The Physical Game: Deck Theory

So a lot of us are getting cards soon, and some of us have cards already. What I want to say is that in the physical, things change. The meta changes. So what I wanted to try and do was give people a head start on the physical game's meta by starting a discussion.

What I want to start here is a database of strategies dedicated to the physical, where cards are harder to come by, and 4 soul seekers are going to cost a fortune

I'll try and start: In the physical realm I think we are going to have to start using less precise builds. If anyone remembers the rule of 6, I think that would be a good place to start.

After all, you cant get 4x of every card (unless you ordered epic......) so you need to embrace alternative cards that accomplish similar effects if you want to have any semblance of consistency.

Note: please write longer, better posts than what I just did.

Post Wish list:
Most viable Physical heroes (done)
Good Archetype decks that can carry over to the physical realm
An example of the kind of deck that can be made with a starter and a booster, so we all know what we are dealing with here
Something about how playing face to face changes things
Anything else you can dream up

Enjoy!!

Maybe down the road this might become a concern, but it didn't take an epic order to get 4 of each card. 3x you+friend decks and a booster box would get you 4+ of every card for under 100.00. In physical play, thats not that epic of an order.

You won't need x4 of every card. In the Physical you just build whatever deck you want to build. And... Cards will hit stores before a metagame analysis is needed.

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After all, you cant get 4x of every card (unless you ordered epic......)

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Even then you'll only be able to build one precise deck.

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3x you+friend decks and a booster box would get you 4+ of every card for under 100.00.

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Theoretically, yes. Realistically, no.

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Originally Posted by Cailin Coilleach

Even then you'll only be able to build one precise deck.

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I guess you won't be playing two decks at once, so how does that matter?

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Originally Posted by Cailin Coilleach

Theoretically, yes. Realistically, no.

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So, there might be a few missing. Then trading kicks in as you might have some cards more than 4x.

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Originally Posted by BiJay

I guess you won't be playing two decks at once, so how does that matter?

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Actually, I will be doing just that.

My friends don't have cards of their own, so I'll need my card pool to build two, maybe three decks.

Going back to the original topic and assuming that we are talking about the physical meta at a point where those who got the pre-order bonuses make a minority of the field . . .

I think the meta is going to be very different from the digital because most decks will not be able to get 4x of the core cards. The following are my opinions by class, and should not be taken as gospel truth, but are based on the card count in the starter decks.

Warriors are lucky in that most of the class cards that are 3 or 4 auto-include are common (Blood Frenzy, Crippling Blow, Enrage), so buying 2x of the starter will get you enough for your deck. Unfortunately, most Warrior decks revolve around weapons and armor, which are almost exclusively rare and therefore difficult to get. With the added disadvantage of Reserve Weapon and Lily being uncommon, the weapon based Warriors (Amber and Logan) will probably be rare, although we will probably see a fair amount of Boris and Ter Adun.

Mages are probably going to be dominant, especially Eladwen with Gravebone close behind. 2x starters gets you 4x Fireball, 4x Lightning Strike, 2x Supernova, 4x Tome of Knowledge, 2x Snow Sapphire, and 4x of whatever other Mage control you like, as well as a decent set of allies (particularly for Gravebone, as the common Shadow allies tend to be stronger than the common Human allies). Majiya will make a decent showing but be hampered by uncommon Portal.

Hunters will likely be rare but perform well. Victor and Banebow have a nice range of class abilities to work with, but will suffer slightly for lack of epic Soul Seeker and uncommon Rapid Fire. Gwen and Baduruu will take major hits from the uncommon Rapid Fire and rare weapons, especially since the included bow is Guardian's Oath.

Priests will be similar to Hunters, rare but performing well. They are rather severely hampered in that their primary draw engines are all rare (Wizent's Staff, Tainted Oracle, Ghostmaker), but the strength of their other cards and the inclusion of Wizent's Staff in the starter deck will help clear that hurdle. We'll see less of the uncommon Tidal Wave and more Ice Storm and Smite for ally destruction, as well as lots of Book of Curses and some Resurrection for longer term control. Book of Curses will especially benefit from Shrine of Negatia being uncommon and not included in any of the starter decks.

Rogues should be pretty common. Their draw is hampered a bit by Ill-Gotten Gains being uncommon, and their item destruction/resource acceleration by Stop, Thief! being uncommon, but they should still do fairly well. Lance has enough decent allies to go with, and Serena lucked out in being the one of the only weapon based Heroes to have 3 weapons in their starter deck (Anklebreaker, 2x Throwing Knife per Starter), as well as a copy of Night Prowler.

Wulven will be somewhat rare. Millstalker takes a major hit in that Full Moon is uncommon and Shadow Font is rare, but most of the Wulven ally control is still there and Darkclaw gets a boost being the other weapon based Hero with 3 weapons (Jewler's Dream, 2x What Big Teeth). Wulven will suffer the same draw difficulties as Priest in that their draw engines are rare (Wulven Tracker, Wrath of the Forest), but the inclusion of Wrath in the starter deck will help out.

Elementals will be about where they are in the digital realm. Being the only class that consistently has one Hero in the top tier of play despite having no draw engine and few weapons and armor shows how good their cards and abilities are, and that doesn't change in the physical. They'll be hampered a bit with Mind Control being uncommon, but I don't expect that to hold them back too much. I think we might actually see a rise in Elementalis over Zaladar as BlanketEffects Feedbomb strategy will be hampered by the rare Bad Santa, whereas the scarcity of mass ally removal might allow the Elementalis buffs to last a little longer.

TL,DR: the scarcity of weapons and mass ally removal in starter decks will limit the occurrence of the most common digital decks, but there will be a massive surge of ally-based decks that don't require as many weapons.

To those who want to look at the starter deck contents and make their own opinions, look here.

thx for the post, really useful! :)

Thanks for the post!
Exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.

Don't forget, if playing a friend, you can print out SS and cover campfire stories... turning it into a useful card :)