Roman Volkov, ex-premier of the technologically advanced nation of Trionvice, is central to much of Warsaken’s lore and stories.
Told through the ‘choose your own adventure’ story Volkov’s Escape, we learn of the Secret Coup that led to Volkov’s exile and subsequent thirst for revenge.
After walking through the story of Volkov’s Escape, you’ll recognize some of the key characters and story beats in card form in Set 001 – Genesis of Conflict.
For example:
The Set 000 mini-set, also named Volkov’s Escape, features 20 cards that all tie directly back to Volkov’s backstory. We’ll make sure to cover the Set 000 cards and story in a near-future article.
So, what playstyles do Volkov’s abilites lean towards, and how does he stack up in Standard play?
Anyone who’s familiar with the term “mill” will immediately understand the angle that Volkov likes to take.
“Mill” is a term which originated from another well-known card game and refers to effects that remove cards from the top of a players’ deck directly to their discard pile.
The Exile’s abilities favor control, discard, and eliminating your opponent’s arsenal to win the game.
CYCLE forces your opponent to return a card of their choice (even one that’s not ready) to their hand, discard a card from their hand, and then draw a new card.
If your opponent has few options on their board, forcing them to return a card to their hand can be devastating for them.
If your opponent has few cards in their hand, forcing them to discard a card can hurt just as badly. Your opponent then draws a card, which does give them a slight benefit in having a new option in their hand.
The trade-off is that it leaves them with one less card in their arsenal, which you’re aiming to reduce to 0 anyways.
REVENGE causes your opponents to discard the top 25 cards of their arsenal directly to their discard pile. That’s roughly 42% of an entire arsenal.
And by the time this ability gets used, your opponent will have reduced their deck by some amount through regular card draws and “find” abilities.
Additionally, if you’ve played cards that cause direct arsenal discard through the game, REVENGE could be the final nail in the coffin for your opponent’s arsenal.
The trade off for such a massive amount of discard is that you won’t be able to attack with forces on the same turn to finish the game.
There are ways to still eliminate a compromised enemy leader without attacking, so let’s take a look at what cards work well with Volkov.
The top 5 cards we think pair well with Volkov are:
Additionally, we’d encourage you to take a look at Underground Base, Subversion Tactic, Restored Vehicle, Advanced Weather Station, and G-Titan Missile Silo. These 10 cards all lean in on removing your opponent’s cards from the game without them being played, and winning the game by denying enemy options.
The verdict? Roman Volkov, the Exile is certainly a strong option in Standard play (in our humble opinion). But this is just one avenue of style!
We’re excited to see what deck lists you come up with, and look forward to playing against your combinations!
When you’re ready, head on over to Warsaken Standard or The Store.
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