Pick a King for Your Preferred Playstyle
Choose King of Nothing for a straightforward, consistent start; Nature for HP and mounted troops; Greed for a gold-driven army; or Progress and Time for demanding scaling setups. Pick Spells for enchantments, Blood for sacrifices, Nomads for movement, and Stone for fortified defenses.
For your first runs, Nothing's Paladin, Farm and Blacksmith combination gives you a clear support pattern to learn. After that, choose by the engine you can assemble and the threats you expect, with separate priorities for singleplayer, ranked multiplayer and endless play.
Compare Every Starting King
King of Nothing is available when you first play; other rulers unlock through the quest displayed on each locked king card. Use the comparison to choose an available deck whose opening, upkeep and weaknesses fit the run you want.
| King and base | Starting consistency | Scaling and strengths | Execution demands | Matchup risks | How to unlock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| King of Nothing — Castle | Straightforward and consistent; establish Paladins beside a Farm and Blacksmith. | Damage buffs also raise Paladin HP; Castle upgrades supply killing power. | Concentrate support on the Paladins while maintaining Castle levels. | Piercing Ballista volleys and a Castle too weak to finish enemies. | Available when you first play. |
| King of Spells — Citadel | More conditional; Wizards need an adjacent Library and enchantments to copy. | Enchantments grow Wizard damage; tomes grow Warlock HP; Libraries duplicate enchantments. | Manage adjacency, supply enchantments and protect casters before they fire. | Early burst threatens Wizards; rapid small hits consume Steel Coat protection. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
| King of Greed — Palace | Economy-dependent; vulnerable to fast or numerous enemies before the treasury grows. | Vaults level themselves; stored gold grows Mercenaries; earned gold accelerates Dispensers. | Budget carefully: merchant purchases and rerolls immediately shrink a Mercenary army. | Area damage punishes Mercenary crowds; constant spending undermines their growth. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
| King of Blood — Pagoda | Riskier opening; Bombers can cover early fights while Demon Altars grow. | Deaths strengthen Demon Altars; Manglers turn adjacent fodder into stronger summons. | Place growth pieces early and keep fodder beside Manglers. | Area damage punishes Mangler crowds; Altars alone struggle with early waves. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
| King of Nature — Treant | Boars beside Elves provide an immediate mount plan; Forests grow the Boars. | Boar HP improves riders; Procreate expands troops; Treant heals allies and damages enemies. | Preserve mount adjacency and direct HP support toward the Boars. | Progress Defenders reflect boosted shots; Stone walls can outlast Elves. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
| King of Stone — Stronghold | Trapper, Cauldron and Wallmaker are all in the starting deck. | Poison works while traps stun; Wallmaker HP grows over time. | Place walls early, share Cauldron adjacency and protect the Trapper plot. | Broken walls expose the base; Time's continuing summons can exhaust traps. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
| King of Progress — Mothership | Strong early and late potential, but sensitive to card order. | Overhaul fuels upgrades; Futurism extends troop levelling; Recycler rewards pit discards. | Choose a focused engine; Executioner plans need few competing plots for random upgrades. | Early rushes punish unscaled Executioners; enemy Carnage threatens Defenders. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
| King of Nomads — Warlord | Start with Dragon Den and Camp, or develop Warlord movement beside a Mob. | Camps reward empty-plot placements; destruction grows Dens; Migration improves moved troops. | Leave landing space and keep the Mob beside the Warlord's movement route. | Steel Coat blocks dragon strikes; Ballistas punish light Mob armies. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
| King of Time — Bastion | Setup-heavy; stabilize Orbiters before investing in the slow Hourglass. | Portals replay years and events; Amplifiers distribute buffs; Rewind reuses recent cards. | Stack Portal copies together and keep key plots beside Amplifiers. | Area damage and Elves threaten Warpers; an unsupported Hourglass charges too slowly. | Complete the quest on its locked card. |
Singleplayer: Favor a Reliable Opening
Choose the king whose basic engine you can assemble reliably at your current difficulty. Nothing is the clearest newcomer recommendation because its mechanics are straightforward and its support plan is easy to understand. Progress offers powerful alternatives, but getting the right cards in the right order matters more.
Your starting deck does not have to define the finished army. Rival loot gives access to other kings' cards, so choose wars partly around tools your build needs. For example, a king outside Spells can still benefit from acquiring a Library to enhance troops.
Ranked: Choose for the Season and the Opponent
Assess ranked separately from singleplayer: you face recorded human builds, and seasonal card and decree pools change your options. Check the season's available cards and decrees before committing to an offer-dependent plan. A strong singleplayer engine still needs an answer to the opposing build.
Spells suits concentrated Wizard-and-Library scaling, while Progress can use Steel Coat Defenders to withstand slow, heavy hits while a Converter works. Nomads can grow Dragon Dens through Camps and movement, but Steel Coat makes a lone dragon finisher a poor answer. Review opponents' kingdoms after a multiplayer run to see which defenses or damage patterns your next build needs to handle.
Endless: Favor Growth You Can Repeat
Favor Progress or Time if you enjoy assembling repeatable scaling rather than relying on a strong opening alone. Lab Rat chains reward adjacent level-ups, while Portals replay years and let events come around again. Both choices reward planning around an engine you can keep feeding.
Nature is another option when Patronage arrives, because it can push the Treant beyond its normal level cap. That plan depends on a Rainbow offer; Elves and Boars provide an alternative when Patronage does not arrive. Blood's Ghost plan also needs a durable front line as enemy stats rise: invincible Ghosts do not make the Pagoda invincible.
Apply Older Rankings to Their Own Patch
The PC full release arrived on November 12, 2026, bringing new cards, decrees and perks. An Early Access ranking therefore cannot establish the strongest king for the full release. Compare the actual engine and its weaknesses before carrying an older recommendation into your next run.
Card replacements also change the reasons to pick a king. Blood uses Oblation in place of Vampirism, while Recycler replaced Precision in Progress's deck. Judge those kings through their sacrifice and pit synergies rather than advice built around the removed deck cards.