Credit Rewards

[cc-drake]

Hey, I recognized that for earning much credits in the Quest mode, the best way is to build an 8 cards deck like

1 Vampire Hexmage
1 Dark Depths
1 Lightning Greaves
2 Black Lotus
1 Street Wraith
2 other cards

which kills every game in one turn. Of course, this is really boring, but obviously the easiest way to afford cards like Black Lotus in the card shop.
But this is not magic! So I suggest to let the bonus credits depend on

1) Deck size, which means a small reward if you're using a 60+ cards deck, and a punishment if you're playing with less than 40 cards

2) Deck legality, which means bonus credits if your deck would be legal in standard, extended or legacy, and a punishment if your deck is not even legal in vintage (i.e. 2x Black Lotus or 40x Surging Flame). Of course then we'd need a legality check tool in the Deck Editor.

The Punishment could consist in decreasing the credit rewards by a percentaged number, so you'd end up with a positive reward at all.
I think this would create a more interesting challenge to create for example vintage legal decks with maximal probability for fast kills.

[friarsol]

How would you build that deck to begin with? I rarely lose games in my quest, but I never have enough money to buy a Lotus. I don't know if I've seen it in the shop more than 2 times. Either way, it's a solo-player game, the only person you are cheating is yourself.

Instead of changing rewards, if someone is using a deck with less than 40 cards, we should fill it with basic lands of a random type. This way if you are accidentally under it's not a major issue, but if you are just trying to break the game it will be much more difficult.

[cc-drake]

I won both Black Lotus during Quests, but in fact you don't even need them for a 8 card Deck, since you can also use cards like Dark Ritual, Ancient Tomb etc, and there are much additional combos like Wall of Blood / Fling or 2 Sensei's Divining Top / Helm of Awakening / Storm. If such a deck is your goal, you should be able to complete one after ca. 100 wins.
Filling the decks with basic lands would be a first solution, but doesn't fix these Surging Flame Decks or the fact that my Ancestral Recall s or my Time Walk s are autoincludes for each of my decks, which makes deck building really boring.

[Hamletchickencrisis]

I just don't play with decks below 40 cards that violate common sense rules and restrictions. Eight card one-turn-kill decks, aside from being easy to make, are about as fun a flipping a coin and saying "heads I win, tails you lose" and calling it a game. If you are bored, then fight the impulse to power game and make a theme deck or something. I for one am amazed to see a free game that allows you to build and test run decks against an A.I. much less one that gives you a decent quest mode to make things interesting.

P.S.: After reading over this my tone could be seen as belligerent and this isn't my intention. I am honestly trying to give suggestions although, just as honestly, their efficacy could be suspect.

[Chris H.]

I tend to start a quest with a 40 card two color deck. As my pool of cards increase, I will eventually create a 60 two or three color deck.

At some point, a person might develop an interest in creating a small 1 turn kill deck. I am not sure that we should prevent people from exploring this as an option.

I think that a 1 turn kill deck would be a short term interest. The quest mode tends to encourage people to steadily improve their decks(s) as their card pool increases. People can also explore 1 turn kill decks in the constructed deck mode.

[cc-drake]

At some point, a person might develop an interest in creating a small 1 turn kill deck. I am not sure that we should prevent people from exploring this as an option.

Well, I didn't say that we should prevent people from that, but should this really be rewarded by about 4000 credits per match?

[Chris H.]

Well, I didn't say that we should prevent people from that, but should this really be rewarded by about 4000 credits per match?

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Sorry, I did not mean to imply that. I agree that a modification to the credits gained would be worth consideration. A first turn win with an 8 card deck is far easier than with a deck containing more cards.