You have found a dungeon challenge!

Name: Weavers lair

Rating: Beginner

Size: 5 rooms

Deck size: 10+

Accept the challenge: Yes / No.

I quickly pulled my foot back out of the cavern thinking that might accidentally count as a yes and started the dungeon challenge. There was no additional information apart from that short description. Combining the name with what I could see from the dim light in the cavern I would be facing spiders. They were a part of the creepy crawlers deck so perhaps I’d also face other creatures from that deck arch type. The beginner rating with what I assumed to be the minimum deck size indicated it wouldn’t be too much of a challenge. The five rooms likely indicated I had five battles ahead of me to clear the dungeon challenge. The only concern I had was that I might be locked inside the dungeon once I started the challenge. While I had confidence in my deck and my skills to wield it, I had mostly fought on my terms. With a bunch of inspirational one-liners going through my head, I accepted the challenge and stepped into the first room.

Now that I stood inside of the cavern I could better make out the contest of it. The beams of light coming from the cracks in the ceiling were just enough to make out numerous egg clusters scattered around the edges of the room. Held together by thick strands of spider silk the eggs easily came up to my chest in height. I shuddered thinking about how ginormous those spiders would be. Even worse if each egg held a whole clutch of tiny spiders instead. I cursed my mind for picturing all those tiny spiders crawling all over my body. I still stood at the entrance but nothing had happened yet to indicate a battle. I tried to initiate against a few of the eggs closest to me but that didn’t work either. With no other option left, I made my way further into the cavern. I had to step around a few clusters near the edges of the room but in the middle was a wide enough open space. An equally clear path led to the exit of this cavern and deeper into the dungeon. I wasn’t surprised by the width and height of the exit since something laying chest-high eggs would also be pretty big. It also made it very clear where the first battle would take place. The only way to avoid an ambush was not to walk into them but the dungeon left me no chance but to advance. I’d only take a few steps into the clearing before I was pulled into my place on the battlefield.

No creature spawned on the battlefield and I hoped that I wasn’t facing a bunch of ambushers again. My opening hand consisted of a Skeleton (1/1), Skeletal horse (1/1), Skeleton (2/1), and a knight (2/2). Having learned from my fight with the mole I checked the, what I would start calling, field effect bar. It had quite a few listed effects. All the effects worked in the same way and the only difference was the cooldown until their effects would take effect.

Egg sack

Field effect (unique)

In 0 turn(s) this egg will hatch and spawn a Weaver’s offspring.

There were a total of nine such effects. Turns one and two would spawn one offspring. Turns three and four would spawn two and turn five would spawn three. I wasn’t expecting too much from these spawns but if they had high health it might become a problem since most of my deck only had one attack power. Right after I was done inspecting all the field effects the sound of an egg cracking open could be heard from within the egg clusters. A smoke-grey spider scurried onto the battlefield in the right-most lane and, while raising its front two legs in the air, hissed at me. Inspecting the spider set my mind at ease about the first battle I would fight in this dungeon.

Weaver’s offspring

Insect - Spider

Attack 1 Health 1

Just like the moles they spawned at the start of the round and thus I could easily play my cards opposite them and mostly risk-free win the fight. I played my (1/1) skeleton in the opposing lane and ended the first turn. The spider leapt up to my skeleton and wrapped its eight legs around the torso of the skeleton like a very hairy sweater and promptly bit the skeleton's head off. Without even getting an attack off, the skeleton fell forward and crushed the spider underneath its torso. As I drew another (1/1) skeleton for my turn another crack was heard with the same spider scurrying onto the battlefield but now in the fourth lane. If they had spawned in order I could have flooded the field but it seems their positioning would be random. Not wanting to waste one of my crystals this round I played the knight opposite the spider. As the knight advanced on the spider it stabbed out with its two front legs and chipped away at the knight’s bones. The knight twirled its sword into an inverted grip and plunged the sword through the head of the spider.

Almost synchronously two eggs could be heard cracking. One spider scurried into the first lane while the second one jumped in from behind some other eggs. It landed in the fourth lane but its momentum carried in further into the third lane instead. I clicked my tongue in annoyance as it did so. I would still have to face five spiders after this round but having the knight fight again would have given me a better card advantage. With no high-cost cards in hand, I played the (1/1) skeleton I drew last turn and the (1/2) skeleton I drew this turn. The fight in the first lane was the same as in the first round with my skeleton crushing the spider under its falling body.

The spider in the third lane hissed at the advancing skeleton and spat out a globule of something. The skeleton blocked the globule with its shield which instantly began to sizzle and rapidly decay. The skeleton threw the shield at the spider but it seemed to be immune to its corrosive spit. But while the spider was caught off guard by the shield throw the skeleton raised its mace high and cracked the spider’s skull open like an overripe watermelon.

As I drew yet another (1/1) skeleton for turn two spiders scurried into the fourth and fifth lanes. With three cards in hand, I was very happy to see a spider in the fourth lane. Even if the final wave of spiders would all fill an empty slot next turn I would have enough cards in hand to counter them all. I played the (1/1) and prepared for the final turn. My knight was treated to a globule of corrosive spit but kept on charging even as its bones started to dissolve. With a soundless scream, it almost completely bisected the spider before it fell apart. The spider in the fifth lane backed up into the rearguard slot and turned around pointing its spinneret at the charging skeleton. Strings of silky thread started to wrap around the skeleton but it kept charging. With a swing of its axe, the spider's abdomen was split in two. Fully encased in the spider silk the skeleton stood on the field like a statue.

The final three spiders all jumped onto the field from within the remaining egg cluster. The first two came to a halt in slots one and three. The final spider crashed into the skeleton statue that was still on the field and occupied the fifth slot. I didn’t even look at the card I drew and played all the cards in my hand opposing all the spiders. My duel sword fielding skeleton caught a glob of spit before cross-slashing the spider apart. As soon as the first skeleton died the token card appeared in my hand. My horse reared up against its spider but before it could stomp down the spider slashed through the spine with its front legs before taking the hooves to the face. The final skeleton and spider traded a weapon strike and spit before dying. Shortly after the final spider died the trumpets played their tune and the victory banner popped up into view.

VICTORY!

You have cleared the first room.

You can claim your rewards and leave the dungeon or press on for additional rewards.

Each dungeon can only be challenged once.

Claim / Continue

I was a bit peeved that I didn’t gain any immediate rewards from winning the fight. I hadn’t lost any health points and if this first room was an indication of the overall difficulty I’d have no issue clearing it all out. I selected the option t continue and made my way into the next cavern through the massive tunnel. In less than a minute I found myself in a similar-sized cavern. Instead of nests of eggs, the entire room was dressed in spider silk with a lot of cocoons hanging from the ceiling. If the first room was the birthing room then this was the pantry for when those eggs would hatch with plenty of food to go around. A very similar-looking open space was visible in the middle of the cavern. Before stepping inside I took a moment to go over the possibilities for the coming fight. Nothing stood out apart from the cocoons. Cocoons popping open to spill their captured contents certainly was an option. Maybe it would be more spiders that I couldn’t see between all the spider silk. As I got closer to the centre another option presented itself. Near where I assumed my opponent's side of the field would be I spotted a cocoon lying on the floor. The cocoon's occupant was still partially inside but half of him had crawled out. The person was obviously dead considering the tightly wrapped skin around its bones and the gaunt look of its face. It looked a lot like the mummified remains of a once-human being. Still keeping my eyes on the mummy, I stepped into the centre of the room. If you know the relocation was coming it felt a lot better than suddenly being dragged.

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The battlefield overlay came into view and no special rules seemed to apply as it settled. For the first time since coming to this game, there was a subtle change in the overlay. At the head of my opponent's side, a box was around the mummified remains. I looked down at my feet and spotted a similar box around my own feet. So it appeared that contestant would stay in this box and instead of mindless pre-spawned creatures or reinforcement I’d have to fight an actual card player. The mummified corpse started to sputter and jerk. Hollow eye sockets scanned around the room before settling on me. The corpse started to audibly creak and crack when its mummified arms came into motion and it started to claw it was across the dirty floor. Once it was free of the cocoon more creaks and cracks could be heard as the mummy stood up and shambled into the opposing player box. It reached for a spot on its belt and unclipped a very weathered and partially decayed deck box. It fumbled with the clasp for a minute before putting its free hand to its chest and shaking the cards free from the deck box into its open hand. I think I counted five cards before no more cards fell from the deck box and the mummy tossed it to the side. A part of me was relieved that I’d get to fight a pseudo-player before facing off against one of my actual opponents. Fighting all the groups of creatures was fine but this kind of fight would give me insight into an actual duel.

As soon as the mummy had taken the cards in hand a hearth with the number five had popped up above its head. This was good to know so I could plan around my opponent's life total if needed. Round 1 flashed in the field effect bar. Right after the text faded the number 40 popped up and started to count down. So it seems that each round would have a maximum amount of time for a player to make their moves. This was a good thing since you’d be unable to stall out your opponents by not playing cards. Apart from the countdown, no other effects were visible so it would be a straightforward fight on an even playing field. I quickly drew my starting hand of Skeleton (1/1), Skeleton (1/1), Skeleton (1/2), and Commander (3/4). This hand would cover my first three turns and I could adjust based on the cards my opponent played and the cards I would draw each turn. I quickly debate between a skeleton with one or two health and opted for the one with two health. I could have played it next round against my opponent's card but if we squared off in the first round hopefully I’d have the health advantage and force my opponent into playing a second card against my skeleton.

I also kept an eye on my opponent to see what it would look like when it played a card. Similar to how I played my cards it picked a card from its hand, raised it, looked at a spot on the field, and then the card disappeared. Just this simple interaction already revealed a huge flaw in its play style. I also instantly became aware that I used the same flaw. By actually picking up the card your opponent would know how many cards you’d play. There were still twenty seconds on the clock and I decide to see if I could play a card without physically pulling it from my hand. The mummy had also telegraphed that it would play the card in the second lane. I made a stack of the four cards in my hand the two health skeleton on top. I focussed on the card and mentally thought about playing it in the second lane. The card vanished and I instantly knew I had succeeded as my crystals dropped from one to zero. With a huge grin on my face, I let the clock run out just to see what would happen when it did. As soon as the clock hit zero I could feel a sort of lock on the cards in my hand. I could still flip through them and view them but it felt like they were unplayable.

My skeleton appeared on the field and unsurprisingly a creature also manifested on my opponent's side.

Zombie

Undead – Zombie, Elf

Attack 1 Health 1

The zombie launched a surprisingly fast punch towards my skeleton but was still easily deflected by the shield it carried. With a quick mace attack to the head, the zombie crumbled to the ground. When the skeleton got back into its own space Round 2 flashed in the field effect bar and this time a thirty-second countdown started. I assumed the extra ten seconds were for the players to draw their cards and see their opening hands. Using the same mental command as I’d used to play the skeleton I drew my card for turn and willed it to appear on top of my stack of cards. I felt it appear in my hand and took a glance to see if was my (1/1) skeletal wolf. That glance was enough for my opponent to have already picked a card. I barely saw it eyeing the second lane before the card vanished. I waited five seconds to see if it would play another card but it made no moves. If it played a one-cost card the rest of its hand would be two-cost cards but that seemed unlikely. Why play a one-cost when they could have played a two-cost card? If it was a two-cost I could counter it next round with my commander. I once again mentally played two of my skeletons into lanes four and five. I felt the card disappearing from my hand end ended my turn. My skeletons appeared on the field and the mummy had indeed only played one card opposite my skeleton.

Bloated zombie

Undead – Zombie, Elf

Defender: Can't attack or gain additional attack points.

Poisonous: When attacked, this creature will afflict the attacker with (1) stack(s) of poison.

(Poison stacks and will deal damage equal to the number of stacks at the start of the round).

Attack 0 Health 3

That was a pretty good card. While it had no innate attack the poison fulfilled a similar role. It did make me wonder if stacks would fall off after the round. The downside of its lacking attack value was that it was a wall card. Good for defence but terrible for offence. I could ignore it for the rest of the fight since it couldn’t attack me. This also made me quickly curse afterwards. While it couldn’t damage me directly you could still play cards in the rearguard and attack that way. Hopefully, the mummy lacked a rearguard option. My skeleton lumbered forward and hit the zombie in the bloated guts. As soon as the mace had landed a putrid green cloud flowed from the zombie's mouth. The skeleton's bones took on a sickly green colour. My other skeletons launched a tandem attack against the mummy. The skeletal wolf leapt through the air and slashed the mummy's torse with its claws. The other skeleton followed up with an axe chop to the shoulder. The mummy's health value dropped from five to three.

Round three started and my poisoned skeleton crumbled into dust from the poison damage. I quickly drew my card and eyed my opponent. With the same slow movements, it played two cards this round. Both cards were played against my skeletons. I could end the fight right here and now by playing my Commander in an empty spot and dealing the three damage but I also needed to know if poison stacks fell off. I looked at the top card of my hand and spotted the Skeletal horse (1/1) and reluctantly played the Commander opposite the Bloated zombie. Either the mummy didn’t have a three-cost card or decided to block both of my skeletons. The creature in the fourth lane was a normal zombie (1/1) and the creature in the fourth lane was a bear

Zombie bear

Undead – Zombie, Bear

Attack 2 Health 2

My commander quickly closed the distance with the Bloated zombie and sliced open its gut with a sword swing. Putrid green gas blew forth from the quickly deflating gut and the Commander followed it up with a shield bash to the head knocking the zombie down. My skeleton lodged its axe in the head of the zombie while the zombie grabbed the skeleton’s head in between its hand and squeezed, obliterating the head into dust. The skeletal wolf raked its claws across the dead flesh of the bear causing it to bleed thick and putrid black blood. It got promptly smashed apart by the bear's still mighty paws.

Round four started and I drew my Mole card (2/2). The Commander’s health ticked down from four to three from the poison. I focussed on the commander and it still had a purple skull icon with a one on the card. That solved the mystery of poison counters falling off. The mummy, unsurprisingly, played its final card opposite my commander. Once more I could end the fight and deal three damage to the mummy but now I wanted to know what would happen if it couldn’t play any more cards. I countered the bear with one of my skeletons and played the mole in lane three.

The mummy's final card was another Zombie bear. My commander raised its shield to block a paw swipe which was promptly ripped from its body along with the rest of its right arm. The mighty swipe had caused the bear to overextend and was promptly speared through the brain by the Commander’s sword. My mole burrowed underground and a few seconds later popped up under the mummy and slashed it with a cross slash from both its paws. The life points above the mummy dropped down from three to one. The last zombie bear charged my skeleton which raised its spear against the oncoming onslaught. The spear easily penetrated through the soft zombie flesh and did nothing to stop the bear’s momentum as it crashed into the skeleton.

Round five started with my commander taking another point of poison damage and promptly fell apart because of it. Before I could initiate a card draw the trumpets played their victory tune.

VICTORY!

You have cleared the second room.

You can claim your rewards and leave the dungeon or press on for additional rewards.

Each dungeon can only be challenged once.

Claim / Continue