Kathari Beginners Guide
Gnaeus Peasant Deck
Written By
freetipscout
November 4, 2024
Peasant decks consist of only Common and Uncommon rarity cards making them extremely budget friendly and accessible for beginners to start playing with in Parallel.
Gnaeus is primarily an aggro deck where the goal should be to reduce the opponent’s health down to zero as fast as possible, overwhelming the board with lots of low cost units and dealing as much direct damage as you can.
With his passive ability providing a permanent buff of +1/+1 each time a friendly unit deals combat damage and survives, Gnaeus is a perfect fit for a Peasant deck as most of Kathari’s low cost units are classed as Common or Uncommon rarity.
It’s important to note here that although we label this deck as a ‘peasant’ it should not be misunderstood for meaning the cards or deck as a whole are inferior but simply that this build excludes the higher rarity cards in it (Rare and above) that would make it what we call a ‘Noble’ deck, but more on that later.
With a total of 21 cards being available to play on turn one or two and 33 units included within this deck of 40 cards, you can see that the emphasis for this deck is about getting a fast start in the game by playing lots of low cost units down nice and early to gain that all important control of the board.
Remember that with Gnaeus the focus should be about trying to win the game as quickly as possible by overwhelming your opponent on the board with lots of low cost units so you can deal damage directly and reduce their health down to zero first.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the key cards within this deck so we can understand the overall play strategy and where our win conditions come from.
Early Game Cards
The Kathari engineered the clone generation of the Valerusi Strikers for added aggression in combat.
The problem is that this aggression stays with them outside of combat too so be careful when you make eye contact with a Striker or you could get a lot more than you bargained for!
In battle, the Valerusi Striker serves as the first wave of attack for the Kathari and is the perfect unit to play on turn one to set the match tempo.
Strikers also gain +2/0 to their attack as well as Evasive if a player controls three on the field making this a must-have card in any Kathari deck.
What better assassin is there than one you can’t get near, and the Shielded Assassin does a great job of imitating that elusiveness in the game.
Unable to be targeted by Effects, the Shielded Assassin can only be killed by other units which makes him all the more deadly in a Gnaeus deck.
This is because a Shielded Assassin can grow in attack and health by +1/+1 with every attack due to Gnaeus’ passive ability so the longer he remains on the field uncontested, the harder he will be for the opponent to kill.
This Universal card provides players with situational versatility over firepower and can be used early game to remove low health units in your way whilst getting your own unit on the board.
Typically, the Gunslinger’s life expectancy in matches is low but in a Gnaeus deck he has a much better chance of surviving several turns, if you can develop his stats through Gnaeus’ passive ability adding +1/+1 with each attack.
And if you need just one more damage to finish off your opponent, the Gunslinger can handle that too.
The Valerusi Standard Bearer’s lead the Kathari into battle with a rapturous warcry that can be heard far across the field as they inspire for the fight ahead.
During battles, the Bearer will instead stay further back rather than engaging in close quarters combat as their strength lies in strengthening others, but when necessary they are capable albeit unspectacular fighters too.
In our Peasant deck, the Bearer is a strong card to play on-curve as his inspiration will grant friendly Clone units +1/+1 so getting him down early can increase your chances of controlling the board.
At a cost of 2 energy to play, the Cunning Scipian has become a staple card amongst Kathari players in Parallel and is a perfect fit in our Peasant deck.
When played after the Standard Bearer for example, the Scipian will enter the field as a 2/3 instead of a 1/2 and will create a 1/1 token Clone unit at the end of the turn which gets buffed too by the Bearer to become a 2/2.
If left unchecked in a Gnaeus deck the Scipian will increase in attack and health, making it difficult for opponents to remove and giving the Scipian further opportunities to create token units turn after turn.
The Kathari’s vision for genetic adaptation stemmed from a necessity to survive but along the way, curiosity inevitably creeps in.
The Convergent Salvatorum’s are the result of that curiosity as these clones are engineered with increased sight making them the perfect snipers.
Salvatorum’s quickly grow in attack and health with the Gnaeus passive, while friendly convergent units benefit from their superhuman vision by dealing 1 damage to the enemy when attacking too!
Mid-Game Cards
Not every clone is designed with combat in mind and the Aetian Subjugates are the Kathari’s answer to a docile and subservient generation of clones more akin to androids than they are to humans.
The Subjugate serves as one of the key cards in our Peasant deck and where possible, should be played on-curve so that its buff ability is ready to trigger when another friendly Clone enters the field.
What makes the Subjugate so powerful is that the +1/+1 buff can be applied to any unit, including the Subjugate itself so depending on the board state you can decide which unit needs the +1/+1 more.
The Convergent Centurus live for the thrill and bloodshed of a battle and can always be found in the thick of the action, often with a sinister smirk on their faces no matter what odds they face.
When played with both the Subjugate and the Standard Bearer on the field, the Centurus creates two clone token units that can receive attack and health buffs from both cards making this an extremely powerful combo play.
This means that not only can the Centurus create a wide board but those units can be much more difficult for the opponent to remove straight away.
When sheer numbers don't get the job done, the Kathari can always turn to sheer size having engineered a brute clone of disturbing proportions.
The Gnaeus Valerusi Inductus towers above all on the battlefield and shows the extreme lengths the Kathari are willing to bend their genetic code to in order for their race to survive.
Playable only within a Gnaeus deck, this unit protects adjacent friendly units by receiving the attacks made on them and emboldens adjacent units when they attack with a huge +2/0 buff!
Effect Cards
The PS-8 Launcher is a firm favourite amongst Parallel players for its ability to remove troublesome units from play at a low cost and maintain early board control in the game.
Disrupting your opponent's play is sometimes just as important as taking the fight to the opponent and the PS-8 is a handy weapon that will help you control the board at the right moments.
Keep in mind that the PS-8 can only target units and not the opponent directly but it’s a handy weapon to have in any deck’s arsenal, even the Kathari’s.
As a class, the Kathari’s cards are heavily geared towards offence rather than defence and in a Gnaeus deck which rewards +1/+1 to units that attack each time, that's definitely how Kathari should be played.
Seeing Triple is one of the few Effect cards you’ll find in this Peasant deck and it creates three 1/1 Defenders that can be used to protect stronger units on the board or as a way to create three more units for additional pressure on the opponent.
Kathari reinforcements have arrived in threes!
The Kathari have had ample time to perfect the craft of cloning and the Synchronicity demonstrates the lengths they are willing to go for their numbers to grow.
The beauty of the Synchronicity is that it allows a unit to be copied and also deployed to the battlefield on the same turn.
With limited removal options in the Gnaeus deck this card can be used to at least match the opponent’s plays or even copy one of your stronger cards to double the pressure against them.