SilverBride wrote: »

Skvysh wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

The problem I have with it is that the only way I have seen to win a game is to collect the right cards from the right deck to generate a big amount of power all in one hand that is next to impossible for the opponent to counter.

...you're gonna have to be more specific about what your issue is...

I don't know how to be any more specific.

The only way I have seen to win this game is to generate a big burst of power that is too much for the opponent to counter.

There are multiple decks and cards and there should be multiple strategies that are capable of securing a win, but there aren't.

Just curious, but in your experience, is this happening with the St. Pelin deck?
When I first started playing and hadn't really yet learned to use the other decks, I would lose to this fairly often, and I found it really frustrating. However, as I've played and learned more, it doesn't happen much at all, and I've been having a lot more fun now that I don't see the Psijic deck as "kinda useless" like I did before, for example.

I've had some pretty great games and plenty of wins with a lot of different combinations, such as focusing on the Ansei + Rajhin decks. While I'm not great at the game yet and am only about halfway between Quicksilver and Voidsteel rank, I do feel that experimenting with different combinations and strategies has helped a lot. And there is definitely more than just one way or one strategy to win.

Figuring out and trying to counter your opponent's strategy is also at least half of the battle and is a strategy in itself. Trying to prevent them from getting the cards they want or need to set up powerful combos is one way to throw them off. If you're losing to big power combos in the later game, try to prevent your opponents from setting those up from the start. If you see them gunning for a certain deck, try to make sure they don't get it. Pick up a couple yourself or remove them from the Tavern at the right time. Depending on the decks in play, you can either play those to your advantage, sacrifice them for some extra Prestige, or just throw them out if they're in the way.

Another thing I've found to be super helpful that I see a lot of people not doing, is that if there's nothing in the Tavern that your opponent really needs based on past turns, and there's really nothing you need, either, sometimes it can really work in your favor to pick nothing up for 1 or more turns. RNG can really just be a bummer, and that's just how it goes sometimes, but you can also do little things to try and have it swing in your favor. Try to force your opponent to pick up cards they don't need so that maybe new ones will be drawn that you can then pick up on your next turn.

SilverBride wrote: »

The only way I have seen to win this game is to generate a big burst of power that is too much for the opponent to counter.

There are multiple decks and cards and there should be multiple strategies that are capable of securing a win, but there aren't.

The longer the game goes on, the bigger "bursts of power" generally will appear, assuming that both players play a long game correctly. That's because you flood your deck with higher cost cards that generate more power, remove a few of the starter ones and start chaining combos more often - it's only natural and it happens in every deck builder.

There are multiple strategies, though - quick power rush via pelin/ansei or playing it slow and steady with crows are just two examples. Buying your way into victory and holding the other player hostage via patron favour threat with Hlaalu can work just as well as spamming Orgnum's power. Red Eagle will allow you to destroy your starter deck so you can keep drawing the same 5 cards every turn.

Regardless of which approach you take, though, it will all lead to the same thing - gaining enough power/prestige to trigger the win (if we disregard the patron win condition). It, again, is the nature of deck builders and it's just natural that a game ends at one point or another. Some strategies will close the game earlier, while others will take more time to build up but will result in much higher power-per-turn gains.

The part you're missing, though, is that there's no set strategy for every game (apart from Orgnum spam, but that's just *** design) - both players choose two decks, which already throws out any plans you may potentially have. Cards on the tavern row, in your deck and in your opponent's deck, what you will be drawing next turn and what your opponent will - all that dictates the strategy you should use at current time.

@dmnqwk Thanks for saying what I could not while keeping a level head.

Jusey1 wrote: »

Orgnum is the only odd man out due to how stupid that deck's patreon is to a point where you're forced to spam it if your opponent is spamming it.

If you haven't built a deck yet, ignore them especially if they haven't picked up any good coin or power cards before they started spamming. They are paying 3 coins for a card with 2 points and they aren't any good until their discard is reshuffled. If they only have single coin cards it won't be long until they don't have enough coins in a hand to keep it going. Spend your time on your game until you have some good coin and power cards and then beat them at their own game.

So far, only possessing the base decks, I have successfully won, multiple times, using each deck as a focal point. And, of the starters, I find Pelin to be the least powerful, as it takes a while to build up if the right cards don't drop, and it is usually a fight over the cards. Personally, I've found Hlaalu to be a fairly strong deck when focused on, with a bit of Crows and/or Psijic as support. You can build for 6 hands or so, and end up in a position of having 20+ coin in a single turn, paired with the card combos that allow you to take cards from the tavern, it becomes super strong.

But, if you approach each game with a focus on a deck, and an understanding of how that deck will be complimented by the other decks in play, as well as which cards to delete from the tavern when you have opportunities to do so, to prevent your opponent from getting them, you can do the same with pretty much every deck.

Especially opponents who aren't paying attention. I find that most of the games I win start with my opponent using the Crow patron really early, and locking it out for themselves. And, when using the Psijic deck, you can almost gaurantee you will never lose from a Patron favor victory. But, you can catch other players not paying attention to the Patrons or the board. Had a match this weekend where I had two patrons favored, and my opponent left a Tithe on the board. Immediately pulled that, sacrificed a card for one Patron and did the Crows for the win.