Bricks and Cantrips A deep dive into card game design

The Great Expectations of Slay the Spire 2

Slay the Spire 2 came out on Thursday. I haven’t played it at all.

Before I do, I wanted to share my thoughts about what Slay the Spire 2 has to accomplish to live up to the reputation of its predecessor. Can the sequel live up to the hype of the original Slay the Spire?

Slay the Spire 2 Banner

A Shiny Copper - Ecstatic Awakener

Welcome to A Shiny Copper, where we look at cards at common rarity that have a great design.

Let’s take a look at one of my favorite common cards in Magic the Gathering – Ecstatic Awakener // Awoken Demon.

Ecstatic Awakener Awoken Demon

Don't Repeat, but Rhyme - Cycles

Cycles are a collection of cards that share a similar space and design, but differ in faction or identity. They can be used to highlight deck identity and tell players what factions get access to what abilities.

Players can also use pattern recognition to identify the cycle, which can be a little spark of joy.

Primeval Titan Sun Titan Frost Titan
Inferno Titan Grave Titan

Reading The Card Does Not Explain The Card - Titans

Let me ask you a question – what does this card do?

Norgannon

How does it behave? What abilities is it referring to in its text?

A Look at Legends - Morphling

Let’s take a look at a legendary card from Magic the Gathering – Morphling.

Morphling