LBoL Alternative AutoTapper
Mod request: Add a small tweak to the in-game automana Tapper system to better take into account the cards in the hand.
Notes: This isn't a strictly better version of the current autoTapper system. More details in Pros and Cons.
Comparison
In-game
In-game implementation of the autoTapper for the Any and Hybrid Tapper works as followed:
- Check pooled mana.
- Prioritize Colorless Mana.
- Prioritize the colors with no mana pip in the rest of the hand. Prioritize the most abundant one.
- Prioritize the most abundant color available.
- Check unpooled mana.
- Same process as pooled mana.
If the most abundant colors are tied, White has the highest priority and Green the lowest. The exact chain of priority is White > Blue > Black > Red > Green.
Limits
Consider the following situation:
- Mana available: WWWRR
- Hand: Bullet Etermination(1R), Duplex Barrier (WW), Talisman Shooting (1W)
- Select: Talisman Shooting
The Any mana selection will resolve as follow:
- The White Mana is selected to pay for the color component cost (Remaining Mana = { White = 2, Red = 2 }).
- There are both White and Red Mana pips in the cards in hand.
- There is the same amount of White and Red mana available.
- White has the highest priority. White is selected to pay for the any mana cost.
With this, the remaining mana after Tapper is {Red = 2, White = 1}. Bullet Extermination can still be played, but Duplex Barrier can no longer be played as it requires 2 White mana.
Consuming Red mana would have left {Red = 1, White = 2} instead. This would have made it possible to pay for either Duplex Barrier or Bullet Extermination.
Mods implementation
- Check pooled mana.
- Prioritize Colorless Mana.
- Prioritize the colors with no mana pip in the hand. Prioritize the most abundant one.
- Check the total cost of all the cards in the hand. If the available amount of one color exceeds the amount of mana pips of that color in the hand, prioritize that color. If multiple colors meet that criteria, prioritize the color where the difference is greatest.
- If no color fit the criteria above, prioritize the most abundant color available.
- Check unpooled mana.
- Same process as pooled mana.
Example
- Mana available: WWWRR
- Hand: Bullet Etermination(1R), Duplex Barrier (WW), Talisman Shooting (1W)
- Select: Talisman Shooting
The Any mana selection will resolve as follow:
- The White Mana is selected to pay for the color component cost (Remaining Mana = { White = 2, Red = 2 }).
- There are both White and Red Mana pips in the cards in hand.
- The total cost off all the cards in the hand is { Any = 1, White = 2, Red = 1}.
- Remaining Mana - Total Cost: { Any = -1, White = 0, Red = 1 }.
- Red is in excess. Red is selected to pay for the any mana cost.
Pros and Cons
This approach tackles an edge-case of the autoTapper. It isn't a silver bullet that can nor aim to solve every issue with the autoTapper system. Manually selecting for mana at times is still required and encouraged.
Assuming the player has a balanced deck, drawing cards may lead to situations where the mana consumed that turn could have been used on the drawn cards. In that case, the in-game autoTapper's approach of selecting the most abundant mana is safer.
