Comparison Failures

In a recent Discord chat about Conquest, I noted that a lot of decks, especially at Cardgamedb.com ran multiple copies of the basic resources-Void Pirate and Rogue Trader for cards and money, respectively. I said that these cards being auto-includes for every deck was less awesome for variety.

I got a bit of a mouthful back from my buddy Matt, who got me into Conquest to begin with. There were some interesting points he made, about players always trying to make 'the best' deck instead of keeping a collection, and the impact of netdecking, which bent decks towards winning tournaments. Experimentation was only ok if it won. 

This lead to a homogenization of ideas, where people would merely copy the latest winning deck. He noted that often people wouldn't do well with that deck, because piloting a Conquest deck is not easy! Finally, without the tournament scene to focus on, the folks at Team Apoka were able to expand some of what was possible. 

This led players to pull back and look at what might be best for a deck while keeping a collection of playable decks, and not just min/maxing. 

However, buried in this treatise was this line:

"Unlike in MtG where a good deck should almost pilot itself..."

And I have to say, that stuck in my throat. I understand that Magic is not Matt's thing but the idea that any deck can pilot itself in Magic is a disservice to the skill it takes to play the game at all, much less play at high levels. I promptly thought of a recent Rhystic Studies video, Red Deck Wins, a delightful retrospective on one of the first and most enduring archetypes in Magic's history.

The fact is that both of these games require a lot of thinking and planning. That they work along different lines isn't a bad thing! It means that there's appeal in the gaming arena for many kinds of people.

There is also the little hitch of using Traxis Sector to help build decks and see what people did. Because the fact of the matter is that many decks saved there within the last five months are using Void Pirate and Rogue Trader. The cards are just useful to help support any deck's themes, in the same way that Brainstorm or Rampant Growth help Blue or Green decks play Magic.

That doesn't mean the cards are auto-includes and I think as I become more refined at playing Conquest, arguments for not adding those support cards will become valid for certain decks. But I hope I don't make this mistake while critiquing a game. Magic has flaws and I suuuuuuure do love talking about them. 

However, I don't try want to cut any game out at the knees by suggesting that they play themselves. Ones that actually do, and don't give players the feeling of making meaningful decisions? They don't last.