The Alliance War expansion introduces the Mobilize keyword to The Elder Scrolls Legends through several item cards. Mobilize is associated with the Daggerfall Covenant (attributes Strength, Intelligence, Endurance (= red, blue, purple), a faction that loves to defeat their foes with powerful enchanted weapons, engages in legendary armor and is home to some of the most skilled blacksmiths in all of Tamriel. Next to the Covenant, some items with Mobilize will also be accessible to the classes Battlemage, Warrior and Sorcerer as well House Dagoth, House Telvanni and all other factions in Alliance War. The Covenant comes with specific tri-color items or item-synergy cards, though, that none of the others will have access to.

Mobilize keyword

You can play an item with Mobilize to an empty lane. When you do, summon a 1/1 Recruit and equip the item to it. – Mobilize keyword – as presented on Bethesda Game Days 2019

Mobilize allows you to play items to a lane without a friendly creature in it. When you do, it automatically summons a 1/1 recruit who equips the item. This achieves multiple things:

Mobilize items are not “dead in hand”. When you draw an item with no creature in hand or on board, you can still play the item. Very item-heavy decks oftentimes ran into this problem.

When you draw an item with no creature in hand or on board, you can still play the item. Very item-heavy decks oftentimes ran into this problem. Token generator items. Each item with Mobilize can generate it’s own token and establish a presence in a lane.

Each item with Mobilize can generate it’s own token and establish a presence in a lane. Prophecy Mobilize items. You can play items with Prophecy and Mobilize to the board after a rune break (for free), even with no creature on board. The buffed Recruit can swing at the start of your next turn.

A few things to know about the recruits

Peter Janaros has confirmed the following about recruits:

All recruits will be neutral.

The actual racial sub-type of the recruit is specific to the card making the recruits.

In client, you will be able to hover the card and get a hanger letting you know exactly the type of recruit that will be made.

The exception is if you happen to get Mobilize onto an item that normally does not have it. This can happen via an effect like Arcane Enchanter. In this case, the recruit generated will be random and the item will not have the recruit hanger.

Item-deck synergy

The obvious synergy is clearly with item decks. Many item-focused decks have been piloted with some success, including Item Battlemage, Item Sorcerer, and many more. Each employs it’s unique gameplan. Depending on the items that will be released with Mobilize, some of the current inclusions in item decks might get replaced.

Covenant Mail

For example, Covenant Mail is a 3-cost item in Endurance with Prophecy, Mobilize and Guard that buffs a creature by +1/+3. Currently, Item Sorcerer decks, are mostly running Mace of Enumbrance for a +2/+1 buff to shackle a bigger enemy threat.

In a Token heavy meta, an item like Covenant Mail can be an interesting, more valuable replacement. The item may summon itself to an empty lane from a rune break. This provides pretty effective protection as a 2/4 Guard. Pretty likely, it will eat two tokens next turn. The Prophecy mechanic can also thin your deck to find some other defensive pieces.

Arcane Enchanter

Arcane Enchanter

The 3-cost support Arcane Enchanter gives items drawn a random keyword. The enchanter allows any item to receive the mobilize keyword. Depending on your deck’s game plan, this may not be the best keyword, but it’s just another option, of how player’s can get a little more versatility out of their item decks. Perhaps there may even be other cards in Alliance War or future expansions, that can potentially give items the Mobilize keyword.

Creatureless decks

With the introduction of Transmogrify in Isle of Madness, creatureless decks (at least almost creatureless) have seen a bit of experimentation. Mobilize items can fit into such decks, as they also allow you to summon a creature out of nowhere. Plus, they can also be used to buff up creatures summoned from other actions, like Battlemage’s Onslaught.

Recruits as neutral triggers

Verminous Fabricant

Shalk Fabricant

Hulking Fabricant

Since the recruits are neutral, they trigger the effects of Fabricants when summoned. Verminous Fabricant does see very little play but is one of the cheapest creatures with silence. What’s good for an item deck, is that it also provides a body to equip items to (i.e. for non-mobilize items). Shalk Fabricant provides card advantage by putting a random action into your hand and can help to trigger treasure hunts. Last, but not least, Hulking Fabricant becomes a very strong 8/8 body for 5, if your deck allows you to trigger his +3/+3 buff consistently. Maybe in a Factotum Item Sorcerer?

Summary – Mobilize keyword – Where are you headed?

Thus far only three items with Mobilize have been revealed from Alliance War. The keyword addresses a neat weakness of items at Parity, indeed, a very critical point in the game, where it was impossible to get value from an item as a top deck. Whether enough items with similar utility than existing items (e.g. Shackle effects, keyword distribution, Drain, Card Draw, etc.) will be available with Alliance War remains to be seen. Those of you, who like playing item-decks will definitely experiment with this new keyword. Daggerfall Covenent is your go-to faction to create a new creative tri-color blend. If you don’t like item decks, you will still continue to run a few creatures with Silence as a counter strategy. It will be interesting to see, if the keyword (and the items it’s printed on) are good enough to shake up the meta.

Alliance War releases on April 15th, just a few days away…

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