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One of Parallel’s recent highlights took place on November 12 when they announced the completion of the Paragons. That includes what we’ve seen so far of the 3D avatars, emotes, and even some potential skins. This marks another positive step forward in the game’s development and reveals another stream of possibilities within the $PRIME ecosystem.
Paragons are like powerful leaders for your deck. Every Parallel has three unique Paragons for you to choose from (15 total), and each one comes with a continuous passive effect. Paragons will influence how you craft a deck, bringing you a more personalized playing strategy. Most of them can also be played as token Units, further enhancing their impact in a game.
Right now, everyone is excited to see what the future holds for the Paragons and their utility. We already witnessed the big debut of two Earthen leaders in Issue 1 of the Priming – Gaffar and Shoshanna – so we know they play a heavy role in the lore. Beyond that, however, your guess is as good as mine.
While we wait patiently for more easter eggs to emerge, I thought it would be fun to share my favorite Paragon from each faction (so far) and shine a light on some of their awesome effects.
This comes with the obvious caveat that Parallel is still in active development, so functions are subject to change. You know the drill. Enjoy!
Niamh is hands down my favorite Paragon right now.
During my first stretch of playtesting, I mainly used the New Dawn in order to explore the limits of the Singularity. But lately, I’ve been getting a huge kick out of building decks around that crucial tenth round.
Suppressing the enemy with an onslaught of low-energy Effect cards like Erasure and Life Siphon will certainly help you extend a match. Every opposing Parallel has its own defenses, so you still have to maintain a flexible strategy. But that heavy risk-reward factor with Niamh is part of the thrill. Once your bank hits double digits, nothing is sweeter than unleashing her fury and seeing what chaos she brings.
Additionally, Niamh enters the field battle-ready and ignores defender, which drives the knife even deeper into your opponent’s heart. Shroud decks are considered to be some of the most frustrating to play against, and I think Niamh perfectly encapsulates what their mysterious allure is all about.
When it comes to a Kathari deck, it’s all about clones and iterants. You can end a game swiftly if you get a few units on the board and start causing damage right away.
For that reason alone, I’m a big fan of Gnaeus Valerus Alpha.
What I find so appealing about Gnaeus is that he can be paired with a nice blend of lower and higher energy cards, allowing you to pilot a variety of strategies. You don’t have to overly rely on his active or passive effect as a win condition, so he brings more flexibility compared to some other Paragons.
Gnaeus is the only Kathari Paragon without a muster, so I should point out that Scipius Magnus Alpha also has merits when flooding your opponent with clones. But you need to be careful; all of the Muster effects he releases target random units, including your own. Still, he’s a lethal hammer to help bring down any opponent.
If you’re interested in what Aetio, Exalted Hydrolist has to offer, I suggest following along with Vacasean’s gameplay example against a Marcolian deck. Wasting cards is the name of the game, but similar to Scipius, remember that it will execute Muster effects from all units in your waste, so it can backfire.
Shoshanna, Rebuilder of Earth
I respectfully refer to Shoshanna, Rebuilder of Earth as the “Witchy Woman” in the playtesting dojo because she enters every game with no maximum health limit. As if that wasn’t already some wicked voodoo magic, she also brings the totally unique Muster effect of doubling your current health.
Despite her peaceful appearance and endearing nature, Shoshanna can outlive even the fiercest of opponents.
Gaffar, Arbiter of Earth leans heavily on the Pacifist effect, as it buffs every other card with Pacifist on the field. He also triggers Pacifist any time he takes damage from an opposing Unit. This can lock up an opponent’s board, rendering them completely useless in just a few turns.
Catherine Lapointe, The Mad General
My passion for chaos has no bounds, so when I do choose to play Marcolian, I always roll with Catherine. Not only does she provide a cheeky buff to every second Unit you play each turn, but she’s only a four-energy cost.
Once she enters the battlefield, at the end of every turn, you’re randomly going to cause four damage, and that ignores any opposing units with Defender.
It’s fun to roll the dice and see what happens at the end of your turn, because Marcolian madness is the best kind of madness.
Augencore is the Parallel I’ve played the least so far, so I asked one of our fearless Prime.Wiki leaders to briefly share their thoughts on their favorite Paragon, which happens to be the only one I’ve used so far – Arak.
“Arak has a dominating, formidable presence. His machine body further intimidates showing that he is extremely old and experienced, due to the replacement of majority of his organic body.”
Vacasean //
Jahn, Chief Engineer is a Salvager’s dream because his passive effect boosts each future salvage effect by one. When he’s played on the field, he drops a Muster effect that, depending on how many Upgrades you’ve banked, could transform him into a behemoth.
Lastly, we have the only Paragon without an active effect, the Juggernaut Workshop. You’re likely only going to get two Juggernauts on the field in a game, but those can be the difference between winning and losing.