MetaGame: Adjusting to Vs. (4/27/2004)

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MetaGame: Adjusting to Vs. (4/27/2004)

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04/28/2004, 09:23

Typhon

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MetaGame: Adjusting to Vs. (4/27/2004)

"Welcome back to "Adjusting to Vs." After last time's math-intensive number-fest, I'm ready to kick back and never talk about averages again. Ever. For the rest of my days, until I die, a happy, average-less man. Luckily, the topic of today's fourth instalment is the initiative, and this is one mechanic that is far more concerned with finesse, quick thinking, and the ability to mentally shift gears at the drop of a remainder.

Get this math out of my head . . .

Obviously, if you've read this far into the series, you are probably familiar with what the initiative is. Each turn, one player gets to act first in each phase, with the other player performing the same phase immediately after. Next turn, the roles are swapped, and the initiative continues to pass between the two players on a turn-by-turn basis until the game ends. In most game systems, it's advantageous to go first—you're usually the first to graduate one card to another, or the first to attack, or you get an extra piece of card advantage before your opponent can get it. However, in the Vs. System, the decision to accept the initiative for the first turn or to pass it to your opponent is a dynamically tactical one, highly dependant on both the foci of your deck and the hand that you're dealt.

As a general rule, the player holding the initiative will be at an offensive advantage. He or she will be attacking first, and the opponent will only get to attack with whatever is not stunned or exhausted after surviving the clobbering. The player not holding the initiative can look at his or her situation in one of two ways: either being forced onto the defensive, or as being at a defensive advantage. Though both are true, I prefer to focus on the latter, as it's the one that players sometimes don't see. A game such as this one is one where knowledge equals power, and since going second means you get to see what your opponent opted to do before deciding what you will do, that's a definitive advantage right off the bat. There are other defensive advantages as well, but I'll go into those on a step-by-step basis.

Let's break down how initiative affects each phase of gameplay by looking at the advantages and disadvantages that each player has."

...

Read the rest at MetaGame.com

04/28/2004, 16:33

Jetsetneo

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Good article!
I liked it, but it was nothing a player with experience couldn't say. It all was spot-on though, so good job.

04/28/2004, 16:59

imported_Bizarro #98

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Something to think about.

Remember, Adjusting to VS articles are written for people who have played other TCGs and need to know about what makes VS different.

Anyone else take particular notice of the jab at Omeed? There seems to be growing resentment among the Metagame fellows these days.

04/28/2004, 17:04

Jetsetneo

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Ya I did notice that lil tibit about omeed and figured..."Hey...that works!" lol.

Okay, I don't really now, but it'd be aweomse if you could just do the opposite of what You're supposed to do and just win ^_^.

04/28/2004, 17:54

imported_Bizarro #98

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I wonder...

I remember Danny (or was it David?) saying that the office was on a bit of a Batman kick as of late. Could Omeed have defeated a initiative-centric Doom deck with the Gotham Knights? Perhaps we'll never know...

04/28/2004, 22:53

Jetsetneo

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nu >_< dont tease like that!

What what what?! Please give info >_

04/28/2004, 23:02

imported_Bizarro #98

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*sigh*

I gotta do everything myself around here.

Go to this article and read the paragraph right next to the picture of Sabertooth.

04/30/2004, 06:02

JDGloom

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Ahh! *surprised* It wasn't a jab at Omeed, so much as it was homage to "the play that showed just how awesome The Power Cosmic really is". Of all the Vs. stories I've heard so far, Omeed's 83 damage via Sub Mariner is still my personal favorite, and the article couldn't be without a mentioning of that special little incident. ^_^

Thanks for the compliments. This one was certainly alot more basic than the one before it (the horribly math-tastic curve dissection), but I felt Initiative had to be addressed to at least some degree in the series.

Glad people are reading!

-JD

04/30/2004, 23:17

imported_Bizarro #98

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Aha!

Well so much for your secret identity, Jason Grabher-Meyer-Florjortson III.

The only question now is, what does the D stand for?

05/01/2004, 15:56

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Nothing wrong with giving people a screen name to match to the man. ;D

The D's a secret, but as you pieced together, yes, it is my middle name.

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