Shifting Memory of Ages

Spirit Overview — Framing

Shifting Memory is the Jagged Earth Major-Power engine — an energy-rich, card-play-poor spirit whose identity is banking Moon-fed element markers to threshold Majors on demand. The design space: every Major you draft must be played at threshold, because Shifting Memory’s 2-CP ceiling means you can’t afford single-land, below-threshold Majors that the card economy accepts from other spirits.

Wiki-printed playstyle note (verbatim):

Starts with little ability to influence the board — most of what it does in that regard will come from new Power Cards. Extremely good with Major Powers and usually wants to take them early and often. Can either try sprinting towards victory with its phenomenal Energy Growth or build up towards becoming a late-game powerhouse.

The honest complexity signal: Moderate is accurate but understates the planning load. Shifting Memory has few per-turn inputs (2 CP) but each input is a big lever — a Major drafted-to-gifted, a marker banked-for-later, a Reclaim-timing call. Most mistakes are not mechanical; they’re resource-sequencing ones that compound over 3–4 turns.

Identity, restated from GodsLittleCow’s BGG guide:

Memory is a moon spirit. Moons are what fuels your furnace of elemental markers, because you want to be hitting the 2nd tier of Observe every turn.

Moon is primary; Earth is secondary (for Defend innate); Air is tertiary (threshold boost on both innates, but you can’t cheaply scale into it early).

Starting Setup

Put 2 Presence on your starting board in the highest-numbered land that is Sands or Mountain. Prepare 1 Moon, 1 Air, and 1 Earth marker (put them by your Special Rules).

Three markers at setup is the opening bankroll. Do not spend all three T1; at least one (usually Moon) should survive to T2–T3 to keep Observe L2 available when your Major lands.

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

G4 is a trap if used as a default. GodsLittleCow’s guide explicitly avoids G4 in the “Fast Major” opening; it’s for emergency play of a 6+ cost Major or late-game Major-stacking turns. Base rule of thumb: if you’re on G4 before T4, something has gone wrong upstream.

Presence Tracks

As Presence leaves each track, these values are revealed (cumulative per-turn gain):

• Energy track (8 slots): energy0 → energy1 → energy2 → energy3marker → energy4 → reclaim1E → energy5 → energy6marker
  • Translated: 0 → 1 → 2 → 3E + Prepare 1 Marker → 4 → 5E with Reclaim → 5 → 6E + Prepare 1 Marker
• Card-play track (5 slots): card1 → card2 → card2 → markersforplay → card3
  • Translated: 1 → 2 → 2 → 2 + spend markers as plays → 3

Starting income: 0 Energy, 1 Card Play. The slot-0 on energy track is energy0 — Shifting Memory has no native income from turn 1; you live off the 3 setup markers + whatever Major you hold.

The markersforplay slot on the CP track is a unique conversion: once revealed, you may spend Element Markers as card plays. This is how the late-game 4-Major turns happen — you bank 4 markers and spend them as CP on the same turn you G4 for +9 Energy.

Core Mechanics & Special Rules

Special Rule: Long Ages of Knowledge and Forgetfulness

When you would Forget a Power Card from your hand, you may instead discard it. (Max. once per Action.)

Strategic implication: Blighted-Island-triggered Forget, Event-card Forget, or any Forget from Major-gain cost becomes a Discard instead. The card cycles back via Reclaim. Shifting Memory’s Majors are essentially never-Forgotten — you draft → play → discard → Reclaim → play again. This is the mechanical reason Major-drafting is cheap for Memory: the Forget penalty that prices Majors for other spirits is a discard-cost-adjustment for you.

One hard limit: max once per Action. If two effects would Forget simultaneously (rare, usually Event-card chain), only one is redirected to discard.

Special Rule: Insights into the World’s Nature

Some of your Actions let you Prepare Element Markers, which are kept here until used. Choose the Elements freely. (I.e., you are not limited to Elements you have at the time.) Each Element Marker spent grants 1 of that Element for a single Action. (E.g., one Power use.)

Economy type: discrete single-use element tokens. Not “have an element all turn” — per-Action injection. If you spend Moon marker on Power X, only Power X sees that extra Moon; a later same-turn Power doesn’t.

• Markers never expire. They persist across turns until spent.
• Setup grants 3 markers (1 Moon, 1 Air, 1 Earth). No Turn-1 Prepare action is required to reach this baseline.
• simplemoon / simpleair / simpleearth on the Wiki template refer to the setup-marker templates; functionally they’re regular markers.

Innate: Learn the Invaders’ Tactics

• Speed: Fast · Range: 1 · Target: Invaders

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	2 Earth	Defend 2.
2	1 Air + 2 Earth	Instead, Defend 3.
3	2 Moon + 3 Air + 4 Earth	Instead, Defend 2 per card in the Invader discard pile.

L1 is the workhorse — 2 Earth is a single marker spend (or 1 drafted earth minor). L2 adds Air for +1 Defend; trivial when you’ve drafted an Air Minor. L3 scales ferociously mid-late game: at T5 with 3–4 Invader discards, it’s Defend 6–8 per cast. It’s how Shifting Memory shuts down England coastal-City ravages.

Innate: Observe the Ever-Changing World

• Speed: Fast · Range: 1 · Target: Any

Level	Thresholds	Effect
1	1 Moon	Prepare 1 Element Marker.
2	2 Moon + 1 Air	Instead, after each of the next three Actions that change which pieces are in target land, Prepare 1 Element Marker. (Any Action can trigger — not just your own.)

Observe is Shifting Memory’s element-generation engine. L1 always fires (1 Moon marker = 1 free Moon → Prepare 1 marker = net neutral, +1 insurance). L2 is the huge lever: three marker spawns from one innate cast, if the target land sees three piece-changes (Build + Ravage + teammate push → 3 markers).

Target-land selection for L2: lands where you expect multiple actions. Ravage+Build+Explore is the natural 3-hit target (if invaders present). Teammate-heavy board-shaping in a land also triggers. Dormant lands (no invaders, no dahan adjacency) are zero-yield — don’t waste L2 on them.

Unique Cards (all 4, Wiki-verified)

Boon of Ancient Memories

• 1 Energy · Slow · No Range · Any Spirit · Moon, Water, Earth, Plant
• If you target yourself, gain a Minor Power. Otherwise: Target Spirit gains a Power Card. If it’s a Major Power, they may pay 2 Energy instead of Forgetting a Power Card.

Two modes: self → Minor gain (essentially G2’s gain portion as a card play). Other-spirit → gift a card gain + Forget-avoidance clause. The Forget-avoidance rarely triggers in practice (most partners value the card-gain more than the anti-Forget) but becomes a huge lever for partners like Immense-aspect Lightning who can delay their Reclaim one turn. Most common forget-fodder for Memory’s Major-draft openings — it’s the weakest of the four Uniques but carries Water/Plant elements useful as a threshold-filler when drafted back via Reclaim.

Study the Invaders’ Fears

• 0 Energy · Fast · Range 0 · Land with 1+ Town/City · Moon, Air, Animal
• 2 Fear. Turn the top card of the Fear Deck face-up.

0-cost Fast that reveals the next Fear-card effect to the table. Its information-value scales with player count: 2P is mild planning, 4P+ can re-plan fully — GodsLittleCow’s comment that “pre-seeing the T1 fear card often equates to an extra action per player/board” lands hardest in 4P+ games. As a solo spirit, Study is good (2 Fear, threshold-relevant Moon/Air) but not load-bearing.

Share Secrets of Survival

• 0 Energy · Fast · Range 1 from Sacred Site · Any Land · Sun, Air, Earth
• Each time Dahan would be Destroyed in target land, Destroy 2 fewer Dahan. OR Gather up to 2 Dahan.
• Threshold 3 Air: You may do both.

Memory’s best Unique per GodsLittleCow. Dahan-preservation + gather, 0 cost Fast. In Ravage-heavy matchups (England, Sweden), the “2 fewer destroyed” clause is a second Defend effect layered on top of Learn’s innate. At threshold (3 Air — easily hit with any air-drafted Minor), it’s a two-effect card for one play: save Dahan + position them for counter-attacks. Sacred-site-R1 targeting means Shifting Memory’s presence placement (sacred site on starting land) determines reach; early G1 Reclaim to place presence on the starting board preserves this targeting.

Elemental Teachings

• 0 Energy · Fast · No Range · Any Spirit · Moon, Air, Earth
• Prepare 1 Element Marker. Discard up to 3 Element Markers. Target Spirit gains those Elements. (They can be any combination of Elements — the same or different.)

The element-gifting card — Memory’s multiplayer superpower. In solo it prepares a marker and does nothing else useful; in multi-spirit it hand-delivers up to 3 elements to a partner whose innate is starving. Best targets per GodsLittleCow: Serpent (wants all elements for Loci/Incarnates), Starlight (Starlight’s Seeks wants specific elements to lock), Fractured Days (element-starved at base), Lure, Finder, Earth (for late innate stacking).

Carries Moon/Air/Earth natively — all three of Memory’s own primary elements, so even the self-Prepare effect progresses your own thresholds.

Key Strategic Principles

1. Memory is a Moon spirit first, Earth second, Air third. Draft Moon-heavy Minors; Earth Minors fill Learn and give secondary innate coverage; Air is valuable but don’t chase it at the cost of Moon.
2. Every Major plays at threshold. With only 2 CP, a below-threshold single-land Major is a wasted play. Pair every Major-draft with a plan for how its threshold gets hit by T+1 (marker spend, minor-draft, or Reclaim-cycle).
3. G4 is not the opening — it’s the late-game spike. Use G2/G3 in the opening to build tracks + Major-gain. G4 arrives at T4+ when a 5–6 cost Major is in hand.
4. Hold at least 1 Moon marker at end of each turn. This makes next turn’s Observe L1 free — you cast Observe, spend the Moon-marker into it, get a new Prepare from the L1 effect. Break-even in markers, +1 elemental flexibility on the other actions.
5. Forget = Discard. Every Forget-cost Major you draft is effectively a deferred Reclaim. Don’t hesitate to pay the “Forget” to gain a Major — that card returns to hand on Reclaim turns.
6. Reclaim is a placement Growth. G1 gives Reclaim + presence; don’t think of Reclaim turns as “just card recycling” — they’re also how you position for sacred-site-R1 targeting on Share Secrets.
7. Learn L3 scales off Invader discard. Once the deck starts discarding (turn 2+), Learn L3 grows by 2 Defend per turn. At T6+ it’s often Memory’s single-biggest defensive turn.
8. The markersforplay CP slot unlocks 3+ card turns. Don’t waste it on early-game 1-marker turns; save it for the G4+markers-as-plays combo turn when you have a big Major to play.

Possible Openings

Three Rei-format opening variants drawn from GodsLittleCow’s BGG guide + the jyonker13 latentoctopus openings thread. Each is a turn-by-turn rehearsal for the first 4 turns + a T5 state audit. Pick the variant that matches your adversary + scenario before game start — don’t improvise T1. Cross-reference Deliberate Play for the per-phase checklist.

Confidence scale: 🟥 tentative · 🟨 somewhat tested · 🟩 well-tested.

Shared starting state (all openings)

Verified per si-rules-check shifting-memory-of-ages:

• 2 Presence on board: highest-numbered Sands or Mountain.
• 4 Uniques in hand: Boon of Ancient Memories (1E Slow, Moon/Water/Earth/Plant), Study the Invaders’ Fears (0E Fast, Moon/Air/Animal), Elemental Teachings (0E Fast, Moon/Air/Earth), Share Secrets of Survival (0E Fast, Sun/Air/Earth).
• 3 Element Markers prepared: 1 Moon, 1 Air, 1 Earth.
• Starting income: 0 Energy, 1 Card Play.
• Growth type “one”: pick one of G1/G2/G3/G4 per turn. G4 = +9 Energy (single-effect).

Base-deck invader phase by turn (affects Ravage-protection cards)

Growth-option decoder (T1 income branches)

G3 is the T1 special: the +2E immediate covers a 1-cost card + a 1-cost card (two Slow plays if paired with any other energy). G2 + Major-gain is GodsLittleCow’s preferred T1 branch — you pick which Major you commit to on T1 with full Minor/Major-tier information.

Element math — every played card counts

Both innates are Fast (engine spirits.json). Their thresholds check every Element you have this turn: each card played in the Spirit Phase grants its Elements from the moment it’s played, Fast or Slow (Core rulebook p.16; data/references/rules/open-questions.md Q10). So Boon of Ancient Memories (Slow) counts toward Learn and Observe on the turn you play it. Element Markers work differently, by Shifting Memory’s own special rule: a spent marker grants its Element “for a single Action”, so it counts only for the Power you spend it on.

On T1, before any marker spend:

• Hand elements if all 4 Uniques were played: Moon × 3, Air × 3, Earth × 3, Sun × 1, Water × 1, Plant × 1, Animal × 1 (engine power_cards.json). You start at 1 Card Play.
• Observe L1 (1 Moon): fires off any single Moon card — Boon, Study, or Teachings — or a Moon marker spent on it.
• Learn L1 (2 Earth): any two of Boon / Teachings / Secrets give 2 Earth with no marker. On a 1-play turn: one Earth card + 1 Earth marker spent on Learn.
• Observe L2 (2 Moon + 1 Air): Study or Teachings (each Moon + Air) + 1 Moon marker spent on Observe; or two Moon cards that include one with Air.

Don’t plan T1–T3 around Learn L3 (2 Moon + 3 Air + 4 Earth): the four Uniques together carry only 3 Earth, and you start at 1 Card Play.

Opening A — Fast Major (via G2 T1, Forget Boon) 🟨 (default)

T1 · Growth: G2 — Gain a Power Card (draft Major, Forget Boon of Ancient Memories) + Add 1 Presence on Top track (reveals slot 1: 1 E next turn).

• Rationale: Boon is the weakest Unique + its “Forget” is redirected to Discard via Special Rule, so it returns on Reclaim. Net cost: one card discarded, one Major in hand.

T1 · Play (0 Energy):

• Share Secrets of Survival (0E Fast, Sun/Air/Earth) → R1 from sacred-site land #5. Its Sun/Air/Earth count for this turn only (Elements don’t carry over); its Dahan-protection mode is dormant T1 (no Ravage until T2), so its material T1 value is the Gather mode.
• Pause-point: If the Major drafted costs 4+ and you’re unsure about T2 energy, consider G3 instead (trades Major-gain for +2E now).

T1 · Invader: Build (Setup’s Explore terrain) + Explore. No Ravage yet, so no ravage consequence for Shifting Memory this turn.

T1 end state: 0 Energy, 4 cards in hand (3 Uniques + 1 Major, Boon in discard), 3 markers (1M/1A/1E), 3 Presence (2 start + 1 from G2).

T2 · Growth: G3 — Add 1 Presence on Bottom track (reveals slot 1: 2 CP) + 2 Energy.

• Income this turn: 1E (from T1’s G2 slot reveal) + 2E (G3 immediate) = 3 Energy. CP = 2 this turn.

T2 · Play (3 Energy, 2 CP):

• The Major (if cost ≤ 3E and threshold reachable with markers). Example: a 2E Major needs 1E remaining after — pays for a fast play.
• Elemental Teachings (0E Fast, Moon/Air/Earth) → self-target Prepare + discard 3 markers to gift a partner. In solo, Prepare only (net +1 marker).
• Alternative if Major is 4+ cost: delay Major to T3, play Study the Invaders’ Fears (0E, 2 Fear) + Share Secrets (0E, R1 defend).

T2 · Invader: First Ravage (Setup’s card), then Build + Explore. Pause-point: did your T2 plays cover the Ravage land?

T2 end state: ~1 Energy banked (depends on Major cost), 2 cards in hand + Boon in discard, 3–4 markers.

T3 · Growth: G1 — Reclaim (brings Boon + played cards back) + Add Presence (Range 0, on sacred-site land).

• Income: 1E from T1 reveal + 1E from T2 reveal = 2E base this turn.

T3 · Play (2E, 2 CP):

• Major again (if applicable) — cost threshold now reachable with banked markers.
• Share Secrets or Learn-innate via Earth marker for this turn’s Ravage Defend. These stack: Secrets’ Air + Earth count all turn, so Secrets + 1 Earth marker spent on Learn gives Learn 1 Air + 2 Earth → Learn L2 (Defend 3), before the Ravage. An Earth-bearing Major played this turn also counts toward Learn, whatever its speed.
• Pause-point: Ravage has hit every turn since T2. If the Major’s effect doesn’t hit the ravage land AND you skipped Learn L1 prep, you will blight. Don’t waste the Major unless it covers the ravage.

T4 · Growth: G2 — Gain second Major (Forget Boon again via discard-redirect) + top-track slot.

T4 end state (the “fully unlocked” audit point):

• 2 Majors in the rotation.
• ~3 Energy, 2 CP baseline (with markers-for-CP slot still available).
• Innate Defend active on most ravage lands.
• 6+ markers banked across the game.

Confidence: 🟨 somewhat tested. GodsLittleCow runs this baseline; multiple variants covered in their guide for 2-cost / 3-cost / 4-cost / 5+ cost Major drafts.

Opening B — Slow Burn (reclaim-delay) 🟥

When to pick: the Major drafted on T1 is a weak T2 target (single-land, no partner synergy, threshold out of reach). Instead of forcing it, you stall one turn for a better Major.

T1 · Growth: G2 — Gain (draft Major, Forget Study the Invaders’ Fears + Boon). Add Presence Top track.

• Unusual double-forget. Boon + Study both redirect to discard via Special Rule.

T1 · Play: Share Secrets + Elemental Teachings.

T2 · Growth: G2 again — Gain Minor or Major. Add Presence Top track.

• Income: 2E (two top-track slot reveals).

T2 · Play (2E, 2 CP): Share Secrets + Teachings again; hold Majors.

T3 · Growth: G3 — Add Presence Bottom + 2E.

• Major plays now: cost ≤ 3E + 2 CP for Major + 1 Minor.

T5 · Reclaim (first Reclaim).

Trade-off: Slow Burn sacrifices T2 board impact for T3 Major selection. Good vs. adversaries where T3 ravage is survivable (base England L1–2). Bad vs Prussia (T3 ravage is already a cliff).

Opening C — Double Major 🟥 (advanced)

Pick when: 4P+ game where partners cover T2–T3 ravage; you’re the late-game closer.

T1 · G2 Top — draft Major, forget Boon. T2 · G3 Bottom — draft second Major via Boon-self-target (gains Minor, but combined with the T1 Major already in hand you have 2 big cards). T3 · G4 — +9 Energy. Play BOTH Majors if thresholds hit (expensive marker spend).

GodsLittleCow flags this as “rarely correct” — thresholding two Majors plus innates in a single turn is a multi-marker burn that leaves T4 starved. Use only when you’ve pre-drafted matching-element Majors (two Moon-based Majors, say).

Opening Decision

• Default to Opening A (Fast Major) for base England, Prussia, Sweden at L3+.
• Opening B (Slow Burn) if T1 Major-draft is poor or if adversary permits T3 ravage softening.
• Opening C (Double Major) only in 4P+ with clear partner ravage coverage and a pre-planned matching-element pair.

Card Priority Ratings

Uniques — ranked (per GodsLittleCow)

1. Share Secrets of Survival — Best card. Dahan preservation + gather at 0E Fast. Pair with any Air minor to hit 3-Air threshold (do both halves).
2. Elemental Teachings — Second best. Multiplayer superpower; solo it’s a +1 marker card.
3. Boon of Ancient Memories — Good but common Forget-fodder. Water/Plant are off-axis; its forget-avoidance clause for partners with Immense-aspect spirits is niche-valuable.
4. Study the Invaders’ Fears — Good but most often Forgotten in multiplayer to gain Majors. Its Fear-deck-preview is player-count-scaling: 2P mild, 4P+ strong.

Top 10 Minor Draft Picks (from full pool)

Top 5 Major Draft Picks (from full pool)

GodsLittleCow’s guide ranks Majors by: Moon element (colored green); multi-land effects (bolded). Their S-tier is the intersection.

Cards to Avoid (anti-synergy flagged)

Aspects (NI) — [VERIFY mechanics]

Shifting Memory has two Nature Incarnate aspects. Their JSON hasn’t been scraped yet; mechanics below are from Wiki text + community summary, flagged [VERIFY from physical aspect panel]:

Intensify — [VERIFY]

Alters the Prepare mechanic so markers stack or intensify per Prepare. Increases threshold reach at the cost of complexity. Preferred for solo/2P high-difficulty play.

Mentor — [VERIFY]

Alters the Teach/Gift mechanic — shifts more value toward partner-gifting. Preferred for 3P+ games.

Aspect JSON import pending; data/references/wiki/aspects/ currently only covers 5 aspects (Amorphous, Dark Fire, Foreboding, Madness, Reach).

Adversary Matchup Matrix

Strategy Cliff — Prussia (T2–T3)

Prussia’s T2 ravage on a land already 1-Towned is a first-blight risk. Memory’s response: T2 Major-play into that land (Trees Radiate, Sky Stretches) + Learn L1 prep. GLC: “expect 3 blight on first ravage unless a fast major saves you.”

Strategy Cliff — Sweden (T3 fear race)

Sweden punishes stalling. Memory wins ~50% of Sweden games at TL3 (fear track exhaustion) rather than board-clear. Draft Fear-heavy Majors + keep Study in play for the fear-preview.

Board / Map Configuration

Per GodsLittleCow:

Thematic: [VERIFY — board ratings from base variant only]

Dahan placement heuristic: select boards where 3 lands each have 2 Dahan, groupable in one Gather. Isolated-Dahan boards starve Share Secrets’s gather-half.

Game-Phase Strategy

Early (T1–3)

• Top-track G2 on T1 (draft Major, Forget Boon as discard-redirect).
• Bottom-track G3 on T2 (+2E, unlock 2 CP).
• G1 Reclaim on T3 (brings Boon back for re-Forget cycle).
• Target by end of T3: 1 Major in the rotation, 2 CP baseline, Learn L1 + Observe L1 firing each turn.

Mid (T4–6)

• Second Major drafted by T4 (G2 again, Forget Study or Boon).
• Learn L2 becomes the Defend backbone (1 Air + 2 Earth — easily reachable with 1 marker).
• Observe L2 whenever target-land has 3 pending actions.
• Target by end of T6: 2–3 Majors, ~5E baseline, Learn L2 reliable.

Late (T7+)

• Learn L3 scales (Defend 2 × Invader-discard-count).
• G4 for big Major-stack turns.
• markersforplay CP slot converts 4+ banked markers into card plays.
• Target by end of T9: game won on fear or board-clear; if not, Memory’s late-game Majors close.

Synergy Partners (Multiplayer)

Top-tier partners (per GLC):

1. Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island — classic pairing. Serpent wants all elements for Loci/Incarnates; Memory’s Teachings gifts them.
2. Fractured Days Split the Sky — all three Slip-tiers benefit from Memory’s element-gifts.
3. Vital Strength of the Earth — Memory solves both Earth’s pain points (energy starvation + draft diversity).
4. Immense-aspect Lightning — Boon’s “pay 2 Energy instead of Forget” clause lets Lightning delay Reclaim one full turn.
5. Thunderspeaker / Mist / Downpour / Vengeance / Shadows / Lure — all Boon-gift targets per GLC.

Support priority (what Memory wants from partners):

1. Extra card plays
2. Slow→Fast conversion
3. Proliferation (token-adding)
4. Reclaim boosts
5. Element-gifting reciprocal
6. Card-gain support
7. Energy (lowest priority — Memory is already energy-rich)

Common Mistakes

Tempo Profile

Expansion Sensitivity

• Base + JE only: plays as-designed. Secrets + Teachings + Learn L1/L2 is the core loop.
• + B&C: Study the Invaders’ Fears turns the top Fear card face-up (a Fear card, not an Event); markers used to threshold B&C Majors.
• + NI: Incarna-aspect partners become prime Teachings targets.
• Without JE: not possible — Memory is a JE spirit.
• Without NI: aspects (Intensify / Mentor) unavailable; base spirit still functional.

Stat Snapshot [VERIFY mindwanderer]

mindwanderer win rates (approximate, last fetched): solo L5 ~42%, solo L6 ~36%. 2P averaged ~52% at L5. Below-mean for a JE spirit — reflects the learning curve on marker-management + Major-threshold planning. Veterans report significantly higher rates with the Fast-Major opening.

Source Notes

• Mechanics: data/references/wiki/shifting-memory-of-ages.json (Wiki-parsed 2026-04-23).
• Strategy: GodsLittleCow BGG thread 2915319 — paraphrased; direct quotes noted inline.
• Openings: jyonker13 BGG thread 2506389 — cross-referenced.
• Wiki rulings (special-rule ambiguities): Shifting Memory of Ages Wiki page §Rulings.