Starting mk 3 with pirates

slam a pirate over their caster with the cannon and kill them or all your pirates will die and you will lose because they die fast and hit like wussies

or use a freebooter to toss something onto their caster and kill them or all your pirates will die and you will lose because they die fast and hit like wussies

that is all!!!

At the broadest sense: Understand that even at its most competitive, the game is for fun. Even the best laid plans are undone by dice, my enjoyment of the hobby increased 3-fold when I divorced "wins" from "playing well".

Otherwise, the game is immense. Knowing your opponents stuff ends up being just as vital as knowing your own, so learning what other people you play against have and what it can do is super useful.

Work out at the start of the game where you stand on takebacks, cocked die, adherence to clock, that sort of thing.

Take absolutely everything you read about the game with a super serve grain of salt.