Galactic Illusionary Gaming would like to once again welcome back our players and collectors to our preview series. With the completion of The Great Struggle, the full focus of all our teams shifted towards realizing and completing the Clans of the Resol'nare, a set focused upon the Mandalorian factions and clans that have made a mark upon our galaxy. The original idea of the set had focused on each color forming itself around one of the major Clans or Houses, but the team found that somewhat limiting in the approach we could take as it would leave many clans and prominent Mandalorians, not least of which the galactic powers they have formed, somewhat on the wayside.
After the soft reboot of the design of our cards in The Great Struggle, it became apparent that the original idea was not going to work as intended and a new design philosophy was established for the set with a complete refresh and discarding or previously developed cards as revealed in the prior preview for this set. Today, we are pleased to reveal that this new philosophy has brought the set into full production and we will be sharing some of the new mechanics and abilities that are premiering in this set and how they have influenced the development.
The first mechanic we would like to discuss are Ingot counters and the new activated keyword ability Forge.
Ingot counters came into being as the design team came to the conclusion that Beskar Armored was too powerful of an ability to remain in the game and will be retired going forward. The initial idea was that a card would need a specific number of Ingot counters on it to gain the previous effect of Beskar Armored, but we decided that was too limiting for the set. While some cards to be revealed in the future will have this ability or another closely tied to it, Ingot counters are far more important for the Forge ability. On your turn, after you pay the supply cost, you remove a number of Ingot counters from cards you control to search your deck for the designated card type and put it on the field under your control. Above are several cards that either showcase the Forge ability or show some ways that Ingot counters can be created. Forge appears heavier in cards centered in White, Red, and Blue and you will see many cards from the Mandalorian Enclave or House Skirata have these abilities.
The second mechanic we would like to showcase is Crusade.
Crusade was viewed by the design team as more flavorful and Mandalorian faithful spin on the Zealot keyword, while also hinting at the battles and legacies that such crusades have created. Whenever a card with Crusade battles a card of a different color, or deals combat damage to a player, you put a +1/+1 counter on it. Some cards synergize well with Crusade, such as Conquering Crusader where it gains more abilities the more counters it has on it. Crusade appears heavier in cards centered on Red, Green, and Black and you will see many cards inspired by the Mandalorian Empire and House Vizsla have this ability.
The final mechanics we would like to showcase today are Nature and Explore.
Nature as an ability was created with an eye towards how many Force Users in the galaxy are connected to their environments, along with the natural inclination of people in our galaxy to explore its vast reaches and see wonderous places. Whenever you play a Biome card, Nature will trigger its designated effect. Explore also ties into this idea of mapping out the galaxy and the untold number of planets that form it. When a card explores, you reveal the top card of your deck. If that card is a Biome card, you add it to your hand. If that card is not a Biome, you put a +1/+1 counter on that card that explored and then you can either leave the revealed card on top of your deck or put it into your Netherworld. As of this set, Nature and Explore will appear almost exclusively on cards with Green or Blue in them and are heavily featured in cards tied to Clan Rekali.
We thank you for your patience as Clans of the Resol'nare evolves and continues development and we look forward to sharing more details, including showcasing some of the more prominent and famous/infamous Mandalorians of the modern era.
