Corvid Conspiracy - How to Play - Root

[@alexhan3957]

just bought this expansion and your videos are fantastic! i love that you actually explore the weird specific interactions that a lot of other root videos ignore.

[@nitrorev]

Glad you liked them. I'm in the Root discord server and I see a lot of these questions popping up so I figured it would be great if my teaching videos adressed as much as possible so people could watch just 1 video and have all questions pre-answered😁

[@blakhand6847]

Please make Same kind of videos for the base game factions too. You’ll make me really happy and plus I am sure it will attract a lot of viewership. I have watched most of the videos regarding how to play on you tube. Yours is the best hands down. GJ. Keep ‘em coming please.

[@EinRevolvermann]

Easy to learn, hard to master. I like it. Great explanation 🤩

[@nitrorev]

Thanks a lot. I really enjoy when things have this "easy to learn, hard to master" dynamic. Although to be fair I also love the Badgers which are "hard to learn, even harder to master" XD.

[@benjaminj.7897]

Glad you're racking up content. Always on point!

[@nitrorev]

Thanks Benjamin! Still so much to talk about haha!

[@benjaminj.7897]

@@nitrorev I'm sure there is! Now if only they would ship Marauder, you could talk about the hirelings as well!

[@nogai2296]

I think it would be so cool if the corvid player could pick 8 plot tokens of their choice at the start of the game using the extras, it might make them completely broken especially with adset but it would be fun

[@yjeco13]

pleaaase make videos for the starting factions, i really dont understand woodland allience yet. and your how to plays are amazing and good to follow

[@nitrorev]

Hey, I just finished shooting a video that explains the core rule. After I publish it I'll start moving onto the base 4 factions. I'm glad you're enjoying the content. Do you have a specific question about the Alliance I can answer?

[@andreastocco5145]

This kind of videos are really gorgeous. You’ve solved some doubts about this faction. I haven’t found yet the videos of the 4 base factions. Are they online? They could be helpful for the beginners. And for the one who has to explain the rules to friends 😊

[@Rhaze147]

Amazing video on the Corvids, got to your channel because of the advance setup video (which was amazing) which has enhanced my Root experience, this was all at the same time i got both the Riverfolk and Underground Expansion!, thank to you i could fully understand the Lizard Cult and now the Corvids! Hope we can see the River Company and the Duchy soon! Keep up the amazing content

[@nitrorev]

Thabk you so much! I just filmed the duchy video today so that one should be up soon once I edit.

[@Rhaze147]

@@nitrorev omg thats insane, thank you so much fpr all your effort, i rather watch your videos than read the manual lol

[@cimoa]

i've played with my friends using corvid, and he's playing it randomly lmao, its kinda funny really, he place plots even without looking at it, and just see it when he's about to flip it, but it kinda works because now he doesn't need to bluff, cos nothing to bluff hahaha

[@nitrorev]

Yeah that's definitely an approach to placing plots which makes exposure really hard to game. Problem is that players will still be able to risk a card to ensure it's not a bomb and anything else is not as much of a problem. I would say Random plot placement is a good idea once in awhile and if the faction mix is more card rich than battle hungry. Of it's a mix of faction that are more likely to battle plots instead of guessing, it would be nice to flip the plots you want (assuming they survive).

[@leonardosegantine1562]

This video is very good. Thank you!

[@timbob1907]

Found your channel cause I’m anxiously awaiting the new expansion. Your vids are great, keep it up!

[@gingeraletrinker2449]

Another great tutorial 🎉 One more card interaction I want to point is with cobbler (yeah I know. Who plays base deck these days). You get the extra move before exerting which is really great! And another card that is just goooood for them imo is Eyrie Emigree, because it buffs your action economy by 50% and it is almost impossible for you to lose it

[@nitrorev]

Yeah, those are also good shout-outs. I mostly wanted to highlight the cards where rules questions and conflicts were likely to come up rather than which were the best crafts for the Corvids strategically. Thanks for the support!

[@michaelnelson2976]

Totally still use the base deck, hardly know anything about the new weird set of cards. Feels exclusionary

[@nitrorev]

@@michaelnelson2976 The reason most of my card explanations focused on Exiles and Partisans is because those cards are slightly more complex and people are more likely to have confusion about them. The base deck is not played very often in a competitive capacity outside of Root Digital (the current winter tournament has banned it) so most strategy discussions tend to center on Exiles and Partisans cards. I do fully agree that I should talk about the Base deck as well but from a teaching standpoint, the cards are more straightforward to understand.

[@michaelnelson2976]

@@nitrorev Just being fair about replying, I don't think your explanation is exclusionary, it's for a specific purpose and you absolutely choose how much and specifically what is shared. You owe no one these videos or excellent quality. Sorry you took that message for yourself. I was simply replying to the original poster who just implied that no one actually uses what's provided in the box, those people don't count because they didn't spend more money or know about it. That's frustrating.

[@gingeraletrinker2449]

@@michaelnelson2976 I apologize. I didn't ment to offend anyone. There are many ways to play this fabulous game and I shouldn't force people to share my opinion on how it's played best like that. I am just sick of favors

[@andyth12]

Your videos have been so helpful, thank you! Would you be able to do videos on the bots soon? I know that 2-player Root is not ideal, but it’s hard to get our friends to learn an intricate game, so I was also wondering if you had tips on combining hirelings/bots for 2-players?

[@nitrorev]

I'm glad you're finding them helpful. I'll be honest, I don't play agthe bots often enough to have any kind of authority to teach them. The good news is that Kyle Frost of GivePauseHobby has a complete series on the bots. His channel was a big inspiration for my own so I highly recommend you go check out his work.

[@walkinginsingapore8548]

Thanks!

[@nitrorev]

Thanks so much. Happy you are enjoying the content 😁

[@enzossauroYT]

The first time I played, I thought snares prevented players from moving troops from another clearing to the snared clearing, so imagine my surprise when my 2 clearings with snares were wiped in a single turn by marquise. Anyways, a quite interesting faction. Great scoring potential but easy to shut down

[@danielegiacosa9931]

Hi! Thank you for these videos! They make the rules and the strategy very clear ❤ I have one question: If corvids buy mercenaries from the otters, are them suitable to reveal a plot or it must be present at least a corvid warrior? Thank you! 😅

[@nitrorev]

I'm glad these are helpful. You must have a Corvid faction warrior to flip a plot. Mercenaries are ONLY for battle and rule, bot for any other purpose and because they aren't faction pieces of the Corvids, they don't let you flip.

[@chiikahda394]

Just want to say I love your videos man, I've seen one of your videos and your way of teaching the rules clearly is now what makes when I see a video with your name on it, it's my first click! Keep up the good work!

[@haqon8310]

My favorite faction

[@nitrorev]

I love them so much!!!!

[@yans2107]

Very nice! But scoring count looks OP, we count one point per flipped token, it turns out if there is one token on the field and you flip the second one, you get two points and so on.

[@SaniFakhouri]

It's precisely why it's so OP that the other players on the table "should" take notice and attempt to knock out those plots. The problem is that, typically, the table overcorrects the Corvids by attacking too many plots, knocking them out of the game and making it a real struggle for them to get back on board.

[@yans2107]

I reviewed this moment in the video, everything is correct, I did not understand it simply.

[@Eidenhoek]

If you think I'm not going to sneak all 16 plot tokens onto the board, then you, my friend, should totally play with me because I won't. >( " )

[@pablotirigallcaste9965]

Excellent Tutorials. Very Useful. Could you do fan faction TTS tutorials?

[@nitrorev]

Thanks so much for the support. I'd prefer to stick to official stuff for now but I'm not opposed to touching on fan factions in the future. I'll definitely bring up the Fan Faction contest that's coming up in a channel announcement soon.

[@jaundicedmisanthrope7817]

good and helpful video 👍 'mkay?'

[@85Funkadelic]

Good stuff Corvids are my favorite faction. Oh and it's MarKee no S sound.

[@nitrorev]

Glad you liked the video, they're one of my favourites too. I actually speak French so I'm pronouncing it correctly. There is an "e" afterwards which indicates that the word is feminine and that you do indeed pronounce the preceding consonant. It's the same as "Anglais" which is a silent "s" for the masculine and "Anglaise" which is feminine and you do pronounce the "s" (it's actually more of a "z" sound).

[@soucaco]

The corvid is downright broken in my friend group. My friends avoid conflict at all costs and the corvid player just exponentially farms points with all their tokens on the board. I have to constantly remind everyone that this is a war game. Same goes for the woodland alliance

[@nitrorev]

Tell them to count to 5. If you can count 5 plot tokens, that's too many points. Flipping a 5th plot means 5 VP for just the last flip but if they manage to flip all the 4 other ones that's 1+2+3+4+5 = 15 points just from plots!!! Corvids are ranked as one of the weakest factions but only if players are actively trying to stop them from winning. Let someone else play Corvids and when they start gathering steam, show them how it's done and take away their plots so they score nothing.

[@wonka2863]

thanks for the video! I love the use of examples! One question if I may: after revealing Bomb token, do I remove Riverfolk mercenaries, controlled hirelings or destroy Vagabond's items even when in coalition with him? As they are not enemy pieces right ?

[@nitrorev]

Great questions. Mercenaries only apply in Daylight and evening so even if you buy them, they are still normal Riverfolk enemy warriors and would get blown up. You don't remove controlled hirelings or damage a coalitioned VB because bombs only destroy enemies and neither of those cases are your enemies.

[@feketeee]

Hey @@nitrorev I have a very similar question. Does a vagabond without coalition considered an enemy? I would say only when it's relationship is hostile, but it's really unclear to me.

[@nitrorev]

@@feketeee Yes, hostile status and enemy piece are independent states. If the VB is not in a coalition with you, they are an enemy. Even if you are allied because of how many cards they aided you, they are still enemy pieces.

[@hopscotchearth]

Great video on the Corvids! So if I place a snare on an Eyrie Roost and they have no other roosts, are they stuck forever?

[@nitrorev]

Yes, actually, this is an infamous interaction called the Snare Lock. If you can get a Snare onto the Eyrie's last Roost (the table may need to cooperate to destroy all the other ones) then Eyrie will immediately turmoil on recruit and will not be able to choose Charismatic or Builder since both have cards in recruit and would themselves immediately turmoil. This happened in a tournament game just yesterday to the Keepers in Iron where the table removed everything of the Keepers down to their last Waystation and then Corvids snared it. The Keepers were 100% stuck, unable to recruit or decamp (because Decamp is a replace action and placing the warrior would be illegal) for the rest of the game and were completely locked out at 28 points. It was devastating but illustrates the power of a well-placed Snare.

[@waterman121]

Yes! Here's the infamous Eyrie Snare Lock from the Winter Tournament 2020: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYWWY2OVo8aHZqM

[@axeldegiorgis2064]

Hey there, thanks again for the content, that’s rock !! Still have some question though : 1) for exposure, can you do it before your first action on you mr turn ?(I Guess yes) 2) for exposure, do you guess loud like the table can listen and if the guess is right, do you have to show the token plot to the table ? Thanks a lot

[@nitrorev]

I'm glad you are enjoying the videos. 1) Yes, you can guess with exposure at any time on your turn but you cannot guess before a step that comes "at the start of birdsong" because those effects must happen first. For example you cannot guess for exposure and then decide to buy a card from the Riverfolk, you must decide to buy first and then you may try exposure. 2) yes, the guess is out loud for everyone to hear. The Corvids player may not lie about the plot so even though it doesn't say explicitly that you must turn the plot over when guessed correctly, I always do.

[@axeldegiorgis2064]

@@nitrorev thanks a lot for the answer ! You make it much easier and much funier to play and to explain the game to my friends !!

[@Mecheka]

I have a question. Can you flip a Raid token in order to score points? Would it stay in the clearing face up? If a player removes it later when it's face up, it would also trigger? My assumption is, yes to all. I'm I correct?

[@nitrorev]

1) Yes, all plots score when you flip them 2) Yes, unless it says remove it, it would stay fave up. Bomb is the only one that's removed upon flipping 3) Yes, raids activate when they are removed whether face up or face down. The only way Raids don't activate when removed is by exposure.

[@kyleorndoff4162]

will you be doing this kind of demonstration for each faction?

[@adrianpererads]

Got a question about starting placement. How does the cat not start on an edge of the board as usually. Did rules change ?

[@nitrorev]

Yep, check out my video on Advanced Setup. It's a new system where you can draft factions and setup with way more freedom of placement. It's part of the Marauder Expansion that's massively improved the whole game, let alone the 2 new factions.

[@caiopadula6156]

The Raid plot token only activates if it's destroyed or can I flip it to get my warriors in adjacent clearings too? If not, it only activates by getting removed while face down or can I flip it and then use it as a safeguard to disencourage my enemies of attacking me? Let's say I have 1 warrior and a Raid Token flipped up, then a 2 cat warriors attack may be disencouraged because, in this hypothetical situation, if they get a 2 or + they can destroy my warrior and the flipped up Raid Token and gift me with more warriors.

[@nitrorev]

The Raid only activates when removed. Nothing happens when you flip it other than scoring the normal flip points. It activates and spawns warriors when removed regardless of which side it's on so you could flip it and enemies might be discouraged to come battle you. But it's still worth it to attack a raid because of the victory point.

[@caiopadula6156]

@@nitrorev thanks!

[@unlimitedrabbit]

You might say that the reasons for not getting together were 😎 Corvid related.

[@nitrorev]

Bwaahahhaa 🤣

[@Magicman1625]

I know this is a corvid video but doesn't the keep have to start in a corner clearing for the cats,

[@nitrorev]

The new Advanced Setup system allows the factions more flexibility with where they set up. Gone are the days of always starting in corners. Check out my Advanced setup video for more details about this.

[@kaworusergio]

I have a question (lets see if my english is good enought to formulate it) About Snare plot token: Can Marquise move warrios to a clearing were there is a Snare token? Ok its cristal clear they cant recruit and generate woods token just there. But can someone move to a clearing were there is a snare token? Thanks

[@nitrorev]

Your question was very clear. Yes, it's always possible to MOVE into a clearing with a Snare, enemies simply cannot PLACE any pieces there. MOVE and PLACE are 2 different terms and the snare uses them very specifically. Here's a bonus answer. You cannot MOVE enemy pieces out of the clearing with a Snare but enemies may REMOVE pieces. For example, the Keepers in Iron can recover Relics in a snared clearing, the cats can spend wood that's already in the snare and the Woodland Alliance can Organise to remove a warrior (they just cannot place a sympathy there). I hope that helps.

[@markjohn7562]

Can you flip raid tokens or they only can be destroyed?

[@nitrorev]

You can flip them but there is no activation effect when you flip it. You score Victory points for flipping it same like any plot token and it stays face-up. Once it's face-up, it is immune from Expose attempts (obviously since everybody now knows what it is) and any attempt to remove it will necessarily trigger it's effect. What's nice is that once it's face-up, you can abandon it and enemies will be hard pressed to destroy it. On one hand, if they leave it face up, it will continue to generate more points for the Corvids with each successive flip of other plots but on the other hand if they destroy it, it will give the corvids more warriors on the map and they'll be able to flood the map with more plots as a result. Be careful though, because if your supply of Corvid warriors is empty, you don't get the recruits for it, it's the best time for enemies to remove it.

[@Maraffler]

Question: can you play ambush cards when you dont have amy soldiers in that clearing? Can you play them also to protect buildings and other tokens? I thought you can just play them if you got some soldiers which can use it as an additional protect mechanism

[@nitrorev]

Yes! You may play an ambush card anytime somebody attacks you. No need for warriors, warriors only cap rolled hits, not ambushes or extra hits.

[@gabrielhortig9794]

I have another question! well, two to be honest. 1-can you flip the raid token only for scoring? 2-if raid token is removed by a revolt from woodland alliance still triggers isn`t?

[@nitrorev]

1, yes you can flip a raid. It just doesn't do anything but score you points until somebody removes it. Raid activates when it's removed, no matter what side is face up. 2, yes. It activates whenever a raid is removed, it doesn't matter how it's removed.

[@callumwright5972]

@@nitrorev Sorry just to add onto this, exposure removal does not trigger raid, correct?

[@nitrorev]

@@callumwright5972 That's correct!

[@heroponriki5921]

The problem I have with this faction is that your opponent can just guess raid, and then if they're wrong, they know the token is safe to destroy. So essentially you at best get one card draw and destroy one enemy warrior at the expense of an action and one of your warriors. Doesn't seem great. I feel like you will almost never get the full effect of a plot against a savvy opponent. You can try to put your plots in areas away from enemies to safely flip them for points, but then you're kind of just a worse marquise de cat. I really wish this faction had 2 "activate on remove" effects and 2 "activate on flip" effects instead to make it harder to safely clear them. As is it feels more like a nuisance faction that annoys other players with little chance of winning itself.

[@nitrorev]

That's true, you could always battle away a plot that you've confirmed to be not a raid but because of the uncertainty of the dice roll, the need to commit an action for the battle AND Embedded Agents, it can be costly to battle, hence why you usually prefer to expose a plot if you can. If you're facing down opponents with lots of warriors to spare and battles to do (Rats or Eyrie) then raids tend to be more valuable. If you are going up against factions with precious few warriors but loads of cards (otters, WA) exposure will be more common so you need to be more tricky with your plots.

[@PurpleTrapezoidProds]

I wonder if Organize couldn’t actually take place within a clearing with a snare. Just like the Lizards and their conspiracies. Since you can’t do the entire action, can’t you not do it?

[@nitrorev]

It's all based on the wording. Because Sanctify uses the term "replace" you must complete the whole action. If you watch the tournament game from yesterday (round 2 game 23) over on Guerric Samples Twitch Channel, you can see a true Snare Lock where the Keepers in Iron could not decamp because decamp is a "replace action". The Woodland Alliance's Organize action simply says "remove... then place". This falls under the Piece Manipulation section of the Law 1.5.4 that says if you cannot complete an action, do as much as you can. By the way, this all comes from the new Law of Root which you can download at Leder games Website.

[@AmpersandXYZ]

@@nitrorev I tried this out on Root Digital and it did not allow me to Organize in the Keep (was expecting to allow me to at least remove the Warrior). Would this be considered a bug in the digital game as it conflicts with the Law?

[@nitrorev]

@@AmpersandXYZ It's not really a bug, more just that the developers didn't allow you to do it because A) it might confuse players when they organize and nothing gets placed and B) it's such a rare case that you normally don't even need to do it. I can report it to them to petition the change but there are other instances of this. For example, as Lizards you're technically allowed to score for 0 points if you have under 2 gardens but digital doesn't allow it just because new players will score not realising they aren't getting points.

[@AmpersandXYZ]

One more related question regarding the Plot action and the Keep; in the Law it uses the "remove to place" rather than "replace". Does this mean that the Corvid could do a halfhearted Plot action in the Keep? ie Remove Corvid warrior(s) but not place a plot?

[@menoflowicz]

Are they still uncompetitive, or has marauder meta made them finally playable?

[@nitrorev]

ADSET is a BIG improvement to their game plan but they are still tricky to play well. I look forward to having them at the same time as ADSET in digital. I recently won my tournament game as Corvids so I'd say they can win... It's just harder than other factions.

[@rudolfvandijk1739]

The keep of the marquise, have to be in a corner?

[@Reggie1408]

Not with ADSET

[@nitrorev]

The new Advanced setup system allows the Marquise to set up their Keep anywhere!!! Check out my video all about Advanced setup, it's one of the most exciting changes to Root since the Exiles and Partisans Deck!

[@meowymeowz3948]

Root: The Amongus Expansion

[@davletham1813]

Informant card from the Exiles and Partisans deck: if I made a exert, can I take the ambush from the discard pile?

[@nitrorev]

You can use Informants any time you draw cards in evening. If you exert, you aren't drawing cards in evening so you would not be able to use Informants. HOWEVER, if you exert to move and you're taking a move with the Ferry, then yes you could use Informants then. Also if you have Charm Offensive then you can use Charm Offensive to draw a card, have it be an ambush from discard and then exert.

[@michaelnelson2976]

So something that is really poorly explained in the rules and only tangentially answered here: how does a player make a guess with exposure? It feels like from the rules that the card has to somehow match the plot token. Like it's possible to craft coins and the extortion plot has coins too. Craft able swords match with raids? But it's a verbal guess that a player makes? I think I picked that up, wanted to confirm

[@nitrorev]

Any time a rule says "matching card" it's refering to the suit. In the law, it says you must show the Corvids player a card that matches the clearing with the plot token. This means only the suit of the card has to match the suit of the clearing. So if a plot token is in a mouse clearing, you need to show the Corvids a card that has a mouse symbol in the top left corner. The icons on the plot tokens are just flavor, they have no connection to the items. I hope that explains it.

[@michaelnelson2976]

@@nitrorev Yeah it definitely does help. I'm excited in the future weeks to try the faction again, only ever used it in a 2p game to try it out. Gonna get sneaky with them

[@tobe206]

17:00 I think you can only use an ambush card if you have at least one warrior in this clearing, right?

[@lucasdavies8268]

Nope, you can play ambush when undefended tokens or buildings are attacked. What's more, if the ambush takes out all of the attacking warriors (or all of the attacking Vagabond's swords), then your enemy does not even score rolled hits against you.