Deck building is one of the key pillars of KARDS. Knowledge of how to put together a deck can be vital to your success in KARDS! It helps to be familiar with basic deck types of collectible card games.
Tip: Before going into the details, consider checking out the following resources.
- KARDS Academy: Improved Starter Decks
- KARDS Academy: Deck Building 101
- KARDS Academy: KARDS Vocabulary
- Official and community deck suggestions: KARDS Decks
Deck Archetypes
KARDS deck types can be divided into four main strategy types (similar to other CCGs such Magic the Gathering and Hearthstone): Aggro, Control, Midrange and Combo.
- Aggro decks focus on taking control of the battle early on, using cheaper units to attack and finish off the opponent as quickly as possible, and before the more powerful and expensive cards can be used.
- Control decks are the opposite of Aggro, they focus on late game and the aim is to slow down the opponent and keep him at bay until the more powerful and expensive cards used to bring him down.
- Midrange is somewhere between Aggro and Control decks in pace, with focus on controlling the battlefield early game and gaining victory during the midgame. Players with Midrange decks often adjust their strategy to what the opponent is playing, seek to play a reactive game against Aggro decks and a proactive game against Control decks.
- Combo: Combo decks use the interaction of two or more cards to create an effect, or a situation on the battlefield, that leads to victory. To create a successful Combo deck the interaction between the cards needs to be consistent and powerful enough to lead to victory.
Many variations of the deck types above exist and most of them are built around unit types, or a few key cards.
In KARDS, each nation has its strength that makes it more suitable for certain types of decks.
When you’re building a deck, a basic guideline is to focus on cards that strengthen the main theme of your deck. For example, if you have many infantry and tank units, you use orders that buff ground units, not air units. If you’re building an aggro deck, focus on buffing attack and not defense, etc.
A few deck variations in KARDS
Air: Control decks where bombers and fighters rule the battlefield. Good candidates for these types of decks are Britain, USA, and Japan.
Arty: Control deck where artillery is the main force and the battle is mostly fought from the support line. However, artillery is vulnerable and these types of decks need to be backed up with other units and orders that buff damage to help keep the frontline clear of enemies.
Blitz: Aggro deck that focuses on units with the Blitz ability. Use cheaper units to flood the battlefield, capture and hold the frontline until the bitter end. Germany and Soviet are the best candidates for these kinds of decks.
Commando: A combo deck based around the British commando cards: No 10 COMMANDO and NIGHT RAID are a must have, combined with orders on top of orders.
Commonwealth: Just like the Commando deck, this deck is built around the British order COMMONWEALTH (CW). Good candidates for this deck are units such as BALUCH REGIMENT and orders such as NAVAL POWER, FORTIFICATION, AA BARRAGE or WE CAN DO IT. The goal is simple, buff your HQ to 30 defense or more and play the COMMONWEALTH order.
Discard: Use orders and units with special abilities to discard and empty the opponent’s hand.
The above are only a small selection of decks - many more variations exist in KARDS. Some are more popular than others, and some emerge and vanish over time as KARDS is a game with a living balance.
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