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Idol Guide

Love 'em or hate 'em, you must respect 'em. When one of these little guys hits the field, the whole game can change in an instant. I will try to explain how idols work and how to exploit them to your advantage.

Basalt Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:50
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: All creatures cannot use abilities that trigger at Battle End or Upon Defeat.

What that means is that creatures' abilities or items that creatures use with an end-of-battle effect do not trigger. Here are some examples:

Ba-Al or Behemoth: You don't lose a card.
Angry Mask: The Mask deals no damage back to your opponent.
Cursed Seal: The Seal deals no damage to your opponent's base HP.
Death Choker: You still get the ST+30 and Penetration, but your creature isn't killed by the Choker.
Senility: The affected creature isn't killed by the enchantment.
Dragon Lord: Doesn't revert back to a Dragonewt.

Important note: With Basalt Idol in play, you will not regenerate even if Opal Idol is in play.

Brass Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:40
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: All Cepters draw two cards when drawing instead of one.

This one is pretty straightforward. During your draw phase at the beginning of your turn, you draw an extra card. Strategically, you can cycle through your deck a little faster. Add a Refuge or Fairy Light and you got a little extra cash as well because of the extra draw. Or, if you use cards with a discard requirement like, say, Goblin's Lair, you can still have a few cards in your hand. You can also use it to power your Metamorphose Belt, which turns you into a Grass Strider (Attacks First / In Battle: ST+ (number of opponent's cards in hand x10)). They will probably have a full hand.

Clay Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:60
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: Damage to all creatures from spells and territory abilities is reduced by 10.

This idol negates damage from, say, Peluda, Fortress, and Zap (all do 0 damage with Clay on the map). Magic Bolt is now as effective as a Zap (only does 10 damage now). Burning Hail and Freeze Cyclone now do only 10 points also. Frost Needle and Venomous Boil now do only 20 points of damage. Most importantly, Holy Blight (which only hits Neutral creatures) now does only 10 damage - all idols have only 20HP (but you will still fall to a Banishing Ray). As you can see, if they use direct damage, they are going to need more spells and more magic to destroy your creatures and Most importantly of all, this idol will also negate the first 10 damage from shrines.

Ebony Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:40
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: All creatures cannot use territory abilities.

This one is straightforward, but its effect is huge. It can really disrupt certain strategies (Tokebi decks for instance). With this idol in play, there is no evolving of creatures like Spiny Agama and Sword Princess, no boosting from Fay and Lichenoid, and no destroying cards from Bookworm. Fortress' crossbow is shut down, there's no cashing in with Spud Folk, no Land Protection or Phantasm with Domovikha or Domovoi. So, you see why this idol has a target on him - people will spend quite a few resources to get him off the field.

Gold Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:70
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: Requirements for summoning creatures other than magic cost are ignored.

Another straightforward idol. You can now summon your most powerful creatures without needing to discard or having the right properties. Here's an example: if Gold Idol is not in play; Brontides costs 160G, you must own 2 green lands and discard a card; with Gold Idol in play, you can now summon Brontides for only 160g - all other costs are ignored. This changes the rules, but don't forget! It also affects your opponent as well.

Granite Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:60
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: All Cepters cannot be targeted by Flash spells or Flash territory abilities (except those that dispel Enchantment effects).

This is one tricky idol. You can be affected by enchantments (i.e. Haste and spells of that ilk.), Dispel Magic, and Sharazad's ability, but this idol will negate Crusher (not Crusher Storm, however), Capture, Theft, Grace, Gift, Drain Magic, Changeling, Poison Mind, Suppression, Revival, and others. Here are the qualifications to negate the spell in question:

1. Is it a Single-Flash Spell? (check below the rarity in the card description - it should have one lightning bolt) If yes, go to 2. If no, go to 4.

2. Does it target a Cepter? If yes go to 3, if no go to 4,

3. The Spell won't work.

4. The Spell will work.

(I know it's crude, but I hope it helps. It must meet the first two conditions for the spell to be negated.)

Iron Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:40
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global ability: Die yields only 4-6 when rolled normally.

The most straightforward idol. You roll the dice, but you roll only 4, 5 or 6. This can be a problem on huge maps. You really need to control your spending habits because it'll take you longer to get to the towers and the castle. But, you can predict where you or your opponent will land (see chart). When in play, you can force people to land on your high level lands while (hopefully) missing your opponents'.

1 Turn: 4,5,6
2 Turns: 8, 9,10,11,12
3 Turns: 12,13,14,15,16,17,18
4 Turns: 16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24

Note: Some totals occur more than once but I only listed them once.

Ivory Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:60
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: Cards of rarity S require 1.5x magic to use. Cards of rarity R and E require double.

This is most powerful and annoying idol (in my opinion) in the game. Ivory Idol can cause fits of rage and baldness by ripping your hair out. Just imagine trying to protect properties with the popular Counter Amulet. It normally costs 100G However, when this idol is in play, it now costs double, 200G. Going back (Gold Idol) to my earlier Brontides example: He now costs 320G. Ivory Idol makes most R rarity cards and to a lesser extent some S cards practically unplayable. Some other examples: Plate Mail now costs 120G and Nuclear Fusion costs a whopping 240G, so you can see it can get expensive to use cards above N (normal) in rarity when this idol is in play, so use your money wisely or you'll pay through the nose.Make sure you have enough cash to summon your creature and have enough to use items. That is why it is targeted for death; Cepters will go to extraordinary measures to eliminate it. If you're thinking of using Ivory Idol yourself, consider for a moment that the effect of Waste (Cepter enchantment) is in addition to this idol's effect.

Jade Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:50
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: All territories are prevented from undergoing land transformation via spells or territory abilities and are immune to effects that lower land levels.

This idol stops the territory abilities of Sakuya and Ahuizotl, and it also stops land-level-lowering spells (i.e. Comet, Terrair, Subsidence, Locust) or land-changing spells (i.e. Wild Growth, Influence, Quintessence). So, there will be no Weathering that non-yellow level 5 land and then invading with Tengu or killing the creature then moving in with Wyvern. Fortunately, you can still change the land's level and type manually.

Lead Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:40
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: Disables Move and Exchange commands.

Like Ivory Idol, Marble can be a really annoying idol. Once a creature is placed, it can't be moved or swapped. This idol is the bane of the Powder Eater pump deck. Used strategically, you can severely limit your opponent's options. Add some damage spells and you can kill a fair amount of creatures before he can deal with the idol. Lead Idol also makes excellent Trade bait, (i.e. Trade the idol to your opponent for a better creature, as they'll be unable to exchange out the idol).

Marble Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:70
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: Creatures of the same type as those already in play cannot be summoned.

When this idol is in play, only one of a particular creature can be summoned to the map at one time. So, when people love to run 4 copies of the same creature, those extra creatures are useless until the one in play is destroyed. This slows a Goblin deck somewhat, but Goblin's Lair can still be used - any other Goblin or Red Cap he draws, however, is still useless.

Opal Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:50
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: In battle, all creatures gain Regenerates ability.

Another straightforward one. An Opal Idol in play means, at the end of combat, if you have 1HP left, you automatically go to your full MHP value. A simple combo of Opal Idol and Corrosive Knife will kill any creature (except Sea Bonze, of course) and this is also negated by the spell Fistfight, or if Basalt Idol is in play, the Opal Idol effect doesn't occur. This idol also stops the Zagol strategy (if you played the PS2 version, you know what I mean). For the unenlightened, Zagol will fight your creatures even if he has no chance of winning, just to damage your creatures to make them easier to take out later. Like Meltia, he doesn't use any spells.

Silver Idol
ST:0 HP:20 MHP:20 G:50
Item Limit:
Defensive / Global Ability: In battle, all defending creatures gain Attacks First ability.

This idol should be given the utmost heed to when it's in play. Silver Idol's ability changes the rules of combat. Unless your creature can attack first, it will more than likely be killed before it can strike a blow. There are ways around it, like using HP+ weapons so you survive, or negating the damage with an item such as Magma Counter, Buckler, or one of the elemental shields. You can also use a creature with resistances or give your creature the Attacks First ability with an item (i.e. Sling, Ring of the Succubus, Eagle Rapier, or Metamorphose Belt).

Dealing with Idols

There are many ways to deal with idols: brute force, damage spells, Paralyzer (the idol isn't killed but its effect is disabled, though it still gets a boost from Borgess and/or Poseidon). When and how is the trick. If the idol is not hurting you, you don't really have to take it out. In a 3 or 4 player game, it might actually be helpful to leave it alone, as it might be affecting your opponent's strategy.

Two more things to note:

1. The examples above are only some of the possibilities, not all of them.
2. All idols cannot use weapons and cannot use scrolls.

I hope this guide helps you!

Last Updated on Wednesday, 15 May 2013 08:48

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ST:20 HP:30 MHP:30
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