Very often we see Methuselahs desperately trying to do random things so that he/she can cycle into what is (most of the time) absolutely life-saving, or at least useable; over here we called that cycling. I'm not sure if this is the official term, or at least a general accepted definition of this activity, but I was just thinking that cycling is such an important, and common aspect of Vtes, that we should actually look at it as an integral part of deck building, and if possible, actually plan for it if possible.
What usually prompts a frantic cycling is a perceived (or real) threat that one cannot handle with whatever is in his/her hand, it also happens when there is a perceived (or actual) opportunity to exploit and one knows that that (or those) cards are in the deck somewhere, and therefore must quickly get rid of whatever is in the current hand to get to it. Finally, sometimes it's just that whatever is in the hand is simply useless, and has to be exchanged for something else so that the deck can get on with it - it could be that the hand is lacking a key card, or a supporting card that is needed to get the engine started.
But when should we start doing random things, sometimes even silly things like recruiting expensive allies just to get rid of it in hand?
For the first case, it usually can't be planned into the deck, as all decks have weaknesses, and even if the deck is prepared to meet such a problem, it usually doesn't pack enough of those contingencies to warrant a good chance to get the necessary card(s) into hand. That said, there are threats that a deck is well prepared to meet, but simply didn't draw the right card(s) and therefore the Methuselah must cycle quickly to get to those cards. The most common aspect of this cycling is for combat cards or Intercepts/Deflections - as these are the 2 most commonly encountered threats that most decks can handle in one way or another. I think that few Methuselahs will spend the effort cycling if he doesn't have a good chance to get the cards, hoping to draw that one Delaying Tactics in a 60+ card library isn't a good investment of your time and actions. However, hoping for a Majesty where there are at least 6-8 copies in the deck is a good idea, provided one is sure that it will save the key vampire for at least another turn. But again, this might be questionable, since the random cycling might actually make one's position even more untenable if one didn't draw into the Majesty afterall. Therefore, my thought is that, cycling for defensive cards, unless it's for Intercepts where you know you can block and kill important vampires, or Deflections if you know your predator is going to bleed for many many for sure, isn't that good an investment most of the time. (As you can see, those "defensive" cards you should be cycling for are still offensive in some way)
The second case deals with kill technique or ousting most of the time, and therefore warrants frantic cycling. The reward of the VP and 6 pool dangles in front of the Methuselah whenever he is faced with such a situation. I feel that this case almost always warrant cycling, since the VP is worth the effort. However, I've seen Methuselahs over cycle and neglects their defenses and gave their predator the VP instead. Overcycling is never good.
The last situation is either simply a bad day, or the ration of the cards ain't right. For such cases, if the key card is ABSOLUTELY necessary (like Summon History, or Spirit Marionette), then there is no choice but to do that. However, the deck-building process should have taken this into consideration and provided means for the Methuselahs to do this when needed.
There are certain cards that helps in cycling, or at least reduce the needs of cycling. Dreams of the Sphinx is such a gem simply because it allows the user to cycle his hand as well. A Dream's most effective function is not the extra 1 transfer, but the extra 2 cards that you can bring to hand, and discard the 2 cards that are useless in your hand after that, in addition to your discard phase - that's 3 lousy cards gone - one is 2 turns ahead of his opponents with a single use of the Dream's hand size capability.
There are other dedicated discard (and therefore cycling) methods - the Fragment of the Book of Nod, for example, allows one to draw cards and then cycle away the useless ones. Is this necessary in most decks? Probably not, but is it good to have when you know your hand is going to face severe clotting very often.
Many clan-only cards also allow for some sort of cycling - the Mokole Blood, the Shilmulo Tarot, all allows the Methuselah to stack (and sometimes even select the right) cards into a secret stash and therefore thins the deck and allow cycling into those cards as needed. It also in some way provides extra hand size, which is in fact, another boost to cycling, as it reduces the need to cycle since you have more cards in hand. Visit from the Capuchin doesn't really help in cycling, but it does quickly fill your hand with 4 more cards, and therefore is good to have in terms of getting the right cards.
Generic cycling cards cannot be better than the Heart of Nizchetus. Case closed.
Can a deck planned for cycling? Well, I think it is possible, and many decks have already factored that into the construction. Most notably are combat decks, and sometimes they use hand size increase in combats to achieve that purpose. Main reason that many combat decks does this is because they know they'll have lots of combat cards, and simply will not need so many, so a temporary increase in hand size allows them to get the cards they need and then remove those they don't after the combat, while making sure that they have enough cards in hand to deal with that. Other decks sometimes have that option too, like Flurry of Action, also allows card draw when needed.
Multi-action decks are most capable of cycling - therefore sometimes you see Una happily enjoying herself doing all those idiotic things so that she can draw into something useful and finally contribute something, or sometimes a whole lot of Web of Knives Recruits may decide to just have a party with guns just so that a single Contract can be drawn. This is however, both wasteful and dangerous.
There is sadly no way one can ensure that the hand is always good and nice - that would be the ultimate goal of all deck building process of course, and for some decks it is possible, such as the famous Thrown Gate deck (no way you can miss that one). But one should always take steps in making sure the ratio and number of cards in the deck is as optimal as possible - afterall, cycling may be needed, but it is definitely not welcomed.
However, it is a hilarious thing in Vtes.
(o.o)
2 comments:
The best way to deal with bad drawing( and the subsequent need of cycling like a wild)is to adecuate limit your deck cards.
Few people know about the reality of statistics.
It is not the same to have 2 entrancement in 60 cards than to have 3 on 90, because probability distribution is better on variance on the first than on the second. If the think comes to cycling is far most clearer.
If in your hand is not x card, the probability to get the needed card in a smaller deck is much higher because it´s not the same to cycle 6 cards on a 60 card deck ( 1/10 of your deck cycled)than to cycle the same number on a 90 card deck ( 1/15 of the deck).
I concur, however, it is the eternal argument of quality vs quantity. No point drawing what you need if you do not have enough of it to do the job. This is of course subject to lots of debates, and I think that 60 cards decks and 90 cards decks each have their advantages and disadvantages.
I'm a true believer of 90 cards decks though~ :)
(o.o)
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