Geomancers

## Overview

*From mysterious marshlands to majestic mountains to scorching sands, these spellcasters feel right at home anywhere their feet are planted squarely in good old* terra firma*. They've got plenty of nasty surprises up their sleeves, too, whether causing the earth beneath their enemies' feet to give way or creating new life out of mud and stone to do their bidding. Keep your eyes on the ground when facing off against the Geomancers...you never know when it might try to spring up and swallow you whole!*

The Geomancers specialize in forcing their opponents to bury their own minions and then either drawing power from the buried cards or punishing players for uncovering them.

### Details

#### General

* Name: Geomancers
* Author: AndIQuote
* Complexity: 4.5/5
* Version: 7.0
* Last updated: January 17, 2024

#### Mechanics

* +1 Power Counters
* Base Modifiers
* Burying
* Minion Modifiers
* Movement

## Cards

Download full-sized cards in .png format here!

#### Breakdown

Geomancers have the typical 10 minions and 10 actions. Their total minion power is 30 with an average of 3 per minion. Among their actions, there are:

* 1 play-on-minion action: Earth's Strength
* 5 play-on-base actions: Bountiful Soil, Quagmire (2x), Quicksand (2x)
* 4 standard actions (2 that affect one or more minions, **in bold**): **Landslide**, **Pitfall!**, Rock 'n Roll, Terra Nova
* 1 action that directly increase a minion's power: Earth's Strength

#### Minions

* **1x Geomaster (5):** You may choose another player's minion or action on this base and have them bury it here. Ongoing: After another player's minion is uncovered, you may add its power to your total power here until the end of your turn.
* **2x Gaia Knight (4):** Ongoing: Once per turn, after a minion is played here, you may move one of your minions from here. If it was uncovered here, you may instead move one of your minions to here.
* **3x Mud Man (3):** You may bury this minion here. If you do, you may have another player with a minion of power 3 or less on this base bury it here.
* **4x Golem (2):** Ongoing: Once per turn, after another player uncovers a card here, draw a card.

#### Actions

* **1x Bountiful Soil:** Play on a base. Ongoing: After another player's card is played on this base, you may place a +1 power counter on a minion here.
* **1x Earth's Strength:** Play on a minion. Talent: This minion has +2 power for each buried card here until the end of the turn.
* **1x Landslide:** Choose up to three minions on the same base with total power equal to or less than 6 and have their controllers bury them there.
* **1x Pitfall!:** Special: Before a base scores, have a player bury one of their minions there. That card remains buried on the new base.
* **2x Quagmire:** Play on a base. Ongoing: After another player moves or plays a minion from their hand here, they must discard a card or bury that minion here without resolving its ability first.
* **2x Quicksand:** Play on a base. Have another player bury one of their minions of power 4 or less here. Ongoing: Other players cannot uncover their buried cards here at the start of their turns. They may instead uncover at the end of their turns.
* **1x Rock 'n Roll:** Choose any player and one of their cards that was buried before this turn. They must uncover it. Its abilities are canceled until the end of the turn.
* **1x Terra Nova:** Choose a base where you have a minion. Bury all other players' actions on that base there. You may swap it with the top card of the base deck (all cards remain on the new base).

#### Bases

* **(21) Mountainous Meadows (4 2 1):** Once per turn, after you play a minion here, you may bury a card from your hand here. That minion has +1 power for each buried card here until the end of the turn.

* **(30) The Mud Flats (5 3 2):** After the first time you play a minion here each turn, place a counter on this base and reduce its breakpoint by that minion's printed power plus the number of counters on this base until the end of the turn.

## Clarifications

* **Golem:** This ability is restricted to once per Golem per base in a turn. E.g., if an opposing card is uncovered on a base with two Golems, the Geomancers player will draw two cards. If one Golem has already activated its ability on one base but is moved to another base in the same turn and a card there is uncovered, its ability will trigger again.
* **Quicksand:** If you choose to have another player bury one of their minions upon playing Quicksand, it must be a minion that is already in play on Quicksand's base.

## Strategy

### General

Geomancers want their opponents to bury cards, and most of their own cards can force opponents to do so. As masters of the land, they naturally offer some area control in the form of both of their base modifiers: the two copies apiece of Quagmire and Quicksand and the single Bountiful Soil. Quicksand is the most aggressive of these, potentially causing an opposing minion to be buried instantly and crucially preventing any opposing buried cards from being uncovered at their respective player's start of turn, allowing them to uncover at the end of their turn instead. Quagmire forces a cost to playing or moving a minion on its base, whether that be instant burying or discarding a card. Bountiful Soil punishes players for repeatedly uncovering a buried card on its base (the ability triggers from *any* card being played, whether minion, action, or titan).

Beyond Quicksand's on-play ability, Geomancers can also force burying minions with Geomaster, Landslide, the three copies of Mud Man, and Pitfall! before a base scores. Terra Nova and Geomaster are more unique in that they can bury base modifiers, which can be handy to remove other players' means of area control or protection from forced burying. Earth's Strength helps Geomancers make up the loss in power from wanting to bury cards.

Geomancers' main need, however, is for other players to actually uncover their cards. Geomaster can crucially draw on the strength of another player's uncovered minion on *any* base while the two Gaia Knights gain full use of their ability when a minion is uncovered on their base, allowing them to very suddenly swing power over and break bases unexpectedly. The four Golems can draw cards when opposing cards are uncovered on their bases. If players are unwilling to uncover their cards, Geomancers can force them to uncover a particularly stubbornly buried card with Rock 'n Roll.

### Partner Suggestions

Geomancers have minimal draw, no recursion, and minimal extra plays beyond uncovering a Mud Man at the start of their turn. Therefore, they appreciate partners who can provide any of these in particular. With five base modifiers, they also find appealing partners in factions that specialize in these.

#### Published

* **Dragons:** Dragons provide extra draw and stalling power to help Geomancers control the field. Flank Attack forces opponents to contend with something like Quicksand an extra time and the combination of Pitfall!, Bring Down the Walls, Dragon Lands, and Intimidating Presence provide lots of opportunity for last-minute base swings. Imperial Dragons also appreciate forced burying in order to draw more cards on repeated uncovering.
* **Truckers:** Truckers give Geomancers draw, some action recursion, the ability to move their area control at will, and some extra plays with El Bandito. Geomancers in turn give Truckers some teeth with their removal via burying.
* **The Nightmare Before Christmas:** Nightmare offers Geomancers draw, extra power, recursion of Earth's Strength, and a unique interaction between Zero and Gaia Knight after a base scores that can allow Gaia Knight to move a minion off and avoid the discard pile.

#### Custom

* **Tuckskin Rikers:** Tuckskin Geomancers enable absolute control over burying other players' cards. This brutal combination can combine already threatening cards for massive swings, such as Pitfall! into Sacrifice to the Desert Demon to steal a minion before a base scores. Buried cards on all bases can be locked down between the two copies each of Quicksand and Sacred Waters. In addition, the Rikers provide more card draw and additional movement. Recommended only in games where players understand these two factions were not balanced against each other.

## Author Notes

* The font used for this faction is "Forte".
* **Pitfall!** is a reference to the 1982 video game of the same name.
* Special thanks to Ludichrisness for testing and feedback!