Our primer guide to playing one of the two starter decks in Artifact.
Our Artifact Red / Green Brawler deck guide explains how to play the deck, with tips on how the heroes and cards synergise with each other.
The Artifact Red / Green Brawler deck is one of the first decks you’re likely to get your hands on in the game, as it’s one of two that are provided with the initial $20 purchase cost.
It makes use of three Red and two Green heroes to provide a decent balance between strong combat characters, backed up by solid support to ensure they remain empowered and trucking on throughout the game.
Not only can you buff your own beefy minions, you also have a selection of cards that can be used to weaken a target’s Armor, allowing you to push even more damage through.
This article is a work in progress and is something of a primer at this point. Once the beta begins we’ll be expanding on all areas of this guide with detailed strategy advice and video.
Until then, we’ve got a snapshot of the deck list itself, a look at the Heroes and their signature cards, and how some of the cards in this list interact with one another.
Artifact: Red / Green Brawler Deck List
This is the deck list that’s been put together by Valve for the Red / Green Brawler deck.
| Heroes | Cards | Items |
|---|---|---|
| 1 x Farvhan the Dreamer | 1 x Poised to Strike | 2 x Short Sword |
| 1 x Keefe the Bold | 2 x New Orders | 2 x Short Sword |
| 1 x Sven | 2 x Bronze Legionnaire | 2 x Leather Armor |
| 1 x Lycan | 2 x Defensive Stance | 2 x Traveler’s Cloak |
| 1 x Ursa | 2 x Hellbear Crippler | 1 x Barbed Mail |
| 2 x Avernus’ Blessing | 1 x Blade of the Vigil | |
| 2 x Rebel Decoy | 1 x Ring of Tarrasque | |
| 3 x Prowler Vanguard | ||
| 2 x Sucker Punch | ||
| 1 x Clear The Deck | ||
| 2 x Arm the Rebellion | ||
| 1 x Selfish Cleric | ||
| 2 x Satyr Duelist | ||
| 3 x Enrage | ||
| 3 x Savage Wolf | ||
| 2 x Crippling Blow | ||
| 3 x Fighting Instinct | ||
| 2 x Ogre Conscript | ||
| 3 x God’s Strength |
- 1. Guide – Artifact guide
- 2. Trading – Artifact: Trading guide
- 3. Deck Building – Artifact: Deck building guide
- 4. Heroes – Artifact: Hero roster
Artifact: Red / Green Brawler Heroes
The following heroes all feature in the Red / Green Brawler deck. Here’s a quick overview of each one, and how they empower the deck:
Fahrvhan the Dreamer – Green – 4 / 10
Ability: Pack Leadership – Fahrvhan the Dreamer’s neighbours have +1 Armor
Fahrvhan has a Signature Card called Prowler Vanguard. This 0 Attack 6 Health minion provides adjacent characters with an extra point of Armor.
Keefe the Bold – Red – 6 / 1 / 11
Keefe’s Signature Card is called Fighting Instinct. This ability grants a red hero an extra point of Attack and an extra point of Armor.
Sven – Red – 5 / 11
Ability: Great Cleave – Sven has +X Cleave where X is equal to half his Attack.
Sven’s Signature Card is called God’s Strength. When played it allows you to modify a red hero with +4 Attack.
Lycan – Green – 4 / 10
Ability: Feral Impulse – Lycan’s allied neighbors have +2 Attack
Lycan’s Signature Card is called Savage Wolf. This 3 / 3 minion is modified with +1 Attack and +2 Health when the combat phase concludes.
Ursa – Red – 7 / 10
Ability: Fury Swipes – When Ursa deals battle damage to a unit, modify that unit with -1 Armor.
Ursa has a Signature Card called Enrage. This grants a red hero with +4 Attack and +4 Armor for the round in question.
Red / Green Video
The deck list being used is different but the following Red / Green gameplay footage from the recent PAX Tournament gives a good overview of how this kind of deck plays out:
Artifact: Red / Green Brawler Cards
The Signature Cards associated with each hero are obviously key cards that support the playstyle of this Brawler deck.
Here are a few things worth keeping in mind with regards to the overall pool of cards in this deck though. We’ll be expanding on this section of our guide considerably during the beta.
Red Cards
- If you have a preferential target on your current lane, New Orders can be used to redirect a minion’s attack towards it.
- Want to give a target hero more defensive for the upcoming engagement? Defensive Stance grants an extra +3 Armor which can prevent a hero – of any colour – being taken off the board.
- As for Red heroes, the following cards all grant either extra Attack or Armor, and can be used to help the target survive – or thrive – in an engagement: Poised to Strike, Defensive Stance, Enrage, Fighting Instinct and God’s Strrength. Note that these effects only work on Red heroes.
Green Cards
- Many of the Green cards in this deck are designed to provider a broader range of buffs for the overall board, rather than Heroes.
- The following cards can be used to provide individual units with either more Attack or more Armor: Avernus’ Blessing and Arm the Rebellion.
A final note on the Items available in this deck. Many of these have been designed to provide even more buffs for your fighting forces, and play even more heavily into the concept of snowballing your threat.
