FAB Foundations, Ep. 3 - Tempo

[@AARon11414]

These videos are immensely helpful. Thank you so much. I love that this game initially invites you to approach it with chess brain, but you quickly realize you have to give it space and think outside the box. There is so much nuance beyond the more surface-level value considerations, and those are what make this game truly interesting. It’s like this problem you want to solve, but there’s just enough complexity and situational variance that you’ll never fully accomplish that task.

[@curatinghumanism]

Watching Zach’s hair grow over the course of two years of streams has been an envious experience

[@teamcovenant]

Many of us feel the same.

[@TheWinningAgenda]

Your analogy about poker and “betting life” in FAB is great. It also highlights why it’s really important to know your opponent’s deck and game plan and its turn-to-turn capabilities. Without that info, your “bets” in declining to block and hoping to pressure on the crackback are less well-informed.

[@Jswainlive]

I was thinking the same. This was really enlightening!

[@crispycaveman9164]

You two are such a treasure for the fab community ❤

[@martinloo]

YES! new content. I finished all the rest so started over again....ha.

[@Krimm664]

The poker analogy and the idea of "Betting life" on each hand is a fantastic way to look at the game that hadn't really occurred to me before. Great video! Looking forward to future episodes!

[@TheNZKorean]

I loved this series so much! It taught me not only clever strategy, but also brilliant game design.

[@michaelnicholson7813]

This was an excellent video gentlemen. I have been collecting FAB for a long while, but was struggling a lot to get my head wrapped around the mechanics of what was going on outside the basic rules. Due to this reason, it was preventing me from actually diving into the game, because having the "this is above my head" feeling was not very comfortable. Now that I have watched this (and the first two videos) you have helped the proverbial light bulb come on in my head, and has created a sense of excitement of taking the next step to dive in, and it is for that I just wanted to say, "Thank you!"

[@teamcovenant]

Love this Michael! So glad to hear it.

[@5PKF]

Great analogy and I appreciate your content. For me I usually describe it as a boxing match where one boxer will eventually press and try to establish their dominance, and the defensive player has to look to pivot that aggression and turn his opponent into the ropes. The exchanges will go back and forth until one person is Ko'd. This game plays so differently from any other game I have played and I love it. Keep up the work and I will be looking forward to more content. Thank you again.

[@GoblinReserve]

Thanks for another video! This may be the greatest FaB video I have ever seen.

[@randyrobineau2699]

That was a great conversation and explanation of tempo. I don't know how to play FAB but after watching this I feel like I want to learn how.

[@teamcovenant]

Now is a great time!

[@Andres9562]

I got into this game a couple of months ago and I have learned more from this series than I have any other resource, including the actual rules. Please keep it up!

[@darthnixilis304]

I love that you were also talking Chess at the beginning of the video. I am teaching my brother in law both Chess and FaB, he was also a person who enjoys watching professional poker. This video will be perfect for him.

[@kevinc1647]

Tempo is the thing you use on the wall with the analog sticks to tell time. Keep it going.

[@QuniverseOP]

These videos were awesome and super-duper helpful, thanks for doing them

[@gammafighter]

Just when I thought I couldn't love this game any more than I already do.... This would have been helpful before the draft at my LGS last night! At the time, I noticed that my card efficiency was pretty terrible, but I see now that what is more important is that I was betting too much on bad hands.

[@michaeltreon4034]

I am very much enjoying this series, I can't wait to see where these lead.

[@KingKhudd]

This was a very interesting conversation/lecture. It's something I noticed but putting a name to it and your explanation really helped in understanding what was happening. Very helpful, thank you

[@joesolo1836]

loving this series!! making me think a little differently about deck building and when to play what cards. also, wicked pumped about the new video over the holiday break, thank you!! I hope the entire Covenant Team is enjoying their holidays!!

[@dianatoboso8311]

In Go/Baduk, the concept of tempo is slightly different than in chess and other games. And it's interesting because we have a name to both having tempo and not having it: Sente/gote. You're in sente when you are deciding what to play and where, while you're in gote if you are just responding to your opponent. Controlling sente and gote is very important, and it's impossible to be in sente all the game. Also, a good way to play in a teaching manner to someone who knows less is "giving" sente back to them. I like this way of thinking about tempo because for me tempo has always been that, who's got the initiative and who's responding. Specially in competitive pokemon videogame, it's like that. Seizing the tempo (or sente) back is so important. It's also important what you do with sente. At some point your opponent does something you dont need to respond to, so now you want to seize sente, what do you do with sente? Where do you play? How do you maintain sente? If you make a play that your opponent doesnt need to respond to (you are giving sente back) it's a bas play. I'm new to FaB and I dont know much, but to me, what you're describing sounds a lot like that. And since learing the terms sente and gote I try to think in those terms in other games.

[@juneaino5805]

lovely video!!!

[@superfunforce8052]

Nice strat! I supported you guys this year and made a decent FAB purchase from you guys this year 🙌🏻🤟🏻

[@teamcovenant]

Thanks a ton!

[@cyrilpit3505]

Great content as always

[@jorgeyarza6057]

incredible content

[@xenotrauma]

Awesome video, as always. The higher standards you guys clearly value so much always come through in the product. Nice work. I really wish Steven would get into Go though! XD All I can think of when people try to have the tempo conversation is how bogged down the vocabulary around it is. Go has a fairly clear concept of "initiative" that I feel cuts a lot of the fat out, and I can't help but wonder how useful it might be in discussing FAB turns.

[@tyler9123]

Tempo in MTG is utilizing your mana more efficiently to kill your opponent quicker. In FAB Id call it playing your cards more efficiently to force resource usage on your opponents. In fighting games this is called advantage state vs disadvantage state. I'd say FAB is a mix of fighting games and magic the gathering when it comes to "tempo" "momentum" whatever you want to call it.

[@Konuvis]

I just started playing (first tcg) with a friend so these vids are very helpful. do you guys have any plans on doing more in this series?

[@teamcovenant]

There are additional things we'd certainly like to cover. As for if/when, not certain on that one!

[@Frankie-the-Tankie]

As someone who just got into FAB and learned the basic play, these videos are great for those next steps. Any thoughts on if there is more here after an additional 8 months of playing? :)

[@teamcovenant]

It just keeps getting a bit deeper, honestly.

[@solarupdraft]

Chess probably got "tempo" from fencing, where it refers to their spacing, relative speeds forward or back, blade position, and reads on the next move. Fencing probably got "tempo" from music though.

[@floridaman6982]

Tempos in games is just a time unit, usually a turn like in chess or magic. In music there is no opponent so you cant “get tempo” like in sports or gaming. In music choosing a tempo is a a creative choice by the composer in songwriting.

[@MrGolibroda]

So process for pivot would be: 1. Evaluate hand. 2. Evaluate enemy attack. 3. Check if I can do more. 4A. If yes take damage and retaliate. 4B. If no defend and wait.

[@teamcovenant]

That's a good starting formula! It also depends on total life values and the degree to which you think you can outperform what your opponent is throwing at you. Also what cards you've seen come through your deck so far (gives you better understanding of the next 4-card hand you might see), and same for opponent. Especially how close you and your opponent are to second cycle (drawing the first card that you pitched).

[@MrGolibroda]

@@teamcovenant Second cycling and pitching seems like a great topic for more foundations!

[@dozrFAB]

This is a core reason why briar is “broken” even if she is not “op”. She cheats this system thanks to the pattern of earth embodiments

[@teamcovenant]

It's definitely one piece that feels problematic out of the gate, as Steven has ranted about often.