recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Argeon Highmayne

Core

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## Description

Bloodbound Spell: Give a friendly minion nearby your General +2 Attack.

## Strategies

Argeon is the first General for the Lyonar faction. He possesses an incredibly strong Bloodbound Spell in Roar. Roar enables Argeon to buff otherwise nonthreatening 2-drops into strong bodies, allowing him to pressure the opponent throughout the game.

## Card Lore

### Argeon Highmayne

Lord Caldein and his three sons rode through the rolling Lyrian hills, their azurite lions loping along at an easy pace. They were armed but not armored: it was the sport of the hunt and not the business of war that brought them out. The sun glittered off gilded leather and jeweled harnesses as they talked among themselves.

‘Argeon, we have no need for larger armies, we have more than enough force to deal with reavers and other riff-raff.’

The target of the words frowned and ran a hand through his burnt orange hair. ‘Yes, Darian, we do. But we don't have enough to hold our borders if the other nations attack. We know Aestaria cannot be trusted, and that Akram and Xenkai hold grudges against us. We cannot allow ourselves to become weak in comparison.’

The remaining young man, Tobias, shook his head. ‘Aestaria again! You do go on about them.’

‘They betrayed us since the time of Consular Draug,’ Argeon said. ‘Honor demands that we remember that.’

‘Of course,’ Tobias answered. ‘But there is remembering a harm, and then there is letting that memory lure you into poor decisions. Increasing the size of the army will strain our resources for no reason. Being a fool isn't honorable.’

‘Besides, we have a way to pay back Aestaria, and ward off the Songhai and Vetruvians,’ Darian said. ‘The Arena! When our champions win the choicest orbs and leave the crumbs for the other nations, all of Mythron will know our strength.’

‘It isn't enough,’ Argeon said. ‘We need to--’

‘Peace, Argeon,’ Lord Caldein said. ‘You’re ruining a perfectly fine hunt.’

‘Sorry, Father,’ Argeon said. ‘I only want Lyonar to have its place of glory.’

‘I know. I will never regret adopting you as the Cub of the Highmayne. But this matter is settled. We do not need a standing army.’

Argeon bowed his head. ‘I understand. I will not speak of this with any of you again.’ He looked up and pointed to a clump of trees at the top of a low hill. ‘Shall we race?’

‘Last one in mucks out the stalls!’ Darian yelled and gave his mount the signal to run. The others followed suit, and soon the four lions were bounding up the hill, their riders laughing and yelling encouragement.

They reached the shade of the trees and Tobias turned around to see that Argeon was bringing up the rear. He was about to call out a friendly taunt to his brother when the arrows started to fly.

[Next Chapter: Beam Shock]

### Argeon Highmayne MKII

Claimed the Lyonar throne by bloodright in the bloody aftermath of the Battle of God's Heel.

## Animations

Idling

Breathing

Running

Attacking

Casting

Dying

Idling

Breathing

Running

Attacking

Casting

Dying

Idling

Breathing

Running

Attacking

Casting

Dying
Arcane Devourer

Denizens of Shim'Zar

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## Description

**Opening Gambit**: The next minion you summon this turn costs 1.

## Interactions

* This card can be used to play Blood Taura at very high or full health!
* Note that Arcane Devourer's cost reduction overrides all other cost reductions.

## Balance Changes

v 1.71 - Added: Denizens of Shim'zar Expansion

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Build

**Build** is a keyword that will appear on minions followed by a number, for example - **Build: (2)**

When you summon a minion with the Build keyword, it comes into play as a 0/10 Structure.
At the beginning of your turn, your minion's build counter decrements by one: this occurs every turn until the build counter reaches zero.
Once the build counter reaches zero, the Structure will transform into the minion you played from your action bar!
At this point, the minion is fully active and can begin to move and attack.

While a minion is "Building," you cannot dispel the fact that it is building and will transform at the end of its build countdown.
This means that you can treat buildings as regular Structures - you can target them with spells, heal them, damage them, transform them, destroy them, etc.
They will however eventually transform into their final form if not destroyed or removed.

If a Build Structure is returned to the action bar, the owner will receive a copy of the 0/10 Build Structure. Buildings will match their minion's Mana Cost, allowing you to play the Building again for its original cost, and the structure will eventually build into the specified minion.

Any buffs that are applied to a Build minion while the card is in your action bar will apply to the final/transformed version after it is done Building (e.g. via Phantasm)
And finally, a "Building" is considered a token, so it is not a viable target for revive effects (you can, however, revive the final product).
Aspect of Shim'Zar

Denizens of Shim'Zar

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## Description

Transform ANY minion into a random Battle Pet.

## Interactions

* Unlike most other "random battle pet" effects, Aspect of Shim'Zar can result into a Battle Pet from another faction.
* This spell can't transform a minion into a Rawr.
* It can clear the whole board in a combo with Thunderhorn for 7 mana.

## Balance Changes

* v. 1.71 - added with the Denizens of Shim'Zar expansion.
* v. 1.87 - Name changed from Altered Beast to Aspect of Shim'Zar
* v.1.96 - Cost changed from 2 to 3

## Trivia

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altered\_Beast

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Aspect of Shim'Zar effect.gif

Effect
Azure Herald

Core

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## Description

**Opening Gambit**: Restore 3 Health to your General.

Azure Herald is a Neutral Common Minion.

## Strategies

Azure Herald is played in most decks that aim to hit the late game. Its heal is quite useful as it negates chip damage that one will inevitably sustain throughout the game. Further, the bulky statline makes Herald a prime target for buffs. This card takes it place among the standard neutral 2-drop options.

## Balance Changes

* v.1.75 - added to Core set as monthly card

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Auroara

Unearthed Prophecy

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## Description

Whenever you summon a minion with 2 or less Attack, this minion gains +2 Attack.

## Interactions

* Although Zeal minions like Silverguard Knight, Sol Pontiff, Second Sun but also Decorated Enlistee can have more than 1 attack when they are summoned, they will still increase Auroara's attack because Auroara (and Grand Strategos) proc off of a minions **base** attack value.

## Balance Changes

* v. 1.87 - added with the Unearthed Prophecy expansion.

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Astral Phasing

Core

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## Description

Give a friendly minion +5 Health and **Flying**.

## Strategies

* Astral Phasing can be played as a tech card against enemy soft removal that repositions minions. This includes cards such as Juxtaposition, Daemonic Lure and Hearth-Sister. Still, this card rarely sees play: 3 mana for such a weak buff (that is, it does not bestow attack) is not optimal.
* It offers good synergies with Thunderhorn, Wild Tahr or other Frenzy minions because it allows these minions to surprise attack with possible devastating effect.

## Gauntlet

In Gauntlet it can be drafted as a kind of removal or just to give an important minion a lot more resilience and mobility.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Astral Phasing effect.gif

Effect
Chapter 17: Ascension of Emperor Sargos

22,465 - 22,745 AE

Aestaria flourished in peace and prosperity, its majestic cities agleam like the crystals whose power they were built upon. The Thirteen Aspects guided the Aestari and secretly kept their worst impulses in check.

For while Aestaria was outwardly a land of shining beauty, soaring white towers, and jeweled mantles, inwardly, greed and corruption had seeped into the people’s hearts, undermining their once idealistic society with cloying narcissistic decay. As the continents tried to assert their independence, Aestaria treated them as vassal nations, collecting a tribute tax in the form of crystals for the privilege of being part of the Aestari Empire.

This was the Aestaria in which the boy emperor Sargos ascended to power. Intellectually curious, with an insatiable appetite for science, magic, and books of all sorts, young Sargos was beloved by his people, and respected by the Thirteen Aspects. Early in his reign, while studying in the Alcuin Library, Sargos found fragments that hinted of a Second Empire.

He summoned Valknu, Vaath, and Starhorn, who reluctantly confirmed the prophecy that claimed a new empire would rise from the ashes of the old.

But they would reveal nothing else. For the first time, Sargos suspected they were keeping something from him. Resuming his studies, he found no other mention of the prophecy. When he went to reconfirm his earlier findings, the ancient tomes in which he first found mention of the Second Empire had vanished.

Sargos was convinced Valknu was hiding the truth. Thus were planted the first seeds of Sargos’ distrust of the Thirteen Aspects, a deepening strife that festered within Sargos’ soul.

By the time Emperor Sargos was a young man, Aestaria was already in decline. But Sargos never forgot the prophecy of a greater Second Empire, and he continued to dream of a unified Aestaria whose true greatness lay ahead. Sargos saw the Lyonar, Vetruvians, and Songhai flourishing on the strength of their crystal resources, but he knew the ultimate source of those crystals was the Weeping Tree, which grew on Aestari soil.

Seeking a way to reassert Aestari hegemony, he conceived of a plan to build a massive, towering structure that would not only symbolize Aestari primacy and dominance, it would ensure it for millennia to come.

He called it The Monolith.
Ancestral Divination

Core

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## Strategies

Ancestral Divination is uncommon to see played because the ideal scenario to cast it is similarly uncommon. It requires you play many minions, and that a reasonable amount of them stick. Most players prefer more reliable draw in the forms of Spelljammer, Sojourner, Twilight Reiki or Heaven's Eclipse, instead. However, Ancestral Divination has a home in Zoo Songhai, a relatively unknown archetype.

## Patch Notes

* v. 1.71 - Changed from 1 mana, "Whenever you summon a minion from your action bar this turn, draw a card." to: 4 mana, “Draw a card for each friendly minion on the battlefield.”

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Ancestral Divination effect.gif

Effect
Alter Rexx

Core

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## Description

Whenever you summon MECHAZ0R, put a MECHAZ0R in your action bar.

## Interactions

* This effect will proc whenever Mechaz0r is summoned from your action bar, including the copy added to your action bar by the effect.
* If you summon multiple Mechaz0rs thanks to Echo Deliverant, only 1 Mechaz0r will be added to your action bar.

## Strategies

Alter Rexx is very rarely seen. Typically, Mechaz0r lists have very limited space and dedicate their remaining slots to board answers, draw, etc.

This being said, Alter Rexx effect generates strong value, and greatly increases the chance to have a sticking Mechaz0r doing its job on the board. It's best being kept in hand and play it right before the last Mechaz0r summoning piece, as a combo or as a removal bait. Here is a short piece defending Alter Rexx.

## Balance Changes

* v. 1.95 - rotated out of Standard. Only usable in Unlimited.
* v.1.96 - Rotated was reverted. Stats changed from 4/4 to 5/5

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Betrayal

Immortal Vanguard

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## Description

Enemy minions nearby their General attack their General.

## Interactions

* Betrayal and Homeostatic Rebuke proc Frenzy when enemy minions are possible targets. Frenzy won't work on friendly minions though. They both don't proc Wild Tahr's buff though.
* Sworn Avenger's attack buff will happen after all minions including the Sworn Avenger attacked the general.
* Minions with Celerity only attack the general once.
* If you get betrayed by Grandmaster Z'ir, he becomes your new general still. If you are surrounded with two Z'irs, they both will attack your current general, and after the spell resolves one of them (the one put last?) will take your general's place.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.92 - added with the Immortal Vanguard expansion.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Betrayal effect.gif

Effect
Abhorrent Unbirth

Immortal Vanguard

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## Description

Destroy all friendly minions to summon a 1/1 Abomination that gains their Attack, Health, and keywords.

## Interactions

* The spell summons the 1|1 Abomination first, then kills all your current minions (except Gates to the Undervault), then Abomination gets its buff.
* Thus, casting Abhorrent Unbirth with friendly Horror Burster on table causes the Abomination to turn into Horror after summoning.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.92 - added with the Immortal Vanguard expansion.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Abhorrent Unbirth effect.gif

Effect
Captain Hank Hart

Core

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## Description

**Ranged**
Whenever this minion deals damage, restore that much Health to it.

## Balance Changes

* v. 0.0.23 - Added: Captain Hank Hart 5 mana 2/4 Ranged "Whenever this minion deals damage, restore that much Health to it."
* v. 1.63 - Cost lowered to 4.
* v. 1.95 - rotated out of Standard. Only usable in Unlimited.
* v. 1.96 - Rotation reverted.

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Ace

Denizens of Shim'Zar

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## Notes

Despite being a Ranged minion, Ace will move towards an enemy target before attacking. This is in accordance with Battle Pet logic.

## Strategies

Along with many other Battle Pets, Ace never sees constructed play. This is due to its autonomous nature--players cannot directly control what it will attack. Furthermore, it is terribly statted and has no special effect for a 1-drop.

## Gauntlet Strategies

Battle Pets in general are not very good in gauntlet, because it allows the opponent to gain tempo by setting up favorable trades with the Battle Pet. Furthermore, Ace is also horribly statted without any significant effect, making it a hand-emptying card for no benefit. Overall, this card is useless and should never be drafted.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.71 - Added: Denizens of Shim'Zar Expansion

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Ash Mephyt

Core

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## Description

**Opening Gambit**: Summon two copies of this minion on random spaces.

## Interactions

* Two exact copies of this minion are summoned randomly across the board.
* Being exact copies, if the units summoned by the Opening Gambit are recalled using Hailstone Prison or similar effects, they will retain the same Opening Gambit.
* For Flash Incarnation and Kujata's case, only the original copy will suffer the damage by these cards' effects.
* Kara's BBS effectively buffs the copies, resulting in three Ash Mephyts with +1/+1.
* Synergy with Grailmaster and Portal Guardian. For cards that read "whenever you summon a minion from your action bar," this card only activates that effect once.
* Synergy with AoE buffs such as Akrane's First Sword, Razorback and Soulshatter Pact.

## Strategies

Ash Mephyt would be played in a Zoo-style or Swarm deck. Its high mana cost, however, prevents it from being included in those decks. Most Zoo or Swarm decks have options far cheaper than Ash Mephyt. Its unanimous exclusion from the only deck type that would consider it results in Ash Mephyt hardly ever being played in Duelyst.

## Balance Changes

v. 0.0.27 - Added: Ash Mephyt - 5 mana 2/3 Opening Gambit: Summon two copies of this minion on random spaces.

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Backstab

* The only space that will trigger Backstab is the one directly behind the enemy. You can tell where the back of an enemy is by which direction the generals are looking.
* If a minion has 0 attack they can't attack or counter-attack even though backstab would increase the attack above 0.

### Strategy

* Using your teleportation spells can allow normally difficult Backstabs.
* Backstab Minions have poor survivability; **play them in safe positions** until you're ready to Attack!
* Enemies who attack Backstab minions will still take bonus damage if their back is facing your minion.
* It is very difficult to Backstab the same target more than once in one turn. Inner Focus can allow Minions like Kaido Assassin to Backstab multiple times!
Blood Siren

Core

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## Description

**Opening Gambit**: Give a nearby enemy -2 attack this turn.

## Strategy

Blood Siren is mostly seen in Aggro Lilithe decks. There, they use Siren with cheap minions for favorable trades, winning control of the Mana Springs. From there, the Lilithe player looks to burn down the opponent with cards like Flameblood Warlock, Spectral Blade and Void Pulse. Outside of this deck, Blood Siren is not played. Siren only having 2 hitpoints makes it a not so great choice for a 2 drop though its ability can nullify the attack of other 2 drops and so save your minion's life when trading.
It has some synergy with Zen'Rui, the Blightspawned, which could be a consideration for Control decks. Abyssian, however, already possesses the strongest late game minions in Duelyst. Control lists would look to rather play those than remove midgame threats.

## Balance Changes

PreAlpha - Added: Blood Siren 2 mana 1/2 Opening Gambit: Move an enemy minion in front of this minion.

v. 0.0.1 - Text changed to Opening Gambit: Deal 1 damage to ALL nearby minions.

v. 0.61.0 - Text changed to Opening Gambit: Give a nearby enemy minion or General -2 Attack this turn.

v. 0.62.0 - Stats changed to 3/2.

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Bone Swarm

Core

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## Description

Deal 2 damage to the enemy General and all enemy minions around them.

## Strategy

Bone Swarm is quite the powerful Vetruvian spell. Used effectively, it can remove more than 2 threats for 2 mana. It gives Vetruvians a powerful tool against swarm decks such as Lilithe swarm lists. Unfortunately, it does not cleanly deal with most 2-drops. Further, this card is clearly made for Control-style Vetruvian lists. As it stands, such a deck cannot thrive, and Bone Swarm is not frequently played.

## Interactions

* As of v. 1.96.12, when Bone Swarm is cast and the enemy General is made Invulnerable by Indominus, Bone Swarm will deal no damage to the minions around the enemy general.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar

Effect
Amaranthine Vow

Trials of Mythron

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## Description

Summon around your General all friendly minions with **Provoke** that died this game.

## Interactions

* Amaranthine Vow checks if the minions have Provoke on their card text. Therefore losing Provoke through Dispel won't remove it from Vow's card pool. At the same time adding Provoke to any minion (e.g. with Wood-Wen) will not make it eligible either.
* Amaranthine Vow won't summon Token minions (e.g. Ruined Slave, Crestfallen).

## Balance Changes

v. 1.95 - added with Trials of Mythron expansion

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Amaranthine Vow effect.gif

Effect
Geplante Funktionen

Es gibt eine road map und einen tweet, die Rückschlüsse auf die geplanten Funktionen zulassen

* Hunger basiertes survival gameplay
* Umwelteinflüsse, Wetter, Temperatur, Strahlung
* Fertigbauteile für Gebäude (building blocks)
* Automatisierung von Maschinen/Prozessen
* Tierisches Leben
* Weiche Böden und Wasser
* Dedizierte Server mit persistenter Welt
Auroras Tears

Core

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## Description

This turn, your General gains +2 Attack for every equipped artifact.

## Strategies

Aurora tears is exclusively seen in combo Artifact decks. The goal of these decks is to equip enough artifacts in conjunction with Auroras Tears (and often Time Maelstrom) so that a player can OTK (one turn kill) the enemy. These artifact/OTK decks are typically regarded as uncompetitive, resulting in Auroras Tears being a rare sight in Duelyst. Still, the card has a definite place in the game.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar

Effect
Chapter 14: The Star Crystals of Akram

While exploring the Aymara Canyons, Atar came upon something no Aestari had ever seen. Sparkling brighter than the setting sun were hundreds of Star Crystals created by the original petals of the First Great Blooming, bursting with concentrated magical energy — pure and crisp, unlike any other.

They were untouched by Aestari hands and undepleted by Aestari magic, but that alone didn’t explain their intensity. Atar realized that not only was the energy of these Star Crystals’ undiminished, but for the millennia they had sat there, undisturbed, sheltered within Aymara Canyon’s protective walls, they had been absorbing starlight — and growing stronger.

Atar established the Order of Staar and named himself Atar Starstrider. He became rich and influential, but remained a renaissance man and inventor at heart, never obsessed with power or wealth. To make the waterless interior of the continent more habitable, Atar invented the Sand Shield, a mechanized suit of star-powered armor that minimized water loss. Atar coined the term Vetruvian — “The Remade Man” — which the people themselves quickly adopted.

Atar continually refined his Sand Shields, making them lighter and stronger. Some were even biologically integrated into the body, all-but eliminating water loss, granting the wearer superhuman abilities and opening new aesthetic possibilities. Water was shared freely with the young, but at adolescence, integration with one’s suit through the solemn Rite of Melding became a civic obligation — and an essential step toward Vetruvian adulthood.

Using Star Crystals, Atar sparked life into mechanical objects, creating the first sentient Golems and increasingly sophisticated mechanical beings that would one day become the Mechanysts. In Kaero and Pyrae, the Order of Staar learned to manipulate heat, electricity, and wind to shape metal into customizable armor and floating platforms.

Years later they would join the star crystals with the sand silica to open portals to other micro-dimensions, forge the first Portal Obelysks, and summon the ephemeral Wind Dervishes, silica-based races of the Silhouette Tracers from the Sea of Dust, and the legendary Jax. Atar's final creations were the flying Wind Shrikes and Mirror Masters, which could organically replicate anything before them.

But his most important legacy was that the Vetruvians, rather than searching for power solely from the Great Tree, discovered that the true source of power came from the stars themselves.
Chapter 34: The Emergence of the Bloodborn

23,105 - 23,203 AE

After Rasha’s defeat, Valknu escaped the Aestarian dungeons before Draug’s ascension and traveled to Xenkai. As Draug’s brutal reign dragged the world closer to complete chaos, Valknu met with the Chakri Avatars, and quietly sent them out across the continents. Their mission was to gather libraries of ancient texts and manuscripts, including any artifacts that survived from the Seventh Sanctum and the Ostracon. The Age of Chaos was coming. Valknu and the Chakri Avatars intended to preserve the collected knowledge for posterity and to save it from the madness to come.

They brought the texts back to the Chakri Monastery in the Saberspine Mountains, and there, Valknu and the Chakri Avatars remained, protecting the assembled knowledge of Mithron while they bided their time, waiting for the right moment to strike at the forces of evil. While Draug and the Ixikrah devastated the world with their bloody battles, the Chakri Avatars evolved into a secret cadre of resistance fighters. For one hundred years they waited, training and practicing under the guidance of Valknu, honing the self-discipline they would need to one day wield great power without abusing it.

As the prophecy foretold, darkness reigned in the form of a protracted war between the ascendant forces of Draug and the Inxikrah. With every indication that the conflict was headed to an inevitable cataclysmic battle, Valknu and the Chakri Avatars took the desperate journey to Deladriss Peake, the secret location of the Great Tree Aperion. Valknu conferred with the Seidir and the Vanar, ultimately convincing them that the Chakri Avatars were worthy and the situation so dire that they must all be empowered — reborn — through the Blood of Aperion. Only together with Aperion’s power — and only as the First Bloodborn — could they hope to conquer the forces of Draug and the Inxikrah, and pave the way for the true Second Empire.
Celerity

### Notes

* Celerity allows a minion to perform one of several possible sequences; these include:
	+ Move-Move-Attack,
	+ Move-Attack-Move-Attack,
	+ Move-Attack-Attack,
	+ Attack-Move-Attack, or
	+ Attack-Attack.
* A minion with Celerity is counterattacked after each of its attacks, so make sure to plan accordingly.

### Strategy

* Even if you cannot attack twice, a minion with Celerity can move across the battlefield twice as quickly as other minions.
* Reactivating an exhausted Celerity minion with a spell such as Inner Focus or Spirit of the Wild will give it two more activations.
* Bonuses to Attack are effectively doubled with Celerity.

### Related Challenges

* Swiftness of Movement
* Jack of Blades
Chapter 26: Consular Draug and the Vermillion Legion

23,055 - 23,090 AE

'Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.' -Benjamin Disraeli

If Aestaria during the embargo was the perfect place for extremism to grow, Consular Draug was the perfect leader to capitalize on it. A charismatic practitioner of the forbidden arts, Draug had created a religious sect called The Crimson Flame, a secret society of fanatics whose growing influence fanned the smoldering flames of Aestari nationalism. The Aestari were the first true people of Mithron, Draug taught, born as the children of flaming stars, raised from the old Vermillion Forests. They deserved to rule themselves and all the younger races that populated the other continents. According to Draug, the Aestaris would always be the rightful heirs to Mithron; it was their destiny to take their rightful place.

From his unremarkable beginnings as a heretic preacher outside the walls of the Seventh Sanctum, Consular Draug quickly rose to great power in only a few short years. Achieving a cult-like status, he assembled a devoted army of religious zealots called the Vermillion Legion. He rehabilitated the memory of Emperor Rasha and carefully studied his military strategies and political successes, as well as his failures. The more he emulated Rasha, the more he sought to correct the High Emperor’s final defeat. Thus inspired, he began devising an elaborate plan to invade Vetruvia once again.

Draug’s first move was to establish a secret alliance with the Lyonar’s High Council leaders from Baast, Caerme, Windcliffe, and Lyr, appealing to their resentment of Vetruvian primacy and appeasing them with promises of spoils from Vetruvia’s defeat. Only the leaders of Sunforge refused to attend. His northern flank largely secured, he then sent his warships on a surprise attack on the Songhai capital, Xaan, sinking the unsuspecting Songhai fleet stationed at port with little difficulty. At the Battle of Three Crossings, General Taegon from Kaido issued desperate pleas for help, but the Lyonar were complicit with Draug, and Ziros remained true to his oath never to aid the Songhai, who had left the Vetruvians to rot in their greatest hour of need. Draug moved past Xaan and conquered Kaido, consolidating his power over the entire continent of Xenkai. The world was shocked, but even as Draug turned his attention to Vetruvia once again, no one would come to the aid of his victims.

Or almost no one...
Boss Battles

## General information

* Patch 1.79 added regular weekly boss battles (they reuse some bosses so new players have a chance to fight against them too) which offer one Core orb and a boss crate as a free rewards.
* Bosses vary in difficulty, but in general it's possible to beat them using basic and common cards (although this might require skill and multiple attempts). Of course it's better to try and design a deck working around their abilities and exploiting their weaknesses.
* There is no time limit in Boss Battles.

* Here is a video playlist with every Boss Battle made by Collazo.

* You can find a discussion with the devs about the design ideas of the boss battles here.
* Dev talk #6 was about boss battles and a summary can be found here.
* Patch 1.96 in May 2018 introduced Bloodbound Spells for Bosses in order to "patch up weaknesses in a boss fight and thus provide either much-needed utility or removal".

## Assorted tips against Bosses

Bosses are all very different, and often require completely different strategies. Look at a specific boss' article to find advice on how to beat them best. But here are a few general strategies about boss battles collected from various experienced players.

* Try Abyssian swarm, the Bosses do not play well against Deathwatch (Shadow Watcher, Shadowdancer)
* Magmar Grow decks are also often a valid option (Gargantuan Growth, Juggernaut, Gigaloth being the epitome of Boss crushers)
* Trial decks can also fare well, often overwhelming Bosses in the late game (Underlord Xor'Xuul, Grand Strategos)
* Bosses do not play around Shadow Creep and decks using it can be quite efficient

Boss decks usually don't run a lot of removal, meaning your big threats have a good chance to generate advantage.

Boss AI has specific quirks, limitations or bugs that you can exploit

* They will often chase minions over hitting your General (Gor, spreading minions around)
* Bosses use their own attack aggressively, until they have less than 10 health (take advantage of this with Earth Sister Taygete, Wild Tahr, Crimson Oculus)
* They do not play around Thunderhorn.
* A bug will prevent them to deal with Sarlac the Eternal (they get close to it but never attack it, and wait there doing nothing).

For the most aggressive Bosses, the early game can be tricky. Plasma Storm and other mass removal spells can help a lot, along with body blockers and healing (Rescue-RX, Azure Herald, other Build minions...)
Bastion

Core

.

## Strategy

Bastion is a very odd card. Its effect is good in theory: it can enable Zoo lists to build a durable board. However, the card is totally uninteractive. Playing such a useless card early in the game can be game-losing. This peril is noticed by many players, resulting in Bastion never being played.

Another potential use for Bastion is protecting certain minions that are vital for combo's (such as the blazing spines summoned by Ice Age or Wraithlings) from dying to Homeostatic Rebuke, one of the most popular and widely used AOE removal spells in the game. However in these kinds of decks it is often quite hard to take a turn off to play Bastion as it doesn't really contribute to their game plan at all outside of that one specific matchup. If you are absolutely dead set on using Bastion however, this is probably the ideal way to fit it into a deck.

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Barren Relic

Immortal Vanguard

.

## Description

Your General gains +X Attack and when your general attacks, summon X of your minions destroyed this game on random spaces where X is the Attack of the sacrificed minion.

## Interactions

* Everything that summons minions simultaneously will proc their possible abilities in the same order which goes from bottom left tile to upper right tile of the board, going upwards and then moving to the next column on the right, its bottom tile again.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.92 - added with the Immortal Vanguard expansion.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
Armory

Redirect to:

* Shop

In the armory players can do many different things:

* using a **referral** code (you can use e.g. **Boronian**, **ericCroftman** or **Skipfuel**) to get 100g. This has to be done **before** the first match on the Season Ladder.
* using gift codes you can obtain in giveaways or playing tournaments.
* purchasing Diamonds for real money (there are recurring Sales)

It is also possible to use your gold, Diamonds or Spirit to get cards or cosmetics:

* getting cards through purchasing Spirit Orbs or Specials,
* buying or crafting Emotes,
* buying or crafting Card Backs,

* buying or crafting Battle Maps,
* buying or crafting General Skins,
* buying emotes bundles
Ancient Bonds

The third expansion set for Duelyst

Released March 2017 in Patch 1.82

39 collectible cards.

Introduces a new keyword: Bond

**Ancient Bonds** is the third expansion set for Duelyst released March 2017 in Patch 1.82 and contains 39 cards. The expansion adds a lot of Arcanyst and Golem minions. Its theme is about minion tribes. It also introduces a new keyword mechanic Bond which triggers a special effect when this minion is summoned whilst at least one other minion from the same tribe is on the board.

## Trivia

* Before patch 1.92 there was a different distribution model for this expansion:

```
 *It can be obtained for 3900 gold or $20 for the whole set or 300g or $2,99 for one orb.
 *If bought completely for $20 any extra Orbs purchased before will refund 300 gold (per Orb).
 *Orbs will include 3 sets (3x of a card) and never any duplicates, meaning 9 cards per Orb (and a total of 13 orbs for the set). Rarities inside will be one set of commons, one set of rares, and either an epic or
 legendary set.
 *The cards can't be crafted except Prismatic versions of cards you do own. Cards you gain from this set cannot be disenchanted either (except for Prismatics of course).

```

## List of Cards

Images of all Ancient Bonds cards: https://duelyst.com/ancient-bonds
Abyssal Crawler

Core

.

## Description

At the end of your turn, turn a nearby space into Shadow Creep.

## How to Get

This card is from the base set. The standard version of this card is automatically available to all players, and all three versions of the Prismatic version are obtained by reaching level 34 in Abyssian.

## Notes

Always applies creep to an open tile (unlike Ooz), but if multiple Crawlers are nearby, they can put creep on the same plain tile.

## Strategy

Abyssal Crawler is the engine in Creep decks: it creates the conditions necessary for Creep decks to utilize their synergies. Since it has a weak body, Abyssal Crawler is usually played in the backlines where it can generate Creep tiles undisturbed. However, this gives the player less ability to contest Mana Tiles. While the Shadow Creep tiles to do not affect opponents directly (i.e. they never need to position to avoid creep damage from these tiles), they activate late-game finishers such as Obliterate and Ghost Azalea, as well as the midgame Abyssal Juggernaut. With this foreknowledge, players playing against Creep decks prioritize removing Crawlers. An Abyssal Crawler is often answered by pings from cards such as Bloodtear Alchemist, Blistering Skorn, and Ghost Lightning.

## Gauntlet Strategy

Generally speaking, Abyssal Crawler's effect will not have much synergy to an average Gauntlet deck, as any kind of synergy in a deck is not guaranteed. Its 2/1 statline make it worse than standard one-drops. Overall, it is fairly weak without synergy.

## Balance Changes

v. 0.0.1 - Added: Abyssal Crawler 1 mana 2/1 Opening Gambit: Turn a nearby tile into Shadow Creep.

v. 0.0.10 - Text changed to: Dying WIsh: Turn this space into Shadow Creep.

v. 1.71 - Text changed to: “At the end of your turn, turn a nearby space into Shadow Creep.”

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Chapter 2: The Great Tree of Eyos

Over thousands of years, Mythron steadily recovered from the cataclysm of the star seed’s arrival. Creatures adapted and multiplied until the planet once again teemed with life.

The Great Tree of Eyos grew as well, drawing magical energies from the planet’s core and sprouting prismatic leaves that scintillated in the starlight they absorbed for nourishment. Ten thousand years after the birth of the Great Tree, it bloomed, producing a burst of arcane energy that bathed the planet in a radiant glow. A stunning Harmonic Aurora permanently painted the skies and the Great Tree exploded with spectacular mana blossoms, launching iridescent petals into the air to journey the world upon Mythron’s winds.

Each petal carried a direct connection to the Great Tree. Not only did the creatures they touched gain the ability to channel the planet's arcane energy, but the Great Tree itself gained the power to see through their eyes. Objects that were touched turned into crystallized nodes of magical energy, with brilliant colors reflecting the metals and minerals they contained. The petals nurtured and accelerated a multitude of creatures and plants, both sentient and not.

In the Northern Whyte Mountains along Halcyar, they created ancient races like the elusive Snow Chasers and the fierce Draugar Giants. To the East, in Xenkai, they transformed the interconnected network of sentient bamboo into the Whistling Blades and the graceful orange cranes in the Ang’Mar Glades into the life-giving Zurael.
At the end of that first Great Blooming, the Great Tree of Eyos returned to a state of rest, to rebuild its magical energy, but not before thirteen perfect petals drifted to the volcanic region of Magaari. They landed on the exposed metallic chrysalises of the males of a rare species of sentient drake-like creatures protected by iridium exoskeletons. Deep within the volcanic mountain, untouched and untransformed, their Queen Mother would die alone, forever removed from the rest of her species. But on the surface, these thirteen males would become the immortal Magmar.
Blast

**Blast** is a keyword ability exclusive to Vetruvian cards. Its text reads, "Attack all enemy minions and Generals in one straight line."

### Trivia

* If a Blast unit attacks a nearby enemy diagonally, it will not attack any other units in that diagonal.
* The damage hits all targets equally. No damage is lost as the attack pierces multiple targets. This means that the effects of cards like Falcius and Psionic Strike can apply to multiple enemies.
* Though Blast has some similarities to Ranged, it is a different mechanic entirely and is not affected by abilities that affect Ranged minions.

### Strategy

* If your opponent is playing Blast units or Wildfire Ankh, try to avoid lining your minions up.
	+ However, Stars' Fury can also cause problems if you separate your minions too thinly.
* Minions and Generals with Blast are not counterattacked by enemies that are out of range, except for units with Ranged.
* Blast units will not Blast when counterattacking.
* It’s a good idea to place your Blast minions in the center row and the furthest tile back, as you can then effectively reach all tiles on the battlefield with your massive range!
Andromeda

Core

.

## Description

**Flying**
Whenever the enemy General plays a minion, transform it into a random minion with the same mana cost.

Andromeda is a reskin of Pandora.

## Boss Ability

Whenever the enemy General plays a minion, transform it into a random minion with the same mana cost.

## Tips

* Jan 2018 Reddit, Forum
* Aug 2018 Reddit, Forum
* Sep 2018 Forum
* May 2019 Forum
* Oct 2019 Budget guide by Boronian

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Angered Okkadok

Trials of Mythron

.

## Interactions

* If you use Flash Reincarnation to summon an Okkadok it will be a 2/1.
* If you use Fractal Replication on an Okkadok, the copies will have the exact same stats as a basis the original Okkadok has and then on top of that the Intensify buffs will apply.

In the following example you see how Fractal works on an Okkadok which is buffed three times by Intensify.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.95 - added with Trials of Mythron expansion

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Afterblaze

Denizens of Shim'Zar

.

## Description

Give a friendly minion +2/+4. If that minion has **Zeal**, draw card.

## Interactions

Giving a minion Zeal with Lionheart Blessing counts as Zeal for this card.

## Strategies

Afterblaze takes its place alongside Divine Bond as one of the premiere Lyonar buff cards. Unlike Divine Bond, Afterblaze highly benefits minions with lower health pools. While Divine Bond on a Windblade Adept is mediocre, casting Afterblaze on one can be game-winning. Afterblaze's cost and stat bonus fits Tempo Argeon lists perfectly. In such lists, players look to cast Afterblaze on Windblade Adept and Silverguard Knight for the bonus card draw. While it does not draw, Afterblaze greatly benefits Azurite Lion as well. The choice to play Afterblaze or Divine Bond in a deck usually comes down to the inclusion of Ironcliffe Guardian.

## Gauntlet Strategies

Afterblaze performs similarly well in Gauntlet. The ability to make favorable trades- trades that generate value, tempo, or both- is valuable in gauntlet, and Afterblaze does that well.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.71 - Added: Denizens of Shim'Zar Expansion

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Afterblaze effect.gif

Effect
Artifact Hunter

Core

.

## Description

**Opening Gambit**: Draw a random artifact from your deck.

## Strategies

Artifact Hunter has a weak body for its cost and a rather slow effect. It doesn't see often play except in some Artifact Reva lists which need to reliably draw Bangle of Blinding Strike or Cyclone Mask for their combo.

## Balance Changes

* v. 0.0.12 - Added: Artifact Hunter 5 mana 6/4 Opening Gambit: Equip a random artifact from your deck onto your general.
* v. 0.0.16 - Stats changed to 3/6.
* v. 0.0.18 - Text changed to "Opening Gambit: add a random artifact from your deck to your Action bar."
* v. 0.0.20 - Cost changed from 5 to 4. Stats changed from 3/6 to 3/5.
* v. Unknown - Rarity changed from Legendary to Epic.
* v. 0.0.61 - Stats changed to 3/3
* v.1.96 - Stats changed from 3/3 to 3/4

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Aperion's Claim

Unearthed Prophecy

.

## Description

Destroy ALL minions in a 3x3 area and turn their spaces into **Hallowed Ground**.

## Interactions

* If there are more than 1 minion in the 3x3 area, Aperion will kill them in a specific order:

9 | 5 | 7

1 | 4 | 2

6 | 3 | 8

* For some more interesting information on Aperion's interaction with Dying Wish read the Forum.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.87 - added with the Unearthed Prophecy expansion.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Aperion's Claim effect.gif

Effect
Beastclad Hunter

Trials of Mythron

.

## Description

Takes no damage from minions with less Attack.

## Interactions

* Increasing Beastclad Hunter's attack makes it immune to all minions with less attack. Reducing its attack will work the same way in the other direction though (e.g. Blindscorch, Void Steal, Ciphyron's BBS).
* Beastclad Hunter doesn't take damage from Glacial Elemental's effect.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.95 - added with Trials of Mythron expansion

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack
File:Beastclad Hunter death.gif

Death
Assassination Protocol

Immortal Vanguard

.

## Description

Reactivate an exhausted friendly minion. It cannot damage or attack Generals this turn.

## Interactions

* Flamewreath's or Thunderhorn's effects counts as minion damage and therefore will not damage Generals if used with Assassination Protocol.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.92 - added with the Immortal Vanguard expansion.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Assassination Protocol effect.gif

Effect
Bluetip Scorpion

Core

.

## Description

Deals double damage to minions.
*"The mana coating its tail glows brighter with each kill."*

## Strategy

* Bluetip Scorpion suffers the same plight as cards like Phalanxar. While it boasts incredible offensive capability, it is easily removed by pings. With the prevalence of Bloodtear Alchemist, Cassyva and Skorn, such an event is quite likely to occur. Like Phalanxar, Bluetip Scorpion is rarely played.
* Now even though this isn't the best card, it can still find some niche uses and combos, especially when nobody expects it. The easiest to pull of is Bluetip Scorpion followed by a Inner Focus. This allows you to get the full benefit without letting your opponent react. A very niche use for Bluetip comes by using Cosmic Flesh to create a 4/4 Provoke that kills any minion that trades into it. Or even Astral Phasing to give it the health it needs to survive attacking as well as the ability to attack any minion it wants.

If you can make it work its really fun, just don't count on it always working.

## Balance Changes

v. 0.0.1 - Added: Bluetip Scorpion 2 mana 3/1 Strikeback

v. 0.0.6 - Strikeback became universal. Changed text to "Deals double damage to minions"

## Animations

Idle

Breathing

Running

Attack

Death
Card Backs

Card backs are a cosmetic item that appear during each card’s ‘flipping’ animation upon play. Each deck can be assigned its own card back in the Collection screen. Most card backs are purchasable and craftable with 400 Diamonds and 1500 Spirit respectively from the Shop, while others are exclusive to special events. Non-exclusive card backs may also be obtained from crates.
Adamantite Claws

Core

.

## Strategies

Adamantite Claws is the archetypal Magmar artifact, thought it is not as common as one would expect. When equipped, they provide the power to remove most 5-drops or to push damage on the enemy General. Because of the absurdly high attack the Claws provide, the enemy General is loathe to attack the enemy General to remove it. Instead, they use pings and burn spells to remove it safely. Because most factions can remove artifacts using the aforementioned methods, Adamantite Claws is not played in standard Magmar decks. It is, however, a fine inclusion in "all-in" Aggro decks or midrange decks featuring Grove Lion.

## Gauntlet Strategies

Adamantite Claws will allow your general to kill 6-health minions as well as do heavy damage to face. Added with Vaath's Bloodbound spell, Adamantite Claws can represent a large tempo swing. As with other artifacts, it is best to equip Claws when the opponent has few minions, or ways to deal chip damage. Because pings are uncommon in Gauntlet, this card is stronger in Gauntlet than in constructed.

## Balance Changes

v. 0.0.1 - Added: Adamantite Claws 6 mana "Your General gains +6 Attack."

v. 0.0.4 - Cost lowered to 4.

v. 0.42.0 - Attack gained lowered from 6 to 4.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
Astral Flood

Denizens of Shim'Zar

.

## Description

Put 3 random Battle Pets into your action bar.

## Strategies

Astral Flood is a fair choice for Zoo Vetruvian lists. However, the fact that it adds Battle Pets to the player's hand makes many players shy away from this card. Battle Pets, while overstatted, generally do not help in pushing a gameplan due to their autonomous nature. As such, it is seen infrequently, but it does see play. Since the introduction of Thunderhorn Battle Pets are even more dangerous for their owner.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.71 - added with the Denizens of Shim'Zar expansion.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar
File:Astral Flood effect.gif

Effect
Bangle of Blinding Strike

Ancient Bonds

.

## Interactions

* If you have equipped two Bangles and one breaks, you are exhausted even though you still have equipped a second one. If you have only one Bangle equipped and it breaks after attacking, you will be exhausted too.
* If you equip Bangle after attacking, you will get reactivated.
* If you're bearing Bangle and your opponent plays Grandmaster Zendo, your general will act twice (both times automatically), even if the artifact has one charge and breaks after your first attack. If you play Bangle with existing enemy Zendo on board, nothing happens.

## Balance Changes

v. 1.81 - added with the Ancient Bonds expansion.

## Animations

Active

Actionbar