Most of what I present as facts about surrendering in this guide are just guidelines. If you don't want to follow them, don't do it.

Introduction

In Faeria, knowing when to surrender can save you a lot of time. This guide teaches you when you should surrender, and when you should not surrender.

Why surrender?

There's a fact that a majority of Faeria games end by either player surrendering. Faeria being a two player game means this is nothing to worry about, surrenders are common in nearly all two player games out there. In chess, the world's most popular two player game, you're even expected to surrender when you think you have lost.

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There are basicly two reasons why surrenders are so common in two player games:

1. Your decision only affects yourself and your opponent which means your decision isn't bad for anyone.
2. The nature of two player games means they often have a clear winner long before the game actually ends. When the outcome is already certain, what's the meaning of playing.

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The two reasons above probably means you wont question whether there are reasons to surrender any more, if you even did so in the first place.

When to surrender?

The art of surrendering is all about answering one question, "When to surrender?". The most straightforward answer to this question is "You should surrender when defeat is certain, and only then". Unfortunately deciding whether defeat is certain or not isn't at all an easy task, especially not in Faeria.

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In Faeria, defeat is certain when either of the statements below are true:

• Your opponent will reduce your life total to zero on his next turn and you can't stop him
• All the statements below are true:
  • Your opponent has board control
  • Your opponent has the faeria advantage
  • You can't successfully race your opponent
  • You can't sneak in an unexpected victory

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Finding out whether the first statement is true is actually quite simple. Just calculate how much damage your opponent can do to you on his next turn, and if that exceeds your life total then defeat is certain. The second statement is a bit more complicated so we'll break it down into its four parts.

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At first, we have to find out who has board control. The ability to determine who has board control will come with experience but there is a very practical rule of thumb that you can use if you're unsure: The player who harvests from the most faeria wells has board control.

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Then we need to calculate who has the faeria advantage. To calculate who has the faeria advantage you just have to compare the amount of faeria you currently have plus the total faeria value of your creatures and structures on the board with the amount of faeria your opponent currently has plus the total faeria value of their creatures and structures on the board.

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After calculating who has the faeria advantage you have consider whether you can successfully race your opponent. There is no general rule of when you can successfully race your opponent, there are though two easily identifiable situations in which you can't successfully race your opponent.

• When you don't have any aggresive lands
• When your opponent has creatures and lands in good defensive positions

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Last but not least you have to find out whether it's possible to sneak in an unexpected victory. Sneaking in an unexpected victory can be done in two different ways, either by attacking with a creature or by using a damage spell. Sneaking in an unexpected victory by attacking with a creature is only possible when both of the statements below are true:

• You have an aggresive land where you can summon a creature that your opponent can't immediately kill nor block
• Your opponent's life total is lower than or equal to the creatures attack

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Sneaking in an unexpected victory with damage spells is instead only possible when you can possibly draw and play enough damage spells to kill your opponent before he kills you.

Summary

After reading this article you should have a decent understanding of when to surrender. Make use of this understanding when playing and you'll save time, trust me.