Liv

The Norse often make use of the top card of the arcane deck and having enough models to manipulate and make use of the deck is often the key to the Norse.

Liv’s card.

Enter Liv who is excellent at both setting up the deck for these abilities and making use of the top card of the arcane deck.

‘Runes of Power’

Liv's one and only arcane ability is 'Runes of Power' which is a simple 1 energy action that she will likely end up using every turn. With a range of 8" she will be able to either restore X wounds or deal X-1 magical damage. Off an arcane of 4, this will reliably give some decent heals and occasionally deal a little magical damage. The real power in this ability though is the fact it costs only 1 energy and can hence be done multiple times, giving more and better options for 'Manipulate the Runes'.

‘Manipulate the Runes’

Like 'Runes of Power', 'Manipulate the Runes' is also something that Liv will likely be using every time she activates. Unlike 'Runes of Power', 'Manipulates the Runes' is a passive ability and may be used automatically anytime after Liv uses an arcane ability to "save" some of the unused cards from the action. These "Saved" cards can then be put on the top or bottom of the deck similar to Young Jack's 'Lucky'. Like with Olim's deck manipulation, this is great for either setting up the deck for the Norse by putting cards useful for them on the top of the deck or sabotaging your opponent by putting their useful cards on the bottom.

“Oh… Oh dear.”

In addition to setting up the deck for her Norse friends, she can also use this to set the deck up for herself for her next action. If for example she heals a friendly model and picks up a pink 3, she can save it and then cast 'Runes of Power' on an enemy next guaranteeing 2 magical damage! The other trick with this combo is targeting an enemy giant or troll in order to set the deck up as efficiently as possible. With the +2 evade they normally possess you will get even more cards to scan through and manipulate.

‘Reading the Runes’

Liv's final ability 'Reading the Runes' lets her make use of a stacked deck whenever she activates. At the start of her activation, by guessing the exact top card of the deck she gets free bonus damage, healing or even protection for her norse allies. Of course, it's unlikely you'll blindly guess correctly, but in the norse you will often just know the top cards of the deck, taking all the "guessing" out of the equation! As this flip is done before she has an opportunity to reorganise the deck she will normally need Olim or Young Jack to activate before her to set her up for success. Alternatively, Liv can try to activate last in a turn, set the deck up, then try to go first in the following turn. For this reason, the norse will love taking the initiative at the start of the game. That, along with taking any other advantage which means they can have back to back activations will be vital to stopping opponents from messing with their deck manipulation schemes!