Ever wondered why the number of Character cards in your hand is always decreasing and never increasing? Ever wondered why your hand is shrinking after every turn?

One would assume that they have not played cards wrongly, or Clocked the wrong card, until…

Uh-oh, this doesn’t look good…

You realize that you are holding too many Climax cards!

The Actual Problem

Some players are led to believe that holding as many Climax cards as possible will allow you to deal more damage and increase the damage gap between the players. This is seldom true however.

Sometimes, holding too many Climax cards through wrong perception eventually leads to a smaller handsize.

But did the idea of Clocking Climax cards come across one’s mind? Immediately, one would think that such an idea is absurd, or at least probably unthinkable.

Climax cards are supposed to change the game flow so why would anyone want to Clock a Climax card?

Well, there are a variety of reasons but to decide why anyone would want to Clock a Climax card, one must know what playing out a Climax card is about.

Using a Climax card

Firstly, players must know what they’re getting themselves into every time they play a Climax card.

Listed below are some of the basic risks and benefits of using a Climax card.

• Higher average Soul output if Climax card is used (depending of Climax card type)
• Higher average offensive Power if Climax card is used (depending of Climax card type)
• Climax cards returns to deck after refresh if Climax card is used
• Increases the opponent’s cycle rate if Climax card is used
• Allows your Character cards to side attack a character you cannot beat if Climax card is used
• Increases chance for opponent to Cancel Damage if Climax card is used
• Deplete in handsize if Climax card is used

If you do notice, most of these points are double edged swords, such as speeding up the recycle rate of the opponent’s deck. This can not only deal opponent a damage through Refresh, it also means your opponent’s Climax cards are all reset into his deck for more cancels.

Basic intelligence would have already told the player that when a player uses a Climax card, the handsize of the player immediately depletes by one.

Remember last week’s post about handsize maintenance? Yes, this applies to using Climax cards as well. The only time when using Climax cards do not attribute to a deplete in handsize is when the player uses a Climax card that draws for the player, replacing the Climax card that he has just used.

Depleting in handsize might be a good thing. Let’s say I have 7 handsize currently and most of my Climax cards are hand generating triggers. I might decide to use it, so that i do not need to discard any cards due to hand oversize, just in case I would trigger a hand generating trigger.

Alternatively, a player might have 8 hand cards during the turn, so why not use it to build a gap, or catch up to the opponent in Soul damage output?

8 handsize? Use a Climax card. 7 cards left. Seems legit.

Other examples are also present. Having extra Soul output means the opponent will Level Up faster should he take all or most of the damage.

Even though the opponent has taken much more damage then the player, it also allows the opponent to assert pressure on the player by using cards with much higher attack power. Such overwhelming power advantages easily outweigh the damage disadvantage by cutting down on the player’s handsize over the long-run.

It is very possible to Cancel most, if not all damage should the use of a Climax card be recklessly timed.

One must also consider if the opponent has a greatly compressed deck, do you think any, if not most of the damage will be dealt?

Granted, Climax combos are powerful, but wouldn’t that make the deck too Climax card reliant?

That’s food for thought isn’t it?

Why Do I Want to Clock a Climax card

Back to the initial question, why does one actually Clock Climax cards? To decide, ask yourself this simple question:

How would this Climax card contribute to your win? Is the Climax card so important that I would hold it in my hand? One must judge upon such decisions on a very case-to-case basis.

Personally, the decision to Clock a Climax card is because it becomes a liability, as soon as you begin drawing too many Climax cards to use/discard away.

Do I really need that Climax card now? Would it do me any good this turn, the next turn, or the turn after?

Think of it this way. What would happen should I be holding 1 Climax card and 5 Character cards, Clock away a Character card and suddenly have 3 Climax cards in my hand? That would be a real disaster, especially in late game!

By Clocking a Climax card, the player is able to be more flexible in holding cards to react to any situation. The above is a worse case scenario that can happen at any moment. Clocking away a Climax card would reduce the impact of such bad scenarios on the proceeding game situation.

That being said,

When Exactly Do I Clock Climax Cards?

Personally, it is recommended that players Clock Climax cards during the period lv0 or lv1 if need be. During this period, it is quite easy to level up and return them to the Waiting Room early into the game without losing any handsize.

Although this would mean holding on to a higher level card early in the game, it might not be such a bad thing afterall. Think of it as though you’re setting up your hand for mid/late game, while maintaining field presence early with appropriate cards.

An excellent timing to Clock a Climax card, early in the game.

One can also consider Clocking Climax cards when you know you can heal it out during the same turn. This will allow you to return the Climax card to your Waiting Room before your refresh as well.

At level 3, Soul precision is of utmost importance. Would you really need to use a Climax card?

Other situations to Clock Climax cards are when you would want to minimize Soul output (near end game) for maximum accuracy, while still holding enough Character cards to react to any situation should you manage to survive another turn.

Players can also Clock a Climax card if he cannot use it that turn due to colour restrictions. This often happens when a deck is playing multiple colours and Clocking the Climax card can reduce the number of deadweights in your hand.

Alternatively, when a player is already low on resources, it would be risky to not draw a third attacker to maintain Soul damage momentum. Drawing into 2 more Climax cards would easily seal one’s fate.

WS As a Jigsaw Puzzle

As more experienced players would tell you, playing WS is like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. By holding on to the correct hand, WS can be a much easier game to play by utilizing rock-steady strategies. To reduce the risk of drawing way too many Climax cards, Clocking them can do a player wonders if done correctly.

Clocking Climax cards may not seem logical at first glance, but if one were to put deeper thoughts into it, it might just make that perfect Stage so much easier to attain.

Next week, i’ll be posting tips and game theories on handsize management and regeneration! Stay tuned!