This is a general beginner's strategy guide on Kongai. It's more focused on three-card decks, but the information can come in handy playing five-card games.
Introduction[]
The ultimate goal of the game is to kill all three of your opponent's cards, while not letting him kill all three of your cards. So your goals:
- Kill the opponent's cards.
- Don't let the opponent kill your cards.
How do cards die? They die when their hit points are reduced to zero. Hit points are reduced when damage is done. So we can refine our two principles a bit:
- Do damage to your opponent.
- Don't let your opponent do damage to you.
It is easy to miss in the heat of battle, but everything you do should be geared to achieving either of those two things. Let's explore more!
Do damage to your opponent[]
There are two main ways of doing damage: a) Attacking your opponent when you have sufficient energy to do your moves, and having your opponent do an action that leaves them open to attack; b) Intercepting your opponent when he chooses to switch. Ordinarily, you want to do the move that gives you the most "bang for the buck"; that is, you do the most amount of damage for the least amount of energy expended. The complexity comes in when moves have special effects.
For example, Helene has several attacks; one that does 30 damage and costs 30 energy, and one that does 20 damage and costs 45 energy. But the 45 energy move also has a special property; it cancels the enemy's attack this turn if it hits first! Since it is a fast move, it is very likely to hit first. If you do this move and the enemy does a slower attack, you will have done some damage and prevented the enemy from doing any damage to you. You gain!
Don't let your opponent do damage to you[]
Taking some damage is mostly unavoidable, but we try to minimize the damage done to us. There are three main methods: a) Switching out when you anticipate a damaging, high-energy attack; b) selecting characters who have high resistances against your opponent's card's main damage type; c) selecting ranges that are unfavourable to your opponent.
The first one is fairly self-explanatory. For b), consider the matchup of Higashi vs Onimaru. Onimaru has 10 resistance against physical damage. Higashi's main attacks are all physical. Therefore, Onimaru is good against Higashi. For c), let's say you are up against Ashi. Ashi has no long range attacks. Therefore, if you are at long range, there is no way for her to damage you.
Energy and Health[]
The next thing to understand is the role of energy. Energy lets you do moves. Moves generally reduce enemy health. So basically, your energy can be traded for the enemy's health, the proportion depending on the exact characters and moves involved.
What does this mean? Basically, you want to find ways of exchange your energy for his health that are favourable to you. You also want to prevent him from doing the same. In addition, even if you both exchange energy to health in roughly the same ratios, you will have the advantage if you have more total energy. Do you see why?
How do you get more energy? You can get more energy by switching when your active character is low on energy, and your reserve characters have full energy.
Switching[]
Switching characters is an important part of the game, for two reasons: From the three cards in your hand, you can choose the best one to deal with the current opponent (i.e. resistances and attacks); and it also brings your energy up to the maximum. The disadvantages are that if your switch is predicted, it is costly to you. This doesn't always mean intercept - for me, even if I am 50%+ sure that the opponent will switch, frequently I won't intercept. Instead, I will rest, and when they come in I will hit them with a huge attack that they can't dodge by switching out again.
It is most advantageous for you to switch when the current matchup is especially bad for you, or you are lowest on energy. Your opponents are also most likely to switch when the same is true for them. You can use this information to intercept more successfully, and to disguise your switch-outs!
Deck Building[]
- Main article: Deck Building Strategy
More Strategies/How to fix those rookie mistakes[]
- The first thing you should do when a match starts is to look at the level of who you are facing. This can save you some headaches later and gives a good warning of their skill level. As a bonus, Many experienced players will choose to keep a highly damaged character in for the last few points of damage. They win sometimes because the opponent continues to use intercepts. (This does not mean you should stop using intercepts. Just avoid them when possible. Only use them if your opponent is backed into a corner and has no energy left, or it seems very unlikely he can win even with plenty of health. This is more important when considering if someone will switch then the health of a character. Bottom line is: How lucky do you feel today? :/
- Second: Look at the characters attacks, ability, and item. It is amazing how many people lose matches because they think they know a character and get taken by surprise when an attack is faster then the one they use, or an item effect screws them over. Keeping track of a characters basic ability saves headaches too. Especially against characters that are immune to stuns, interrupts, or poison and burn effects.
- Third and most important: Don't give up! Many attacks have a miss percentage. This is something many players forget, and if you stick with it the game can surprise you and give you a come from behind win. This is especially true if your last character has some way to stun the opponents character.
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.28.156.128 (talk • contribs)
A Reader Comments[]
I have heard that a beginner should delay picking starter cards. Play with Random (All Cards) decks. While your total card count is low, the chance for getting a card after a win is high. After you win 8 cards, then pick 3 starter items to complement the characters you won. An additional advantage to this approach is that you will get first-hand experience with all the cards and the random characters will be fully (though randomly) equipped.
Belthus 13:17, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
I advise not picking starter cards until you have at least 10 cards, because the rate of winning a new card goes down as soon as you have 10 cards; you should profit from the high rate as long as you can.
Cerberus™ 03:09, January 7, 2010 (UTC)