Maeoni: The Queen in Silver and Gold

"I defend this world and the next." --Maeoni Viper

Welcome to the first week of previews for Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn. Each week, all week long, we’ll take a look at a different Phoenixborn and their suggested deck builds. The goal of these articles will be to introduce you to the cards found in the base game, and to give you a basic understanding of the strategy of each of the pre-built decks.

Ashes is available for pre-order at the PlaidHatGames.com store. Pre-order today from our site and get $15 off the retail price! Order from PlaidHatGames.com and get a free Dimona Odinstar promo Phoenixborn, along with her exclusive Rayward Knight ally!

This week we will be taking a look at Maeoni Viper and her deck build The Snakes in Silver, one of the decks recommended for your first play. So, without further ado, let's get started!

What You Need To Know About Maeoni

The Stats:

Each Phoenixborn has unique stats that they bring to the table. Life, Battlefield and Spellboard values are key to determining what types of cards you should include in your deck and how your deck strategy will play out. Here are some of Maeoni's Stats.  

Life Value 22: Maeoni Viper has the highest starting Life Value of any Phoenixborn in the base game. This means that she is more resilient and that she can guard her units, taking damage in their place, to allow them to stick around longer.

Battlefield Value 3: Although Maeoni has high life value, her low battlefield value balances that out. Maeoni has the lowest Battlefield Value in Ashes. Other Phoenixborns will be able to field more units than her, giving her opponents more options on how to attack. But don't worry; Maeoni has some tricks up her sleeve that let her deal with her opponents' battlefield sizes.  

Spellboard Value 4: Maeoni’s Spellboard Value is average among Phoenixborn found in the base game. This gives her a solid base on which to build the strategy of your deck, more than enough to get her deck rolling.

Ability: Strike

Each Phoenixborn sports a unique ability. Maeoni's is called Strike. Strike allows you to add 2 attack to a unit for the remainder of the turn. This may be used either when a unit you control attacks or when an opponent attacks with units. What's nice about this ability is that it doesn't require a side action like many other Phoenixborn abilities. This is important to note. Being able to add 2 attack to any unit at the exact perfect moment is a distinct advantage. You'll just have to keep your eye open for the perfect time to strike (pun intended).

Maeoni’s Precious Pets

Each Phoenixborn comes with his or her own special card only available in a deck built for that Phoenixborn. The Silver Snakes are Maeoni's unique card. Silver Snakes have the highest life value among all units currently in the game and also have a hefty recovery value of 3, which is rare for conjurations.

Feeding Your Snakes

You'll notice that Silver Snakes have an attack value of X. The number of status tokens on a Silver Snake determines that Silver Snake's attack value.  So getting status tokens on your snakes is crucial to your strategy.  How do you do this you may ask? By destroying your opponents' units, of course.

The Silver Snake's Consume ability allows it to gain status tokens whenever Maeoni destroys a unit. So the more that you kill, the more powerful your snakes become. That's what makes these fellas a force to be reckoned with.

But that's not all! The consume ability also removes Allies from the game. This will become important when you're facing decks that bring allies back from the dead. If you want to ensure your opponent can't start necromancing his way to victory make sure you have some snakes to clean up the mess.

The focus ability of the Summon Silver Snake ready spell also allows you to add a status token to Snakes that are coming into play. Having a few copies on your spellboard is a good idea so that you can see those bad boys ramp up faster and faster.

Oh, and did I mention that the Consume ability is inexhaustible? This means even when the Silver Snake is exhausted, its ability is still active. So even when these guys are tired they're still ready to feed on any unit you destroy.

All this for the low low cost of 1  and 1 , what a bargain!

The Strategy of Snakes in Silver

The Snakes in Silver deck is focused on utilizing your Silver Snakes. Protecting them, growing them, and slipping them past your opponent’s defenses will lead you to victory. Many of the cards in Maeoni’s deck provide you with ways to optimize this strategy and to offer some alternatives just in case your snakes aren't cutting it.

Join me tomorrow to gain a little more insight into how Maeoni’s deck works and how she optimizes her small battlefield.

Thanks for Reading!

Bob

Game Overview Previews: Phases of Play, Attacking/Defending, Placement, Card Types, Dice Powers, Multiplayer and Drafting
Maeoni Previews: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Coal Previews: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Saria Previews: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Noah Previews: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Jessa Previews: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Aradel Previews: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Click here to pre-order Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn and get a $15 pre-order discount as well as the Dimona Odinstar Promo Pack.

Written by Bob Klotz.
Bob Klotz is the lead playtester for Ashes