Hey all,

Given the bleak results for our clan during Gen Con, I thought I would try and whip up a little community engaging discussion/guide on how to best approach the game from a single core perspective. Hopefully, if we can pound out some good advice, we can prevent some loss of morale in our clanmates. That being said, I'll dive right into my advice based upon a fair amount of testing (12+ games) on Tabletop Simulator.

Advantages:

• Recursion- Of the three clans that have recursion in the core, Unicorn is arguably the best. Cavalry Reserves basically means you get extra value out of your characters on top of a huge swing in a conflict. Shinjo Altansarnai may not be the best, but if you can keep her in play for a few turns, then bring her back to crush another province, you've put yourself way ahead of your opponent.
• Flexibility- Balanced stats and abilities that benefit both Military and Political conflicts makes the clan able to overcome many different obstacles. This extends to the clan being able to adjust their plans fairly easily with character movement mechanics and by being able to push away enemy characters as well.

Disadvantages:

• Combo Dependent- I truly believe this here is the biggest struggle Unicorn have in single-core, and it is really made up of many micro problems for the clan. Basically, having only one of each in-clan conflict and dynasty card means you won't be able to always have what you need when you need it, compounded by the value Unicorn gets out of synergizing effects, finally made even more precarious of a dependence due to how easily control cards can mess with any of the individual pieces in the combo.

Role Selection:

• Keeper of Water/Void/Earth- Influence feels real good to stack for Ponies, plus it gets you those sweet Keeper Initiates. The actual element is mostly up to personal preference, but the three I listed are my standouts.
• Seeker of Water- If you pick a Seeker Role, it should be Water; that simple. I do believe there is some strong benefit to having two Water provinces, but I also feel that many clans have very compelling splash options. Overall I would recommend Keeper for the Initiates and the extra influence, but a more defensive style of play (beyond that which I already recommend) could benefit from this choice.

Splash: What is important to keep in mind about splashing in a single core environment is that you will be taking from almost all of the splashable cards from a given clan if you intend to use up your influence. Therefore, it is just as important to consider overall value of their options, in addition to stand out cards with strong synergy. The following are my personal preferences for splash options.

• Crab- Reprieve to keep your important characters around forever, Jade Tetsubou to squash their big guys, Mountain Does Not Fall for value, Watch Commander and Hiruma Ambusher for control; There are lots of good options in Crab.
• Crane- A personal favorite, the crane splash is entirely cheap cards the prevent your opponent from ruining your plans. Above Question, Voice of Honor (if difficult to set up at times), Duelist Training, and Steward of Law are all good in that regard. The Perfect Gift can help you fish for a clutch Captive Audience or Cavalry Reserves, both of which are enough to swing the game on their own.
• Dragon- The most common splash for one core cuz of those covert, Ancestral goodies with some Mirumoto's Fury to mess up an early swing.
• Lion- For when you want to combo harder. A gutsy choice, as this splash will do little to keep your plans safe from enemy scheming, but if you can pull off a Cavalry Reserves For Greater Glory the game is basically over. Sashimono, Ready For Battle, and Guidance of the Ancestors are also good.

Province Selection:

• (Keeper Role)
  • (Air) Manicured Garden/Fertile Fields- This choice here, in my mind, depends fairly strongly on your splash. A healthy number of Neutral and Unicorn conflict cards take little to no fate investment, and the big drops such as Cavalry Reserves tend to be cards you plan for, not need to drop on little notice. Therefore, if you are splashing additional cheap conflict cards (splashing Crane, for example), the need for fate is lessened. On the other hand, you obviously benefit from more fate if you have any more expensive conflict cards or are looking to drop fate on a critical personality. I lean slightly towards Manicured Garden, but ultimately I think it can come down to personal preference.
  • (Earth)- Ancestral Grounds- When the clan has slightly stronger Mil, go for the Pol defense. This card isn't particularly strong for Unicorn, but you have to fill the element, so...
  • (Fire)- Meditations on the Tao- Given the propensity for big, important characters to receive lots of extra fate in the single core format, Meditations simply outperforms Night Raid. Whereas Night Raid is fairly matchup dependent, and only pops once, effective defense of Meditations on the Tao can
  • (Void)- Pilgrimage- You don't really need to honor your characters much (and dishonoring is matchup-dependent for its usefulness) so no need for Shameful Display. Pilgrimage also gives you a strong province that is easy to defend and robs your opponent of almost all advantages for winning but failing to break.
  • (Water)- Endless Plains- I've seen some debate regarding this here province, and I definitely understand the hesitation to include it. Nevertheless, in a single core environment, this card can be a huge swing. If your opponent swings in a beefed up Champion with loads of fate and attachments, or any other 3-4 cost critical character with some fixings, you can pop this little bugger and solve that potentially multiple turn problem immediately.
• (Seeker Role)
  • (Air) See above.
  • (Fire) See above.
  • (Void) See above.
  • (Water) Endless Plains, see above.
  • (Water) Rally to the Cause- With a balanced clan like Unicorn, swapping conflict types can completely ruin an opponent's attack and buy you an extra turn to grind them down.

General Strategies/Deck Construction:

• Dump fate into your big characters. Common advice for all clans, especially in the format, but you can also bring them back once again through Cavalry Reserves.
• Don't be overly aggressive! The temptation with Uni is to try for lots of big province breaks, but being able to threaten both a military and a political break a turn can already be hard for an opponent to handle, especially if you allow them to overextend on the first conflict.
• Flood the field with little guys! There are some really strong 1-2 cost characters in Unicorn, bring them out! I personally don't advocate for dumping fate on them, they are good because of their value for their fate so keep it that way. This also allows you to pseudo-swarm, which is great for the Unicorn playstyle.
• Wandering Ronin not even once
• Favorable Ground is your friend! Thanks to being able to move characters from conflicts, you don't have to commit hard to each attack. Even better, Favorable Ground can allow you to cut your loses as well! If an opponent overinvests on defense, either through characters or conflict cards, just pull out of the attack and have them waste all those resources.

And now to turn it to my fellow ponies: what are your thoughts on how to prance to victory in the Launch Party?

I don't mean to be rude, but like, maybe for the sake of your clan's public perception, not make your thread's title what you made it?

12 minutes ago, player2636234 said:

I don't mean to be rude, but like, maybe for the sake of your clan's public perception, not make your thread's title what you made it?

I mean, I don't take your advice in bad spirits, but nevertheless I'm going to keep it. Why? Because if someone is insecure to the point of cutesy language making them uncomfortable they need to get some thicker skin. Additionally, also in the spirit of your civility, I put enough work into this that I'd rather we not diminish this thread to discussion of my intentional comic title.

My advice is not to avoid offending people, but rather I feel your choice of wording (as well as the posting habits of a few other Unicorn-avatared posters) invite people to refer to the Unicorn as "the my little pony faction" is an attempt either to be derisive or just to get some cheap laughs. It's this sort of nickname, with all the baggage it carries, that can break a clan's population, or worse, their popularity (which arguably matters much more as story decisions will ostensibly go through the council of hatamoto).

6 minutes ago, player2636234 said:

My advice is not to avoid offending people, but rather I feel your choice of wording (as well as the posting habits of a few other Unicorn-avatared posters) invite people to refer to the Unicorn as "the my little pony faction" and an attempt either to be derisive or just for cheap laughs. It's this sort of nickname, with all the baggage it carries, that can break a clan's population, or worse, their popularity (which arguably matters much more as story decisions will ostensibly go through the council of hatamoto).

I understand that, as I was a part of the previous conversation about this. If people cannot separate the concept of a Unicorn from MLP that's really not my concern or issue. Furthermore, I can't stress enough that I am not deriding my clan in the slightest, I am having fun with words as is my wont (Creative Writing degree holder that I am). Again, I appreciate what you are trying to say, but I'd rather not derail an attempt to actually advance the play of my clan in the first major public event by discussing something so insignificant as my playful diction. *Addition: It isn't as if a handful of Unicorn players posting on the FFG forums will have a lasting impact on perception of the clan amongst the gaming public.

3 minutes ago, player2636234 said:

My advice is not to avoid offending people, but rather I feel your choice of wording (as well as the posting habits of a few other Unicorn-avatared posters) invite people to refer to the Unicorn as "the my little pony faction" is an attempt either to be derisive or just to get some cheap laughs. It's this sort of nickname, with all the baggage it carries, that can break a clan's population, or worse, their popularity (which arguably matters much more as story decisions will ostensibly go through the council of hatamoto).

As much as I recognize the nickname's storied history within the playerbase, I have to agree. I might have not even chosen the Unicorn as my clan if I knew how prevalent the "pony" thing was. It's also fairly ridiculous when you consider that we're the clan least likely to be seen riding on ponyback.

24 minutes ago, player2636234 said:

I don't mean to be rude, but like, maybe for the sake of your clan's public perception, not make your thread's title what you made it?

Silence. The unicorn have been called ponies for nearly as long as the game has been around. There is nothing wrong with the title.

Great summery. Thanks for putting the effort in. While The Crane will always be my home, the Unicorn have always been my friend.

Going to give this a good read when I have time, to add my own terrible thoughts to this discussion.

(As a complete aside, I have no problem with the language in the title, and I have no problem poking a little fun out my own clan. Plus I like calling us Ponies. It makes me feel like we aren't as stick up the *** as most other clans.)

I've only played 3 core proxy decks, but I'll share some insights that might translate.

Well, we've seen that Keeper Initiate is very good in single core, so let's go with that.

Endless Plains was *shrug* vs. my local Lion player, although I think Lion is Endless Plains' worst match up. I suspect that Rally to the Cause is more consistent in single core and your opponents don't know you aren't running Endless Plains until they find your Rally. Eyeball your meta, because if they grow accustomed to seeing Rally, you can throw Endless back in and vice versa.

Night Raid is very strong vs. that Lion player or any clan you suspect will bid low for card draws. I put mine under my box, usually. They will see it coming if they are smart. Earth ring has a higher priority for you in these matches. Lion has the annoying card draw province, try not to break it. It's a trap!

Ancestral Ground seems like the best choice for Earth province. I'd put it under my box vs. Pol clans and Night Raid under vs. Mil.

I'm not sure what a single core board looks like, but 3 core Pony boards typically see 3-5 mooks in play on any given turn. That makes cards like Tetsuo pretty desperate plays. You have to commit one person to the attack, and then Tetsuo potentially brings every other person you control to the battle. This essentially means you forfeit all remaining challenges for the turn. Add to that the fact he has little strength for his cost and the entire process is completely telegraphed to your opponent, then the effective uses for Tetsuo nears zero. I have stopped running him in 3-core, awaiting insights from my fellows. I'd be tempted not to include him in single core and I certainly would not add fate to him. I'd rather play a Wandering Ronin.

The Unicorn Clan forum has more insights from the Unicorn hatamoto at Gencon, who has been tested in the fires of battle. Here's a link

The only problem with the title is that you spelled Poni wrong.....cuz every Unicorn has got a little Oni inside them just waiting to get out.

Seriously though, did I miss the Scorpion and Phoenix influence splash discussion or were those left out on purpose?

How to play 1 core Unicorn:

Don't.

29 minutes ago, Ishi Tonu said:

The only problem with the title is that you spelled Poni wrong.....cuz every Unicorn has got a little Oni inside them just waiting to get out.

Seriously though, did I miss the Scorpion and Phoenix influence splash discussion or were those left out on purpose?

I don't have much experience with those splashes, so I opted not to really discuss them.

28 minutes ago, Joe From Cincinnati said:

How to play 1 core Unicorn:

Don't.

Correct, but I'm trying to make the best of a bad situation, here!

In general, I believe Scorpion, Phoenix, and Dragon (in no particular order) are the top influence splashes in a single core format.

Phoenix ring control makes Keeper Initiate shenanigans a nice compliment to the Unicorn recursion tricks.

Scorpion has strong actions and a conflict character that can show up anywhere.

Something to consider.

1 hour ago, clanmccracken said:

Silence. The unicorn have been called ponies for nearly as long as the game has been around. There is nothing wrong with the title.

True. No one mentioned the first My Little Pony show back then (in my area at least) though. But it was also a different time. Still, Pony is a traditional nickname to Unicorn as much as Fire Chicken is to Phoenix.

If someone is to take seriously the MLP references in a game that doesn't has that kind of art and which themes don't fall into that camp, that's up to him. *shrug*

41 minutes ago, Joe From Cincinnati said:

How to play 1 core Unicorn:

Don't.

Loyalty demands playing it despite the odds.

7 minutes ago, Wintersong said:

Loyalty demands playing it despite the odds.

I would have also accepted:

"Never tell me the odds"

"Get back on the wall where you belong Hatamojoe"

Or

"Shut yer face" is always a perfectly fine response.

1 hour ago, Ishi Tonu said:

I would have also accepted:

"Never tell me the odds"

"Get back on the wall where you belong Hatamojoe"

Or

"Shut yer face" is always a perfectly fine response.

I also would have accepted all of these responses.

1) @player2636234 The title is great. This is a forum for game enthusiasts, and I think any player who doesn't like the wording - and cares about 1 core Unicorn decks - would quickly look passed it, if they didn't enjoy it. I imagine you aren't interested in 1 core Unicorn, which is why your comment had nothing to do with 1 core Unicorn decks. This thread isn't for you, no one cares if you don't like ponies, you can move on.

2) @Iuchi Toshimo The biggest challenge in 1 core is that you pretty much can't omit any clan dynasty cards. This already forces you do take 1 Wandering Ronin. I can see why you would think 2x wandering ronin is better than 1x wandering ronin and 1x Tatsuo, but considering they are both likely to be discarded for whatever else shows up... there isn't a difference.

3) I think Keeper roles are great in 1 core for the 3 influence, and the fact that you can't NOT put the initiate in, so you might as well have the free one lol. Do we need to use the official role for the launch tournament? I thought we did, so I was building my 1 core scorpion with Seeker of Air.

If I were to do a Seeker role, I would recommend either Seeker of Earth (5+5 MIL and 5+5 POL gives you strong options for your stronghold) or Seeker of Fire (Meditations + Night Raid.) I feel the water provinces are the most unreliable in their effect actually being a benefit. I have trouble choosing even just 1 of the 3 Unicorn can use.

For Splash I like Crab. With keeper role you can take Hiruma Ambusher, Watch Commander, Rebuild, Reprieve, The Mountain does not Fall, and Levy.

1 hour ago, shosuko said:

For Splash I like Crab. With keeper role you can take Hiruma Ambusher, Watch Commander, Rebuild, Reprieve, The Mountain does not Fall, and Levy.

I endorse this splash :).

17 minutes ago, Joe From Cincinnati said:

I endorse this splash :).

And what exactly am I supposed to Rebuild, my tent? I hardly think I need Kaiu expertise for that. Maybe I could add an extra pole...

Having played a Unicorn on TTS for under a minute, I can conclude that they appear to be the weakest clan charging out the gate (horse pun intended). Please feel free to refute/challenge my initial observations, I would love to be corrected.

They have arguably the weakest:

Stronghold - very situational box ability with +0 defense

Province Endless plains- Purposefully breaking your province is never good, and the ability is easily mitigated through smart play.

Champion -I'd never pay for her from a province. Her ability, like endless plains is easily mitigated through playing a low cost conflict character.

Courtiers - Ide Messenger is a waste of card paper, the 3 cost courtiers feel under powered and do not have calvary, with once again situational abilities.

The 4 cost unique is weak with a redundant ability

Way of card ... jury is out, but I've done better without it in my deck.

But, but they have Calvary Reserves!!! Paying for that card only to have my opponent waiting with forged edict, or voice of honor is a catastrophic swing in their favor, and it's probably my bad for playing it in the first place vs crane/scorp decks/spashes. If your opponent doesn't understand your card pool and you get CR off with For Greater Glory then you pretty much won, but it feels like a one trick pony.

Other observations: Am I blind? No honor generation or ability to honor one's characters? No dueling within the faction? These are some fundamental areas of the game that the Unicorn I assume are supposed to ignore? You can only use clan influence to mitigate so much weakness before it feels like a design overlook. I also assumed Unicorn would be the faction with Courtesy as a card trait, but there's nothing to be found, in fact there is a curious lack of discard character abilities period for Unicorn.

Best character I see is border rider... and that feels like more of a critique than praise.

20 minutes ago, Casanunda said:

And what exactly am I supposed to Rebuild, my tent? I hardly think I need Kaiu expertise for that. Maybe I could add an extra pole...

I was talking purely about the clan of said splash :P. In terms of the cards, I'd recommend 1 Ambusher, 1 Gunso, 1 Reprieve, 1 Commander, 1 Tetsubo and 1 Mountain.

All very high impact in 1 core.

7 minutes ago, Virtigo said:

*snip*

Stronghold- The ability is better than it at first seems, but really suffers in 1 core. I like to think of the ability as one that transforms any cavalry character into a conflict character or a mid-conflict buff. Doesn't sound so good on its own, but considering your opponent has to declare defenders and you can easily choose to swing in with one guy, it allows you to dictate the battle a fair share. Part of why I suggested Favorable Ground in my initial post is that it gives you the reverse option, which makes it harder for your opponent to predict how to assign defenders. Assign one and risk Shinjo Outrider, Favored Mount, or Golden Plains Outpost to swoop in lots of dudes without any fate investment, or do you assign several to account for those possibilities, only to have the one attacker to return home via Favorable Ground and all of your defenders end up bowed for nothing.

Endless Plains- Playing around it isn't quite as easy as it sounds, although it certainly is possible. Unless your opponent intends to always swing in with 2+ guys, even to unrevealed provinces, it can potentially net you a good kill. And if they are willing to throw two guys into each conflict, good province selection for the other elements can punish that as well (means some weird synergy with Night Raid once people start to counterplay).

Champion- It isn't so much her card that makes her excel, which I will readily admit means she's not at the top of the power rankings. Nevertheless, the cards that impact Cavalry characters are very strong, with Born in War, Cavalry Reserves, and other stuff really making her shine. Plus she's flexible enough to be useful almost always, even if she won't necessarily be backbreaking.

Courtiers- I pretty thoroughly agree with Ide Messenger criticism. Ide Trader and Giver of Gifts, on the other hand, are quite good in my opinion. Ide Trader encourages you to play the tricky maneuvering game you should be, attempting to bait out defenders and whatnot, and Giver of Gifts vastly increases the value of any attachment you have by making it a mobile buff to any given conflict.

Shinjo Tatsuo- I definitely haven't found his specialty, yet. He does okay with Utaku Infantry, but that doesn't at all make him compelling to take.

Cav Reserves is a great card, but yeah you have to know how/when to play it (something I definitely haven't mastered).

Honor/Dueling- Actually, Crab likewise lacks both of these abilities. I find they are more viable mechanics that add clan flavor that hugely critical elements of the game. ****, dueling hardly even comes up right now...

My two cents, for what they are worth.

40 minutes ago, Virtigo said:

Best character I see is border rider... and that feels like more of a critique than praise.

Border Rider is probably the best 2-drop in the game. Yes, it's Assassin bait, but we have the Cavalry Recursion thing. The collective thought is never put fate on 1-2 drops. I think BR could use a fate or an item. Bait that Assassin. Bring BR back later. Or don't, and watch your opponent sit on a hard counter. I agree that the hard counters hurt. I'm not a fan of that mechanic. Go get that Earth ring to discard them or that Fire ring to get more honored peeps and some Keeper Initiates.

1 hour ago, Casanunda said:

And what exactly am I supposed to Rebuild, my tent? I hardly think I need Kaiu expertise for that. Maybe I could add an extra pole...

Rebuild Favored Ground - Unicorn have the strategy of attacking with 1 character, and then when you're opponent defends too weak you rush in with more to flood them. Favored Ground lets you pull the opposite - you can attack with 1 character, and after they spend everything buffing them in defense you back your character out, without bowing, and come back stronger in the next conflict.

I would assume 2x Favored Ground for a 1 core Unicorn, not just for the useful ability but also because there aren't many other options in Dynasty...