Vital Strength of the Earth

Spirit Overview — Framing

Wiki-printed playstyle note:

Powerful but slow: has potent Power Cards and an excellent Energy income, but starts wtih only one card play per turn, and Growth is limited to adding one Presence per turn. Also slow to change: learning new Powers carries slightly more cost than reclaiming played Power Cards

Strategic framing [VERIFY: enhance with play experience].

Starting Setup

Put 3 Presence on your starting board: 2 in the highest-numbered Mountain, 1 in the highest-numbered Jungle.

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: energy2, energy3, energy4, energy6, energy7, energy8
• Card-play track: card1, card1, card2, card2, card3, card4

Core Mechanics & Special Rules

Special Rule

EARTH’S VITALITY Defend 3 in every land where you have Sacred Site.

Innate: GIFT OF STRENGTH

• Speed: fast · Range: None · Target: anyspirit

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	1 Sun + 2 Earth + 2 Plant	Once this turn, Target Spirit may Repeat 1 Power Card with Energy cost of 1 or less.
2	2 Sun + 3 Earth + 2 Plant	Instead, the Energy cost limit is 3 or less.
3	2 Sun + 4 Earth + 3 Plant	Instead, the Energy cost limit is 6 or less.

Unique Cards (all, Wiki-verified)

A Year of Perfect Stillness

• 3 Energy · Fast · Range 1 · Any Land · Sun, Earth
• Invaders skip all Actions in target land this turn.

Draw of the Fruitful Earth

• 1 Energy · Slow · Range 1 · Any Land · Earth, Plant, Animal
• Gather up to 2 [[Explorers]]. Gather up to 2 [[Dahan]].

Guard the Healing Land

• 3 Energy · Fast · Range 1, from your Sacred Site · Any Land · Water, Earth, Plant
• Remove 1 Blight . Defend 4.

Rituals of Destruction

• 3 Energy · Slow · Range 1, from your Sacred Site · Land with Dahan · Sun, Moon, Fire, Earth, Plant
• 2 Damage. If target land has at least 3 Dahan , +3 Damage and 2 Fear .

Card Priority Ratings

Uniques

The spirit’s own 4 Unique Power cards (always in hand; always A-tier by default — see Uniques section above for full text):

• A Year of Perfect Stillness
• Draw of the Fruitful Earth
• Guard the Healing Land
• Rituals of Destruction

Top 10 Minor Draft Picks (from full pool)

#	Card	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)	Why this pick
1	Absorb Corruption	1	Slow	Sun, Earth, Plant	Gather 1 Blight . OR Pay 1 Energy to Remove 1 Blight .	elements earth+plant+sun → 11.4
2	Carapaced Land	0	Fast	Earth, Plant, Animal	If targeting a land with Beasts, this Power has +1 Range. Defend 3.	elements earth+plant → 8.7
3	Drift Down into Slumber	0	Fast	Air, Earth, Plant	Defend 1. If target land is a Jungle or Sands, instead Defend 4.	elements earth+plant → 8.7
4	Entrap the Forces of Corruption	1	Fast	Earth, Plant, Animal	Gather up to 1 Blight . Isolate target land. When Blight is added to target land, it doesn…	elements earth+plant → 8.7
5	Dark and Tangled Woods	1	Fast	Moon, Earth, Plant	2 Fear . If target land is a Mountain or Jungle, Defend 3.	elements earth+plant → 8.7
6	Nature’s Resilience	1	Fast	Earth, Plant, Animal	Defend 6.	elements earth+plant → 8.7
7	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…	elements earth+sun → 7.5
8	Hazards Spread Across the Island	0	Fast	Fire, Air, Earth, Plant	Choose a type of token from Badlands/Beasts/Disease/Strife/Wilds that exists in an adjace…	elements earth+plant → 8.7
9	Call to Trade	1	Fast	Air, Water, Earth, Plant	You may Gather 1 Dahan . If the Terror Level is 2 or lower, Gather 1 Town and the first Ra…	elements earth+plant → 8.7
10	Renewing Boon	1	Slow	Sun, Earth, Plant	Choose a land where you and target Spirit both have Presence. In that land: Remove 1 Blig…	elements earth+plant+sun → 11.4

Top 5 Major Draft Picks (from full pool)

#	Card	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)	Why this pick
1	The Trees and Stones Speak of War	2	Fast	Sun, Earth, Plant	For each Dahan, 1 Damage and Defend 2.	elements earth+plant+sun → 11.4
2	Walls of Rock and Thorn	4	Fast	Sun, Earth, Plant	2 Damage. Defend 8. Add 1 Wilds. Isolate target land.	elements earth+plant+sun → 11.4
3	Forests of Living Obsidian	4	Slow	Sun, Fire, Earth, Plant	Add 1 Badlands. Push all Dahan. 1 Damage to each Invader. If the origin land is your Sacr…	elements earth+plant+sun → 11.4
4	Unlock the Gates of Deepest Power	4	Fast	Sun, Moon, Fire, Air, Water, Earth, Plant, Animal	Target Spirit gains a Major Power by drawing 2 and keeping 1, without having to Forget an…	elements earth+plant+sun → 11.4
5	Twisted Flowers Murmur Ultimatums	5	Slow	Sun, Moon, Air, Earth, Plant	4 Fear . Add 1 Strife. If the Terror Level is 2 or higher, Remove 2 Invaders.	elements earth+plant+sun → 11.4

HoSI Beginner Deck Bundle — for reference only

Card	Type	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)
Rouse the Trees and Stones	Minor	1	Slow	Fire, Earth, Plant	2 Damage. Push 1 Explorer .
Call to Migrate	Minor	1	Slow	Fire, Air, Animal	Gather up to 3 Dahan . Push up to 3 Dahan .
Poisoned Land	Major	3	Slow	Earth, Plant, Animal	1 Fear . 7 Damage. Add 1 Blight . Destroy all Dahan.
Devouring Ants	Minor	1	Slow	Sun, Earth, Animal	1 Fear . 1 Damage. Destroy 1 Dahan . If target land is a Jungle or Sands, +1 Damage.
Vigor of the Breaking Dawn	Major	3	Fast	Sun, Animal	2 Damage per Dahan.
Voracious Growth	Minor	1	Slow	Water, Plant	2 Damage. OR Remove 1 Blight .
Savage Mawbeasts	Minor	0	Slow	Fire, Animal	If target land is a Jungle or Wetland, 1 Fear and 1 Damage.

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 3 Presence on your starting board: 2 in the highest-numbered Mountain, 1 in the highest-numbered Jungle.
• Starting income (from presence_energy_track[0] = energy2, presence_cardplay_track[0] = card1): 2 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); addpresence2 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 2))
• G2: gain1p (Gain 1 Power Card (Minor unless otherwise noted)); addpresence0 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 0))
• G3: addpresence1 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 1)); energy2 ((track slot showing 2 Energy))

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

energy2 · energy3 · energy4 · energy6 · energy7 · energy8 — income as slots reveal: 2 → 3 → 4 → 6 → 7 → 8

Card-play track

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

Innate Powers

• GIFT OF STRENGTH (Speed: Fast · Range: ? · Target: anyspirit)
  • L1 — 1 Sun + 2 Earth + 2 Plant: Once this turn, Target Spirit may Repeat 1 Power Card with Energy cost of 1 or less.
  • L2 — 2 Sun + 3 Earth + 2 Plant: Instead, the Energy cost limit is 3 or less.
  • L3 — 2 Sun + 4 Earth + 3 Plant: Instead, the Energy cost limit is 6 or less.

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: Sun ×1, Water ×1, Earth ×2, Plant ×1
• Fast-phase L1 ceiling from Uniques alone is insufficient — need 2 Plant, Uniques give 1. L1 only fires T1 with a drafted Fast Minor providing the shortfall element(s).

Unique Power Cards

Card	Cost	Speed	Range	Target	Elements	Effect
A Year of Perfect Stillness	3	Fast	1	Any Land	sun, earth	Invaders skip all Actions in target land this turn.
Draw of the Fruitful Earth	1	Slow	1	Any Land	earth, plant, animal	Gather up to 2 [[Explorers]]. Gather up to 2 [[Dahan]].
Guard the Healing Land	3	Fast	1, from your Sacred Site	Any Land	water, earth, plant	Remove 1 Blight . Defend 4.
Rituals of Destruction	3	Slow	1, from your Sacred Site	Land with Dahan	sun, moon, fire, earth, plant	2 Damage. If target land has at least 3 Dahan , +3 Damage and 2 Fear .

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 Vital Strength of the Earth’s math

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 Vital Strength of the Earth: Front-load coastal defense or disruption before T3’s first Ravage.

France (Plantation) — Dahan capture threatens your Dahan engine

What changes: France’s plantation rules convert Dahan to colonists, and Invaders occupy lands with Dahan. Spirits whose innate/card math counts on Dahan density (Shadows-of-the-Dahan, Favors, Thunderspeaker) are downgraded.

Mitigation for Vital Strength of the Earth: Play Defend Powers on Dahan lands; accept loss of range-extension budget.

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.