“The power curve” is a term often used to describe the development of power generation under “normal” circumstances in a Shadowfist game. Knowing how power generation will develop is important when you plan out your deck speed, because it answers questions such as: When can I expect my opponents to mount a successful attack? How much power can I expect my opponents to have to resist my own attacks? When am I falling behind the curve, and how much of a disadvantage am I at?
For a regular power curve, assume that a player will play a Feng Shui site (FSS) in every turn until he reaches a self-set limit of n sites, and thereafter produce n power every turn. Until the player stops playing an FSS every turn, he will have 2 power to spend on other things, and then he gains an additional n power a turn. As the table below shows, buying as many FSS as possible will be always worthwhile if you can defend them, because you will catch up to and exceed the total power generated by players who bought fewer FSS.
| Play up to | 1 FSS | 2 FSS | 3 FSS | 4 FSS | 1 FSS + SHQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total power by Turn 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Total power by Turn 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Total power by Turn 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Total power by Turn 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| Total power by Turn 5 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 9 |
| Total power by Turn 6 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 12 |
| Total power by Turn 7 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15 |
| Total power by Turn 8 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 18 |
But in Shadowfist, it isn’t the person who eventually generates most power that wins, but rather the one who generates enough power to kick butt first (at least to first order). If you just play FSS, but the other players start playing characters, you may well be blowing your investment into the wind if you can’t defend your sites. Once a player has generated around 6 power, he will usually be able to buy enough damage to take a 9-body site (how I get to that estimate follows below). If you haven’t invested some power into defense by the time the first player reaches 6 power, he can start taking your sites, costing you more power and time to catch up while he can race ahead even further in power by burning for power. As the table above indicates, a two-site structure is optimal for the early game. This structure reaches the crucial 6 power first, and in addition is much easier to defend than a 3-site structure.
Only few games see “normal” power progression, however. In most games, players utilize additional power generators, apart from FSS. One such example is shown above: the Secret Headquarters (alternatively, a Trade Center will do). Playing an FSS on turn 1 and an SHQ on turn two results in a vastly superior power curve compared to just buying FSS, at the cost of vulnerability and reduced card flow in turn 1 and 2. In addition, your curve suffers no setback if your FSS gets taken, since you can play another FSS to gain 1 power, and you’re off even better if that first site was a Nine Dragon Temple. But even this power curve has nothing on the amount of power the Proving Ground (PG)/Pocket Demon (PD) combination can provide: 2 power by turn 1, 6 power by turn 2 (2 from PD, 2 from PG), and then typically a burn for power to push the total up to 11-13 by turn 3. However, this kind of ramp is fickle. It relies on drawing the right cards at the right time, and even a small obstacle can prevent the turn 2 burn and throw the deck off. Even brutally fast decks therefore tend to wait until turn 3 before they make their first attack, to be sure that they have enough power to deal with interference and not to leave the site they attack at 1-2 body so that the next player can reap the rewards.
Most decks fall between the extremes. They will include cards that provide an extra power here and there. Good examples of these cards are the Mah-Jongg Parlor, Disco, and Gambling House for FSS, Isohermal Zodiac, IKTV Special Report, or Dirk Wisely’s Gambit in events, and then cards like Claws of Darkness, Quantum Sorcery, and The Legacy. These don’t make for as hyperaggressive a start, but they provide steady power and will even let a moderately fast deck reach 6 power by turn 3.
So, where does that danger threshold of 6 power come from? Let us assume for a moment that 9 damage will take almost all sites the opponent will be playing. The average site has a body of 8 or less, and only few sites are bigger, though every good deck will sport a couple of those bigger sites. How much power does it cost to buy 9 damage, preferably in a package that can defeat some of the countermeasures and opponent can bring to bear? A few possible combinations would be: Test Subjects, CHAR, Godhammer; Test Subjects, 2 x Midnight Whisperer, 2x Godhammer, Nerve Gas; Sinister Priest, 2x Walking Corpse, Explosives; 2 x Mathemagician, Void, Pump-Action Shotgun; 2x Golden Candle Society, Sword Saint, Butterfly Swords; Punks, Fire Woman, 2x SAM Simian, Mountain Fortress (which is free, since we’ve already factored FSS into the 6 power we’re spending). In general, you are looking for low-cost characters that either have an ability that defeats defense (CHAR), can unturn (Void), or can pump up themselves or others (SAM Simian, Vassals of Chin). Big characters are usually to slow to mount an offensive at 6 power, which leads us directly to the last topic of this article: card speed.
How early a card can be played is determined by both its cost and the resources it requires. For comparability, each resource requirement can be assigned a cost of 1 power, since it will cost at least 1 power to buy that resource. If your deck contains a substantial number of resource providers that cost more than one power, you may have to adjust the modified cost of cards accordingly. Using this simple equation, we can quickly identify any hitter suitable for a fast deck. The fastest hitters are the $10,000 Man, CHAR, Gnarled Attuner, Rah Rah Rasputine, Redeemed Pirate, and Sword Saint. Gnarled Attuner and Rah Rah Rasputine are somewhat inferior to the others, because they have neither a defensive nor a useful offensive ability. A modified cost of 5 for all of these guys tells us that a fast deck can play them on turn 2, and an average deck can play them on turn 3. But the equation tells us much more than that. Together with the power curve, we can now find out if a card or combo is suitable for the early game, or if we should expect it to go off only in the late game. Sometimes, a deck doesn’t work because it is built around a combo that works best in the early game, because that is when it deals with less defense, but the combo is very unlikely to come together on time, hence the deck doesn’t win often. Other times, players build their decks around power generation schemes that have an apparent cost of 0 power, but a converted cost of 3 or more, which again leads these schemes to go off later than intended and slows the deck down. Finally, the converted cost gives you an idea when a given defense will be effective, and how much power you will have to spend on it. The first use of Nerve Gas costs 2 power, one for the card itself, one for the foundation it requires, so it can be used early in the game. Arcanovirus costs 3, and Neutron Bomb costs 5, thus both of these cards will work much more reliably in the late game. Finally, remember that foundations are usually harder to acquire than power, especially for a rush deck, so if you need to play fast, look for cards that require very few resources. This also gives us a bit of perspective when comparing Pocket Demon to, say, Wedding Gifts. While both have a power cost of 0, Pocket Demon has a converted cost of 1, and Wedding Gifts has a converted cost of 2, but with a hefty penalty for requiring resources from two factions.
To wrap up, a good overview of card cost and power curves provides clues for deck construction, aiding decisions such as the choice of alternate power generation as well as ratio of 3-cost characters to hitters.