Our previous article introduced the Axiom and Bravos factions—two groups whose strategies are getting a great boost with many of Seeds of Unity's new interaction elements. For this final Faction Focus article, we are spotlighting the Lyra and Yzmir factions!

Below, you will discover the narrative objectives for each faction, how our art teams brought the new Reka civilization and its people to life, and the game design challenges that led to the cards as you know them. To present these elements, we have called upon the following members of the team:

Yoshiaki Mimura - Narrative Designer

As the Narrative Designer on Altered and a roleplayer for more than 35 years, Yoshi brings the world of Altered to life, inspired by stories from all over the world. His conviction is that a world’s true richness comes from its inhabitants, and as such, he makes sure every character and player decisions matter equally.

Gabriel Amalric - Art Director

As one of the Artistic Director working with our team of illustrators, Gabriel ensures every illustration is at once vibrant, emotionally impactful and legible. For Seeds of Unity, his focus was on translating the wondrous discovery of a new civilization by making characters feel like true, lively inhabitants of the city.

Léa Roulée - Game Designer

As a Game Designer, Léa focuses on making the most of the game’s innovating features (like the Reserve, the Adventure cards or the Heroes) to create a gaming experience that’s unique to Altered. For Seeds of Unity, she made sure to infuse the core themes of sharing and meeting directly into the gameplay, so the mechanics could reflect the set’s story of cultural exchange.

One thing is certain: the Reka know how to have fun. And why wouldn't they? They're stuck on a piece of rock floating in the sky—they have to find ways to relax so they don't go mad! Gastronomy, bars, music, and those wild parties where you scour the city from top to bottom... There's plenty to do, and the Lyra are determined to enjoy every bit of it! After all, discovering a people's culture is the best way to understand their soul. Besides, they deserve a little break, don't they?

It is in the lower city that the Asgarthans will discover the nightlife so dear to the Reka. The widest avenues and the smallest alleys all offer entertainment: here a theater, there a club or a cinema, all illuminated by vibrant, acidic neon colors. The Lyra of Seeds of Unity don their most exuberant costumes, because nothing is too excessive here: Nyala shows off her stage outfits, and the Nightclub Bouncer gets in on the action too. Even a few unexpected visitors have managed to invite themselves to the party: Pinocchio, we see you—go home!

To illustrate the scenes for the Lyra faction, the art team wanted to give you the impression that you could hear the music and the noisy crowd. To achieve this, we pulled out all the stops on color and movement, painting various party locations in full swing, such as the clandestine concert the Urbex Specialist invites us to!

Lyra is a colorful faction, much like Nadir and Bubbles, the Hero and Companion duo revealed in Skybound Odyssey. With Seeds of Unity, we wanted to give you a fresh take on their gameplay by leaning more heavily into the concept of placement on the Adventure cards and the importance of the terrain type encountered.

The lore highlights the meeting between the Lyra and the Reka people, which inspired the creation of a new keyword: In Contact. The Urbex Specialist for instance becomes more powerful when her Expedition is located in the same Region as another player.

To support this strategy, Lyra characters often have one or two high stats and other stats at 0, allowing them not only to block an opponent but also to advance alongside them to maintain their In Contact status. The set also introduces several cards that allow you to move on the Adventure cards, such as Diocles, Chariot Racer or Cable-Car Station—a mechanic that Skybound Odyssey already hinted at with the spell The Western Wind.

With this set, Lyra is bringing innovative, unpredictable gameplay and a style full of twists and turns that might just surprise a few opponents!

Behind the accolades and the cheers of celebration, there is always a power struggle playing out behind the scenes. Who will gain the upper hand? Who will end up in the dominant position? Reka science crushes Axiom's knowledge. But despite this clear advantage in everything related to technology, the Reka are behind when it comes to magic.

The ultimate test of strength will take the form of a sports encounter, seemingly benign. But the Yzmir hope to rebalance the scales by completely dominating them in the realm of the mystic arts. Let the opening whistle blow!

Hextag is a magical team sport where the goal is to tag the opponent without being tagged back—and all spells are allowed! It's a game tailor-made for the Yzmir. Representing the Yzmir in a sporting context was not easy for the art team, particularly in differentiating them from the Bravos, who are traditionally associated with sports imagery.

As is often the case in creativity, we were able to rely on our illustrators to achieve it: dressed in dark, night-like technical suits, the most cunning magicians and ninjas (including Mochizuki Chiyome!) unleash their magical power in a grandiose stadium where gravity is meaningless. Spells fly spectacularly, cunning magicians like Harry Houdini disappear, routing their opponents. The actions are fast and precise, Maleros ends up joining the competition to deliver her Finisher move and the Reka Supporter leaps up in the stands from excitement!

Seeds of Unity arrives with its share of new Spells, including several specifically designed to support the High-Cost Spell strategy pioneered by Moyo & Silk, the duo discovered in Skybound Odyssey. The cards in this set reinforce that approach by offering new ways to disrupt the opponent's plan, thanks to removal spells like Tag! or Finisher, but also tools for slowing the game down, like the Studious Rookie Rare, now all grown up!

Numerous cards in Seeds of Unity also extend existing archetypes, offering new ways to generate value, control the pace of the game, or simply consolidate the classic Yzmir game plans.

The faction also explores new mechanics around exhausting cards in the Reserve—whether their own or those of their opponent! This specialization makes it particularly interesting in the Limited format, where it combines very well with the Axiom faction. Mothcatcher Wand, for example, allows you to benefit twice from its effect when used alongside the Axiom Hero Della & Bolt.

This concludes our Faction Focus article series! We hope we’ve given you a great preview of the different factions and what you can expect when the set releases. As you may have noticed, not all the cards have been revealed yet! We wanted to keep a few cards up our sleeve in order to keep some elements of surprise for the release. We will continue to reveal a few more cards, and for the rest, join us next February for the launch of Seeds of Unity and the reveal of the very last cards!