It's an exciting opportunity! But how do you beginner?
As a beginner you're learning the ropes and figuring things out in order to play this game.
Do you beeline straight for the most expensive cards or do you play carefully and think each card over?
As the beginner you're most likely to just go with the flow but there are some cards you can draw that actually help you figure out your style!
If nothing else make sure you remember these basics: Too many cards in your deck without synergy is a bad thing. Just because you can buy it doesn't mean you should. The monster you're playing as will offer unique bonuses, either take them into consideration, or fully agree to ignore them for less specialized cards.
Now let's go over basic strategy!

As a beginner you're most likely going to wonder about what cards you should play. If you are a fan of card games you may be wondering what energy types or sacrifices you will want to prioritize. If you enjoy deck builders you may wonder how to get that sweet, sweet buying and removal power. If you do things that are your entirely your own business in your free time and think this feels familiar just consider yourself not a beginner to this particular game. For the rest of you let's focus on the answers here:

There are no cost to play most cards, and often those cards with a cost will be found in the monster specific cards. You can still play them but they will lack any effect. But the way this game works is if it's in your hand you can play it. How do you buy cards between rounds? You don't! Instead all resource management not tied to card effects is all in buying cards during the match. The game itself will explain this, but just in case you happened to miss the latest and greatest user manual, distributed by Monsta Co., let's cover them real quick: There are three types of resources gotten in increments. Sunlight, gotten when your health is high and entirely decided by the cards you have chosen for your set. Moonlight, found closer to medium health and, in addition to the card sets chosen, is also when your chosen monster's powers start appearing. Finally there's beast: When you're starting to get pushed onto the ropes you can really show them what monster they're messing with. In general for each tier down you go the cards you can select keep getting a little stronger but real strength during a match will be in the cards you choose. Now how to choose them.

Well, as the handy Monsta Co. Guide will tell you, there is a handy shop at the top of the screen during a battle with four lovely random cards to pick from, or a single predetermined and infinitely restocking resource card to help boost your cash flow. In the upper right corner that card will tell you how many resources it costs to get of what type. You can buy as many cards as you have the resources for so if you have the cash and they have the style you can make that magic happen. As far as having the cash on hand? You will get "standard cards" that will give you a pittance of damage and some supplies to start with but if you want to make more expensive purchases you'll find these basic cards lacking the oomph. You'll have to buy more effective resource generators to buy with the big boys. But that's all the time we have for the simple, more readily explained mechanics. Let's move on to the stuff they don't teach in schools!

So here are the things you mostly want to focus on when building a deck and fighting against opposing forces of darkness:

Don't go around buying up every card you can. Each card you buy is another card you have to draw before you get back to another, possibly better, card in your deck. Sure that tinfoil hat might look nice, and the brain tonic is just to die for on a fresh spring day, and hey this brain trust is going to look great next to the photo of the big game you posed for. But before you do ask yourself a question: are those cards really the ones you want? As you lose health and more nighttime cards become available you may find yourself short on cash for useful monster cards or helpful aids to the rhythm you've been getting in your hands. That's not to say by purchasing those cards you made a wrong choice, but there might have been better choices that would secure victory. After all there are very few ways to remove cards from your deck, and those ways tend to be very specific to what they remove. Maybe hold off on the tinfoil hat when you know you'll get better defensive and sunlight generating options if you just wait a few turns. Figure out if you're going to use a lot of potions or if you feel using the brain tonic to help make those big purchases will be worth an extra card in your hand once night falls. Think if you're really going to get a lot of sunlight before investing in that brain trust. But if the answer is yes then buy without hesitation! If you have doubts looks for other cards that may do more for you, such as gleam of insight instead of a tinfoil hat to get that defense but also draw another card or the steel toed boots for a more universal attack and defense. That's not to say never purchase anything there's a better version of. Sometimes you can't get to that sweet new car with the latest accessories if you don't bike around some first. You just have to make sure you remember you're going for the car and that all bike expenses are to tide you over before you're behind that shiny new wheel.

Don't become dead set on one strategy, but instead come up with two or three that can work together and go after that. Maybe you only draw your resource cards when the shop doesn't have the strategy you're picking first but you can fill in the gaps with another stylish combo that will play nice with your first choice. Maybe you forgot to keep track of HP and lost access to cards that you simply needed to tie the room together. If you plan ahead you can make a quick fix that can work just as well. Maybe that nurse you had your eye on talked to you and you ended up playing your expertly setup combo in the wrong order. Learn to improvise, but that starts with knowing what else you can do. As you keep fighting monsters you'll remember more options that you can use.

Remember to always check your opponents strengths. Once the blood starts flowing each monstrous foe you face will bring their own vat of vile surprises to the party. If you pay attention to them you can avoid unnecessary delays towards your own success story. And if you have concerns about a certain young girl who seems to be in possession of a streak destroying book, well, we have some tips. Speaking of.

Each monster has their own cards to bring to the table and their own way to play. That doesn't mean you have to indulge them if you don't want to. Sometimes generic cards work just as well at getting what you want. Of course, a monster will be best at getting their own job done, but sometimes circumstances don't call for that particular job.

Excess resource generation isn't a bad move at all. Once you deplete a monster's first HP bar you get into a boss fight where you can't buy anything and all currency is turned into damage. But do remember you still have to deal conventional attack damage to the enemy in the first round to get them to the boss fight. Don't fret, plan around it!

I hear some of you asking "Why would I want to take an affliction? It lowers my HP!" My radio is broken and you all need to stop using public channels to ask questions about this kind of thing. But to answer the question the predetermined lack of HP may be a benefit in and of itself. As you only draw some cards at lower HP you can pick an ability you like that has an HP cost you respect to put yourself right into your desired timezone at the start of the fight. Just take some time to get used to what cards show up at what HP level.

If you see some juicy, juicy content that seems to be locked behind a monster and feel like getting on with it don't fret. There is a simple method to hurry along the monster unlock process, although you may find it still invokes some unpaid overtime. Simply give yourself the affliction "Deadly Fangs" which will heavily reduce your HP in return for doubling your attack. Then get yourself a lot of damage. You merely need to see a run to its end three times as a monster to unlock the next. Losing a battle is its end so win or loose you'll be soaring through unlocks faster. But do try and spend at least one round trying out the monster as you may find some uniqueness you like.

You may be saying to yourself "You know, I'm pretty good at this whole 'monster slaying' business but I can't seem to unlock those card packs related to beating the game with specific combos". It happens. There is an easy way to snag those wonderful bonuses, however. If you feel particularly good at slaying monsters with one character then all you need to do is beat blood 5, which is where combo characters are introduced, and take a good look at the affliction you just earned. It only shows up in the menu to pick any affliction and lets you play a game as that character's combo. Just lower the difficulty all the way down to manageable and start out with that affliction. You'll still get your company bonus for monstering well as that combo character. And, for those looking for notes on the characters you have to pick to trigger the right combos it's Vampire, Scientist, blob, warith, plant, and Parasite. Good luck.

Yes, she is annoying. And something of a run killer. However, that's not to say she's unstoppable. Market testing shows that the best way to deal with her is to adjust your card packs and prepare for a rushdown or quick startup. Brute Force and Religion can be your friends here. Remember to check the TV in the shop screen to see if this pink menace is coming up in order to prepare. For the Religion side of things be prepared to leverage as much early defense as your luck allows you to prevent her damage gain from ticking up as much as you can. If you suspect your time in the daylight may be limited then instead avoid the path of holy righteousness, as the cards in your deck will become dead weight upon picking night, and instead get ready to avoid trying to draw cards so the superior offense and defense of Brute Force can help you rush her and protect yourself. They're not the only path to victory but they're the only things that don't require a long term commitment change to go against her. If you can stop the snowball from rolling you can stop the problem, but sadly some things are still left up to luck.

Hello, just made this because I saw a forum post and decided to put this out there. I'm still fairly new myself but those are basic tricks that can help any player. If you have any extra questions, suggestions, or notes by all means let me know and thank you. I'm very willing to update this with helpful information from more experienced players or answer questions a newbie might have that I missed. Hopefully, as a standalone guide, this helps new players find their feet easier.