Competitve Talk - Objects, where do they truly shine?
Hello realmrunners and welcome back!
With the upcoming launch of new boosters for Chapter 1 which, I suspect, will also have with it an updated Realm Rift draft model; Objects will soon become much more in the limelight than they currently are. So this got me thinking - every realm has its own way that Objects are important to it and how each one interacts with them is very different across the lot so I thought I’d take a bit more of a dive into what each one looks for currently and the stand-out ones, for me, from each realm.
Realmless
Let’s start with the section relevant to every realm - the realmless Objects, known as the Realm Relics, that have a few shining stars among them.
Cintimani Stone - You either love it or love to hate it. I’ve already done an article going into the details of why this Object is so infamous here. There’s nothing much more to add really, if your Palette only plays a single Object, chances are it’s this one right here.
Club of Dagda - Getting the honourable mention here; a solid Object that offers a near-permanent boost so your Character even against Poisonous Characters with less than 4 Strength, provided it survives combat. However it’s main role in recent history has been enabling infinite loops where, provided neither Character involved in the combat is taking damage due to Protection or something similar, it allows you to infinitely attack and gain shards.
Dyrnwyn - An underdog of the Realm Relics, as far as I’m concerned; between it’s decent boost of 4 to both Strength and Shard Value along with it being a more permanent enabler for Location removal, it’s definitely one of the more aggressive of them. In a more limited format like Realm Rift, you may find this is a fantastic answer to troublesome Locations.
Jamshid Orb - A not so hugely played one that can make a big impact in the right situation. I often find myself using this in conjunction with other cards like Dexter Master of Dragons or Materno to create a wall of Protection that requires more specific abilities to remove. It can also simply provide a generic way to give your most important Character Protection but otherwise it’s definitely seen as more of a combo piece.
The other 4 Realm Relics have yet to have any real time to shine as their applications are quite limited at the moment, however Brisingamen, Golden Apple of Eris, Mask of Mysterium and Serpent’s Ring may yet find their place. I myself am keeping a close eye on what the latter can do, with it being a realmless cloning card.
Salum
When it comes to Salum there's a glaringly obvious synergy regarding Objects within the realm; the well renowned Hex Clunker which is able to pull an Object from either your Palette or your Dregs and play it completely for free, which leads to some absolutely bonkers plays and a very resilient strategy on the competitive scene. But which Objects go best with it from within the realm?
Achrom Converter - A real stand-out card for me within Salum's current card pool; attaching to a Location, rather than a Character, makes it a tougher one to Erase and it instantly threatens most boards by getting rid of a card every turn for free while also providing a small amount of steal as well.
Delilah’s Cauldron - If your Palette is very heavily Action focused this Object can be very powerful; it turns already strong actions like Fireball, Dark Rainbow or Tempest into interaction that you can use on an opponent’s turn, for free to boot, which can cause some powerful reactionary plays.
Alchemist's Tincture - An incredibly flexible card, in terms of an Object. With it's ability, once you take into account its resolve, you're essentially only paying a single shard for the next Object in your Palette. This makes this card an incredible value piece, especially if you build your Palette in such a way that you can deploy Objects that are usually much more expensive, for far cheaper, as well as potentially being able to do so during your opponent's turn thanks to the nature of Dispose which opens up other combos and interactions.
Corrupted Muon Trap - A really infamous Object from Salum, although it's utilised more for the fact that it's Character interaction than the fact it's an Object, nevertheless its still a very relevant one.
Draco
Going over to the Draco realm now and, although there's no specific focus from a particular archetype or keyword currently for Objects within this realm, they all have a couple of themes between a lot of them; providing value, especially when related to the Sacrifice keyword and assisting with combat through enabling Defend or Poisonous.
Hularla's Ice Spear / Ring of Ice - Both these Objects bestow the keyword Defend on the equipped Character which, with the boost they provide, can make combat very difficult to navigate for your opponent which allows you to protect weaker Characters. The former also provides a decent resolve to boot which justifies it taking up a rare slot in your Palette.
Ornithopter - A rather unique Object from among all of the realms; it plays like a standard Object initially but upon it being Erased it can then be re-equipped but to a Location instead. Given it's healthy resolve this makes it a very interesting option that you can use more aggressively than most other Objects in the game due to this extra life it has.
Heavy Tome - Between it having Research 1 on the card itself and its other ability to allow you a free add of a card from Research once per turn, its basically supplying you with extra draw power. Further to this, if the Character you have equipped with this Object is ever threatened with being Erased, you can use its Dispose effect to grab any other card that has the keyword Research on it, which can conveniently also include another copy of itself.
Sacrificial Ovoo / Stolen Dragon Egg - Both focused on getting more value out of your Sacrifice cards; the former doubles up on your effect while the latter adds a solid 3 steal ability on top which can be a real game-winner in the right moment.
Spirata
Spirata has always had a subtle subtheme of Object support since the initial set, The Fall of Flutterby. This was given further support with the release of The Secrets of Spirata as we saw Morag, Sorrono, The First Mechanical Pixie, Thrash and several other cards that all give extra benefits to, or get more from, Objects. So it's not surprising that there's a good variety of abilites within Objects from this realm.
Achrom Corrupter - Quite an underdog within Spirata; giving your Characters the ability to Erase any Character or Location when they simply go to attack can make even your smallest ones a major threat as it can completely bend the rules of standard combat or you can start going 2-for-1 whenever you attack with a single Character.
Circlet of Dovetail / Painter’s Goggles - Both provide you with draw power, especially the latter of the two which is repeatable as long as you Splat it every turn. The former, while only triggering when you deploy it, has a natural steal resolve tagged on.
Dr Hue’s Labcoat - The strongest possible Object stat line at 6 Strength and Shard Value and it’s an Uncommon! This one has so much flexibility; you can use it as great Trade fodder, to massively boost your Characters; stop any stealing or draining for a turn, protecting your shard bank, which can be done cheaper through Factory Production Line, and it also instantly gives you the maximum possible resolve off of Blueprint Swirl.
Contaminated Ballistics Belt / Wing Clipper - Unlike most Objects, these are designed to be put onto your opponent's Characters to stop them attacking or, in the case of the latter, being able to resolve at all. The former also adds a constant cost to the attached Character which means, since it prevents it attacking, your opponent is forced to remove it by other means, therefore wasting interaction they could use on your cards.
Norso
Torstein’s Gauntlet - Tougher to remove, without Erasing the Character its attached to. On top of that, the bigger presence of Characters and Locations you have on your Canvas, the bigger its resolve gets, much like Detective Huxon in Salum and Wincey Rustwhether in Spirata.
Corrupted Orium - Another card designed to be placed on an opponent’s Character: not only does this one prevent them from attacking but also adds to the cost of every card they play as well.
Lacringi Catapult - A cheap Object that comes with a flexible way of removing cards; you can Erase any card with 2 shards or less or soften up a bigger Character for you to take out with a weaker one.
Orium Diamond - One to use as a little boost for your shard bank, very similar in how the Actions Abudance of Quintessence and Full Palette function in their respective realms.
Siv’s Shield - Another Object that gives the attached Character Defend, with the added bonus of also applying Shield Wall 2 to your Canvas as well as Protection for itself making it harder to remove.
That's all from me for now guys - if you want to pick up any of the product currently available on the Achroma website, don't forget to use the code ACHROMACRAIG10 when you checkout for 10% off your purchase!
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