I've watched /u/yarn 's recent Graveyard Gameplay video (watch the video below if you haven't already, and every now and again, he said things like - "We are now playing on my rotation" and "Mana realised he was playing on my rotation, so he saved his zap", and I saw in the comments lots of people asking what he meant by this. Playing on your rotation is actually quite in-depth, and needs a proper post. If you google it, it just comes up with the chest rotation (which we all know about, let's be honest). So, never fear, hoover_fishslap is here!
Playing on Your Rotation
Playing on your rotation means you have a hard counter to a potentially pivotal card in your hand the same time they have said pivotal card in theirs. For example, Goblin Barrel and Zap. If your opponent catches you misusing your Zap, you are now on their rotation because your Zap is out of hand when they play their Goblin Barrel. Arrow/Zap/Log bait decks rely on always playing their rotation; as you have to use your Zap/Arrows/Log on a Skarmy, and they punish you with a Minion Horde, for example. Other card relationships that determine who's rotation you are playing on include:
*Lightning and Musketeer/Wizard/other mid HP troops
*Fire Spirits and Minion Horde
*Inferno/the building in your deck and Hog Rider
*Graveyard and Goblins
Chip Cycle decks excel at playing on their rotation because they are constantly cycling their deck. You may have used your Inferno on a Royal Giant earlier, but Chip Cycle will have it back in rotation by the time the opponent plays a Hog Rider - hopefully.
Playing on your rotation requires knowing roughly what your opponent has in his hand, and when this pivotal card is going to come back into your opponent's rotation. Remember, it is still safe to punish with a heavy hitting card until your opponent has played 4 cards since they played their hard counter. When they have played 4 cards, it is safe to assume that the hard counter is back in their hand. For example, I'm running a Graveyard Control deck. The opponent uses his Guards against a Prince I sent down the left lane. I know the opponent also has Goblins to counter my Graveyard, but I have saved my zap for them - I am playing on my rotation in the sense that his Guards aren't there to counter my Graveyard, and I have Zap for his Goblins. The opponent is then forced to play a Mega Minion to the Graveyard I played in the right lane, which is a poor counter to my Graveyard, allowing me to get a great deal of tower damage in. However, I am now on my opponent's rotation because he will have his Guards back in hand by the time I get my Graveyard back.
Hopefully this cleared up any queries you have regarding Rotation play.
How to Break Your Opponent’s Rotation
In this part, I'll teach you how to break your opponent's rotation.
But first, a little background info on me. My in-game name is Fishy from the clan Phonecats 3 (shoutout to those guys, they're awesome). I run two decks at the 3000-3300 range - LumberHound and Mortar Goblin Hut. I run Goblin Hut over Furnace because I constantly face level 10s and my level 7 furnace does nada.
Without further ado, let's get onto the guide!
Controlling both your and your opponent's rotation is what makes the difference between a good player and a great player. For this guide, we're going to use the Graveyard as a general example. I don't have a Graveyard, but I am saving up for one and have analysed both of Orange Juice's Graveyard videos very thoroughly.
One way of breaking your opponent's rotation is forcing them or baiting them to use their hard counter where you can counter them easily. For example, Graveyard vs Lava Hound. The Lava Hound deck has Minion Horde in it, the hard counter to the Graveyard. You need to make the opponent use his Horde offensively and counter with Fire Sprits, Ice Spirit + Zap, or whatever defensive combo you have. For example, say the opponent has a Lava Hound approaching your tower unsupported as you have pressured the other lane successfully. You play a Mega Minion to counter their Lava Hound, drawing out their Horde. Then counter with Fire Spirits (remember to pull the Horde so the spirits don't go for the Hound) and attack the other lane with a Graveyard. The opponent is forced to play a Mega Minion, a poor counter to the Graveyard and you get a load of tower damage in, on top of the damage you got from pressuring the other lane.
Another way of breaking your opponent's rotation is taking an elixir deficit to be able to successfully pull off a push with your win condition. You need to put out bait that gives a decent positive trade for your opponent, making them go for it. However, the proper counters to your win condition are now not in their hand and you will end up on top. Bear in mind that it is unwise to do this when your opponent already has a lead on you, as you will be incredibly behind if you do so. For example, Graveyard vs. Trifecta. The Trifecta deck has two effective counters to the Graveyard that cannot be shut down by light spells - Musketeer and Valkyrie. However, a good Trifecta will almost always want to push with these cards. Baiting these cards is fairly simple - send in a lone Hog and hope to get Ice Spirit Musketeer'd, or just push with Graveyard + Musket if you know the opponent can only counter one effectively.
One key thing to realise about rotation play is all deck archetypes should be trying to do it. Some decks are better than others at it - Chip Cycle decks cycle so fast they're practically always playing on their rotation, but if they misuse their Goblins or whatever then you can still push with a Graveyard.
Thanks for reading if you made it to the end. Any comments or questions I will respond to.
Thanks
hoover_fishslap for sharing such an informative guide with us, this guide first appeared on
Reddit.
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