4-Player Advanced Strategey Guide

[Ndez]

Overview

I discovered this game late (10 years after its release) at a friend's game night, and I have been playing it for almost a year now on Board Game Arena. I absolutely love it. I have played over 100 games and have won a lot of them, but I'm definitely still learning. While learning this game, I found it a little frustrating that there were not a lot of strategy guides or gameplay on YouTube to really learn this game in depth. However, I utilized Board Game Arena's replay feature to watch the top players of this game and learn what they do and why they make the choices they do. I wanted to share what I have learned about this amazing game and go in-depth with deep strategy, which is what this game is all about. The doc is long, but mostly due to individual pictures of all of the cards and my Tier lists. Even if you don't read each individual card analysis and strategies, I highly recommend the first part of the guide as it mentions topics I haven't seen anyone else really talk about.

Please note that many of these strategies apply primarily to a 4-player game, specifically the base game (no Kickstarter or expansions). I may try and learn more strategies for 5 and 2-player modes in the future, as they are the ones I am least familiar with, but feel that these strategies may still apply. These strategies are intended to help someone learn this game at a high level and understand the cards and their combos, but if you disagree with certain points I make, I would love to hear about and discuss them. As you can probably tell by the size of this guide, I absolutely love this game.

4-Player Blood Rage Advanced Strategy Guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-AZ ... p=drivesdk

[UPDATE]

Commented Replays
I also made some commented replays of the following games, both from me and top players. These replays utilize many of the strategies talked about in the above guide and are a good way to see how certain strategies are applied. These took some time to make, but were actually a lot of fun for me to do so if you like, maybe leave some links to some of your game replays, and I can leave my thoughts on how to improve.

Top Player Replay (Yggrasil and Province Control Strategy Age 1) https://boardgamearena.com/gamereview?table=637942589

Me Playing a Loki Strategy https://boardgamearena.com/gamereview?table=632300025

Me Successfully Using Lord of Hammers https://boardgamearena.com/gamereview?table=633271690

Me using Frigga’s Succor (Good drafting + battle decisions examples)
https://boardgamearena.com/gamereview?table=718175954

[Uncle Roger]

Link says document does not exist

[Ndez]

Thank you! I updated it.

[Lofski]

Nice work, this will surely be useful for many.

I do disagree with some of the card valuations though, when it comes to current meta, and I'm talking 4p arena meta here:

Age 1:

• Loki's trickery isn't that good as a 1st pick I think, as if you try to use it, you will mostly likely just end up helping the player with Blessing, without getting anything for it. It might still be good to use just once or at most twice for a non-blessing player (maybe more if you have succor), but not good enough to justify 1st pick most of the time.
• I wouldn't call Troll really good, I would place it in situational, since it can sometimes guarantee Ygg pillage, but otherwise it's kinda bad since 2 is such a high cost in age 1. Like with FG, people see it coming.
• Loki's Domain combos well with both Blessing and Succor, I'd say it's really good with the former and at least good with latter.
• I think Lord of Hammers belongs in the "do not pick" category, or rather "extremely situational", with dwarf, or all of the following: +5, +X and +4.
• In 95% of cases you are better off picking quests than Tyr's Bash, Loki's Dragons, Tyr's Hammer or Lord of Hammers.

Age 2:

• Heimdall's Watch isn't that awesome, decent players will see it coming. You still need a big combat card to capitalize on it. Often people have some trash cards left from age 1 or picked last in age 2 that they sacrifice to Watch.
• Fire Giant and Elf are pretty much situational, not very good. FG does become decent if you get 12 rage for age 2, but in that case you have loads of good options anyway. The main problem with FG is that it hurts one other player and yourself (rage and card pick), while some player survives without losing anything. As for Elf, it usually is either unnecessary overkil, or it just dies to Tide or when someone pillages Ygg after you play Elf. It very rarely makes an impact from what I've seen. Best use is often filling monster slots to be able to put more units in Valhalla.
• Related to FG (see above), Odin's Tide is a cheaper and often better way to destroy opponents' units than FG, and it's a good backup "annoying loser" card if you lose Backstab to Watch.
• I definitely think Valkyrie is better than Elf in most situations. At worst it's a monster of 2 str that gives you ~4 glory in total. With Prowess or Protection, 12+ (I've seen 20 and more too) is quite achievable.

Age 3:

• Frigga's Sacrifice is extremely good only in a setup with serpent, age 2-3 ship upgrade and Frigga's Domain. Of course it has other uses too, but it doesn't go well together with area quests or ragnarok. Might be 2nd pick for some setups, but most often not I think.
• Soldier of Hel is cheap, but doesn't really do much. There is going to be so much STR on the board in age 3, that 3 strength unit doesn't tip balances significantly
• Volur Witch is pretty bad yes, but I'd say it's at least situational, and can be useful with right combat cards. It might require both the option to go big with combat cards, and to play an "annoying loser" card. That way you can harass opponents and make their fights unsafe for them.

[Ndez]

Hey Lofski,

Thanks for your thoughts! I actually agree with some of the points you make and will update parts of the strategy guide.

Age 1
I actually agree with your take on Loki's Trickery. After playing more games you are 100% correct that picking it without Loki's Blessing or Frigga's Succor, is only helping the other Loki player steal more rage giving them even more control of age 1. I'll move it down because you really want it if you have Loki's Blessing, maybe Frigga's Succor, but other than that it is not worth grabbing. Its better to grab a battle card to win a battle or a quest.

I like where I have Troll as you said you can sometimes use it to grantee an Yggdrasil pillage. You really want dwarf chieftain, brothers in arms, or troll to out strength you opponents and win Yggdrasil. Obviously dwarf chieftain is placed higher since it’s free. Yes good players are expecting the troll but it still forces opponents to play around it. It is a lot of rage for age 1 but if your going for Yggdrasil and only have quests and battle cards you not spending rage in other places anyways other than getting it stolen from a Loki player. It's also useful to counter a Loki's blessing player looking to hold a region and not pillage it as it forces them to invade on their turn to steal your rage again. The other benefit is the use of it throughout the game as if you destroy it before each age ends its something players must continue to avoid.

The other benefit is the same with Fire Giant as it can be helpful with Frigga’s Domain in age 3. I’ve lost a lot of games because I gave up Frigga’s domain and it was passed to a player with the ship upgrade. I couldn’t utilize it my self and having troll or Fire Giant allows you to get some use out it later even if you don’t have the ship upgrade and keep it out of a players hands to just run away with the game.

Loki's Domain yes can be good with Loki's Blessing or Frigga's succor but I would always rather grab a quest for half the points, a stat increase, and the advantage of keeping your troops alive for age 2. Even if you loose all your troops in all three ages, your likely going to replace it anyways by age 3. It can be good but not something I go for and will typically grab if there is no other good option.

I agree that it is very rare you should pick Lord of Hammers as a single Loki player can ruing your entire age 1. I put it in situational because as you said if you have certain cards first anyways, then it can be worth going for. The other advantage is after age 1, the upgrade is actually extremely useful but really only worth it if you were able to have a good age 1 with it.

Age 2
I disagree with your Heimdall's watch take. I agree that you need a high battle card to make it work but many times when I grab it I carried over the +5 or +X from age 1. Yes good players are expecting it which means if you have it, you can reliably pillage Yggdrasil age 2 by just throwing out the high battle card. Plus if you can get 4-6 points later on in the age it can be useful.

I agree with your take on Fire Giant and that you really want to have 12 rage to take advantage of it. I didn't entirely think of just using a single warrior with Odin's tide for a much cheaper option but a similar effect and a play you can do multiple times

For Elf I like where it is in the middle because again I agree with your take that its either overkill or just dies to Odin's Tide. I'd only grab it if nobody is currently occupying Yggdrasil which does happen but is rare and even then someone can beat you to it by marching if they go before you in age 2.

Agree with Valkyrie and as I said in the guide, I think it is the most underrated card in the game and works incredibly well with Frigga's protection and or Tyr's Prowess.

Age 3
I agree with your take on Frigga's Sacrifice and would move it down. It's kind of the same situation with Thor's conquest where if you have the set up for it, it can work. Yes works well with a sea serpent and ship domain combo, and could also use it with Frigga's Succor, but it probably is ranked higher than it should be.

Soldier of Hel is cheap and its strength doesn't always have the most effect but it definitely can. If you have a 5 village province with two master in arms warriors (6 strength), a single warrior from a Loki player, and your leader, than Soldier of Hel evens the fight. The main advantage i think comes from it being a free additional unit with decent strength but nothing necessarily game changing.

I'm going to keep Volur Witch in the don't pick category as yea you can attempt to disrupt a lot of players with it, but any cards that do things when losing can get countered by Thor's Primacy. If you drafted the the Thor's Primacy cards or at least one of them, then maybe its worth it but it would be very bottom of situation if I were to pick it. I've picked lord of hammers more times than I've picked Volur Witch.

I really apreciate the discussion and do agree with alot of your takes!

[branchilo]

Great analysis, lots of helpful insights.
I don't have much experience in playing board games, other than Risiko and Monopoly as a child. Also got introduced to the game at a friend's night, went through the rules on the very same day just to avoid being completely clueless and naturally got demolished. though it seemed to me I put up a nice fight at first. So, got intrigued, looked it up and discovered this site in the process. Been playing for the last 2-3 weeks, enough to understand how much more there is to it.

I liked the fact no dice are used, it brings down the influence of pure chance on the final result. Though through the obvious difference between the cards, luck will favour someone during drafting and leave others to dight with what they have. Nevertheless, it is a great game and always offers something new due to endless combinations.

[JürgiWürgi]

Hi there : )

I will probably add some thoughts and comments on your guide sometime soon, but generally very nice work.

Also, for what its worth:
I have just watched through one of your commented replays that you have linked on BGG. That must been quite an effort to make with the BGA tools and it is probably more thorough than some of the game tutorials on BGA

So really, don't feel ashamed to open another thread for your replays, so much effort should not go unnoticed


Last but not least, since you are currently in your honey moon phase with the game and love to create content (I have been there =D ), you can look if you want to add/update the strategy wiki that Lofski and I (with some friendly other contributors) made quite some time ago. The general statements and musing about the game there still hold true, but I added some very niche informations in the advanced section that I would probably replace nowadays with information that is more relevant for struggeling players (no new player needs to know that Succor + Troll is the only save removal of a blessing warrior in a three village region. But I thought it very clever a few years ago ). Since the text form of the wiki can be accessed in the game overlay on BGA, there is always a chance that a struggeling player will stumble upon it.
https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Tips_bloodrage

(Which brings me to: "Hello struggeling player that has jumped into this thread and is looking to improve your game experience. If you have not perfectly memorized the card pool for each player count, do yourself a favor and bookmark https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Tips_ ... s_Overview from the strategy wiki. This shows you what number of cards are available for each player number. Just try a little bit to keep track of what cards have been played and what cards are still available, and you will greatly reduce your number of game loosing all-in battles for Yggdrasil.)

[JürgiWürgi]

First off, congrants for a very thorough guide. There are no things where I would say that you are "wrong" in your estimation and our biggest differences (eye, watch and Friggas Domain) I would argue are due to different approach (reliability vs. combo potential).

Take my statements with a grain of salt because I have been on a 1,5 year hiatus and just started playing again 2 weeks ago. So maybe your meta is totally different from how it was 2023

With that in mind, here are some further thoughts on the cards in 4 player setup:

Age 1
Tyrs Smite (+5) / Heimdall's Sight (+X)
Smite is among the very best cards of age 1 draft. Besides the race for Yggdrasil, it is pure and simple the best card to take over into age 2 because it takes one piece out of the drafting puzzle that is using prowess actively in age 2.
Sight on the other hand is good for the Yggdrasil race in age 1, but becomes just an okay card to carry over into age 2, because it is a poor setup for prowess. So a tiny bit lower on the priority list.


Friggas Charm (+ Serpent I guess)
So the higher the player counts goes, the less predictable the board fills up and the more chaotic the battles go. I love charm because it is one of those cards that makes you not all-in on maxing out rage (others are succor and blessing).
With that in mind, charm or serpent are reasonable early picks if you have not the value cards (succor and blessing) and don't want to contest Yggdrasil (like when you are late in the turn order).
You are right, it is not as reliable as in 5 players, but charm + serpent are such good setups for age 2 and 3 ship upgrades because this will always score you big at a reasonalbe price, no matter what chaos unfolds on the board.
I really don't want another player to have both of them, so I pick them earlier than later.

Trickery
Here I totally agree with Lofski. When 2 players are spaming trickery, usually one of them is aggressively kingmaking the other one. IMHO no firstpick.


Age 2
Heimdalls eye
Interesting, this would be an absolute fringe case first pick for me. Yes, it synergizes well with prowess, is almost always the best pick to take over into age 3 (the ability to force draws with a +2 and a +3 in your hand can be super powerful) and can become necessary if you are banking on "the one" fight (like a Ygg pillage).
But there are three of them in the pool and and age 2 offers so good scoring cards/value clan upgrades that your first hand should always offer something better.


Friggas Protection
IMHO this is one of the powerhouse cards in the hands of experienced players. As previously stated, 4 players is much more chaotic than 3 players. If you are able to go for horns in age 1 & 2, protection almost always will be worth the pick.
Entering age 3 with a high unit count on board is simply the best setup because it allows to switch to any playstyle you want.
So unless you go super suicidal (like a blessing player, some succor setups) this often is a reasonable first pick. Also protection makes going late for experts in arms quite reaonsable, as this will be basically your back door to contest masters in arms.

Heimdalls watch
Watch becomes a reasonable pick if you are depending on the one battle card (prowess + high strength, blessing + backstab, an early Ygg pillage...). Otherwise, I really dislike it, because it often enough means that you actively burn 2 cards for one fight, not taking Heimdalls eyes into account.
So besides the above example, almost never a firstpick for me.


Dark Elf
Elf suffers from how strong the first moves are in age 2. Compared to establishing prowess, protection or going for an instant ygg pillage, elf often will feel simply underwhelming. As you said, a blessing player has a very big incentive to park a warrior in Yggdrasil, so puting out elf just gives him another turn to leech you a card.
He becomes a reasonable card if age 1 was quite messy and there are few units on the board or if no units are in Yggdrasils at the start of age 2. In my experience both happens rather seldom.

Tyrs Challenge
Out of the age 2 value clan upgrades (challenge, protection and prowess) I think this is the most situational. Taking the additional chaos at 4 players into account, the other two cards allow you more reliable plays.
So challenge is a cool card that is a lot of fun, but I would drop it a tiny bit down in drafting priority.



Age 3
Friggas Domain
I hear you. Yes, this combo (with all its crazy escalations like a serpent setup and with Friggas sacrifice if you locked down a region) has the highest scoring potential.
BUT: if you have not the setup, first picking Domain can quickly become a game losing pick (because of how good your other picks are).
Once the ship is dropped into a fjord that is adjecent to only one region, it only takes players with more than 1 strength to leave for ygg to mess up your strategy.
It is far from sure that people will do it, but it is always in the room. And then there is the thing that suicide ships synergises rather bad with almost all other scoring cards/quests.
So I think during pick 1 and 2 a reasonable estimation is: Will the next player have a runaway victory if he has dragons and domain? If no, I would go for something that is strong for you instead. In the end, you play to win and not to prevent a suicide ship player at the cost of you taking the 4th place.


Primacy
This becomes a good first pick if you go prowess or or have no good value card for boardpresence (succor, protection or to a lesser degree blessing) and need to secure something at all costs.
Otherwise, I would pass this on at hand 1 and pick something that scores.


age 3 Monsters
All rather situational as usually the board is rather full in the endgame. Invading with a monster and then performing a reasonable play will always be so unpredictable.
Out of the bunch, frost giant always feels like the one worth going for to get maybe 10 additional clan stat scoring points combined with boardpresence. So at least some endgame scoring potential.

Masters in arms
I would place this in the situational category. Yes, you can reward yourself for a very good setup and it allows to play for region majorities without battle cards if you picked protection earlier.
Otherwise, it can feel like one of those setup cards that can hurt you in the long run if other players force your battle cards out of your hand in the next turn. Sometimes an instant pillage is better than setup shenannigans.
So IMHO this can be somewhere between game winning and an actual trap card.