Alma Mater

Cards in your hand: Abbey Pilgrimage Site Storehouse The stacks contain the following cards: Event cards: Invention (2x !ear of Plenty (2x Action cards: "en#amin the Traveling Scholar "isho$ %octor (2x &uido the Ambassador &ustav the 'ibrarian (endicants (erchant (erchant )aravan (2x (ichael the (aster "uilder (ineral (ining (2x (issionary Three*+ield System (2x

Settlement/city expansions: )annoneer (2x ,einrich the Sentinel Irmgard- .ee$er of the 'ight (arket$lace Toll "ridge /hite 0aven Tavern City expansions: "ailiwick "ath ,ouse (2x "isho$1s See "uilding )rane 'ibrary (2x Parliament 2niversity

How to play the deck: This deck $laces em$hasis on $roducing resources via 2niversity action cards and event die3 4 settlements u$graded to cities should enable you to reach 56 victory $oints3 /ith 57 strength $oints and the $ossibility to use the "isho$1s See and the (issionary to de$rive your o$$onent of heroes- it should be $ossible for you to obtain the strength advantage * although $robably not until towards the end of the game3 )hange the default starting regions in such a way that grain and lumber are located on one side of your $rinci$ality and gold and wool on the other side3 "uild the Abbey and the Storehouse between brick8lumber and grain8ore3 "uild your first road between wool and gold- then build your 4rd settlement there and u$grade it to a city3 /hen you draw cards to re$lenish your hand- exchange cards until your hand contains a (erchant )aravan- so you can soon build the city3 If need be- use excess gold to search for the card3 Afterwards- build another city using the resources obtained via the 2niversity action cards- then build a "ath ,ouse in both cities3 If your o$$onent ex$ands- you should build the (arket$lace as soon as $ossible3

If you ha$$en to have the resources for a fourth settlement- there is no reason why you shouldn1t build it3 It makes you more flexible and $rovides you with more s$ace for settlement8city ex$ansions3 !ou should kee$ in mind that the deck contains only very few cards that you could use to interfere with your o$$onent3 Therefore- the $rotection ,einrich $rovides should have $riority if it is foreseeable that your o$$onent wants to build a ,edge Tavern3 In the following list- all cards included in the stacks are sorted by sets3 Since the cards in the stacks have different backs- you can use this list as a guide3 The names a$$ear in the color of the text boxes on the res$ective cards3 Basic cards: (arket$lace Merchant Caravan (2x Toll "ridge The Era o !old: Merchant The Era o Turmoil: ,einrich the Sentinel Irmgard- .ee$er of the 'ight The Era o Merchant "rinces: Mendicants The Era o Bar#arians: "ailiwick /hite 0aven Tavern The Era o "ro$ress: "ath ,ouse (2x Ben%amin the Travelin$ Scholar "uilding )rane )annoneer (2x !uido& the Am#assador !ustav the 'i#rarian (octor (2x 'ibrary (2x Mineral Minin$ (2x Parliament Three)*ield System (2x 2niversity The Era o +ntri$ue: Bishop "isho$1s See Michael the Master Builder Missionary

,ariations: Instead of the "ath ,ouses- you can also add +ire "rigades to your deck- to be $rotected against your o$$onent1s Arsonists3 If you do so- however- you have to reckon with losses when Plagues occur3 The Tavern is surely also a card you may want to exchangealthough together with Irmgard it might generate some resources when the )elebration event is rolled- and it also might convert the gold you receive for the Toll "ridge when the Plentiful ,arvest event occurs into resources3