Dark Claw + What Big Teeth Counters?

**Quorlan** · 03-01-2011, 10:44 PM

Originally Posted by TeaWithAmaretto

is the reason I have a 40 card deck (Eladwin) and not just a 30 card deck. I also have four Fireballs and four Lightning Strikes. Poison Gas

and Engulfing Flames

can be used as resources, except in the end when you have more than enough of them already and nothing else to play. I have the feeling tk5 has the same type of strategy as I have.

What Big Teeth

doesn't really do that much damage. Just make sure you do more damage faster...

Darkclaw

was the reason I first started experimenting with larger decks in general. Lately I'm actually (still) running with 50 cards and so far it's been working. I'm not high rated and don't play constantly but I've only lost 1 game in the past week.

I like versatility in a deck and a 30 card deck just wasn't giving me enough options. Sure, 30 cards is more effective for getting to at least 1 of every card in my arsenal quickly, but I found it too restrictive. With 30 cards I can basically employ one strategy and if my opponent happens to be able to counter that strategy, I will likely lose. If I have the strategic options a somewhat larger deck provides, I can adapt more easily to my opponents plays.

The trick is finding the balance between having options and having a deck that still has enough consistency to be effective and not prone to early stalls due to bad draws. The resource system makes this easier than in a game like Magic: the Gathering, where you have to provide enough of the right kinds of mana to drive your deck. Any card being able to be used as a universal resource allows me to employ multiple strategies in a larger deck and use the cards I don't need against my current opponent as resources while adapting my strategy to counter his. So far, it's working for me with a 50 card deck. I've yet to run into a case where my opening draw didn't offer something I could use. The biggest problem in the first 2-3 rounds is deciding what to sacrifice.

I also don't seem to have problems with going second. The one game I lost in the past week I went first and I've won at least two having gone second (I wasn't keeping careful track early on and may have gone second a couple more times).

Sorry this kinda went off-topic, but Dark Claw was the reason I started thinking along these lines in the first place