Pro Tips

I haven't written in a while and thought it important to go over mistakes that I've seen others make and/or were committed by myself. These common mistakes are useful for new or rusty players to be aware of IMO.

1) Bleed your prey
I think that people get caught up in their game and often forget to chip away at their prey's pool. While you are waiting for your combo go to off or whatever, send in a couple of one-bleeds. You will weaken your prey's defenses by forcing the choice of expending resources against your attacks or letting them clog their hand for some big thing that may or may not happen later. Even a few points of pool damage can mean the difference between winning or losing- you may not have the opportunity to make up those few points of damage if you lose these early opportunities.

2) Bleed for four
Depending on who you are bleeding, when in the game, the minion you are bleeding with and what other attacks you have that turn, it makes sense to risk minions to AI by bleeding for 4+. Sometimes you NEED to do this in order to maximize your attacks (i.e. Conditioning at DOM, Aire of Elation at PRE/Tor, Foreshadowing Destruction, etc). I have missed the final(s) of games because I feared AI and bleed slightly more conservatively than I should.

3) Lie
Bluff, make false promises, backstab, basically do whatever you have to do to win. In casual games this is not a big deal, except that it takes some practice. There are a few important things to consider: does lying help me win, can I deliver the lie successfully and what is the fallout to lying. Lying without having something to gain is more a concern because of fallout. You can make people think that you have defenses you don't (or visa versa) by your body language, what you say, sighs, and how you do them. If you are siting on three wakes and deflections and have a bleeder behind you, act like your hand sucks and put it down in disgust. If you have no/little bounce, then hold your cards, look at your predator's minions (maybe re-read their specials), carefully organize your hand and be attentive. Get in your opponent's head. This may force them to make mistakes or misjudgements that improve your position and have no real fallout in terms of people seeking revenge. Sometimes the best way to prevent revenge is by crippling someone.

3) Protect your key minions
Don't bleed for four early with your star. I have been AI'd multiple times early, making my game very hard. Don't block if you can't afford to lose or rescue your dude. If you have a strong combat hand at the time, then maybe go ahead and block. Be careful.

4) Early Discards
Don't discard that second copy of something early unless it is clear you will not need it. Two Majesties or two Lost in Crowds may be just what you need, but you don't know it yet. Test the waters before you put yourself in a bad position.

5) Kill the best players
Some players are just too good and need to die. They can manipulate the table into not killing them when they should. You may need to cross-table oust or backoust them to win the long game. If you can kill off the players as good or better than yourself and others don't kill you, then you will be in a better position.

What other basic ideas can you guys think of? What do you think of these?

I'd advice some consistency in your titles. 1) says what you should do, and 2) what you should not. All points should have "not" where it is necessary for all of them to be "good thing to do" or a "bad thing".

Given your dedication to AI, I'd like to add that it is a "prayer" card and unlikely to be found in large quantities, thus you should feel safer going into AI range early, than mid-to-late-game.

brandonsantacruz wrote:

5) Kill the best players
Some players are just too good and need to die. They can manipulate the table into not killing them when they should. You may need to cross-table oust or backoust them to win the long game. If you can kill off the players as good or better than yourself and others don't kill you, then you will be in a better position.

Good players will (/should) anticipate that and try to put you in a position where you will always gain more by not killing them. In such positions, it is obviously incorrect to kill them unless you can somehow change that dynamic. Remember, the goal is not to prevent someone else's win, it's to win or score points for yourself.

That said, I do agree with the idea of pulling the trigger first when you recognize that you will eventually have to go toe-to-toe with a particular deck or a player. Better fight him when it suits you instead of waiting for him to get prepared. I wouldn't call that a rule though, just something to consider in certain situations.

What other basic ideas can you guys think of? What do you think of these?

Too rigid. I think the only good rule is to always do the best possible move. Any other helpful rule of thumb should be directed to your opponents and only when it helps you ("don't rush me bro, prey is to the left!")

Instead of advocating some options over others, it's better to identify the ones that often get missed.

EDIT: Concerning bluffing: for the bluff to make any sense, there needs to be some meaningful risk involved for whoever might want to call it. If you bluff a Wake with Leatherface and Edward Vignes has a Change of Target, it's a weak bluff and you can get heavily punished for trying it. So I guess you should only bluff if
a) you know for certain your opponent will have to put more at stake than you
or
b) you're on your last pool counter and there's no other options left.

kombainas wrote:

Given your dedication to AI, I'd like to add that it is a "prayer" card and unlikely to be found in large quantities, thus you should feel safer going into AI range early, than mid-to-late-game.

Maybe it is because like more than 50% of decks i play are Assamite decks, but i do not think i have built a deck without at least one copy of AI in the last several years.
There are, i guess, people like that in every playgroup, that you simply KNOW that if you are going to try to bleed for 4, you may burn.
And yes, even though it is hard to find AI in "large quantities", one AI when you do not need it can end your game on the spot.
But, it is always prudent to pay attention to what your prey is playing. Lawfirm - not so likely to have AI. Assamite anarch? Bet your ass on it

Pendargon wrote:

kombainas wrote:

Given your dedication to AI, I'd like to add that it is a "prayer" card and unlikely to be found in large quantities, thus you should feel safer going into AI range early, than mid-to-late-game.

Maybe it is because like more than 50% of decks i play are Assamite decks, but i do not think i have built a deck without at least one copy of AI in the last several years.
There are, i guess, people like that in every playgroup, that you simply KNOW that if you are going to try to bleed for 4, you may burn.
And yes, even though it is hard to find AI in "large quantities", one AI when you do not need it can end your game on the spot.
But, it is always prudent to pay attention to what your prey is playing. Lawfirm - not so likely to have AI. Assamite anarch? Bet your ass on it

Ive taken to running AI alongside 6-8 deflections. NOBODY anticipates it.
My prey "bleed for 5 with Lutz! I can di his bounce/block your bleed/bounce it back!"
My predator"Lutz kindre spirits bleeds, i confusion it when you block"
Me AI.

ReverendRevolver wrote:

Pendargon wrote:

kombainas wrote:

Given your dedication to AI, I'd like to add that it is a "prayer" card and unlikely to be found in large quantities, thus you should feel safer going into AI range early, than mid-to-late-game.

Maybe it is because like more than 50% of decks i play are Assamite decks, but i do not think i have built a deck without at least one copy of AI in the last several years.
There are, i guess, people like that in every playgroup, that you simply KNOW that if you are going to try to bleed for 4, you may burn.
And yes, even though it is hard to find AI in "large quantities", one AI when you do not need it can end your game on the spot.
But, it is always prudent to pay attention to what your prey is playing. Lawfirm - not so likely to have AI. Assamite anarch? Bet your ass on it

Ive taken to running AI alongside 6-8 deflections. NOBODY anticipates it.
My prey "bleed for 5 with Lutz! I can di his bounce/block your bleed/bounce it back!"
My predator"Lutz kindre spirits bleeds, i confusion it when you block"
Me AI.

This is something that I used to do as well! Usually I have AI only when I don't need to protect my pool proactively (call it backrush). Bleed bounce is the best way to protect your pool, but it can be undone easily by DI and counter bounce.