Advanced Ashes is a weekly series covering advanced Ashes strategies. Each week, a different Ashes player will showcase two cards, exploring their strengths and synergies. Visit the PlaidHatGames.com Ashes store, as well as the online Ashes deckbuilder.

When Advanced Ashes started, I knew we had some of the best and brightest minds in Ashes on board to help us write some great articles, but I had no way of knowing just how great the articles would turn out to be! It’s been the highlight of my week to read some of the articles that have come out of this series, and as it starts to wind down. I’d just like to say thanks to all our readers and a special thanks to all the great Ashes players that agreed to be part of this project. We’ve covered a huge portion of the Ashes card pool, and every week we’ve seen a new and exciting combo. It really is a testament to the ingenuity and creativity of Ashes players that so many unique combinations can come out of this game!

Today’s article is all about efficiency and power. We’ll be looking at a newer Ready Spell that’s been on the rise in popularity since its release, despite the high cost it requires. But first, let’s go all the way back to the original set for a look at Shifting Mist.

In Ashes, you are often forced to meditate to get the dice you need. It’s a core element of the game, giving players the option to overcome any bad roll. It does, however, come at a price. Meditating will always cost the player a card, limiting their options and weakening their future plans. Shifting Mist can overcome the downside of Meditating in a big way.

Granted, you’ll be taking up a Spellboard spot to use it, but from then on you can exhaust it to change the face of two dice as a side action. That’s a very big advantage over traditional meditation. This can be crucial against opponents focusing on reducing your deck size (like many Victoria decks as of late) with stall tactics and mill strategies. Once you have those wonderful Power dice, you’re going to need something great to spend them on, and that’s where our next card comes in.

Summon Shadow Spirit has a focus ability in the vein of Butterfly Monk, increasing the live value of each Shadow Spirit you control. For a single power die, you get a unit with 2-attack as well, which can be a very useful offensive tool. Normally, the summoning cost of an Illusion Power die would be very costly, but with Shifting Mist you can capitalize on the high attack power of this unit for a single die. Without the disadvantage of constantly having to meditate, Shadow Spirits can really start to dominate the battlefield. Be mindful of their Illusion ability, though. Even with a fully focused life value of 3, a single damage from another unit in combat will destroy your adorable Shadow Spirit. (Though ideally you’ll have plenty more to take his place!)

Thanks for reading today’s Advanced Ashes! Watching this series develop over more than a dozen installments has gone a long way to improve my own play and challenged me to look at cards in a whole new way. I hope you’ll take the time to look back at any previous articles you’ve missed, as there’s some great tips to be gleamed from them! We’ve got one more article in the series, and it’s sure to be a good one.

‘Til next time!

Visit the PlaidHatGames.com Ashes store, as well as the online Ashes deckbuilder.

Previous Advanced Ashes Articles

Week 1: Blood Chains and Butterfly Monk

Week 2: Frost Bite and Ice Trap

Week 3: Anchornaut and Summon Sleeping Widows

Week 4: To Shadows and Body Inversion

Week 5: Regress and Poison

Week 6: Abundance and Summon Orchid Dove

Week 7: Jessa and Chant of Revenge

Week 8: Amplify and Blood Archer

Week 9: Dread Wraith and Three-Eyed Owl

Week 10: Iron Worker and Coal Roarkwin

Week 11: Seal and Reflections in the Water

Week 12: Blood Puppet and Root Armor

Week 13: Massive Growth and Dispel

Week 14: Gilder and Cut the Strings

Week 15: Small Sacrifice and Leech Warrior

Week 16: Mind Probe and Enchanted Violinist