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 5^th, 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.

Shield Scenario	Blast Revealed
1	Terror Pit, Bone Blades
2	Terror Pit
3	Barrage
4	Tornado Flame
5	NO BLAST
6	Tornado Flame
7	Bone Blades
8	NO BLAST
9	Terror Pit
10	Barrage
11	Tornado Flame
12	Terror Pit
13	NO BLAST
14	Bone Blades
15	Bone Blades
16	NO BLAST
17	Bone Blades
18	Bone Blades
19	Bone Blades, Terror Pit
20	NO BLAST
21	Tornado Flame, Tornado Flame
22	Terror Pit
23	Barrage, Bone Blades
24	Tornado Flame
25	Barrage, Terror Pit
26	Barrage, Bone Blades
27	NO BLAST
28	Barrage
29	Bone Blades
30	NO BLAST
31	Tornado Flame, Barrage, Bone Blades
32	Barrage, Bone Blades
33	NO BLAST
34	Terror Pit
35	Terror Pit
36	NO BLAST
37	Tornado Flame, Terror Pit
38	Bone Blades, Bone Blades
39	NO BLAST
40	NO BLAST
41	Tornado Flame
42	NO BLAST
43	NO BLAST
44	Tornado Flame
45	NO BLAST
46	Barrage
47	Bone Blades, Terror Pit
48	Tornado Flame
49	Terror Pit, Terror Pit, Bone Blades
50	Tornado Flame, Barrage
51	NO BLAST
52	Tornado Flame, Bone Blades
53	Bone Blades
54	Barrage
55	NO BLAST
56	Barrage
57	Tornado Flame, Terror Pit
58	Terror Pit, Bone Blades
59	Tornado Flame, Barrage, Tornado Flame
60	Barrage, Barrage
61	Barrage, Barrage
62	Terror Pit
63	NO BLAST
64	Tornado Flame
65	Terror Pit
66	Bone Blades, Barrage
67	NO BLAST
68	Barrage
69	Terror Pit
70	Terror Pit
71	NO BLAST
72	Terror Pit, Barrage
73	NO BLAST
74	Tornado Flame, Tornado Flame, Bone Blades
75	Barrage, Bone Blades
76	NO BLAST
77	Tornado Flame
78	NO BLAST
79	NO BLAST
80	NO BLAST
81	Barrage, Barrage, Terror Pit
82	Barrage
83	NO BLAST
84	Tornado Flame
85	NO BLAST
86	NO BLAST
87	Terror Pit
88	Terror Pit
89	NO BLAST
90	Tornado Flame
91	Terror Pit
92	Bone Blades
93	NO BLAST
94	Tornado Flame, Barrage
95	NO BLAST
96	Tornado Flame, Barrage, Tornado Flame, Bone Blades
97	Bone Blades, Bone Blades
98	Tornado Flame, Barrage
99	NO BLAST
100	Terror Pit

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…