Breakpoint’s Applied Theory: The Power of Unevolved Cards

Introduction

One of the biggest argument in Urban Rivals is whether or not a player should use a fully evolved or an unevolved version of a card in a certain deck. Like any other type of strategy, there are some pros and cons in using unevolved cards in a deck. It is important that players first understand how unevolved cards affect deck performance, and finally, how these cards should be managed by the players.
This article aims to discuss the different pros and cons of using unevolved cards.

Discussion

PROS

Efficiency. This is the principle that explain the power of unevolved cards. As what I have discussed in my past articles, efficiency means the card’s ability to win you games and earn you points. And to do this, a card must posses two elements: adequate stats (power:damage ratio +abilities/bonus) and a proportionate star levels.

Unevolved cards give players the ability to adjust the power level of their decks while sacrificing power and/or damage points. But mind you, not all cards that can be used in the unevolved form SHOULD be used as such.
Let’s give a few examples of cards that can be good in the unevolved form.

Wanda
Gwen
Dorian
Zatman
Vickie
Ottavia
Charlie
Yayoi
Xia Leming
Wee Lee
Vermyn N
Juicy Lord

What do these cards have that make them good in the unevolved form? simple — they were able to maintain efficiency at a low star count. Take Yayoi for example. Yayoi at level 4 is a 7/6 with SOA. But at level 3, she is a 7/4 with SOA — only a difference of 2 damage points! Does it matter? A LOT!
There are several reasons that make unevolved cards good in a deck. These are: Star Sensitivity, Power Sensitivity and Points Sensitivity.

A. Star Sensitivity

In certain deck formats that are star count sensitive, like ELO, a deck needs to maximize every star count possible. This means trying to put into the deck all the best possible cards while considering the total star count of the deck. The star count of one halfdeck will affect the star count of your other halfdeck. Therefore, it is important that a player strike an equilibrium of star counts and power level of each of his/her halfdecks.

In ELO, a common pussycat halfdeck most players would use is:

2* Wanda
5* Charlie
2* Feelyn
4* Yayoi

Total star count = 13
Total Power = 21
Total Damage = 19
This halfdeck has a fair rating. It has 4 reducers, 1 SOA, 2 nukes, and 3 walls. But being at 13 stars,it means that you only have 12 stars left for your other halfdeck. Some players try to remedy this by changing either Charlie or Yayoi into another lower-star card. But in doing so, potentially removing a good nuke or SOA from your deck.

Now, here is an example of a very efficient pussycat halfdeck ELO top players would use:
1* Wanda
3* Yayoi
4* Charlie
1* Gwen

Total star count = 10
Total Power = 29
Total Damage = 12

It has 4 reducers, 4 walls, 1 SOA and 1 nuke.
As you can see this halfdeck only uses 10 stars allowing the player to have a total of 15! stars for the halfdeck. That means that the said player can potentially put in 2-3 nukes in his other halfdeck. Another significant observation seen is that while there is a decrease in star count, there was an even higher total power count as compared to the first list. This is the explanation why unevolved version of some cards are good in the deck. These cards have nearly the same power level as the fully evolved version, but at a lower star count. Sure, this means that your halfdeck will have a lower total damage, but this can and will be compensated in your other halfdeck.

B. Power Sensitivity

In the previous paragraphs, I was able to show you how unevolved cards help the deck by allowing more cards to be placed as a result of a decreased star count. Now, I will discuss why only some cards are worthy to be used in the unevolved form while some cards are needed to be used in the fully evolved form.

Reason I: Some cards have acquired their abilities at a much lower level than other cards making them good candidates as unevolved cards.

A good example is Lulabee and Hikiyousan.

At level 5:
Hikiyousan is…
8/5
A: +2 dmg
B: +2 pwr

Lulabee is…
7/6
A: SOB
B: +2 pwr
But let’s say you only have 4 stars left in your Ulu Watu halfdeck and you have to choose which level 4 version you’re going to use. Which card you you going to choose – Hikiyousan or Lulabee?
Clearly, the best choice would be Lulabee because at level 4:

Hikyousan is…
6/5
A: none
B: +2 pwr

Lulabee is
6/5
A: SOB
B: +2 pwr

They have practically the same stats, but Lulabee has her ability at level 4.

Reason II: Some cards already have a good power levels at a lower level as compared other cards of the same level making them good candidates as unevolved cards.
Here’s another example. In your pussycat halfdeck, you only have one more star left and you had to choose between 1* Svethlana, 1* Wanda or 1* Gwen. Which card will you choose?
Obviously, Wanda because among the three, Wanda has the highest power. True, Svethlana has an ability that copies the opponent’s power but she can only equal Wanda’s power in certain situations. Plus, she falls down easily to SOAs.

Reason III: Some cards already have good damage values at a lower level as compared to the same card at a higher level.

Here’s an example. A very good ELO deck is the Bangers/Pussycat deck using:
4* Blaaster
5* Bodenpower
2* Graff
5* Lennox
3* Yayoi
1* Wanda
1* Gwen
4* Charlie

Now, the card in question is here is the 4* Charlie. Strategically, 4*Charlie is already a good choice for this deck. Why? because she still maintains her status as a nuke even at 4 stars. Even at a low level, 4* Charlie can still make a possible 2HKO just like any other 5* Charlie in another deck.

C. Points Sensitivity

Finally, unevolved cards allow the player to potentially gain more points in battles as compared to the same card at full level.
A good example is Dorian. Most Type 2 decks will use 5*Dorian. However, a modified Type 2 Uppers/Montana (that I use) utilizes a 3* or 4* Dorian. The reason for this is that a 3* or 4* Dorian already has 8 power which is equal to that of a 5* Dorian. This means that a 3* Dorian can equally defeat any card that a 5* Dorian can defeat. True, 3* Dorian has a low damage value, but this can be compensated by the other cards in the deck.
If Player A with a 5* Dorian defeats a Player B with a 5* Lennox, Player A will only get 3 points. But if Player A had a 3* Dorian and it defeats a 5* Lennox, then Player A will get a total of 5 points. Another useful bonus is when 3* Dorian levels up during a tourney, you will gain a bonus of 5 points.

CONS

A. Very Costly

This is the primary reason why players hesitate in using unevolved cards. Most of the time, the price of the unevolved card is not proportionate to the earning received in tournaments. It is this same reason why unevolved cards are very dominant in high-level game play such as in ELO, where the prizes are significantly more expensive than the cost of unevolved cards. Rich players are able to buy unevolved cards to use in their decks. They use their decks to get high ranks in ELO, and win tons of clintz plus Cr cards making them richer. This again, allows them to buy more unevolved cards to do the same thing.

B. Very Limited Use

Most of the good unevolved cards are level 1 to 3, which means that from 0exp, these cards will need to gain about 500 to 2000exp before they lose their purpose in the deck. As such, the best use for these cards are as reducers, walls or chumps, and are rarely used to defeat high-star cards to avoid excessive EXP gain. Most of these cards level up fairly quickly therefore they also lose their usefulness fairly quickly, too. And due of the limited capabilities of these cards, the demand for these cards are insanely high. The sadder part is that the supply is very low. This is the reason for the high prices of these cards.

C. Release of Newer Cards

With the release of newer cards, some cards are given “acceptable” alternatives instead of using an unevolved version of the said card. A good example is Kluwn. Compared to Blaaster, Kluwn is -1 pwr/dmg but has practically the same power level as Blaaster, but at 1 less star.

Take this deck for example:
4* Blaaster
5* Bodenpower
2* Graff
5* Lennox
3* Yayoi
1* Wanda
1* Gwen
4* Charlie

Instead of adjusting the Pussycat halfdeck, players can instead replace Blaaster with Kluwn and opt not to use 4* Charlie and use a 5* Charlie instead, since Charlie is very expensive as an unevolved card.
Cards like Kluwn allow players to have a pseudo-unevolved card in their deck making the “genuine” unevolved cards nearly inefficient.

Conclusion

Using unevolved cards is a strategy only a few players can effectively do due to the requirements needed to maintain these types of cards. But as seen in the examples, unevolved cards play a huge role in making certain deck types very good and very efficient. Players should understand that There are some drawbacks in using unevolved cards but in some situations, the payouts greatly outweigh the drawbacks mentioned.
So the next time you see a deck with unevolved cards, don’t scratch your head and say “This deck is bad!” or “You need to change Card X to Card Y”. Remember that some players are aware of the hidden powers of unevolved cards and are willing to take the sacrifice of using them for a greater gain.

-Breakpoint