Ember-Eyed Behemoth

Spirit Overview — Framing

Wiki-printed playstyle note:

Slowly but consistently stomps its Incarna around the island, smashing Invaders. (Dahan can keep clear, unless it really gets going.) Benefits from spread-out Sacred Site, both for targeting Powers and for moving its Incarna long distances. Adding Presence at its Incarna (which can count as Presence) can make it easier to get Presence into new lands, particularly non-Jungles.

Strategic framing [VERIFY: enhance with play experience].

Starting Setup

Put 2 Presence and {{incarna|behemoth}}, Unempowered ({{incarna|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 and 0 Energy.

Growth Options (one)

Growth token reference (Wiki shorthand):

• reclaim — Reclaim all discarded Power Cards.
• gain1p / gain2p — Gain 1 or 2 Power Cards (Minor).
• addpresence1 / addpresence2 / addpresence3 — Add 1 Presence from track, Range N.
• energy1 / energy2 / energy3 — +1/+2/+3 Energy.
• card1 / card2 — +1/+2 Card Plays this turn.
• (Other tokens documented on Wiki Spirit template reference pages.)

Presence Tracks

As Presence leaves each track, these values are revealed:

• Energy track: energy0, energy1, energy2fire, energy3, earth, energy4plant, energy5fire
• Card-play track: card1, card2, card2, card3, fireX, card4

Core Mechanics & Special Rules

Special Rule

THE BEHEMOTH RISES You have an Incarna ({{incarna|behemoth}}). Once per turn, during the Spirit, Fast, or Slow phase, you may either: * Push {{incarna|behemoth}}; or * Add or Move {{incarna|behemoth}} to any of your Sacred Site on the island. UNRELENTING STRIDES On any turn that you don’t use Innate Powers, you may use The Behemoth Rises an additional time. (When you use an Innate Power, cover this Special Rule with a Reminder Marker; when you use this Special Rule, cover your Innate Power.)

Innate: SMASH, STOMP, AND FLATTEN

• Speed: slow · Range: None · Target: behemoth

(no thresholds listed in Wiki)

Unique Cards (all, Wiki-verified)

Card Priority Ratings

Uniques

No Unique cards listed.

Top 10 Minor Draft Picks (from full pool)

#	Card	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)	Why this pick
1	Animated Wrackroot	0	Slow	Moon, Fire, Plant	1 Fear . Destroy 1 Explorer . OR Add 1 Wilds.	0-cost (always affordable)
2	Savage Mawbeasts	0	Slow	Fire, Animal	If target land is a Jungle or Wetland, 1 Fear and 1 Damage.	0-cost (always affordable)
3	Sear Anger Into the Wild Lands	0	Slow	Sun, Fire, Plant	Add 1 Badlands. OR If Wilds and Invaders are present, 1 Fear and 1 Damage.	0-cost (always affordable)
4	Territorial Strife	0	Slow	Sun, Fire, Animal	3 Damage to Explorers/Towns. OR Add 1 Strife.	0-cost (always affordable)
5	Twilight Fog Brings Madness	0	Slow	Sun, Moon, Air, Water	Add 1 Strife. Push 1 Dahan . Each remaining Dahan takes 1 Damage.	0-cost (always affordable)
6	Bats Scout for Raids by Darkness	1	Slow	Moon, Air, Animal	For each [[Dahan]], 1 Damage to [[Towns]]/[[Cities]]. OR 1 [[Fear]]. [[Gather]] up to…	Slow speed matches innate
7	Call to Bloodshed	1	Slow	Sun, Fire, Animal	1 Damage per Dahan. OR Gather up to 3 Dahan .	Slow speed matches innate
8	Call to Guard	0	Fast	Sun, Air, Earth	Gather up to 1 Dahan . Then, if Dahan are present, either: Defend 1 per Dahan. OR Afte…	0-cost (always affordable)
9	Desiccating Winds	1	Slow	Fire, Air, Earth	If target land has Badlands, 1 Damage. Add 1 Badlands.	Slow speed matches innate
10	Dire Metamorphosis	1	Slow	Moon, Air, Earth, Animal	1 Fear . 1 Damage. 1 Damage to [[Dahan]]. Add 1 [[Badlands]], 1 [[Beasts]], 1 [[Disease]],…	Slow speed matches innate

Top 5 Major Draft Picks (from full pool)

#	Card	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)	Why this pick
1	Accelerated Rot	4	Slow	Sun, Water, Plant	2 Fear . 4 Damage.	Slow speed matches innate
2	Angry Bears	3	Slow	Sun, Fire, Animal	2 Fear . 2 Damage. If no Beasts are present, add 1 Beasts. Otherwise, +2 Damage, and Push …	Slow speed matches innate
3	Bombard with Boulders and Stinging Seeds	2	Slow	Air, Earth, Plant	1 Fear . 2 Damage. Add 1 Badlands.	Slow speed matches innate
4	Cleansing Floods	5	Slow	Sun, Water	4 Damage. Remove 1 Blight .	Slow speed matches innate
5	Death Falls Gently from Open Blossoms	4	Slow	Moon, Air, Plant	4 Damage. If any Invaders remain, add 1 Disease.	Slow speed matches innate

HoSI Beginner Deck Bundle — for reference only

No HoSI beginner-deck bundle for this spirit.

Cards to Avoid (anti-synergy flagged)

Key Strategic Principles

[VERIFY and enhance] — strategic principles should be derived from Wiki-verified mechanics above.

1. Use the Special Rule to its fullest (see above for exact text).
2. Element thresholds drive innate firing — see the innate tables above.
3. Suggested draft cards are Wiki-recommended; pattern-match to your matchup.

Opener Mechanics — starter reference

Starting state

• Setup: Put 2 Presence and {{incarna|behemoth}}, Unempowered ({{incarna|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 and 0 Energy.
• Starting income (from presence_energy_track[0] = energy0, presence_cardplay_track[0] = card1): 0 Energy · 1 Card Play
• Hand at start: 4 Unique Power Cards (listed below)
• Growth type: one — pick one growth option per turn

Growth options

• G1: reclaim (Reclaim all discarded+played Power Cards); gain1p (Gain 1 Power Card (Minor unless otherwise noted))
• G2: addpresence3junglepresence ((spirit-specific: addpresence3junglepresence — consult spirit panel)); addpresence0 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 0))
• G3: gain1p (Gain 1 Power Card (Minor unless otherwise noted)); addpresence1 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 1)); energy3 ((+3 Energy this turn — growth effect, not track reveal))
• G4: reclaimallfire ((spirit-specific: reclaimallfire — consult spirit panel)); empowerbehemoth ((spirit-specific: empowerbehemoth — consult spirit panel)); moveincarnabehemoth ((spirit-specific: moveincarnabehemoth — consult spirit panel))

Presence-track reveal rules: placing Presence (via a growth option with addpresence*) reveals one track slot — either the next Energy slot or the next Card-Play slot, not both. The choice determines your permanent-income trajectory from that turn onward.

Energy track

energy0 · energy1 · energy2fire · energy3 · earth · energy4plant · energy5fire — income as slots reveal: 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → earth → 4 → 5

Card-play track

card1 · card2 · card2 · card3 · fireX · card4 — CP as slots reveal: 1 → 2 → 2 → 3 → fireX → 4

Innate Powers

• SMASH, STOMP, AND FLATTEN (Speed: Slow · Range: ? · Target: behemoth)

Fast-phase element ceiling from Uniques

Fast innates resolve in Fast phase and can only see elements from Fast cards played before the innate. Slow-card elements arrive too late to feed a Fast innate. This is the element ceiling Fast plays from your Uniques alone can contribute each turn:

• Fast-phase Unique elements: (no Fast Uniques — all innate firings require drafted Fast cards)

Unique Power Cards

No Unique cards parsed.

Invader phase by turn (base deck)

Adversary escalation can shift this — check the adversary JSON for deviations (Sweden front-loads a Build; some Habsburg levels add early Builds).

Pause-point before writing T1 prose

Adversary Matchup Matrix

[VERIFY all grades] — template only; fill in per-adversary notes after play.

Strategy Cliffs — per-adversary-level shifts that change Ember-Eyed Behemoth’s math

England L5 — Buildings +1 HP

What changes: Towns become 3-HP (was 2), Cities become 4-HP (was 3). Damage-only Powers dealing 2 or 3 may no longer kill a Town/City in one go.

Mitigation for Ember-Eyed Behemoth: Stack damage from multiple plays or use downgrade Powers (Crops Wither, Tangled Trees) to soften before finishing.

England L3 — Coastal Lands build faster

What changes: England’s L3 escalation adds an extra Build in coastal lands. Ocean-adjacent spirits see compounded pressure on their home terrain.

Mitigation for Ember-Eyed Behemoth: Front-load coastal defense or disruption before T3’s first Ravage.

Brandenburg-Prussia — Cities drive Fear-per-kill (favorable swing)

What changes: BP’s escalation puts Cities on the board early, and each destroyed City dumps Fear into the pool. Damage-dealing spirits benefit from an inflated Fear curve; weaker spirits may struggle against pre-City pressure.

Mitigation for Ember-Eyed Behemoth: Aim at City-dense lands with your highest-damage plays for outsized Fear returns.

Board / Map Configuration

[VERIFY via play] — base boards A–D, Jagged Earth E–H, and thematic ratings pending per-spirit play experience.

Game-Phase Strategy

[VERIFY: needs play data].

Synergy Partners (Multiplayer)

[VERIFY: needs multi-spirit play data] — archetype-based hints from Archetype Index are the starting point.

Common Mistakes

[VERIFY: collect from play].

Tempo Profile

[VERIFY: per-round targets need playtest].

Expansion Sensitivity

• Base only: core Uniques + Innate + Special Rule functional if expansion = Base.
• + Branch & Claw: events + blight deck introduce variance.
• + Jagged Earth: Major/Minor pool deepens.
• + Nature Incarnate: additional aspects may unlock; check the aspect column above.

Per-expansion specifics [VERIFY].

Stat Snapshot

Source Notes

Chapter draft generated from Wiki data 2026-04-19. Strategic prose needs enhancement from play experience. See templates/SPIRIT_TEMPLATE.md for the full Rei-format spine.