I want this game to be a big hit in the competitive scene. I also want this to be played at tournaments for huge wads of dosh.

So I need to think about how players will set themselves up.

I am a huge fan of having some sort of pre-built team that you use, thus requiring you to sacrifice some slots based on the meta. There are two ways that I think it could go down:

The Pokemon Way:

• In VGC Tournaments, players bring 6 Pokemon but only use 4.

You would bring 8 units (assuming 5 is the unit limit) and

• The opponent would see what you have and you see what they have

• You place your units based on that information

The Magic Way:

• You have a “deck” of 5 hidden units that you always bring into the first game

• After the first game, you can swap units with your “sideboard” between games

There is also a blind method where you place your units in secrecy (using a privacy shade or something) and reveal your units simultaneously. I personally don’t like this, but it has been suggested by my testers.

These ways all have their pros and cons. After some testing I think I know at least what I want in the comp scene.

1. The deployment phase is really important. You can’t mess with that. The placing and counter-placing are half the battle.

2. I DO want some sort of restriction as to what players can bring. I also want there to be a sort of meta-game that players have to prepare for. One thing is a limit of 3 of a single unit type.

3. I am a big fan of surprises in the placing stage. You should be surprised that someone has 3 grunts, for example, or that they are running no healers.

4. I do not want Faction mixing. The only exception might be “hybrid” units or faction-less units.