Raid Bosston - PAX East 2025
I got to take over Raid Boss duties for PAX East, and I had a great time meeting new players and taking on challengers! There were a few winners over the weekend, but this build definitely provided a challenge to overcome, and I was happy with how it played. I did switch up my build during the weekend, but the team’s core remained the same! Here’s a look at the team and how it worked:
Granite’s Great Stats:
Granite was a cornerstone for my team this weekend and made a lot of the synergies possible.
Wild Swipe - 12/9 🗡️Wild
This card enables combo attacks from adjacent characters while being able to take down almost any card even with wild attacks.
Prideful Indifference 16/8 🗡️Wild 🛡️Cancel
This looks a lot like Granite’s top card because it is! It’s there to enable stronger combos on other characters while also threatening the opponent and preventing any pierce attack from going through his low-defense level three card!
Hit and Run - 16/6 🗡️Evasive 🛡️Ranged
Hit and Run is, in my view, one of the most versatile cards in the game! Remember, Ranged when defending means your opponent has to survive your attack to hit you, so it keeps his loot safe while also packing enough attack to facilitate combos or avoid hits with Evasive!
Craftsman’s Tools - 4 Loot
This loot value reflects his high octane offense and tricks players who hope to score major loot after clearing Hit and Run!
Reliable Wrecker Rho-Z:
One of my favorite pins finds value here in putting up a strong defensive game plan.
Blind Rage - 11/7 🗡️Wild 🛡️Cancel
While Passion doesn’t usually lend itself to defensive strategies, I really like playing a level one card with cancel when defending, as it all but guarantees that my opponent will have to take a hit to hit me!
Summon Simulacrum - 6/5 🛡️Combo💥🛡️
She’s able to take advantage of Granite’s great stats to wall almost any attack, and if she does get hit, she’s going to be coming in with an insane attack value as well!
Military Mastermind - 5/19 🗡️Outwit
This has the second highest defense printed on any card, and she also brings the offensive outwit that has the ability to close out games! I love this card, and it means that I felt comfortable putting my highest loot on Rho-Z!
Fine Works of Artifice - 6 Loot
She was tough, and I know why I put the most loot here, but one challenger crashed through my defenses quickly with a poison trap that devastated my team!
Love a Florence Lava:
She is my favorite Worn Wanderers character, and I even traded for a Gold Foil version this con, but an interested player offered TWO Gold Foil pins for Florence, which I couldn’t say no to, so now I am back on the hunt! This pin has an endless amount of possible builds, and there are loads of options for how to play her, but this build is one that I really enjoy playing with.
Hardy Predator - 10/4 🗡️Stun 🛡️Cancel
At level one, she presents a high threat level with access to stun when attacking, and also has access to cancel when defending, again ensuring that almost any attacker will take a hit in return thanks to her trusty 10 attack.
Killer Momentum - 12/9 🗡️Trap/Frenzy
Now, she’s ready to capitalize off of the stun by setting an offensive trap that can take out your foe while they’re unable to defend themselves, and the option to frenzy means that even if you were taken out at level one you’ll still likely get the chance to take out two pins on your turn.
Double Jeopardy: 4/15 🗡️Outwit/Frenzy
One of my absolute favorites, since it has the potential to take out two cards at once alongside an awesome defense value and a fallback of the ability to effectively poison your opponent if you guess wrong the first time.
Survival Kit - 3 Loot
Florence is aggressive! I was right not to put too much loot here, as she almost always ended up going down after she took out my opponent’s cards!
Introducing Margaret Mayhem!
Margaret Mayhem is a Set Two character that was created by one of our Legends backers who happens to be a friend of mine! En route to delivery, I was encouraged to use her in my Raid Boss team this weekend, and she is not only a beautiful pin but also was one of the most fun builds I’ve used so far! If you want to give it a crack before set two comes out, you could use Merry Syrinx instead!
Mordant Words - 2/9 🗡️Ranged/Evasive
Margaret’s level one card presents what I consider a subtle offensive threat - it has the ability to take out level three cards at level one despite not showing a high threat level in the early game, which makes it a sneaky card. However, many of my opponents immediately saw the chance to take her out without taking a hit in return, so this card was often the first one taken out.
Propelled Lance - 5/11 🗡️Combo💥/Pierce
My opponents taking out Mordant Words early was ok with me, as it opened up the chance to Pierce! Propelled Lance utilized Granite’s high attacks to pierce through two of my opponent’s cards almost every time!
Dignitary’s Privilege - 5/13 🛡️Combo💥/Ranged
This card was a real beast! Very few cards have the potential to hit this without first taking out Granite! The only downside here is that it doesn’t pack the offensive punch that my other level three cards do, but I found the defensive ability kept my loot as safe as possible!
Survival Kit - 3 Loot
In hindsight, I should have loaded more loot here, since most players took Margaret out third!
Final Thoughts and Team Advice:
This team is a lot of fun to play with; however, it definitely had weak points! First, a lack of Guard means you have no control over where your opponent chooses to attack, so a few well placed offensive cards can wreak havoc on your team! Conversely, because this team lacks cancel when attacking, it also finds itself threatened by strong offensive frenzy that are protected by a guard, since they can often pick through your team without taking hits in return! Lastly, this team relies heavily on Comboing off of Granite, so if your opponent takes him out, you can be in huge trouble. So, if you’re looking to build a similar team, keep all of that in mind and adjust accordingly! It was a pleasure to play so many challengers and it’s always wonderful to see what kinds of teams creative players come up with - can’t wait for next time!
-Raid Boss Ryan