Author Topic: Ascension?  (Read 6063 times)

Offline RedWarlock

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Re: Ascension?
« Reply #20 on: September 25, 2017, 07:59:15 PM »
So, why is it every time the Rat King comes out, you banish it right away? Is leaving the rats out just sort of a fuck-you to the other player? You can’t afford to defeat it with power (thus getting both its honor AND all the rats’), so you rob the other player of being able to do so, getting no reward yourself?
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Offline Stratovarius

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Re: Ascension?
« Reply #21 on: September 25, 2017, 08:43:33 PM »
Pretty much. I tend not to focus on scoring via monster killing most games, so high value monsters are the number one banishment target normally. Either that or terrible cards I don't want at all.

Also, unfortunately I don't have the later expansions, so even though you do the game won't let me play them. Grumble  :shakefist

Offline RedWarlock

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Re: Ascension?
« Reply #22 on: September 25, 2017, 11:57:31 PM »
Ah, that explains it. What sets do you have up to, and I'll make sure to not include them on new challenges.

It's a shame, I've been having fun doing test games via AI using every second set (usually the booster to the new-gimmick sets) and still winning handily, even against the hard AI. (just finished a quick game that I won 150~ to 70~, surprising even me.) The new mechanics are interesting to play with. Rally, multi-unite, and transform cards are interesting without being gimmicky. Treasure cards are.. complex, I kinda wish they'd done more with it than just shards, but I can see why they didn't get there. I like energy but it's too reliant on shards, which can get oddly thin in a multi-set game. I'm still betting we're gonna get a set that introduces a generic construct of some kind, to go alongside the mystics/heavy infantry.
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Offline Stratovarius

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Re: Ascension?
« Reply #23 on: September 26, 2017, 06:07:52 AM »
First four sets and three promo sets

Offline RedWarlock

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Re: Ascension?
« Reply #24 on: October 04, 2017, 01:57:18 AM »
Okay, what the heck happened there? Whatever combo you are using, I can’t stand up to it. What set is it from? Maybe strike that one out?

Four out of five times, it feels like I’m still just getting started, and you finish the game on me. I can’t keep up. This isn’t a “git gud” scenario, because I can win handily on hard AI and even against other players I’ve randomly matched against.

Quite honestly, this is killing my enjoyment of the game. Maybe you’re just too experienced, like because you’ve played with those limited sets so much, it’s become more or less a solved game. Maybe stretch a little, try some new sets? I’m not going to sit around and be demolished over and over, though, I don’t find that enjoyable. That’s just going to drive me away from it entirely.
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Offline Stratovarius

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Re: Ascension?
« Reply #25 on: October 04, 2017, 11:40:27 AM »
So, I just took a look at the hands for the last game we finished, since it's the only one I can see.

In terms of cards, I see a few things:
You've still got a lot of the starting cards (apprentice, militia, mystic, heavy infantry). I banish those ASAP (apprentice/militia first).
You have a lot of lower value cheap cards like Prodigy, etc. Generally, I never pick these up.
You don't have many card drawing cards. These are critical, and the core of your deck building.
You don't have many centre row banishing cards (most of which are Enlightened). These give you a higher chance of getting decent cards on your turn, and almost always draw cards as well, feeding the previous point.
There's too much focus on monster killing. It's too random as a strategy, because you can't tell if the good monsters will be available to kill on the turns you have a high power score.

In terms of value cards, I look at them like this:
Green Point/Mana + Draw cards - Lionheart, Witches, Starchild
(Early game if at all possible) - Card banishing cards. Rai, Journeyman Apprentice, Black Hole, Void Apprentice, Deathsworn Warrior, etc. Getting rid of terrible cards lets your good ones appear more often.
Card drawing cards - Almost anything Enlightened, anything else with card drawing.
Mechana Constructs - often not that useful, but worth a lot of points
Reasonable filler cards when you can't get any of the above - Grangers, Heroes who don't meet the above requirements, Void Avenger, Brazer Drone, etc. This one is a little catch as catch can

In terms of strategy:
Delete any crap cards ASAP
Grab a few mystics (usually max of 4, occasionally more)
Buy cards listed above
Delete mystics

The only time I venture off-track is those games when there's a ton of red at the beginning. Usually have to grab a bunch of infantry, and then I do worse because getting to the card cycling is disrupted.

And I don't actually play the game that much, or normally under the same rules - I usually play 120 point games solo, and will often lose to the hard AI under 60 point rules because it brute forces points early using a heavy infantry spam with a few mixed in decent cards. Over the longer points I can build an engine to squash it reliably.

At some point, I should get the new decks/expansions, but I don't think the base strategy changes much - it's just how the rules of Ascension are written, or indeed any card cycling game.