I'VE GOT THE CARDS, WHAT DO I DO NOW?
by Bob Morss
A game of Wyvern is an involved and subtle contest, pitting not only strength against strength, but also testing one player's spending plan against the other's. For the object of Wyvern(tm) is not simply to clear your opponent's battlefield, but to do so while spending as little of your gold as possible.
It is possible to play Wyvern(tm) with one Starter Deck per player. In fact, a Starter Deck tournament is a great way to get players who are new to Wyvern(tm) involved in the game and to experiment a little with some deck strategies and card combinations. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Some players don't see the need for having ANY Terrain in their Dragon Lair. But you will find that without those few extra Gold Pieces generated during the course of a game, when your opponent's Dragons discover your Terrain, you will be short of Gold when the final battles are being fought. When you're left with a handful of Battle Actions that you can't afford, it can be very frustrating. Even worse is when you're unable to pay one of your Dragons to fight! He just runs away (is discarded) and takes any of your remaining gold with him. The down side to Terrain is that one of your opponent's Scouts might eliminate it, but in doing so he must reveal himself. And once revealed, a Scout is usually easy prey to a counter attack or to an inexpensive Dragon Slayer. The chance to permanently weaken and limit your opponent's Dragons (through the effects of Terrain) makes Terrain worth playing.
Dragons come in various shapes and sizes. How each dragon is used will determine whether you win or not.
Scouts are weak, but necessary; without them your opponent will gain Gold back almost as fast as he or she spends it (as your non-Scouts uncover enemy Terrain cards). Result: you will be left with a bunch of weakened Dragons, and not enough Gold to compete in the end game. Many players like to use a Flying Scout (such as AMPHITERE) from the back row, since it is less vulnerable to a counter attack there.
Your largest Dragons should be held back and wait to attack an opposing face up Dragon when you feel you have a good chance of winning the battle. In fact, don't pay a large Dragon to enter the game unless either you are forced to (because an opposing Dragon attacks it) or you need him to fight a battle you are fairly certain you can win. These Dragons are expensive, so you should know what you're getting into before sending one into battle. One good battle combination is to use a big Dragon to back up a small one. Attack with the small Dragon - once battle is joined, use the Battle Action HELP to bring the big Dragon in as a reinforcement. Beware of this tactic though... every Dragon that participates in a lost battle is killed! One misplayed BATTLE CHAOS card (which allows each player to bring as many Dragons as they want into the battle) could cost you several Dragons, and the game.
The smaller non-Scout Dragons might seem at first to be of limited use. But don't give up on these inexpensive, smaller Dragons. They can be used quite effectively in combination with Battle Action cards that carry strength modifiers. When using low-cost Dragons, you don't have the high up front cost when they are first turned face up. Moreover, they can often defeat an opposing Scout on their own. And if one gets caught in a battle with a large Dragon, you can apply your strength-modifying Battle Actions on an "as needed" basis.
Some Dragons, such as AJATAR and NAGA, are stronger (MUCH stronger) when attacking from face down. When combined with the ability to be turned back face down (the Treasure CAULDRON, or Action AVALANCHE), these Dragons can seem almost invincible.
A good way to get more than one card per turn into your hand is to play the AVALANCHE and TSUNAMI Action combination. Say you have three Dragons face up. The Action AVALANCHE turns all face up Dragons face down. Follow this with a TSUNAMI, which allows you to draw one card from your Treasure Horde for each Dragon you turn face up; turn up the three Dragons just turned face down by the AVALANCHE and draw three cards from your Treasure Horde.
The AVALANCHE/TSUNAMI combination becomes even more useful if you know what cards you are about to draw! How do you do this? Play a CRYSTAL BALL Action on your own Treasure Horde Draw Pile, which allows you to look a the next five cards and place then on top of the Draw Pile in any order you want.
Well, I think that's enough examples of card combinations to get you thinking, and besides, you wouldn't want me to reveal ALL the game's secrets, would you? Part of the enjoyment of WYVERN(tm) is discovering some nice combination that your opponent hasn't thought of yet. Now that you've got some idea of what to look for in card combinations, you should be able to put up a good fight, even from just one WYVERN(tm) Starter. And how many collectible card games can you say THAT about?