Quote Originally Posted by Achilles View Post
Yeah, exactly. I can sum up exactly where TAO went south in one, simple sentence.

After the mudquake was introduced, even if I was a better player than my opponent, they could move beneath all of my units and mudquake my entire team on the first turn if they simply got a better hand in how our setups matched up.
If a mudquake could ruin your strategy then it was not a good one to begin with. You shouldn't be allowed to hunker down and win a game against an equally skilled player. The attacker must always be favored, otherwise the game dies. Rushes will always be more commonly used because most people don't like spending hours on a single match. If the are disadvantaged then they will quit.

I agree with some of your sentiments though. I enjoyed fending off rushes with my turtle, to defeat them with my counter attack. Though some sets simply had too large of an advantage to overcome sometimes. But again, it should be the counter attack that wins it. Not the hunkering down. I'm fine with luring opponents into a trap too, but the offensive player should be able to avoid the trap if played properly.

I think the nerf to the ga and wisp, along with the 1 turn wait was really helpful for game balance. A few more tweaks and I think the game could have allowed for a more diverse set distribution.

As an example... I've always liked the idea of a GA attacking from behind a knight wall or shrubs. Making him more durable, but not able to be set close to the front row would be interesting. If you can march your GA across the board to be in range of your opponents cleric, then you deserve to have his cleric.