Tooth and Tail Meta Report: November Knockout
Despite Tooth and Tail currently existing in a pre-alpha state, players already have stepped up their games, taking the units that Pocketwatch Games handcrafted and making it their own.
Tooth and Tail is a real-time strategy game developed by Pocketwatch Games, most known for their previous indie hit, Monaco: What’s Yours Is Mine. The most noticeable trait of Tooth and Tail is its ability to be played with a controller, a concept that has been a point of much contention for the transition of the PC-focused genre into the console scene. The PWG community has fully embraced this concept, and thus have been able to participate in pre-alpha gameplay and community tournaments to help test and offer feedback on the game.
The meat of Tooth and Tail lies in its units, a motley crew of creatures who have taken up the gun and blade to fight for their lives. Each player controls a Commander, whose role is a direct analog to the function of the mouse in traditional RTS, rallying units and serving as the focus of the camera. Along with the Commander are six units of the player’s choosing, and here is where Tooth and Tail shines from a competitive aspect. Each unit has its own special traits that allow it to stand out in battle, but their roles have been vastly expanded thanks to the creative ways that players have used them.
The following will be a look at each of these units and how they affected the meta of the November Knockout, the most recent tournament under the newest patch.
Tier 1 — The Rabble
As expected, the least expensive units were the most picked up units. The most important thing however, is the ever-changing dynamic between Squirrels/Toads/Lizards. Lizards in general were picked up more often in matches due to their swift trait, allowing players to harass their opponents quickly and often. And because Lizards have more health than Squirrels and have the same attack power (+1 in a previous patch), Lizards have the chance to beat Squirrels in one-to-one encounters.
However, an answer for this aggression was found in Toads, as their kamikaze explosions were more than enough to wipe out hordes of Lizards due to their melee-esque range. This made Toads a prime pick for many. In response, more and more players began to switch to Squirrels. Toads are still effective against Squirrels, but at least there’s a good chance that they get shot down before they explode.
Pigeons are also a popular pick. No surprises there as they’re a highly cost-effective pick due to their combination of sustain and high-ground vision they lend to other units. And with the prevalence of Skunks (which we’ll talk about a bit later), Ferrets, and Toads, they remain ever important to most drafts. They also pretty much counter Snakes outright (again covered later).
Moles are still relegated to very situational moments (i.e. 4-farm Mole Rush). They’re bulky and can do great structural damage, but their low base attack and nonexistent range means they often become fodder for the enemy. Furthermore, because more and more players are employing earlier five/six farm timings, it’s harder and harder to use Moles as an early unit.
However, it’s that very situational moment that allowed Deadbones to take victory over Zeno Akoop due to the execution of the Mole Rush, which requires specific scouting situations (which in all honesty is common as it isn’t necessarily hard to scout out the opponent’s base mill) and a very early timing whose failure results in an early game over for the player attempting this tactic. But when done right, it can severely tilt the opponent.
Other than Moles, it’s very clear that Tier 1 units are in a pretty good spot, with the four main units having a strong pick rate. Lizards did suffer a drop as time went on due to the rise in Toad usage. If micro’d effectively, it is possible for Lizards to beat Toads with the help of other units.
Tier 2 — The Militant
It’s quite interesting how the Tier 2 relationships have turned out. With the buffs to their gas damage and the rise of Lizards/Toads in compositions, Skunks have become a prime pick. The gas they spread can easily decimate hordes of Tier 1 units and even the bulkier Tier 2/3 units running through it. This was exemplified most in game 3 of the Bronze Match when AV ran his entire army (composed of two Wolves, two Badgers, and a lot of Tier 1 units) into an opponent’s Mill, but forgot to take into account the lingering Skunk gas (and some Toad explosions). Thus the Skunks and Ferrets’ ability to zone out the opponent made them top picks.
With the rise of Skunks and the everlasting presence of Ferrets and Toads, Falcons are almost a must in many drafts. With a very simple buff to their attack power, Falcons began to see more relevance in battles, although they can still be rather vulnerable to mass hordes of Tier 1 units. This pick is especially useful if an early Skunk timing is scouted out, allowing players to easily transition into Falcons without fearing Skunk gas. The Grand Finals of Deadbones vs Zeno Akoop were indicative of this trend, as they were needed to counter Owl/Skunk picks in the draft while providing Flying vision to units.
Sadly, with this meta, Snakes and especially Chameleons saw some irrelevancy. Snakes were most definitely a surprise. Xiniu was able to show their prowess in sniping out kills on structures and units as seen in his match against Zeno Akoop in the Top 8 where he was able to use them to break Zeno’s contain against him. However, while suited to hit-and-run styles of play, Snakes just don’t output enough damage in massive fights. The prevalence of Pigeons also meant that the poison tick damage could almost always be out-healed. These combined have put Snakes in a similar position to Moles, relaying them to situational (but game-winning) picks.
While Snakes did see some usage, Chameleons were effectively invisible to players in the drafting menu. Yes, they are still the bulkiest Tier 2 unit at 35 health. Yes, they have high attack damage. Yes, you can still surprise opponents with a sudden ambush. But their single-target nature, melee range, and slow attack speed often meant they were outmatched in fights, especially against hordes of Toads. In previous iterations Chameleons were often picked for their much bulkier nature, allowing them to tank enough shots from the opposing army. But when a meta has shifted to an AOE-oriented focus, Chameleons just can’t do enough.
Even their ability to ambush enemy units took a hit when the ability for Commanders to take reduced damage in battle was removed. This meant it is now extremely hard for Commanders to run around with invisible units without dying, especially when the enemy has built up a sizable army or has a lot of Skunk gas laid onto the field.
Tier 3 — The Heroes
Tier 3’s got a huge buff overall in the recent patch. Most significant was their reduced warren cost from 240 to 180 food, meaning that they could come out much earlier. Furthermore with the reworks in both Owl and Wolves, an interesting dynamic has formed around them.
For damage dealing, Fox and Badger were picked up quite often. Badger got a neat +10 attack buff, allowing Badgers to more easily become a dominating presence on the battlefield. Not much has changed for Fox other than making her unable to attack buildings, but she was always bad against them. Her ability to kite and snipe units remains important, especially with the rise of Tier 3 usage.
Wolves as a unit are very interesting. With their newfound ability to buff, well, everything including farms and building time, they’ve become used more in drafts that focus on farm-heavy approaches (i.e. double Tier 3 drafts). Furthermore, their ability to buff units remains, although not to the large degree it dominated with in earlier patches. Thus, they’re not the biggest pick among the Tier 3’s (that still goes to the Fox).
Owls are the current example of buffs leading to an overall increased pick rate. In fact, they became essential to Zeno Akoop’s picks throughout the Top 8 and even influenced Deadbones to pick them up during the Grand Finals to the point of mirroring Zeno’s picks. What makes Owl strong now is specifically her Wretches with +5 to defense, Swift, continuous production, and increased production time. Even with the inability to control Wretches, Owl is still a powerful unit and almost requires Falcon/Skunk/Toads to be picked just to stave off Wretch aggression.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for Boar, although this is mostly because of the wonky gas/fire interactions between Boar and Skunk. Because Boar’s flamethrower cannot occupy the same spot as gas, Skunks outright counter Boar, even if they’re on the same side. When facing (or using) drafts without Skunk, then Boar is a definite threat with the other Tier 3’s and is even a great counter to the aforementioned Owls. But until this interaction gets changed, Boar will not be seeing future action in most drafts.
Structures
If you’re not a Machine Gun, then you probably aren’t useful enough. The overwhelmingly high pick rate relative to the rest of the defensive structures shows how useful the Machine Gun is. It’s relatively cheap to build, can counter early aggression, and can help provide vision if placed on the high ground. And because it’s tankier than the previous king of structures, Balloons, in recent patches, it has become the preferred pick of the tournament.
Balloons suffered a hit in usage due to their decreased defenses, meaning that it’s very susceptible to Tier 1 rushes. However, it should be noted that they were almost exclusively picked in the Grand Finals due to their vision advantage as neither side utilized Pigeons much in their drafts. So, Balloons do still have their advantages, but they’re definitely not the force they were a few patches ago.
The rest of the picks remain situational. Barbed Wire is very susceptible to the increased Lizard pick rate initially due to their ability to easily dismantle Barbed Wire in large number. However, as their pick rate decreased through the duration of the meta and the introduction of the newer patch, it remains to be seen if Barbed Wire can still have a place in drafts, especially for those who favor farm-oriented late-game drafts.
The same can be said for mines. Again, with the rise of Lizards, it’s imperative to have that AOE burst to kill Lizards. However, mines are extremely hit-or-miss and are largely dependent on the map and scouting information. Like Barbed Wire, it remains to be seen as to what their potential is in drafts. And, because both Barbed Wire and Mines are cheap, it’s pretty easy for players to experiment with them more and more in the future.
Artillery, however, is on the same level as Chameleons. Because of the faster farm timings that players are currently playing, Artillery unfortunately has fallen by the wayside due to its high farm requirements and the fact that Tier 3’s are generally more useful. That coupled with how easy it can be to overrun Artillery, it has yet to see relevance in this meta. There is something to be said for its high-powered attacks and AOE damage, but as players get better and better at movement, it’s less likely that Artillery will make a big impact in drafts unless you are ridiculously ahead in drafts or somehow sneak it into a good position.
Thanks again to the Clash of Comrades crew and fellow competitive players for helping to give thoughts on this report. If you’re interested in trying out Tooth and Tail, you can join the pre-alpha over at the Pocketwatch Games Discord Channel.
If you have any comments/criticisms about this article, you can find me over at Twitter.
