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Are most games with a deck nearly identical?

Strongly Agree
1
6%
Somewhat Agree
7
41%
Neutral
1
6%
Somewhat Disagree
4
24%
Strongly Disagree
4
24%
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By PantsOfTheTalShiar (Jason Tang)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#544148
I've heard people say that the same deck plays out the same each game with little difference, so I was wondering how much people agreed with that sentiment.

EDIT: Corrected thread title.
Last edited by PantsOfTheTalShiar on Thu Mar 04, 2021 3:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By Armus (Brian Sykes)
 - The Center of the Galaxy
 -  
Regent
Community Contributor
#544149
As in all things, it depends.

It's certainly possible to build a "script deck" and there are very good tier one decks of this sort.

However, I personally like to build decks that give me options, so it really depends on what my opponent decides they want to do.

I'm not sure there's one answer to this question.
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First Edition Rules Master
By BCSWowbagger (James Heaney)
 - First Edition Rules Master
 -  
Community Contributor
#544164
Is the deck playing against the same deck as well, or is it just a deck that is going up against several diverse other decks -- say, in a tournament?
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Ambassador
By rsutton41 (Ryan Sutton)
 - Ambassador
 -  
  Trek Masters  Participant 2024
#544706
If the question is asked from the point of view -- "that the deck is playing against the same dilemmas in multiple games" I would say there is little to no variance in the play of a well flushed out deck. However, dilemma strategy against some decks completely change the effectiveness of some deck types. If a deck runs a limited number of ships or is based on a very tightly designed away team from a very small deck it affect game play very much. I have a couple of decks that do absolutely great every game against decks that don't interact with the other player but once an interaction like battle comes into play it totally wrecks the deck if a ship is damaged or destroyed the same can be said about dilemma strategy that stops vs massive kills via interaction. Tough question as there are so many variable -- I feel based mostly on opponents strategy.
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By SudenKapala (Suden Käpälä)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
#544718
Looking only from my side of the table (I think it's not too hard to calibrate for the opponent's influence on the game -- which is often very different between games), and having tried quite a broad range of different quality decks in just a few years, my experience is as follows.

The higher the quality of a given deck, e.g. the more competitive it is according to current standards, the more each game feels like the last. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, per se. But it seems that quality here means adaptability to circumstances -- and therefore performing optimally under all of those circumstances.

The older, easier, or "worse quality" the decks get -- with my own "fun"-emphasized playgroup environment, or my redundant card stack festival meadow trash decks, as extremes -- the less predictable a game is. Which makes for more epicness, hilarious moments, and diversity on my side of the 'line. "Play 1 draw 1 fly beam solve" allows for more variety in situations. But less consistency. And in OP, consistency is rewarded.

And I've said it before -- I like both these sides of the 1e spectrum. I lived for years without the second (consistent performance), and I still loved the game. So I wouldn't want to miss the first (luck-based=unpredictable), at all.

The CoA starters, I feel, are somewhat in the middle of the spectrum; and, while wholly different, my Impulse Speed format decks also clock in at the median between predictable and diversity. And I can appreciate those games, too.

(I think I must admit I like games that don't do away with the unknown, and the influence of chance, a bit better than those with high quality, oiled, well-running machines.)
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By DarkSabre (Austin Chandler)
 - Delta Quadrant
 -  
Continuing Committee Member - Retired
#544749
Having experienced the era of 'net decking' running against similar or identical decks has unusually generated very similar plays esp. since so many cards do 'certain downloads' or 'you need certain cards', If the dilemmas are the same then its really crazy.
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By stressedoutatumc (stressedoutatumc)
 - Beta Quadrant
 -  
#544798
I think it's "somewhat true" because I think for the beginning of the game, most people script it out a certain way. More or less, anyway, because it's all a setup for the rest.

I liken it to playing a RPG video game. You want your character to do something in the end game of Diablo 3, which means the beginning of your character is very predictable, with some variance because of the random drops. For example, I want a Whirlrend Barb, which means I need to get to level 70, then grind through lower level rifts until I get my pieces, then I'll be spinning to win the rest of my time.

That's basically my experience in trek. My first few turns are set up so my last few turns can maximize my chance of winning, though by that time all my engines will be running and it's basically report, move, attempt, repeat.
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