Silence
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Contents
Artist's Comment
"Silence is a unique card mechanically, and it took me a while to think of something fitting. Originally, I went with more serene concepts, however, I found that more fitting to a 'quiet' card rather than Silence. Mechanically, the card is abrupt and impactful.. So I decided to go with that, and added an explosive end to a musical line. It might be a bit simple, but I think it works very well for the card." -vrt
Overview
Silence is a relatively cheap control card in the Aether element. For the cost of 3 
(or 2 when upgraded) quanta, a player can place a one-turn ‘lock’ on the opponent’s hand, preventing them from playing any card from their hand onto the battlefield.
General Use
Quick Facts:
- When used, automatically prevents the opponent from playing any cards (from their hand) for one turn.
- Does not affect cards already on the field and their abilities.
- Countered directly by Sanctuary.
Whereas cards such as Reverse Time or Nightmare control the opponent’s drawing ability by making them draw the same creature (or outright stopping their draw completely), Silence only affects their hand for a single turn. Despite its simple mechanic, the timing of using Silence can be critical in any duel, especially if the opponent has specific counters or cards that can overturn the deck.
Because Silence prevents any card from being played that turn, there are three main ways to use it throughout a match. The first is to use it whenever one can starting from the opening hand; in an upgraded format, one can generate enough quanta from Aether Towers and Pendulums to play Silence on the first turn. Assuming that the opponent has several key cards in their hand alongside their forms of quanta generation, an early Silence can often ruin the opponent’s momentum of playing their key cards later on. Secondly, one can save a Silence near the end of the match; should the enemy have key healing or support cards (Miracle, Steal, etc.) that can easily turn the tide of the match, playing Silence will prevent any form of last-second recovery. The last technique is to use it whenever you suspect they might be setting up a combo (or for you to set up one easier). For example, if you don’t have enough quanta to play Quintessence on a vital creature, and you know that the enemy has enough CC (in their hand) to kill it, playing Silence can provide you leeway into getting the card combination you need.
Note that Sanctuary is a hard counter to Silence; if Sanctuary is on the opponent’s field, Silence will have absolutely no effect on the enemy. Also, Silence doesn’t negate any cards already on the field; permanent and creatures with active abilities can still be triggered despite being silenced by the spell.
Synergies
Precognition | Precognition is a perfect card to assist the usage of Silence. As Precognition allows a person to look at the opponent’s hand, the player can determine whether the use of Silence should be warranted that turn; if they see that the enemy player has certain key cards ready to play, Silence can then halt that strategy immediately, delaying the foe’s combo. Also, because Precognition draws another card for the player, one could speed through their deck to find another Silence card to chain accordingly. Both of these cards are relatively cheap together, and are fun to include in any deck that splashes both the Time and Aether elements.
Given an early lockdown, Discord | Discord can also be brutal when used alongside Silence. While an early Silence can prevent pillars and pendulums from being played in the early turns, Discord will scramble the later accumulated quanta, making it frustrating for the opponent to play anything at all as the game goes on. If one carefully calculates what types of cards the opponent could play with their current quanta pool, the player can choose to either let the Discord ruin their ability to play such cards (thus, forcing discards), or simply use Silence to force the discard anyway. Thus, Discord and Silence can also create the discarding effect in an efficient manner.
Other Cards With Synergy
Because Silence is a form of denial, several cards that negate quanta generation ( Devourers, Earthquake, and Black Hole) can be greatly beneficial into halting the opponent’s momentum. Nightmare and Reverse Time are also fun cards to use alongside Silence, as they can also force discards on the enemy if they play their creatures recklessly. Even Mindgate can be vastly useful; by predicting what cards the opponent will draw next via Mindgate’s ability, Silence can follow if the card you duplicate from their deck is extremely potent.
Conclusion
While quick card playing or the Sanctuary permanent can counter Silence, Silence is still a fun denial card to include in various decks from simple mono-Aether decks to full-fledged Rainbows (using Supernova). Unless you can bust out an early Sanctuary or get the first coin toss, being on the other end of a Silence chain can spell the quiet end of you.
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