Prism, Awakener of Sol

• Set Released: Dusk Till Dawn
• Playstyles: Aggro, Setup, Tricky, Toolbox
• Skill Floor: Medium to Low
• Skill Ceiling: High

Prism, Awakener of Sol (Prism AoS) is a light illusionist hero introduced in Dusk Till Dawn. She originally debuted in Monarch in 2021 as Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light. This new iteration emphasizes using Herald attack actions to apply pressure and maximize damage output. When a Herald successfully hits or moves to her soul, Prism’s ability lets her search her deck for a “Figment” of her choice. These Figments can be transformed instantly to either “Ward” off damage or increase pressure by utilizing their “Angel” side for attacks. This ability to fetch Figments turns her deck into a versatile toolbox, allowing her to find the ideal solution for various scenarios. The release of Prism, Sculptor of Arc Light brought numerous Auras that can enhance this version of Prism. With her Figment searching capability and extensive Aura options, she becomes a highly adaptable hero, enabling her to customize her deck for any matchup.

While Prism can create angels, distract opponents with targetable auras, and unleash powerful Illusionist attacks, she faces several drawbacks. Most of her Herald attacks are strong on their own but have a critical vulnerability in phantasm, limiting her offensive capabilities against “big attack” decks. Her auras, carried over from her previous version, lack offensive power unless paired with a specific aura weapon, which prevents her from supporting her heralds and angels effectively with a weapon suited to that strategy. Although she boasts some of the best defensive cards in the game, many of her instant cards have no block value, balancing her strengths with inherent weaknesses. Thus, succeeding with Prism requires not only strategic piloting but also careful deckbuilding.

Notable Keywords:

Figment: Becomes a permanent when it enters the arena.
Phantasm: Destroyed and closes combat chain if defended by non-Illusionist attack action card with 6 or more power.
Soul: A seperate zone from the gamestate, which can be used as a resource to resolve certain abilities.
Spectra: Can be attacked, destroyed and closes combat chain when targeted by an attack.
Ward: Destroy to prevent X damage.
Poppers: Cards that destroy your attacks by using Phantasm.

Equipment Suite

Prism Awakener of Sol boasts an impressive Equipment Suite. During pre-game sideboarding, you typically face just two decisions: which arms and which chest piece to select. Below, I’ll review all the equipment options and discuss the reasoning behind whether each choice is advantageous or a poor decision.

Head:

Prism AoS has a single headpiece option: Halo of Illumination. This card lets you pay 1 resource to move a card from your hand into your soul. If you use this effect during your main phase and place a Herald into your soul, it triggers Prism AoS’s ability, allowing you to search for a figment and put it onto the battlefield. This synergy enables you to respond to your opponent’s threats at instant speed or tutor a figment that can be transformed into an angel for an extra ward 4 when needed. Additionally, Halo of Illumination features Spellvoid 2, providing protection against Arcane damage.

Crown of Reflection is generally not a common choice in Prism AoS decks, but I wanted to mention it as an option. Prism AoS focuses on an aggro strategy with numerous Herald attacks, making Crown of Reflection more aligned with the previous version of Prism. Its ability isn’t particularly effective for Prism AoS. The only potential draw is Arcane Barrier 1, but this is already addressed by the Spellvoid on Halo of Illumination.

Chest:

Prism AoS has two chest piece options, and you’ll typically include both in your deck. The choice between them depends entirely on the matchup.

Empyrean Rapture is generally favored in aggro matchups where you’re racing to win. This card allows you to flip your figments for free, saving you 2 resources on turns when you activate this ability. Having a full hand with Empyrean Rapture in play can create a daunting scenario for your opponent.

On the other hand, Vestige of Sol is best suited for challenging matchups where your opponent has many ways to destroy your attacks. In these situations, your Heralds may struggle to deal damage, making it difficult to activate Empyrean Rapture. Vestige of Sol provides a better option by generating additional resources during crucial turns, enabling the combo plays we’ll discuss later in this primer. It’s ideal for those slower, grindy games where you often feel like you’re playing catch-up.

For more detailed guidance on when to use each chest piece, refer to the matchups section of this primer.

Arms:

Your choice of arms will be the most versatile among all your equipment options, and this slot will see the most frequent changes while playing Prism AoS. I’ve outlined five different options in this article, but there are even more that you might consider.

Calming Gesture has become the go-to arm piece for Prism AoS. It’s a strictly better version of Nullrune Gloves and works well in most match-ups. The ability to instantly create a spectral shield token with ward 1 allows for unexpected blocks, catching your opponent off guard. In some deck variants, it also enables plays with “Invoke Suraya” or allows you to attack with “Iris of Reality.” The added Arcane Barrier 1 (AB1) is particularly useful against runeblade and wizard matchups.

Stonewall Gauntlet shines in match-ups where your opponent is pumping their attacks, like warriors. This arm piece provides excellent blocking power, helping to mitigate your opponent’s strong plays and protecting your angels from being destroyed.

Wave of Reality functions similarly to Calming Gesture by creating a spectral shield, but it also includes ward 1. This card is effective in aggro matchups where your opponent is trying to eliminate you quickly, as it helps absorb 2 damage in the first few turns.

Lastly, Dream Weavers is an ideal choice for tough match-ups. Against Guardians, Brutes, or other decks with phantasm-popping effects, this card can disable phantasm at critical moments. While the Spellvoid may not come into play often, it’s a valuable option when needed.

Legs:

Prism AoS’s leg options are quite straightforward, similar to her headgear. Her primary choice is Phantasmal Footsteps, with Silent Stilettos included for rare scenarios where you might need extra Arcane Barrier. However, 9 times out of 10, you’ll want to go with Phantasmal Footsteps.

This card provides valuable counter play against opponents with poppers in their decks. By paying a 1 resource tax, you can continue your turn even after your attacks are popped. This can be crucial for shifting momentum in your favor and taking the aggressive position. Additionally, Phantasmal Footsteps is effective against fast and wide strategies; blocking with it for 1 resource can prevent 1 point of damage each time, and as long as the attack is less than 6, you can retain Phantasmal Footsteps for future rounds.

Weapon:

Prism AoS currently has two viable weapon options: Luminaris, Angel’s Glow and Iris of Reality.

Luminaris, Angel’s Glow has become the standard choice for most Prism AoS decks. It promotes an aggressive playstyle by granting go again to your Herald and Angel attacks, enabling you to deal up to 18 damage in a single turn—and potentially even more with the right hand. When using Luminaris, be sure to include plenty of yellow cards in your deck for pitching, which should be manageable since all your figments are yellow, along with some of your auras.

On the other hand, Iris of Reality is primarily used in Guardian and Brute matchups. It suits a slower gameplay style, allowing you to build a strong board state and then attack using that advantage. While it’s less common in current Prism AoS decks, as Guardians and Brutes receive new cards, Iris of Reality may see a resurgence in the meta.

Noteworthy Cards

Figments:

Figments are the backbone of Prism, Awakener of Sol. They serve as the engine that drives the deck and, with their ward ability, provide valuable protection since Prism AoS starts with only 32 life. Additionally, figments act as a toolbox, allowing you to search your deck for the perfect answer when needed. Figments are all Legendary meaning you can only have 1 copy of each Figment in your deck. However with Prism AoS’s ability to search for the proper Figment this should not be an issue. Figments are hardly ever played out of your hand, and are almost always tutored up. Currently, there are 8 figments available, each with unique abilities that offer different solutions to various challenges.

The key challenge in this deck lies in deciding which figment to grab and when to transform them into angels—decisions that can significantly impact the outcome of the match. While all figments are strong, Figment of Erudition stands out as the most powerful. It enables you to set up your next turn with a ponder token, and if flipped into Suraya, Archangel of Erudition at a critical moment, it can give you the tempo needed to secure victory. Once Figment of Erudition is flipped, your opponent will likely do everything possible to remove it. If you can keep Suraya on the board for multiple turns, your chances of winning the game dramatically increase.

Figment of Protection offers additional ward by creating Spectral Shield tokens. While playing against a heavy hitting deck or a wide swinging deck the Spectral Shields can offer an extra buffer to allow you to survive long enough to change the tides. Also note that combined with Merciful Retribution these Spectral Shield tokens can become weapons that put your opponent in a difficult spot.

Figment of War allows for you to be aggressive, giving a courage token to pump your next attack, and upon flipping Figment of War allows you pressure that your opponent can not afford to ignore.

Figment of Triumph is perfect against ninjas and mechs, where their goal is to swing wide. On your opponents turn you can break Halo of Illumination to tutor up a Figment of Triumph. This will make all of your opponents attacks much weaker. You can then flip over Figment of Triumph on your turn and keep that momentum going by making their attacks smaller the next turn as well.

Figment of Rebirth enables the combo that will be later described in this guide. Returning cards from your graveyard can add additional cards to prevent fatigue or can get back that crucial Herald of Erudition so that you setup your next turn.

Figment of Judgement is great against decks that focus on playing cards out of their banish zone. With decks like “Vynnset, Iron Maiden” a properly timed Figment of Judgment can win you the game.

Figment of Ravages allows you to close out games against opponents that did not bring in any kind of Arcane Barrier. End game Arcane Damage can win you the game on the spot.

The final Figment is Figment of Tenacity. Figment of Tenacity allows you to give one of your large attacks Dominate forcing your opponents to either use their equipment or take damage.

While there are many Figment options, most of these Figments will find a place in your deck. Playing the correct Figment at the correct time is often times what will determine if you win your match or lose it.

Heralds:

Heralds are the main attack actions that Prism Awakener of Sol will use in her deck. Heralds allow Prism AoS’s ability to trigger. They also allow a lot of synergy between other cards such as Halo of Illumination and Genesis. All of the Herald cards in the game offer an on hit effect of going into your soul. This will be the primary way of filling your soul in order to flip over Figments as well as using the Angel’s abilities. The most notable Herald is Herald of Erudition. This attack has an on hit of drawing 2 cards which is extremely powerful on its own. If you pair that on hit with the fact that it has dominate and goes to soul when it hits, it can create for some powerful turns. There are plenty of other Herald attacks with strong on hit effects available, and their power level will depend on which match ups they are played in.

If paired with Luminaris, Angel’s Glow your first Herald and Angel attack you use each turn will gain Go Again. That means most of your turns will be weaving attacks between Heralds and Angels in order to maximize the damage output.

An example of this would be pitching a yellow to attack with a Wartune Herald. If Wartune Herald hits it will go to soul. That will trigger Prism AoS’s ability and you can search for a Figment. In this case we will grab a Figment of Erudition. If we are using Empyrean Rapture we can flip over Figment of Erudition for free by banishing a card from soul. After that we can pitch a blue and attack with Suraya, Archangel of Erudition. This will draw us 2 additional cards as long as we banish another card from soul. then we can swing in with another Herald. If that Herald hits we can go fetch up yet another figment for the following turn. These turns are what allows Prism AoS to have an extremely strong and aggressive game plan.

Auras:

Halo of Illumination is the best headpiece available for Prism AoS. This headpiece allows you to pay 1 resource in order to put a card from your hand into your soul. If you put a Herald from your hand into your soul on either your main phase or your opponents, it will allow you to tutor up a Figment using Prism’s ability. This combination allows you to tutor up answers to your opponents threats at instant speed, or even tutor up a figment and then flip it using Prism’s ability in order to prevent 4 damage using the angel’s Ward Ability. Halo of Illumination also includes Spellvoid 2 if you are against a hero that produces a lot of arcane damage.

Crown of Reflection is a bad choice for the modern Prism build. Typically this card is only used for its Arcane Barrier. Note this card should only be played if you are in a high Arcane meta. The activated instant is hardly ever relevant in the current build of Prism AoS.

Crown of Providence is sometimes played when you are in a heavy aggro meta. It simply adds additional block that Halo of Illumination is lacking.

The Combo

Crown of Providence is sometimes played when you are in a heavy aggro meta. It simply adds additional block that Halo of Illumination is lacking.