Dawn of Perim: Where it All Began

I'll be taking a look at Dawn of Perim (DoP) in this post. It's the first set from the original Chaotic TCG series. If we break down the contents of the 232-card set, we get this:

Types                        Rarities

86 Creatures                              67 Common
 -28 Overworlders                     67 Uncommon
 -28 Underworlders                   38 Rare
 -15 Danians                              32 Super Rare
 -15 Mipedians                          12 Ultra Rare
49 Attacks
29 Battlegear
38 Mugic
30 Locations

Shown here is the best creature in the entire game: Gespedan.
Look how strong and fast he is. He has style, he has grace, he is Miss United States.

Actually I just chose him at random. Notice the black icon in the top right corner. That symbol signifies that the card is part of the DoP set, and the color classifies Gespedan as Common. So he's actually not Miss United States, he's a peasant. A commoner.

If you notice the breakdown of creature tribes, you'll see DoP dramatically favors Over- and Underworlders. Why was this choice made? Why were Danians and Mipedians hot trash? The answer is that they got their "own" sets following DoP. I disagree that this really justifies leaving two tribes fairly useless for the opening era of the game, but that's neither here nor there. It was 2007, a more simple time full of more simple people.

DoP introduces the world to Chaotic. It comes with many of the mechanics that stick with Chaotic throughout its history, such as Support, Swift, Range, Element X, Intimidate, etc. Overtime, many of the cards from DoP have fallen by the wayside, as power creep in newer sets leaves them in the dust.

Some cards have withstood the test of time, and have even been reprinted in later sets. For example, many of the DoP attack cards, like Torrent of Flame, Iron Balls, and Riptide, still offer enough damage or utility to stay relevant.

For only 1 build point, you can shut down
that dumb Mugic shit

While the uses for DoP cards may be niche, the should never be discounted when building a deck. Especially if you don't have access to cards from later sets, DoP cards can still offer quite a bit.


Lord Van Bloot, Chaor, and Maxxor still bring enough damage, stats, energy, and ATTITUDE to make into a contemporary top-tier team.

What do those cards have in common?
The fact that they aren't common. They're Ultra Rare (UR). Of course the UR cards are going to be the best. Here are the UR cards in DoP:

Actually super spooky

Small but feisty. Ball shaped

Honestly not a fan.
Why the hair?

BAMF

For the Bodal bois out there

Actually is more useful
in later sets

Looks good on a warbeast,
very slimming

I can't imagine this has
seen much use

Everyone needs more
Fortissimo

Is the Underworld known
for its backup plans?

Why sideways?

Like, honestly. Why are
 Locations like this.

A Chaotic Comeback?

It's been a long time since we've heard anything about Chaotic, but the time has come. Bryan Gannon, one of the former execs involved with publishing Chaotic back in the day has announced a return of some kind is in the works. What this really means for the Chaotic IP has yet to be seen. Personally, I'm skeptical that a new product will be a straight relaunch of the old series. Of course, I would love it if my collection was completely worthless, but I'd love it more if the game came back in any form. As long as it keeps the heart of the story, the gameplay, and the feeling, a Chaotic Comeback would be a welcome part of 2019.

Locations: Where Even Are We?

Ah yes, beautiful, scenic Lake Ken-I-Po... an unfortunate name for a wonderful place. Chaotic is filled with unique and interesting Locations that act as the "Where" part of each turn in the game.

Both players get 10 Location cards in  separate little deck on the side of the table. At the beginning of every turn, the Active player (as in the player whose turn it is) flips over the top card of their location deck and that new Location replaces the previous one. All Location effects are active as soon as the Location is revealed, before combat begins.

Initiative

One of the most important things Locations do is decide who gets to throw the first attack in a fight. Initiative tells you who gets to go first. Lake Ken-I-Po, for example, tell you to compare the 2 engaged Creatures' Power stat, and the Creature with the higher Power gets to move first.

Mipedim Lounge asks you to look for a Creature Ability, Invisibility. So a creature with Invisibility gets to move first! When you tie with your opponent's Creature for Initiative, the Active Player wins Initiative.

Mirage

Mirage is a pretty unique Location ability. When a Location with Mirage is the Active Location, the Mirage ability is NOT used. Once the turn where that Location was Active is over, the Mirage Location is placed on an empty space on the field. If a fight occurs on that spot, the Mirage ability becomes active, along with any effects of the Active Location. Only 1 Mirage can be on the field at a time, so when a new Mirage finishes its time as Active Location, you must place any Mirage on the field at the bottom of your Location deck.

Locations can have a pretty profound impact on fights, and choosing the right 10 Locations is key to any deck. Think about what abilities benefit your creatures and who can take advantage of Initiative.

 

Expend: Ablility Spotlight

Expend: The Renewable Resource That the World Needs

This brilliant ability was introduced in Chaotic's final set, Alliances Unraveled (AU). Expend is a Activated ability, meaning it requires a cost be paid in order to get the benefits of the effect. In this case, a creature expends an element!

The great part about Expend is that, since an Element is scanned on to the card, a creature will regain that Element, like it would regain Energy or Discipline scores at the end of every turn.

For example, Donmar here has Expend Water: Heal 10 damage to target creature.

To heal an ally (or an enemy if that's your poison) Donmar can give up his Element of Water for the turn. He does not need to be engaged in combat to use this ability, and at the end of the turn, he gets Water back and can use his ability again!

Hypothetical
Donmar, Tablet Translator is equipped with a Liquilizer. He uses Expend Water to heal himself 10 energy. He can sacrifice the Liquilizer, regain Water, and use his ability again, all on the same turn. Which is to say, that as long as a creature has the specified Element to give, you can use the ability.

Now here's a case where the creature must be engaged to use Expend. Savitsa needs to be in combat to use his Expend ability, which may make you think twice before committing to it, since Savitsa wouldn't be able to use anymore Fire attacks. But there's always the case where that might be exactly what you want.

For example, Savitsa against a creature like Raznus, Ambassador to the Danians. Raznus has Fireproof 10, meaning he gains 10 Energy at the beginning of combat when the opposing creature has Fire. If You Expend Savitsa's Fire before Fireproof takes effect on in the Burst, Raznus gains no Energy!

It's niche, but there's always a case where it could be the difference between winning or losing a fight.

Khybon, Magma Dam Overseer is an interesting and unique example of an Expend ability, but the principle is always the same. Kybon can give up Fire for a Magma counter which, once he has 5, can be used to deal 40 damage to all engaged creatures.

Notice it doesn't say Kybon needs to be engaged in combat to use any part of his ability! This could be a great way to deal a huge chunk of damage to your enemy if you're creature can take the hit.

Some battlegear like the Quranium Pendant give creatures new Expend abilities.

This interesting ability does, however, give a clear indication of Chaotic Power Creep. For example, the original Donmar from DoP has to use 1 MC to heal 10 damage to a target creature, and with 2 MCs, that's only 2 heals. Expend gives you a heal every time Donmar, Tablet Translator has Water to giveup.

This was a look at some of the interesting mechanics and rules behind Expend!

Underworlders: Rough and Ready

Chaor, leader of the Underworld

The Underworlders, denoted with a red border, live (and I'm sure whoever thought of this got a raise) in the Underworld! Already the name should give you an idea of who we're dealing with. The Underworlders are characteristically shady, power-hungry, willing-to-do-whatever and brutish. That's not to say they aren't smart, although the average wisdom stat is probably a lot lower in this tribe then the other 4. This tribe is led by Chaor.

The Underworlder emphasize Power as their primary stat and Fire as their element of choice. Like the other tribes, you can find Underworlders that represent other stats and elements, as well. Often, Underworld abilities and Mugic emphasize dealing damage to or lowering disciplines of enemy creatures rather than healing allies or bolstering disciplines.

This is best seen in the Underworld's original "unique" ability, Intimidate!

Borth-Majar, an Underworlder with Intimidate

Intimidate means that when engaged, the opposing creature loses X of the specified discipline. Many Underworlders possess this ability. It's really the Underworld answer to the Overworld Support ability. Borth-Majar, for example, lowers the enemy's Power and Wisdom by 10 X when engaged.

Mipedians: Invisi-Lizards with Warbeasts and Their Warbeast Pals

The Mipedians: Invisi-Lizards and Their Warbeast Pals

Iflar, the Crown Prince, 

These guys, like the Danians, all share a common theme. I'm sure it won't take long for your to spot it.

The Mipedians all have a yellow card color. During the Dawn of Perim Set (DoP, ZotH, and SS), the Mipedians went from being the one trick pony tribe to one of the most popular, versatile, and powerful tribes in the game. These desert dwelling lizard people are closely linked with the element of Air and the Speed stat, but like all other tribes, there are outliers that provide the elemental and stat diversity you might need. 

The leader of the Mipedians, Kehn-Sep, is the only tribe leader to never be released as a card. The king had to do a little soul-searching as part of his duties as leader of the Mipedians, but his sons Iflar and Mudeenu lead the tribe in his absence.

Blazvatan, a Mipedian Warbeast

Warbeasts and Conjurors

Mipedians have an interesting sub-group that gave the tribe a much needed boost when they were released in Silent Sands. The Warbeasts are powerful entities that are summoned and controlled by Conjurors. This interesting dynamic of containing and harnessing power at the risk of self-destruction is played out excellently through the Recklessness mechanic, an ability that was originally introduced in DoP as a little extra thing to slow some of the more brutish Underworlders down.

Take Blazvatan and Ranun here for example. While you can have Blazvatan on your team to help plow through enemies, he won't get very far if he's dealing 25 damage to himself everytime he attacks. Conjurors like Ranun reduce Recklessness and allow you to safely direct all that Warbeast angst towards your enemy. It also means that when you have a Warbeast deck, your Conjurors had better be well protected                                                                 or your whole strategy might fall apart. 

Different quirks and gimmicks to make different Warbeasts and Conjurors unique were implemented in sets after Silent Sands, but the idea that having a Warbeast on your side meant some sort of sacrifice remained constant.

Invisibility

Ranun, a Mipedian Conjuror

Invisibility is a group of skills possessed by many Mipedians. Often, Invisibility means that the creature with the ability gets some advantage right at the beginning of combat. It only works against creatures without Invisibility.

Invisibility: Strike X: Your creature deals bonus X damage on their first attack.

Invisibility: Disarm: The opposing creature does not gain the effects of their battlegear

Invisibility: Surprise: Your creature wins Initiative

There are ways to play with Invisibility through Mugic, Battlegear, Locations, Attacks, and Creature abilities. Often this involves taking away invisibility, like with Spectral Viewer battlegear, or changing the next attack to act as if it was the first attack of combat, reapplying Strike damage, for example.

Kolmo, a Mipedian with Invisibility: Disarm and
another conditional Invisibility: Strike 20

So that's a brief introduction to the Mipedians!

Overworlders: The "Good Guys"

Maxxor (DoP), leader of the Overworld

OVERWORLDERS

==================

A Basic Introduction to the Tribe:
So Overworld creatures are the one's in blue.
      The Overworld typically represents wisdom, courage, and honor, like Maxxor here, however, just like in real life, you gotta take the good with the bad. That's one thing that always interested me about the story of Chaotic was the "realness" of the characters, while in a normal children's show, you'd have the good guys, the Overworlders, and the bad guys, the Underworlders, Chaotic was actually much more nuanced than that.
     Take Maxxor for instance, he's the leader of the Overworlders and, while he's viewed as the "good guy" by most, in reality, his goal is to secure the safety and prosperity of the Overworlders, and nobody else, this led him to making some decisions that endangered a lot of non-Overworlders. There
were times when he was frightened, tired, unsure, etc., things that
aren't typically associated with the "hero". But that's because he's
not the hero. There is no hero, there are only "people" living their
lives and trying to protect and serve those that they want to
protect and serve.

Intress, Maxxor's right-hand

       Anyways, now that I have that little spiel out of the way about more of the characters of Chaotic in general, more specifically, the Overworlders!!!

      The Overworld is well grounded in all elements, however Fire, Earth, and Water are definitely more prevalent than Air.

      Typically, Overworlder's favor wisdom, but you will find creatures that have excellent values for any of the 4 stats in the Overworld pool. Creatures like Gespedan (Speed), Velreth (Power), and Frafdo (Courage) are good examples of this.

Rellim, an Overworlder with Support

OVERWORLD ABILITIES

1) Support:
The support ability is pretty uniquely Overworld                     ability. It's a simple one, too, from the original                         Dawn of Perim set. Essentially the creature gains                   the specified stat by the specified number for each                   creature of the same tribe that the creature is                             directly next to, as long as you control that                               creature.

This stat boost affects the creature at all times and                   changes fluidly. Meaning that if an Overworld is                     next to Rellim, Rellim gains 5 Courage, but if that creature attacks an opponent creature who isn't next to Rellim, Rellim no longer has that stat boost.

Lomma, an Overworlder with Defender

2) Defender:
     While not exclusive to Overworlders, the Defender ability is a very Overworld ability. Defender allows you to substitute the creature with Defender to fight in place of an adjacent creature for combat. Often Defender comes with a qualifier, like Defender: Water, or Defender: Noble, meaning the creature with Defender, can only use that ability to switch places with an adjacent creature who satisfies that qualifier.

     This ability serves excellently to protect your squishier creatures or to put your opponent in a position that they didn't anticipate.








While not a comprehensive guide on all of the Overworlder's abilities (since a lot of tribes share abilities and a lot of creatures have abilities that are unique to them), I hope it serves to give a good idea as to the general way Overworld creatures and decks utilizing them tend to operate.