Deck Building Tips part 2. Pontifex Conrad leads Imperial Shooters

Pontifex is a special Hero with a very interesting ability. His basic attributes do not allow Pontifex to be a good melee combatant, though he is great in manipulating creatures at a distance. His unique ability to wound his creatures to activate them again this turn can be a formidable power on the battlefield, and if for melee characters without a wound it can be a significant penalty as it reduces the probability of successful hit, range shooters can still shoot normally without any additional restrictions. Therefore, Pontifex Conrad became a very popular choice for players who like range shooters as he can make them way stronger. Let’s have a look at one of those decks.

The deck is called “Imperial Shooters”

(!) – means crucial cards for the main game concept

Characters:

Herrick, “Burned Dogs”, 17th Infantry Regiment —

— starter set character with Shooting. Thanks to its cheap summoning cost, can be the first to deal damage when the enemy still deploys their army.

Umbra, Illuminati Agent (!) —

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— starter set character; a very useful midgame option. Umbra’s Stealth and Shooting allows it to deal damage to its enemies without an answer.

Sergeant Bron —

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— a decent shooter with great Shooting and ability of Buckshot that makes sure your opponent’s creatures won’t be able to come closer to Bron and its allies.

Gabriella and Orth, Inquisition Hunters —

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— a very powerful and diverse midgame unit. The ability of Executioner gives it an opportunity to use Sniper against the most powerful characters of the opponent, and a big advantage of this character is that it’s a good melee fighter that doesn’t afraid close combats.

Siliya the Emperor’s Jaegers Shooter (!) —

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— a very good midgame shooter that already includes Master of Shooting, so doesn’t require tapping of Shooting Range and such flexible summoning cost allows to summon it along with another shooter.  

Astraea the Emperor’s Jaegers Shooter —

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— an average shooter dangerous for weak creatures. Once Astraea is summoned, an opponent’s hero should start hiding behind obstacles as he is risking to come under fire whatever the distance.

Alrik, Bringer of Justice (!) —

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— one of the key characters of this deck. It not only deals damage but strengthens your other shooters. Pay attention to Alrik’s ability of Sniper, and he is within the necessary range, there is no need to tap Shooting Range for it. 

Father Lutan, Zealot —

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— starter set character. Another supportive unit for your shooters. This character, as well as Cordia the Emperor’s Jaeger Shooter is not mandatory in this deck, but with the decent support, your shooters become significantly stronger.

Cordia the Emperor’s Jaeger —

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— supportive character from Emperor’s Jaegers set. The same as Father Lutan, Zealot, Cordia increases the effectiveness of your shooters. When Lutan and Cordia work in tandem your shooter could turn into true killing machines. 

Belinda the Healing Hand (!) —

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— starter set character. Capable of healing Pontifex and rescue the Hero at the end of the game, or simply support your shooters if they came under return fire. 

Cassandra, Celestial Healing —

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— starter deck character. An early game healer that can be used directly for healing or thanks to its Flight, number of health points, and huge size, it can be used as a barrier for your shooters. 

Tora, Sister of the Order (!) —

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— one of the best healers in the game. Almost guarantees you healing 2 health points to characters next to Belinda. As well as other supportive units, Belinda requires backup so until the enemy reaches her, Belinda is a perfect supporter for your squad. 

Commander Ajax, Templar Seneschal (!) —

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— starter set character, the second option of your main strike force for melee combats of this deck. Ajax works well in combination with Pontifex, and its Rush and high speed allow it to protect shooters, suddenly pop out from behind and engage opponent’s creatures.

Alluna the Illuminati Assassin — 

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— individually strong character that can either deal damage or be the guard of the Pontifex and your shooters as it didn’t allow enemy melee units to come closer to your soldiers.

Goliath —

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— a good teammate for Commander Ajax. It also has Rush and high level of Health, and, which is more important, it has Fortitude so with the Pontifex’s ability, it can attack a couple of times per turn without losing its effectiveness.

Total: 15 characters. It’s exactly half of the standard 30 cards deck. You can modify and change it, removing healers or vice versa, adding more supportive/healing characters to this deck. 

Support Cards:

(it’s recommended to use 2 copies of each, though you can adjust it on your own)

As always it’s recommended to use 2 copies of each card (the maximum possible), though you can switch their number depending on your opponents or game plan you prefer. Basically, these support cards are enough to defend your creatures especially who are weak in melee combat, and just to balance some weak sides of your squad.

 Hero Power — spell —

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— starter set card, it is a universal spell that can turn any of your characters into a formidable force on the Battlefield. In this deck, it is usually used in the late game for strengthening Ajax’s sudden attacks. Pay attention that this spell buffs only your characters but not your Hero. 

Thunderbolt (!) — spell —

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— starter set card. Spells of direct damage is literally crucial for this deck. Your shooters are living beings, after all, so this spell can fix their mistakes or if the dice fortune turned its back on you. It’s also useful to finish off opponent’s melee combatants that came too close to your soldiers. 

Acceleration — Spell —

— starter set card, a very good spell if you have to run off your opponent or vice versa if you chase them down. In any case, it allows you to control long distances increasing speed, which is always useful in this deck.

Foresight — Spell —

— starter set card, an optional spell which is just good for all large decks. It helps you to increase the draw chance and even to draw an extra card.

Mass Healing — spell —

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— starter set card, it is a decent spell if you’re playing against range shooting decks. In general, it’s difficult for shooters to kill a character in one turn, therefore some of them could have 1-2 wounds during the game, and this spell is exactly for such cases.

Lost Knowledge (!) — spell —

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— starter set card, this deck consist only of spell and tactic support cards. This card gives you an opportunity to play your favourite card again.  

Retribution (!) — Tactic —

— starter set card, a very useful tactic card that allows you to save one of your key characters.