Unfortunately, we can't see how many views our posts generate on Hive so some Hivers believe that their content lives for seven days only. This is incorrect because posts are found on Google, Duckduckgo, Yahoo for years. My review about Diligent Architect is on the Google's first page by queries “diligent architect gods unchained”, “diligent architect gods review”, “diligent architect delving”, etc, so some curious people might come to Gods on Chain from there. I hope this post will get good positions on Google too especially because the Hollow is a more popular topic.
And, of course, I hope some members of Gods on Chain might find something useful in the post.
Basics. How Exactly the Hollow Works
The Hollow can't attack. Instead, it has 2 abilities.
Ability 1
After a friendly card (including the Hollow itself) loses order, the Hollow "add a random Guild creature to your hand".
This ability starts working as soon as the Hollow is on the board. So if one or several cards lose order, for example, with the help of Prisoner Exchange
then, the Hollow immediately brings the same amount of Guild creatures to your hand.
Ability 2
The Hollow has another ability. Once a turn, it can give order 2 to itself or a friendly creature on the board.
This ability starts working next turn after you throw the Hollow onto the board since the Hollow isn't blitz. It means you will have a random creature in two turns after you set the Hollow onto the board.
It also means that the Hollow is open to physical damage in the beginning. You can hide it with the god power Orfeo's Distraction (ward won't be removed by this). Hidden usually helps (but not against Underbrush Boar).
Ability 1 + Ability 2
Usually, people cast the Hollow's order on the Hollow itself every turn for getting a random Guild creature every next turn.
Players often prefer setting the Hollow on the first turn.
When your hand is full, you want to stop the Hollow because cards from your own deck are usually more important. In that case, you can leave the Hollow idle. The Hollow will be open to physical damage as soon as no card defends the backline.
What Creatures the Hollow Brings
The Hollow adds a random Guild creature to your hand.
The Guild is a vast tribe that includes 57 creatures according to gudecks.com/.../guild and more Guild creatures are coming. If you want to play the Hollow well you need to learn all these cards.
The newest member of the Guild family, City Planner added to the tribe on Feb 23, 2022
The most famous guild creature is probably neutral Guild Enforcer. We know well many Deception Guild creatures like Switch Duelist, Jinxblade Duelist, Uncanny Rogue from the Core Set. I posted a separate story about amazing Diligent Architect, she is from the Guild too.
Thanks to the Hollow, you can have reinforcement from other domains. These War boosters are a special dish for the Deception player:
There are useful legs too:
Some Guild creatures give you something you probably never even dared to dream of 😉:
And too many weak cards that will just steal space in your hand:
- dubious big creatures, not quite strong to spend mana for, and
- small worthless fish like this:
I don't know how exactly the Hollow chooses creatures but I guess the chance of having one of the creatures is 1/57. So if you are not lucky, the Hollow will keep sending you situationally useless cards.
And if you are not experienced with the Hollow, you will miss critical cards from your own deck because your hand will sometimes be full of trash from the Hollow. So before using it in Weekend Ranked, please practice.
What Creatures May Come Well with the Hollow
I will start with less obvious examples and end the list with the most important ones.
Merchant Prince
One of them is Merchant Prince. Its roar reduces the cost of cards from the Hollow by 1 (as well as all cards you steal from the opponent).
It can help with a high-mana creature, for example:
Or it can make a small one even smaller:
1 chance from 57, you will have a Merchant Prince from the Hollow itself.
Alas, Merchant Prince is a 4-mana card with 2 strength / 4 health and this is not something we dream about.
Pan Marauder
Pan Marauder is a 6-mana monster whose roar and every attack reduces by 2 the cost of creatures from the Hollow that don't belong nor to Deception neither Neutral domains. This is only 6 creatures (War and Light, check the list) from the 57. So sad.
However, you may wish to have it for other stolen cards too. A roar and one attack will make an 8-mana creature cost only 4 mana... Tempting!
Desert Mercenary
Desert Mercenary reduces to 1 the cost of each 2- or 3-mana Guild creature in your hand. It looks like that:
You will have such cards (including Desert Mercenary itself) from the Hollow from time to time.
I have two Desert Mercenaries in my favorite deck along with two Jinxblade Duelists, two Armor Lurkers, two Diligent Architects. So extra 2-, 3-mana cards from the Hollow makes me even happier.
Frumentarii Instigator
Frumentarii Instigator's roar draws as many cards as Guild creatures are on both sides of the board.
You will have it from time to time from the Hollow itself.
Vulnerable creatures with valuable abilities
This is another category that goes well with the Hollow.
For example, Shadow Matriarch, hidden by the Hollow, keeps bringing Shadows of Lethenon. As well as Satyr Hypnotist hidden by order will keep making a random enemy creature fall asleep every turn. At the same time, the Hollow can be safe too just because it is backline.
You can keep a wounded creature (Jinxblade Duelist, for example) away from physical damage in this way too.
Creatures with Abilities Triggered by Order
I left the main course for last.
You can cast order 2 to Patient Pickpocket after it is free of its own order. You can repeat this operation every turn, and you'll get a random card from the opponent deck and a random Guild creature every turn. I would call Patient Pickpocket the most synergetic card to the Hollow.
"Same-same but different" as people say in Asia: Inconspicuous Bush brings a card from the opponent's domain (which is too random as many would say):
The Hollow can make Shackled Acolyte get +2/+2 every turn:
With the help of the Hollow, you can get too many Prison Escapees:
Gorgon Gargoyle will be able to make two enemies sleep every turn (awesome!):
Lantern-Bound Fae is another friend of the Hollow:
With the help of the Hollow, you can hold Scylla the Bomb safe (Why? Not sure 😀):
Free of order, the Hollow can be hit by enemy creatures. But don't forget it is backline so, sometimes, you can do these things with order-triggered abilities of Deception critters.
As a result:
Advantages
- The Hollow is quite versatile so you can find a place for it in almost every Deception deck.
- It is ward which is quite unique for Deception. For that reason, the Hollow survives most boardwipes, unlike most other Deception cards.
- The Hollow works well with order-triggered creatures. You can say it stands in the very center of the whole idea of order in the Deception domain.
- Although the Hollow can't attack, intentionally or unintentionally left free of order, it absorbs hits of confused monsters and spells that strike a random creature so other creatures can be saved. The Hollow helps getting control of the board in this passive way which is not bad, for example, against Nature.
- It can save fighters (like wounded self-healing Jinxblade Duelist with health 1) by casting order on them. It can keep weak creatures with great abilities safe in the same way.
Satyr Hypnotist, paralyzing the opponent, staying safe from hits of enemy War creatures. Otherwise, it would be immediately killed.
Disadvantages
A row of weak cards from the Hollow spamming the hand
The main disadvantage is randomity. When you are not lucky, you get a row of useless creatures one by one.
The Hollow usually pays back not too soon. So when you play aggro or against aggro, you should think twice if you should make a move with it. The Hollow played on the first or second turn means a turn spent for the creature that can't immediately help you to take control of the board. Sometimes, you can lose for this reason.
For example:
My opponent played the Hollow while having only poisoned Patient Pickpocket on the board. And I responded with a Jinxblade Duelist.
Then, I needed only 3 turns to finish the guy.
I did two hits with Jinx + Dark Knives hidden by the god's power:
And then added Assassin Aim:
In some cases, the Hollow should probably be played rather in the middle of the game when 2 mana means less. Then, the Hollow can be a source of high-mana creatures for an aggro deck to support the dominance.
In some cases, you should exclude the Hollow from the deck for being a bit slow and too random.
Verdict
If you like the Deception domain, the Hollow is a must. It synergizes with a long row of cards, especially, order-triggered Deception ones.
In my opinion, the Hollow is the best Deception legendary card of Divine Order set.
It hasn't lost much value after the update on February 23, 2022, and let's hope it will stay strong further.
The Title Image
I have combined three GU cards, the Hollow (center) and two Guild creatures, Apate Conspirator (left) and Hooded Doppelganger (right). The background is the pattern of the back of GU cards + a photo of a prison cell by Jimmy Chan from pexels.com.
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