With more than 10 expansions, several promo packs and cards, and accessories, Ascension is one of the biggest deckbuilding games available in both tabletop and digital version that is continuously growing and offering more and more varied content.
Ascension is a deckbuilding game very well known for the quality of its design.
It offers you so many hours of gameplay and so much of content that it could be a bit daunting for the novice player.
In this article, I will show you what are the best expansions in 2018 ~ 2019 in the digital version of the game, and why you should have them.
Storm of Souls
The first expansion in this list, it is loved by many for the reason that changes are not complicated, but they can potentially change everything..
Storm of Souls introduces two new changes to the game: Events and Trophies.
An Event is a card that triggers a permanent effect, until deactivated. A trophy is an extra price that you will obtain for defeating monsters or acquiring heroes.
As soon as you start playing SoS, you will notice, then, how events and trophies are a total game changer.
You might think that you have the edge on the game, until a certain Event is triggered and your opponent obtains a nice Trophy, and completely turning the game on his favour.
Storm of Souls is about that: unpredictability and radical changes.
What we like about this expansion:
~ The new Event and Trophy mechanics
~ The winner is not always decided until the very end of the game
~ Games tend to be intense, unpredictable.
~ Each match is completely different to the previous one.
Rise of Vigil
In this expansion, certain cards can be beefed-up by feeding them with energy.
Energy is not a “currency” like Runes or Power. Instead, it is a type of resource that you accumulate over time.
Once your energy reaches certain level, special effects will be triggered automatically for certain cards with the “Energize” ability. Energy is not consumed like Runes or Power. You can think of it like your power level.
In this respect, it is clear that our friends at Stoneblade Entertainment were thinking about those players who enjoy end-game content and powerful cards.
In addition to the Energize effect, a new type of card is introduced: Treasure.
Basically, it is a card that is attached to a Hero, Monster or Construct. Once you defeat or acquire this card, all the treasure cards attached will be given to you.
You will love this expansion because:
~ Combines familiar mechanics of previous expansions with a new refreshing twist.
~ Allows to “level up” the cards in your deck thanks to the Empower effect.
~ Requires a deeper strategy and some micromanagement.
~ Allows you to control a 3rd resource type that can turn the game in your favour when used wisely.
~ Good synergy with CotG.
Dawn of Champions
From the lore text, “The Sun Rises On a New World…”. And this makes justice to this expansion.
Dawn of Champions changes so many things that the game feels so different.you will feel as if you were playing a different game.
In the first place, Champion Cards are introduced. A Champion is a card that acquires reputation over time. After it obtains certain level of reputation, a powerfull event will be triggered, such as obtaining a new hero, or even a game-rules changer.
In the second place, it is introduced the Rally effect. When you defeat or acquire a hero or monster with Rally, the next card to enter the game will be automatically acquired or defeated.
And finally, but not less important, multifaction Heroes, Constructs and Monsters.
Solely with the two last changes, huge things could happen in your turn, triggering a type of cascading events and utterly destroying your opponent.
Why you need this expansion:
~ The new Champion card type will make you develop a totally new strategy for each match.
~ It allows you an impressive variety in the gameplay
~ You can potentially create cascading effects thanks to the Rally effect.
~ There are many things to master and manage.
Dreamscape
In Dreamscape, only a new concept is introduced, but it changes so many things in the game mechanics.
The Dreamdeck is a type of side deck that both you and your opponents can potentially access and draw cards from. These Vision Cards go to your Dreamscape Deck. Once there, you can spend a new resource, Insight, to play them anytime.
The good think about it is, these Vision Cards are hidden to everyone but you.
This allows a new level of flexibvility and adaptabilityadaptation to different situations.
Why this deck is so powerful:
~ Allows you to develop adaptive tactics .
~ Dreamscape and Dream deck, good if you are the type of player who likes to try something completely different and unpredictable each game.
~ Offers you a huge replayability value
~ The game strategy has to be adapted each turn even more than in other expansions.
Gift of the Elements
Re-introducing some old mechanics, Gift of the Elements is, for many, the new CotG.
The changes are a modified version of previously introduced effects, such as Empower, that comes from Energize in RoV, and Transforming Events that feeds up from SoS events.
But GotE also allows you to create an strategy revolving the concept of messing or controlling the opponents’ deck, thanks to the Infest effect.
All in all, this is also an interesting expansion, with enough changes to instill new life to Ascension, but not going as far as DS or DoC in terms of ruleset changes.
If you like CotG, you will like also love GotE because:
~ Re-introduces old mechanics found in RoV but with a twist.
~ Makes use of Events, as in SoS, but brings them to another level.
~ Excellent expansion if you enjoy developing end-game strategies.
~ You can win the game by messing up your opponents’ deck.
~ As with Dreamscape, it offers you a great replayability value.
Conclusion
Since its conception, Ascension established itself as a solid deckbuilding game, for many, reference of the genre.
Thanks to its many Expansions and Promo Packs, most of them able to be combined and played together, you will surely enjoy hours and hours discovering new ways to play, new combos, synergies and strategies.
If you are a new player to Ascension and you are wondering what expansions you should get into, the ones listed in this article should be definetely in your must-have list.
Download Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer for free on
Google Play Store | Apple Appstore
Visit the official website for more information:
Stoneblade Entertainment's Ascension
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