The Guardians

Four cards

The four cards of the Guardians

The four Guardians carry the same numbers, 6, 6, 4 and 4, each a quarter turn further on: what is on top on one is on the right on the next. Choosing the right card means choosing which rank will face the enemy.

• 6644Card 1
  top 6 · left 6
  right 4 · bottom 4
• 6464Card 2
  top 6 · left 4
  right 6 · bottom 4
• 4466Card 3
  top 4 · left 4
  right 6 · bottom 6
• 4646Card 4
  top 4 · left 6
  right 4 · bottom 6

In a duel, your eight cards come from your two Orders, four per Order, plus one card from each Order kept in Reserve for Sudden Death.

Strategy

Playing the Guardians well

• Anchor early

  A Guardian placed early holds its square all game. Put it where your opponent will want to get through: a corner, the end of a line, next to a fragile card it protects by its mere presence.

• Do the math

  To take a guarded 6, you need an 8; for a guarded 4, a 6. Few cards take the guarded 6: the Archer's 9, the 8 of the Cursed card and of the Scribe, and Abyssals that have grown. The guarded 4 gives way to any 6: turn it toward the edge or toward an ally. That leaves the Gilded, who get through not by force but by the swap.

• Resonance suits them

  With 6, 6, 4, 4, two neighboring Guardians often show the same numbers: Resonance triggers easily around them, and the Ripple that follows benefits the whole side.

• Let the other Order attack

  The Guardian holds; it doesn't take. Pair it with an Order that captures: the Pikes pierce in front of it, the Cursed grow behind it, the Plagued poison all around it. The Archers, though, bring it little: the wall doesn't protect their 1.

• The Fouled Rampart

  With the Plagued: Guardians on the right squares, poison on the others. Your opponent has nowhere safe left to play. That is the Treaty The Fouled Rampart.

Facing them

Countering the Guardians

Don't aim at its 6 with a 7: it holds. It takes an 8 for its 6: the Archer's 9, the 8 of the Cursed card and of the Scribe, an Abyssal at +2 all get through. Its 4, on the other hand, gives way to a 6: look for that side. A Gilded card, for its part, swaps its ranks with the Guardian, shield included: a Gilded 2 takes a guarded 6 effortlessly. Otherwise, go around it: it only takes with a 6, so give it neighbors at 6 or more and play elsewhere.

Two per duel

The alliances of the Guardians

Before each duel, you choose two Orders. Some pairs have a name: these are the Treaties, which your profile tracks game after game. The Guardians sign one.

• The Fouled Rampart with the Plagued

  The Rampart locks down the clean squares, the venom makes the rest uninhabitable: your opponent has nowhere left to land.

  The signA win on points with Guardians and at least three poisoned squares.

Story mode

The Herald of the Guardians

+1 in attack too, permanently.

The Herald is the superior version of the Order: its four cards keep their numbers, but its ability changes. It is earned by finishing chapter V of Story mode: six games, from the Gatekeeper to the High Guardian. It is played against the Echo, in Classic matches and in challenges between friends, never in Ranked or in tournaments.

Chapter V in detail · The eight Heralds

Questions

The Guardians in three questions

Ten Orders

The nine other Orders

Each Order has its own page: its ability, its four cards, how to play it and how to counter it.

• Gilded
• Cinders
• Pikes
• Archers
• Abyssals
• Chimeras
• Plagued
• Scribes
• Cursed

All the Orders on one page · The rules of the game