Rangers

## Overview

*Stalking through the dark, the Rangers always know what's coming next. They track their foes for as long as possible, then take them down when it matters most. Give them enough time to set up, and they can build traps too deadly for even the most clever of beasts to escape.*

Look ahead at what's coming next in various decks and use that information to your advantage. Copy effects from your cards onto other minions.

### Details

#### General

* **Name:** Rangers
* **Author:** Berryl
* **Complexity:** 3/5
* **Version:** 1.3
* **Last Updated:** 9/27/2023

### Breakdown

Rangers have the standard 10 minions and 10 actions, and the standard 30 total minion power or an average minion power of 3 . Among their actions, they have:

* 3 play-on-minion actions: 2x Hunter's Mark, Barkskin
* 2 play-on-base actions: 2x Favored Terrain
* 5 standard actions, all of which directly affect one or more minions: Camoflauge, Beast Bond, Critical Hit, Hail of Thorns, Cordon of Arrows

### Minions (10)

* **1x Beastmaster (5):** Talent: Play an action that directly affects a minion off the top of your deck. Ongoing: Once per turn, when a standard action or talent directly affects a minion here, you may choose another minion here to be affected the same way.
* **2x Interceptor (4):** Place an Energy on this minion. Talent: Remove an Energy from this minion, then reveal the top two cards of any player’s deck. You may choose a revealed minion for its controller to play here immediately.
* **3x Hunter (3):** Reveal the top two cards of your deck. You may play or draw a revealed action. Return the rest to the top or bottom of your deck in any order.
* **4x Informant (2):** Place two Energy on this minion. Talent: Remove an Energy from this minion to look at the top three cards of any deck and return them in any order.

### Actions (10)

* **2x Hunter’s Mark:** Play on a minion. Place an Energy on this card. Ongoing: If this is another player’s minion, after a talent or standard action directly affects another minion here, you may have this minion be affected the same way. At the start of your turn or after this minion leaves play, you may remove an Energy from this card to transfer it to another minion.
* **2x Favored Terrain:** Play on a base. Talent: Move one of your minions to or from here.
* **1x Camouflage:** Choose a base. Place one of your minions there on the bottom of your deck. For each minion affected by this, play an extra minion there from your discard pile. Increase that base’s breakpoint by the power of minions played this way until the start of your turn.
* **1x Beast Bond:** Place an Energy on one of your minions. For each minion affected by this, its controller plays an extra minion of power 3 or less there off the top of their deck.
* **1x Critical Hit:** Choose a minion, say “minion” or “action,” then reveal the top two cards of your deck. If both revealed cards are of the named type, destroy that minion. Special: Before a base scores, play this card.
* **1x Hail of Thorns:** Give one of your minions +3 power until the end of the turn. Shuffle this card into your deck.
* **1x Barkskin:** Play on a minion. Talent: Place an action from your discard pile on the bottom of your deck OR until the start of your turn, this minion has -2 power.
* **1x Cordon of Arrows:** If a card has been played from outside a player’s hand this turn, give each of your minions +2 power until the end of the turn. Special: Before a base scores, instead use the talent of one of your cards there.

### Bases

* **(21) Wild Forest (4 2 1):** Before this base scores, starting with the active player, each player with a minion here plays a random minion from their discard pile here.
* **(16) Dark Thicket (4 3 2):** Cancel the abilities of minions here not played or moved to here this turn.

## Clarifications

* **Beastmaster:** Actions which can only be played in phase 3 do not count for this card's talent, as they would simply be discarded if not played with their own special ability.
* **Interceptor, Beast Bond:** If another player plays a minion this way, it is under their control, not yours.
* **Camouflage:** If this places another player's minion on the bottom of your deck, it does go to your deck, because this clarification says so.
* **Cordon of Arrows:** Playing Cordon of Arrows from outside your hand counts for fulfilling its condition.

## Strategy

### General

Rangers need to know what's coming in their deck and others' decks before they act. Many of their cards, including most of their minions and Critical Hit, require knowledge of your deck to be used to their fullest potential. The primary source of this is the Informants, who have limited uses of their talent due to the Energy cost. Use the Energy wisely, but don't be afraid to use it once the turn you play it, because sometimes that might be the only chance you get to use it. Since it looks at three cards, you can see what you'll draw at the end of your turn and what your top card will be next turn, or you can do the same for your opponent. You can even dictate which bases come out for the foreseeable future.

Rangers' strategy is very flexible, being able to pivot between solos and waste strategies on a dime with cards like Interceptor and Beast Bond. They have both Critical Hit and (potentially) Camouflage as uncapped removal, meaning mild opponent presence is very unsafe for them. The copying cards Beastmaster and Hunter's Mark make all of this even scarier, as you could potentially kick off even heavy opponent presence in phase 3, or cause extreme amounts of waste with Beast Bond.

### Partner Suggestions

Rangers are very generalist, and most factions will work fine with them. They offer some movement, a good amount of removal, power boosts, phase 3 manipulation, and information control, so anybody who wants or benefits from those will like Rangers' kit. The copying cards will be a large source of synergy, as they have a larger purview than Disco Dancers' copying. Try to avoid partners who excessively shuffle your deck, especially on a turn-to-turn basis, as even knowing just one card from a leftover Informant charge after drawing your two for turn is very valuable to Rangers.

#### Published

* **Ghosts:** With the amount of cards Rangers can play from outside your hand, having a low hand size won't be much of an issue. Ghosts offer even more removal on top of Rangers' own, and Creampuff Man has some very juicy targets in Cordon of Arrows, Camouflage, and Beast Bond.
* **Extramorphs:** Informants will help you know what Egg Fields and Chestbreakers are turning into, and this deck has so much potential for extra minion plays that it can properly be called a swarm deck. Cordon of Arrows loves the potential to pop a Chestbreaker into a Hunter or Alien Life Form for massive swing potential in phase 3.
* **Disco Dancers:** The kings of copying, unsurprisingly, synergize well with a partner who broadens their scope even further. Hail of Thorns as a self-recurring, power-boosting action will go a long way, especially one that benefits Disco so well. Beastmaster and Dancing King have very good synergy, as the former can support the latter from afar.
* **Kitty Kats:** With the exception of Muffin, all of Cats' stealing effects can be copied by Rangers for permanent control. Rangers can use Kats' stalling to set up, but still keep the game moving with their ability to add power. Throw in a dash of destruction with Cat Fight and Nine Lives, and Camouflage to stash stolen minions, and this deck quickly starts to look oppressive.
* **Sharks:** Great White is a talent that Hunter's Mark and Beastmaster can copy - both the movement and the destruction, potentially. Any opponent presence will become slippery with all of the removal this deck has to offer.

## Author Notes

Rangers had a bit of troubled development, as early drafts of them using Marks as a copying enabler turned out to not work very well. Eventually, though, they came together into what they are now, and they flow really well.

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