Hard 30 – Tiers of the Phoenixborn: Card Draw Part III of III
Not all card draw is created equal. This self-evident truth is proven when new cards like Void Pulse are printed. Card draw is also a largely unexplored aspect of Ashes of the Phoenixborn: Reborn as written about in part I and part II. This is my attempt at classifying and ranking these often-ignored pieces of cardboard.
I went with four tiers; Plug-n-Play, Takes a Village, Cantrips, and Combo. The order of the tiers is not indicative of their rank. Each grouping has their own ranking. Have questions? Want to talk about it? Check out the Ashes discord server and invite!
Plug-n-Play Tier
This tier does not require you to do anything different about your deck. You can just drop these into it to draw more cards. Unfortunately, outside of the top two slots this grouping is barely playable.
Introducing the poster boy of clan Greedy McHoardy. Orrick is the alpha and omega of card draw. Between his ability and signature card you lift two cards AND fix two dice for the cost of one. Even if you don’t use Concentrate he is more efficient than any other option. Side action for FREE; draw a card PLUS other stuff.
Technically the Insight ability is a cantrip effect. Except in this case there is no card to replace and there is no cost. I wanted to point out that in the realm of card drawing Orrick is king. Speaking of insane draw power…
Void Pulse does everything. I even hesitate to mention it but it does say ‘draw two cards’. Um, it is a great, great, great card. One great for every effect; deal damage, draw cards, and spin down dice. It is arguable that you could drop the last two effects and it would still be incredibly playable. The only drawback is you have to gak a unit for it to trigger. There are few times when there will not be targets and if that is the case; you are probably winning already.
If you measure it based solely on the merits of drawing a card it is not that good… Spending one die for two cards is not terrible. Still bad though.
The Sympathy die itself is the gold standard of card draw measurement. I’m going to file this away as fine? On the rare occasion you have an extra power side just lying around then it’s a great move to pick one up. It’s even fine to meditate for the draw next turn if you have the side actions and it’s early in the game. But, if you have nothing to spend the dice on and you have just free side actions to waste then you probably need to, er, maybe, try some different builds.
The Rest of the Plug-N-Play
Delayed gratification can be incredibly rewarding in the right context. Ripping cardboard is not one of those however. Foresight, Iron Worker, and Expand Energy should not go into your deck. In order to maximize the pay off for drawing cards you need to have those options available right now. Not a round from now. Certainly not if you get stuck with a reaction in hand.
Worker is so close to being pretty good. I really like the two basics of any color cost to smooth out a deck’s magic types. But then he ends up being targeted and you lost out on potential other cards you could have played.
Nothing out muscles Sleight of Hand for pure deck plumbing power without giving your opponent options as well. This card is another one that suffers from lack of playable combination decks. Drawing three cards for two dice without any triggers on its own is legit. If the only thing you are attempting to do is draw a combo piece, spend the two dice on Open Memories.
I truly feel there is a perfect situation for every card in Ashes. Some situations just occur a LOT less than others to make the card itself all that useful. As much as I want Expand Energy to be reasonable I just haven’t found a place for it. Until it will stay binder fodder. Ok…internet, prove me wrong!
- Orrick
- Void Pulse
- Iron Worker
- Sympathy Power Side
- Foresight
- Sleight of Hand
- Expand Energy
Takes a Village Tier
These cards contain whole realms of theory to be explored. You can not just toss these cards into a deck and expect them to perform. You have to make a concentrated effort to get maximum value out of them. If you do, expect nice returns and a mitt full of cardboard.
At the time I first wrote this article the secrets of Generosity were just getting revealed. After putting time in with the single cost spell it has to be crowned the all time best draw card outside of a phoenixborn. One die for three cards cannot be beat.
The biggest cost to playing Generosity is giving up tempo in round one. If you want to make sure the other modal effects do not create an advantage for your opponent you must play it early. Against most decks that is ok. Against aggressive decks like Brennan or Hope it might be better to skip first fiving this potential all star.
I really like Abundance, Law of Sight, and Wishing Wing. All three bring something different to the gaming table. Abundance is the best repeatable draw in the game…for both you and your opponent. Depending on the match up this can absolutely bury you in direct damage. In order to run peak Abundance you have to pack cancels and big tempo grabs like Meteor or Survival of the Fittest.
And Law of Sight has been the cornerstone to a couple solid builds for me in Lulu and Xander. Any deck where you want a targeted spell to 100 percent to land free of reactions. Wishing Wing plus Hopper might be the best draw combo in the game. It is insanely fun to generate both card draw and decent bodies at the same time at the cost of TWO ready spellbook slots. On its own, Wishing Wing has yet to land for me outside of Koji.
Chant of Worship on its own is bad. It requires a trigger. A trigger that for most of the game you are attempting to avoid. However with the advent of Ritualist we are going to see an explosion of popularity and self-sacrificing decks. Rowan, can not wait to play with you!
- Generosity
- Wishing Wing
- Abundance
- Law of Sight
- Chant of Worship
Cantrip Tier (Best in Bunches)
Depending on what you are doing with your deck there is a cantrip that can work for you. A cantrip is a card that has a normal effect like, doing damage, summon unit, etc, that also replaces itself with a single card draw. None of these cards are going to set the world on fire but they give incremental value to a deck needing some draw. Don’t hammerfist a cantrip into your deck that doesn’t further a deck goal. But if you need some dice fixing or a cheap body. One cost cantrips are your jam.
As long as you are in Illusion Particle Shield should be a consideration. Stopping a single point of damage is relevant every game. It allows possible counter swings, keeps the little units happy, and occasionally blows out removal spells. Swift Messenger has a similar scope. I feel like at this point it should be called spider bait.
I am currently having a dalliance with Spectral Assassin for small battlefields and aggressive swing builds. It’s ability has stifled a couple reactions that I know of so far. Others that earn honorable mentions include Accelerate and Hidden Power. One of my favorite opens is Hidden Power using power die cost ready spells and Gates Thrown Open. Accelerate benefits from often being part of a winning combination.
If you squint just right you can add Saria’s ability Heart’s Pull as a cantrip. Instead of thinking you are paying one for drawing a card, you are paying one to mill your opponent. Ash Spirit nominally belongs here as a junior Abundance that costs one die every activation. Solid, but, you better have a plan for it.
Other cards that creep into this grouping are Squall Stallion and River Scald. Technically they are cantrips. But, no one is using them for their draw ability. Although it makes me want to drop Scald into a swarm deck and see what happens. But, a hard no on stallion for strictly card draw. However, stallion plus Ash Spirit, now you are talking!
- Particle Shield
- Swift Messenger
- River Skald
- Acceleration
- Spectral Assassin
- Heart’s Pull
- Hidden Power
- Ash Spirit
- Squall Stallion
Combo Tier
Here are your standard draw options that are good in other games; Changing Winds and New Ideas. I have run both cards to varying degrees of satisfaction. None of them I found particularly exciting until it hit me.
What I discovered while reviewing this group was I wasn’t putting much value on sifting. I think Rimea’s Visions ability is amazing. It’s underutilized if anything. There just is not an onus on building combo decks because there aren’t any game ending combos to exploit. However, if you are digging for that silver bullet or mcguffin, here are the excavation tools you need.
Sifters
The best of the bunch is New Ideas. On the surface the initial cost of one die and discard feels bad. However, if you are simply digging for a combo piece(s) it really shines as a non-first five option. For one sympathy you get to see three more cards.
Changing Winds is a really nice blend of sifting plus draw. I have been wavering on Winds because I just want to trash it but I think there are just enough merits. The initial scrying of the top two cards brings it up out of the dregs but only for combo decks.
Tutors
I debated whether I was even going to touch on fetch effects. I don’t think they offer up anything much to talk about. If you absolutely need to get certain cards for your deck to work, play them. If not, draw is going to be more efficient. Cards like Augury, Emperor Lion, and Open Memory have a place in certain decks but should not be widely used. Ritualist is going to upgrade this tier. Going from meh to mmmmwow! Hunting up a ready Chant spell plus a unit that you can repeatedly get back into play is phenomenal.
And then I wonder if something like Koji, Augury, and Acceleration isn’t something to exploit. Just dropping wrath effects all game long at a moment’s notice. Will wonders never cease.
In Defense and Damnation of Reinforce
Reinforce is an amazing tutor/sifting hybrid card in almost every other card game. Even on its surface spending one die to tutor five cards deep for a card is really good for combo decks. But, not beneficial for Ashes. It certainly reads on paper like a ready spell that summons semi random units. I believe the only thing holding this card back is tempo cost.
Examining it from the other side it reads like a first five unit you just spent an extra die on. With games growing shorter and shorter that one die difference could be the game. It also means you have to construct a deck with enough units or alterations to make it worthwhile. A unit or alteration heavy deck has not been discovered to be dominant as of yet.
However, if you can slow down a game to get multiple uses out of Reinforce, I believe it has the most untapped potential. I think it is part of the key to unlocking unit hungry phoenixborn like Dimona and Sembali. I also know how much fun I have had with Rimea’s Visions, Reinforce, and a little card draw to stitch together some interesting strategies.
- Ritualist
- Open Memories
- New Ideas
- Reinforce
- Emperor Lion
- Winds of Change
- Augury
Final Round
Card draw may not be the answer for everyone. Delving into what draw means for Ashes and where it fits in the game design has given me some fascinating insights. I have stumbled across deck ideas, tinkered with old stacks, and created whole new archetypes to build. I don’t know what the future of Ashes looks like. All I know is there will be a future (or an undiscovered present) combination too tempting to leave card draw alone. Until then see you on the digital battlefield, Heyo and gl!
About the Author
Jerod Leupold has been an avid gamer and advocate for over 30 years. He cut his teeth on the business side by founding and running Critical Hit Games in Iowa City for eight years before selling to excellent stewards. Now that he has time to take things like vacations, he amuses himself by using his English degree and journalism background talking about game theory. He has been published under the Gamenomicon franchise for Party First RPG adventures and sourcebooks. As well as several articles about A Game of Thrones CCG and LCG back in the day. While he’s never hoisted a grand champion trophy, he has been an innovator and bride’s maid an innumerable number of times. Follow Jerod at Paroxysm by Design on facebook, itch.io, or drivethru RPG!