The idea:
-Each deck has the option to group its cards into two or three (or maybe 4) "segments" (or whatever you want to call them).
-Cards within a segment are grouped together. I.e. cards in a given segment will not be drawn until the segments that come ahead are all drawn.
--This gives some limited control over when a given card becomes available to be drawn.
-To prevent abuse and keep a strong element of chance there would be a minimum size for each segment used (probably 10 to 20 would be good).
To implement this, the deck building window will have a radio button, pull down, etc. to let the player pick how many segments to use - 1, 2 or 3. The deck window will then be divided into that many segments. Each can have a tab (or some equivalent) that can be clicked to highlight each segment. When the player adds a card, it will be added to the highlighted segment.
Deck codes could be modified to simply include a break code followed by a list of numbers. These numbers tell which segment each card is in.
Example
deckcode: "aaf aaf aaf aef aef alf alf --- 1 2 2 1 1 2 1"
results:
segment 1: aaf, aef, aef, alf
segment 2: aaf, aaf, alf
The motivation is to make large or "Fat" decks viable and add a new dimension to game flow and deck design. It should also help multi color decks become more viable by allowing use of different sets of elements at different stages in a duel.
It will also give some interesting options for Zanz to build his pre-made quests / challenges.
This allows the players to create decks with strategies that evolve or change as the game progresses. It allows larger decks to become more viable since they wont have to worry about cards they don't need till late game clogging their hand in the beginning.
It will make tournaments very interesting as well (simply shifitng around which segments cards are in could be as important as the cards themselves)
For example, a deck using large high cost creatures could be built to include mostly pillars, and a few defense or stall cards in the first segment while the large high cost creatures and spells are located in the second segment.
This will also open up new mechanics niches for elements.
Some examples:
-aether could have cards that let you shift or permute the order of fragments during play.
-time could allow you to draw a single card from a specific fragment instead of the top-most one.
-entropy could randomly shuffle cards from one segment to another.
-gravity and earth could weigh down or bury a card and force it to a lower segment or the bottom of the current one.
