Eufrat 11 TIPS TO GET BETTER AT SKYWEAVER
Hello, my name is Eufrat, I’m 27 and i love card games. Being the #1 discovery player in closed beta i decided to write a guide (first of many hopefully) to help new players get better at Skyweaver. Let’s begin.
*Most of this guide is applicable for both discovery and constructed mode.
1) Don't be afraid to attack units with your hero
The most common mistake i encounter on the ladder is – players being scared to spend their hero’s health to remove units from the board. Your health is just a resource like any other. It doesn’t matter if you win with 1 hp or 50. Trading health for board and card advantage is very important.
If there is an enemy unit you can kill with your hero, you should almost always do it. Especially early in the game when units are small and your health is high.
If you can punch a smaller unit, never use a spell to kill it. Try to save your precious removal spells for bigger threats. Keep in mind you can use banner units and spells to boost your hero’s power, enabling you to kill units with higher health.
If your opponent has a 7/1 unit and there is no way to remove it other than punching it – do it! Next turn it’s going to attack you anyway.
Exception 1: If your health is low and you have a removal spell, it might be safer to use it instead of punching.
Exception 2: If your health is low and you have a strong guard unit protecting you, it might be risky to go below 5hp as some spells could kill you.
A more advanced and highly risky strategy is trying to kill an enemy unit over the span of two turns. I wouldn’t recommend it for now.
2) Try to control the board - don't blindly attack the enemy hero with everything you’ve got
It feels good to reduce the enemy health. After all, if it gets down to 0, you win. But if you try to rush it, while ignoring units on the board, you will usually fall short. Why?
The player who controls the board has a big advantage. If your opponent has units on the board, they can attack your hero and your units. They can buff their own units or sacrifice them for powerful effects. Keeping the enemy side empty will greatly reduce their options.
If you have units on the board and the enemy has them too, you should try to trade in your favor. So instead of just dealing face damage (i know it’s tempting), try to attack units in such a way that your units stay alive, and theirsdon’t. Or try to trade your less important units for more important ones.
Example: If you trade your 3/2 unit for their 6/3, you are left with a 6/6 on the board. If you decide to attack the enemy hero (and ignore the board), next turn your opponent can trade the 6/3 for your 6/6, which leaves you with just a 3/2. After a few trades like that, you will be in a bad spot. The fact you got the enemy hero to 10 health won’t mean anything if the board control is completely lost.
Once you control the board (you have a few units and the opponent has none) – each time they play a new unit – you will have the option to make the best trade.
Example 2: You have a 3/3, 5/2 and a 7/7 unit on the board. The opponent plays a 7/5 unit. They would ideally like to trade it with your 7/7 or your 3/3. But it is YOU who chooses the trade (because your units are ready to attack, and theirs is still asleep). So you trade the 5/2 into the 7/5 and increase your advantage once again.
Note that it will get more complicated than this and it takes time to master.
3) Get familiar with the keywords a.k.a. don't attack an armored unit with your hero
There are 6 keywords in Skyweaver:Armor, Banner, Lifesteal, Wither, Stealth, Guard.
Almost every unit in Skyweaver has one or more keywords.
I often see new players attack an armored unit with their hero and simply take damage while accomplishing nothing. Quite a painful mistake.
Armor is not going to break from damage.
Armor also prevents spell damage and other effect damage. So if your Doom Shroom dies, it’s effect won’t do anything to an armored unit.
Like other keywords, it can only be removed by the Chains attachment (comes back when chains are removed)
The effect stacks! More units on the board = higher hero power. More spells in a turn played = higher hero power. Units give banner while they are on the board, spells give banner for the rest of the turn they are played in.
Keep track of banner cards on the board and in your hand. This keyword makes your hero a great tool to remove units.
Example: There’s a 2/2 enemy unit on the board. Your hero has 1 power. Before deciding you can’t kill it, search your hand for a banner card. It can increase your power by 1, enabling the kill.
Common mistake even pro’s make: Trading with your banner unit before you use your hero’s attack. If your unit dies, you lose the banner effect right away. So if you plan to trade with that unit, make sure to attack with the hero first (if possible).
Unlike in some card games – units with lifesteal won’t heal your hero when they fight units. It happens only when they deal damage to the enemy hero.
You can attack big units with your small wither units to make them smaller and less dangerous. This keyword is especially useful on AoE spells.
Example: The opponent has a 2/5 unit. You have a 2/2 witherunit. Attack the enemy unit with the 2/2 and it will turn the 2/5 into a 0/3. You can then attack it with your hero/other units without taking any damage in return.
Units with stealth are hard to remove. You have to deal damage to the hero first to make them visible (for the rest of the turn). However, they can be targeted with spells!
Prevents enemy units from attacking your hero. However, It won’t stop them from attacking your other visible units.
Hint: Guard units will always go to the right of their hero. If they lose guard, they will „jump“ to the left. They have a border in the shape of a shield.
4) Use the in-game tooltip
Often there will be times when you’ll wish to attack a unit or cast a spell – but you are not sure what will happen. Maybe a unit has armor, or shield or a barrier. Or simply there’s a big board with all sorts of keywords and attachments and death effects, and you plan to play a big AoE removal spell.
Well don’t sweat. By hovering an attack or a card in mid-air, you can see the result before it happens.
Just aim the yellow arrow at any potential target to see the results. Be careful not to drop it though!
5) Make a mulligan plan – curve out your hand
At the start of each game, you will be presented with 7 random cards from your deck. You can keep only 4. Usually you’ll want to keep cheap cards so you have something to play in your first few turns. No point in keeping a 10cost Titanic if you have to wait 10 turns to play him. It will be a „dead“ card in your hand, and you can always draw it later.
Hint: The game will suggest you what to keep by giving cheap cards a blue glow around them.
So what happens if you have several cheap cards to choose from?
Try to make a plan for your first three or four turns. If you select cards that cost 2,3 and 4 mana you will have an optimal play for each of the next 3 turns.
If you select 3 cards that cost 3 mana, you will struggle a bit. On your second turn you won’t have a play at all (you have 2 mana). Turn three will be good (you use all 3 of your mana). Turn 4 you will have 1 mana to spare, which is not ideal (you use 3 out of 4). Try to build a nice mana curve in your hand to maximize your mana usage.
Super important – You start each game with a mana potion or a mana flask, depending on who plays first. You must keep that in mind when you choose your cards. If you are the first player – you start with 1 mana and a mana flask (gain 2 mana this turn). If you are the second player – you start with 2 mana and a mana potion (gain 1 mana this turn).
Example: Let’s say you’re the second player. You can choose a 3c, 3c, 4c and a 5c card in your mulligan. First turn you will have 2 mana. You can play your mana potion to play your 3c unit. Next turn you will have 3 mana, and you can play your second 3c unit. Next turn 4 mana and 4c unit and so on. So depending on who plays first and what kind of mana potion you get, you make different mulligan decisions. This is not easy, for now just try to notice it when you select your starting cards.
Disco hint – In discovery mode, it’s more important to keep units in hand, so you have something to play every turn despite what the opponent does. If you end up with a hand full of spells and the board is empty, you won’t have anything to do. However, keeping 1 removal spell in your starting hand will always come in handy.
