Dragon Worship Strategy Guide
The Lizard Cult serves the Great Dragon, converting the woodland to their ancient faith. They transform enemy buildings into sacred gardens and perform ritual sacrifices to gain power. As a religious movement, they thrive on being outcasts and grow stronger through persecution.
The Lizard Cult grows stronger when other factions rule more clearings than they do. This outcast status provides additional actions and abilities, making them a unique comeback faction that benefits from being behind.
Your power depends on how many clearings you rule compared to the most dominant faction. The fewer clearings you rule, the more actions you get during your turn.
Unlike other factions, the Lizard Cult becomes more powerful when persecuted. Use this to your advantage:
Strategy: Embrace your underdog status to fuel your religious expansion!
Gardens are your primary method of territorial control and point generation. You create gardens by converting enemy buildings, spreading your faith across the woodland.
Convert: Enemy buildings in fox clearings
Benefit: Recruit warriors, gain cards
Strategy: Target Marquise sawmills for maximum impact
Convert: Enemy buildings in rabbit clearings
Benefit: Draw cards, ritual preparation
Strategy: Essential for maintaining card flow
Convert: Enemy buildings in mouse clearings
Benefit: Score points, ritual power
Strategy: Focus on these for victory points
Rituals are powerful one-time effects that define your strategy. Choose rituals that complement your current board position and outcast status.
Effect: Convert enemy building to garden
Cost: Discard matching suit card
Use: Your primary expansion tool
Target: High-value enemy buildings first
Effect: Recruit warriors to gardens
Cost: Discard cards matching garden suits
Use: Build military presence
Timing: After establishing gardens
Effect: Move and battle with same action
Cost: Discard bird card
Use: Aggressive expansion
Best: When vengeful or lost souls
Effect: Score points for gardens
Cost: Discard multiple cards
Use: Victory point generation
Timing: Mid-to-late game scoring
Reveal Rituals: Draw ritual cards based on outcast status
Craft: Craft items at gardens (optional)
Strategy: More ritual cards when outcast - plan combinations
Actions: 2 actions + bonuses from outcast status
Score: Gain points based on gardens and rituals performed
Draw Cards: Draw cards equal to revealed rituals
Discard: Discard down to hand limit
Don't rush to establish territory early. Let other factions build up while you:
Goal: Reach Lost Souls or Vengeful status by turn 3
Choose your first garden conversions strategically:
Timing: Convert when you have 3+ warriors in the clearing
Plan ritual combinations for maximum efficiency:
Card Management: Keep cards matching target building suits
Resist the urge to compete territorially in the early game. The Lizard Cult is designed to be weak initially and gain power through persecution. Focus on positioning and ritual preparation rather than immediate territorial gains.
With 2-3 gardens established, focus on strategic expansion:
Goal: 4-5 gardens by turn 6 for sustainable engine
Use your outcast bonuses for maximum impact:
Strategy: Mass conversions during high outcast status
Begin military operations to support your faith:
With established gardens, focus on point generation:
Target: Reach 30 points through ritual scoring
Other factions will recognize you as a threat:
Adapt your strategy based on board state:
The Lizard Cult excels at comeback victories. Even when seemingly defeated, powerful ritual combinations can quickly swing the game. Always look for opportunities to leverage your outcast status for maximum impact.
Don't try to match other factions territorially early. Embrace being an outcast for the action economy and ritual bonuses it provides.
Not all buildings are worth converting. Prioritize high-impact structures like sawmills and roosts over low-value targets.
Don't perform rituals just because you can. Plan combinations and timing for maximum strategic impact rather than immediate gratification.
Gardens without warriors are easy targets. Always maintain adequate defenses at your most important conversion sites.
Strategy: Target their sawmills and workshops for conversion
Timing: Convert when they're building, not recruiting
Key: Their buildings provide excellent garden locations
Strategy: Convert roosts to trigger their turmoil
Timing: Target roosts when their Decree is bloated
Key: Force them into unsustainable expansion patterns
Strategy: Convert buildings with sympathy tokens
Benefit: Remove sympathy while gaining gardens
Key: Disrupt their engine while building yours
Strategy: Generally ignore unless they're winning
Interaction: They can't convert your gardens easily
Key: Focus on building-based factions instead