About Emberdeck
Build a deck of exactly twenty cards from three factions and take it into the Threefold Arena. Dawn trades attack for guard and healing, Ember pressures early with fragile attackers, Tide spends its tempo on freeze and card draw. Every card is unlocked from the first match. There is no randomised pack and nothing to pay for, so a deck that beats the arena beat it on construction.
How to play
- Open Forge deck and build exactly 20 cards, at most two copies of each, or load a Dawn, Ember or Tide starter.
- Pick one of the three opponents and enter the arena. Both heroes start on 25 health.
- Each turn your maximum mana rises by one, up to 8, and you draw a card. Play units and spells you can afford.
- Units wait a turn before attacking. Select a ready unit, then a highlighted target; Guard units must be attacked first.
- Bring the enemy hero to zero to win. An empty deck deals growing fatigue damage each draw.
Tips
- Spark goes over Guard. Spark deals 3 damage to any enemy, hero included, and ignores Guard. Use it to clear a Gatekeeper that is holding back your attackers, or to finish the last 3 health.
- Freeze on your own turn. Winter Seal costs 1 and makes a unit miss its owner's next turn. Cast it on the biggest attacker just before you end your turn and that attack never happens.
- Attacks hit back. A unit that attacks another unit also takes that unit's attack as damage. Attacking the hero costs nothing, so trade only when the exchange favours you.
- Mind the eight-card hand. Cards drawn into a full hand of eight are discarded. Deep Insight draws two, so play it with room to spare rather than as a last card.
- Know how the opponent attacks. It goes for your hero when that is lethal, otherwise kills any unit it can finish in one hit, preferring Guards and high attack. Tough units draw its attacks less.
Read the full Emberdeck guide (5 min read)
From the developer
Emberdeck started on 8 September as a small card battler with a deck builder and three computer opponents. It is plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
The rules are deliberately fixed and open: 20-card decks with at most two copies of a card, 25 hero health, five board slots, mana that grows from one to eight, and units that wait a turn before attacking. There are three factions. Dawn trades attack for Guard and healing, Ember pressures early with fragile attackers, and Tide spends tempo on freeze and card draw. Every card is available from the first match, with no random packs. The computer follows the same mana, draw and fatigue rules and does not look at your hand. Simulated matches led me to make the freeze and draw cards cheaper, the frost defender stronger and an Ember attacker more fragile.
The card portraits are rendered in Blender from KayKit Adventurers Character Pack by Kay Lousberg and Monsters Ultimate Pack 09 Cute Series by Meshtint Studio, and the frames, buttons and banners are from Fantasy RPG GUI by Artsystack. Until 17 September it had no sound at all. The effects are synthesised from what changed on the board after each move, and the music is Arcane Throne from Phat Phrog Studio's Free RPG Music Collection.
Son Hoang, who made Emberdeck
Update history
- Emberdeck now has sound: effects for cards, summons, hits, heals, wins and losses, music (Arcane Throne from Phat Phrog Studio), and a mute button.
- Fantasy frames, panels, buttons and Victory and Defeat banners from the Fantasy RPG GUI pack.
- Cards show rendered portraits of KayKit heroes and Meshtint monsters, with a frame for each faction.
- No outside fonts, a real loading bar, and every screen, from lobby to deck builder to battle, fits without scrolling.
- Text now scales with the screen instead of staying at one small size.
- First version: a deck builder and three computer opponents.
Questions
Does Emberdeck save my deck?
No. Your deck and the ticks for opponents you have beaten last only while the page is open. Reloading returns you to the Dawn starter deck, and leaving a battle part-way counts as a loss.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. Tap a card to play it, and tap a ready unit and then its target to attack. Damage and freeze spells ask you to tap an enemy target after the card.
Do I need to unlock or buy cards?
No. All 18 cards are available from the first match and there are no packs. You can mix factions freely, and the starter decks already do.
What happens when a deck runs out?
Each draw from an empty deck deals fatigue damage to that hero: 1, then 2, then 3 and so on. If both heroes fall at the same moment the match is a draw.
