Greetings once again, everyone! Today is the final preview article for the Path of Assassins expansion deck, and this preview cycle as a whole. We have seen the power of Jericho herself, her diverse cast of units, and the synergies to help tie together high-cost cards. Today we will conclude the preview of Jericho’s deck with a couple more useful allies and a revolutionary new action spell.

Spear Master

Spear Master brings together many of the pieces of Jericho’s deck. As a 3 cost unit, summoning a Spear Master will allow you to activate any Magic Purities and Lucky Rabbits you may have out, potentially giving you a solid discount on this ally. The Spear Master also has the Battle Advantage ability, which, when paired with her 3 attack, can represent a significant threat to enemy Frostback Bears, Hammer Knights, and Emperor Lions. Since the Spear Master is likely to walk away from battle unscathed, she makes a great target for your unexhaust effects like Refresh, Enlightenment, or even Dimona’s Order ability.

Squire

The Squire joins the ranks of Anchornaut and Enchanted Violinist as one of the 1 cost allies. With a cost this affordable, Squire is worth considering for basically any Ashes deck! While the Squire doesn’t contribute a whole lot to battle with its low stats, it offers up a very useful support ability for decks less concerned about spending their power dice. Turning some of your lucky dice rolls into an extra card through this ability is a great way to accelerate your game plan, whether it be looking to focus some important ready spells or continuing to push out threatening allies. It also can help to mitigate the discard costs of cards like Spear Master and Crescendo!

Hand Tricks

And last, but certainly not least, we have Hand Tricks! This action spell covers so many roles, it is almost unbelievable. At face value, Hand Tricks can simply cycle itself for a new card and switch around one of your dice for another die already spent. This comes at virtually no cost, making it a powerful spell for helping you find the cards you need quickly. The only downside to that, when using Hand Tricks, you may find yourself at the bottom of your draw pile faster than anticipated, making you susceptible to taking damage from being unable to draw. Ideally, Hand Tricks will provide you the tools need to win before that happens!

Hand Tricks features a secondary ability as well that introduces a new mechanic to Ashes: Between Realms Abilities!

Between the Realms

These ability types are active even when the card is not in play, expanding the range of options to cards hiding in your hand or cards that have already been discarded! With Hand Tricks, we see a Between Realms ability that is active in your discard pile. For the cost of 1 and a discard from the top of your deck, you can return Hand Tricks to your hand, giving you some much needed protection from Three-Eyed Owls or some extra Slash-fodder for Coal! Few cards are as dynamic as Hand Tricks, so look forward to trying it out in the many situations you find yourself in need of some trickery!

And that’s all for this preview cycle! Thank you for reading, and I hope you have as much fun exploring these new cards as I have. There is plenty to learn from these new expansions and are sure to impact the way we play Ashes in a big way.

Take care everyone!

Posted by Nick Conley Nick Conley is the lead playtester for Ashes and a dedicated fan.