Nikola Tesla: Gold Leader

Inventions and tokens. Go wide with Tinkers, then overload the board.

Color

Gold (Inventors & Industry)

Leader power

4

Passive

Your Inventors get +1/+0.

Once per turn, pay 2 crystals: Build 1 Tinker Token.

Command

Wardenclyffe Tower (4 crystals): Build 2 Tinker Tokens. Your Inventors get +1/+0 this turn.

Signature cards

The Lightbulb; Zap; Inventor's Goggles

Game plan

Tesla is the Gold Leader and the clearest example of the Inventors archetype. His passive gives every Inventor you control +1/+0, and Tinker Tokens are Inventors too, so each 1/1 Tinker arrives as a 2/1. His second line is the engine: once per turn you can pay 2 crystals to Build a Tinker Token. Any turn where you have two crystals left over becomes a turn where your field grows.

The plan is to go wide early, then use the extra bodies to pressure the enemy Leader while your bigger Inventors come down. Because a field holds at most 5 characters, plan your builds: a full field means a new character has to replace one of yours.

His Command, Wardenclyffe Tower (4 crystals), Builds 2 Tinker Tokens and gives your Inventors another +1/+0 for the turn. Call it on a turn when you already have a few Inventors ready to charge, so the bonus lands on attackers rather than on tokens that cannot charge yet.

Tesla's three Signature cards cost 1 less under him. The Lightbulb becomes free and Builds a Lightbulb Token, an Inventor that draws you a card when it is destroyed. Zap is a Counter that deals 2 damage to an enemy character, for 1 crystal. Inventor's Goggles equips +1/+1 and Explore, which lets one of your Inventors slip past blockers that lack Explore.

Hold a crystal or two during your rival's turn when you can: Zap is your best answer to a big attacker, and unspent crystals can also Brace a defending character.

Strengths

• Turns spare crystals into board presence every turn with the Tinker ability.
• Every Inventor, tokens included, hits one point harder.
• Wardenclyffe Tower is a cheap way to add two bodies and a power spike on the same turn.

Weaknesses

• Tinker Tokens have 1 health, so effects that damage every enemy character can sweep a wide board.
• A Leader power of 4 is the lowest of the six, so Tesla himself rarely wins races.