Close

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 23
  1. #1
    1.27 Tournament Champion Raphael Majere's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    8,585
    Tournaments Joined
    4
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Blog Entries
    6

    Raph's Guide to building and tuning beginner decks

    Many new players has asked a lot of questions regarding "draw" cards, how many allies should one have, how many item destruction cards like Shriek should they put in and so forth. The most common question is regarding deck size.

    This guide serves to provide my insight. It's good as a guide for beginners; it serves as a starting point.

    1. Deck Size


    40 cards including hero. No more. My belief is that if a new player cannot play a 40 card deck well, a 42 or 43 card deck would only serve to make the situation worse.

    2. Weapons


    If you are playing a weapon-reliant hero, such as Serena, Amber, Gwen, Logan or Darkclaw, you'll need at least 6 weapons.

    3. Item destruction

    Every deck should have at least 4. It can be a mixture of shriek, acid jet or Ley line nexus. Priests should carry 4 Focused prayer, likewise all rogues should carry 4 Stop Thief!

    Exceptions: Your deck has a lot of allies/weapons that can effectively take a lot of hits and hence can smash themselves into weapons/armors, reducing the opponent's weapon/armor's durability.

    For example, Amber and Boris decks can do well with 2 or 3 Smashing Blows, not 4.

    Another Exception: You are playing Ter Adun.

    4. Allies


    Every deck should carry at least 8 x 3cc allies. And at least 3 x 2cc (or 1cc) allies. This is to ensure the early game is covered with sufficient defense and offense.

    5. Cards that give you draw

    You need at least 6 of this.

    A deeper look: Must haves:

    Warrior: 4 x Blood Frenzy
    Rogue: 4 x ill gotten gains
    Priests: 4 x Wizient Staff
    Mages: 4 x Tome or Bad Santa or Sacrificial lamb or Tainted oracle
    Banebow: 4 x Wrath of the forest
    Moonstalker: 4 x Wrath of the forest

    Supplementary draw: add 2 more to make total to At least 6.

    What means, for example, if you are playing a Warrior, you must have 4 Blood Frenzy and 2 Bad Santa. Or 2 tainted oracle. Or 2 Honored Dead.

    Access:

    Humans: Tainted Oracle, Honored Dead, Bad Santa
    Shadow: Wulven tracker, Sacrificial Lamb, Bad Santa

    6. "Win Conditions"

    If you are using abilities to kill your opponent, ie fireball, Lightning strike, Nova, you must pack sufficient cards of this type.

    If you are using a mixture of allies and weapons to kill your opponent, you must pack enough of each.

    If you are using allies only to kill your opponent, you need to pack sufficient high cost allies like Aeon, Plasma Behemoth, Raven, Molten Destroyer, etc. These allies have higher health and hence can stay on the board longer to inflict sufficient damage or influence the board.

    Long story made short: You cannot win a war if you don't bring sufficient "win cons" or firepower.

    You can view my beginner decks here as a reference. These decks are good enough to win in online Player vs Player (Quick matches)

    http://www.shadowera.com/showthread....l=1#post230902

    Other notes:


    (Treat this section as a FAQ) (This is only to be read if you need to have some concerns addressed beyond initial learning phrase)


    1. Reserve Weapon card is not a weapon. Do not treat it as an "weapon". That because if a weapon does not go to the graveyard, you cannot use it.

    2. There are decks that run with zero allies. These are intermediate decks not for beginners and hence they will not be discussed here.
    Last edited by Raphael Majere; 06-24-2012 at 01:18 PM.

  2. #2
    Member GotDamned's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    99
    Tournaments Joined
    0
    Tournaments Won
    0
    great guide(s), i added them to my List
    (the (s) is for the already sticked one)
    Acolytes of A1: AA1GotDamned
    „You'll never be the best, there will be always someone better than you.
    So your goal should not to be the best, but to improve yourself‟

    My Summary of Great Articles all over the Forums:
    Must Read's for everyone

    Wanna join a great community with great members and training partners?
    Acolytes of A1: Students today, Masters tomorrow

  3. #3
    Senior Member SilenceDogood's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    499
    Tournaments Joined
    0
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Very helpful guide, although maybe it would be prudent if you added a "how many fatties should I have?" section to it, I see a lot of people who have 10 fatties and then on the other side of the spectrum, a lot of people who only have 2 or something, I think it would help some people to have a little piece on this. Also, when you say 6 weapons, how would you include Reserve weapon? Would you consider that a weapon, or do you still think you need 6 and then can put a few reserve weapon in if you want?
    Team Juggernaut's Boastful Warrior!
    Insert witty comment here, Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

    Wanna try your hand at some of the hardest riddles known to man? See my thread of riddles!
    Wanna see some awesome decks? See my complete deck list! (all heroes)
    Wanna be a Juggernaut? Start by applying for TJX
    .

  4. #4
    1.27 Tournament Champion Raphael Majere's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    8,585
    Tournaments Joined
    4
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Blog Entries
    6
    Quote Originally Posted by SilenceDogood View Post
    Very helpful guide, although maybe it would be prudent if you added a "how many fatties should I have?" section to it, I see a lot of people who have 10 fatties and then on the other side of the spectrum, a lot of people who only have 2 or something, I think it would help some people to have a little piece on this. Also, when you say 6 weapons, how would you include Reserve weapon? Would you consider that a weapon, or do you still think you need 6 and then can put a few reserve weapon in if you want?
    Good questions there, I did consider answering those in the OP but i decided not to; just so that I do not confuse the new players.

    For beginners, I would consider Reserve Weapon as an ability, and not a "Weapon". That forces them to still have at least 6 weapons in their deck. Which is perfect. 6 weapons + 1 or 2 Reserve weapon is fine.

    Big strong Allies: I do not want to discuss this too much. The main reason: Amber, Elad, Maj, GB, Lance, can be played in a rush fashion with zero fat allies, and only with weenies, lotsa them. Hence I included the "win conditions" segment as the last part of the OP, hoping that it will evoke players to remember to put in sufficient firepower to win; regardless of whether it's weenies or fatties.

    Example: in my Elad deck, there are no fatties at all. http://www.shadowera.com/showthread....l=1#post230902

  5. #5
    Senior Member SilenceDogood's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    499
    Tournaments Joined
    0
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Quote Originally Posted by Raphael Majere View Post
    Good questions there, I did consider answering those in the OP but i decided not to; just so that I do not confuse the new players.

    For beginners, I would consider Reserve Weapon as an ability, and not a "Weapon". That forces them to still have at least 6 weapons in their deck. Which is perfect. 6 weapons + 1 or 2 Reserve weapon is fine.

    Big strong Allies: I do not want to discuss this too much. The main reason: Amber, Elad, Maj, GB, Lance, can be played in a rush fashion with zero fat allies, and only with weenies, lotsa them. Hence I included the "win conditions" segment as the last part of the OP, hoping that it will evoke players to remember to put in sufficient firepower to win; regardless of whether it's weenies or fatties.

    Example: in my Elad deck, there are no fatties at all. http://www.shadowera.com/showthread....l=1#post230902
    Ahh ok, that makes sense, consider my qualms quenched
    Team Juggernaut's Boastful Warrior!
    Insert witty comment here, Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

    Wanna try your hand at some of the hardest riddles known to man? See my thread of riddles!
    Wanna see some awesome decks? See my complete deck list! (all heroes)
    Wanna be a Juggernaut? Start by applying for TJX
    .

  6. #6
    Senior Member ahmet476's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Posts
    3,848
    Tournaments Joined
    0
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Good guide as always.

  7. #7
    1.27 Tournament Champion Raphael Majere's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    8,585
    Tournaments Joined
    4
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Blog Entries
    6
    Quote Originally Posted by ahmet476 View Post
    Good guide as always.
    props to ahmet - he informed me of a mistype!

  8. #8
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Posts
    131
    Tournaments Joined
    0
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Nice guide, this has helped me quite a bit since I'm relatively new to deck building

  9. #9
    1.27 Tournament Champion Raphael Majere's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    8,585
    Tournaments Joined
    4
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Blog Entries
    6
    Sticky please!

    I am constantly upgrading the OP if needed.

    So, if anyone is has questions to ask, ask away.

    If those concerns are valid and needs to be addressed, they will also make their way to the OP and hence helping new players coming into the game.

  10. #10
    1.27 Tournament Champion Raphael Majere's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    8,585
    Tournaments Joined
    4
    Tournaments Won
    0
    Blog Entries
    6
    Bump!

    I see a lot of new players asking questions about their decks.

    If they can see this thread first, it will probably help them.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •