Understanding Writhe

[MeanBean]

Now that the Void Guard is out, Ive had a blast playing the sentinels. The one I found the most interesting to play was Writhe.

He has alot of strange synergies that feels kinda hard to properly pull off. Equipment cards should be played via Sciamachy or Somber Tinker if possible. So equipments should be prioritized discards for Erratic Form, Portable Darklab and the Shadow Cloak.

Another basic combo of his is playing Lurking Shadows with the cloak out. As your bonus power, you use Umbral Siphon for 3+3 damage. Then you use Concealed Assailant, destroying your cloak for another 3+3+3 damage, totaling at 15 damage.

Any other combos with other heroes that work well with him? Any particular villains you feel hes good against?

[Infernyx]

There's the simple Twist the Ether or Imbued Fire with Concealed Assailant, so you can get the three hits without destroying the cloak.

[katewalker]

Any villain who heals a lot will find themselves not quite so healy if he can get Umbral Siphon on them. I'm thinking specifically of Spite, who will soak the first hit, but not the second!

[Puppy Cat Underfoot]

It comes down to knowing which cards to play when he doesn't have the cloak out, and which to play when he does. Personally, he can be a powerhouse in the same way Void Guard Mainstay can with the right destructions.

[katewalker]

I find I generally have two problems when playing Writhe:

- Not enough cards for the Shadow Cloak.

If Writhe is taking lots of hits, the Cloak will eat your hand. The variant (not yet released on digital) gives you tremendous card draw, but at the expense of not being able to just grab the Shadow Cloak when you need it. Erratic Form is thus one of the most important cards you can have out. Two copies are even better!

- Not enough powers.

Oh boy, I used my power last round to get the Shadow Cloak out! Which means this round, I play a card and... Shuffle my deck? Writhe has tons of Equipment and Ongoings that give him extra powers, but unless or until you get one of them out, you may find all his extra power use cards less than desirable plays. Again, card draw is your friend.

[Team Orchid]

Maybe it's because I play the team as a whole with Medico around to keep everyone healthy but I honestly don't thin Writhe has a card problem. The straight -1 damage and a bit of healing every now and then is usually enough to keep the guy in ideal HP ranges.

Now the powers issue is a whole other story that Takewalker has already explained.

[katewalker]

I find also that sometimes that means I make the less-immediately-good decision to play a power card that I can then use during my power phase, when I had a one-shot that would have done more damage but left me high and dry in the middle of my turn.

[Rolaran]

Writhe reminds me of Absolute Zero a bit, in that his usefulness is very dependent on the luck of the draw, he benefits hugely from supports who can give him extra draws and/or plays, and players who Absolutely Must Use Every Action Every Turn are going to hate him.

[katewalker]

And in the same way they don't like Absolute Zero, they are fools. :V

[emeramber]

The combination of Writhe and Skyscraper can be pretty amazing. Being able to use micro-assembler to reliably pull Grasping Shadow-cloth to shut down a deck is pretty amazing. The fact that it will bury itself back in the deck, normally a disadvantage, means that it's always ready to assemble again.

I've been gettin a lot of use teaming them with Benchmark. Not only is he one of the other primary beneficiaries of micro-assembler, but his Ally Matrix helps get the shadow cloak back in play, if needed.

At some point soon, I'll see whether adding AGL and/or PWAA will add enough power/play to keep the environment and villain on total lockdown.

[jjseckel]

writhe is beautiful against iron legacy as well if you have someone else to deal with the ongoing cards due to his anti heal effect, after of course the board is cleared a bit, then again, against iron legacy one shot combos such as idealist and tachyon will always be a better solution