Turtle's Guide to the Brawnen

Faction Overview:

The Brawnen are the “standard” faction within Cloudspire. They harbor simple, yet effective talents and heroes in order to be deceptively powerful despite a relative lack of complexity. The Brawnen have one goal when playing a game, make it to wave 4, then kill your opponent. They focus on defensive capabilities and supplying their own source in order to build up to a lethal late game. In addition, the Brawnen seek to use market options very often in order to both alleviate early pressure and secure a wave 4 kill.

 

The Brawnen have 2 passive abilities. First, like other factions, the Brawnen are unable to build their promoted spires (lance launcher and siege tower) before purchasing the Smelter 1 - Brawnen Steel upgrade. Secondly, the Brawnen are unique in their ability to bring ANY one hero on the first wave. This allows for a unique build order that includes purchasing a mercenary hero on the first wave and bringing them instead of Awsh to secure early landmark kills.

Fortress Upgrades:

The Brawnen fortress upgrades are short and sweet. Consisting of one of the best gateports in the game, a consistent way to increase source income, and an easy way to promote units, Brawnen upgrades are expensive, consistent, and powerful. 

Source Drill

1. Drilling Refinements: This is one of Brawnen’s two ways to produce source for the late game. Allowing the Brawnen a net benefit of 6 source when purchased in wave 1 or 3 source when purchased in wave 2, this is one of the Brawnen’s best wave 1 purchases. Allowing to offset the cost of the Brawnen’s expensive upgrades and spires while increasing your wave 4 point value is an extremely solid option.

2. Deep Drill: A relatively niche upgrade that allows you to place your Drilling Outposts on any non-path hex. While usually just an upgrade in order to purchase Drilling Storehouse, this can surprise opponents with a quick and effective way to gain influence. Using this to subvert an opponent’s monopoly of source wells in order to place an aggressive siege tower is an all-in strategy that can close out games you cannot win via minions.

3. Drilling Storehouse: Being able to hold a maximum of 30 source is amazing for the Brawnen. You won’t have to worry about spilling source due to your increased source production and can afford to stall longer during the build phase before committing to a build order for the wave. If you have purchased the Drilling Refinement upgrade, this is often a great wave 2 buy along with multiple Drilling Outposts and deploying only Kram. 

Assembly

1. Source Shields: Promoting your Aegis minions is not the most effective ability unless you are planning on pairing them with a promoted Source Siege in wave 4. Otherwise, this upgrade is simply purchased in order to gain access to Workshop Quarters and Construction Yard. 

2. Workshop Quarters: Promoted Architect minions are doubly as effective as an unpromoted Architect. Using these promoted minions in combination with a defensive strategy, you will be able to fend off nearly any assault on your base. Doubling their effectiveness will allow you to make even larger spires. Due to the exponential area coverage of additional range on a tower, this can easily turn a powerful spire into an oppressive win condition.

3. Construction Yard: With 3 source being the cheapest of any of the Brawnen upgrades, the opportunity cost to buying this upgrade is relatively low. For the cheap price, you are able to compound upon the work that your architects have done, requiring no further source investment when you use it wave after wave. In addition, using the Assembly Die is considered a build option which stalls your build phase further, something the Brawnen desperately need.

Honor Pit

1. Battleborn Arena Games: A niche pick for an aggressive wave 1 build. This excels at killing many early landmarks and can be bought if there are multiple swamp landmarks in your path. Otherwise, this option is only purchased to lead into Better Targets and Pit Expansion. While having promoted Battleborn can be nice if you have an excess 2 cp later on, it is not something that makes or breaks a game.

2. Better Targets: Promoted Dispatch are brutal. A ranged attack that deals 2 damage, plus Splash is an often underestimated unit. Promoted Dispatch shred through hordes of enemies, plus are able to deal significant single target damage without fear of retaliation. While not nearly as powerful as a Source Siege, this is an excellent wave 2 build option vs the Heirs, as you can deploy a Dispatch alongside Drang. 

3. Pit Expansion: Consistency is key when dealing with a Forsaken. The more likely that you are to achieve your desired outcome, the more dangerous the Forsaken is, both as a support minion and a massive threat. Providing a greater than 50% chance for the Forsaken to not move at all can be a game ender, provided that a Source Siege can be stuck behind it.

Stronghold

1. Forsaken Artillery: A VERY powerful defensive tool that allows you to snipe any one minion or spire per purchase of this upgrade. This upgrade is a must-buy on wave 1 vs Heirs due to the threat of a Royal Talon. For any other matchup, this is an extremely important investment on wave 2 or 3. The Brawnen cannot heal any fortress gate damage and already have expensive upgrades, so they cannot afford massive damage to their fortress gate. This upgrade is crucial to preventing damage while not requiring the sacrifice of any of your heroes. Buying and using the upgrade on waves 2, 3, and 4 is a reasonable course of action in order to survive until wave 4 and close out the game. 

2. Gate Dispatches: An upgrade that is okay in most scenarios, and just bad in others. Most game ending effects are melee, and because of that, this doesn’t come up that often. Useful as an extra point in the late game if you have no other relevant purchases, but does not see play in most games.

3. Gate Spikes: Similar to Gate Dispatches, but more generally useful. This can cut lethal damage from a minion or hero into a survivable chunk. Most minions already only get one hit onto the fortress gate anyways, so oftentimes the extra damage doesn’t matter as much. In addition, the source commitment to buy this upgrade is oftentimes not worth it. Useful as an extra point in the late game if you have no other relevant purchases, but does not see play in most games.

Gateport

1. Market Buyout: Arguably one of the strongest gateport options in the game. The ability to double your purchasing power within the market is extremely important. It allows you to both pick up early survival tools like earthscapes and spires, while also picking up cheap minions to crew your Source Siege later on. This can sometimes accumulate with a more aggressive opening to end games early, especially if you can pick up the Renegade or Elite Duelist from the market. Being able to supplement your source as the Brawnen, you can afford these extra purchases and capitalize off of the advantage that this upgrade allows. This is a must buy upgrade on wave 2 or 3 depending on matchup and build order.

2. Enforce Demands: This is an okay option for later on in the game. Being able to refresh the market is often not necessary due to the consistency of seeing so many options throughout the game. Buying this on wave 3 to increase the chances of a cheap minion on wave 4 for the Source Siege can sometimes be necessary if you haven’t seen one yet. Other than that case, or as an additional point, this upgrade is often not bought.

Smelter

1. Brawnen Steel: Being able to build the Siege Tower and Lance Launcher is extremely important for Brawnen gameplans. Siege Towers dismantle enemy spires, pushing back their map control. Lance Launchers are necessary, as they are your only form of static air defense. This upgrade should be bought on wave 2 or 3, whenever you are seeking to either threaten or build these promoted spires. 

2. Source Bombs: Promoting your Source Siege is oftentimes how the Brawnen want to close out a game. This minion is a monster that can be deployed as early as wave 2. Dismantling opposing spires, heroes, and minions, while providing a turn 1 threat range of 7 spaces is insane. Absolutely an upgrade that is purchased every game. Sometimes, you even purchase Brawnen Steel just to get to this upgrade early, rather than building the promoted spires.

Heroes:

Awsh (B)

Awsh is the Brawnen starting hero. He is a good generalist for the first couple waves, with a specialty in killing landmark minions due to his Hunter talent. He has a very clear promotion decision, where all he gains is Survival and doesn’t lose an attack. While Awsh is very useful at securing early source, his effectiveness drastically falls off for later waves. He is a good supplement to Kram, but is not good on his own. Replacing Awsh with Drang or a market hero at later stages should be considered regardless of if Awsh lives.

Drang (C)

Drang is the medium cost hero for the Brawnen. She is the only Brawnen hero with range and air defense, which can fill a pretty major gap in their defenses. Regardless of her unique positioning as an air defense hero, she is still pretty weak. While she has a good unpromoted side, with 1 upgrade capacity and range, her promoted side lacking in flexibility is a large issue. It locks her at 3 range (4 when using Spire Shot) and only 1 attack damage. Moving into wave 3 and 4, that becomes a large liability. The only time that Drang is commonly deployed is on wave 2 versus Heirs when there isn’t a better market option to defend with. Even then, it may be more beneficial to just deploy 2 promoted Dispatches, as their 2 damage plus Splash tends to be more beneficial. Lastly, Drang is a good replacement to Awsh in wave 3 if he has died and there isn’t a better market option (or other play).

Kram the Mighty (S)

Kram is the expensive hero for the Brawnen. Looking at him initially, Armored may feel underwhelming for a 7cp cost hero. This could not be further than the truth. Kram is widely considered to be the best hero in the game! This is for 2 main reasons. The first is because of how well he excels against large numbers of units. Due to Armored, Kram will be taking 0 or 1 damage against most wave 2 minions. This allows him to only kill when there is no chance of retaliation, while subsequently blocking the path and stalling the rest of the minions. Due to this, it requires intentional planning in the build, prep, and onslaught phases to prevent Kram from getting too many upgrades. In addition, Kram can tank and destroy many basic spires, negating their effectiveness. As soon as Kram promotes, he becomes extremely dangerous. Moving from 2 to 3 speed is a game changer for many units in the game, and Kram is no different. He can position even better than before. Gaining Survival is absurd. Now, Kram is able to stand in front of minions, regaining 1 health each turn, reducing damage by 1 for each attack, and retaliating for up to 4 damage. This includes having 3 movement to decimate any opposing hero that attempts to come and assist the minions.

The second reason that Kram is powerful is due to his placement within the Brawnen faction. When both factions deploy no minions, then the wave is “skipped” and both sides go to the next build phase. The expensive heroes for most factions cost an amount of cp, which means if they are deployed on wave 2, then the wave is going to be skipped. This benefits the Brawnen most if they are correctly set up for that occurrence. By purchasing every upgrade in the Source Drill upgrade tree, then 2 drilling outposts, the Brawnen will move into wave 3 with a 24 source income and 30 maximum source. This forces the opposing faction to play the wave, as they need to address the drilling outposts or secure their own source in order to have a chance. This means that factions are required to bring some minions, which in turn, Kram excels at killing. Kram can force a lose-lose scenario for any non-aggressive opponents to secure a lead that is extremely difficult to come back from. Because of this, Kram is solidified as one of the best heroes in the game.

Minions:

Battleborn (C -> B)

The Battleborn are the basic brawlers of the Brawnen legions. They have no talents, which is a flaw that can be felt whenever they are deployed. In return for this, they are very easy to promote, something that can even happen on wave 1. When this unit is promoted, they are an excellent brawler for their relatively low cp cost. While you may not see this unit deployed on waves other than wave 1 (or wave 3 beside a Forsaken or Kram), they pull their weight in wave 1. Double promoted Battleborn is a niche, but playable opening that allows for easy control of landmarks and a more aggressive start. Overall, the Battleborn is a very basic unit, but necessary for many of the traditional Brawnen openings.

Dispatch (C -> A)

Being one of two ranged minions within the Brawnen arsenal, the Dispatch is uniquely positioned to be a decent support unit while unpromoted, and a deadly threat when promoted. One of the two minions you deploy on wave 1, it assists very well in letting Awsh kill landmarks early. After wave 1, this is often not deployed again. An exception to this is against the Heirs or if you know your opponents are going to use either a large number of units or Flying units. In those cases, you promote the Dispatch and deploy it. 2 damage is a very important breakpoint in Cloudspire, especially for ranged units. Being able to deal 2 damage at range allows you to break fortifications and kill units twice as fast. On top of the damage increase, Splash is an additional damage increase. This allows the Dispatch to deal 3 or 4 damage on each attack, which is amazing for a unit that only costs 3 cp. It shreds swarms of enemies and can attack with an effective 3 range due to Splash. Overall, the Dispatch is a great unit to deploy when directly countering your opponent’s build order, but is not used that often.

Aegis (C -> B)

The Aegis is in a strange position for the Brawnen. It is a minion with the powerful Armored talent, but not the same presence that Kram has to capitalize off of it. This minion is almost never deployed until wave 4, and only when promoted. This is not due to any of its characteristics except for the 1 movement that it has when promoted. Being able to deploy a Source Siege behind the Aegis on a 1 hex wide path, you can stall the Source Siege long enough to destroy any spire or unit along the path towards your opponent’s fortress. This is a powerful combo, but is only really used if you cannot secure a Forsaken that carries over from a previous wave.

Architect (C -> B)

Architects are the most interesting unit within the Brawnen arsenal. They are able to defeat themselves in order to add a free upgrade onto a friendly spire, ignoring upgrade capacity. In addition, they have decent stats that allows them to fight for a short while before getting to a spire, if necessary. Adding upgrades past upgrade capacity is very good, especially on the more expensive spires that the Brawnen have. Only being able to add one upgrade is good, but not really something amazing. Oftentimes, you end up missing the 4cp much more than the value it generated. An upside of these minions is that it denies source from your opponent. They don’t defeat the Architect, so they do not get any reward from them. If you are playing for a more controlling build, then this is a good piece to consider. When promoted, nothing much changes about the architect other than it gets to use its talent twice. Adding 2 upgrades to a spire is definitely worth the 4cp. Many wave 3 builds are sending out two promoted Architects to add 4 total upgrades to an already maxed out spire. Spires with an overreach of a majority of the map and at 2-4 attack upgrades can be extremely oppressive. It farms source from your opponent, while denying the source that you would otherwise give them. 

Forsaken (B -> A)

The Forsaken is the largest minion that the Brawnen can deploy. They have great health, attack, speed, and superb terrain allowance. Plus, they come with the fantastic talent Assault, allowing them to be a major threat to spires in addition to minions. They are large tanks that can quickly demolish a fortress gate if they can get there in time. While they have great stats, they also have the talent Unruly, which is the downside for this whole minion. Not being able to do something in a given turn has its upsides and downsides. Consistency is very important in Cloudspire, and the Forsaken does not provide that consistency. If you want to attack something, you have a ⅓ chance to not hit it. If you need to move, then attack, you have a ⅔ chance to fail. Because of this, the Forsaken is not the best brawler minion. However, its benefit comes in the form of its promoted side, where you can reroll their dice to get a better effect. Pairing this with the power where ⅓ of the time, the Forsaken doesn’t have to move is amazing! You can stall out waves so that they are softened up by your towers before engaging them. Unlike friendly heroes, Forsaken have the ability to permanently stall your own minions with a little bit of luck. In addition, Forsaken can persist in between waves. This means that the ultimate combo that the Brawnen should be looking for in most games is to persist a Forsaken from wave 3 into wave 4 right next to your fortress gate. Then deploy a Source Siege that gets stuck behind the Forsaken. Everything will then die to the 4 range turret that now exists, dismantling the opposing forces before striking for the kill. While inconsistent, the upper ceiling of the Forsaken is so high that they are worth using even though the floor is a unit that does nothing for an entire wave.

Source Siege (C -> S)

At the pinnacle of the Brawnen war machine, there is the Source Siege. This unit has nearly nothing going for it unpromoted, where it is just an Arcbright that costs twice as much cp while also requiring another unit to be grouped underneath it. This unit should never be used in place of 2 dispatches.

A promoted Source Siege however, is in a completely different world. This is arguably one of the best minions in the game. 4 range on a minion is completely absurd, creating a bubble of destruction around this unit that nothing comes out of alive. Combined with the 3 movement, the Source Siege can be used as a minion with a threat range of 7, or stuck behind another minion and slowly destroying everything in its path. This is a minion that cannot be understated. Heroes cannot approach without dying, minions are easily picked off, and spires can be dismantled before the Source Siege is ever in range. If opposing heroes end the wave on low health too close to your fortress gate, then selecting a promoted Source Siege for deployment can score a free kill while still being a threatening minion. This is especially good against the Uprising, as it prevents their heroes from having free reign of the landmarks.

Spires:

Drilling Outpost (A)

The only faction spire that has the ability to produce source on its own, the Drilling Outpost is an investment in future waves. Netting a total of 3 additional source per purchase, the Drilling Outpost is crucial in some matchups, but useless in others due to how easily they can be destroyed. Being able to earn source without kills is very important to the Brawnen strategy. Especially if you are planning to go into wave 2 with Kram. Other factions may seek to deploy a hero as well on wave 2, wanting to skip the wave. By building one or two Drilling Outposts, the Brawnen come out way ahead of the opposing faction, essentially preventing them from deploying a hero only wave on wave 2. 

Using the Dispatch Platform as a way to gain influence relatively cheaply is also an important consideration. Because building Dispatch Platforms uses up your supply of Siege Towers and Drilling Outposts can be constructed on non-path hexes after Deep Drill is purchased, they are excellent ways to gain very far influence. For the small price of 6 source, you can get enough influence to earthscape adjacent to the enemy fortress gate and Siege Tower their gate for the win. Subverting the use of source wells to grant yourself influence can be unexpected and nearly impossible to block effectively, so if you are missing only a couple points of damage, remember that this is a strategy in the Brawnen arsenal.

Dispatch Platform (B)

While the Dispatch Platform does not have a lot going for it, it is the only faction spire that has the talent Splash. Unlike other factions, the basic ranged spire of the Brawnen does not have Air Defense. This can be a huge liability on wave 1 against certain factions (Heirs, Narora), but the versatility of Splash makes up for it on the later waves. While not the best spire overall, being able to have a spire that deals a consistent 2+ damage without any additional upgrades is very powerful. This adds to the Brawnen ability to deal with swarms effectively, making the Dispatch Platform a crucial part of their kit, but not something extraordinary.

Lance Launcher (B)

The Lance Launcher is not a very cost effective spire. For 6 source, you are getting a basic spire with Air Defense. A special property is that it has an upgrade capacity of 4, which is notable, as just one Lance Launcher can become a formidable defensive spire even without using Architects. Regardless of the lackluster properties of the spire, it is very important to the Brawnen, as it is their only form of static Air Defense in a faction that notoriously does poorly against Flying units. 

Siege Tower (A)

The Siege Tower is the most unique spire in the game. It is the only spire that is able to destroy other spires, per the use of its Raze ability. Because of this, it is invaluable when you want to contest source wells and prevent your opponent from building their own spires. In addition, it is one of the Brawnen’s main win conditions, as it can damage enemy fortress gates as well. While it is expensive for 6 source and cannot hit Flying units, having a massive Siege Tower that can destroy most other spires on the map can be extremely oppressive for your opponent. With a base 4 upgrade capacity, this spire can also deal a surprising amount of burst damage to your opponent’s fortress gate. By placing this spire adjacent to the opposing fortress gate (possibly with an earthscape), then the spire can attack twice, removing the range upgrades and dealing 1 dice of damage each. Then you limited build 3 attack upgrades onto the spire and Raze in the same turn. This shreds through the opponent’s health and oftentimes cannot be interacted with by the opponent if you use this strategy late into a wave. This spire is an iconic part of the Brawnen kit, and is a crucial tool that you cannot forget about, as sometimes, this spire can win games from completely lost positions. 

Openings:

Standard Build Order

Market Phase: 2 Source Purchase / Skip

Build Phase: Drilling Refinements / Source Drill

Prep Phase: Awsh, Battleborn, Dispatch

This is the standard build order that allows for flexibility in the 2nd wave by setting you up with a source producer. This build order should be considered versus all factions except for the Heirs. Within this build order, you should prioritize your market purchase in the following order: Mini Harvester, Wind Funnel, Slingshot, 2 source minion, Tactics Manual, earthscape. While this list is not always the exact order, this is the order in which I would value these market options in a general case. The benefits of the Wind Funnel will be talked about in the strategy section, as it may not be obvious why it is better than the other options. 

In the build phase, the decision between Drilling Refinements and Source Drill can be important depending on how you want to play the remainder of the game. The Drilling Refinements cannot be destroyed, gains you one point, and contributes to purchasing the Drilling Storehouse later on. However, it does not net you source until wave 3. In contrast, a Source Drill will immediately net you source by providing 6 in the second wave with the downside of not producing any additional source. This strategy is also more risky, as it can be destroyed during the wave. Overall, you should be choosing the Source Drill if you are looking to force Drilling Refinements and two Drilling Outposts on wave 2. If you are planning on forcing another strategy, the Drilling Outpost will be the better option, as it gives you more source to work with on wave 2. If you are unsure of your strategy or want to keep your options open, stick with the Drilling Outpost, as it gives you more stability into the late game and provides one additional point. Lastly, you should NOT be building a Drilling Outpost if your opponent is the Greige with Evo Chamber, or the Narora. This is because they both have easy ways to deal 2 damage at range to destroy the Drilling Outpost, taking a large advantage in the first wave.

As for the prep phase, this is the only way to spend all 5 cp on the first wave. It is very good at killing landmarks, while also having a ranged unit for first contact with the opposing faction units. While it may not be the best option of any faction, it is the best that the Brawnen can do.

Versus Heirs

Market Phase: Anarchist / Skip

Build Phase: Forsaken Artillery

Prep Phase: Awsh, Battleborn, Dispatch

This matchup is notoriously difficult for the Brawnen. Because of the lack of Air Defense, the Royal Talon is extremely difficult to deal with. It can nearly always score one or two hits on your fortress gate, which then means you have less breathing room to defend against Elfinkaze later on. In order to prevent this damage, the Forsaken Artillery should almost always be used to limit the damage to one or zero hits. Luckily, this build order has some interesting play patterns from the Heirs side. After seeing you build this upgrade, they will likely not deploy the Royal Talon, as it is a waste of source on their side now. Because of this, you will likely not need to use the Forsaken Artillery on wave 1. This allows you to save the usage for future waves where you can fend off an Heirs hero or knock down an aggressive Regal Lookout before the Heirs can use Air Current Transporter to teleport to your fortress gate. Overall, this build order sets you up to survive future waves while using the threat of activation to change how your opponent plays the current wave.

The prep phase is identical to the standard build order. This is because it is the only way to have an Air Defense minion on wave 1, then the Battleborn is free to bring due to cp amounts.

Promoted Battleborn

Market Phase: Anarchist / Skip

Build Phase: Battleborn Arena Games

Prep Phase: Awsh, Battleborn x2

This build order is a more aggressive build order that can make it very easy to capitalize off of multiple swamp landmarks on the path to the enemy base. When considering whether or not you should be using this opening, it is very important to note the location and type of each landmark that is on your path to the opposing faction’s fortress. While it gives up the source mining capacity of the standard opening, it can oftentimes make up for that by killing multiple swamp minions on both your side and the opponent’s side. Due to the 3 speed of the promoted Battleborn, it can race to the middle isle landmark first and oftentimes secure the kill before your opponent. The combination of source denial and acquisition in addition to being formidable fighters that can occasionally kill a hero if your opponent is complacent. 

For the prep phase, you want to capitalize on your purchase of promoted Battleborn. Because of this, it is acceptable to deploy two Battleborn and waste one cp. After your first landmark kill with Awsh, you now have 6 damage that can be used against enemy units. The one notable downside to this deployment stack is that there are no ranged units. This reduces the flexibility of the build order, but it can be extremely oppressive in the right situation. Use this build order only if you are sure of the benefit it will create.

Market Hero Purchase

Market Phase: Any of: Yewsel, Baza, Callus, Carbonne, Lhadnil, Londil, or Roa 

Build Phase: Skip

Prep Phase: Market Hero, Battleborn, Dispatch

In the market phase, if there is a hero that you wish to deploy on wave 1 instead of Awsh, the Brawnen are the only ones that are able to do this. Many market heroes can become extremely oppressive once they get a couple of upgrades, something the Brawnen can achieve on wave 1. All of these heroes are beneficial in their own way, but are very different from traditional openings. Against Grovetenders, this start is almost preferred due to how easily it counters Wyvankaye, preventing them from deploying her on wave 2. Overall, make sure that you know what you are doing when selecting this opening build order. If you want more information about the market heroes, look out for a video covering all market options in the future.

Market Purchase Forcing

Market Purchase: 2 source purchase / skip

Build Phase: Market Buyout

Prep Phase: Awsh, Battleborn, Dispatch

Occasionally, there is the opportunity to use the explosiveness of the market options to surprise your opponent with the effectiveness of the Brawnen’s purchasing power. Being able to purchase up to 7 market options in one game can set up for oppressive and nearly impossible to defeat wave 4s. In addition, it gives you more flexibility in defense, as you are able to purchase both minions to drive the Source Siege near the end of the game as well as spires or heroes to help with defense early on. Oftentimes, this start is best used versus Grovetenders or Horizon’s Wrath as those are matchups where the market options are very relevant. You either need to be able to kill Wyvankaye, which this opening helps to guarantee that possibility, or you need to be able to defuse a Swabbie / Powder Monkey stack, and more minions/spires always helps with that. 

While this build order is less consistent than other openings due to the variance in the market options, it can be extremely powerful in the right situations. Because of the variance, it is not an opening that is commonly seen when playing the Brawnen. I would recommend only using this opening if you have some idea of how your opponent plays and know that this will counter a common strategy they force. While not the best opening, it is good to have this in your back pocket and know that it can be effective.

Equipment Purchase

Market Purchase: Any of: Time Vials, Makeshift Wings, or Sourceride Boots

Build Phase: Skip

Prep Phase: Awsh, Battleborn, Dispatch

Kram, the Mighty is the most powerful hero in the game. Kram is also one of the heroes that improves the most when equipping one of the three best equipment. Because of this, it is arguable that if you have the option to buy one of these equipment on wave 1, it is beneficial to sacrifice any other upgrade just so that Kram has equipment on wave 2. This opening does nothing on wave 1 in order to have an excellent wave 2, 3, and 4, all on the back of an extremely powerful Kram. Because of this, when playing against factions that want to end the game on waves 1 or 2 (Heirs and Horizon’s Wrath), this opening should not be used. This is because you give up your early game survivability or source producers, making the Brawnen an especially easy target for an early game end. 

Variant: Against Heirs, there is a notable strategy rarely used, but may be relevant here. Deploying just Drang on wave 1 alongside the purchase of Makeshift Wings. This will reduce the damage taken from a Royal Talon to a non-lethal amount, enough to extend into a wave 2 with a Flying Kram. While this strategy is extremely vulnerable to Elfinkaze, I thought it would be relevant to note this alternate build order as a possibility.

Strategy:

The overall strategy for the Brawnen consists of two distinct phases. This is because the Brawnen are unique in how they win the game. While they are certainly a late-game faction, they do not win through points on wave 4. This is because their upgrades are very expensive and because of this, they often do not get enough points to out value the Grovetenders, Narora, or Griege. Rather, the Brawnen seek to win the game through fortress destruction (or enough damage to win on points) on wave 4. With this goal in mind, the Brawnen tend to have a “turning point” in their games where they go from pure defense to a game-winning strategy. 

In the defensive phase, they seek to mine source, take as little damage as possible, and gather upgrades for their heroes. Just like most other factions, they benefit greatly from having large map control. However, the Brawnen are able to survive with relatively little map control. They really only need control on their home isle for a defensive spire and influence on the center isle. This is in case they want to rush influence using a Drilling Outpost into Siege Tower, contesting an open source well on your opponent’s home isle. After building up a large Kram, creating a solid defensive position, and understanding that you have an advantage over your opponent, you can switch into the offensive mode. Before doing so, you need to understand what is possible in the game and what strategy you are going to be pursuing. Without a good plan of action, your opponent can very easily counter your strategy and win on the same wave. Because of this, it is advised to be more conservative in what wave you change your strategy. Later allows you to get more source before committing to a strategy. Due to the Brawnen ability to accrue a source advantage, waiting will generally make your strategy more consistent and harder to stop. 

When you make the turning point from defense into shooting for the win, there are generally 4 different ways that you can go about it. We will be discussing these in the order that they tend to become achievable in a standard game: Hero fortress kill, promoted Source Siege attack, market purchase overwhelm, and Siege Tower rush. 

First off is the hero fortress gate kill. Generally, your opponents will have the goal of rushing their minions past your heroes (especially Kram) in order to get damage onto your base. One of the common mistakes that happens is when your opponent passes right by a promoted Kram. When this happens, you should assess if you are able to kill their base with Kram before they can kill yours with their minions. Often, Kram can get one upgrade on his promoted side, leaving him at 3 attack and only 4 hits away from defeating the opposing fortress gate. Take care to see if you can steal a win in the middle of wave 2 or 3 using Kram if you opponent is very focused on playing an aggressive strategy. While this win condition is very situational and will not be available in most games, the Brawnen excel at punishing overextensions using this strategy, so it is crucial to have in your repertoire during games.

Next is the most common win condition for the Brawnen, using the promoted Source Siege. It is an absolute monster of a minion. The only minion with 4 range, paired with 2 damage. Regardless of this, it has a large downside in that it needs to be driven by another minion. Because of this, it often cannot be selected alongside an Aegis or hero if you need to have a Battleborn crewing it. This means that it is very important that you have picked up at least one cheap market minion earlier on in the game. If there is ever one in the market, then you should pick it up, as it then threatens a Source Siege later on in the game. Pairing the Source Siege with a promoted Forsaken or promoted Aegis is the most common way to win the game. Both of these minions can stall for a very long time in front of the Source Siege. This is because as a win condition, the 3 movement of the Source Siege is a downside, as it won’t get as many shots off as it should unless you trap it behind another minion. By doing this, it will be able to destroy nearly any spire in range, prevent heroes from engaging, assist on killing the opponent’s minions, then have enough health to deal significant fortress gate damage at the end. When considering going after this strategy, it is often beneficial to deploy a Forsaken on wave 3, then stall it near your gate as Kram kills the opposing minions. This way, you have a nearly infinitely stalled Source Siege at your fortress gate until they are the only two minions left and you can easily secure the kill before the end of the wave.

Sometimes, if you end up purchasing Market Buyout on wave 1 or see a lot of minions in the market, you can build up to a very dangerous wave 3 or 4. Market minions do not cost cp to bring, but due to the Uprising, we can estimate their effectiveness by equating source cost to cp. Due to this and the Brawnen ability to mine source effectively, wave 3 or 4 can have up to 20+ cp being deployed. Regardless of the effectiveness of the minions, the sheer number of them can be deadly to almost any opposing faction. While this strategy is not one that always will happen, even if you have a lot of minions, it is very reactive. If your opponent on wave 3 or 4 selects a deployment that is good at dealing with Kram or a Source Siege, you can often surprise them and win by flooding them with market minions when they thought you were going to use the Source Siege. This can often get enough base damage to win the game if they are caught by surprise. Similar to the hero kill, this is not a consistent strategy, but one that is very good to know is possible when playing as or against the Brawnen.

The final way to win the game is through having a Siege Tower close to or adjacent to the enemy fortress gate, then using Raze to damage their fortress. This can be extremely hard to defend against if they overextend from their fortress gate with their heroes. Even then it is hard to stop. However, it is extremely difficult to get it to work in the first place. Your opponent can see it coming and place a spire on the open source well to block you. To circumnavigate this, you can purchase an earthscape in order to have certainty in being able to place a Siege Tower within range. In addition, an earthscape usually will allow you to place the Siege Tower adjacent to the opposing fortress gate. This is extremely beneficial, as the closer it is to the opposing fortress gate, the possible damage increases exponentially. This is due to limited builds being able to add a large amount of attack upgrades to the Siege Tower. Looking at the optimal case of being directly adjacent, the Siege Tower will deal 2 dice of damage, and have its range upgrades removed. Then you can use a limited build to upgrade the Siege Tower and add 3 attack upgrades to it. This allows the spire to attack for 4 dice of damage, then 3, then 2, then 1. This totals in 12 dice worth of damage without even considering using your second limited build, which would add another 9 dice if necessary. Usually, a Siege Tower will end up destroying a fortress gate if left alone. While this win condition is more rare than using a Source Siege, it is once more a solid way to end the game if your opponent is complacent. However, this becomes an amazing strategy if your opponent has taken incidental damage earlier in the game. Being able to have a Siege Tower away from their fortress gate and deal the final points of damage is very difficult to stop. Find the range that you need in order to win the game using a Siege Tower almost guaranteed. While it is not expected, it needs to be noted that you can roll very poorly on your Raze dice, causing the opposing fortress to stay standing or not take enough damage that you win on points. Regardless, this strategy is rather consistent using earthscapes and is something that you should always be threatening so that your opponent has to play around it.

Notable events: One of the Brawnen’s greatest weaknesses is that of another faction buying the Renegade on wave 1. Similar to how you need to play around the Royal Talon on wave 1, you need to play around the Renegade the same way. By buying the Forsaken Artillery, you are able to prevent a wave 1 loss that would otherwise almost be certain when a Renegade is deployed alongside normal wave 1 minions.

 

Matchups:

Vs. Grovetenders

This matchup is the quintessential matchup that it feels like Cloudspire was made for. There is a lot of play and counterplay by both sides, but a majority of the pressure is put on the Brawnen to counteract what the Grovetenders are able to do, just like most matchups against the Grovetenders. In this matchup, the overall plan is to amass a strong force on wave 4 that the Grovetenders cannot compete with or to sneak in a win before they can grow strong. This is because if wave 4 ends, the Grovetenders will almost certainly win. There are some cool forcing strategies that can happen to make the Grovetender choices less impactful, or put them in a dilemma where both normal options are significantly worse. Because of this, the matchup is navigated wave by wave and will be discussed as such.

Wave 1: 

In the first wave, your build order will not depend on what the Grovetenders are doing, as they really only have 2 openings, both of which do not impact the matchup enough to play around. As the Brawnen, most of your game openings will be buying Source Drill in order to extend into the wave 2 build order. This is because you need to compete with the source that the Grovetenders can produce. When taking this build order, prioritize being able to pick up a market minion for 2 source, especially the Nomad or Portal Hopper. This is because they both can be used to drive a Source Siege as well as threaten Wyvankaye if she gets too close to your fortress gate due to their high movement. The Portal Hopper can even kill a basic Wyvankaye in one shot, which can be very dangerous if you are going first in the wave.

You can deviate from this opening strategy if there are enough swamp landmarks to justify using the promoted Battleborn. These promoted units will clear all of the landmarks, scoring you lots of source, then carry on to become excellent brawlers against the relatively low health units of the Grovetenders wave 1. This strategy is rather rare to see, as it doesn’t directly help you purchase Drilling Storehouse for wave 2. Once more, this is one to consider when first seeing the placement and type of landmarks, but only use it if you are very sure you will get value from it.

The Brawnen have a unique advantage against the Grovetenders that other factions do not have. They are allowed to deploy a mercenary hero on wave 1. Oftentimes this means that if there is a hero in the market, you should be buying it in order to get upgrades on wave 1. The list of heroes that you should be buying are ones that can contest Wyvankaye alone on wave 2. This means that they either need to have 3 movement or water/mountain terrain, as otherwise they wouldn’t be able to catch her. I would consider the following heroes to be good choices on wave 1 in the matchup, from best to worst: Carbonne, Baza, Londil, Callus, Yewsel, Roa, and Lhadnil. Other heroes either do not have the movement/terrain allowance in order to threaten Wyvankaye, or are otherwise just not strong enough heroes to consider. You will note that they are mostly ordered by movement/terrain allowance other than the exception of Carbonne. This is because Carbonne has the ability Capture, which is extremely potent versus the Grovetenders being able to grab even just one Taproot will oftentimes cripple their waves 3 and 4, allowing for a much easier victory.

Wave 2:

The wave 2 strategy is to do everything possible to threaten Wyvankaye and prevent her from being deployed, or to make deploying her not beneficial in the long term. We can do that in two different ways. The first is to make sure that we have something that can threaten her if she is deployed. Oftentimes this comes in the form of a market hero, but a spire or strong minion can also suffice if there is not a hero present. Note that due to our build order strategy, you will most likely have 2 waves of market purchases before having to face off against Wyvankaye. If you do not have an answer, search for one, or at the very least, a way to portion off a section of the map so that you are safe from Wyvankaye engaging there.

In order to make deploying Wyvankaye a worse choice, we are going to set up our source production so that the Grovetenders don’t want to skip the wave. Then we deploy only Kram, the Mighty in order to threaten a wave skip if Wyvankaye is deployed. To do this, we make sure that we both make a lot of source and have a way to store it. In this case, the ideal build order is to purchase the entirety of the Source Drill fortress upgrade as well as 2 Drilling Outposts. This lets us have a source income of 24 and a maximum source of 30 going into wave 3. If you have 3 additional source, it may be worth it to pick up Market Buyout at this point in the game, especially if you haven’t found a counter to Wyvankaye. There is a really important amount of source that you have to watch out for when playing against the Grovetenders. 14 source is a very nice number, as it is the amount of source it requires to fully purchase the Sharpener upgrade tree. This allows them to have the Root Dice, which will destroy most if not all of your Drilling Outposts at the start of the onslaught phase. Only start building them after your opponent has gone below 14 source without any Sharpener upgrades. If your opponent is spending the source to purchase the Sharpener without any of your Drilling Outposts on the battlefield, then you are up 14 source right now and possibly more later in the game. In the case that they start to purchase the Sharpener upgrades, purchase upgrades such as your promoted minions or Gateport upgrades to carry your advantage later into the game.

In the prep phase, there is pretty much only one option. Kram is too strong in this matchup to not deploy against taproots or Ybanthe, and the threat of skipping the wave if Wyvankaye is deployed allows him to “contest” her as well. There is no better option on wave 2, so in nearly every game against the Grovetenders, Kram should be deployed. A common Grovetender deployment in the face of a completed Source Drill is to use Ybanthe and one Taproot to try and get some source. Both of these units are very bad against Kram, unless the Taproot Summons into one of the larger minions. However, the Grovetenders tend to use nearly all of their source earlier in the wave on fortress upgrades, so be aware of how much source they have after passing their build phase. 

Wave 3:

Wave three is when the Grovetenders start to be able to Summon very strong units within the wave. As such, you should be prepared to deal with them. This is where a matchup guide starts to break down due to the variance in the game, but there are two general strategies for the wave 3 matchup. These two are either by using Architects in order to make a very strong defensive spire in the case that you don’t think Kram is enough to defend the wave, or to deploy a promoted Forsaken in order to act as a static fortress defense and hopefully extend into wave 4 to stall a Source Siege. This also allows you to have a last line of defense for any Summoned minions that Kram and your spires cannot safely kill. Lastly, if Wyvankaye is still on the battlefield a Forsaken has a lot of health and is difficult for her to send back to your barracks on her own. This means that she generally won’t flip until the end of the wave, where she won’t be able to harm any of your spires. With the Architects, they do effectively the same thing by defeating themselves, where Wyvankaye won’t have a way to flip unless she sends her own minions home. Be aware of this ability and try to kill promoted Taproots on the same turn that you kill their Summons. These minions do nearly nothing, so the Grovetenders will be trying to deny you source and get easy flips on Wyvankaye in order to deal with your spires.

Wave 4:

The final wave of the game is similar to wave 3 in regards to the Grovetender’s plan. However, the Brawnen will be finally trying to close the game out here instead of setting up. Because the Grovetenders don’t really get more powerful this wave, it is definitely the best time to secure a win against them. In the best case scenario, you have a Forsaken left over from the previous wave that can stall your Source Siege almost indefinitely. In this case, it can be relatively easy to secure a win through your best two minions. In addition, you will have the cp spare to not need a market minion underneath the Source Siege. All in all, you are very set up for wave 4 if this is the case. However, if the Forsaken has died somehow or is on very low health, the standard wave 4 build order is as follows.

The first thing is to absolutely make sure that you have a market minion. At this point, if you don’t have one, then buy ANY minion that is in the market. This is because we need 10 cp to deploy an Aegis as well as a Source Siege this wave. If you already have a market minion, then you can either save some source for Siege Towers to close out the game or buy a market option that can directly impact the current wave. This could include a hero if only Kram is in play at the moment. If you have not already purchased Source Shields and Source Bombs to promote your Aegis and Source Siege minions respectively, then these are necessary upgrades for wave 4. This will cost a maximum of 14 source, so you will almost certainly be able to afford these upgrades and other purchases as well. In the prep phase, deploy the Source Siege with the market minion under it, put the Aegis in front to stall the Source Siege for maximum value. As this is the last wave, make sure to use all of your market purchases. The Brawnen seek to overwhelm on this last wave, so by adding 1-3 extra minions, the wave can very quickly become unstoppable.

Vs. Heirs

Iconically, this is a bad matchup for the Brawnen. They just don’t have the right tools to deal with strong Flying threats such as the Heirs heroes and the Royal Talon. Just like most matchups against the Heirs, the goal is simply to survive. They don’t have any growth that can extend them into the later waves like other factions, so it is fairly easy to win on points after wave 4. This is a difficult matchup to maneuver, but there is definitely counterplay. Even if that counterplay involves buying the Forsaken Artillery all 4 waves…

Wave 1: 

In this wave, there will almost always be a market skip into buying the Forsaken Artillery. There are some market options that allow you to put up a defense against the Royal Talon without needing the Forsaken Artillery. If any of the following market options are available, purchase it and the Source Drill upgrade to pull ahead in the second wave. Options: Slingshot, Wind Funnel, and Renegade. While there are other options that seem like they could contest a Royal Talon (Roa, Callus, Source Sniper, etc.), playing with these options shows their inconsistencies in this matchup. While you may choose any market options you feel would work here, I have only found these 3 choices suitable to oppose the Royal Talon as much as the Forsaken Artillery. 

After deploying the standard array of units, there are two separate goals depending on the minions your opponent deployed. If the Heirs decided that using the Royal Talon is a good attempt at the win, your only goal is to survive. This means that the sole goal of your Dispatch is to get damage on the Royal Talon so that your Forsaken Artillery is consistent enough to fully kill it when it gets to your fortress. An important thing to note is that because all of your units have 3 health and the Royal Talon deals 3 damage, you want to spread damage evenly among your minions rather than letting the Battleborn take all the damage. This allows for more threat to possible Regal Lookouts that get built as defense, rather than having all your health on one minion. If the Heirs decided to deploy a Humminger and Harrier, then 2 health is an extremely important breakpoint that you need to play around. They can sometimes just use the Elfinkaze to kill both of your minions at once, something that is devastating. This means that you should play to retain health on your Dispatch so that it can threaten an Elfinkaze if they don’t use it early enough. By doing so, it forces the use of the Elfinkaze, allowing Awsh to clean up the rest of the opposing minions. This opening will cause them to get more source and be very well set up for wave 2, but there isn’t much you can do to prevent that. 

Wave 2:

This is the wave that they seek to present a “checkmate” to close out the game. Most often, this comes in the form of a Regal Lookout close to your fortress gate while your base is on 2 or less hp. (2 Regal Lookouts if you are on 3-4 hp.) Because of this, there are many decisions that need to be made all depending on how much source you got on wave 1. The two main things that you need to do are to block the source wells near you base with spires, and purchase the Better Targets upgrade.