Post by huy on Mar 13, 2015 6:10:05 GMT
Hi this is my first guide ever, and I intend to keep it as an evergoing work in progress. I will gladly receive your inputs and edit it as time goes on.
The Calculated Luck Factor
So you are a newbie and you usually blame your losses on "bad draw", i.e. luck, or being called "lucker" for winning by having the exact answer to opposing threat at the right time? Well more often than not, "luck" comes from thoughtful decisions and game knowledge; very rarely does luck entirely decides winning or losing by itself. Don't put any thought into your play? Making bad decisions? Lacking knowledge about the game? Well you can forget luck and blame yourself.
Follows are a few aspect that you can consider to create that "Calculated Luck" factor for yourself. Let opponent cry out to bad luck, while you can smile and know that it's you who brought luck upon yourself.
Deck Building
A good deck must: (a) be of smallest size allowed; and (b) have a viable purpose, both on offensive and defensive
(a) A deck cannot maximize consistency if it has even one more card than the smallest size allowed. Beginners may think a few % might not change anything, but while the chance might be 4/40 over 4/44 at the start of the game, but usually in late game it becomes 2/20 over 2/24 when you have used half your deck. Furthermore the cards you add are not as great as the cards u included in the first place, and maybe dead draw only most of the time. Try adding 10 cards and see your deck fails miserably.
Don't believe me? This is what a 300+ player achieve with 90-card garth deck:
vs 300+ opponents: win 7 lose 15 win rate 31.8% (should be >50% using a good deck)
vs 275+ opponents: win 21 lose 15 win rate 58.3% (should be >60% using a good deck)
vs 250+ opponents: win 8 lose 8 win rate 50% (should be >70% using a good deck)
(b) This is where most fail. Their decks are built with no viable purpose. Nobody can fix those decks, not even the best tinkerer. Therefore it is advised that you use tested decks suggested by top players. No harm can come from using good decks for your learning.
Having a game plan
A game plan is the most crucial thing, and this is where you put most of your thought. Of course it will be altered as the game progresses but most of the important decisions have been made from the start, base on your game plan.
Game plan depends on which opponent you are facing, the original purpose of your deck, and whether you are going first or second. More are covered on other guides that aren't available to you yet, but imagining how the first 5 turns will turn out is always a must.
Example: I'm playing as BB against BB. I go first with Karash on my hand. So i think about what's gonna happen and sac Karash. Why? Cos opp is gonna drop his Karash on turn 2, have his 3SE on turn 3 and shoot my Karash together with my turn 3 drop, and prolly kill them both. My Karash will get 1 swing at most before becoming free food. Thank you I'd prefer not to waste 1 card.
Saccing
Jac covers this in great depth in his guide so I'm just gonna include the relevant points.
Knowing which cards maximize your winning chance (or maximize the possibility of following you game plan, both are just different ways of saying the same thing) is crucial to your decision making.
Example 1: jac's approach to Serena. So he was playing as Garth vs Serena and opened with 3 IGGs. He actually kept all 3. He played one, Serena ripped one from his hand and destroyed his IGG. He played another and won the game.
Example 2: You open with no draw and Viska. In normal cases, it's best to sac her cos without draw you're less likely to get to that 6 cc; and if you do, won't happen any time soon.
So you are a newbie and you usually blame your losses on "bad draw", i.e. luck, or being called "lucker" for winning by having the exact answer to opposing threat at the right time? Well more often than not, "luck" comes from thoughtful decisions and game knowledge; very rarely does luck entirely decides winning or losing by itself. Don't put any thought into your play? Making bad decisions? Lacking knowledge about the game? Well you can forget luck and blame yourself.
Follows are a few aspect that you can consider to create that "Calculated Luck" factor for yourself. Let opponent cry out to bad luck, while you can smile and know that it's you who brought luck upon yourself.
Deck Building
A good deck must: (a) be of smallest size allowed; and (b) have a viable purpose, both on offensive and defensive
(a) A deck cannot maximize consistency if it has even one more card than the smallest size allowed. Beginners may think a few % might not change anything, but while the chance might be 4/40 over 4/44 at the start of the game, but usually in late game it becomes 2/20 over 2/24 when you have used half your deck. Furthermore the cards you add are not as great as the cards u included in the first place, and maybe dead draw only most of the time. Try adding 10 cards and see your deck fails miserably.
Don't believe me? This is what a 300+ player achieve with 90-card garth deck:
vs 300+ opponents: win 7 lose 15 win rate 31.8% (should be >50% using a good deck)
vs 275+ opponents: win 21 lose 15 win rate 58.3% (should be >60% using a good deck)
vs 250+ opponents: win 8 lose 8 win rate 50% (should be >70% using a good deck)
(b) This is where most fail. Their decks are built with no viable purpose. Nobody can fix those decks, not even the best tinkerer. Therefore it is advised that you use tested decks suggested by top players. No harm can come from using good decks for your learning.
Having a game plan
A game plan is the most crucial thing, and this is where you put most of your thought. Of course it will be altered as the game progresses but most of the important decisions have been made from the start, base on your game plan.
Game plan depends on which opponent you are facing, the original purpose of your deck, and whether you are going first or second. More are covered on other guides that aren't available to you yet, but imagining how the first 5 turns will turn out is always a must.
Example: I'm playing as BB against BB. I go first with Karash on my hand. So i think about what's gonna happen and sac Karash. Why? Cos opp is gonna drop his Karash on turn 2, have his 3SE on turn 3 and shoot my Karash together with my turn 3 drop, and prolly kill them both. My Karash will get 1 swing at most before becoming free food. Thank you I'd prefer not to waste 1 card.
Saccing
Jac covers this in great depth in his guide so I'm just gonna include the relevant points.
Knowing which cards maximize your winning chance (or maximize the possibility of following you game plan, both are just different ways of saying the same thing) is crucial to your decision making.
Example 1: jac's approach to Serena. So he was playing as Garth vs Serena and opened with 3 IGGs. He actually kept all 3. He played one, Serena ripped one from his hand and destroyed his IGG. He played another and won the game.
Example 2: You open with no draw and Viska. In normal cases, it's best to sac her cos without draw you're less likely to get to that 6 cc; and if you do, won't happen any time soon.