We have both played Scrolls since Alpha, and have been playing Hearthstone for a few months. Many people have asked us how the two games differ, and since this cannot be answered simply, we have provided an honest and fair comparison below.
Gameplay
This is where Hearthstone and Scrolls differ greatly. Hearthstone’s gameplay is quick, ruthless and unforgiving. There is much back and forth between players and games can end in a matter of minutes if things go badly, on average games last about 10-15 minutes. The fast pace of the game adds to the excitement as a game can turn around very quickly and different tactics need to be deployed.
Scrolls on the other hand, feels more like a game of chess. There is tactical movement involved, which requires a lot of thinking (and sometimes a lot of mathematical calculation). Then there are 5 idols to destroy, a game of Scrolls with two well matched players can take on average between 20-30 minutes, with my longest game reaching well over an hour.
Thus we may assume that Hearthstone is geared more towards ‘casual’ gamers, although I hate using that term. We have read people describing Hearthstone as a more ‘dumbed down’ version of magic. However, we never felt that this was really fair given the complexity of some of the cards in the game (such as breaking out awesome Rogue combos). I would also like to make clear that Hearthstone is not ‘easy’ and even seasoned TCG players will enjoy the different aspects of Hearthstone.
When it comes to Scrolls though, no one has ever called it ‘dumbed down’ and in fact has sometimes steered too far into the ‘too complex’ zone. It can be difficult to understand how some Scrolls work due to the complicated wording, and newly introduced Scrolls sometimes end up being abused in ways not originally intended (no thanks to certain Youtubers :P). However, credit has to be given to Mojang who work hard to quickly fix any known issues (which leads me to my next point..)
Development
One of the reasons why we became so attached to Scrolls was due to the heavy involvement from the development team at Mojang. They were extremely interactive with the community throughout alpha and now beta. This made players really feel like they were shaping a game for the players and not just to make money. The downside however, is the length of time it took to develop the game. The beta release was pushed back continuously, which was frustrating – especially for the Alpha players who couldn’t wait for some ‘fresh blood’. Once the beta release hit, it was a long time before new cards were released on a regular basis.
This is perhaps where Hearthstone is strongest. With the artwork pretty much copy/pasted, there wasn’t much work for Blizzard to get on with. Therefore a huge collection of cards were already available to players. However, there is one very big BUT here. Hearthstone feels EXTEMELY ‘pay to win’ (We will elaborate on this later).
Cost
As mentioned previously, while Hearthstone is a free game at the moment – it’s actually very ‘pay to win’. The reason for this, is ultimately down to the fact that there is no trading whatsoever. Cards can be unlocked through packs, which are bought from in game gold, or real money. In game gold can be obtained by winning matches against players (not AI) and completing daily quests (such as win 3 games as a Rogue). Cards can also be ‘disenchanted’ to get dust, which can then be used to craft new cards. Unfortunately, cards are disenchanted at 1/4 of what it takes to make a card on an equal level, which is a very steep cost. It all leads down a terribly ugly and expensive cycle. I have come to a point in Hearthstone where I actually cannot progress any further in ranked due to not having as many legendry’s as other players.
To win in-game gold you need to win games, to win games you need good cards. To get good cards you need packs, for packs you need ….gold ! (see where I’m going with this?). Eventually you will get sick of having your ass kicked by players and succumb to the £1.99 charge for 2 packs. But to your horror, you have unlocked zero cards for that fancy Mage deck you’re building and have a load of Priest cards you don’t know what to do with. This would have been easily resolved with trading, but Blizzard have kindly taken that right away from you.
Scrolls is currently priced at around £12.95 and trading is available. You can earn gold from playing against the AI or others players, completing trials and getting achievements. You can also sell your spare cards for gold to other players. Meaning that new scrolls are never too far out of your reach. While Scrolls does have a pay aspect in the form of shards, these limit you to the scrolls available in your store only – and these change every 3 days. So ‘pay to win’ is definitely not an issue here.
Drafting
Drafting is a core concept within TCGs and a fun game mode, but the drafting style of hearthstone is a bit restrictive. You’re locked into picking your class from a choice of 3, which are randomly generated from the pool of 9. This can be damning at times if you haven’t practiced with all classes, as you need a good understanding of key cards and strategies for every class so you can plan your draft deck accordingly.
Scrolls on the other hand, lets you build any faction deck you wish, should you choose to, being able to plan ahead by seeing what’s in the next few packs you will open. Once your class is selected in Hearthstone, you will then be given neutral cards to choose from and class specific cards with a set amount of rares/legendry’s/epics thrown in, your opponents will have had the same range of rarity in cards as well. Scrolls picks can be a tad punishing as scrolls that are rare for standard games are often not as useful at all in draft, but commons such as ‘Charge Coil’ suddenly become very powerful within the draft format and the variety in decks decreases as there starts to become a very clear ‘pick on sight’ list.
So whilst hearthstone is restrictive in class, it does ensure everyone is on more of an equal playing field, Scrolls gives your more freedom of choice in what deck you wish to play but unfortunately you can end up on an unfair playing field with some commons being very powerful in this format.
Conclusion
Both Hearthstone and Scrolls have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day it all comes down to which game you enjoy playing more. I like the fast pace of Hearthstone, how easy it is to get into and that the premade decks are actually good. But after reaching a point where we have to keep paying money to get any further, my interest in this game has rapidly decreased.
Thinking about it, both myself and Durr haven’t played Scrolls in at least a few months (probably more), but every time we try to come back to it we feel like it’s not as easy to come back to. It also feels more difficult to make your own deck and there often seems to be a big meta which players have to try and fit into. However, there are thankfully a lot of YouTube videos and helpful players willing to help, which is why I’m now considering brushing off the dust and giving Scrolls another go.
Out on the test server and hopefully coming to the Beta server towards the end of the month, is the new scrolls draft format Judgement. For those not aware, a draft game is where you will build a deck from a restricted card pool, which is (to a degree) chosen by yourself, from a few options and a smaller deck size. In the Scrolls draft you will be presented with four Scrolls of which you can choose one. You can see the next groups of Scrolls for you to pick from, so you can attempt to plan ahead.
The challenge of playing draft is trying to make a strong deck from a limited card pool and restricted choices. Often you will find cards that are sub par in the standard constructed format of a TCG, are suddenly very strong in a limited format such as draft. An example of this in scrolls would be Charge Coil, perhaps not the greatest scroll in constructed rank play, but in draft format if you get enough of them down you will dominate the field. Something to be noted is in this format, you can have more than three copies of any scroll in your deck. So if you are lucky enough to get the picks, it's possible to have more than three copies of Charge Coil in a minimum 30 card deck! A scary prospect indeed.
A nice addition to the Scrolls draft UI, is the stats which will help you round out your deck and make sure you have plenty of creatures for the resource (or resources) you wish to play. This feature greatly assists in the drafting process, as by no means is drafting easy (as Rastien found out in his draft game against Blinky).
Here is a video which demonstrates how Judgment works:
The first official tournament which Mojang have been
involved in will be commencing this weekend, and we couldn’t be more excited !
After we both finished in top positions in the unofficial ScrollsGuide
tournament, we are keen for more competitive play. You can sign up by going to
the official ESL page here http://www.esl.eu/eu/scrolls/news/228445/
(and also have a sneaky peek at who’s already registered).
It seems that Decay splash Growth is still the predominant
deck in Scrolls, however this may also prove useful to those who have attempted
to make ‘anti’ Decay decks. Either way, most players will be playing around Puppet
Solider + Nutrition, or playing it themselves. It will be interesting to see
what decks players have come up with; original decks are always fun to play
against. New scrolls have introduced on the test server, but they won’t be
released before the ESL tournament begins, so everyone should be on equal
footing in terms of available scrolls.
It would be surprising if the winner of the tournament
wasn’t playing Decay, but we would be pleasantly surprised ! There are some top
players signed up to the tournament, so winning will be no easy task. However,
the top prize is well worth the struggle ! If you haven’t seen it yet, this is
what you could win https://scrolls.com/2013/09/look-what-the-winner-of-the-esl-tourney-gets#more-3375.
We will both be recording our tournament matches, and hopefully we won’t fail
on the first match. I suspect a lot more people will be online this week,
sorting out decks and getting some much needed practice.
Good luck to everyone who enters, and maybe we’ll see you in
game !
The week of
Decay is finally upon us and Scrolls has now released its fourth
resource. Many of us have been anticipating this moment for months, and
those who don’t have access to the test server could only await it’s
arrival. Player numbers soared during the release day, and it’s been
great to see so many people getting back into the game.
As
is the nature of TCG’s, it’s difficult to keep people engaged with the
game and there is a pressure to keep releasing new scrolls. We hope that
Decay will bring some much needed excitement among the community, as
well as some new and challenging trials !
The
artwork of the Decay scrolls is both creepy and beautiful. You should
also take the time to read the Decay scrolls lore, my personal favourite
is “Miasma Well: DO NOT DRINK”. Also, some of the creatures have been
renamed since their appearance on the test server. ‘Lumbering Muckhead’
is now ‘Harvester’, and ‘Staggering Muckhead’ is now ‘Mire Shambler’.
As
we have done a Tutorial for the original resources, we
have also made one for Decay pre-constructed. We hope this video will help players get
to grips with basic Decay gameplay strategies and combinations.
On Thursday this week, both Rastien and Grumpcat of hurrandurr.com were lucky enough to receive their very own hand drawn Scrolls avatars! The exceptionally talented Poi from Mojang was kind enough to create these amazing avatars below. She asked us which unit in scrolls we liked the most and she personified us into them! I have to say that her work is very impressive and we are delighted with the results.
As we are part of the Scrollstream on Thursday nights at 8.30pm BST (http://www.twitch.tv/scrollstream), she has also made Seemescrollin his own avatar, as well as a beautiful splash screen for us! We cannot thank her enough for all this kind work.
Whilst you're viewing these amazing avatars, we would like to request you take the time to read Poi's go fund me page. She is trying to raise funds to pay for a friends operation, and it would be great if you could help her out. http://www.gofundme.com/helpnoelle.
We know that everyone is keen to see some decent ranked matches, and so we have delivered ! Rastien takes on two serious contenders in some close games. His ranking is in the 1700s, and this will give you a real insight into the competitive nature of Scrolls.
Decay, the new resource for Scrolls has been released on the test server! Decay is just as unique as the other resources in scrolls, it relies on powerful poison spells and enchantments to keep the enemy creatures at bay, and benefits from units dying - including your own! In this set of videos Hurr and Durr play two games each against the hard AI, and two games against each other.
Most of you will already be aware of basic strategic positioning, such as gaining control of the middle lane. However, positioning units goes beyond simply placing a unit on a particular lane. I’ve seen a fair amount of players putting strong units in harm’s way, when this could be completely prevented. This guide will hopefully provide you with a basic understanding on keeping your units alive.
Structures
There are certain structures which are used as “blockers” and some which are used as “attackers”, although attackers can be used as both. An example of a “blocker” would be Eternal Statue, this type of structure should always be placed on the front row, furthest away from your idols. This is because your creatures will be protected behind it, so the structure protects both the idol and your other units.
Attackers such as a Mangonel can be a bit more flexible, you may want to place one in the middle of a lane to damage a particular set of opponent units. Although you should be aware that this will limit your own units movements around the board, and should be prepared to play around this. You can work around this problem with other movement scrolls such as transposition.
An example of a structure which can be used as both would be the Hellspitter Mortar. This should always be placed on the front row due to the high health of this unit. It’s random attack is not consistent, but when it does land it can be an unexpected nightmare for your enemy. Have more than one of these down, and you increase your chances even more.
There may also be some structures you’d rather protect, such as the Ancestral Totem. This should be placed on the opposite side of the board from your opponents units, where possible of course. Otherwise, you may want to place a larger unit in front of it, such as a Brother of the Wolf with Dryadic Power.
One important thing I feel I should mention is, don’t think that something is safe just because it’s hiding behind a structure. Scrolls such as Pother and Flip can bring out things from behind them, or put your structures in awkward places. In this case you will have to work on building your defences back up, this may require you moving up a lane if a structure such as a Waking Stone has been moved.
Small creatures (those with 2 or less health)
Each of the resources have small creatures among their repertoire, and each of them will be played differently depending on the creature and the aim of your deck. For example, in a Mono Growth deck the Sister of Fox is used to draw, and then used again as food for Fertile Soil. In the early turns of the game you want to keep her alive for this purpose, so you should play her away from opponent units.
Later on in the game you may want to use her to protect a unit against an attacker without relentless. This play style is particularly prominent in the GO draw deck. Therefore, she can be placed on the front row in place of a structure. While she serves little threat with one attack, if you play God Hand she can easily take out something with 3 health, clearing the way for your other units.
Then there are the more aggressive small creatures, such as Crossbowmen and Scattergunner. This can be played early game to put on pressure while you ramp for more resources. Although they can be killed easily, if your opponent gets unlucky draws or ignores them for too long, your board presence can become overwhelming.
You also need to be prepared for board sweeps when playing small creatures. Scrolls such as Thundersurge and Inferno Blast will wipe out small creatures. Even Decimation can be deadly, if you play three Vaettr of the Wild on the same lane for example. Unfortunately, Energy also has Spark and Burn – which are perfect for the removal of small and medium creatures.
Medium creatures (3- 4 health)
Medium creatures are the most flexible in terms of placement, however you should always be conscious of Kinfolk Veterans when playing against Growth. If you are playing Order, Spearmen should always be on the front row and sometimes you may want to play two of them on the same lane, which is perfectly acceptable.
Skirmishers can be played in the front or middle lane while you are waiting to draw into something defensive, but as these are your main attackers you really want to look after them. Even putting an Infantryman in front of them is much safer.
When playing Growth, your medium Creatures such as Brother of the Wolf and Mangy wolf are more often used as blockers for the Great Wolf or Ancestral Totem. They can be placed on the front row or the middle, depending on how many small creatures you have available. Smaller creatures should be in front of medium ones where possible.
For Energy, the Gun Automatons and Gravelocks should be kept behind something defensive such as a Hellspitter mortar where possible. Otherwise they can be used to protect your more important units such as the Gravelock Elders. Using bombard with small and medium creatures can catch your opponent off-guard, this allow you more time to get your larger creatures down.
Large Creatures (5 or more health)
Where you place large creatures will depend on your resource and the creatures ability. For example, if you are playing Order and want to play an Honourable General – you should place him behind something defensive such as a Spearman, and as close to other attacking units as possible, so that you can make use of his cooldown reset ability. You should be wary of placing a useful unit like this on the front row as they will be crucial for building your attacking force.
The Great Wolf is not one of the largest creatures by itself, but due to the buff it receives from other wolves it is a major threat. For a Growth player, keeping one of these alive is key for victory. Therefore, they should be shielded from harm using the smaller wolves if no structures are in the deck.
This differs entirely from the Cannon Automaton in Energy. Due to its Armour 1 ability, it’s best played on the front or middle row so that it can soak up damage while still being used as an attacker. Place an enchantment such as Potion of Resistance or Plating on this creature, and you’ve created a huge threat on the board.
We have both had an amazing time being part of the Scrolls alpha, and to celebrate that we wanted to give a free copy of Scrolls to one lucky winner !
All you have to do is tell us what precon you would choose as your starter deck, and why.
To enter, email us your answer to hurranddurr1@gmail. The giveaway will end on Tuesday 4th June at 1800 GMT, the winner will be announced by Wednesday 5th June 1800 GMT.
One of the big mistakes I’ve seen from new players is sacrificing for scrolls when they should be sacrificing for resources. I’m going to explain the different situations you will encounter during play, and how I generally deal with them.
You should be sacrificing for either scrolls or resources every single turn, unless you are confronted with a situation where you are forced to play your hand without doing either. For example, you may have a Burn and Spark - which you desperately need to get rid of a Great Wolf.
At the start of the game, you should always be sacrificing for resources over scrolls. If you don’t build up your resources early game and your opponent does, then you will not be able to keep up with their field presence. This will allow them to have control over the game and you make things unnecessarily harder for yourself. As a general guide, I would say that sacrificing for scrolls when you have 5 or less resources is incredibly dangerous. That’s not to say that you should stick to 5/6 resources. I usually try to get to 7 then focus on sacrificing for Scrolls unless I have a decent opportunity to sacrifice for resources.
While it can be daunting to continually sacrifice for resources while your enemy is playing more creatures at the start, eventually you will get to the point where you can play 2 or 3 scrolls a turn (depending on their cost). In these early stages it is vitally important to make use of any scrolls that will let you draw scrolls, Sister of the Fox, Burn and Pother are a few examples of low cost scrolls which allow you to draw. This will give you more options when it comes to sacrificing.
Sometimes it is necessary to gain more resources even if it means you will have no scrolls in hand. However, this will also largely depend on your opponent. If they have less resources than you, then it is safer to sacrifice for scrolls (although not ideal) if you really need to. It can also be tempting to try and draw into a certain scroll. For example, if your opponent has played a Kinfolk Brave – you may want to find a Spark to get rid of it. But it’s much more worthwhile to sacrifice for resources, play a structure, then a large creature and deal with the threat when you can.
During the late game you should be keeping a close eye on your opponents resources. Make sure you don’t fall behind them by too much. If they are on 8 and you are on 7 it should be ok, but if they’re on 10 and you’re still on 7, then that’s potentially 1 more scroll a turn they can play (an extra Burn, Skirmisher, or Mangy Wolf coming your way!).
If you keep this advice in mind when playing you will be in a strong position and will be able to make the most of the scrolls in your hand.
With beta just around the corner, we thought that now would be the best time to go through the three resources in a bit more detail. When you log into the game, you will be asked to choose your first precon deck from the three resources. You will be able to buy the other precons later using gold or shards. For many alpha players who experienced a pre-beta reset, choosing their precon deck was a difficult choice to make. This guide will hopefully help both old and new players make their decision.
Growth
Growth is the most aggressive resource and has little to offer in terms of defence, but what Growth lacks in defence it more than makes up for in terms of synergy. Creature wise, there are the lesser Bunnies and Rats, the Kinfolk and Wolves.
The way Growth decks work is by overrunning the field with small creatures, which then buff the larger ones such as Great Wolf and Kinfolk Jarl. When Growth has enough units on the field, the player can then focus on countdown resets which Growth seems to have an abundance of. This means that when Growth has reached this level of control, it’s very difficult for an opponent to recover.
There are a lot of attack boosting scrolls, such as Ancestral Totem, Champion Ring and Crimson Bull. This means that even the weaker creatures can become a problem for the opposing player. It also allows unexpected attacks where a player may have left a unit unguarded, believing that the damage wouldn’t be sufficient enough to destroy them.
Growth also has field wipes in the forms of Quake and Frost Gale, allowing the player to regain control of the field. Once the field has been wiped, they can then draw scrolls using Sister of the Fox and Fertile Soil.
Overall, Growth is aggressive and fast. However, it does have its weaknesses. For example, if the key units in a Growth deck (such as a Great Wolf) are removed in play, it can be difficult to maintain control of the field.
Order
Order has more of a balance between aggression and defence. Order’s strength comes from unit placement, forming ranks and buffing units. Orders creatures include Spearmen, Skirmishers, Infantrymen and Generals.
Order also has strong defensive structures, such as Waking Stones and Obelisk. These can be used to guard the attacking units such as Skirmishers. There is also Mangonel, which is Order's offensive structure and can be used as field wipe.
The Infantrymen, while not powerful by themselves can be used to buff other creatures. There are two types of Infantrymen, one buffs health while the other buffs attack. As they only buff the creatures on the same row, it is extremely important for someone playing Order to maintain ranks and keep units close together.
Order can also unleash quick, unexpected attacks. The Honorable General reduces adjacent units countdown by 2, triggering their attack. This can then be combined with an attack buff such as Royal Vanguard or focus.
One of the unique features of Order is the scrolls which affect units positioning. Scrolls such as Horn of Ages, New Orders, Flip and Pother may not seem that strong, but causing a unit to move infront of an attacking Skirmisher is an extremely effective strategy.
Overall, Order is well balanced and has the opportunity to devastate opposing players once ranks have been formed. However, Order's biggest challenge comes from decks which disrupt their formation.
Energy
Energy is the most defensive of the resources, and has the most effective structures. Most of Energy’s creatures have Ranged or Lobber, meaning that they can avoid certain affects such as Spiky or Vitorial Aura – which would affect a melee attacker. Creatures include Gravelocks, Automaton’s and the mighty Iron Orge.
Energy starts off a little slower than the other resources, but what it lacks in speed it more than makes up for in defence. Energy also has the most removal of the resources. With scrolls such as Inferno Blast and Thundersurge, Energy can devastate big groups of enemy units. It can also use Spark and Burn to remove any early aggressors and establish a line of defence (or attack).
The synergy between the Gravelocks can be dangerously overwhelming for an opponent to deal with. As the Elders buff each other’s attack and health, it is vital to keep them in play. The Cannon Automaton’s are extremely powerful as all damage dealt to them is decreased by 1. This makes them effective as both defence and offense.
Structure wise, Energy has a lot of offensive structures such as the Destroyer, Catapult of Goo and Ether Pump. These can not only deal damage to your opponent, but can also distract them while you place more creatures on the field. The Machine Priest can control them, while the Tool Initiate can increase their attack.
Energy also has powerful Spells and Enchantments such as Potion of Resistance and Plating, making it harder for the larger units to be destroyed. The Iron Orge is most powerful of the Energy creatures, but due to his 3 countdown reset he is not an easy scroll to play. In terms of countdown reset, Energy can make use of Bombard and Iron Whip.
Overall, while Energy is slow to start, due to the amount of removal and strong creatures – Energy is by no means weak.
So the Scrolls alpha players have had a few surprising changes to some Scrolls in recent patches. Ducal Spearman’s attack has been reduced to 1, Cannon Automaton now takes 1 less damage from all combat damage, and Unleash Inner Power now reduces health to 2. Tool Initiate has got a new skin, and his scrolls design has also changed to better reflect his ability.
Yesterday the big reset took place, meaning that all Scrolls, rankings and player statistics were wiped clean. When you log back into Scrolls now you will be asked to pick one of the three precon decks as your starter deck. Unlike previous patches, you will not have access to all three precons from the start. My understanding is that the alpha reset was designed for Mojang to test out their latest feature, shards.
Shards are Scroll's currency which you can buy with real life money to buy Scrolls from the store. The scrolls which you can buy with shards are unique to each player and will change each week. This adds an element of randomness and encourages players to trade with each other more. It also means that buying a large amount of shards won’t immediately mean you can buy a decent deck straight off the bat.
From what I’ve seen of the reset so far, many alpha players are taking advantage of this. For my first couple of games after the reset I decided to play with the precon as it was. I went with the Energy precon as I have grown to really like playing Energy recently. I was pleased to see that not all players had chosen Energy and I actually played games against all three resources.
My first encounter was rather surprising, I had played an Iron Orge and while I sat there all pleased with myself my opponent cast Violent Dispersal on him. Poof, gone ! It hadn’t occurred to me that people may have brought shards already, and that I shouldn’t play so recklessly on the pretence that everyone is still using precons.
Overall I think the introduction of shards will add an interesting element to the game. They are fairly priced and well worth the money if you are a big Scrolls player. Considering that alpha players will also be entitled to 10% credit back on any shards they buy between now and beta release, I will definitely be investing in some !
Cost: 4 Growth
Type: Enchantment
Ability: Target creature's Attack is increased by its Health value. Its Health is then set to 1
Lore: My very essence shall be my blade
(correct as of Alpha patch 0.84)
Unleash Inner Power is one of the most interesting rare scrolls in the game. It can be used either as a buff or as removal, the latter of which is used significantly more. In previous Alpa versions, Unleash Inner Power worked well in Growth/Order decks, but due to recent nerfs this has become less viable. Unleash Inner Power is now widely used in Mono Growth instead. There has been some debate within the Alpha community to whether or not this scroll should be changed.
Here is a quote from Sysp on scrollsguide.com
“As suggested by carnalizer, a small change to how much health the creature is left with would make the buff on your own creatures a little more powerful while weakening its use on your opponent's creature some, bringing both uses a little closer in power and making the choice for the player a little more interesting.”
It is yet to be seen whether or not this change would take place, however it would only have a small impact on Mono Growth decks. Even if the creature has its health set to 2 for example, they would still be susceptible to Quake, Kinfolk Veteran and other forms of removal. I personally feel that it should be more balanced, as it stands Mono Growth already has enough removal especially with the haste ability.
As a buff, it’s not particularly useful as you are effectively leaving your creature open to various forms of removal such as Kabonk, Spark and Ragged Wolf. However, late game if you are racing your opponent to the finish and can wipe out a whole lane or maybe even the last idol, then it is worth it. This works best with Great Wolf as they are one of few creatures in a Mono Growth with relentless, plus they have the additional attack buff from other wolves. However, you must be careful when doing this against Mono Order decks, as their Spearmen have the Spiky ability – which deals 2 damage when attacked.
When used as removal, this scroll can take out huge units such as Iron Ogre with ease. This will slow down your opponent as they struggle to draw another powerful scroll. It also negates the effectiveness of Spiky as Spearmen can then be taken out with Ragged Wolf’s or Sister of the Fox, leaving an opening for your more powerful units you want to keep alive.
If you use it on an Honorable General before his countdown reaches 0, then you prevent your opponent from benefitting from his ability and give yourself another turn to take out other units. Unleash Inner Power works well with Ranger’s Bane due to the low cost. And as Ranger’s Bane lasts for 3 turns, you can cast it a turn before you cast Unleash Inner Power, so it can be used early game.
Overall, Unleash Inner Power is a strong scroll for Mono Growth decks and although it’s future is uncertain – it will still remain a powerful source of removal.
EDIT: As of alpha patch 0.87 - Unleash Inner Power has indeed been changed and now reduces target creature to 2 health. Since this change has taken place, I have seen this scroll used much less as the removal affect is less 'instant'. It's also now used more as a buff (which I believe is how it should have been).
Here are a few videos featuring some of the new scrolls from the 0.84 update. We are really looking forward to beta which should be upon us by next week !
That's right folks, the long awaited Scrolls beta is finally upon us ! Although the game was initially planned to be released by Christmas last year, delays meant that beta was pushed further back. There's still a chance that it could be delayed again mind you, but this seems a lot more hopeful !
Hurr & Durr have got big plans for a new video series set for the time leading up to the beta release. We hope you enjoy the new content, so keep an eye on our YouTube channel in the next few weeks !
See the official announcement from Scrollsguide here:
In this guide I will be going over all the scrolls in order and various different ways in which they can be used. This is a basic guide just to give people an idea of different combinations for order scrolls.
This scroll decreases target unit's Countdown by 1. I generally don’t use blessing of haste on something unless it will make it attack next turn. There’s not much point in reducing from 3 to 2 because there’s a high chance it will be dead next turn.
Blessing of haste works well for surprise attacks, and when combined with focus you can use weaker creatures to take out larger threats. While not as fast as speed, due to the low cost blessing of haste is definitely a scroll which should be in every MO deck.
Callback Unsummon target unit you control back to your hand.
This scroll can be used to unsummon and recast memorials, but for a MO deck this isn’t very useful. As nothing in order has haste there is no reason to want to unsummon creatures. This scroll is only really viable if you are making a GO deck so you can use them on Kinfolk Veterans, Ragged Wolf or Mangy Wolf.
Crossbowman have a countdown of 3, making it a tricky scroll to play. They can be devastating if played early game before your opponent has a chance to ramp and get some removal in their hand. If combined with speed and/or focus they deal a high amount of damage with an attack of 4. Late game they are too weak, unless placed around an Honourable General before his countdown reaches 0, or hasted.
It is also worth mentioning that as they are ranged attack they can kill spearmen without taking damage, and will also attack when bombard is cast.
Crown of Strength can be used in several ways, for example to buff spearmen so they live for longer and will do more spiky damage. It can also help to quake-proof units you don’t want to die. And the +1 attack can make weaker creatures more of a threat. However, due to the amount of removal scrolls available, Crowne of Strength is now less viable.
Decimation All units on target row lose 1 Health. Opponent's idol on that row loses 2 Health.
This is one of my favourite order scrolls. While it does deal damage to your own units if they are on the same row, if used correctly decimation can be the difference between winning and losing a game. Decimation shouldn’t really be used early game just to get a cheeky 2 idol damage as it’s not really worth it. It can however be used as decent removal for things like Sister of the Fox, Gravelock Raiders and Kinfolk Braves – if combined with Kabonk/Spiky for example. Late game when your opponent has amassed units on the field you can use it to reduce their health and then go swinging in with a Skirmisher.
Also if you have got an idol down to 1 or 2 health and your opponent has started defending heavily, decimation allows you to bypass those units and deal direct damage to the idol. Meaning that there defences are elsewhere and you can start going aggressively for another idol. If you manage to have two decimation in your hand late game, dealing 4 idol damage makes a big difference.
Desert Memorial When Desert Memorial comes into play, increase Energy by 1.
This memorial is used for splash Energy decks. They can also be used as temporary defence against creatures without relentless.
Divine Mark When enchanted creature is destroyed, it is returned to owners hand. If it was killed by damage from another unit, that unit is returned to its owner's hand.
This was one of the new scrolls which was released with the latest patch. While it is interesting in a GO deck, it’s not particularly helpful in MO. The downside to this card is that it returns the opponent unit to their hand as well, which isn’t always good news. For example, if your spearman is killed by a kinfolk, you really don’t want another one killing your stuff next turn either. However, this scroll is useful for dealing with creatures with relentless as they will be return to their owners hand before they can cut through the rest of the lane.
Overall Divine Mark is interesting and fun to play around with, but it’s not as useful as you may think.
Ducal Infantryman All friendly creatures on the same row as Ducal Infantryman gain +1 Attack.
This is an extremely useful creature which has a low cost and can be used to buff stronger creatures. Put one on the same lane as a crossbowman and he’s now able to deal 5 damage – that’s half an idols health. Or if you are short of Focus, you can use this creature to get extra attack damage.
Skirmishers are the main threat in any MO deck. Their relentless ability makes them a force to be reckoned with as they can cut through defences. They have 4 health which means they are pretty beefy and not so easily taken care of. Hiding them behind Spearmen and Waking Stones will keep them alive for longer.
Spearmen can absolutely cripple some decks. Spearmen are a great way to build up defences, while still being able to attack. Although they only have 2 attack, their 2 Spiky damage more than makes up for this. If you use Decimation or Kabonk to knock down opponents health to 2, then you know that there’s not much chance of them charging into a spearman.
Faith Blessing Sacrifice target unit you control and heal the idol on the same row by 4.
Faith Blessing is not very useful in an order deck. You will want to maintain a field presence so unless you have the spare units and resources, I wouldn't bother using it.
Faith Chains When enchanted creature is destroyed, Faith Chains deals 1 damage to each of opponent's idols.
Faith Chains in my opinion are not as good as Decimation, it only damages idols and only does this if the creature is destroyed. As this is a 5 cost order scroll, it’s really not worth it.
Flip Move target opponent unit to any unoccupied tile on opponent's board.
Flip is a very interesting scroll and is great fun to play. It’s definitely useful for those who don’t have some of the rarer order scrolls. It can be used to trap a threat in a corner, move a unit in front of your attacking creature, or disrupting their defences. So if they have hidden a Great Wolf behind an Eternal Statue, you can flip it out from there and dispose of it.
Focus Target unit gains +3 Attack until end of turn.
Arguably one of the best order scrolls there is. If you have two of them in your hand and 2 order resources available – that’s an extra 6 attack on a lane and a lot of dead creatures ! Even having one can be deadly to your enemy, and if combined with a Ducal Infantryman this can seriously cause them problems.
Frost Wind Add +1 Countdown to target unit and all adjacent units.
Due to the amount of countdown reset in scrolls, Frost Wind isn’t particularly useful. It may buy you an extra turn if you’re lucky but more often than not it won’t.
Heritage When enchanted unit you control is destroyed, you draw 2 scrolls.
Heritage are one of the few decent draw scrolls in order and is extremely useful if you are lacking Imperial Resources. Heritage can be used on creatures or structures, but are better used on creatures as your opponent is definitely going to want to kill them (and not just flip them out of the way or something). Heritage can be combined with Powerbound to increase ramp and help keep up with those pesky Fertile Soils. However, as Heritage is a 3 cost scroll this is quite high for order when most of the creatures are around 3 or 4.
Honorable General When Honorable General's Countdown becomes 0, all adjacent units have their Countdown set to 0.
Honorable Generals are beasty unit for a MO deck and can completely turn a game around. If you have a general surrounded by Skirmishers and a Speed in hand, that means bad news for your opponent. Although their initial countdown is high, with Blessing of Haste and Speed this can be easily dealt with. The Honorable General also has 6 health which means that he makes for good defence too.
Horn of Ages Opponent's units may not move during next turn.
Horn of Ages is an interesting scroll and needs to be executed carefully. You can use it to bring your units closer to your opponent, or even use it to move them further away. So it can be both offensive and defensive in that sense. It can also cause problems for your opponent if they are stuck in a corner or bottom lane, or if you have flipped them out of the way and want them to stay there.
Imperial Resources Draw 2 scrolls. Your idols are healed by 1. All your units are healed by 1. Increase order by 1.
This is another of the new order scrolls, and is one of the most powerful order scrolls there is. The only perceivable downside to this scroll is knowing when to cast, you don’t want to cast it in favour of having field presence, but at the same time the ramp and scrolls it provides gives you a huge advantage over your opponent. As soon as you hit 6 order I’d be looking for a chance to use this scroll.
Don’t forget this scroll also heals structures, which means that if you have a waking stone on 2 health it will be healed back to 3!
Kabonk Deal 1 damage to target unit. Draw 1 scroll.
Although Kabonk doesn’t immediately appear like a strong scroll, it most certainly is. It can be used for removal of small creatures, knocking down heath of larger ones and of course drawing an extra scroll.
It is also worth mentioning that Kabonk can be used to damage your own creatures. So let’s say you have a creature on 1 health with heritage on it, and you want those extra scrolls in hand – you could Kabonk it !
Knight Scholar Draw 1 scroll if Countdown is 0. Countdown is reset to Knight Scholar's base value.
Knight Scholar has the choice to attack or draw a scroll when his countdown reaches 0. This means that he can be used as constant draw while he’s on the field.
Mangonel Lobber. When Mangonel comes into play, all Mangonels have their Countdown set to the lowest Countdown of any Mangonel you control.
Mangonel is another of the newest order scrolls and is the only offensive order structure. Although the idea of Mangonels sounds good, their high countdown makes them difficult to play. Unless you are using summons it will be very difficult to draw them in a 50 card deck. Their 2 health also makes them very weak when compared with other structures. So the chances of you having one still alive after getting another one in hand aren’t that great.
Metempsychosis Target unit you control is resummoned on the same tile.
This scroll can be as a healing card, resummoning a target unit to full health.
This is another useful scroll for movement strategies and can be used the same way as Horn of Ages. It allows you to manoeuvre around your opponent as you please and place yourself in a more advantageous position.
Obelisk is a wall structure with 5 health and can be buffed with Shrines or other enchantments.
Plate Armor All combat damage to enchanted unit is decreased by one.
Plate Armor is a fairly decent defensive scroll, it can be cast on your structures as well as creatures (although there is no point putting this on a Waking Stone). It can be combined with something such as Resonance Helm to keep your units alive for longer.
Pother Target unit is moved to a random unoccupied, adjacent tile. Draw 1 scroll.
Pother is an extremely useful scroll when considering the positioning of opponent units. It works in a similar way to flip, in that you can launch surprise attacks by moving things like structures out of the way. Although the movement of the unit is completely random, if played correctly Pother can provide a huge advantage. Pother is also cheap as it’s only 1 cost and lets you draw an extra scroll.
Powerbound When enchanted unit you control is destroyed, increase your Order by one.
Powerbound is used to help ramp and can also make your opponent less willing to kill the unit enchanted with this ability.
Purification Remove all enchantments from target unit.
Purification is a fantastic low cost card which completely removes all enchantments from a target unit. So you could remove Ranger’s Bane from your own units, or get rid of Plating on an opponent. The only downside is that in a 50 scroll deck you may not draw one when you actually need it.
Pushback Target opponent unit is returned to its owner's hand.
Pushback has several different uses, the first is used in a similar way to purification. If an opponent has enchanted a unit, for example a Gravelock Elder with Potion of Resistance, can be pushbacked – completely removing the enchantment. Pushback can also be used to kill units if used in the correct way. For instance if units have 1 health remaining and are only alive because of an Infantryman buff, you could push him back and kill the other units.
It can also be used to buy yourself another turn, for example if a creature is about to attack you can use Pushback so that its countdown is reset again. It also means that your opponent has to spend another turn recasting it.
Resonant Helm Enchanted unit's Health is healed by 1 every time you play a spell or enchantment.
Not a very useful healing scroll as it only activates if another spell or enchantment is cast.
Royal Infantryman All friendly creatures on the same row as Royal Infantryman gain +1 Health.
This creature can be used to buff health of units. They have a low cost which makes them a useful scroll for buffing the weaker Spearmen and Skirmishers.
Royal Skirmishers are the weaker of the two Skirmishers, but they still have the relentless ability and cost less to cast. This means that you can keep building them up to gain more field presence. Their health and attack can also be buffed used Infantrymen.
Royal Spearman can be used in the same way as Ducal Spearman, except that their 3 health makes them more vulnerable to Kinfolk Veterans. They are best played early game and it’s a good idea to be looking for a Ducal Spearman in the meantime.
Royal Vanguard When Royal Vanguard's Countdown becomes 0, all other units you control gain +1 Attack until end of turn.
The Royal Vanguard is a key player in any order deck. Not only is he a fat unit, but he buffs the attack of all units. This means that if you combine him with an Honourable General surrounded by Skirmishers you can effectively activate the order version of God Hand.
Shrine While Shrine is in play, all friendly units gain +1 Health.
While Shrine’s are not a strong structure by themselves, they can be effective in building a strong defence. They can buff Waking Stones and Spearmen, making your units much harder to kill. However, due to the low health of Shrines they tend to be removed quickly.
Sinmarked Zealot When Countdown is 0, Sinmarked Zealot can be sacrificed to deal 2 damage to target unit
Sinmarked Zealots are orders low cost removal scroll, they can either attack or be sacrificed. When I play Simarked Zealots I usually put Heritage or Powerbound on them so that if they are killed you can still get value. You can also use them to kill themselves if you want to get the effect of Heritage but there are no opponent units on the field.
Speed is the best source of countdown reset in order. It can be used in many different combinations, and it most effectively used on Honorable Generals.
Summons are used to draw Structures, including memorials. Please remember that if you have 3 structures in your deck, summons will not find any more when you cast it if they are already in hand or on the field.
Transposition Switch places of two units you control.
You can use transposition in the same way you would use flip. So you can use it to switch an attacking unit with one still on 1 or higher countdown, or you can use it to swap around units you don't want to get attacked. You can also use it to change the positioning of your units if some of them die. For example if you had a Skirmisher behind a Spearman and infront of an Honorable General, and the Spearman is now dead - you can transposition the Skirmisher and General to protect the Skirmisher.
Similarly to Frost Wind, Though Trap is rather weak considering the amount of countdown reset available. Although if played early enough you may have a chance to get value for it.
Vengeance Veil When enchanted unit receives damage, it's Countdown decreases by 1.
Although this scroll is a source of countdown reset, it’s not particularly effective. Blessing of Haste and Speed work much better as they don’t rely on your unit being attacked. Once your opponent see’s Vengeance Veil, they will aim to kill it in one turn so you lose the effect.
Waking Stones All damage dealt to Waking Stones is reduced to 1.
In my opinion, Waking Stones are the best defensive structures there are. They have 3 health and only take 1 damage, making them a complete nightmare for your opponent (unless they are using Tick Bomb of course). Waking Stones can help you protect your units, or prepare to set up a defence when an opponent’s units are about to attack. They can be buffed with things like Crown of Strength and can be healed with Imperial Resources.
Woodland Memorial When Woodland Memorial comes into play, increase Growth by 1.
This memorial is used for splash growth decks.
I've made a video to go with this now, hope it's useful.
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