Ashes: The Future!
New phoenixborn, competitive play, and more!
Hello Ashes Fans!
Many of you may be wondering what the future of Ashes will look like. Hints have been released in videos and podcasts, but little has been confirmed officially. Because Ashes is a game that required an audience to take hold, we wanted to make sure Ashes had a solid footing before we made any promises. Now that it has been a few months since its release we are happy to announce that over 18,000 copies of Ashes have sold! Ashes is here to stay and now is the time to break that silence!
We have put a lot of thought into how we want to move forward with Ashes Expansions, Organized Play, Exclusives, and Accessories. Today I will be going over what you can expect to see in the next year.
Ashes Expansions
In late April we will release our first Ashes Expansion Decks. “The Frostdale Giants” will be a mono natural magic deck, and “The Children of Blackcloud” will be a mono ceremonial magic deck. Pre-orders will go up in early February here in the PlaidHatGames.com store along with the PHG webstore exclusive Phoenixborn Lulu Firststone, who will just her own unique card rather than a full deck.
UPDATE: For more details on distribution of the exclusive cards, click here.
These decks will kick off our expansion schedule. From that point we plan release new Ashes decks every 3 months. After the April releases, illusion and charm magic mono decks will be released at GenCon in August. Following that, a box set with 4 decks and two new types of dice, Sympathy and Divine magic, will arrive in November. That will be followed in 2017 by going back to releasing two decks every 3 months, each of which will feature decks that explore combining the old and new dice!
Ashes International
Some of you may be saying, “I have to wait all the way till April to have more content? Isaac, that’s way too long!” Although we had originally planned to release the expansions earlier, the delay is not without its advantages. International partners needed time to translate the files to be able to release Ashes in multiple languages alongside us worldwide. Because of this, starting in late April or early May, Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, along with the “The Frostdale Giants” and The Children of Blackcloud” expansions will be available in French, German, Italian, and Polish. Other will soon follow because of the time we were able to give.
This will help the growth and support of Ashes for years to come. The stronger the worldwide brand, the easier it is to support and continue expanding.
Ashes Organized Play
Alongside the first expansion we will be releasing our first Organized Play Kit. The OP Kit will consist of 12 alternate art Conjuration Cards for all participants, 2 alternate art Phoenixborn cards, 1 Playmat, and instructions on how to access the current Tournament Rules, FAQ, and other downloadable content to help organized your events.
In the meantime, stores and players are welcome run their own events using the current resources we have available on our website at www.plaidhatgames.com/AshesOP .
There you will find the current Tournament Rules, FAQ, downloadable signup sheets, posters and more. We are currently working on providing some level of prize support in this time period before stores have access to the OP kits. Stay tuned to the link above for updates.
Depending on the popularity of the first OP kit, we plan to keep releasing new kits alongside expansions to the games every three months, depending on demand. Supporting Ashes now by creating events will help us determine how much of a demand is out there, so make sure to get in touch with your local game stores and start running events today. Remember we still offer Store Credit to all those who run events in their area. Find out more in the Events area of our website.
Ashes Events
This year Plaid Hat Games will be hosting Ashes Tournaments at both the Origins Game Fair and Gen Con. More details on those events will arrive soon. But before those events take place, I am happy to announce that we will also be partnering with Team Covenant to have an Ashes Expansion Launch party.
Here is a little blurb on the details:
Ashes Expansion Launch Party Hosted by Team Covenant / April 15th – 16th / Tulsa, Oklahoma
Come join Team Covenant and Plaid Hat Games as they celebrate the launch of the first Ashes Expansion! Get alt art cards, exclusive print, custom tokens and more all with the purchase of your ticket. Get access to The Frostdale Giants and The Children of Blackcloud decks a week before release. Play Ashes and other games casually with new friends and participate in the first grand scale Ashes tournament for exclusive prizes. Get your games and prints signed by Ashes designer Isaac Vega and Artist Fernanda Suarez. Hang out with the Plaid Hat Team and get a sneak peak at Origins and Gen Con releases months before they will be available to the public! Tickets as well as more details will be available at the start of 2016 through www.teamcovenant.com. Tickets are limited to make sure to mark your calendars and sign up quick!
In addition to these larger events, remember that many smaller events may happening somewhere closer to you. Always check to see what’s close you here. http://www.plaidhatgames.com/events#inmyarea
Ashes Community
The last thing I wanted to address with this announcement is the Ashes community. Some of you may not know about some of the cool resources out there that you can participate in as an Ashes fan!
Play Plaid: http://www.plaidhatgames.com/play/
Play Plaid is an area of our website. It’s a great place to look at the cards, create and save your decks, track your plays, and share your strategies with other players. We are going to be advancing this part of the website in the months to come. So keep checking in a see how things evolve.
The Main Action Podcast
The Main Action podcast is a fan-run Ashes podcast currently on its seventh episode. The guys are doing a great job with it and it's a must-listen for everyone playing the game. Experience the game from the view point of 3 friends who battle each other and have fun doing it.
Ashes Online Facebook Group
If you are a fan of Ashes and have a Facebook account you need to be in the Ashes Online Facebook Group. The group is closed but will accept anyone who wants to talk about the game. It’s a great place to find new strategies, find new friends to play with, and ask any questions you may have about the game.
Isaac on Twitter: IsaacsAshes
Feel free to reach out to me anytime you want to chat about Ashes or anything else you have in mind on Twitter. I am not the most speedy Twitter responder in the world, but I try answer everyone’s questions if possible.
Well that’s all for now folks! Thanks again for supporting the game. I am going to do my best to do right by the community that has grown around the game. It has been a dream come true to see Ashes get this far and I can’t wait to take it further and further! Remember to keep coming back to www.plaidhatgames.com for all of the latest Ashes news!
Cheers!
Isaac
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Written by Isaac Vega |
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