Having A Limited Effect.

by Scott Gerhardt

            Welcome to part two on my series about learning this game.  I figure now this will turn into a four or five article series about this game as I learn it.  It comes from the perspective of an experienced TCG gamer and right now is mostly a lot of my ramblings.

            This second article is now actually being written in two parts.  I will explain.  The text in white I wrote up on Friday night after some playtesting in limited.  My test in green I am writing up on Sunday night after even more playtesting.  Now you might wonder why I am doing this?  Well, it's simple.  This article series is about first impressions on the game.  I want everyone to fully see the train of logic I went down as I continued my journey of learning this game.  Sometimes I will even contradict myself.  It happens - sometimes I'm not always right the first time.  Hell, sometimes I'm not write the second time either, but I try.

            So what are my ramblings going to be about?  Well, who knows.  If something cool happened, I’ll probably talk about it.  If a rules thing is hitting me, I’m likely to comment on it.  If I notice something odd or out of place, I’ll note it.  If this kick-ass combo happens to come up – sure – I might elaborate on it.  These articles could be chalk full of tech, or could be complete crap from a strategy perspective.  Either way, if you’re thinking about playing this game, they’re probably going to be a pretty good resource for you.

            Anyway, this article is entitled “Having a Limited Effect”.  As I kinda promised in my last article, I was going to talk about some limited environments here.  Well, since the last article, my wife and I have gone through a few drafts and a few sealed packs games.  I’m going to more or less tell you what I figured out from playing these.

            First of all, we found something very interesting.  In most TCGs, going first is a good thing.  In Marvel Limited, no way, no how.  Going first, for some reason, seems be highly disadvantageous.  I’m gonna start to try to dissect why.  First of all, what of note are you going to do on turn 1?  The worst I can see are some Random Punks with Dual Sidearms.  That’s a remarkably good opening, and can often do 5 endurance loss, but only a net of four.  That’s really not that big of a deal since those punks are really not going to be great on turn 3.  Secondly, the average game ended on turn 8.  By this, I mean 75% of the games ended on turn 8.  One ended via scoop on turn 6 when I had completely outdrawn my wife and the game was hopeless.  I scooped once on turn 7 when I knew the inevitable was coming on turn 8.  Otherwise, killer blow came on turn 8.  So, who attacks first on turn 8?  The person who did NOT start the game with initiative.  I’d like to note my stats came from 4 different limited decks – two sealed, two draft.  It’s turn 8, man.  In limited, you’re not going to win before turn 7, and NONE of the games we played even had hopes of going into turn 9.  Average score for the loser: about negative 15.  Once it hit minus 28.  I was quite embarrassed since I was the one who got mercilessly pummeled that game.  I want to say that the game needs to be evened some.  Maybe something like, the player who does NOT go first draws one less card.  But that would be stupid.  I can’t even back everything I’ve said yet.  I think it’s balanced, but when all but 2 games went to the person who went second, I do kinda raise an eyebrow.  So, when the question comes, “First or no”, like good ‘ole Nancy Reagan used to say, “Just Say No”. 

            See - this is what I mean about contradicting myself.  I have found a reason to go first now. :)  Actually, it really is all about your deck.  If you find yourself with things like Pyro and Advanced Hardware and a fast, hit them hard deck, then play first.  This is especially true if you have no 8 drop in your deck.  Try to win fast with a much more aggressive strategy.  Forgo playing things like Puppet Master and play more 1-3 drops to try to force things through.  Surprise Attack works amazingly well in this style of deck.  If you see it in your opening hand, you just drop is and do 5 first turn.  It's a good final kill card, but you should never pass a chance for it to do 5 if you can.  Otherwise, wait for it as a kill card.

            I also had a chance to take a game into turn 9.  I was at 25 going into turn 8, but on a serious defensive position.  My wife went first and dropped Wolverine, Badass (Berserker Rage) on me.  Being defensive without many fatties, she basically over all my creatures, doing HUGE BEL damage, smacked me with Wolfie, then hit me with about 4 other characters she had.  I think I was close to -25 when the whole thing was over.  Sad thing too...I had Onslaught in my hand and was gonna have fun the next turn. :)  I'd like to see a well-played game go that far.  I just am not sure they really will.

            Next, you’re gonna see a LOT of higher cast stuff when you open packs and you’re gonna want to jam your deck with them.  Remember this:  in this game, you usually are going to only get 7-8 turns.  Every turn, if you’re doing things right, you’re gonna “exhaust out” and have no resources left.  Also, this game is very curve heavy.  This means that an average 1 resource character is significantly worse than a 2.  A two is significantly worse than a 3.  So forth an so on.  Generally, if you have an opportunity on turn 5 to play a 3 drop and a 2 drop, or a 5 drop, more often then not, the five drop should be played.  This brings us back to deck construction.  NOTE YOUR MANA CURVE.  I put this in all caps because it’s ridiculously important.  You should have no less than 3 characters from 3 recruit cost all the way up to 6 in your deck.  Probably only 2 7’s, though I know they can be damn tempting if you can actually get more than 2.  If you have the space, play more.  Worse comes, they’re early resources.  I’d tell you not to play more than 2 eight drops, but that’s the same as 7’s.  On top of which, how often do you get more than 2?  I haven’t seen it yet.  Now something card-specific.  If you have the opportunity to play with Dark Phoenix….don’t.  In an environment that does not seem to go past turn 8, and I can’t fathom ever going past turn 9 unless people are stupid, how in the world will you cast a 10 cost?  I would like to see a Gamma Bomb go off, though.  That would make me laugh pretty hard.  If you get a Gamma Bomb AND a Dark Phoenix, just ignore my last statement.  If I would laugh at a Gamma Bomb going off, I think I’d fall off my chair to see turn 9 Bomb, turn 10 Phoenix.  Talk about game over.

            I wanna re-emphasize something here.  The above is a guideline.  You can't always do it.  I did one draft that I had no 6 drop at all.  Not a single one.  No sevens either.  Do you know what happens when you have no 6's and 7's?  That's right!  You lose. :(  Look at your deck and resources and what you have.  Don't not play some bomb just because you have to fill out a certain level.  You should have something for every level if at all possible, but don't think the numbers I gave above are a strict rule - they're not.  They are utopian at best.

            Combo:  South American Sentinel Base and Orbital Sentinel Base.  I got that once.  It can sure make things get nasty once you get an army Sentinel character floating around.  They’re both uncommon and it’s not unthinkable to make it go off with even a single, lone Sentinel in your deck.  Two is better.  My combo had one, and for some reason, wasn’t too big a problem.  I know the percentages say two is more reliable, though.

            Combo: Negative zone and 3 cards in your hand. :)  God that card is pretty sick in limited.

            Avalon Space Station is pretty ridiculous as well.  I think I played it with a whole 3 Brotherhood characters, and had no problem making sure I always had my best characters in hand or on the board.  Remember, pitch a Brotherhood to bring back a Brotherhood and something else.  This is a self-perpetuating card, and it's kinda fun.

            Play in sleeves.  This is the dealer in me talking and goes out to anyone playing ANY form of Marvel, constructed or limited.  The lighter backs wear a little easier, and you’re going to have a higher concentration of foils.  Foils scratch easy.  When you scratch a foil, it really depreciates it’s value.  A pack of sleeves is $3.00 or less, and can be used over and over.  That’s a $3 investment to save yourself a lot of value in cards.

            Ratios.  I had to hit on this.  What do you want to build for ratios?  Well, like I said, 3 drops from 3-6.  That’s 12.  Probably 3-4 for 1 and 2 drops.  Another 2 or so for 7+ drops.  That leaves you with 17-18.  I have found that number to be about right.  Don’t go less than 15, and I really like to keep it to 19 or less.  This is for Characters.  They are your crux and probably need to be cast every turn.  That means you need over 50%.  If you have less than 50% characters, you’re gonna hate it.  If you are over 65%, you’re flooded.  The other 12-13 recommended cards are based on your card pool.  Locations, Plot Twists, and Equipment go in as you get good ones.  A LOT of good ones might push your character total lower, and mediocre ones might push it higher.  Again, though, I have found that you usually can find a good dozen or so to put in.  They don’t overload you too much and generally will give you enough to play as useable resources.

            I'm still pretty sure this one is right.  15-18 is the right number.  You can almost always find 12-15 other cards that work well.

            In draft, we’ve been going one-on-one.  I don’t have a problem with this format and do find it fun.  I do suggest the following errata for one-on-one drafting, though:

“Fantastic Four and X-Men characters can Team Attack and Reinforce each other as though they had the same Team affiliation.  Brotherhood and Doom characters can Team Attack and Reinforce each other as though they had the same Team Affiliation.”

            When you have to pick out 30 cards from 42, the choosings can be slim, and it can be hard to set your teams right.  I don’t think this is as needed in a draft of larger size, and isn’t needed in Sealed at all, but I think it’s a good one-on-one way to play.

            And as far as one-on-one goes, have fun with it.  Man, if you’re gonna open a box, play sealed with it.  Play drafts with it.  Have fun with the cards.  The majority of them are gonna sit on the sidelines and never see play anyway.  You might as well get some fun use out of them before they end up in the crap box.

            My overall perspective on Marvel Limited is good.  I think the set is very solid for limited play.  There is a lot of facets to deck construction that are very important and do require skill.  Like any game, opening bombs helps.  Drawing those bombs help.  But, you can win without benefit of a bunch of bombs.  This is quite a skill-oriented game. 

            I figure by the time I write my next article, I’ll be into deck building.  I’m definitely not done with limited play, but I’m probably beating a dead horse at this point.  I also would like to thank Jeff Donais and all the good people at UDE for all their help on this venture.  They have been lightning fast to help us with anything we’ve needed as far as questions or anything else we’ve needed to get this site up off the ground.  Major kudos to you guys.  You still understand what this business is all about – the players.

            I've started my binder building so I can build decks. I've already picked up a few good ideas I'm gonna share with you guys in the next article, hopefully in a few days - probably near the end of the week.  Who knows - maybe a Friday one to give you some info to clobber your friends with this weekend.

            That’s it.  Thanks for reading, and until next time, keep playing!

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