Monster Madness: The Swarm Deck

BONUS Question Of The Day: What is a Swarm deck, and why are they so popular?

Trading Card Game Referenced:

MAGIC: THE GATHERING

This is actually a very easy question to answer, and so this will be a short article. However, that doesn't mean there won't be actual information in it!

Let's start with the dictionary's definition of Swarm:

SWARM [swawrm]
Verb
1. To move about, along, forth, etc., in great numbers, as things or persons. 2. To swarm about, over, or in; throng; overrun.

That underlined parts are very important, as that is the entire concept and indeed, very nature of a Swarm deck: A great number of creatures gathered together and moving so far so quickly that they completely overrun and overwhelm you, not with attack power, but with sheer numbers.

No game best encompasses bizarre strategies quite like Magic: The Gathering, so we are going to turn to one of its most famous Swarm decks: The Squirrel deck, specifically the Army of Squirrels deck. It is a green deck (represented by a forest with many nature-like creatures) that has the ability to very quickly bring out multiple squirrel cards and/or, most importantly, squirrel tokens, which are the most dangerous part of the deck, as several 1/1 creatures can easily be used to either clear the field of large monsters, or do an incredible amount of damage to your opponent. The idea is to have so many of them on the field at one time that it is impossible for your opponent to deal with them all, causing them to focus their attention elsewhere and thus losing the game once they beef up these tokens with other cards.

I want to send you to a man far more experienced than I in actually running this deck (although i've fought against it many times) and an intelligent individual, Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar. You can find his article on these little furry bastards here. I believe credit should be given where credit is due, which is another good lesson, which will be the subject of the next article. For now, go give a professional some love.

Now WHY are decks like this so popular with people? The answer to that comes from human psychology. When given the option of doing a difficult task to obtain a reward, or doing a task that seems much easier for the same reward, people are naturally going to choose the path of least effort for most reward. It's efficient, and it gives us the best advantage. It's the same way with a Swarm deck. It's easier to just run a deck that completely overwhelms your opponent and doesn't require much thought or energy to it. The Swarm deck satisfies our desire for victory while still making us feel that we won a battle using a tactic that was available to us. And, in a lot of ways, it's true. The path of least resistance is often the most satisfying...

...in the short term.

After a while, whether you win or lose, the deck stops being fun for most. There's no challenge in that kind of deck, it's the same thing over and over. You don't have to adapt to challenges, you don't have to come up with new strategies, you just throw wave after wave of monsters at people until you collect a victory. It feels cheap, and it cheapens the experience. There is a great thrill and pleasure in taking a deck you have built and making it into something that can win games. It's an almost primal, visceral pleasure. That's why it is more rewarding in the long run to build a deck that has multiple paths to victory, or at least has a backup plan should the primary win condition fail. Something that challenges you mentally, keeps you on your toes. This is what keeps you coming back.

Card games are about strategy, tactical knowledge, skill, luck, and math. Ultimately, how you play is up to you. As long as you are enjoying what you do, and you feel you are earning a legitimate victory, that is all that matters. (Sliver decks, i'm looking at you. There's a reason you're banned worldwide.)

Today's homework assignment is to remind yourself of one thing:

MY WORTH IS NOT DETERMINED BY HOW FAST I WIN, BUT IN HOW I FEEL ABOUT THAT WIN, AND HOW I TREAT VICTORY WHEN IT COMES.

Until next time, students!