No. 1 in the World – Topping the Empires and Puzzles Global Leaderboard

On Wednesday the 1st of June 2022, I stood aloft the Empires and Puzzles Global Leaderboard, and for a brief moment, was number 1 in the World. In this post, I want to share how my newly tweaked Defense Team, and a single outstanding hero, changed my fortunes.

I’m happy to say, I achieved this goal with two 4-Star heroes in my Defense Team and one 4-Star hero in my Raid Team.

And… I don’t care if they get nerfed! The deed is done!

Let’s break it all down:

MENU (Reaching #1 in the World)
1. Speech speech speech! (The hero who made it possible)
2. The importance of a decent Defense Team (& my Tweaks)
3. Building a Raid Team capable of beating all comers
4. The midway point… Do or Die?
5. Facing my shadow (facing #1 in the world)
6. Mine eyes have seen the glory…
7. The great fall from grace (but a nameless mortal)

This post will hopefully contain some decent tips and may even serve as a basic guide for beginners. Ps. Never chase heroes.

Before we start, please support me by sharing a link to this post, it really does help. Thank you!

The No. 1 Player in the World (Empires and Puzzles)

I always thought it’d be cool to be #1 in the world, but after a couple of lame attempts, over a year ago, I resigned myself to mediocrity.

See, I was facing 2 major issues:

1. My heroes were too weak and couldn’t compete with top-tier opposition
2. After a flask or two, I wasn’t making enough headway to believe it was possible, so I’d give up

So, what changed?

A few things:

1. My Defense Team was greatly improved with the introduction of Azmia.
2. The Double formation I adopted to accommodate Azmia offered an easy route to Team synergy.
3. I replaced the White Wizard (Melendor) with another 4-Star hero, who fitted in perfectly.
4. And the big one, I pulled the completely underrated Costumed Roc, vastly improving my Defense and Offense.

Once I pulled Costumed Roc, I knew I had a Game Changer on my hands.

He’s a total monster for a F2P/C2P, more than capable of winning any battle.

-Albeit, he’s far from the Best Hero in Empires and Puzzles, but he’s still a total monster and the most powerful hero I’ve ever got my hands on.

-It was time to come outa retirement, dust off my gaming glove, and dare to dream my wildest dreams.

[It’s worth noting: Most Sand Event heroes are pretty weak when compared with other portals.]

A Decent Defense Team (Empires and Puzzles)

If you want to get Number 1 in the World, you really need a decent Defense Team.

This is to get you to a reasonable starting place before you begin your ascent.

My team got me >2700 Cups, meaning they had done some of the heavy lifting for me.

What steps did I take?

First, I needed to level C.Roc ASAP. -I needed him in Defense, and fully fit for Raids.

I also made a change to my Defense Team, engineering a slight improvement over what I previously had. This is the team I recently shared in my Defense Team Guide:

And, here’s the change:

You’ll notice, Brynhild replaced Melendor.

What does Brynhild do?

• She’s a Fast healer who recovers 37% health for herself and nearby heroes
• Also making them immune to buff dispels for 3 turns
• Gives them +74% defense against Special Skills for 3 turns
• And, a tidy +24% mana generation for 3 turns

An absolute 4-Star Demigod.

Talking about synergy, you’ll note the 2 heroes in front of Brynhild in the formation (Azmia and Freya), who both employ powerful Buffs. Meanwhile, this super quick 4-Star healer protects their Buffs, protects them (+74% defense), and speeds up their mana.

The C. Roc Upgrade

The other change I made, was to upgrade my Defense-Down hero… From Gormek, to Costumed Roc.

While Gormek only targets 3 enemies, C. Roc targets them all, -for a massive -44%.

On top of that, he inflicts 684 Sand Damage over 4 turns and Dispels all enemies before tending to his feathers.

All-in-all, he causes a number of problems for the opposing team, and those problems translate well, onto the Offense.

Building the New Raid Team (Empires and Puzzles)

For the longest time, I was running with this Raiding Squad:

-A 3/2 stack which wasn’t quite strong enough to consistently beat top-tier Defenses.

But soon enough, Azmia broke into my starting 5, and moreover, proved herself capable of being the sole healer (even after the nerf).

And then later, I was able to level and field the almighty, C. Roc.

I had my team:

Side notes: 1. I tried to drop Malosi but he was pivotal against Status Effects. 2. Azmia is still a superstar.

And at the heart of the team was Costumed Roc, whose Special often marked the beginning of the end for my enemies.

Now I had a decent Defense Team, and a strong Raiding Team, I just had to wait for the perfect moment.

What was I waiting for?

1. To login to over 2700 Cups (the more the merrier)
2. For it to happen when I wasn’t busy in the real world!
3. For that Special tingling feeling in my bones

And, I didn’t have to wait long…

Do or Die | The March to the Summit!

On Wednesday, I logged in to this:

I was like, yeah, yeah! -It’s time to go.

2743 Cups was to be my starting point.

I put up our secret symbol and it flickered across the sky. And within seconds, the team had assembled.

It was easy going to begin with, as my team quickly rose to 2917 Cups, taking me to 33rd in the world.

“It wasn’t this easy before, was it?”, I asked myself.

But then I lost one. Then won one. Then lost one again.

I was now down 2 Flasks and questioning everything:

• Had I reached my limit?
• Was this the end of the road?
• Would history remember my name?
• Why does toast always fall butter-side down?

It took a moment to gather myself, but with the words of my childhood teacher ringing in my ears (“You’ll never amount to anything, you bum”), I journeyed on.

Soon, I was among the elite, now #1 in the UK! (GB)

Every battle was harder than the one before. The tiles were against me, the fates sought my demise, and the elite heroes mocked my budgeted bunch of try-hards.

But it was C. Roc in these moments, who took a step forward while others stepped back.

And so we faced down #5 in the World and continued our march until we sat Ranked #2…

Facing #1 in the World (Empires and Puzzles)

I sought out my next opponent, and who would E&P offer me, but the current guardian of that ever so sacred spot.

It dawned on me, ‘I don’t need to beat number 1 in the World to take their place’.

Yes, the devil on my shoulder encouraged me to side-step the champion, to dethrone them without even so much as looking in their eyes.

NO! Not me! I declared, tapping that Attack button like it vindicated my life.

BOOM!

There it was. The Defense Team for the No. 1 player in the World:

C. Mother North | Mr. Pengi | Hannah | Penolite | Quenell

First, came the stare-down.

Then, I threw out a tile or two, just to see what reaction I’d get.

Mother North smiled her homely smile, of course, trying to sucker me into a false sense of security.

Then, I noticed Penolite and Quenell, who were nudging each other, giggling at some kind of inside joke which I’m sure, was about me.

The battle raged on, and even the angels fled for safety.

There were explosions and cries, and sounds I hope to never hear again.

But in the end, there was silence.

Quenell stood alone, Defenses Down, suffering Sand damage, and all outa moves.

And I swear she winked at me, just before meeting her maker.

It was only once the dust had settled that I realized, ‘this could be it, I might have made the summit’.

I’m King of the World! (Empires and Puzzles)

There it is! I had made it.

An unspoken joy filled my heart. I shouted aloud in my living room, “What did I tell you! I’m the greatest!”.

My wife responded by turning up the sound on the TV.

I looked at the names now listed below mine on the E&P Leaderboard and started to nod knowingly like I was Lord of all Creation. “This must be what famous people feel like”, I muttered.

But just as I began to revel in my newfound glory, there was a tug, -something pulling me back to reality.

While I was still online, the rug was pulled from right under me; I was being Raided and losing Cups in real-time!

And so I fell, like an angel cast from heaven.

Until finally, I logged off, unable to watch it any longer.

On my return, I discovered I had lost 348 Cups!

Once again I was nameless, just another face in the crowd.

But every now and then, I like to remember how, for one fleeting moment, I saw the sun ablaze across the morning sky.

And even if no one ever remembers my name, maybe the servers at Small Giant HQ will keep a record of those who once occupied Data Slot, number 1.

No. 1 in the World – Empires and Puzzles Leaderboard

This was just a bit of fun, which I hope you enjoyed.

How was your first stint at No. 1 in the World?

Or, do you not care to try? If so, what could SG do to make it more desirable?

Lots of questions, so let me have your answers in the comments below!

Spot an error? Just let me know and I’ll update it.

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Copyright (decoration images and text): oldcynic.com
Images used by way of review/tutorial – Copyright owned by Empires & Puzzles: Small Giant Games