Post by kackman73 on Oct 24, 2012 15:11:47 GMT -5
I actually considered posting this in the competitive section, because I tend to do fairly well with it. Most losses are due to tactical errors on my part, although I do have the occasional game where I just get beat.
For the most part, though, I win with this deck.
Income Boosters
5x Plentiful Crop
5x Holy Day
4x Slave Trade
2x Funeral Pyre (also for draw power)
Draw Power
5x Ancient Map
2x Source of All Life (for FT)
4x Scientific Method
5x Militia Intimidation
1x Family Heirloom
3x Quick Study
Delay/Disable Opponent's Scoring
4x Sudden Exhaustion
4x Animus Reboot
Be a Dick
2x Doomsday
The Key
1x Forgotten Temple
FT Removal Prevention
2x Into the Light
1x Pilfer Supplies
I doubt that I have to really explain what I'm trying to do here, but I'll give a brief synopsis anyway.
First, I try to build income quickly. Ideally my starting hand has at least 1 Plentiful Crop or Holy Day and 1 Slave Trade.
After my income is at a nice level, I do what I can to minimize my opponent's ability to win: empty his hand with a surprise Doomsday just after the day starts (if possible), clear the board with Animus Reboot if needed, or just use a Sudden Exhaustion on a dangerous agent.
I don't want Forgotten Temple in my hand until I am ready to play it right away. If it's in my hand, it's susceptible to forced discards, Ritual Sacrifice, and the like. I know that Losing Faith will bugger me regardless, but so few people use that card that it doesn't really matter.
I only carry one FT because I don't want to give my opponent the ability to switch back. In a perfect world, I don't play FT until I can either:
1) Play it as a surprise and still have 10 gold left over to activate it immediately, or;
2) Play it as a surprise and use Pilfer Supplies right away to have the gold needed to activate it, or;
3) Play it only when my opponent has no cards in his hand and no way of stopping me from playing/activating it in the next day.
In fact, I pretty much won't play it at all until I can meet one of those conditions. Thankfully, it's not too difficult to create one of them (5 Militia Intimidations + 2 Into the Lights).
I don't use History Glitches, because I don't see the point in giving my opponent the ability to take the game to a stalemate. I don't mind allowing my opponent to have some Animus Reboots and Sudden Exhaustions, though, because it's unlikely that I'll be inheriting a deck that can't overcome half a dozen of those cards.
I realize that some people would use Knowledge is Power in this deck - I don't own any. I also don't like using In-Depth Analysis or Mentor's Return because I'm generally running pretty close to the point where my opponent is going to win before I can switch decks, and so I need my gold for Animus Reboots (I've had a number of games in which my opponent is one or two points away from winning before I take control).
Strategy Notes for Playing After the Switch:
Believe it or not, not everyone quits a game as soon as the switch happens. Below are a few tips that I'll offer to anyone who wants to play an FT deck.
1) If your opponent had cards in his hand when you switched decks, remember how many cards he had at the time. Know your own deck well enough that you know when he's playing one of his original cards or one of yours. Until all of his original cards have been played, accounted for, and neutralized, you can't be sure that you're going to win.
2) Remember how many Animus Reboots and Sudden Exhaustions that you've played, so you know how many he'll have access to. Same goes for the 2 Doomsdays. This is important because...
3) You don't need to win quickly once you've switched decks. Assuming that you're in a position where his best hope is to get a stalemate, don't automatically launch every agent and site that you get. The last thing you want to do is to put a bunch of scoring cards into play, only to see them wiped out by one of 'your' Animus Reboots.
4) To that end, only put one or two agents or sites into play at a time. Score slowly. Attack the site (or sites) that he might still be able to win from somehow, on the off chance that he still has the ability to score. It may seem boring to peck away at a region 1 or 2 points at a time while you're holding another 5-6 agents in your hand, but boring is better than allowing him to wipe out most of your ability to score because you got too eager and didn't realize that his deck only has 7-8 agents or sites that can score. Make him use Animus Reboots and Sudden Exhaustions to shut down small scorers.
5) If your opponent is using a Scholar deck and is close to winning after the switch, absolutely do not play any action cards that can score directly (Papal Influence, Royal Intervention). You don't want to find out that the one card he had left was Scientific Espionage and now you've handed the game to him.
6) And, obviously, once you're confident that he is out of his original cards and that he's used all your Animus Reboots, launch everything you can and win as quickly as possible. Don't be a dick and try to get 10 in each region (good rule of thumb for any game) - just finish it and take your 50 credits.
Strategy tl;dr - Be patient and don't make stupid mistakes.
For the most part, though, I win with this deck.
Income Boosters
5x Plentiful Crop
5x Holy Day
4x Slave Trade
2x Funeral Pyre (also for draw power)
Draw Power
5x Ancient Map
2x Source of All Life (for FT)
4x Scientific Method
5x Militia Intimidation
1x Family Heirloom
3x Quick Study
Delay/Disable Opponent's Scoring
4x Sudden Exhaustion
4x Animus Reboot
Be a Dick
2x Doomsday
The Key
1x Forgotten Temple
FT Removal Prevention
2x Into the Light
1x Pilfer Supplies
I doubt that I have to really explain what I'm trying to do here, but I'll give a brief synopsis anyway.
First, I try to build income quickly. Ideally my starting hand has at least 1 Plentiful Crop or Holy Day and 1 Slave Trade.
After my income is at a nice level, I do what I can to minimize my opponent's ability to win: empty his hand with a surprise Doomsday just after the day starts (if possible), clear the board with Animus Reboot if needed, or just use a Sudden Exhaustion on a dangerous agent.
I don't want Forgotten Temple in my hand until I am ready to play it right away. If it's in my hand, it's susceptible to forced discards, Ritual Sacrifice, and the like. I know that Losing Faith will bugger me regardless, but so few people use that card that it doesn't really matter.
I only carry one FT because I don't want to give my opponent the ability to switch back. In a perfect world, I don't play FT until I can either:
1) Play it as a surprise and still have 10 gold left over to activate it immediately, or;
2) Play it as a surprise and use Pilfer Supplies right away to have the gold needed to activate it, or;
3) Play it only when my opponent has no cards in his hand and no way of stopping me from playing/activating it in the next day.
In fact, I pretty much won't play it at all until I can meet one of those conditions. Thankfully, it's not too difficult to create one of them (5 Militia Intimidations + 2 Into the Lights).
I don't use History Glitches, because I don't see the point in giving my opponent the ability to take the game to a stalemate. I don't mind allowing my opponent to have some Animus Reboots and Sudden Exhaustions, though, because it's unlikely that I'll be inheriting a deck that can't overcome half a dozen of those cards.
I realize that some people would use Knowledge is Power in this deck - I don't own any. I also don't like using In-Depth Analysis or Mentor's Return because I'm generally running pretty close to the point where my opponent is going to win before I can switch decks, and so I need my gold for Animus Reboots (I've had a number of games in which my opponent is one or two points away from winning before I take control).
Strategy Notes for Playing After the Switch:
Believe it or not, not everyone quits a game as soon as the switch happens. Below are a few tips that I'll offer to anyone who wants to play an FT deck.
1) If your opponent had cards in his hand when you switched decks, remember how many cards he had at the time. Know your own deck well enough that you know when he's playing one of his original cards or one of yours. Until all of his original cards have been played, accounted for, and neutralized, you can't be sure that you're going to win.
2) Remember how many Animus Reboots and Sudden Exhaustions that you've played, so you know how many he'll have access to. Same goes for the 2 Doomsdays. This is important because...
3) You don't need to win quickly once you've switched decks. Assuming that you're in a position where his best hope is to get a stalemate, don't automatically launch every agent and site that you get. The last thing you want to do is to put a bunch of scoring cards into play, only to see them wiped out by one of 'your' Animus Reboots.
4) To that end, only put one or two agents or sites into play at a time. Score slowly. Attack the site (or sites) that he might still be able to win from somehow, on the off chance that he still has the ability to score. It may seem boring to peck away at a region 1 or 2 points at a time while you're holding another 5-6 agents in your hand, but boring is better than allowing him to wipe out most of your ability to score because you got too eager and didn't realize that his deck only has 7-8 agents or sites that can score. Make him use Animus Reboots and Sudden Exhaustions to shut down small scorers.
5) If your opponent is using a Scholar deck and is close to winning after the switch, absolutely do not play any action cards that can score directly (Papal Influence, Royal Intervention). You don't want to find out that the one card he had left was Scientific Espionage and now you've handed the game to him.
6) And, obviously, once you're confident that he is out of his original cards and that he's used all your Animus Reboots, launch everything you can and win as quickly as possible. Don't be a dick and try to get 10 in each region (good rule of thumb for any game) - just finish it and take your 50 credits.
Strategy tl;dr - Be patient and don't make stupid mistakes.