Segmenting Card Play – or, Why Not “Play All”? – by greylag

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by greylag (originally posted at the Star Realms BoardGameGeek forums)

When I get matched in the app, sometimes I can tell by the avatar or the name if I’m up against a high level player. But not all high level players use Recycling Station, or Yacht, as their avatar. So if that doesn’t give them away, one of the biggest signs I’m up against a strong player is the way they play their cards, particularly their trade cards.

Imagine the row looks like this in the early/mid-game.

Fleet HQ / Cutter / Battle Pod / Defense Center / Blob Wheel

When I started playing (and often still now), if I had 4 scouts on a row like that, I’d click “Play All”, then take the Cutter, then probably the Battle Pod if nothing else good came up.

But what I notice is that higher level players will often play out their turn like this:

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Card Gallery added and Glossary updated!

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We’ve added a single page to capture all of the next cards in our preview for easy reference. You can hit the top Nav Bar link or click here to see all those cool cards!

Additionally, our Glossary is finally starting to take shape. We’re adding new terms/slang to the page every day. If you find something is amiss, or you’ve got a suggestion. Please let us know! Email us at megahaulin@gmail.com

Star Realms Card Tier Lists

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BEFORE READING: For the newest version of the Card Tier List, CLICK HERE!

by Scott Heise aka HomerJr

Here are my Star Realms Card Tier Lists!  The intent of these Tier Lists is to provide a quick reference to help players, especially newer or less experienced players, when deciding which card(s) in the trade row they should buy (or whether to buy a card at all).  Every card that is available in the online app (base plus year 1 promos) is contained within these lists and grouped into one of three tiers based on the overall value of the card relative to the cost of the card.

While every card in the game can be valuable and help you win, not every card will have equal value over the course of the game thus there are separate Tier Lists for different phases of the game (opening buys, mid game, late game).  Furthermore, many cards are highly situational or valuable only in certain decks.  Please note that this is all just my personal opinion based on over 3500+ online plays, so don’t take anything in here as law.  🙂   I am always open to feedback, criticism, and discussion.  I also hope to do a deeper dive into how/where/why many of these cards derive their value and how best to use them in future strategy articles.

I rank each card into one of three tiers as follows:

  • Tier 1:  Strong value and/or agnostic to situation; beneficial in almost any deck; you almost always want to have it in your deck if you can
  • Tier 2:  Solid value and/or somewhat situational; may rely on ally ability triggers to be effective; generally a good buy if no Tier 1 card available
  • Tier 3:  Weak value and/or highly situational;  may need exactly the right game circumstances to be effective; best to avoid buying except in rare cases

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The Pace of the Game, Part 1: A Game of Four and a Half Decks

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by Scott Heise aka HomerJr

The average game of Star Realms lasts 25 turns.  That means each player only gets 12 hands on average with which to reduce their opponent’s authority to zero.  With so few precious turns, it is therefore very important to make the most of each and every hand.  More importantly, these 12-14 hands per player are distributed among the “decks” formed by each reshuffle and each card in your deck can only be played once per shuffle.  Understanding how these decks affect the pace of the game, and thus your decision making, is one of the keys to becoming an advanced player.

Let’s break down a “typical” 25-turn game, and discuss how it should affect your strategy…

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