SantoriniPowerNyx

Introduction

As the goddess of the night, Nyx can disable her opponent’s ability while giving herself another. This can be the key to winning the game, but she is the one who is disabled at first. So how to use the night to her advantage?

God Power

Before players choose powers, the first player selects a god power card to be Nyx's night power. At the end of all turns, if there are an odd number of complete towers in play, gain your night power and your opponent loses their god power. If there are an even number of complete towers, lose your night power and your opponent gains their god power.

Category

Opponent blocking

Explanation

The powers with which Nyx can play are: Aeolus, Apollo, Artemis, Asteria, Atlas, Bia, Castor & Pollux, Charon, Demeter, Eris, Hades, Harpies, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hestia, Hippolyta, Hypnus, Iris, Limus, Medusa, Minotaur, Pan, Pegasus, Persephone, Poseidon, Prometheus, Scylla, Selene, Siren, Terpsichore, Triton, Urania, Zeus.

Whenever there is an even number (zero included) of complete towers (we refer to this state of the board as “the day”), Nyx is a mortal and the opponent plays normally. Whenever there is an odd number of complete towers (we refer to this state of the board as “the night”), Nyx’s power is activated and the opponent’s power is deactivated completely! For example, Tartarus’ abyss is a normal square, Clio’s coins or Europa’s tokens are normal squares as well.

Those very strong powers, e.g. Poseidon or Limus, will probably not work if they are played either by Nyx or the opponent since you can easily control the number of complete towers and one side will be a mortal.

Nyx might lead to some very tricky corner cases and that’s why many matchups are banned. As with Circe, it makes more sense to analyze each matchup individually and thus most of the effort of this power will be dedicated to the specific matchups.

Game Strategy

Early Game

The first moves are the hardest for Nyx. Ideally, she would like to complete a tower as soons as possible, but this might give enough time for the opponent to create a good position. So Nyx must decide if she can go for this strategy, i.e. complete a tower and expect to catch up quickly once her power is activated.

Mid Game

Both players must carefully control the number of level 3s since that can decide who gets their power after several turns of building domes.

Late Game

Probably the strongest power will emerge, or maybe not, it is tough to say without knowing the matchup or the position.

Specific Matchup

We will analyze some possible night powers with which Nyx can play and establish a few remarks. Nevertheless, recall that it will depend a lot on the chosen power by the opponent, especially since they are the one who starts with an ability.

Nyx (Aeolus)

It won’t differ much from the normal Aeolus, but if Nyx sets the wind and then loses her power, the wind will stop working. Whenever an additional tower is completed and Nyx regains her power, the wind will be blowing in the direction it was left at.

Nyx (Atlas, Selene, Asteria)

You must be very careful when giving Nyx one of these domers (Atlas and Selene) because once Nyx gains her power, it might be very hard for the opponent to get their power back once the domers can easily prevent them from completing towers for example by placing a dome on a level 2. Asteria is also a domer, but she cannot place domes as she pleases, so it is quite different from Atlas and Selene.

Nyx (Hades)

If Hades already sucks, imagine giving your opponent a head start. Moreover, when Hades is activated, if the opponent is able to deactivate it, they no longer have move restrictions. At the end of the day, if Nyx draws her power from Hades, the opponent has to be weak.

Nyx (Hippolyta)

This is tricky because the opponent must plan their game always considering that Hippolyta might appear, that is, orthogonal threats no longer wait for them. Moreover, with Hippolyta present, it might be harder for the opponent to build levels 3 as they please.

Nyx (Hypnus)

The opponent must be careful and not forget who they are up against. If for example, they are careless to leave a worker in the ground level and the other on a level 2, and if by chance Nyx’s power activates, they will be playing with a single mortal worker, which is terrible and can cost them the game.

Nyx (Limus)

If Nyx gets her power, it might be all over for the opponent… With Limus on the board, it is especially hard for the opponent to complete towers, and Nyx(Limus) might only let the opponent complete a tower if she can do it again in the next turn. Just like with Atlas and Selene, the opponent has to be very careful when they let Nyx have her power, otherwise they can be left with nothing.

Nyx (Medusa)

If Medusa is above the opponents workers during the day, nothing happens, but if suddenly the night comes, they are all removed and they don’t come back if the day returns.

Nyx (Poseidon)

If Nyx is able to get her power, it might be game over. As everybody probably knows by now, Poseidon is a monster and if Poseidon is up against a mortal… well… there’s not much they can do.

Nyx (Terpsichore)

There might be a very rare situation where Nyx would prefer not to get her power (she might lose due to having to move twice for example), but in most of the cases, she will gladly accept to play with one of the strongest powers of the game.

Nyx (Other Powers)

These powers won’t create many problems in the sense that they are more predictable, but Nyx will only get them once the first tower is completed.

Now let’s take a look at the powers the opponent can play with and you will see Nyx offers some very interesting combinations.

Atlas/Selene

Does it really matter who Nyx is playing with? It is very easy for Atlas (not so much for Selene) to prevent Nyx from building domes, so this matchup tends to be unbalanced.

Charybdis

The whirlpool monster gets severely weakened in this matchup so this matchup will work out fine with Nyx.

Clio

When there is an odd number of complete towers, Clio loses her power. This means that Nyx can build over Clio’s coins to make them lost forever and she can step on them. But that’s not all there is to this matchup. What happens if Nyx is standing on a coin and the day comes? Since Nyx views the square containing the coin as a dome, she will be unable to move that worker until the day time comes, so she must be very careful when stepping on Clio’s coins.

Regarding the matchup, if Nyx is able to get her power, she should try to build over Clio’s coins so that Clio is left with no power when day comes. At the end of the day, Clio should try to win as fast as she can (for example with the corner attack), otherwise in one or two turns Nyx can ruin her whole game.

Eros

Eros is especially stronger in the first moves. If he is facing a mortal (like Nyx is before the first tower is completed), it will be very hard to defend his threats. Thus, this matchup will be very difficult for Nyx.

Europa & Talus

When there is an odd number of complete towers, Europa loses her power. This means that workers can build over Europa’s token (the token is returned to Europa). Moreover, Nyx (or Europa) can step into the token. But what happens if a worker is standing on the token and the day comes? Since that square is a dome during the day, the worker standing on the token will be unable to move until either the next day comes or Europa decides to move the token again. Hence workers must be very careful when stepping into the token.

Graeae/Proteus

These powers are very good against Nyx because they are still strong when they lose their power, since they will be playing with three workers with no restrictions (there might be positions where playing with no power is actually better than having the power).

Harpies

This can be tricky if you’re not paying attention. For example, Nyx might be counting on Harpies to defend a threat (by being forced to near the threat). But if suddenly Harpies complete a tower, losing the power on purpose, then Nyx is no longer forced.

Hecate

Whenever there is an odd number of complete towers, Nyx can see Hecate’s workers, but as a consequence she cannot go to the squares they’re on.

Hera

Hera is surprisingly weaker in this matchup. Losing the power for a single turn can be enough for Nyx to prosper.

Hydra

This is another power which might lose her power on purpose. For example, if Hydra is able to get five workers and then loses her power, she will be playing with five workers and no restrictions, which is incredibly good. That is part of the reason why Hydra will most likely have an easy win, even if she is facing Nyx (Poseidon).

Limus

It might take a lot for Nyx to get her power (since it is hard to build several times in the same square against Limus) and I’m afraid once she gets it, it will be too late.

Morpheus

Morpheus does not get to collect blocks during the night, but he still gets a build per turn (as normally), so that shouldn’t be a problem. It won’t be a piece of cake for Morpheus, but he will most likely stand stronger.

Poseidon

There might be other powers fulfilling this category (being so strong that it almost doesn’t matter who Nyx is), but Poseidon is a good example of a power which will absolutely destroy Nyx.

Tartarus

Whenever there is an odd number of complete towers, Tartarus loses his ability. The abyss is still not visible to Nyx, but it will stop working, that is, workers can enter the abyss. If the day comes and there is a worker standing on the abyss, nothing will happen. For a player to lose, one of their workers needs to enter the abyss.

Conclusion

Nyx adds a lot of twists to the game and you can get a lot of balanced matchups by considering what would normally already be a balanced matchup (without Nyx). Due to the high number of combinations, it is quite hard to give her a rating. At the end of the day, with a strong choice of night power, Nyx can become very strong. However, independently of Nyx’s night power, she is the one who is always starting without a power. Many times this will be a determinant factor in the game, and that is why she is often the weaker side.

Tier ranking: C