Card battlers, collectible card games, trading card games – call them what you want, but they’re among the more popular games on the App Store, as they bring the experience of games played with physical cards to mobile devices. The latest such game is Deckstorm: Duel of Guardians, a new game from DeNA that is available for both Android and iOS mobile devices. It claims to be inspired by the classic card battler War, and in here, players play customized cards simultaneously in fast and furious PvP battles that last only five minutes. You can collect and unleash Guardians, using strategy to customize and upgrade your cards, and of course, to beat your human-controlled opponents. In the game you will be playing as one of the Provenants of Ravia, summoning cards from 12 unique classes and using a variety of ways to upgrade each of those cards.
We can go on about the game’s features and the extensive backstory, but the main thing with these games is that they often take quite a while to learn. It takes a lot of expertise to play the right cards at the right time, and to have a consistent advantage over all your opponents. So read on as we now present to you our list of Deckstorm: Duel of Guardians tips and tricks, as we talk you through ways you can beat more opponents and come up with better strategies.
1. Remember The Elemental Hierarchy
The most fundamental thing in this game is the elemental triangle, or hierarchy that dictates which card has a natural advantage over another. Fire beats earth, earth beats water, and water beats fire. It’s a simple hierarchy and quite easy to remember especially if you color-code it (red for fire, blue for water, green for earth), and it becomes even easier if both of you have confirmed hands, in which you can see which type element your opponent is playing.
2. Gain An ‘Upper Hand’ Over Your Opponent
If you are able to choose and play three cards that end up beating your opponent’s cards in terms of elements, that will give you an “upper hand” over your opponent. That would let all your cards be on the attack first, thereby ignoring the turn-based order. That means you can go through one round without any of your cards being affected adversely. Again, you want to remember the elements when choosing which cards to play.
On the other hand, you should guard against the possibility that your opponent may get the upper hand in the game’s context. That would require you to predict what your opponent may be doing next, and in addition to that, you shouldn’t be too predictable by playing too many cards of one element. As an aside, you can play Neutral cards, which are not weak or strong against any of the three basic elements; that will break an upper hand, and add another element of strategy into your battle plan.
3. How To Win Card Battles Faster
In this game, it’s more than just beating your opponent – it’s beating your opponent and winning the duel in the least number of turns possible. Considering the game’s main selling point of fast card battles, you need to be quick and precise when it comes to devising your strategy – you need to think quickly, but make the right decisions and always be planning ahead. Don’t play cards for the sake of playing them or just so you can get the battle moving forward. It may take some practice and a lot of experience to get yourself familiarized, but you should think of the potential outcomes associated with the moves you make. The less moves you need to complete and win a duel, the more stars you can receive, and the higher your multiplier will be for your rewards. Completing duels with the least possible moves is great if you’re gunning for additional gold and XP.
4. Take Advantage Of Card Spells
All of your cards come attached with spells. Once you’ve completed a certain number of turns, you can unleash those spells, simply by tapping on the spell icon found below the card. After casting a spell, there’s a possibility the card may grow and become more effective. Use your spells as often as possible to power them up, and don’t save them up for too long or you might not be able to use them to your full potential.
5. Don’t Spend Too Much Time Playing – Research Once In A While
Talking about the topic of research, it is possible to assign your guardian cards to research. That’s going to give you a chance of winning additional freebies. Your head start bonus will increase depending on how rare the guardian card is, and while this means sacrificing one of your best and rarest for the duty, it also means you won’t be able to use the card and play it in the battlefield.
That makes it essential to spend some time researching, and not to spend every minute actively playing on those card battles. You can also set aside research for a time when you know you won’t be playing, e.g. while you’re sleeping. Set up research if you’re all tired out from the battles, out of energy, or getting set to take a break from the game. Research projects, after all, can take several hours at times to complete.
6. About Spell Prep
Going back to the topic of spells, you can try Spell Prep if your deck is mainly focused on the spells of specific cards. Spell Prep will have you starting at 15 points, and you can assign those points to any spell associated with your cards. Assigning a point would remove a turn from a card’s cool-down/charge-up period, which means you can make a spell ready immediately once you play a card if you invest three points into a card that requires three turns to charge up its spell. Use Spell Prep wisely, as it could help you gain an unexpected upper hand.
These would be our list of tips and tricks for Deckstorm: Duel of Guardians. If you’re a fellow player, who knows other hints for the game, don’t hesitate to let us know in the comment section!