War Manual

[kev]

Hello and welcome to this tutorial in War.  I had the good fortune of being on the winning team during War1, General of a War2 team, and Lieutenant of a War3 team.  I’m as much an elements War vet as anyone can be, and I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned.  It’s my hope that reading this guide will be additive, specifically to newcomers but also to those returning to War.

War is a massive forum PvP event with a large number of players.  Players are divided into 13 teams, led by a General.  Teams fight one another until there is only one team left.  Here’s (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/board,142.0.html) a link to the War forum.  Be sure to read the War Rules thread and some of the other threads to get a sense for what War is.

Auction Guide
There are always more people who want to get into War than there are spots available.  Valuing War applicants is a process that varies by General but in the basest sense Generals seem to categorize players in one of three buckets:

Marquee Players:  These are players who are deemed to be worth at least a mid-range bid.  Experienced deck builders, former Masters, and frequent tournament/PvP Event/League winners round out this bunch.  They are expected to not only be reliable in their role and to play all their matches without substitution but to justify their cost by participating meaningfully in deck building and selection, etc.  Additionally the Marquee Player’s experience translates to better in-game play, and thus a better chance at victory.Value Players:  These are players who at least one General deems worthy of at least a bid of one.  They are expected to be reliable in their role and to play all their matches without requiring a substitute.  Generals fervently hope that these players contribute to deck building discussions, and the Value Players that do contribute often turn out to be the team’s most valuable players.Undraftable Players:  The other players are those who haven’t shown that they’re as capable and/or reliable as others in the auction.  For those who aren’t selected, War:  Underworld serves as a backdoor into War and a really fun standalone tournament.

For those striving for bids it’s all about being the prettiest peacock possible.  To capture a bid you need to prove that you at least meet the description of a Value Player.  If you joined the forum last week and you’re not yet a Jr. Member, Generals have no way to assess whether you’ll be around to play your matches throughout the War, and with so many quality applicants vying for the last spot on a team, you’re unlikely to make the cut.  So stop lurking, go out and contribute on the forum, raise your post count, register and meet people in chat, and make yourself known.

Almost as important is the application itself.  Generals are looking for maturity, reliability, and a willingness to spend time on the War effort; committing spelling, grammar, and formatting errors is shooting yourself in the foot.  If you can’t find the time to spell Entropy correctly and fix your horrifically misshapen table, Generals have no faith that you’ll have the time to help the team.

Lastly, posting “television $50” on craigslist wouldn’t make much sense.  Even people looking to spend $50 on a television would ignore your ad.  You would instead mention things like the size, brand, and condition of the television.  In the same way you should use the “Why I would make a good War team member “ section to show your qualifications.  No Generals draft based solely on how many upped damselflies you have.  Use this opportunity to show the decks you’re most proud of, the ideas you’ve spent the most time developing, and your ability to out-think opponents in PvP.  Relying on Generals to know why you’d be a good fit is something akin to applying for a job without a resume.

PMing generals is probably not a good idea.  It’s also ill-advised to bump your thread.  Generals have seen your information and are keeping tabs on the action.  Having to constantly read your thread for updates is a nuisance, and I know for a fact some Generals avoid thread bumpers.
 
Adding Value to Your Team
There are three ways in which a player adds value to his team:

Showing up for and winning matches (duh)Your member roleDeck building

Matches – A player once asked me to what degree his War success was due to his playing the matches well versus the decks the team assigned to him.  I was surprised to answer “It depends.”  Matches are determined by deck matchup, luck, and player decisions.  Every game has “decision points” that are opportunities for intelligent, creative, and experienced players to affect the match outcome.  But the truth is the number of such opportunities varies by deck matchup (you’re going to lose with grabby rush versus Wings no matter how talented you are) and in general player skill in an event full of skilled players is outweighed by deck matchups and luck.  Player skill is still valuable, as is your ability to show up and help your team avoid penalties, but this isn’t really where you add the most value as a player.

Your member role – Roles are assigned to each player on a team but in practice many teams break down into the General and other.  The General’s role is much deeper than just a team supervisor.  A good General is a leader and a teacher, there to support his team and guide the less experienced players.  The most important decision a General makes is whether to accept the position.  History has not been kind to teams forced to undergo a change in General mid-War (in War1 Aether, Air, and Water placed 9-11, in War2 Water placed 13, and in War3 Light and Gravity placed 10th and 12th).  General is a position that requires a certain level of activity, and the position should not be given or accepted without deliberation.  The other roles are designed to assist the team and ensure the Event flows smoothly but the General or Lieutenant may perform these roles at times if they desire.

Deck building – The real value of each team member is defined by how much they contribute to vault building as War starts and deck building during each round.  This can’t be overstated.  Again, match outcomes are determined by deck matchup, luck, and player decisions.  One obviously has no control over luck and player decisions take a back seat to the deck matchup.  Even if you’re relatively new to the game you’re capable of bringing fresh ideas and perspective to the discussions.  In War discussions, potentially annoying teammates who just can’t seem to shut up are way, way, way more valuable than those who don’t participate at all.  That said, make sure you’re adding value in the conversation.

[willng3]

+1

This will save a LOT of otherwise unnecessary discussion come next auction time.  It'd also be awesome if this was referenced somewhere obvious when the auction starts...

[TheonlyrealBeef]

+1

This will save a LOT of otherwise unnecessary discussion come next auction time.  It'd also be awesome if this was referenced somewhere obvious when the auction starts...

A sticky in the war auction section! :D

That said, I agree with most of what is said here, though I'd like to point out something that seems unmentioned in the auction guide: card pool. Having all unupgraded cards is a good step in the right direction to being chosen.

Another thing in the auction that might be useful to consider is "know what team you're applying for". No matter how much you like element x, if you think badly of that general or vice versa you might consider putting up a different element as your favorite

Then again, there are sooo many things one could add to it, don't want to make it more tl;dr than some might think of it already (I read it all! :D).

[coinich]

I'd actually have to disagree torb.  It seems to me that most unupgraded cards, outside rares, don't really matter as long as the player's willing to have what he needs when he needs it.  Since War is largely unupped, and unupped cards are usually fairly cheap, this isn't a problem for most players.  Buying a massive vault before the auction would have no difference than doing it after the auction.  To me, score to a limited extent, electrum, and most importantly, rares, would be larger factors if I were a General/Master again.

Thanks kevkev, there's some good stuff in there.

[ffun]

Thanks Kev for all the great information in this thread. I agree this has to be easily available at the beginning of the next auction, and I'll try to follow many of the tips here myself when the time comes.

One thing new applicants should consider when preparing themselves, though, are the changes that are probably ocurring both to War and to the Elements environment. One obvious change is how one acquires rares - since it's much slower to get specific rares you are missing (no more top50 rare farms by team members at the beginning of War), applicant have to be prepared beforehand and farm the rares that are most crucial for the elements they hope to represent.

Besides, SG already mentioned the upgraded cards in decks might go up (from 0-3-6 to 3-6-9), so it's also important to be ready for it. I would imagine that the best option for prospective players, instead of accumulating different upgraded cards and trying to upgrade what they think might be best, would be to try to save a reasonable amount of electra they can use to upgrade cards on demand, from round to round. This will give them and the team much more flexibility. If you expect to play at least 7 rounds, 31.5k electra isn't a unreasonable amount to farm and save if you prepare yourself in advance.

[Scaredgirl]

Good stuff. Thanks for posting this, kev.

A sticky in the war auction section might be the best for this topic, or is your plan to add more stuff to it? I'm asking because if the answer is "no", then I think that the title should be changed to something else so that it better describes what this is about.

[kev]

is your plan to add more stuff to it? I'm asking because if the answer is "no", then I think that the title should be changed to something else so that it better describes what this is about.

I'm not planning on adding anything specific, no.  If questions come up I'm more likely to reply than to modify the opening post.

When you move it to the War section feel free to rename it.

[willng3]

This totally needs a bump.  This should be read more than the Bible over the next ~7 days.

[Avenger]

I'd actually have to disagree torb.  It seems to me that most unupgraded cards, outside rares, don't really matter as long as the player's willing to have what he needs when he needs it.  Since War is largely unupped, and unupped cards are usually fairly cheap, this isn't a problem for most players.  Buying a massive vault before the auction would have no difference than doing it after the auction.  To me, score to a limited extent, electrum, and most importantly, rares, would be larger factors if I were a General/Master again.

Thanks kevkev, there's some good stuff in there.

Well, electrum is totally irrelevant at some point
The most important thing is reliability. However big score someone has, plus shining in tournaments. If someone fails to contribute to the team, or even show up at duels, they will cause their team to lose.
Such players are worse than noobs with a limited vault/electrum.

[ddevans96]

Agreed with the notion of making this a sticky in the auction section. kev, what do you think?