“Two paths lie before you. One cloaked in shadow, another basked in light. Which will you choose?”

The War Within Event Series is well under way! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our list of participating retailers for stores in your area hosting events. As many of you know, the War Within Event Series is designed to allow players to choose the path of the next Phoenixborn, either light or dark. Each participant in the Event Series contributes a vote to one side, and the winner of each event contributes an extra 3 votes to their side. Now that events are running and under way, we wanted to give our fans a little more insight into the next Phoenixborn. You’ve seen an image of her, but let’s take a closer look at the conflicted Phoenixborn, Sembali.

Sembali will be one of two Phoenixborn available in a future cycle of expansions. Her deck will consist of Divine and Illusion magic. Many of her cards are designed to combat the conjurations of enemies and call upon Divine Allies of her own to defend her. In designing Sembali, Isaac and our talented developers created two distinct versions of the Phoenixborn and her unique card to capture the conflict of the War Within Event Series. We’ll be taking a look at both Phoenixborn abilities today, but participants should know that the ability with the most votes at the end of the Event Series will be the one chosen, and the other will not be used at all. Let’s first look at the Light version of Sembali’s ability. Also note that the exact wording of these abilities might change before Sembali's release. 

Ban Manifestation

This ability is very powerful in combating decks that rely heavily on their conjuration units to control the battle. Removing a conjuration is very powerful, and Sembali’s light ability has consistent access to it every round. The cost of discarding a card is high, but the reward is great. It’s worth noting that the ability cannot remove the last copy of any conjuration, as the conjuration’s controller could always choose to remove all copies from their conjuration pile (which would be none in that scenario).

Ban Magic

The dark ability is designed with Control players in mind. Once you successfully damage an enemy Phoenixborn with an attack, you can press the advantage by removing one of their dice. This could be a key decision in denying opponents options later in the round. Knowing when to activate Ban Magic is a very important decision and can determine the outcome of an entire round of play.

Both of these abilities represent a new and exciting addition to Ashes, but we’ve left this decision up to you, the Fans. The War Within Event Series is still going strong, so be sure to find a participating store nearby and help decide the fate of Sebali! We’ll be releasing more on this Phoenixborn soon, including artwork and other content! Be sure to check back here every week for more Ashes information, and don’t forget that “The Laws of Lions” and “The Song of Soaksend” Deluxe Expansions will be available soon from retailers and on our own web store. We’re looking forward to seeing which path players choose! ‘Till next time!

Posted by Callin Flores Callin Flores the Plaid Hat Games Communication Specialist. Follow @MarsTheChild