# The Blessing... and Curse of Gard's Avatar **URL:** \ **Category:** Gameplay Chat (PC/Mobile)\ **Created:** [February 1, 2017, 7:21pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362 "2017-02-01T19:21:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Justin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@Justin](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Justin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 2:34am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/63 "2017-02-03T02:34:07Z")
Noticed people loving Black Beast… Ragnagord Black Beast Forest Guardian Abynissia Orc banner One surge powers Ragnagord, explode, eat him, summon IKs to chump block, make skulls, etc. Amazing synergy. ---
**Author:** ![death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@death](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/death)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 2:48am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/64 "2017-02-03T02:48:03Z")
Yeah, I found the first turn possibility was only happening about 33% of the time. About 1 in 3 matches felt fast. About all I used her for outside of that first turn possibility was as a very rare cleanse. I don’t use looping teams against troops who freeze. Its certainly not a be all end all team. I use this team when I feel like having a bit of fun. Edit…Oh I now see the confusion some thought I meant just a straight swap of mercy for golden cog without reordering the team lol. Yep I can be vague. Hellcat Alchemist Gard Golden Cog Dragon banner…Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskeyjack](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/whiskeyjack/32/65850_2.png) [@Whiskeyjack](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Whiskeyjack)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/65 "2017-02-03T23:12:04Z")
> [@efh313](#): > > Here is a very brief explanation of how I make this happen.1. Fill one of your two loopers ASAP2. Loop until Gard is full.3. Clear the board of match 4’s, this should fill one or both of your loopers.4. If there are skulls on the board, fire Gard5. If there are no skulls, repeat steps 2-4.6. Rinse and repeat.7. Collect Rewards @efh313 mate, I have to hold my hands up and say you are 100% right. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to just skull bait the opponent but this team has just won about 50 battles in a row against all sorts of teams. Thanks so much for the detailed explanation 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Justin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@Justin](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Justin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/66 "2017-02-04T00:51:08Z")
You PC people don’t know what you are missing out on. Wait until you can’t bait with skulls anymore! ---
**Author:** ![Macawi](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/macawi/32/21289_2.png) [@Macawi](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Macawi)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:22am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/67 "2017-02-04T01:22:56Z")
> [@Justin](#): > > Wait until you can’t bait with skulls anymore! That’s the part that I’m having apprehensions about. Hopefully it won’t be as bad as I’m thinking it will be. ---
**Author:** ![Justin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@Justin](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Justin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/68 "2017-02-04T01:32:48Z")
I lost to a Justice team first turn today. I offered it skulls. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Namour](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/namour/32/2957_2.png) [@Namour](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Namour)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 5:13am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/69 "2017-02-04T05:13:50Z")
Talking about Gard’s Avatar - have other peeps noticed that almost every AI troop that can target an enemy with a spell, will always target GA if it has \>13 mana accrued? ie famine, spirit fox, manticore etc etc ---
**Author:** ![Jainus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/jainus/32/34949_2.png) [@Jainus](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Jainus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 7:41am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/70 "2017-02-04T07:41:43Z")
Agree… I think (in general) the AI often targets the ‘biggest’ threat, so aims for Gard. Mana Drain troops seem to target the one with most mana - they also seem to wait until someone has 10-12+ mana before draining. ---
**Author:** ![GemsCollector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@GemsCollector](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/GemsCollector)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 8:39am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/71 "2017-02-04T08:39:36Z")
> [@Justin](#): > > Wait until you can’t bait with skulls anymore! It won’t be that bad, at least with this Gard team. While baiting with skulls is probably the safest way to play it I usually don’t - I just use any 4+ matches before firing Gard. Unless there’s opp’s Bone Dragon or Famine ready to cast, that’s another story of course, just not that very common. ---
**Author:** ![Justin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ab097/32.png) [@Justin](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Justin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362/72 "2017-02-04T18:18:20Z")
That’s exactly how I play my team on console. I use a couple variants of Gard teams that are a little different than the standard one. I’ve found one in particular safer and more reliable, but instakill to the Gard is still obviously a problem. [Previous page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/the-blessing-and-curse-of-gards-avatar/19362.md?page=3)