General Deckbuilding Guidelines

[Karmanal of Zert]

Surely every one who loves OP enough to still be playing has a basic formula they use more or less most of the time, even if it's still always evolving. I'm always highly interested in the general deckbuilding parameters of others, so after this exchange between BBH and myself I wanted to start a new thread for anyone and everyone who wants to post what their basic deckbuilding philosophy is and any variations depending on specifics. So here are the initial two (or three now) posts wrapped in one, and hopefully more people will share their usual deckbuilding tendencies!

For general deckbuilding, I like to keep things lean:

3 of each level Power Card.
One of each usable teamwork.
10 - 12 Activators (of course it depends on the site)
OR: 10 Any Heroes
Complement of Character specials really depends on what I'm going for. But I rarely duplicate unless it's a crunchy hit, or a good defensive card.
2 - 3 events
An ally or two
6+3 Basic U (And possible 7+3) OR: Doubleshot 
Maybe an artifact, again depending on the type of deck.


What are your deckbuilding methods?

-BBH

As I imagine yours do, my deckbuilding methods are always changing. Right now here's the balance I'm currently enjoying:

4 of each Power Card (usually one type for all my 5-8 and a mix of off-types and multis for 1-4)
5 Teamwork cards (3-4 of the deck's main type, 1-2 of an off-type, usually 2 if the off-type gives bonuses to the deck's main type and/or it can be used by multiple characters)
1 Training
about 5 Any-Character
1-2 events
When there's a special I really like, say a 5 for attack or defense, or a 6 attack if successful opponent -4 to Venture total, a 7 attack, I tend to be rather liberal and throw in 3. Most specials I put in only one of, but I usually pick people with specials I like (obviously).

Lately I've been working with all-DC decks so I haven't gotten much into location cards yet, but my brother has all of them and I'm anxious to begin experimenting!

[Nostalgic]

I never knew the official 'formula' for deckbuilding, but I did roughly do that anyway.  However, I like to have at least 2 of any particualr character special that I like. 

[rucker73]

I like to run a lean deck with few duplicates to try and get all my OPD's into play before losing characters.

[drdeath25]

Whats the point of playing a 6+3 basic universe?? You waste 2 cards for an attack that is potentially blocked by one "(Character) or Teamate may avoid one attack of 9 or less" (Spawn, Inviz Woman, Spider-woman, ect) or "(Character) or teamate may avoid one attack made with a power card" (such as x-man, ect.). Almost all competitive decks nowadays has AT LEAST one character with one of those specials, and they are probably using 3 of them in the deck. If your going to use basic universe cards you want to be able to make attacks of 10 or 11 or your highly risking losing two of your cards to your opponents one card defense. Not worth the risk in my opinion if it doesn't help venture.

And don't even get me started on doubleshots and trainings....LOL. Don't think I have ever made a deck with either one of those cards in it.

Just curious which 5 any characters do you use, since you say you use "about 5"? Seems to me like there are alot more than 5 you should be using.... I would typically use DoW, Leech, Bastion, Guardian, DFA, Fortress, Confusion, Webheaded Wizard, Gamma Terror and maybe if your feeling creative even toss in a savage land or JLA depending on the deck. Using only 5 any hero cards, with all the great ones available seems like a waste of even using any hero's in the first place!

Just my opinion.....

[BigBadHarve]

Whats the point of playing a 6+3 basic universe?? You waste 2 cards for an attack that is potentially blocked by one "(Character) or Teamate may avoid one attack of 9 or less" (Spawn, Inviz Woman, Spider-woman, ect) or "(Character) or teamate may avoid one attack made with a power card" (such as x-man, ect.). Almost all competitive decks nowadays has AT LEAST one character with one of those specials, and they are probably using 3 of them in the deck. If your going to use basic universe cards you want to be able to make attacks of 10 or 11 or your highly risking losing two of your cards to your opponents one card defense. Not worth the risk in my opinion if it doesn't help venture.

And don't even get me started on doubleshots and trainings....LOL. Don't think I have ever made a deck with either one of those cards in it.

Just curious which 5 any characters do you use, since you say you use "about 5"? Seems to me like there are alot more than 5 you should be using.... I would typically use DoW, Leech, Bastion, Guardian, DFA, Fortress, Confusion, Webheaded Wizard, Gamma Terror and maybe if your feeling creative even toss in a savage land or JLA depending on the deck. Using only 5 any hero cards, with all the great ones available seems like a waste of even using any hero's in the first place!

Ah yes, use of the basic universe and doubleshots seems to be a controversial issue around here.

Allow me to qualify by noting that I don't use BU's or Training cards if I'm playing by official rules. Around here, one of our house rules is that BUs, training and doubleshot cards are recyclable, so they get discarded into the power pack. Believe me when I say it makes them infinitely more playable. One time use = forget it, I won't touch them. But if you get them back and can play them in power pack, suddenly it's a different ball game.

I don't mind spending two cards for a single attack or defense. Obviously you don't want to do it too often, but strategically played it can make the difference. That +3 boost to a power card turns a 7 into a 10, which easily beats those 1-9 avoids. Also, situations in any given game are not always equal for both players, so often playing two cards at once won't hurt, but it can make your opponent pause - especially if a beefy hit lands.

As for Doubleshots. They are extremely tricky to put into a deck, (only certain decks can use them to their full advantage). Again, using the official rules, I don't usually bother. But with house rules to allow recycling as well as the defensive option of defending the whole team with them (instead of just the character playing the card) they are much more appealing. The offensive power of a doubleshot isn't terrible either. It's a two hit attack, and dropped on a wounded character is usually a shot for the kill.

The Any Heroes I include are always - Leech, Bastion, DoW, Death from Above, Gamma terror, New Universe, Guardian Angel, JLA shift, Confusion and Web Headed wizard.

-BBH

[Karmanal of Zert]

@Dr. Death

As stated in my original post lately I've been working with all-DC decks, so I haven't had 5 Any-Characters because I thought that was better than having a battle-site, I just had that many because that's how many I wanted. I know you didn't mention anything about battle-sites, but I figured I'd point that out. To answer your question, the 5 I usually have are Guardian Angel, Wizard in Top Hat & Tails, Confusion, and my brother is kind enough to allow me to proxy 2 DC Specials that aren't otherwise in my deck for a Power Leech and a Bastion. I don't have DoW because my brother (even though he is the Marvel OP expert) and I almost never play with home-bases or battle-sites. I don't have Death From Above because I don't like those cards for anyone and never have them in my deck, so the DFA pretty much only gets used if Fighting is off-type for that particular deck just so I have an extra Fighting attack in there. Gamma Terror would be a good addition, I'll probably start using Flash's 7 Strength Special card to proxy for that. The Fortress of Solitude I refuse to proxy because it actually is supposed to be a DC card so I'm waiting to buy one on eBay. But yeah all this might go out the window once I start experimenting with home-bases and battle-sites again. It's been a few years!
Post Merge: July 11, 2011, 08:47:56 PM
A specific to consider for those visiting this thread:

How many cards total do you prefer to have in your deck?

I like to have an old-fashioned "perfect" size deck of 56 cards. I heard some people here talking about playing with an alternate minimum of 65, but I'm unclear on the details. If I really can't choose between good cards I may go up to 60, but it's pretty rare for me to go much over that at all.

[BigBadHarve]

@Dr. Death

The Fortress of Solitude I refuse to proxy because it actually is supposed to be a DC card so I'm waiting to buy one on eBay.

Check out this guy's store -

http://cgi.ebay.ca/DC-Overpower-Any-Character-Card-Fortress-Solitude-/350271435158?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item518dcdf196


He's got a Fortress for a buck, plus some other good cards. I've ordered from him a few times, he's reliable.

-BBH

[Jack]

I haven't found a "perfect" formula for decks, but what I typically put together is:

2-5 specials per front line
1-2 specials for the reserve, unless they can be more useful (Hawkeye, Spider Woman, etc)
~20-30 power cards; dependant on the amount of 8's in the deck, as well as overall size of deck.
1-2 events, 3+ is a bit risky since they would be considered duplicates if drawn together.
4+ teamworks, dependant on numerous factors (number of 8's in deck, number of lone 6 stats, etc)
9 Any Heroes -or- ~8-12 (Beyonder included) Activators
2-4 5-to-use-act-as-3 Ally cards, our house rules state that all Ally cards are "may" instead of "must", this adds an alternate way to land a spectrum hit that is usually different than the main power
Artifacts and Aspects if the deck merits them
Usually never any Basic Universe, Training or Doubleshot.

My deck sizes are usually around 56-66 cards.

[Nate Grey]

Since I'm currently teaching two new players and my original Overpower friend who is re-learning the game, we are keeping things simple:

4-6 specials for the front line characters, 2-3 for the reserve (more if its Spider-Woman or Hawkeye)
4 of each power card number with multipower cards mixed in
5-6 teamwork cards
1-2 basic universe cards (I know many of you dislike them here but they are fun)
6+ Any Hero cards

Since I provide the majority of the cards, we only have one Leech and one Bastion Any Hero Special. We don't use Leech because it would be unfair for just one person to have it, and the Bastion Card goes to the player that has less negates or non-negate characters in his deck.

So that's our simple strategy for now. Once they get the hang of it and I start learning the strategies behind using Location and Event cards then we'll start playing like the pros do. 

[BigBadHarve]

Since I provide the majority of the cards, we only have one Leech and one Bastion Any Hero Special. We don't use Leech because it would be unfair for just one person to have it, and the Bastion Card goes to the player that has less negates or non-negate characters in his deck.

So that's our simple strategy for now. Once they get the hang of it and I start learning the strategies behind using Location and Event cards then we'll start playing like the pros do. 

You could always proxy the cards you don't have. I know it's more fun to have the actual cards, but for the purposes of instruction, give everyone the key cards they'd have to expect to play against to get a feel for them, how to play and defend against them.

I'm in the process of rewriting the OP rulebook to make it a little clearer (Yes, I do have a life, I simply choose to devote some of it to OverPower, why do you ask? ) . Included will be a Basic, intermediate and advanced level of play. Advanced being the full game, basic and intermediate being watered down so that new players aren't bombarded all at once by the options.

Basic will likely be something like:
Team building (sum deck)
Power Cards
Basic Universe and training cards
Character specific special cards
Venture cards

Intermediate will add:
Any heroes
Homebases
Teamwork cards
Ally Cards
Event cards

Advanced will incorporate everything else for the full game:
Aspects
Battlesites
Tactics


I'm interested in opinions. But I'm thinking that teaching the game in these stages is the best way to ease a player in to all of the options. It's just a matter of tweaking what should be taught at what stage...

Thoughts?

-BBH

[gameplan.exe]

I think you have the right of it, BBH. Basically, it's like teaching Pre-IQ, through Monumental, then current status.

I've taught several people how to play and this is basically how i've had to do it (for the things that we didn't learn as a group, anyway).

[Nate Grey]

You could always proxy the cards you don't have. I know it's more fun to have the actual cards, but for the purposes of instruction, give everyone the key cards they'd have to expect to play against to get a feel for them, how to play and defend against them.

Somehow I never thought of that, but it does sound like a good idea. Although I do admit it would certainly feel awkward not playing the actual card. I'll run it by my friends who I'm meeting up with this weekend to continue their Overpower training.

I'm in the process of rewriting the OP rulebook to make it a little clearer (Yes, I do have a life, I simply choose to devote some of it to OverPower, why do you ask? ) . Included will be a Basic, intermediate and advanced level of play. Advanced being the full game, basic and intermediate being watered down so that new players aren't bombarded all at once by the options.

Basic will likely be something like:
Team building (sum deck)
Power Cards
Basic Universe and training cards
Character specific special cards
Venture cards

Intermediate will add:
Any heroes
Homebases
Teamwork cards
Ally Cards
Event cards

Advanced will incorporate everything else for the full game:
Aspects
Battlesites
Tactics


I'm interested in opinions. But I'm thinking that teaching the game in these stages is the best way to ease a player in to all of the options. It's just a matter of tweaking what should be taught at what stage...

Thoughts?

-BBH

I would definitely be interested in checking out your rulebook rewrites. As it is now, I'm showing my friends just the basic level of play that you've highlighted but I've thrown in using Teamwork and Any Hero Specials. They initially did struggle with the concept of the Teamwork cards and would hardly use them at first since they were confused when it came to them, but once they caught on to how effective they are (they saw how I would continuously pound them with the Teamworks) they quickly made an effort to fully understand them. Also, we aren't adhering to Sum Deck at the moment mostly because all of us just want to try out all the characters and have fun with teams. I don't think they will particularly like the Sum Deck rule once I tell them its necessary for playing outside our little group.

[gameplan.exe]

I think you have the right of it, BBH. Basically, it's like teaching Pre-IQ, through Monumental, then current status.

ie, Original, Powersurge, and Mission Control; then BS, IQ, JLA, Monumental; then Classic, Image, and X-men (and The Marvels).

[BigBadHarve]

I would definitely be interested in checking out your rulebook rewrites. As it is now, I'm showing my friends just the basic level of play that you've highlighted but I've thrown in using Teamwork and Any Hero Specials. They initially did struggle with the concept of the Teamwork cards and would hardly use them at first since they were confused when it came to them, but once they caught on to how effective they are (they saw how I would continuously pound them with the Teamworks) they quickly made an effort to fully understand them. Also, we aren't adhering to Sum Deck at the moment mostly because all of us just want to try out all the characters and have fun with teams. I don't think they will particularly like the Sum Deck rule once I tell them its necessary for playing outside our little group.

I don't mind sending it (it's close to being done) but you should know that my re-write encompasses the House rules that I play by, which are meant to streamline the meta rules and keep all necessary references in an easy to read guide, so it might not help so much if learning the 'official' game. Though I plan to have a section that outlines the difference between my House Rules and the Official ones.

-BBH