Pup the Magic Dragon Hero Guide by LSV

If you're looking for a Hero that will support you, look no further than Pup, the Magic Dragon. Pup is always in your corner, with a positive attitude, a smile, and an additional +2/+1 bonus on your supports. Let's take a journey!

Hero Power

Pup's Hero Power is straightforward in both what it asks of you (supports) and what it gives you (a bonus for your supports). That doesn't mean it's always easy to figure out how to harness it, but it's at least clear about what it wants you to do.

Hero Gameplan

Pup's Hero Power is at its best early, because the relative size of the bonus is massive compared to the stats you'll be facing. As such, one of the best ways to get value from Pup is to assemble a strong comp early and ride it to victory via XP spells and characters like Prized Pig. That's not to say that Pup can't provide value later in the game, as Treasures like Horn of Olympus and Evil Eye get a lot stronger thanks to your Hero Power, but my main goal while playing Pup is to convert an early lead into a strong late game.

Early Game

For the first few turns, your focus should be on picking up these two characters.

Either of these supports is more than enough to dominate early fights, as +2/+4 and +5/+1 are both quite strong. Baby Root is actually the best, which isn't the norm, but the extra attack on Mim isn't as good as getting a lot of health and some attack.

I also like Black Cat and the Sureshot as ways to maximize what you're getting from your supports, with Cat obviously providing a double-dip and Sureshot using Ranged quite effectively.

Honestly, as long as you have a Baby Root early you won't be losing much, but Cat and Sureshot are ways to push that even further.

Once you hit level 3, you get access to Good and Evil Witches, but I'm not actually that big a fan of them. They are fine, of course, since any support is good with Pup, but I often find myself holding out for Sporko, Lady of the Lake, and Heartwood Elder. Of note, Happy Little Tree is also a good character to support, and sets you up perfectly for Heartwood Elder on four.

If you start out strong with some quality supports, you're perfectly poised for the mid game, where you take that ball and run with it.

Mid Game

Hopefully you are coming into the mid game with a strong squad, ideally with all three backline characters being supports of one kind or another. You haven't lost many fights, and you're currently near the front or leading the pack. If that's the case, you are looking for some specific ways to take advantage of that.

The XP spells are your highest priority, as they are the best way to convert an advantaged position into late game strength. They also get you closer to one of the more common endgames for Pup, which is Treants.

Prized Pig is a little dicey, given your backline needs, so I only mention it because there are times when what you want is a Battle Pig. That, of course, is a frontline Pig, who uses support bonuses to lay waste to the opposing team. Lucky is a nice one too, as the extra economy can set you up well.

You won't always be ahead with Pup going into the mid game, and when you're struggling, you want to try and stabilize. That usually means buying some supports, and doing whatever you can to strengthen your team. Unfortunately, that also means passing on XP spells, as painful as it may be.

These are where the real money is at, and buying any of them is going to go a long way towards having the best squad. Much like Baby Root, Lady of the Lake is my preferred support here, as +2/+6 makes your team quite hard to deal with.

Late Game

Ideally you got here ahead of everyone else, thanks to XP, but regardless of the path you took, you've got options in the late game. If you've been rocking Heartwood Elder for a while, Treants is a natural place to end up, though Slay is appealing as well. Those are the two comps that organically use supports, so Pup is just added value to some very good strategies.

Slay is especially good, because it already wants Horn of Olympus and Evil Eye, so definitely keep an...eye...out for that.

To expand on Treants a bit more, they are a good place to land even if you haven't been working on a Heartwood Elder. The Treant comp is a top-heavy one, with most of the pieces being level 5 and 6 characters, so Pup is one of the Heroes best-suited to race to six and get started on growing a garden. Plus, double Heartwood Elder with Horn can get out of control quickly, and that's not hard to assemble.

Treasures

Every treasure with "Support" written on it is an obvious choice, and both Horn and Evil Eye are all-stars. They aren't the only ones Pup likes, so let's take a look at some other baubles Pup favors.

Bad Moon is a premium treasure when you are Slay, and since that's a place Pup tends to land, it's worth calling out.

Pup ends up focusing on high-level builds often enough that I like Staff, and it's also yet another way to get value from being in a good position.

Winning Comps

These are real player comps, courtesy of Untapped.gg's soon-to-be launched Storybook Brawl site!

Tips and Tricks

• Mages aren't the best on Pup, since Spell Weaver wants to be in the backline, so this is actually a Hero that isn't as focused on Hat-Ball as most.
• Soltak Ancient is a high priority, because stopping opposing Lightning Dragons and Doombreaths is critical.
• Don't be afraid to It Was All a Dream into a new Hero in the late game - that's actually a solid strategy with Pup (and any other Hero that's stronger in the early game).

Down by the Sea

I hope you have a fantastic time journeying with Pup - it's a great Hero, and one that actually came out of the gates a little too strong (it was initially +2/+2). Good luck, and may you always start with a Baby Root.

-LSV