Post by Ringel on Dec 26, 2011 19:27:28 GMT -5
So, I've still only payed by 99 cent start up fee for this game, and I'm having a blast with it. I've just managed to crawl to the top 100 list, though by the time you read this, I've probably been bumped off again. I've started this thread to post strategy tips for cheap-assassin players like myself (--although I think I will put some money in the game soon to celebrate my brief top 100 status.)
Edit: Tuism
The following is a collection of great lessons from the rest of the thread, for your convenience
Step 1: Face Story Mode.
Of course you should play through the tutorial and open your first free booster pack. Next you face the rest of the story mode sequence. You can win vs. every challenge without buying a single card. I did, and I'm not the greatest player in the world. You wont have much to work with at this point, but start by customizing your deck. Ditch Militia Training (a pretty bad card overall) for some of your new low cost allies, and as you play make a few tweaks to your deck. You can open boosters as you go, but I never did.
Treat each AI as a puzzle. As you play, pay attention to the strategy that AI uses, and if you lose, get ready for it once the next game begins. Some AI are tough, but none are unbeatable. I never played more than 3 games vs a single AI at this time, but I probably got a bit lucky.
Learn as you go. You will face many of these strategies again when playing human opponents.
At the end of story mode you should buy yourself as many templar packs as you can with your winning. Assassin cards are still too pricy.
Step 2: Blue and...
Next you are going to build your first PvP (Player vs. Player) deck. There's lots of good beginner's help here and elsewhere so I will try not to duplicate too much.
One color will be blue. There's two reasons for this. The first and most compelling is, that you just don't have many cards yet, and your starting deck has lots of blue in it. The second is, the blue cards available to you are really good for the strategy available to you. Arquebusier and Donato Mancini are some of the most efficient rush allies in the game.
You might read about Control Decks and Combo Decks, but right now, your only hope is a rush deck. A fast acting deck that tries to outscore your opponent before they get their cards into play. Rush decks play fast efficient allies and/or sites.
Your second color will depend on the luck of the draw (more on that later). After you play a bit and collect some more cards you should try to pair up blue with all three of red, green and purple (odds are you wont have enough black cards to speak of for a long time.) These three decks should provide you enough variety and fun for a while.
Step 3: The Play's the Thing.
When you see that little arrow creep up red across the +100 credits symbol, that is really nice. However, if that is all you are playing for, then you really need to take stock. If you don't enjoy the game itself, the actual play time, then you need to reconsider-- either pay for cards or play a different game.
You will want to play, and play a lot. You will meet all sorts of players from those who have no cards like you to those who payed a fortune to own most every card in the game, and from those with little skill to those who master the split second timed play. When you meet players who combine skill and dollar investment (like most of the forum posters), typically you will get squished like a bug. Still there are enough different players out there for you to play, that you can win as well. And, when you do win against a deck full of rare assassin cards, the moment is especially sweet.
Learn from the players, both the skilled and unskilled, rich and poor. Also learn from yourself. Don't blame it all on luck and bad cards. Ask "How could I have won that?" As someone who still makes many mistakes, this question is invaluable-- I make fewer mistakes than when I started.
Build your deck with this priority: BREAD
The following advise is based on published articles for Magic limited play. Limited events mean you get a limited card pool, either through draft or by a set number of boosters. Take it with a grain of salt:
BREAD:
B: Bombs. Bombs are cards that can swing the game all on their own. Cesare Borgia is a bomb. So is Judgment Day. Think things through though. Il Carnifice should swing the board, but he comes in too late for me.
R: Removal. In Magic removal refers to cards that take out creatures. In this game there are two lines of attack: Allies and Sites, which complicates removal somewhat. There are various types of removal: Counters (Court Order), Bounce (Bitter Sweet), Removal (Mob Justice) and so on. I hope someone writes a full article about removal sometime. Not every removal is perfect. Court Order is fantastic though, if you are lucky enough to draw any. Bounce is very tricky to use correctly, so I tend to value it lower than other types in a limited cardpool.
E: Efficiency/Evasion (I've seen both). Evasion refers to cards that can't easily be blocked. "Official" cards have evasion. Also, sites have a sort of evasion since they can usually score at least once, before being countered by another site.
A: Aggro. Fast effective allies/sites. When evaluating an ally I compare cost to attack. I don't worry much about defense, as that play style isn't available yet.
D: Dregs. Everything else, that you don't want in your deck if you can avoid it.
What is missing from this list: Card Draw and Acceleration (magic has a completely different resource system) I find that with a limited card pool, small +1 resource cards are worth including, at least until your card pool gets better. Card Draw is great, but highly restricted for your card pool.
50 cards. Exactly 50 cards.
There are probably meaningful debates to be had about optimum deck sizes for various strategies. Your card pool is so small, that you can ignore those debates. You don't have 50 good cards, so you want to maximize your chances of drawing your good ones. Stick to exactly 50 cards every time.
Edit: Tuism
The following is a collection of great lessons from the rest of the thread, for your convenience
Step 1: Face Story Mode.
Of course you should play through the tutorial and open your first free booster pack. Next you face the rest of the story mode sequence. You can win vs. every challenge without buying a single card. I did, and I'm not the greatest player in the world. You wont have much to work with at this point, but start by customizing your deck. Ditch Militia Training (a pretty bad card overall) for some of your new low cost allies, and as you play make a few tweaks to your deck. You can open boosters as you go, but I never did.
Treat each AI as a puzzle. As you play, pay attention to the strategy that AI uses, and if you lose, get ready for it once the next game begins. Some AI are tough, but none are unbeatable. I never played more than 3 games vs a single AI at this time, but I probably got a bit lucky.
Learn as you go. You will face many of these strategies again when playing human opponents.
At the end of story mode you should buy yourself as many templar packs as you can with your winning. Assassin cards are still too pricy.
Step 2: Blue and...
Next you are going to build your first PvP (Player vs. Player) deck. There's lots of good beginner's help here and elsewhere so I will try not to duplicate too much.
One color will be blue. There's two reasons for this. The first and most compelling is, that you just don't have many cards yet, and your starting deck has lots of blue in it. The second is, the blue cards available to you are really good for the strategy available to you. Arquebusier and Donato Mancini are some of the most efficient rush allies in the game.
You might read about Control Decks and Combo Decks, but right now, your only hope is a rush deck. A fast acting deck that tries to outscore your opponent before they get their cards into play. Rush decks play fast efficient allies and/or sites.
Your second color will depend on the luck of the draw (more on that later). After you play a bit and collect some more cards you should try to pair up blue with all three of red, green and purple (odds are you wont have enough black cards to speak of for a long time.) These three decks should provide you enough variety and fun for a while.
Step 3: The Play's the Thing.
When you see that little arrow creep up red across the +100 credits symbol, that is really nice. However, if that is all you are playing for, then you really need to take stock. If you don't enjoy the game itself, the actual play time, then you need to reconsider-- either pay for cards or play a different game.
You will want to play, and play a lot. You will meet all sorts of players from those who have no cards like you to those who payed a fortune to own most every card in the game, and from those with little skill to those who master the split second timed play. When you meet players who combine skill and dollar investment (like most of the forum posters), typically you will get squished like a bug. Still there are enough different players out there for you to play, that you can win as well. And, when you do win against a deck full of rare assassin cards, the moment is especially sweet.
Learn from the players, both the skilled and unskilled, rich and poor. Also learn from yourself. Don't blame it all on luck and bad cards. Ask "How could I have won that?" As someone who still makes many mistakes, this question is invaluable-- I make fewer mistakes than when I started.
Build your deck with this priority: BREAD
The following advise is based on published articles for Magic limited play. Limited events mean you get a limited card pool, either through draft or by a set number of boosters. Take it with a grain of salt:
BREAD:
B: Bombs. Bombs are cards that can swing the game all on their own. Cesare Borgia is a bomb. So is Judgment Day. Think things through though. Il Carnifice should swing the board, but he comes in too late for me.
R: Removal. In Magic removal refers to cards that take out creatures. In this game there are two lines of attack: Allies and Sites, which complicates removal somewhat. There are various types of removal: Counters (Court Order), Bounce (Bitter Sweet), Removal (Mob Justice) and so on. I hope someone writes a full article about removal sometime. Not every removal is perfect. Court Order is fantastic though, if you are lucky enough to draw any. Bounce is very tricky to use correctly, so I tend to value it lower than other types in a limited cardpool.
E: Efficiency/Evasion (I've seen both). Evasion refers to cards that can't easily be blocked. "Official" cards have evasion. Also, sites have a sort of evasion since they can usually score at least once, before being countered by another site.
A: Aggro. Fast effective allies/sites. When evaluating an ally I compare cost to attack. I don't worry much about defense, as that play style isn't available yet.
D: Dregs. Everything else, that you don't want in your deck if you can avoid it.
What is missing from this list: Card Draw and Acceleration (magic has a completely different resource system) I find that with a limited card pool, small +1 resource cards are worth including, at least until your card pool gets better. Card Draw is great, but highly restricted for your card pool.
50 cards. Exactly 50 cards.
There are probably meaningful debates to be had about optimum deck sizes for various strategies. Your card pool is so small, that you can ignore those debates. You don't have 50 good cards, so you want to maximize your chances of drawing your good ones. Stick to exactly 50 cards every time.
