Novogus Golem
The Novogus Golem is a monstrous site, a hulking great beast that's near impossible to move.

The Golem by itself is a perfectly acceptable card - 3HP and 2 Attack are perfectly acceptable stats for any middling creature, although its Summoning Cost of 4 would make it a waste, if it wasn't for its incredible special ability.
For every empty Field on the board, the Novogus Golem gets 1 Protection. This means that if you played it on the very first turn (which you could do, if you have a Parmetic Holy Feast in your opening hand) it will have a massive 8 Protection - no other creature in the game can even come close to this.
Now combine this with the fact that, when placed on an Earth Field to give it 5HP, it can survive even the strongest Magic Attack current available, you have something which is unbelievably difficulty to destroy.

Even more useful, this special ability doesn't require it to be on an Earth field to work, so if you are willing to give up its Field Bonus, you can place it anywhere and still enjoy its impressive Protection bonus. In fact, the only real weakness this card has is that its Protection inevitably gets lower as the game goes on, but even on the very last turn of the game, it will still have 1 Protection until that final creature is played.

Unfortunately, this also makes dealing with enemy Golems a chore. Depending on how many creatures are on the board, your options vary, but it will almost invariably cost you more Mana to deal with this beast than most other creatures of a similar level.
Obviously, your best bet is to hit it hard with Magic Attacks. If you have an Arc Satellite Cannon, that is almost ideal for the job. If the Golem is on an Earth field, try hitting it with a Flame Magus or some other cheap Magic Attack before playing your Satellite to ensure the kill.
If you don't have a heavy hitting Magic Attack card available to you, the second best option is a combination of Fieldquaking and barrages of Magic Attacks from weaker creatures. The Fieldquake will rob it of its Field Bonus (and if you're lucky, might even cause a Field Penalty, reducing it to 1HP for a nice easy kill), allowing your cheap Magic Attacks to take it down faster. Undead King Novogus is great for this job as it combines a Magic Attack with a Fieldquake in a single action, reducing it to 1HP, which something else can easily deal.
If you don't have any Magic-Attack creatures available however, your options are somewhat more limited. If it has Protection of more than 3, you should probably just ignore it entirely - it simply isn't worth the massive amounts of Mana you'd throw at it to even make a dent. Anything less than that though, and a heavy hitter such as Pursuer of Saint Dhees, or one of the Dragons, should be enough to punch through its defences. Be sure to avoid using Multiple-Attack creatures such as Dragoon Dragon Cavalry though, as each of its attacks will be reduced, probably causing 0 Damage.

Keeping your own Golem alive doesn't take much additional effort on your part - its very purpose is to stay alive in the face of your enemy's attacks. However, a single Healing Shower would probably fortify it enough against the inevitable hail of Magic-Attacks it's likely to receive, probably to the point that it can survive for most, if not the entire game, or just make your opponent give up on it altogether.

So, there you go. The Novogus Golem could easily find a home in any deck, especially those geared towards defence. If you manage to get 2 of these on the board, you'll find yourself in a very solid position to take the victory.


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Posted by Fartwinky on Sat, 1st Dec 2007, at 00:21
frankly i think since i run protect all the time having a protect of even 2 is enough to discourage almost anyone to use magic and field dmg. For his cost and need to put out early i think its easier to play morning star warrior with a longer attack range and the ability to do more dmg to higher up lifes. Also much more buffable with scion and arelei teh protector.
Posted by Icepick on Sat, 1st Dec 2007, at 07:11
Valid points, but the Morning Star Warrior doesn't get a Field Bonus, so it is stuck at 3HP, and its protection isn't as reliable as the Golems, so if you aren't running a Biolith-heavy deck, you might not get any at all.
Posted by Merco on Sat, 1st Dec 2007, at 10:04
In an un-golem related question, what is unlocked by beating the Arbiter deck's challenge?
Posted by MikeyFlies on Sun, 2nd Dec 2007, at 02:04
The morningstar warrior's protection includes itself so like the golem (for all practical purposes) it will always have at least 1 protection.
Posted by Pessimism on Sun, 2nd Dec 2007, at 21:59
Got one of these today, doubt I'll use it, although I may be able to work out something based around it... good card, solid defense and not overly expensive for what it does. Haven't seen Morning Star Warrior yet...
Posted by drackmire on Sun, 9th Dec 2007, at 10:34
One in a deck is enough, and this is one creature who will stick around most of the game, especially on an earth field.
Posted by Merco on Sat, 5th Jan 2008, at 11:11
New players online always attack this, without realising how well protected it is! They almost always die from the counter...
Posted by DaLancer on Mon, 4th Feb 2008, at 00:38
I seen my little brother use this thing right on his second turn, and it stayed around til the 30th. Its a great place place holder. The only things bad about it is its limited attack pattern and high summoning cost. Otherwise its a must for any earth or protection deck.
Posted by Jehuty13 on Wed, 13th Feb 2008, at 14:21
Got one today in the Fire Deck, but i'm probably not using it. It's summoning cost of 4 is too high in my opinion - there are better 4 mana monsters in this game for example the Dungeon of Ten Tyrants or Moving Isle but if it's used well in the right deck it may be game winning. 3 of 5 stars
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