Most people wonder what are effective combos as well as a way to gauge the usefulness of a card. Well i’ve decided to type a weekly article to give an introduction or mini-guide to WS. Today’s topic is game progression, colours and stats.

Impossible stats and colour pairing, i can assure you that this is a fake card.

The following article is inspired by Dreamer’s article in DS forums. This is NOT a translation of it and i plan to go much more indept as we continue on…

COLOUR BREAKDOWN

WS is a game which utilises 4 different colours and each has a significant playing syle. Each colour has it’s own significance and values which i shall break down below.

Yellow: Colour of Speed. This colour specialises in adding Power during your turn, returning opponent’s Characters to hand (so as to create an opening) and adding Soul to you Characters.
Green: Colour of Power. This colour specialises in adding massive Power stats, stacking Stock rapidly as well as high basic Stats to ensure survivability.
Red: Colour of Technique: This colour specialises in using many different varieties of abilities, mostly includes inflicting out-of battle Damage, card recovery as well, revival as well as many elements of Stage Control.
Blue： Colour of Advantage: This colour specialises in gaining advantage by card drawing, card searching as well as increasing Power on opponent’s turns.

Technically, a player can concentrate on playing just one colour, but be sure to know the motive of a deck. A good deck will need to figure out what is a good mix of cards he can use from.

CARD STATISTICS

In this game, every Level will bring about some radical changes in Power stats. The below is a short compilation of “standard” stats that is across the board for all series. These cards normally do not hold any abilities and are considered the “vanilla” stats of each Level and cost.

Lvl 0 Cst 0: 3000 Power | Lvl 1 Cst 0: 5500 Power | Lvl 1 Cst 1: 6000 Power | Lvl  2 Cst 1: 8500 Power | Lvl 2 Cst 2: 9000 Power

As the game progresses, the role of each card will take upon different roles. This is of course, flexible to the individual but here are some strategies to consider:

EARLY GAME: LEVEL 0

Basic beaters, ability beaters as well as supporters are recommended for play

This is the level where the playing field is normally pretty constant. This level is also the time when you have no Stock at your disposal to do anything really fancy, nor expect any from the opponent. Playing Lv0/0 characters are of utmost importance during this time so that you can steadily build up your Stock for mid/late game’s use. Most players also dish out their supporting characters early in the game to gain Stock and grab an early foothold for the later part of the game (which isn’t recommended).

Characters who have low or no cost abilities are very recommended for play under certain circumstances to increase a fighting chance during this point of time as any advantage should be taken to it’s full potential during this point of time.

I would advice most players to not use Encore （3） on Level 0 Characters due to the simple logic that it’d probably be a waste to do so since it can be used to better effect later on. Also, if you’re running multiple support characters, do make sure you have enough at the Backline to sustain your future game before sending them out to fight, or unless you’re really desperate. Normally, a standard balanced deck should have around 12-14 lv 0/0 beaters as well as 5-6 lv 0/0 support Characters.

MID GAME: LEVEL 1-2

Low cost encore characters with abilities are highly recommended.

The game truely begins only when you reach Level 1. During these two level, players must still take into account Stock count, attack strategy as well as possible Counter attack strategies.

During Level 1, most players should have access to some stronger cards (compared to Level 0) which are still relatively low cost. Most Level 1s are 0 or 1 cost so they shouldn’t be draining your Stock too much. 0 cost Level 1s have low survivability as they normally do not go above 5500 Power.

I advice players to still not pay too much heed to Lv 1 Character’s survivability because they’re simply not worth your 3 Stock. However, a great 1/0 Character would have Encore (Put a Character to Waiting Room) ability. Coupled with additional abilities, they are really worth a slot in any deck. A normal balanced deck should have around 9 to 13 Lv 1 Characters.

The game will normally proceed to Lv 2 with a couple of turns. The pace of the game should increase dramatically after that. This is where the fruits of saving up Stock early will come into play. Now with almost full access to all cards in the player’s deck, their Power stats and abilities will dramatically change the gameplay of each deck.

During this time, many powerful abilities can change the game dramatically and cause a big change in Stage presence as well as damage counts. A game can probably end in one turn by Leveling the opponent up to 2 or 3 Levels in a go (based on luck, statistics, tactics, or all the above). The strategy by now is to gain as much damage advantage as possible while reducing the opponent’s possibility of recovery.

Support cards that can be played during Mid game normally brings about big changes and very powerful stat increments. Most balanced decks should contain 6-10 Level 2s.

END GAME: LEVEL 3

Kyou is aweso… i mean Level 3s are awesome, i know.

And finally the conclusion of each games are during Level 3. During this time, it’s a no-holds barred slug fest between the two players to see who dies first. It is true that most Level 3 Characters are broken/awesome but remember, once a player is at Level 3, it just means that it’s going to be over for him too sooner or later too.

A recommended 2 or 3 Level 3s should be in a deck (if the player deems it necessary) for newer players. But a 6-10 lv3s are currently the competitive number to play around with. Remember, even Level 0s can cause the death of Level 3s by just running headlog into death…

Stay tuned…

Next week, i will discuss about Character traits and Climax cards; their importance and how it greatly changes the game with good strategic use.