In the middle of the Pyrelian Wasteland lies the Great Grotto. This vast network of caves and canyons hides many dangerous monsters in its abyss.
All over Issilith stories about terrifying creatures stalking the Grotto Depths are often used to scare little children and learn them about the dangers that can lurk beneath the surface. But many forget that the Grotto Shallows used to be just as terrifying. Some of the creatures that used to stalk the Grotto Shallows are Starving Grottogars. Surprisingly fast and nimble considering their size and with quite of an appetite, these monsters will haunt the dreams of any living soul that crossed paths with them and, by the grace of some higher gods, lived. They have a very slow digestion system, so any creature they devour will meet a fate far worse than death. Luckily for the nearby settlements, Starving Grottogars are fairly rare nowadays since they were hunted almost to extinction, and the ones that survived retreated to the Grotto Reaches.
Starving Grottogar is a neutral creature that costs 6 essence and has its stats set at 5 power and 4 health. However, what makes this unit a nice addition to any deck is the effect this card has if you’ve passed the leadership threshold. If you have at least 3 levels in leadership, when you play Starving Grottogar on the board, you can target a local enemy unit with 3 or less power and destroy it. A very convenient tool to have at your disposal.
What Grotto creature do you like to include in your deck? Comment below or join our Discord channel (Discord) and share your preferred Grotto creature with us!
Yours truly, PHAGEBORN team
Card Art Showcase: Azure Lashcaster
Dear Denizens of Issilith!
Issilith is a world full of rare sights and beautiful sceneries. Although to witness some of them, one will occasionally be forced to expose oneself to danger.
Azure Lashcaster is part of a mysterious and secluded race. They aren’t very welcoming towards strangers and are known to attack. That may be the main reason why so little is known about them. But what is known is that they can wield an unknown form of magic, and if they notice you are watching them, better run fast, for their next acts will certainly be imbued with extreme violence. Those that had the privilege to see them and leave unscathed, report that Azure Lashcaster can be found within ancient ruins, usually on a clearing that most likely used to be the main square. They practice their magic there, manipulating the wind flow to strike their enemies like a whip that breaks on the ostodon’s flank. Nevertheless, the whole sighting has been described as mesmerizing since the sequence performed resembles the dance performance more than it does the conventional training. Azure Lashcaster is a devoted neutral unit that costs 3 essence. Its power is set at 1 and health at 2, but if you reach the 2 leadership threshold, on play you will activate its effect and deal 1 damage to all local units. Just keep in mind that Lashcaster will deal damage to your local units as well, so plan accordingly!
What devoted unit is your favourite? If you haven’t already, join our Discord channel (Discord) and stay in the loop with more news to come!
Yours truly, PHAGEBORN team
Team's Favourite Cards: VIII
Dear Denizens of Issilith!
While low-cost units are a staple of any well-balanced deck, especially if they have some cool effect, it’s quite hard to beat the impression a beefy unit can leave on a player (or their opponent for that matter).
TEAM MEMBER: Matea Vujasinović (Business Administrator) FAVOURITE CARD: Teradon Destroyer
“Issilith is home to many creatures that almost defy reason. The mere sight of Titans such as this one almost unravels it.”
The largest of the bred beasts and closest greatest minds of the Drakkorith Empire came to the reviving of the long gone dragons, teradons quickly found their place in the Drakkorith way of life. While teradons come in many shapes and have certain variations in their size, they are often used as machines of war, wreaking havoc on the front lines of the battleground. But not all fulfil this purpose. The ones really awe-inspiring are those that carry entire structures mounted on their backs, such as those the Harkon Academy proudly calls their home.
Teradon Destroyer is a late-game Drakkorith unit that costs 9 essence. Its power is set at 10 and health at 8, making it a real behemoth on the battleground as well. But what makes its opponents really tremble is the demolish that this unit has. Since its power is set at 10, it means its attack on the Core will deal 20 damage! Take into consideration that the maximum health the Core can have is 30, and you’ll see why this unit deserves its name.
WHY: “When this unit comes on the board it usually means GG. Thanks to its raw power I can finish off my opponent in just two hits to the Core max, which is quite impressive.”
What beefy unit is your go-to? Comment below or join our Discord channel (Discord) and share your answers with us!
Yours truly, PHAGEBORN Team
Introducing PHAGEBORN Fridays
Dear Denzines of Issilith,
Introducing PHAGEBORN Fridays from 19:00 GMT!
PHAGEBORN Fridays is the ultimate community event where everyone can join in and queue up for some thrilling matches, alongside our very special guests who will be live streaming on Twitch! Get ready for an exciting and action-packed evening with players from all around!
Join us and brace yourselves as we welcome our esteemed guests, the mighty warriors of Twitch, Soul_Strike, GhostArya & MrFrusko!
The action begins tonight at 19:00 GMT sharp!
Queue up and let's get show the world what the Residents of Issilith are made of!
The competition is officially coming to a close, with the last call to submit your winning screenshots by 23:00 GMT tonight!
We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who participated. It has been a truly exhilarating experience to witness the dedication, skill, and passion displayed by our players throughout the tournament.
We are excited to share some of the amazing statistics we have gathered over the course of the competition so far. Our data shows that Marien was the most used Avatar, accounting for 35.71% of all matches played, followed closely by Zhutgg at 20.24%. The Derelict Cave was the most popular battleground, and on average, matches lasted around 14 turns, with the longest match clocking in at an impressive 43 turns.
We also noticed that many players were boosting their energy, making it the most chosen attribute.
One of the most interesting trends we observed was the popularity of players picking energy when leveling attributes at the start of their turn.
As the competition draws to a close, we are excited to announce that we will be revealing the winners shortly. We have been blown away by the level of skill and dedication on display from all of our players and cannot wait to announce the final results.
Once again, we would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to all of our players. We could not have done this without you, and we look forward to continuing to bring you even more exciting and engaging events in the future.
Yours truly,
PHAGEBORN Team
COMPETITON RESUMED
Dear Denzines of Issilith,
We humbly apologize for the unexpected break in our competition. Your patience and unwavering support mean the world to us, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
I have great news for you all, now we have rid of those pesky Nox Bats the competition is back on, and it's fiercer than ever! The final weekend is upon us, and it's time to show the world what you're made of. Remember, the best time to play is from Friday to Sunday from 18:30 GMT as that’s when we have our wonderful streamers live! Stay tuned for the full schedule for the weekend!
Get your decks ready, sharpen your strategies, and unleash your might in the arena. This is your chance to claim eternal glory and prove yourself as a true champion of Issilith.
Let the battles begin, and may the odds be ever in your favour!
Yours Truly,
PHAGEBORN Team
Team's Favourite Cards: VII
Dear Denizens of Issilith!
Low-cost units that can be impactful in the mid to late game are always a great addition to any deck. That is the opinion our dear Glyn shares with many card game players.
TEAM MEMBER: Glyn Fairweather (Design Director) FAVOURITE CARD: Krorn Catapult
“Much like the Drakkoriths, the Krorns take great pride in their machines of war.”
Krorns are in many ways similar to Drakkoriths with a few small exceptions, such as their smaller stature and average engineering skills. So they will mostly get their siege weapons from the Drakkoriths or commission them from the Klexrav. They can make their own if needed, though those are quite simple. But since Krorns use siege engines in their training and try to develop new tactics, they will make sure that this crude little catapult will get the job done.
Krorn Catapult is a neutral unit that costs 3 essence. With its power and health set at 3, you would think you get exactly how much you pay for with this card. However, Krorn Catapult also has a demolish, meaning it will deal double damage every time this unit attacks the Core. Don't forget to utilize this if you can, as it can easily turn the 3 damage this sturdy catapult has to 6, with just a little bit of planning and a pinch of good luck.
WHY: “It's a sturdy, and cheap card with great art. It doesn't draw attention to itself, or set off alarm bells. You can just get it on the table, and sling damage around. It's a great workhorse in any deck.”
What low-cost card is your go-to when you’re building your deck? Comment below or join our Discord channel (https://discord.com/invite/V6p9BMHbh4) and share it with us!
Yours truly, PHAGEBORN Team
COMPETITION POSTPONED
Dear Denizens of Issilith,
We have had some reports of Nox Bat Younglings infiltrating our system and causing some connectivity errors with our most recent build.
Due to this, we have decided to postpone the competition for this weekend. This saddens us greatly and we apologise to anyone wishing to take part this weekend.
We are looking for the Nox Nest as we speak and will remove these rooted Nox Bats as fast as we can and get everything back up and working as it should be. We are hopeful we will have this infestation under control by next weekend so the great competition can resume!
Thank you all for your understanding and patience while we resolve these issues and get these critters out!
Yours Truly, PHAGEBORN Team
Patch Notes 0.61.4
Added Auto Reconnect system. Now the client will prompt the user and automatically try to continue the match when possible. The game is now overall more resilient to errors during matchmaking.
Fixed the bug before the Mulligan phase where the connection could be dropped before the title “Waiting for all players to connect”.
Implemented a Global Notifications System. Players will now receive important messages while in the Menu.
Reworked the Reward Notification System. Players will be prompted with pop-ups upon obtaining any kind of reward.
Improved the client handling of the durations of the turn timers that could have displayed wrong times upon dynamic changes from the server.
Implemented meta-collection and player data versioning to prevent player data corruption.
Replaced the old Cores System with a new, more customizable design.
Reworked Player Profile Customization and Featured Avatars Selection in order to make it more responsive to player requests.
Overhauled the UI sound effects in all scenes.
Added several sound triggers in Menu Scene.
Added currency indicators across relevant screens.
New Cores and Titles added to the game.
Added new profile icons that replace the old ones.
Reworked the Avatar Shrine menu to represent the change from Avatar Soul Fragment to Avatar Soul.
Reworked the interactability of the Find Match button when an invalid deck would be selected.
Rework the systems behind Currencies, Experience, and Profile Customization Items.
Reworked end-game progress notifications in order to display dynamically different categories.
Fixed the bug where the cards wouldn’t be correctly filtered by cost.
Reworked the introduction voice lines for selected Avatars.
Implemented global handling for Experience progression through the session.
Applied gamma correction to several images in order to faithfully translate the original designs.
Fixed the corrupted visuals of the End Game Screen.
Added sound to the back navigation action.
Added missing flavor text in cards.
Added tooltips to unavailable match modes.
Reworked several unit sound entries.
Fixed the selection logic behind random map selection.
Corrected several typos spread across the game.
Fixed a bug that would allow for duplicate sound triggering across Menu Scene toggle groups.
Fixed the bug where the Tutorial would display the wrong text when not doing what the tutorial expects the player to do.
Fixed a bug where sometimes tooltips wouldn’t resize correctly to their content.
Corrected the text for map selection on find match screens.
Fixed the bug where player favorite achievements wouldn’t be properly updated on the menu overview.
Adjusted the timings for the Divine Storm VFX.
Fixed various challenge bugs.
Corrected display text in Mao Wei’s Surprised voice emote.
Recovered several displayed texts that had corrupted keys.
Reworked Battleground selection buttons in order to allow selection by clicking on their names
Fixed tutorial bug where two tooltips could be displayed at once.
Fixed the bug in challenge history where it would fail to display the right cells under rare circumstances.
Fixed the bug where some audio elements could overlap when they were not supposed to.
Fixed the bug where the social window could stay open while loading a new match. Now the social window closes after a successful match finding.
Disabled tooltip pop-ups in rare cases where they would appear empty.
Fixed the bug where the player could still have an Avatar Skill selected after the end of the turn in case it was not manually canceled.
Updated Credits information.
Team's Favourite Cards: VI
Dear Denizens of Issilith!
As our team grows, so does the list of our favourite cards! In the next few upcoming Team's Favourite Cards posts, we will share some of the go-to cards fundamental in our publisher's decks.
TEAM MEMBER: Ben Moss (Business Development & Marketing) FAVOURITE CARD: D'dall Reaver
“D'dall creatures are in fact the dismembered body parts of the immortal demigod of the same name, driven to reunite and recreate the body of D'Dall once more.”
In ancient times, when gods walked the lands of Issilith, one powerful being threatened their very existence. It was the D’Dall, an abominable creature, an immortal demigod created with one sole purpose - to slay gods. Clearly, the gods could not let him live, but they could not kill him either. It was one of the rare occasions where the Dragon Gods put their differences aside and worked together to dismember the D’Dall, scattering his remains across the land. It didn’t take long for the dismembered parts to become sentient and start to roam the land, seeking to fuse together and bring back the ancient demigod to his primal form. Now, some of his parts roam the Emerald Islands as well, fighting their way back to become whole once again.
D'dall Reaver is a 5-cost unit that has its stats set at 4/5. While not too impressive by its sheer stats, the effect of this card is what puts it at the top of the picked cards. D'dall has a really impactful reap effect, especially if you manage to utilize him in the early game. Every time D'dall attacks and kills a unit, if he survives, he will fully heal and gain +1/+1.
WHY: “Reason I like that card, I've always been a fan of cards that have a great spot in a tempo deck, which the Reaver has in spades - I can play it on turn 5 straight away and try rush it into a low attack card to instantly start the buffing - As I play a deck that includes plenty of unit buffs too it means that I can often support it with shield tokens, +1/+1 buffs and so on. I'll use it as a way to get my opponent to commit far more than they'd want to remove it, that is unless it just gets censured.”
Which card is your favourite demigod? Comment below or join our Discord channel (Discord) and share it with us!
