Clash ’22 Artifacts that Could Win or Lose You the Game

Magic artifacts have the potential to change not just the way a unit plays but also its role on the battlefield. While there are certain combinations that are very powerful, most of the time the mileage you get from an artifact depends on whether the desired situation arises.

Here is a small checklist I use when deciding if an item is worth putting into a list:

• Is it an efficient priced upgrade? At the end of the day, price point is king. How much would this cost as a unit upgrade? Is it cheap enough that you are ok only using it some of the time?
• How often is it likely to get used? I try to think of this as if you were taking this list to a 5 game tournament, how many of the games would the item actually do something?
• How unique is the effect? Does it allow you to do something that the unit couldn’t do before? As an example, Maccwar’s Potion of the Caterpillar creates a unique unit for an Elf list but very little for Forces of Nature.

With the new Clash of Kings 2022, we have been given access to a slew of new artifacts. The new items are generally cheap, with the most expensive being 30 points and the majority falling under 20 points. That means the first point in our checklist is likely to be hit. With the checklist in mind, let’s look at some of the highlights and lowlights of the new items.

Amulet of the Fireheart

It’s back, and it’s back with a vengeance. This item was a must-take in its last incarnation, and it’s just as much of a must-take right now. When you spend so many points on a caster to get them spells, it’s an absolute no-brainer to spend 10 more points to get the ability to cast two spells in a turn. I will put a caveat here, though — stacking too many spells does tend to make casters very expensive, so be mindful of the spell combinations you end up taking.

Top Candidates — This item can and should be taken on any caster that has two spells, but my favorite combination of spells includes the following.

Scorched Earth and Weakness/Wither and Perish. I’ve heard it argued that Scorched Earth is the best new spell, so what’s a way to make it better? Make a unit -1 to hit AND -1 Crushing Strength, making its next turn as useless as possible. Ideally, Weakness would be the better pairing as it has a more similar range.

Blood Boil and Alchemist Curse. Obviously, your mileage will vary based on the defense of your target, but the premise is simple: turn up the heat and watch targets evaporate. The only downside is that this combination can get quite expensive. Fireball can be a great replacement for AC and is also better suited for any target.

Banner of Abbetshire

There isn’t too much to say about this item other than it is very efficiently priced spell defense. Sometimes that is just exactly what you need out of a magic artifact. It being an aura is unique, and this item is a great purchase for any character that plans to be near or around units. The only thing to be mindful of is keeping this away from units that plan to be the target of beneficial spells such as Heal, Bane Chant, Surge, etc.

Top Candidates — Army Standards, Wizards, or generally anything that will be in the back lines.

Gnome Glass Shield

This fun item has a lot of potential. It meets our most basic requirements in that it is cheap and very likely to have some impact, even if it just forces your opponent to otherwise throw random attacks in the direction of the individual to try and “knock off” their toughness.

Top Candidates — I put the uses of this item into two categories: an ensnare character, to make an absolute wall of a character capable of not just absorbing the first charge of a unit but likely the second as well or an offensive hero that has good speed and hitting power. By bumping up their toughness, you are effectively buying a turn of survival and pinning your target in place for whatever other plans you might have. Speed is obviously of huge importance to ensure you are able to actually get in your opponent’s way and force them to attack your hero.

Good ensnare targets include a Seductress, Thuul Mythican, etc. Offensive heroes include an Abbess on Gur Panther, Berserker Lord on Brock, Ice Blade, or my favorite, Leiz the Soulless from the Twilight Kin formation.

Torc of Dissonance

Alas, I saved the best for last. This is in my humble opinion the absolute best item nobody is talking about. As you can see from this article alone, spells are going to be a thing for the foreseeable future. Although I have seen Hex talked about quite often, there are many reasons why this item is just better.

• Targeting: This item has no Line of Sight requirements. Having to play cat and mouse with Hex and a caster can severely limit the effectiveness of Hex and make you question why you even bothered to bring it. Given the predictability of where most casters deploy, to dodge this item, your opponent would have to completely alter their game plan, a win-win.
• It’s not a shooting attack: How many times have you seen a perfect setup turn into failure on a two-dice cast requiring 4+? If your answer was 25% of the time, then you are exactly on the expected value. That means in your average game, a two-dice Hex is going to fail one to two times. More important than this, however, the Torc of Dissonance not being a shooting attack means you can use it after moving at the double or even after charging! In fact, these are often the best times to shut down specific spells. Have you ever had your dragon land behind an Undead army only to have a unit turn around and be Surged into you? Well, this tool lets you shut off Surge for the next turn, completely crippling one of Undead’s greatest strengths. Has that caster with Scorched Earth been eyeing your cavalry all game? Let’s go ahead and prevent them from casting it on the turn right before you move up, effectively removing the small window they had to stop your charge.
• It actually stops magic! The biggest problem with Hex is that at the end of the day, if a spell is going to play a big enough effect on the battle, the player is just going to cast their spell and eat the damage. I don’t want my opponents to have that decision! Given the impact that spells like Heal, Bane Chant, Scorched Earth, Drain Life, Host Shadowbeast, etc. have on skewing combats, shutting those spells down for one turn might be all you need to turn a particular combat in your favor.

The value of the Torc is obviously going to vary game to game as it does depend on what your opponent is bringing to the table. Given its cheap cost, even stopping just a Bane Chant or a Lighting Bolt could be enough to annoy your opponent even if it doesn’t win you the game. Then there are the high-value targets you can find. That’s a cool new Riftforged Shrine you have there! Oh, was it going to cast Bane Chant three times next turn?

Top Candidates — I think this item should be the new standard for your flying lord characters but it could work well on a variety of fast hero types.

With some of the fun items out of the way, let’s look at the items that didn’t quite hit the mark.

Darklord Onyx Ring

The reverse of the Gnome Glass Shield, this item requires you to take damage first, survive, and then maybe regenerate some of those wounds back. If this item was a 3+ or 2+, it would be interesting, but in its current form, I would stay far away.

Wingbane Cloak

An item that only works when the fastest unit types in the game charge you is a great setup for disappointment. If this were an aura, it would be interesting, but good luck trying to find the situation where this makes any sort of an impact.

Talisman of Silence

Even with Shattering added to Mindfog, finding the time or place to actually use this spell seems rare at best and at 15 points it is competing with the Trickster’s Wand, which has a much higher impact. I can’t see this making any lists, but I would love to be proven wrong.