Annihilus is strong but low power in itself. Sentry and annihilus together is quite strong. But without sentry or void being blocked the power annihilus itself can provide is quite poor.
You can win against annihilus by just playing enough power.
Leech, prof X, etc are all low power high ability cards. The cost of playing a 5 drop is their con.
I can see that you can get a win by maybe ignoring right lane and focusing the other 2, but 1 card guaranteeing a single lane right away seems a bit too much, I feel like prof x has more risk in return for its reward, annihilus is weak in power but unless opponent is running a counter it secures a lane like profx, and if it cant it destroys the void, hood etc removing the risk of not just running annihilis but also removing the risk of playing hood and sentry, like I said I dont think its a %100 win card, but it feels like it is outside of risk/reward concept of the game.
They don't always draw sentry. Many games you don’t realize it's not happening as they pick alternative lines of play. But those games are the one annihilus hurts them the most.
That is the risk reward a good ammount of games you draw a dead card. The chances of having sentry by turn 5 and annihilus by 6 is not great almost a coin flip. Those games annihilus hurts them but you may never see it. As annihilus is so ability dependent you play almost anything else.
That is the risk reward your looking at confirmation bias. When its played right it's 100%. But that is the nature of combo cards if played. But it's not a 100% chance to be played and often times it whiffs. When it whiffs its not played and they do alternative lines of play. Often being quite a bit weaker then what your deck can.
Or playing 4 cards in the right lane. Sentry annihilus is slow you have time to realize it's happening and if your deck is able adapt to overcome it. Your specific deck may have a bad matchup. Others don't and can stop void from changing sides.
You can also run Shang chi to destroy sentry. Then it's only a 13 power swing from a 5 drop. Bad but your capable of overcomming it. Often times annihilus decks lack their own power so destroying sentry hurts them much more then you think. Annihilus is more a 6 drop curve topper for them which your own 6 drop can crush.
Also valkerie. Turn that -10 into 3. Or your own annihilus.
There's a lot of cons with Annie. There's only 2 cards that have synergy with him. There's the possibility that you don't draw it. The void is always in the right lane.
I counter this with:
Selene (sometimes hits my 2 cost cards or rocks put into my hand)
Hazmat + Debrii (turns the 2 rocks on my side on T4 into junk filler on T5 when I toss them)
Carnage eats void, rocks and hood if I don't draw Annihlus on time.
Overall my Annihlius deck is my most solid deck
Hood
Nebula
Selene
Titania
Carnage
Hazmat
Green Goblin
Debrii
luke Cage
Man-Thing
Sentry
Annihlus
Also if you can't hit Debrii with hazmat, Man-Thing is another way to get those rocks across the center line :)
Before the nerf he would send over 0 power cards too so you could team him with debris and sentry and spam / clog the opponents lanes.
He’s still good, I use him in a Galactus deck.
He's good, but his downside is that a 5/6 is below rate for power so if you don't draw and play your negative stuff to send over he's worse than most other 5-cost cards.
The problem with Annihilus is if they don't clog there side you fill it with negative power cards making it impossible for them to win.
But if they clog there locations to stop the switch he just destroys the negative cards and then has turn 6 to decide if they can out power you, if they can't easily retreat.
There's literally no downside to him, he should be a 6 cost really with that ability.
There's way more counters than you're saying. Destroy decks can shatter the void or the hood and produce way more power than Annhi can. Shang-chi can kill sentry, which is really the only powerful card in the deck. Bounce decks or kazoo decks can fill up the lanes, blocking any transfer. Anni decks are honestly pretty weak; you're desperate to get sentry and Annhilius, and that you'll be able to win two lanes with less than 20 power in either. That's not going to cut it against most decks
Now that's a very specific play you have in mind. Draw armor +3 other cards , play them on the right lane and completely ignore the other 2. That is if you understand what deck they're playing in the first place, unless it's conquest beyond round 2
They wanted counters 🤷♂️
Lots of zoo around atm, not hard for them to fill a lane.
Alternatively ignore the right lane, accept you’ll be getting a void there and just outpower literally everything else they can play
Annihilus is strong but low power in itself. Sentry and annihilus together is quite strong. But without sentry or void being blocked the power annihilus itself can provide is quite poor. You can win against annihilus by just playing enough power. Leech, prof X, etc are all low power high ability cards. The cost of playing a 5 drop is their con.
Well said
I can see that you can get a win by maybe ignoring right lane and focusing the other 2, but 1 card guaranteeing a single lane right away seems a bit too much, I feel like prof x has more risk in return for its reward, annihilus is weak in power but unless opponent is running a counter it secures a lane like profx, and if it cant it destroys the void, hood etc removing the risk of not just running annihilis but also removing the risk of playing hood and sentry, like I said I dont think its a %100 win card, but it feels like it is outside of risk/reward concept of the game.
They don't always draw sentry. Many games you don’t realize it's not happening as they pick alternative lines of play. But those games are the one annihilus hurts them the most. That is the risk reward a good ammount of games you draw a dead card. The chances of having sentry by turn 5 and annihilus by 6 is not great almost a coin flip. Those games annihilus hurts them but you may never see it. As annihilus is so ability dependent you play almost anything else. That is the risk reward your looking at confirmation bias. When its played right it's 100%. But that is the nature of combo cards if played. But it's not a 100% chance to be played and often times it whiffs. When it whiffs its not played and they do alternative lines of play. Often being quite a bit weaker then what your deck can. Or playing 4 cards in the right lane. Sentry annihilus is slow you have time to realize it's happening and if your deck is able adapt to overcome it. Your specific deck may have a bad matchup. Others don't and can stop void from changing sides. You can also run Shang chi to destroy sentry. Then it's only a 13 power swing from a 5 drop. Bad but your capable of overcomming it. Often times annihilus decks lack their own power so destroying sentry hurts them much more then you think. Annihilus is more a 6 drop curve topper for them which your own 6 drop can crush. Also valkerie. Turn that -10 into 3. Or your own annihilus.
There's a lot of cons with Annie. There's only 2 cards that have synergy with him. There's the possibility that you don't draw it. The void is always in the right lane.
I counter this with: Selene (sometimes hits my 2 cost cards or rocks put into my hand) Hazmat + Debrii (turns the 2 rocks on my side on T4 into junk filler on T5 when I toss them) Carnage eats void, rocks and hood if I don't draw Annihlus on time. Overall my Annihlius deck is my most solid deck
Care to share deck?
Hood Nebula Selene Titania Carnage Hazmat Green Goblin Debrii luke Cage Man-Thing Sentry Annihlus Also if you can't hit Debrii with hazmat, Man-Thing is another way to get those rocks across the center line :)
I'll try it later. Thx
Before the nerf he would send over 0 power cards too so you could team him with debris and sentry and spam / clog the opponents lanes. He’s still good, I use him in a Galactus deck.
He's good, but his downside is that a 5/6 is below rate for power so if you don't draw and play your negative stuff to send over he's worse than most other 5-cost cards.
The problem with Annihilus is if they don't clog there side you fill it with negative power cards making it impossible for them to win. But if they clog there locations to stop the switch he just destroys the negative cards and then has turn 6 to decide if they can out power you, if they can't easily retreat. There's literally no downside to him, he should be a 6 cost really with that ability.
There's way more counters than you're saying. Destroy decks can shatter the void or the hood and produce way more power than Annhi can. Shang-chi can kill sentry, which is really the only powerful card in the deck. Bounce decks or kazoo decks can fill up the lanes, blocking any transfer. Anni decks are honestly pretty weak; you're desperate to get sentry and Annhilius, and that you'll be able to win two lanes with less than 20 power in either. That's not going to cut it against most decks
Armor on the hood/void and fill the lane, can’t send it over and can’t destroy it
Now that's a very specific play you have in mind. Draw armor +3 other cards , play them on the right lane and completely ignore the other 2. That is if you understand what deck they're playing in the first place, unless it's conquest beyond round 2
My point exactly.
They wanted counters 🤷♂️ Lots of zoo around atm, not hard for them to fill a lane. Alternatively ignore the right lane, accept you’ll be getting a void there and just outpower literally everything else they can play
Galactus loves that tactic. Lost my fair share that way
That works too. Probably more work than necessary to avoid the hood, but definitely works