How to Play Cards

Any card-playing skill is only for those who hold cards, and good strategy is for those with good cards.

If you don't have cards yet, your first job is to get some. Everyone is born with three "assets", and acquiring a skill you can use well is itself a card worth playing.

Look at the strategists of ancient times: after mastering civil and military arts, what was the first thing they did? They sold their skills to the imperial court. When you know a market opportunity and can predict its next move, who will you sell that insight to? The one with the biggest capital. If Zhang San has 10 billion and Li Si has only 100, a 10% gain gives Zhang San 1 billion but Li Si just 10. Even if Li Si gave you every cent of his profit, you'd still only get 10. But from Zhang San's 1 billion, even a tiny fraction far exceeds Li Si's absolute limit. So who will ultimately get that information? Whoever has the biggest capital—Zhang San.

In Land Battle (军旗), when you have the commander, general, division chief, sapper, bomb, and landmine—all the pieces—you can actually form combinations. You need to build up your hand before you can play strategically.

The key to success is simple: when you have good cards, don't mess it up. Make money when your cards are strong, lose nothing when they're weak, and don't get harvested by scammers when you have no cards at all. Just doing these three things already makes you proud of your ancestors.

If you truly have no cards, just wait—trade time for space. No cards? Then wait for them. Why rush? Get too eager and careless, and scammers will harvest you in an instant. Don't think you're safe just because you're broke. Even with nothing, you're still at the table, right? One harvesting move and you're out—then you've lost your right to ever play again for the rest of your life.

This is a credit-based society. Do you think hitting zero is safe? Do you think having nothing protects you? No—you're actually in danger at zero, because from there you can still go negative.