(Reposted so it has its thread in strategy forum instead of being in general forum graveyard).
For fans of Final Earth.
As requested by Tainted Monk, I'll give my own personal template guide. Make of it as you will...
I'll just list everything from my head
* Mirror pick 1-12
* You want to have coverage or some route to the 6 main areas, (North America) (South America) (Asia) (Africa) (Australia/Indonesia) (Europe)
* Card pieces are important, always try to get them in this template.
* Take FTB's into consideration for how you want to shape your picks. e.g. Don't pick and expand in a bonus right beside an FTB.
* When picking, Safety is the number one factor. If you get countered turn 2 taking your bonus, most times your disadvantage and lose the game. It's a killer blow. On Final Earth, It's hard to get 100% safety but you can make a pretty good effort of making your own safe areas, taking, for example,
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17674527 where 1/2 Ind/Aus makes that a safe area theoretically as long as your enemy doesn't copy your idea like in that game ^^
* Coverage is then your next factor, you want everywhere to be covered this is purely for the long-term game, you could 2v1 an enemy and kill him but if the other has a whole region to himself, it's going to be a tricky game no matter what. you need to contest everywhere or at least be 2-3 turns close!
* Expansion is then the next factor, you need bonuses that you can expand into if required, if you don't consider the expansion, you could be stuck on a low income for the entire game, sometimes you can control it sometimes you can't but you at least pick picks that can increase your chances of not having crap distribution. e.g.
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17945726 1-3 you have it in your wannabe safe areas than your 4-12 is in the "open" areas.. where you can expand/counter enemy, You wouldn't really want to risk picking 2 Pink Bonus "Yakutia" in Russia because it's all wastelands around it.
* My favorite strategy is to 1-3 South America, I believe it's the best. It makes the area clear, it can give you access to Africa within a turn and to North America/Europe within 2 if you go through Carribean Islands > The Azores, You can also go Ind/Aus through Tahiti, I recommend going to this, however you need to be careful that enemy can counter it.. and it can be a very uncomfortable game.. e.g.
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17945726 (Although we didn't 1-3 it, it just an example of it going terribly wrong spam picking it) Highly effective but can be risky.
* An alternative strategy to shake your picks up is to 1-3 the Oceania area
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=18874575,
I didn't do it in my previous ladder run of 17-0 with Bohun, but you need to shake things up and try new picks to see what works. The more diverse your game the less predictable it is, which will stun enemies. It worked as we have 1-3 in this game.
* Use 2s for positioning not for income, take for e.g.
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17448392 if we lost 6.. We would pick 7 Yakutia for positioning. If you pick it, you gotta move from it. However the best e.g. of 2s is
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17945726 , You get the 1 in Africa covering literally all of it and one in Asia where it counters the Ural perfectly and wins us the game effectively. (Although it didn't go to plan, it did in the later turns, so you get the gist)
* Look at your opponent's past games, it gives hints to how they pick. I have predictable pick patterns but in games against enemies I feel would look at our past games, I'd shake it up. I managed to use the info of Krunx past games to counter his Ural bonus blindly, to beat him and win my 1st 2v2 ladder trophy. This can be used against you so be creative and try not to pick Ural every single game ;)
* Move order is Cyclic, meaning it goes ABBA.. Your team could win 1st/4th move or 2nd/3rd move. Use this information so wisely when deciding on plays. Knowing the move order makes your life easier, e.g.
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=18042311 turn 4, I knew I had first order so I used it to my advantage and eliminated J.P. from very important area because he was busy in 2 other fronts too.
* In general, It's a good principle to 2v1 fight on an enemy player in most scenarios, however, you need to be cautious about the enemy player. Get the player crippled, meaning income is limited and he can't really do much put pressure.. That's when you then apply pressure on your bigger enemy player. This is a fine art that you must get perfectly timed. e.g.
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17674527 Turn 3. It might look like a risk but it was really logical in the end.
* Blockade cards are unique, to use them depends on the context of the game. Use blockades if you are a weak player and you don't want enemy taking your bonus as Smoove did in Turn 6
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17674527.
* Gift cards are arguably more unique, it also depends on the context of the game. Take
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=17448392 for e.g. Bohun was 2v1 on base income and was weak, So gift at East Canada would help me control Faler, while Bohun kept South America alive and try to expand Ural.
Don't waste the gift + blockade cards, use them for a good cause and get good value from using them. Use the OD cards, if you want to make a large attack on the enemy and use the OP cards to try and run away from enemy/take the enemy if you have a stack.
* Count count count, you must know what the enemy is doing, where his armies and income sources are at. What is the move order? This is crucial information when trying to predict what the enemy is doing, it's a basic skill in the top level games that you must learn!
2 turns of 5 deployments, means he's taken a 4 bonus most likely (in turn 1 and turn 2)
7 deployments from total 10 deployments, mean he's taken a 3 bonus most likely. ""
What if enemy picked an ftb? could be potential 10 income turn 2.
Be on top of this information!
Counting is the difference between TOP players and the AVERAGE player, LEARN IT! This applies to all 0% SR templates out there. The more time you practice, the quicker you get at it, Please learn it!
You can learn all the theory but it's about gaining experience and trial + error, practice makes perfect and judgment comes from experience. Though the more time you invest being analytical the more of an improvement your play will form, meaning lovely 2v2 trophies and general improvement in your all-around game.
