Verminion - strategies vs human players

[Myon88]

Random question for the few of us who play, but does anyone know if minion LBs are triggerable via macro command or something like that? Clicking the button manually is of course way too clunky, and I'm guessing most people either box select their minions, or direct select them from the minion grid before hitting the LB hotkey. The latter option because sometimes box select won't select a minion with a ready LB (if there are 5 for example, and only 4 have LB meters charged and you get unlucky and the box select chooses the minion that isn't ready yet).

I met a player today who was triggering LBs really quickly (to the point where the sound effect was really distorted as 4 or 5 of them were playing simultaneously), and I'm curious how they did it. Even with excellent execution, it seems like a stretch that you can do it that manually that quickly.

[PotatoTree]

You can keybind the LBs, I believe it's hotbar 3 position 1, 2, and 3 for the actions LB, trap, and withdraw respectively. I keybind all 3, LB and trap for obvious reasons, but keybinding withdraw allows you to click-withdraw to clickly refresh low-health minions.

[Myon88]

Yeah you can keybind them - I do that as well. It was far faster than you can use them even that way though, practically simultaneous.

I still haven't figured it out anyway, unless it's a console-only command I'm not aware of since I don't have a ps4. I haven't seen that person again since then.

[PotatoTree]

Hmm I'm not sure then, I've never seen that. However I can get off my LBs off very fast too, I basically mouse click on the grid of minions and use the hotkey. So it's just click-hotkey-repeat, and it's really fast.

[Myon88]

I thought I'd share my current list of used minions since most of us are on different datacenters anyway. Besides, the nature of the game means knowing what minions to use and knowing how to control them are very different things. I'm curious if anyone uses minions that aren't on my list.

Top row: Mainly minions with utility that you won't produce a lot of.

Anti-arcana stone minions: The cheapest one from each species, generally you'll only make a handful and use them to harass. One from each species because sometimes tournaments disallow certain species - normally I'd just use the mammet by default.
Tiny Tatsunoko: Best source of anti-trap utility, only produced reactively.
Anti-shield type minions: The three fastest from each species. If I want to harass their shield I'll just make one and send it over as a distraction.
Self-destruct type minions: Only used in dire circumstances to reverse a losing game. Robonyan is cheaper but only 3 speed, Wind-up Gilgamesh is there if I really need a 4 speed option.
Plush Cushion: Best source of esuna in the game.

Bottom row: Mainly minions good at combat that will be produced in bulk.

Coeurl Kitten and Baby Bat: Needs no explanation, they're unequivocally S-tier, the best minions in the game by far.
Wolf Pup and Fenrir Pup: Best supporting minions of their respective species if you want an ATK buff. Coeurl Kittens almost always take precedence over Wolf Pups if you want critters, Fenrir Pups are ok to spam on their own if you need an offensive oriented monster type.
Black Coeurl: Best source of arcana stone direct damage limit break in the game, can be useful to finish off turtling opponents.
Cloud of Darkness, Hildy, Cid: Useful if you just need a large amount of stats in an expensive tanky minion - generally only needed in the early game to quickly defend against small groups of minions. There's no need for a critter version, as if you want critters, you almost always want Coeurl Kittens.
Rikku: Best trap-type limit break in the game. I don't really like trap oriented strategies as they're too reactive, but this minion is too unique to ignore even if I don't use it often.

[PotatoTree]

I have mine set up as follows:
Attackers: Hildy, Nutkin, Puff of Darkness, Odin
Siege: I just use page 63. Since it is small and darker, the enemy sometimes doesn't see them in the heat of battle.
Buffer: Fenrir, Wolf
Swarm/LB spam: Coeurl Kitten
Bomb: Robo, Gilg
Anti-trap: Mammet #001, Tiny Tatsunoko, Nero
Healer: Louisox
Trap: Rikku, Cid
Shield Attacker: Panda, A single Serpent Hatchling (still waiting for 4 speed 10 cost shield breaker)
Defensive: Airship
Other: Cushion

I mainly do Rikku and bomb-type play, as it allows for good zone control. However it takes a bit of micro. I mostly use kittens as an opener or to use single ones to go for the eyes. I don't actually ever use bats.

[Myon88]

Yeah I can see why you wouldn't have as much use for the bats if you opt for bomb-oriented strategies. Since I don't, it's difficult for me to punish deathballs without them. On a side note, I also learned recently that the 200 potency/-200 hp (1 potency = 1 hp) DoT from their limit break stacks with itself.

[aldoxzx]

Critter only this week is extremely annoying.

[Myon88]

Yeah all the 'X race only' rules are pretty annoying to be honest, and so are the rules like 'C20 and below' that change what minions you can field. It tends to lead to a lot of degenerate gameplay if a certain important counter is unable to be fielded.

That said, 'critters only' is probably the one I dislike the least, since while you end up seeing a lot of coeurl kittens and wolf pups, the swarm nature of those strategies still rewards good micro and situational awareness.

Last week's poppets only tournament is probably the most boring ruleset in my opinion. Apart from Rikku, most of the great poppet minions are expensive ones, so when theres's just 8 hildies on the field (for example) there isn't much room for the same depth of gameplay. And 'monsters only' is almost as bad as there is no monster counter to baby bat spam in my opinion - so you just see bat spam on both sides.

[Calteru]

My strategy is very simple as I'm still kinda new to this:

3x 10-cost 4-speed gatecrashers (Dust Bunny, WU Estenien, etc.) up the sidelines to start
4x WU Yugiri/1x Flames poppet OR 4x Kidragora OR 2x WU Edda up the middle
(if gates not defended)
5x Flames OR 4x Kidra OR 2x WU Edda up sidelines to A/C crystals
(if gates defended)
Same as previous, but reinforce mid after gatecrashers ded
Replace ded with situation-appropriate counter

I haven't had the opportunity to test it much, but last tournament the strat went 4-4 (albeit against decidedly disorganized competition).