Ironclad faction guide/review

Before I say anything, remember I am a new player so previously OP cards I bash or complete strategies im missing are good to point out. I am mostly doing this for info for other new players and because I want to learn more myself. This is all really just my opinion from my play so far.

Ironclad

Overall faction: Ironclad focuses on constructs and structures with a sub theme of rodents. As rodents don't play off each other right now and structures are not really all that reliable as a theme (1 in a deck is usually all people do; Ironclad has 3 in faction structures!), I personally believe this is the weakest faction. That being said, its the one I have the most cards in and can make a decent deck from so its what i have to go by.

Destructobots - solid unit. Great first turn play or when your board is empty to negate any downside as he wont attack your base. Even with others out, you are basically playing a 1 strength unit for 1 so its either normal value or better. And its often better to split forces to cover more ground that it is to have one big unit so taking 2 from one unit to drop a 1 cost 3 is pretty good. I use it in my deck and probably useful in just about any Ironclad deck.

Doctor Mia - IMO the weakest legendary. As a 2 cost 2 strength unit who doesnt move, she doesnt even really cover her base cost. On top of that, her ability isnt all that great when you consider most people dont run a structure themed deck (at least not a single person I've seen in playing). I have my personal beef with structures, but I think this card just doesnt make much sense. I mean for ideal play you want 4 structures to border her; thats very hard to do and more often that not is not a good strategy. Plus, when you do that Mia cant even move. The most realistic play is to have 2 structure by your base with a space in the middle for her to drop. Generally i find this bad structure placement as it leaves a very vulnerable spot in the corner for your enemy to funnel in guys. Mia should be more rodent or construct based IMO. Either she gives 2 strength to all rodents on drop or gives them 1 strength every turn (she is a doctor after all) or call her Engineer Mia, have the same effect and let it work on constructs. Right now her name makes no sense, her theme is off/useless, and shes practically common level with legendary status. I assume she was more powerful and has been nerfed, but as a result shes unplayable and a part of this faction being weak.

Finite Loopers - As a unit who moves and has 4 strength for 3 cost, hes efficient. He also will allow you to keep some board presence since he is sticky. The only downside imo is that his on death spawn will almost always spawn behind so if hes your front man, you may lose ground. This is a minor downside though and the benefits are better as he often requires your opponent to spend 2 sources of damage to completely clear and that's always a plus. Useful in any deck.

Upgrade Point - A very 'meh' structure. Its basically a worse version of Emerald towers. Yes it can potentially hit more units during play and only costs 3, but generally promotes bad placement, only works with constructs, and at 3 HP can be killed by a base level execute. Ive never seen this run.

Boosting Elixir - The Ironclad version of potion of growth. It costs one more, but give 2 more strength in value so its generally a better card for stat value. It does require a specific board state (or more of one than potion of growth) so I guess all that evens out. And since the requirement is simply surrounding, its fairly reasonable to pull off. I havent had this card for very long, but i plan to play with it more to see what its overall value is. I generally think keeping guys in the field is better than placing new guys since hand fill happens so quickly and mana always increases, board presence just becomes more important as the game continues. So a spell to keep more guys in the field just means more board presence.

Chaotic Pupil - A value play when compared to a similar counter part like windrunners. However, the damage is randomized so it may not always provide the desired result. You are trading consistency for RNG value. That said, hes often worth the cost and has some flexibility to either work like a small board clear for simple 1 to 2 cost enemies or can focus down on a larger enemy if played well. Windrunner while more consistent doesnt have as much flexibility so I consider it a viable replacement.

Linked Golems - A fairly average card. Stats wise, this is a 4 cost card with 2 strength and no speed which is awful. However, when its effect goes off its a 6 strength card for 4 cost which isnt bad. It has a specific board requirement, but again one that seems reasonable to pull off. This is a card I dont have and have not seen played, but seems reasonable for its effect and cost.

Mech Workshop - Most structures are slow and mech workshop is slower than most. The overall value generation of this can be great, but given that its 2 HP (which is the smallest for a structure), wont provide value on play, cost 4, its all hard to justify the use of unless you are ahead. And if you are ahead, i can often think of better ways to spend 4 mana.

Overchargers - A solid card overall. if you combine the effect with his base strength, hes 4 for 4. With the 1 movement and flexible point of damage as it can hit anything ahead of you and can even hit the enemy base, its a card that will no doubt get its value. Useful in any deck.

Flaming Stream - A helpful card when you are behind or when you need to push the enemy line. However, it may not have the impact of other 5 drops or even 5 cost spells. If you compare this to the commonly seen neutral spell Needle Blast, it may not get its value as it requires a specific board state and RNG values to get good use. Needle Blast is useful at any point in the match so Flaming Stream is a much harder sell. It can be useful against specific column strategies like Blood Ministers, Emerald Towers, or Lich Summoners. However, even against those it still has some RNG so its not a hard counter like some others. A very situational card that wont see much use.

Siege Assembly - Another structure. At 5 cost and only 3 HP, it already loses favor with me. After its recent boost, its still one Im not sure I would consider. It is nice that its effect will always get value each turn as it can attack the enemy base, but its still hard for me to justify the overall cost. I have seen this one played, but only at lower levels and it almost never defines the outcome of a game.

Edit: with the new buff, I may try this card again. Its still somewhat meh to me, but with 4 starting health and more potential to upgrade, it could be worth the investment.

Project PH03-NIX - A very interesting unit. PH03 is a legendary thats mainly designed to help you hold the line which is quite good. At 6 mana cost and only 4 strength, he looks poor, but his value comes from either extended time on the field from his ability or forcing you enemy to use tricky plays to get around him. Using him can be tricky as you dont want to use him as base defense (since he will likely just die and not respawn) and you probably dont want to drop him right at the enemy doorstep as again, he wont get extended value. However, in the middle of the board or near the enemies base will help cement your front line lead. In those cases your enemy is forced to make a decision; either push back your line and have to deal with PH03 again or let him get close to their base to kill him once but let the front line push forward. It almost always works in your favor. The biggest issue with this guy is dealing with his direct counters - curse of strings and blood ministers. Fortunately this is only in one faction, but once played they will just own your unit. So you have to be careful how you use this unit against that faction. Sometimes it may be better to just mulligan it and hope for something better. Aside from that, he is a solid unit. Useful in most decks.

Windmakers - A far more reliable way of pushing back an enemy line than Flaming Stream imo. While costing one more, it leaves a unit on board and allows you to push your line ahead if it wasnt already. Useful in any deck.

Armed Schemers - Again, the rodent cards pull through for Ironclad. Schemers are a decent sized board clear wrapped in a powerful unit. For 7 cost you get a unit that mostly pays for itself in stats. 1 movement would do it, but its ability makes up for that movement loss. The main point against schemers is that to get great value out of it, it normally requires a decent front line to allow you multiple places to put it and pull in enemies for the drop. However, even if you place it directly in front against 1 enemy unit, you will get its face value. Schemers is really for planning out a turn or 2 ahead. For example, with one in your hand you know you can push your front line and let a couple of their guys through. Because on the following turn, you can drop Schemers to clear their front line and keeps your in front of their base. A useful unit in any ironclad deck.

Those are my thoughts. Any decks people have that work or have other opinion on these cards, feel free to comment. I would love it if someone can prove to me how awesome structures and/or structure based decks are :)