Deck Building Games

[Alhuin]

So I've recently come across the deck building game genre, and I was curious if anyone else here plays (or has played) any.

TL;DR at bottom of post, if you don't feel like reading my walls of text.

A friend of mine introduced me through Thunderstone. I wasn't immediately hooked, though I did find it interesting. My first game I didn't really do anything, and I lost with... 10 or so VP (can't remember the exact amount). The problem (I realized after I had experience) was that I was "all over the place" in terms of how I built my deck, so I wasn't drawing what I needed. This problem was why I initially didn't like the genre.

It wasn't until Penny Arcade the Game: Gamers vs. Evil that I really got into the genre. The same friend with Thunderstone got me to play PA, and I immediately loved it. Not only was it humorous, it was simple to learn, with a pretty straight-forward strategy. After several games, and advice from my friend, I was able to learn the strategy behind most (if not all) deck-building games: thin your deck. Yes, I'm aware how simple and obvious this fact is, but for some reason I didn't pick up on it. >_>

From there I've played Nightfall and the Resident Evil deck building game. I wasn't impressed with Nightfall, though I did find the chain system interesting. Resident Evil, with just the base set (since that's the only one I have), seems like it doesn't have enough variation, since there are only 200-something cards. But it remains one of my favourites simply for the content. I plan on getting a couple of the expansions in the coming months; that should help with the variation.

Finally, I've been playing Thunderstone online recently. At http://www.yucata.de. They have a ton of other games that I haven't researched yet, so I'm not sure if the rest are any good, but for playing Thunderstone, it works. They only have the first base set due to their contract with AEG. Sometimes it's easy to find random people to play with, but other times an entire day can go by without anyone joining your (or creating their own) game. This is part of the reason I decided to make this thread: if anyone here plays Thunderstone, you should join the site so we can play some quick games. All moves in all games are stored in memory, so even if you can't dedicate a consecutive hour or two to playing, you can come back later. I still have a game from two weeks ago that me and a friend started.


TL;DR - Thunderstone, Penny Arcade, Resident Evil, Nightfall... these are the games I enjoy. I haven't played any others, actually, so does anyone else have any interest in, or stories about deck building games?

[Y]

I'm not sure if Magic: The Gathering is the same kind of game you're describing or if our interests coincide, but that game owns.

[Archangel]

I'm not sure if Magic: The Gathering is the same kind of game you're describing or if our interests coincide, but that game owns.

I had a fucking invincible clerics deck back in the day, i wonder if it's still around here somewhere...

[bagandscalpel]

Just had my first taste of Dominion, not too long ago.

Even though the exposure was limited, I think I like the money-earning game setups.

[Alhuin]

Magic is a CCG/TCG. It's similar, but much different.

In Magic, you buy/trade for cards to build a deck (with restrictions) outside of the game. Then you play with your completed decks. In the deck building game genre, each game comes with all the cards you need to play, and you build your deck while playing. You have your starting cards (which is anywhere from 10-15 cards) that make up your deck, then you buy or gain other cards to improve it. Expansions help with the variation, but generally speaking, you really only have to buy a base set in order to play the game.

For the record though, I've been playing Magic since Ravnica was released. I'm not as big a player anymore because of time and money, but I still like to play EDH (Commander) with friends every now and then.

I haven't played Dominion yet, even though it's supposedly the grandfather of deck building games. I'm not sure if my friend owns it, but if he does, I hope to play it soon. I'm also interested in Ascension (which has a professional Magic player on it's creation team).

[KrayZ33]

online browser game: Tyrant

pretty good deck building game.

PvE and PvP

you can go on raids with your deck and other players against boss-decks etc.
if you beat the enemy deck in like 24h you earn points and you can get special cards and so on

played it for a few weeks

[Alhuin]

Been playing Tyrant for a few hours now. It seems like a pretty simple and straightforward game. I haven't had any trouble whatsoever so far. I also haven't explored all the menus and item options and whatnot, but it doesn't seem like I need to worry about anything more than doing missions and replacing good cards with better cards.

You have any advice on it?

[KrayZ33]

the matches will get a lot more difficult later

"better" cards are not always "better" as they need more rounds till they activate themselves later
and they get destroyed before they activate if you don't watch out

well, the "replacing good cards with better cards" part is a given in a deck building game
but the worth of a card will depend on what commander you use, which special abilities they've got and who your enemy is.

for example, a deck with huge monster/unit cards will get destroyed by cards with a fast activation time

simple example:
Your card = 8 dmg 6 Defense + 3 Different special Abilities -> 4 rounds to activate
His Card = 2 dmg 1 Defense 0 Abilties -> Instant Activation

his card will destroy yours before it can make a move.

however if you have a Commander with the Strike 1 Ability his card will be destoryed in the next round, because your commander will deal 1 Dmg to it.

then of course its important that you have a balanced deck, because if you are unlucky, you can't build yourself some sort of a defense line
It's been a while since I played but how many cards do you draw at the beginning? 4?

If you're unlucky, your Hand starts with high activation-time-cards only and thats not a good thing most of the time.
basically you need smaller cards at the beginning, and bigger cards later

[Y]

Whoever positive repped me, yes, I play EDH/Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and I've played many Standard environments over the years.

[Alhuin]

@Y: That was me. I've only been playing EDH for the past couple of years because of how expensive Standard, Legacy, and Vintage is. Granted, EDH can get expensive, but at least it's a format where you can play with what you have and still come out on top. My main deck has been Wrexial with a "manipulate your opponents deck(s) against them" theme, but I've also toyed around with Ghost Council and The Mimeoplasm. I have a ton of ideas for different decks, but most of them require cards I don't have, and I don't feel like buying them.

@Arch: Clerics were beast in Onslaught. My friend has a cleric deck that stomped me every game, back when I played casually. His strategy revolved around a land called Starlit Sanctum... so once I had more experience, and a more competitive deck, I was able to overthrow him. But, back in the day... those were good times. That's why I enjoy EDH. It's more about the social aspect than the game itself.

[Y]

@Y: That was me. I've only been playing EDH for the past couple of years because of how expensive Standard, Legacy, and Vintage is. Granted, EDH can get expensive, but at least it's a format where you can play with what you have and still come out on top. My main deck has been Wrexial with a "manipulate your opponents deck(s) against them" theme, but I've also toyed around with Ghost Council and The Mimeoplasm. I have a ton of ideas for different decks, but most of them require cards I don't have, and I don't feel like buying them.

@Arch: Clerics were beast in Onslaught. My friend has a cleric deck that stomped me every game, back when I played casually. His strategy revolved around a land called Starlit Sanctum... so once I had more experience, and a more competitive deck, I was able to overthrow him. But, back in the day... those were good times. That's why I enjoy EDH. It's more about the social aspect than the game itself.

Since maybe 8th grade I have only played with free MTG computer clients to avoid the money sink aspect of the game. Apprentice, MWS, et al. For the longest time I played Wizards Of The Coast's free software before they replaced it with Magic Online. I can't imagine ever sinking enough money into the game to become competitive in real life, but with programs like that you can build any deck you can imagine, which is how it should be.

Also, Tinker.dec supremacy.

[Archangel]

Haha, Starlit Sanctum plus cleric avatar combo... fuck you Al, making me nostalgia this hard!

[Xelbair]

I've been playing MTG with friends - but we always used proxies(aka home printed cards, legals only outside of tournaments).
I've used in old times Kamigawa based green/white deck(aggro + mini combos), and later i've build a Alara based blue/black/white deck that pisses off every non-artifact deck user in the universe. it decimates blue decks too(including control based ones)