by Alex Brown
OP: Ultimately i think you're not seeing the forest for the trees. I understand what you are saying and there are frequent situations where just going for claws is best.However, the replayability of the game comes from what you do when your first roll isn't ideal. That's the balance between energy, points and claws/hearts.
There are cards that tilt attacking in your favor. If I was playing against your strategy I would have to decide if those cards were out and if I could afford the time to accumulate the energy to get them.
If they weren't out, I would have to decide whether the VP for staying around in Tokyo was worth it while I was getting hit.
Sometimes neither of those are true and attacking is good.
However, in my experience, the cards are nearly always better to go for at the start. Often one player rolls more energy, and it's up to the other players to use points or claws to stake their claim, all the while pulling little bits of energy to buy cards that suit attacking, points, or minor variations.