Dr. Sunsoul or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the McBombus

Being almost strictly a limited player there are certain cards I never felt that I was able to abuse.  Sure, some bombs like Arborean Rootfather and Phenteo are as strong (if not stronger) in limited as they are in a dedicated constructed deck.  But some require a little more finesse to have the same sort of impact.  Case in point: Sunsoul Phoenix, and one of the most explosive sealed pools I've played across any Hex format so far.

Champion: Morgan McBombus

Troops (14)

1 Ashwood Apprentice

1 Ashwood Cinderstump

1 Deathmask Assailant

1 Deathmask Ravager

1 Embertongue Skarn

1 Firedancer

1 Forebidden Tomeseeker

1 Flickering Gobbler

1 Hextricator

1 Hulking Smasher

2 Prestidigitator

1 Pyretic Performer

1 Sunsoul Phoenix

Actions (9)

1 Arcane Focus

2 Azure Fang Decree

1 Cleave

1 Combat Training

2 Crimson Bolt

1 Impulse

1 Skewer

Shards (17)

9 Ruby Shard

8 Sapphire Shard

For those unfamiliar, Sunsoul Phoenix is a 4/2 with flight and speed for 6, though that cost is 2 cheaper for each action you've played earlier that turn.  If your opponent manages to kill the Phoenix and you happen to have six actions in your crypt, it can do the whole Phoenix thing and return from the ashes into play by voiding those six actions.  Now getting six actions is a difficult feat to accomplish in limited, and most decks I've run across with Phoenix prior to Primal Dawn would run Savvas to generate a Scorch and play a turn-five Phoenix, which is still pretty solid in limited.  Any actual Phoenix revivals would require some help from a vennen deck milling the unsuspecting bird keeper.

But that was before Primal Dawn, and now we have a Sapphire-Ruby limited archetype that actually encourages you to play actions.  At the core of this archetype is the shard combo's champion, Morgan McBombus, which for three charges will put a Bumblebot into play, provided you played an action this turn.  Bumblebots are 1/1 artifact troops with speed and flight, allowing you to sting your opponent for 1 right away.

Now, you obviously won't have access to Sunsoul Phoenix in every deck, since it's Legendary and in the minority set of the limited format.  Nonetheless, several readily available troops have great synergy with playing actions.  Ashwood Cinderstump is an uncommon 2/2 that gets a temporary +2/+2 and swiftstrike buff for every action you play while it's on the field.   Embertongue Skarn is a common 0/3 that gets a permanent +1 attack for each action you play.  Flickering Gobbler is a multi-threshold 2/2 with speed, flight, and rage 1 for two resources, effectively making is a 3/2 the turn it attacks.  The drawback is that the Gobbler is sacrificed at the end of turn unless you played an action that turn, at which point it merely returns to your hand.  This "drawback" can be frustrating late game for your opponent if their only removal options are slow-speed basic actions like Festering Decay, allowing you to keep your little ball of awful safe.  There are several other common and uncommon troops not part of this pool that interact with actions, including Hired Horn Hunter, Wrenlocke's Apprentice, Hatchery Malvoker, and Cyclone Shaman.

Many of the actions are powerful enough to justify playing them outright.  Crimson Bolt and their ilk are solid removal, where Arcane Focus and Impulse draw cards.  Impulse isn't a card I would include too many copies of since it can be difficult to play around if your curve is higher (this pool also has Forbidden Tomeseeker, which wants additional card draws).  Cantrips like Cloudwalk and Blade Flourish that might not make every deck become more appealing when you can trigger abilities.  In addition, several cards like Prestidigitator and Pyretic Performer generate cheap actions, in addition to being solid three-power troops in their own right.  Zakiir's Frenzy can be a fun addition at the higher end of your curve, though the pure randomness might require a few turns before you get any real value out of it (Plan C and Robotic Rapture, stop spoiling me game).

I would be remiss however if I didn't give Combat Training it's due.  This card was absolutely stupid with evasion troops, giving your Bumblebots presence, allowing you to consistently replay Gobbler, and Kismet forbid you get a Spiderling off Azure Fang Decree or a Malvoker.  Combat Training has to be played cautiously, since it's very easy for your opponent to two-for-one you and take your training offline by killing the only troop you taught to hold a spider-sized sword.  But if your opponent can't answer training you have a recurring Urgnock every turn for one resource, which triggers your Skarns and Hired Horns in the process.

The Sapphire-Ruby Action archtype is just one of many strategies available in the current limited format.  The next month should be fun as everyone adjusts to the strategies, which seem very plentiful as of now.  Well, fun for you guys.  I have finals for the next few weeks, which means I should get back to my Property outline.  So have fun and forgive any spelling or grammatical errors.

Card Images from Hex TCG Browser & Deckbuilder.

The Night is Darkest Just Before the Dawn

Quick update for those wondering why my posts have been so haphazard over the past months.  Spring semester of law school was busy (like fall), so I haven't had much time to dedicate to the blog or to Hex.  I've recently carved out some time to play with the Steam Release and Primal Dawn on the horizon.  Hopefully I'll give you some specific character profiles (Human Mage and Shin'hare Warrior) and impressions of Primal Dawn.  Most of the article will probably be shorter until summer and Law Review petitioning is out of the way.  I finally got around to finishing the Warrior Review, which had been hanging over my head and preventing me from posting smaller articles I might have otherwise been able to.

Warrior Review: Training Montage

The last Class yet to be officially previewed is the Warrior (though at this point it's a review). Since the campaign is out and I've actually gotten a chance to play that campaign, the analysis will probably be much different.  It's a bit of a shame, since I enjoyed the theorycrafting that went into just seeing the Talents in a vacuum, but it will probably be more helpful in the long run to judge them as they've functioned from actually playing with them.  I will be making comparisons between the Mage and Cleric.  You can find the Mage Preview and Cleric Previews for review of those talents for comparison.

Warrior Starting Stats are 25 Health and 6 cards.  High health compared to other classes, but a card handicap, which can be really hobbling.  Mulligans to 6 are strategically fine in PvP, but the lack of card typically means it's an uphill battle.  Forcing a 6 card start can be very difficult for Control Decks which require a good flow of resources and cards, though the additional health can buy more time for you cards to have impact.

The Shinhare Warriors start with an additional 3 health from their racial ability, though their race combo reduced the
cost of battle by 1 charge, making them excellent options for a mid-range or control warrior.

Battle

Battle (11)

[BASIC] [5], Deal 2 damage to target opposing champion or troop.  If it is a troop, it deals damage equal to its ATK to you.

Battle is the Warrior Charge Power and is probably the most precise of the three.  For 5 charges, The Warrior battles another troop for 2 damage, or hits the enemy champion directly.   Unlike the random shuffling of Blessings and the large range of Spell Power replenished, Battle is very predictable.  It's also a good reason for you to care about Health, since eliminating enemy troops through battle will take its toll.  That said, this toll will only happen if you play on using this ability more than once per game, which can be difficult since the ability is so expensive.

Control Decks will likely get the most use out of using the ability to destroy weaker utility troops, and grind some of the card advantage they lose from the Warrior Starting Hand size back through the passive.  Aggro decks will likely want to use the ability once to finish off the game my removing a pesky blocker, or just dealing two damage directly to your opponent. 

Warlord

The Warlord abilities congregate around the center of the Talent Tree and all improve the Battle mechanic, making the ability cheaper, having it deal more damage, or granting additional effects. Repeated use of Battle is a good for control style decks, or decks that can generate a good amount of charges through the affinity ability (below) or others.  Getting all the Warlord Talents costs 6 points total, which is a hefty investment, but one worthwhile with the inclusion of War Machine, a free troop that gets stronger each time you attack with it.

Warlord: Agility (10)

1 Point (No PR)

Battle costs [1] less.

Agility is a starting ability that reduces the cost of your Battle by one charge.  Agility is an integral ability for the Warlord line since it contributes to the overall power of you War Machines for only one Talent Point.  Lower charges allows you to make repeated and early use of your battle.  Agility also stacks with the Shinhare Nimble ability, meaning your rabbits can battle for only three charges.

Warlord: Strength (12)

2 Points (No PR)

Battle deals +1 Damage

Strength is a straightforward buff to the damage you deal with battle.  Since the base damage on Battle is pretty low, this can be an important Talent to pick up, particularly in the final Devonshire Keep Battle, since it allows you to oust the potentially problematic Spitfire Elemental.  Strength also stacks with the Orc Heavy Hitters combo ability, allowing your orcs to deal up to 5 damage per Battle with Berserking.

Warlord: Parrying (3)

1 Point [2 Min] (PR Warlord: Agility OR Warlord: War Machine OR Adrenaline)

You are dealt no damage when you Battle a troop.

Parrying negates the damage you would normally take when battling a troop.  This becomes more important to more you plan on using your Battle as removal for your opponent's troops, and gets more value the more you value.  Calculated in terms of of a straight up health buff comparable to talents in other class trees (Cleric's +3 Health from Hale, for example), it's probably one of the most efficient straight up health buffs.

Warlord: Concussive Strikes (5)

1 Point [3 Min] (PR Warlord: Strength OR Warlord: War Machine)

If you Battle a champion, that champion discards a random card.

Concussive Strikes forces your opponent to discard a card when you battle them.  This ensures that you gain card advantage wherever you use your battle, and can be very punishing when your opponent only has a few cards in hand.  More times than not you'll eliminate a card you couldn't have eliminated in battle anyways.  Shin'hare Warriors, which have access to Blood Magic's discard effects and cheap battle costs can also tool their deck towards pure disruption by relentlessly attacking their opponents hand (and life total) through battling.

Warlord: War Machine (4)

1 Point [3 Min] (PR Warlord: Concussive Strikes OR Warlord: Parrying)
You begin the game with a War Machine in your deck or two War Machines if you have 100+ cards in your deck.

War Machine is the de facto keystone talent in the Warlord class, granting you access to 1-2 copies of War Machine based on your deck size.  War Machine is nice since it's free, replaces itself immediately upon playing, and outside of voiding will put itself back into your deck.  It will often trade with one of your opponent's early game troops on the way, giving Warriors another easy bit of card advantage based on the whims of the AI.  Since Warriors have such a low starting hand going up to 100 cards is more dicey than other classes in terms of consistency.  

Training

The Training Talents consist of a single path on the right side of the Talent Tree.  The initial Talent trains 25% of troops in your deck, giving them +1/+1.  Talents that build off of this interact with your trained troops, giving them Speed (Deployment) and giving you a one-shot ability to add one random trained troop to your hand (Reinforcements).  Reinforcements is one of the better talents since it helps the Warrior naturally overcome it's staggered starting hand size.  Your choice of troops along this path become more important the more you invest along this line.  Speed and +1/+1 are aggressive combat stats that work well in aggro decks, but can also work well to trigger powerful combat abilities like Prince Talysen.  This can be even more effective if you clear the board the turn before and Battle your opponent to stagger their replenishment of resources.

Training: Combat  (13)

1 Point (No PR)

At the start of the game, if you have 10 or more troops in your deck and/or hand, 25% of the troops in your deck get Trained.

Your Trained troops have +1/+1.

Combat Training feels like a pleasant and unexpected buff at early levels since it's so random.  That also makes it easy to forget about since one game you'll be swinging with a 3/2 Savage Raider on turn two, and the next your trained Te'Talca is languishing in your hand while you're stuck at four resources.  Trained appears on the card alongside a visually buffed attack and defense while it's in your hand, though the way the card manager is set up this can be difficult to spot, so make sure you check your opening hand for any trained troops, since it can impact the order you play things in.

Reinforcements (6)

2 Points [3 Min] (PR: Training: Combat)

You have "[1 SHOT]: (2), Put a random Trained troop from your deck into your hand.

Reinforcements gives you access to card advantage, something Warriors need with the low starting hand.  This gives you access to a random trained troop in your hand for two resources, which is slow but nice, particularly if you have a more control style deck with troops on the larger side like Vampire King.

Training: Deployment (7)

1 Point [4 Min] (PR: Reinforcements)

Your Trained troops have Speed.

Deployment is the final buff to your trained troops, giving them speed in addition to the attack and defense buff.  Unlike Reinforcements, which is requires for access, Deployment is better in aggressive decks, since you can rush an opponent down before they have a chance to recover.  While this isn't the most viable option for certain dungeon options, for many battles maintaining a strong tempo advantage can be difficult for the AI to overcome.

Free Talents

Warriors are unique in that they get a couple of free talents (they do not cost any talent points), but which contain inherent drawbacks.  This is nice since not having to spend talent points means you can diversify your build very early on.

Fury (7)

0 Points (No PR)

You begin the game with two charges.

-7 Starting Health.

Fury is the talent that gives you a head-start on your battle while reverting your starting health to 18.  Races with bonus starting health like Elves and Shin'hare can afford the starting health hit more than others if it means eliminating early threats like Sweltering Zombie before they get out of control.  Fury also allows access to Berserking without going through Adrenaline, though that talent will also cause you to take extra attack damage, which is a talent build that will leave the Warrior most vulnerable.

Weight (14)

0 Points (No PR)

+5 Starting Health

You can't choose to go first.

Weight is an isolated talent that gives you +5 starting health (a total of 30 before Racial modifiers) with the drawback that you're never on the play.  This might not even be much of a drawback considering your opponent, since drawing first allows you to sacrifice tempo for the lost card advantage from a 6 Card Starting Hand.  Certain matchups can be tricky on the draw, particularly the open-world matches like Killipede or Wormoid Queen, where going first can be very beneficial.  In dungeon runs however, every point of durability counts and it is literally a coin-flip on who will go first in your limited attempts.

Other Talents

Affinity: Warriors (9)

1 Points (No PR)

When you play a Warrior, gain a charge.

Every class has an affinity talent for their class.  Warriors gain a charge when they play a fellow Warrior troop.  Humans, Orcs, and Shin'hare all have access to good early game Warriors to help accumulate Charges.  

Adrenaline (2)

2 Points [3 Min] (PR Affinity: Warriors OR Warlord: Parrying OR Berserking)

When you are dealt damage, there's a 25% chance to gain a charge.

Adrenaline is an interesting charge generation talent.  It will proc more if you have high health and your opponent is attacking with lots of troops.  It can also trigger from non-combat damage, like that from Spitfire Elemental or from your own troops, like Fang of the Mountain God.  Since Burning is employed frequently in Adventure Zone 1, it's a useful talent for a Warrior you plan on grinding certain dungeons with.  It also unlocks Berserking without having to take Fury, which is a plus if you are planning on taking repeated damage anyways.  

Berserking (1)

2 Points [2 Min] (PR Fury OR Adrenaline)

All combat damage dealt to champions is increased by 1.
Your Battle deals +1 damage.

Berserking is a very powerful Talent that increase all combat damage dealt to all champions by 1.  This is very powerful in aggressive decks like Orcs and Shin'hare, though getting a pure aggro deck that can clear Devonshire quick can be difficult.  It also gives your Battle a +1 damage buff, which as mentioned before can stack with Strength and the Orc Heavy Hitters combo ability to deal 5 damage with every battle.  Alternately, Shin'hare can deal 4 damage for every 3 charges.  Combined with an aggressive deck, Shin'hare and Orcs can quickly steamroll any opponent with a poor draw.

Final Thoughts

Warriors get hampered by their low starting health, but make up for it with a passive that can eliminate threats and several talents capable of generating card advantage over long games.  The damage utility of Warriors suits them for both aggressive, troop-oriented strategies or control strategies focused on repeated use of Battle.  

Genesis Druid: Elf Cleric Build (Pylades)

It's been a few weeks since the launch of the Campaign, and I'm still busy grinding out levels on characters and running dungeons to complete playsets between Property and Criminal Law readings.  The content that rolled out in the Chronicles Patch is excellent, and I can't wait for Set 4 and the following PvE updates (hopefully with Mercenaries).

For those that still haven't tried the campaign and are tentatively interested, I'm going to show off my first max level character, the Elf Cleric Pylades.  I'll be referencing the Cleric abilities without going into great detail about them, so if you're unfamiliar you can check out the Cleric Preview for a rundown (I'll have the Warrior rundown up soon as well).

Initially I thought I would want to play a Coyotle, but I was really impressed with the Elf artwork and abilities.  Elves have two strong Racial Traits.  The first is Long Life, which gives them a flat +6 Starting Health, the largest health bonus of any race in the game.  Since Clerics are all about longevity, I figured the-bigger-the-better in terms of a health buffer I could create between myself and whatever was out there for my first playthrough.  "What was out there" was fire zombies... lots of fire zombies, and I needed every point of health I could get.  The second Elf passive is Artistic, which gives you a 25% chance to receive a random stardust after clearing a dungeon.  Several of the races have traits like this that make it more efficient to grind. 

The Race-Combo Ability for Elf Clerics is Genesis Blessing, which enhances your Blessings to give you a Genesis Leaf, which functions similar to a Lotus Petal from MTG.  In dungeons, where tempo and managing your resources is incredibly important, these guys were invaluable and allowed my to ramp into 5-drops early and consistently.  Given that my racial ability already buffed by Blessing, I decided to focus on Blessing Enhancement Talents as I leveled.  Empowerment (the +1/+1 buff) is a much better talent than I had initially given it credit for.  Gaining 4 life, drawing a card, buffing you most expensive troop, and getting a free resource for a turn for free is a great deal, and each little addition really made my character feel substantially more powerful as I leveled and put points in it.  I wanted Blessings as often as possible, so I decided to work my way towards Good Karma, which moves your Blessings one space up in the deck every turn.  The Healing Aura you collect on the way is also nice, likely netting you an extra 6-8 health over the course of a game.  Unfortunately there just weren't enough points for Blessing of the Immortals if I wanted Good Karma and Empowerment (Coyotle get a bonus Talent Point, and could get Karma/Empowerment/BotI), so I decided to give the handful of Clerics in my deck Lifedrain instead for my final point, which is nothing to sneeze at.

31 starting health is an impressive number, which will buy you time until your troops reach critical mass.
515 gold is  much less impressive by comparison.

The decklist evolved over time as well, gradually moving from a Ruby-Wild affair to mono-Wild.  I put as many fighting dinosaurs as I could into the deck, since they dealt with aggressive zombies in both Devonshire Keep and Tomb of the Rose Knights (Smoldering Dead) well.  Feralroot Jaguar was the one PvE card I added to the deck, each one of which will randomly give two troops in your deck a +1/+1 bonus for that game.  Getting a 3/3 Carnasaurus in your opening hand can save you in the early game until your bigger threats can hit the field.  Both Carnasaurus and Succulent Cluckodon can gain health, which can be a saving grace while you're otherwise burning, and plays in well with the Health restoration from your Clerics and Blessings.  Here's the current list I'm running for dungeons:

Genesis Cleric

3 Carnasaurus

3 Dream Stag**

3 Lithe Lyricist*

3 Puck, the Dream Bringer*

2 Feralroot Jaguar

2 Prospero, Sylvan Enchanter*

2 Rhythmic Spiritualist

2 Wild Root Dancer

3 Genesis Hydra

2 Succulent Cluckodon

3 Crocosaur

2 Jadiim

2 Wildwood Beastcaller

2 Chlorophylia

2 Titania's Majesty (Empowerment)

22 Wild Shard

2 Crackling Vortex

Equipment

Head: Gardener's Hat (Chlorophylia)

Chest: Vest of the Ruminant (Dream Stag)

Gloves: Musky Leather Gloves (Dream Stag)

Feet: Enchanter's Footwraps (Prospero, Sylvan Enchanter)

Weapon: Lyricist Quill (Lithe Lyricist)

Trinket: Ring of the Goodfellow (Puck, the Dream Bringer)

Talents

Enhance Blessing: Life Essence
Enhance Blessing: Empowerment
Hale
Healing Aura
Aura Aspect: Good Karma
Affinity: Cleric

The general idea of the deck is to just play big stuff and keep making them bigger until you just overwhelm your opponent and win.  Dream Stag equipment will allow you to generate more shards to buff your team, as well as give you charges for more Blessings.  Max level Clerics can run 3 copies of Wild Rares, so there can be some interchange between the Wild Root Dancer (who is also a Cleric) and Spiritualist and Prospero.  Prospero is incredible with the Footwraps, since the Tempest Strikes he creates will also draw a card.  Unfortunately, this card is only available to Kickstarter Backers (I was fortunate enough to get two with this update).

While this deck has lots of rares, many of them are relatively inexpensive.  One very cheap card that is particularly effective against the Spitfire Elemental (both the penultimate fight of Devonshire and the troop-version Wiktor begins with) is Genesis Hydra, which gets stronger each time it is dealt damage.  Since the Spitfire Elemental deals damage to all troops each turn, the Hydra will just slowly grow bigger until it's big enough to start owning the field (assuming no Lethal Zombies are lurking around).  

Other rares also work better in stalemate situations so help the slow ramp up.  Wildwood Beastcaller generates a free beast every turn, which can be incredible if you get a Dream Bear or another huge troop.  It is possible to miss with Beastcaller and create a 0/0 Dangerous Beast, which is normally created with Bellow of Briggadon when you activate a charge power.  Rhythmic Spiritualist can be helpful since many cards and effects will slowly chew away at your deck, giving you the option to save important troops (preferably the dinosaurs) and shuffle them back into your deck, stronger and cheaper.  You can also manage Ravenous Zombies better by denying them the ability to feast on the troops in your crypt, baiting them to attack into your 3/4

Overall, the deck is very fun if you enjoy smashing through with gigantic troops, and seems to fit well with the unique resource ramp and empowerment blessings of the Elf Cleric, creating a psuedo-Druid feel.  It should be noted that the Keystone Race-Combo Ability, which will be unlocked when the campaign extends to Level 30 Characters, is called Born to be Wild, which one during the game will grant you 2 health for each Wild Threshold you have.  That makes me think my Elf Cleric will be clinging almost exclusively to the wild-side as the level cap rises.

Mage Preview: Spell Power

Big news this week: we got a sort-of date for PvE release.  For more information you can check out the PC Gamer Interview which goes through the new patch.  The semester just started so I won't have as much time to grind my first character as I would like, but I'm planning on getting my Twitch stream going again for the occasional Dungeon run-through.  

Launch of PvE is going to be a bit more truncated than initially assumed.  Back in August with the Warrior Talent Tree reveal, the plan was 8 races and 6 classes   While all the races will be available, only three classes will be accessible with the launch of the Chronicles patch: Cleric, Warrior, and Mage (Ranger, Rogue, and Warlock will be released later).  Additionally the number of talents have been scaled back (as mentioned in the Cleric Preview) to only the first third, and the number of racial talents halved to three, with 2 Race-Class Combo Talents.  As evidenced by the PC Gamer Interview, the Warrior Talent tree has changed somewhat since August to balance for these latent changes.  While we don't have an exhaustive list, I'll make a post later this weekend detailing the ones that can be confirmed from the PC Gamer Interview.

The Mage Class was previewed with the Human Race, so as a follow up to the previous article I'm going to go over the Class Talents.  Once again I'll refrain from discussing the Racial abilities of the Human and Race-Combo abilities, since many people who choose Mage won't necessarily have access to those.  Based on the Spell-like nature of the Combos we've seen for Mages so far, they will likely have a large impact on the sorts of decks supported by that race.  I'll also be comparing the function of these abilities to the Cleric abilities, so if you haven't read the Cleric Preview, I would suggest skimming it (even if you have your heart set on playing a Mage) just to see where the two differ, as it will inform the analysis.

Mage Starting Stats are 14 Health and 7 Card Starting Hand Size, which is significantly less health than the Cleric or the Warrior.  While there is one Talents available to mitigate the low health, it could be extremely difficult to play as a Control Mage at early levels with such low starting health, since those deck generally sacrifice early game tempo and 14 life isn't a large cushion.

The spells are labeled below based on where they appear in the picture above, from left to right.  Telekenesis is slot (1) in the upper-left hand corner, Self Knowledge slot (7) in the upper-right, and Affinity Mages slot (14) in the bottom-right.

Spell Power

Spell Power (SP) is the core mechanic of Mages, which is a separate resource from resources, threshold, and charges. Spell power is spent specifically on Spells.  Spells are learned from Talents.  As of now there is only one that you can unlock (Telekinesis), one that you all Mages start with (Soothsaying) and based on the two races we've seen one spell which is available from your Race-Class combo as well (Human Mages get Polymorph: Beast and Vennen Mages get Weaken).  Spells use a specific amount of Spell Power, and the base cost of those Spells increases by 1 each time it is used.  The starting spell Soothsaying, for example, requires 4SP the first time it is used, then 5SP the second time, and so on.  The scaling cost creates an incentive for using a diversity of spells.

Replenish Spell Power (11)
[BASIC] [3], Gain 3 to 5 SP at random.

Replenish is the Mage Charge Power and is the main way to gain Spell Power throughout the game.  It also serves as a good baseline to gauge just how valuable and scarce SP is throughout the game when determining how powerful the spells are.  While there is inherent randomness in how much Spell Power you gain from this ability, it is notably more reliable than the Cleric ability, which requires you to actually draw the Blessings you create.  While the Cleric tends to favor longer games, the Mage can use the Spell Power right away, making Aggro decks more viable in tandem with how the class functions.  Prolonged Games would of course allow for more Spell Power over the course of the game, but as the ability cost grows over time from continuous activation, their impact and cost-efficiency will also wane.

Learn Spell: Soothsaying (10)
[4SP]: Draw a card, then choose and discard a card.

Soothsaying is a Talent that grants a Spell all Mages, regardless of Race, will begin with in addition to their Passive.  It's essentially a free Tireless Researcher activation starting at 4SP.  While this doesn't net you card advantage, it does net you card quality since you can pitch unwanted additional resources or cards that are too expensive early game.  You can also use this pitch ability to create a reanimator combo, which requires discarding an expensive troop only to bring it back with effects like Rise Again at a cheaper cost.  The limited card pool in Hex has hindered this sort of deck in competitive PvP.  Mages get both Replenish and Soothsaying to start, making such combos a little more viable since the engine to get those troops in your crypt exists on your character without any additional deck support.

The difficulty comes with the possibility that Replenish might not grant you enough Spell power by itself to let you play Soothsaying if you're unlucky.  This can be mitigated with other Talents, but the combo is also contingent upon actually drawing the troop.  This isn't too great a barrier since Mages lean towards Action-heavy decks anyways, which are good at drawing cards with small cantrips like Arcane Focus or Crackling Wit.  Outside of combo decks, Soothsaying is a fine ability for Aggro or Control decks as well, allowing greater quality in cards.  While you might not use it more than once a game, it's definitely a nice perk and a solid starting spell.

Learn Spell: Telekinesis (1)
1 Point, No Prerequisites (PR)
[6SP]: Return target card to its controller's hand.

I'm going to hop to the only other Spell available for Mages from the Talent tree, Telekinesis.  This one costs a steep 6SP and gives you a free Throwback without the ATK debuff.  If you can generate a lot of Spell Power, this can be a nice way to keep the Mage alive early game if you are running a control deck.  It's also nice as a follow up in Tempo decks, and is really solid in aggro decks, particularly if a single blocker is standing between you and a full swing.  The steep cost limits repeated activations of this ability, preventing locks.  At their best bounce spells can set your opponent back a turn or ruin an attack phase, however there will likely be some dungeon bosses where this isn't particularly good.  At this point third or fourth activations of Soothsaying aren't a bad option, which is one of the benefits of having a diverse Spell Pool.  Since this can play vital roles both Defensive and Offensively, and requires no prerequisites, it's definitely one worth looking into.

Affinities

Affinity: Elementals (8)
1 Point, No PR
Elementals in your deck get "While this is in your hand (0): Transform this into a random action of the same shards."

This is a pretty fun ability, and while it doesn't seem very strong it could actually have some practical uses, particularly early on.  The PC Gamer Interview showed that players will be hampered in the rarity of cards available for their decks at early levels.  As such players could be forced to run less powerful commons and uncommons where they would prefer rares.  Being able to turn a Boulder Brute or Sandstone Rumbler into something else might make these lackluster cards more palatable placeholders.  This is also a good option for budget players (or Free-to-Play players) to get to experience different cards they might not otherwise get to play, a feature I really appreciate about Hex with their inclusion of these random creation cards.  Giant elementals like Storm Colossus and Wrathwood Colossus now carry less of a drawback to running a full playset.  Storm Colossus even has the Sword of Sapphire Weapon (an inexpensive drop from the Frost Ring Arena) which can replace it with a Sapphire shard if you start the game with it in your hand, giving them even more versatility in Sapphire control decks.

Affinity: Mages (14)
1 Point, No PR
Mages in your deck get "When this enters play, gain 1SP."

Unlike Cleric buffs, Mages don't actually get any additional Combat stats.  Instead, having an army or arcane scholars only seeks to serve your own Spell-slinging needs.  There are plenty of good mages out there where the Spell Power is just icing on the cake.  Aggressive decks can use cheap, efficient mages like Ruby Pyromancer to ramp quickly into a Telekinesis activation to bounce blockers and finish the game quickly.  Control Mage decks might be able to abuse Mages that can enter play multiple times like Cerulean High Counselor to gain a constant flow of SP.

Unlocks

Unlock: Spell Sprites (9)
1 Point, No PR
Unlock 2 Spell Sprites, or 4 for 100+ cards in your deck.
{1 cost Shardless Troop, Flight, When this troop enters play, draw a card and gain 2 SP.; 1ATK/1DEF}

Much like with the Cleric Tree, the 100 card theme carries over to the unlockable cards for Mages as well.  Spell Sprites are nice little cantrip troops similar to Ancestral Spirit, though less sturdy.  They have the added bonus of fueling your Spell Power.  This can be particularly nice in Control decks since they are very cheap chump blockers that replace themselves and get you closer to an activation of your Spells.  Though you likely won't build around them as you only get four at the most, an Air Superiority deck would definitely make them more threatening, and aggro decks would appreciate pressure in the air.  The only real criticism, as with all unlocks, is that it relies on your drawing them.  While this is definitely powerful for its efficiency, it's not prone to abuse the same way Blessing of the Ancients is.  The Sprites aren't cards you search for, but you're generally always happy when you draw them.

Unlock: Knowledge is Power (4)
2 Points [Min 4] (PR: Open Mind OR Worldly Knowledge)
Unlock 1 Knowledge is Power, or 2 for 100+ cards in your deck.
{1 cost Shardless Quick Action, Target Action in your hand gets "When you play this, copy it."}

Assuming the talent trees work like I think they do, you need a minimum of 4 points spent to unlock this, going through either Open Mind or Worldly Knowledge (see below).  Knowledge is Power is a free Chimes of the Zodiac copy effect on an action, which can be game ending on a giant Life Siphon.  One of the interesting things is that this seems to permanently alter the Action, so if you have a way to get the action back into your hand (like Cyclone Shaman) and play it, it would copy again.  Some cards like Mastery of Time void themselves to prevent these sorts of shenanigans or infinite loops, but some cards are extremely powerful just on their own.  Copying Escalation cards like Crash of Beasts will put the additional copy into your deck as well.  Decks that rely on these and other powerful Actions would make the best use of Knowledge is Power.

Others

Mental Superiority (12)
1 Point (No PR)
Increase the minimum SP granted by Replenish Spell Power by 1.

This essentially changes the ability to grant 4 or 5 SP.  This is a good Talent to guarantee Soothsaying when you first hit 3 charges, or any Race-Class Combo Spells that also cost 4SP.  It's also good in Control Decks that plan on using their Charge Power frequently throughout the game, since the average output goes from 4SP to 4.5SP per activation.  It's also valuable as the fastest way to unlock Worldly Knowledge in early leveling.

Spry (13)
1 Point (No PR)
+2 Health, +1 SP

Much like Mental Superiority, Spry allows you a Guaranteed Soothsaying when you hit 3 charges, since you start with 1SP.  However it also won't net you any additional SP throughout the game.  The additional 2 health is a nice buffer, through 16 is still pretty low.  However it's the only straight-up Health Buff in the Talent Tree.  That combined with the guaranteed Soothsaying makes it very valuable.  It's also the fastest way to get to the Secret Knowledge Talent.

Learning (2)
1 Point [Min 2] (PR Unlock: Spell Sprites OR Open Mind)
You begin the game with 0 to X SP at random, where X is the total number of spells you've learned.

This is a really dicey talent, since it could literally get you nothing.  Most Mages taking this will probably want Telekinesis, which combined with the Race-Combo Spell could let them start with +3SP.  Combined with Spry this means you could get a Soothsaying on turn 1.  It depends on how much you want to gamble.  In fairness to Learning, the Unlocks (and some other Talents) could also have no direct effect on any individual game if you never draw those cards.  The difference here is that you actually feel it since you know what the Talent did from the moment the game starts.  Spell Sprites and Knowledge is Power you get scaling odds of drawing a copy throughout the game.  Getting 0SP from Learning at the start of a really key boss fight can take the wind out of your sails quickly (like getting the Cerebral Fulmination Challenge on Xarlox in the Frost Ring Arena).  It also doesn't unlock any other Talents.  Nonetheless, this Talent is capable of netting you more starting SP than any other Talent, and is only a 1 Point investment.

Open Mind (3)
2 Points (No PR)
Passive: The first time you cast each spell each game, gain 2 SP.

This is a super nice ability.  Assuming you will only ever have a max of 3 different spells between Race-Class Combo, Soothsaying, and Telekinesis, it's capped at getting you 6SP throughout the course of the game.  That's still quite valuable, particularly with cheap Race-Combos like the Vennan Mage's Weaken, which is essentially free on the first activation since it only costs 2SP.  While ideally you would want to use all of your Spells once during the game to get the most benefit, sometimes you'll just want to use the 2 SP to help mitigate the second activation of the Spell.  This does't make it particularly more valuable than some of the other Talents, but the flexibility you get with the Talent is where it really shines.

Worldly Knowledge (5)
1 Point [Min 2] (PR Mental Superiority OR Knowledge is Power OR Secret Knowledge)
Passive: At the start of your turn, if you have four or more actions in your crypt, void all actions in your crypt and gain 2 SP.

While this talent actually hurts Cyclone Shaman-Knowledge is Power combo, it's very potent in Action-heavy decks.  Activating it twice in one game will net you 4SP for 1 Talent Point with no hard cap, compared to Open Mind's 6SP for 2 Talent Points.  Soothsaying can also be used strategically to funnel actions into your crypt and triggering it.  This will never net you any SP since Soothsaying always costs something to activate, but considering how frequently Sapphire Control decks use cantrips like Arcane Focus you likely plan on triggering this pretty frequently.  Aggro decks likely wouldn't get as much play from this since they tend to rely on a good chunk of early troops.  A mono ruby deck focused on direct damage actions like Crackling Bolt wouldn't be a bad thought, but you would generally want your opponent dead before you can activate this more than once.  Burn decks also frequently include Ragefire, which has poor synergy with Worldly Knowledge since it doesn't go to the crypt upon resolution.

Secret Knowledge (6)
2 Points [Min 3] (PR Spry OR Worldly Knowledge
At the start of the game, a random card in the top five cards of your deck gets -2.

Depending on the layout of your deck, this can be very good or very underwhelming.  A midrange or control deck that gets to slam a 4-drop like Vampire King on turn 2 is at a huge advantage in most matchups.  On the other hand your Arcane Focus could be free, which is nice but far from game-breaking.  The effective wording of this would likely only effect cards whose cost could be reduced, meaning it wouldn't pick out shards among the top 5 and try to reduce them.  Along with Midrange and Control decks that manage to hit their big troops, Kindling Skarn decks might also like this since it allows for more chances to create free actions to evolve him.  It's also effective on Inspire Troops like Jags the Blademaster, since it lowers their overall cost, allowing them to Inspire more troops.  Secret Knowledge can be really good or really underwhelming, but most people will pick it up because of what it unlocks.

Self Knowledge (7)
2 Points [Min 5] (PR Secret Knowledge)
+1 Starting and Maximum Hand Size.

This is a straight up buff to max and starting hand size, and it's the talent that requires the most investment to reach.  There's no real combos here other than just how good the extra card is, particularly if you are trying to pull off a 100 card deck with Unlocks.  The reliability of not getting Shard screwed is so paramount in games where resources are included in the deck, that the importance of an extra card cannot be understated.  While it certainly isn't the flashiest of Talents, tucked away in a corner and hard to reach, it's one you will want to seriously consider.

Final Thoughts

Early leveling with Mages will be much more difficult than other classes due to their low starting health, and may have to rely on aggressive strategies to subdue their opponents quickly until they gain some levels.  As they invest in talents, the play-style will gradually shift to support more combo and control oriented decks that will utilize Spells and manipulation of Spell Power to gain advantages against opponents.  Soothsaying and Telekinesis are important Spells in any style of deck, though the Race-Class Combo Spell available to the various mages can impact what types of decks (Control, Combo, Aggro) are best supported, as many of the Mage abilities are designed to support your Spells.  Additionally, Affinity Elementals is a fun option for budget players to try out powerful actions they otherwise wouldn't have had access to due to their rarity. 

Card Images from Hex TCG Browser & Deckbuilder

Cleric Preview: Count Your Blessings

Hey everyone.  After a five month hiatus of moving to Minnesota and getting through my first semester of law school, I think I'm ready to start blogging again.  I'm hoping to make an article at least once a week, though as the semester progresses they likely won't be nearly as long as they usually are (especially this one, which is pretty lengthy).  I've spent a good portion of my break doing flashback drafts and Armies of Myth gauntlets, so the cards are fresh in my mind for me to write about some of the things that have worked for me and some that haven't.  

I want to start with the Cleric Powers previewed in this week's update though, since with PvE hopefully nearing completion, we'll likely have information trickling out over the next couple months regarding class and race abilities as they are finalized.   While I know some people in the community are worried that the talent tree has been neutered from the Warrior preview (only the first third is available, and racial traits look to be permanently reduced), there is honestly still a lot to unpack with the amount of info given, and it's gotten my deck building wheels grinding.

Cleric Starting Stats are 22 Health and 7 Card Starting Hand Size, which is about on par with most PvP champions now.  Without the other classes, there's not much to compare this too (Warrior starting stats was 25 Health and 6 Cards).

Pray

Pray is the Cleric Charge Power, and one that prospective Clerics should be familiar with since it's all you will have at level 1.  For two charges it creates two Blessings and puts them into your deck.  If you started with 100+ cards in your deck it makes four instead.  Blessings are free cantrips that gain you two life when they are played, essentially giving you a free health boost whenever you draw one.  Starting with a 60 card deck means you will likely be shuffling two into a ~50 card deck, whereas starting with 100 means shuffling four into a ~90 card deck.  The latter gives you a slightly increased chance of drawing them, which offers an incentive to eschew a more streamlined deck size.  At early levels it's probably still more beneficial to trim your deck as low as possible so it's consistent, and that you are drawing the cards that combo well with Blessing.

Some of these cards that combo well with Blessing have abilities that trigger whenever you gain health, no matter how small.  Righteous Paladin gets +1/+1 every time you play a Blessing.  Paladin of the Necropolis will force your opponents to lose one health each time one is played.  Incantation of Righteousness has good synergy with Blessing since it on a five-instance timer before they all transform, with each Blessing played getting you 20% of the way there.  Further, because the Cleric has a naturally bulky starting life total, the Sentinel of Light ability will likely be active at the time it first evolves. 

That's only one side of the coin though.  Blessing is a free action, which means it combos with all the cards that trigger when you play an action.  If you're an Orc Cleric, or any other Ruby blooded Healer, it is much easier to get a Kindling Skarn online with a free action to play.  Along the same line, Sunsoul Phoenix can come out of your hand (and your crypt) much easier if you prove pious enough.  If you're a Sapphire shepherd you can save your Blessings for Archmage Wrenlocke, who will draw you and extra card off every Blessing, allowing you to chain them together for some serious card advantage.  And whatever shard you are inclined to run, Chimes of the Zodiac can copy both the health gain and the card draw.

Blessing Enhancements

There are three talents that solely deal with buffing your Blessings.  The first is Life Essence, which costs one point and improves the health gain of your Blessings by 2.  What's noticeably odd is that it says in parenthesis This includes blessings that don't normally gain health.  This likely means it is referring to the subtype "Blessing" (which you can see on the card line after "Basic Action") rather than the card name.  This hints that there are different kinds of Blessings beyond what we've been spoiled, possibly from Race combos or other cards that can generate different them, and that not all of them will gain health.  If there is a "Blessing Deck" possible for Clerics, this talent and the others in this section will probably be pretty important.  As far as the actual health gain buff, it's nice for more control decks keeping you out of range from annoying burn spells that could threaten a low life total, though this will likely depend on the dungeon encounters.

The second is Empowerment, which appears to require Life Essence as a prerequisite and costs two points.  This improves Blessings by giving a random troop among those you control with the highest cost a permanent +1/+1 buff.  This seems like it would be best for midrange decks buffing cost-efficient troops like Vampire Princess or Eldritch Dreamer.  Since your Blessings will be gaining you four life that's likely enough to negate the damage from one or two opposing troops while upping the clock on your opponent.  Control decks probably won't get as much mileage out of a buff and would rather put their talent points in more durability.

The last and most unique one of the bunch is Blessing of the Immortals.  This is the only talent that is completely by itself, having no prerequisites and not being a prerequisite for anything else.  It requires two talent points and buffs your charge power with a 10% chance to transform a Blessing into a Blessing of the Immortals (BotI) when it is created.  In addition to regular Blessing effects, BotI allows you to play a card in your crypt for free.  It then voids itself so you don't create an infinite loop with two to draw your entire deck.

This is one talent in which having a 100 card deck is actually beneficial, since you double your chances of creating a BotI each time you use the charge power.  The trouble then becomes having to wade through a much larger deck to find it.  You also want to have something worth playing from your crypt for free, so this talent is again more suited for a control deck.  One pretty devious option I want to toy with is using my charge power a couple of times and then playing Scheme.  If you did create a BotI, you can then up the number of copies of in your deck to at least 5, and if you draw one you have the option of playing Scheme from your crypt for free to create four more.  Enough iterations of this with the Life Essence Talent and you could easily be gaining twenty-some life a turn and bringing back all of your quality troops.

Healing Aura

The next section of the Talent Tree deals with Healing Aura.  The first point allocation in this path is Hale, which gives a straightforward +3 Starting Health.  Combined with similar talents in the final tree, Hearty and Fortitude, and you could start the game with 30 Health, which is a pretty nice buffer for control decks, especially against aggressive opponents.

The Healing Aura Talent comes next, and requires two points, allowing you to begin the game with a Healing Aura in play.  Healing Aura gains you one health whenever you play a resource.  This is solid in any control deck, since it will likely net you around eight or nine health over the course of a game (unless you get shard screwed).  It's also important since each instance of health gain will trigger effects on Incantation of Righteousness, Paladin of Necropolis, and Righteous Paladin.

There are two branches beyond this that buff your Healing Auras.  The first is Good Karma, which moves each Blessing in your deck one card closer to the top at the beginning of each of your turns.  The benefit seems pretty negligible for a Talent Point, but the more you buff the blessings the more appealing this gets, and even more so if you have the Blessing of the Immortals.

The second is Animation, which for two points gives your Healing Aura a one-shot ability to create a Soul Vessel for three resources and put it into play.  This can be a unique Talent to build around, since the Soul Vessel is stronger if you have a deck that relies on Constants and Artifacts.  Healing Aura itself is a Constant, which means the Vessel (assuming it counts itself) will be at least a 2/2 for 3.  This minimum becomes 3/3 if you start with Monument of Faith, and 4/4 if you are a Dwarf and have the Blessing Rod.  Alternately you can focus on constants like Solitary Exile, Pact of Life, or Holy Ascension, which could be the makings of a nice control deck, turning your Soul Vessels into a cheap and powerful troop to clog the ground while you gain health.  You can also use cards like Spirit Hound or Reversion to revert your Healing Aura. allowing you to create another Soul Vessel.  Unfortunately, most reusable reversion effects like Filk Ape only effect troops, so tooling the deck to continuously churn out Soul Vessels could be tricky.  

Defensive Talents

The rightmost tree includes many defensive talents designed to keep both you and your troops alive in dungeon encounters.  Hearty is exactly like Hale, giving you a quick +3 starting health for a single talent point.  This talent is also the quickest path to Fortitude, which for another talent point grants +2 starting health and an additional dungeon life.  Bonus Health in general is good for control decks, and the extra dungeon life will help mitigate instances of bad luck in your draws.  If you don't have a deck themed specifically for your Cleric, or if the Talent reset costs are low enough, bee-lining to Fortitude is a defensible way to spend your first two talent points. 

Next come the troop buff Talents.  Affinity: Cleric gives all Clerics that start the game in your deck (as opposed to ones generated by other cards) Lifedrain for one talent point.  Lifedrain is an excellent ability to tack onto troops, particularly for aggressive and midrange decks looking to race.  This ability isn't super valuable on all Clerics though.  Construct Foreman, Scrap Rummager, and Phenteo the Brood Priest and all solid Clerics, but their low attack stats don't really benefit from Lifedrain.  This talent wants Clerics that can get big, and plan on attacking consistently.  Righteous Paladin is a pretty obvious candidate, but troops with rage like Quash Ridge Tusker and Gortezuma can really help swing the life totals in your favor as the game progresses.  Wild Root Dancer can help pump your other Clerics in addition to being one himself.  Legionnaire of Adamanth can get pretty big when paired with Inspire troops, and the Helm of Revelation equipment has excellent synergy with a deck full of Clerics.

The Righteous Path costs two points and gives you a Monument of Faith at the start of the game which gives troops you control Steadfast.  Steadfast is a nice ability, particularly when paired with swiftstrike, since it allows you to maintain control of the field during both your attack and defense.  Troops like Deathless Guardian or Golden Avenger would benefit well from Steadfast as the field develops.  The Monument itself also combos nicely with Soul Vessel, granting it an additional +1/+1 by being an artifact, in addition to Steadfast.

Faith in Our Leader costs 2 talent points and buffs your Monument of Faith to grant troops your draw +1 defense while you have 25 health of more.  Assuming you have taken Hale or Hearty, this might apply to the troops in your opening hand, since your starting health would be 25 and the Monument would already be in play for your initial draw.  The bonus defense is actually pretty meager, but in aggressive decks it can be really key, particularly for saving a troop from annoying removal spells like Burn or Crackling Bolt.  While each individual talent may not be super impressive on its own, a Cleric-centric deck with the troop buff talents could give them all Lifedrain, Steadfast, and +0/+1, making them a ruby mage's worst nightmare.  Early leveling with such a deck might not be as viable since you won't have the talent points to spend right away, but if you focus your talents mostly on the right side, higher level Clerics will create very durable troops.

Divine Altar

Divine Altar is my favorite talent in the tree, and another excellent boon to Cleric decks.  It requires one Talent Point and either Fortitude, Affinity: Cleric, or Faith in Our Leader as a prerequisite.  It also appears as if you can also use it as a prerequisite for Fortitude if you want to skip Hearty.  The same could be said of Faith in Our Leader, but that Talent is pretty useless if you don't have Monument of Faith to begin with.  Divine Altar starts the game in your deck (you get 2 if you have 100+ cards).  It's a two-cost artifact that rises one spot closer to the top of your deck at the start of each turn.  While in play, it creates a copy of each Blessing and Cleric you play.  I'm not sure if the Clerics copied by the Altar will get the Lifedrain from Affinity (if the copy retains keywords then they will), but the Blessings will likely get the buffs from Life Essence and Empowerment.  The interaction with BotI is a bit more ambiguous.  It's unlikely that copying a regular Blessing is the same as "creating" a Blessing to trigger the 10% chance of transformation from the talent.  However it is likely that playing a BotI (already transformed) will trigger the copy ability, granting you two free plays from your crypt (which could end up being four Clerics).  In the end this means that Divine Altar benefits more from the Blessing Enhancement talents than from a fully fleshed out troop buff ones.

While you only get a finite amount of Altars, they're a little easier to hunt down than Blessings.  In addition to naturally rising to the top of the deck, cards like Gearsmith and Careful Rummaging can look through the top of your deck to find them quickly.  If you want a work around to the 1-2 copy restriction from the talent, Dopplegadget can also copy the Altar when it arrives on the field.  It can mimic a Soul Vessel or Blessing Rod (for Dwarf Clerics) in the interim, so even if you don't have a dedicated Artifact deck it isn't a dead card.

Final Thoughts

I'm actually a lot more excited about the Cleric class than I thought I would be.  Even with only a baker's dozen of Talents to play with there is still a ton of versatility.  While the effectiveness of the various builds will likely depend on the structure of the dungeons, there's still a load of archetypes to toy around with.  Control decks will get a good health buffer and some free cantrips.  A mid-range Cleric deck can create incredibly hardy and cost-efficient army of lifedrain troops.  Archmage Wrenlock and Righteous Paladin can abuse both sides of the Blessings created by the passive, and there could be a unique "Scheme of the Immortals" combo deck that allows Clerics to cycle through their deck and gain an absurd amount of Health each turn.

Card Images from Hex TCG Database and HexTCG
This article was edited for grammar and rules clarification regarding Cleric copies.