HOLDER'S HEROES

In my previous article, we discussed the basic strategic principle of maximizing effect by minimizing chance. Another way by which we can reach this goal is by paying attention to the types of cards that are put into decks. All the power cards in the world won’t win you any Lost Souls unless you have Heroes. And all the best Heroes in the game will struggle if you don’t find a way around those Artifacts. Balance is the key to making sure you get to the cards you need, instead of being stuck with a handful of useless Enhancements that you don’t want to discard.

Follow up:

Part of the consideration of how to balance the different types is to take into account what you can and cannot play out of your hand to avoid discarding cards when possible. Lost Souls are always placed immediately in play so we will not address them here. Artifacts, Sites, Fortresses, and Characters can be placed into your territory during your preparation or discard phase. Dominants can be played at any time but must remain in your hand until played or discarded. Most Enhancements can only be played in battle, and like Dominants, must remain in your hand until played or discarded. So you have to be careful not to be stuck with too many of these.

Before I reveal this basic deck-building method, let me be clear: there are countless different ways to build a winning deck, and many people will have a broad range of opinions on the value of certain cards over others. However, for the beginning player, and for most standard decks, there is a very simple formula that can be applied to form balanced decks, which was taught to me by Darcy at the 2005 Nationals: the rule of sevens. In short, if you take:

• 7 Heroes
• 7 Good Enhancements
• 7 Evil Characters
• 7 Evil Enhancements
• 7 Artifacts
• 7 Fortresses and/or Sites
• 7 Dominants

then you have 7 cards in each of 7 different categories, for a total of 49 cards. Add your required 7 Lost Souls and you have a balanced 56-card deck ready to play.

This setup carries with it several benefits in how your strategy plays out. It provides plenty of Arts, Forts and/or Sites that can get out of your hand and start affecting the game quickly. It provides a balance of offense and defense. It helps you limit the use of too many bridgades, so you don’t end up with 3 red Heroes and 5 blue Enhancements. And it helps you make the tough choices when you simply have too many cards in your deck and need to trim down to a legal size. Every card in your deck seems like the most important card, when you’re trying to figure out which one to take out. But realizing the need for a balance can make that job a little easier, or maybe help you decide that maybe that 8th Enhancement is just a little more important than that 7th Fortress. In the end, it’s all just a guideline to help you achieve balance and efficiency in your deck.