Sorcerer | Mechanics

Updated: Jun 11

Sorcerers are the second Red Class in Ivion, from the Calbria expansion. They primarily focus on gaining substantial amounts of power to support their massive bursts of unsustainable damage.

For some, fighting fair is the only path. Melee combat is the heart of battle and glory. But what does battle and glory mean? Nothing. Power is what matters to a Sorcerer, both figuratively and literally.

It's not enough to adhere to the basic principles of action and power flow in Ivion. To go where we're going, we'll need more than that. A lot more.

With Inner Fire, you can simply gain a power and replace the card with another. That's pretty important as a Sorcerer, because there are a lot of ways to spend that power very quickly. Some more unreasonable than others. You'll need whatever power you can get, at whatever the cost. And some costs may be higher than others.

You'll need magic on the field or be forced to being destroying your own deck to gain the power you need.

It may seem minor at first, but losing five cards is not irrelevant. Magic and power must be gained, and sometimes you'll have to wager more than you bargained for to obtain it. There's always the option of stealing it from the field itself, if that is an available choice. Depending on your deck, either option may be the preferable outcome. In any case, the power must flow!

Of course, there are more reasonable ways of gaining power. And there's some fun to be had displaying your natural talent as a Sorcerer. There's not much Chivalry in snapping fingers and breaking bones, but magic wasn't terribly honorably to begin with, was it?

It may not Control them, but trading a card for a card isn't without its perks. The first card lost may not be awful for your opponent, but if it continues, it can become devastating to their game plan. Sorcerers excel at getting ahead in small ways to pave the way for the big payoff. They're simply good at what they do—it comes naturally to them!

But small things aren't the only talent they have. There are some much larger spells they are capable of casting. Of course, they don't start huge, but depending on your power, they can become huge. What does that mean? Well, it means you can Unleash them.

Unleash is a new keyword in Calbria associated with Sorcerer and one of their specializations.

When you play a card with Unleash, you choose whether or not to Unleash it. If you choose to Unleash it, you spend the rest of your remaining power to gain the scaling secondary effect. You can't choose a specific number—its all or nothing.

Unleash is chaotic and unruly, but its true power lies in its manipulation. There are ways to play cards for free, allowing you to Unleash all of your remaining power instead of spending some on the initial card cost. Sorcerer supports the archetype with substantial power gain capabilities. There are even ways to increase your maximum power and thrust more power into the Unleash effect!

You'll be gaining a lot more power than they will, so trading one for one will often be a good play.

Some Sorcerer cards affect all other players instead of a specific target. They have trouble choosing exactly who to focus on, as their magic is prone to... explosive results. Consider the ramifications in 2 versus 2!

There are more, even crazier Unleash cards out there. Each has its nuance and use cases. It's easy to dig yourself a power hole if you Unleash a card at the wrong time, but correct use of the keyword will set you up for massive, game swinging card plays that will leave your opponent reeling. Each is variable enough to start as a basic miscast, but capable of reaching the realms of total devastation.

Aside from Unleash, there are numerous ways to control the board. Having a deterrent that keeps your opponent away from certain tiles is a great way to gain an advantage that can catapult you to victory.

We've seen cards that attach to tiles that excel when supported with forced movement, but that won't always be the case. A card like Wild Magic can be slotted into most decks. Its job is simple, and it does it well.

Along with other tile modifiers available in Sorcerer, there is also an archetype involving control of the board and unleashing storms of magic terrifying to behold...

Most things a Sorcerer does is either big, or supporting a set up to do something big. If you like huge attacks that can crush your opponent in massive amounts of damage, Sorcerer is for you. Unleash can be fickle, but if controlled properly, will devastate your foes—but if you're not careful, it might take you along with it.

Whereas red in Ivion has been dominated by the heavy action costs and slow reaction times of Giants, it's taking a new form in Calbria. While it may still have its eyes set on the big picture, its not about actions now, or melee. Things are changing!

In any case, it's certainly a blast to play against a Knight as a Sorcerer. While they're not playing any tricky cards, they're a walking target asking to be Unleashed into oblivion.

Play as the chaotic and firebrand Sorcerer in Ivion, the Herocrafting Card Game!

You can find Ivion on Kickstarter September 1st, 2020. Scroll down to subscribe to more updates!