Trasd is in the house!

[DrakeLode]

Brutalis is a pretty amazing low cost card >> with the threat of Death Mage Thaddeus, Brutalis is the only 2 cost I would opt for unless it's using elementalis.

If you are opting for armor or weapon the only ones I usually see in Majiya deck are

Snow Sapphire
Twice Enchanted Robe
Dagger of Unmaking
Wrath of Summer

DoU are great.. Wrath of Summer is amazing when used right, life saver. Snow Sapphire is a pretty standard stall. Twice Enchanted robe is the only one I am iffy about, but it works.

Dome of Energy isn't that great. Since it's a low cost card with usually low cost summons at T3/4, cards like Brutalis and Fire Snake can wear it out without losing dmg.

Deathbone is horrendous without a proper plan to make it work- and even then unless it all goes well the cons are still argh.. Not good. Replace all the DBs with Infernal Gargoyle. They are simply amazing.

Otherwise I don't really have much of a plan to give you, I don't see any particular strategy you are going with in this deck, seems pretty standard(?). I am sure the better players here can give you much more solid advices.

[Trasd]

I don't see any particular strategy you are going with in this deck, seems pretty standard(?). I am sure the better players here can give you much more solid advices.

That's the point, I have no idea what there is to go for! I realize 9 pages of posts is a lot, so I will reiterate; I am completely new to this genre of games. I have no idea what strategies I do need to plan for, or for that matter, no idea that a deck strategy can be planned. Do you mean a consistent theme?

I have to admit, I built a deck that I thought was well thought out, but that is what I am asking - did I miss the mark?

[Seth]

Part of the thing with this genre, Trasd, is that everyone tries really hard to respect everyone else's original strategies for their decks when giving advice on specific lists. It's kinda considered rude for someone to be like "Here's my deck that's based on using Portals and small allies to overwhelm the opponent, advice to make it better please?" and then someone goes "The way to make this better is to take out the Portals and only use big allies and change the strategy completely." You see how annoying that would be?

BUT since that's specifically the sort of help you're asking for, yes, I think our deck is a bit ineffective as you have it now. What I suggest is to check out the decks listed over here: http://www.shadowera.com/showthread.php?p=232911

That's a list of decks people who got into the top 32 of the recent World Championships used, and there are quite a few Majiya lists in there. That should give you a good idea of what you should be shooting for initially.

[DrakeLode]

Yeah, it's not hitting any sweet spot. Try to play to your deck set to your advantage. Don't worry about 9 pages, I don't think there would be that many reply if people found you annoying. It's interesting.

Also nothing bad with being new to the genre, even oldies suck at it .(me, in particular)

I have been trying to make a Shard focused elemental deck with little success. It's a really bad card, but I think it could work.... Not that my W/L ratio is proving anything. 12 wins/8 loss. That's about 60 win rate at 180 ratings. That's bad. But otherwise I am having fun and thinking out new strategies for the deck. That's part of the fun. Me personally I just like to play cards that people find shitty.

PvP is entirely different, if you truly want to learn about deck building it's not enough to just read up, you need to play tonnes of matches. Then you will learn how to properly sacrifice card, what are the potential threat, when to play cards etc.

Try it out. And most importantly, have fun

[Trasd]

Ah, this is the advice I am looking for. Don't worry, I will not be offended, I have thick skin - having built a successful DDO guild from scratch, I needed it. I understand what you mean, though, and I can see where experienced players could get their feelings hurt. When I am to that point I will ask for suggestions on improving my deck, not on deck strategy (but my head may be too big by then!).

Thanks to everyone who answered. Being completely new to a game genre (especially one online) has other drawbacks besides actual game mechanics! The unique social and political parlance must also be mastered.

Part of the reason for waiting so long to list my deck was that I wanted a weather gauge for my basic understanding of game strategy, which I completely missed, aparently! LOL, but that is how I learn. I will look at the deck builds of the champs and use one of these as a starting point.

I really do understand about PvP and already notice that I may be developing some bad habits, so I will try to get online once I learn my new deck, but real life has thrown us a curve ball (that should actually be plural) and it is difficult. I will be playing from my Android tablet mostly, where chat is difficult, do most people chat while playing?

Now, my next question: do people change decks (same hero) based on their opponent, or once you have a winning deck, you stick to it? I guess what I am asking is that can a good deck be built that can handle all situations?

[Seth]

Metagaming in a TCG like this is deep and complex, lol. So much so that we call the current environment "the meta" and talk about it constantly.

Essentially in Shadow Era you can't actually build a deck that will always be the best for every situation. What you have to do is assess what strategies people are currently using and adjust your own strats to gain an advantage (which always shifts because other people are doing the same thing!) The more versatility you can pack in the deck, the less you'll be impacted, obviously, so that's the goal. But in the end, you'll need to develop the skill of seeing changes in the meta and adjusting ahead of the curve at some point.

This is more advanced stuff, though. First work on nailing a deck that will win and develop the playing skills to take it up to around 200 rating, then metagaming will become more of a factor.

[Trasd]

First work on nailing a deck that will win and develop the playing skills to take it up to around 200 rating, then metagaming will become more of a factor.

This sounds like my next goal. What makes it a good goal is that it can only be reached by playing - playing a lot and playing well. Thanks.

But just because I've set a goal, please don't stop with the advice.

[Trasd]

I don't know if this next request is even feasible, but given I want to play Majiya and given the decks pointed out by NinjaDucky above, can someone (or someones) please try to explain, in simple terms (a one or two sentence summary), what each Majiya deck owner's overall deck strategy is, or at least a best guess? I want to compare the different decks and the interpreted general strategies so I can find one close to what I want. The game still needs to be fun for me.

I realize this is a lot to ask and will understand perfectly if no one wants to devote the time and effort needed to answer the question, but my grditude will be equally as great. I would really appreciate it. Because I don't have all the cards necessary to completely build any of these decks, nor the resources, I will have to sell some of my current cards to do it, so I want to get it as right as possible the first time.

As always, thanks in advance; everyone I've run into so far in this community has been extremely understanding, helpful, and friendly.

[SilenceDogood]

I don't know if this next request is even feasible, but given I want to play Majiya and given the decks pointed out by NinjaDucky above, can someone (or someones) please try to explain, in simple terms (a one or two sentence summary), what each Majiya deck owner's overall deck strategy is, or at least a best guess? I want to compare the different decks and the interpreted general strategies so I can find one close to what I want. The game still needs to be fun for me.

I realize this is a lot to ask and will understand perfectly if no one wants to devote the time and effort needed to answer the question, but my grditude will be equally as great. I would really appreciate it. Because I don't have all the cards necessary to completely build any of these decks, nor the resources, I will have to sell some of my current cards to do it, so I want to get it as right as possible the first time.

As always, thanks in advance; everyone I've run into so far in this community has been extremely understanding, helpful, and friendly.

I don't have time to sift through them right now, but this might help, it will at least clue you in to what sort of decks there are, even if it won't say what the ones ninja ducky posted are.

[Trasd]

I don't have time to sift through them right now, but this might help, it will at least clue you in to what sort of decks there are, even if it won't say what the ones ninja ducky posted are.

Perfect Silence! Theory is always good for me. Sorry to have asked this as I realize what kind of chore it could be, but I tried Googling and was plagued with the same problem I have had with SE from the beginning - lack of experience leading to lack of knowledge to know what I should be looking for (I hope that made sense LOL).

TY

Now I'm off to fulfill my goal of getting a 200 rating (not even sure what that means, but I will find out - JJ BTW)!