Ashes Preview: Laying Down the Law
Heal, Shield Mage and Law of Sight!
“Life will continue.”
Welcome back to previews for the upcoming Deluxe Expansions for Ashes, “The Laws of Lions” and “The Song of Soaksend”! We’ve got some really interesting cards to cover in the next few weeks, not to mention these will be the first cards to use Divine and Sympathy dice, two new types of magic found in these expansions. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our earlier articles that go over these brand new dice and introduce the newest Phoenixborn, Odette and Namine. For today’s preview, let’s start by take a closer look at a few of Odette’s cards, which include a flexible Action Spell, an Ally that can support others and an all new type of Ready Spell!
Heal
Heal is a great card in almost any situation. For just 1 , a player can remove ALL wound tokens from a unit, bringing it back to full life value or it can remove 2 wound tokens from a Phoenixborn to keep them in action longer! This is a huge boost in the durability of units and it combos great with other effects that boost units such as spells like Protect or the Charm Dice Power Ability. Heal’s side action cost leaves you free to use your main action for attacking or playing another spell.
Shield Mage
Shield Mage is another card capable of boosting unit durability. For 1, Shield Mage has Life 2 and Recover 2, making it a very capable unit for blocking. It comes with an ability called Protective Aura, which can increase the life value of all other units you control. This in and of itself is a very impressive ability, but when players start getting multiple Shield Mages on the battlefield, it can make your units a force to be reckoned with. Don’t forget, Shield Mage has Attack 0 making it the perfect target for the Ceremonial Power Ability.
Law of Sight
Okay, Shield Mage and Heal are pretty great, but it’s time to show off something completely new! Laws are a new type of Ready Spell that introduce new game changing rules to Ashes. These cards are Ready Spells, and they have both the Bound and Fleeting keywords, meaning they can’t be meditated away from spellboards and they are discarded at the end of the round. Additionally, most Laws will have an effect that triggers when they come into play, such as the draw ability in Law of Sight. This card also prevents all players from playing reaction spells. Stopping your opponent from playing cards like Final Cry or Sympathy Pain could completely change the dynamic of later rounds in a game. Players will need to factor in how different Laws can disrupt their plans and keep them on their toes!
That’s all for now, but there’s even more great stuff we can’t wait to show off the next batch of Odette’s cards. Be sure to check in later this week for Namine’s next preview! She’s got some Mages of her own to show off, not to mention a punishing Ready Spell that can seriously ruin a Phoenixborn’s day! Remember, both “The Laws of Lions” and “The Song of Soaksend” Deluxe Expansions will be available from retailers and at our own webstore soon! We’ll be back later this week with even more Ashes content!