are using some life gaining spells to buy some time while waiting for enough mana to start summoning dragons. Otherwise, they are very similar.

I just had a real sinister thought. We could ditch the life gaining and direct damage spells in one of these two decks but keep the Flamebreak. Now add in 4 Roc Egg and 4 Rukh Egg. Let's have a fiery omelet. We could keep a few of the dragons in this version but it would be a different enough deck design to give people a new experience to remember.

[Sloth]

I just had a real sinister thought. We could ditch the life gaining and direct damage spells in one of these two decks but keep the Flamebreak. Now add in 4 Roc Egg and 4 Rukh Egg. Let's have a fiery omelet. We could keep a few of the dragons in this version but it would be a different enough deck design to give people a new experience to remember.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I think I will add the Eggs to Comic Book Guy.

Should I leave Boba Fett as it is or add green as a third color?

[Chris H.]

I just had a real sinister thought. We could ditch the life gaining and direct damage spells in one of these two decks but keep the Flamebreak. Now add in 4 Roc Egg and 4 Rukh Egg. Let's have a fiery omelet. We could keep a few of the dragons in this version but it would be a different enough deck design to give people a new experience to remember.

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. I think I will add the Eggs to Comic Book Guy.

Should I leave Boba Fett as it is or add green as a third color?

`
You said we had one strong red dragon deck. If we modify one of the two WR dragon decks as I suggested, we could then turn the other WR dragon deck into a GR dragon deck.

I just checked the deck editor and we have a good selection of red and green multi color spells and creatures. It should be fairly easy to "hide" the fact that it was a dragon deck to start with. Add the two dragons you mentioned and add a couple of Dragon Broodmother. Then fill the deck with those nice and new red and green multi color cards.

I went back to see what you had orginally suggested:

These decks only differ in about 5 cards (with Comic Book guy having Moat), maybe one can become RG with Sarkhan Vol and Viashivan Dragon?

`
So, lets say start with 2 or 3 each of:

Viashivan Dragon
Dragon Broodmother

add 2 Sarkhan Vol

and then the RG multicolor cards as filler.

[Sloth]

Since Comic Book Guy wouldn't be so Dragon heavy any more, i think we can leave white in Bobo Fett . That would enable us to add these beauties:

Palladia-Mors

Rith, the Awakener

Can you say no?

[Chris H.]

Since Comic Book Guy wouldn't be so Dragon heavy any more, i think we can leave white in Bobo Fett . That would enable us to add these beauties:

Palladia-Mors

Rith, the Awakener

Can you say no?

`
WRG looks good with those two legends. There should still be some good filer that uses two of these 3 colors.

[Chris H.]

Since Comic Book Guy wouldn't be so Dragon heavy any more, i think we can leave white in Bobo Fett . That would enable us to add these beauties:

Palladia-Mors

Rith, the Awakener

Can you say no?

`
WRG looks good with those two legends. There should still be some good filer that uses two of these 3 colors.

`
I'm doing some edits to Bobo Fett. Adding additional dragons makes this an expensive deck. But we have green, so I can use Birds of Paradise and/or Druid of the Anima to accelerate the mana. And these chumps will be fed by the AI to the Dragon Broodmother when it creates a token.

[Sloth]

I'm doing some edits to Bobo Fett. Adding additional dragons makes this an expensive deck. But we have green, so I can use Birds of Paradise and/or Druid of the Anima to accelerate the mana. And these chumps will be fed by the AI to the Dragon Broodmother when it creates a token.

Don't forget to add some copies of Dragonspeaker Shaman, they make a big difference. If you need more room, reduce the number of red dragons (maybe even Tarox Bladewing) they can all appear in the Rogue deck

[Chris H.]

Don't forget to add some copies of Dragonspeaker Shaman, they make a big difference. If you need more room, reduce the number of red dragons (maybe even Tarox Bladewing) they can all appear in the Rogue deck

`
OK, this is what I have at this time, not sure if it needs some adjustments or not.

new Boba Fett 3

60 Total Cards

26 Creatures
-------------
1x Brimstone Dragon
2x Dragon Broodmother
2x Dragonmaster Outcast
4x Dragonspeaker Shaman
1x Hunted Dragon
1x Imperial Hellkite
2x Lightning Dragon
1x Palladia-Mors
1x Rith, the Awakener
2x Rorix Bladewing
1x Ryusei, the Falling Star
1x Viashivan Dragon
4x Volcanic Dragon
3x Wall of Blossoms

13 Spells
----------
2x Crucible of Fire
1x Dragon Roost
1x Jayemdae Tome
4x Lightning Helix
1x Mox Emerald
1x Mox Pearl
1x Mox Ruby
2x Sarkhan Vol

21 Land
--------
2x Forest
4x Jungle Shrine
2x Mountain
1x Plains
4x Plateau
4x Savannah
4x Taiga

[Sloth]

The list looks fine already, Chris.

Just some last suggestions:

- One Jugan, the Rising Star could replace a Volcanic Dragon.

- I think mana production is more important than card draw in this deck, so replace Wall of Blossoms with Vine Trellis (or maybe split) and Jayemdae Tome with Cultivate (or Obelisk of Naya or something).

Will you add the deck to the SVN Chris or should I?

[Chris H.]

The list looks fine already, Chris.

Just some last suggestions:

- One Jugan, the Rising Star could replace a Volcanic Dragon.

- I think mana production is more important than card draw in this deck, so replace Wall of Blossoms with Vine Trellis (or maybe split) and Jayemdae Tome with Cultivate (or Obelisk of Naya or something).

Will you add the deck to the SVN Chris or should I?

`
Cultivate will only grab the 5 basic lands and not the dual lands. There are 2 Dragonmaster Outcast in the deck, so I figure add 1 Cultivate. I had an early version with Druid of the Anima. The mana acceleration was nice.

So, I replaced:

1 Volcanic Dragon
1 Jayemdae Tome
3 Wall of Blossoms

with:

1 Cultivate
1 Jugan, the Rising Star
3 Druid of the Anima


I merged this new version into the SVN.

[Chris H.]

R2-D2 (WU Black Vise + Bounce)

Note: This Deck has white only for two copies of Disenchant. If noone comes up with a reason not to, this deck will be changed to mono U.

Trinket Mage
Upheaval
Sunder
Hoodwink
Vision Skeins
Frozen AEther

`
I seem to remember that white was for Enlightened Tutor. Gando hated playing against this deck. I toned it down somewhat, and decided to delete the Enlightened Tutor and later the deck after a number of complaints.

I re-added the deck recently when I saw the total number of decks increase to the point where I felt that people would rarely face this deck in a match.

I think that at this point we can remove the white and make room for a few of those newer cards.

[Sloth]

I seem to remember that white was for Enlightened Tutor. Gando hated playing against this deck. I toned it down somewhat, and decided to delete the Enlightened Tutor and later the deck after a number of complaints.

I re-added the deck recently when I saw the total number of decks increase to the point where I felt that people would rarely face this deck in a match.

I think that at this point we can remove the white and make room for a few of those newer cards.

Ah, interesting informations. This is actually one of my favorite decks (maybe not to play against, but from a design standpoint). I let you decide wether to go the mono blue road or revert it to blue white with Enlightened Tutor.

[Chris H.]

Ah, interesting informations. This is actually one of my favorite decks (maybe not to play against, but from a design standpoint). I let you decide wether to go the mono blue road or revert it to blue white with Enlightened Tutor.

`
Yes, there is some old history going back to when we only had a few quest AI decks.

I like the idea of going mono blue. It is one of the few decks where the computer does not attempt to beat us down with creatures. The Trinket Mage can replace the Enlightened Tutor that used to be in the deck.

[Chris H.]

The several Mimic decks are probably best left until later. When I designed these decks I failed to take into account that the computer would cast most of it's spells during main phase 2.

Rob's new SVar:PlayMain1:TRUE is great for many of the cards and the three of us have added this SVar to most of the cards that needed it. Unfortunately, the Mimics and similar cards require a whole new keyword.

In the ComputerAI_General.getMain1() code the AI would have to check every one of it's cards in play to see if it contained the abBuffedBy keyword. If a card in play returned true then parse the params. Then check cards in hand to see if there is a match. If true then the card in hand should be cast in main 1.

I have figured out the basic logic but I'm not sure if my java/coding skills is up to the task. I do have a few short lines of code:

Code: Select all

private SpellAbility[] getMain1() {
    //Card list of all cards to consider
    CardList hand = new CardList(AllZone.Computer_Hand.getCards());
   
    hand = hand.filter(new CardListFilter() {
        // Beached As Start
        public boolean addCard(Card c) {
            //Collection<Card> play = playMain1Cards;
            if (c.getSVar("PlayMain1").equals("TRUE")) return true;
            if (c.isLand()) return false;
            if (c.isCreature() && (c.getKeyword().contains("Haste")) || c.getKeyword().contains("Exalted")) return true;
           
            CardList buffedBy = new CardList();
            buffedBy.addAll(AllZone.getZone(Constant.Zone.Play, Constant.Player.Computer).getCards());
            buffedBy.filter(new CardListFilter() {
                public boolean addCard(Card card) {
                    return card.getKeyword().contains("abBuffedBy");
                }
            });
           
            if (buffedBy.size() > 0) {
               
            }