The Basics

Starting Stats
Each avatar starts with:

• 1 attack
• 1 defense
• 1 damage bonus
• 8 health

Each avatar gets at least one stat choice along with their starting stats, and no more than three stat choices. A stat option is a choice for either 1 attack, 1 defense, or 2 health. Even though you may have more stat options, during creation you are limited to choosing health 1 time, and attack or defense 2 times. This means that an avatar cannot have more than 3 for either attack or defense, or more than 11 health. Also, the gender and class choices for your avatar do not affect its stats in any way. Let's move on the special skills of each avatar.

The Races and Their Skills

Human

1. Exert this avatar and pay 3 power -> Your units my raid from a quest an additional time this turn. +1 health, 3 stat options.
2. You get +1 Hand size. 3 stat options.
3. At the start of your turn, ready this avatar. +1 health, 1 stat option.

Dark Elf

1. Exert this avatar and pay 3 power -> An opponent discards a card at random. 3 stat options.
2. You begin the game with +2 Shadow faction. 3 stat options.
3. Each time an opposing unit is destroyed in combat against this avatar, heal 1 damage on this avatar. 1 stat option.

Wood Elf

1. This avatar gets +1 damage bonus for each of your exerted abilities. +1 health, 2 stat options.
2. You begin the game with +2 Light faction. 3 stat options.
3. At the beginning of your main phase, you get +1 power for each quest where you have at least one level token. +1 health, 1 stat option.

Gnome

1. Exert this avatar -> Exert a unit. +1 health, 3 stat options
2. Exert this avatar and pay 1 power -> Draw a card. +1 health, 2 stat options.
3. At the start of your quest phase, you may destroy one of your abilities. If you do, prevent all combat until the end of the phase. 3 stat options.

Dwarf

1. Exert this avatar -> You get +1 total defense from each opposing combatant. 3 stat options.
2. Exert this avatar -> All opposing combatants get a -1 damage bonus. +1 health, 2 stat options.
3. Exert this avatar and pay 2 power -> Ready all units you control at a quest. 2 stat options.

Ogre

1. Exert this avatar -> You get +1 total attack for each opposing combatant. 3 stat options.
2. Exert this avatar and deal 2 damage to it -> Deal 1 damage to all opposing combatants. 2 stat options.
3. Each time this avatar loses a combat against a unit, deal 1 damage to an opposing combatant. 2 stat options.

The Starter Avatars

The starter avatars all have stats and skills that you can replicate on custom avatars. Terin, the fighter, is a Human with skill 1, choosing one of each stat to supplement. Karlemayn, the mage, is a Gnome with skill 2, with 2 attack and 1 defense chosen as the extra stats. Eluviel, the priest, is a Dark Elf with skill 1, and one of each stat. Cyndra, the scout, is a Wood Elf with skill 1 and 2 extra points in attack.

Discussion About The Avatars

Human

Exert this avatar and pay 3 power -> Your units my raid from a quest an additional time this turn. +1 health, 3 stat options.

Skill 1 has the maximum stat benefits, but its special skill has limited usefulness. To take full advantage of this skill, you have a lot of units/tactics that you can exert to carry on multiple successful attacks. Further, the Fippy Darkpaw unit has the same ability at only 2 power cost, and Fippy readies himself in addition to being able to raid again. Finally, exerting yourself is always a danger when playing against a deck with direct attack abilities or items. Thus, the special ability is situational even when you have a unit-based deck suited for multiple attacks a round.

You get +1 Hand size. 3 stat options.

Skill 2 has good stat choices and a useful passive skill. This skill is useful for decks with cards that allow you to draw for more cards or search for cards from your deck/discard pile, or for decks that have a lot of tactics. However, having a smaller hand is not that much of a disadvantage as several cards allow you to play from the discard pile. This avatar seems most useful for priest and mage decks, as priests have abilities and quests that allow you to draw more cards, while mages have two items that allow you to draw cards.

At the start of your turn, ready this avatar. +1 health, 1 stat option.

Skill 3 is limited to only one stat choice and a poor skill. Its ability is passive, but only really comes into play if your avatar is exerted due to an opponent's quest or ability, or if you had to defend yourself. Even when you do ready yourself, you only will gain at most 2 attack or 1 damage bonus due to the choice of only one additional stat. Thus, because of its low usefulness and stats, other custom avatar choices are better.

Dark Elf

Exert this avatar and pay 3 power -> An opponent discards a card at random. 3 stat options.

Skill 1 has good stat choices, but other skills are better. While making your opponent discard a card is not a bad skill, there are three main drawbacks: the high power cost to use this ability, the requirement that you exert your avatar, and the random nature of the ability. Although a random discard is better than the opponent choosing which card they must discard, there's no guarantee that it will affect your opponent's strategy at all. If your opponent has a well made deck, it may not do much at all. Further, the mage item Cap of Woven Whispers allows you to select the card at the same power cost, with the added bonus of seeing your opponent's hand. Despite the limitations, the ability to frustrate an opponent by discarding a card they need is still useful in longer fights, but you may be better off just adding a Rabid Hound to a shadow deck or a Cap of Woven Whispers to a mage deck instead of choosing this avatar.

You begin the game with +2 Shadow faction. 3 stat options.

Skill 2 has good stat choices, and a useful, although bland special skill. At best, this will allow you to reach Shadow status one or two turns early. While there are good shadow bonuses, a shadow deck will generally be filled with enough gnolls and orcs not to worry too much about faction.

Each time an opposing unit is destroyed in combat against this avatar, heal 1 damage on this avatar. 1 stat option.

Skill 3 has only one stat choice, but a very useful passive skill. Tactics could overcome this avatar's low stats. A mage deck or a scout deck would take the biggest advantage of this skill with their unit-damaging abilities. Decks aimed at direct attacks or decks with few units would negate the usefulness of this avatar's special skill, so watch out for those mages that rely on Shock of Fire and Sunstrike, or opposing Scouts or Fighters trying to poke your life away.

Wood Elf

This avatar gets +1 damage bonus for each of your exerted abilities. +1 health, 2 stat options.

Skill 1 has decent stat benefits, and an interested but situation skill. This skill is only useful for an attacking-based avatar, although it could situationally be used in defense if your opponent launches a weak attack. In order to use this skill, you need to have abilities which you can exert or use to defend if attacked. Getting abilities with defense on them is not difficult, but this means that you have to balance your power troubles early on if you or your opponent are not questing often. Further, disables and pummels can disrupt this strategy.

You begin the game with +2 Light faction. 3 stat options.

Skill 2 is just the flip side of a Dark elf with skill 2. The same comments generally apply there as here, although of course you will be filled more with dwarfs and barbarians.

At the beginning of your main phase, you get +1 power for each quest where you have at least one level token. +1 health, 1 stat option.

Skill 3 has limited stats, but a very powerful skill. To take advantage of the skill, the deck has to have enough abilities to be played often. In addition, the deck has to prevent the opponent from completing quests too quickly. A mage deck is the logical fit for this kind of avatar, as they have many high cost cards that could maximize the power bonuses of this avatar.

Gnome

Exert this avatar -> Exert a unit. +1 health, 3 stat options

Skill 1 has the maximum stat benefits and a useful skill. By exerting your avatar, you get to Outwit an opponent. Unlike other options, no power is required, making this skill a bit more flexible than others. Unit-based decks would gain the greatest benefit, as they would defend your exerted avatar and be able to continually destroy your opponents units when needed. Like Outwit, it would also help against protectors or to prevent certain mobs from using their special abilities. Even if you don't use this skill, the stats are still good. So, although this skill is not special or unique, having an Outwit ability that you can call upon at any time for 0 power along with nice stats makes this a decent, well-rounded avatar.

Exert this avatar and pay 1 power -> Draw a card. +1 health, 2 stat options.

Skill 2 has decent stat choices and a useful skill. During those times when you know you have the card you need coming up in your deck, paying just one power to get it can be a great help. While there are other options to draw or look for the cards you want, this skill is very comparable power-wise and does not require you to discard any cards. So, although you have to be careful when using this ability, its general utility is high.

At the start of your quest phase, you may destroy one of your abilities. If you do, prevent all combat until the end of the phase. 3 stat options.

Skill 3 has good stats and a very specialized skill. This avatar is meant for questing, as its skill only prevents combat during its quest phase, and in a priest deck can nullify many of your opponent's strategies. However, it's not without its drawbacks. First, you have to have enough abilities to destroy in the first place. This means that your deck has to be specialized with a combination of lower power abilities that also offer slow questing, along with few units. Additionally, you probably will need several rares and uncommons to take full advantage of the combinations needed for the full benefit of this avatar's skill. Also, even when you do prevent combat during your quest phase, protectors still reduce the quest level of your abilities. Still, if you can pull it all off, it can form the core of a very interesting deck.

Dwarf

Exert this avatar -> You get +1 total defense from each opposing combatant. 3 stat options.

Skill 1 has good stats and a mediocre skill. When being attacked, instead of choosing to defend normally, you can choose to exert this avatar to gain one attack for every opposing combatant. The only time you're going to get more than one opposing combatant is if you're being zerged by units. Thus, this ability is almost useless when facing a deck aimed at attacking your avatar directly, because you can already add one to your defense at least. Further, since most decks have units they can use for defense as decoys, you can simply avoid having to use this ability very often. And, if you are getting attacked often, it's difficult to say that your ability to defend well is going to win the game, unless it's a very close game. Thus, the overall usefulness of this avatar is on the lower scale.

Exert this avatar -> All opposing combatants get a -1 damage bonus. +1 health, 2 stat options.

Skill 2 has decent stats, but its skill has similar problems as a dwarf with skill one. If you have to use this skill at all, it means that you have lost or tied in combat. You're reducing your damage intake by 1, and you're taking at least 1 damage already, if not more. Further, you have to have your avatar ready to do this, so multiple attacks will simply overwhelm your avatar. Finally, it doesn't affect Tactic-based damage bonuses. All in all, this is a poor skill for an avatar to have.

Exert this avatar and pay 2 power -> Ready all units you control at a quest. 2 stat options.

Skill 3 has okay stats and a useful skill. This skill is most beneficial in a unit-based deck and especially nice with a Fippy Darkpaw or the fighter quest Chilled to the Bone. Even if you don't have the ability to attack twice, being able to ready your units is useful to deal damage defensively against quest-based decks after you've already attacked, or to prevent allow your units any defense against an opponent's raid. Further, this skill is not replicated by many cards; Kylan O'Danos has the closest similarity.

Ogre

Exert this avatar -> You get +1 total attack for each opposing combatant. 3 stat options.

Skill 1 has good stats and an okay skill. For a questing build, or if just trying to clear out units, it can be useful to get more attack. Since attack for avatars is a bit more difficult to get than defense for most decks (as tactics are about equal, and as defense is on many items and most abilities, whereas attack is only on up to three items), this skill is slightly more useful than the similar dwarf-defense skill. However, if you're not facing many units, then this skill loses its usefulness. In any case, there are better skills available with similar stats.

Exert this avatar and deal 2 damage to it -> Deal 1 damage to all opposing combatants. 2 stat options.

Skill 2 has decent stats with a very situational skill. Because you have to sacrifice 2 health and exert it, this mechanism can only be used so many times per match, if at all. Coupled with the fact that you have only average stats, and you may get run over. Since there are quite a few other unit clearing options that have less drawbacks, my advice is to avoid this avatar unless you can afford to fill your deck with multiple healing options.

Each time this avatar loses a combat against a unit, deal 1 damage to an opposing combatant. 2 stat options.

Skill 3 has decent stats and a very useful skill. The skill is exceptional against units, but useless against avatars. The damage shield that you get from this avatar gives you control over which unit to damage and applies before your opponent adds his damage bonus - thus often disrupting your opponent's attack. Further, this ability acts both on offense and defense. Since this skill is useless against opposing avatars, however, you will have to make sure that you have alternate methods of dealing with them. You also have to be careful not to be too reckless with throwing your avatar around, but otherwise this makes for the core of an effective questing deck.

Conclusion

The avatar is one of the most important parts to your deck, so choose carefully! When you're making your deck, you want to make sure that you have synergy between your avatar and the rest of your cards. Although I offered my own advice, I'm sure there's creative people that can think outside the box and find different, interesting ways to use these avatars. I welcome any comments, rants, or criticisms. Have fun making your own custom avatar and deck!