Yellow is the color of objective defense and recovery.
It protects Portals with #Armor, durable blockers, #Vigilance, Life gain, and reactive effects. Unlike a purely passive defensive strategy, Yellow also gains value when Portals are destroyed, using cards in the Ruins to recover resources, deal damage, reduce costs, or rebuild the battlefield.
Yellow makes attacking its objectives expensive.
Yellow’s Core Plan
Yellow’s main tools include:
- #Armor to reduce incoming damage
- #Vigilance and repeatable blocking
- Portal protection effects
- Life gain
- Rewards when a Portal is destroyed
- Reusing Portal cards from the Ruins
- Large comeback effects that scale with destroyed Portals
Defend in Layers, Not in a Pile
Placing every Yellow unit beside one Portal may create a strong wall, but it also gives the opponent control of the rest of the battlefield.
Use one forward unit to slow the route, one unit to control the final approach, and one reserve effect or #Flash unit for the breakthrough attempt.
Yellow should make the opponent cross several defensive decisions before reaching the objective.
A Destroyed Portal Is Not Always the End
Several Yellow cards become stronger after a Portal is destroyed or when Portal cards are in the Ruins.
This does not mean a Portal should be sacrificed carelessly. It means Yellow can continue functioning after losing an objective and can sometimes turn that loss into a counterattack.
The player must distinguish between an acceptable Portal loss and one that creates an immediate defeat condition.
Featured Cards
Chris — KS-HeY01
Chris has #Leap, allowing movement over an adjacent unit.
This gives a defensive Hero greater freedom to move through crowded formations. Chris can reposition from one Portal route to another without becoming trapped behind allied blockers.
Rock Wall — KS-SpY12
Rock Wall chooses one Portal, gives it #Armor2 until end of turn, and then lets you draw a card.
It protects the exact objective under attack without reducing your hand size. Because it is a Slash, Yellow can wait until the opponent commits damage before deciding which Portal needs the extra protection.
Catfish of Fossa Magna — KS-SpY11
When Catfish of Fossa Magna enters, choose one Portal card in your Ruins and put it on the bottom of any Portal deck.
It turns a destroyed Portal into a recoverable resource and extends the number of objectives available in a long match. The target deck matters: returning the right Portal to the right land can rebuild a threatened defense or delay a future defeat condition.
Sand Storm — KS-SpY13
Sand Storm deals damage to all opponent’s Spils on one land equal to the number of Portal cards in your Ruins.
This is a comeback tool that becomes stronger as the match progresses. Early in the game it may be weak; after several Portal cards reach the Ruins, it can clear a major attacking formation.
🖼️ IMAGE SPACE 2 — Yellow defense and recovery
Direction: Show Rock Wall protecting a Portal with #Armor2 while replacing itself with a draw, Catfish of Fossa Magna returning one visible Portal card from the Ruins to the bottom of a Portal deck, and Sand Storm damaging an attacking formation based on the remaining Portal cards in the Ruins. Add Chris moving over an allied blocker to reinforce another route.
Recommended size: 1800 × 1100 px.
Yellow’s Strengths
Yellow is especially effective when:
- The opponent must attack through a narrow route
- #Armor changes multiple combat results
- Portal destruction triggers recovery or counterattack effects
- The match lasts long enough for Ruins-based effects to scale
- One durable blocker can protect several turns
Yellow’s Weaknesses
Yellow can struggle when:
- The opponent changes objectives faster than the defenders can move
- Too many units remain beside a safe Portal
- The player treats every Portal loss as acceptable
- Banish or ability removal bypasses the defensive engine
- The deck draws defensive cards without a way to create counterpressure
Practical Yellow Checklist
Before committing another defender, ask:
- Is this Portal under immediate threat or only future threat?
- Can one blocker cover more than one route?
- Which effect becomes available if the Portal is destroyed?
- Does losing this Portal create an immediate loss condition?
- What unit begins the counterattack after the defense succeeds?
It wins by making every attack cost more than the opponent can afford.