Who Is The Officer Stallin
Who Is The Officer Stallin*
Strategic thoughts about last card advantage
A Round of Gwent wrote a very good article about card advantage, why it matters and how to obtain it, you can find his post here:
http://www.aroundofgwent.com/gwent-...-get-card-advantage-and-why-it-is-important /
I will built upon his thoughts and delve deeper into what I feel is the most important aspect of card advantage, the advantage to play the last card uncontested.
Being able to play your last card without your opponent having a chance to respond to it, is a great benefit and it has a decisive impact on the game.
Therefore, at the start of every game you should ask yourself 'Who is the officer stallin', since the answer to this question will have major implications on the rest of the game.
If the answer is positive and you will be the person playing the last card, you have to think about how to use your last card advantage (from here-out abbreviated to LCA) in the most effective way. Which card will have the most impact when going uncontested depends on your hand and the match-up you are playing.
When the answer is negative you will have to think about how they will most likely use their LCA against you. To start, you should think about their game-plan and how it interacts with yours, from there on out you can deduce what their optimal last play will be against you.
Once you know what card they will probably try to safe for last, you have three strategic tools available to you, to neutralize their LCA, these are; forcing them to play their LCA-card, bait their LCA-card or negate their LCA-card.
Forcing their LCA-card is probably the hardest and most expensive route to go, it relies on stripping away their options, thus forcing their hand.
One of the most important options a player has is whether to pass or not. If you win round one, it means you take away that option for him in round 2. If you present a total amount of Strength he cannot compete with other than to play his combo or Scorch, you force him to use those too.
All-in all it will be difficult to really force your opponent into playing a specific card and thus this tool is rather blunt.
Baiting your opponent to play the card he had designated to be played last is all about misleading him into thinking he will be better off using his LCA-card now rather than using it last. For this strategy to be successful you have to disguise your hand and game-plan and lure your opponent into a misstep.
Lastly, you could negate the effect of their last card played, by preemptively playing around it. If you know what card they will try to play last, you can sculpt the game in such a way that its impact will be quite minimal in the end. This strategy will put the least amount of strain on your resources when trying to neutralize your opponents LCA.
When you successfully force or bait their LCA-card, it doesn't mean they lose LCA, but it does diminish the benefit their LCA has to their game-plan.
Who has LCA might change multiple times throughout the game, the more established the meta, the more accurately you will be able to predict to whom LCA belongs. However, even if you are uncertain as to who will play the last card, I feel like thinking about LCA and its implications on the game is a good starting point from which to analyze your hand and structure your game-plan.
*Pun originally by Mirrorcats
Who Is The Officer Stallin*
Strategic thoughts about last card advantage
A Round of Gwent wrote a very good article about card advantage, why it matters and how to obtain it, you can find his post here:
http://www.aroundofgwent.com/gwent-...-get-card-advantage-and-why-it-is-important /
I will built upon his thoughts and delve deeper into what I feel is the most important aspect of card advantage, the advantage to play the last card uncontested.
Being able to play your last card without your opponent having a chance to respond to it, is a great benefit and it has a decisive impact on the game.
Therefore, at the start of every game you should ask yourself 'Who is the officer stallin', since the answer to this question will have major implications on the rest of the game.
If the answer is positive and you will be the person playing the last card, you have to think about how to use your last card advantage (from here-out abbreviated to LCA) in the most effective way. Which card will have the most impact when going uncontested depends on your hand and the match-up you are playing.
When the answer is negative you will have to think about how they will most likely use their LCA against you. To start, you should think about their game-plan and how it interacts with yours, from there on out you can deduce what their optimal last play will be against you.
Once you know what card they will probably try to safe for last, you have three strategic tools available to you, to neutralize their LCA, these are; forcing them to play their LCA-card, bait their LCA-card or negate their LCA-card.
Forcing their LCA-card is probably the hardest and most expensive route to go, it relies on stripping away their options, thus forcing their hand.
One of the most important options a player has is whether to pass or not. If you win round one, it means you take away that option for him in round 2. If you present a total amount of Strength he cannot compete with other than to play his combo or Scorch, you force him to use those too.
All-in all it will be difficult to really force your opponent into playing a specific card and thus this tool is rather blunt.
Baiting your opponent to play the card he had designated to be played last is all about misleading him into thinking he will be better off using his LCA-card now rather than using it last. For this strategy to be successful you have to disguise your hand and game-plan and lure your opponent into a misstep.
Lastly, you could negate the effect of their last card played, by preemptively playing around it. If you know what card they will try to play last, you can sculpt the game in such a way that its impact will be quite minimal in the end. This strategy will put the least amount of strain on your resources when trying to neutralize your opponents LCA.
When you successfully force or bait their LCA-card, it doesn't mean they lose LCA, but it does diminish the benefit their LCA has to their game-plan.
Who has LCA might change multiple times throughout the game, the more established the meta, the more accurately you will be able to predict to whom LCA belongs. However, even if you are uncertain as to who will play the last card, I feel like thinking about LCA and its implications on the game is a good starting point from which to analyze your hand and structure your game-plan.
*Pun originally by Mirrorcats
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