Massive meta changing rulebook updates! Exciting start to 2024 for Sorcery: Contested Realm!

*See comments below for one correction, some clarifications and great discussion related to the new rules.*
Check out this review video related to the new Sorcery TCG rules published in January, 2024. Lots of huge changes, with game altering updates. In addition to the rules changes, I share my thoughts on how some of these changes may impact game play, as well as cards which may be getting huge buffs and nerfs based on the changes. Thanks to the EC team for such an awesome update!
See the official links below for access to the news post and rulebooks.
sorcerytcg.com/news/sorcery-c...
drive.google.com/file/d/1sgQo...
drive.google.com/file/d/1O4D5...

[@csPOthr33cs]

The clarification on disabled says that the unit cannot fire projectiles therefore could not grapple shot. They could however be pulled or pushed by a pudge butcher or a wind slyph.

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

💯. Good catch! Was just discussing this with a friend and we saw that too. I guess it was just my wishful thinking 😅. Pinning your comment so everyone can see it.

[@csPOthr33cs]

@ArchivesOfTheRealm I was hyped by the rules changes, and clarifications. I just put two infiltrates in my flamecaller and two phase assassins in my sparkmage.

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

​@csPOthr33cs I agree! I think those two are definitely going to see increased play, I'm also interested to see how sneak thief fares with these changes. Predicting more decks using watchtower to counter stealth too. Finally, I believe fade will have a bump in usage too, stealth plus card draw will actually be useful now

[@csPOthr33cs]

@ArchivesOfTheRealm I didn't even think of that. I'm excited for stone gaze gorgons to maybe see some play too.

[@williamwild8812]

I see it like this. When it is not the controllers turn they are not currently flying in the air. Like a bird will sit on the grass or in a tree. As soon as the turn goes to the controller of the airborne unit takes off and is now in flight to attack or other action.

[@Poor_Greedo]

Liked, subbed, and shared. Thoughtful summary and nice presentation style. I really appreciate Erik’s Curiosa’s commitment to improving the game / investing in its future. All of these changes are logical and address confusion points new (and experienced) players have. As someone who created a deck around a Megamoeba + Land Deed + Seven-league Boots combo, I’m thrilled about the movement/defense buff. Promptly picked up a foil Seven-league Boots.

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Welcome to the channel, and thanks so much for the kind words! Really happy to have you here 😁! I also appreciate EC's commitment to improving the game, instead of just capitalizing on hype and overproducing product (though I do wish our friends in Europe and Canada had better access). Your Megamoeba deck sounds wild, such a killer combo! The foil boots are gorgeous too. Thanks again for watching, I look forward to more of the good vibes in the comments!

[@Forkedtt]

With auras, one thing to note is that for cards like Thunderstorm, if it’s place in a intersection that has a void it would exist there but it would not effect minions in that area since the card txt specifically says minions atop affected sites.

[@Poor_Greedo]

Great point!

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Totally! That exact scenario recently came up in a game I played, important to read the card's text closely. Another interesting play with placement on the void, if an enchantress animated the aura with parts in the void the minion would immediately be banished.

[@jeffduckworth2302]

I assess the meaning of The Multiple Combatants annotated text to mean that I get to choose how the damage my minions deal to the enemy as I wish. The example that you used (having a large creature there to soak damage and protect a weaker minion) wouldn't work. The wording that the rule uses is "among the enemy" not "from the enemy" or "by the enemy".

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

💯 agree with you, just reread the updated definitions and this is correct. Not sure how I reversed that! Thanks for pointing it out, I appreciate it 😁.

[@Dungeonsanddyslexia]

Great video dude. Keep up the good work. I found this really helpful. Liked and subbed and shared with my group

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Thanks for watching and for the kind words! Happy that the overview was helpful, and that's awesome you shared with your group too. Have fun contesting the realm, hope to see you in the Archives regularly too!

[@ipodjockey2432]

That's a great overview. I appreciate it.

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Absolutely my pleasure, thanks for watching and subscribing too! Happy it was helpful 😁

[@milohobo9186]

Whoa! I am excited to see how this works out

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

I agree, I'm already starting to get some ideas for new decks! Really happy with the changes, interested to see how the meta adjusts now. Thanks for watching too, always appreciate seeing your name in the comments 😁!

[@yumyumeatemup]

Curious as to how things like major explosion that targets the grid and NOT the minion itself would interact with Stealth? Does that cause the creature, should it survive, to lose stealth? Or is it something completely immune to the effects of receiving damage now? What about the artifact rolling boulder? I don't think these rule changes address that artifact and its not considered a projectile, is it considered to remove stealth should it make contact with one along its path as it is pushed?

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Great questions! See my thoughts spaced out below for ease of reading 😁 Related to spells and abilities that target the grid square(s) like Major Explosion the Stealth minion is on, it's my understanding that as the ability is not specifically targeting the stealthed minion they would still be effected. If the minion survives, it would not lose stealth from taking damage. In the current iteration of the rules "minions lose Stealth after they activate a special ability, deal damage, or attack. When this happens, remove the Stealth token." They may also lose stealth from card effects such as those seen on Watchtower, Master Tracker, Hounds of Ondaros, etc... Regarding Rolling Boulder, you are correct about the minion still taking the damaged if it is along the boulders path as it isn't a projectile, though it wouldn't remove stealth if the minion survives due to the reasons listed above. Hope this helps to clarify your questions, and thanks for watching!

[@Forkedtt]

Biggest rule changes for me is the stealth change, disable, projectile change and last but not least the deck out mechanic dealing in the deathblow instantly. Excited to see how the mill deck evolves/develops with future sets

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

I totally agree! Overall, I am really happy about all of the changes, I think they will be really healthy for the game. I'm especially excited for the mill mechanic changes too, it really forces card draw decks (I'm looking at you Air Deathspeaker decks) to think hard about how many cards they want to draw. I'm also wondering what type of discard mechanics/cards we will see in the future. It will be an innovative way to force a win, and I see this as an additional benefit to Water decks now who run Sea Raiders and Baldassare but lack finishing blows for traditional deaths door scenarios.

[@zachbrown8303]

Looks like you kinda skimmed over the summoning sickness change. Summoning sickness no longer gets applied to minions when they swap control. So if you play a king of the realm and your opponent has lots of untapped mortals, you can immediately use them.

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

I agree that this is a good rule to highlight too, I wish I had gone into more detail on this point in the video. This actually happened in a game I was playing last night, mechanicaly I think it strengthens control swapping effects significantly and it also makes sense from a lore/narrative perspective as the minions had already been summoned prior to the control swap. Thanks for watching and for contributing to the discussion too!

[@magusofthebargain]

No matter what they do to gameplay, the more intuitive the rules changes are, the better. Cards can be banned, but if the game is easy to understand it will be more and more fun!

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

I totally agree, I have been a huge fan of the changes! I love how, in addition to tweaking rules, they also editing for clarification in several sections. Have been really impressed with EC so far, can't wait to see how the game evolves! Reminds me of when MTG dropped mana burn haha.

[@lektorplov]

Thanks for the rules update.

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Right on, absolutely my pleasure! Thanks for watching!

[@sorcerygamblersclub]

Thanks for helping my brain understand! I don't like to read. ^_^

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Haha, absolutely my pleasure! Although I wasn't able to go over every single change in detail, I'm glad the overview was helpful! Make sure to check out the other comments for some clarification on a couple of concepts too.

[@Cloudfire.]

why would deck out matter if you can just choose to draw a land site another 8 or 10 turns ?

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

Great question! In the previous iteration of the rules I most often saw it (which was still only a handful of times) when the opponent was either close to or on Deaths Door and they decided to use an ability/card that forced card draw greater than what they had available to try to get a card they needed to try to clinch the win. There was also little incentive to not deck out if you were already on Deaths Door. I also found that in most of these situations folks often didn't know decking out and trying to draw would lead to Deaths Door. Agree about drawing the land sites too, that certainly would be a way to extend the game should a spellbook deck out occur. I think this change will probably have greater importance once we start to see more mill cards that force card discard from the spellbook or atlas, there are only a handful now, but I see it as being a potentially devastating approach to games now as they bypass Deaths Door (e.g., attacking with Captain Baldassare when your opponent only has 2 cards left in deck). Awesome comment and discussion points, thanks for watching!

[@hoseachong3443]

If we go by common sense, airborne units should not be affected by drown and buried effects. I can't understand how an earthquake or a flooding can affect something in the air.

[@Forkedtt]

This is a magical drown/earthquake situations. The earth/water rises up and swallows the minions affected.

[@misterjackpots]

birds can’t die in an earthquake or flood? come on

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

@@misterjackpots agree the narrative is a bit challenging to envision, perhaps its as Forked mentioned and there is a huge tsunami sized wave or massive schism that rends the earth apart preventing them from landing and they then die from exhaustion flying around 😱?

[@vc8963]

It’s easier if we imagine a Site as a “world” in a multiplanar void. Like the Boulder is large enough to smush airborne birds? Because it’s a near planet sized boulder. Drown is like a cataclysm that swallows the world. Bury is like Mt. Vesuvius (no birds survived that one IRL).

[@ArchivesOfTheRealm]

@@vc8963 I love this take on it, you've definitely enhanced my experience of the future "narratives" in my games. Thanks for the great idea and for watching 😁!