So I have a deck that while needs refining is about as good as I think I can get (for the amount of gold I have). Obviously there are cards that I want to put in that I will have to wait for purchasing or luck of the boosters. I have stuck with Lance, at least for the time being and am smashing all the AI opponents I have faced (level 7 currently) which is an encouraging sign.

So I have played quite a few games against other opponents now. The hardest opponent I have with my deck is Gwenneth Truesight with Soul Seeker and Rapid Fire combo. I am sure there are others out there, but this one consistently smashes me. I will have to modify the deck a bit to be able to destroy her weapons faster methinks.

Other thoughts on multiplayer: I am a bit disappointed about some of the sportsmanship. Because I have a lot of low cost allies and therefore find myself frequently getting of to a good start, I am surprised of the number of people who are quitting before turn 6. It seems pretty childish to me to be honest. And it does affect my true rating. Also, some of the smack talk that goes on in the in-game chat seems rather juvenile, but I guess that is to be expected every now and then, regardless of what game.

As I am hovering around the 140 ranking mark, I am obviously playing people around the same. The difficulty varies, possibly because of actual skill but occasionally there will be someone with a 40 ranking, a full deck of expensive cards and who obviously knows how to play well; but I guess that will happen if someone who has played for a while starts up another account.

Also there seems to be connection issues. Every 10th game or so it completely freezes and ends in either a draw, or neither player can make a move. Again, I suppose other online games have these issues too, so I guess I can't complain about it too much.

But as a general rule, I am enjoying the PVP challenge aspect of Shadow Era immensely. Every now and then I see a card that I haven't yet and see cards/heroes played in different ways than I had seen previously. These things are all helping me learn new strategies and get better at countering them. It also gives me ideas for future decks and heroes to play.

I have been accepted in the reserve group for the newbie tournament this weekend, which I am really looking forward to. I don't expect to have huge success - there will be a lot of cards that I haven't used myself before (I am assuming there will be a pool of cards to choose from to make a deck), but I am definitely looking forward to how a Shadow Era tournament is run, and anticipate some fun games.