Ember-Eyed Behemoth

Spirit Overview — Framing

Behemoth is a Fire-locked Incarna spirit — one of four Nature Incarnate spirits that field a named physical piece (the Behemoth) that walks the island delivering damage on the Smash, Stomp, and Flatten innate. Everything keys off Fire + Earth thresholds, and the Empowerment mechanic (G4, max once per game) is the central power spike.

Wiki-printed playstyle note:

Aggro Incarna spirit — flexible placement, Fire-scaling damage, Incarna movement via sacred-site teleport. High offense, low defense.

Identity capture (jyonker13, BGG):

Perhaps the most flexible and challenging Aggro Spirit the game has to offer.

The Fire-lock: Behemoth’s opening lives or dies on hitting 2 Fire + 1 Earth by end of T1 to unlock Smash L1 (2 Damage). Without a Fire Minor drafted or a Fire-Unique played, the innate lies dormant and Behemoth falls a turn behind.

Complexity signal: Moderate — 4 Uniques, 1 innate with 4 tiers, 2 Special Rules. But the Incarna-movement planning adds decision-load: every sacred site is a Behemoth-teleport target, so sacred-site placement is a damage-targeting decision.

Starting Setup

Put 2 Presence and {Behemoth, Unempowered side up} in the highest-numbered Wetland on your starting board that is adjacent to any Jungle. You start with your 4 Unique Power Cards.

Behemoth the incarna piece sits on that starting Wetland. Empowerment happens later via G4.

Growth Options (growthtype: “one” — pick one per turn)

G4 is the transformational turn. Empowers Behemoth (unlocks the “you may Repeat Smash once each turn” clause) + reclaims all Fire cards + moves Behemoth to any sacred site.

G3’s “discard-fire-power” cost: you must discard one Fire-element Power card from hand to take the +3E. Plan Fire-card selection T1–T2 around this constraint.

Presence Tracks

• Energy track (7 slots): energy0 → energy1 → energy2fire → energy3 → earth → energy4plant → energy5fire
  • 0E → 1E → 2E + Fire marker → 3E → +Earth marker → 4E + Plant marker → 5E + Fire marker
• Card-play track (6 slots): card1 → card2 → card2 → card3 → fireX → card4
  • 1 CP → 2 CP → 2 CP → 3 CP → Fire scaling → 4 CP

Starting income: 0 Energy, 1 Card Play.

Core Mechanics & Special Rules

Special Rule: The Behemoth Rises

You have an Incarna (Behemoth). Once per turn, during the Spirit, Fast, or Slow phase, you may either:

• Push Behemoth; or
• Add or Move Behemoth to any of your Sacred Sites on the island.

Free sacred-site teleport per turn. Every sacred site is a valid Smash target as long as you can move Behemoth there.

Special Rule: Unrelenting Strides

On any turn that you don’t use Innate Powers, you may use The Behemoth Rises an additional time.

On innate-idle turns, double the Incarna movement. Useful for T1–T2 pre-positioning before the Fire-element threshold is online.

Innate: Smash, Stomp, and Flatten

• Speed: Slow · Range: — · Target: Behemoth (the incarna land)

Text: If Behemoth is Empowered, you may Repeat this Power once each turn.

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	2 Fire + 1 Earth	2 Damage.
2	3 Fire + 1 Earth + 1 Plant	1 Damage. Push 1 Dahan.
3	4 Fire + 2 Earth + 1 Plant	1 Fear. 1 Damage.
4	5 Fire + 2 Earth + 2 Plant	2 Damage. 2 Damage to Dahan.

Cumulative: L1+L2+L3+L4 = 2+1+1+2 = 6 Damage + 1 Fear + Push Dahan + 2 Dahan damage. Empowered Repeat = 12 Damage per round of play. The Repeat clause makes G4 the single biggest turn of a Behemoth game.

Unique Cards (all 4, Wiki-verified)

Blazing Intimidation

• 2 Energy · Fast · Range 1 · Any Land · Fire, Plant, Animal
• 1 Fear. Push up to 2 Invaders.

Fast push + Fear; Fire + Plant for innate thresholds. Repositioning tool before Smash cycles.

Surging Lahar

• 2 Energy · Slow · Range 1 from your Sacred Site · Any Land · Fire, Water, Earth
• Add 1 Badlands. 1 Damage to each Invader per Badlands in target land.

Badlands-adder + Badlands-scaling damage. 1 Badlands → 1 damage per Invader; 2 Badlands → 2 damage per Invader. Pairs with Behemoth’s Smash-scaling pattern.

Exaltation of Grasping Roots

• 0 Energy · Slow · No Range · Any Spirit · Moon, Fire, Earth, Plant
• Target Spirit gains 1 Power Card. Forget a Power Card. If it’s a Major Power, target Spirit may pay 2 Energy instead of Forgetting a Power Card.

Ally-gift; 0E Slow. Self-target gives +1 card gain (useful on card-light turns). Elements cover Earth + Plant for innate.

Terrifying Rampage

• 1 Energy · Fast · Range 1 · Any Land · Moon, Fire, Earth
• Push 1 Explorer/Town. 1 Fear per Presence of yours adjacent to target land.

Presence-scaled Fear. Fire + Earth for innate thresholds. Note: “useless T1 — no triggers and no Energy” (latentoctopus warning).

Key Strategic Principles

1. Fire > Earth > Plant in draft priority. Every Smash tier needs Fire first.
2. Don’t play Terrifying Rampage T1. Useless without adjacent presence.
3. G4 is the power spike. Plan the Empowerment turn on T3–T4 — that’s the spike moment.
4. Behemoth teleports to sacred sites. Sacred-site placement = Smash target selection.
5. Bottom track first. Skip top-track Energy — 3 CP is the goal.
6. Keep Fire+Plant cards in hand T2 for next-turn L2 threshold.
7. Hold Major in hand on non-Fire turns for the right Fire-innate-unlock turn.

Possible Openings

Shared starting state

• 2 Presence + Behemoth (Unempowered) on starting Wetland adjacent to Jungle.
• 4 Uniques in hand: Blazing Intimidation (2E Fast, Fire/Plant/Animal), Surging Lahar (2E Slow, Fire/Water/Earth), Exaltation of Grasping Roots (0E Slow, Moon/Fire/Earth/Plant), Terrifying Rampage (1E Fast, Moon/Fire/Earth).
• Starting income: 0 Energy, 1 Card Play.

Opening A — Standard (Early Badlands + Innate lock-on) 🟨 (default)

From latentoctopus Opening 1.

T1 · Growth: G3 bottom — Gain 1 Minor (Fire/Earth priority) + Presence (R1) + +3E (discard a Fire card as cost).

• Income: 3E from G3.

T1 · Play (3E, 1 CP — but 4 plays avail from track): unlock Smash L1 via 2 Fire + 1 Earth.

• Preferred: Surging Lahar + Exaltation of Grasping Roots (if a valid Lahar target exists). Covers Fire+Earth+Moon+Plant.
• Alternative: Blazing Intimidation + Exaltation of Grasping Roots. Covers Fire+Earth+Plant.
• Pause-point: Terrifying Rampage is useless T1; don’t pick.

T2 · Growth: G2 top — Add Presence (R3 Jungle-presence) + R0. T2 · Play: 2 cards — may unlock Innate L2 (3 Fire + 1 Earth + 1 Plant) depending on drafts.

T3 · Growth: G4 — Reclaim-all-Fire + Empower Behemoth + Move Behemoth.

• This is the transformational turn. Every Fire card returns to hand; Behemoth becomes Empowered (Smash now Repeats).

T3 · Play (income + G4-reclaimed hand): Play 2 cards. Smash fires once + Repeats once = 4 Damage baseline.

T4 · Growth: G2 bottom — reach 3 CP for future turns.

• Even without a Fire-element card this turn, prioritize 3 CP.

T4 end state (audit):

• Behemoth Empowered; Smash firing twice per turn.
• 3 CP baseline.
• Fire + Plant cards staged in hand for L2+ thresholds.

Confidence: 🟨 latentoctopus primary.

Opening B — Early Major 🟥

From Opening 2.

T1 · Growth: G2 top — Add Presence; start 2E / 4 cards / 4 plays. T1 · Play: Surging Lahar (unlocks Innate via Fire+Earth).

T2 · Growth: G3 bottom (discard/gain Minor or Major). T2 · Play: 2 cards. “If the Major does not have Fire element, keep it in hand and play the other two cards to unlock your Innate level 2.”

T3 · Branch:

• Fire-Major route: G4, Empower Behemoth, play 2.
• Non-Fire-Major route: G3 top, gain Major from discard, play both Majors.

T4 · Branch:

• Fire route: G3 top.
• Non-Fire route: G4 Empower.

The Fire-element check on the drafted Major is the central pivot.

Opening Decision

• Default Opening A — reliable across most matchups.
• Opening B when the Major draft lands with Fire or Moon elements; riskier.

Card Priority Ratings

Uniques — Behemoth-specific ranking

1. Surging Lahar — Badlands engine + Fire/Earth threshold.
2. Exaltation of Grasping Roots — 0E flex + ally-gift + four primary elements.
3. Blazing Intimidation — Fast push; Fire/Plant.
4. Terrifying Rampage — situational; presence-scaled Fear.

Top 10 Minor Draft Picks (Fire > Earth > Plant)

Top 5 Major Draft Picks

Cards to Avoid

Adversary Matchup Matrix

Board / Map Configuration

[VERIFY — latentoctopus no per-board ratings]. Heuristic: boards with Mountains/Sands adjacent to Wetlands reward Lahar’s Badlands scaling. Board E/F have good terrain mix.

Game-Phase Strategy

Early (T1–3)

• T1: Surging Lahar / Blazing Intimidation to unlock Smash L1.
• T2: stack Fire + Plant cards in hand for L2.
• T3: G4 Empowerment — the power spike.

Mid (T4–6)

• Empowered Smash firing twice per turn.
• 3 CP baseline.
• Major integration (Opening B variant).

Late (T7+)

• Smash L2/L3/L4 cycle (6+ damage per round).
• Volcanic/Pyroclastic Major for board-wide closes.

Synergy Partners (Multiplayer)

• Badlands/Blight-tolerant partners — Wildfire, Volcano.
• Defense partners — cover Behemoth’s ravage lands.
• Fire-element donors — Lightning, Wildfire (via repeat of Fire Minors).

Common Mistakes

Tempo Profile

Source Notes

• Mechanics: data/references/wiki/ember-eyed-behemoth.json (Wiki-parsed 2026-04-23).
• Openings: latentoctopus Opening 1 + Opening 2.
• Note: No Rei guide; no BGG-canonical opener thread. Strategic framing thin compared to older spirits.