Greetings Mortal!
Welcome to an introductory guide to the cards and sets. With this short read, you'll learn to differentiate the various types and classes of cards available in Gods Unchained, recognize the qualities and sets they belong to, and hopefully get some tips and ideas about what kinds of decks you can create.
Decks
Before we get into cards and sets, let's talk about decks. Decks are the combination of 30 cards assembled before the battle. Arguably the most essential part of trading card games, your decks represent your playstyle, and a carefully constructed deck is often the key to victory.
Of course, when starting out, creating a custom deck can be challenging. Without knowing what cards you prefer or having some PvP (player vs player) experience, deck building can confuse one, which is why the 6 starter deck options are helpful.
Don't hesitate to experiment with each deck and find the one you like the most. You can try to create your own later down the track.
Card Types And Anatomy
Cards are made up of many parts, and they're all on display, so you can quickly identify what your card can do when it is played to the board in-game. Beginning from left to right, we will promptly explain every element on the cards.
The diagram below breaks down each of these functions.
Cards Domains
The domain of your card outlines which god your card is aligned to. You can identify which domain your card belongs to by the design and color displayed on your card's top left-hand side. There are six domains:
- War
- Light
- Nature
- Deception
- Magic
- Death
- If your card doesn't belong to a domain, it is considered Neutral
When you create a deck, you will first have to choose a god to build your deck around. War, for example, is led by the god Auros, and only cards with the corresponding symbol and color (except for neutral cards) can be used in a War deck. You can't put cards from the Nature domain into a War deck, as those are reserved for the Nature domain.
Neutral cards can be used in any deck, regardless of which domain you play. Explore the cards and choose the god best suited to your style.
Card Tribes
Card tribes are displayed in the lowest part of the card and show what faction your card belongs to. Cards marked with a tribe usually have synergizing abilities. For example, Anubian cards can usually draw discarded creatures back from the void and into your hand.
The current tribes available in Gods Unchained are:
- Aether
- Amazon
- Anubian
- Atlantean
- Dragon
- Guild
- Mystic
- Nether
- Olympian
- Structure
- Viking
- Wild
Note, not every card belongs to a tribe.
Card Sets
A set is a collection of cards grouped by an event or a theme. These come in a few forms: free-to-play sets, expansion sets, promotional sets, and one-of-a-kind sets. You can identify which card is set by looking at the symbol on the top right of a card.
- Free-to-play sets are sets that you can receive just from playing the game.
- Promotional sets and cards are released for a limited time as a special promotion.
- Expansion sets are curated sets that expand upon regular gameplay and are initially sold directly from the store for a limited time. With the exception of the Genesis set, these sets can have second and third editions released at a later date. Later editions will have the same gameplay stats as the original cards; however, cosmetic differences help users distinguish between editions.
- The one-of-a-kind set is self-explanatory: this set is made up of Mythic cards, which are one-of-a-kind. There is literally only one of each Mythic card, meaning only one user can hold a certain Mythic at any time.
At the time of writing, the current Gods Unchained sets are:
- Welcome set (free-to-play set)
- Core set (free-to-play set)
- Etherbots set (promotional set)
- Promo set (promotional set)
- Genesis set (expansion set)
- Trial of the Gods set (expansion set)
- Divine Order set (expansion set)
- Mortal Judgement set (expansion set)
- Mythic set (one-of-a-kind set)
When sets are not directly on sale, you can pick cards from these sets up from other users who could be selling them in the Immutable X marketplace.
Card Types
You will encounter 3 types of cards in Gods Unchained. Each type has a designated role in a deck, and finding the right balance between them can prove crucial in battle.
Creature Cards
Surrounded by an inner rectangular frame, creature cards can be placed on the board and used to attack the opponent's creatures or their god. Each player can have up to 6 creature cards on the board simultaneously. Every creature card has a set amount of hitpoints. The creature card is destroyed when its health is reduced to 0 and is sent to the void.
Spell Cards
Identified by its round frame, spell cards can be used to cast potentially match-turning spells determined by their text. Use spell cards to reinforce your creatures and play style, from supportive to damaging spells. Once a spell card has been used, the card will be sent to the void.
Relic Cards
Relic cards, enveloped by an octagonal frame, are unique types of cards, giving you more supporting options or even allowing your god to attack directly. When played, they do not take up a creature slot on the board, instead appearing in the top left corner of your god. Only one relic card can be active at the time, and casting another one will replace your current card.
Battle Stats
Mana
The amount of mana required to play the card. Every card in Gods Unchained has a mana cost of at least one.
Health
The amount of damage a creature can take before getting destroyed. This attribute is exclusive to creature cards.
Strength
The amount of damage a creature card or a spell can deal.
Card Text
Card text indicates the special abilities the card possesses. These can range from supporting skills like healing and boosting to aggressive or more utility-focused powers.
Look for keywords such as Frontline, Blitz, Backline, Protected, Confused, etc. Each of these will change the effect of your card drastically. Read up on all Keyword Mechanics.
As an example, let's take Anubian Usher. Sporting health and damage of 6 and 8, respectively, the card costs a hefty 7 mana points. In addition, the card text shows its utility-focused ability to draw a card from the void.
See our Card Text Style Guide if you're interested in how card text is structured.
Card Rarity
Card rarity can be recognized by the gems on the left and right sides of the cards. Cards with higher rarities are harder to discover in packs, as they have a lower drop rate. Cards can be 1 of 5 rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic.
- Common (gray gem)
- Rare (blue gem)
- Epic (purple gem)
- Legendary (yellow gem)
- Mythic (red gem)
Note: When building a deck, you can only use only 1 Legendary and Mythic version of the same card. Each other rarity is limited to two. Not to be confused with card quality, which comes into play when trading, card rarity only plays a part in deck building, a balance mechanic against spamming the same card.
Card Quality
A card's quality is a way to strut your stuff and show off a higher-quality version of your favourite card. There are 5 standard qualities:
- Plain (non-NFT)
- Meteorite
- Shadow
- Gold
- Diamond
Plain:
A plain quality card is a non-NFT card. The card is often earned by playing the game and is usable in-game but not tradable on the marketplace. If you have two or more of the same plain card, you can use $GODS and flux to fuse these together in The Forge, transforming them into a meteorite NFT card*. Plain quality cards can be identified by their gray border.
Shiny:
Any card that is meteorite or of higher quality are NFT cards** that can be traded on the marketplace with other players. These cards are otherwise known as 'shiny' cards. Shiny cards are a way to show off your flare to other players and add rarity to a card for collectors on top of the "rarity" trait.
**NOTE: At the time of writing, some shiny cards, such as Welcome set cards, are yet to be minted to Immutable X as NFTs and are not currently tradable.
Full Card Anatomy Diagram
And that's about it, a relatively short guide for the cards and sets in Gods Unchained. Next, you'll need to learn about deckbuilding as that'll play a role in the tactics and strategies you'll use in the game, so take a look at our Deckbuilding Strategy Guide.
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