Playing around card-based damage sources

In a game of Destiny, our actions are limited by the cards in our hand and the dice in play on the board.  Some of this information is public knowledge, known to both players, while another is known to only one player.  Although the majority of damage done in a game will be through character and upgrade dice, both of which is public information once played, one should never forget the information that isn't known to both players, which, in this case, are cards in the players' hands and decks.

While dice on board may be dangerous, damage from hand can be unexpected, dangerous, and often can be a game-winning tempo swing. 

As the game progresses and characters on both sides start to accumulate more damage, taking note of the possible damage sources from your opponent's hand and making plays with those cards in mind can win you the game.  On the other hand, catching your opponent off guard with a damage card that he wasn't expecting can also create a game-winning advantage.

With the diversity of event cards that can deal damage, accurately identifying all of the possible cards that can do damage might seem like a daunting task, but by starting with some of the public information that we have access to at any particular point in the game, it becomes much easier to determine what your opponent may have access to.

The first piece of information that we can access are the characters being played, which gives information on what cards may be present in a deck.  If you're playing against a hero deck, you can automatically rule out cards such as fight dirty, no mercy, force strike, armed to the teeth, and backup muscle.  If playing against villains, ruling out riposte, willpower, and it's a trap! is a good start.  You can also start to rule out cards in colors that your opponent doesn't have access to, and after that, it's just a matter of examining a particular board state.

A few common cards to look out for have been mentioned, but more accurate analysis of the current board state in a particular game can lead to proper identification of possible threats.  One of the best pieces of public information that can be used to discern any possible sources of out of hand damage is counting the number of resources that your opponent has access to, which, when combined with current information about heroes vs. villains, can lead to accurate predictions:

Zero resource cost cards:
A player at zero resources will have the least possible to deal damage with event cards, and generally, event cards that deal damage and cost zero resources require another type of resource to be used as an alternative cost.  It is worth noting that the maximum damage that can be dealt by most cards that cost zero resources is 3, as the maximum number of upgrades and shields a character can have is 3.

-Heroes: Riposte uses shields as an alternative cost to deal damage, while hit and run provides a red character a free activation in order to resolve any potential damage rolled during that activation.  Against a blue hero deck, be wary of shields, as they may turn into damage.

-Villains: Armed to the teeth uses upgrades attached to a yellow character as an alternative cost to deal damage, and while go for the kill may be a bit situational and require a damage dice, dealing unblockable damage with a source of damage that is usually prevented by shields can be a strong surprise factor as well.  Be wary of upgrades attached to yellow villain characters.

One resource cost cards:
One resource cards that deal damage tend to be much less situational than zero resource cards, and can have the potential to deal more than 3 damage, but are generally dependent on having some dice in play.  Many of the one resource event cards are also neutral cards, which makes them harder to predict than zero resource events.

-Heroes: Red heroes have access to It's a trap!, which requires the red hero player to have red dice out in the dice pool and for the opposing player to have a damage symbol.  The maximum damage from this card can vary wildly, and when combined with hit and run, can be very threatening.  The damage ceiling from this interaction has the potential to surpass any burst damage card being mentioned here.  Blue heroes have access to willpower, which is very situational, as it requires both characters to be exhausted, and only deals 1 damage, but is also a 2 damage swing (heal 1, deal 1). 

-Villains: Blue villains have access to force strike, which currently has a maximum damage of 3, since the highest value on a melee side on a blue dice is 3 (Darth Vader, Kylo Ren's Lightsaber, Lightsaber), but it also requires a blue dice to be present in the dice pool.  Yellow villains have access to fight dirty, which removes yellow dice to deal damage.  Just like force strike, fight dirty requires dice to be in the dice pool, so is of no concern when there are no yellow dice in the dice pool.  The final direct damage card that villains have access to at 1 resource is not an event, and is relatively slow, is backup muscle, which can finish a 1 health character off within 2 activations.  When playing against yellow villains, be sure to activate and resolve a 1 health character as soon as possible, due to the threat of backup muscle.  Red villains have access to tactical mastery, which is similar to hit and run, in which a character will get to activate and resolve dice without any chance of removal. 

-Neutral: one resource cards is where we see some neutral cards enter the mix, with notable cards being deflect and power of the force in blue, and firepower in red, all of which require dice to already be in play.  Resolve ranged damage dice quickly in case of deflect, and be wary that the value of any damage dice can equal the number of blue upgrades if power of the force is a possibility.  Another possibility is all in, which can be unpredictable, and as a grey card, can appear in any deck.

Two resource cost cards:
With the current card pool, the most notable card-based damage source is no mercy for blue villains, requiring both a blue dice showing damage, and blue cards in hand to discard, but can potentially add an additional 4 damage modifier to a current blue dice showing damage (5 if under emperor's favor).  Be wary of all damage dice when a blue villain player is at two resources.

Three resource cost cards:
Yellow villains and heroes have access to Reversal, which removes a dice showing damage to deal damage equal to the value on that dice.

Keeping track of all of the cards and explanations can be daunting, and requires some practice.  A quick reference and common cards to look for at every resource cost would look like:

Number of Resources:
0- Riposte, hit and run, Armed to the teeth,, go for the kill , 

1- force strike, fight dirty, backup muscle, tactical mastery, deflect, power of the force, firepower, all in.

2- no mercy.

3- Reversal

While cards that can instantaneously provide more damage can be very powerful and game changing, having the proper knowledge of commonly played cards and the conditions required to deal damage with those cards can help you plan in advance and help you stay one step ahead of your opponent.  Knowing the potential damage output your opponent has can lead to proper sequencing of actions to get the most out of your dice!