First Tilt - Player Personality: Shagga

The First Tilt – Defining Your Player Personality, Pt. 3 “Am I Shagga Son of Dolf?”
In this third, and final, installment of the Player Personality series, I'll be discussing the Shagga player personality. In the two previous installments, we talked about the Nedly player as a person who plays for flavor, and the Jaime player as a person who plays to control the board for the decisive win. The Shagga player is all about the "shinier" aspects of the game.

What is a Shagga player?
Someone who tends toward the Shagga player personality is a person who loves the "wow" of certain cards or combinations. While a Jaime player is cackling because his opponent is being brought low through sheer board dominance, the Shagga player has already had a laugh-fest because of some new amazing card or combination of cards that they've just recently discovered. As Kennon put it to me recently, when a Shagga player goes through a chapter pack and sees a card like Balerion the Black (RotO), he screams, "OMGWTFBBQ!!" And then he thinks of ways to try and build a deck that includes that card... immediately.

Shagga players study the game and the cards to achieve the greatest wow effect they can muster. While a Shagga player loves to win (who doesn't?), they're more about doing so with "what the French call a certain... I don't know what." Flair, panache, fahrvergnügen. Shininess. While a Nedly player will try and play certain character combinations for story effect, a Shagga player will often play combinations that make no story sense whatsoever, but can cause their opponent to a) stare wide-eyed, b )question the legality of such a play (shenanigans!), or c) curse loudly (due the effect being awesome but very detrimental to their plans).

How do I know if I’m a Shagga?
You're the one looking at every card for it's potential "awesome" factor. If you find the most enjoyment in building decks that include cards just because you "have to see how it plays!" - then you're probably a Shagga. If, when you read about certain crazy combinations online, you have to try them immediately - then you're probably a Shagga. If you lose a game, but still feel satisfied because you got to play that awesome combo a few times and set the table on fire for a few moments - then you're probably a Shagga.

A Shagga player has a lot of fun with the game, because while they like to win, they're looking to win with cards and combos that are smexy. You study the rules because you often find yourself explaining why what you just did is perfectly legal (and to further underscore its shock and awe).

How does being a Shagga translate into which House I choose?
A Shagga player has no allegiance to any particular House (which is ironically Nedly). Any House or combination of Houses can be used as long as there are cards/combo's with a high "awesome" factor. If you read Kennon's "All Things Shagga" series, you'll see that you can be a Shagga in almost any House (a number of those decks are even multi-House decks).

In fact, being a Shagga might make the House restrictions a bit more frustrating because you want to put all of the awesome in one deck. Hmmm - that could be fun. Ignore the rules and just build a VIP deck. Nobody would play you... but it would be fun to build. If you're nodding your head... welcome to the land of Shagga, Son of Dolf.

Why Shagga? Isn't he just loud?
Well, true, he's loud - but he loves a good joke and he makes a statement every time he enters the room just by being there. How is that a bad thing? (Granted, part of that is his smell... but I digress.) Shagga players really keep the game interesting, in my opinion. I'm not a pure Shagga player, but I do love to throw some awesome into my deck when I can - not because it helps me win... but because it's, well, awesome.

You just never know what to expect when facing a Shagga player. They don't tend to build "normal" decks. They play a Greyjoy deck with Baratheon Holy crested characters (and use Aeron Damphair (KotS) and his ability to put them into play with no gold penalty). They play decks built around a single combination of cards (or even a single amazing character, like the aforementioned Balerion the Black) because it's fun! It can mean they'll lose the first few times they play that deck... but they don't tend to give up on the concept - they just keep tuning it to see if they can make that crazy thing work!

Why Even Name Player Personalities?
I honestly don't know when the names got started (my hunch would be during the CCG days), but the personality types are helpful. As I said in my previous article, it helps you know the kinds of decks you want to play. In a future article, we'll be talking some about netdecking and knowing your playing style will help you select deck types to play; because, if you choose a deck built for a Ned or a Jaime, and you're a Shagga - you won't be getting the maximum enjoyment out of playing that deck.

Once you have a grasp of the personalities, it's fun to notice what personalities you'll find in the other players within your local meta. One of the great things about this game is the fact that these three player personalities are combined in varying degrees within every player. There are just so many different ways to build a good deck that suits any given style or combination of styles. Finding your niche and your groove as you test decks and play against others in your meta is part of the fun. You may even find that your player personality will morph from time to time as you discover new cards or new interactions or come up against players who completely catch you by surprise and you find yourself wanting to emulate what they did. Whatever you do - have fun! My biggest goal though is that you'll be able to read stuff here and on FFG forums without scratching your head and saying, "Huh?" - every time someone says that something or someone is very Shagga, Jaime, or Nedly.

Well, that concludes our series on Player Personalities. Stay tuned, we have some great stuff in store for First Tilt going forward!