Board Game Arena

Do all the higher ranked players in this game use the exact same tactic? Every time I have faced someone with a high ELO (300+), they always play in the same way. All of them seem to play exclusively one-on-one games, they always enable special combos and all they do is steal cards (using two defuses, two nopes, two skips, whatever if necessary).

Those games are so uninspired. Sure, they're also fairly easy to win, since all you can do is use the same tactic and then it's just the luck of the draw. But they completely remove the skill/tactics part from the game and they turn it into a pure random luck game. You rarely see them in a 4 or 5 player game, since their dull tactics don't work there.

Why would you make every game so boring?

Not sure about this tactic but the game is uninspired in two players no matter what tactic is used. It all comes down to luck of the draw, and who draws the nopes. Not much is different in 2 player mode. Hopefully future arena will make it 3+

I think this is all 100% true and I see it a lot this needs to be fixed somehow.

This game should ethically not be offered in Arena at all (j/k), but though it is duller in 2p it is even more random with more.

> It all comes down to luck of the draw, and who draws the nopes.

Same for any higher number of players, plus "who can avoid getting targetted".
(Though I only play 2p here, I played it enough with family and colleagues and several expansions over the years to have a pretty confident opinion though ymmv)

> they always play in the same way. All of them seem to play exclusively one-on-one games,

See above.

> they always enable special combos

Not necessarily imho, but there might be a tendency towards that (which makes it even more boring and not less random).

> and all they do is steal cards (using two defuses, two nopes, two skips, whatever if necessary).

Well actually they should *usually* do NOTHING (an ELO-ambitious player in 3p+ definitely would) except play Favor, if it were not for Favor.
Only due to the one Favor in the 2p deck you want to steal cards as first player, in case the other holds it.
So yes, it is 95% luck and maybe exploiting weak play a tiny bit.

> You rarely see them in a 4 or 5 player game, since their dull tactics don't work there.

Sure. But the best tactics there is to do nothing (or trashtalk others to attack someone else )

> I think this is all 100% true and I see it a lot this needs to be fixed somehow.

Maybe the game itself could be reinvented, but there is no setup within the regular rules that is not extremely random.
-> Makes it a social game and/or binge-play game?