I did well as CL by forming a defensive ranged line as far back as I could. I picked off CG units turn after turn after turn until their deck was gone, without advancing. CG rarely built up enough units to pull off a good swarm, because it’s easy to kill some CG units each turn and keep their numbers low. I got Admiral out, that fourth ranged attack each turn for 4 dice helped a lot. CG also had trouble reaching me in a swarm, since I was out at the edges of their engagement space. I found snipers helpful, since they could shoot through frontline units and give me two attacks on one CG unit without my units having to advance out from the defensive line. And Vlox could copy the snipers to shoot while protected by a unit in front of him.

I think there are a lot of answers on how to play the matchup here, and not all of them will apply to every game. I think the matchup is heavily skewed to CG (as the data shows), as the predominant CL strategy has been semi-swarm, dagger, and final form Vlox (Machinist/Moto Boots/Cannon). While this set-up is flexible and plays to CL's ability to slowly gain economic advantage - it takes a few turns to set-up, and are subject to the RNG of hand draws. Unfortunately, CG's strategy tends to hit harder and faster, which can catch a lot of players by surprise while they're still building their hand and setting up Vlox. CG is easily able to crowd CL's gates at a much faster pace from much farther away (climbers/clingers/riders). This makes it difficult for Vlox to get his Machinist established or swarm the board with bandits. Gunners and Snipers also suffer here as they are easily eaten by CG units. In one or two turns, CL will find themselves needing to answer to a horde of goblins at their door, without the summoning spots to do so - often forcing Vlox to enter the battle and thus expose himself constantly to damage. I think the goal that CL players (and honestly any faction facing CG) should internalize when playing this matchup is to out-grind every single CG unit while staying out of reach from any 0 cost units (both on the board and from their gates). 1. Out-grind: Goblins die easily. Just about all of your units should be able to trade efficiently with CG's commons. The end goal is to kill as many goblins as possible each turn - as that significantly limits CG's next turn. You'll hardly find yourself needing to discard for magic - given how much you'll get from killing goblins. Aim for 3 health units - so Bandits, Machinists, and even a few Snipers will be your body. CG struggles to take these out efficiently, and any residual units on the board will incentivize Sneeks out of hiding to secure the kill, only for you to punish the following turn. 2. Out-live: The longest reach CG has is a Beast Rider Charge + Clinger + Sneak. The second longest is Climber + Clinger + Sneak. It is absolutely critical that you position Vlox away from this at all times. There might be a few cases where the reward is worth the risk, but players should aim to accomplish their goals without putting Vlox in threat range. Most of the games I've seen end for CL are on turns where Vlox sits comfortably at 8-10 HP, only to get rushed down by riders, clingers, or both with a pile on to seal the deal. Another mistake I've seen players make is not seeing the beast rider charge from behind a CG unit. I think we condition ourselves to the standard 2 space move that most units have - so when we see a lane blocked by another unit (even if it belongs to the opponent), we assume that there is not enough movement for it to be a real threat. In the case of Beast Riders, players should carefully evaluate if they are truly out of threat range - and that means factoring in Sneak every turn. Careful balance of counter-attack and positioning is how CL will take the game. ^The above post was taken as a comment in the Discord on how to win as CL vs. CG (about 4 days after this matchup went live). CG tips are embedded in the above as well, since everything CL needs to watch out for - is something CG needs to be doing. Bonus topic: Unrelenting. I've watched a few games where players really struggled on what to do during unrelenting turns. It's an oppressive event that has huge economic benefits to CG, so this is expected. The answer to this relies heavily on board state, but I tend to follow the same list of priority each time I face CG's Unrelenting: 1. Any unit within threat range of my Summoner 2. Enemy Summoner 3. Enemy Champions 4. Commons I know I will not kill no matter the roll 5. Commons on my side of the board 6. Gates 7. Whoever the Clinger is holding onto Number 1 is obvious - regardless of the benefit your opponent will gain, it is not worth the irreversible damage to your summoner - especially considering how explosive CG can be with just one contact point. Number 2 and 3 should also be apparent - the damage done here will stick and Unrelenting will be wasted. Number 4 is tricky, since you'll usually have enough damage to kill them. But if I see a 3 HP rider in range of a 2 AV unit - I'm going for it. Number 5 will feel bad since you not only do they return to hand - but you don't gain any magic from the kill. However, it's important to note that without Sneak, CG is still limited by their 3 moves a turn. So regardless of their ability to swarm, they can only move 3 units - which can give you much needed breathing room to stabilize. Number 6 is sort of your last option when other targets aren't of as much value. Gates are critical to CG success, but given the speed at which they draw their deck - they're likely to draw another gate much faster than you can take it down. Number 7 is a nice situational 2 in 1 kind of deal. If you remove the climber or whoever is attached to the Clinger, you've rendered 2 units ineffective for the price of 1 kill. Though, you should still watch out for a sneak next turn and stay 2 spaces away from the Clinger to really make this work.

This is actually one of Vlox's toughest MUs, but he has the tools to win. Roll out lots of units. You want a swarm to counter the CG swarm. Stay away from snipers. Gunners are not as effective in this MU, so they can also be burned. Just don't burn all of them. Dagger needs to be protected, but she should see lots of action. Sin-sin is more expendable, since the CG only have one real target for the magic - the Eater. So use her. Take advantage of Vlox's extra attack with machinists guarding gates, and Admiral. Use Out Of Shadows with a machinist to set up other machinists for more attacks in the movement phase. Otherwise use OOS to tackle Sneeks. If Sneeks dives in, punish him, and (if you still have her) sin-sin can finish off the rest of his health late game. And protect Vlox. His health can go quick in just a couple short combos.