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Star Realms

Star Realms is a lean deckbuilder race to zero authority. Experts balance trade for early economy, pivot to combat when opponent's authority stalls, and exploit faction ally chains.

Quick winning principles

  • Buy trade early; shift to combat when deck cycles fast.
  • Prioritize bases with defense — they stick and generate every turn.
  • Ally abilities trigger on same-faction cards in one turn.
  • Scrap weak cards whenever scrap abilities appear.

Ideal strategy

  1. 1

    Trade-combat pivot: turns 1-4 favor trade (Scout, Explorer, trade bases). By turn 5-6, combat cards should dominate if opponent authority is below 40.

  2. 2

    Faction synergy: Blob and Star Empire reward combat chains; Trade Federation and Machine Cult reward economy and scrapping. Don't mix factions without ally payoffs.

  3. 3

    Base protection: outposts must be destroyed before authority damage. A turn buying only combat into an outpost wall wastes damage.

  4. 4

    Deck thinning: scrap Explorers and weak Scouts mid-game. A 12-card deck with 6 combat cards cycles twice per turn.

  5. 5

    Authority math: 6 damage per turn from turn 7 wins in 3 turns. Calculate if you can close before opponent's next big buy.

  6. 6

    Scout rush counter: if opponent buys 4+ Scouts, race authority with bases — they lack damage tempo late.