Severe Shortages, by Lemmy Koopa.

Severe Shortages is good for decks where rare cards play an important role but aren’t in large supply.  This card allows you to use them again by pulling them out of the discard and putting them back in the deck.  It can be a solid part of any deck, especially if combined with Supply Line.  Supply Line usually lends the danger of running out of cards, but Severe Shortages can let you use those same cards again.  Of course if you’re winning and don’t want to reuse the cards (i.e., you’d rather end the game), you don’t have to play this card.  Probably you only need one in your deck, then you can use it when your deck is running low.  You could also use it even if your deck isn’t running low to bring back an important card you used up when you’re in a rush.

Magic Tournament, by Lemmy Koopa.

After reading all these strategy articles, you may have come to the realization that a deck, if constructed well, can win on the power of Spells rather than the power of Minions or even Buildings.  Magic Tournament is a good support card for a Spell-laden deck.  Now, what I’m talking about is a deck full of Spells, and it is easy to construct one because there are so many useful Spells.

Here’s a deck idea that I like.  Fill your deck with Midnight Raid, and a few Draining Resources, and lots of Supply Line, to zap your opponent of all kinds of Energy.  Also include Nipper or Bandit, who can take away even more cards, possibly Energy.  This is the start of a really strong deck that doesn’t even require rare or uncommon cards, though  Bandit’s evolutions are definitely worth considering.  But if you have CP left because you’ve been using common cards, throw in some Magic Tournament.  With so many Spells in your deck, you are likely to draw a Spell before your opponent does.  Then you can draw some cards quicker, and your opponent will lose even more cards.

Keeping your opponent unable to hold onto Energy is one of the nastiest, and most effective, ways to play.  Magic Tournament can heighten the effects even more.  Give it a try!

History Repeats, by Lemmy Koopa.

Well, you get to re-use a Spell when you play History Repeats.  It’s a good way to instantly have access to any of your most useful Spells.  It’s also a good trick for getting multiple uses out of a rare Spell, like Induced Evolution, since History Repeats is only uncommon.  But even if you are using it to take the place of a common Spell, its usefulness is in being a wildcard.  This is one of those cards that provide a lot of options and flexibility, and a flexible deck is a successful deck.  Use this and you may find yourself able to take advantage of an otherwise losing situation.

Garbage Picking, by Lemmy Koopa.

Now for Garbage Picking, a rare Spell.  This is sort of similar to Severe Shortages, in that you are able to retrieve cards from your discard, but this is more precise and therefore potentially more useful.  This time, the cards you retrieve go straight into your hand, so it is perfect for reusing that Energy you really need or reviving that evolved form that just got knocked out (or tossed out of your hand somehow).  This card comes with a price, and is not intended for beginning decks.  Garbage Picking is a strong member of a deck with many rare cards.  Instead of putting in 5 Zombone and 5 Fortress and 5 Angry Sun, put in a few of each and then a couple of Garbage Picking.  The CP requirement will be lower, as a result, so you’ll be able to build this deck of rare cards sooner, and Garbage Picking acts as a powerful wildcard in being able to get for you any of these rare cards.  Oh yeah, and of course it can retrieve common cards too in case of emergency.

Fresh Troops, by Lemmy Koopa.

Fresh Troops is one of the few cards in the alpha set that allow you to pull a certain card from out of your deck.  There are several cards that allow you to search precisely in your discard, but sometimes the card you need isn’t there.  Fresh Troops is equal to any Minion in your deck, so it is another powerful wildcard.  However, it is a bit chancy, as you have to flip heads in order to get anything from it.  This may seem like a waste, and it is if your coin has two tails.  But most coins only have one tails, and if you have a couple of Fresh Troops available you can be, in theory, sure of being able to pull out that Minion you need.  This is an excellent choice for decks with rare Minions in it, or for decks with lots of evolution cards since they are usually the hardest to get out.  Swarm decks and speed decks should lay off.

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