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Card of the Season
By: Yoshiken

Welcome to the second instalment of Card of the Season! In the previous season, we featured the Blugu, a Lv 4 card that had major strengths regardless of the rules. The key benefit to this card was the high proportion of games it can be used in, seeing as Lv 4 is possibly the most played level on the site. This season, we carry on this trend, looking at another level that is almost overplayed beyond its limits – Level 5.
Now, while there are still a number of Level 5 games around, most of the people playing them tend to be older players who were around when the starter pack included level 5 cards. For this reason, it seems that the majority of Lv 1-5 games include at least a majority of the unlock decks. The card I have chosen is just one of many cards with this number combo, but that seems to be ignored for other similar combos, or at least was until the first round of SE Vincent, where these cards were predominantly used. I’ll show now why this combo can be, and usually is better in a single situation.

The card I’m featuring is:
1610, Futch., Level 5, Deck: S3, Values: 5, 2, 6, 7.

Strengths: Good values for PW, relatively strong overall values
Weaknesses: Clearly weaker for values than others on same level (e.g. 2757 or 7653)
The Testing:

Thanks go to ThePiggyman for his help with the testing. <3
Ruleset: Lv 5, S,P,PW,C, Open, All Decks.

For the tests here, I used two entirely random hands that included this card. The first used four cards that were particularly strong on their own, whereas the second used relatively weaker cards.

Hand 1:


Game 1:
Opponent’s Hand:


Turn: Second
Turn Order: 9, 3, 5, 4, 6, 2, 1, 8, 7

Board at end:



Game Score: 5-5
Game Analysis: OK, so as soon as the first card was played, I could see an opening from 6, but the 5 would be too weak if left open this early. After a bit of stalling, I fell right into a T-formation from the right, but Futch’s 7 allowed me to secure the top and ensure a tie.
Card Analysis: Spread of values may have caused problems early, but eventually the high values guaranteed me a decent result in this game.
Card Score: 8/10 – Good, steady defence.

Game 2:
Opponent’s Hand:


Turn: First
Turn Order: 3, 9, 8, 6, 7, 5, 1, 2, 4

Board at end:



Game Score: 6-4 Loss
Game Analysis: Finding a starter with this hand was easy enough… It was just every move after that that was the problem. Behemoth seemed like a good move at the time, but I think the move with Mimic had already cost me.
Card Analysis: Should have probably been played in 6 instead of Mimic in 8… Instead, the values helped get a few cards back and save some dignity.
Card Score: 8/10 – Strong values, but combo limitations didn’t help. Almost had a Same in 2, though.


Hand 2:



Game 1: First Opponent’s hand from earlier

Turn: First
Turn Order: 3, 7, 5, 2, 8, 4, 6, 9, 1

Board at end:



Game Score: 6-4 Loss
Game Analysis: Criticise my bad playing all you like. =P Again, a pretty poor game, but in this one, it seems I was mostly just overpowered by a hand designed for PW, C.
Card Analysis: Good values for PW allows for some potential takes, but nothing too great by the end.
Card Score: 6/10 – Not bad, but just kind of… there.

Game 2: Second Opponent’s hand from earlier

Turn: First
Turn Order: 9, 5, 2, 6, 8, 3, 1, 7, 4
Board at end:



Game Score: 6-4 Win
Game Analysis: At least I won one of these. =D Took me a while to see a couple of the moves here, but I think I had it won from the move in 8.
Card Analysis: Well, not really much to say here. Allowed me to use the Great Malboro as a starter, but otherwise, just the usual defence.
Card Score: 7/10 – What more to say? Same again – a solid defence.

Final Opinions:
Well, it’s quite hard to say with this card. I think it’s a good card for the right spot – generally speaking, the further right Futch is played, the more useful it’ll be. Alternatively, it can make quite a good starter set-up, by using a 6x7x as the starter in 6. One thing is quite interesting to note here, though – Futch was only taken once, and was instantly taken back this time. So, for my final comments on this card, I’d say that it’s quite a good card to use, but only when mixed with other, similar cards, and only if you’re a defensive player.

Overall Score: 7/10