Lane had finally opened the five packs and separated them into four rough piles. Rulers, resources, subjects and duplicates. Playing more than one copy of a card was illegal unless specified in their card text like the Honeyed Insectoids, so those were essentially useless in this event.
Then it was time to make some big decisions. Each pack had come with one guaranteed ruler card and Lane had only hit one duplicate.
Ruler: Amphibious Leviathan - Power: 1000
Swing: 0
Effect: Once per turn, this card can place one subject on your kingdom or in your hand under itself. This card gains 100 power for each subject under this card. While these cards are under Amphibious Leviathan, their effects do not activate and they can’t attack or be attacked.
Once per turn, you can return four cards from under this ruler to the bottom of your deck. If you do, place one card from your hand to the bottom of your Prize Deck.
Lane liked the idea of a defensive deck formed around a powerful ruler that could recover prize cards, but didn’t feel like it meshed well with his kingdom. He moved the card to the stack with its duplicates. He checked over his three other options instead.
Ruler: Aegir - Power: 800
Swing: 0
Effect: When this card attacks, draw three cards from your deck and reveal them. If there is a Resource card among them, add one resource card to your hand and gain 1 Swing. Return the rest to the bottom of your deck. If there isn’t, return all of the cards to the bottom of your deck.
Ruler: Pirate Sovereign, Pygillion - Power: 500
Swing: 0
Effect: This card gains 1000 Power during battle when it attacks a Subject. You can summon subject cards to your opponent’s kingdom for 1 additional Swing.
Ruler: Mermaid Cultist Matriarch - Power: 900
Swing: 0
Effect: Once per turn, you may spend 1 Swing to change a Subject’s effect to “Treat this card’s name as “Mermaid Cultist.” At the start of your turn, if there are three subjects with “Mermaid Cultist” in their name between both kingdoms, you gain 1 Swing.
The three options played very differently. The Matriarch seemed to have a powerful silencing effect that built into certain resource cards and effects from subject cards. Pygillion seemed like the worst option for the Lighthouse kingdom to play against, as it already had limited subject positions. It also would require including a lot of subjects in the deck to use effectively. However, Aegir really seemed like the weakest option.
Its power was the second lowest between all of the available rulers, and it didn’t lend itself to any obvious winning game states. With the Proud Inventor, Lane’s goal was clear: build a board that could all at once overwhelm an opponent’s subjects. Lane imagined Aegir would need to be coupled with a powerful mechanic in resource cards to really thrive. Lane didn’t immediately rule any of them out and went rifling through the resource cards. Only twenty minutes were left.
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He tried finding relationships between the resource cards by grouping them with others of a similar archetype. Some required a certain amount of Mermaid Cultists to activate certain effects, so he grouped them with the Matriarch card. Others had less clear relationships, but he grouped them with Aegir, thinking they might be useful.
Cultist Chorus - Resource
Swing: 2
Effect: If there are at least three face-up cards with “Mermaid Cultist” in their names, lower a target subject or ruler’s power by 1000 until the end of the turn.
Shift Rotation - Resource
Swing: 1
Effect: Your opponent discards two cards of their choice from their hand into the Waste. Then they must draw two more cards.
Malicious Sea Mirage - Resource
Swing: 4
Effect: Prevent two cards from declaring an attack until their owner’s next turn. If this card is revealed to your opponent by card effect, you may use this effect at no cost and then discard it.
There were also some cards for boosting a ruler or subject’s Power, but Lane didn’t think they would be especially useful. With such limited subject positions, he might not have enough powerful attacks to break through an opponent’s subjects and hit their ruler. It would be even more difficult if his opponent could recover Prize cards, or fill his board with useless monsters or silence the effects of his subjects.
Lane examined the subject cards to try and find another hint, a clue to solving the puzzle of what his deck could look like. In contemplation, he noticed how quiet the upper floor of the shop had become. Outside, the bustle of a mall in the afternoon went on and on. Inside, there was only the muted repetition of cards shuffling and foil crinkling. Everybody was doing the same as him, quietly studying for the matches ahead.
Jotunn Acolyte - Power: 1000
Swing: 5
Effect: If this card’s power is less than the Ruler on its kingdom, it can attack twice in one turn.
Frigid Weather Avatar - Power: 400
Swing: 3
Effect: This card can be sent to the Waste with another card with “Weather Avatar” in its name. If sacrificed in this way, you may search your deck for a card with “Disaster Avatar” in its name. Summon it at no cost. Shuffle your deck.
Costly Mercenary - Power: 400
Swing: 2
Effect: This card can only attack by discarding one card from your hand to the Waste.
Lane also wanted to study the cards he probably wouldn’t use in his deck. The Costly Mercenary was clearly meant to be played with Pygillion. He couldn’t just consider the subjects that worked best for his deck, but had to anticipate what others would play as well. The puzzle of his deck could not just incorporate its own pieces, it was much larger than that.
But, slowly, he began to piece it together. Lane decided he was right. Taking his opponent’s prize cards would be too difficult. There were plenty of defensive cards in the set and his kingdom did not lend itself to succeeding offensively. So, he would give up. It was easy for Lane. He’d given up plenty in his life. He’d walked away or been invited to leave so many things that the option was clear to him.
Despite this, he wanted to win. Badly, he realized with some surprise. He didn’t know how to thank Aaron or Harvey or anybody working this tournament except by committing himself to playing the best he could. And that was by giving up. Lane started reorganizing the cards, pulling out what he needed and fitting it into the deck. His winning state had emerged, clear in his mind. How had this game turned even giving up into something fun?