Warring with a Sister
Welcome, one and all to our final article covering the Defenders of the Faith deluxe expansion from Team Apoka. Today we have the biggest spoiler of all. I won’t bore you with some long intro about what Faith is and how it can be used to shield your units from harm. I won’t waste your time with talk about how Faith can be used to power up your units and even save them from the brink of destruction. I would never dream of going on and on about old and new traits that are used in this expansion to not only add flavor and theme but describe how they allow you to do very powerful things with the Sisters of Battle faction. Oh… Well I guess I did go on a little bit of a tangent there… Anyways, let’s take a look at one of the new warlords from this expansion and see what we think!
Well, well, well…look at what we have here. Saint Celestine is a pretty powerful warlord. She starts on her hail side as a 2/7, which is a pretty powerful force. We have seen other warlords with similar stats do pretty well. Mavros, Morn, and Aun’Shi are all 2/7’s who have seen some pretty cool builds around them, partially because they have a good stat line. But we cannot ignore their card text, nor can we with Celestine. By spending Faith once during the combat phase (since it is a combat action), you can put a unit into play with the same cost as the Faith you spent. They stick around for a while, until the end of the round in fact, and when they do leave you get to draw a card! Her ability is a great way to swing the battle in your favor, as this means you can get a unit into play after your opponent’s units are all exhausted. “But I used all my Faith to shield damage” you say. Well then maybe you should check out the Saint signature event.
Not only does this card give you a little faith it also allows you to participate in a battle at a planet where your warlord wasn’t even committed. On top of that, you put into play a bunch of free guardsman units, Miraculous Intervention, indeed. But all good things come to an end and like all warlords the Saint has a bloodied side, but much like all of the other things we have seen in this expansion the Sisters have a surprise when they are close to death.
One of the new things you will see about the warlords from this expansion is that they always go out with a bang. The bang in this case is that Celestine doesn’t go out at all the first time your opponent kills her. An important thing to note is that this ability can only be used once per game. “But Kyle, the effect deals damage equal to her health. Doesn’t look like it does anything special at all.” Well first we should remember we can shield damage being dealt with both Faith or Shield cards. If that is not enough, that is where the Saint’s signature attachment comes into play.
This attachment is bonkers. If we take it in the context of how it interacts with Celestine’s Hail Mary ability, it will it do only three damage which is far more easily shieldable. Also, she will start to generate Faith if she has it attached and takes damage. Elongating the life of a Saint is the main focus of this card and boy does it do a great job, especially you can get it on her before the end!
From the beginning we have seen great design from the Apoka team, so I am very excited to see how people react to this set. From a brand new currency mechanic to all new warlord abilities, we are really seeing a revolution in how this game is being designed. There are so many other cards in this set that people will be excited about as well. So when it gets released in the coming weeks make sure to keep an eye out to get those cards in play at your local events! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed our coverage of Defenders of the Faith. Living Card Guy out!
-Kyle