Rallul deck build (Mercenaries)

My first impression of the Mercenaries was that they are decently powerful, but pretty boring. That is incorrect. Rallul can do some pretty explosive things with the right combination of events and units. His units are, in general, slightly more costly (as they can also fit in other decks) but there’s a sufficient amount of well-priced units to make a strong deck with. This guide will go into detail on how to play him well. Summoner Wars is a game by Plaid Hat Games. It’s available on android / iOS / Vassal.

Basic idea
Mercenaries-RallulRallul is not the easiest summoner to play well. The best way to play him is to aim to get a huge hand going so you have a large number of options and can threaten to do a devastating combo (ideally ending with a Magic Pulse). However you also want some magic to either defend against an aggressive faction or to pressure a defensive faction. And good opponents won’t just let you Magic Pulse them easily. So some balancing / awareness of when to build magic and when to use your events is required. Another way to play him would be to very aggressively draw / use / build 7 cards a turn. I think that strategy is worse in general as his events aren’t as powerful by themselves. Against very defensive and economically stronger factions it may be a viable alternative though (like against the Demagogue).

Power wise he’s relatively hard to judge. He’s probably one of the stronger summoners due to the insane combo’s he can pull of. However, by themselves his events are not that strong and unless you run Etch you’ll probably lose the economic war against most other first summoners (and even with Etch you can’t out magic the Filth and Deep Dwarves. I don’t think his slightly more expensive units really hurt him as you can just select the well priced / cheap one’s and he has the most diversity in choice of what units to include of all first summoners.

Basic tactic and combo suggestions:
– Use Draw Power when you can to build up your hand as big as you can as quickly as possible. Ideally you can position Rallul so he can also Draw Power from enemy walls.
– Try to combo your events. Some of the events are pretty useless by themselves, but together they can be extremely devastating, especially for assassination style plays. To do this effectively you want your hand to be as big as possible. Event wise Magic Pulse and Channeled Summon are crucial as they allow you build / summon when / where you want.
– You can use Wall Transference and Rune Mages very well together. Especially if an opponent is brave enough to put a wall in a fourth row corner. In that case you can put a Rune Mage directly in front of that wall flanked by a wall moved by Wall Transference.
– Channeled Summon allows all kind of tricks with Stone Golems. Make sure to consider those (an example is extending your reach by 5-6 squares by i.e. using Reform Stone and then summoning a Stone Golem next to the Stone Golem and then summoning a champion next to the second stone golem).

Mercenaries-Rallul-ReferenceADeck build (18 / 18 magic for the champions / commons)
– 1 Mundol
– 1 Urick
– 1 Etch
– 6 Stone Golem (2 initially)
– 4 Rune mage (1 initially)
– 4 Apprentice mage (1 initially)
– 2 Vermin
– 2 Rogue

There are a lot of champions to choose from, however some are pretty bad and others don’t fit the relatively careful playstyle which I feel is strongest with Rallul. The first champion I included is Mundol. This is because of his three ranged attack dice, but also because of the synergy he has with the mages. This will allow you to be more flexible with how you play your deck as you can also go common heavy and still be competitive. The second champion I included is Urick as he’s one of the few units you can use to set up huge combo’s with Rallul. Mostly to knock units towards Rallul or to knock Rallul towards enemy units. The third champion is a rather obvious one, Etch. In this build I feel he’s a good fit as both Mundol and Urick are pretty expensive and Etch is not. Other options that I feel are valid options: Hulgorad (interesting alternative for Mundol), Duggle (good anti-common champion), Grubs (great for very aggressive decks), the Seer (interesting, but fills a similar role as Etch and including both seems overkill).

There are a number of commons that are hard not to include. First of all the stone golems. These synergize very well with a number of your events so I included the maximum amount that’s available in a physical deck. Secondly rune mages. These can be summoned if an opportunity arises, if not, they can be built (or used as extra attack power with Mundol). Finally the apprentice mages. With Mundol they can be used very flexibly (you can even kill them after their 2-3 die attack for magic). And they are dirt cheap. The hard part is to decide what else to include. In the end I decided on some rogue’s and vermin for their situational usefulness (and as you can hold a large hand, you have more chances of getting a use out of situational units). Those are pretty much untested though, so I may swap them out for other commons eventually.

Playing the faction
MercenariesYour starting units are very useful as you get two very strong stone golems and a rune mage. This opens up the option of immediately setting up a Siphon. Immediately consider whether setting up a Siphon is an option in the initial phase as your Rune Mage can’t be left alone so it will force your opponent to act. Another thing to consider is Rallul’s position. If possible you want him drawing every turn and from enemy walls, so if you can arrange that safely, go for it. To support that I’d recommend building some cards at the start. This early magic can be used to get Etch or Mundol out or simply to have some options for defending against aggressive factions. Note: If you are the first player, Draw Power isn’t very useful as you can only build them and you will get five cards anyway the next turn.

If you get Etch early you can afford to let your opponent come to you (and even use Reform stone to recycle walls for even more magic / draw). This should also allow you to quickly build a large hand (9+ cards). If your hand starts getting this big your opponent will want to avoid your summoner with high value targets / his summoner. Personally I feel this allows me the chance to be more aggressive with my units / summoner. However be wary of lots of magic being built as getting assassinated is definitely one of Rallul’s weaknesses.  If you are in somewhat of a decent position the mid game will tend to become a cat and mouse game of you trying to hit his summoner with your big turn and him avoiding that and forcing you to use your big hand on something less important / or simply killing you outright.

Mercenaries-Rallul-ReferenceBThis is why I like including units that have movement tricks or are useful for applying some early pressure. Killing one of his big champions instantly with Magic Pulse can be a worthwhile trade even if it costs you one of your Magic Pulses as it’s basically killing a champion for the cost of 1 magic. An eventual end game really depends on who you are facing / whether you made enough of an advantage in the mid game. You don’t have any real end game tools aside from Etch. If you have him, you can summon most unit in your deck as long as there are enough turns / walls. So be careful with building too many cards.

Match up analysis
I might do a faction by faction analysis eventually, but I’ll start this off with a few general observations.

First summoner specific cards

CardDeckNotes
Mercenaries-RallulBaseThe key thing to realize with Rallul's ability is that it lets him draw above the hand size of five. This can allow you to do way more combo's with your events (Wall Transference, Channeled Summon and Magic Pulse). It can also be useful in being very aggressive as you can draw / build 7 cards a turn if you want to. Try to position him so he can use Draw Power before he moves, that will allow you to use the extra cards that turn. Note: You can also Draw Power stone golems if they are 'walls', which can be useful in combination with Fury of Godshome.
Mercenaries-MagicPulseBase (x2)As Rallul is ranged, this can be an incredibly effective card if your hand size is pretty large. It's not uncommon to be able to throw 8+ dice with Rallul. This can instant kill most champions and it can be very useful to assassinate an enemy summoner. Another way to think of this event is that if you hold building magic you can do it with this event during the event phase and also gain a lot of extra attack dice on Rallul for the cost of 1 magic. You can often build one of these events as getting two huge hands might be hard.
Mercenaries-ChanneledSummonBase (x2)The most important part of this event is the second part. As this will allow you to have no magic at the start of the turn, use Magic Pulse to build magic and then use Channeled Summon to instantly summon 1 or more units from a new wall / golem. You can even chain stone golems to extend your reach even further. Note: You can even chain wounds with Fury of Godshome!
Mercenaries-WallTransferenceBase (x2)Wall Transference is best used in combination with Fury of Godshome (to deal damage to enemy units) and Channeled Summon (to summon from a new angle during the event phase). By itself it will generally not be that useful. Probably his weakest event although it can also be used to move stone golems or to move a wall out of Rallul's way.
Mercenaries-ReformStoneBase (x2)In general I'd like to use this to get a stone golem from my discard pile as that brings out a 2 cost unit for 1 magic (which would normally cost 3 magic). I can imagine some situations in which a wall would be better though (in example to protect your summoner or getting another wall out for Fury of Godshome). Can also be combo'ed with the other events. Remember that you need to get stone golem's in your discard pile to be able to summon them with this event.
Mercenaries-FuryOfGodshomeBase (x1)This also includes enemy walls, which means any damage you are doing to their walls can be transferred to one (!) unit (not the summoner) next to that wall if they are not careful. Also note that if your stone golems are walls, you can also use this to move wounds from them to enemy units. And it can be used to kill one of your own units in case you need an extra magic. Very powerful event! Note: Always transfer the maximum number of wounds even if you are killing a 1 hp unit.

Generic cards

CardDeckSSCF*Notes
Mercenaries-EtchBase0Very strong support champion as he can basically shift the magic economy your way by himself. He's best as an early champion. If possible use his ability on enemy walls as with Rallul's ability combined you'll go through your walls health quickly. Finally, as he has only four health you need to keep him safe.
Mercenaries-TheSeerBase0Interesting champion. Obviously another support champion. You can either use him to build magic from your own deck slightly faster (which isn't that useful as you won't want to build everything and it works against Rallul's own ability) or remove cards from your opponent's deck (pretty useful). I'd call him pretty situational though as he's most useful against enemy walls and if you're putting units against enemy walls safely I'd rather have Etch or a Rune Mage be there.
Mercenaries-MundolBase-1Three ranged dice, which is very nice. However, he's pretty expensive and doesn't have that much health, so he needs to be kept safish. I'd say he's worth it if you are using a number of the mage's he boosts (which isn't unlikely considering how good they can be).
Mercenaries-ApprenticeMageBase (x7)0Because it costs no magic, it's by default an interesting common as you can summon them for free and then kill them after they attack thereby attacking for free. Also note you can get extra magic in the event phase by killing them with Fury of Godshome. I'd say they are definitely worth it if you are using Mundol as he very nice synergy with them (2 dice ranged or 3 dice melee for 1 magic).
Mercenaries-StoneGolemBase (x6)1Two attack dice for two magic and three health is decent. His ability is quite a detriment, but I'd still call these one of the best commons the Mercenaries get as they synergize with pretty much all event cards. And they are one of the beefiest commons in the Mercenaries deck.
Mercenaries-RuneMageBase (x5)2Easily the most controversial common in the game. I'd definitely say they are slightly unbalanced in terms of cost right now as their ability gives them a minor Magic Drain every turn. Also nice synergy with Mundol. Finally, you can use wall transference to set up a situation in which you can leech one or more walls. Oh and note that it doesn't cost an attack. Anyway: Great common.
Mercenaries-KogarBellor's Retribution-1Six health and two dice for six cost is pretty average. His ability is slightly more interesting as you could use it in situations in which you are facing two one health commons for decent effect though as you will kill the first with an attack and the second with the auto wound the next turn. That it only works against commons makes it much worse though as a lot of factions mostly use champions. Note: His ability has to be used against friendly commons as well!
Mercenaries-RogueBellor's Retribution (x5)-1Interesting common, especially against pretty aggressive factions. Three dice for 1 magic is very nice. It will generally die the next turn though and it often is pretty hard to get behind enemy champions as a lot of factions will be pushing your walls. Still, you can use Rallul's events & Channeled Summon to set this up, so still pretty interesting.
Mercenaries-HulgoradTaliya's Spirit-1Very strong champion. Not only does he have three dice and seven health to survive some time, his ability is good as extra movement is incredibly valuable. The extra attack die in case of full movement doesn't hurt either.
Mercenaries-BounderTaliya's Spirit (x5)-1Interesting ability, but too expensive for it's attack die / health. You can use it to get one extra wound in on a target you can't otherwise reach, but it'll probably die next turn so it's a very expensive chance at 1 damage. Note that it can't jump over walls.
Mercenaries-NaanNashiGoodwin's Blade0Somewhat weird ability. Summoning him will discard your own unit, so that makes him in effect more expensive. Which means he's not cheap for his two attack die and six health (as he also takes on the wounds). You will deny your opponent the magic for the common, but Naan'Nashi probably won't live too much longer. I'd say that in Mercenaries he's not worth it.
Mercenaries-OwlFamiliarGoodwin's Blade (x5)-1Another common which I feel doesn't have a good enough ability for it's cost. Yes, you can summon it and then it's ability will be useful to get better cards earlier, but you could have used that magic to summon a Stone Golem instead. Maybe if decks were 50 cards.
Mercenaries-GrubsHawk's Strike-1Three dice, which is nice, but expensive for it's health. His ability is interesting, especially if you are being aggressive with your summoner as you can reposition him at the end of the turn so you can for instance attack with Rallul and then move Grubs in front of Rallul afterwards. The two square distance restriction is pretty detrimental though.
Mercenaries-StonecloakHawk's Strike (x5)1If you use the Stonecloack with a stone golem that's been turned wall, it'll be instantly killed (not recommended). I consider these not that good as one die simply isn't good enough even though they have three health. One situational use of these is to put a few surprise wound markers on one of your walls to use with Fury of Godshome (and then use Wall Transference).
Mercenaries-MalevolenceGrungor's Charge1Pretty good champion against other champions as she has four die and seven health for seven cost. Her ability is a pretty big detriment when facing commons or hitting walls as she at most can only do seven attacks unless healed.
Mercenaries-VerminGrungor's Charge (x5)-1Completely average stats, but an interesting ability. If you can get it next to three enemy units it'll definitely be worth it's magic. Otherwise it all depends on the dice. One on one it gives you 22% chance at two damage on an enemy unit, which is decent. Very useful in combination with abilities that can move this unit around. Otherwise situational.
Mercenaries-RygosPiclo's Magic-1His ability can be used to draw in enemy units or to snipe a one health unit from a distance. At short range his ability won't work and you'll need to depend on his three dice. I'd say he's more of an anti-common / anti-wall champion because of this. As his one damage is basically Precise, he can be useful to get a hit in on that unit that really needs to get hit.
Mercenaries-DemonHandPiclo's Magic (x5)1Very dangerous common because of the mechanic against your own summoner (and not very cheap for it's stats). I wouldn't use him in Rallul. His ability to wound cards he starts next against is also underwhelming in Rallul as your opponent will probably be very focused on killing it, so you'll probably only get the chance when summoning it. Best used against factions with one health commons. He'd probably be most useful in factions that can protect him or that can heal their summoner / have movement shenaginans / have high health summonres.
Mercenaries-MagosRukar's Power-1Another support champion. His ability is slightly worse in Rallul's deck as Rallul himself can already hold more then 7 cards using his ability. So I'd rather use Etch or The Seer. His stats are also underwhelming for his cost / attack die.
Mercenaries-SpearGrounderRukar's Power (x5)-1Situational common. His extra attack value on adjacent attack isn't useful as you could use a Stone Golem instead which has one more health. His ability to use a diagonal attack can be useful in very defensive situations. It'll probably only work once though, which I feel isn't really worth it.
Mercenaries-SaellaSaella's Precision-2Average stats for her cost, but a great ability as you'll be sure to kill whatever one or two health common you attack. Note that Precise doesn't work against walls, so she's best used against commons. She can hold her own against some champions, but her five health means she isn't the best in that regard.
Mercenaries-DuggleSaella's Precision-1A champion with a pretty powerful ability as you can move four squares and kill two units per turn by spending one magic (and getting lucky rolling the dice). Against champion heavy factions he's not that strong as you won't get to use his ability, so he's primarily oriented for fighting commons and doing assassination. You can also use him to attack the same common twice in one turn.
Mercenaries-RathSaella's Precision0His ability basically allows him to teleport across the whole map if there's a common enemy unit there. This will only be useful however if it's a surprise or if you have a mechanic to wound units before the movement phase. His stats are average. I'd say he's mostly useful for assassination and defense as he can be very mobile and doesn't need to hit the common he teleported next to.
Mercenaries-UrickSaella's Precision-1Good assassination / anti-champion champion due to his ability. If fighting an enemy melee champion you can keep bouncing it away from you so you always get the first strike in. And if used with one of your own units you can move that into position for a hit on a summoner (Rallul with his Magic Pulse for instance). His seven health also make him hard to kill. Only problem I have with him are his two die.
Mercenaries-SwordGrounderSaella's Precision (x5)0Decent common as it's ability requires four dice rolls on average instead of three. And it's two health for one magic. It's not an interesting enough ability though to be useful for much other then wall clogging / putting a body that will survive a turn somewhere.
Mercenaries-BowGrounderSaella's Precision (x5)0With the extra movement and ranged ability it can hit places you can't otherwise get to. So useful for assassination oriented decks if you need that one extra damage. Other then that, not very useful.
Mercenaries-TimeMageSaella's Precision (x5)-1Two magic for one health and one attack is pretty bad. It's ability is unique though in that it can move diagonally through walls and through units giving it extreme range. Another unit which I'd consider mostly only useful in an assassination oriented deck as it's otherwise way too expensive for what it does. I'd only include it in a deck which also has Mundol, although it can be hard to stay in the 2 space range then.
Mercenaries-KhanQuesoPromo cards0Plague also triggers when being moved by another mean, so that can make it very strong. In Rallul's deck it's mediocre and I feel there are better champions. I'd only recommend him if you are going very common heavy and need a very cheap champion to put in someone's face. Note that you *must* use his ability.
Mercenaries-SairookPromo cards0Only useful if you can afford to re-summon him and are playing him in a way that your opponent won't be able to kill him in one turn consistently. Main problem with him is when to re-summon, if you wait too long you'll lose him and if you re-summon him with only one or two hits, he becomes very costly.
Mercenaries-KhexhuPromo cards-1His stats are average for his costs and his ability is average as well. Generating in example two health would make him a two attack dice champion with 5 health for 7. Not worth it, especially not since he's melee.
pic1398943_mdPromo cards-2He's very expensive for his attack die and health and he's not even ranged. However, his ability is situational useful as you can make way for your ranged units to fire. Still, with Rallul he doesn't seem worth it compared to some of the other champions.
* SSCF = Secret Summoning cost formula = attack value + base health + 1 if ranged - (2 if common OR -3 if champion) - magic cost. I haven't included the worth of the ability as that's generally controversial.

References
All Mercenaries cards (especially strategy section and comments are useful)
A Doug’s Guide To Summoner Wars podcast (strategy discussion and community news)
Mythacle Battleplan for Summoner Wars (deck builder)

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