Skyfire deck-building guide

The rules of the deck

• Seven cards, all from one race.
• One copy of each.
• Your starbase is always in play and does not use a slot.
• At Fleet Admiral rank with a race, an optional eighth slot opens for that race. Everything below still applies; you simply have one more answer to give.
• You hold four at a time, so the whole deck cycles quickly.

Start from a real deck

This is the deck every new Federation commander is given. It is a good deck, and it is worth understanding why before you change it.

Average cost: 2.9 energy. Notice the shape. Three cards cost two or less, so there is always something to play. One card is a genuine threat to a homeworld. One card is economy. The rest hold the line. Nearly every successful deck in the game has this shape, whatever the race.

The six questions

Before you take a deck into ranked play, check that it has an answer to each of these.

1. What do I play first?

You need at least two cards costing two or less. They let you respond to anything without committing, they keep your hand moving, and they screen your expensive ships. A flight of several small ships also soaks up shots that would otherwise land on something valuable.

2. What wins the game?

Something in the deck has to be able to destroy a homeworld. Usually that is a capital ship with torpedoes, a heavy carrier, or for the Lizards a troop cruiser that lands parties on it. One is enough. Two is a choice. None is a deck that draws.

3. What stops many small ships?

Flights of cheap ships and fighter wings overwhelm single-target guns. Answers: torpedoes with splash, a minefield across the lane, the Missile Salvo, or your own cheap flights.

4. What stops one huge ship?

A capital ship behind full shields shrugs off small fire. Answers: massed torpedoes, a ship that captures rather than destroys, or simply meeting it under your own starbase's guns.

5. What about ships I cannot see?

If your race can field a Loki, think hard before leaving her out: while she flies, no enemy ship cloaks. If it cannot, your answer is positional. Keep a cheap defender in hand and do not spend down to zero.

6. Am I running an economy?

A freighter costs a slot and some early energy, and pays it back several times over if it survives. Decks that skip it must win faster. Decks that run it must protect it. Both work; deciding which you are is the first real decision in building a deck.

Energy cost: the number that decides how the deck feels

Remember that energy doubles in the last minute. A heavy deck that survives until then becomes very dangerous. A light deck wants the match decided before it.

Build around your race, not against it

Each race has a rule, and the strongest decks lean into it.

• Federation: shields come back, so ships that survive are worth more. Favour tough hulls and pull fights toward your starbase.
• Lizards: double-speed mining makes a freighter far better than anyone else's. Run the economy.
• Birds: cloaked ships choose their fights. Build to strike at freighters and isolated ships, and avoid anything that needs to stand and trade.
• Fury: paired beams reward getting close. Bring ships that close the distance and things that keep them alive on the way.
• Robots and Crystals: a minefield is part of your deck's defence. Lay it before the push arrives.
• Carrier races: a carrier needs something in front of it. Pair every carrier with a cheap screen.

Each race's rule is described in the race guide.

Changing a deck without breaking it

1. Change one card at a time. With seven cards, one swap is already a big change.
2. Swap like for like. Replace a cheap card with a cheap card and a finisher with a finisher, and the deck's shape survives.
3. Test in the Simulator first. Practise against the computer, facing the race that has been beating you.
4. Give it ten battles. One loss tells you nothing. At three to five minutes each, ten is less than an hour.
5. Watch a loss back. The Battle Log keeps your recent battles. The moment a match turned is usually obvious on replay.

Upgrades and the deck

Blueprints raise a ship's tech level, which improves its weapons and shields. Early on, spread upgrades across the seven cards you actually play instead of pouring everything into one. A deck with one very strong ship and six weak ones loses to a deck that is solid all the way through.