SantoriniPowerMorpheus

Introduction

As the god of dreams, Morpheus can rearrange his constructions as he wants. This doesn’t seem powerful as he only gets one build on average per turn. However, I realised I underestimated him when an opponent gets a 2-way win all of a sudden with Morpheus. So how to use his power to build the victory of your dreams?

God Power

At the start of your turn, place a coin on your card. When building, your worker cannot build as normal. Instead, spend any number of coins from your card (even zero) and build that many times.

Category

Player build

Explanation

Morpheus gets a coin at the start of each turn. Coins are stored on his card unlimitedly, so if Circe steals his power, she gets all his coins as well. In the build phase, he can spend any number of coins, even zero, to build that number of times. Therefore, he can stock up coins to build many times later.

Game Strategies

Early Game

Usually Morpheus will just move around the board without spending any block while trying to stick close to the opponent. He can also move up if possible.

Middle Game

When Morpheus has a considerable number of blocks he can try at least three different strategies:

• Go for the win: A level 1 Morpheus with 6 blocks can build two level 2s (moving to one of them in the next turn) and a level 3 in the next turn. This threat might be almost impossible to stop.
• Destroy all the progress of your opponent: If your opponent is comfortably standing on a level 2 with two adjacent level 2s, you just need 4 blocks to dome those adjacent levels, leaving the opponent bursting into tears.
• Trap the opponent: In order to see this strategy, consider the following position:

Going to the corner against Morpheus might be a mistake, and this example shows why. If Morpheus has 4 blocks, he can play M:b2-b1, build A2(3), build B2(3), wait two turns, move to c2 and build twice in B1 and out of nowhere the A1 worker is trapped.

Late Game

I hardly believe you can get to this phase with Morpheus. As standing on a level 2 with blocks in your pocket means that you can build threats in multiple places and create several threats, the game will end pretty soon.

Specific Matchup

Aeolus

It might not be a good strategy for Morpheus to just sit there waiting, as Aeolus can use the wind to keep Morpheus away from his zone. It is definitely possible for Aeolus to win this game.

Aphrodite

In this game Morpheus will wait and wait until he can use his stock of blocks to win. Still, he needs to be careful not to overlook any threats.

Strong Forcers (e.g. Apollo, Charon)

On a good day, Morpheus might be able to defeat them. This is an interesting matchup where Apollo and Charon need to be much more worried than usual.

Circe

It is a tricky matchup in which you need to be aware that if Morpheus separates his workers, Circe will get all of the coins he had. Still, Circe shouldn’t stand a chance if Morpheus spends all coins before losing his power.

Double Builders (e.g. Castor & Pollux, Demeter, Hephaestus, Hestia, Prometheus, Terpsichore)

Not all double builders are behaving the same against Morpheus. Castor & Pollux is not sufficiently strong for Morpheus. Not being able to build twice in the same square is a big problem for Demeter and that’s why Morpheus will beat her. Hephaestus is not sufficiently strong for Morpheus, although Morpheus still might need to defend at the early stage. For Hestia, being a combination of Demeter and Hephaestus is exactly what you need to beat Morpheus, and that’s why she is a good choice to defeat the god of the dreams. Prometheus has the upper hand against Morpheus, so Morpheus will be the side supplicating for the victory. Terpsichore creates a very interesting and somehow balanced matchup. However, she needs to be extra careful as it might be easy for Morpheus to trap one of her workers.

Hydra

Hydra is actually able to win this matchup. He can use his workers as obstacles, making it difficult for Morpheus to come close. This is a balanced matchup and I suggest you try it.

Limus

Although Morpheus is stronger, he needs to be more careful than usual here.

Minotaur

If Minotaur can keep Morpheus far away from his constructions, he might be able to win. Morpheus shouldn’t underestimate Minotaur.

Poseidon

Morpheus doesn’t stand a chance in this matchup.

Scylla

I actually favor Scylla in this matchup. It can be hard for Morpheus to defend some attacking plans of Scylla. You can compare this matchup with Morpheus vs Apollo/Charon.

Triton

This matchup might be tricky. One one hand, Morpheus can easily dome the perimeter. On the other hand, this might help Triton to build a wall around a corner, which might be sufficient for Triton to get the win.

Urania

It is impressive how good Urania is in this matchup. Building on opposite sides of the board is very good against Morpheus, and it will be very difficult for him to cope with every threat. However, Urania should not go right away for the corners as it will be easier for Morpheus to dome them.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that Morpheus is one of the strongest powers of the game. That’s why in most of the matchups he can still go second while being superior. In order to defeat Morpheus, you need a very good power and even some of the strongest powers might not be able to beat him!

Tier ranking: S