2×Unit0One Energy, unanswerableZero Might, so it defends at two under the Legend. Deflect taxes their removal, and seven spare Energy turns it into a seven-Might body later.
3×Unit2Defends at fourIts Deathknell only draws if it died alone, which is the same condition the Legend rewards. The deck is built to keep both true at once.
3×Unit0Defends at twoZero Might still conquers and holds, per its own reminder text. Draws on play and reveals their hand on death.
2×Unit2Defends at fourBuffs another friendly unit on play. The buff is permanent where a trick is not, which matters on a body you intend to leave alone somewhere.
Threats they cannot answer
7 cards
1×Champion4Champion ZoneGains 2 XP on conquer or hold. At six XP it has Deflect and Ganking, which is the point at which the deck stops being answerable at one battlefield.
2×Unit4Defends at sixCannot be chosen by enemy spells or abilities unless in combat. Moving to a battlefield gives +2 that turn, and the Legend adds two more while alone.
3×Unit6Defends at eightAmbush lets it arrive at a battlefield that already has enemy units, which is how a defended position becomes a contested one on your turn.
1×Unit5Defends at sevenCannot be chosen by enemy spells and abilities at all. Still dies to combat and to anything that does not choose it.
Tempo and protection
4 cards
2×Unit3Defends at fiveReadies another unit on play, which is a second action rather than a bigger body.
2×Gear–The insuranceThe next friendly unit that would die is recalled exhausted instead. Hidden means you can set it now and spend it later for nothing.
Combat tricks
9 cards
3×Spell–The big swingFive Might for one Energy at Action speed. The largest cheap swing in the list.
3×Spell–Trick that replaces itselfTwo Might and a card. The draw is why this is the trick you hold when you are not sure you will need one.
2×Spell–Rewards the planPlus one, and one more if it is the only unit you control there. Written for exactly the board this deck wants.
1×Spell–Two casts over timeSix Might, and Flow lets it be played again from the trash for four before being banished.
Interaction
10 cards
3×Spell–Positional removalMoves an enemy unit rather than killing it. Against a deck that wants a unit somewhere, moving it is removal.
3×Spell–The counterCounters a spell costing no more than four Energy and no more than one Power. It answers a spell and nothing else.
2×Spell–Interactable removalTwo units deal damage equal to their Mights to each other. The optional Power gives yours +2 first, which is usually what decides it.
2×Spell–Proactive disruptionReveals their hand and recycles a non-unit card of your choice. It sees the hand whether or not the card taken matters.
Legend
1 cards
1×Legend–The whole deckWhile a friendly unit defends alone it gets +2. Alone means no other friendly unit there, so a second body switches it off.
Battlefields
3 cards
1×Battlefield–RotationOn conquering here you may pay one and return a unit to hand, playing a two-Might Sand Soldier token in its place.
1×Battlefield–Play firstDraws on conquest for each other battlefield you or allies control, so it pays for a Hold you established somewhere else.
1×Battlefield–Keeps them aloneThe first non-token unit played here each turn lets that player move another of their units to base. Symmetrical, and this deck wants the effect more often than they do.
Runes
12 runes
7×Body Rune
5×Calm Rune
Might, Energy and Power appear only where the guide states them; anything it leaves unstated is left blank rather than filled in with an invented value. Energy, Might and domain are the printed values, and the rune split is the registered one rather than an even guess.
Sideboard · 10
2×Targeted removal decksA body they cannot choose. Still loses to combat and to untargeted effects.
2×Gear enginesKills an enemy gear on play, but only while you control seven or more runes. Before that it is a four-Might body.
2×Wide boardsA friendly unit deals damage equal to its Might split among enemy units, and each kill gains XP.
2×Mind decksTakes a Mind card specifically. Dead against a list with no Mind in it, so check the domains before boarding it.
1×Spell and gear decksThe third copy, for matchups where the card you fear is not a unit.
1×Gear enginesKills a gear on play with no rune requirement, which is the difference between it and Barbara.
Default championMaster Yi, Tempered. Four Might, Hunt 2, and Deflect with Ganking once it reaches six XP.
No alternativeThe list registers one champion. The decision it asks for is when to commit it, not which one to bring. §9 →
Might distribution
18 shuffled units
50
0 Might2×3×
01
52
2 Might3×2×
23
3 Might2×
34
4 Might1×2×
15
5 Might1×
36
6 Might3×
⚠ WarningThe four-Might tier is empty on purpose. Karthus can activate Hook, but there is no printed four-Might unit to upgrade into. Hooking a three reaches nothing above three.
Energy curve
40 cards
151
Energy 12×3×2×3×3×2×
132
Energy 23×3×2×2×3×
43
Energy 32×2×
44
Energy 41×2×1×
35
Energy 53×
16
Energy 61×
4 cards sit outside the curve: the Battlefield and the Legend are played from their own zones and have no Energy cost.
Card types
Unit19
Unit2×3×3×2×1×2×3×1×2×
Spell19
Spell3×3×2×1×3×3×2×2×
Gear2
Gear2×
40 cards in the main deck. The Battlefield and Legend play from their own zones and are not counted.
Power by domain
Calm24 · 8 Power
Calm2×3×3×2×2×3×2×3×3×1×
Body18 · 11 Power
Body2×1×3×1×2×3×1×2×2×1×
Colorless3
Colorless1×1×1×
16 of 44 listed cards carry a Power requirement. A card with two domains counts under both, so these do not sum to the deck size.
Energy, type and domain are printed card values from the Riftcodex snapshot, joined against this guide’s list.