Win the board before racing
The Moderator punishes scattered deployments. Build enough power to hold one sector, then contest a second lane once the first can survive an enemy turn.
Your Minions attack in deployment order and defenders do not strike back during your attack. Use that order to remove blockers before later Minions connect with the Commander.
Read the Intent strip
Boss Intents tell you what the next enemy operation will do. Mentality reveals more upcoming Intents, but even the baseline preview is enough to avoid deploying a fragile card into obvious sector damage.
- Expect damage before committing a low-health support Minion.
- Use healing before a Commander-damage Intent resolves.
- Preserve Shield or a durable body for the threatened sector.
Use each starter card correctly
Cache Me If You Can fixes the hand, Stack Overflowlord holds a lane, The Regexorcist improves an ally, and Patch Notes Prophet repairs Commander health. Use 404mancer for reach instead of treating it as a random early play.
Plan for round ten
The battle has a round limit. If neither Commander reaches zero, remaining Commander health and board power decide the result. Do not enter the final rounds with unused cards and no route to convert them into board value.