One of the first questions players ask when learning a new card game is: How do you I build a deck? Every game has its own unique set of deck building rules. Artifact’s decks are different from other cards games you might have played in the past but still feature several mechanics that might seem familiar. We’ve compiled this short guide to explain the basic rules of deck building in Artifact and give you some tips the in-game tutorial might not have.
Ground Rules
First thing is first – Artifact has five different card types: Heroes, Creeps, Items, Improvements, and Spells. Heroes are the primary focus of Artifact and your deck and have unique abilities, equipment slots, and accompanying special cards. Creeps are smaller minions that do battle in your lanes, similar to creeps in DotA. Items are purchasable with gold during the shopping phase and typically act as single-use spells or equipment to attach to your heroes.
Improvements are ways to modify lanes with additional abilities, such as dealing one damage to all enemies at the start of the turn. Spells are single-use cards with varying effects, such as card removal, dealing damage, or healing. These cards all have varying mana costs, which we will discuss later. For a list of all cards available in Artifact, check out the game’s Wiki page.
Artifact decks are required to have a minimum of forty cards. There is no maximum card limit, however, so make as large of a deck as you see fit (though we recommend not going too crazy here). There are no rarity limitations on your deck either. You are allowed up to three copies of a single card in your deck except for hero cards.
Your deck must contain exactly five heroes, but only a single copy of each hero allowed. So no, you can’t have a deck filled entirely with Meepos right off the bat. Hero cards come with three signature cards which are automatically added into your deck along with the hero card itself. Heroes account for a significant portion of your deck, so choose wisely. The rest of your deck must be filled with at least 25 other cards.
In addition to your primary deck of forty cards, you are required to build a side deck filled with at least nine-item cards. This special item deck helps determine what items you can buy in the shopping phase between rounds in Artifact. This deck still follows the three-card-limit rule.
With Flying Colors
So what about card colors? Other card games like Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone utilize card colors, but Artifact handles the concept a little differently. There are no special mana limitations when it comes to colors, nor does Artifact limit you to a single color deck.
Mind the Curve
As with most other card games, Artifact utilizes the concept of mana. Mana is the primary resource used to play Creeps, Spells, and Improvements. Hero cards are free to use, and Item cards cost gold to buy but have no cost to use.
Artifact Fire
Each of the three lanes in Artifact has its own separate pool of mana. This pool starts at three, and its maximum capacity increases by one every round. Mana refreshes between rounds and is not shared between lanes. There are also cards that can modify the total mana in a lane, such as the Improvement card Selemene’s Favor that increases your total mana in a lane by two.
It’s Just A Game
Artifact is still a new game with an evolving meta. As players try out new deck types and experiment more with the cards, new deck types and strategies will arise. Don’t feel like you always have to rely on what other people are saying are the “best decks.” While sites like ArtifactFire are great for exploring what other decks people are using, sometimes the best way to play is to figure it out on your own. You will never get better at deck-building if you don’t try it yourself!
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