Giovanni Deck Guide — Might & Magic Fates

Giovanni is a Necropolis hero in Might & Magic: Fates, and he is the most unusual hero in the game for one reason: he is the only hero who masters three magic schools. Every Necropolis hero gets Dark and Might. Giovanni gets Earth as well — and no other hero in any faction pairs Earth with Dark.

That single difference is the whole guide. It does not change how Necropolis wins; it changes which cards you can afford to play while doing it.

Giovanni's Playstyle

To understand why Earth matters, you need the gold rule. A card from a school your hero has not mastered produces one less gold when you play it. It does not cost more — it pays you less. Neutral cards and cards from your own faction are never penalised.

So for Anastasia, every Earth spell is a gold down. For Giovanni, none of them are. Your game plan:

• Hold the early board with cheap Undead and Vampires, same as any Necropolis deck.
• Buy time with Earth — healing and lockdown spells the faction normally cannot afford to run.
• Close with Dark — the big Necropolis payoffs are still your win condition.

Giovanni's hero card carries the Lifeleech keyword and enters at 2 Attack / 20 Health. He is the only Necropolis hero the tracker records real stats for.

The Earth Mastery, Precisely

Worth being exact here, because it is easy to overrate. There are nine Earth spells in the game. Two of them — Regeneration and Fissure — are Neutral, which means they never suffer a penalty for any hero. Giovanni gains nothing on those.

His mastery is worth exactly one gold on the seven Stronghold Earth spells:

Cost	Card	What it does
2	Stone Shield Common	Your Hero gains +2 Health.
2	Nature's Fortitude Common	Give +4 Health to target creature.
2	Vine Trap Rare	Deal 1 damage to target creature with Fly. It can't attack until end of round.
4	Mass Regeneration Rare	Restore 4 Health to target character and adjacent characters.
4	Summon Rock Wall Common	Summon 2 Rock Wall that can't attack for your opponent.
6	Deep Roots Epic	Enemy creatures without Ranged can't attack until end of round.
7	The Might of Nature Legendary	Double the attack value of friendly creatures until end of round.

One gold per spell sounds small. Across a game where you cast three or four of them, it is a whole extra play.

Key Cards

The Dark half of the deck. These are shared with any Necropolis hero, and they are still where your wins come from:

Cost	Card	What it does
3	Necromancer Reinforcer Epic	Reduce the cost of your Undead by 1 — the engine that lets you hold the board cheaply.
3	Vampire Ritual Altar Epic	Give +1/+1 to friendly Vampires. Cheap, sticky, and turns small bodies into real threats.
6	Nergal, Lord of Pestilence Legendary	After each of your combat turns, give -1 Attack and deal 1 damage to all non-Undead creatures. A one-sided sweeper that keeps sweeping.
7	Vampiric Ritual Legendary	Deal 2 damage to all enemy characters and restore that much Health to your Hero.
9	Atropos, Weaver of the Dead Legendary	Summon the 2 highest-cost creatures from your Graveyard. Recursion on a body.
10	Siham, Spirit Severer Legendary	Destroy all other creatures, gaining +1 Attack for each. The reset button when the board goes wrong.

Remember that Legendary cards are limited to one copy; everything else allows two.

Sample Giovanni Deck (Dark & Earth Value)

A starting list that actually uses the third school. Treat copy counts as flexible — tune them with your own results.

Early game (cost 0–2)

Cost	Card	Role
0	Skeleton	Cheap body, Graveyard fuel
1	Death Touch	Scales with spells in your Graveyard
2	Blood Ritualist	Heals per friendly Vampire on board
2	Newborn Vampire	Lifesteal body that trades up
2	Stone Shield Earth	+2 Hero Health, free of penalty for Giovanni

Mid game (cost 3–5)

Cost	Card	Role
3	Necromancer Reinforcer	Cost engine
3	Vampire Ritual Altar	Anthem for the Vampire package
4	Banshee	Stuns a threat on entry
4	Mass Regeneration Earth	Undoes a whole attack step
5	Vampire Assassin	Unconditional removal on a body

Late game & payoffs

Cost	Card	Role
6	Nergal, Lord of Pestilence	Recurring one-sided sweep
6	Deep Roots Earth	Buys a full turn against a wide board
7	Vampiric Ritual	Sweep plus a big heal
9	Grim Reaper	8/6 that kills a creature on arrival
9	Atropos, Weaver of the Dead	Recursion finisher

Mulligan Guide

Giovanni is not an aggressive hero. You are looking for a hand that survives, not one that races:

• Keep at least one 2-cost body — Blood Ritualist or Newborn Vampire — so you are not empty on turn two.
• Keep Necromancer Reinforcer; it makes everything behind it cheaper.
• Keep Stone Shield against aggressive starts. Two gold for two Hero Health is a fine turn when you have nothing better.
• Redraw Deep Roots, Vampiric Ritual and anything costing 9 or more. They are unplayable in an opening hand.

For the full keep-or-redraw framework, see our Might & Magic Fates Mulligan Guide.

Matchups & Tips

• Vs aggro: this is where Earth earns its place. Mass Regeneration and Deep Roots buy turns that a normal Necropolis deck simply cannot buy, and Giovanni pays full price for neither.
• Vs control: lean the other way. Cut the healing, keep the Vampire package and Nergal, and win on board presence before their late game arrives.
• Vs Stronghold: expect Earth spells pointed back at you — Sandor masters Earth too. Vine Trap is the one to play around if you are relying on a Fly threat.
• General: do not run Earth cards just because you can. Regeneration and Fissure are Neutral, so every hero plays them at full value; they are not a Giovanni bonus.

Related Guides

• Anastasia Deck Guide — the other Necropolis hero, without Earth
• Sandor Deck Guide — Stronghold, where the Earth spells come from
• Best Decks in Might & Magic Fates
• How to Climb Ranked in Might & Magic Fates
• Beginner's Guide to Might & Magic Fates