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Today I’m here to talk about how to build a cypher deck. The core of the article is a summary of the wiki – showing all the cards and my rankings of them. I will also talk in more detail about the “S” and “A” tier cards – and why those ones are so good.

Deck rotation: Keep it moving

The key to cypher management is to keep the deck rotating: play and discard at every opportunity. All cyphers are better than nothing: a turn where you use 2 cyphers will be much more productive than when you don’t. Never skip a cypher step because you want to save them all for later: you have at least 5 cards in your hand, and you will get benefit from them this turn, will benefit from new ones next turn, and so on. Additionally, you should also discard a card every turn: throw your weakest, or the one you know you won’t need next turn. I’d commonly discard a geometric if there are no squads on the table (or it isn’t relevant at the moment), or furies if you haven’t got weavers around. Don’t worry: if you keep moving your deck quickly, you’ll have this card back in your hand in no time (2-3 turns to shuffle and redraw your discards).

Keeping cards rotating lets you draw 3 new cards a turn, keep playing your best cyphers, and shuffle them from the discard pile back to your deck every 3 turns to use them more over the game.

Other tricks with cyphers

• Your deck must be 12-15 cards, with 3-5 of each of the 4 types. A smaller deck will increase the proportion of your most wanted card(s), so you may only take 3 of each. However, if you find one type more desirable, you can increase them. For example in AC I may want more furies: if I take 5 of them and 3 of the rest, I am diluting the best Harmonics / Overdrives, but increasing the chance of seeing a fury.
• You can cycle your deck even faster by having more cards in your hand – eg with Raxis or Myra Psycho Relay abilities. Another option is putting Tulcan on the table, and giving him 3 cards to hold: ones that you don’t think you’ll need over the game. Using both of these, you could have a 9 card deck, hold 6 at a time, and use or discard 3 a turn, guaranteeing you’ll redraw your discards next turn.
• Furies get much more powerful with more arc in the well. If you really need to destroy something with furies (eg last turn of pulse round), you can use your charge step to remove all arc from your models and use 2 furies with 7 arc in your well.
• Consider how cards will support your list: An AC list with Terminus cabal might have no squads with ranged attacks, so doesn’t need Reiteration Complex even though it is a really good card. If you rely on vehicles, consider using the reactivate vehicles cypher. Also look for furies with special effects that might give you tools you otherwise lack for your troops: eg null, fire, slam effects, or removing enemy cyphers.
• The collision course rules pack from Kickstarter #2 release wave includes a pack of extra cypher cards. This is a strongly recommended buy for new players, as has a lot of fun and powerful cards, and is the only release of ‘faction specific’ cyphers.

Example first Cypher deck – usable for all factions

The below list picks out the most versatile cards available to all factions, and effects that give the best representation of gameplay. There is a reactivation effect in each cypher category, as this is a key element of the cypher game. It includes key offensive cards like Aggression Theorem and Reiteration complex, and manouvrability effects like Ascension Catalyst or Displacement Index. Finally, the website’s namesake: Arcane Synthesis (not biased at all): as an extra Arc management effect to fully charge warjacks when needed.

Rack:- Fury (3)

• Cryo Lock

• Instability Equation

• Velocity Projector

Geometric (3)

• Displacement Index

• Reiteration Complex

• Temporal Cycle

Harmonic (3)

• Aggression Theorem

• Arcane Synthesis

• Encrypted Command

Overdrive (3)

• Ascension Catalyst

• Devastation Optimizer

• Impulse Inducer

Spicy tier lists

Tier
+S	Game Winning: should be in most decks.
A	Excellent: Very solid choices and should be considered most of the time
B	Baseline level: not bad, but not top level. Likely to fill the remaining slots
C	Niche: has some specific uses
D	Minimal Usage

Below rules and table from the Privateer Press Wiki, with my rankings and comments added. Comments limited to S & A tier, to explain why those ones stand out as game winners. Some basic sense checking against lists was used to assist – to ensure I didn’t put frequently used cyphers at lower tiers. Also beware I have mixed faction specific cyphers in with the rest: check the Faction column before adding to your deck 🙂

And these are my opinions – and I don’t really think the worst cyphers aren’t that much worse than ~B level (although I suggest the S & A tiers are still exceptional). If you see potential in a card I glossed over, feel free to play it and let me know how wrong I am 🙂

https://privateerpress.wiki/index.php?title=Cypher_Codecs

Cypher	Type	Faction	Effect	Tier	Comments
Aggression Theorem	Harmonic	Universal	Target friendly unit model. The target model can immediately make one melee or ranged attack.	+S	Versatile and almost always useful. Gives some insurance if you fail to finish off your target, or just some extra output.
Ascension Catalyst	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. The warjack gains +2 SPD and the Flight special rule. Ascension Catalyst expires at the end of this turn.	+S	this is great for range extension, or if a melee jack needs to jump to fight a flyer. It is game winning if it can let you reach out to an otherwise unobtainable objective.
Impulse Inducer	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. Remove the activation token from the warjack.	+S	Can counter an opponent’s Cryo Lock, or give you 2 consecutive moves with the same jack. All remove activation effects are useful, but the prospect of a late game double activation from a warjack in the right place is game-winning. This can also add to Factotum or Automech’s Jump Start abilities: meaning in a skirmish game you could activate the same (Heavy) warjack 3 times each pulse round: effectively every turn if you want.
Instability Equation	Fury	Universal	POW 4 Target enemy model unit. When this attack hits its target, resolve the attack against the target as normal. Additionally, when this attack hits its target the two models closest to the target that are also within 2″ of it suffer a blast damage rolls equal to the POW of this attack. If this attack misses its target, the target still suffers a blast damage roll equal to the POW of this attack. This Fury causes blast damage.	+S	This is one of the simplest furies: pure pow4 damage but put on 3 targets. I think it is the best fury, as hitting hard across more targets will usually be useful.
Recurrent Apotheosis	Harmonic	Aeternus Continuum	Target a friendly warrior model. Replace the target model with a solo from your reserves. The replaced model is destroyed.	+S	This is janky and has a surprising number of uses. – The game winning one is deploying Divine Tempest where you want, without a gate or Talons, and ready to activate. – You can use it to retire a solo that your opponent wasn’t concerned about: carrying damage, crippling continuous effects, or an activation token. You can even replace a Marauder / Neko / Vassal Boss with another from the bench. – You can promote a squad member or swap a solo to something more immediately useful / powerful
Displacement Index	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. The squad can immediately move up to 3″.	+S	as for Ascension catalyst: extra movement is a big deal to hit further targets, or move toward an objective. For objectives, this one is even better, as you don’t need to activate to benefit: you can just walk on. A dirty trick is to use this to get around the limit of having to summon more than 1″ from an objective: can summon nearby then use this cypher to claim the objective next turn
Arcane Synthesis	Harmonic	Universal	Target a friendly unit. You can immediately charge the unit with any amount of Arc up to its limit.	+S	who doesn’t like fully fuelled warjacks? Typically this will be used to get a (heavy) warjack to 3 arc, and especially early in the game. If your list is built around a heavy, you want this card, as they are all so hungry for arc. You can look at your cypher hand at the start of the game: if you don’t have Arcane Synthesis, you might choose not to deploy your heavy. It helps that much. Another use is to use to charge 2 models in one turn: it can be used on anyone, so could charge 2 solos by doing your normal charge step then using Arcane Synthesis on the second.
Cortical Rampager	Overdrive	Marcher Worlds	Target a friendly warjack. The warjack can immediately move up to 5″. The warjack can move through warrior models during this movement if it has enough movement to move completely past them.	+S	See displacement index: out of activation moves are amazing, and walking a warjack to an objective, and even through enemies can be game winning.
Reiteration Complex	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. During the squad’s activation, each model in the squad can make one additional ranged attack. Reiteration Complex expires at the end of this turn.	A	Great damage output, especially on a heavy weapons squad. This is for those turns when you really need to kill something and big guns are the best way to do it.
Acheronian Venediction	Geometric	Aeternus Continuum	Target a friendly squad. When one or more affected models are destroyed by an enemy attack, immediately after the attack is resolved, the attacking enemy model suffers 1 damage point. Acheronian Venediction expires at the end of the Pulse round.	A	Letting a squad die to damage an enemy? Welcome to AC. This is setting opponents up for a ‘damned if they do, damned if they don’t’ scenario. Put it on a squad defending an objective, and it makes it hard for someone to claim the objective without killing or injuring themselves. It is important that they can’t just ignore the squad: they have to threaten something if they’re not attacked.
Temporal Cycle	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. Remove the activation token from this squad, then place this card in the discard pile.	A	Remove activation: nuff said
Nihilation Vortex	Fury	Aeternus Continuum	POW 3 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, immediately after the attack is resolved, you can reposition the model hit anywhere within 3″ of its current location. This Fury causes energy damage.	A	Good fury: move something off an objective, or into range of another attack, or out of range to be relevant Can also combo with slam effects to move towards the edge of the table then push off for an instant destruction Note it is Within 3″ – so you can move larger bases (Vehicles) a REALLY long way with this effect – making them even more vulnerable to being slammed off the board
Atrophic Decomposer	Fury	Aeternus Continuum	POW 2 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, the model hit suffers the Corrosion continuous effect in addition to suffering a damage roll. This Fury causes corrosion damage.	A	Solid fury: the pow is lower than most, but Corrosion makes up for it. At high arc in the well, this is one of the most powerful furies, and at low arc you can use it to put corrosion on more models.
Eschatonic Well	Harmonic	Iron Star Alliance	Target a friendly warrior model. Place a void gate anywhere within 5″ of the target model. You can charge this void gate with up to 3 Arc. After this card is played, remove it from the game. (Do not discard it.)	A	Another gate placement effect for ISA. This one can be more aggressive than Gate Launcher. An ISA guide is upcoming that goes into more detail, but as a teaser: you can abuse this card by putting it next to an enemy, then summoning a pair of mantlets around them to trap them in place until they can deal with them. A side effect: by removing this card from the deck, it helps you cycle through to other game winning cards much faster
Tachytelic Metamorphosis	Geometric	Iron Star Alliance	Target a friendly squad. Affected models gain +2 RAT, +2 MAT, and +2 DEF. Tachytelic Metamorphosis expires at the end of the Pulse round.	A	Solid stat buff for ISA sqauds
Cryo Lock	Fury	Universal	Target an enemy unit model in range. Make a Fury attack roll against the target model. If this attack hits, it does no damage. Instead, the hit unit gains an activation token. Models that are immune to cold damage are not affected by this Fury	A	Controlling who can activate next can sometimes be as important as destroying them. If you lock down a warjack and it leaves them with only 1 solo to activate next turn, it is a wasted turn. However, if you carelessly cryolock or kill their last unactivated models, it removes all activation tokens. Also beware that an opponent can use jump start or remove activation cyphers to activate the target anyway. This is a powerful effect, those warnings aside, but sometimes I just crave a fury with a damage roll instead 🙂
Conviction Countermeasure	Geometric	Marcher Worlds	Target a friendly squad. Affected models gain +1 DEF. While securing an objective, affected models can reroll their defense rolls. A defense roll can be rerolled once as a result of Conviction Countermeasure. Conviction Countermeasure expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Consecration Directive	Geometric	Iron Star Alliance	Target a friendly squad. While securing an objective, affected models add one power die to their defense rolls. When an affected model is missed by an enemy attack, immediately after the attack is resolved, the affected model can make one melee or ranged attack. Consecration Directive expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Cacophonic Declination	Fury	Empyrean	POW 3 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack damages an enemy warjack, the warjack damaged suffers the System Failure continuous effect. This Fury causes force damage.	B
Devotion Paradigm	Geometric	Iron Star Alliance	Target a friendly squad. Return one destroyed nonattachment model to this squad at the start of each of your turns. Place the returned model with 2″ of another model in the squad. Devotion Paradigm expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Plexus Densifier	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. The squad gains +2 ARM but suffers –1 SPD. Plexus Densifier expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Cyclonic Vitalizer	Harmonic	Marcher Worlds	Target a friendly unit. The unit can move up to 3″ at the start of each of your turns. Cyclonic Vitalizer expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Devastation Optimizer	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. The warjack becomes affected by the Tune Up continuous effect.	B
Divination Algorithm	Harmonic	Universal	Target a friendly unit. This unit’s ranged weapons gain +1 RNG and POW. Divination Algorithm expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Encrypted Command	Harmonic	Universal	Target a friendly solo. Remove the activation token from the solo, then place this card in the discard pile.	B
Kinetic Accelerator	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. When this warjack makes a melee attack during its activation, make a melee attack roll against each enemy model within the weapon’s RNG. Models hit suffer the full effects and damage of the attack they were hit with. Kinetic Accelerator expires at the end of this turn.	B
Pyrokinetic Surge	Fury	Universal	POW 3 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, the model hit suffers the Fire continuous effect in addition to suffering a damage roll. This Fury causes fire damage.	B
Recall Initiative	Harmonic	Universal	Target a friendly unit. Recall the unit.	B
Retribution Intercessor	Overdrive	Iron Star Alliance	Target a friendly warjack. When one or more friendly warrior models are destroyed by an enemy attack while within 5″ of the affected warjack, immediately after the attack is resolved, the warjack can move up to 3″ and make one attack. If the warjack moves and/or attacks as a result of Retribution Intercession, this card expires. Retribution Intercessor expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Velocity Projector	Fury	Universal	POW 4 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, the model is slammed 3″ directly away from the model the fury is being channeled through before suffering a damage roll. Models with an an equal or smaller base that were contacted by the slammed model suffer a collateral damage roll equal to the POW of this card. This Fury causes force damage.	B
Kinematic Reassembler	Overdrive	Empyrean	Target a friendly warjack. Roll three action dice. For each strike rolled, remove 1 damage point from the warjack.	B
Malediction Rubric	Fury	Universal	POW 4 Target enemy model unit in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, enemy Cypher cards on the unit hit expire and the model hit suffers a damage roll. This Fury causes energy damage.	B
Umbral Transvection	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. Affected models gain Flight. Umbral Transvection expires at the end of the Pulse round.	B
Annihilation Vector	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. The warjack can immediately make one melee attack against an enemy model within 1″. If the attack hits, the model hit suffers a damage roll with a POW equal to the attacking warjack’s STR. This attack causes kinetic damage. Additionally if the model hit was a warjack, it suffers the System Failure continuous effect.	C
Arcanesscent Regenerator	Harmonic	Empyrean	Target a friendly void gate. You can immediately charge the void gate with any amount of Arc up to its limit.	C
Canker Bane	Harmonic	Aeternus Continuum	Target a friendly unit. Models hit by melee attacks made by the affected unit suffer the Corrosion continuous effect. Canker Bane expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Dominion Imperative	Harmonic	Universal	Each friendly solo can immediately move up to 2″.	C
Extinction Mandate	Overdrive	Empyrean	Target a friendly warjack. The warjack gains Relentless. When a model with Relentless destroys one or more enemy models with a melee attack, immediately after the attack is resolved, the model with Relentless can move up to 2″. Extinction Mandate expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Havoc Spiral	Fury	Universal	POW 3 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits and damages that enemy model, immediately after the attack is resolved, the damaged model can be moved directly toward the channeling model until it contacts a model, an obstacle, or structure. This Fury causes force damage.	C
Interdiction Protocol	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. Friendly warrior models within 5″ of this warjack gain +2 DEF. Interdiction Protocol expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Control Inoculum	Geometric	Empyrean	Target a friendly squad. When a friendly warjack is targeted and hit by an enemy attack while within 5″ of an affected model, you can choose to have one affected model be hit instead. Control Inoculum expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Null Collider	Fury	Universal	POW 3 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, in addition to a damage roll clear 1 Arc from the from the unit or void gate hit. This Fury causes energy damage.	C
Discordian Agitator	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. During the squad’s activation, each model in the squad can make one additional melee attack. Discordian Agitator expires at the end of this turn.	C
Paralytic Disruptor	Fury	Universal	POW 4 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, the model hit suffers the Lock Down continuous effect in addition to suffering a damage roll. This Fury causes force damage.	C
Force Barrier	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. Affected models gain cover. Force Barrier expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Mortality Destabilizer	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. Return one destroyed nonattachment model to this squad, then discard this card. Place the returned model with 2˝ of another model in the squad.	C
Revelation Matrix	Harmonic	Universal	Target friendly unit. The unit can ignore the Stealth special rule. Revelation Matrix expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Parabellum Chrysalis	Geometric	Universal	Target a friendly squad. While securing an objective, affected models add two power dice to their melee and ranged attack rolls. Parabellum Chrysalis expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Trauma Detonator	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. The warjack can immediately make one melee attack against an enemy model with a smaller- or equal-sized base within 1″. If the attack hits, the model hit suffers a damage roll equal with a POW equal to the attacking warjack’s STR. Additionally, the model hit gains an activation token.	C
Vengeance Sequencer	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. When the warjack is targeted and hit by an enemy attack, immediately after the attack is resolved the warjack can make one attack. Vengeance Sequencer expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Volition Anchor	Fury	Iron Star Alliance	Target an enemy unit model in range. Make a Fury attack roll against the target model. If this attack hits, it does no damage. Instead, the hit unit suffers –1 ARM. Additionally, friendly models can reroll attack rolls against affected models. An attack roll can be rerolled once as a result of Volition Anchor. Volition Anchor expires at the end of the Pulse round.	C
Psychodynamic Infuser	Harmonic	Universal	Target a friendly light vehicle. Remove the activation token from the light vehicle, then place this card in the discard pile.	C
Excogitation Conspectus	Harmonic	Empyrean	Target a friendly unit. When a model is targeted by an enemy Cypher while within 5″ of a model affected by this Cypher, you can immediately choose one Cypher card from your discard pile and return it to your hand. Excogitation Conspectus expires at the end of the Pulse round.	D
Gremian Tormentor	Harmonic	Marcher Worlds	Target a friendly unit. When an enemy warjack ends it activation within 2″ of an affected model, the warjack suffers the System Failure continuous effect. Gremian Tormentor expires at the end of the Pulse round	D
Hallowed Desecration	Harmonic	Aeternus Continuum	Target a friendly unit. The unit gains +2 ARM against Fury attacks. When the affected unit is hit by a Fury attack, after the attack is resolved, you can charge the unit with up to 1 Arc. Hallowed Desecration expires at the end of the Pulse round.	D
Momentum Calibrator	Overdrive	Universal	Target a friendly warjack. When the warjack hits a model with an equal or smaller base with a melee attack, before damage is rolled, the model hit is slammed directly away from the warjack. Roll a number of action dice equal to STR of the warjack. For every strike rolled, move the model hit 1″. Collateral damage is equal to the STR of the attacking warjack. This card expires at the end of this turn.	D
Penumbral Obscuration	Harmonic	Marcher Worlds	Target a friendly unit. Affected models ignore movement penalties for rough terrain. While completely within an area of rough terrain affected models gain Stealth. A model with Stealth cannot be targeted by attacks made by models more than 8 ” away. Penumbral Obscuration expires at the end of the Pulse round.	D
Photochimeric Mantle	Harmonic	Universal	Target a friendly unit. The unit gains Stealth. A model with Stealth cannot be targeted by attacks made by models more than 8″ away. Photochimeric Mantle expires at the end of the Pulse round.	D
Psychonomic Lash	Fury	Universal	POW 4 Target an enemy model in range. Make an attack roll against the target model. If the attack hits, your opponent must show you their hand of Cypher cards. This Fury causes force damage.	D
Reclamation Principle	Harmonic	Marcher Worlds	Target a friendly unit. Affected models gains +2 MAT. When an affected models destroys an enemy model with a melee attack, you can remove 1 damage point from a friendly warjack within 5″ of the affected model. Reclamation Principle expires at the end of the Pulse round.	D