Fully Operational:
Aggressive vs. Conservative
By Mike Maloney
In this installment of Fully Operational, my goal is to show how the concepts of aggressive and conservative play manifest themselves in Epic Duels. I will examine this primary strategic distinction in terms of play style and deck design.
In many strategy games, particularly collectible card games, play styles are divided into two major categories: aggressive and conservative. Aggressive play is categorized by a general willingness to trade long-term board position for short-term advantage, usually in the form of damage. Aggressive strategies aim to win quickly and decisively. This is most often implemented by putting constant pressure on the opponent, preventing him/her from building up a defense or mounting his/her own offensive. Conservative play represents the opposite ideology: conservative players tend to pass up early opportunities for damage in order to create long-term advantage. They build up their resources until they can make a push that they know will be successful.
Players can be thought of on an aggressive vs. conservative continuum, favoring one play style over the other. Epic Duels decks can be classified in the same way. On the aggressive side of the spectrum, Anakin Skywalker naturally falls into a pattern of constant attacking thanks to Wrath, Calm, and a Red Deck. Wrath allows Anakin to eliminate minors without expending resources and reach an opponent instantly. Calm makes it so that Anakin benefits from playing down to no cards and a Red Deck makes him naturally predisposed to attacking. Count Dooku is closer to the center of the continuum, but still falls onto the aggressive side. He flies through his deck with Gain Power and Taunting and can attack just as effectively in the early game as in the late game thanks to his four Tauntings. Mace Windu is also close to the middle, but falls on the conservative half of the spectrum. His four copies of Battlemind heavily reward Mace for having a resource advantage, while Whirlwind allows him to dish out serious guaranteed damage at the cost of only one card and action, which makes him able to win with a few big plays. At the other end of things, Emperor Palpatine embodies conservative play. He rarely needs to attack, instead dealing direct damage with Force Lightning. When he finally does make an offensive play, it is usually only after he has emptied the opponent’s hand and can definitely push through damage.
It is no accident that Red Decks tend to play aggressively while Green Decks tend to play conservatively. Attacking inherently leads to a card disadvantage because attacking costs both a card and an action, while defending costs only a card. Therefore, attacking less often and only when it is very likely to be successful means sacrificing opportunities for damage, but generating card advantage. A Green Deck is therefore more suited to conservative play because its high defense values can draw out the match and a Red Deck is more suited to aggressive play because its high attack values allows for constant pressure.
Since so much of the strategy in Epic Duels is knowing when to push and when to withdraw, being aware of aggressive and conservative tactics can be beneficial both in a match and when designing a new deck.
Thanks for reading and may the creative Force be with you!
For more of my work, check out my page at http://epicduels.weebly.com.
In many strategy games, particularly collectible card games, play styles are divided into two major categories: aggressive and conservative. Aggressive play is categorized by a general willingness to trade long-term board position for short-term advantage, usually in the form of damage. Aggressive strategies aim to win quickly and decisively. This is most often implemented by putting constant pressure on the opponent, preventing him/her from building up a defense or mounting his/her own offensive. Conservative play represents the opposite ideology: conservative players tend to pass up early opportunities for damage in order to create long-term advantage. They build up their resources until they can make a push that they know will be successful.
Players can be thought of on an aggressive vs. conservative continuum, favoring one play style over the other. Epic Duels decks can be classified in the same way. On the aggressive side of the spectrum, Anakin Skywalker naturally falls into a pattern of constant attacking thanks to Wrath, Calm, and a Red Deck. Wrath allows Anakin to eliminate minors without expending resources and reach an opponent instantly. Calm makes it so that Anakin benefits from playing down to no cards and a Red Deck makes him naturally predisposed to attacking. Count Dooku is closer to the center of the continuum, but still falls onto the aggressive side. He flies through his deck with Gain Power and Taunting and can attack just as effectively in the early game as in the late game thanks to his four Tauntings. Mace Windu is also close to the middle, but falls on the conservative half of the spectrum. His four copies of Battlemind heavily reward Mace for having a resource advantage, while Whirlwind allows him to dish out serious guaranteed damage at the cost of only one card and action, which makes him able to win with a few big plays. At the other end of things, Emperor Palpatine embodies conservative play. He rarely needs to attack, instead dealing direct damage with Force Lightning. When he finally does make an offensive play, it is usually only after he has emptied the opponent’s hand and can definitely push through damage.
It is no accident that Red Decks tend to play aggressively while Green Decks tend to play conservatively. Attacking inherently leads to a card disadvantage because attacking costs both a card and an action, while defending costs only a card. Therefore, attacking less often and only when it is very likely to be successful means sacrificing opportunities for damage, but generating card advantage. A Green Deck is therefore more suited to conservative play because its high defense values can draw out the match and a Red Deck is more suited to aggressive play because its high attack values allows for constant pressure.
Since so much of the strategy in Epic Duels is knowing when to push and when to withdraw, being aware of aggressive and conservative tactics can be beneficial both in a match and when designing a new deck.
Thanks for reading and may the creative Force be with you!
For more of my work, check out my page at http://epicduels.weebly.com.