The table below is the synthesis of my six years of experience. The concepts are simple, but a deep understanding of them gives you considerable advantage in competitive PvP. Over the course of this post, I will be elaborating on the definition and significance of each section of the table.
| Direct Offense | Bypass Offense |
| No Defense | Rush | Break |
| Temporary Defense | Domin | Hybrid |
| Permanent Defense | Non-viable | Stall |
FundamentalsBefore we begin, let’s look at the very basics of how Elements was designed. Unlike with many other card games, the cards in Elements can be divided into two categories: offense and defense. For comparison, cards in other games can oftentimes serve both of the two roles, by choosing either to attack your opponent’s life points directly (offense) or to destroy the opponent’s creatures instead (defense). With Elements, most of the creatures are almost exclusively offense cards, while most of the spells and shields are almost exclusively defense cards. Although some might believe this divide causes Elements to be simplistic, I believe it is what makes the different types of decks in Elements more distinct from each other than in other games.
Two Types of OffenseThe numerous different offense cards in the game can be condensed into two categories: direct and bypass. Direct offense cards typically have efficient damage for their cost, but they are stopped by most of the game’s defense cards. Bypass offense cards typically have less damage, but they are more difficult to remove with defense cards. Consider the sharp distinctions between Crimson Dragon (direct) and Phase Dragon (bypass). Crimson Dragon deals 12 damage a turn for 10 quanta, while Phase Dragon deals only 8 damage a turn for 13 quanta. However, Crimson Dragon can be killed by numerous defensive spell cards (Lightning, Shockwave, Fire Bolt), while Phase Dragon is impervious to almost all of them. Additional examples of direct offense cards include Cockatrice, Ghost of the Past, Bone Dragon, and basically almost any creature with less than 6 health and no redeeming ability. Additional examples of bypass offense cards include Unstable Gas, Fractal, and Catapult.
Three Types of DefenseThe distinction between the different types of defenses is more dependent on the quantity of defense cards, rather than the type. A deck with "no defense" obviously has no defense cards, or very few. A deck with temporary defense has a fair number of defense cards (usually 6-12), which are intended to delay or diminish the opponent’s damage but not prevent it entirely. A deck with permanent defense devotes almost the entirety of the deck towards the goal of stopping their damage completely, until the opponent runs out of cards. Note that decks with permanent defense almost always have a means of healing themselves, in order to offset the damage done by the opponent’s creatures before they are removed. An example of a temporary defense would be the use of 6 Lightnings. An example of a permanent defense would be the use of 6 Fire Bolts, 3 Fire Shields, 2 Deflagrations, 6 Sanctuaries, and a Miracle.
RushesRushes are fairly simple, in that their win condition is simply dealing 100 damage to the opponent as quickly as possible. Note that some rushes devote a small amount of resources towards cheap cards that provide minor defensive benefit, such as one copy of Fog Shield or Druidic Staff, but most of their non-quanta cards are direct offense. Examples of Rushes include Immolation decks and Mono Life. Rushes are most effective against Breaks, which carry no means of delaying the opponent’s offense yet bring a much slower offense themselves.
BreaksSimilar to Rushes, Breaks focus entirely on offense. But unlike Rushes, Breaks carry bypass offense, which cannot be stopped by the opponent’s defense. Of course, the cost of using bypass offense is having a slower win condition, which is very disadvantageous against Rushes. Examples of Breaks include Flying Titans and Fractix. Breaks are most effective against Stalls, which are unable to use their defense cards effectively yet have too little offense of their own to deal enough damage in time.
StallsStalls are considerably different from the other types of decks, because their primary win condition is deckout, the ultimate form of bypass offense. Nearly all of the deck’s resources are devoted towards stopping the opponent’s offense cold, then winning when the opponent runs out of cards. Examples include the notorious Firestall, as well as Immortal (Stone Skin + Miracle). Stalls are most effective against Domins, which do not get to make use of their defense cards very effectively and lack sufficient offense to deal enough damage to win.
DominsDomins are a tricky type of deck. They do not have as much defense as Stalls, nor do they have as much offense as Rushes. However, they still have their niche in the metagame as a deck to use to beat Rushes. Domins accomplish this goal by delaying the opponent’s offense enough for their own offense to deal 100 damage first. An example of a more defense-heavy Domin is Pandebonium, while an example of a more offense-heavy Domin is Mono Entropy with Antimatter.
Cross Match-upsNow, what happens when we match a Rush against a Stall, or a Break against a Domin? Well, it depends. If you match an Immolation Rush against a Firestall, for instance, they’ll both have more or less equal chances against each other. Similarly, Flying Titans (with Catapult) would win about half the time against Mono Entropy with Antimatter. This isn’t to say that the matchup is always a 50/50 - an Immolation Rush would have a huge advantage against Immortal, and Flying Titans would obliterate Pandebonium. On the other hand, Immortal would easily beat Mono Life, and Pandebonium would typically win against Fractix. Thus, the Rush/Stall and Break/Domin matchups are a more or less a toss-up.
Non-viableLet’s take a minute to consider a deck with direct offense and permanent defense. The very nature of permanent defense is that almost all of the non-quanta cards in the deck are focused on defense. A deck with permanent defense can only spare a couple cards for offense purposes. For Firestall, these cards are Fahrenheits, and for Aether+Light Stall, these cards are a single copy of Light Dragon and Fractal. If the deck were to use any more than 3 or 4 cards for offense, its defense would become less permanent, and the deck would be considered a Domin. Now, let’s keep in mind that few decks are pure Rush or pure Break. In other words, most decks constain some form of defense, even if it’s only a couple cards. If a deck uses a mere 3-4 direct offense cards, there are high chances that they will accomplish nothing at all because the opponent’s defense cards will dispatch them. As an example, Seraphs included in a Firestall will be stopped cold by a fast Grabbow that brings a couple Lightnings, or a Mono Death Rush that brings a couple Bone Walls. In certain metagames, ones in which Rush decks do not bring any defense cards at all, a deck with direct offense and permanent defense could be viable, but I have rarely found this to be the case.
HybridsMoving on with that, time to talk about the most interesting deck type of all! Hybrids are similar to Domins, except they use bypass offense instead of direct offense. Hybrids can also be defined as a Break-Stall, in the sense that they have a little less offense than a Break and a little less defense than a Stall. You might not have heard of this deck type before, but some of the scariest decks in the games can be considered Hybrids. These examples include Phoenixbolt, which can use Fire Bolts either for defense against a Rush or bypass offense against a Stall, and Mono Aether Psiontal, which delays Rushes with Dimensional Shield or Lightning and breaks through Stalls with its Fractal+Psion combo. Due to their versatility, and sometimes the sheer power of the cards included in their decks, Hybrids are often favorable against Rushes, Domins, and Stalls alike! How else do you think Aether and Fire won so many Wars?
Final ThoughtsCongrats, you’ve made it! You should now have a pretty good idea of the sorts of deck types and how they interact with each other. So, what’s the takeaway? Don’t be predictable. If all your most frequently used decks are the same one or two deck types, a top level player who possesses such knowledge will exploit it. It’s happened time and time again, in Wars, Leagues and PvP Events alike. Additionally, if you have a good idea of what to expect from your opponent, don’t hesitate to use your knowledge of deck types to gain an advantage over them. You’ll be one step closer towards becoming one of the best in the game.
