Artifact Guide

Deck-Dota! Artifact Guide is a detailed collection of tips for this card game based on the world of Dota. Here, you will learn how to choose cards for your deck, which figures are the strongest, and, of course, how to win.

Last update: 07 December 2018

The Artifact is a rather complicated and complex card game and one of its main modes is draft. This mode requires good knowledge of the cards and the ability to stack the deck skillfully. A bit of luck may also be a key factor here. In this guide you will find the most important rules that you should follow when completing a deck. You will get to know the strongest cards of each color, how many colors you should choose and what to follow when selecting your heroes. You won't win every draft, but you may definitely increase your chances of winning.

This guide also includes information about Constructed mode. Here you will find ready-made tournament decks and find out what cheaper equivalents you can use to replace the most expensive spells and Deck Heroes.

Is Artifact a Pay2Win title?
How much does Artifact cost? What do you get with the basic game set?
Is it possible to earn money while playing Artifact?

Is Artifact a Pay2Win title?

Yes and no. It all depends on the game mode you want to focus on. In the draft mode, the cards you have do not matter at all. All players play with decks folded from completely random sets, in which they can find every available card.

Constructed mode can be considered as a "The Pay2Win mode". It consists in playing with decks composed of your collection of cards. You build this collection by buying random boosters or cards selected on your own on the Steam market. In Artifact, some cards are much stronger than others, so if you have them, you gain a huge advantage. On the other hand, thanks to the Steam market, nothing stands in the way of buying one of the best tournament decks from the very beginning. Cards can't become stronger anymore, so by making such a purchase you are automatically at the highest possible level.

How much does Artifact cost? What do you get with the basic game set?

Artifact is a paid game that costs 19,99 $. The price includes the game, two basic decks, 10 random sets of cards (each containing 12 cards) and 5 tickets to play in selected modes. Will such a set be enough to play comfortably?

Call to Arms - free of charge and equally

Call to Arms is an event that lasts for some time and allows us to play one of the 5 ready-made and fairly evenly balanced decks. This is a completely free mode, the most important feature of which is the fact that all our rivals also have access to the exact same five decks. This way nobody has any advantage over the opponent, because your collection of cards does not matter. This mode is likely to change dynamically or appear periodically.

Constructed - one-off expenditure

The two initial decks are quite weak if you plan to play in Constructed mode, where players create decks from their card collections. If you hit an opponent with better cards, you may feel a little helpless in such a duel. In this mode you can't do well without the need to improve your deck with cards from random sets. However, the best solution is to plan a deck or download it from the web, and then complete your collection on the Steam store. You have to pay about 50 - 75 $ for the best decks, and about 25 - 50 $ for cheaper but not so weak equivalents.

In order to reduce the price a little, you can sell unnecessary cards from the initial 10 sets. If you were lucky, they may contain cards that are worth even 10 - 15 $. Although the prices for the best decks seem to be very high, it should be remembered that the purchased cards can be sold at any time. This way players can regain most of cash they've spent. If prices are stabilized, you will lose 15% on such a transaction, which is a tax on transactions on the Steam platform.

The alternative is to buy random sets and expect to get lucky in obtaining the card you need, which is very valuable. Opening boosters is a very pleasant activity, but still not very profitable. The market is definitely a cheaper and more reliable alternative.

Draft - free or almost free mode

A much cheaper alternative is Draft mode. In this mode everyone folds their deck by choosing cards from completely random sets. Such a deck can be used to play a maximum of 5 games or until you suffer 2 defeats. Draft has several versions:

Casual Draft - completely free mode, in which you play only for the pure satisfaction of victory. Unfortunately, this mode is temporary, so it may soon disappear for some time and be replaced by another mode.
Expert Draft - a mode that requires the use of one ticket worth 1 dollar (we can also get it by destroying any 20 cards). It differs from Casual Draft in the possibility of winning prizes. For 3 wins you will get one ticket, for 4 wins the ticket and one booster, and for 5 wins the ticket and two boosters. As you can see, this is a paid mode, which gives us the opportunity to receive a refund if you manage well with our opponents. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the game should choose us players at the same level, theoretically you should win about 50% of the games played, so there is quite a small chance to play for free. On the other hand, if you get valuable cards in the winning boosters, you can sell them for a higher amount and even earn extra money.
Keeper Draft - works similarly to the Ranked Draft mode, but has a few differences. Entrance costs you two tickets and 5 boosters, but in return you keep all the cards you choose for your deck. Keeper Draft is the best mode for people who want to complete their collection by opening boosters. Unlike regular random sets, here you can choose specific cards from different sets.

In our guide you will find practical advice on drafts and the classification of cards according to their usefulness.

Is it possible to earn money while playing Artifact?

Theoretically yes. In the basic set you already receive 10 sets of random cards. If you plan to play only Drafts or other free modes, you can easily put your entire collection on the Steam market and recover part of the amount spent or even earn money if you are lucky.

Besides, playing Expert Drafts you spend $1 per ticket and you have a chance to win more sets of cards for sale. However, it should be remembered that the game tries to choose players at your skill level. In the long run, you should only win 50% of matches, and winning a booster requires at least 80% effectiveness. As you can see the chances of earning money are quite small and a lot depends on your luck. On the other hand, the game itself should be pleasant bunch of fun, and earning cash is only a fantastic side bonus of this title.