Card Abilties
Soulless
Do not gain magic when this unit destroys an enemy unit.
Infect
After this unit destroys a unit, you may replace the destroyed unit with a Carrier unit from your discard pile.
Unit Background
Of all Ret-Talus’ weapons, few are more cruel than the Rot. Originating in tainted maggots, it takes root in living flesh and corrupts it like some foul germ. In those poor wretches where the Rot takes hold, death comes swiftly, burning through it like a fire made of decay, and leaving behind naught but a puppet made of blighted meat and bone. These infectious, shambling monsters are let loose in battle where they serve to swell the ranks of Ret-Talus’ forces.
Card Strategy
Undead Carriers are the economy that helps support the Fallen Kingdom. While this is not an economic deck, you do need some economic cards to keep the steam going and Undead Carriers do so in a very "Fallen Kingdom way". When they get a kill they do not get you magic, but they do get you a 2/3 with the same ability which is more valuable than 1 magic.
Not only that but the body itself is more useful for Fallen Kingdom than 1 magic, because it can be Purged, or used in some other Fallen Kingdom sacrifice shenanigans. More bodies also means more likely deaths occurring for Sacrificial Pyre turns.
In addition to that it’s somewhat tempo efficient, placing a body in what is often an offensive position, frequently stealing a good spot from the opponent, such as a summoning point, and sometimes even helping to take a potshot at a unit that was protected by a weak common.
The drawback is that if it fails to kill its target, its efficiency plummets. So it best shines when attacking targets with just 1 life. Targets with 2 life can be a reasonable attack too, but require more careful consideration due to a much higher likelihood of failure.
Undead Carriers are even more economically efficient in the endgame where magic is not worth much, this is a more narrow-use case, but it can be the difference that gives Ret-Talus some wins.
One final thing to remember is that Infect does not require killing enemy units. This can allow you to do something like attack multiple times from the same flank, finish off a wounded friendly unit to summon a fully fresh Carrier, or blow up a Cultist without losing board position.
Not only that but the body itself is more useful for Fallen Kingdom than 1 magic, because it can be Purged, or used in some other Fallen Kingdom sacrifice shenanigans. More bodies also means more likely deaths occurring for Sacrificial Pyre turns.
In addition to that it’s somewhat tempo efficient, placing a body in what is often an offensive position, frequently stealing a good spot from the opponent, such as a summoning point, and sometimes even helping to take a potshot at a unit that was protected by a weak common.
The drawback is that if it fails to kill its target, its efficiency plummets. So it best shines when attacking targets with just 1 life. Targets with 2 life can be a reasonable attack too, but require more careful consideration due to a much higher likelihood of failure.
Undead Carriers are even more economically efficient in the endgame where magic is not worth much, this is a more narrow-use case, but it can be the difference that gives Ret-Talus some wins.
One final thing to remember is that Infect does not require killing enemy units. This can allow you to do something like attack multiple times from the same flank, finish off a wounded friendly unit to summon a fully fresh Carrier, or blow up a Cultist without losing board position.