QUICK TALK: UNITY PRISM

I want to talk a bit about a specific card today. It’s the kind of topic that would normally work better as a short video, but I no longer have the resources to make videos. And honestly, speaking in Vietnamese and then subtitling in English never quite captures my ideas the way I want. So instead, here it is in blog form.

UNITY PRISM

Unity Prism is a fairly straightforward card, but there is one question that matters more than anything else:

On the first turn, do you play it, or do you discard it for 3 amber?

Rule of thumb: As always, there are situational exceptions, but let’s talk in general terms.

My answer: I almost always play it.

Gaining 3 amber from a single card on turn one has historically been a strong opener in Keyforge. Cards like Commune or Eureka! show how valuable that can be.

So why not take the amber?

Because the game has changed.

These days, gaining 3 amber from one card is actually very common. And in this set (and others), there are tons of ways for your opponent to make you lose that 3 amber. If that happens, your “big value” turn is instantly neutralized. Meanwhile, you could have played a creature and gained actual tempo—(another debate about playing creature first turn is always better, and something I discussed in Vietnamese but haven’t translated into English yet.)

What you get from playing Unity Prism on turn one

In case you are not familiar with it: Unity Prism bypasses the first-turn rule and lets you play three additional cards of any house, instead of the usual one.

1. You develop a board immediately.

   A real board, on turn one, is hard for the opponent to answer—especially as the second player. Many PV creatures are quite solid if they stick. If they survive, you have stronger options next turn.

   
   

2. You effectively “run” up to five cards on turn one.

   Unity Prism itself + the three extra cards you play + the one card you filter with Prophecy.This accelerates your deck and lets you filter it better.

   
   

3. You gain whatever extra value those cards produce.Archive, amber pips, card draw,—anything you play is potential tempo.

   
   

4. You immediately pressure your opponent.

   On turn one, the second player usually cannot answer multiple threats. A wide board is much more impactful than a floating +3 amber.

   
   

For all these reasons, the tempo from playing Unity Prism is significantly higher than simply taking the 3 amber.

One day, if Ghost Galaxy prints a card like Unity Prism but giving you 6 amber so you can threaten check on turn one, then maybe discarding would be the stronger play. And honestly, that doesn’t feel impossible for them to design such a card.

Verdict

Play Unity Prism on the first turn.