DECK CONSTRUCTION
A small note before I begin. These are simply guidelines and suggestions. It is my hope that they will help you in constructing a good deck. It took me quite some time to get these suggestions of mine to work. From my original attempts at coming up with a good strategy, I was ending up with decks that exceeded 65 cards (in most cases, I ended up with 65-75 card decks). This is the refinement of those original concepts, notes, and strategies.
There are a few things you always have to keep in mind when building your
deck.
1. Watch the Water Costs!
2. Since you have 2 discard piles, and the Saved pile refreshes when you
run out of cards, be careful about using cards that are Buried and Destroyed
when used. Remember: All Omens are destroyed when they are replaced.
3. Cards will cycle relatively quickly. If you have to discard a card
for some reason, remember, it can come back.
Okay, now down to the nitty gritty. You have a minimum
deck size of 55 cards. The closer you can be to that minimum, the better
off you are. I personally like to have a deck of about 60 cards.
I'm willing to go a bit higher, but not that much. The highest number
of cards you want is about 65.
There are several types of cards to deal with when you
make a deck. City Sections, Heroes, Holdings, Actions, Followers, Items,
Spells, and Stories. You want a careful mix and a good balance of
cards. Here is a good breakdown:
City Sections - You can end up with as few as 3 and as many as 5. Four
is about average.
Heroes - You will want about 10 to 12 Heroes in your deck.
Holdings - You will want 1 Holding for every Hero you are using.
Actions - These cards will make up the bulk of your deck. You will
need between 15 and 25.
Followers - Since these are relatively rare to begin with, you will likely
only need about 1 for every 2 Heroes you have.
Items - More rare than Followers, you will probably only use between 1 and
5.
Spells - You will want 1 or 2 for every Sahir in your deck (including copies).
Stories - You will only want to add Stories you know you will be able to
put into play, so add these as they are appropriate to your deck concept.
Building your deck is pretty simple once you know what you are doing. The first step to building a good deck is a Concept. You want some kind of idea as to what kind of deck you are building. Do you want it to simply Raid your opponents to death, smash through all of their defenses and destroy them, or are you looking at something different - like a deck that can win a Story Victory? Once you have the concept down, then it's time to pick out your cards.
I always start with City Sections. The important things to keep in mind with City Sections are how many points they cost and how much Water they start with. If you pick high cost cards like The Fields of Rolling Grain (cost of 7), or Lands of the Senpet (cost of 6), then you will either need low cost cards like Thieves' Quarter (cost of 3) or you will have fewer City Sections. Fewer City Sections means less water for water costs and a smaller maximum hand size. Always keep in mind how much water they are starting with and any special abilities that you think will help your concept.
Next, I move on to picking out the Heroes I want to use. This step takes a little thought and planning. You have to keep in mind how much a given Hero costs - both copper wise and water wise. If you can, try to pick out about 2 or 3 Heroes that will only require your Stronghold to bring into play. Keep in mind that if a Hero is not aligned to your faction, you will be paying an extra 2 copper to bring that Hero into play. Luckily, Unaligned Heroes don't incur this cost.
Also, never discount a Hero just because of his abilities. Adnan is a 0 Strength, 1 Ka Hero, with Raid -1. So what? Give him a Dhul Fiqar Knife and now he's a 1 Strength, 3 Ka Hero. Even with the Raid -1, he still might be able to pull off a Raid. That 3 Ka means he can pull off a fairly good duel. If nothing else, with that Knife, he can absorb a point of damage in combat. Best part about Adnan? He's free - as long as you already have a hero in play.
Be careful about picking out a lot of big Strength Heroes. Most of them have high Water costs. If you really want to play with your Champion, go ahead. Just bear in mind, they have the highest Water costs of any other Hero. But having high Strength certainly doesn't hurt. Just keep your concept in mind, and you shouldn't have too much trouble.
Next, I pick my Holdings. I want 1 Holding for every Hero I have. So, if I picked out 10 Heroes, then I want 10 Holdings. I highly recommend that every deck have 3 Wheat Fields and 3 Copper Mines in it. Wheat Fields are free. Copper Mines are a good production of copper with an ability that doesn't require any given alignment. I also like to use cards that are based around a given alignment: Spices for the Senpet, Trade Routes for the Moto, and Harems for the Assassins. Watch the costs on these cards, though. Some Holdings do require Water to bring into play.
After Holdings, I usually do Followers. I only really want to use about 1 for every 2 Heroes I have, so if I have 10 Heroes, then I want 5. I always round up. I strongly recommend Desert Warriors - especially if you are going to use your Champion. Desert Warriors give back the Water you spent on the Hero you attach them to. Keep your concept in mind. Strong Military Decks should use Yodatai Legions, Elephants, and Desert Warriors. Control decks should make use of Archers and Advanced Scouts. Raiding decks should use al-Zhayn's Trained Peacocks. Keep balance in mind when you pick these out. You aren't limited to just using 1 for every 2 Heroes. If you want 1 per Hero, then be my guest. Just remember the size of deck when you're doing this.
Next, I move to Items. I always include the unique Item for my alignment: Ancestral Sword of the Kirin for the Moto, The Wicked Moon for the Assassins, and Book of the Dead for the Senpet. Items are kinda hard to come by, so you may not have a whole lot to choose from. Barring concept items, I tend to use the unique Item for my faction, a Dhul Fiqar Knife, and Shielded Armor. Since I only use about 4 or 5 items, the last one or two are strictly for my concept.
Next come Spells. I always use at least 1 for each Sahir I have in my deck. Curse of the Rot Within is a great cheap spell. Harik's Ruby is a good spell, but keep in mind, if you have lots of low Strength Heroes, then you don't want them in the battle with your Sahir when he casts it... Jinn always have a Water Cost, so I tend to use only about 2 of them - total.
Now, that I have that part done, it's time to count your cards. Since you want around 60 cards, the difference between how many you have now and that number, is how many actions you are going to use. Good actions to include - One Water (I always use 3), Desert Springs, A Commander's Courage, Belly of the Desert, and Lost to the Sands. If you have high Ka Heroes, use Sound Planning. If you want to duel, use Knife Fight. Keep your concept in mind when picking out Actions. The ones I listed above are great for balance - you may have a great Raiding Deck or an awesome Dueling deck, but without some kind of defense in Combat, you're just going to die in the face of a large army.
Finally, now that I have most (if not all) of my cards together, I look over Stories. If I think I can get a Story into play, I will likely add it to my deck. Even if I am not looking for a Story Victory (I usually don't have enough Story Cards in the deck to win one), the benefits of a story are too good to pass up if I can get them.
Now that you've built your deck - go out and see how well your concept and your mix of cards works. The best teacher to good deck building is experience. Nothing beats experience.
Good luck!
August 12, 1998
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