I have lots of cards for Star Realms (2 decks of the standard game, 1 expansion deck), and I'm trimming everything down to fix balance issues and the overall deck size.
However, the tricky part is adjusting for the viability of certain Factions between the early-late game phases, the viability of Explorers throughout the game (2 cost, 2 Trade, Scrap: 2 Combat), and the prioritization of early-game resources (Trade) vs. late-game resources (Draw, Combat).
For example:
- Red (Machine Cult) and Green (Blob) are very effective in the late game stages due to their high Combat values and deck efficiency/combo potential.
- Yellow (Empire) is good for mid-game, due to the fact that their easy draws can accelerate your early game (when draws would normally be impossible) and their discard effect synergizes with itself to gain effectiveness in late-game.
- Blue (Trade Federation) is good for early-game, since it deals mostly in accelerating your deck by producing a massive amount of Trade and purchase high-impact cards earlier than your opponents.
What is the ideal curve that should be used?
E.G. Should Blob have a limited amount of early-game Trade to force players into splitting off into other solutions that have less late-game potential?
By 'ideal', I'm referring to any mention of this topic from the developers, common trends of the various sets, or reasoning from experienced players.