“One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny.”

– Bertrand Russel

Thus concludes the last of Kait’s and my exploration of the Summoner Wars Alliances master set. Today is our winner. It was a long, hard road to get to the top. Many worthy and less-than-worthy adversaries litter the way. But in the end, only one could be victorious. Only one could be the best of the best. Only one can be the top of our tiers.

This will likely also mark the end of my posting in April as I run out of pre-written entries while likely in the depths of frantic writing and despair. But that is neither here nor there. Simply put, future self, know that you shall get through this and at the end you shall have something worth all the late nights and long hours. Also, this would likely be an easier process if you adopted either caffeine or alcohol habits. Possibly both.

Anyway, neither of this has to do with the Cave Filth. They are the true stars of the show. At release, I was practically laughing with their reveals. In my mind, the Cave Filth stood above all others. In the end, this early analysis was true though not as clear cut as I had previously imagined. You can see the post on the Deep Benders for more details.

But to explore the Cave Filth more deeply is to examine the greatest lengths of Summoner Wars and its strategy. In my prior reviews of the game, I lauded how simple the game was to get into. It was the only reason I could coerce my sister to try it in the first place. And I think it ultimately kept her in it as well. The mechanics are straight-forward and the interactions between the different game elements are pretty easily grasped. The biggest turning point in learning the game’s strategy is understanding that killing your own units nets you the same magic that would otherwise go to your opponent. Once you walk the tight balance between killing your own forces while still overcoming your enemy’s is when you’ve truly reached the pinnacle of Summoner Wars strategy. Put simply, there’s a low barrier to entry but also a low ceiling to skill. At some point, the greatest part of strategizing is weighing the odds of you executing your plan and minimizing the losses you’ll receive should you fail. At some point, your fate is invested in the dice and this can lead to much frustration when you get to the higher echelons of play. You simply have to learn that sometimes, some games won’t be decided by the best player but by the luckiest.

So why point this out now and why with the Cave Filth? There are other factions that revolve around this luck within their own mechanics. The Tundra Orcs look to heighten the factor of chance by making them incredibly powerful if the dice happen to go your way. The Phoenix Elves eschew chance wherever they can, lowering their overall potential to rely more heavily on consistency. Well, there is another way to battle luck and that is in being prepared and being well equipped. Cost effectiveness is a key part of the Cave Goblins: they are near universally cheap so you aren’t as reliant on getting kills to keep your economy flowing and the cards hitting the table. Then you have the Filth which take the opposite route of cost effectiveness; everything they put to the table is far stronger than the investment you made. The weakness shared between the two was that, should your strategies fail, you are delivering a stronger chance for victory to your opponent. In the case of the Cave Goblins, you’ve littered the field with a mass of one health units ready to be picked off and used as fuel for their more powerful champions or commons. For the Filth, your units are fewer but reward twice as much economy when they fall making their deaths double the reward for your foe.

For the most part, this has worked better for the Filth than the Cave Goblins. By naturally being better units, their cards are harder for the enemy to clear and thus their negative is less likely to occur. Furthermore, the Filth are perhaps the most versatile faction in the entire game. And being able to change course or adapt to any strategy or situation is powerful in every strategic competition. It is this versatility that, no doubt, left it so the mutation mechanic remained firmly in the hands of the Filth and the few mutations in the Cave Filth deck are not transferable to Cave Goblins. It’s a lot easier to contain these strengths when they’re rife in only one faction than two.

Humourously, the one place where the original Filth truly struggled was in the champion department. Because their mutations served as essentially mini-champions, their full fledged champions were some of the worst available. The Cave Goblins, however, have some of the best champions in the game. Naturally, the union between the two bred some unholy monster that is between the Filth’s power and the Cave Goblins low cost. Truly, the Filth have no weaknesses now.

There is a slight temperance to this declaration. The alliance between the Cave Goblins and the Filth is anything but a mutual tryst. There’s a clear imbalance in power expressed through the flavour of the cards. It’s very clear the Filth are in control and the Cave Goblins are little more than subjugates to a rather enterprising and ruthless leader known simply as The Warden. With his introduction, Summoner Wars has a new mechanic called the Prison Pile. This pile, functionally, is no different than the magic pile save that it can not directly be used for paying the cost of units or abilities. The Warden, as the master of the prisons, can transform one prisoner a turn into magic. It’s a slow drip reminiscent of the Demagogue’s mutation cycling. But do not be mistaken–this isn’t a true economic advantage. The Warden isn’t a late game powerhouse because if he’s left alone he’ll have one of the highest economy engines in the game. In fact, I’d argue he’s more of a mid-game terror. His greatest uses of prison pile shenanigans are performed through events. Otherwise, that pile is solely for the use of those aforementioned champions. When played correctly, there is no waste in the efficient if brutal penitentiary scheme.

That’s a large if, of course. If you’re unfamiliar with the Demagogue and Filth mechanics, you’re apt to perform poorly. The Filth, by design, require you to have a very thorough knowledge of both your deck and the potential of your opponent. It’s the highest skilled deck offered in the game and it’s because the faction holds the answer to any situation. You simply need to know what that answer is. The Demagogue makes applying the proper course easy with his “free” tutoring ability. The Warden, however, is much more difficult. He doesn’t have any way to call what he needs to his hand so he’s reliant on his card draw and knowing what he’ll be burning through his deck to try and retrieve.

But once you know how all your cards interact and you learn the major combinations that are achievable, playing the Warden is very similar to being a master maestro before a symphony. You can make all the pieces sing in perfect harmony and your performance will be absolutely overwhelming for your opponent that you’ll be nigh unstoppable. Much like the Deep Benders, I have no good go-to strategy for defeating the Warden other than attack hard and fast in the early game and hope that his deck draw leaves him crippled long enough for you to score the winning blow.

Just don’t expect that to happen often.

The Warden (1R-9W-Ruthless Tyrant)

Alright, let’s talk about the Warden. There’s no skirting around it. This guy is strong. Nine health is found nowhere else amongst the other summoners in the game. And this is for good reason. Summoner’s health is basically the “difficulty” of the game–in a very simplistic sense. As the only determinant for victory is the death of the opposing summoner, the number of wounds required to accomplish this can generally give you an idea of your opponent’s plan. Most low life summoners must stay in the back and direct from afar. Those of four or five life can very easily lose the game in one round. Assassination is a real and present threat for them. Four life in particularly can drop to one single card in a large number of factions, should your dice be agreeable. Consequently, the summoners that play close and hard with their front lines are generally of higher health and strength to compensate for the fact your opponent will have an easier time getting cards and wounds on him.

The Warden shirks this trend. He is ranged. He is hearty. He only has one attack so you won’t even see him try and get into the fray. On its own, I find the one attack-nine health stat line very interesting. I think it can work in a different situation. But in a faction as powerful as the Filth, it is very, very strong. The Demagogue isn’t one of the best summoners for no reason. And his only true weakness is early aggression. If the Demagogue can survive the early game with his six health, he stands a very real probability of taking the match. There are two things that make the Demagogue weak to early pressure, however. First, he only has two cards on the board at the beginning and both have one life a piece. Second, his Mutagist power eats up an attack so he weakens his defence by using it.

 The Warden doesn’t have this issue. His ability triggers without the sacrifice of a move or attack. He’s ranged, so he can contribute to fights at a distance and reduce the number of attacks that come his way. His starting line-up is very durable with a total nine health spread across the barrier of four units in front of him. His only downside is that half of his prisoners start on the field. They’re his only 0 cost option in the deck and those first early turns are going to leave you scrambling to get an economy going. The Warden is truly helpless if he doesn’t have any resources. He needs a magic pile to summon. He needs a prison pile to fuel his living shields and champions and he needs a discard pile to play his subjugations.

He does have an economy engine, though nowhere near as potent as the Demagogue. The Cave Filth are more similar to the Deep Benders in that their economy is driven through powerful events. Subjugation can generate six magic for the Warden which is two more than the Deep Bender Unlock. Enlist, especially if used for a carefully placed mutation, can save anywhere between 2 to 4 magic. It’s not great but it’s an advantage which is made all the greater when you consider that mutations–your priority for getting out on the cheap or free–are already cheaper than anything comparable in other factions.

Also, unlike the rest of the factions, all of the Warden’s events are really good. The only reason you won’t play a Cave Filth event is if you simply can’t trigger its requirements within a reasonable number of turns. Unholy Sacrifice is fantastic as it can wipe the board of troublesome, hard to reach single health units. It can also wound champions and has no range. It does cost you three prisoners to do max damage, however, so it requires that you’ve put in some work. Enlist, as mentioned, can pull out mutations for free but first you need the mutation in your prison pile–a feat unlikely to occur without the use of Subjugation. Overwork has good synergy with Enlist if you already have a wounded mutation on the field that you’d like out again. However, keep in mind that Enlisting mutations requires you to have a common in your discard to mutate which adds yet another requirement to a finicky power.

Living Shield is perhaps the event I build the most since your prisoners quickly become valuable resources. However, Living Shield can block a lot of damage and is great for protecting The Warden when he gets into trouble. This situation isn’t as frequent as you’d expect, however, since that nine health block is insane to eat through. If you suspect that your opponent is running some incredibly high attack options, though, Living Shield will see that you win champion exchanges. Or really any exchanges. At the cost of one prisoner, you can nullify all damage from that one source.

So, with all these strengths, it’s hard not to feel that the nine health on the Warden is just extraneous. Other strong summoners usually see a direct counterbalance to their power through the risk in being assassinated. The Warden laughs at puny attempts to snipe him from the backlines. Working one unit beside him is not enough. On average, you’re looking at needing around 13 to 14 dice to kill the Warden. That’s a lot of dice. And as someone who has to fight against him, it feels like a lot. The single attempt to balance this enormous health pool was to given him the lowest attack value of all summoners but I find that in practice this means very little. As I said, I like how unique and different this stat-line is and am curious how it can shape and affect play. However, it was simply unneeded for someone with the power the Warden already wields. It feels like a mistake for him.

Regardless, the Warden has it so opponents simply have to deal with it. As a consequence, you can play pretty aggressively or carelessly with the Warden. He can be up at the front of your forces, redirecting optimistic hits and easing pressure off your units. He’ll breeze easily through the early game and really stands no chance of dying in that period. Thus, the Warden is practically assured that he’ll hit the point in the game when he’s strongest. Then it’s just a question of how fortunate the draws and dice have treated you to that point. If you haven’t had horrible luck, you’ve likely won.

Prisoner (1M-2W-oM-Unwilling)

The Cave Filth only have two commons and the Prisoner is set up to be the core of the Warden’s forces. Except, you start with most of them on the board. The one thing I noticed with playing the Warden was that he has the opposite problem of the Demagogue. The original Filth summoner had way too many commons in his deck that you just don’t know what to do with all your zealots and cultists. The Warden has too few. After the first few are killed, either through the opponent’s rushing or your own attempts to cull the herd to get an economy going, you’ll be scouring for the rest. On one hand, having only four in the draw pile makes Unwilling an actual negative for a summoner who would otherwise be nonplussed for having a free prison addition. Frequently you’ll be scrambling to get your defences set while balancing your economy and need that prisoner out to accomplish something. Invariably, that prisoner will refuse on those moments. Then, when you want them to stay in the cell, they’re suddenly full of enthusiasm to cover your walls.

Outside of having too few of them, they’re a pretty decent unit. Their stats are the best you can possibly get for no magic investment. Unlike the Filth commons, however, I find they very rarely serve as mutation platforms. Most of my prisoners live and die naked since you’re not likely to have so much magic floating around that you can afford to hard summon your mutations. As such, I find that a lot of the time they’re not really worth whipping. The extra attack typically isn’t worth sacrificing the unit to your opponent as magic. I’d only recommend whipping if you can snag a worthy enemy unit for your prison pile or score a valuable two wounds against a key target. Otherwise, use them to eat some attacks and try to get them into your own cells. You need all the subservient suckers you can get.

Taskmaster (1M-3W-2M-Whip)

Whip it good.

Taskmasters are good but, oddly enough, not particularly important to the Cave Filth. Which is funny because both the Cave Goblins and Demagogue would love to include them and I find I build the suckers for magic more often than not. For Frick, Taskmasters are the best way to get Oafs into three dice territory. For Demagogue, I can imagine you getting some ridiculous assassination options set up through whipping Winged and Bestial mutations. Furthermore, I find I need some early units to spend magic on in order to jump start the Demagogue’s Mutagist rotation and taskmasters are the hardiest options now available.

For the Warden, however, you’re going to have a hand filled with amazing cards and when something has to go, the taskmaster is always the first on the chopping block. His low attack also makes him so unappealing when compared to your mutations. And since the Warden is struggling for his economy, he generally wants to be focusing more on his prisoners anyway. As for Whip itself, I find the setup to be pretty awkward. Don’t get me wrong, you can get some units into positions they shouldn’t have any right being in but generally you’ll get one whip off with a master and then sort of meander around with him pointlessly until he dies.

But this just demonstrates how ridiculously good everything the Warden has when taskmasters are considered his immediate go-to for magic creation.

Hester (0M-6W-4M-Prison Lord)

Holy cow, I love Hester!

This is my favourite card in the box. I don’t know if I’ve said it before but I mean it here. I love Hester. He’s insane. I played him every time I was the Cave Filth. I never once regretted it. For four magic, he’s a steal and he comes with six health. His zero attack is never zero when you’re the Warden and can stuff every kill into the prison–and I almost universally stuff every kill into my prison. Even better, this guy is fantastic if you get your Subjugations around him. Two Subjugations give him a total 3 attack. His mechanic is nearly the same as Leah Goodwin but, unlike Leah, he has no ceiling to how high his attack can increase. I’ve had a six attack Hester rampaging across the board and it’s been fantastic!

That said, I can’t comment on Hester without mentioning the other champions. Don’t think that you can’t run multiples; you can and should include Scabbicus, The Soul Eater or both in your deck. However, don’t put them on the field at the same time. There’s nothing more frustrating than seeing your other champions slowly draining Hester of his power. Hester’s meant to come out at the mid game, be absolutely monstrous and terrifying, inflict way more damage than a four magic champion should, and then be retired. Then you pull out your other big baddie to use up the prison pile you spent all your time dutifully building. Thus, every last scrap of magic is efficiently utilized amongst the three different piles you juggle.

And don’t forget that this guy is four magic. He’ll routinely ruin six or seven magic champions, can tear down walls like Hulk or simply run rampant amongst the enemy commons. He’s a beast and once you learn to feed him properly then you’re probably on the right track to having a masterful grasp of the Cave Filth.

Scabbicus (3M-7W-4M-Revolt)

Yet another four magic champion? No deck has this cheap of an offering outside of Frick and Frick has to cheat and use a 1 ranged attack 0 cost champion to compete. Scabbicus is another great card for his price. His ability is entirely negative so the only investment you have with him is in his very powerful attack and health numbers. I never really felt I was getting as much mileage out of Scabbicus but on the other hand, I was always playing him to die anyway. I’d actually prefer his ability if I had the choice to discard or not but then again, I’d always allow Scabbicus to take the extra wound. He’s basically Ugg from the Tundra Orcs but with one less attack and health but more survivable and for two less magic. So play him like Ugg. Try to keep the number of people that can attack him a round to a minimum. Don’t be afraid to let him take a lot of damage and perish. In fact, I’ll throw Scabbicus to the floor if I don’t even have any prisoners and he’s unique amongst the available champions in that he functions all the same if your prison is empty. He’ll just go down, on average, one turn sooner than if you had the prisoners to pay for his revolt.

As a side note about Revolt, if he dies to the wound from its ability, you get him back as magic. It’s just a small boost that usually doesn’t come up but if it does feel free to smile smugly at your enemy as you reclaim the heroic little goblin.

The Soul Eater (3M-8W-6M-Feed it Souls)

The Soul Eater is also incredible. Seriously, I’d be over the moon to have but one of these champions in a deck. Having all three simply feels greedy. At the very least, you can be more discerning in their use. For me, this means I’m setting up huge prisons for Hester. Scabbicus I’m pitching whenever I have the opportunity and he won’t trip over Hester’s toes. I’ll reserve Scabbicus and beeline for Soul Eater if the enemy is going common heavy.

The Soul Eater is basically the Cave Goblin Eater but on crack. Mutant, Lovecraftian crack, I suppose. His ability is great, assuming you can wield it properly. This is why I recommend this guy against common heavy play and suggest shelving him otherwise. It’s basically a fourth attack you can have per turn but one that will always murder. Once you kill two or so enemies this way, however, expect your opponent to stop dropping commons to the table. This is where having Hester come out first and already be dead is a boon. You must feed the eater and you will drain your prison pile. He the most wounds of your champions which means he’ll be around a little longer but he doesn’t have the flexibility of being a viable option if you don’t have a lot of prisoners and the enemy isn’t dropping commons. Unlike the Cave Goblin version, you don’t have the deck to support the Soul Eater’s addiction with your own minions. There’s actually been a few times where I’d rather the Soul Eater just wandered off rather than nullify my chances of being able to play my yet-to-be-drawn Living Shields but, alas, the troubles of uncooperative draws.

The Soul Eater is still a steal even though you’re paying two more magic for basically one more health when compared to Scabbicus. However, if you can get some auto-kills through his feasting, you’ve paid off the difference in spades.

Barbed Mutant (2M-4W-3M-Assault)

The Cave Filth have a lot to cover because they include the Filth’s mutations. As a quick explanation for how mutations work, in order to play a mutation you must summon them on a common that you control. The mutation then “replaces” the unit you had and overrides everything about that unit save the wounds it was inflicted. So, in theory, mutations are more expensive than they’re printed because you need to factor in the cost for what they’re mutating. In practice, both the Filth and Cave Filth have ways to either subsidize this cost or ignore it altogether through events. Also, both decks feature 0 cost commons as summoning bases. The only negative is that whoever gets the kill claims both cards as magic but you can auto-kill your own troops and get them back so, if you’re careful, you can mitigate basically all the drawbacks. You just need to make sure you have someone to mutate.

As such, near all mutations are one magic cheaper than you’d normally spend for their stats. Also, all mutations come with a good ability so you aren’t even mutating into, say, a useless Sand Goblin Scavenger.

This explanation is required for the Barbed Mutant because I consider this guy one of the worst mutations. So when I say it’s bad, you know the point of reference. The reason I’m not fussed about this guy is that he’s pretty expensive for a mutation. His ability is unlikely to trigger, especially since it’s designed against common rushes and you’ve got the Soul Eater as a better investment. Two attack is pretty low–for a mutation–and he has no movement or scary power. These guys are basically mini-champions but have the unfortunate issue of actually being measured against the Cave Filth’s amazing champions. And for one more magic I can have Hester or Scabbicus.

Bone Mutant (3M-4W-4M-Bone Shard)

Now this is a good mutation. It provides something that you’re desperately missing in the base Cave Filth deck: ranged attacks. And the bone mutant covers that with an astonishing three ranged! As a point of comparison, the Deep Benders and Sand Cloaks are paying the same for Kendre and Fink respectively and at the same price point. And the bone mutant has one more health! Alright, so if you’re actually using his ranged option, you’re bringing his health down but even still, he’s amazing. This is the guy you want to enlist and then after he’s taken a bit of a beating, overwork and then enlist again. Getting that four magic saving is always a plus but if you’re spending for it through hard currency, he becomes a lot less enticing. Once again, comparing to Hester and Scabbicus, he has significantly less health though the same attack value.

Bone shards do often catch your opponent off guard, though, so don’t forget that you can make him an archer. Your opponent likely will.

Burrow Mutant (4M-3W-3M-Burrow)

The Burrow Mutant is actually one I’m apt to spend cold, hard magic on summoning. For three magic he’s on the cheaper end for mutations. More importantly, however, is his four attack coupled with his burrow power. Generally speaking, I try to get a taskmaster or prisoner near a beefy target that they aren’t going to kill. If they survive the encounter, you can toss the burrow mutant on top of them and have a surprise four dice to pummel in their face. Being able to pass through units means you can sometimes get an unexpected two dice on a summoner as well, if they’re not being careful. He’s also good for refunding prior mutations since, once again, you want him against his intended target without having to move him. The burrow quickly reduces his effectiveness when you use it.

Other than that, I’m not too concerned when he dies. He’s sort of a surprise, one trick pony and I run him as such. Because Enlist places the target beside your summoner, I generally don’t bother using this guy for that unless I’ve put the Warden far ahead on the battlefield. Which, you know, is a viable strategy since the Warden has nine freaking health!

Grotesque Mutant (1M-4W-3M-Cowering Fear)

Another mutation that I’m apt to magic purchase, I find the Grotesque Mutant is a pretty niche option. He’s great if you’re under early pressure and you get him early. He helps to start that prison that you’ll be reliant upon late in the game. With only one attack, he’s basically a mobile mini-wall. I don’t usually bother even attacking with him unless I don’t have anyone else to use the attack. The great thing is he’ll often be successful as a rather annoying speed bump because the moment your opponent has lost a two magic or higher common to cowering fear is the moment they’ll hate this guy’s guts and divert resources to wiping the board of him.

That said, if you don’t pick this guy up early, he’s pretty darn useless. As such, he’s probably more effective in a Demagogue deck that wants to build a prison pile–as strange a concept as that is.

Legion Mutant (0M-1W-0M-Merge Flesh)

I don’t like the Legion Mutant. His biggest problems is that he’s such a resource sink for a regular champion. You can turn him into a five attack, six health champion which certainly has the highest base attack in the game. However, you’re looking at putting four magic into this plus your mutation target. Also, you can’t skirt any of this cost through your events. Granted this is four magic but, once again, at four magic I can buy Scabbicus and Hester. And while I’ll praise Hester and Scabbicus to high heaven and back, the reason the legion falls in comparison is that losing him is a big deal. Hester and Scabbicus, when they die (and they will die), only forfeit one magic to your opponent. The Legion is giving them a six magic point swing. Basically, when Legion drops, there’s a mad rush between you and your enemy over who can kill him the fastest. This draws away from the strength of champions–disposable murder machines. The one time I did play Legion I was successful in obtaining the killing blow so I didn’t lose anything from the experience however I had to play him far more conservatively than I would have with the other options available.

But hey, if you want to roll the dice, he’s fun in an Abomination, I-shouldn’t-play-this-card-but-I’m-going-to-anyway fashion. Oh, he also empties your prison pile. So really, his best use is at the end game as the last card to play when your opponent can’t benefit from a six magic swing and you have nothing relying on that prison pile in the first place. So, yeah, if you can get him as your last card of the match and you have four prisoners just lying around, he’s super incredible. Otherwise, I just don’t want to run the liability.

Poison Mutant (2M-3W-2M-Poisoned Sting)

Oh, poison mutant. Why on earth did they give the Filth the chance to have poison markers? The Filth were already incredible as it is.

Poison markers are like super wounds that make anything afflicted with them slower and more likely to miss. They’re a super anti-champion mechanic. Prior to this, the Filth sort of didn’t have a lot of options against really powerful champions. Ignoring, of course, the age old tradition of just pounding in their face. Well, now they can slap some poison wounds onto something you don’t like and call it a day.

For the Cave Filth, the poison mutant actually ends up ranking rather low. Since you have Scabbicus, Living Shield and other options for straight up murder, the poison mutant doesn’t feel necessary. And at three health, he’s not really a long living option either. He’s two magic though, so being cheap as dirt can see him come out just so you have a two attack option to upgrade your commons. I wouldn’t enlist him unless it’s specifically to take out a major threat, however.

This is mostly just an example of “the powerful get more power” type of deal than anything else.

As you can see, it’s no wonder the Cave Filth took the tournament. Even their worst cards would be considered many a faction’s best. Their prison pile, while can sometimes feel like an unnecessary extra step, doesn’t hold them back in any real way and gives them even more powerful abilities under the assumption that inconvenience will balance it out. I think the Warden is one of the few alliances that actually stands a chance against the top decks in the entire game as well. The combination of amazing champions coupled with the general Filth mutation mechanic is enough to put anyone into a top contender position. The fact that the Warden has such strong synergy between a lot of his components is just icing on the cake.

That said, if there was one thing I’d change about the deck, it’s getting more 0 cost commons into it. Mutations can take the spot of a champion or common, though, so getting the optimum number of each is much more doable with the Cave Filth. Though, unlike the Filth, you’re not likely going to give up on your champions here. You will, however, probably squeeze in that horror and winged mutant. Just watch out for the Demagogue. He won’t like your insubordination and, as the master of mutations, I’m not certain the Cave Filth’s champions can overcome his ability to take your best units from you and then utilize them to such a higher degree than you could.

Everyone else, however, is apt to bow their knee before your superiority. All hail the Warden and watch as the world becomes subjugated beneath your ruthless and indomitable spirit. You are the great general, oh fearsome tyrant, so relish in your conquest!