Recently I was perusing DeckTech and after writing an article criticizing the site I went on to do the same to a deck, the highest rated deck on the site in fact. It was a basic Big Blue deck, ie: Lots of characters, ships, walkers. I said that the biggest problem with it was it lacked focused, it was too defensive. It was a deck based around the idea, you do A and I'll counter it with B. However, using such decks on quite a few occasions and seeing that they are becoming popular again, I decided I would elaborate on why "defensive" decks aren't all they are cracked up to be. Also, to make something clear I'm not saying "defensive" decks neccessarily are defensive from turn to turn, in fact they are the one most likely to initiate battles, rather I'm talking about the overall theme of a game, of action and reaction, offesnive decks act, defensive decks react. Basically, a deck with a strong theme, an "offensive" deck will often bury "defensive" decks. For example, no matter how many power cards you have in the deck, one big beatdown with Draw Their Fire and Frozen Assets/Beggar will end the game. In fact, most decks with a strong focus can beat "defensive" decks. The only decks they do well against are other "defensive" decks, or a few other decks which you have included heavy protection against. When playing a defensive deck you are often left with two choices, 1) fall back upon your drains and deploy to do that or 2) wait for them to make the first move. If you choose one you may have trouble getting enough stuff again to take the battle to them. If you do the second you have to wait for them to get their strategy started to start yours. And also run the risk of not having what you need to actually stop them. Defensive decks are some of the most popular, they have been around since Premiere and haven't yet died out, they usually take the form of MnT for LS and Big Blue for DS, so it's usually a deck that beats these defensive decks that becomes the "Broken" deck of the moment. AS, Ops, Revo, SitDD, inserts, all of these are examples of powerfully offensive decks that took the gaming world by storm because of their ability to destroy "defensive" decks. I'm not saying defensive decks are bad, they are generally the safest decks, and with every "magic bullet" card that is released they get stronger, however safe isn't always the way to go. As a frequent user of offensive decks, and one that has used too many one-battle-game decks to count I'm generally more critical of defensive decks than others. After all, do you think higher of a deck that you know you would squash? Or one you know had a good chance of beating you?
Cheers,
Jon """ Schultz