Today’s Team: Jaguero Souvenir
P/S Ominous Flame (Spiritfire Bolt, Nimbus, Foreboding Curse)
P/P Baby Ape (Smash, Clobber, Banana Barrage)
S/S Fiendish Imp (Burn, Immolation, Nether Gate)
Strategy:
The Ominous Flame has interested me for awhile so when I finally got over my break from buying and leveling new pets it was one of my first purchases. Nimbus is such a nice support move with its 10% hit rate buff. There are some pets that I generally stay away from because their spammable moves are less than 90% but with Nimbus I feel like I can give them a shot. The Baby Ape is a perfect candidate for a Nimbus buff. Smash hits for 448 damage at 85% but with Nimbus it will hit at 95%, which I can live with. If I can get Foreboding Curse up and then cast Banana Barrage that’ll be some good damage. I hope that Nimbus will buff each of the Banana Barrages but some people have stated that hit buffs only apply to the first turn of multiple attack moves. I’ve not tested it myself or seen evidence one way or the other. Even without the buff it’s a good combo. I decided to take Spiritfire Bolt instead of Burn which leaves me vulnerable to mechs so I took the Imp as a third. There’s some good synergy with Immolation and Forboding Curse. I also feel more comfortable having at least one top tier pet along for the ride.
Concerns:
I’m not sure how to start off. It makes sense to start with the Imp to get Immolation going, but the Flame will have to take a hit on a swap. At only 1400 hp it might be gone after it gets both buffs up.
The Opposing Team:
P/S Death Adder Hatchling
P/P Spineclaw Crab
P/P Crimson Geode
And here I thought I had low health. All of these pets have 1319 hp.
The Battle:
When in doubt, start with the Imp. The Geode is my opponent’s lead off pet. I’m not gonna let the scary 357 power Geode get off an Elementium Bolt so I Gate it out for the Spineclaw. My Imp casts Immolation and takes a Rip. Now I’m in a predicament. I know a Blood In The Water is coming so I have to swap. I don’t want to bring in the Ape without Nimbus but I also don’t want to bring in the elemental. BITW only has a 50% hit rate on non-bleeding pets but if it hits it would be too much damage on the elemental. I play it safe and bring in the Ape who gets hit by BITW for 771 damage, grrr. The good side is that my beast racial has been activated. My Ape stunned the Spineclaw Crab with Clobber. My opponent swaps to the Geode who got hit by three out four of the Barrage plus the DoT portion. My Ape’s 85% Smash hit to take out the Geode before it got to cast anything. Guess I didn’t need Nimbus after all. The Adder came in to finish off off the Ape with a Poison Fang and Puncture Wound while the Ape did some great damage with another Barrage before dying.
I bring back the Imp and thank my lucky stars that I’m not facing an S/S Adder. My opponent swaps to the Spineclaw which takes a Burn. Not wanting to take another Rip I try to Gate out the Crab but miss. Now my Imp is Bleeding and I’m in the same predicament as before but with less options. If I keep my Imp in it’s going to take huge damage from BITW. I could get two more Burns off on the Crab before dying, but then I’d have to face the 305 speed Adder with my 289 speed Ominous Flame. I don’t like the thought of that so I take a risk and swap to the Flame. If the 50% BITW hits it’s probably gg… but it missed, phew. Nimbus and three Spiritfire Bolts take out the Crab (even with tis heal) before it could get off another BITW. The Adder was all that was left, the Flame was able to get one Spiritfire Bolt off before dying, then the Imp finished it off with a Burn. The Imp finished with only 186 hp, this was certainly a close one.
Have a safe and pleasant New Year’s Eve!
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