Quick winning principles
- Turn 1-3: growth and presence only; minimal energy spending.
- Fear cards trigger at thresholds—plan 2 fear/turn minimum from round 4.
- Presence tracks control; 2+ presence on a land enables many powers.
- Blight cascade prevention beats explorer removal every time.
Ideal strategy
- 1
Slow/growth curve: rounds 1-2 pure growth; round 3 first energy power; round 4+ fear generation. Breaking this curve leaves you energy-starved when invaders spike.
- 2
Fear sequencing: generate 2 fear/turn from round 4 to hit first fear card by round 6—fear cards remove invaders without spending actions.
- 3
Presence placement: 2 presence on high-value lands (coasts, wetlands) enables reclaim and push; 1 presence everywhere wastes threshold bonuses.
- 4
Blight cascade math: one blight on a land with 3+ invaders cascades to 2 adjacent—remove explorers before adding blight, always.
- 5
Innate power timing: trigger innate on round 5-6 when presence thresholds hit; innate before growth on those rounds.
- 6
Spirit pairing: Lightning + River synergize fear+energy; Bringer of Dreams pairs with any fear spirit for threshold acceleration.