Black Cards

Are the amount of black/wild cards (and to which territory they are assigned) listed somewhere for every map? From: https://dominating12.com/forums/2/general-discussion/2453/wild-cards/post/42925#post-42925 [quote=Matty]The amount of wildcards depends on the number of territories (and the number of players, as there can be two sets of cards). The formula is: #wildcards = round(#territories / 21).[/quote] I suppose I can easily find out how many there are present somewhere, but I'd also like to know where :p Thanks for the input! -Alex

I don't think it's publicely listed to which territories the wild cards are assigned. They are assigned randomly when creating the map and it's stored next to that information, so it should be visible somewhere in the cartographers panel. Why do you want to know?

I don't know what difference it makes? You don't have to conquer a particular territory to get its card, you get the next card in the deck for every turn in which you conquer a territory. You can't even card-count to know when to take a card and get a Black one or a particular Colour as, I am pretty sure that, the deck is shuffled for each new game and when a set is exchanged, they re-enter the bottom of the pack in no particular order, so that eliminates using the game log to know when a Black Card will precisely appear. I believe that the ratio of Black cards to total territories is written in a card thread somewhere and because the territory count for each map is fixed, the amount of assigned Black Cards for each map is always that amount.

Hey Matty, aeronautic and everyone else, I'm sorry I wasn't responding for such a long time; this because the game which triggered me to make this topic, was still in progress: https://dominating12.com/game/930827 My desire to know comes forth from my perception that people try to obtain the territory which they have a card for. Sometimes even put a 2 on it instead of a 1. I realise this is rather... 'risky' to gamble on/work with, but I find some truth in it, going through several games I've been part of. There could be occasions where I'd be willing to assume increased chance for someone to have a black card. This could be a very powerful thing to play with - however, it comes at a risk. [b]Imagine a scenario as follows: [/b] You've started a (increased cards - [u]not[/u] advanced turn in) game with X amount of players (let's say ≥ 6) and you're currently down to 3. The 1v1v1 game (after having started with several more) is in my eyes one of the most tricky (end)games we face here... you often can't just simply eliminate 1 and win - you need to consider the both of them. Say all 3 players have 3 cards, with set value about half their army count (e.g. 100 value card set, 200 armies). That means there are 600 armies on the board, 400 of which will be hostile and you have 200 to work with. You have a card set, you could use it. If you do so... you are very likely to be able to eliminate 1 of your opponents, but also very unlikely to eliminate the 2nd opponent in that same turn. If that 2nd opponent has a 3c set too, s/he'll likely win the board after your move (provided his/er armies are active). If you have reason to believe that 1 of the opponents has a black card, you might opt for the risky plan to [i]NOT[/i] trade your set and try to eliminate that opponent. If you succeed (could say you get +15 armies at start of turn? and need to barely run through any armies of the other opponent?), you'll get 2 sets of cards and will probably be able to snowball for that 3rd opponent too. Anyway, I suppose I can come up with some more scenarios which will all be influenced on knowledge of wild cards in the game and from making some risky guesstimates on the meta-game... In short, I see some use in obtaining this information - so I hope it's ok to be publicly unlocked (could ofc obtain it by just playing/viewing loads of games and writing it all down - #cumbersome) Thank you! -Alex PS - with respect to the game I was referring to; at a moment I had 2 cards and had enough power to take down ODG, who had 4 cards (and we can see... a black one ( 16 Aug, 21:21:59 OldDogGen received 85 troops for turning in cards Randall (=black), Navarro, and Terrell. )) no need to 'warn' anyone :p - card set at 85 k0 = 178 armies, 4c me = 214, 2c <== my turn. Can place 19 AND I have my armies activated to take out ODG. ODG = 182, 4c I'd go ~230vs180. that should win (risky). then get +85+90 to take out the remainder from k0. risky, but not impossible. i suppose if i knew with 100% certainty that ODG had a black.. I wouldve went for it... (or has the exact 4 cards he needs to supplement my 2 into 2 sets). i wouldnt say straight up that i'd use this 'theory' up here^ to make such a call upon... but maybe.. dunno..

Ahaaa, so you want to reason this way: (1) the guy puts 2 armies on alaska, (2) alaska is a black card, (1+2): he has a wildcard ... (some conclusion here). Hmmm, not useful very often, but it may come in handy sometimes. This may be the smartest thing I've heard in a while. Sadly, there's no easy way for me to figure out how to see which cards are black on which maps (unless I start unlocking maps, but then the cartographers start shouting at me :pirate:). [b]Edit:[/b] Alaska is probably not a wildcard - it was just an example.

If you play the games enough you can see which ones are black (Randall). Just make a note in a spreadsheet. You can also look at older game logs as well.

[quote=Matty]Ahaaa, so you want to reason this way: (1) the guy puts 2 armies on alaska, (2) alaska is a black card, (1+2): he has a wildcard ... (some conclusion here). Hmmm, not useful very often, but it may come in handy sometimes. This may be the smartest thing I've heard in a while. Sadly, there's no easy way for me to figure out how to see which cards are black on which maps (unless I start unlocking maps, but then the cartographers start shouting at me :pirate:). Alaska is [s]probably[/s] not a wildcard - it was just an example.[/quote] Yep, it's not something that will occur often, but just like you, I can imagine some scenarios in which it might give me the upperhand =d What do you mean with unlocking maps? And why would cartographers be mad about that? I happen to know the black cards for World Classic by heart: Greenland & Eastern US (I've always wondered why it's 2 in USA... I assume they were randomly distributed - just didn't get why it wasn't modified... I would've probably exchanged Greenland for Egypt or Kazachstan? (not that it really matters...)) IRT dough_boy Yes, I realise (and also said this in my post) I could discover the black cards myself... but I'd prefer if I could just look it up somewhere without too much effort :3 The information is stored somewhere; would just need someone with easy access to share it (it's not like the information can be abused, right?).

[quote]What do you mean with unlocking maps? And why would cartographers be mad about that?[/quote] I am head cartographer and if a map is unlocked to other staff, they can enter into the map settings and edit/change things, which can result in many active games crashing or giving wrong information. [quote]I happen to know the black cards for World Classic by heart: Greenland & Eastern US (I've always wondered why it's 2 in USA... I assume they were randomly distributed - just didn't get why it wasn't modified... I would've probably exchanged Greenland for Egypt or Kazachstan? (not that it really matters...))[/quote] There is no need or reason to evenly distribute card colours across the map, please remember that sets are exchanged as 3 different colours or 3 of the same colour and therefore maps only have to have the same amount of each colour (if possible) and a ratio of wild cards.

[quote=AlexCheckMate]Yes, I realise (and also said this in my post) I could discover the black cards myself... but I'd prefer if I could just look it up somewhere without too much effort :3 The information is stored somewhere; would just need someone with easy access to share it (it's not like the information can be abused, right?).[/quote] Because then you can keep this advantage for yourself. :)

The following post doesn't fully link with the topic... but I wanted to post it somewhere anyway (and figured making a new thread would be a tad overkill). Has [b][u]anyone ever turned in a set of 3 black cards[/u][/b]? I hadn't... till two days ago: https://dominating12.com/game/970361 [i]19 Feb, 16:41:47 [color=yellow]AlexCheckMate[/color] received 35 troops for turning in cards [b]1771[/b], [b]mxDev[/b], and [b]EntropySoup[/b]. 19 Feb, 16:41:47 [color=yellow]AlexCheckMate[/color] received 2 troops on EntropySoup 19 Feb, 16:41:47 [color=yellow]AlexCheckMate[/color] received 2 troops on mxDev 19 Feb, 16:41:47 [color=yellow]AlexCheckMate[/color] received 2 troops on 1771[/i] Added bonus... also owned the 3 territories associated with the 3 cards. Furthermore, note that the last (4th) black card that was in this game, was already used: [i]17 Feb, 01:55:53 remlburc received 10 troops for turning in cards [b]lifeinpixels[/b], Muzthebus, and Jonathon.[/i] - so getting the remaining 3 blacks in my control feels extra special. Just for extra info, for those who care; I had 0 blacks when I started, got 2 blacks when I took out cyan (he was on 5c), 3rd black when taking out orange. -Alex

yes it's happened to me before

In a perfect world, the wild cards would be randomised.

[quote=vikingo1337]In a perfect world, the wild cards would be randomised.[/quote] They are randomised. They are virtually shuffled just like a pack of cards and then distributed to whoever gets a victory from whatever amount of players in the game, which further randomises them. They also get put to the bottom of the deck when exchanged and work their way back up as cards are drawn in whatever order of victories or missed turns occur.

Fascinated by the topic, I decided to draw up a list of all the wildcards I know: -o- -o- -o- WILD CARDS -o- -o- -o- [spoiler] Edited by Fendi...[size=10px]Sorry [/size]:) [/spoiler] Not complete, some maps are partial, some are missing in total. If somebody wants to help to enlarge the list is welcome.

So it would stand to reason that there is a base deck of cards with predetermined card color. Then a copy is made and shuffled and that deck is what is used for each individual game. If this assumption is correct, why not assign the colors randomly at the time of creating the copied game used deck? 1. Copy deck 2. Shuffle deck 3. Assign x% wilds 4. Assign red/blue/green to remaining cards 5. Shuffle deck 6. Play ball