Pojo's Duel Masters news, tips, strategies and more! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DM Home
Magic |
“May All Your Shields Be Triggers…”
Of all
the
collectible
card
games
out
there no
one can
deny
what
sets
Kaijudo
apart
from the
others
is the
interaction
of
shields
within
the
context
of a
game.
While
attacking
shields
is the
main
means of
winning
a game,
that
effort
of
attacking
shields
grants
the
opponent
card
advantage
over
you. In
the
world of
TCGs
card
advantage
is king
no
matter
what
game is
your
poison.
If the
threat
of card
advantage
was the
only
threat
then
rush
decks
would be
the only
way to
go,
however
the role
shields
play
does not
end
there.
Attacking
a shield
can also
allow
the
opponent
an
effect
that
effectively
breaks
the
built in
system
of
economy
(in the
form of
mana)
and
allow
the
defensive
player
to play
more
spells
than
their
opponent.
These
shield
blast
(or
shield
triggers
as many
of the
old
school
DM
players
still
refer
to)
spells
can
quickly
alter
the game
swinging
what
should
be an
obvious
win into
a
devastating
loss!
With all
this
understood,
differing
philosophies
about
how and
when you
should
attack
have
emerged.
Some
players
attack
at any
opportune
time
figuring
that
every
shield
they can
take
from
their
opponent
places
them
that
much
closer
to
defeating
them. On
the
other
extreme
you have
player
who
believes
you
should
only
take a
shield
when you
have
100%
established
control
of the
field so
that if
you DO
encounter
a shield
blast
(or two
or
three,
etc)
then you
can
likely
minimize
the
impact
those
shield
blast
have
upon you
field.
Frankly,
I LOVE
this
part of
the game
and
there is
not a
single
other
game
that
comes
close to
a
mechanic
like
this.
While
some may
say that
the
likes of
shield
blast
remove a
certain
degree
of skill
from the
game, I
believe
they
actually
introduce
a whole
other
level of
complexity
that
other
games
never
have to
deal
with. In
fact, if
you were
to take
Kaijudo
and
remove
shield
blast
completely
from the
equation…I’m
not sure
I would
actually
ever
play
(which
taps
into my
growing
dislike
for
sealed
deck
play,
but
that’s a
whole
other
topic).
So, I
present
a REAL
world
situation
which so
beautifully
demonstrates
how
difficult
the
simple
decision
to
attack
or not
to
attack
can be.
THE SETTING
KMC
Richardson,
May 5th,
Swiss
Rounds
THE PLAYERS
Ryan
Bishop
(eventual
winner
of the
Kansas
KMC and
Top 4 in
the
Missouri
KMC)
versus
Robby
Stewart
(Top 8
Richardson
& Kansas
KMC and
Finalist
Missouri
KMC)
THE SITUATION
** (not
to be
confused
with
that
Jersey
Shore
idiot!)
Game
three.
Active
player
is Ryan
Bishop
on the
bottom.
He
currently
has zero
shields,
Dracothane,
Fumes,
Lyra,
Nix,
Grudge
Weaver,
2x
Starlight
Lanterns
and a
Keeper
of Dawn
(which
was
played
this
turn).
Robby is
at the
top with
5
shields,
Bolt
Tail
Dragon,
Razorkinder
Puppet,
Nix and
no cards
in hand.
He has
cards in
hand,
but
nothing
significant
towards
playing
this
turn.
Robby is
at the
top with
five
shields
(none of
which
have
been
modified
or added
since
they
were
initially
laid at
the
start of
the
game),
Bolt-Tail
Dragon,
Nix and
a
Razorkinder
Puppet.
He
currently
has no
cards in
hand and
thus is
in top
deck
mode.
THE QUESTION
Ryan
definitely
has
control
of the
board
and has
a lot of
blockers
to
assure
that
Robby’s
merger
force
does not
make it
through.
However,
he
really
can’t
risk
losing a
blocker
AND not
being
able to
finish
Robby
off. So,
what
should
Ryan do?
Does he
go in
swing
for the
win?
Does he
feint
and go
for the
kill on
the next
turn.
Does he
wait
until he
is able
establish
greater
defense
by
hopefully
generating
more
shields
with an
Andromeda,
the
Citadel?
So many
possibilities
and the
threat
of
shield
blast
making
it
extremely
difficult
to tell
what to
do.
While
Ryan
strong
holds
control
of the
game,
the
smallest
bit of
bad luck
can wind
up in a
swift
end for
him for
this
match.
With
this in
mind I I
have put
together
a
Robby’s
deck in
order to
see what
shield
blast
would
show.
I’m sure
there’s
some
fancy
algorithm
that
would
grant a
more
accurate
result,
however
being as
I am not
programingly
gifted I
had to
go for a
much
more
primitive
method.
With
that, I
dealt
out his
starting
shields
100
times. I
only
recorded
the
shield
blast
that
were
relevant
with
regards
to
making
and
attack
THAT
turn if
Ryan
made the
attempt
to
attack
outright.
Below
are
those
results.
So,
based on
this
only
approximately
28% of
the time
would
Robby
have 2
or more
shield
blast in
his
shields.
Even
them,
they
would
need to
be the
right
shield
blast in
the
correct
order
for him
to
survive
the
round.
On the
flip
side
there is
about an
equal
chance
of
hitting
NO BLAST
at all!
Out of
Ryan’s 4
possible
attacking
creatures
one is a
triple
breaker
and one
other is
a double
breaker.
The
others
are
single
breakers.
Both of
those
single
breakers
are
vulnerable
to every
single
removal
spell in
the deck
with
Barrage
destroying
two of
Ryan’s
attackers
outright.
Ultimately,
the
question
of HOW
to
attack
properly
is also
in order
here.
Attacking
with the
largest
creature
first
definitely
assures
the
breaking
of the
three
shields,
BUT if
even a
single
shield
turns
out to
be a
Terror
Pit Ryan
would be
prevented
from
winning
this
turn no
matter
what he
does and
grants
Robby a
good
deal of
card
advantage
in order
to
attempt
to
defend
himself
for the
next
turn.
Perhaps
sending
in a
smaller
creature
is the
answer
in order
to only
see a
single
shield
broken.
Odds are
greatly
in
Ryan’s
favor
that any
one
single
shield
will not
be a
blast
and if
he is
able to
get the
first
creature
through,
the
second
will
break
another
shield
and
render
all but
5 of
Robby’s
shield
blast
useless
with
regards
to
defending
this
turn.
The
situation
is
tricky,
but
ultimately
is
appears
that
Ryan’s
chances
of
winning
by
attacking
this
turn are
pretty
close to
50/50.
What
would
you do??
HOW IT PLAYED OUT….
Ryan
choose
to swing
with the
Nix. He
hits a
shield
blast on
that
first
shield
allowing
Robby to
take out
his
Fumes.
Even if
Ryan
didn’t
hit a
single
other
shield
blast,
at this
point he
could
NOT
close
out the
game
this
turn.
Proceeding
to
attack
would
only
give
Robby
more
card
advantage
and
possibly
risk
Ryan
losing
his two
most
important
blockers.
With
this in
mind
Ryan
ends his
turn.
Robby
draws
his card
and top
decks…Waterspout
Gargoyle.
He
players
it to
bounce
both of
Ryan’s
Starlight
Lanterns
and
swings
in for
the win…
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright© 1998-2013 pojo.com This site is not sponsored, endorsed, or otherwise affiliated with any of the companies or products featured on this site. This is not an Official Site. |