Creature Class Critique #3: Giants

Christopher's Creature Class critique #3: Giants.

Since in the previous 'critter critique' I mentioned that Giant and Ogres needed entries of their own, I might as well do one of them today. I decided to go with the big guys.

Giants come in even-numbered Vitalities from 4 to 18 (excluding only, for some reason, 6). So it's conceivable that you can stack 3 or 4 of them under one shield. The problem is that you need to stack guys that work together, which isn't as easy.

There are 10 Giants, not including the Giant Penguin, and one Item that can only be used by Giants, the Rock of Far Rolling. Even though the Penguin isn't a "giant", I've included it in the discussion below. (And remember: whenever you play it, use your best Monty Python falsetto and announce, "It looks like a penguin.")

Common links:

Six Giants have OCB of at least 1/3 of their Vitality. Two have Mountain bonuses, one has Dry Heaps and the Penguin has Rivers and Lakes. Also, the River Giant is immune to Elementals in R&L. Two have killer ranged attacks, but don't use them unless you know your opponent has only one primary attacker or you have an Eye of Missile Mayhem. (Watch out for Bone Frights!) And the Giant Shaman (Vitality 4) makes Giants channel receivers.

The biggest common thread is this: attacking your opponent's stronghold. The Cave Giant and Elder Cave Giant ignore stronghold bonuses. Giant Aunts doesn't ignore them, but they can rubble a stronghold just by winning (Embyronic Witch/Djinn anyone?).

Looks like it's time to go for the Guardian kill -- if not, destroy the strongholds instead. Rock Spirits are nice, but you probably won't have room for them. Consider instead packing a couple of Anvils of Heaviness. You'll have a bonus to attack the stronghold and they won't have any to defend!

Weak link: The Caddy is a joke card, a dangerous joke (he's an 18 with an OCB of 9!), but a joke nonetheless. He's special ability is "kills Gopher". Ha ha. Funny. I get it. A Caddyshack reference. However, that one stupid sentence leaves the Caddy open to destruction by a Golden Fleecer. Not funny. Another weak link is the the vulnerability to the Golfer -- but only if your opponent has been able to find some packs of Drifter's Nexus!

Okay, let's get down to business. What should you stack with your Giants so that they'll fit in a Shield and fill it out completely.

Locals: Duh! Unless you want Rik' Sook to supplement your Giant Shaman, you don't have any Giant command cards. Go with some Locals, Rye Beaner or Scamp Jones, to allow a little more room in the Shield. You don't have to worry about that self-immolating AOE, that's for sure.

Idiots: Makes a 3-creature shield a 4-creature shield and draws off one secondary attacker from your Giants. In this deck, that's important!

Shadow Giants: (This was almost the humorous creature name on the bottom of the post.)

If you're going for the Strongholds, then the Shadow Brotherhood are your boys. Let them ride in on the shoulders of Giant Aunts (Hey, there's a pun in there, somewhere). The Thief of Shadow and the Red Master of Shadow have nice text boxes if they survive over a non-rubbled stronghold. If you played an Anvil of Heaviness, that's a little more likely to happen. Also, you can use that Embyronic Witch/Djinn combo, too. IMPORTANT: Use them *before* your Giant Aunts rubble the Stronghold!

Small Demons & Devils

You'll need a Vestibule of Kabod, but if you have one you can put a Small Demon or Devil in your Shield that doesn't count toward the Shield Limit. This is good in any deck, but again, a Giant deck needs all the help it can get. Some possibilities: Doogoop the Greedy (gives each of your Giants, except the Aunts, a bribery bonus),
Drizzle Bone the Hack (highest small Devil vitality, 8), or Kazarian Squawker (command card that accepts opponent's command card). Unfortunately, D&D do not provide anything toward your goal except as a possibly free creature fodder.

Summary: Giants are nasty creatures ready to pound, but there sheer size is actually a detriment, making it hard to fill out a Shield. Unlike other classes that can only serve a secondary role, Giants can easily serve as the primary class BUT they need supporting creatures (or a class of creatures) to fill out their shields for the attack.

And watch out: They may be big BUT Giants will get stomped by Titans.

Note: When this was first written, the Titans were not an NFL football team. Now it sounds like a prediction of the outcome of a game.)

C. J. Burke, Keeper of the Flame

Tree Giant: Mortal, Vitality 12, OCB 3, CMP 0, Red bar.
6-point ranged attack that *only* works in Woods. This overrides the 'No ranged attacks' restriction. +2 in Woods.