Welcome to the exciting world of Challengers!, where mastering strategy and smart deck-building are your keys to victory. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started, knowing how to adapt when certain card sets are omitted, drafting the best combos, and managing your bench space can make all the difference. This guide is packed with tips and tricks to help you navigate the game, from recognizing the power of specific cards to planning for those all-important late-game rounds. Get ready to up your game and leave your opponents in the dust!
Take note of which card set is omitted
One of the most important (and overlooked) aspects of Challengers! strategy is adapting your decision making based on which card set was removed at the beginning of the game. Only 5 of the 6 sets are used in a normal game, and which set is randomly removed should weigh heavily on your overall strategy. Let’s look at how the omission of each set should impact your play.
Castle
This set is generally considered weak, so its omission has minimal impact on overall strategy.
Funfair
The absence of this set also has little effect on gameplay. However, without base power 3 cards in the B or C decks, Stable Boy becomes more valuable due to an increased likelihood of base power 3 cards being present.
Outer Space
No UFO means no ability to get duplicates of A-deck cards. Stable Boy is much weaker because there are fewer power 3 cards to choose from. Without Hologram, you can be a little more aggressive in deck building.
Film Studio
The key loss here is Heroine, making it crucial to win late rounds to ensure advancement to the finals, as you can’t rely on Heroine to gain fans.
Haunted House
This set is highly powerful, so its removal requires significant strategic adjustment. You can’t use Butlers or Vacuum Cleaners to clear your Bench, making it vital to maintain a tight deck with only 6 or 7 unique cards. Hologram from the Outer Space set becomes one of the most powerful cards since opponents can’t clear overloaded Benches.
Shipwreck
This is generally considered the weakest set, so there isn’t much concern when it is removed. All else being equal, I tend to avoid this deck even when it is in play.
Know which decks and cards are the most powerful
While play styles vary, some cards and decks are universally acknowledged as superior. Online tier lists can offer guidance, but remember, adaptability is key. Some of the top cards include:
| Card | Level | Deck |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | A | Fun Fair |
| A.I. | A | Outer Space |
| Stable Boy | A | Castle |
| Rescue Pod | A | Outer Space |
| Mascot | B | City |
| UFO | B | Outer Space |
| Necromancer | B | Haunted House |
| Band | B | Outer Space |
| Blacksmith | B | Castle |
| Prince | C | Castle |
| Hologram | C | Outer Space |
| Vampire | C | Haunted House |
| Submarine | C | Shipwreck |
| Cook | C | Shipwreck |
I have also found it valuable to look at the most popular decks for top players to see which ones they prefer to play. Let’s look at how the current top 3 players in the world (on BGA) draft their cards.
| Deck | Top Player #1 | Top Player #2 | Top Player #3 | Average Player |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | 1.2 | 1.08 | 1.29 | 1.15 |
| Castle | 2.51 | 2.14 | 2.58 | 2.17 |
| Film Studio | 2.95 | 2.8 | 2.85 | 2.45 |
| Funfair | 3.84 | 3.89 | 4.00 | 2.63 |
| Haunted House | 2.79 | 2.9 | 2.23 | 2.77 |
| Outer Space | 4.44 | 4.19 | 4.48 | 2.99 |
| Shipwreck | 2.72 | 2.31 | 2.48 | 1.95 |
What stands out is how much more often the top players add Funfair and Outer Space cards compared to the average player – well over 1 card per game more for each! This doesn’t mean every card in these sets is powerful, but top players likely have favorites in those sets that they prioritize.
Draft as many duplicates as possible
Anyone who has played Challengers! knows that the most important and powerful strategy is to draft as many duplicate cards as possible. This allows you to grow the size and power of your deck without risking overflowing your Bench. This principle is so critical that it is almost always better to draft a duplicate of a card you already have than to pick any other card, even if the other card is more powerful.
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Use only 6 or 7 unique card types (usually)
Balancing your deck’s strength with the risk of Bench overflow is a delicate art. New players tend to lose rounds due to Bench overflow because they get too greedy with their deck’s power. Remember, it doesn’t matter how strong your deck is if you lose due to a lack of Bench space!
As a general rule, limit your deck to 6 or 7 unique card types. Six is always safe (unless your opponent plays Hologram on you), and seven is usually safe enough if you have Bench-clearing cards or cards that allow you to organize your deck and put a single unique card on the bottom. This way, if that last unique card loses, you would have lost the game regardless of Bench space.
To emphasize this point, let’s look at the stats of top players to see how many unique card types they keep in their decks.
| Top Player #1 | Top Player #2 | Top Player #3 | Average Player | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total cards in last match | 11.01 | 11.73 | 10.42 | 11.88 |
| Unique card types in last match | 7.00 | 7.31 | 6.67 | 7.47 |
Clearly, the top players place a higher emphasis on deck management than the average player. They tend to have fewer cards and fewer unique types, helping them win more games by avoiding Bench overflow.
Know the draft priorities in each round
It’s important to have a clear roadmap and decision tree to guide you when drafting throughout the game. As discussed, drafting duplicates is critical, so the summary below is designed to help you achieve that as often as possible.
| Round | Option 1 | Option 2 | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2A | — | Go for duplicates and top tier cards |
| 2 | 2A | — | Prioritize duplicates, then cards with good synergy |
| 3 | 2A | 1B | Go with 2A if you have no pairs yet, otherwise 1B |
| 4 | 2A | 2B | Almost always go with 2B, pivot to late game |
| 5 | 2B | — | Prioritize duplicates, then cards with good synergy |
| 6 | 2B | 1C | Go with 2B if you have no pairs yet, otherwise 1C |
| 7 | 2C | — | Prioritize duplicates, replace singles with stronger cards |
When given the choice between taking two cards from a weaker deck or one card from a stronger deck, look at your current hand first. If you have already drafted one pair of a card type (and certainly if you have managed to get two pairs) then go ahead and take one card from the stronger deck. This gives you a better chance of finding a duplicate of the stronger card in later rounds. However, if you haven’t managed to find a duplicate yet then it’s usually best to try your luck and go searching for one or two duplicates in the weaker deck.
If can’t find any duplicates then it’s time to pivot and look for cards that synergize well together. For example, you should look for cards that grant or benefit from bonuses, allow you to rearrange cards, remove cards from the bench, or cards that help return others to your deck from the bench.
Build to win the later, more valuable rounds
The later rounds of a game of Challengers! are worth significantly more points than the early rounds. While it’s nice to win early, you should prioritize building a deck that will excel in later rounds. This increases your chances of winning the more valuable rounds, advancing to the final, and ultimately winning. Here is a breakdown of the point values for each round:
| Round | Possible Point Values for Winning |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2, 3 |
| 2 | 2, 3 |
| 3 | 3, 4 |
| 4 | 5, 6 |
| 5 | 6, 7 |
| 6 | 7, 8 |
| 7 | 9, 10 |
Winning the final round is worth about as much as winning the first three rounds combined. Winning the final two rounds almost guarantees advancing to the finals, especially if you also win any earlier rounds.
It’s important to pivot your deck at some point in the middle rounds to ensure that you’re set up for later rounds. There comes a point where you need to ditch some of your weaker cards, abandon the combinations you’ve been relying on, and ensure that your deck will be strong enough for the last few rounds. In my opinion, it’s always worth it to keep the long game in mind – even if it means sacrificing some early-round wins.
Prioritize efficiency when you rearrange cards
Cards that allow you to look at and rearrange your cards are extremely powerful in Challengers!, but only if properly utilized. By arranging cards on the top or bottom of your deck, you remove much of the randomness that comes from just playing the top card on every turn. When you have the opportunity to rearrange your cards there are a few priorities to keep in mind:
- Play the minimum power needed to win. Don’t use a powerful card to beat out a weak one.
- Place cards that grant bonuses on top of your deck so that they take effect earlier
- Put unique cards on the bottom of your deck
The last point is likely obvious to experienced Challengers! players, but deserves some emphasis. If you have 7 (or more) unique card types in your deck, cards like Sailor and Clairvoyant that allow you to look through your deck and place one on the bottom are particularly valuable. You can pick a unique card type with no duplicates in your deck so that it’s the last one played, greatly decreasing the odds that you’ll lose a game due to bench overflow.
Redraw wisely in the deck-building phase
When given the option to redraw, the most common mistake players make is not doing it often enough. Generally, if you can’t draft a duplicate or top-tier card, it’s wise to redraw. The more duplicates you have, the more powerful your deck will be, and the more you’ll be able to avoid Bench overflow. Here is my general thought process when deciding what cards to pick and whether or not I should redraw.
- Draft any duplicates of cards already in my deck or a pair from the draft
- If no duplicates are present, pick powerful cards (from the list above) or cards with good synergy
- If not enough of those cards are present, redraft
- From the redraft, pick duplicates of cards already in my deck or a pair from the draft
- If no duplicates are present, pick the powerful cards or cards with good synergy
Remove cards with no or low future potential
You will have to trim your deck back throughout the game, no matter how well you draft. In most cases, you should just remove the card (or type of card) that brings the least amount of power and synergy to your deck. However, it’s important to keep the future of your deck in mind. Some cards like Mascot and Teenager have the potential to become more powerful in later rounds. If you’re on the fence about which cards to remove, always stick with the one that has the most potential.
On the other hand, many cards become less and less effective as the game goes on. Combinations like Newcomers and Make-up Artists that dominated early are rarely worth hanging onto in the middle and late game, so they should be some of the first to go when you have to discard. One special note is that unless you have card combinations that dictate otherwise, Talent should be removed before your three Newcomers because the lone Talent has less overall power than the Newcomers combined.
Manage your bench and overload your opponent’s
I have touched on bench management throughout this article, but it’s such an important aspect of the game that it bears some more attention. Having at least one bench management card like Vacuum Cleaner or Butler in your deck can be a game-changer, and it allows you to keep more overall card types in your deck without much fear of bench overload. Don’t underestimate their power!
Of course, your opponent also has a bench to manage. There are a few ways that you can attack your opponent’s bench. Some cards give you the ability to remove a card from your opponent’s bench and place it in their exhaust pile. This can be very useful if they have a card with annoying bench abilities but, in many cases, it’s more useful to leave a unique card type on their bench to increase their chances of bench overflow.
The other way to attack their bench is one of my personal favorite strategies – using the Hologram card. Hologram places a random level B card on top of your opponent’s deck. The chances are very high that this random card will be a unique card type, and since it’s on top of their deck it’s guaranteed to be played. It messes up their unique card type count and usually results in them losing due to their bench. This is especially effective when the Haunted House deck is removed from the game because there are no Butler or Vacuum Cleaner cards to clear out cards from the bench. Sometimes I manage to draft two Holograms, and I don’t think I’ve ever lost a game when that happens!
Thanks for reading! Did I miss something, or you do you have something else to add? Drop a comment below!
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