Storytelling is the lifeblood of Sorcery: Contested Realm, and with our upcoming set, Arthurian Legends, releasing on October 4th, we’re introducing a whole new realm of lore to draw from. As you might expect, the valiant knights of King Arthur’s court take center stage, becoming key personalities in many of these legendary tales.
While split power and multi-elemental thresholds allow us to tease out the chivalric aspects of these characters, there’s just one last piece of their story to tell in Sorcery. Beyond their courtly duties, knights were also expected to be ready and willing to engage in combat and we really wanted to drive that, ahem, point home with the lance.
No true knight would arrive at a tournament without their lance, and the same goes for knights in Arthurian Legends! Many knights in this set come equipped ready to tilt at their opponent with their own lance.
In Sorcery, lances are special artifact tokens that units can carry into battle. They can be picked up, traded, and used just like any other artifact.
How Lances Work
A minion that has the keyword “Lance” enters play carrying a lance artifact token. They could use it for themselves or give it to another minion, such as in the case of the dutiful squires that you will encounter in the set. Lances can also be created and destroyed by other card’s effects.
Lances are used by units to gain an advantage in their next attack. The first time a unit strikes while carrying a lance, it deals one extra damage and strikes first if in a fight. Then, because the lance is a fragile weapon, it breaks after it is used. If multiple units in the same fight are carrying lances, they all strike at the same time. Then any surviving units without lances make their strikes.
Theme & Mechanics
I would not want to do much traveling in Arthur’s kingdom, with every passer-by knight tilting at me, as that certainly seems to be the case when you read the stories! Knights jousting everyone they come across in the Arthurian stories is as ubiquitous as it is funny.
In Arthurian Legends, we wanted to capture a bit of that aggressive spirit and saw an opportunity to do that using lances. When one of these weapons appears in the stories, you know the person holding it is about to set off with all speed, using their inertia and the pointy end of the lance to strike their opponent.
Mechanically speaking in Sorcery, this directly translates to striking first in combat, which means that if a knight or minion kills something using their lance, their target won’t get a chance to strike back. So in the case of your lance bearers, the best sort of defense is a pointy offense.
Tactical Tips
There are some interesting ways to enhance your lance-wielding minion’s hitting potential. On their own, lances are great to help you remove enemy threats or allow your knights to take down larger enemies.
But you can also pair up the lance with a mighty steed to increase the threat range of your minion’s attack. You can use the noble(-ish) squires to rearm your knights for another round of battle, or even let them double-up their lances for a rather comical but deadly opening strike.
There are a lot of tactical options out there, and we can't wait to hear your tales of daring adventure and glorious jousts!
Join the Arthurian Legends discussion, share your excitement, and connect with fellow Sorcerers in the Sorcery: Contested Realm Facebook Group and Sorcery Discord!
