Hello, Element Wars fans! My name is Victoria Vallins, and I'm here today to talk strategy. With a game as new and unique as Element Wars, it's difficult to figure out how to play optimally. What should you include in your deck? When should you cast your cards? What gives you the greatest chances of winning?
In my experience so far playing Element Wars, I've found three key concepts to guide me. Mastering these concepts is the first step on the road to victory. But before we get going: this article references a lot of cards by their name only, so it'll be useful to open the Visual Spoiler for the first set in another tab. Now, without further ado, let's dive in!
Three Keys To Victory
#1 One Ability Card is Worth 10 Health
Everyone wants to include the best cards available in their deck. But how do you tell how good a card is?
Let's start by looking at ability cards, since they make up most of any deck. Ability cards like Thunderstorm and Rough Skin let you increase the power of your attack by ten damage while jumping through minimal hoops. Surely at some point you will be behind your opponent in health, and surely at some point you will be attacked! Meanwhile, cards like Galaxy Sprites let you do the reverse, healing yourself for ten health. Most of the elements have cards like these, which in one way or another add or subtract ten points from either player's health.
These cards send a message: a single ability card is worth ten health. This is the benchmark ability cards are balanced around. A card that damages or heals for more than 10 often has a drawback (such as Great Flames, which lets you deal 15 extra damage right now at the cost of losing 15 damage later), while a card that damages or heals for less than 10 has some sort of bonus (such as Dark Sphere and Full Bloom, which change an attack's power by 5, but do so permanently).
Using this information, you can evaluate the power level of cards based on how much above or below the average they do. So even though it's situational, a card like Ice Rampart has the ability to reduce your opponent's attack by 50 points! That's like five cards in one. And that brings me to my next point . . .
#2 Get The Most Value Out Of Your Cards
Element Wars has many cards whose value changes depending on the situation. For example, let's return to Great Flames.
Most of the time, the downside of Great Flames balances out the upside, for a net value of zero points. But what if you wait to use Great Flames to push through the last 15 damage needed to kill your opponent's final elemental? You get all of the benefit for none of the cost. And you get a 15 point swing, making the value of the card higher than average.
Using your cards at the right time lets you squeeze the most value out of them. The player who gets the most value of their cards is likely to win.
Let's look at another scenario. Your opponent controls Darkflame Cerberus and you Control Sky Manta. Your opponent rolls a 5, which would normally deal 45 - more than half your health! You, however, have been holding onto Typhoon, waiting for just this moment. You cast it and cackle maniacally. With one card, you've reduced your opponent's attack by 40 damage!
But this play wouldn't have been possible without patience. Suppose earlier in the game, your opponent rolled a 5 while you controlled Storm King. Using Typhoon then would have saved you 20 damage - still very good. But you saved it since you knew you could get even more value out of it later.
There is, however, one caveat to this rule. You should use your situational cards when you need to in order to survive, even if you aren't getting full value out of them. Let's say that in the previous example, your Storm King is your second elemental, it has 60 health, and you have no third elemental in your hand. Even though using Typhoon to prevent only 20 damage is sub-optimal, you should still probably do it, because that 20 health might be enough to guarantee an extra draw step so you can find your third elemental.
Hey, speaking of cards in hand . . .
#3 Have More Cards Than Your Opponent
Those familiar with other trading card games may have heard of the concept of "card advantage" before. For those who haven't: it's rather simple, but very powerful.
Imagine for a moment that you and your opponent start the game with a different number of cards in your opening hand. Your opponent starts with six, but you only start with five. Who is more likely to win? Your opponent clearly has the advantage, because they have more cards, giving them access to more plays, strategies, and synergies than you. Indeed, drawing one more card than your opponent is very powerful!
If only there was some way to do that in a real game?
Consider Gemini Gift. It replaces one card in your hand (itself) with two additional cards from your deck. In total, you now have one more card than you did before. You've gained a card advantage over your opponent. Casting more Gemini Gifts only compounds this advantage. Getting card advantage is instrumental to victory, so you almost always want to play four Gemini Gifts in your deck.
But drawing cards isn't the only way to gain card advantage. Let's say your opponent casts two copies of Thunderstorm during their turn, and you respond with Ice Rampart to prevent all the damage from their attack. You've used one card to completely negate two of their cards. Now you are one card up on your opponent, and free to use the rest of your hand to grow your advantage.
Onwards To Victory!
Combining these three strategies won't always guarantee that you win, but it will give you the best chances of doing so. So go out there, draw some cards, get some value, and win some games!
Welp, that just about wraps it up for this article. If you liked this and want to see more, drop me a line using the Contact Us page, and include "For Victoria Vallins" in the subject line. And don't be shy about any strategy topics you want to see.
May you always roll your strongest move,
Victoria Vallins