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TCG Tips - The 3 phases of a Duel
Author: DanTheTimid
March 7, 2005

 
Hey there, I just thought I'd start off by mentioning that this article is primarily meant to help beginners get a better understanding of the game but it still might be interesting to look into my evaluation of the way the game plays out if your a veteran of the game too.
 
Basically after many duels and much playtesting I've found that any given duel of shaman king can be split up in 3 phases, each phase has a significantly different play style one must use if they hope to be successful.  For simplicity sake I'm going to name these 3 stages Early game, Mid game, and End game.
 
Early Game:  This is where more duels are won and lost then most people realize, while its possible to come back from a poor early game I've seen MANY solid decks fall on their face repeatedly do in part to poor early game play.  I'd also say this is the phase that beginning players struggle with the most
 
Tips:
 
1. Probably the most common mistake players make in the early game is tryng to return everything as soon as they can.  You've got 2 points to spare, your goal in the early game should be setting up your field even if that means taking some risks, letting some strikes go deeper when you could have blocked them early.  The most important thing to remember regarding this is to try to be economical, if your facing a 4 force, try to return with a 4/5 intercept, using anything higher then that usually means your paying significantly more then you need to to block a relatively wimpy attack.  Your goal in early game is to set up the field and that includes having a furyoku advantage on your opponent.
 
2. This leads me to my second point, what is setting up the field really?  Its getting out teamworks, to a lesser extent its getting zones charged, and its doing this  all while using as little furyoku as possible.  Just like you, your opponent has 2 points to spare so throwing your strongest attacks at your opponent before you've set up the field with teamworks for instance means your opponent can choose to let this attack hit him so that you celebrate nothing, and in short order your tapped out of fury, forced to either let your opponents cheap weak attacks go through and score, or over pay and find yourself constantly on the verge of being tapped out.  If you do then let some weak attacks go through, not only did your opponent gain an advantage furyoku wise because he paid less for his scoring strikes then you, but if he set up his field with teamworks, he's celebrating gaining further furyoku advantage.
 
Mid Game: The mid game should begin for you the moment you've sufficiently set up your field to a satisfactory level.  Your not always gonna get a teamwork in every zone or ideal teamwork combinations, but once you get atleast 2 teamworks out, or even just 1 teamwork in red you've assured that if you score you're gonna get something back for it.
 
Tips:
 
1. More so then Early game zone charging is important here.  If getting to your signature moves is a priority of your deck you should really be focusing on getting those zone charged, even if it means taking a few risk.  Ideally you gave up no more then 1 point during early game so you should still have a little buffer room. 
2. Furyoku is still a prime factor here, you wanna maintain any furyoku advantage you gave your self during the early game, or peck away at the one your opponent gained if things went horribly wrong.  Its ok to start throwing some large attacks at your opponent, and paying a little extra to block a small attack, but don't go crazy, you want to be the one with the advantage come...
 
End Game: The End game begins the moment you score 2 points on your opponent (and begins for your opponent the moment he scores 2 points on you).  The end game is probably the easiest phase to play, your just throwing everything you have at your opponent, but that doesn't make it the easiest phase to play well.
 
Tips:
 
1. This is what the whole game has been working toward, you built up an advantage, now its time to press your advantage.  The two most common mistakes in the late game are to put everything into one big strike too soon, or the exact opposite, the keep waiting for the perfect moment to strike, slowly letting your opponent creep back into the duel in the process.  There's no perfect advice I can give for when is and isn't the right time to go all in, it will depend on your deck style, your opponents deck style, each shamans signature moves, etc.  A a general rule of thumb though if you can send at least an 8 or more force at your opponent, go for it, even if it means over paying.  If you have to over pay like crazy for just a 6/7 I might avoid it, those hits can score but they aren't worth basically giving up the duel if its returned.  Obviously if your playing a furyoku control theme you'll care less about the force of your strike and more that you keep countering from green so that your opponent only recovers the yellow he focus and doesn't recover any red at all.
 
2. That brings me to my other point, if you have a furyoku lead and your opponent is low, whether your playing control or not try to keep returning from green or yellow if at all possible, its surprising how many duels I've won with weak attacks because my opponent flipped red cost strikes when he was out of red.
 
3. Keep in mind that some shaman signature moves are meant to be used immediately, others are better suited to be saved.  Especially if your on your back side, if your attack has really high intercept you may be better off leaving it in storage until your opponent gives in and throws something big at you, burning himself up, then counter with your sig, you stop a strong attack, probably send something decent back, and most importantly your opponent gets no replenishment which after sending something big at you can be devastating.
 
Well I guess that more or less covers each of the phases, I hope this helped some of you at least a little.  If you have any questions or comments please feel free to PM me on the boards, under the name DanTheTimid.


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