Frosty Guide by monkus

[monkus]

The Ultimate, One-of-a-kind, Comprehensive, Illustrated, Fully Detailed
Guide to Frost Whoring
By monkus
http://www.tacticsarena.com/units/frostgolem.gif


Dedicated to all of my practice partners, always willing to throw in just one more game; to all my clan mates who stuck with us and kept the faith through the years (Bushido Gaiden!); to all the friends I've made in the game that have turned out to be some of the coolest guys I've ever met; and to the mods, who help maintain the order through the chaos, and are always doing their best to keep the game interesting. This wouldn't have been possible without all of you.


Let me begin with a warning: Successful frost whoring is difficult, and should only be attempted by people with a great amount of skill and experience, or those who are willing to acquire a great amount of skill and experience, at a huge cost to one’s stats, time, record, pride, and sanity. monkus holds no liability for improper or unauthorized use of the Frosty. Please do not attempt without close supervision. All stunts were performed by professionals.

This is NOT a guide to just using the frosty. The frosty can be used in many ways. He can be used as a wall, as eye candy, as a paperweight, or even as a pet. This will describe none of these possibilities. It will also not describe its uses in crazy freezer forms, multiple frosty forms (Legends doesn’t actually exist (2009 edit: now it REALLY doesn't actually exist)). This will be a guide about putting a frost golem to its BEST use: freezing your way out of a tough scenario.

As a note to all readers: This will be an EXTREMELY long review. Only read it if you don’t have any impending crises, you don’t have anywhere to go, and you have already gone to the bathroom in the past hour.

Story time: A long time ago, a VERY long time ago (when you still had to do damage adjustments on a slide rule), I was jumped (on Revelations, I believe), by an extremely interesting player. I had never heard of him before, and his stats weren’t extremely impressive. 800-1000 range. We played it out, and my turtle did a tremendous amount of damage to his strange spread. Finally, he had only a few units left, including a dragon, a knight or two, perhaps a scout, and a cleric. And, of course, a frost golem. I had nearly all of my units, aside from one attacker (I think I had Dragon/Scout/Muddy or Dragon/Scout/Scout left). I pushed the attack, figuring an easy win was in store. Boy was I wrong.
That guy, whose name to this day I simply cannot recall, frost whored his way to a near victory. He was paralyzing, attacking, running, making use of recovery times, etc., all the things you are (hopefully) about to learn. He NEARLY beat me, and to this day, I will not forget the lesson I learned that game. NEVER underestimate a frost golem.

For anyone who really doesn’t know, the frost golem is this guy:
http://tacticsarena.com/units/frostgolem_anim.gif
He moves two spaces, paralyzes up to 4 spaces away, and has a 2 recovery time. 60 hp, no armor, no blocking.

Section guide:
Preface: You just read that.
Section guide: You’re reading that now.
Forward: Clarification
Section 1: The threat
Section 2: General early game Frost Whoring (part 1: in turtles, part 2: in freestyle)
Section 3: General mid game Frost Whoring
Section 4: General end game Frost Whoring
Section 5: Methods to beat the frosty
Section 6: Specific/Special Frosty Uses
Conclusion



Forward: Clarification
The basic concept of the Frost Golem is truly one of genius. He is not simply a one-to-one tradeoff, as some Enchantress fans may claim. He takes a single unit and strips it down of blocking, movement, and attack, leaving only an empty body of HP. This unit is essentially “removed” until the situation changes, but it need not end there. Once the unit is actually killed, the frosty can nab another unit, followed by another, etc. It’s fair to say that more games have been single-handedly won by the frost golem than any other unit, except arguably the Enchantress.
Something about paralyzing a unit, reducing even the fiercest of dragons, beasts, and warriors into a target sign, has a powerful psychological effect on attacking players.
This review is not an analysis of the general merits of the Frosty. I will not explain the absolute basic uses. I also expect my readers to be generally competent when it comes to playing this game. I hope even the best players can take something from this review, even a little. This requires me to raise the level of player to whom I aim this review. If you cannot follow some of the strategies, take what you can, and come back later. I sincerely doubt this can be taken in entirely with one read. I know I certainly didn't pound it all out in one session.



Section 1: The Threat
The first thing that comes out of most of my opponents whenever I choose to use a frosty-less turtle is, “Whoa, no frosty?” Almost all turtles have frost golems, even though very often they can go unused, or hardly used, for an entire game. This is especially true in the more aggressive turtles, where the player may never actually touch the Frosty and still win, or potentially lose, just on the assault. Is it a mistake on their part to include the Frosty? Are these players ignoring statistics of usage and making a huge error?
Absolutely not.
The existence of the frosty on your side of the field is a consideration any intelligent attacker keeps in mind, immediately deterring a number of otherwise feasible strategies. They won’t run a scout up if it will be paralyzed, nor will they try to leap in with a muddy without backup.
A favorite strategy of mine is to jump a dragon into someone’s area and just start blasting things. It’s a great distraction, but will never work as long as the frosty is alive and protected.
The Frosty is not only useful when it is actually used. The threat of Frosting is something that gives many players more to consider when developing strategies. Many attacks, defenses, and general strategies require consideration of one’s own, and an opponent’s, Frosties in order to create an effective plan. Now let’s get into some details.

[monkus]

Section 2: General early game Frost Whoring
Most people mess this up, especially inexperienced players. People don’t realize how to use frosty early game, so let’s go over some rights and wrongs first.

Turtles:
With turtles, you have a bit more leeway, because the enemy doesn’t have all of her units positioned to jump in immediately, nor does she have as many focus breakers as she might in freestyle. However, too many players are tempted to simply paralyze something without considering the impacts. Consider the following:
http://i27.tinypic.com/2vt1mvd.jpg
Some people, for a reason that escapes me, use the frosty immediately to little use.
http://i26.tinypic.com/2nasm8j.jpg
Early game, the frosty won’t see much action. There are too many ranged units that can peg it, and any intelligent player is going to bring backup to any unit he sends out. For turtle games where most of the units are still alive, there are only a few things that the frosty can do:
First, you can usually peg a loner. A single scout or muddy sent to deal damage or destone you is the best target. For example:
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/3394/earlygamemuddystrikehh7.jpg
In the instance where you’re trying to get rid of the loner, you need to be able to protect the frosty and to be able to kill the unit relatively quickly.
http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/7393/earlygameparalyzeqg9.jpg
Furgons are excellent for protecting frosties. Read my Furgon Review (http://www.tacticsarena.com/faq/article.php?id=124) for more details.
Overall, do not use your frosty early game if it can be easily hit. With the rare exception of manipulating recovery (see later on), there is little reason to not simply keep your frosty in the back, glaring at your opponent’s units. It is extremely rare that you can find a position early game where the frosty can safely grab an opponent’s unit.
For early game opposite sides, I cannot think of a single instance of where you would even think you were capable of using a frosty successfully. The sole exception would be a single unit attempting to run up and deal damage. It’s rather obvious you paralyze him; at the point where multiple units are running up, you’ve reached the next stage (see a little farther down); the middle game.
For the most part, your early game strategy should not directly include the frost golem, but should keep it in mind moving into the midgame, such as try to spread your opponents units out while keeping your own units from being isolated.

Freestyle:
There’s a little more opportunity to use the Frosty in the early game of freestyle, but not much. If you’re in a rush vs. rush situation, chances are using the frosty will just be a turn trade (one move for you and one move for them), or even less if your opponent can use a muddy to break the focus while dealing damage. However, there is some potential in rush vs. anti-rush.
As the anti-rush, sometimes you have the opportunity to freeze a unit where there is no unit immediately available to break the focus. This can be used as a diversion, a stall tactic, a single-unit counter, or even as a method to kill the frozen unit before backup can arrive. If a muddy is in a really crucial position with very little backup, you can stall it for a pretty good amount of time with the frosty. However, most rushes have a lot of ranged units up front, so this tactic isn’t often usable.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/7348/63678932ed4.jpg
(A novice gets overzealous with a muddy, and loses a muddy because of it)

If you’re truly bent on using the frost golem early freestyle, put it in a corner positions so there aren’t really any LOS shots open from the start. If a muddy jumps into your unit area, you can freeze it with a reasonable amount of ease. Until a wisp, ambusher, or other focus breaker can get into position, you should be able to maintain the hold.
As the rush, there actually is a good opportunity to use the Frosty, mainly to either draw the anti-rush outward, breaking apart its defensive posture, or incapacitating an outlying unit with a single move. Note, however, that these will only be effective against true, defensive anti-rushes, not the one-sided rushes that call themselves antis.
Your freestyle early game strategy will probably not include the Frost Golem in any significant regard. However, you can make a difference by isolating certain units and spreading your opponent out as you move into the midgame.



Section 3: General mid game Frost Whoring
The midgame is noticeably distinct from the early game by a few important factors. First and foremost, some units simply aren’t alive anymore. Others are displaced, have fled, or have their effectiveness mitigated from damage. Sometimes a player is spread across the board and very vulnerable to a Frosty. The mark of a strong player is when, going into the middle game, their units are condensed into a single, unified force. However, this does not completely defeat the threat of frost whoring.
The first thing you need to remember is that, regardless of whether he can sustain it or not, there are some times when you really should freeze something and there are other times when you really shouldn’t.
http://i31.tinypic.com/5ap7np.jpg
In that picture above (Yes, on legends), my opponent was becoming adventurous. I repelled his scout with some damage, but he still had his muddy covering all of his attackers. So, I paralyzed one of them. You may be asking yourselves, “Well, hey, monkus, idiot, you forgot, that muddy can nail your frosty like a bodybuilder with a sledgehammer chasing a guy with a two ton weight attached to his feet.” I know you’re asking yourselves that, don’t bother denying it. However, consider the moves that would follow:
Muddy moves in to attack. Either he remains on the outskirts or he takes out my stone focus as well.
I immediately begin attacking the muddy and covering up the spot, and freeze the muddy while moving my frosty back out of harm’s way. This is considered “Drawing the attacker in”, forcing my opponent to immediately engage me offensively, or lose an exterior unit with little or no reciprocal sacrifice. Consider the advantages of such a move:
First, it allows you to force your opponent to play offense even if (s)he isn’t in a good position to do so. If (s)he doesn’t immediately mobilize and attack, (s)he loses significant power. There is an immediate pressure to stop the Frosty, which prevents players from moving up more forces or moving into better position.
Second, it helps you split apart your opponent’s resources. If you ever face a really fantastic rusher, you’ll notice (s)he will have every single unit adding to the attack, spending a few turns pre-engagement to mobilize. With this particular frosty strategy, you force units, even scouts, to move past the protective line to engage the frosty. One can even repeat the strategy, drawing single units further and further into your grasp. If you can manage to do this before your opponent can bring all of his/her units into position, you can force him/her to neglect those units in a desperate pursuit to protect his/her units from your frosty’s grasp.

Try using the frosty sometime as solely a means of moving around your opponent’s units. It sounds insignificant, but it really can help, especially if some units are more threatening than others. For example:
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/8384/frostyluresotheronexc7.jpg
I had the game generally made, but I wanted the scouts dead quickly so I could make full use of my frosty. By using the frosty to draw the other scout towards my knights and dragon, I put them both in immediate risk. Had he not freed his scout, it would’ve been an easy kill. Remember, there’s no guarantee that your opponent will comply, but so long as you’ve carefully examined all of your opponent’s choices, it’s either a movement you want or material compensation. What makes this move so counterintuitive, which is all the better for an advanced-minded strategist, is that nobody thinks of rational frosty plays in a way that might involve freezing something to immediately lose the lock.

This strategy is also applicable in turtle vs. turtle, or defense vs. defense matchups. Sometimes you use one unit as a decoy for nabbing an even more important unit. I was playing an excellent game against a gray (Anarchy_United) when I employed this tactic:
http://i27.tinypic.com/24vnz89.jpg
I paralyzed the knight to draw the scout in. Even though the scout seemed safe from its striking point, with a little reorganizing, the Frosty and Furgon made a perfect team. I’m not positive exactly what happened, but I was able to paralyze the scout easily. Remember:
A scout’s range is 6. If it has to employ the “aim-behind technique”, it’s range is 5. A frosty moves 2 and has a range of 4. Discounting obstacles and support units, a scout can never hit a frosty without putting itself at risk for being paralyzed.
A frosty’s movement recovery is 1. If a scout moves and attacks, a frosty can always move twice before paralyzing it. Therefore, even if the frosty and another unit are both in each other’s way, they can both be moved successfully within the span of a scout’s recovery. This specifically links to a specific, and very advanced, frosty technique that you can see in section six: The frosty trap.
Generally, in a defense vs. defense midgame, you should aim to paralyze a unit on the outskirts so as to pull the scouts or muddy in for a lethal paralysis.

[monkus]

Finally, your midgame strategy should set you up for a strong endgame finish. Often times when I find myself in weak or difficult positions, such as a turtle vs. same side rush, my escape strategy is to set myself up for a strong end game. For example, I will sacrifice my knight for a scout, my scout for a scout, and even two of my units for a mud golem. Even if I end up behind on units, I set up a perfect end game strategy revolving around the frost golem. Very often mid-level and even advanced players will not fully notice the strategy until it is too late, and until they have a force completely vulnerable to your thus far inactive frost golem. Be careful not to lose your Frosty in the chaos of the midgame, or the strategy will completely backfire and you will have sacrificed a lot of strength for little reward.

Overall, in the midgame your frosty shouldn’t be making a lot of fantastic unstoppable plays; they simply aren’t very common. You can draw in an attack with good frosty play, good unit blocking, and/or good Furgon use, but it’s unlikely to have a perfect unit kill with the frosty.
You can move some units into place to stop a few LOS shots and such, but rarely will it permanently protect the Frosty during the midgame. I’ll mention this later on, but sometimes that’s enough; you can force an aggressive play, or just keep the frosty reparalyzing long enough to kill the targeted unit, or paralyze a more important unit in the process.
And, most importantly, if the frosty play wouldn’t be hugely successful or vital role, just don’t do it. There’s no need to use the frosty if you have better things to do. Still, try targeting focus-breakers and ranged units to set yourself up for a powerful end game finish.
To summarize, the Frosty gains value exponentially from the beginning to the end of the game. Namely, at the beginning of the game, it's almost useless, but the fewer and fewer units each player has, the more and more value the golem gains. The more you play towards this goal, the better chances you'll have once you reach the end game.



Section 4: General end game frost whoring
The end-game is where the frosty can really shine. Usually a majority of the units have been killed, and hopefully you’ve removed all (or almost all) of the powerful focus breakers on the field (muddy, scout, ambusher, etc.) Now it’s time to make full use of the frosty. This is the time where you should be proactively using your frosty, and not simply using him as a reaction to attacks.
The first thing you need to do is position him. If there’s a serious conflict going on, don’t spend too many turns moving up the frosty if it’ll mean taking a lot of damage to your units. For example, if there’s a huge knight battle going on, its probably best to keep fighting with your knights, and only move up the frosty when there’s really no great moves to be made. Or, if the frosty will be a really big help, you can retreat your units towards it.
Note: Retreating when your opponent is the sole possessor of cleric(s) is a terrible idea. (S)he might use the opportunity to promote a long endurance battle which (s)he will surely win.
Once you have the frosty in a relatively close position, you need not use it immediately. Being overzealous with the frosty may only doom it. Your main objective in the beginning of this strategy should actually be keeping the frosty away from the majority of your opponent’s units.
In the late game, you really have one goal: kill the opponent’s units. If you can do this with minimal reduction to your unit-killing abilities, you win. Too many players spend more effort keeping the frosty alive than actually killing things. The obvious problem there is, if you make a mistake, or are faced with a final unstoppable strike on your frosty, you lose it without reparations. Instead, use the frosty to kill things. If you can keep the frosty alive while doing so, go ahead. If you can’t, make sure you trade it for as much as you can take. Spend the effort to keep it alive; the frosty is a fantastic unit; however, always make sure keeping it alive is going to help you kill things.
Assuming you know why you’re keeping your frosty alive, let’s go over some of the best end-game ways to do it. One major issue is whether you have your cleric alive or not. If you do, it’s going to be easier to frost whore because you can take the occasional shot to the frosty; if you lost your cleric, don’t take this kind of risk when you don’t know what’ll happen later on.
I cannot stress the importance of removing higher-risks to your frosty first, even if they're not immediately a threat. Here’s a generally-accurate list of the risks units play to your frosty’s ability to function based solely on ability to immediately break focus:
1. Muddy
2. Wisp
3. Ambusher
4. Scout
5. Pyro/Dsm
6. Frosty
7. Dragon Tyrant
8. Dark Magic Witch
9. Enchantress
10. Beast Rider
11. Assassin
12. Knight/Berzerker
13. Lightning Ward
–. Furgon
–. Cleric
–. Barrier Ward
–. Stone Golem
Keep in mind, this list doesn’t include the fact that Wisp, Frosty and Enchantress prevent the Frosty from immediately reparalyzing, and that some units (such as the Wisp, Witch, and Pyros) die so quickly that they might pose less threat overall. If you are planning on making heavy use of the Frosty it is extremely important that you take this relative order into consideration throughout the game. It’s not a for-sure guide, but it is generally accurate. I’ve won many gray games simply by reducing my opponent to all melee units; gold games can be won similarly.

When you have your opponent down to all melee units against your Frosty and support, however, make sure you don’t get too aggressive. Slowly move the Frost up with cover, and unless your opponent is extremely apt at mobilizing units, (s)he will probably lose an outlier to your Frost. Strike the unit fast while protecting the Frosty; if (s)he pursues, simply move the Frosty back while always paralyzing the closest or most dangerous attacker. You can usually take a unit easily with this policy, and if your opponent gets overzealous, sometimes (s)he will lose more units to the Frosty once each one is killed.
In terms of protecting the Frosty, being prudent is your best defense. If the paralyzed unit is always 3-4 spaces away, you can pretty easily maintain a lock on one isolated unit, though the particular unit may change. Also, use your other units as a wall, and always plan in advance. Remember a few key things:
-The board’s walls have less vectors for which opposing units can come from, and less spots that an opponent’s melee unit can use to strike the Frosty. Similarly, corners are extremely useful if you can draw your opponent back that far.
-Your frosty can move through most of your units, while your opponent’s attackers cannot. If you plan ahead and construct a wall right BEHIND the Frosty, you can usually surprise your opponent by capturing an advancing attacker and placing your Frost into a much more protective position in one move.
-If your opponent has a multiple-turn plan to break focus that can’t be stopped, that leaves a few turns to try and kill the paralyzed unit. Don't try desperately to maintain focus. Kill the unit instead.
- The best movements possible both deal damage to the paralyzed unit and delay or prevent strikes against the Frosty. Remember, maintaining the lock is only effective when it also helps move you closer to victory. Otherwise you're just stalling.
-Plan ahead by knowing each unit’s immediate capabilities. If a Knight can cover only spot A, while an Assassin can cover spots A and B, don’t use the Assassin to block off A; that would leave B open.
-Keep in mind that units you’re using to block off enemy attackers are not invincible. Though your fantastic muddy move may have cut off a Knight from hitting your frosty, in a few turns the Knight can remove that obstacle. It’s therefore better to rely on hardy units like Knights and Scouts, or replacable units like shrubs, over the more fragile units. I'll sometimes use the cleric as a last ditch wall for the Frosty, but I avoid this tactic whenever possible.

[monkus]

Section 5: General methods to beat the frosty
Beating the frosty is by no means an easy task, nor something that can be done the same way every game. Let's start off by talking about the Frosty's strengths, and then its vulnerabilities.


Strengths:
Frosties can freeze every other turn.
Frosties are obnoxiously hard to hit in corners or behind walls.
Frosties gain potency as the number of units decreases.

First: Frosties can freeze every other turn:
It surprises me how many people forget this simple yet important fact. Do NOT assume that hitting the Frosty once and breaking its focus puts it out of commission. If you must go through a lot of trouble to hit the Frosty once, chances are all you are accomplishing is putting another unit at risk. Your opponent will refrost, block off the vulnerable path, rinse and repeat. One game my opponent thought he could take out my frosty with a knight and a scout. The instant the scout attacked my frosty, I froze the knight. Two turns later, he shoots the Frosty and I simply refrost the Knight. Then, I hit the Knight with my Knight, and then moved my Knight to block the Scout’s LOS. This is a trick so the scout will always have two turns between breaking focus. Using tactics like these, the Knight was dead long before my Frosty was. The answer? Have multiple units to defrost, have units capable of defrosting immediately, and kill the frosty before it can trap you in such a cycle.

Second: Frosties are obnoxiously hard to hit in corners or behind walls.
A frosty in a corner has a tremendous fewer amounts of directions to strike it from, and is immune to some of the more deadly scout LOS shots. If you see a Frosty in a corner, try with all your might to avoid it. If you know you’re going to have a unit frozen, make sure the Frosty must be more exposed to pull off the freeze. And, when you defrost, make sure your opponent can’t back up and freeze a different unit. A frosty retreating into the corner with a valuable unit frozen is a nightmare for attackers. Walls play the same role: especially when most of your ranged units are gone, you want to avoid allowing a Frosty to use its range past a wall to nab your units. It’s very important to keep in mind where the Frosty WILL be, as opposed to where it is now.

Third: Frosties gain potency as the number of units decreases.
The longer you wait to deal with a Frosty means the more difficult it will be. This isn’t to say that the optimal time to go after the Frosty is turn one, but neither should you wait until the unit count is 2 to 2 or so. If you look for opportunities early on to aim for the Frosty, you can hit it before it has its maximum opportunities for damage. Remember, not only does the Frosty have fewer attackers late game, but also it gains more room to maneuver. In the middle game, often the Frosty is blocked in by other units, making it a prime target for scout shots and such.


Vulnerabilities:
Frosties are especially vulnerable to larger or more concentrated groups.
Frosties are vulnerable to ranged units.
Frosties are difficult to protect because of their short movement and lack of blocking.

First: Frosties are vulnerable to large/concentrated groups:
It’s really simple, and this is a strategy you should be employing in any attack regardless of whether there is a Frosty on the defense or not: more units attacking means more ways each unit can complement the other units’ weaknesses. Attack with two units, and it’s likely that one will not have an easy way of hitting the frosty (which makes it easy to paralyze the OTHER unit, as frosty players often display intelligence of this sort). The simple act of moving a scout in more before an assault can neutralize a Frosty and give a defensive player a terrible headache. By moving all of your units within one movement of the defending player, you can make defense a real headache.

Second: Frosties are vulnerable to ranged units:
I know this is really obvious, but it's something that needs to be stated and restated. In the heat of the battle, do not forget that your ranged units are your only effective way of handling the Frosty late game. Your ranged units are your lifeline, and though it may seem intelligent to sacrifice a scout for his/her cleric and your muddy for his/her dragon, you need to keep in mind the later game and how your ranged units become assets as the Frosty begins to see play. One of my favorite freestyle strategies was playing a very defensive form in the height of rush play (where the ambusher still had a range of 6), and I would simply trade my cleric for a number of ranged attackers that my opponent would throw at me in the early game. Because my opponents forgot this simple rule, they found themselves in a heap of trouble in the late game even though they had more units overall.

Third: Frosties are difficult to protect because of their short movement and lack of blocking.
The Frost Golem is not the most agile of units. It has a movement of two, can’t move every turn, and is a really really big target. If your base assault is failing, take the Frosty with you if nothing else. If you can slip a unit in behind enemy lines, go for the Frosty, especially if you think your opponent will make good use of it. Remember, support unit strategies, i.e. those that make good use of Furgons and Barrier Wards and even Wisps, often require the Frosty to function with any potency. If you give a player time to fortify his/her defenses around the Frosty, (s)he can establish a formation very conducive to Frost whoring against your particular attack. If you get the Frosty before it can be put into that kind of position, you can eliminate the threat altogether.


Some other tips to beating Frosties:
-Keep the threats alive and real. If your scout is able to knock out focus, leave it there and don’t use it! The threat will nullify his Frosty altogether, while if you shoot with the Scout, (s)he will most certainly start freezing and making your life difficult.
-Plan, plan, plan. Always be aware of what your opponent might do with his/her Frosty before it happens. The top players look far into the future to see whether or not a move will be effective.
-Remember that defrosting is a temporary benefit, while killing a unit is a permanent one. Always focus on dealing damage that will last.
-Don’t let the opponent dictate the terms of the engagement. If (s)he is shrubbing a wall, move through the wall. If (s)he is blocking off entrances, kill the units in the way. If (s)he thinks your Muddy need not be worried about because it’s so far away, bring the sucker in. Also, there’s no reason you need to rush into his/her defenses when you can just as easily do long-distance pummeling and force him/her to engage you on uncomfortable terms. Try not to do what your opponent expects you to do.
-Get up close and personal. Frosty users hate having three or four units right there to deal with, because it’s a nightmare to protect the Frosty. The farther away a unit is, the more easily it can be dealt with.
-Always remember that intelligent players can pull blockers out of thin air if necessary. Watch out for clever moves that block LOS or entry points, and deal with them in advance.
-Watch all of your units even remotely close to the Frosty. If you plan on running away with an injured unit, make sure your healthy units aren’t then going to be susceptible to frosting.

Let's analyze the following:
http://i32.tinypic.com/riufdx.jpg
Purple (my opponent) is using his frosty in a very traditional way. It's close to the heart of his formation, it's freezing an attacker, and it's helping him maintain general defense. Note however that he has no way of damaging the frozen muddy, reducing the effectiveness of the play.
But look more closely at my (grey's) Frosty. Though it seems to be doing very little, nothing could be further from the truth. If he runs his dragon away, I freeze his scout. If he runs his scout away, I freeze his dragon. Without the second scout, he would lose the unit entirely. This is why, in purple's position, you should always prepare backup early on, because issues like this often have no solution otherwise. Even in this situation, I'm still comfortable, because when he runs one of his units away, I force him to make his other scout very vulnerable and can then frost whore the two units while wearing them down. The frosty can pin two units together by guaranteeing that if one runs the other dies.

As a final thought, remember that the Frosty only has 60 hp. It doesn’t have a tremendous amount of endurance, and therefore can be worn down pretty quickly. Do not let the Frosty go and recover if it will return a threat later. Don’t blindly rush in, but be mindful that a few attacks strung together will finish a Frosty off, given not enough time to heal it between blows.

[monkus]

Section 6: Specific Frosty Uses
The most genius uses of Frosties I’ve seen recently are ones that I hadn’t considered to their full potential. They are the ones that catch you by surprise. The first category I’ll go over is:
Using the frosty even when it’s going to be immediately defrosted:
There are three main times when you want to Frost a unit even though it’s going to immediately be released by a backup unit.
1. To manipulate recovery times
2. To manipulate unit positioning
3. When your opponent has something urgent to do
Manipulating recovery times and unit positioning is a very important task, which takes a ton of foresight. Knowing that your opponent needs a scout towards the back to protect the flank means that even if it’s available to free his attackers from your Frosty, (s)he won’t want to use it in such a way. This is related to drawing attackers in closer and closer with the Frosty, as well as a few other strategies. Is that muddy going to get away because your Dragon has to wait just one turn too long? Do you wish your opponent would move just a little bit closer to your Lightning Ward? Always consider this an option.
The third is much more valuable, and usually very surprising to even the most experienced of players. When your opponent has something absolutely vital to do, based on the interaction of recovery times or an impending threat, why not throw an additional factor in there? Does your opponent need to desperately heal to save his scout next turn? Why not freeze one of his attackers and start blocking off the Frosty? Or, if your opponent’s lightning ward is just going to be open in time to blast your DSM into nothingness, why not 1 recovery freeze his muddy. Then, when he invariably chooses to kill your DSM, you can start hitting the muddy and refreeze constantly. Or, if possible, freeze the LW at the last second before it strikes. Don’t do it too early, or it won’t work!

Using the frosty even when it’s going to be eventually defrosted:
It’s okay to freeze a unit even if you know you won’t be able to protect the Frosty permanently. Remember, you can freeze every other turn, so if you can ensure that threats to the frosty exist only every other turn, you can kill a unit and often keep the Frosty too. Just make sure that 1. You’re dealing large amounts of damage in the interim between freezing, 2. You’re making use of double moves, i.e. damage and blockage at once, 3. Your Frosty has the HP to withstand the barrage long enough. Do NOT employ this strategy without careful consideration into how much damage will be dealt in both directions.

Using the frosty offensively:
During an attack, the defensive player often commits many units to blocking access points, protecting weaker units, and to hiding themselves to avoid destruction. It is therefore much more difficult for a defensive player to break focus, especially with a very well-crafted assault taking place. Thus, a sneaky Frosty can paralyze the perimeter units, who will find backup very rare. Furthermore, any backup that might arrive will often be simply the next target, especially for the shorter-ranged units. Forcing a defensive player to extend him/herself instead of consolidating his/her forces is a useful strategy that can defeat even the best defenses. And, since paralyzed units are much easier to kill, the strategy can be repeated against multiple perimeter units. In making formations before games, by putting the Frosty in a position where it can both run for cover and actively push forward, you can prepare for any sort of situation. I find my favorite positions for Frosties in formations are where a Frosty can both run into a corner and up towards the front.
When using the Frost offensively, don’t be as concerned with protecting the Frost as what your opponent will have to do to unfreeze. For example, freeze an exterior knight so the Mud will have to run forward, making it an easy target.

Using the frosty to break focus:
The frosty is an excellent focus breaker, though few people realize it. The frozen unit not only loses its focus, but it can’t immediately refreeze, nor run, and the opponent has to actually go through effort to allow it to reuse its skills. In frost vs. frost, many people think that freezing a frost is a tradeoff. This couldn’t be further from the truth: controlling when you can run with your frost is a huge asset, so if your opponent starts to hammer your frost, you can run, but not vice versa. Just don’t let him freeze you if you lose focus.

Using the frosty for range:
The frosty has excellent range, and therefore can be used when the field is full of shrubs and such.
http://i32.tinypic.com/20j061l.jpg
Red has trapped himself in with no room to maneuver, making his frosty and pretty much all of his units pretty useless. Meanwhile, as I attempt to break through the shrubs, I use the frosty to nab units over the shrub line, due to the Frosty’s 4 range with no LOS or exceptions. Especially in a battle where neither player wants to fully engage, the range of the Frosty makes it a potent threat.



Conclusion
Frost Whoring is not something that comes easily. It takes a lot of carefulness and a ton of turns spent thinking until the clock turns red and angry. Practice is the only way you can really integrate these strategies into your game fully. Everything explained here only makes up a suggestion, no more, and my strategies aren't the only way to think about the game. However, they have high success rates, and very often times they will catch even experienced players by surprise. Remember to look over all of your options carefully before making a move.
The most important lesson I can impart upon would-be Frosty users, or really any players, is this: put a lot of thought into every move you make. Try and be the chess player that sees twenty moves ahead in the game. My most brilliant moves came simply by considering what was going to happen after the first move, and properly preparing. Then, things work themselves out like magic. We can’t read our opponents’ minds, but we can get a general sense of what’s going to happen. A player who is so focused on their own strategy to see their opponent’s is one who will not win many games. Tactics Arena is a game played by two people at a time, and half of everything that happens is initiated by the guy or girl sitting on the opposite end of the table. Try and read his/her strategies, try and figure out what’s coming next, and always be two steps ahead. If you can’t stop the incoming heat, mitigate it. If you know you won’t be able to stop the focus breakers, then why try? Go for a different strategy that has more chance of success. Every game, you should be two or three moves ahead of what’s going on, leaving very little room for surprise. Think, think, think. Always figure out what angle your opponent is going for.


Best of luck in all your games, and see you on the servers!

monkus

[Wizzy`]

Another guide!

Time to read <_<

[Mad-Eye]

This isn't a FAQ/Guide, its a Novel..

Nobel Prize worthy!

[Number_one]

I vote NO cuz the whole story is too long :P


I want to add something like it´s often happening in Legends Grey:

something else that must be said is, a Frost is most strong unit in situations of 1-1, and most effective unit if you use it compared with other units.

[Cliche]

Very nice, Monkus.

*applauds*

[monkus]

I vote NO cuz the whole story is too long :P

All that must be said is, a Frost is most strong unit in situations of 1-1, and most effective unit if you use it compared with other units.

Though I very clearly disagree with your statement, please keep in mind that as per http://tacticsarena.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34802, the vote actually matters in that a 75% positive rating or higher is necessary to be posted in the FAQ section. I didn't include a vote for my own personal benefit.

Glad you guys like it so far! :cool:

[-=TAO Player=-]

Dude, your guide just gave me a brain cramp, i love it, now i can truly frosty whore.

[steve12]

I vote yes, well done monko.

[Punishment]

Terrible guide.

2/10

I wish i had those 20 minutes of my life back.

[monkus]

Terrible guide.

2/10

I wish i had those 20 minutes of my life back.


I highly doubt you could get through that all in 20 minutes Pun :p

[Ol' Time]

Seems strange for whore to be used 3 times.

[_Thunder_]

I think its really good monkus. I think I benefited by reading it. Great work and effort.

[The Wild]

Great guide! It will be very useful to those who are new at gold or just plain suck at it, like me.

I've only read half so far and from what I can tell, it's very well written. I'll be sure to finish it tomorrow and commence with the frosty whoring :)

[-Dape-]

Very nice guide, it summons up with what i do in turtle games, draw the units in, nice.

[Memory of Light]

i read it in like 10 minutes? so im sure even puni could do it in 20?

it was a decent guide. obviously not something to help vets, but for new players i am sure it will be quite useful.

[monkus]

i read it in like 10 minutes? so im sure even puni could do it in 20?

it was a decent guide. obviously not something to help vets, but for new players i am sure it will be quite useful.

I was messing with pun lol. He knows i'm not serious.

The FAQ is aimed at intermediate players trying to bridge the gap to advanced play. I think some of the advice is a bit too advanced for a new player who hasn't gotten the hang of basic Frosty usage, while other parts should be fine.
It's certainly not aimed at vets, but hey, maybe it'll help some people come up with some cool new ideas. Never know. If you do, send me a PM because I'd love to hear what you guys come up with.

Thanks for the compliment! glad you found it decent cua :p

[Rubbish]

To be honest I just skimmed over this, but I could see it covered most parts of the Frost Golem use strategy in a clear and thorough way; I defenetly think this could be a useful guide for many TAO players.

Good job monkus.

[Veilmenacex]

Terrible guide.

2/10

I wish i had those 20 minutes of my life back.

what were you going to do with those 20 minutes anyways?

[Number_one]

Frosty whoring must be learned by practise also, but this is pretty much good.

[Cliche]

Frosty whoring must be learned by practise also, but this is pretty much good.

Monkus emphasized that in his guide. Thanks for trying, though.

[Rico Suave]

Well done Monkus. I accidentally voted, 'no' when I wanted to hit yes. So, keep that in mind when you figure out your yes/no percentage!

It is nice to see everyone throwing in there two-cents on your FAQ. It is almost the same as when someone dies, and all of a sudden everyone was that persons best friend.

[Nightmarez]

Frosty whoring must be learned by practise also, but this is pretty much good.

Monkus emphasized that in his guide. Thanks for trying, though.

Actually no, he emphasized Practice, Number_one emphasized "Practise" therefor they were expressing something different. Thanks for trying, though.

[monkus]

Actually no, he emphasized Practice, Number_one emphasized "Practise" therefor they were expressing something different. Thanks for trying, though.

For those confused, "Practise" refers to the ancient art of drawing upon the energy within heated coals to weild a psychic power very similar to telekenesis. However, for those who read the guide very closely, I clearly do emphasize this art too, right before the section on adapting to the influence of Venus.

[Pikachu!]

About time :p

*starts to read*


Edit: Sorry about the long response time, I was busy watching a movie [or am I just an insanely slow reader?!?!]...

Anyway, I agree with essentially everything you've said. Covers most of the things people need to do to effectively use the frost quite well, I think. Good job :)

[The Hand]

Very good Monkus...Placement of Frosty is also important, that was kind of included when you were talking about corner spot being dominant.

[Anarchy_United]

Wow, you have been working on this for a long time. I remember you asking me if you could use that game for part of the frosty guide... it was during Arcadians vs. Everyone war. That was what, in 2006?

Was a good game.

[ScytheMan]

Wow, you have been working on this for a long time. I remember you asking me if you could use that game for part of the frosty guide... it was during Arcadians vs. Everyone war. That was what, in 2006?

Was a good game.

Jesus, that was forever ago.

Good guide Monkus, took me a few days to read through due to impatience.

[Anarchy_United]

Jesus, that was forever ago.

Good guide Monkus, took me a few days to read through due to impatience.

I know, I was actually just skimming through, actually reconized the game, and was about to ask if that was me, when I read through the section above it and realized it was. I had just assumed that was a project lost in time.