Last week we saw the wonderful events Ret-Talus is packing in the new Summoner Wars. But the combo train doesn’t stop there. Now, I prefaced this faction with my belief it was the strongest in the box. But it’s hard to untangle bias from judgment. And I will say, I’m one of those players that enjoys complicated plays with cascading effects. 

To be fair, however, it’s easy to get lost in the “best case scenario” of combos while ignoring how a card works in the majority of plays. So I’ll try and keep focused on Ret-Talus’ units base strength while supplementing with fun little combos that they enable. 

First up is the Undead Warrior. These guys play into the Fallen Kingdom theme of death, gaining boost tokens for each unit which is destroyed on your turn. Each boost token on this unit increases its strength by 1. This is kind of how the old Summoner Wars Dinky worked… in a sense. They’re best at attacking last in your turn to capitalize on early kills. And since they start at 2 strength (and 4 health), it’s not too complicated to get them up to the coveted 3 strength on a melee unit. And all for 2 magic! And the more things you kill before they swing, the better they get! Their base stats are pretty good, all things considered. That their ability plays so nicely with Ret-Talus’ sacrifice events is even better. To note, Undead warriors get stronger whenever any unit is destroyed which includes yours! Though you do want to use them right away because those boosts will decay at the end of your turn.

They can also be brought back from the graveyard with Ret-Talus’ ability. 

But let’s talk about destroying your own units.

We say that purge gives you decent benefit for denying your opponent magic. And the undead warrior appreciates those same sacrifices. But who do you give up for the greater good?

Why the Cultist of course. These babies are free! And ranged! And 2 strength! Cave Goblin slingers are looking a little worried. But even better, the cultist deals 1 auto wound to each enemy adjacent to them when they’re destroyed.

So, yeah, combos. Cultists love being purged. That’s three assured wounds! But they also leave parting gifts against enemy melee units too even if you aren’t able to purge them. They’re great targets for hellforged weapons as well as the cursed blades can cause them to pop after their attack. The only downside with these guys is that you can’t recycle them. They’re also the only non-undead unit in the faction. Which, given their utility for their cost, is fully justifiable. They’re so good, even with deck building, you may not even want to remove them from the deck. 

Next we have the Undead Archer. This unit is interesting as it gives a pretty decent mobile ranged attack for the Fallen Kingdom. Granted, we’re not talking about Breaker levels of mobility but all things considered, it’s pretty good reach. They’re undead, so Ret-Talus can raise them. They’re 3 strength so they pack a decent punch. But the best part is that whenever a unit is destroyed within 3 spaces of them on your turn, you can move them to that space. Purges can jump them before they take their movement. Alternatively, they can pop into blocker spots giving you a shot at defending summoners! All in all, pretty solid for 2 magic!

Last but not least are my favourite Fallen Kingdom unit. 

The Undead Carrier is a hands down most improved unit from old Summoner Wars. The old zombie was so cumbersome and so low impact that you would never be living your walking dead fantasies. Getting a single infect felt like a herculean feat. Thankfully, 2 strength melee is far more reliable for killing. Them as a starting unit plus the new graveyard rules means greater reliability for having them in the graveyard for infections. 

But perhaps the single best part of the Undead Carrier is that they can infect themselves!

That’s right, you can destroy your own carrier with a carrier to bring that carrier back with full 3 health. It’s delightfully scummy and makes the Fallen Kingdom truly frightful in the late game. Trading carriers for enemy units is great as you grind out your opponent’s cards. Ret-Talus can just sacrifice some life to raise one carrier who can, in turn, infect another until your opponent is dragged down by a horde of these returning monsters.

Granted, the carriers do have a drawback. They don’t generate any magic on kills. Which kind of encourages you to infect your own units rather than the opponents. But, considering they cost 1 magic, you can see it more that they pay for the infection on kill. That they deny your opponent magic while healing themselves is simply divine. 

All in all, it’s a very strong common suite. 

As for the Fallen Kingdom champions, I’m a little less enthused with them. They’re not necessarily bad but they’re pretty expensive. And with two 2 magic commons, even with raising the dead, the Fallen Kingdom aren’t the cheapest faction on the block. 

Gul-Dass is perhaps my least favourite though he pairs really well with Blood Summons. His 2 strength is but a temporary downside considering he gets a bonus strength for each damage he carries. He’s great for defending for a turn before a strong counter attack. However, he hits strongest at his weakest so your opponent can more reliably eliminate him when he’s at his scariest. It’s hard to get a good champion exchange with him, in my limited experience, and with such great commons, I’m more apt to recycle carriers than try to throw Gul-Dass down. 

Dragos is fun because he gives an extra source of unit destruction on your turn which then makes his attacks hit all the harder. With 4 strength naturally, then turning specials into additional hits when you sacrifice a unit near him, he’s going to rip enemy walls, summoners and champions to shreds. You can also hop archers or strengthen warriors at the same time. Or pop a cultist. Great for those complicated combos but not too shabby on his own either. 

Finally, there’s Elut-Bal. It’s hard to ignore the original bad boy from the first run of the Fallen Kingdom. He’s… hard for me to really evaluate. On the one hand, great strength. On the other, poor health and moderately high cost. He requires a sacrifice but takes the place of the unit sacrificed. So this cancels archer shenanigans but does allow forward summoning. This just loops back to my original problem with Fallen Kingdom champions in general. They’re so expensive and the commons are so good that I find it hard to justify their use. They’re not bad. We’ve certainly seen worse.

They are an investment though and I’m not sure they would pay theirs off. All three are basically different spins on doing more damage but the faction isn’t really hurting for damage in general.

In the end, I’d kind of prefer to flood the field with carriers.