How to Become a Better Player

Things have been said but i'll just boil it down to what i find most crucial about the match.

The most basic thing cant be stressed enough, don't rush, don't act unless there is purpose - Especially moving, its always an advantage to react to situations rather then creating them. Dont give in to your opponents flow, always consider all your options and dont feel compelled to take up the action where it was left off.

Waiting is also a way to identify blocks.

Take a stock when a round approaches its ending and you still feel like taking that risky action - If you are in a good spot, dealt some damage or stood your ground on the vp, stay were you are and end the round. Play reserved, especially when the other guy does.

This game is cards vs. other cards. Preventing your opponent from making good use of his hand is a win in itself. No damage is best, but when it comes down to it, you should indeed distribute damage intentionally. Make use of the bottlenecks the map offers you and the zone of control each character has on the board. Be aware what happens to the team if you move a character. He might have been shielding them.

Bluff! Bait! Mindgames! (Smack talk!) Stay away from cards that will numb your mind and mislead you (insight).

 

I just wanted to say thanks to everybody in this thread, with some of this advice (and some ridiculous elf warriors with sparkly swords) my rating's almost up to 1000 now.

 

tnx for shate this info , actually im newbie here, tnx again mate

 

feel like this should stay visible on the firs page >_>

 

I have no problem with that, I'd love to see people keep offering tips to each other. Pinning's up to the mods, and mentioning that is as much asking as I'm going to do. That's their call.

Or everybody can just keep posting new tips to keep bumping it to the front.

 

Tips has its own thread. I'd rather have smthg like what Jade recently did with Card of the day discussions, except rename it to Play/Turn of the day. Take a screen shot of a game state (mp, sp, co-op whatever) in an actual game and discuss the best play.

 

Sometimes it's better to stay on the side of caution, even though it's unlikely anything will happen. I quite often run away from my opponents if I've almost won and have a parry and low health, because I don't want to risk the 1/6 chance that they'll kill me and win by a fluke.

Another tip, not necessarily for playing a better game, but still useful. If you don't open those chests you win from leagues, once EttSC arrives, you can open them and hopefully get some of the new gear for free! (Save your gold, too.) Credit goes to @Jezterscap for giving me this piece of advice!

 

I haven't been playing for quite long but I believe I still have something to add to this thread.

1. Get in your opponent's mind. Read your opponent's moves; don't just look at the tip of the iceberg. This is a must, always. If you can discover the motive behind your opponent's move, you can effectively counter it or react to it properly. For example, if your opponent moves their wizard first, you could guess that they are going to use a terrain effect (likely Illusory Barrier), they have another move (baiting), or they have Counterspell, Forgetfulness, or blocking effects (mitigation).

2. Be hard to read. Things like bluffing, intentionally delaying a move that would otherwise take seconds to do, and befuddling your opponent will prevent your opponent from doing #1 to you. One thing you can possibly do is this: make your moves seem as general as possible until you finally deviate to deliver your strategy. This is often crucial for Volcano, All-out Attack, and other builds.

3. What you see on the board immediately is not all there is. Think about positioning and movement in several levels:

• what your opponent can do immediately,
• what your opponent can do immediately with step attacks, quick step, or quick run,
• what your opponent can do immediately with indirect attacks and blocks,
• what your opponent can do after moving,
• what your opponent can do with step attacks, quick step, or quick run after moving,
• what your opponent can do with indirect attacks and blocks after moving, and so on.

4. Don't over-think. Never over-think. It will cost you the game. If your opponent has no more cards, don't expect a Pulverizing Hack from them. Lol.

 

One tip for each of the fixed/selected deck leagues:

Quickdraw: Take traits. Obviously, you don't want to cripple a character with a bad drawback trait: trip, fright, combustible (if you're facing multiple wizards), etc. But traits help your deck cycle to the gold card more often, and gold cards win games. Often, an unrelated secondary trait selected with the last couple of cards (slicer when you have no chop attacks) is better than taking a weak 2 or 3 point attack.

Artifact Anarchy: Use patience, move as a group, and conserve moves. Too often I see inexperienced players charge your Whorl with their Riptide, only to leave him stranded and vulnerable to a 3-on-1 pile-on.

Clash of Geomancy: Get to the VPs, control the VPs, then pass until you have to react. Geomancy is often won by the player who has to react last in a turn.

Astral Tourney: Your pawn's movement is vulnerable to their rook and bishop (via push/blast cards), and your bishop and rook's health are vulnerable to their pawn. The best pushes move your pawn to the VP while they push the opponent's pawn back.

Monkey Magic: Use your monkey's theft cards to 'borrow' powerful attacks from your own ent/tree guy (press the control key to target your own characters with your attacks, when you select the card.)

Oozeball: Your two most powerful cards are your blocker's muscle through and violent spin. Don't waste them moving up to the VP; use them as the last card you play in a turn when everyone's crowding the VP.

Monster Hunt: The archer is vulnerable and easy two-point pickings for hungry chupas as they rush past. Don't linger to finish him off; he'll have to come into the difficult terrain at the end of the gameboard, usually ahead of the slower dwarf, and you can double back and eat him then. However. If he draws his single jump back, leave him alone, unless you can trap him against terrain that negates the card. Dead archer + kill one of their chupas = game won.

Graveyard Gambol: The VP is very important in this league. It's rare-ish that you can kill the opposing necro, so don't waste time organising a perfect attack: get to the VP first and worry about holding it then.

 

Okay I think all of these have been said already in some form but this is what I have learned (edited).

• First position is everything, it is the equivalent of mana in MtG, it is what allows you to use a card.
• Second try to anticipate, a lot of this comes with experience, but there are lots of hints out there.
• Use all of the information available... if you are patient being able to view all opponent's played cards is helpful. But always pay attention to attachments (traits) and especially exposed cards. When you look at exposed cards you can see what item it came from not just the card (I wish this was true in the log). There is a difference between a Parry on a shield and on a Warrior's mace. If a priest plays a Loner expect a vamp, if a wiz plays firestarter expect a fire mage (and remember the +2 adds up fast).
• ALWAYS pay attention to how many cards your opponent has for each character. With team moves and Defender's Block, no cards isn't a guarantee of a sitting duck, but more often than not you know you can get some attacks in.
  
• Allow warriors to be stranded. One of the biggest rookie mistakes is to have a warrior with 4 big attacks in his hand, but no movement. A 4 point NS is worth a lot more than an 11 point attack you can't play. Watching an opponent discard attack after attack you should know he (or she?) is getting frustrated, don't let him relax. The is doubly fun with Blind Rage, where they need to decide between damage and discarding attacks.
• Already stated team up on 1 guy at a time, until you get the kill. There is no bigger card advantage than being up 1 character. If the person you decide to team up on has lots of armor, pick someone else.
  
• Don't ignore the VP, but don't focus on it. My goal is to get 2 stars from the VP; if I can this means I only need 2 kills to win. Getting 6 VP stars is rare, but understand that if you control the VP unless you have a bunch of attacks you can use without moving pass.
• If you can save a character by running away do it. A 1 hp guy is more valuable than a dead one. Sometimes you can have a character stay out of the action and just when it seems useless, pop in for a kill.
  
• Understand the advantage of reacting. This means being willing to pass (especially early), and if you don't like your cards pass and discard. Just remember if you pass too much your opponent might be building a combo, if you can't understand why someone keeps passing think Volcano or All out Attack.
• For melee engagements letting your opponent come to you can be a huge edge. If you trade attacks you get first strike which can be the difference between a kill or being killed.
  
• Having priority is huge in some scenarios, a disadvantage in others. If you have a wiz in range of your warrior you want priority over making a final attack since the wiz will get a move next turn. If you have priority you can use your best attack before he moves. But until you have a reason to act going 2nd is advantageous.
  
• Don't let getting a new high rarity item mess up a build. If you have something that is working don't mess with it just because you never had a [BLANK] and are dying to use it. Generally it takes a while to balance a build between attacks, defense and movement; find this balance and don't mess with it until...
• The MP maps change at the 1st of the month. What might not work on one set of maps might be great on another. When you first see a map do your best to check out line of sight. If you don't want to be annoying you can even work with someone in a casual to understand LoS and difficult/blocking terrain. Remember position is everything but if you have to think about where you want to set-up you have less ability to focus on everything else. Watch people especially with 3 wiz teams to find out advantageous spots on the board. LoS is not always obvious check it out BEFORE you click a move.
• Think first move 2nd. Movement cards can't be cancelled.
  
• Finally remember how you lose. If you don't learn from losses it will take longer to grow as a player. Did you lose because your opponent out maneuvered you? Did you get stuck with too many cards that you don't want to play? Did you rush in with no way to retreat? Did you ignore the VP until it was too late? Did you discard a move when you really should have dropped an attack? Did you forget to have at least 1 Purging card on your priest? Were you playing while wasted?... again?

Always remember to have fun and don't stress over bad breaks. The way MP is set up if you are ranked too high you will start to lose, if you are ranked too low you will win more often. I've played over 1,600 matches and I'm like 3 wins over .500.
Don't worry where you are on the ladder (at least not for a while) just try to keep getting better. A 1000 rating should be your first goal, a 1200 the next. After 1200 almost everyone you play will know what they are doing. Buy a Bejeweled Short Sword and Double-Edged Sword when you see them in the shops, you want 6 of each, but having at least a pair (unless you NEVER want a warrior) is a start.
Oh and never underestimate the value of a card that does 2 things, that is why step attacks are good, and that is why an SPR is still useful even after being nerfed. Every build has a weakness so find one that works and don't stress over it too much. You will lose some matches just due to an unfavorable match-up or draw. But do save many different builds there are enough slots where it is not worth overwriting just because you want to save on a 1st page slot.

 

So I'm going to reiterate this one, since doing it twice cost me a league game today.

Don't forget what attachments your characters have on them!

 

the amount of times i tried to TK immovables x_x

well it was only like 2 times, but the magnitude of the mistake >_>

 

It's Wicked Waterways! Hey, now that I've finally drawn Wings of Faith on my priest, let's cast it on the fighter wearing arrogant armour! (Still somehow won that match.)

 

Once I accidentally forgot to switch to my Waterways build, and as a result used my normal party. I only won because I got lucky with ember bursts and tk-ing my priest over on the first turn. (I still can't believe I won.)

 

I've onced played a ranked game with league party, too. No clue how I managed to win it lol.
So the tip: think about what party you're using before clicking on that matchmaking icon

 

Bluffing is important, it's true. However, bluffing that you have an advantage when you don't is usually riskier and less effective than bluffing that you're weak when you actually have a handful of all the cards you need.

 

A lot of my success with predicting came from asking myself, "What would cards would that character have to have in my hand for me to feel like that move they just made was their best option?"

Know what each build tries to do. Burst wizards try for groups, control wizards want LoS, Volcano wizards want you to move, step warriors want you to waste tempo trying to run or pin you to walls so you can't, AoA warriors want to confirm no blocks without using low-damage attacks, and priests can want anything from LoS with certain allies, to being left alone with their untargeted team effects, to slipping right up next to you like a warrior. Learn to recognize these behaviors so you can start predicting what each of them means.

Play revealed cards first, whenever possible. I've definitely "wasted" moves in order to appear more tapped out than I actually was.

Force your opponents to commit to a course of action. Make them head for the VP, or target a specific character, or otherwise commit to an action so that you can see the shape of their plan. Once you know what the plan is, ruin it, as hard as you can, by changing the rules in a way they would have had a hard time predicting.

Know when you are on the clock, and when your opponent is. Pass when you stand nothing to lose or have something to gain.

 

I take umbrage with the idea that you want to encourage smack-talking. Smack-talking might be useful at high-level competitions where money is on the line, etc., but this is a game, where I feel people come to relax, challenge themselves mentally, and occasionally enjoy the fruits of their creative work and well-timed plans.

More importantly, Robauke, I have seen in nearly every game you play, you do your best to cast doubt on your opponents skill, and when they win, imply thei win was solely luck-based. Personally, I feel this kind of devious mind games, is unacceptable. Actually, and this will sound flagrant, but I remember doing that as a kid, when playing board games.
If I won- man I'm good. If I lost- dumb opponents got lucky. Man I thought the world revolved around me then lol.

So, people come here to unwind, not be undermined.

While I appreciate that you are posting to improve the game, I do hope this type of pyschological warfare behavior can be addressed and stamped out in the long run. It both discourages the less "tough-minded" people from playing (which is most of us), and contributes towards a less social, more "winning is everything" mentality; which is not healthy for the game and its growth.

If we all played solely to win all the time, there would be no new deck ideas and combos discovered, online buddies made, and most importantly...enjoyment of the game.

 

I like to help.
My note of smack talk refers to moderate, even friendly statements made during a game and the enjoyment to engage into banter. While individuals who lie through their teeth and even try to unsettle their opponents with provocation exist in CH, my comments on a match do not have the purpose to weazel myself to a win. If i happen to win i like my win as rooted in MY play as possible. Above all i care for a quality match, win or lose.
Also I like the match to be decided on the board. Not off-board by notorious loot drops, nor by small-minded, borderline exploitive deckbuilding thats hard to overcome without going there as well. And last but not least, i don't enjoy my matches to be decided by a ludacrious series of impropabilities that just happen to shove my opponent a win.

I play a lot, these things happen occasionally and i will continue to articulate my discontent. I assume you witnessed some statements and jumped to these conclusions, same as you made wild assumptions about the playerbase on whatever grounds. I hope my response to your affront can give you a better picture of me. I just strongly suggest you don't try to shut someone up while pointing at the greater good, that is awfully hypocritical.

 

I've copied these over from the thread on Wizardry, but these are my general rules when it comes to being an imbecile, and deciding three human wizards is the way to play:

1. VPs are your enemy. Only take them when you absolutely need to, or can without any chance of being cornered. Don't waste a move card for 1 point, when that move might give your enemy 2 points next round.
2. Always destroy the Game Genie (priest) first, if possible. Priests are your mortal enemy.
3. Make warriors use as many step moves as you can in an attempt to reach you. And then TK them away. Again and again and again. Having a Path of Knives attached doesn't hurt either
4. If the opposing wizard can't see you, and you can't see them, it's a net win for you.
5. DO NOT be afraid of overkill. Do it whenever you can. The quicker they are gone, the quicker you can worry about something else.
6. Warriors bluff way more than they should. Merely not moving will often win you a round. You may lose because of it sometimes, but you were likely going to lose anyway in that instance. Move on and destroy more Game Genies and maneuverers and lungers next time.
7. ABC. Always. Be. Chipping. Never turn down the opportunity to damage an opponent. One hit point taken from an Arcane Burst now is one you don't have to worry about later.
   
8. Don't be afraid of sacrificing one of your wizards (in my case, t.swift; everyone wants to kill t. swift first, which I don't understand, since she just shakes it off anyway) to get one or two opponents far away from your other two characters. Especially if they have to use team moves to do so. You'll have a good shot of making up those two points just by camping on the VPs, waiting for them to return.
9. Have fun. It's a game.

Also, don't play three human wizards. You are only taunting your soul, your sanity, and your temperance. For all that is holy, I beg you not to play three human wizards.