Hello to you all and welcome to another of my Competitive Talk articles!
Today I want to delve into an area that people less experienced with card games might not be so familiar with but it’s something that, no matter the game is always present especially on the tournament scene - ‘Staples’.
In every card game ever created there are always certain cards that stick out as being incredibly versatile and generic in what they can do so you’ll find them appear in most, if not all, of the strongest decks within the game. Achroma is no exception to this pattern; whilst the separation of palettes into the different Realms makes wide arcing staples less frequent, within each one there are stand-out cards that I’d always be looking to fit into my palettes regardless of the overall theme of it if I was looking to make it a top tier build.
I know I’ve already talked through a few of these cards in more detail in my Card Highlight series but I thought that, as the game grows, it always helps to have something to help you understand a bit of the lingo that experienced players use.
So let’s look at each Realm individually and highlight just a few of the cards that could be regarded as staples and why this is the case.
Realmless
With Reamless cards being a thing it was only a matter of time before a couple of them exploded into the vast majority of palettes.
Cintimani Stone - Easily slots into any palette that doesn’t need all 4 of its rare slots and gives you brilliant recursion, a decent 2 steal or a 5 cost to trade if necessary.
Jamshid Orb - If you have a character thats the key to your palette, like Asa or Dexter, then this will likely be a must include.
HAIM Shard Cache - Another high value trade card that you can also deploy to get a surprise Achrom win if your opponent has left themselves low, it only being uncommon means you’ll generally find it in every competitive palette.
Salum
Dark Rainbow - High value for trading as well as being a fantastic burst of gain. The fact it curses can be relevant if your palette relies on that however, generically, it’s used for the gain.
Fireball - Cheap to deploy and able to remove almost anything that’s a threat.
Abundance of Quintessence - Essentially an instant gain 3; pushes you closer to a Chroma win or helps you deploy more cards in Achrom palettes.
Draco
Chromatic Extinction - Strong board wipe card that gives you decent card selection, or even card draw if you have the shards to spare. Although it does take up a rare slot in your palette.
Breath of Fire - Amazing control card enabling you to take out 2 targets with 1 card, also good trade fodder in a pinch.
Monastery Nest - Pays for itself on the turn its deployed, if unanswered it becomes a good source of shards.
Spirata
Carmella Traitorious - Flexible control card that you can also use to attach objects to.
Imp - A 1 drop that also draws you a card, also good object fodder if needed.
Full Palette - a 2 drop that basically gains you 4 shards as long as you have a card to deploy the Splat onto.
Norso
Samr Smash - Powerful one-sided board wipe card to really knock your opponent back.
Falling Stalactite - Allows you to deal with your opponents’ higher value characters, usually their legendary.
Orium Diamond - Great value object for any strategy. Can just be used as a gain 3, if you Dispose it after your resolve step, but the longer it’s left out the more value you get from it.
Hopefully this helps some people with the concept of what we mean when we talk about ‘staples’. These are just a few examples, there are plenty of other cards, in every chronicle, that have some very versatile applications so go have fun finding them out!
That's all from me for now guys!
Just a quick reminder for you all - we are currently in Spirata Fall Season! That means any purchase of £30 or more made on the Achroma Store will automatically have the new promo card included with their order!
If you wish to purchase any product from the Achroma website I’ve got an affiliate link that will get you 5% off your purchases. Simply follow the link below or use the code ‘antinomy93’ when you checkout.
See ya real soon folks!
Comments
Post a Comment