Posted: 10 January 2008 at 8:18am | IP Logged

-Howdy all. Scorpead deck for review.

The Deck:

@ 18 ships including 3-4  S5 Trade ships, one in reserve with appropriate terrain, for card draw/play help early.

@ 16-18 terrain, focusing on finding some promos that limit my opponent's ability to hit me with certain cards. I know some protect against hazards, monsters, occurrences, etc. so i'll be looking to coordinate those choices to fully protect my terrain from at least the threat of one and hopefully two of those card classes.

R/E1 Terrain Attack Shuttle 

E2 Phaser Refit

R/E3 Stealth Fighter

E4 Heavy Phaser Refit

R/E5 Pirate Fighter

R/E6 Distortion Generator (about the only E6 i have)

E7 Extreme Phaser Refit x2

E7 Scorpead Phaser Magnifier (only got the one)

E8 Starburst Accelerator

E9 Future Ship x2

H1 Divergent Anomaly (more?)

H2 Meteor Shower

H3 Magnetic Cloud

H4 Solar Winds

R/H5 Time Trap x4

R/L1 Lucky Crew Action

L2 Warp Engine Breach

R/L3 Unlucky Targettingx3

R/L4 Miscommunication

R/L5 Defensive Override x2 (may have two more somewhere, doubt it)

R/M1 Sextaraan Web Crawlers x4 (would include the full 8 if i had 'em)

M2 Offspring

M3 Phase Rats x3 (is their damage structural or to shields?)

R/O1 Time Skip x8 (i resisted, but best all-purpose card i have)

C1 Portrait Artiste (getting tired of using Tax Col. all the time)

C2 Ordinance Officer

C3 Cryogenic Convict x3

The Count: 5C + 8O + 8M + 8L + 8H + 12E + 18S +18T = 85

The Plan: I haven't quite settled my terrain and ships yet, but wanted to post the support cards to get some feedback. Of course i want to scale down (my target is 80 for now), but i plan on about 18 ships and 16-18 terrain, so wanted enough support to fill out a set number of 9-card hands with enough to compete. There is really no focus other than Scorpead phasers, modified by equipment, to blow stuff up. The support cards were picked leaning toward a goal of gently moving ships out of the way so i can target the HQ.

My Luck cards ended up not really fitting into the theme as much as i had hoped. I had considered scaling those down to five (stopping the count at the Unlucky Targetings) and possibly including those occurence cards that recall ships, overrides or whatever they are of varying card strength.

The crew was tough as well, i may yet swap them out for 5 of the G1 time agendas or possibly 5 bases. My allowed exceptions i probably won't use, and the strength 10 allotment will likely go all into ships.

Let me know what you think, be brutal and specific, only way i'm gonna be able to put together a winning deck for once. Have a good day all.....Lobo

Posted: 11 January 2008 at 8:35am | IP Logged

-Howdy and thanks for the replies so far. I will try addressing the concerns raised in each of the replies to give you a better idea of where i am coming from. In no way do i want this post to limit what y'all comment on, the more comments the better (no matter how much you say i suck!).

First, to deck size. I will never, ever, ever make a deck more than 100 cards. If that means i am not playing to win, so be it. I would like to attempt, however, to make a deck at or under 100 cards that can at least make a good showing against the best of the best, even if mega draw will eventually run me over. That means a deck that does what it is supposed to do quickly, efficiently, and preferrably in the first 4-5 turns before my opponent can generate massive command points to just blow up the entire table. Remember, we each only start with 2 command points in a duel setting, that fact alone gives us sub-100 decks some breathing room.

Next let us address cheese. I don't like feeling required to include obvious cheese cards to feel like i am playing the game correctly. Thankfully, my on-again-off-again-on-again opponent shares my viewpoint. So i have attempted in the past (less so with this deck) to come up with creative or less-used cards or strategies to compete. That's part of the fun for me.

Now on to specific card categories. I think my terrain looks eerily similar to what Mogwai posted above, with the notable exceptions that i use more T5 Galactic Trade Worlds and don't use a couple of the T8s mentioned. But the difference is negligible, so i actually think i did that one right all by myself ;^)

Ships, ships, ships. The current breakdown (using Indirigans as minor due to their favorable command point usage) is:

S10 x3, S9 x2, S8 x2, S7 x1, S6 x3, S5 x4, S4-S1 x1

I will probably drop one of the S5 Trade ships in the deck for another S9 of the indirigan variety, possibly and S7 Infected for the command point. I *could* load my ships here to the close-to 30% mogwai has above, and may yet do so (adding a couple-few SHips of the Ancients perhaps), but i like to start closer to 20% ships when i build decks. The only reason i use that number is that the posted decks online (all four of them) came in around that percentage.

Hazards. I don't want to "cheese it up" and use 8 time warps, but i can include more Divergent Anomaly cards if you feel they are needed. In review, i should probably include more as that is my stated theme with this deck to move things away from HQ. I want to work up to be able to use the R/H5 Time Trap, though, because i think it's a darn good card (and smells less of cheese due to deck-stocking limitation) that's helped me greatly in more than one duel.

Luck cards, well, they are there for some defense but by limiting myself in number here i am missing out on where my luck cards actually start becoming more useful (ie L7 Temp Cor, L8 Twist, Vacuum, etc.). I am considering limiting them to 5 (stopping at Unlucky Targetting) and probably will do so in my final draft of this deck. I admit this part does not fit the theme of the deck well, but am unsure if that can be corrected.

Crew, an afterthought really. I usually include them as a category but they never impact the game in a meaningful way (except one time when the Cryo Convict was sitting on the only terrain opp drew). I had considered using Boarding Parties of varying strengths along with an E2 transporter in reserve, stock a shuttle or three, but decided not to in this draft. I can take or leave these guys, but i am wary of using bases. They take command points but cannot fire on the HQ, seems a waste in that respect. I do like the B1 Pirate Outpost, however, for a bit of phaser assist and added defensive bonus to terrain.

Equipment. The bread and butter of any self-respecting Scorpead deck. I don't really have much room to alter this except add phaser refits, which brings the deck count up. I would rather add to the number of monsters in this deck before increasing the equipment, but certainly am open to suggestions.

Monsters, i wanted 8 Web Crawlers but i could only find 4 (thought i had 8, ah well they'll turn up somewhere). I still would like to know if the Phase rats damage goes directly to ship strength or not, as the way the card flavor text reads it should. The rules on eric's site are unclear (as in it doesn't say they do structural damage, darn) as to card damage and such, just wanted clarification (that i've probably asked for before). If they just damage shields, they become less useful and i will likely sub in Shield Fiends or some other replacement.

Occurrences, well...if anyone has a problem with me using Time Skips, just know it was a very tough choice for me.

That's it, let me know what you think.....Lobo

Posted: 12 January 2008 at 2:45pm | IP Logged

-Howdy all. Here's my updated deck list and what i will be playing Monday. I had considered using the crew slots for Cyber mages/Temporal Mechanics for card drawing (as i realize i need help in that area) but i'm going to play it this way first and see how it goes. I realize crew selection isn't as tight as it should be, but it is a work in progress.

I cut out the big-strength equipment to trim the size and increase my terrain and ship-drawing numbers. i may consider scrapping doing anything other than Terrain Attack Shuttles in the end in that category. Or i may cut out the crew, replace with 5 B1 Pirate Outposts or Personal Bases, and re-up the euipment to include those E9 Future ships and everything in between.

Here's the deck as it is today, i'll post comments after the game monday.....Lobo

R/E1 Terrain Attack Shuttle x3
E2 Phaser Refit
R/E3 Stealth Fighter
E3 Emergency Power (in reserve, will try suggested trick here)
E4 Heavy Phaser Refit

H1 Divergent Anomaly x4
H2 Meteor Shower (only have the 4 DAs)

R/L1 Lucky Crew Action
L2 Warp Engine Breach
R/L3 Unlucky Targeting x3

R/M1 Sextaraan Web Crawlers x4
M2 Planet Gouge
M3 Shield Fiend x5

R/O1 Time Skip x8

C1 Boarding Party x4
C2 Radioactive Being
C3 Boarding Party
C4 Lieutenant x2
R/C4 Marine x2

R/S1 Ship from the Future
S2 Police Cutter
S3 Scorpead Destroyer
S4 Scorpead Science Ship
S5 Scorpead Scout Cruiser
S6 Police Cruiser x3 (one in reserve)
S6 Scorpead Command Cruiser x3
S7 Infected Tribe Command ERV: Heavy Triage Cruiser
S8 Scorpead Dreadnought x2
S9 Scorpead Battleship x2
S10 Gohest's Pirate Ship
S10 Dread Savior

T1 Microscopic Black Hole
T/H2 Plasma Field
T3 Crystal Planet
T4 White Dwarf x2
T4 Smuggler's World
T5 Galactic Trade World x4
T6 Katryn
T7 Jozef x2
T8 Aesthetic Marine Recruit Depot x2
T8 Chronos x2
T9 Vinciennes System x2
T10 Mayfair System Galaxy Express 999

7E + 5H + 5L + 10M + 8O + 10C + 18S + 20T = 83 total, 2 in reserve, 81 card draw deck

Posted: 14 January 2008 at 7:51pm | IP Logged

-Howdy and good evening. I played this deck tonight, two or three games (cannot remember quite frankly, was talking just as much as playing) and the deck did okay. i won at least one game, primarily due to opponent not drawing the ships needed to protect HQ. However, even without ship draws in that one i didn't win fast enough as i couldn't draw jack either.

The Time Skips would have been more useful against pretty much any other deck my opponent has ever played except he used the Council of Six. Thus, i could only use the DAs to get cards out of the way fof fire. I did use the Skips on other things, however, that proved somewhat useful, but less-so than planned.

The crew theme of boarding party madness didn't work at all, i will likely scrap them for either what limited crew selections i have that help with card draws or simply remove them entirely and replace with 5 B1 Personal Bases for free phasers.

Equipment, i will likely either increase the number of phaser refits once i get a few more phaser mags and others i am expecting OR i will simply stock 5 R/E1 Terrain Attack Shuttle. I like that card and got to use it tonight a time or two, i have a hard time seeing how they wouldn't be useful in some capacity. If i go the shuttle route, will likely stock a R/C4 Marine in the reserve just in case.

Ship numbers were about right, but i think i need to cut terrain by a couple to slightly tilt the draw percentage in favor of ships. I tried the S6 Police ship with E3 Power card in reserve once, worked okay but the fact that the police ship cannot block opponent fire if they get a no-cost ship out on turn two either ahead or behind you makes it less desirable going forward. May use a simple Ship from the Future in the reserve to accomplish same goal, swap for it on turn one and potentially use for defence if i get behind in the turn count and have to fend off a similar trick from opponent.

If my opponent announces Council of Six again, i will likely drop the Time Skips down in number and increase the Hazards in the deck to work up to those R/H5 Time Traps i love so much. Same effect, but at least the ships cannot shrug them off. The other alternative is to use the probable drop in crew count to work up in my hazards. That's the more likely scenario.

That's it for the post-game, thanks again for the feedback and i hope y'all have a good week.....Lobo

Posted: 15 January 2008 at 8:32am | IP Logged

-Howdy. Yea, Galaktische is the primary opponent when his myraid of responsibilities don't get in the way.

I think i will cut out crew entirely, include bases and consider the Military Reservations to make them stronger while overall cutting down my terrain by 3-5. 

Reserve, i'm sticking with a White Dwarf and probably a ship that doesn't require engagement for a bit of turn 2 fun if i can draw a DA or Time Skip that can take on opponent's ship if present. Thanks for the feedback on this one all, it has helped me quite a bit.

Lobo, placing wolf's stuff in the mail today (15th)

Posted: 15 January 2008 at 3:31pm | IP Logged

Why do I get the feeling people are plotting against me...?

:)

Posted: 16 January 2008 at 9:29am | IP Logged

-Howdy and thanks for the replies. I only have one of the Miscommunications (/rant on) and i refuse to include them because every time one hits the table my opponent and i argue about the crappy wording of the new version and the forum's interpretation of that crappy wording (/rant off).

I have no Sysops.

I do have a Time Warp!

On the monsters, i like the Web crawlers in multiples because they A) can hurt monsters of all shapes and sizes (i'm scared to death of seeing another space penguin) and B) reactionary. I will consider dropping them for more Shield Fiends, however, to see how the deck draws out that way.

As i don't have crew worth sticking in the deck, i'm just dropping them entirely. Unfortunately, i don't have this Manufacturing Plant everyone talks about, so i'll just be going with what i can scrounge up . I do have a couple of promo bases that look intriguing, one is a B3 i have a few of, may get to include them.

I will be retooling the deck this weekend and will post a new version on Sunday. I will be playing a most-horrible dragon deck in our next game, but i'll be able to give the updated Scorpeads a trial run in a couple of weeks.

Have a good one.....Lobo