Faction is the term for the 5 individual Influence types, and can also refer to the combined 2- and 3-faction alliances. These terms are typically used for flavor and story-building; however, cards in the same faction may share themes of similar keywords and abilities.
Many Keywords are largely or completely restricted to one or more factions. For example, Unblockable is only found on cards that include Shadow influence; Stun is mostly limited to Justice and Primal, although it appears on a few others.
Over time some abilities that were previously tied to a specific faction have bled into other influences' cards. For example, the Warcry skill originally appeared only on Fire/Justice Rakano cards in the base set, but began to show up on Shadow cards in The Dusk Road.
Playing games earns you experience in the factions included in your deck; you can then level up in each faction and earn Progression Rewards.
Basic Factions[]
These factions refer to and share the names of the 5 Influence types:
Fire | Time | Justice | Primal | Shadow |
Two-faction Alliances[]
Two faction alliances have been present since the beginning of the game. The names can be found on various cycles of cards, including Banners, Insignia, and the cycle of influence-granting Strangers.
These alliances also have associated descriptive nouns, found on cards including Crests, Seats, and Champions.
Name | Factions | Noun |
---|---|---|
Praxis | Fire/Time | Impulse |
Rakano | Fire/Justice | Glory |
Skycrag | Fire/Primal | Fury |
Stonescar | Fire/Shadow | Chaos |
Combrei | Time/Justice | Progress |
Elysian | Time/Primal | Wisdom |
Xenan | Time/Shadow | Mystery |
Hooru | Justice/Primal | Order |
Argenport | Justice/Shadow | Vengeance |
Feln | Primal/Shadow | Cunning |
Three-faction Alliances[]
The names of the first five three-faction alliances were revealed in Defiance. Although the names had previously appeared on the original Merchants, they were confirmed as the three-faction alliance names with their appearance on the Cargo and Contraband cycles of spells.
As with two-faction alliances, these also have associated nouns, found on the Token and Display card cycles.
The remaining three-faction alliances first appeared on a cycle of sites in The Flame of Xulta, and gained further support in Echoes of Eternity. Unlike other alliances, their names seem to be the same as the associated nouns; these appear on the Chants, which function similarly to the cargo/contraband cycle from Defiance.
Name | Factions | Noun |
---|---|---|
Jennev | Fire/Time/Primal | Instinct |
Ixtun | Fire/Justice/Primal | Honor |
Winchest | Fire/Justice/Shadow | Ambition |
Kerendon | Time/Justice/Shadow | Vision |
Auralian | Time/Primal/Shadow | Knowledge |
Creation | Fire/Time/Justice | Creation |
Destruction | Fire/Time/Shadow | Destruction |
Menace | Fire/Primal/Shadow | Menace |
Tradition | Time/Justice/Primal | Tradition |
Purpose | Justice/Primal/Shadow | Purpose |
Other Factions[]
- Neutral (No Influence)
See Also[]
Some themes and unit types appear in multiple (or all) influences, however they are not terms for nor define those influence combinations.