since A1 lost their website, this is something i have wanted to bring back, so here it is, in all its original glory. a blast from the past... time to revisit 2012
----------------------------------
so... this is something ive been wanting to do for awhile and kept putting it off. i am told i am the most prolific deck-builder in SE. maybe, there is no way to know that. but i am definately the most prolific deck poster in SE
anyway, its been a huge monster i have had a love/hate relationship with since i started it, haha. i think its good, i hope you all think so too. to make it easier vto understand i will also be doing a few walk-through for examples. meaning, i will build a deck from start to finish following this guide for you so you can see the process easier.
ALL COMMENTS BUT TROLL COMMENTS are most welcome.
so here it is, enjoy.
======
SIDEBAR - TEMPO - how i see it
before we get into it, there is something i want to talk about. and thats TEMPO. this is important in SE, probably more important in this game than any other. i think a lot of that has to do with that we have no cards that are called instants or interupts, etc. a player cant do anything on the other players turn to influence things.
so, TEMPO. this is how i see it and it works very well for me. others have a little different opinion, i am sure. TEMPO and TEMPO advantage is the single most important key in shadowera. if you dont understand it at least a little, you will have a rough time. (the second most important thing in shadowera is card advantage which helps you get and keep TEMPO advantage)
TEMPO for me is this: the total resource cost of all the cards you have in play. thats your TEMPO. your actual resources are potential TEMPO. and there are Tempo manipulation cards and abilities. you also have to look at a cards quaility as well when figuring your on board TEMPO. this is subjective because you also have to take into account how well you use it.
example: you have 2 3cc allies on board and you opponent has none. so you have a huge TEMPO advantage of 6-0 they play a 5cc card called anklebreaker. now the quality of the anklebreaker is very good. comparing it and the 2 3cc allies, it can either break the TEMPO at being even just for the quality of the card itself or surpass the 6cc you have by how well the player uses it. so they could now have a subjective TEMPO of 7 compared to your temporary TEMPO of 3. using anklebreaker removes one of those allies from play for 1 turn and also weakens its quality. if that 3cc ally anklebreaker was used on was jasmine, jasmine is effectively removed from play for a turn and does not count for your TEMPO. and when she does come back into play, she is now, technically, a 2cc ally at 2 attack and 2 health. but all is not lost, its your turn now and your resources reset to become ingame TEMPO.
but lets look at Jasmine for a minute. a 3cc ally. she is a TEMPO manipulator card as well. she can effectively waste 2 resources (or 2 potential "permanant" TEMPO) to remove your a certain amount of TEMPO of your opponent for a turn. say 5 for a 5cc ally. sometimes this works out and sometimes is doesnt. but thats the effect. waste 2 resources to remove a certain of TEMPO from your opponent for a turn.
there are TEMPO reset cards as well, we call them board wipes. this is supernova, tidal wave and Nishaven's ability but not energy discharge. energy discharge is a TEMPO manipulator card.
single use cards get a little tricky on figuring TEMPO in a game. this includes, but is not limited to, fireball, retreat and crippling blow. they are all different and their effect on TEMPO depends on how well a player uses them.
this is also the reason why its better to go first than second. the way our game is designed and the importance of TEMPO is why this is. going first, you gain TEMPO first and are on the offensive first. going second you are always playing catch up and being defensive (at least until you overtake them)
you should ALWAYS build a deck considering going second first. if you dont do this, then you deck is will only do well going first and will suck going second which means you will never achieve more than a 50% win rate. so get in that mind set. ONLY think about going second and goign first will take care of itself.
=====
STEP ONE
the first thing you have to do when you want to create a new deck, is decide on a theme (no, not decide on a hero). everyone does this to some extent without realizing it. you already have an idea of what kind of deck you want to create BEFORE you choose the hero.
choosing a theme encompasses a lot of different things. the first thing you have to decide is, do i want a competitive deck or a fun one? it can be both but which one is most important to you. most people will just automatically say competitive.
while thinking on this, you have to consider this. is this more for ratings grabbing and doing well in QM or do i want a tournament deck. these are two entirely different things. doing well in QM you have to consider the ENTIRE game meta. that includes great, good and bad decks and people who "play favorites" outside of what is considered to be good. if you want a good tournament deck, you ahve to do a little research and go one of two routes. one: find out what other people have playing and find a deck that fits into the tournament meta so it will do well. OR two: find out the same thing and figure out what will counter the current tournament meta (like the top four of the world championship did).
now you have to decide on if you want an "actual" theme. meaning an entire deck build around, say FIRE. check out my deck, GRavebone, Rain of Fire for an example of this.
next and this is where you get into the core of what you want to do, is you have to decide on an archetype and maybe a sub-archetype. soothslyr did a great job at collecting and posting what the archtypes for TCGs are here:
that is a terrific list but shadowera and you should refer to it because i am not going to go into a lot of detail concerning them, its a bit different in my opinion. in his guide, there are 3 main archetypes and serveral sub-archetypes. he also added one more main archetype based on the kind of card game SE is and that was SOLO.
i agree with all of this but i believe there are 5 main archetypes in SE.
these are:
RUSH
CONTROL
BURN
SOLO
STRIPPER
(we can now add MILL to this list)
yes, i said stripper. stripper is a MAIN archetype. it doesnt completely fit into any of the others so is basically its own.
and what i mean when i say a Stripper deck is this: any deck that consistantly and continually (not neccisarily constant) takes your opponents cards and lets you use them against them, whether it is from their deck, hand, graveyard or in play. this isnt deck or hand destruction, although it does somewhat have that effect.
this happens with all main archetypes as well. most have elements of other archetypes as well. rush and burn use similar elements but in different ways to accomplish the same thing.
so this is the list of archetypes to choose from:
the main ones again
RUSH - tons of draw/more than average number of allies - example: Majiya Portal
CONTROL - average draw/standard amount of allies but with focus on control abilities/other control cards - example: Average Zhanna decks
BURN - average to high draw/can have less than average number of allies but have those with burn abilities prefered/burn cards and possible hero ability - example: average mage build
SOLO - good draw at beginning, may not be needed throughout/no allies/lots of control, stall and protection/high number of weapons preferred - example: solo Ter Adun
Stripper - average to high draw/cards and abilities that give you you opponents cards to use - example: any of my stripper decks
(MILL - the ability to remove the others players deck in a speedy manner so they have no options and run out of cards)
the sub-archetypes
hand destruction - not very viable. Serena is best hero for this. hunters and rogues with night prowler are the only options
deck destruction - not very viable. forcing opponent to draw (and cast) is the only option right now.
recursion - not a lot of options but a semi-viable. shadow knight and ghostmaker are important.
suicide - not really that viable. ive only seen one in SE. Majiya with Evil Ascendant and Twice-Enchanted Robes (soothslyr's deck)
lock - not viable, yet. we do not have the card pool available for this. "board lock" is not the same thing and they are ways to deal with that.
mill - semi-viable. only through draw or stripping at the moment
stall - mostly viable. fair number of stall cards. priests/wulven/hunters are probably the best at it right now.
insta-win - not viable. we have no insta-win combos.
weenie rush - less than semi-viable but very popular with new players at low ratings.
(i wanted to put weenie rush in as a sub archetype because i believe it is.)
some of these are not available in SE yet as we do not have a large enough card pool... yet.
so, have you decide on your theme? yes? then lets move on
Bookmarks