This week’s character is a maverick inclusion for the set, but it’s one of the decks I’m most excited to play: The Armorer!
The Armorer isn’t a deck I imagine most people had in their prediction pool. She certainly wasn’t on my short list, but when a mechanic wasn’t gelling on another character, it ended up being a perfect fit for the stoic smelter.
The Armorer is an enigmatic forge master who serves as the spiritual leader of her Mandalorian covert. She’s a support who arms her allies with powerful equipment and helps them reach their full potential.
“Persistence without insight will lead to the same outcome.”
The Armorer – 14 HP – Green Deck – Melee
Mandalorian Foundlings – 6 HP – Strong++ Deck – Ranged
Mandalorian Metallurgy
Special
Choose you or a teammate. Search that player's draw pile or discard pile for any 2 cards and remove them from the game face-up. Shuffle the draw pile if it was searched. Then that player draws a card.
Ancestral Crucible
Special
Choose you or a teammate. Search that player's draw pile or discard pile for any 2 cards and remove them from the game face-up. Shuffle the draw pile if it was searched. That player gets 1 additional action on their next turn.
Forged Vambraces
A4/D2
After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose The Armorer or any friendly character. While removed, any time that character attacks, the player controlling that character may put this card in your discard pile to increase that attack value by 2.
Forged Cuirass
A2/D4
After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose The Armorer or any friendly character. While removed, any time that character defends, the player controlling that character may put this card in your discard pile to increase that defense value by 2.
Forged Signet
Special
Move The Armorer or any friendly character up to 4 spaces. After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose The Armorer or any friendly character. While removed, any time that character moves, the player controlling that character may put this card in your discard pile to increase that movement by 2 spaces.
Forged Helmet
A5/D1
After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose a player. While removed, any time that player would discard cards from their hand due to a card effect or hand limit, they may put this card in your discard pile in place of one of those cards.
Excommunication
A3*
*Increase the attack value of this card by 1 for every 2 cards that are removed from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose any minor character. That character receives 3 damage.
3x Mandalorian Metallurgy
2x Ancestral Crucible
2x Forged Vambraces
2x Forged Cuirass
1x Forged Signet
1x Forged Helmet
1x Excommunication
The Armorer brings ideas from deck-building games such as Dominion, Thunderstone, and Star Realms into Epic Duels. In those games, you start with a small deck and buy new cards to add to it over the course of play. Since those purchased cards are better than the ones you started with, it’s beneficial to use abilities that remove weaker cards from your deck so that you draw the better ones more quickly and more often. Since not all cards in an Epic Duels deck are equally valuable, the same principle can apply.
The Armorer culls cards from the deck using the same remove-from-game mechanic introduced with Durge in Advanced Studies, though in a pretty different way. Mandalorian Metallurgy and Ancestral Crucible both remove two cards from your deck or your teammate’s deck. In most matchups, you’ll want to use these to remove your teammate’s weakest cards so that they never need to be drawn. Think of it like removing impurities from Beskar.
This wouldn’t be all that helpful as a one-off effect, but since The Armorer can remove up to 10 cards (while providing a smattering of bonus actions and draws), it can really add up. Any deck that is normally tempered by 9 weak minor cards slowing it down can suddenly turn into a well-oiled machine.
The rest of The Armorer’s deck plays off of the removal theme. When any Forged card is played, it removes itself from the game and becomes “equipped” to a character of your choice. That character can expend the equipment for a one-time bonus when convenient. Epic Duels doesn’t have a native “hold until needed” mechanism, so using removed cards is one way of doing this.
Just like in traditional deck-builders, there will come a time when trashing cards from your deck is no longer helpful because the game is coming to an end. In Dominion, this is the “Duchy Panic” as players try to buy up point cards before it’s too late. For The Armorer player, this is the moment you want to shift from using your Metallurgys and Crucibles to thin your partner’s deck and start using them on your own discard pile to re-equip your Forged buffs. As discussed, the Forged cards are equipped when played, but they also equip when they’re removed by other means. So The Armorer can recycle those buff effects while getting an extra draw or action in the late game.
Also in her late game arsenal is the inevitable Excommunication. It starts out as a measly Attack 3, but can get to an A8 if you’ve played all your copies of Mandalorian Metallurgy and Ancestral Crucible. Of course it also benefits from equipped Forged cards, so if you can get them all on the table at once, Excommunication becomes a rarified A11! Not bad for a green support.
In my Legacy announcement, I talked about the change to the ban/pick phase to add a mid-selection ban and mentioned that it opened up some previously-closed design options. This deck is one of them. I think its pairing with a deck like Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa could simply be too dangerous since it can help Luke cycle blindingly fast. Luckily, that kind of combo can now be avoided in competitive play if players are savvy enough to see it coming.
Besides the obvious partner in Luke, The Armorer should have a plethora of good options for teammates because she can make any deck more efficient at pursuing its path to victory. Any character that pairs favorably with a support like Yoda will likely find a friend in The Armorer. Decks with weak minors are exceptionally good because those cards can be excised from the deck with minimal loss in value. Bruisers like Maul or assassins like Asajj can go in sooner and easily take advantage of the offensive and defensive benefits of Forged Vambraces and Forged Cuirass.
It’s possible The Armorer will prove exceptional against discard-heavy decks since she has the option of re-equipping Forged Helmet multiple times. I’m not totally convinced of this, though, since a disruption character likely wants to focus The Armorer’s teammate, in which case she could just use Metallurgy/Crucible on them for the draw/action instead of recycling Helmet.
When going against The Armorer, it’s probably best to try to get in early before her team can reap the benefits of the slimmed-down draw piles. Deck-building takes time, so rushers like Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Artoo should have an edge.
I hope you’re as excited to get The Armorer to the table as I am! If you like decks built around weird mechanisms like this, don’t worry because more will be coming! Until next week, may the Force of others be with you.
Galactic Trivia! – Forged Helmet is a reference to Boba Fett’s card Mandalorian Helmet, which can also be used to defend against discarding effects.
The Armorer isn’t a deck I imagine most people had in their prediction pool. She certainly wasn’t on my short list, but when a mechanic wasn’t gelling on another character, it ended up being a perfect fit for the stoic smelter.
The Armorer is an enigmatic forge master who serves as the spiritual leader of her Mandalorian covert. She’s a support who arms her allies with powerful equipment and helps them reach their full potential.
“Persistence without insight will lead to the same outcome.”
The Armorer – 14 HP – Green Deck – Melee
Mandalorian Foundlings – 6 HP – Strong++ Deck – Ranged
Mandalorian Metallurgy
Special
Choose you or a teammate. Search that player's draw pile or discard pile for any 2 cards and remove them from the game face-up. Shuffle the draw pile if it was searched. Then that player draws a card.
Ancestral Crucible
Special
Choose you or a teammate. Search that player's draw pile or discard pile for any 2 cards and remove them from the game face-up. Shuffle the draw pile if it was searched. That player gets 1 additional action on their next turn.
Forged Vambraces
A4/D2
After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose The Armorer or any friendly character. While removed, any time that character attacks, the player controlling that character may put this card in your discard pile to increase that attack value by 2.
Forged Cuirass
A2/D4
After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose The Armorer or any friendly character. While removed, any time that character defends, the player controlling that character may put this card in your discard pile to increase that defense value by 2.
Forged Signet
Special
Move The Armorer or any friendly character up to 4 spaces. After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose The Armorer or any friendly character. While removed, any time that character moves, the player controlling that character may put this card in your discard pile to increase that movement by 2 spaces.
Forged Helmet
A5/D1
After this card is played, remove it from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose a player. While removed, any time that player would discard cards from their hand due to a card effect or hand limit, they may put this card in your discard pile in place of one of those cards.
Excommunication
A3*
*Increase the attack value of this card by 1 for every 2 cards that are removed from the game. When this card is removed from the game, choose any minor character. That character receives 3 damage.
3x Mandalorian Metallurgy
2x Ancestral Crucible
2x Forged Vambraces
2x Forged Cuirass
1x Forged Signet
1x Forged Helmet
1x Excommunication
The Armorer brings ideas from deck-building games such as Dominion, Thunderstone, and Star Realms into Epic Duels. In those games, you start with a small deck and buy new cards to add to it over the course of play. Since those purchased cards are better than the ones you started with, it’s beneficial to use abilities that remove weaker cards from your deck so that you draw the better ones more quickly and more often. Since not all cards in an Epic Duels deck are equally valuable, the same principle can apply.
The Armorer culls cards from the deck using the same remove-from-game mechanic introduced with Durge in Advanced Studies, though in a pretty different way. Mandalorian Metallurgy and Ancestral Crucible both remove two cards from your deck or your teammate’s deck. In most matchups, you’ll want to use these to remove your teammate’s weakest cards so that they never need to be drawn. Think of it like removing impurities from Beskar.
This wouldn’t be all that helpful as a one-off effect, but since The Armorer can remove up to 10 cards (while providing a smattering of bonus actions and draws), it can really add up. Any deck that is normally tempered by 9 weak minor cards slowing it down can suddenly turn into a well-oiled machine.
The rest of The Armorer’s deck plays off of the removal theme. When any Forged card is played, it removes itself from the game and becomes “equipped” to a character of your choice. That character can expend the equipment for a one-time bonus when convenient. Epic Duels doesn’t have a native “hold until needed” mechanism, so using removed cards is one way of doing this.
Just like in traditional deck-builders, there will come a time when trashing cards from your deck is no longer helpful because the game is coming to an end. In Dominion, this is the “Duchy Panic” as players try to buy up point cards before it’s too late. For The Armorer player, this is the moment you want to shift from using your Metallurgys and Crucibles to thin your partner’s deck and start using them on your own discard pile to re-equip your Forged buffs. As discussed, the Forged cards are equipped when played, but they also equip when they’re removed by other means. So The Armorer can recycle those buff effects while getting an extra draw or action in the late game.
Also in her late game arsenal is the inevitable Excommunication. It starts out as a measly Attack 3, but can get to an A8 if you’ve played all your copies of Mandalorian Metallurgy and Ancestral Crucible. Of course it also benefits from equipped Forged cards, so if you can get them all on the table at once, Excommunication becomes a rarified A11! Not bad for a green support.
In my Legacy announcement, I talked about the change to the ban/pick phase to add a mid-selection ban and mentioned that it opened up some previously-closed design options. This deck is one of them. I think its pairing with a deck like Luke Skywalker & Leia Organa could simply be too dangerous since it can help Luke cycle blindingly fast. Luckily, that kind of combo can now be avoided in competitive play if players are savvy enough to see it coming.
Besides the obvious partner in Luke, The Armorer should have a plethora of good options for teammates because she can make any deck more efficient at pursuing its path to victory. Any character that pairs favorably with a support like Yoda will likely find a friend in The Armorer. Decks with weak minors are exceptionally good because those cards can be excised from the deck with minimal loss in value. Bruisers like Maul or assassins like Asajj can go in sooner and easily take advantage of the offensive and defensive benefits of Forged Vambraces and Forged Cuirass.
It’s possible The Armorer will prove exceptional against discard-heavy decks since she has the option of re-equipping Forged Helmet multiple times. I’m not totally convinced of this, though, since a disruption character likely wants to focus The Armorer’s teammate, in which case she could just use Metallurgy/Crucible on them for the draw/action instead of recycling Helmet.
When going against The Armorer, it’s probably best to try to get in early before her team can reap the benefits of the slimmed-down draw piles. Deck-building takes time, so rushers like Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Artoo should have an edge.
I hope you’re as excited to get The Armorer to the table as I am! If you like decks built around weird mechanisms like this, don’t worry because more will be coming! Until next week, may the Force of others be with you.
Galactic Trivia! – Forged Helmet is a reference to Boba Fett’s card Mandalorian Helmet, which can also be used to defend against discarding effects.