-DIVINE-
Ideologically the hallmarks of the Divine domain are its helpful nature, its group focus, and its adherence to strict principals and dogma. On the one hand this means that many Divine orientated groups are tight-knit (being driven by a one-for-all-all-for-one mentality), with a special importance placed on creating, following, and maintaining a rigid hierarchy and power structure. Due to Divine orientated groups following strict principles and dogma, this sometimes means they can approach situations with short-sighted zeal and aren't flexible in the way they perceive the other domains. Despite this short coming, Divine characters and groups are generally helpful and amicable; seeking to bring justice to those who would wrong others.
From a gameplay perspective, Divine has its focus set squarely on a grunt heavy strategy that also makes heavy use of buffs to keep their forces strong enough to deal with any threat. Combat tricks are not uncommon during games that feature the Divine domain. Lesser Divine gameplay styles include aggressive and blindingly quick strategies designed to overwhelm your opponent and slower, methodical, non-traditional control strategies designed to stop your opponent dead in their tracks. Perhaps Divine's uniquest gameplay aspect is the amount of shattering it utilizes; it is not enough that an enemy foe is destroyed, rather they must be removed from the game entirely.
-NATURE-
Nature's ideology is rooted firmly (no pun intended) in the natural (pun intended) traditions and truths. What this means is that Nature groups are focused on, and concerned with, the life/death cycle of the natural world as well as concepts such as tradition, fatalism, and family. Because of their devotion to each other as tribe, their societies can often be complex and hard to perceive from an outsider's perspective, and unfortunately this complexity can be exploited to cause rifts in these societies. As with all things natural, the societies and characters from the Nature domain do not resist the changes they view as natural. Putting them at direct odds with the ever changing Tech domain. While the benefits of Nature's group focused and following of the natural order often outweigh the negatives, Nature societies tend to be insular, xenophobic, and naive of the wider world.
Playing the Nature domain means utilizing cards and effects that ramp all your resources, as well as playing a heavily grunt orientated strategy. More often than not Nature's gameplay comes down to going as big as you can or going home. Nature doesn't deal in half-measures. Either you commit or you're left behind. For some this can be difficult to pull off, but for the daring and committed this kind of dependence on a focused strategy will lead to large, decisive, and memorable victories. Unique to Nature is the amount of drones (grunts that you do not cast, and that cannot exist anywhere but the battlefield) it utilizes to overwhelm, and defend from, its opponents.
-MYSTIC-
The ideology of the Mystic domain can be summed up as: utilizing knowledge to progress and better society. It is the domain of scholars, creators, and those who wish to learn more about the mysteries of the world. One of the highest concerns to Mystic societies and individuals is a well defined sense of self; for the most part, a Mystic individual will know their limits as well as what it is they are the best at. They are confident, but not overly cocky (with rare exception), and they are constantly seeking to learn more and gain more power. Mystic societies build their foundation on a relentless, and responsible, pursuit of knowledge, power, and the answers to the world's biggest mysteries. Sometimes this can come at the price of alienating those around them, or becoming so overwhelmed by the power they are tapping into that they become irresponsible with it. Beyond an emphasis on learning and creation, Mystic individuals and societies are adept at manipulating the intangible. When it comes down to it concepts such as time and space are just more tools to use on their journey. Above all, Mystic societies and individuals are orderly and methodical.
The concept of manipulating the intangible carries over to Mystic's gameplay almost perfectly. For almost all decks that utilize Mystic cards will be employing a strategy that is heavy on either preventing your opponent's from playing spells, drawing a lot of cards, or even resetting the battlefield. For player's who choose to play with, and against, Mystic cards be prepared to use more specials than grunts or other card types. Controlling the flow of battle is important to Mystic decks, but it is not all they can do. Many Mystic cards have effects that directly deal damage to your opponent's hub, however caution is advised as the art of directly damaging an opponent is not as effective the more player's you have to deal with.
-INFERNAL-
True to its name, the Infernal domain is--well, infernal. Much like the Mystic domain, the Infernal domain seeks power. However, where Mystic uses it responsibly, Infernal abuses its power to oppress its enemies. This places is at direct odds with Divine (who use its power to help everyone). Infernal societies and individuals are greedy, cunning, and hedonistic. If there is something they want, they will get it through any means necessary. The self and satisfying its desires is one of the top concerns of Infernal, but where some domains may be impulsive, Infernal is calculating. Often times if an individual wants something, they will evaluate the risk-reward of achieving that goal; if it proves too reckless to pursue they will likely let go of that particular goal. At first glance Infernal societies and individuals may seem inherently evil, but there are some times where they will work to benefit others--although from an entirely self-interested perspective.
Infernal gameplay is based around using other resources such as your life, your grunts on the battlefield, and the cards in your hand to help advance the goal of victory over your enemy. A large portion of Infernal strategies are based around using your graveyard as a second library of sorts--recasting and replaying cards from it to make sure you're never truly at a disadvantage. There is a lot of give-and-take in the gameplay of the Infernal domain. Sure you may get to remove a particularly powerful grunt, but often at the cost of a chunk of your life or the cards in your hand. It is not for the feint of heart, but those who are tenacious and cunning can pilot Infernal strategies to crushing victories.
-ATOMIC-
Where Infernal is pragmatic, Atomic is entirely impulsive. Atomic societies do not exist in the traditional sense, rather they are subject to the whims of everyone involved in them. Often this means that if enough people want to see it disbarred, then the society is disbarred. Atomic places a huge importance on the individual. However, in contrast to other domains, Atomic individuals will often be short sighted and relentless in their pursuit. Usually an Atomic individual and society will not plan ahead, instead choosing to live in the moment; because of this, Atomic individuals do not make the best of allies as their ever changing whims can derail your own plans. Beyond its impulsive nature, one of the doctrines of the Atomic domain is being the change you want to see; if you are tired of the status-quo, you should be the catalyst for change. Other hallmarks of the Atomic domain are its emphasis on chaos over order, and its aggressive nature. If you can't keep up with the ever changing tide, then you deserve to be left behind.
Aggression translates into Atomic's gameplay perfectly. Atomic deals with, and plays, threats at a blindingly quick speed. Nine out of Ten times, victory will have been achieved before the opponent even knows what hit them. Atomic gameplay is focused around accelerating your presence on the board, as well as directly damaging your opponents in order to wrap the battle up as quickly as possible. Atomic does not want to see the long game, and if it gets its way, it won't ever see the long game. Atomic is the perfect domain for any player who likes to play aggressively and, on occasion, recklessly.
-TECH-
The Tech Domain is built entirely on an ideology of manipulation, relentless progression, collecting knowledge, and adapting to (even outright stealing) any strategy it might encounter. Tech individuals are constantly striving to improve their creations, as well as experimenting with bold new theories. Whether they pan out or not, it is the process and what you learned that matter. On a societal level, a majority of them are hyper-focused on the concept of perfection. If you are not perfect, or seeking to become perfect, then you are inferior to those that are. Idleness is not allowed, welcome, or even understood; everyone is constantly planning ahead and working on seeing those plans come to fruition. Rather sinisterly, one of the ways perfection can manifest in Tech societies is through the assembly of a collective conciseness. Where some societies might place importance on the individual (whether as a sole entity or a piece of a larger puzzle), the most depraved of Tech societies might adopt a mantra along the lines of no-one-only-one. There is no you, or me, there is only us.
Because it is always wanting to improve and perfect itself, the Tech domain's gameplay is focused heavily on gaining as much information as possible. Whether its your hand, or an opponent's library, very few things are off-limits. Once it has the information it needs a deck running Tech might choose to sabotage your plans, or, if they're feeling extra-clever, outright steal your plans and make them their own. Tech gameplay seeks to be as efficient and smooth as possible. Getting from Point A to Point B should be as easy and effortless as breathing. One of its unique aspects is its ability to splice specials onto each other, changing the very nature of that special.
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