Your generic troops are pretty cheap to summon, with some even being free to bring on the board, but you might want to save up your magic for one of the three powerful champion units hiding in your deck that can be devastatingly powerful - in exchange for a hefty fee to acquire their services. You can earn magic either by killing enemy units or discarding cards you don’t want at the end of your turn before drawing your next hand. To get those units out of your hand and through those gates you’ll have to spend magic equal to the cost listed on their card, tracked by a token on your side of the board.
It’s full of events, warriors, epic heroes and gate cards that you can build on the battlefield to act as spawn points for new units that join the fray.
While you start with a few units and a structure already on the board - plus your summoner, of course - the rest of the tools at your disposal sit in a deck of cards that represents your faction. Players alternate moving, attacking with and reinforcing their warriors, trying to crack their way through their opponent’s defences and deal some vital damage to the enemy summoner whilst also trying to protect and defend their own.
Gameplay is turn-based, separated into a series of rounds in which players summon new units and erect structures on the battlefield, move and fight with any units already on the board, and discard cards for resources before drawing a new hand. Unlike the abstract battlefield of games such as Magic: The Gathering, positioning on the board plays a key role in Summoner Wars. You’ll not just have to use the right cards at the right time, but also learn to form shield walls and flank, fire on your foes from range, and pick the best place to drop your powerful spells in a far more spatial and strategic battle of wits. Instead of the units and spells you cast in some abstract battleline in games such as Magic: The Gathering, your summoner and their subordinates physically exist on a grid-based battlefield, moving, casting and swinging their swords around the board. That’s because, straight out of the gate, Summoner Wars distances itself from many of its card game contemporaries. The path to get there, though, will require all the card combos and tactical mastery you can muster. The goal of the game is simple reduce your enemy’s summoner to zero health and you win. Out of the gate, Summoner Wars distances itself from many of its card game contemporaries.įor the uninitiated, Summoner Wars is a two-player competitive card game in which you and your opponent control powerful magic-wielding summoners as they lead their faction in a quick and bloody fight to the death. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what’s changed and what I think about it, I should probably explain what Summoner Wars is and how it works - because I can guarantee not everyone looking at the second edition has played the first.