Deck Building

Sunday, January 27, 2013 

Deck Building [And How Do I Do It?]

The best part of any TCG is building a deck that is all about you! Some people aim to only build popular decks, some only build expensive decks. In Vanguard, you can build any kind of deck. It's all about showing off who you are and what clan best represents you! As the Blog progresses, you'll see some interesting decklists or some of my own personal decklists, and how they are doing in tournaments. For now, I'm simply posting the basics of decks. I'd highly recommend everybody read "Gameplay and Rulings" first, because I'm going to use a lot of the terminology I used in that post. Plus, you, know, it's good to know how to play.

All done over there? Good! Let's get started!

All decks must have these things:

• 50 Cards. No more, no less.
• No more than 4 copies of a single card can exist in a deck, even if it has the same name but different abilities.
• This only applies to cards with the EXACT same name. "Blaster Blade" is not the same as "Blaster Blade Burst"
• 16 Trigger Units. No more, no less.
• Only a maximum of 4 cards can be Heal Triggers.

It would be wise if all decks had:

• Between 6-8 Grade 3's
• Between 10-13 Grade 2's
• Between 14-16 Grade 1's
• 1 Starting Vanguard

That is what is called "Standard Ratios." You should have more grade 0's than anything else, and so on, going up like a pyramid. Some decks alter these ratios, and they are NOT a hard and fast rule. They just tend to work the best.

Now that you know what you need, here's where the "tips" come in:

 

Tips for Deckbuilding #1: A Winning Image

I know, it sounds corny, and the show hits on it a lot, but it is actually a very good tip. When building a deck, you need to be able to see two things:

1. Your personal "Win Condition"
2. Your Ideal Vanguard

For that reason, I build almost 100% of my decks from the top down. I start by choosing what grade 3 I want to be riding when I win the game. Then I choose his quantity and what grade 3's I'll use to support that victory.

Next I choose my Grade 2's and 1's. I try to pick cards that will either find my Ideal Vanguard for me in the deck, will help to attain or activate my Vanguard's ability, or will maximize off his ability to make the rest of my field powerful.

 

Tips for Deckbuilding #2: Trigger Line-Ups

Finally, I pick a trigger line-up. Here it gets very personal, because it depends on how you personally play Vanguard. There are, however, a few well known trigger set-ups, and what they do best is listed below. Warning, these are MY NAMES, so they may not match with other people's names for these patterns:

• "Trial Triggers"
• 4x Crit, 4x Stand, 4x Draw, 4x Heal
• Pro: Good starting point. Able to see all possible moves as you playtest. Can cause an opponent to get caught off guard if they expect you to be running a different set up.
• Con: Not popular in tournaments. Very unreliable. You never know what trigger will appear.
• "Max Aggro"
• 12x Crit, 4x Heal
• Pro: You deal lots of damage. Fast. Favors clans like Spike Brothers, or Granblue, who need early victories.
• Con: No variety. Hard to accomplish. Not many clans have 3 playable Critical Triggers, and not having any Draw power means your hand will be weak unless you have cards with those effects instead.
• "Support Aggro"
• 8x Crit, 4x Draw, 4x Heal
• Pro: The most popular Trigger Set-up. Deals lots of damage, but techs in Draw Power to keep the hand healthy.
• Con: The most popular Trigger Set-up. Any aggressive clan will be expected to play this, and players will guard accordingly. No surprises.
• "Max Control"
• 12x Stand, 4x Heal
• Pro: You stand. Like crazy. "On-hit" effects are more likely to go off. Most opponents get caught completely off-guard unless they face Nova Grapplers on a regular basis.
• Con: Only four clans can support this format. No criticals means you are easy to guard. No Draw means your hand can get very weak.
• "Support Control"
• 8x Stand, 4x Draw, 4x Heal
• Pro: Lots of Standing. With just enough draw to keep the hand healthy. Popular Set-Up for Nova Grapplers and Aqua Force. Able to draw games out for a long time.
• Con: Even easier to guard because you stand less than Max Control. 
• "Control Aggro"
• 8x Crit, 4x Stand, 4x Heal
• Pro: Excellent Early Game. Standing and Critting regularly. A favorite of Aggressive Deck Types with "On-hit" effects.
• Con: No draw means hand will clog with 10k Guards. You will see these players guard 10K on an attack that requires only a 5K guard. Hand reduces swiftly.

That's pretty much it for "popular" trigger line-ups. Some clans, like OTT, will use an "Aggro Draw" set-up, which focuses on drawing. In the end, however, it is best, in my opinion, to know these two things:

-- Draws and Heals are support type Triggers. Except in special circumstances, the trend is to play 8 of these.

-- Stands and Criticals are assault type Triggers. Except in special circumstances, the trend is to play 8 of these as well.

The value is in a trigger lineup that can help you in Damage Checks or in Drive Checks. Other than that, play away buddies! That's all there really is to building your very own Vanguard Deck. Stick around and look out for some specific Decklists and Deck Reviews to get a better feel for the game.