That mono death deck wasn't the greatest. I guarantee that this deck:
6x Quicksand
3x Elite Shrieker
6x Elite Graboid
2x Titanium Shield
13x Stone Towers
Mark of Time
Could beat your rainbow.
As could this one:
6x Congeal
6x Physalia
6x Deadly Poison
2x Arsenic
10x Bone Tower
Mark of Water
As could this one:
6x Fire Lance
6x Sundial
12x Burning Tower
2x Light Tower
1x Reflective Shield
2x Fahrenheit
1x Explosion
Mark of Light
As could many others. Stop assuming rainbow decks are the best decks. They are against gods. Not against other people.
If your little group was just local, then I can conclusively say the people's decks probably sucked. When I was a newbie to Elements, even being big on card games, my decks all sucked. Same with all other players. You can't post fliers in your town and expect to get people who have been playing this game for a long time among the community, or get people who will turn out to be amazing deck builders. My decks continued to suck, even after weeks of playing, until I started visiting the forums. Then my skill at deck building began to improve rapidly as I learned the finer points of Elements.
As to 30 cards being ideal: Yes. Any larger without extra drawing will result in too many bad draws for a deck to be good. Sure, it could get a good hand 50% of the time and win, but the other 50% of the time you get completely owned. A 34-40 card deck that is just as effective as a similar 30 card deck without extra card drawing will not happen. Give me an example of a 34-40 card deck that you think is good, and I guarantee I can trim it down to a better 30 card version.
Oh, and stop responding to me within the quote. It gives mine and other's eyes headaches.
I'll make you a deal, I'll stop responding in the quote if you learn to read. Read this statement: Why don't you come over and I'll give you your 6x deadly poison, 10x bone tower, 6x ivory dragon, 4x plague, 2x bonewall, and I'll bring out the monodeath deck I used in the playtest which includes the new cards and without changing any cards in it we'll see who wins. No where in there does it state I'd be playing my rainbow deck against the deck you suggested.
Just because the players are local has nothing to do with their ability to build decks. What it does have an ability to do is have them available to call up for play testing and have them get here regularly. Something joeblow living in Timbuckto would not be able to do. Not all of us players are here to make some kind of name for ourselves. We don't go out and advertise how great we are, that is arrogant. We play and play and play. And tune our decks up to make them better. Just because you sucked at deck building when you started doesn't mean other people do. For example when I first picked up this game I took a look at all the cards available to me and built this deck to farm level 3's. It didn't win all the time but games were quick and quick allowed me to finish the quests quicker.
10x Light Pillar
6x Russler
6x Emerald Dragon
2x Empathic Bond
4x Cockatrice
2x Heal
True there are things you could do to it that could improve it's win percentage. But for my first deck that I built, it did the job quite well and won me elemental mastery more than the average starting player. I developed this deck not by coming to forums, not by going to websites, but by looking at the cards and designing it myself. In fact, this is my first time actually coming to this website. The fact of the matter is, you don't have to visit a website or talk to anyone to learn how to build a good deck. Understanding what makes a good deck, probability, and creativity is what makes a good deck builder. Later on, when I started doing random pvp matches I'd watch how other peoples decks played and what combinations they use. Then I took those and worked them to suit my playstyle. What you're basically saying is you sucked at deck building until you went and talked to people and looked at websites so that is how everyone has to do it. You probably read the manual before you play a new videogame. Some people don't have to learn like that. Some people plug the game in skip the tutorial and figure things out on their own. How's the saying go... Different strokes for different folks? Stop using yourself as an example because you don't represent the majority.
6x Congeal
6x Physalia
6x Deadly Poison
2x Arsenic
10x Bone Tower
Mark of Water
Would not beat my rainbow.
As could this one:
6x Fire Lance
6x Sundial
12x Burning Tower
2x Light Tower
1x Reflective Shield
2x Fahrenheit
1x Explosion
Mark of Light
Would also not beat my rainbow.
The only deck you posted that could beat my rainbow more often than not is:
6x Quicksand
3x Elite Shrieker
6x Elite Graboid
2x Titanium Shield
13x Stone Towers
Mark of Time
Which is something I'm ok with. All decks have weaknesses and bad matchups. You can't build a deck that will never lose so no reason to try.
Now to address someone who actually deserves a response:
Jellyfish: The reason I don't post my deck isn't because I'm afraid. It is because I still use it. It is easy to look at what cards are in someone's deck and design a deck capable of exploiting it's weaknesses. I'm sure we can all agree on that. So posting my deck so you can see it then you building one or using one designed to destroy it isn't exactly a big feat, nor a test of deckbuilding, or anything else for that matter.
Heard of them? How do you know you haven't heard of them since I haven't revealed their online screennames? Like I said before, you don't have to visit forums or chat to be a great player. Some people are content with just playing and letting their decks speak for them. You may know of some of them and some may be in the top 50. Personally I will not drag anyone into this that doesn't bring themself into it. If they choose to post and let it be known who they are that is their decision to make not mine.
Now to analyse this 30 card is the best deck you can get theory:
30 cards means you most likely have 10 pillars 20 other cards. Typical deck construction would mean that you most likely have 6 copies of one or two win cards. Leaving 8 slots to fill with other things.
Modifying it to 34 cards consisting of 14 pillars, 6 of CardA,CardB, and CardC plus two utility cards provides a slim margin of change to the probability of having the cards you need to win when the time comes. Granted the chosen cards determine success more than anything.
