The next small article here will be about building a deck!
Each deck consists of exactly 60 cards, no more, no less. As stated before, no more than 4 of any card in a deck. This refers to card number, not card name. There are at least 40 different "Hirasawa Yui" cards, but you can only have 4 of each particular one. Therefore, making a deck revolving around a single character is more than do-able.
According to the rulebook, they say that a deck should consist of roughly:
40-44 characters
12-16 events
0-4 support cards
While that's what the rulebook suggests, and while it's not necessarilly terrible, the most important thing to consider is how you want your deck to work. Some decks thrive on having a lot of creatures. Others thrive on having a lot of events. However, you can only find out what the right amount of character/event/support cards in your deck is by playing that deck and testing it out against other players! Balance is the most important thing!
"Where should I start?"
-Starter decks! They're called "Starter" decks for a reason! They're usually somewhat basic, but have a decent amount of useful cards. Obviously, they're not going to win any tournaments, but by picking up a couple of starters, you can play against a friend and have fun with that! Then you can slowly start to build up and add other cards once you understand the game better, and even make a new deck on your own! There's starter decks for the following sets:
K-ON! (part 1)
Hidamari Sketch
K-ON! (part 2)
Bakemonogatari
K-ON! (part 3)
Ookami san
Ika Musume
So there's quite a variety in what decks you can get, and all the starters contain cards that you can't get outside of the starter deck! If you want my recommendation on a deck, I recommend getting a deck from whatever series you happen to like the best. Also, I would suggest getting a different deck from your friend, just because it's more interesting than just playing the exact same starter deck as your friend.
If you want to make things a little more interesting, you can also buy a few booster packs to go with it. That way, you can have a basic deck, and then once you understand a bit better, you can check out the other cards and expand your decks!
What should I look for when making a deck?
There are a few things you should look for.
For the casual player -
- Pick a character/series you like, and make a deck using those cards. If your favorite K-ON! character is Mio, then making a Mio heavy deck with many mio events might be suited to you. If you really like Katanagatari, then making a deck with many katanagatari characters/cards. It's more fun to play when you're using cards of a character/series that you really like.
-- The reason why it's good to have a theme like that is because if cards are from the same series, then they can be used to play out the other cards very easily. If you're mixing and matching too much, you'll find yourself in a situation where you have a hard time playing out many cards.
-Find a theme - Some popular themes among decks are decks that have the same character type (maid, or megane, for example), or decks that have many characters with "active" Some decks are mostly blue/red/yellow/green, so even finding the color you want to use is fine, too.
- Find a specific card (or a few specific cards) you like, and think of a way to make that card, or those cards the center of your deck. Even if it's not the center of your deck, making a deck that incorporates that will be a lot of fun for you, because you're playing the style of deck that you want to!
For the more competitive player, it's more of a challenge and generally involves using a lot of the tournament heavy cards. I'm personally a tournament heavy player, but I can give good help about any type of deck, and how well it will do in theory.
In addition, if anyone has any requests for translations, or any cards that they want me to give my opinion on, then please post in the comments, and I'll be more than happy to make a new focusing on that! I don't think too many people are reading this now, so even if the request is rather big (like translating a whole set), if you request it, then it'll have a better chance of getting done!
Until then, take care!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Let's get started! Making a deck!/deck-building tips!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think it would be really beneficial for many people if there were at least any translations for the Starter Decks to try this TCG. ^^
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for this Deck-Build Guide, i'm looking foreward to read more of these :D
I'll try to post up a translation of all the cards in the first K-on! starter deck sometime in the next few weeks!
ReplyDeleteThat would be great! :D I love K-On xD
ReplyDeleteFollowing your suggestion and here I am:P
ReplyDeleteI like that Madoka Magica anime, is the series doing any good in tournaments (may be the singles format?)?:P
I would like some translation for it, but I heard someone has already done the job....but I just cant find it online....
The Madoka set is probably the 3rd strongest in singles after Oreimo and bakemonogatari. The new special pack that just came out seems to have some really good cards, too. Def a good set that can compete for sure.
ReplyDeleteMadoka set 1 translations can be found here:
http://pineapplemania.wordpress.com/
I think I gonna just give Homura Akemi deck a try:P What is the must have cards for Madoka series?~~
ReplyDeleteAnd then about this special pack? Is it the same like Weiss Schwarz extra pack? In weiss schwarz, there is NORMAL and EXTRA pack. the normal one will always be reprinted, if the demand is big enough. But the extra pack, it is limited, once it is sold out, it is really sold out, no reprint. (this is what I am being told btw). So is the special pack cards limited too?
This is funny that I understand this game pretty fast by just looking at your explanation! Good one:)(or may be because I played magic the gathering, pokemon, and weiss schwarz for too long already.....)
Well, Homura decks are usually based around decking the opponent out, so if you like decks like that, then Homura is good. Must-have cards are really based off what kind of deck you want to run, and what character you want to run. I'd have to write a much longer explanation in far more detail if you're curious.
ReplyDeleteThe special pack is just a 36 card mini-set. I don't think it's gonna be limited edition, though. It's very popular, though, as expected.
I'm glad you understand my explanation! I started off with MTG also, and I also played pokemon, haha.
what's are good support cards in the k-on series?
ReplyDeleteif i have a key character card that I wish to draw and play on the field, is it advisable to play 4 of that card in the deck so that I will have a higher chance of drawing it, or will that be taking up valuable deck space?
The main support card in k-on is "Backstage pass", when combined with 01-038 "Yamanaka Sawako", allows you to draw an extra card every turn. Sawako's power is to move her to the support area, and then draw a card. Backstage Pass allows you to put it on a character that has "music", and move it to the front or back once a turn, allowing you to move it to the front each turn and then draw a card.
ReplyDeleteFor support characters, 01-068 Sawako is good, as she lets you draw a card when she comes into play if you have a "uniform" character. 01-050 Ui allows you to get a Yui back from your trash pile. 04-041 Nodoka is a 2/2 blue character that lets you look at the top 5 cards and grab 2 of your choice. Those are just some examples.
As for a key character, there's a couple factors. First, if it's 1 source, then you probably shouldn't use 4 in a deck. If it's 2 source, and you absolutely NEED that character for the deck to work, then 4 might be ok. Generally, if you draw a lot of cards, 3 will be a good number, as you will generally get one of what you need eventually. Most decks should theoretically have a good enough balance that you aren't totally relying on one card. In addition, if it's a card that you want 4 of, you have to be prepared to get them all at once, and if you can't do anything with the extra cards you get, then you might not need 4.
Here's an example of some cards that I would put 4 of in a deck:
Oreimo 01-001 3 source Kirino - This Kirino acts as 3 source, so you want to use that to play out all of your other Kirino's, so you need to have 4 just to throw out and use over and over.
K-ON 03-022 Yui - This is a card that allows you to lower the cost of the opponent's characters. Once a turn, you can pay 2 source and give two of the opponent's characters cost -2. For tennen decks, you absolutely NEED this card, so I would highly suggest 4 for most tennen decks.
Oreimo 01-073 Kyosuke - You can play him anytime, and when he comes into play, he stops one of the opponent's characters from approaching. This can save you when you get to 4,5, or 6 points, as you can still approach and survive an approach by the opponent.
I hope that helps! If you have a decklist in mind, you can post it and then I'll give my suggestions for it!
Thanks for the tips. I'm trying out a Mugi themed deck - noticed her DP's slightly higher than the other girls.
ReplyDeleteI'm using most of her recent cards from K-On!! Part 2 and some from K-On!! Part 1, and 2 x her TD exclusive cards (4C 1S, add marker...). Any key Mugi cards you have to recommend?
For support I'm using 04-057 Ritsu, which if i'm not wrong, allows me to add +10/10 to a character when I play any event card, and 04-041 for deck searching.
Mugi is by far the weakest of the 5 girls, but there's some decent mugi cards, I guess. Some good ones are:
ReplyDelete04-074 Ritsu/Mugi combi
04-078 2/2 becomes a 40/50 mugi is arguably the strongest mugi card out there.
04-079 2/2 20/30 changes one of the opp's characters to the same AP/DP as one of your mugis. Very good, especially if you're running weaker mugis like 04-080 1/2 mugi get a card back from the trash pile 0/20.
04-082 is ok at best
04-086 is pretty good if you're running Ritsus as well (which you are)
Obviously, her starter deck card from part 3 is really good. Her part 4 starter deck card is sadly not very good.
A couple other random good ones are ones like the part 1 2/2 pump up 2 guys +10/+10 (01-091) and the part 3 3/1 pump up 2 guys +10/+10 (03-083). Overall though, Mugi is extremely weak to the point where it's almost pathetic imo. She got a lot of decent new cards in the new set, but she still lacks a lot of cards that can actually win games.
Your support stuff is good, but it won't be enough to beat even a halfway decent deck imo. But if you're going for character love, you got it. I once won a bakemono only tournament with a nadeko only deck (plus 2 memes), while every other person there was running fire sisters, so sometimes it works out.
Hi HeartNana, i'm a beginner in this game started ooz of carvinal phantasm which i having problem in building a decent deck for it.
ReplyDeleteI have read through your post and decide to play a deck mainly on Saber but i'm not sure which will be good for >.<
will like to hear your kind advise on this, Thanks
Carnival Phantasm is a decent set. I find it's stronger in mixed than in singles. Anyways, if you're looking for some decklists that other people have build, check out:
ReplyDeletehttp://prememo.net/decks/lists/
You can then look at current decks people have made. Obviously there's no guarantee that they'll be good. Anyways, luckily I'm a bit familiar with CP, so I can help you out on some staples you need:
I'll start with the Sabers:
01-026 - 5 cost Saber, her ability is really strong, as it generally forces the opponent to block, and if they try to kill saber during approach, you can just pay the cost and trash their character.
01-027 - Starter deck Saber, you get a card for free just for playing her, and when she approaches, you draw 2, and bottom deck one card from your hand. This sort of card manipulation is very strong, so even if saber dies, she was already worth attacking with. Using events and stuff, it's also possible for Saber to become quite large.
01-036 - 3/1 30/40 combi, tennen 2 and when it approaches, it can make one of your characters a 50/50. This is convenient because you can attack with this card, make the starter deck Saber a 50/50, and do this every turn. The 1 source makes it a card you cant really use all that often, but it's fairly strong, imo.
01-039 - 1/2 blue play anytime, and if you play it during the opponent's main phase, you can untap one of your characters. It's a 30/0, too, so it can actually kill some of the opponent's attackers unlike if it was say, a 10/20 or something.
Aside from that, I would say you're better off adding in other characters that are stronger rather than just adding in Sabers for the sake of it. The 6 cost 001 Arcuied is crazy good, and her starter deck card is really good, too. Starter Deck Rin(01-004) is good, as well as akiha(01-054). Having the support area Caster (01-022) is very important as well IMO.
As far as events go, the events that you're for sure going to need are:
01-096 Carnival Phantasm - Allows you to pump two characters of the same type/cost up +20/+20, and if they hit for a point, you draw a card. It's 0 cost and 2 source, so it's a great addition to a deck, and can turn a normal character into a powerhouse that gives you cards if they hit the opponent for points.
01-098 Hatsumode - On either approach, allows you to pump up one of your characters AP or DP +20. Also 2 source. Granted, you need 4 characters but still, it's quite strong and it's not hard to get 4 characters out.
01-103 - Mannatsu no Carnival - If you have 4 characters, it allows you to search the top 7 cards for the same type or same cost and get 2 of those characters. It gives you 2 cards for 1, and card advantage is very important.
01-111 - Hanami no utage - You again, need 4 characters, but this allows you to get back 2 in your hand, which is very important as you often discard characters you might need later.
01-119 - Valentines day - Stops an opponents character from attacking, and lets you flip over points, too.
Aside from that, the rest is just adding in characters you like or think are good. There's a decent variety of strong characters, so you can pretty much do whatever you want and still make a decent deck if you have the right basics and events.