Alpha

Archetype summary

Play Alpha, Beta and Omega, then turtle up while shredding foes every turn.

When to pivot to 'Alpha' archetype

When you find an Alpha before you have drafted too many cards. This archetype tends to be all-or-nothing, so draft accordingly.

Star items

skill

Alpha

1

D

Shuffle a Beta into your draw pile.
Exhaust.

skill

Beta

2

E

Shuffle an Omega into your draw pile.
Exhaust.

power

Omega

3

S

At the start of your turn deal 50 damage to ALL enemies.

Alpha is a very powerful win condition, dealing 50 damage to all enemies every turn once set up. Play Alpha to shuffle Beta into your draw pile, play Beta to shuffle Omega into your draw pile, then play Omega for the huge pay off.

Upgrade your Alpha as a priority to give it Innate as it makes this card much more consistent.

Be sure to draft block to negate damage as you get set up, and for longer fights to prevent you taking damage while tankier enemies are gradually being killed.

Support items

skill

Deus Ex Machina

B-

Unplayable.
When you draw this card, add 2 Miracles to your hand and Exhaust.

skill

Collect

X

D+

Put Miracle+ into your hand at the start of your next X turns.
Exhaust.

skill

Third Eye

1

B-

Gain 7 Block.
Scry 3.

skill

Sanctity

1

C

Gain 6 Block.
If the last card played was a Skill, draw 2 cards.

skill

Spirit Shield

2

S

Gain 3 Block for each card in your hand.

skill

Protect

2

A-

Retain.
Gain 12 Block.

attack

Signature Move

2

E

Can only be played if this is the only Attack in your hand.
Deal 30 damage.

skill

Apparition

1

A-

Gain 1 Intangible.
Exhaust.
Ethereal.

skill

Vault

3

A+

Take an extra turn after this one.
End your turn.
Exhaust.

power

Master Reality

1

B-

Whenever a card is created during combat, Upgrade it.

power

Like Water

1

B

At the end of your turn, if you are in Calm, gain 5 Block.

skill

Inner Peace

1

B+

If you are in Calm, draw 3 cards.
Otherwise, enter Calm.

skill

Empty Mind

1

B

Draw 2 cards.
Exit your Stance.

skill

Empty Body

1

C

Gain 7 Block.
Exit your Stance.

Anchor

common

Start each combat with 10 Block.

B+

B+

B+

B+

Horn Cleat

uncommon

At the start of your 2nd turn, gain 14 Block.

B+

B+

B+

B+

Captain's Wheel

rare

At the start of your 3rd turn, gain 18 Block.

B+

B+

B+

B+

Incense Burner

rare

Every 6 turns, gain 1 Intangible.

A

A+

A

A+

Omega is expensive - be sure to draft an energy relic or pick up Deux Ex Machina/Collect to make your Beta and Omega turns easier to pull off.

Scry and draw effects can help you - Sanctity is especially powerful due to the high number of skills in the deck. Spirit Shield and Protect also offer strong sources of block. Block relics are also very useful here.

You needn't draft extra sources of damage, since Omega is plenty, but since this deck is skill heavy, you can consider Signature Move to help out with some pesky fights.

Apparitions work well in this deck since it's so small, and once you're set up fights end quickly. You also have a lot of block for boss fights as they get whittled down.

Vault can either help you get set up or give you an extra trigger of Omega to help stall out long fights.

Although unnecessary, Master Reality makes your Beta cost 1 less and makes your Omega deal 10 extra damage per turn so can be picked.

Wrath doesn't benefit Omega, so Calm is usually kept to instead; it can grant energy when needed via exit cards and has some great synergies with Like Water and Inner Peace.

'Alpha' archetype weaknesses

Omega can be tough to play, especially early on. If it doesn't end the combat immediately, you open yourself to a lot of damage. Extra energy helps here, through relics or cards.

It is essential to have a small deck to run Alpha, or adding it to your deck actively weakens it.

Be careful when generating your Omega - if your deck is small enough sometimes it can reshuffle before you have played Beta, and this means it could take another whole cycle of your deck to find it. Similarly, be careful when drawing - if you might draw your Beta or Omega on a turn where you don't have enough remaining energy to play it, then don't bother drawing unless you're in dire straits. For the same reason, you shouldn't scry to less than 5 cards when you have a Beta in your draw pile - you want to play your Beta before you shuffle, allowing you to put Omega into your virtually empty draw pile, not a full draw pile.

This archetype can struggle against fast encounters or ones that punish having few attacks - Byrds, The Chosen, Gremlin Nob, The Transient, etc.

The Bronze Automaton boss fight in Act 2 can be devastating for this archetype - if your Beta or Omega get stolen and you have few other damage options, this can leave you with a long slow struggle to get them back, which usually delays the combat for long enough that it's impossible to win. Save up potions for this fight or find yourself another hard-hitting attack like a Sands of Time or Signature Move if you see this boss coming up.