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| Offense: | Effectively dealing damage and ability to position aggressively |
| Defense: | Ability to take a beating and position defensively |
| Mobility: | Ability to move and place units at odd angles or in unique ways |
| Reach: | Ability to attack or affect units at unique distances |
| Control: | Measures how differently your opponent has to play because of your actions |
Roman numerals refer to complexity of playing each faction at their floor of complexity (foot in the door).
For example, Wayfarers may be a I, but they have a high ceiling, while I would never hand a new player a IV deck like Shadow Elves.
- I: Beginner/New to game
- II: Intermediate
- III: Advanced
- IV: Expert
Wave 1
Published July 2021
Cave Goblins
Part of Master Set
Cave Goblins seek to overrun their opponent with cheap commons often called “The Horde”. Their summoner has the ability to swap places with a 0-cost unit and other such tricks make for explosive turns, difficult for opponents to predict. They must be careful to manage card draw, however, and maintain board presence.
Breakers
Part of Master Set
Breakers are an adaptable utility deck with a strength in disrupting their opponent. While they often have multiple options to choose in response to any board state, they can struggle to get reliable damage output, and seek to offset this by disabling their opponent.
Savanna Elves
Part of Master Set
A powerfully well rounded faction with some incredibly strong units and events that can have both explosive turns and also maintain consistent pressure, they need to mind an early rush from their opponent due to their cards being costly and their board state needing time to develop.
Vanguards
Part of Master Set
With some of the highest life units of any faction in the game, as well as healing and defensive abilities and the summoner able to recur common units, Vanguards have a methodical and straightforward play style. While easy to learn, they are difficult to master, trying to make the most of their attacks and maintain formation.
Fallen Kingdom
Part of Master Set
The Fallen Kingdom are a complex combo deck, gaining advantage when units are damaged or destroyed, many times even their own units. This can make for some very satisfying turns when seeing the results of a successful and intricate combo, however it also makes for a steep learning curve to see how many cards work together.
Polar Dwarves
Part of Master Set
Polar Dwarves have powerful units and a focus on structures and structure movement. This creates a feeling of building a mobile fortress which plows through opponent ranks.
Polar Dwarves can readily dominate a game but to do so requires great skill to understand and leverage many of their tricks.
Polar Dwarves can readily dominate a game but to do so requires great skill to understand and leverage many of their tricks.
Wave 2
Published October 2021 - July 2022
Tundra Orcs
Part of Starter Set
Tundra Orcs offer some of the most straightforward and obvious strategies, with good champions and commons that can deal and take impressive damage.
Yet they also offer a depth found in their rooting in the game’s most fundamental principles of play. Be very careful of the pitfall of charging your summoner into the fray, as they lack extrication tricks.
Yet they also offer a depth found in their rooting in the game’s most fundamental principles of play. Be very careful of the pitfall of charging your summoner into the fray, as they lack extrication tricks.
Phoenix Elves
Part of Starter Set
Offering quality options for both offense and defense, the Phoenix Elves must carefully use these tools to preserve their fragile summoner and be very cautious to avoid explosive opponent turns.
With intuitive cards, this faction offers straightforward gameplay for the beginner that will remain rewarding and challenging at higher skill levels.
With intuitive cards, this faction offers straightforward gameplay for the beginner that will remain rewarding and challenging at higher skill levels.
Cloaks
Single Deck
One of the most versatile factions in the game with a summoner who embodies this, Cloaks have units and events with a deep and wide range of applicability.
This faction can play a range of different strategies and surprise the opponent with unexpected tricks. This all comes at the cost of sometimes having obscure and unintuitive gameplay.
This faction can play a range of different strategies and surprise the opponent with unexpected tricks. This all comes at the cost of sometimes having obscure and unintuitive gameplay.
Skyspear Avians
Single Deck
Skyspear Avians is a faction entirely about movement in formation. Their flight allows them to move about the board unlike any other faction and constantly pose a risk to the opponent with their capability of high damage often coming to what seemed like a safe place.
However, their summoner is fragile and yet must remain at the heart of their attack formations.
However, their summoner is fragile and yet must remain at the heart of their attack formations.
Eternal Council
Single Deck
A faction with a centerpiece summoner and strong card draw abilities, the Eternal Council seeks to keep their summoner in the action, manipulate both the board state and their card draws to their advantage to overpower their opponent.
They need to be careful not to burn through their deck too quickly and their abilities require advanced gameplay to appropriately leverage.
They need to be careful not to burn through their deck too quickly and their abilities require advanced gameplay to appropriately leverage.
Fungal Dwarves
Single Deck
An economic powerhouse of a faction, Fungal Dwarves focus on the boost token component of gameplay. As friendly units are destroyed, this faction’s remaining units become more powerful. This is only possible within close proximity of their summoner though and they lack added movement and require careful planning, altogether making for one of the most challenging factions to play.
Wave 3
Published November 2022 - June 2023
Obsidian Dwarves
Single Deck
The Obsidian Dwarves are a faction of risk-taking uncertainty, with many of their cards working in support of their summoner, who features a unique attack strength that scales up and down throughout the game. This unstable and unreliable power requires players to constantly adjust and be mindful not to overextend.
Sand Goblins
Single Deck
The Sand Goblins are a strategically versatile deck, with a focus on upgrading structures to become more involved in the game than other factions.
This faction has a highly assorted toolbox of tricks which demands the player adapt to card draw just as the Sand Goblins adapt differing strategies to whatever comes against them.
This faction has a highly assorted toolbox of tricks which demands the player adapt to card draw just as the Sand Goblins adapt differing strategies to whatever comes against them.
Shadow Elves
Single Deck
A faction comprised of a limitless depth of intricate tricks, the Shadow Elves bring arguably the greatest complexity of any faction to the game and in that a lack of any major weakness other than their learning curve.
This is a faction that can be singularly focused on to learn and offer endless new play experience.
This is a faction that can be singularly focused on to learn and offer endless new play experience.
Wayfarers
Single Deck
One of the most mobile factions in the game, with numerous movement tricks and several cards that feature diagonal positioning abilities.
Wayfarers focus on taking the game to the opponent’s side of the board and offer approachable and intuitive abilities, great for beginners and fun still for the more experienced.
Wayfarers focus on taking the game to the opponent’s side of the board and offer approachable and intuitive abilities, great for beginners and fun still for the more experienced.
High Elves
Single Deck
The High Elves control and manipulate the board state with many abilities that affect both themselves and their opponent.
Game play as this faction is a constant strategizing of positioning to ensure you take more advantage of your abilities than your opponent can. Because of overlapping abilities affecting numerous cards, friendly and enemy, High Elves are one of the most complex factions to play.
Game play as this faction is a constant strategizing of positioning to ensure you take more advantage of your abilities than your opponent can. Because of overlapping abilities affecting numerous cards, friendly and enemy, High Elves are one of the most complex factions to play.
Swamp Orcs
Single Deck
A faction of relatively weak common units who make the summoner more powerful, the Swamp Orcs focus on boost generation and champion play.
This faction requires constant management of fragile units, often called “The Swamp”, well-timed play of very impactful events and frequent incredibly powerful attacks from the summoner.
This faction requires constant management of fragile units, often called “The Swamp”, well-timed play of very impactful events and frequent incredibly powerful attacks from the summoner.
Wave 4
Published September 2023 - May 2024
Mountain Vargath
Single Deck
A faction focused on maintaining proximity to their summoner to gain the benefit of his straightforward and powerful strength bonus.
Playing as the Mountain Vargath offers methodical, tactical positioning at all times with cards that clearly support this strategy, making them easy for beginners and always offering more to be learned.
Playing as the Mountain Vargath offers methodical, tactical positioning at all times with cards that clearly support this strategy, making them easy for beginners and always offering more to be learned.
Crimson Order
Single Deck
A beginner-friendly faction with a focus on self-damage to produce power, the Crimson Order have a mix of powerful and fragile units, augmented by very powerful events.
This faction seeks to overwhelm the opponent with their weaker common units while enhancing their forces through self-sacrifice.
This faction seeks to overwhelm the opponent with their weaker common units while enhancing their forces through self-sacrifice.
The Forged
Single Deck
The Forged are a faction composed entirely of structures except for only the summoner.
Although their units suffer damage to move, they make up for this with great utility, all able to be built as well as summoned and a summoner further enhancing this with his ability. The Forged present players with many strategic options for direct damage and aggressive summoning.
Although their units suffer damage to move, they make up for this with great utility, all able to be built as well as summoned and a summoner further enhancing this with his ability. The Forged present players with many strategic options for direct damage and aggressive summoning.
Deepwood Groaks
Single Deck
The Deepwood Groaks focus on controlling the game by the weakening of their opponents, and the enhancement of their own units.
They have powerful common units, balanced with offensive and defensive capabilities, and focused on generating and manipulating boosts to cause their potion events to remain in play as long as possible, creating global debilitation of their foes and greater power to themselves.
They have powerful common units, balanced with offensive and defensive capabilities, and focused on generating and manipulating boosts to cause their potion events to remain in play as long as possible, creating global debilitation of their foes and greater power to themselves.
Shimmersea Fae
Single Deck
The Shimmersea Fae summoner is capable of both direct damage on enemies as well as self-healing. This combined with champions that can return to your draw pile and commons that help manipulate your draws as well as benefit from champions make for an aggressive faction which is further bolstered by aggressive events.
Storm Goblins
Single Deck
Bzzztt!!
The Storm Goblins’ summoner can create arcing chains of damage through adjacent units and units adjacent to them and so on. While most of their units may seem unimpressive, they are a maneuverable faction capable of threatening spaces others cannot and supported by powerful events.
The Storm Goblins’ summoner can create arcing chains of damage through adjacent units and units adjacent to them and so on. While most of their units may seem unimpressive, they are a maneuverable faction capable of threatening spaces others cannot and supported by powerful events.
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used herein with their express permission.
