I Started Playing Aeon’s End… and Got Crushed
So, you’ve picked up Aeon’s End and started playing—but the nemesis keeps beating you. Maybe you’re getting close, or maybe you feel like you have no chance at all.
That was exactly my experience when I first started.
But after playing more games, I gradually began to see which decisions really mattered. In this article, I want to share one of the basic ideas that can make a big difference before you take on a nemesis: deck thinning.
In Nemesis Basics #1, I talked about how important it is to gain Chaos Arc as early as possible. This time, I want to look at a related question:
Is it actually worth destroying weak cards to keep your deck small?
At first, it might not seem like a big deal.
“Does destroying just one card really change that much?”
Yes—it absolutely can.
Conclusion: Unstable Prism Lets You Improve Your Deck Without Making It Bigger
The key idea is simple:
By using Unstable Prism to destroy a gem and then gaining a stronger gem, spell, or relic, you can improve your deck without increasing the total number of cards.
That matters a lot in Aeon’s End, because the more cards you add, the longer it takes to cycle back to your strongest spells.
How Unstable Prism Works
For this example, I’ll use Unstable Prism as a deck-thinning tool.
Unstable Prism can do one of two things:
- It can be played for 2 Aether
- Or, you can play a gem in your hand twice, then destroy that gem
That gives it a lot of flexibility.
Example 1: Using it on Crystal
Play Crystal twice for a total of 2 Aether, then destroy the Crystal.
Example 2: Using it on V’riswood Amber
Play V’riswood Amber twice for a total of 4 Aether, then destroy V’riswood Amber.
In both cases, you get the benefit of the gem one last time, then remove a weaker card from your deck.
Turn-by-Turn Example
Here’s one example of how this plays out.
Abbreviations used below:
- Unique = character-specific card
- Spark = Spark
- V’ris = V’riswood Amber
- Chaos = Chaos Arc
- Prism = Unstable Prism
- Feral = Feral Lightning
- Ruby = Searing Ruby
End of Turn 4 Cast Phase
Breach I: none
Breach II: none
Hand: Spark / Chaos / V’ris / Crystal / Crystal
Deck: Crystal / Crystal
Discard: Unique / Crystal / Crystal / Spark / Spark
On Turn 1, I gained V’riswood Amber.
On Turn 2, I gained Chaos Arc.
On Turn 3, I opened a breach.
Then on Turn 4, during the main phase, I gained Unstable Prism. One Crystal is left over, but that’s fine for now.
End of Turn 4 Main Phase / After Drawing
Breach I: Spark
Breach II: Chaos
Hand: Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Unique / Crystal
Deck: Crystal / Spark / Spark / Prism / V’ris / Crystal
Discard: none
On Turn 5, I cast Chaos Arc and Spark for a total of 6 damage.
Then, during the main phase, I used 5 Aether to gain Feral Lightning. That gave me a strong spell lineup of:
Chaos Arc + Spark + Feral Lightning
If I can prep and cast all three together, that’s 11 total damage.
End of Turn 5 Main Phase / After Drawing
Breach I: none
Breach II: none
Hand: Crystal / Spark / Spark / Prism / V’ris
Deck: Crystal
Discard: Chaos / Spark / Feral / Unique / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal
(reordered so the Unique card comes up first)
On Turn 6, I use Unstable Prism to destroy a Crystal, generating 4 Aether, and buy Focusing Orb to help improve Breach III.
If I bought a gem like Searing Ruby here instead, I might have more Aether later—but I still wouldn’t have an available breach to prep another spell. So improving the breach first is more important.
End of Turn 6 Main Phase / After Drawing
Breach I: Spark
Breach II: Spark
Hand: Crystal / Chaos / Spark / Feral / Unique
Deck: Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Focus / Prism / V’ris
Discard: none
Destroyed: Crystal
End of Turn 7 Cast Phase and Main Phase / After Drawing
Breach I: Spark
Breach II: Chaos Arc
Breach III (still closed): Feral Lightning
Hand: Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Focus
Deck: Prism / V’ris
Discard: Spark / Spark / Unique / Crystal
Charges: 1
With the remaining 2 Aether, I gained a charge.
Buying Jade here would also be reasonable.
End of Turn 8 Cast Phase
Breach I: none
Breach II: none
Breach III (closed): none
Hand: Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Focus
Deck: Prism / V’ris
Discard: Spark / Spark / Unique / Crystal / Chaos / Feral / Spark
At this point, I gain Searing Ruby.
Once Searing Ruby shows up in my hand, I’ll have enough Aether to buy a 7-cost spell next time.
End of Turn 8 Main Phase / After Drawing
Breach I: none
Breach II: none
Breach III (focused once): none
Hand: Prism / V’ris / Spark / Spark / Unique
Deck: Crystal / Chaos / Feral / Spark / Focus / Ruby / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal / Crystal
Discard: none
I used Focusing Orb to improve Breach III.
Next turn, I can destroy V’riswood Amber and finally open Breach III.
After that, when Focusing Orb appears again, I can even consider using it to heal Gravehold.
Why Destroying Just One Card Matters
This is the important point:
If I hadn’t destroyed a Crystal with Unstable Prism, then Focusing Orb would not have shown up on the very next turn.
That one-turn difference can decide the game.
By this point, the nemesis may already have taken as many as 16 actions. That’s around the middle of Tier 2. At the same time, after casting Chaos Arc once, it still takes about three turns before I can cast it again.
That’s why I want to keep my deck as small as possible.
If I add too many cards, my strongest spells take longer to come back around.
The Next Goal: Consuming Void
After gaining Searing Ruby, the next goal is Consuming Void.
I can cast it on Turn 12, which lets me thin the deck even more.
That said, if I gain another Unstable Prism instead of Searing Ruby, I won’t have enough Aether to buy Consuming Void when I want it.
So even with deck thinning, timing still matters.
I’ll continue from there next time.
Summary
Using Unstable Prism to destroy weaker gems is a great way to strengthen your deck without increasing its size.
Here are the main takeaways:
- Deck thinning is absolutely effective
- Unstable Prism is especially strong because it both generates Aether and removes weak gems
- A deck size of around 15 cards or fewer is a good target
- Focusing Orb is usually worth taking even if it temporarily increases deck size, because it can later be destroyed when used to heal Gravehold
Another possible option is Blasting Staff, which helps your deck cycle a little faster by letting you cast a spell during your main phase and giving it +2 damage.
However, unlike Unstable Prism, it cannot be used as Aether.
You can also use Bottled Vortex as another way to thin your deck instead of Unstable Prism.
In the end, the goal is simple:
Destroy unnecessary gems, keep your deck lean, and make your strongest cards show up faster.
That alone can make your nemesis fights much more manageable.
See you next time!
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