Quick answer

The Hero Realms Lich Boss Deck replaces one player's personal deck, letting that player run the Lich against 1-5 heroes or another Boss Deck. To beat it, heroes should remove Corruption cards before they snowball, focus fire on the Lich's health, and avoid splitting damage across Grimoire Minions. If you are the Lich, use Corruption to slow the heroes' economy and summon minions to absorb their attacks.

What the Lich Boss Deck changes at the table

The Lich Boss Deck is not a normal faction deck. It replaces your personal deck in the Hero Realms Deckbuilding Game, so you do not buy cards from the market the same way a hero does. Instead, you play from a fixed 30-card kit that includes a Lich character card, a Corruption card, 10 starting-deck cards, and Grimoire Minion cards. That fixed pool means your decisions are about sequencing and target selection, not market shopping.

Because it is built for 1-5 players using Hero Realms Character Packs, or against another Boss Deck, the Lich works as a solo villain for a group or as one side of a boss-vs-boss match. If your group already owns the base game and character packs, you only need this deck to add a dedicated antagonist role.

Setup and role assignment

Choose who plays the Lich before anyone shuffles. That player sets aside their hero character card and personal deck, then takes the Lich character card, the Corruption card, the 10 starting-deck cards, and the Grimoire Minion cards as their play deck. Heroes keep their own character packs and starting decks as usual.

If you are playing boss versus boss, both players use Boss Decks and ignore the hero market entirely. For a mixed table, one Lich against 1-5 heroes is the cleaner format because the hero players still share a market and can coordinate purchases.

How the Lich actually wins

The Lich wins by attrition, not by raw damage. Corruption cards clog hero decks and make their turns less efficient, while Grimoire Minions create extra threats that heroes must answer. Every turn a hero spends removing a minion or a Corruption card is a turn they are not buying stronger cards or attacking the Lich.

Your goal as the Lich is to keep at least one minion on the board and keep Corruption moving into hero decks. Do not dump every minion at once; stagger them so heroes cannot clear the board with a single big turn.

How heroes beat the Lich

Heroes win by treating Corruption as a clock. If you ignore it, your deck fills with dead draws and you lose the long game. Remove Corruption early, then pivot to focused damage on the Lich. Splitting attacks between the Lich and minions usually loses because the Lich replaces minions faster than you can clear them.

Assign one hero to handle minions and Corruption while the others build toward a single large attack turn. In a 1-5 player game, the hero count changes how much damage you can concentrate, so smaller groups should prioritize economy cards before committing to a damage race.

Step-by-step: play and beat the Lich

  1. 1. Assign the Lich player and set aside their hero deck: The Lich player takes the Lich character card, Corruption card, 10 starting-deck cards, and Grimoire Minion cards. Heroes keep their own character packs and starting decks. Checkpoint: no one should be buying from the market as the Lich.
  2. 2. Shuffle and deal starting hands: The Lich shuffles their 30-card deck and draws a starting hand. Heroes shuffle their own decks as normal. Play order stays the same as a standard Hero Realms game. Mistake to avoid: mixing hero market cards into the Lich deck.
  3. 3. As the Lich, play Corruption early: Use the Corruption card to add dead draws to hero decks before they can build an economy. Early Corruption is worth more than late Corruption because it compounds over more turns. Checkpoint: at least one Corruption in play by turn two.
  4. 4. Stagger Grimoire Minions instead of flooding the board: Play one or two minions at a time so heroes cannot clear everything with a single big turn. Keep a minion in hand as a follow-up after they commit their removal. Mistake to avoid: emptying your hand of minions in one turn.
  5. 5. As heroes, remove Corruption before it snowballs: Spend early turns clearing Corruption from your decks. A hero deck with three or more Corruption cards will consistently underperform, and that gap widens every shuffle. Checkpoint: no hero should have more than one Corruption card after the first few turns.
  6. 6. Focus damage on the Lich, not on every minion: Assign one hero to answer minions while the others build toward a concentrated attack. Splitting damage between the Lich and minions lets the Lich replace threats faster than you remove them. Mistake to avoid: spreading damage evenly across all targets.
  7. 7. Time your big attack turn: Once Corruption is under control, save high-damage cards for a single turn where multiple heroes attack together. The Lich has no market to rebuild from, so one large hit often decides the game. Checkpoint: agree on a target turn before you commit resources.

Lich Boss Deck card facts

  • Hero Realms Lich Boss Deck: The deck includes 30 cards: a Lich character card, a Corruption card, 10 starting-deck cards, and 10 Grimoire Minion cards. Knowing the exact card count helps you plan shuffles and understand that the Lich has a fixed, non-market deck.
  • Hero Realms Lich Boss Deck: This Boss Deck replaces your personal deck and supports play against 1-5 players using Hero Realms Character Packs, or against another Boss Deck. It scales from a solo villain role to a head-to-head boss match without needing extra hero decks.
  • Hero Realms Dragon Boss Deck Display of 6: The Dragon Boss Deck contains 30 cards: 18 starting deck cards, 9 Treasure Hoard cards, 2 score cards, and the Dragon boss card. If you want a second boss option for variety, the Dragon plays differently and can face the Lich in boss-vs-boss games.