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ON THE EDGE© STRATEGY
An article written by Robert Bracey originally for the Intelligent Card Gamer, an online magazine.
On the Edge© is a game of paranoid conspiracies, played with a large group of players, but in a relatively short time. The game rules make no effort to slow players down, and in fact the whole system produces a flurry of activity which really can make you paranoid, presented here is a simple guide to playing the game, this will get you over the basic hurdles of play and allow you to play at a fairly competitive level with your friends.
The most important thing any budding megalomaniac needs is a power base, constructed from their own personnel resources, in OtE this is represented by a deck of playing cards. At present tournament rules stipulate forty cards, this is likely to increase with expansion sets, as first turn wins become possible. For the moment though, this number should suit most players down to the ground, and allows you to construct a competitive deck with about 130 cards in your collection.
Deck construction as in most other collectible card games is a fine art, but here it is treated only briefly. OtE like a lot of other newer card games (Bloodwars and Wyvern as two examples) has a great deal of play strategy involved and it is important to master this, before returning to major sculpture on your deck. The following are a series of basic guidelines to assembling a deck, follow with a bit of caution, touch of common sense and a lot of paranoia ...
Step 1, examine your cards, composed of resources, conspirators and effects cards (Whammies, environments, conditions etc). You can now discard all 0 cost conspirators, weapons, conditions and environments. These are a pain in the neck and hardly worth the paper there printed on in most cases. You will need 10 to 14 0 cost resources or secrets, this is about the minimum you need in order to actually pull one in your initial draw. Any less and you risk being under drawn ( There are no mulligan rules in OtE) and any more and your hand will be swamped with useless 0 cost cards you can only put down at one a turn.
Step 2, decide on some cheap influence producers, these should require 1 or 2 points to produce, this is your speed in the deck, there should if possible be 4 - 10 of these, to supplement your resources. Now once you have these, try and match your resources to them, a secret of the right type will be useful, as will Barrios that produce extra pull to call these cards.
Step 3, how do you win games of OntE, simple you get a lot of influence and laugh at all those puny peasants. To this end you need to be able to produce ... INFLUENCE. This is the key to the game, it comes in two parts, influence that can only be used to PULL cards from your hand into the conspiracy (Usually the resources) and that which can bring you closer to winning. It is the second type you put in the deck now. Some real neat cards with high defences, and usually capable of pulling a lot of influence. This should bring you to about 20 (Perhaps slightly more), cards.
Step 4, add to this gentle stew, a few big beefy lads to keep your influence safe, and to kick your opponents deck senseless. 4 or so of these should be very expensive high attack cards, that you use to make your opponents day as nail biting as possible. The other 4 - 6 are medium to cheap characters that help to reduce your own feelings of paranoia.
Step 5, of course your opponents are doing the same thing, and you may find you cannot break through his front line. To this end you include 4 or 5 shakers. A shaker is intended to blow a big hole in your opponents lines and allow you to get at that valuable resource shes holding. Hostage and dumb luck are nice for simply by passing the front line, Pythagorean convulsions and Rain of Walrus are good for killing a few key figures.
Step 6, You know fill out your deck with a few conditions, whammies and equipment, that look useful (This bit you will improve at with practice).
If you have followed this most profound of instructions you will now have a deck, the stuff of which legends are made !! Well OK, no you won't, but thats nothing to worry about, building a deck in this game has a lot to do with understanding the way it plays. Unlike Magic the cards do not play themselves ...
So without further ado, allow me to explain some of the basic aspects of playing OntE.
A common mistake players make, is to play a turn something like this, I put down a resource, Crank, play a 1 point pull character, thats my pull over. Now I dont make any movements, so I go onto my attack phase, and Crank to attack.
Well the only thing done right there was remembering you can attack on the turn you play. Players of OntE are Grand Conspirators, and outside of James Bond films such people do not say "Aha gather resources phase, now make plots, then institute plan. Darn its a pity I've already used my plot phase".
No, in this game, not only can Pull,Attack and move be in any order, but they do not even exist as phases, instead in this game, you have a main phase within which you may crank any number of cards, any number of times for any of the above affects in any order.
This is important in the main game, when you may need to use the actions in a very particular order in order to achieve your objectives. Always be on the look out, to see if you can improve the situation by acting in a certain order.
In OntE your conspirators depend on one another for support, you cannot build a conspiracy one card at a time. You must have the patience not to place a card at all until the time is right. And when the time is right you must construct a conspiracy from nothing straight to a workable nucleus.
On the first turn this is most difficult and what you do depends on if you have the first go, or if others have already been. If you start the game early, then a good draw gives you an opportunity to gain an advantage in speed, however it leaves you vulnerable to an opponent possessing a still greater draw, or taking advantage of the information given. Deciding what to play is a matter of calculating, achieved fairly quickly with practice. Deciding if now is the time to be patient is far more difficult, and again something you need to build experience in.
Rather than give a discussion of such length that you would hope for a Walrus to drop on your head, I will instead give a brief guide to the problem in the form of a points system.
The perfect opening hand will allow you to play a resource, crank, pull a cheap influence producer, Crank, pull a second such, Crank, defend both of these with a low point security guard. And leave your hand with a nice whammy and a lot of cards you will be able to cast next turn.
In order to evaluate your hand use this simple system:
7+ : Perfect hand you should have no qualms at all about setting your conspiracy up right now, and if your going first your probably going to get quite an edge.
6: Again if your going first go for it, you will probably be seriously advantaged. If you have seen other players go, you shouldnt have any worries unless one of them has placed a 7 + hand, and even then you should be fairly confident.
4 or 5: Hmmm ... A good hand, probably pretty typical, If your first, the edge in speed might be enough to compensate for any deficiencies. If you have seen others play, you probably ought to wait if one or more other players has placed a large amount.
2 or 3: A deficient hand, never make the first move with this sort of hand, you stand to lose too much. If nobody else has been very successful you might consider it. If others have started to play cards, wait until your up at 6 points plus.
1 or less: This is a disaster, your effectively out of the first few turns, but dont despair, keep placing resources, you may find it all slots together in a few turns. Play this hand once you have accumulated 7 or more points.
All this is but a fraction of the knowledge that will be needed to win the game, dont despair though. Play a few games, remember the two major playing points I mentioned, fiddle with your deck. You'll find a rapid improvement.
What is presented here is a list you might find useful, it contains a selection of cards (in a rough order) I would particularly like to get more of, the selection is from The basic set and from the 1st expansion. In keeping with an introductory article.
These are some of the most powerful cards in the game (though by no means a definitive list) and if you overlooked them I suggest you go back and take another look ... you can never quite be sure ...
Yes, this is my favourite card in the entire game. If you have one use it, if not get one. Its the ultimate expansion hoser, as it basicly gives a few hundred points difference between a basic character and an expansion conspirator.
Now this is nice, just stick them to one side of your main conspiracy along the back row and start racking up the points. A card that is worth including in most decks.
A more powerful version of Dumb Luck, a high attack character used with this becomes devastating, and can be kept protected deep in your own ranks. The most obvious problem is that you become a prime target, and your conspiracy is likely to be demolished in a few turns.
This card should need little introduction. Its value is obvious, but there are other cards that do similar jobs. Still if your going for a burger deck and you need to get past that pesky front line at a critical moment.
A particular favourite this one, it fulfills a dual role of removing a character from the game and keeping an oponent of your back. Versatile too, when my conspiracy was on the point of collapse I have used this on my own people to stop the loss of influence.
Nice card this, its just the thing for defending your own conspiracy early in the game. However be warned, use quickly or your oponent will have time to deploy somebody bigger.
Nice card this, it can really make a difference if use at the right moment. And there are very few defences your oponent can put up. Fancier alternatives available but this remains a staple card.
A good counter card this, and quite useful in most games. Often worth including a few. Less useful in a two player game, but in a multi player game there is no doubt it will find a use.
© On the Edge is a trademark of Trident Inc. Over the Edge, Al Amarja, Charting New Realms of Imagination, and the Atlas Games logo are trademarks of John Nephew. The use of these trademarks here is without permission, and does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of those properties.
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