More Than Meets the Eye

It might appear at first glance that there are 10 different play styles in Star Chamber – one for each Star Chamber race. However, vets know that there are at least 20 more, even without bringing tech splashes into the picture. For each race, there are at least 3 distinct play styles, a classic balanced-tech, and 2 more heavily-skewed tech styles – when decks are heavily skewed towards one tech or the other. I was recently reminded of this when I read Zorro's excellent article on his Speed Kills deck, which is essentially an Entropy-heavy Thrass deck.

A few years ago, back when Mr Orange used to publish player written articles on the Star Chamber main site (way before SOE), I wrote a series of articles about heavily-skewed tech decks. They were called "Two Sides of The Same Coin", and showed how you can get two very different play styles from using the same race, by leaning on either one tech or the other.

I have recently republished the decks here, but keep in mind that these are Origins and Incursions only decks, and are not competitive today without heavy tweaking. In this article, I'll like to update my musings on tech bending to cover 2 of the most bendable techs, Entropy and Mind.

Zorro's Speed Kills deck is an excellent implementation of an Entropy-heavy Thrass deck in today's post-Maelstrom gaming environment. However, the core of the deck can easily be transferred to the other entropy races as well. Using his deck as an inspiration, I present to you, Entropy-heavy Android and Ixa decks, a la Zorro.

Those are Scouts?

Entropy-heavy Android
(45 cards)

• Mark of Entropy x2
• Gamma Ray Burst x4
• Scrapyard Scavengers x4
• Medal of Triumph x2
• Mounted Pulse Gun x4
• Proton Cannon x4
• Daemon Alpha (Architect of War) x2
• Iconoclasts x2
• Atmospheric Ravager x4
• Intruder x4
• Threat of Violence x2
• Obliteration Beam x2
• Shrieker x3
• Secret Police x4
• Entropic Burst x2

Ha! I Win

Entropy-heavy Ixa
(45 cards)

• Mark of Entropy x2
• Aegis Shields x4
• Gamma Ray Burst x4
• Mauling Crew x4
• Medal of Triumph x2
• Death Ray x4
• Mounted Pulse Gun x4
• Nano-Pulse Warheads x2
• Interceptor x4
• Iconoclasts x2
• Gholax Interdictor x4
• Shrieker x3
• Secret Police x4
• Entropic Burst x2

The main difference between these decks and Zorro's Speed Kills deck is the loss of the torpedo ships, Surprise Ally and Hornet Scout. However, Androids gain the nice Scrapyard Scavengers and Proton Cannon combo, and Ixa has the killer Aegis Shields and Death Ray combo.

Mono-tech Mind cards are nearly as strong as mono-tech Entropy cards. It is also quite easy to build strong decks that skew into Mind. The following decks are strong, although perhaps not as reliable as the Entropy-heavy Ixa and Android decks.

Power Voters

Mind-heavy Ferrier
(46 cards)

• Mark of Mind x2
• Avid Raiders x4
• Medal of Honor x2
• Security Detail x 2
• Ruined Plans x4
• Aggrandizement x3
• Personal Appearance x3
• Power Broker x2
• Stasis Field x2
• Field Agents x3
• Emergency Taxation x2
• Battle Psion x3
• Archon Overseer x3
• Weapons Lockup x3
• University x2
• Powermonger x 2
• Bribery x2
• Mandate x2

There's no way you can lose the vote with this deck. Just sit back, defend your territory, and try not to fall behind in culture. By turn 12 or so, your opponent will try something desperate. That is when Weapons Lockup and Battle Psion help you stop the beatdown.

Treasonous Power Brokers

Mind-heavy Cyber-splash Omior
(45 cards)

• Mark of Mind x2
• Infinity Drive x4
• Avid Raiders x4
• Ruined Plans x4
• Contentment x4
• Power Broker x4
• Stasis Field x3
• Field Agents x2
• Emergency Taxation x2
• Weapons Lockup x3
• Dream Eater x4
• Treasonous Implant x4
• Bribery x3
• Mandate x2

Sooty first showed me this deck about a year ago. It is surprisingly strong for a cheesy combo deck. The main combo is to Power Broker the opponent's citizen at the Chamber, and then hit it with Treasonous Implant. You use Dream Eater on it during the votes to win power play and prevent war.

If you have not yet explored the word of tech bending, I encourage you to take out your favorite decks, and see what happens when you throw out most of the cards from one tech.

Happy Bending!

Tech-breaker Tsai