Intro"Speed
How good it is at dealing damage to the opponent. Cards with high speed, are cards that are good at getting the opponents life to 0, even if he is ahead or even in resources. For example, Insanian Berserker." -Wiggins the Archmage
Although its an interesting perspective, i consider it to be not well systematized and defined... what is the threshold between "(being good) at dealing damage to the opponent" and being "bad" at it? what type of damage is he talking about? and a crucial point: WHAT THE HELL IS SLOW?... so although i credit him as inspiration, i think he fell short with imprecision, so here i go again.
Fast speed:
shortens the game; threatens opponent directly, either by board presence or direct damage.Contextual speed:
Can shorten or prolong the game depending on its usage.Slow speed:
lenghtens the game; threatens opponent indirectly by generation of life or mana.
Tempo: a very dynamic speed of a player's grand strategy that can change turn by turn that is the sum of his actions.
Modified by FORESTRY on 2014-04-11 08:36:15
Chapter I: Fire*****Fast***** (7)
*Gobozerk: it is so because its board presence value is tremendous for a 1 cost creature... which not only makes it available since the 1st turn, but it also can be spammed.
*FireDrake: its ability allows it to make attacks of opportunity either directly on the opponent or a damaged creature upon arrival.
*OrcChief: assuming proper play, it adds a net 7 damage on the board (2+3+2)... it can also make spread attackers go much faster.
*MinoCommand: not only does it have 6 attack, but it can add a net of up to 5 attack for the board (6+5=11)... also makes spread attackers go faster.
*Bargulia: 8 attack, thats a great damage threat - it also does 4 creature control upon arrival... to better understand him, you have to compare to FireElemental... for 2 less mana you create a lot of pressure on the opponent at that tier of creatures... at best, the opponent will only have SeaSprite, Turtle or Troll to engage it semi-decently, while all the other creatures will just get thrown into the woodchipper.
*Geddon: not only does it do creature control, but its a type of direct damage... it is a concentrated type of speed that comes in very fast bursts (which can shorten the game in a deadly manner for opponent)
*Dragga: not only it has good presence value, but it boosts all offensive spells.... its cheaper but closer relative in the Fire house is Bargul.
*****Ambiguous***** (4)
*Wall of Fire: even do it does creature control which is a fast aspect, it is very much turn intensive due to its small effect, and it also can play a defensive role against early rushes which is a slow aspect, therefore its hybrid nature.
*FlameWave: it clears out the board "quickly" but it does not equate as "fast" within the criterions i am utilizing, because it doesnt intrinsically shorten or lenghten the game, its effect is purely contextual.
*Inferno: same as Flamewave.
*FireElemental: elementals by their nature imply not only a huge investment of 10ish resources, but only reaping its rewards after 5 turns... but Meditation or Apostates can boost its speed by sacrificing water, and not only that, but its on-summon effect is direct damage and creature control which is also a fast factor, therefore, a hybrid depending on context.
*****Sloooow***** (1)
*PriestOfFire: its a generator. The more turns it lives, the more its initial investment pays off. Its board presence value is crappy... sure, it has spammability due to its 3 cost, but its threat does not come from "omg im getting life rushed by F3s" but rather "omg, thats so much fire, i need to kill those guys efficiently somehow"
*****Summary*****
We can observe that Fire is a very fast house overall, very useful for fastening the tempo of any game, either to injure the opponent or its creatures.
Modified by FORESTRY on 2014-04-11 05:25:00
Speeeeeed! Nice info, Forestry! Maybe Wiggins will pop up and tune in here since speed is his thing, we haven't seen him in soooo long.
When I think of speed I like to imagine all the cards on a gradient speed scale of 1-10; 1 being the slowest with cards like Dwarven Craftsman, Elven Healer, and Meditation, and 10 being the speediest with cards like Spectral Assassin, Griffin, and Armageddon. Then there's everything in the middle.
(Biggest problem with a scale though is it leaves a lot of room for dispute.)
Modified by Valentyne on 2014-04-08 15:03:39
Speeeeeed! Nice info, Forestry! Maybe Wiggins will pop up and tune in here since speed is his thing, we haven't seen him in soooo long.
When I think of speed I like to imagine all the cards on a gradient speed scale of 1-10; 1 being the slowest with cards like Dwarven Craftsman, Elven Healer, and Meditation, and 10 being the speediest with cards like Spectral Assassin, Griffin, and Armageddon. Then there's everything in the middle.
(Biggest problem with a scale though is it leaves a lot of room for dispute.)
Gradients are possible, but pointless i would think, since this is loosely based around numbers, but much more around qualities.
And you kind of get the general idea in your examples... the "slow" examples you say do mana generation or do healings... in contrast to "fast" which generate agressive presence and direct damage.
Now that i see some upvotes and some feedback ill try and make this first fire post more elaborate, i did it quite fast and on the go in the first version.
Shorter definitions can be better than longer ones, much clearer i hope for the fast and slow criterions.