Card Talk #122 Moss

[HappyMeaI]

I can’t explain it, but imo moss is pretty underrated, and when I see NITRO Moss oh god I just get the tingles.

[aspirin_]

There are surely better cards, but I (and pretty much anyone from steam) buys this card 9 out of 10 times in the opener and takes it in the early drafts, if there is no clear better pick.

Why? Viral, Deco, Eco, NRA and Insects are among the best cards in the game and will always be played. Either you get them or your opponent. But in any case, passing plant tags always involves the risk in hooking your opponent up.
Especially if they are cheap and early playable like moss. Such cards gain you tempo for much more explosive plant plays. Who wants to wait for a gen 8 NRA till you play bushes, when you could have played NRA gen 4 with moss?

Ground game wins most games and moss is a start to playing ground. Again, it's not an instant pick, but it is more often than not. To get the plant tag and to deny the plant tag.

[RoyalRook]

I realized that steam meta somewhat from past games here and think it's wrong, and that's why I am talking about this. I believe perhaps it's one of those things that gave me a tiny advantage when against steam players, they over value it and lag behind in tempo just a little bit when Mosses are picked and bought when playing against me.

Let's check out the math, you pay 3 to buy, 8 to play, 5 in plants(2.5 *2); total 16 for 2 plant prod and a tag with possibility to get your plants back next gen so thats negative 2 plants in tempo. There is actually absolutely no worse bio card than that.

Loan is 6 for 4 with -1 mc prod, I am not paying 3mc for moss period in initial draft, thats dumb money.

[primrose1234]

Interesting that you think you have an advantage over steam players.

[HappyMeaI]

I realized that steam meta somewhat from past games here and think it's wrong, and that's why I am talking about this. I believe perhaps it's one of those things that gave me a tiny advantage when against steam players, they over value it and lag behind in tempo just a little bit when Mosses are picked and bought when playing against me.

Let's check out the math, you pay 3 to buy, 8 to play, 5 in plants(2.5 *2); total 16 for 2 plant prod and a tag with possibility to get your plants back next gen so thats negative 2 plants in tempo. There is actually absolutely no worse bio card than that.

Loan is 6 for 4 with -1 mc prod, I am not paying 3mc for moss period in initial draft, thats dumb money.

For starters, DMO is worse but I see people playing it all the time including myself. Mosses combo too hard with half the deck and therefore cannot be ignored.

Aspirin is right, there are better starts but 90% of the time you gotta draft the mosses, especially if you’re Inventrix (who always has an incredibly slow start), Tharsis (PP cards are the strongest for them outside of Eco), or you start with an ocean card. In prelude they are even stronger because of Great Aquifer and the other ocean prelude.

Leave moss alone bruh!

[Andrei3009]

I realized that steam meta somewhat from past games here and think it's wrong, and that's why I am talking about this. I believe perhaps it's one of those things that gave me a tiny advantage when against steam players, they over value it and lag behind in tempo just a little bit when Mosses are picked and bought when playing against me.

Let's check out the math, you pay 3 to buy, 8 to play, 5 in plants(2.5 *2); total 16 for 2 plant prod and a tag with possibility to get your plants back next gen so thats negative 2 plants in tempo. There is actually absolutely no worse bio card than that.

Loan is 6 for 4 with -1 mc prod, I am not paying 3mc for moss period in initial draft, thats dumb money.

I do not agree with the calculation of the cost of plants, sometimes at the beginning of the game you are left with several unnecessary plants, which are likely to be burned before you use them. In this case, these plants are not worth anything to you but of course moss is not worth it if you need to get plants for it specifically.

[RoyalRook]

Or you can just save your money to SP greenery and convert. I am not saying the card does nothing, obviously it gave you 2p plant prod, but it's too expensive and too slow which makes it trashy.

[ArchDevious]

Moss is a great card, especially in current arena setup (2p/prelude/Tharsis)

[FrankJones]

So, look. I've had my issues with Rook in the past. (Rook, care to shake hands and say "Bygones?).

But he's on target in this thread.

The moss cards are weak. Situationally good. But can't we say that about any card? I mean, designed Micro is a horrible card. But if you get it for free, and you are Valley Trust, and you have Mars and Olympus, and you have Viral or Decomposers, well, hey, suddenly it looks great.

IT'S
ALL
SITUATIONAL.

And Moss or nitrophilic Moss need support to justify drafting, buying, and playing.

The big plant cards are Algae, Kelp, Bushes, Tree, Insects, NRA. Everything else is just ... meh.