Last time, I defined the standard distribution of talent cards and the archetypal roles talent card types play in an Epic Duels deck. Here’s a recap:

• The Standard Distribution is x3, x3, x2, x2, x1, x1.
• The Signature card serves as the basic “move” of the deck. It is usually a x3 or x4 card, and it usually forms part of the deck’s Path to Victory.
• The Support card is named such because it is usually the other part of a deck’s Path to Victory, but there is almost always fewer of them than the Signature: x2 or x1.
• The Keystone card is usually a x1 with some serious kick. Its often part of the deck’s best combo: the most assured Path to Victory. Not all decks have a Keystone.

But these categories aren’t universal amongst the Hasbro Twelve. Even with decks that don’t follow the standard distribution, you can find a Signature, Support, and Keystone in the Hasbro decks. But by the above definitions, you get confusions such as Vader (weak keystone) and Luke (restrictive Signature) – the list goes on.

Furthermore, the function of the archetypes isn’t set in stone. Maul bends the archetype rules with his talent cards to great effect, and Anakin’s Path to Victory doesn’t even use his Signature card. Mace doesn’t even have a Keystone. But rather than being flaws of design, these differences are strategies toward balancing of each deck.

The distribution of talent cards, standard or otherwise, isn’t determined by the archetypal roles mentioned above. Rather, a distribution is born from talent cards filling those archetypes along a Path to Victory. DT#2 already discussed choosing your talent cards, and even though there are a few unsubstantiated claims in that article regarding that process, talent cards is a topic for another time. We’ll skip to the archetypes.

Archetypal Roles

A wise man once said, “Even with decks that don’t follow the standard distribution, you can find a Signature, Support, and Keystone in the Hasbro decks.” What he failed to point out was that not all decks have a Keystone, not all Support cards support the Signature, and not all the cards fit one of the archetypal roles.

But that’s why they’re called archetypes. Those roles are meant to serve as a guide to organizing your talent cards. Whether you start with one powerful card and build cards around it, or start with a good, character-representing-but-relatively-weak card, you have begun to think about what roles in the distribution those talent cards will serve. If the card makes a good x1 card, but might be too much as a x2 card, you’ve determined that card could be a Keystone. If you plan for a talent card to have x3 or more, you’ve determined that card is probably the Signature.

There is no right way to come up with your talent cards and slate them into archetypes, be it inspiration from a character or the desire to try a new concept, but once you have the specific cards in mind, look at them – write them down if you need to – and discover the deck’s Path to Victory. With the deck’s Path in mind, think about the resources that Path needs to succeed.

Path to Victory

We all know that the talent cards are a deck’s identity, the backbone of what makes it a deck. One of the functions of the talent cards is to provide the player with a strategic way to win, i.e. a Path to Victory. This is a term you’ve seen before, but I use it so frequently in this article that I should give you a definition. A Path to Victory is a strategic combination of cards that when played in the right order serves to gain you an advantage over your opponent. Usually this advantage translates into damage to your opponent’s characters.

The Path also refers to the resources needed to follow the Path. Sometimes the Path is a simple 1-2 combo (like Anakin’s Anger/Calm). Sometimes the Path is a convoluted affair requiring much forethought and strategy. Sometimes there is more than one Path to Victory. Sometimes the Path is multiple Sith Speeds. A Path to Victory is the most basic purpose to talent cards, and which distribution you choose can have quite an effect on the Path.

For example, Mace’s Path is to build up Battlemind; whether to use as attack or defense isn’t important as much as getting some effectiveness out of each Battlemind. One resource is the quantity of cards you can save until it is the right time to play them; Wisdom and Whirlwind Attack comprise half the talent cards. Another is having x4 of Battlemind itself – with x4 you are very likely to have some of those cards when you have a big hand.

Likewise in the Emperor’s deck. Even though the Emperor’s ultimate combo hinges on the Keystone You Will Die, his Path (card control) is playable even with just x4 Force Lightning and x2 Let Go of Your Hatred. Neither Mace nor Emperor would be as effective under the standard distribution: their Signature cards, when confined to a x3, would still be effective cards, but the Path to Victory would suffer.

Quantity of cards related to the Path is a big factor in determining what resources your Path needs, but it’s not the only one. Other resources are often tied directly to the Path: card draws, discards, healing, basic deck, movement, etc. Because a Path resource can be almost anything, it can be difficult to determine the full compliment of Path Resources. Furthermore not all decks have a Path (though they should) and not all talent cards serve the Path (which is fine). The frequency of “draw a card” in Mace’s deck is clearly a contributor to his Path, but Anakin’s Counter Attack, while a useful card, doesn’t help him pull off his Anger/Calm combo even a little. The Path (including resources) help determine a deck’s Ceiling (see below) – good to know when incorporating the Sponge.

The Sponge

There is a fourth pseudo-archetype I call the Sponge. You might instinctively figure out what the Sponge is before I even define it. The Sponge is cards like Justice, Dark Side Drain, Flamethrower, Royal Command, and Sniper Shot. It’s also cards like Force Drain, Your Skills Are Not Complete, Protection, and Wrath (both kinds). The Sponge is an intentionally weakened talent card or archetype, which functions outside its normal role, outside the Path to Victory, or is otherwise weakened to counter-balance other talent cards. (This is different from the Foil dynamic, see the side bar.) When every card in the deck conforms to the Signature, Support, and Keystone concept without having a Sponge, you get Obi-Wan.

Roman Farraday touches on similar concepts for a whole deck when he talks about Ceilings and Floors. (I recommend you read this thread, I come back to Ceilings and Floors later. Don’t worry, I’ll wait till you get done before I continue.) A good Sponge card helps define your Floor – i.e. the deck’s “worst case scenario.” Before you ever playtest your deck, you’ll be able to gauge how the deck will perform based on the relative strength (weakness?) of your Sponge.

A wise man once said, “When every card in the deck conforms to the Signature, Support, and Keystone concept without having a Sponge, you get Obi-Wan.” What he didn’t really get at was that the Sponge doesn’t need to be a useless card. Force Drain, Counter Attack, It’s Not Wise, these are all useful cards – and in a different deck they might be great contributors to the deck’s Path – but in the Hasbro Twelve they’re just filler. Even Force Quickness absorbs some of the card-for-every-situation problem that deck has; Obi-Wan has a Sponge, it’s just not a good balancer to his deck.

That’s the Sponge: potentially useful cards that aren’t necessarily useful to the deck’s Path. That’s why I say that a Sponge will help determine a deck’s Floor. If your Sponges are firm and non-absorbent (i.e. immensely useful cards), your Floor is raised because your “worst potential game” is not all that bad. If your Sponge is ready to soak (suck) then your Floor is lowered because your worst game is soppy wet and smells like mildew.

Bringing It All Together

Everything from the start of DT#7 through to the Sponge has been an informative trek to try to get you thinking about how the distribution of talent cards effects the deck and to help you make informed distribution choices. For many of you, the concepts around distributing talent cards weren't exactly new information, but neither had you thought about the relationships and functions of talent card distributions - I know I hadn't before I started writing this. Now, armed with these terms - Signature, Support, Keystone, Sponge, Foil - you can consciously develop your ideas toward "better" decks. To illustrate this point, I'll reverse engineer Count Dooku according to the concepts presented here. I chose Dooku because Hasbro considers him a match for Obi-Wan (see the rulebook on playing your first game).

You can sum up Dooku’s Path to Victory in two words: strategy and timing. You have to use the strategy of movement to keep Dooku out of harm’s way until the time is right to strike. And if the advantage isn’t enough to carry the win after your first go, you use the strategy of cycling the deck to make a second attempt.

Dooku relies on timing to deal real damage with his cards: we see his x4 A7 Taunting are his only damage dealing talent cards, aside from 2 direct damage from x2 Force Push. Force Push is more useful for keeping opponents away – or pinning them down in a corner – until Dooku is ready to venture forth. Give Orders can accomplish the same task, and is also useful for getting Dooku in position to land Taunting. With only the blue deck for defense, Gain Power is another resource on his Path to Victory – he needs to cycle the deck to retrieve that defense and find every Taunting. Force Drain, while still a useful card, doesn’t aid Dooku’s Path at all. Force Push, while still useful to the Path, is not an impressive card by itself.

Thus, to describe Dooku strictly in the terms presented here, it would look something like this:

• Signature: Taunting
• Support: Give Orders, Gain Power, Force Push
• Keystone: none - possibly Gain Power
• Sponge: Force Push, Force Drain
• Path Resources: Taunting, Give Orders, Gain Power, Force Push, rapid deck cycle, strong generic minor characters.
• Path to Victory: Use Support cards to gain strategic advantage, controlling access to your major character so that you decide when and how to optimize Signature cards.

Given the above list, you can see why his distribution is x4 Taunting, x3 Give Orders, x2 Gain Power, etc. If - for instance - Dooku's distribution followed that of Mace's, Dooku's Sponge would be too great. It's hard to say what Dooku's deck would be like under the standard distribution (there would be an added x1 talent card), but it would detract from his x4 Taunting, likely hindering sucessful optimization of the Path.

There you have it - the elements of card distribution. Interested in more card distribution talk? Visit the Epic Duels forum for discussion of how certain of the Hasbro Twelve might be improved through different distributions. The next Design This! is as of yet undetermined: any ideas?

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