Deck Building Tips

The following was captured from a very old thread in recs.games.trading-cards.misc. I don't know if any of these email addresses are still valid or if any of the people herein still play the game.

Subject: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: savage@nntp.best.com (John and Denise Castellucci)
Date: 1996/11/26

I am a beginner to Guardians, and I was wondering if anyone could clue me into basic deck ratios?

How many total cards? Shields? Terrain? Spells? Critterz? Others?


Subject: Re: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: darkiczel@aol.com
Date: 1996/11/27

savage
Here's my generic recipe for a deck
- 2 shields
- 2 standard bearer's
- 8 terrains
- 1 Guardian
- 2 15.5 ounce cans fancy red kidney beans, drained
- 3 strongholds
- 3 dispel magics
- 4 medium/large onions(divided use)
- Almost always 1 or 2 curse fo the Betrayed's
- 15 maximum total magic item's and spells(15 if very high, depends on the deck)
- Champs, if you got enough magic items
- Creatures to fill up the rest to get around 60-65 cards
- 3 lbs. of ground meat
make 11 pints
- Darkiczel



Subject: Re: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: chrisjhyde@aol.com
Date: 1996/11/28

Do you really use that few shields? I generally use about 8 plus two standard bearers and a shield terrain card (if I have one that matches) in a deck of about 70-80 cards.

Chris



Subject: Re: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: crednose@aol.com
Date: 1996/11/28

I use at least 10% shields, 8-9% land, 50-60% creatures, and the rest spells and magic items. My decks usually have between 60 and 90 cards.

C Rednose



Subject: Re: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: darkiczel@aol.com
Date: 1996/11/28

Chris

Yes, yes. 6 shields + two standards. If I played with 70-80 cards I would use 3 + 2 and nine terrains, but a mid 60 card deck seems to work the best. I depends on the average vitality creatures you have. If you have a lot of small creatures you don't need as many shields, but then I play with about 70 cards, so I still play with 6+2. I actually have one deck that has 8 + 2 shields for about 62 cards, but that's because I have a lot of large vitaliity creautures in there

- DarkIczel



Subject: Re: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: darkiczel@aol.com
Date: 1996/11/29

Lawyers

How far exactly is a 3 from a 7 on the keyboard? These typoes are becoming quite pitiful.

- DarkIczel



Subject: Re: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: rk1066@aol.com
Date: 1996/12/01

I don't know if starter decks are optimized for play(I give the creators credit for some thought on this matter) but:

9 shields/56 playing cards = 16% shields(2 sig figs)
7 terrain/56 playing cards = 13%(12.5 rounded)

You can also estimate the shields needed by calculating the total deck vitality divided by 30. I have done this recently and it seems to work pretty well.

I stress shield numbers because you can't do anything in the normal game without them. Yet, too many shields may mean you sacrifice elsewhere.



Subject: Re: [GD] Basic Deck Ratios?
From: Paul Steiner
Date: 1996/12/01

darkiczel@aol.com wrote:
(See above.)

Serves up to 4. Serve cold. Flavor with salt and pepper. Also after making the deck add 5 more normal shields.

Paul

The sharpest blade does not win the duel but neither can you be victorious with mere conviction in your hands.

Homebrew Card: Pandora's Stones

Your Random Homebrew Guardians Card

Pandora's Stones:

Hand Magic Item, 30 Give yourself 1, 2, 3 or 4 power stones. Give your opponent twice as many.

Dumb Card Combos

Dumb Combos

These are the opposite of Trifectas.
These are things that only an Idiot would love.

Every now and then something stupid happens. Like the time you played the Rye Beaner as a command card before checking how many of your creatures would be affected. Then there are combinations of cards that are truly outrageous that only an Idiot could possibly try . . . .

1. War and Crash: Take another turn then pass it. Interesting to note that in Guardians the opposite of War isn't Peace.
   
   
2. Peace and Hands of Chronos: There might be a good reason to try this, but for three power stones, it better be a good reason.
   
   
3. Head of Gudea on top of your opponent's Harkin: If you're this stupid, you deserve to be pounded.
   

Do you have a Dumb Combo of your own (or even just a Really Dumb Move that you might have made)?
Tell everyone about it here.

Luring New Players to Guardians

(undated, original webpage last updated April '98)

I'm trying to make a list of cards that you have to have in a game when you and your opponent are primarily trying to lure other people into the game (to increase your pool of opponents, naturally).

Now the artwork will grab them, but first they have to be close enough to see it. So you have to lure them over with your babble and chatter. This means that the decks should be spiked with cards with either cool names, unusual names, or something that will just naturally attract attention.

I tried to stick to the main set so far, but anything's fair game.

1. "I give your Devil Dog a keg of beer to make him go away!"

First thing, you need Beer and Babe cards, and you both need to stack creatures bribeable by both of these. Gold doesn't attract as much attention, in my opinion.

2. Super Models

"My Supermodel steps in and lures your Knight to his death."
("Knight" sounds better than "Captain".)

3. Gunner/Master Gunner or any Pirate

I had to add this. A couple of friends of mine weren't really interested until I mentioned "pirates". Suddenly, I had their attention. For this reason, use the word "pirate" when attacking instead of the actual card name. And do the voice, too:

"Avast ye! Me pirate fires broadside at your Earth Elemental for 4 points of damage."

4. Giant Penguin

In your best British falsetto: "What's on top of the telly? Why, it looks like a penguin."

5. Floyd, the Flying Pig

Just a silly name. Prompt your opponent to say something like, "When pigs fly!" right before you play him.

6. Cow.

Just the very idea of a Methane attack and gassing the opposition is silly in itself. Unfortunately, the card is otherwise weak.

7. Babe Hound and Pig Dog

The names are funny. And if your playing with lots of Babes and Babes-bribable creatures, they come in handy.

8. Vampire

"My Vampire bites and sucks off two power stones."

If you play it up big enough, you'll get someone to glance at the card long enough to enjoy the artwork. If they're already standing close enough to see the card (and they're male) they'll start snickering at the words "sucks off".

9. Dinosaurs

Doesn't matter the name or that they're really "Saurians". Just roar and call them big dinosaurs and little dinosaurs.

10. Shadow Panty Raid

"I bring out the Babes."
"Well, I'm staging a panty raid and taking those babes away from you."

Ditto for the Shadow Beer Heist, if you're playing with a lot of Beer although you might call it a "Beer Run" or whatever expression you use.

Okay, that's my list, so far. What would you add (or subtract)?

Random Silliness: Playing Without Starter Decks

This was originally posted on usenet (rec.games.trading-cards.misc) when it was easier to find booster cards than starter decks, and, therefore harder to get new players into the game.

The Top Five Ways to Play Guardians
if You Can't Find Any Starters!

C. J. Burke

1. Use the "All Swamps are Shields" rule and put your forces behind the banner of "Parkinson's Murk".
   
   
2. Use Leftover Walls of Wood from Magic for your strongholds -- with a Wall of Stone in the center, providing 0/3, 0/8, 0/3 protection.
   
   
3. New Guardian: El Rey de los Corazones -- The King of Hearts. And remember, they don't call him "The Suicide King" for nothing.
   
   
4. Forget the rulebook -- just play Poker: "My four Slag Beasts beats your Mortal straight."
   
   
5. Turn Phases/Combat Summary Card?? Oh, please! Go out and buy a *real* coaster.

Christopher J. Burke
5/30/97

New Class: Gargoyles

Gargoyles

I wanted to create my own class of creatures for Guardians, but I wanted something based on existing fantasy. I came upon the idea of Gargoyles: those old water spouts on the tops of buildings that came to symbolize the ultimate protectors. I came up with several cards in one batch that I liked.

I decided that to give them a class ability in the way that all Ogres are immune to channeling. This would help in making a deck concept for them. I settled on the line "Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells." I think that is a handy benefit that isn't totally unbalancing to gameplay. On the other hand, I haven't thought about whether or not Ice Storm targets a particular creature or your entire Combat Hand. This may sound a little picky, but there are dozens of rulings on issues like this in the Magic: the Gathering rules.

Here are the cards that I presented on the Guardians mailing list:

Granite Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 12, OCB 3, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
Immune to Hand Magic Items. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Stone Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 9, OCB 2, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
+3 in Dry Heaps. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Ice Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 8, OCB 2, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
Immune to Undead. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Snow Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 8, OCB 1, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
+3 in Mountains. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Iron Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 10, OCB 3, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
Immune to fire. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Guardian Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 6, OCB 0, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
5 pt ranged attack, only usable if primary attacker is a Mortal. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Avenging Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 7, OCB 1, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
-3 as primary attacker, +3 as a secondary attacker. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Argyle Gargoyle:

Elemental, Vitality 5, OCB 0, Large, Flying, Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
Destroys Golfer, Gopher and Caddy. Gargoyles cannot be the target of Spells.

Vampire Gargoyle:

External, Vitality 8, OCB 1, Large, Flying, Undead/Gargoyle, CMP 0, green bar.
If Vampire beats an opponent who has accepted channeling in this combat, your opponent loses 1 Power Stone. This Gargoyle CAN be the target of Spells.

Note that in the Seven Seas fan expansion set, there is a card called Gargoyle Rendevous. If isn't one of my cards. I don't know if it was inspired by my cards. It doesn't appear to be based on the ones above.

New Class: Dwarves

Dwarves

Back in 1998, I mentioned that I'd like to see some of the prime fantasy races that were missing from Guardians. In a message that dates back to at least 1999, I asked what creature class would you like to see added. My first response was Dwarves. Here was my rationale:

"From a fantasy perspective: there are no Dwarves. Elves are
represented by "fairies", though for some reason, Pixies and
Leprechauns aren't included as "fairies". But there are no
Dwarves. And I'd rather see fantasy-inspired (though not
necessarily Tolkien) dwarves than cutesy Disney ripoffs."

Here are all the cards that Dwarf cards that I have mentioned on the list. The only card that isn't here is Dwarven Mining Companies, because I never actually created it. It was supposed to be a land where you couldn't bribe by Gold. (Other possible titles for that land were Lost Cities of Gold or Treasure Island.) I decided not to include it now, mainly because the Seven Seas fan expansion has included a similar terrain card.

On the other hand, the Seven Seas also includes a card that is essentially the same thing as the Dwarven Tunneling Machine with a different name. (Naturally, they couldn't have used my card if the didn't include some Dwarves. And that doesn't mean that they took my card and changed it. Thierry had a similar idea and used it.)

As I did with Gargoyles, I gave Dwarves a class attribute. In this case, it was "Immune to Giants". Why? First, Dwarves would get really squished by Giants. Second, there is some fantasy literature to suggest that they might be. Both classes usually occupy mountain dwellings although not necessarily peacefully. Giants are generally above, and Dwarves below.

Here are my Dwarf cards:

Dwarven Fighter

Mortal, Vitality 5, OCB 2, Small, Beer, Dwarf,
CMP 0, red bar.
+3 in Mountains. Immune to Giants.

Dwarven Weaponsmith

Mortal, Vitality 4, OCB 1, Small, Beer, Dwarf,
CMP 0, red bar.
+1 Vitality to all your Dwarves while Weaponsmith is in play. Immune to Giants.

Dwarven Tunneling Machine

Creature Magic Item, Up 5
An all-Dwarves shield may move past a Mountains terrain that they wouldn't be able to bypass normally. All other movement restrictions apply. Cannot be used on Stronghold spaces.

Dwarven Hammer Thrower

Mortal, Vitality 4/6, OCB 1, Small, Beer, Dwarf, CMP 0, red bar. 4-point ranged attack. Immune to Giants.

Dwarven Mining Operation

Hand Magic Item, Up 13
Play during the Terrain Settlement Phase. If an all Dwarf shield turned in place on a Mountain and did not move, fight or reinforce this turn, gain two power stones.

Dwarven Armorer

Mortal, Vitality 3, OCB 1, Small, Beer, Dwarf, CMP 0, red bar.
C: You may spend 1 stone or discard one Magic Item to increase any Dwarf's Vitalty by 4.

Dwarven Lord

Mortal, Vitality 8, OCB 3, Small, Babes, Dwarf, CMP 0, red bar.
All of your Dwarves gain +3 Vitality for the rest of combat. Immune to Giants.

Dwarven Nomad

Mortal, Vitality 4, OCB 3, Small, Beer, Dwarf, CMP 0, red bar.
Immune to fear, except in the Woods. Immune to Giants.

The Table of Elements, Part 2

The Table of Elements

Part Two

Continuing

Overlords:

All Overlords are Large Beer drinkers.

• Rey, Overlord of Trees, Vitality 4, OCB 2
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be the Woods. No ranged attacks.
  
• Gnorg,Overlord of Swamps, Vitality 6, OCB 1
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be Swamps.
  
• Ix, Overlord of the Waters, Vitality 5, OCB 1
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be Rivers & Lakes.
  
• Uras, Overlord of Mountains, Vitality 2, OCB 2, Channeling Receiver,
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be Mountains.
  
• Slor, Overlord of the Wastes, Vitality 5, OCB 2
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be the Dry Heaps.
  
• Baezhu, Overlord of Twisted Ways, Vitality 2, OCB 2
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be Spires.
  
• George, Overlord of the Jungle *, Vitality 1, OCB 0
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be the Jungle. Opponent's command card is dispelled. (Note G)
  
• Cranston, Overlord of Limbo *, Vitality 1, OCB 0
  (C):For the duration of combat, the disputed land space being fought upon is considered to be face-down terrain. (Note H)

Elemental Lords:

All Elemental Lords are Medium-sized-sized Babe watchers

• Iron Lord, Vitality 10 OCB 1, 3 pt fear AOE. When played, +3 pts to the AOEfor each different type of Elemental Lord in play.
  
• Rock Lord, Vitality 12 OCB 1, 3 pt fear AOE. When played, +3 pts to the AOEfor each different type of Elemental Lord in play.
  
• Sand Lord, Vitality 11 OCB 3, +6 Vitality in Dry Heaps, -6 in Woods
  
• Lava Lord *, Vitality 9 OCB 1, +5 Vitality in Mountains, -5 in Rivers and Lakes (Note I)
  
• Mud Elemental Lord *, Vitality 13 OCB 3, +7 Vitality in Swamps, -7 in Spires.All your Mud Elementals are +2 Vitality while Mud Elemental Lord isin play. (Note J)

Related Creatures, Spells and Magic Items:

• Alchemist *, Mortal, Vitality 5/9, Medium-sized, Gold, Wizard, Channeling Receiver, CMP 5.Can channel to Elements only, even Elements that normally cannotreceive channelling. (Note K)
  
  
• Periodic Table *, Hand Magic Item, Up 12.(Picture: A big stone dining table with several of the above elementals sitting around it, eating and drinking).Play as a command card. Name any one Element. The creature named cannot fight and doesn't count for control of the space. (Both sides) (Note L)
  
  
• Chemistry Set *, Hand Magic Item, Up 19.Play as a command card. For one stone, you may play any Element on top of another Element already in a match-up. The combined 'Compound' has a Vitality and Off-Color Bonus equal to the sum of the two Elements, but can only accept channeling if the first creature could. The text box of the second Element is blank and the creature class becomes 'Compound'. If the combined creature loses the match-up, both creatures are beaten. (Note M)

Notes:

G - Catch 22! Jungles don't allow command cards, so can you have a command card that doesn't allow command cards??

H - Remember, face-down isn't terrainless. So your Tiger Baloos get a bonus, but your Silver Servers don't. Then again, no one else gets a bonus, either.

I - From an earlier sig file. You can't make these Elemental Lords too small, however, because that AOE can really get dangerous.

J - From an earlier sig file (Creature Class Critique #18). I sort of combined the Sand Lord ability with the Vampire Lord.

K - Alchemist bribable by Gold? Makes sense, doesn't it? Sure, he can make his (her?) own, but why bother when it's free. He needs at least CMP 5 because Elements are big creatures, but he also needs a higher stacking penalty than the Necromancer because of the "even though that normally ..." clause.

L - Bad puns are necessary. If I'm putting in all the pro-Element stuff, you need a bogey card.

M - I wasn't trying to create a really big ranged attack, that's why either both win or both lose (but they aren't destroyed, that's too much). The second text box is blanked to prevent sneaky tricks that I haven't thought of yet. And the wordy change in creature class is so you can't do it twice.

The Table of Elements, Part 1

The Table of Elements

Part One

First of all, there is some confusion in the game between "Elements" and "Elementals". This is due to the fact that the entire category of creatures with brown borders are called "Elementals". However, there is also a class of creatures called "Element", which includes creatures that are the embodiment of the natural (and some unnatural or supernatural) elements around us. These creatures have names like Greater Air Elemental.

Anytime the game refers to "Elementals", they are almost always referring to every brown-bordered creature in the game. When they only want to refer to those creatures with "Elemental" in the creatures' names, they are refering to the class called "Element".

It really isn't as confusing as it sounds.

With that out of the way, I would like to present a compilation of all the Elements in Guardians, including some that don't exist in the game. (I have marked those with asterisks.)

The "real" cards from the game are included so that you can see which gaps I have filled in. All Elements are Elementals (naturally). Unless I have mentioned otherwise, Elements have no off-color bonuses nor channeling ability nor bribery icons. Some Notes are at the bottom of the page.

Air, Earth, Fire and Water:

• Earth Elemental, Vitality 18, OCB 9 Large, +2 in the Dry Heaps.
  
• Fire Elemental, Vitality 14, Medium-sized, Flying, +2 in the Woods and 4-pt fire AOE.
  
• Greater Air Elemental, Vitality 16 Large, Flying, +6 vs flying creatures. (Note A)
  
• Water Elemental *, Vitality 12, OCB 6, Large, +4 in Rivers & Lakes. (Note B)

Air+Water, Water+Earth, Water+Earth (again), Earth+Fire, Fire +Air

• Vapor Elemental, Vitality 11 Large, Flying, Channeling Receiver. When played in a match-up, opponent must discard any Items in Combat hand.
  
• Mud Elemental, Vitality 8, OCB 2 Medium-sized, +4 in Swamps.
  
• Ice Elemental, Vitality 15, OCB 6 Medium-sized, +4 in Mountains.
  
• Magma Elemental, Vitality 9, Large, 4 point ranged-attack.
  
• Smoke Elemental *, Vitality 13, OCB 0, Medium-sized, Flying, immune to Mortals. Smoke gets in their eyes. (Note C)

Light, Dark, Energy and Fear:

• Light Elemental, Vitality 13, OCB 2 Large, Flying, Channeling Receiver,Destroys Darkness Elemental.
  
• Darkness Elemental, Vitality 13, OCB 3 Large,
  (C):Opponent must revealhis Combat Hand. You may choose to retreat before melee,but discard the Darkness Elemental to do so.
  
• Shadow Elemental *, Vitality 13, OCB 4, Large. +2 in Woods and Swamps. (Note D)
  
• Greater Energy Elemental, Vitality 12 Large Flying, Unlimited Channeling Receiver! CMP 2.
  
• Lesser Energy Elemental *, Vitality 5, OCB 0 Medium-sized Flying. Can receive up to 10 points of channeling. (Note E)
  
• Psychic Elemental *, Vitality 13, OCB 0 Medium-sized. 5 pt fear AOE that only affects Mortals. Fear-based attack.
  
• Fear Elemental *, Vitality 6, OCB 0 Medium-sized.
  (C):All primary attackers are +3 vitality vs. creatures affected by fear.

Miscellaneous:

• Vensuni Inferno Swarm, Vitality 6 (stacks as 14), OCB 4, Command: 11-pt AOE fire attack, discard entire combat hand
  
• Beer Elemental *, Vitality 6, OCB 3, Medium-sized. +10 versus Beer-bribable creatures. (Note F)

End of Part 1

Notes:

A - I didn't include a regular Air Elemental (as opposed to a "Greater" one) although I thought about it. Mostly because the Bantam Drake is already a smaller creature with a similar ability.

B - I'm curious what the actual stats would have been. When FPG closed shop, the next expansion was supposed to be "Seven Seas" and the theme was supposed to be "wet things" (according to Dave).

C - There was no Fire/Air Elemental and Smoke was a natural, except that there already is a Smoke Spirit. Since there's an Ice Spirit and Ice Elemental, it didn't bother me to make a duplicate here, either. Of course, if someone has a better name, I'll be happy to hear it. And I naturally needed a different ability. I toyed with the silly notion of something like "if in play and unbeaten, your Elementals are immune to Mortals", but I thought that was too much smoke.

D - I was not as happy with this one. "Shadow" is a great fantasy "element". But I couldn't think of a good, non-useless, not-overly-powered ability. I also couldn't decide what terrain had the most shadows. Woods can be dense, but Swamps are always depicted as dark and dreary. Jungles make me think "hot and sweaty" even though the jungles used to be referred to as "darkest Africa" and such.

E - Hey, why not? I kept the vitality low, so it wouldn't be a replacement for the Greater Energy.

F - At first, I thought about making him a destroyer, but I thought that might be a little much, so I make him an Elemental Giant Babe instead.

Outsmarting Myself!!

Now that I finished the Trifectas, I was looking for something else to post, preferably something that I still had the original HTML files for. (The Creature Class Critique files don't exist anymore -- I had to copy them from the Guardians Yahoo Group.)

I decided I was going to import my The Table of Elements.

Unfortunately, I created that file in Javascript, which I was experimenting with at the time, you know, to learn a new skill. I have NO IDEA how to import it other than to cut and paste the final page and then add all the formatting tags ... AGAIN.

sigh

Trifecta: Infinite Stones

Guardians Trifectas

Trifectas are interesting -- and sometimes deadly -- three-card combos for Guardians . . . if you can pull them off.

And watch out that you're not on the receiving end of one of them!

---

Infinite Stones

This one takes a little more than three cards, but three cards set it up. Submitted by KevinCron@aol.com.

Champs the Wonder Dog

Sacrificial Altar

Limited Big Time Rebate

Champs the Wonder Dog, for one stone, will go and retrieve any Item from your discard pile and Champs goes back into your hand as well. The Sacrificial Altar allows you to discard a card to gain a stone. Two sides of the same coin -- lose a stone to gain a card or lose a card to gain a stone. All you need is one Magic Item to start an endless cycle that doesn't get you anything.

The kicker: Limited Big Time Rebate. For every stone you spend this turn, you get half back at the end of the turn. That is, for every stone you spend on Champs, you get half back (rounded up, no less!).

Half of infinity is still infinity.

Other useful cards:

• Greater Energy Elemental: Can accept unlimited channeling -- and you have unlimited stones!
  
• Any other big channeler: You have the stones, use them.
  
• Guardian Angel: Any creature lost in battle is saved for one stone. It's a reusable Holy Grail. Of course, you have Champs to get back those Grails, anyway.
  
• Any standard bearer that requires spending stones: go for it.
  
• Do you see a pattern developing?

With Sikura as Guardian, your opponent will never be able to cast a Spell. Not Dispel Magic, not Summon Loghammer's Sapper, not Warwick's Banishment.

Forget the Terrain cards -- burn cards and stones for land.

Trifecta: How Do You Spell "Dispelled"?

Guardians Trifectas

Trifectas are interesting -- and sometimes deadly -- three-card combos for Guardians . . . if you can pull them off.

And watch out that you're not on the receiving end of one of them!

---

How Do You Spell "Dispelled"?

Iron Force of Sethos

Spectre's Ward

Grazhue, Lover of Vice

Okay, so this is really a two-card combo that works best with one particular Guardian.

Grazhue's ability gives you a Power Stone every time you get bribed. Iron Force of Sethos prevents both players from spending stones on Spells or Items for the turn. Spectre's Ward increases the cost of all double-bordered cards by one stone.

IMPORTANT: Play Iron Force FIRST; otherwise, you'll be paying a stone to play it.

End result: Your opponent can't cast any Spells or Items this turn. And if he tries to bribe you, he loses a stone and you get one.

Other useful cards:

• Priest of Sethos: As a command card, no stones can be spent to channel either. It's pretty much a brute force type of thing. You can still use channelling creatures, but you better have some channel receivers ready -- you can't cast Power Lunch!

Trifecta: Zing! That Just Backfired

Guardians Trifectas

Trifectas are interesting -- and sometimes deadly -- three-card combos for Guardians . . . if you can pull them off.

And watch out that you're not on the receiving end of one of them!

---

Zing! That Just Backfired

Embyronic Witch

Bone Fright

Djinn

Okay, so the Embyonic Witch/Djinn combination is old, but it's necessary to keep your Bone Fright alive. You play the Bone Fright and Zowie! your opponent has lost all of his ranged-attacks as they are all forced to be attacked right now. The Djinn then keeps him alive and the Witch lets you kill your opponent's primary for good measure.

Against, a dedicated ranged-attack deck, you'll probably soak up most of his hand in the first battle! If you're opponent made the mistake of playing Handles O'Rourke, he loses ALL HIS POWER STONES! Not even Eye of Missile Mayhem will get those back, although Limited Big Time Rebate will get back half of them.

Also, the Djinn is perfect if your opponent plays the Manly Guy or some other card that steals your text box. Once you play the Djinn, no further modifications are allowed, so if you have more ranged attacks, they don't have to be played.


I scared my dedicated opponent from playing his ranged attack deck for quite a while. He was afraid to use Handles. Or his Traithes.

Trifecta: Zing! Went the Strings of my Bow

Guardians Trifectas

Trifectas are interesting -- and sometimes deadly -- three-card combos for Guardians . . . if you can pull them off.

And watch out that you're not on the receiving end of one of them!

---

Zing! Went the Strings of my Bow

Handles O'Rourke

Ploog's Ox Standard Bearer 19

Limited Big Time Rebate

Play Limited Big Time Rebate at the beginning of your turn. At the end of your turn, you get back half the stones you spent ROUNDED UP! Ploog's Ox Standard Bearer increased all your ranged attacks by +3 when your shield is on the attack. Handles O'Rourke is a command card that can shoot a 3-point ranged attack into any matchup for one power stone.

For one Power Stone, you can shoot a six-point ranged attack. And if you only shoot once, you get the stone back at the end of the turn. But why stop at one? Shoot five and get three stones back!

Other useful cards:

• Ploog's Chicken Standard Bearer 5:: you get the same bonus, only this time on defense.
  
• Make Juice: give yourself an extra arrow to shoot.
  
• Harkin, Spreader of the Wealth: start off with TEN stones, more than any other Guardian. You can't channel repeatedly, but you can still spend them over and over on the same guy!
  
• Bellerat, Third Called or any other Traithe: She's Vitality 4 with a 2-point ranged attack that's modified by the sum of the unmodified ranged attacks already played. One shot from Handles gives you six. And Bellaret for 2 + 3 (Handles) + 3 (Ploogs Ox) for 8 more points.
  

Warning! When using this setup, watch out for the following defensive combo! (published tomorrow!)

Trifecta: A Knight is a Horse, Nymphs, Too, of course!

Guardians Trifectas

Trifectas are interesting -- and sometimes deadly -- three-card combos for Guardians . . . if you can pull them off.

And watch out that you're not on the receiving end of one of them!

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A Knight is a Horse, Nymphs, Too, of course!

Mayor McGreed

Warwick's Conversion

Gold

With Warwick's Conversion you can make any creature you play into a Barnyard Animal and get that 7-point ranged attack. Your Captain just got whacked by a Vampire? Turn your Captain into a 17-point Sheep Dog. You got a Sloarch in the Dry Heaps? It's now a 28-point Chicken.

Cards that help the above combos tremendously:

• Nubian Slave Girl: destroy her and get your arrows back.
  
• Eye of Missile Mayhem: get back your Gold and even use it to bribe something.
  
• Shadow Bank Job: Use your opponent's Gold bribery card. Mayor McGreed is bribeable by Gold. Maybe your opponent will take a chance.
  
• Farmer Brown: Forget those silly Gold arrows. As long as you have all those Barnyard Animals anyway, push the Mayor out of City Hall and blow up those animals in the field.
  

Trifecta: A Little Pig Goes a Long Way

Guardians Trifectas

Trifectas are interesting -- and sometimes deadly -- three-card combos for Guardians . . . if you can pull them off.

And watch out that you're not on the receiving end of one of them!

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A Little Pig Goes a Long Way

Mayor McGreed

Floyd, the Flying Pig

Gold

Normally you can blow up Floyd to give +2 Vitality to all your creatures (and that's still an option if circumstances change). But another way to use Floyd is as a primary attacker after Mayor McGreed has been used as your command card. Floyd is just a tiny little 2 point creature, but with a Gold Bribery card as a ranged-attack, he can take attack as a 9. Where else are you going to find a Seven-Point Ranged Attack?

Actually, you find it Coming Real Soon.