Sami Khan
United Kingdom
Shefford
Bedfordshire
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It is a common misconception that the game WAR is a complete luck fest, and out of your control. It takes years to truly master the game of war, and I will now go through some of the finer points.
But surely the game is all about luck? How can I possibly influence the game when I don't have any choices?
Actually, a war player does have a choice - the choice of which order to place cards won by him/her under the top of the deck. This strategy article will aim to illustrate just how to exploit this small decision to your main advantage.
I will assume in this article that the King is the high card, and the Ace is counted as low, as is assumed in the WAR Annual Championship Event. I will also assume that 2 players are playing. The same rules may be applied to multi-player games, with a few minor adjustments.
To perform best at war, the Game is best played in three phases
Phase 1 - Evaluation Phase
During the initial phase, players need to evaluate their deck holding to see how good it is. Depending on the level of the player's memory, this usually ends when all King cards have been seen, or when all court cards have been seen. It is important during "Tied" conflicts that you flip the cards over in such a way that you see any cards that have been won, but your opponent does not. The extra ambiguity with these missing cards can delay your opponent's Evaluation phase, maybe meaning they have to wait til all 26 initial rounds have been played before having a full count on the key cards.
Know your opponent's play style! At the games top level, you will need to study your opponent beforehand to know where to place your honour cards when placing them at the bottom of the stack. If playing against a beginner, or someone who laughs when you suggest WAR has skill in it, then I would recommend alternating your key cards - top of the pile placed at the bottom of the deck for the first King, and then bottom of the pile for the next King. The first Queen should go bottom of its pile and the next one on top. This protects your key cards from being attacked by the same high card from your opponents deck - as if we assume that they always place their cards the same way around, their key cards will always appear either in odd positions in their deck, or even positions.
At the highest level, you will need to run a bluff and counter bluff game with your positioning based on your research as to how they stack their cards.
It is commonly accepted among torunament champions that an evaluation phase is the best way to start the game, and an approach similar to the above is a good way of protecting your deck while the evaluation phase is under way.
Evaluate your hand position, depending on your overall court card strength (and if you are very adept at counting, your higher number cards as well). If you believe your hand is stronger than your opponents, you should go to Phase 2 - Elimination, if it is weaker, you should go to Phase 3 - Defence, if about the same you should go to Phase 4 - Position Jostling.
Phase 2 - Elimination
At some point, all being well, you will have the stronger hand position. In this case, you need to carefully watch your opponents key cards and ensure that your key cards come up on the same odd/even count as theirs does. You may wish to employ a "catch up" mechanism where you place your winning key court cards to the top or bottom depending on how large your opponents deck is, and whereabouts their court cards have been seen. Always remember that your opponent may be trying to misdirect your catch up attempt by cycling wins to bottom and top alternatively, or in some random pattern.
Phase 3 - Defence
If your deck is weaker, you need to get yourself back into the game by winning court cards back, and as a weaker deck player, you need to do this by ties. You should have a good idea which card values in the deck are roughly evenly split between the players, and should prioritise their position to promote ties, however avoid ones which are next to your own key court cards, trying to keep them two apart. You should also prioritise to promoting the positions of cards which you have more of than your opponent: As your opponent has the stronger hand, they are likely to win one off you and then you are in a better position, and then you are well poised to take advantage with a tie.
Phase 4 - Jostling
Jostling is the hardest part of the game, and occurs when two players with roughly even decks are "jostling" to get into the stronger position. This is a very hard section of the game to play at the beginner level, and requires a strong memory element and careful planning to set up your key court cards 2 cards after likely tie cards. At the top level of the game players leave larger gaps anticipating the loss of cards in between the two.
Practice Makes Perfect!
Although the tips above will assist your general play at WAR, you do need to really practice so your card counting is up to scratch. To do this I recommend playing with a reduced deck against a dummy player [ remove all number cards A-9]. The dummy player always places their court card at the top of the cards won. Try to remember card holdings, and once you feel you are getting to grips with it, add the 9 8 7 and 6 cards as well. Once you have mastered the game at this level, add the 5 to A cards for the full game.
I hope this strategy guide will assist you with your future games of war, and the card counting you will have learnt from it helps you to make money at casinos. If you do decide to enter the Annual War Championship I wish you the best of luck in finding it, but am sorry to say I will not be seeing you there, as I retired from play when I was 11.
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Bor Onx
United States
California
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This a good guide versus a predictable or even shrewd opponent, but can you beat a random strategy with this?
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