As we rapidly approach the official release of Neopets Battledome TCG, we know that many of you are starting to brainstorm ideas of the sort of deck you might want to play! Whether you are new to trading card games or a veteran of deck building, this guide will help kickstart you towards crafting fun and powerful options to bring to the Battledome!
I will cover a handful of the most important aspects to help you focus your deck, then provide a few advanced tips in case you want to dig a little deeper. Let’s dive in.
Choosing an Archetype
Traditionally, in most trading card games, there is a general array of varying types of decks that players can choose to play. Since the purpose of this article is to introduce this game specifically, I will just outline some archetypes that can be found in Defenders of Neopia.
An “archetype” in the context of trading card games simply defines what general game plan your deck is aiming to achieve. This implies that most of the cards you choose to include will actively progress that game plan (we will cover this in more detail in later sections).
Here are some archetype example you can find in the base set of Neopets Battledome TCG that might help you in focusing your deck strategy with a brief description of what it aims to achieve:
- Fyora’s Battle Faeries – A combo deck that aims to chain multiple Battle Faerie equipment abilities to deal lots of damage and play lots of cards!
- Aethia’s Nova Blade – A tempo deck that utilizes consistency in equipment and extra damage and healing to sustain through longer rounds.
- Marina’s Powerful Potions – A control deck that takes advantage of Marina’s powerful ability to constantly succeed on potions, granting a wide array of options for varying decks.
- Jhudora’s Aggressive Ghosts – An aggro deck that capitalizes on Jhudora and Ghost Neopets to maintain aggressive battles turn after turn.
Now that we have covered a few of the archetypes, let’s start putting together the deck!
Aethia, Jhudora, and Queen Fyora Art by Anthony Conley
Selecting Your Neopets
As you may know by now, there are four different colors that each base Neopet can be found in: Red, Blue, Yellow, Green. Each color has a correlating stat that is boosted: Attack, Defence, Agility, and Hit Points (respectively).
So, when choosing your five base Neopets, it’s a great idea to choose colors that are conducive to the archetype you have decided on. For example, if you are playing an aggressive deck that wants to roll a lot of dice when attacking, you might want to look towards Red and Yellow Neopets, letting your Attack and Agility shine during Battle. If you are playing a slower archetype like potions, you might opt for Blue and Green Neopets to pad your Defence and Hit Points to ensure you have more time in the round.
Another important aspect to consider when choosing your Neopets is whether or not they have painted versions matching the paint brushes you are playing. While we will cover this in a later section, it’s important to keep in mind so that you can maximize your possibilities when deciding to paint your Neopet.
Kau, Gelert, and Lupe Art by Erin Tudball
Codestone Count
Now that you have chosen your archetype and your Neopets, it’s time to start getting your deck of 50 cards ready! The first thing you will want to do is decide on how many and what kind of Codestones you want to include. Most Neopets Battledome TCG decks will run somewhere around 13 to 17 Codestones and the types you choose will likely be based on the type of strategy you are aiming for.
For the number of Codestones, you want to consider the type of deck you are playing and the average level requirement of your cards. For example, an aggressive deck might have a lot of cards with lower level requirements, so a count of 13 or 14 Codestones would suffice. A higher count of Codestones could be found in a slower, more controlling deck that utilizes higher costed cards and persisting through longer rounds.
Once you’ve decided on a Codestone count, you can choose which stats you want to prioritize with them. There are two big camps to consider here: do you play Codestones to advance your deck’s game plan as a point of redundancy or do you play Codestones to balance out your Neopets stats? For example, if your aggressive deck is playing a lot of cards with Attack and Agility boosting, you can ensure the strategy is carried out by running Attack and Agility Codestones. Alternatively, you could balance out your Neopet’s stats with Defence Codestones. The choice is yours!
Eo, Har, Mau Codestone Art by Alexa Cordeiro
Choosing Cards Based on Archetype
We have arrived at the most crucial (and fun) part of deckbuilding: choosing cards! We have covered the archetype, your Neopets, and the Codestones you will need. Time to finish out the deck with the cards that will help you become Champion of the Battledome. This step of the process is the most intensive and can warrant several other articles on its own, but I will keep it simple for the sake of information overload.
After you have chosen your Codestones, you will have about 35 slots left in your deck for cards. That isn’t a huge number, so make sure your card selection is tight and ultimately advances your game plan as much as possible! As stated prior, Defenders of Neopia has a handful of archetypes built in and every card has a home in one of them; it’s just a matter of finding which cards you like most.
Battle Faerie Dagger Art by Krista Staggs
Ghost Lupe Sword Art by Sophie Scruggs
Harry and Blooplum Art by Kade Murphy
When choosing cards for your deck, the first step is to include the “must-haves,” those cards that are very synergistic (like Battle Faerie equipment for Queen Fyora or Ghost equipment for Ghost decks). Once you have found a healthy amount of these, be sure to also fill out your deck with card draw, selection, consistency, searching and other cards that give you the most options of finding your must-haves as often as possible. The more you play your deck, the better you will understand what it needs. Deckbuilding is always a process that extends well past the initial time invested, so don’t worry if it’s not perfect the first time – or the following 10 times! Enjoy the experience and you will be rewarded for it.
And there it is! You have built a deck for Neopets Battledome TCG. I hope you had fun and will continue to explore all the options that Defenders of Neopia has to offer. There is plenty more to come and the game will only grow more interesting and exciting as more cards are released. I know this has been a lot of information, but if you are hungry for more, keep reading for a few more advanced tips to continue your growth as an amazing deck builder!
Advanced Tips
How Many Copies of a Card Should I Run?
In Neopets Battledome TCG, your deck can contain no more than 2 copies of any non-Codestone card (only 1 copy of Faeries), so choosing how many copies to run for specific cards can be a complicated decision to make.
When choosing how many copies of cards to include, consider how often and at what stage of the game you want to see them. If you want to see the card as often as possible because it’s crucial to your game plan or helps with consistency, playing 2 copies could be pivotal. If you don’t rely on the card as often but it is still necessary as a finisher or tech card (card meant to be a crutch against certain matchups), a single copy should suffice.
Nilo Art by Jeep Joop
Kau Defender and Judge Hog Art by Anthony Conley
Deck “Curve”
When building a deck, you can of course put in whatever cards you like. You can put in all 1 level requirement cards if you want to make sure you always have something to play or you can opt for a bunch of 4s and 5s for the power they provide. However, this isn’t the most efficient way to build a deck because both examples represent poor “curves.”
The curve of your deck defines the distribution of level requirements across your cards and can be visualized like a graph, plotting how many cards of each cost 1-5 you have. On average, a good deck curve resembles a bell curve, with a majority of their cards in the 2-4 level requirement range. You should always consider what your curve looks like when deckbuilding, making sure that your deck has good coverage during the rounds of the game that require the most action (3+).
Red Scorchstone Art by Sophie Scruggs
Hot Dog of Justice Art by Kade Murphy
Kauvara’s Marvellous Potion Art by Gobo Ziller (Charlie Winslow)
Resource Management
One of the most important aspects of Neopets Battledome TCG is how you use your resources (in this case, your cards). Due to its best-of-3 nature, it is vital that you keep track of and play your cards to help increase your chances of victory across a minimum of 2 rounds (and up to 3). This includes many different considerations like Codestone management, “finisher” cards, deck size as the game progresses and so on. Ask yourself some of the following questions:
- What is my position in this round? Do I need to play another Codestone or should I save it for the next round?
- I only run one copy of this 5 level requirement finisher, which round should I take advantage of it?
- How many cards do I have left in my deck? What have I used so far and what cards can I still draw into?
While this is less of a deck building tip and more of a gameplay aspect, it is still something to consider when building and certainly something to learn and master when playing.
I hope these advanced tips have helped grant you insight to the depth of Neopets Battledome TCG and I am excited to see you continue to master it! For more tips & tricks and conversation about deck building and gameplay techniques, please join the Discord community and tune into the weekly livestreams on Twitch. Until then… see you in the Battledome!
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