Brewers Corner: Protected Resources

I will try to keep a segment in this blog called Brewers corner partly because I like beer and partly because I like to experiment with cards, ie trying to find new angles in cards that aren´t necessarily useless, but not a common sight in tier 1 decks. And in this first instance I will look at:

Protected Resources

In the meta we play in Stockholm a bleed for less than 5-6 isn´t really a justifiable action unless you have 6+ minions, you have table control or you need the edge.  I this this is an environment your decks should be built to handle if you bring them to an international/bigger national tournament. After all, bleeding is the number one form of ousting your prey in tournament viable decks.

So a card like Protected Resources which guarantees the loss of a bleed to be no more than 2 should be a card that has a major impact on most of your predators in a tournament environment, yet seeing it in tournament decks is a rare sight indeed. Why is this?

So you are guaranteed not to get bled by more than two per action for the measly cost of two pool and not being able to take the most defining action of the game, bleeding. This is of course the major drawback in the card, but there are multiple decks who don´t care that much about bleeding. Why don´t people play it more in these decks?

So you are not allowed to bleed if you want to keep this baby in play then you will have to have the deck geared towards ousting your prey in another fashion. Vote decks, trickdecks or combat- and wallish decks relying upon other means of ousting than the odd bleed for one should be really helped by this card. So why are people hesitant to add it to their decks?

In my own opinion I think it is a number of things: One of the main reasons is table image. You are someone who blocks the ebb and flow of deflected heavy bleeds. A Protected Resources is more or less a sign that says "The bleed stops here! (oh and by the way, it´s only for two)", which to many players are annoying since the card just prolongs the time it takes to oust you and doesn´t in itself help you oust your prey. It more or less denies you a potential big part of your arsenal.

Of course there is nothing in the card itself that says that you yourself can´t redirect the bleeds that targets you, but that is a bit like wearing both belt and suspenders and very easily clutters up the math in your deck (and more importantly perhaps, in your hand). In an auspex deck (and to a lesser extent a deck which features Aksinya) this would be mitigated by the versatility of the bleedbounce cards or as in Aksinyas case the surplus Protected Resources become bounces themselves.

So how to avoid this? A Lutz or other aggressive vote decks puts enough pressure forwards to not be seen as effectively timing the table. Maybe a breed-boon deck would save vital pool with this card until it shifts gear and starts going for the oust? There are a plethora of decks where it could be used in the build up phase and then burned as you have gotten the state of the table to where you want it.

I have vowed to myself to try to play this card in tournament decks more during this year and would love to hear from you readers about experiences you have had while playing or facing this card.

Until next time - May your topdecks be good and your pool be sufficient