Skyweaver is a browser-based collectible card game where you can own, trade, and gift your cards. Deeply strategic gameplay combined with a player-owned marketplace lets you win tradable NFT cards on your journey to becoming a legendary Skyweaver!
In this Skyweaver Game Guide, you will learn everything you need to know to get started in Skyweaver!
Main Content
Skyweaver Overview
Skyweaver is a polished, win-to-earn TCG game on the Polygon network, a popular layer 2 for Ethereum.
Although deeply inspired by the huge success of Hearthstone, Skyweaver brings innovative mechanics, new abilities for heroes and cards, and strong, internal economy.
The most important NFTs in Skyweaver are cards. Each card can be:
- Base: these cards cannot be exchanged, traded or sold. They have no intrinsic value, but can be played in all game modes;
- Silver: they can be traded, sold or gifted to friends. They’re slightly more valuable than Base cards, and can be used to enter special combat modes in the game instead of paying the entrance fee;
- Gold: the “trophy” cards of the game. Gold cards are shiny and very apparent on the battlefield. These can only be won through combat in “Conquest mode”, and are always limited edition.
There are two basic card types — units and spells. Units can have spells of their own, traits such as guard and armor, and trigger effects. Almost every card has at least one of these abilities, if not more, making the card interactions very complex at times! Luckily Skyweaver features a history of cards and effects played, and has ample mouseovers to explain everything.
Skyweaver offers two game types — Constructed and Discovery. In Constructed, each player builds and brings a deck of 30 cards to the match. In Discovery, both players pick a Hero, and then the game assigns them a semi-random deck of cards for that Hero. Players can play Practice, Ranked, or Conquest mode. Practice and Ranked are pretty standard. Entering Conquest mode requires a ticket, which can be won or purchased. Players can earn Silver and Gold cards for winning matches in Conquest mode.
Each deck will be associated with a Hero and at least one Prism. There are 5 Prisms in the game: Strength, Agility, Wisdom, Heart, Intellect. Some Heroes can combine two prisms to create interesting decks and synergies.
Ranked mode is free to play and features a draft gameplay (“Discovery”) and a constructed mode (“Constructed”). Both modes offer separate leaderboards for players.
Conquest mode requires you to burn one silver card or pay an entrance fee of $1.50 USDC. Silver cards burned to enter Conquest mode will never be seen again, and Skyweaver will remove them from existence.
About Skyweaver
The developer behind Skyweaver is Horizon Blockchain Games, which initially raised over $3.75 million in funding, led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Skyweaver released a private beta in 2021. By the the end of 2021, Skyweaver had released their Open Beta, allowing everyone the chance to play the game by connecting through a Sequence or MetaMask wallet.
Since then, the game has exploded in popularity, and attracted players and guilds worldwide. Many tournaments are hosted weekly on communitygaming.io, and the team is trying to get some traction on their Twitch Profile.
Skyweaver is still in its infancy, but their outstanding community and large followerbase on social media predicts a great future for the title.
In May 2022, the developers released “Starter Decks” to help new players get onboarded and play in Constructed before they own any cards of their own. Skyweaver continues to release regular balance updates and new card sets.
Skyweaver Play-to-Earn Mechanics
Skyweaver likes to define itself as a “Win to Earn”, where a player has to win, not just merely play. They only way to earn from Skyweaver is by selling Silver and Gold cards. These cards are acquired either by placing in the top positions on the weekly leaderboards, or by winning Conquest matches. Both provide opportunities to win Gold and Silver cards.
Initial Investment
Skyweaver is completely free to play. Players can acquire all the cards from playing the game. In fact, Skyweaver doesn’t even sell cards directly! The only way to get game cards is by earning them on your own or purchasing gold and silver cards from other players! Silver and Gold cards do not have any affect the gameplay. The color variation is cosmetic only.
New players can start with Discovery mode, which provides them with a randomized deck to use for the match, or use a pre-built starter deck.
Skyweaver Rewards System
Skyweaver features a battle pass system called Skypass. Players gain points towards their Skypass and earn cards for them to keep along the way. Players also have the option of paying for a Premium Pass, which offers additional rewards. Skypass works on a seasonal basis, where every players’ progress is reset at the start of each season.
Players can earn base cards and cards from the most recent expansion from the Skypass. They can also receive Conquest tickets, allowing them a chance to compete in Conquest mode for a chance to win Silver and Gold cards! Conquest mode is a single-elimination PVP game mode. Each ticket provides a chance to play three matches, as long as the player wins. As soon as the player loses a match, that round on Conquest is over for them. Winning zero matches results in zero prizes. Winning one match earns a Silver card, two matches nets two Silver cards, while winning three in a tow earns two Silver and one Gold!
And, as mentioned above, players can also earn cards through ranking on the leaderboard.
Skyweaver has a an interesting dynamic marketplace. Instead of having individual sales and offers, players buy and sell cards from a shared pool. The Skyweaver team sets the initial pool contents, which then adjust whenever players trade a card.
Skyweaver and its community host several tournaments on communitygaming.io, with prizes topping thousands of dollars per week.
Skyweaver Video Review
Skyweaver Tokenomics
Unlike most web3 games, Skyweaver doesn’t have any tokens! The company opted to host their marketplace on Polygon, a Layer 2 of Ethereum, but kept all transactions in $USDC. With the lack of tokens, and the liquidity pool system for their NFTs, Skyweaver has a very stable game economy.
Cards can be bought in the marketplace through $USDC with no gas fees thanks to Polygon, and the transactions take place on the “Sequence” wallet. You can also choose to connect your MetaMask wallet if you prefer.
How to Get Started
Skyweaver made it incredibly easy to start, and all you need is to click the “Play Now” button on their homepage.
The game will help you set up your Sequence wallet, or to link up your MetaMask wallet. Sequence is easier for new players as it’s automatically connected to Skyweaver. You can download the client on any device, or play through your browser.
Once inside the game, you will follow four tutorials, explaining all the basics of the game. If you ever get lost, there’s an online version featuring all main elements here. Each tutorial will provide you with some experience points and cards to compete in Constructed.
The game introduced starter decks in June 2022 to help new players get started.
And if you ever get stuck, their Discord is very active and only a click away. You will find moderators, community members, and coaches ready to help you make the best out of Skyweaver. You might also find some guilds and communities gearing up to compete in tournaments, and joining could help you become a better player in the long run!
Tips for getting started in Skyweaver
The tutorials and starter’s guides developed by the team are phenomenal. Read them!
At first, we suggest you focus on Discovery mode and/or Constructed mode with one of the starter decks. Do not adventure in Conquest until you know what you’re doing, and can maintain a win rate above 50%.
Once you get your win rate above 50% and feel confident about your skills, focus on increasing your mastery and rank higher up on the leaderboard. It will let the game match you up with stronger opponents.
This is crucial since those are the opponents that await you in the arena! Pro players typically spend most of their time there, so you don’t want to get caught off-guard.
When you feel ready, you can burn one Silver card (if you earned one through the leaderboard) or spend $1.50 USDC to try out your first Conquest mode – it depends on your risk tolerance and how much you want to invest in the game. You only need to win your first match in Conquest to make it pay for itself.
When playing in Ranked mode, start from Discovery and use an easy hero, for example, “Ada”. Ada focuses on strength, and your main objective will be to summon bigger heroes each turn and buff them with powerful enhancements.
The strength prism is the easiest to start with, but wisdom can be very interesting later on if you’re interested in a “control”-style gameplay.
Once you become more advanced, Skyweaverleagues provides additional information on the current meta, with in-depth reviews and articles.
Skyweaver Closing Thoughts
Skyweaver is one of the best games available to play right now. Anyone with any device and an internet connection can get involved, and the community is growing steadily.
The game looks great and it runs well. The user interface is very intuitive and informative. The team already released several mini-updates and two major card expansions. The game is completely free to try and runs in any web browser.
We suggest Skyweaver to anyone who likes free to play and to the fans of TCGs like Gods Unchained and Hearthstone. This game has deep mechanics and an extensive collection of balanced cards.
Have fun!
