Help building a gauntlet of fair decks.

[Arctursa]

So being new, and trying to not only teach my kids, but around 8-12 of my friends all of which have different degrees of competitiveness, I wanted to focus on building my own versions of semi pre-constructed decks.

We are NOT using locations(for now) battle sites, tactics or aspects. We are also currently not using the Venture or Mission cards, we tried and most prefer to just duke it out til the end.

So basically we are using 4 heroes, specials, a few select Any Heroes and Universe cards. (Mostly the any heroes cheap enough for me to get around 8 of that are worth it)

That being said, how would you guys build fair decks that are essentially interchangeable. Id like a person to just be able to come over, pick 4 heroes and a preset number of specials (ideally each deck would adhere to a set number of specials total) plug in some power and universe cards and be able to play.

The formula I've come up with so far is 56 card decks, around 28 or so being power cards. A few teamwork's, a few basics, maybe 1-2 training's (totaling around 8-9 more cards), then around 17 specials (giving each starting hero 5 and each reserve 2)  and 2-3 any heroes.

Is there a better way to do this, and or is this a flawed way to teach new players ? Is there something I Should be doing that I am missing or something I should add? We have also abandoned the discard rule with BASIC energy. Meaning unless its the exact same # and type, you can keep it. (IE you can keep a 3 Energy and 3 Fighting) We feel it helps keep the battles a bit more even, so far playing only the original 6 pre-cons to this point once you fall behind its near impossible to come back. We still use the rest of the discard rules and the power pack/dead pile.

[Zer0evil]

I suggest instead of having them pick the heroes and build the deck you should instead make 8 fairly evenly competitive decks and have them pick a deck. For example I aply Magic The Gathering and a Gauntlet or whatever you want to call it is essentially the same thing as what 'we' MTG players call a Battle Box. It's a collection of decks that are close enough power wise to be competitive no matter what deck you pick. One cool variant on a Battle Box is picking decks at random. For example for 8 decks you could take 8 poker/playing cards and assign the number/suite to each deck and have them randomly draw a card to see what deck they will be playing.

I'm not experienced enough with Overpower to help balance out deck designs but there are quite a few people on this forum who have the knowledge you seek.

Look forward to hearing more from you as your decks develop, keep us updated@!

[fennshysa]

That is a very nice idea. I've never been a Magic player but the SW:CCG players used to run a similar concept they called a Cube. There was a set number of base cards for each deck and then you would draft out of a preselected bunch of cards for the remainder of your deck. I think whole preselected decks like Zer0evil mentioned would work better for Overpower.

No locations, battlesites, tactics etc.... sounds like a good idea for the format. It's really a different game with no Missions and Ventures though. I remember when i was a teen we played that way too. But after a while it just wasn't that fun. The Venturing is where a lot of the strategy comes in. And a lot of cards and Characters lose their worth without it.  But if that's what they like....

Depending on how much work you want them to put into selecting their deck before a game it might be better just to have completely constructed decks to chose from. Or maybe put in 5 Characters using your chosen amount of cards and make them choose which 4 they want to play.

As to fair decks I don't know how complete your collection is but that would limit selection some. I'd look through the deck section and just see what you can build with your cards out of there as a starting point. I"m not sure how many decks you are going to have playing at once.

[Zer0evil]

I also played SW: CCG.! Cube is also a very popular MTG format.

[justa]

i guess i'll chime in with my 2 cents as well...

i have to agree with Zer0evil & fennshysa - pre-built decks would be easiest.  (and that's based solely on OP, not other games.)  even given the restrictions on the usable cards, there are still too many variables.  for example, is your team based on 1 Power type?  2 types?  More?  what style do you like to play: smash & grab (max offense, full steam ahead & damn the torpedoes, with negligible defense) or hunker down for the long haul (max defense, stay alive as long as possible, offense is where you can find it) or somewhere in between?  how many "side tricks" or "gimmick" cards (non-attack/defense cards) do you like to include?  and of which type?  and if it is a consideration for you, how many cards do you have available to use?  all these things will affect the number of each kind of card you would want in a deck.  there is no set formula for X# of Power cards, X# of Teamworks, X# of Specials per Front Line Character, etc.  how you play and who you use have a great effect on how you build your deck.
building them to be "competitive" with each other, or "comparative", all depends on how they are played.  i must leave that to you to determine by empirical methods.

[Arctursa]

Well I intended to have around 8 decks at once. I Was going to get enough of each power card to be able to put 3 in any decks. (so 24 1Fs, 24 1Es, and so on for each type) I Was also going to get enough of each teamwork and etc... and just put them in a binder. Then let the players look through the characters and pick 4 they like. Each character would come with 5 pre-selected specials. (they pick 3 for the reserve) I picked the specials that best fit this format already. So now we are at 18 cards.

The next 27 are power cards based on which characters they pick, no more than 4 of any one specific card, with a basic array being 4x1's, 4x2's 4x3's 4x4's (including 1 MP for each and 3 choose based on characters) Than 3x5's 3x6's and 3x7's, with only 2x8's-if applicable, if not add another 6 and 7. Now we are at 45 cards. 1 Guardian and 1 WHW per deck makes 47.

Now we've got 9 cards to spare, and those would be 3-4 teamworks, 4-5 Universe basics and 1-3 training's.

I realize the decks minus the heroes are dead even, and therefor somewhat competitive with each other, the real power comes from the heroes and how strong or weak their specials are, but some people, especially "new" and "casual" would rather just play their favorite characters for the most part and lose, then try to break a homegame meta.

Also for future reference I have enough disposable income to buy whatever cards I want, and already know everything that is do-able in magic the gathering as I used to be a pro player. (I hope that doesnt read as conceited) just trying to answer questions/concerns brought up.

[Zer0evil]

Very cool, never dedicated enough time to play Pro at MTG but I want to some day.

[fennshysa]

I think your numbers of cards sound pretty good. If you are letting them choose their 4 characters individually and not as a preset team (say Wolverine, Sabertooth, Deadpool, Maverick) then you sound like you are ready to go. Individual character selection will necessitate choosing which 27 power cards, teamworks, universe will work with characters. If you did go with a preselected group of 4 characters you could have all the power, teamwork etc... ready to go.

Which Any Character cards are you going with? Guardian Angel, Gamma Terror, & Web-Headed Wizard?  Since you are not doing venture, Alien Symbiote would be just as useful as Guardian Angel (maybe more so)  and if you you can afford them Bastion's would be nice.

All Marvel or DC and Image?

[Arctursa]

Yeah, the individual powercards/teamworks/universes are what will make up the most work. But I figure if Im teaching anyone the game and trying to get people into it, letting them play what they think is their favorite characters might work best. It will resonate more. Plus, I want deckbuilding time to be negligible. If I wanted to build and tear down 100s of cards each time, id Just play Marvel's Legendary deckbuilding game. (Which was a blast but ultimately too much work)

Guardian Angel and WHW were the only two anys I was going with. Bastion is a touch expensive to get 8 of, though I could print proxies. I didnt use Gamma because it feels wonky with some characters, and redundant with others. Alien Symbiote is another one Im debating on using.

Also, Marvel at first, but then I intend to add D/C. Image Im not interested in.

[fennshysa]

Legendary has a lot of setup work but i still find it easier than Overpower.  There are very few decisions to be mad as to what, its all add x, y, m and 40 of z. Whereas Overpower is, if i choose this than i need these but not that. That said, I prefer to play overpower, it feels so much more like a comic book fight.

I can see why you left the Gamma out, I'd seriously consider adding the Alien Symbiote. it's really nice without Venture. It might be nice to proxy the Bastions too, help them appreciate characters with negates.

DC will be hard to blend with Marvel and not seem inferior, at least the Batman/Superman stuff. Justice League would probably blend in ok.