Warhammer Underworlds: ‘Rivals’ Format Explained
Games Workshop explains how the new ‘Rivals’ Format for Warhammer Underworlds will work for the upcoming new season.
Warhammer Underworld’s next season ‘Harrowdeep’ is quickly approaching. With that, GW is introducing a new format that they have dubbed ‘Rivals’ as a new way to play. So what is this new format and what’s the big deal? That’s what we are here to talk about today!
The new format is a way for new players and old veterans to be a on more level playing field in terms of deckbuilding. It does this by really removing the need to create a custom deck for your warband with new preset options. So how does it work?
“It works like this: each player gets a pre-built deck, either by selecting the warband-specific cards for a particular warband or by picking one of the pre-built decks such as Silent Menace, which you can even combine with older warbands from the first few seasons of Warhammer Underworlds. You won’t have to build a deck – and because both sides now have a deck of equal power, the game will be decided by skill rather than the size of your card collection.”
That’s basically it! There are also more universal decks (which are pre-built options) on the way. We’ll see those as the new season progresses. But overall, this should be a big boon for all types of players. If you’re new to the game, you just grab a warband and you’re basically ready to play. No need to fuss with deckbuilding. Just grab the warband-specific cards for the warband you’re playing and BOOM – ready to roll.
For Veterans, this also means you’ll be able to focus more on the game play and board tactics vs worrying about if you’ve built the most optimized deck. Ideally, this means the true test of your skills will be determined by how you play and not how large your carpool is.
Personally, I like this idea a lot. It’s a great entry point for new players and it’s certainly simple to get started. Rivals seems like a natural way to teach and learn the core gameplay as well. And once you get the feel of the game it’s easy enough to expand into the “Championship” format where you build your own decks and play with your entire card pool. Hopefully this also helps stores out with league play of Underworlds, too. It’s not a long leap to go from a one-day Rivals format tourney into a league of some type.
So pick your favorite Warband, grab their cards, and start playing in the Rivals format when the new season hits!
Play the game with Rivals – build those decks later!
