HIGH EXPLOSIVE Tarantula is the ultimate chaff-clear machine - "what chaff? I don't see em"

[@SoronMuuch]

You guys mentioned going for Stormcallers vs. single entities, but I was surprised Hackers were never mentioned especially vs. Tarantula's. Also brought up is acid Crawlers at 16:40, but you'd notice as you click on Apooche Crawlers their is no acid. Zillilag actually just straight misplays here buying photon in my opinion. We can see via the lack of acid purchased (only Scorpion acid blast could apply this on Apooche's board) it also didn't even come out and photon did not save the improved Warfactory from the suck Melting point. With that in mind Round 8 is just the thrown from Zillilag, lets break it down. Fire is a fine pick here, and him buying the two missile's for Crawlers is actually ideal. The real mistake is his sell on the right on the level 2 Farseer and the lack of response he gives the right, among selling. Remember all Apooche added on this side the round before he was winning was a single pack of Cralwers and he bought loose formation. What Zillilag does and hard misplays his position on round 8: Zillilag tried fixing the right side, but only put a single Archlight, when really if he was watching that side, he would notice the Sniper keeps sniping his Phoenix's before they get any value. This is an easy fix as nothing else shoots up and Snipers have garbage rate of fire. A single pack of Wasps would have done wonders at least increasingly the longevity of his Phoenix (every Wasp 1 shots Crawlers as well). Selling the Farseer is mind boggling. as it is holding the right, he sells it to buy Photon and places the Absorption on the level 4 Phoenix????? This play just collapses his right side period. Open up the game and try it yourself: To win the round this is what should occur. Unlock Wasps, Add a Wasp on the right (in front of the Phoenix closest to the inside) , add a second pack of Crawlers in the shallow flank next to the Warfactory two squares behind (this would be the hardest move to spot in a match, but if you want to use Warfactories its something to consider doing to avoid being missiled if you want to be on the line with your Warfactory), and keep the Archerlight he places on the right behind the inner Phoenix . Upgrade the Farseer and both Archlights (right side shallow and middle left behind Fangs, buy temp range. You will win this round dealing 2667 Damage, killing Apooche and winning the game, without loaning. This took me less than 5 minutes to find, but I have the advantage of knowing the Melter is coming (might be obvious although given Apooche's options). If Apooche was running acid, you can easily grab photon here via the temp power to get the same effect, but their is no threat of acid because Apooche isn't running it. Ultimately, I was torn on Zillilags choice on Round 7 with the improved Warfactory pickup, but if it would have been done noticing Apooches lack of acid Crawlers this is a great read, but clearly the blind Photon on Warfactory says so otherwise sadly. He still could of made it work even if Apoooche ran acid Crawlers given the turn after he drops the Warfactory he is offered a Photon card. He can win Round 7 also with photon, doing what I recommend above, but you sadly do 2400ish damage, so there would be another round. Still, its a solid position and playable. Just my analysis and opinions.

[@therealbahamut]

I like tarantulas. They start out as tanky chaff clear but can be teched into a solid all-purpose unit. They just need some shields and perhaps some anti-missile cover depending on the enemy comp. If you can manage to get them a good speed buff you can mitigate their biggest weakness and they just keep getting better and better as they promote and tech up. They'll never solo giants without an item but if you give them a little love, they'll put in a LOT of work.

[@HideBuz]

That would destroy balancing.

[@therealbahamut]

@@HideBuz What? Picking a card that gives them some speed? I'm not talking about changing the game; I'm talking about building around them.

[@GregAtlas]

First time seeing how effective the spread crawlers are against war factories (outside of the testing grounds.) Big improvement over the days back when war factory was much more commonly seen early release. Might be more useful for HE ammo factory now (which does a ton to medium sized units, too.)

[@MarketResearchReading114]

My MMR is low, so mileage may vary. Armor upgrades on them are pretty efficient for farming xp. They already shoot good, have huge hp pool early... surviving a few rounds and then leveling spider mines might be a good go. I find that positioning them is actually a huge challenge. They're great clearers, but to use them as summoners you have to think about compromises.

[@Dervert22]

Alders left? Sounds like logging advice. All that there is left.