I often think that attention when palette building is drawn towards rares and legendaries. However it’s the commons and uncommons (henceforth known as commoners), which make up the remaining 25 cards, that are the engine of your palette. Also, as you can have 2 copies of each commoner in your palette, you’re much more likely to see a copy of a given commoner compared to a rare or legendary. For those reasons, I thought I’d review what I think are the best commoners from each realm in terms of absolute power and playability.
Salum Planum
I’ve got 10 picks for Salum Planum, and without further ado, here they are:
Characters
Rabid Dog is an absolute steal at 2Δ. Not only is it ±1, meaning the net Δ cost is effectively 0 on the turn you play it, but it has POISONOUS. If I get this card in my opening hand, I will often play this immediately, even if I’m going first and can’t steal, as it allows me to take out whatever character they play on their next turn.
Lone Survivor I find to be underrated. Personally, I often build with this card, as it’s a 1Δ draw 1 that puts a character on my canvas ready for an object such as Alchemist’s Tincture or Cintimani Stone.
Locations
The Veil Chaser’s Nest may be one of my favourite cards ever. At a net cost of 1 to REVEAL a location, you can use this to improve the chance of drawing key locations from your palette, helping you efficiently build a strong board state. For more on this card, check out this article.
Rangled Wood carries a rare +3 resolve for just 3Δ, meaning it pays for itself the round you play it, and really forces your opponent to have to either do something about it early game, or let you spiral up to 30 very fast. There are two other +3 locations in the realm, Galley Arch and Ludlam City Gate, that can be very strong too in a location heavy Salum palette.
Objects
Alchemist’s Tincture is an absolute staple in most Salum decks. I use this to either guarantee playing a Cintimani Stone for essentially 1Δ (if I trigger the DISPOSE in my resolve step and include only the objects Stone and Tinctures in my palette), or to improve the chances of deploying a Corrupted Muon Trap. You can even DISPOSE in response to the opponent playing a character, to Trap them before they get to resolve.
Corrupted Muon Trap is 3Δ to CLAIM a character. Sure, it can be erased. But that’s an absolute bargain, not least of all because you can use it to attack immediately.
Actions
Abundance of Quintessence is a net 3Δ action. Vital for so many Salum decks, though not all.
Fireball is the best removal card in the game. No more needs to be said.
Hostile Takeover is another abolute bargain. Not only are you depriving an opponent of a key location, but you get to use it instead.
Dark Rainbow is of course Dark Rainbow.
Notable others that didn’t make the cut include Restock, Arabella’s Recipe, and Replenishment.
And the winner is… Dark Rainbow. In a realm with amazing control, having a card that can shoot you up to a chroma win out of nowhere makes Salum one of the scariest realms to play against.
Draco Planum
Of my 10 picks for Draco, 8 are locations, which is certainly saying something:
Characters
The only character that made the cut here was Impius Drake. 2Δ to force the opponent to erase a card from their canvas is good value control, and brutal if all they’ve played only one card, and it’s a strong one.
Locations
Chroma Storehouse is so strong that first it was made Heroic, and then Achroma‘s rules were changed to force you to erase your first copy before triggering the ACTION. This card is normally a +6/8Δ on the turn it’s played, which considering it has a +2 resolve anyway, is crazy value.
Draco Planum Library is a once per turn RESEARCH 1, which can be absolutely fundamental in a realm where you often find yourself low on cards.
Monastery Nest is the Rangled Wood of Draco. +3 for 3Δ. Perfect.
Tarni River is a nice little ±1 for 2Δ, but the on-play FREEZE pushes it into above curve territory. Just don’t play it when you’re the only player with a character on your canvas.
The Valli Caves is even more above curve. A repeatable FREEZE is highly frustrating to play against, and given it’s +2 for 3Δ anyway, even if it gets erased next turn it’ll have been worth it.
Draco Graveyard is a card I’ve played less over time, but it can be game winning. Returning a Chroma Storehouse or your legendary to your hand to play it again is extremely strong.
Wolfgang Woods is a personal favourite. 3Δ to erase a character is decent, but this has the added bonus of an annoying little permanent -1 to needle the opponent.
Altari Drift is from Dexter’s Dragon Riders and is a new favourite of mine. This card often equates to draw 3 for net 2Δ, plus gives you a cyan shard for Ice Falls, and another target for Chroma Storehouse. Great design.
Actions
Breath of Fire has always been a formidable piece of control. Yes, it costs 4Δ, but to be able to take out a character and a location with just one card pushes this action above the curve. Plus, you can trade it for 4, which often makes it a more useful card to have in your hand than one of the 2Δ removal pieces.
Notable others are Thisp, Raspa, Claw Slash, Chromatic Voyager, Breath of Ice/Summon the Mist, Dragon’s Flare, Dragon Tooth Kunai, and Materno’s Egg (for finding Harusk in achrom decks).
And the winner is… Valli Caves. In a realm with the best locations in the game, this is my favourite.
Spirata Planum
Trimming this down to 10 cards was very hard:
Characters
Carmella Traitorious is a 2Δ -1 character with an absolutely solid ACTION. She’s been in every Spirata deck I’ve ever built.
Imp has also been in every Spirata palette. It’s a Lone Survivor but with a -1 resolve.
Nocturno has been a fantastic bonus to achrom decks and chroma decks alike, with its ability to shut down an opponent’s character AND prevent their TRADE. When playing achrom, this often forces the opponent to at the very least pass on trading at the beginning of their turn, meaning they can’t play any cards, giving you the win next turn.
Invasive Parasite is a highly flexible control card. 1Δ to shut down the achroma effect and ability of any character or location is amazing. You can even use it to turn off PROTECTION.
Locations
Locations in Spirata are generally a bit subpar, but Blueprint Swirl is +2 for 2Δ as a minimum, and often ends up resolving for +4/5 if you’ve got something like Dracon or Splat Square on the canvas.
Objects
Dr Hue’s Lab Coat has proven to be fundamental to powering Rayders, thanks to its huge trade value, and the fact you can often play it for free with Factory Production Line, it gives you a free turn when you can’t lose shards, it turns an Imp into a character that can erase Tenebris, and it turns Blueprint Swirl into a +6.
Actions
Unfathomable Hunger is an absolute staple. Sure, it costs 1Δ more than Salum’s Fireball, but in a realm that was purposely designed to have high resolves but weak control, this card is an essential piece of mitigation.
Factory Production Line gets me a 3Δ Cintimani Stone or Dr Hue’s Lab Coat in Rayders, and effectively 3 copies of Cintimani Stone in pixies. Huge consistency for Spirata.
Full Palette is the best ramp card in the game. Sure, you don’t get the +6 until the resolve step, but it only costs 2Δ.
Role Reversal may be a controversial and situational choice here, but it’s swung me so many games over the years I couldn’t help but include it.
My runners up in Spirata were Firetender and Giant Prism/Advance Scouting Party for revolutionising competitive Achroma, Squad Formation for its flexibility, Hoffel Brown and Dracon for being solid chroma characters, Ravaged Elite for being a staple achrom character, Scrapyard Barrens, and Release the Fireflies.
And the winner is… Full Palette. Perhaps a dull choice, but +6 for 2Δ!
Norso Planum
I’ve chosen just 6 here, as the card pool for Norso is smaller until Monsters of Norso arrives:
Characters
Cave Spider is a 1Δ character with POISONOUS, making it a very cheap way of controlling the opponent’s canvas.
Locations
Fishing Dock may seem like a more traders’ specific call (in which it represents fantastic value) but I like it in other decks too. Assuming many cards in your palette are 3-4Δ+, this is a great way to gain a few shards, while simultaneously throwing cards into your dregs that you can DIG later.
Lacringi Forge is a very flexible card. It’s 4Δ so good trade fodder if needed, but it can FIND (not just REVEAL) any object, meaning you can go looking for the key card you need such as Cintimani Stone, Club of Dagda, Dyrnwyn, Brynhild’s Cookpot, or Torstein’s Gauntlet.
Objects
In a realm strapped for cash, Orium Diamond is a great piece of gain. 2 cost to guarantee at least a +5, but you can leave this one out on the canvas and DISPOSE it for the quick gain whenever you like, meaning it will often generate more shards. You can also use it to boost an attack if need-be.
Actions
Cave Expedition has a lot of targets for its reveal, such as Warriors of Wishwell, many of the traders’ locations, Brisgavi Falls, a Totem, Lacringi Gardens, Lacringi Cliff Dwelling, and Brisgavi Cave Dwelling. This makes it highly flexible and a good card to build around.
Trader’s Lifeline is huge at the right moment, and utterly game winning in the right deck.
Other good commoners from Norso include Lacringi Cliff Dwelling and Brisgavi Cave Dwelling for finding key characters, Trader’s Pass, Brisgavi Rage, and Falling Stalactite.
And the winner is… Trader’s Lifeline. Perhaps not the most flexible of cards, but most of the time a player plays this card it’s because they’re setting up to win the game.
Realmless
OK, so there wasn’t much to include here, but it would be remiss not to at least mention the shard cards. There’s 3 out there: Loose Shards, Pouch of Shards, and HAIM Shard Cache, but only one of those deserves a mention here:
HAIM Shard Cache is a commoner that can go in literally any palette and it has a 5Δ trade value. The resolve ability of ±3 also makes this one of a very select few cards that can hit the opponent’s shard bank for 3Δ. I’ve won many a game with this card, sometimes in achrom decks to finish the job, sometimes when playing chroma using a HAIM/Cintimani Stone combo to steal 8 out of nowhere. I have 10 copies of this card. This card was revealed at the Showcase Event in Poole last May, and it’s been in almost all of my decks every since. The fact that none of the coloured shards match the colours on the current runes is just icing on the cake.
It would be remiss not to finish off with a final mention of some of my favourite commoners: promo locations.
4Δ for ±2 is already a net 0Δ cost on the round you play these. I include these promos in most of my decks, though certainly not all. The fact they all contain an achrom shard makes them targets for Peorth, and the 4Δ cost makes them a fine card for trading in a chroma deck. The Draco versions are my favourite, since they’re also both targets for Chroma Storehouse and Ice Falls.
It’s worth ending by saying that these are my picks based on my playstyle, but I’m sure others would pick different cards that suit them better. Have I missed any key commoners you love? Maybe I’ve overlooked a card over the years…
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