Description
A cost tier upgrade swaps a champion you already own for a more expensive one, permanently.
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What happens:
- The unit you had is gone.
- A random champion from the next cost tier up takes its place.
- The swap lasts for the rest of the game.
Shop champions come in five cost tiers. The upgrade moves a unit one rung up that ladder. A one-cost becomes a two-cost, and so on. The top tier is the ceiling.
Who does it:
- One augment does it to your whole board at once.
- A few wisps do it to one unit you own, each covering a different rung. Usually that unit is random. An upgraded wisp takes your highest-star unit of that cost instead.
Note: This is not the same as starring up, and the two get mixed up constantly. With star level you collect three copies of the SAME champion so that champion gets stronger. A cost tier upgrade changes WHICH champion you have. They are separate ladders.
What enables Cost Tier Upgrade (4)
Augments that grant cost-tier upgrades (1)
Silver (1)
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Recombobulator Silver Champions on your board permanently transform into random champions 1 cost tier higher (max 5). Gain 2 Magnetic Removers and 3 free rerolls.
Wisps that grant cost-tier upgrades (3)
- Major Polymorph Risky
A random 4-cost you own permanently transforms into a 5-cost.
- Minor Polymorph Risky
A random 1-cost you own permanently transforms into a 2-cost.
- Polymorph Risky
A random 2-cost you own permanently transforms into a 3-cost.
See also
Frequently asked questions
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Is turning a champion into a pricier one the same as starring it up?
No. They are two separate ladders.
- Star level is about collecting three copies of the same champion, so that one champion gets stronger.
- This effect is a swap. The unit you had is gone, and a random champion from the next cost tier up stands in its place.
Shop champions run from 1-cost to 5-cost. So the swap moves a unit one rung up, and 5-cost is the ceiling.
Star level changes how strong a unit is. This effect changes which unit you own.
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When my champion is swapped for a pricier one, do my items and star level come with it?
The wording does not promise it, so do not assume it.
The board-wide version's text never mentions items or star level at all. What it does say is that it hands you item removers alongside the swap. That is a hint that you will be rearranging equipment. It is not a written rule that equipment rides along.
A champion can hold up to three items, so re-fitting a carry is real work.
Note: Plan to sort your items afterwards, and keep a remover spare.
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Can I choose which champion I get, and what if it hands me one I already own?
No. You cannot pick the result.
The wording says the swap gives you random champions one cost tier up. So you gamble on the champion and on the traits it brings.
A champion you already own behaves like any other copy. Three copies of the same champion at the same star level combine automatically into an upgrade. That is luck, not something you can aim at.
Note: Whether the draw skips champions you already hold is nowhere documented.
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Does the swap hit everything I own, or only some of it?
It depends on the source.
- The board-wide version's wording is "Champions on your board". Units parked on the bench sit outside it.
- Other, smaller versions arrive as single-use shop offers. They move one unit you own, not the whole board. Usually that unit is random. An upgraded offer takes your highest-star unit of that cost instead.
- Each of those smaller versions is written for one specific cost rung, not any unit you like.
You can't point it at a champion of your choice. An upgraded offer is the closest you get, because you know which unit it will take.
Note: Read the exact text of the effect you are offered before taking it.
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What happens to a champion that is already at the top cost tier?
5-cost is the ceiling.
The board-wide version caps itself at 5-cost in its own wording. So a unit already at the top cannot gain cost value from it.
What happens to that unit instead is not stated in the text. It could be left alone, or it could be swapped for another champion of the same cost. Neither outcome is documented publicly. Do not plan around either outcome.
Note: Single-unit versions each name the rung they act on. So one aimed at a lower rung will not touch a top-cost unit.
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My traits switched off right after the swap. Why?
Because the new units are drawn at random. They rarely share the traits of the champions they stood in for.
Trait bonuses only switch on at set counts of champions sharing that trait. So a board built on a few deep traits can lose several bonuses at once.
Higher-cost champions are individually stronger. So raw stats rise while trait bonuses fall. For many boards, the traits were doing more of the work.
Note: Expect to rebuild.
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Is a cost-tier upgrade always an upgrade?
No. It reads as free value, but you pay in board coherence.
- Traits scatter, because the new units are random.
- A carry can be swapped for a champion your items do not suit.
- You cannot choose the result.
It is strongest early, when your board is cheap, your traits are shallow, and you still have rounds and gold to rebuild. The board-wide version also gives free rerolls, which pay for part of that rebuild. It is worst on a finished, committed board.
Note: The board-wide version only touches units on the board.
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Does my old champion go back into the shared stock, and does the new one come out of it?
It is not documented, in either direction.
All players draw from one shared pool of champions. Each champion exists in it a fixed number of times by cost.
- Thirty copies of each 1-cost.
- Down to nine copies of each 5-cost.
So top-tier copies are genuinely scarce.
What the swap does to that bookkeeping is not documented. Whether the champion you lose returns its copies is nowhere stated. Whether the one you gain is drawn out of the pool is also nowhere stated in the effect's wording.
Note: Do not plan around either.
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Does the swap wear off, or re-roll again next round?
Neither. The wording is explicit that the change is permanent.
- It happens once, and the result is yours for the rest of the game.
- It does not expire at the end of the round.
- It does not re-draw.
The new champion is then a normal unit. Move it, give it items, combine three copies into a star-up, or sell it.
Note: Some other effects do reshuffle champions round after round. Look for the word "permanently" to tell them apart.