This next set of deckbuilding articles will closely examine the five Paths available in Mythgard. Paths are static effects that help give each deck an identity, as well as some additional resources throughout the course of the game. The baseline for this is Turn of Seasons, which draws one extra card every four turns. Paths also adjust a player's starting life total, which can make certain Paths more desirable for the slower archetypes.
Journey of Souls
Journey of Souls is the "starter" Path. It is the first path unlocked, Level 4, or about halfway through Chapter 1 of the story, and it has a simple mechanic: for every three minions that die, return one to your hand.
But like most "simple" things in Mythgard, there is a lot of hidden depth.
What are the requirements?
Obviously you need minions in your deck for Journey of Souls to provide benefit, but how many? There is no specific number, because that isn't the important part, you need your minions to die. If you are playing a bunch of big minions with healing spells & abilities, Journey of Souls is not going to help. You need your minions to die. One minion dying a turn is a good target as it will provide extra resources above the baseline. Don't forget: the minions cannot be ephemeral, so tokens, or minions already returned with Journey of Souls don't increment the counter.
What makes it good?
At the very least we can burn the returned minion, but we want more, The most likely scenario is that the first minion returned with Journey of Souls is a 1-drop or 2-drop. The power of these minions tends to decrease as the game wears on, so the goal is to play minions with abilities that are always relevant. The focus should be on minions with Awaken or Demise effects, or minions with Rush.
There is another way to increase the effectiveness of Journey of Souls: curating the boneyard. Two common ways to do this are Raid the Tombs and the Reconstruct Power. These remove weaker minions from the bottom of the boneyard so that more powerful minions are returned.
What archetypes?
Journey of Souls is primarily seen in aggro or midrange decks. Aggro decks have a high minion count and are frequently trading minions so the souls stack up quickly. Aggro decks are also often stacked with Rush minions, which are very powerful when combined with Journey of Souls. Minion heavy Midrange decks will sometimes use Journey of Souls, They often pair it with boneyard curating to return high value targets like Peri at the Gates or Panic Raider.
What Powers?
Infuse is by far the most common pairing with Journey of Souls, The attack increase works perfectly in a deck always looking to trade off its minions in combat. Don't forget the corner cases where you want to buff your opponents minion to force a trade. Some minion heavy lists prefer the movement benefits of Impel, but they are less common. Reconstruct has some synergy with Journey of Souls, but it is rarely chosen. Smite is sometimes used by necessity as it is unlocked before the other powers, but it should almost never be used by choice.
Playing with Journey of Souls
At first it might seem like a "set it and forget it" Path, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Journey of Souls actually requires the most attentiveness of all the Paths. There are several reasons for this:
The Pursuit, when going second you start with two souls, look to capitalize on this
Keep an eye on the counter above your portrait, or the souls flying in the graveyard
Knowing what will be returned, you should be constantly looking at your boneyard to know what is next
Controlling the order, the order you make your attacks matters, stack your boneyard
Don't let your opponent choose, avoid letting your opponent choose what order minions die
Blight triggers after Journey of Souls, this means you sometimes have to wait an entire turn to get the benefit
Ephemeral has its perks, burning the returned minion will banish it, which is great for cards you don't want to redraw
Left->Right rule, if expecting AoE effects (Thunderclap, Magnus, Misanthropia, etc), play the minions you want returned first further left, they will die first, and be returned first
Playing against Journey of Souls
Yup, you have to pay attention here too. The Journey of Souls mirror match is tilted in favour of the player that can control the souls triggers. The things to watch for are similar:
Look at their boneyard, know what they are getting back, and when
Control the triggers, kill weaker minions first, or deny them souls, sometimes it is correct to not attack
Control the board, if playing AoE, try to force their weaker minions to the left
The journey is over
So much for Journey of Souls being a passive ability! I think that is what makes Mythgard special, When you start looking closely you begin to see how all your little decisions can affect the game. That is the first step towards tipping the scales in your favour.
The next article will focus on my favourite Path, Rainbow's End, and all the fun things it lets you do. Free cards and ramp? Sign me up!