Monday, November 21, 2011

Why Is The Quest Mode So Much Fun?

The quest mode is my favorite part of Forge. There is something intoxicating about starting with a random selection of cards and transforming your deck into a Magic killing machine. The computer quest opponents clearly have stronger cards than you do and you might even be envious when you see them play a duel land from Alpha.

The quest mode is fun because it forces you to use a wide variety of cards. Some cards like Shock, which deals 2 damage, are clearly worse than Lightning Bolt which deals 3 damage but when questing, Shock is a very good card. In fact I don't mind paying 2R to get an effect like Shock because it is so powerful.

Strategies like life gain or land destruction are not very powerful in constructed decks but they are viable strategies when questing. Even when the computer occasionally uses life gain or land destruction, it can be very surprising and frustrating.

The quest mode is fun because it can be very challenging and you will lose a few games. Sometimes you lose because you made a mistake but sometimes you lose because the computer just drew the right cards. Recently when questing, I had 2 wins and 6 losses. The computer seemed to be on a lucky streak and I had no chance of winning against two 3/3s with vigilance and double strike (it was a sliver deck). It was ironic because I thought, "I'm losing and I'm really enjoying this." If you can lose and still enjoy the game, then it is a really good game: videogame or otherwise.

The quest mode forces you to learn your deck well. By playing the same deck over and over again you really get a "feel" for the deck. I tend to fall in love with the quest deck that I'm using because I know that I've tuned this deck, one card at a time, and transformed it from wimp to warrior. Every quest deck is unique. I recently played a quest deck where I had one dredge card and it was a game winner against decks that had a lot of removal. I could keep playing the dredge card over and over again.

On paper the quest mode is boring and menu based but in reality it is an addictive add-on that makes Forge infinitely replayable.

Question of the week:
What is your favorite Forge format: constructed, sealed, draft, quest or something else?

Keep on questing,
mtgrares

p.s.
My quest strategy:
1. Two color deck with 9 lands of each color
2. No more than 5 cards that cost 5 or greater
3. My goal is a creature heavy deck with a few removal spells or combat tricks
4. No (or few) 1/1s because they are so wimpy
5. Try to have 1 or 2 "finishers" that will win the game, either creatures with evasion or spells

I'm not a great deck builder so I usually see which two colors have the most cards and I add all of them. Then I look through the list and remove the really horrible cards that are over-costed or not very useful.

3 comments:

KamiKazeKenji said...

I love quest mode most as well. I play it more than any other format (my second is draft). I've got to say though, I have countless things swimming in my head that could improve or just make Quest mode better. One of the most frustrating things is when Forge crashes just when I play my game-winner. Thankfully, there's developer mode for that.

Your deck making strategy is very similar to mine! After getting a few more cards though, I tend to go mono, since it's so much easier to keep up. I also make multiple decks based on my favorite combos/strategies, and keep my main deck that I started with, and flesh it out and give it a theme (for example I gave my WG an Exalted theme). One last gripe (forgive my nagging) is that the AI is exploitable. I can't count the turns I've stalled because the computer refuses to attack because of my Plant Pet (Deathtouch, LOL). As much as I hate exploiting, I just can't seem to help it! [I remember back then I went crazy with the Wild Growth mana exploit and won on like Turn 4 thanks to Emrakul. Part of the reasons why Eldrazi are one of my favorites now.]

Pridwen said...

I really like the Quest Mode. First I played the deck against the deck by choosing random variations, then I was wondering what is the Quest Mode? I tried and I liked it because QM - that's what I like most about magic, I can not call himself an excellent deckbuilder, but QM has taught me to understand what cards are useful and which not, he taught me to work out a strategy and create a combo. I like to play lots of different cards, that is, in my deck of cards is not equal 4-3, which in combo with other ensure a victory, I have a general idea, a style that leads me to victory:)
pS: New version of Forge (1.1.8) is now avalibale :) I'm so sorry from my bad english :)

Мне очень нравится Quest Mode. Сначала я играл колодой против колоды, выбирая случайные варианты, потом мне стало интересно, что же такое Quest Mode? Я попробовал и мне понравилось, ведь QM - это то что мне больше всего нравится в магии: я не могу назвать себя отличным deckbuilder, но QM научил меня понимать какие карты полезны, а какие не очень, он научил меня вырабатывать стратегию и создавать combo. Мне нравится играть большим количеством разных карт, то есть в моей колоде нет 3-4 одинаковых карт, которые в combo с другими обеспечат победу, у меня есть общая мысль, стиль, который ведёт меня к победе :)
p.S.: New version of Forge (1.1.8) is now avalibale :)

Forge said...

KamiKazeKenji,
Sorry about the crashes but I'm glad the quest mode is still fun. I'm happy that the developer mode helps out.

Pridwen,
Don't worry about your bad english, I have very bad russian :) I'm glad that you can play Forge. Maybe in the future Forge will be translated to other languages such as Russain.