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Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more. If you already have an account, login here - otherwise create an account for free today!
2
No Disintegrations - Decisions, Decisions, Decisons: Part 2
Apr 30 2013 04:05 PM |
Ketricel
in Star Wars
Star Wars No Disintegrations Ketricel
Welcome back one and all to another week of No Disintegrations. In the last article we talked about how there were many crucial decisions that went into making a deck and determining how you would play that deck. This week we are going to go over some of the decisions and tactics that can be made during a game to increase or decrease your chances of winning and also how these decisions can have an impact on how your opponent plays as well. First off let’s take a look at the two proposed decks from the previous article that we are going to use to show off two different principles; proactive and reactive decks.First up is our proactive deck which we built as a Rebel/Jedi deck.
Afflilation:
Jedi (Core Jedi)
Total Objective Sets: 10
2x A Journey to Dagobah (4-1)
Red Five (4-2)
R2-D2 (4-3)
Twi'lek Loyalist (4-4)
Double Strike (4-5)
Target of Opportunity (4-6)
Red Two (8-2)
Y-Wing (8-3)
Astromech Droid Upgrade (8-4)
Hidden Outpost (8-5)
Rebel Assault (8-6)
Mon Mothma (9-2)
Battlefield Engineers (9-3)
A-Wing (9-4)
Heavy Blaster Emplacement (9-5)
Heat of Battle (9-6)
Admiral Ackbar (12-2)
X-Wing Escort (12-3)
X-Wing (12-4)
Fleet Command Center (12-5)
Heroic Sacrifice (12-6)
Wedge Antilles (38-2)
Rogue Three (38-3)
Snowspeeder (38-4)
Hoth Survival Gear (38-5)
Target of Opportunity (38-6)
The main focus of the deck is to force the majority of decisions made on to your opponent. This can be seen most effectively with the use of the Heavy Blaster Emplacement. If you are able to get these online with a Battlefield Engineer not only are you doing a lot of damage but you are also putting pressure on your opponent to make the decision on where to place the damage. The whole time they are wondering what other tricks you have up your sleeves, do you have a Heat of Battle or a Rebel Assault that will finish off the unit they place the damage on. Add another layer of choices with mid-combat tricks involving Ackbar and you can completely blow your opponent out if they make one wrong choice. The other key aspect of a proactive deck is always putting pressure on the win condition you are seeking, units such as Red Five and Rogue Three are absolute beasts when it comes to pouring on the pressure. Both of these units are easily capable of destroying a single objective by themselves so your opponent is forced to make tough decisions and hard defensive choices all while you keep the pedal to the metal. When you are putting that much pressure on your opponent turn after turn they are bound to make a mistake and when that slip comes you can pounce in for the win. The good news for players that like this deck type is that they currently have good options for light and dark decks by going either with Rebels or Imperials; I personally prefer the Imperial version and am planning a more in depth article about it in the coming weeks.
The second deck we are going to look at is a dark side control deck:
Afflilation:
Imperial Navy (Core Imperial Navy)
Total Objective Sets: 10
2x The Emperor's Web (23-1)
Emperor Palpatine (23-2)
Emperor's Royal Guard (23-3)
Sith Library (23-4)
Force Lightning (23-5)
Force Choke (23-6)
Interrogation Droid (24-2)
Interrogation Droid (24-3)
ISB Interrogators (24-4)
Intimidated (24-5)
Interrogation (24-6)
Grand Moff Tarkin (28-2)
Superlaser Engineer (28-3)
Stormtrooper Elite (28-4)
Control Room (28-5)
Superlaser Blast (28-6)
Icetromper (40-2)
Icetromper (40-3)
Fear (40-4)
The Desolation of Hoth (40-5)
Twist of Fate (40-6)
Darth Vader (41-2)
Communications Officer (41-3)
Probe Droid (41-4)
Probe Droid (41-5)
Imperial Suppression (41-6)
While the Rebel deck is all about pushing the tough decisions off on your opponent with this deck it is all about taking away any sense of control from them. You wanted to attack? Sorry but my Icetromper says no. That amazing hand of cards you are holding... wait no thats all gone thanks to the entire Cruel Interrogation objective set. And don’t even think about playing a unit and expecting to attack with it ever because the big daddy of tactics himself; Emperor Palpatine, is making a showing to keep everything on lock down. There are some very good ways to run Dark Side as a control deck currently that it is difficult to cut objective sets out because so many of them are excellent. As opposed to the highly aggressive Rebel deck which is meant to pour the pressure on, with this deck your main intent is going to sit back and let your opponent play into your tricks. At any moment you are able to turn the course of an attack into your favor. Control decks of any type excel at baiting your opponent into unwise or incorrect attacks and then punishing them for these. Choosing to attack against control decks when they have 3 resources open leaves you vulnerable to a Force Lightning or some other trick. Getting complacent or thinking your opponent has no way to stop your attacks can lead to the downfall of anyone playing against a control deck. Currently dark side is better suited to playing a control or reactive based strategy because of how the win conditions work, but you can still play a light side deck this way too and bide your time for a quick one turn strike.
As more cards are released you will see a much wider selection of decks available, but always keep in mind that the decisions you make building your deck and playing your deck can add up. And while we really only discussed two generic broad themes this doesn’t mean you are in anyway limited to choosing one or the other. Experiment, tweak, and test to find out what fits your style and make a deck that fits you. Now that decks are made and you are sitting across the table from your opponent are there any other tips or tricks that can factor into a matches outcome?
During A Game:
Many people fail to realize just how important how you play during a match can affect you. Do you play quickly, making your opponent feel rushed? Do you joke around and talk during your match? Are you fidgety, constantly shuffling the cards in your hand around? All these minor quirks can lead to advantages for you and while many people think that how you present yourself during a game comes naturally this isn’t always true and you can actually change your behaviors based on the situation. If I notice that my opponent seems to be fidgety and moving around a lot I will tend to calm myself and remain very still during that match, for most people if you display the opposite emotions or control they are showing it throws them off and can get into their head. I found the following articles about Trading Card Psychology to be very interesting and enlightening as it goes through many of the ways people play trading card games and how they perceive themselves:
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr11b
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/mr220b
Whatever you do during a game though always remember that above anything else sportsmanship will get you a long way and when it comes down to it this is a game that everyone is playing for fun. So while playing minor head games with your opponent can work you never want to take it beyond the point of proper etiquette and fall into the trap of being “that guy†who no one wants to play against.
Thanks again for tuning in to No Disintegrations, in the coming weeks I am planning to bring some in depth looks at specific decks. If you have a particular deck you would like to see discussed please leave a comment. As always without each and every one of the valued members here at CardgameDB.com I would be writing to no one so I thank you for your time and may the top deck always be with you!
- mischraum, Paladin, admiralacf and 1 other like this
1 Comments
Anyway, back to the real topic of your article. I think in-game decisions are really important, but it's hard to give good general advice about it. These decisions really depend on the whole state of the board. What I found most intriguing about your post is the stuff about what goes on between you and your opponent, ignoring the cards. The part about whether you're fidgety, or tense, or you play quickly ... these are all things I've seen in various matches. I think the most common are the tense/fidgety ones. They are intently looking at the state of the table and some often flick the cards in their hands against one another. Personally, I find this quite distracting because it looks like they're going to wear out their sleeves or their cards. I guess that's the point.
As for me, I like to joke and have fun when I play, even at tournaments. It's hard to do sometimes when people give you evil glares for saying anything. But because I'm just there to have fun, I like to try to liven it up a bit and put people at ease.