SantoriniPowerUrania

Introduction

Urania is said to be overpowered by most. Her ability to travel through the perimeter makes her opponents hard to catch up. Still, Urania is less powerful than you think, so you have to make sure you make the most out of it…

God Power

When your worker moves or builds, treat opposite edges and corners as if they are adjacent so that every space has 8 neighbors.

Category

Player move/Player build

Explanation

Urania’s power only works on her turns, so opponents cannot force her to move accross the perimeter.

Game strategies

Early Game

You have to make sure you make the most of your power. In the specific case of Urania, it makes sense to play in the perimeter and try to avoid the center. In particular, one of the most common strategies for Urania is to play and build in the corners. For Urania, these four squares are adjacent but for the opponent, they are far far away (it will be very hard for the opponent to defend every corner at the same time). For this reason it is common for Urania to start by building in the corners (or in a perimeter square adjacent to the corner). The next construction should be in a square which is adjacent for Urania to the previous block, but not adjacent for a normal power.

Middle Game

The corners are the best squares for Urania. Then, the perimeter squares adjacent to the corners and only then the remaining perimeter squares. The gameplay for Urania revolves around playing around these squares. If the opponent isn’t careful enough, and lets Urania build in these squares, then there will probably be nothing left to do. What’s the solution? The preferable strategy would be to counterattack in the center and “force” Urania to slow down. Another common strategy is to dome the perimeter (preferably the corners, which are really good for Urania). So Urania must also be careful not to overbuild in the corners or the opponent could use this opportunity to permanently block those squares.

Late Game

But Urania is not only good at creating multiple threats, she is also very effective at defending, since she can reach almost any square at any move. If the opponent is not a double builder, it will usually take many moves and only after a few domes, can the opponent effectively create a winning threat. Domes in the perimeter are terrible for Urania, but domes in the center are terrible for the opponent. The endgame is usually better for the opponent then for Urania, so Urania must be careful not to create useless perimeter threats.

Specific Matchup

Artemis

Artemis is very good at covering the whole board, so Urania’s strategies are not that effective in this matchup. This matchup is balanced in general, but if Artemis is able to build uniformly on the board, the endgame will be better for Artemis and she will be the favorite.

Domers

Doming the perimeter is very effective against Urania and these powers are especially good at doing it so Urania will have a tough task in this matchup.

Double builders

Urania will have a tough time against all of these gods since they can just play in the center and if they are able to create multiple threats, there’s nothing Urania can do. Urania plays very well against many strong powers, but double builders are her Achilles’ heel.

Charon

Urania is able to play on different sides of the board quite easily. Since Charon likes to stay close to Urania, this type of game will give a headache to Charon, who might actually lose.

Circe

This matchup is extremely difficult to play with Urania. As said, Urania likes to play on opposite sides of the board, but once she moves to the other side, the power changes to Circe and it will take at least two turns until she gets her power back. Thus, the strategy for Urania is to stay on the same side and only use the other side of the board to create winning threats, not intending to move there.

Eris

This is tricky to play because although it might look that Urania can get a quick win just by building in the corners, Eris is playing with 3 workers and it is much easier to defend and then to ruin all the progress Urania made until that point. I still believe that Urania has an upper hand in this matchup, but she must play the game calmly without rushing the win.

Hera

Urania cannot win in the perimeter so her power is severely weakened. Hera will be much better in this matchup.

Hydra

Hydra is good to cover the whole board, and by doing this, Urania has nothing to play with. Although it might not be the easiest task in the world, Hydra should still be able to win this matchup without sweating too much.

Limus

Urania is very effective against Limus and won’t have a problem winning this game.

Morpheus

Although it might not look at first, this is a balanced matchup and it is even Morpheus who might be the weaker side. Urania can create multiple threats and not even Morpheus’ blocks might be able to help him.

Pan

Pan has a different goal, but with Urania being able to reach almost every square at every move, she can build over pretty much every level 2, making it very hard for Pan to move up.

Triton

This matchup will be a real battle, but if Urania wants to have a shot at this, she should dome the squares A3, C1, C5 and E3 (the most she can) as even though they are in the perimeter, they are much more useful to Triton than to Urania.

Zeus

In this matchup, if Zeus is not the first one to create a decidable threat, he will probably lose. But Zeus should not be underestimated in this matchup since his ability to build below himself can help him create a playing area not accessible to Urania.

Conclusion

Although Urania is not good against double builders and she might not be that strong against other powers, she will be a great weapon against many strong powers such as Morpheus, Charon, Limus and Triton if she plays very well. By controlling the whole board and creating threats on multiple corners, the opponent will have to run around the board defending (and he might get tired). Moreover, it is not easy to create a winning threat so that Urania cannot block that square next. All these put together make her a power that should be a little bit afraid.

Tier ranking: A

Urania is actually less overpowered than many people think, but choosing her is usually a good idea.