Mike Haught, Senior Game Designer at Erik's Curiosa here!
When you look beyond the knights in shining armor, Arthurian Legends is chock full of curious and peculiar cards.
I sat down with the design team to unpack a few of the more interesting ones and ask some questions about how they work. In no particular order, here’s what they said!
(Note: You can find FAQ entries for cards in Curiosa.io, Sorcery's official deck builder, by clicking the associated card in Curiosa!)
1: Castle Servants, Common Cottagers, Blacksmith Family, Fisherman's Family
The realm can be huge and someone needs to work the fields and tidy up dusty castles… Meet the family cycle! This is the first time that we’ve seen minions with no Threshold icons. Are these family cards considered Air/ Earth/ Fire/ Water spells, respectively?
Yes. You can see the spell’s colored frame matches those elements, so Castle Servants is an Air spell, Common Cottagers are an Earth spell, Blacksmith family is a Fire spell, and Fisherman’s Family is a Water Spell.
2. Thankless Squire
This poor guy is clearly struggling with all those weapons! Once he’s delivered all those lances and isn't carrying any more Lances, is the Thankless Squire still Immobile?
Yes, he's very tired and in need of a rest!
3. Joust!
You can’t tell a knight’s tale without getting involved in a joust somewhere along the path, so it's great to see this card in the set. When exactly do the minions fight?
After both units have taken their step they will fight from their new locations. If either doesn't move, they haven't passed each other and therefore no joust takes place.
4. Snowball
Coming from the upper midwest, I know two things about snowballs: 1. Don’t eat the yellow ones, and 2. Don’t trust your brother not to use ice balls as their core. But giant snowballs are a different story, don’t ‘cha know? Does the snowball’s path include both the starting and ending locations?
Yes! The projectile's path determines which locations are affected by the rest of the snowball, gathering up everything along the way, just as giant snowball physics should work after watching all those Saturday morning cartoons.
5. Ball Lightning
A massive ball of static electricity is certain to cause some serious damage. After bouncing off a unit, does the ball hit them again immediately since the ball and the unit are both at the same starting location?
No. But the ball can hit other units at that location after changing direction, bouncing back and forth.
6. Horn of Caerleon
I love the idea of using a horn to signal a mass charge, but if my minion gains charge from the Horn to Move & Attack and then leaves the Horn's range, can it finish the attack?
Yes, as the minion has already tapped, the rest of the Move & Attack will resolve. Once a charge has been sounded in the heat of battle, there’s no stopping it!
7. Golden Harp
So theoretically speaking, the harp is pacifying the area around it, causing things like Island Leviathans and knights alike to lose their edge in combat. But, how does this work with other effects that modify damage?
The Harp is always applied last, setting a ceiling. So no damage or life-loss can be above 2.
8. Varmint Warrens
I understand that the warrens will protect my beasts from physical attacks, but does this prevent enemy magic from harming my beasts?
Yes, as long as the effect says “target”. You’ll need to bring in a specialized exterminator to flush out these hidey-holes.
9. Archimago
Ah, the classic whitebeard magician makes his appearance! When I cast one of the banished spells, is that placed back in the cemetery?
No. There's no way back from being banished, which overrides the part of the resolution that would place the card in the cemetery.
10. Sir Tom Thumb
Sir Tom Thumb is great, and he has an enormous stable of mounts to choose from! But if my opponent’s beast snatches him up, do they now take control of Tom?
How dare you!? Sir Tom Thumb is no mere trinket. He's a fully autonomous being and acknowledges no other controller!
11. Sir Morien
Sir Morien was one of the knights I didn’t know much about before Arthurian Legends, so it was good to learn more about him, especially the description of him slicing spears in two as if they were reeds! With ability in the context of Sorcery, can enemy projectiles be shot from Morien's location?
No, Morien cuts them down immediately, like the total badass he is.
12. Morgana le Fay
Morgana is a top-shelf character in the Arthurian tales so it makes sense that she’s an absolute powerhouse in Sorcery too. It's interesting that she keeps her own spells, but where do I keep Morgana's hand of cards?
Anywhere you normally would, but make sure they don't get mixed up with your own. When Morgana dies, any remaining spells follow her to the cemetery.
13. Vivien the Enchantress
Alright, earlier I said these were in no particular order, but I wanted to do this one last. Vivian is insanely awesome on several levels. If you get a chance to read her story, Merlin and other magicians help develop Vivien’s magical abilities, but she rapidly overcomes them all. So her ability makes sense. But what does “wherever she is" mean?
Anywhere! The realm, your hand, and cemetery, and even while in the middle of your spellbook.
14. When Two Things Strike First
Lances offer a new tactical option to players, allowing units to hit something and remain safe (unless they hit something too big!). But what happens when two things that strike first clash at the same time?
If multiple units in the same fight have an ability that allows them to strike first, they strike at the same time. Then any surviving units without that ability make their strikes.
Read more about Lances here: Lances: Arthurian Legends Mechanics Explained
15. Multi-Element Cards & the Philosopher’s Stone
Merlin’s reputation as the greatest philosopher the world has ever known makes me wonder, how does the Philosopher's Stone work with multi-element cards? Would King Arthur, who requires 4 mana, cost 3 or 0 Mana to cast using the Stone?
Cards that have different element symbols count as a spell of each of those affinities. So King Arthur is an Air spell, an Earth spell, a Fire spell, and a Water spell, all at the same time. But you are still casting them together as a single spell. So, assuming Arthur is your spellcaster’s first spell of the turn, the Stone will offer a discount of 1 mana for Arthur, making him cost 3 mana.
This also means that when Arthur is played he uses up the Stone for the turn because he’s simultaneously the first Air, Earth, Fire, and Water spell played this turn. So the Spellcaster cannot continue to use the stone that turn.
