It just dawned on me that once we stop playing mostly Undead vs. Human matches with just the cards in the core that your opponent may want the same runes that you do which makes them a double-edged sword.

For example, the 2 blue rune result that the Rune Golem wants to boost his defense is the same result that the Runecaller needs to one shot that Golem with his skill.

Initially, I had thought that the upgrades that let you manipulate the rune tokens would be used to ensure that your army had the runes it needed to fuel its abilities. Now I'm wondering if we'll see them get used to deny runes as much if not more often.

It seems like if there are any dominant units that need a certain type of rune that other units that use the same runes may increase in popularity to try to benefit from the runes that the dominant squad is trying to get.

That was kind of a rambling thought but I thought I'd put it out there to start a conversation. What do you guys picture happening? Are there any other examples of abilities that are kind of counters to an ability that uses the same rune?

I'm interested to see how the timing on rune flipping shenanigans works out.

I'm sure they'll settle on First Player preference which will swing the upper hand round to round, but as more units become capable of flipping runes we may see a "rune flipping" unit escalation in an attempt to secure the final flip each round...

31 minutes ago, maxam said:

I'm interested to see how the timing on rune flipping shenanigans works out.

I'm sure they'll settle on First Player preference which will swing the upper hand round to round, but as more units become capable of flipping runes we may see a "rune flipping" unit escalation in an attempt to secure the final flip each round...

Assuming that the effects that each player has share the same timing (Malcorne's Bequest and Greyhaven Channeler share a timing) then the first player will resolve all of their effects first.

RRG, pg. 12:
"40.1 If both players have effects with the same timing, the first
player resolves all of his effects with that timing first"

1 minute ago, WWHSD said:

Assuming that the effects that each player has share the same timing (Malcorne's Bequest and Greyhaven Channeler share a timing) then the first player will resolve all of their effects first.

RRG, pg. 12:
"40.1 If both players have effects with the same timing, the first
player resolves all of his effects with that timing first"

Ah cool - thanks for that.

I guess that also takes care of escalating flippers as it won't matter how many you have, they all have to be resolved in your timing window (whether first player or not).

I really like the fact that Runes are a twin edged sword. It will keep balance on both magic and magical creatures. Powering up the one, risks powering up the other for your enemy. It's a neat mechanic.