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While we all wait, patiently, for Alpha (and because it looks like the stream may not have been archived) I’ll post screenshots of any cards Cory spoiled during the stream – put your requests in the comments below…
First up…
On the heels of the shocking developments regarding <<the Cost 3 Wild card that’s part of the Hex Vault competition>> 
, another cruel blow to the denizens of the Wild shard… It is with great sadness that I announce the culling of Runt 3 from Runts of the Litter. Star of GenCon. Dependable chump blocker. And such soft fur… Runt 1 and Runt 2 are devastated, inconsolable, and angry – their comrade with the conical hat is no more… The poster rabbit for Hex thrown away in the name of “game balance”. We can only hope that his agent finds a way to resurrect him and find him a role in Set 2 or Set 3, reuniting him with his litter mates.
Runts of the Litter (Old)
R.I.P. Runt 3 – you will be missed! Know that you were loved, much, much loved…
Runts of the Litter (New)
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The “Countdown to Alpha” thread on the HexTCG.com forums got me thinking…
I have first hand knowledge of one of the 3 cost cards having been significantly redesigned since it was spoiled. I figured I’d run a quick competition to give away roundtrip flights to/from HexCon! All you have to do is make a guess at:
The person who, in my opinion, gets closest to the new version of the card wins. Better be quick – you only have 2.5 days before Alpha (hopefully). And… it could be sooner if the card gets spoiled before that!
The only way to enter is to leave your guess as a reply to THIS post! Have fun!!!
EDIT: Because it’s a FAQ… There may well be more that one card that has been changed. I have a specific card in mind. So, it doesn’t matter if you’re completely right about the card you guess, you need to have guessed the card I’ve chosen!
EDIT2: Entries closed at 4:45pm PDT on 10/8/2013. Set 1 Spoiler List posted to HexTCG.com. The card I had in mind is NOT on the list… yet… As soon as CZE spoils it, I’ll announce the winner.
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So the other day I was riding the bus, and the bus driver asks me “Hey Funktion, what’s so sweet about Hex?” Then I’m like, “EVERYTHING… DUH!”
Ok, so maybe that’s not a true story (it happened on the train), but there are some pretty exciting things about Hex. One of these things happens to be my topic for today… SOCKETED CARDS (the crowd goes wild). I’m gonna give you my two cents about each of the cards and the options which I think will be particularly powerful. So lets start off by putting everything out on the table and working our way down the list.
Unfortunately, I’ve had to disable the forums temporarily. When I’m confident we can keep them spam-free, I’ll reopen them. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Colin
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Time to spoil the second card provided exclusively to Hex Vault by the fine folks at HexTCG! Cloudwatcher, the Coyotle Mage, has expanded her magic use from Wild into both Diamond and Sapphire.
As you might remember from the Comet Strike card spoiler article, Entrath started out with just 2 native magic sources: Wild and Blood. After the Hex comet smashed into the world the native races suddenly found three more shards available to them: Ruby, Sapphire, and Diamond. The flavor text on the card tells this story pretty succinctly. Cloudwatcher is one of the few cards we’ve seen with an affinity for magic outside her threshold color:
Cloudwatcher
Cloudwatcher is a 1/1 for 1 resource with a threshold of 1 Wild – nothing particularly special there! However, she has a couple of abilities available to her that suggest an affinity for both the Sapphire and the Diamond shards. Right away that tells us that we’re probably not going to see Cloudwatcher in mono-Wild decks, and instead she’ll be more likely to find use in either Wild/Sapphire or Wild/Diamond decks.
Let’s look at the synergy of Cloudwatcher in Wild/Diamond decks first. For 1 Diamond threshold and 1 resource you can exhaust Cloudwatcher and give another of your troops Steadfast (the ability to attack without becoming exhausted such that the troop would still be available to block on your opponents next turn) this turn. A key use for this ability will be to grant one of your large troops (e.g. Legionnaire of Adamanth, Ozawa, Cosmic Elder, or Jadiim) Steadfast so that they can beat on your opponent this turn but also be available to defend on your opponent’s next turn.
In Wild/Sapphire decks you can exhaust Cloudwatcher to allow you to draw a card and then discard a card at a cost of 1 resource (and assuming you have a Sapphire threshold available). This allows you to more quickly find the cards you need in your deck and discard cards that are not useful given the current board state and/or time in the game, in effect thinning your deck.
What does Cloudwatcher bring to the table in PVE?
Cloudwatcher Gear (PVE)
Stormwing Breastplate (Uncommon) allows you to pay 6 resources (1 Diamond and 1 Sapphire) to return a card from your graveyard into you hand. Clearly there is obvious synergy with the Sapphire-based ability – you can freely discard cards into your graveyard and then retrieve them later as needed. I also wonder whether or not the threshold is supposed to be Diamond or Sapphire – I’ll check with the team and post an update.
The Storm Fan (Rare) allows you to play all Diamond and Sapphire cards for 1 less resource cost. That’s pretty good resource acceleration, and allows you to potentially speed up all of your drops past Turn 1.
I hope you enjoyed both of the exclusive card spoilers we’ve been able to share! I certainly enjoyed thinking about how they could be used and sharing my thoughts with you. I’d like to thank the HexTCG folks for providing them. Hopefully they’ll be the first of many! 
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Exciting news! The HexTCG folks have given me a couple of cards to spoil exclusively on Hex Vault! I’ll spoil the first card today in this article, and follow up with another article tomorrow with the second card. First up, threshold fixing and resource acceleration!!!
#HexTCG cards to spoil!!! New resource fixing! Thank you @HexTCG @Cryptozoic
— Hex Vault (@HexVault) October 1, 2013
Before I spoil the card, let’s spend a little time talking about threshold and resources in HexTCG. It’s probably obvious to most people following the development of HexTCG that the resource system is based on five basic shards: Wild, Blood, Diamond, Sapphire, and Ruby. When you play a basic shard resource card it actually provides 2 distinct things: a threshold of the appropriate type AND a resource. This is key to understanding the resource system in HexTCG – although threshold and resource are frequently given as a package deal (i.e. basic shard resource cards), they are technically completely separate. What does that mean to me? That means that cards can potentially provide threshold but no resource, resource but no threshold, or both. In the UI, the display on the two mechanics (threshold and resources) is actually separate — two numbers that are displayed independently and can be changed independently. Time to get out of the habit of checking the numbers in the threshold symbols to calculate how many resources I have available!
Adaptable Infusion Device is an example of card that provides a permanent threshold of your choosing without increasing your available resource count. Notably, for now anyway (and definitely in Set 1), anything that provides threshold is permanent.
On the other hand, when we look at resource acceleration, cards (or actions) can provide temporary resources that are only available on the turn they are played/used [X/0] (e.g. Spectral Lotus), resources on the turn that they are played and on each subsequent turn [X/X], or permanent resources only on subsequent turns [0/X] (e.g. Surge Mechanism). Chlorophyllia is even more nuanced – you essentially get 2 Wild threshold, and a resource effect that is essentially [0/2] (no temporary resources the turn you cast Chlorophyllia, but 2 resources each turn thereafter).
OK, now that you understand threshold and resources in HexTCG, let’s look at the card! Crimson Clarity – threshold fixing and resource acceleration for Ruby:
Crimson Clarity
As an aside, and like most of the cards spoiled so far, I love the flavor text for this card…
Basically the card text says “Gain 1 Ruby threshold” (a permanent change) and “Gain 3 resources this turn” (and only this turn!), i.e. playing this card results in a net gain of 1 Ruby threshold and 1 resource. Threshold fixing and (albeit modest) resource acceleration on the same card! As an example, on Turn 2 with 1 Ruby and 1 Wild threshold and 2 resources in play, you could play Crimson Clarity and then play another troop for 3 resources. At the very start of Turn 3 you’d have 2 Ruby and 1 Wild threshold but only 2 resources available to you.
Crimson Clarity’s resource and threshold fixing obviously allows you to play cards with 2 or more Ruby threshold earlier than normal, even if you’ve only been able to play 1 Ruby basic shard resource card, e.g. Mancubus or Zoltog on Turn 3, Ash Harpy on Turn 4, Inferno on Turn 3 (assuming you’ve had 2 Ruby basic shard resources), etc. You could even get a Turn 4 Te’talca, Orc Gladiator, ahead of the curve, and likely with your opponent only having weaker troops and potentially being resource constrained! It can also smooth out bad basic shard resource draws when using Poca, The Conflagrator – after all, her charge power (Blaze Elemental) requires 2 Ruby threshold.
Crimson Clarity will probably have utility in PVP in constructed formats, especially in very aggressive decks and also decks that stray away from mono-Ruby. It’ll see even more use in limited formats, especially in decks where 2 other shards are prominent but you need to add a splash of Ruby to play a bomb and/or removal, e.g. Ragefire. Another thing – Crimson Clarity is common ensuring that we’ll see it in drafts pretty frequently.
What about Crimson Clarity in PVE? Insane resource acceleration! Let’s look at the equipment:
Crimson Clarity – PVE Gear
Crimson Copperhead (Common) reduces the cost of Crimson Clarity by 1 thereby giving you a Ruby threshold and a net gain of 2 resources the turn you play the card. Now you’re potentially getting all of the cards I described previously a turn earlier!
Lucid Gloves (Uncommon) take the temporary resource gains and make them permanent – 3 extra resources every turn, including the turn you play Crimson Clarity. Using these gloves in combination with the Crimson Copperhead, and having multiple Crimson Clarity cards in hand on Turn 1 could result in a very large and angry dragon (well, in Set 2) beating on your AI opponent by Turn 2!
I’m excited to see more threshold and resource acceleration in the game. What do you think of Crimson Clarity? Leave your comments below or on Facebook or Twitter.
That’s all for today, but tomorrow I’ll be spoiling a Coyotle Mage who has embraced the Diamond and Sapphire magic brought to Entrath by Hex… Check back soon!
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There are only 4 days left to enter our launch giveaway! Win an iPad! Or roundtrip airfare to HexCon 2014 from ANYWHERE in the world! Other prizes include HexTCG Set 1 Booster Packs and a Wii U!
What are you waiting for???
http://www.thehexvault.com/blog/giveaway/
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BossHoss has uploaded the second episode of the Hex Vault comic!
Both of the GenCon-exclusive Jadiim Sleeve giveaways are now over! The winners are:
Congratulations to both! I’ll send the codes as soon as redemptions open up in the HexTCG Beta.
There’s still time to enter our big giveaway – win an iPad! Or a trip to HexCon!