Hey there, everyone, Cups here with another article from a member of the MLP: CCG dev team! This time it's Victor, a big proponent of competitive play and one of our rules gurus, and he's going to share some words about two major archetypes of play: aggressive, using Blue, and control, using Purple.
And, of course his examples are going to be from The Crystal Games! Theme Decks are out now, and booster packs will be in the wild December 5th. Until then, take a look below the break for Victor's article!
Fast, Slow, and Something In-between
Hello Everypony!
Right now you're probably hovering over a stack of cards you opened at your Crystal Games Prerelease, anxiously absorbing every pixel of art and scrutinizing every letter of text. For those that couldn't make a Prerelease, we've release a card checklist, updated the Official Card Reference, released a Frequently Asked Questions document, and updated the Comprehensive Rules. As players start to delve into the new set, I want to take a moment and talk about a couple of concepts that have really taken shape in The Crystal Games.
First, I would like to say that this set was a blast to work on. I'm sure I can speak for the entire team when I say that this set is a ton of fun to play! The Crystal Games is an inclusion set, where shared traits and shared colors matter, and using synergistic cards and coupling effects can be very rewarding. Teamwork is the way to go when competing in the Crystal Games (see what I did there?).
Today, I would like to talk about some color specific mechanics that make their way into The Crystal Games and how they relate to each other. Specifically, Purple and Blue are two colors on the opposite end of the spectrum. Blue is an aggressive color that wants to gain points quickly and efficiently, rewards itself for investing in board power, and has a number of effects that allow it to remain ahead in board presence. Purple cards exert control over the board, gain actions, and interact favorably with many of the game's slowing mechanics.
Blue Persistence
Two new cards for Blue are Rainbow Dash, Relay Racer and Daring Do, Professional Heroine. Both of these cards allow Blue to really put the pressure on its opponent.
Relay Racer is an efficient card that can be used to solve Problems, but its real strength is its interaction with Troublemakers. Troublemakers are a tool used to slow the game down and can be very effective at stopping a deck from gaining points. Should Relay Racer lose a Troublemaker faceoff and be sent home, her text triggers and allows her to move back out to a problem for free, keeping the power on board so the Blue player always has a presence! Woe to any opponent trying to slow Blue down with troublemakers.
Speaking of which, Professional Heroine is a force to reckoned with and allows Blue to faceoff against a Troublemaker during their main phase, gain the points, and still confront the Problem without missing a beat. These are two very aggressive cards!
Purple Resistance
Two new cards for Purple are Top Marks, Long Winded Lecturer and Mayor Mare, Town Leadership. Both of these cards want to slow the game down.
Top Marks does so by limiting the number of points that players have access to. Allowing the Problems to rotate on your opponent's turn while denying them of the bonus can be a huge swing back in your favor if you are prepared to capitalize on your next turn.
Mayor Mare gives vital resource removal to a color that previously had none. If a Purple deck wants the game to go long, it will need to have answers for the opponent's threats, and those can certainly come in the form of Resources.
Throttle
Throttle cards are designed to interact favorably against specific strategies. They are value cards that get better the more vulnerable your opponent is to the effect. Daring Do is an example of this, as the more prevalent Troublemakers are, the more appeal the card will have. The Crystal Games is littered with mechanics that act as throttles against other mechanics!
Study Session becomes a powerhouse when being played against a deck that likes to strike out the opponent in one turn. It allows the Purple player to calculate power for faceoffs without the worry of what might be in opposing hands. It also allows the control deck to react to a played Friend before that Friend can help confront problems. Stubborn aside, this is an excellent tool as it delays possible confronts by a turn.
Cheerilee, Homeroom Teacher can be very lucrative when facing a deck that plays a lot of Friends. It absolutely punishes a deck that is designed to play new Friends rather than moving existing Friends out to problems.
I hope you guys enjoyed the article. My next will cover a deck that was a ton of fun to playtest. It uses some underplayed cards from previous sets, some fun tech cards from The Crystal Games, and brings an archetype to MLP that hasn't existed until now!
Thanks Victor! We'll have his deck article up next week.
In the meantime, sound off: What new cards do YOU think are going to make in impact on current decks? What decks are going to be the most efficient in the months to come?
