Richard Garfield explains why death is a good thing in Artifact

Death in videogames is usually a bad thing, but Valve’s Artifact is set to make you rethink that truism. A new breakdown from designer Richard Garfield explains that a hero isn’t done when it’s dead, because your hero isn’t really dead at all. That card comes back after sitting out a turn, and it returns with all of its upgrades intact. That means you can keep powering up your heroes with equipment and modifications, secure in the knowledge that those will remain even after death. Since Artifact is played across three lanes, you might actually be able to take advantage of that death to redeploy a powerful hero in a more advantageous location. One example of death strategy comes alongside the hero Necrophos and his Heartstopper Aura. That makes him deal two piercing damage to enemy neighbors before the action phase. If Necrophos is in play, that’s a local threat. If Necrophos has that modification and is ready to redeploy after death, he’s suddenly a threat against every card across the entire board.