With the release of The Elder Scrolls Online's brand new Necrom chapter comes new adventure, mystery, dark magic, new companions, and a new class. The chapter also introduces a brand-new Patron deck to Tales of Tribute. The ESO team dives into just what to expect from new mechanics for the table.
The new deck patron is Almalexia. Senior Systems Designers Irenio Calmon-Huang and John Carlson give us a peek into what you need to know about the new patron and cards. First off, the deck was designed as “a deck for players frustrated with their opponent getting a really good card in the first few turns and feeling like they could never catch back up”. It looks to both refresh the game and work to lure in new players and others who may have given up on Tales of Tribute.
There are several new mechanics introduced in Necrom. The first is confine. “This is found on Almalexia’s agents and allows you to take any card in your opponent’s cooldown and hold it hostage until that agent is removed from play,” they explain. The second new mechanic is called donate and lets you discard some less useful cards from your hand and take a chance that you'll draw a better one.
Almalexia’s own patron ability is another new mechanic. This is called reprieve, and It lets you look at the top cards on your opponent's deck and place one into their cool down. you'll be able to look deeper into your opponent's deck the more favor you earn with your Patron, although the cost for peeking rises.
Finally, they have added "hand refresh", which lets you pick any card from your cooldown pile and add it to your hand.
Ultimately, Almalexia is more of a control deck, lending itself to the potential for great combos, but requiring the right moves at the right time. She can also stymie opponents’ moves, and this is a big, intentional, part of introducing this deck. Not only is is meant to make you feel like you still have a chance when opponents get great cards, the team is shaking up the meta. “With Almalexia, we felt players needed more interaction with the cards their opponent purchased so they can tip the scales of randomness in their favor,” they note.