Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-26446612-20161007223306/@comment-25856498-20170403092940

The Controller - A boss entity that defines boss, not in gaming terms but in work terms perfectly well. Instead of fighting against you, he fights with you. Not directly as in Clan Battles, but indirectly by providing you with free cards every once in a while.

Your deck has already been picked by the Controller before the start of a match. The Controller also gives you additional free cards which cost no Elixir to play every once in a while. So you'd think this would make the fight much easier, right?

Not so much. The Controller has his own demands and you must comply to those demands unless you wish to face his wrath. Not complying to his demands will mean that he will penalize you using certain means. He could harm your own towers and units using neutral spells (spells that don't belong to anyone), remove Elixir off your Elixir bar or even go as far as support an enemy push to punish you for the error of your ways.

His demands include, but are not limited to:
 * Play the free card where he wants to (he'll mark the location the card is to be dropped, and you are to comply even if there's a better spot to deploy the card)
 * Save your Elixir (you can't play any cards from your hand for a short duration unless you wish to be penalized, even if you've hit 10 Elixir)
 * Play a certain card ASAP (you'll have to play a certain card within a short period of time so cycle cycle cycle)
 * Attack a certain tower (if you wish to comply you'll have to attack the specified tower even if attacking another tower would be better)
 * Eliminate a certain enemy unit or units ASAP (take it out within a short period of time so you'd better use your best cards for the job!)

If you fail to comply, the Controller can do one of the below things. Repeating the offence multiple times in the same match will result in his punishments being more severe.
 * He can damage your towers. The first offence will take off about 20% from an Arena Tower. Subsequent offences will cause more damage to the Arena Tower or even damage the King's Tower directly without causing it to activate.
 * He can damage your offensive pushes using neutral spells. He'll use less powerful spells such as Zap or Arrows first, then he'll switch to using more powerful spells such as Fireball, Poison or even Rocket if you've disobeyed him too much.
 * He can cut Elixir off your Elixir bar. The first time he uses this punishment he will take off 2 Elixir (or whatever Elixir you have if you do not have enough), but subsequent punishments will cause you to lose more Elixir at once, up to the point where you lose all 10 Elixir. On a similar note, he can also slow down your Elixir generation or even stop it completely.
 * He can assist enemy pushes using cards from his hand. Not only will he give you less free cards to use, he will play some of his free cards to assist the opponent. On earlier offences he'll be more merciful and play free cards that are worth less Elixir but if you cross him enough, he can go all out and play more expensive cards to support the enemy.

So is the Controller a friend or foe? Depends on how you play really. Even if he forces you to rework your playstyle, can you defeat your opponent?

(thinking about it, this could be a gamemode for multiplayer too with both players having their own Controllers regulating their play)