What is Skyweaver?
Skyweaver is a blockchain TCG (Trading Card Game) based on the Polygon Network, Free to Play (F2P), Play to Own (accordingly with the Skyweaver site itself), where you can unlock cards just by playing for free and earn Silver and Gold cards that are tradable on the market.
Skyweaver is a very strategic, fun and beautiful game, and in all honesty, one of the most rewarding TCG's out there in the blockchain.
-- Ok, ok, but ow do I start?
How to Start Tutorial
If you go to the Skyweaver website, you'll see that a code is required to play in the closed Beta phase, which is the one we are now.
But it's quite easy to get it, no don't worry. All you have to do is to access the Skyweaver Discord: Link, and find the channel Beta Access Codes. Once you're there, you just got to follow the instructions and things should go pretty smooth.
Skyweaver Discord
If you're not in a hurry to play it, Skyweaver will enter the open beta phase in the 8th of February of this year. It's up to you to decide, but it's always nice to get in early.
Free to Play + Play To Earn
Skyweaver is a Free to Play game, and you can easily earn a good amount of money from it as long as you are a very skilled player.
For Free to Play players, the goal should be to unlock the highest number of Base Cards possible, while trying to improve your own gameplay, and the reason for that is Conquest Mode.
Conquest
Conquest Mode is how you earn Silver and Gold cards in Skyweaver. Silver cards are worth ~$1.5, while Gold cards can be worth anything from $10 to $172 in today's market.
In Conquest you play until you lose on a maximum of three matches. These are the possible rewards:
- 1 Win : 1 Silver Cards
- 2 Wins: 2 Silver Cards
- 3 Wins: 1 Silver and 1 Gold Card
The cost to play Conquest Mode is $1.5 USDC on Polygon or a Silver Card. Meaning that anytime you Win only 1 Match you get even, and anything above that brings you a profit. Of course if you lose on your first match, you don't earn anything and lose the $1.5 or the Silver Card used as entry.
Playing Conquest demands a very good understanding of the game mechanics and knowledge of most cards and combinations, so I'd suggest that you guys play a lot first before throwing money into Conquest blindly. It won't work.
Now, let's look into how can we get some juicy little Silver Cards to use them as Conquest Tickets in the future.
Discovery and Constructed Ranked
Skyweaver has two different Ranked formats, called Discovery and Constructed ranked. On Discovery ranked players choose their Prism and the game will randomly create a deck from that Prism's possible cards. Prism in Skyweaver is the name given to the type of "hero" you are choosing and each of them have a specific play style and specific cards that can be played with.
Constructed ranked is the format that allows you to build your own deck with the cards that you have unlock from the Base cards, or any other Silver or Gold card that you might have earned.
Leaderboard for Discovery Ranked
Discovery and Constructed Ranked have different leaderboards, and by clicking on Ranks in the top right corner you can always check where you are and how far you are from getting a Silver Card. Prizes are given to players every Week and every Season (Season = 1 Month). Trying to reach the positions that can earn you some Silver cards is not an impossible task, but rather easy if you put in the time and effort to learn about the game.
Understanding the Game
Until now, I have covered the very basic aspects of how to earn and how to start in the game, but haven't really talked about the game itself. This is the part you ought to read if you're starting and wanna learn about the game, or if you're trying to improve and reach the next level. I'll start with some very basic concepts and slowly reach the more advanced ones.
The Skyweaver Card
It's good to first have a look at what a Skyweaver card looks like because we're gonna talk about many concepts displayed here, and many that are only in some cards.
Prisms
There are 5 prisms in Skyweaver: Strength, Agility, Wisdom, Heart, and Intellect. And each of them have a especial playstyle.
The Strength Prism is straightforward and powerful, focusing on powerful, durable units that can overpower and smash through their opposition, and spells that specialize in buffing those units even further, or dealing damage to clear away foes and overpower them.
The Agility Prism specializes in aggression, pressuring opponents with units, spread damage spells, and ways to replenish their own resources. Agility cards often offer some kind of trade off to be used, like discarding cards from the hand or deck, paying life, and so on, emphasizing its live-fast playstyle.
The Heart Prism specializes in manipulating the dead, allowing you to recycle and reuse your units again and again, making it an excellent supporting Prism to others that have key units they want to recycle, or that have synergy with Heart’s cards.
The Wisdom Prism specializes in defensive, long-term strategy, featuring many cards that excel at healing, stalling, drawing cards and eliminating large swaths of enemies at once, letting it keep its options open as it develops a long-term gameplan.
Intellect specializes in creating complex combinations of cards and strategies that can suddenly overwhelm opponents and flip the game on its head. Intellect cards have a particular affinity for making additional copies of cards, and often have a high level of synergy with Spells.
Descriptions of the Prisms are Skyweaver's Source
Choosing a prism can be matched with a specific style that you prefer, or you can also play two prisms at the same time, mixing both cards into a single deck. It does not matter what your choice is here, understanding every prisms cards and combinations is a must for improving.
Elements
Every card in Skyweaver belongs to an Element such as: Water, Fire, Metal, Air, Dark, Light, Mind and Earth. Each element has an specific disposition. What this means for a player is that every time you know that your opponent has drawn a Light card, you can expect certain specific effects coming from that card. Here's how each element behaves:
Air cards are recognizable by their cyan frame. Many Air Units have keywords like Stealth, and/or enchants like Shroud, making them hard to target and destroy. Air Spells often focus on reducing costs, drawing cards, or sweeping away enemy Units via returning them to the hand or deck.
Dark cards are recognizable by their dark purple frame. Many Dark Units have Death effects, or Keywords like Wither and Lifesteal, letting them weaken your enemies while healing yourself. Dark Spells can raise the dead, kill enemy Units, or give you benefits like healing or card draw by killing your own Units. Dark’s Enchantments are Hex and Fate.
Earth cards are recognizable by their green frame. Many Earth Units have high health, and defensive abilities like Guard and Lifesteal, making them excellent at protecting you. Earth Spells often grant extra Mana, power up your Units, or make use of Roots to hinder and slow enemies down. Earth’s Enchantments are Roots and Ent Mask.
Fire cards are recognizable by their red frame. Many Fire Units are aggressive, making use of keywords like Banner to control the board and overwhelm foes. Fire Spells are often great at dealing damage to enemy Units and Heroes, powering up Units, or spreading the Flames Enchantment. Fire’s Enchantments are Flames and Fury.
Light cards are recognizable by their yellow frame. Many Light Units have healing abilities, effects that enhance their allies, defensive keywords like Armor and Lifesteal, or may carry Spell Shield. Light Spells often draw cards, restore health, or bestow defensive buffs to allies. Light’s Enchants are Spell Shield and Blind.
Metal cards are recognizable by their grey frame. Many Metal Units have Armor, making them very hard to take down, and may possess effects that can let them shield other Units or even the Hero. Metal Spells often focus on bestowing Armor or other defensive Keywords, or using the Enchantment Chains to strip those same keywords away. Metal’s Enchantments are Chains and Lead.
Mind cards are recognizable by their violet frame. Many Mind Units have crafty effects that allow them to Conjure Spells or synergize with them. Many Mind Spells focus on drawing more Spells, transforming cards into new cards, or stunning and confusing enemies. Mind’s Enchantment is Dazed.
Water cards are recognizable by their blue frame. Water Units have a wide range of abilities, making them fairly good jack of all trades Units. Water Spells often draw more Water cards, or inflict the Frozen Enchantment on foes, making them take additional damage. Some Water cards also have bonus effects that activate only if you have spent all your Mana. Water’s Enchantment is Frozen, and it also has a special affinity for Mana Potion and Big Mana Potion.