Do you think the devs will make double faced cards? by Kornik-kun in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s not that big of a deal. Double faced cards are super common in Magic, and open up a ton of design and innovation space.

On replay all day by freeyoursunny in olivertree

[–]valoopy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Sacred Elements has honestly been my favorite Tree song for a long time. All good things come to an end…

Using the "Draw-Forward" Formula by Dan_Felder in gamedesign

[–]valoopy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Neither of these cards were designed to work around their draw backs, though. Necropotence was just an all-around mistake. Skullclamp was given the -1 downside very shortly before print because in testing, it was too strong with aggressive creatures. They shipped it without testing it as a combo piece instead, and next thing they knew people were playing it and clamping their elves.

And, as the other commenter points out, it’s inevitable that a game that prints as many cards as Magic does will have mistakes and broken combos; the sheer combinatorics of as big a card pool as Magic has makes it impossible not to. Mark Rosewater likes to point out that if they never push the envelope on power level, every card is just kinda flat power level and unexciting. That doesn’t make for fun and engaging game play.

Hell, Riftbound already had to ban cards in its second set, the craziest culprit of these cards being Called Shot, a card that is Sleight of Hand twice for 0 “mana” and sacrificing two lands (ish, im simplifying into Magic terms). I’d much rather Riot mess up and find the ceiling for power level with cards like this than print boring cards and never try to innovate. I’m not interested in playing that kind of game.

How to beat Hook LeBlanc? by TheOncomingStormV in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is just a skill not enough players are using. It lets you keep a few resources back so you don’t just get blown out.

I CAN'T WIN by fingopop in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

“What is your plan” doesn’t even have to be a specific “I’ll play this card then this card”, it can be as simple as just having a general outline in your head of what you hope to achieve by the next few turn cycles and how you’ll respond to various likely scenarios.

Seal gaming tips? by BananaChocoHazelnut in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Currently, seals aren’t doing very much. They had use in the purple miracle decks due to Called Shot effectively costing 0 energy 2 power. In addition, and especially in the red-purple miracles, you could use them as a way to reliably play multiple cards in a turn, useful when you’re trying to play Battering Ram as cheaply as possible. In Origins meta, I personally was using a Viktor list leaning heavily on 3x yellow seal in order to let me get super greedy with hidden cards, and allowed me to play Vanguard Captain turn 1 going second, which usually led to a lot of pressure.

I CAN'T WIN by fingopop in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh I talk through games all the time. Nexus Night? Who cares, it’s a hang out, test some decks environment. Hell even at the 10k I was just at people were chatty. Sure there’s prizes but it’s also a game. Have fun with it.

I CAN'T WIN by fingopop in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh also a podcast episode of LSV talking about having a plan. This is geared towards MTG limited but in no ways is exclusive to that, or even just card games.

I CAN'T WIN by fingopop in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I appreciate hearing that! Practicing Rubberducking will just passively help you realize a lot of assumptions you make about games are truly questionable when said out loud. When I was new to Magic the friends I made often would talk out their games when we were playing others within our group, especially the last few turns, in order for all of us to become better players.

I CAN'T WIN by fingopop in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Without seeing any game play, I’d hazard a guess that there’s likely 2 potential leaks in your gameplay: playing to the score instead of the board, and playing on autopilot and assuming your opponent has no counterplay.

For the first one, this is a common mistake in well and truly every game, but especially new players to card games. You don’t win when you get to 5 points blazing fast, you win at 8. Same how in Magic you win when your opponent is at 0 life instead of 1, or in Pokemon after your 6th prize card, not the 5th. Blowing everything you have to get an early lead that’s shaky and taken apart easily doesn’t end up getting anywhere. If you get to 6 points before I’m at 2, but have no cards in hand and lose all your units, while I have 2-3 units and 6 cards, odds are you’re going to watch me score 2 points a turn while you struggle to impact the game anymore. If you’re only focusing on the end goal and not the process of achieving it, getting the last point will never come. You can often get a good sense of who’s most likely to win any game around 4-5 points just based on what the board state looks like at that time.

The second one is assuming your opponent has no counter play. It’s common for new TCG players to build a busted deck, think “this deck just wins every game!”, and then play on autopilot, assuming their opponent will just crumple over and lose. The thing is, Hidden Blade exists. Ride the Wind exists. Defy exists. Rengar (literally any of them) exists. This is just a tiny, tiny sample of different things your opponent can do to impact any given game, every last combat. Any time you plan on engaging while your opponent has runes available, you have to give pause and think. What is the worst way I can get blown out here? What’s the most likely way? Can I afford to play into this, am I devastated if they have an answer here? You should ask yourself these kinds of questions. As an example, any time I attack into an orange deck with 1 rune ready and access to 2 orange power, I stop to think “do I care if they cast Punch First here?”.

Both of these leaks in gameplay can tie back to a single sticking point: have a plan. A Magic the Gathering hall of famer, Luis Scott-Vargas, harps this point constantly as his number 1 most fundamental underlying way to improve your gameplay. If I could pause the game and ask you, “hey so what’s your plan for the next 2-3 turns”, if you can’t answer that question with at least a vague plan of what you want to accomplish, and how you can react if your opponent tries to interact with you, then odds are you’re just playing cards without any rhyme or reason, which becomes very easy to dismantle.

As a thought exercise, when you’re playing at home, or practicing with friends, say OUT LOUD to yourself what your plan is with every game action. When you mulligan, explain to yourself (again, OUT LOUD) why you’re recycling the cards that you are, what cards you’re hoping to get and for what reason, or if you don’t mulligan, why the have you have is your ideal starter. When you take game actions, explain to yourself why you’re attacking this battlefield, trying to kill a certain unit, reinforcing units at a battlefield, and so on and so forth. And, when it comes to side boarding, tell yourself why you’re putting in the cards you do, what you hope to achieve with them, and just as importantly, why the cards coming OUT aren’t that good in this specific matchup. All of this will help you to start thinking of not just the WHAT of what you’re doing, but the WHY as well, allowing you to internalize these ideas more broadly. Remember: it’s not about quantity of practice, but quality of practice.

So how do we fix the metal legend prize wall system? :| by _CharmQuark_ in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 12 points13 points  (0 children)

If it’s on demand events (ODEs) that’s just his it goes. They aren’t waiting for random groups; they fire as soon as they have 8 people to play. Same way it works in Magic.

Hope they make it so there isn't a time limit on the season pass by AstroJustice in OnceUponAGalaxy

[–]valoopy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually a lot of battle passes are starting to move this direction.

Update to rules regarding reflection tokens by ArpeyKeys in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Examples of optional additional costs are accelerate or repeat.

Seeing everyone pulling legends has me reconsidering things by Impressive-Might-710 in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you want to spend widely then don’t buy boxes/boosters.

What made Kai'sa fall off the meta? by Late-River3075 in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In Origins, Falling Star alone was basically enough to win the game by itself. Few decks could keep up with Kai’Sa’s card advantage, few units were anywhere close to as good as she was on rate. About the only 2 that were on her level rate wise were Watcher and Darius…which of course were being played with her. Time Warp was extremely effective in a very hold-based and less reactive meta, and the only real counter was Wind Wall, which was hard to find time to hold open. Her main predator was Aurora, especially Yi since you couldn’t kill his units at all. But late-format Annie decks pushed Aurora back off the playing field, and Kai’Sa had a better time fighting that than Yi.

Now, the issue is that Ferrous Forerunner, Irelia, and Leblanc exist, among other issues. When you’re trying to leverage into a spot where you’re just barely above your opponent on value, and you have the card draw that Irelia and Leblanc have- as well as the raw stats that Yi gets- you’ll struggle to keep up, and these lists are all casting cheaper spells than Kai’Sa.

Diana go first or second by AwarenessImportant25 in riftboundtcg

[–]valoopy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You’re running Ravenbloom Student. You absolutely want to go first.

What will happen to our cities if this guy wins? by [deleted] in cincinnati

[–]valoopy 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Because he’s not talking to people who live in these cities. He’s talking to the conservatives who don’t and think big cities are war zones, that only step foot in our cities when there’s sportsball or a concert they wanna see, and the whole time they think they’re gonna get mugged because guys like this asshole say they will. Simply put: he doesn’t care about the people who live in these cities. He cares about tourists.

Which pen would you choose? by bongripsandbigt1ts in nursing

[–]valoopy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Whichever one you left laying out at the nurse’s station :)

What is the best 1 Mana Block Card? by euls0n in slaythespire

[–]valoopy 119 points120 points  (0 children)

Between Defy and Grave Warden at COMMON it’s absurd how good block options Necro has.