E · Optimization & Practice · §16

Common Strategic Errors

Twelve recurring misplays, from defending everything to counting Alpha targets in the wrong order.

Defending every battlefield. Identify the Hold that taxes them most efficiently, defend that one, and prepare the retake elsewhere.
Adding a second unit automatically. Compare what it contributes against the lost Legend bonus, the lost Poro draw, and the lost second lane.
Using as a conventional blocker. Check the other battlefield first: its special value is creating combat where you had no unit.
Casting the combat trick first. Let the hidden two Might force the initial commitment, and spend the card only when it is needed.
Forgetting that Fervent’s trigger survives a counter. Once she was chosen, the +1 already exists.
Counting Alpha targets after Fervent’s trigger. Targets lock first; buff her before casting when the count matters.
Spending the Calm Power on a marginal action and then finding or cannot be paid.
Treating Hourglass as a protected Hold. It saves and recalls the unit; the battlefield can still be lost.
Overvaluing a Poro draw when one cheap reaction would have secured the point instead.
Using after committing. Disrupt first, then decide whether the commitment is safe.
Overboarding expensive units without cutting the corresponding top end.
Rebuilding the same fortress after winning a long defensive exchange, instead of counterattacking.