Subject: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions

Normally, I just play starter sets against one another, but after buying a few hundred cards, it's about time that I started putting together my own. So here are some deck construction questions both to help me figure out how to do this right, and to generate some interest in the game on the board since there usually is so little (or none) of it. (Yes, I know the game's been discontinued, but it's still a good game worth playing!)

The questions (fell free to comment on any or all):

1. How big a deck do you normally use (assuming a 2-player game)?
2. What percentage of your deck is shields? terrain?
3. How many spells do you include, on average? Are there any spells that you think are "must haves"?
4. How about magic items?
5. Do you lean toward one or two specific terrain types? Which ones? (Do you like playing a Dry Heaps/Slag Beast combo, perhaps?)
6. Do you play one color more than others?
7. Do you choose shields based on which standard bearers you'd like to use?
8. Frankly, I don't have all the shield sets, so my opponent and I would have to agree to bend the rules to include standard bearers. If you do to, do you allow
   • a) any number and design of S.B. cards in the deck
   • b) any number of one design of S.B. cards
   • c) up to the number of cards allowable in a standard deck, but with any design?
9. The best-sized creature stacks as a _____ (what number)?
10. What's your mix of high-vitality to low-vitality creatures? (Weenie decks don't seem to work too well, do they.)
11. Do you take creatures with huge off-color bonuses and hope for the best?
12. Do you design decks to go for a particular type of win? (land control, guardian killing?)
13. Not a deck constructionquestion, but . . . has anyone else out there been calling the Rouge Specter a "Rogue Specter" instead? I wonder if this was a typo somewhere, or what they originally called it.

Thanks for your responses.

C. J. Burke

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: Ed bryan
Date: 1997/04/18

1. How big a deck do you normally use (assuming a 2-player game)?
I stick around eighty cards, a little more than a magic deck, but you draw more as well.

2. What percentage of your deck is shields? terrain?
In an eighty card deck I usually throw in 8-10 shields and terrain. or about 10%, this is probably a little low. espcially if you use a sacrificial altar.

3. How many spells do you include, on average? Are there any spells that you think are "must haves"?
This really depends on the deck... but I try to keep the decks at least 60% creatures. Dispel Magic is very very very useful I usually toss in at least 4.

4. How about magic items?
If you are using lots of spells and Items then you definitely want to include Champs the wonder dog, or Oscar the wonder chimp. Holy Grail, and Eye of missle mayhem are both excellent items. Hammer of Doom is almost a must.

5. Do you lean toward one or two specific terrain types? Which ones? (Do you like playing a Dry Heaps/Slag Beast combo, perhaps?)
Pretty much I stick with one terrain type (espcially with Finn) though in some cases I don't use any terrain at all... (earth mother decks, and Reverand Smilin Jack decks.)

6. Do you play one color more than others?
I try to balance out the creatures, I'll play a slag beast, Undead, spirit deck or some other combo of External, Mortal, Elemental.

7. Do you choose shields based on which standard bearers you'd like to use?
ALWAYS, screw the shield pattern I want those Standard Bearers.

8. Frankly, I don't have all the shield sets, so my opponent and I would have to agree to bend the rules to include standard bearers. If you do to, do you allow
a) any number and design of S.B. cards in the deck
I believe you are limited to a maximum of Two SBs in a deck
b) any number of one design of S.B. cards
c) up to the number of cards allowable in a standard deck, but with any design?

I have more than enough shields to cover a couple of decks. So I try and stick to the rules.

9. The best-sized creature stacks as a _____ (what number)?
I'm not sure what you are asking.... I did design a deck made up of nothing but Vitality 6 creatures, I had a shield composed of six Demon hordes of Kabod very vicious.)

10. What's your mix of high-vitality to low-vitality creatures? (Weenie decks don't seem to work too well, do they.)
Weenie decks get much better with Necorpolis park, where there is more anti AOE stuff.

11. Do you take creatures with huge off-color bonuses and hope for the best?
Not unless it part of the deck design, where I have spells, Command abilities and SB's that allow me to either examine his card pick or pick his cards for him.

12. Do you design decks to go for a particular type of win? (land control, guardian killing?)
I try... But it never seems to work out. Most of my wins are through 5 shield kills, next controlling all the disputed lands, and last by far are Gaurdian kills.

13. Not a deck constructionquestion, but . . . has anyone else out there been calling the Rouge Specter a "Rogue Specter" instead? I wonder if this was a typo somewhere, or what they originally called it.
Yes I read it as a Rogue Specter for a long time...

Thanks for your responses.
No Problem. You wouldn't happen to live in the Bay area would you?

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: videodaveg@aol.com (VideoDaveG)
Date: 1997/04/18

I believe you are limited to a maximum of Two SBs in a deck
You can have as many Standards in your deck as you want, but you can only have one in play at any given time so you'll get burned with card clog if you load up on them.

I had a shield composed of six Demon hordes of Kabod very vicious.)
Something to remember...a Demon Horde has to have survived combat to heal another. So you couldn't, for example, Heal a Horde, then use the newly healed Horde to Heal another.

Yes I read it as a Rogue Specter for a long time...

A hideous typo in Limited made the Specter the card of choice among Avon dealers. DOH!

Dave Gentzler, formerly half of FPG Games

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: Ed bryan
Date: 1997/04/19

Something to remember...a Demon Horde has to have survived combat to heal another. So you couldn't, for example, Heal a Horde, then use the newly healed Horde to Heal another.

Yes, but you only need to survive with three of them, to have the whole stack survive. I don't get to play much, but the time I got the right combo of cards it seemed to work very well.

And the Demon hordes are slightly better since they only need to survive (not win the space) to heal.

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: Christopher J. Burke
Date: 1997/04/19

Well, it *could* have been Rouge -- it was wearing a reddish cape, maybe it came from France. On the other hand, he could have used a little rouge as he looks positively skeletal. 8-)

C. J. Burke
formerly with Magic and INWO. (As a player, that is. Now it's Guardians till the well runs dry.)

(So Dave, any plans to sell the printing rights to another company so we can see more of this fine game?? Sigh. Didn't tink so.)

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: videodaveg@aol.com (VideoDaveG)
Date: 1997/04/20

Don't automatically rule it out. While it's true that FPG Games is now defunct, somebody could make Mike (Friedlander) an offer to pick up either of the games (Guardians and/or Dark Age). Guardians has a quiet but loyal following and could probably do OK for a bit longer if it found a new home. Plus, maybe a new publisher could work out the distribution problems that plagued both games from the outset. I, for one, still have a ton of ideas for further expansions. And I work cheap.

Dave Gentzler, available for weddings, parties and bar-mitzvahs

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: Ed bryan
Date: 1997/04/20

Well I'll buy at least three boxes of whatever new expansion set comes out...(assuming a reasonable price of course...:) )

Just curious; I have never actually heard the story behind FPG stopping Guardians and Dark Age..

Could you enlighten me?

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: Ed bryan
Date: 1997/04/20

One other thing I was wondering...
What Ultra-rare cards are out there?
I have been hearing all kinds of rumors.
Is there such a thing as a Stivern in th NP expansion? The list I got from FPG didn't have it, but it was on another list...
I know about the cheesy con twizzle. anything else?

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: darkiczel@aol.com (DarkIczel)
Date: 1997/04/28

I was wondering how much the rights would cost. I have two dollars and an life sized statue of a vodoo priestess, extremely life like!!!!!!

Subject: Re: [Guard] Guardians deck construction questions
From: Christopher J. Burke
Date: 1997/04/19

Ed bryan wrote: I'm not sure what you are asking.... A did design a deck made up of nothing but Vitality 6 creatures, I had a shield composed of six Demon hordes of Kabod very vicious.)

Actually, the reason I mentioned it was that Bill (my usual opponent) and I are still new to this. New enough that we can be taken aback when we pick up a creature with a Vitality of 20 or more. But those creatuers seem to be of limited usefuleness -- what are you going to stack with them?

It seems just as important to have extra creatures to make secondary attacks, and if you're starting with a Watcher, Earth Elemental or even a Giant Penguin then you may see them picked apart by the opponent's secondaries. Likewise, if you draw all three of those and only those, you're screwed.

Smaller creatuers have two problems: first, AOEs (although I've heard there are cards in the expansions that help protect against that) and the limited number of cards that you draw. After that initial draw, creatures will be few, unless you're playing Finn and have a couple of swamps down (or one of a couple of other ways to pull the cards.)

Bill is partial to 6, 8 and 10s to make the best combos to get up to 30. I haven't done my own analysis, particularly since using starters, you get too used to the oopponent's deck to make a prroper defense to what he *might* have.

C. J. Burke

Send email at cjburke@io.com.

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