One of my favorite parts of the Free Realms MMORPG is the Trading Card Game. Growing up with Magic: The Gathering, I have always had a fondness for TCG's. I played M:TG for a while, then the Wheel of Time CCG and a plethora of others along the way as well. Something about collecting cards and building a mean deck to beat your oppenant to a pulp is fun for me :) So, with that, I'll be posting some Free Realms TCG tactics articles from time to time.Deck Building:
There are three types of cards in Free Realms TCG: creatures, resources, and tricks. One of the questions you might ask when building a deck is, “how many of each of type should I use?” It’s a tough question, because there’s definitely no one right answer – particularly when a given deck might require a “custom mix.” Here’s the approach that suits me best; you can try it out and see if it’s right for you.
Creatures are by far the most important card type. You want one to play every single turn, if not two or three each turn as the game progresses. I rate creatures so highly that they make up more than half of every deck I build. In a 40-card deck, I usually use 22 creatures.
This next part is where my approach to deck building differs from many other players. Of those 22 creatures, I make six of them heroes. People have asked me, why would I want so many expensive heroes that don’t help me early in the game? My answer to them is, they do help me. Heroes have four gems, which makes them the best flip you can get in battle. Better still, heroes always mix gems of multiple colors. Most decks include creature power-ups of more than one color, and in most cases, a flipped hero can trigger any of them.
It’s not that I don’t want to actually play my heroes. In fact, that’s another reason I stock so many: I want to be sure I have one in my hand by my fifth turn so that I can play it. Heroes are good if you flip them. They’re good when you play them. Why wouldn’t I use that many?
The other 18 cards in my 40 card deck are devoted to tricks and resources. And here, the split between the two does change a bit for me from deck to deck. Most often, though, I’ll make more than half of them tricks: 10 tricks and 8 resources.
Resources are great cards, and can really define your strategy. But you’re also only able to play one each turn. If you have more than two resources in your starting hand, or ever have more than one in your hand after your first couple turns, then you probably have too many resources in your deck. That resource you’re holding that you can’t play could instead be a creature or trick that you can play. Through some trial and error, I’ve found that 8 resources in a 40 card deck usually feels right to me.
So that leaves 10 tricks. Like resources, you probably always want the choice to play one. But you might have more than one battle in a turn, and also fight battles during your opponent’s turn. That’s why it makes sense to me to have a few more tricks than resources.
I tend to keep my decks as close to 40 cards as I can, but if I were to push higher, I’d keep thinking about my “more than half” approach. I want creatures to be more than half of my deck, and tricks to be more than half of what’s left.
Give my mix a try and see if you like it. You may find it works for you too, or at least helps you hone in on what does. Once you have your own “standard mix,” it will make deck building much quicker and easier, so you can get back to action!
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