Bear Trap · Crazy Joe · 4 guides
Prep phase doesn't start on Monday. Scouting the enemy state, running the title queue (VP / Minister of Education, the 49-slot trick), the spend-late master sheet, the Tuesday checkpoint, and the battle participation poll — Ton's state-running workflow.
The December update overturned several pieces of received wisdom: health reduction is simply inert, Gwen is a nerf as a joiner, and Hector beats both Gregory and Flint. Plus Marksman rankings by generation and the joiner tiers.
Bear damage is maximized by capping the troops you commit, staggering your rallies and joining from the top down - not by sending more. Plus ratios by generation, the December patch hero order, and the joiners that quietly wreck a rally.
Losing HQ wave 20 is a damage problem, not a tanking one. There are only three turns, and everything rests on wiping Joe's Infantry on turn 1 - which is why every defender runs 100% Marksman.