Heart of the Wildfire

Spirit Overview — Framing

Wiki-printed playstyle note:

Starts with good offense and gets better from there, but lays down Blight as it grows. The smaller the game, the more restraint is needed to prevent tipping the island over into being completely Blighted. The Wildfire can heal the land where it is, but may benefit from other Blight removal Powers so it can add Presence to problem lands without triggering Blight cascade. Removing Blight from its own lands limits its “Firestorm” innate power, however. In the Reprint, the complexity was changed from Moderate to High

Strategic framing [VERIFY: enhance with play experience].

Starting Setup

Put 3 Presence and 2 Blight on your starting board in the highest-numbered Sands. (Blight comes from the box, not the Blight Card)

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, fire, energy1, energy2, fireplant, energy3
• Card-play track: card1, fireX, card2, card3, fireX, card4

Core Mechanics & Special Rules

Special Rule

BLAZING PRESENCE Post-Setup, after your Presence is added/moved, in the land it goes to: * For each Simplefire showing on your Presence Tracks, do 1 Damage. * If 2 Simplefire or more are showing on your Presence Tracks, add 1 Blight . * Push all Beast and any number of Dahan. If you add multiple Presence into a land at the same time, only do the above effects once. DESTRUCTIVE NATURE Blight added due to Spirit effects (Powers, Special Rules, Scenario-based Rituals, etc) does not destroy your Presence. (This includes cascades.)

Innate: FIRESTORM

• Speed: fast · Range: 0 · Target: blight

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	1 Plant	1 Damage per 2 Fire you have.
2	3 Plant	Instead, 1 Damage per Fire you have.
3	4 Fire + 2 Air	Split this Power’s Damage however desired between target land and any number of your lands with Blight.
4	7 Fire	In a land with Blight where you have Presence, Push all Dahan. Destroy all Invaders and Beast. Add 1 Blight .

Innate: THE BURNED LAND REGROWS

• Speed: slow · Range: 0 · Target: any

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	4 Fire + 1 Plant	If target land has 2 Blight or more, remove 1 Blight
2	4 Fire + 2 Plant	Instead, remove 1 Blight .
3	5 Fire + 2 Earth + 2 Plant	Remove another Blight.

Unique Cards (all, Wiki-verified)

Asphyxiating Smoke

• 2 Energy · Slow · Range 2, from your Sacred Site · Any Land · Fire, Air, Plant
• 1 Fear . Destroy 1 Town . Push 1 Dahan .

Flame’s Fury

• 0 Energy · Fast · Range No Range · Any Spirit · Sun, Fire, Plant
• Target Spirit gains 1 Energy. Target Spirit does +1 Damage with each Damage dealing Power they use this turn. (Powers which Damage multiple lands or each Invader only get 1 extra Damage total. Repeated Powers keep the +1 boost. Destroy effects don’t get any bonus.)

Flash-Fires

• 2 Energy · Slow · Range 1 · Any Land · Fire, Air

• 1 Fear . 1 Damage.

• Threshold: 2 Air — 2 Air: This Power is Fast.

Threatening Flames

• 0 Energy · Fast · Range 0 · Land with 1 or more Blight and 1 or more Invaders · Fire, Plant
• 2 Fear . Push 1 Explorer /Town per Terror Level from target land to adjacent lands without your Presence. If there are no such adjacent lands, +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):

• Asphyxiating Smoke
• Flame’s Fury
• Flash-Fires
• Threatening Flames

Top 10 Minor Draft Picks (from full pool)

#	Card	Cost	Speed	Elements	Effect (truncated)	Why this pick
1	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 air+earth+fire+plant → 17.4
2	Dry Wood Explodes in Smoldering Splinters	1	Slow	Fire, Air, Plant	You may spend 1 Energy to make this Power Fast. 2 Fear . 1 Damage.	elements air+fire+plant → 16.8
3	Animated Wrackroot	0	Slow	Moon, Fire, Plant	1 Fear . Destroy 1 Explorer . OR Add 1 Wilds.	elements fire+plant → 16.2
4	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.	elements fire+plant → 16.2
5	Lure of the Unknown	0	Fast	Moon, Fire, Air, Plant	Gather 1 Explorer /Town.	elements air+fire+plant → 16.8
6	Rouse the Trees and Stones	1	Slow	Fire, Earth, Plant	2 Damage. Push 1 Explorer .	elements earth+fire+plant → 16.8
7	Roiling Bog and Snagging Thorn	0	Fast	Moon, Fire, Water, Plant	1 Fear . Isolate. Defend 2. 1 Dahan does not participate in Ravage. (Check when ra…	elements fire+plant → 16.2
8	Purifying Flame	1	Slow	Sun, Fire, Air, Plant	1 Damage per Blight. If target land is a Mountain or Sands, you may instead Remove 1 Blig…	elements air+fire+plant → 16.8
9	Shadows of the Burning Forest	0	Slow	Moon, Fire, Plant	2 Fear . If target land is a Mountain or Jungle, Push 1 Explorer and 1 Town .	elements fire+plant → 16.2
10	The Shore Seethes with Hatred	1	Slow	Fire, Water, Earth, Plant	1 Fear . Add 1 Badlands and 1 Wilds.	elements earth+fire+plant → 16.8

Top 5 Major Draft Picks (from full pool)

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 3 Presence and 2 Blight on your starting board in the highest-numbered Sands. (Blight comes from the box, not the Blight Card)
• 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)); energy1 ((track slot showing 1 Energy))
• G2: gain1p (Gain 1 Power Card (Minor unless otherwise noted)); addpresence3 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 3))
• G3: addpresence1 (Place 1 Presence from a track (Range 1)); energy2 ((track slot showing 2 Energy)); Wildfire ((spirit-specific: Wildfire — 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 · fire · energy1 · energy2 · fireplant · energy3 — income as slots reveal: 0 → fire → 1 → 2 → fireplant → 3

Card-play track

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

Innate Powers

• FIRESTORM (Speed: Fast · Range: 0 · Target: blight)
  • L1 — 1 Plant: 1 Damage per 2 Fire you have.
  • L2 — 3 Plant: Instead, 1 Damage per Fire you have.
  • L3 — 4 Fire + 2 Air: Split this Power’s Damage however desired between target land and any number of your lands with Blight.
  • L4 — 7 Fire: In a land with Blight where you have Presence, Push all Dahan. Destroy all Invaders and Beast. Add 1 Blight .
• THE BURNED LAND REGROWS (Speed: Slow · Range: 0 · Target: any)
  • L1 — 4 Fire + 1 Plant: If target land has 2 Blight or more, remove 1 Blight
  • L2 — 4 Fire + 2 Plant: Instead, remove 1 Blight .
  • L3 — 5 Fire + 2 Earth + 2 Plant: Remove another Blight.

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, Fire ×2, Plant ×2
• Fast-phase L1 ceiling from Uniques alone is sufficient — you can fire L1 T1 without drafting (play enough Fast Uniques to meet the threshold).

Unique Power Cards

Card	Cost	Speed	Range	Target	Elements	Effect
Asphyxiating Smoke	2	Slow	2, from your Sacred Site	Any Land	fire, air, plant	1 Fear . Destroy 1 Town . Push 1 Dahan .
Flame’s Fury	0	Fast	No Range	Any Spirit	sun, fire, plant	Target Spirit gains 1 Energy. Target Spirit does +1 Damage with each Damage dealing Power they use …
Flash-Fires	2	Slow	1	Any Land	fire, air	1 Fear . 1 Damage.
Threatening Flames	0	Fast	0	Land with 1 or more Blight and 1 or more Invaders	fire, plant	2 Fear . Push 1 Explorer /Town per Terror Level from target land to adjacent lands without your Prese…

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 Heart of the Wildfire’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 Heart of the Wildfire: 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 Heart of the Wildfire: Front-load coastal defense or disruption before T3’s first Ravage.

Sweden L2+ — Fear-card effects reduced

What changes: Sweden’s escalation reduces the impact of Fear cards. Spirits that win by riding Fear cards to Terror-level flips are meaningfully slower.

Mitigation for Heart of the Wildfire: Shift from fear-rush to board-control: favor Damage/Push Majors over more Fear; accept Terror 2 flip ~2 rounds later.

Russia L3+ — Dahan under pressure + fear suppression

What changes: Russia’s L3 escalation targets Dahan directly and suppresses Fear. Spirits reliant on Dahan density (Shadows of the Dahan, Favors Called Due, Thunderspeaker synergies) lose a key engine.

Mitigation for Heart of the Wildfire: Pre-empt Dahan loss with Defend-heavy Minors (Dahan/Village-fortify cards); lean on Push/Gather Majors to offset Fear deficit.

Habsburg Mining L5+ — Explorer/Town scaling

What changes: Habsburg Mining L5+ adds extra Explorers and faster builds. Aggressive fear-rush openers can get outpaced by raw Invader accumulation.

Mitigation for Heart of the Wildfire: Favor Major Powers with mass destruction (Jungle Hungers, Cleansing Floods, etc.) over Minor-heavy drafts.

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 Heart of the Wildfire: Play Defend Powers on Dahan lands; accept loss of range-extension budget.

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 Heart of the Wildfire: 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.