Damage Compression
Table of Contents
Damage compression refers to the act of setting up items, auras, allies, cards in graveyard or arsenal for a later turn when you cash in on these preparations to compress your damage into a single turn and overcome your opponents’ defenses.
A two-turn cycle where you attack for 14 and 16, respectively, represents a total of 30 damage. It will allow a defensive opponent to defend for 12-14 damage each of those turns, meaning that you might end up dealing around 2-6 damage to them.
Let’s say instead that you go for damage compression and present 4 and 25 damage, respectively, for a slightly lower total of 29 damage. Even if the defending hero puts a defense reaction in their arsenal and is able to defend for 4 and then for 18, the sum of damage being dealt is 11.
Utlimately, this game is won by dealing damage to your opponent, so with that goal in mind, damage compression is a valuable weapon to have in your arsenal (no pun intended).
Things that correlate with damage compression
There are a few concepts that align well with damage compression.
Payoff cards
This game features many cards and mechanics that reward you for setting up things in advance, such as cards with the Tower keyword. The Ninja class, for example, has access to several cards that reward you for putting together a particularly wide combat chain. Payoff cards naturally lean towards damage compression.
IP’ing your opponent
Defensive decks that use block cards, defense reactions and other such defense-only tools are at their best when their opponent is attacking every turn, ensuring that all their defensive tools can be utilised. If there are no incoming attacks, they risk facing an intellect penalty.
Therefore, damage compression can do double duty against defensive decks, making them take IP while you set up in addition to the benefits of damage compression.
The downsides of damage compression
Taking a setup or off-turn to compress your damage has an obvious weak point; it gives your opponent some breathing room. There is a risk that they can send lots of damage or disruption (or both) and sabotage your big turn, so try to suss out how likely this is, for example by analyzing how they are using their arsenal (are they putting defense reactions there, or attack action cards?) or which cards they are defending with (how many defensive cards vs. aggressive cards they are defending with).