Introduction

As much of the game that has changed with the addition of conqueror and flag mechanics, and realizing Sony is bringing on more and more newer players that will not want to chose a race before they have played with these races, I wanted to describe a race-generic method of deck building. This method can be used to get players started on their way toward building their own decks and discovering which race they like most.

I am not going to shy away from cards from older sets. Also, I am not going to shy away from putting in uncommon cards, but you should feel free to track me down to ask suggestions for replacements of cards that you do not have with cards that you do have. A few alternate suggestions may be found throughout the article when I realize particular cards are difficult to acquire.

Overview

Until you get a feel for what you like in your decks, try to keep each of the 4 sections of the deck at equal size. I will refer to each part as a quarter of the deck. Later as you gain experience you can bend the rules to focus your deck for your particular deck size, goals, and race.

The first quarter is exclusively intended to give you the means to put a conqueror into the game early. This will let you place flags early and often as you expand during the first few turns of the game. Put in 2 of each mark (e.g. Mark of Entropy) that generates tech the same as your race gains through the game as breakthroughs (Native Tech). Chose a single cost conqueror (e.g Scrapyard Scavengers) that is native to your race, and put 4 into the deck. Either chose a medal (e.g Medal of Honor) that you like that is native to your race, or chose another single cost conqueror that is native to your race that you like, again putting 4 of these into your deck. This should make up 12 cards, this will give you a deck of 48 cards a good basic deck size.

In the second quarter, put in a hero that will allow you to play other medals and marks that you draw later in the game and create another conqueror. I suggest that you put in a hero that costs 2 tech here, one that creates an advantage either in battle or at its location. It is here for that advantage, but when it becomes a conqueror it will have a second or possibly a third advantage depending on how you build the rest of your deck. Other cards to include in this quarter do one of the following: take advantage of what an early conqueror triggered, take advantage of a planet that was just taken, or assist in the conquering of further planets.

The third quarter is somewhat of an extension of the second quarter. Here you may include more expensive conquerors, taking further advantage of conquering. This allows you to continue conquering, take advatage planets already conquered, and improving your board position. As you see the sample decks below, the difference between the 2nd quarter and the 3rd should become more clear.

The fourth quarter is where you will find the cards that will win you the games. The first 3 quarters of your deck are there to set up the 4th for a key advantage that will overpower your opponent. What is important to keep in mind is how do the effects of these cards help take advantage of what the other 3 quarters have been earning.

Zhikanii Example

Quarter 1:
2x Mark of Cyber
2x Mark of Mind
4x Scrapyard Scavengers
4x Avid Raiders
Quarter 2:
4x Probe
4x Zhikanii Warlock
4x Field Delegates
Quarter 3:
4x Logistical Officer
4x Perimeter Observation Post
4x Field Agents

Until you have decided you want to invest heavily in the Zhikanii, you may decide you just want this section to be 4x Zhikanii Cruiser 4x Zhikanii Scout and 4 Induced Phobia. Later on, you may like 4 each of Apprentice Shipwright, Consumerism, and Timewalker. If you are willing to commit your production towards building ships as your cards are creating influence, another way to go would be Political Lobbyist, Impact Testing, and Express Shuttle. The intent with this option is to be able to draw more cards in, and move the Political Lobbyist or Field Delegates that is at a flagless planet into the chamber to vote. Regardless, this is the quarter to experiment and build the collection towards.

Thrass Example

Quarter 1:
2x Mark of Entropy
2x Mark of Mind
4x Medal of Triumph
4x Avid Raiders
Quarter 2:
4x Thrass Daughter
4x Mounted Pulse Gun
4x Restless Drones
Quarter 3:
4x Iconoclasts
4x Thrall Bleeder
4x Field Agents
Quarter 4:
4x Frenzied Changeling
4x Master Strategist
4x Spore Cloud Emitter

Like the previous example, there are bigger effect cards you can put into Quarter 4. I went ahead and put these in as my suggestions as Thrass tend to not have as many ways to create their own citizens as easily as other races do. The Spore Cloud Emitters and the Spore Clouds that their cruisers have should make conquering easier, but you conquer and move on rather than taking advantage of keeping the planet. If the planet you just took over had citizens local, let them have the planet and then come back and re-conquer as the Thrall Bleeder and the Iconoclasts can activate again and again. An alternative to this Quarter 4 that still has the Frenzied Changeling would also include Calibration Specialist and either Hive Queen or Hive Queen (Reborn). If war is more your thing, you could use Targeted Burrower, Extermination Campaign, and Stealth Bomber as your Quarter 4. An alternative to consider instead of the Restless Drones in quarter 2 would be either Hit and Run or Ruthless Efficiency. All sorts of possibilities, but I thought to put in an example that would not require much change in board play while exposing the reader to Thrass.

Human Example

Quarter 1
2x Mark of Life
2x Mark of Order
4x Medal of Valor
4x Merchant Mariners
Quarter 2:
4x Archaeologist
4x Human Captain
4x Courier
Quarter 3:
4x Landing Party
4x Nomadic Horde
4x Aegis Engineers
Quarter 4:
4x Propagandist
4x Empowered Workforce
4x Viceroy

An alternative to Quarter 2's Archaeologist would be United Purpose, but this deck is big into producing and occupying and using the planets it has acquired to maximum effort. Just be certain to be producing the ships you will need for firepower, as this deck is more concerned with making use of the planets that were taken over.

Omior Example

Quarter 1:
2x Mark of Life
2x Mark of Mind
4x Advancing Horde
4x Avid Raiders
Quarter 2:
4x Hyper Regeneration
4x Archaeologist
4x Omior Avatar
Quarter 3:
4x Bifrucate
4x Nomadic Horde
4x Field Agents

Omior is the race, which has had trickier ways to become militant. The first three quarters went about creating more and more influence where you find a need to mass it up or distribute as you see fit. One page that screams to me to include in Quarter 4 is Precision Targeting because of all the conquerors in the deck. It is also rather straightforward. Another card that works towards Omior strengths would be Pollinate and then you will want to make sure you leave some defense around the planet that you pump Pollinate after Pollinate onto. A typical tactic that you encounter as Omior is your opponent will declare war to use bombers to eliminate some of your influence, so if you were to play Peace Offering and Upheaval on one of your planets and move as many of your conquerors there as possible, you can get them conquering that planet again and now their bombers will not harm your citizens as easily. If none of these seems to be within the access to cards that you have, you can still taste the Omior with Omior Cruiser and Omior Scout.