Phageborn: Basic mechanics II
“Dear child… Before we go ahead and start to talk about synergies and playstyles, let’s take a step back and go over some other basic gameplay mechanics you need to know in order to advance through this world. Today I want to introduce you to card types, blocker mechanics, and attributes. Without this knowledge you are doomed to fail, like those before you.”
Last time, I talked to you about dual resources, Essence and Energy, what they are and what is their use, so today, I would like to introduce to you card types you will encounter while adventuring throughout Issilith and beyond.
You can use Essence for only one card type - units. Don’t take that as a negative thing, units are the core of your deck, they are your soldiers.
This seems like a great time to introduce you to one more gameplay mechanic: Blocking. At the start of your turn, all your previously played units become “Ready”. That means that they can attack, move to the other lane, or they can block. If you leave a unit to be a blocker, then the enemy's Avatar and units can’t attack the core or your Avatar (if your Avatar is positioned in the same lane as the blocker unit). Don’t forget, some units have an effect which will allow them to ignore the blocker and attack your core or avatar regardless. Plan your move accordingly!
Energy can be used to play three different types of energy cards: ability, ambush, and special attack cards. Utilizing energy cards can bring you a strategic advantage over your opponent.
Ability cards have a great variety of one-shot effects which can deal damage, draw cards, heal units, etc. Depending on the ability cards you choose for your deck, they can bring you utility and support, or even some crazy combos with your units and Avatars.
The second type of energy cards are Ambush cards. When you play them, they will be secretly placed on the battleground. That means that your opponent won’t see which card you have played, the only thing visible will be purple mist around your core, indicating that an ambush card has been placed. Every ambush card has its condition which, when met, will trigger the ambush. They can only be triggered on your opponent's turn, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally activating it. After the ambush card has been triggered and its effect has occurred, that ambush card is sent to the graveyard.
The last type of energy cards are Special Attacks which will replace the next basic attack of your Avatar. Special attack stays on your Avatar until it attacks or until you play another special attack, in which case only the last special attack will apply (special attacks do not stack). It’s important to distinguish a special attack from a basic attack since some cards might empower only your basic attack and will not apply to the special attack.
At the beginning of each of your rounds, unless you’re going first, you will be able to level up one of the three attributes: Leadership, Energy, and Overcharge. Which one you will level mostly depends on your playstyle and the circumstances you find yourself in.
Leadership is an attribute that, when leveled, increases your Avatar’s health by one and empowers certain cards. Some cards have a little blue flag icon in their description. That flag represents leadership and how much leadership you need to have to trigger the described effect. If you meet the requirements, the text following the flag will also be blue, if you don’t it will stay white.
Since Energy doesn’t automatically increase every turn like Essence, you can choose to level it at the start of your round. It’s usually prudent to level Energy to the cost of your Avatar’s skill, even if you don’t play an ability-oriented deck, since your Avatar also uses energy for casting his skill, not just for playing energy cards.
Overcharge lets you deal damage to your core and in exchange, you can draw an extra card. The first time you use an overcharge it will deal 1 damage to your core, but every time you use it, the cost of the overcharge is increased by 1. That means that the second time you want to level overcharge, you will have to take two damage to your core for drawing one extra card, and so on. Overcharge is a very powerful tool that can bring you an advantage over your opponent, but it can also put you in an unfavorable position if you use it too much and take too much damage so use it wisely!
“Do not be intimidated, my child... While your knowledge about this world must be vast to proceed, it is your creativity and strategic thinking that will single you out in the sea of adventurers. Perhaps you are ready, perhaps you are not, but you will not know unless you try...
If you need anything before we see each other again, go over to Discord, its Residents will gladly help: Discord.”
Last time, I talked to you about dual resources, Essence and Energy, what they are and what is their use, so today, I would like to introduce to you card types you will encounter while adventuring throughout Issilith and beyond.
You can use Essence for only one card type - units. Don’t take that as a negative thing, units are the core of your deck, they are your soldiers.
This seems like a great time to introduce you to one more gameplay mechanic: Blocking. At the start of your turn, all your previously played units become “Ready”. That means that they can attack, move to the other lane, or they can block. If you leave a unit to be a blocker, then the enemy's Avatar and units can’t attack the core or your Avatar (if your Avatar is positioned in the same lane as the blocker unit). Don’t forget, some units have an effect which will allow them to ignore the blocker and attack your core or avatar regardless. Plan your move accordingly!
Energy can be used to play three different types of energy cards: ability, ambush, and special attack cards. Utilizing energy cards can bring you a strategic advantage over your opponent.
Ability cards have a great variety of one-shot effects which can deal damage, draw cards, heal units, etc. Depending on the ability cards you choose for your deck, they can bring you utility and support, or even some crazy combos with your units and Avatars.
The second type of energy cards are Ambush cards. When you play them, they will be secretly placed on the battleground. That means that your opponent won’t see which card you have played, the only thing visible will be purple mist around your core, indicating that an ambush card has been placed. Every ambush card has its condition which, when met, will trigger the ambush. They can only be triggered on your opponent's turn, so you don’t have to worry about accidentally activating it. After the ambush card has been triggered and its effect has occurred, that ambush card is sent to the graveyard.
The last type of energy cards are Special Attacks which will replace the next basic attack of your Avatar. Special attack stays on your Avatar until it attacks or until you play another special attack, in which case only the last special attack will apply (special attacks do not stack). It’s important to distinguish a special attack from a basic attack since some cards might empower only your basic attack and will not apply to the special attack.
At the beginning of each of your rounds, unless you’re going first, you will be able to level up one of the three attributes: Leadership, Energy, and Overcharge. Which one you will level mostly depends on your playstyle and the circumstances you find yourself in.
Leadership is an attribute that, when leveled, increases your Avatar’s health by one and empowers certain cards. Some cards have a little blue flag icon in their description. That flag represents leadership and how much leadership you need to have to trigger the described effect. If you meet the requirements, the text following the flag will also be blue, if you don’t it will stay white.
Since Energy doesn’t automatically increase every turn like Essence, you can choose to level it at the start of your round. It’s usually prudent to level Energy to the cost of your Avatar’s skill, even if you don’t play an ability-oriented deck, since your Avatar also uses energy for casting his skill, not just for playing energy cards.
Overcharge lets you deal damage to your core and in exchange, you can draw an extra card. The first time you use an overcharge it will deal 1 damage to your core, but every time you use it, the cost of the overcharge is increased by 1. That means that the second time you want to level overcharge, you will have to take two damage to your core for drawing one extra card, and so on. Overcharge is a very powerful tool that can bring you an advantage over your opponent, but it can also put you in an unfavorable position if you use it too much and take too much damage so use it wisely!
“Do not be intimidated, my child... While your knowledge about this world must be vast to proceed, it is your creativity and strategic thinking that will single you out in the sea of adventurers. Perhaps you are ready, perhaps you are not, but you will not know unless you try...
If you need anything before we see each other again, go over to Discord, its Residents will gladly help: Discord.”