SW Preview: Gems and Stones
Brath will break your bones.
Eight Summoner Wars Second Summoner decks are now up for pre-order in the PlaidHatGames.com store! You can buy them all separately, OR for a limited time, if you pre-order all eight together, get them for $59.95, $20 off the MSRP! Pre-order today!
We've reached our last preview of Brath's Deep Dwarves. We've seen the tie with Brath's deck, Gem Golems, and proximity effects for those units, but today we'll look at just how strong this deck can become.
We'll ease into it and look first at their last Common Unit, the Geomancer.
These guys are pretty cool. 2 cost for 2 life is something we saw with the Battle Mage, but the magic cost is a bit different. The Geomancer has a choice to place an additional Wound Marker on a Unit if the first attack is successful, at the cost of a magic. The Battle Mage in comparison would be treated as if it is ranged for the cost of a magic, but is guaranteed to hit on any dice. The Geomancer has the advantage of making that decision after the first attack has gone through, assessing the situation as it plays out. A great resource to Brath's interesting magic economy.
Brath's last event card is a powerful one, granting 1 additional AV to all Units with Gem in their name. This would include Gem Archers, the Gem Golems, Gem Priestesses, and yes... Gem Mages. What we immediately see here is a way to grant your Gem Golems AV without having Brath's Deep Magic coming from the Draw Pile, but you can also see that combined with it, you are slinging 2 dice from those creatures. Combined with the Gem Archer's Gem Activate or Will of the Mother Gem, you can see how key positioning on this board with the Golems can set up for some devastating blows... but it gets worse.
Giving up an attack is always tricky, but can come with great reward if Aurora is safely hidden away and your other Deep Dwarves are in key position to strike. Aurora incites a power deep from within the Mother Gem to give increased rage to Common and Champion Deep Dwarf Units, strengthening all their attacks. Note that since it is an instead of attacking ability it will not stack with Tundle's Meditate. Sorry Tundle. Still, any Deep Dwarf or Deep Bender Summoner will find Aurora to be incredible useful.
I've saved my favorite for last.
Drek is an incredible Unit, despite the lackluster stats. At the cost of a magic he can place a Stone Spire on an empty space within 4 spaces. What is a Stone Spire you ask?
The Stone Spire all but removes the existence of a space until the beginning of your next turn. It cannot be attacked, attack through, moved through, summoned into, etc. This tool comes with great uses: blocking off a lane of movement, clogging wall spots, blocking a Unit's escape route, flanking a special Unit, setting up a combo with Kynder to protect a Unit, granting setup for a storm of movement when it clears... lots of options. There is a stipulation like with Aurora, that this ability is after attacking. This would mean Drek must be one of your attacks to trigger the Stone Spire.
That's it. Those are the new Deep Dwarves.
Eight Summoner Wars Second Summoner decks are now up for pre-order in the PlaidHatGames.com store! You can buy them all separately, OR for a limited time, if you pre-order all eight together, get them for $59.95, $20 off the MSRP! Pre-order today!
Second Summoner Previews:
Kynstri's Mission
Saturos: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Natazga: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Malenatar: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Scraven: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Little Meda: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Shiva: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
Brath: Part 1, Part 2
Farrah: Part 1, Part 2
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Written by Brian Beyke |
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