Secrets of the Lizard Cult: A Guide to Root's most Notorious Faction

I've played quite a bit of Root over the years, but not until recently have I tried cracking the code of the Lizard Cult. I had always heard bad things about them, and anytime I would play them, that's exactly how I would feel. They were weak, their movement and battling were stilted, it was difficult to gain Acolytes and Score, and the Outcast felt like a complete gamble.

But something about them always felt super fun, so a couple months ago I decided to hunker down and dig in. What I found was maybe the deepest and most intricate faction Root has to offer, and that my notions of them had been completely misguided.

I'm sure the Forums have discussed the Lizards to death, but beings I haven't read up much on them, especially not anything reflecting my new found love for the religious reptiles, I thought I would share my thoughts.

Discussion and critique is encouraged. (I'll probably update formatting at some point)

Disclaimer

This is a deep faction that rewards strategic planning, repeated play and table talk as well as careful consideration of player count, the deck being used, and the other factions in play.

That being said, most of my extensive play experience has been with Root’s first six factions. I have limited experience vs. the Corvid Conspiracy, and nearly none vs. the Underground Duchy (not to mention the yet-to-be-released factions). All games have been played between 3 and 5 players (mostly at 4) using the base deck and mostly on the Autumn and Winter maps.

Much of this guide, I think, will still be useful for new and experienced Lizard players alike.

The Basics

TLDR: Rule clearings to build and protect your gardens, bolster your hand, and control the Outcast

Don’t be Fooled by False Prophets

• Your best strategy isn’t to “gum up the works” or generate Acolytes through battle
  
  
  • Placing Lizards across the woodland to “force” other players to battle you will not help you win and will not fuel your Conspiracies
    
    
  • Other players know (or will quickly learn) that your Lizards pose little threat to their pieces since you rarely attack with them. Worse yet, attacking you actually makes their pieces more vulnerable by giving you Acolytes! (I mean, that was your strategy. Were you hoping they wouldn’t notice?)
  
  
• Don’t Sanctify buildings or Convert warriors on a whim
  
  
  • Sanctifying without a clear, Cult-minded objective puts your gardens, Lizards, and cards in hand (aka “followers”) at massive risk. You also need the other factions, especially the high-reach ones, to have their hands full with each other. So don’t go Sanctifying crucial Cat Sawmills to Rule over wood stacks or Turmoiling the Eyrie just for a couple points. It might let another player run away with the win or suddenly have time to pick a fight with you
    
    
  • Converting enemy warriors without a plan will spread your Lizards too thin, strand them in useless clearings, and waste Acolytes that could’ve been better spent elsewhere. It’s an easy way to make building and protecting your gardens nearly impossible

The True Credence of the Cult: Build, Protect, & Score your Gardens

• What’s so special about gardens?
  
  
  • The rub: it’s all about the card draw. Sure, gardens do a lot for you. They Score points, are used for crafting, and automatically Rule clearings. But the most important thing they do is increase your card draw. The more cards you draw, the more opportunities you have to recruit, build, Score, and craft on future turns. It also increases the number of cards you discard on your turn, giving you more control over the Outcast
    
    
  • Card draw is the lifeblood of the Lizards. You’ll do best to get as much of it as you can as quickly possible, and protect it at all costs

• How do I build them and which ones first?
  
  
  • Your ability to build gardens lives and dies with your one true faction power: Ruling clearings
    
    
  • Your main strategy throughout the game is to use your followers to “bid” (aka recruit) for Rule of clearings you want to build in. Luckily for you, the Cult is particularly apt to do this
    
    
    • Key Lizard facets to keep in mind: extreme difficulty moving and battling for Rule, 25 warriors (tied for 2nd most), easy/flexible recruiting, the entire Acolyte/ Conspiracy system (including it being a deterrent for battle against you)
    
    
  • Generally, you want to bid for clearings that will lead to increasing your card draw. This means using your followers to bid for and then build in clearings that will lead to 2 gardens of each suit (each 2nd garden of a suit increases your end turn card draw by 1).
    
    
    • As I said earlier, this will drastically improve just about every aspect of your game by giving you more options for followers and cards to discard
      
      
    • Prioritize clearings costing the least bids and with the most building slots (e.g. in early game, these are usually the clearings adjacent to your starting corner)
      
      
    • Exceptions: Sometimes the game-state will tell you it’s more important to do other things. Here some examples:
      
      • Those clearing(s) are heavily occupied by enemy warriors or might result in a losing or costly “bidding war” for Rule (usually with Cats or Eyrie)
        
        • Note worth reiterating: we don’t want to hinder other factions early, especially high-reach ones. Let them have their key clearings for now
      • Your other suited building is vulnerable or a new one would be if you built it, so you’d rather use that card to recruit & protect
        
      • Your recruit is somehow more important elsewhere, like blocking the Woodland Alliance from eking out a win
        
      • You’re pretty sure that suit’s “favor of” card is about to be crafted
  
  
  • You also will want to recruit to protect your gardens. As powerful as your gardens are for you on the board, they are damaging for you when they come off. Losing one reduces the number of actions you can take, cards you can craft, points you can score and cards you can draw and discard next turn. Plus, the fact that the follower lost is random can devastate your plan. It might change the Outcast suit right then and there, or discard a “favor of” card you were planning to craft. Not fun, but also usually not the end of the world. We’ll discuss other ways to mitigate this, but for now keep those gardens protected with 2 to 3 Lizards each!
    
    
  • The cards you keep and discard at the end of your turn matter. This is arguably the most important part of your turn. Molding your followers is pivotal to planning where you’ll bid, build, protect, and (eventually) Score next turn. Deciding what to discard will shape the Outcast, influencing which followers you can craft and where you can perform Conspiracies. We’ll go into more detail later, but it’s hard to overstate the importance of hand and discard management here

• When to Score (and when not to)
  
  
  • Generally, Score your gardens whenever you can! Just keep in mind that scoring has its downsides, and that sometimes you might not want to:
    
    
    • That follower might have better uses like recruiting to protect your gardens, early game bidding or building before your hand is full, or crafting
      
      
    • It can paint a target on your back if you would jump into a point lead
      
      
    • Discarding that follower can mess up your plans for the Outcast

What about Conspiracies?

• Don’t put the cart before the horse. Following the strategy above will be the main way you spread your twisted, cultish gospel across the woodland (and score points along the way). If done correctly, it will also grow your Acolytes and fuel your Conspiracies
  
  
• You have two main ways to generate Acolytes:
  
  
  • The Trickle: Throughout the game, you’ll come across – and Sacrifice – a good number of Bird followers. This method alone, with proper card draw and control of the Outcast, will generate enough Acolytes for a handful of useful Conspiracies
    
    
  • The Flood: If following the strategy above, other players won’t be able to ignore your Lizards forever. Once they realize you’re a problem, they’ll have to start attacking your (rather well protected) gardens
    
    • Some gardens are likely to fall, but if properly prepped: you will defend most, cause heavy casualties to the attacker, and be ready to bounce back in (hopefully Hated) Outcast clearings. You’ll have enough Acolytes and followers to rebuild and re-enforce your gardens
      
      
    • Key methods to prep for The Flood:
      
      • Don’t overextend your Lizards (e.g. as payments to the Otters or bidding on unruled clearings)
        
      • Over recruit (4 or more) in key clearings, especially those with two or more gardens
        
      • Keep an eye on the board positioning and offensive ability of other factions, especially the high-reach ones (e.g., where are the cards in the Eyrie’s Decree? Can the Cats afford to hit me?)
        
      • Try to have and reveal ambush cards for key garden clearings
        
      • Manipulate the Outcast toward rebuilding and/or Converting enemy warriors to protect gardens (more on this later)
      • Usual triggers for The Flood (highly meta dependent)
        
        • Taking the point lead by a decent margin and/or with a 5+ point turn
          
        • Drawing 4 cards at the end of your turn once or twice in a row, usually paired with a large and growing board presence
          
        • Having 3+ same suit gardens along with a few others, especially if you’ve revealed a relevant “Favor of” follower

• How to use your Acolytes:
  
  
  • Convert enemy warriors to outbid for Rule, re-enforce weakly protected gardens, and dwindle attacking forces
    
    
  • Sanctify buildings in the mid and late game to Rule key clearings and, occasionally, cripple an enemy
    
    • (Almost) never Sanctify if that garden would be left weakly defended
      
    • Sometimes an enemy is pulling ahead in points and it’s difficult for other factions to police them, but you can (e.g. Woodland Alliance, Duchy)
      
    • Sanctifying can cripple an imminent attack (e.g. by forcing Eyrie Turmoil)
    
    
  • Crusading is not a key part of your strategy. Others battle you much more than you battle them, but it has its important niche uses:
    
    • Defending your gardens against tokens (e.g. Sympathy and Plots)
      
    • Shuffling Lizards around to Rule clearings and protect gardens
      
    • Late game maneuvers: Scoring cheap points against weakly defended buildings and tokens, or directly policing an enemy on the 30-point cusp
    
    
  • Typically, only perform Conspiracies when the Outcast is Hated
    
    • This allows you to maximize your Acolytes, giving you a devastating 1-for-1 Conversion rate on enemy warriors and 2-for-1 Sanctify rate on enemy buildings
      
    • At these rates, it usually costs factions more to replace their pieces than it costs you to Convert them (especially the Woodland Alliance)
    
    
  • Final advice: Only use your Acolytes with a plan in mind. Usually this means using most or all of them when the opportunity presents itself, but not always. If there’s not a clear goal furthered by performing Conspiracies, save them for when there is

Controlling the Outcast

• Controlling the Outcast is crucial for optimal Lizard play
  
  
  • Manipulating the Outcast lets you plan your crafting and Conspiracies for future turns. It’s pivotal for maximizing your garden building/protecting/scoring engine, and giving you access to craftables
  
  
• Key concept: The Outcast suit is sticky
  
  
  • When no suited cards are in the Lost Souls or the ones there are tied for the most, the Outcast defaults to its current suit. This means that even without actively manipulating the Lost Souls stack, it’s likely to remain in its current suit
    
    
  • Generally, you want to lean into this stickiness to generate a Hated Outcast, cheapen your Conspiracies, and plan your crafting
    
    
  • When attempting to change the Outcast, be targeted and purposeful
    
    • You usually want to do this to allow for crafting, changing where you perform Conspiracies, or to react to an unanticipated change in Outcast
  
  
• Main considerations of Outcast manipulation
  
  
  • The main way you manipulate the Outcast is through discarding followers at the end of your turn. Other common ways include:
    
    • Scoring gardens
      
    • Crafting items or “favor of” cards
      
    • Playing ambushes
      
    • Sanctifying Woodland Alliance Bases or Turmoiling the Eyrie
      (not recommended just to manipulate the Outcast)
    
    
  • The number of players in the game dictates how strong your control of the Outcast is. The more players, the less control you have
    
    • 3 players: you’re able to dominate the Outcast, and usually the board state (the Lizards are very strong in most 3-player setups)
      
    • 4 players: the default. You have strong control, but things won’t always go your way. Keep a keen eye on what you discard and what others might be discarding soon. You’ll have to plan and pivot accordingly
      
    • 5 or more players: Much less control, especially at 6 players. You may have to go for The Sure Thing more times than not, and be ready to Ride the Wave of whatever happens (see below). Card draw, discard, and careful planning are all-the-more crucial in these larger games
    
    
  • Some factions influence the Outcast more than others
    
    • Woodland Alliance is usually your main concern. They can discard frequently, especially once they establish Bases
      
      • Selectively Sanctifying can reduce their card draw and potentially flood the Lost Souls with suited cards. Plan accordingly
        
        • Don’t do this if it would cripple them too harshly (freeing up high-reach enemies) or you can’t protect the new garden
    • Eyrie discards are rare due their Decree card needs and Disdain for Trade
      
      • Be mindful of when they’re likely to Turmoil. Sometimes it’s worth tracking the most common suit they’ll flood the Lost Souls with, especially if it heavily favors a particular one
    • Corvid Conspiracy usually discard a ~single suited card per turn and are not likely to influence the Outcast much
      
    • Cat, Vagabond, and Otter discards are sporadic, and usually due to crafting or ambush use
      
      • Keeping an eye on Otter hand cards and who buys them can sometimes give you a heads up on discards
  
  
• The Four approaches to Outcast manipulation:
  
  
  • Let it Ride: Not discarding suited followers or tying the discard so it defaults to the current Outcast. Usually involves discarding Bird followers
    
    • Great option for when you plan to use followers for rituals next turn - to recruit, build, Score, or Sacrifice - and aren’t planning Conspiracies
      
    • Leaves open the possibility for crafting and Conspiracies in a Hated Outcast
      
    • +1 new suit discard by enemies will usually change the Outcast
    
    
  • Hedging your Bets: Going +1 in the current suit, i.e. discarding enough cards so that the current suit has the minimum most number of cards
    
    • Good defensive play used to keep the current Outcast unchanged most of the time, generate a Hated Outcast, and plan for Conspiracies and crafting
      
    • +2 new same suit discards by enemies will usually change the Outcast
    
    
  • Nudging: Going +1 in a new suit
    
    • Gives you a decent shot at changing the Outcast while keeping enough of those followers in hand for rituals or crafting on future turns
      
    • Also good when you would benefit from crafting or performing Conspiracies in a certain suit on a future turn, but it’s not pressing or your limited in those followers
      
    • +1 other suit discard by enemies will keep the Outcast unchanged
    
    
  • The Sure Thing: Going +2 or more in the current or a new suit
    
    • This gives you a very good to great shot at manipulating the Outcast
      
    • Important for prioritizing certain craftable cards (see Card Tips below), prepping for The Flood, or planning for a new Hated Outcast on later turns
      
    • Important: make sure the Eyrie aren’t about to Turmoil or the Woodland Alliance aren’t about to lose a Base of a suit that goes against your plan
      
    • If used to keep Outcast: +3 or more new same suit discards will change it
      
    • If used to change: +2 or more same suit discards will keep it the same
    
    
  • Ride the Wave: Discarding cards with no regard for the Outcast
    
    • Not a purposeful form of manipulation, but can be used to optimize your followers for rituals or indulge in a craft-heavy turn
      
    • Especially useful when you expect you won’t be able to control the Outcast
      
      • E.g. Eyrie are about to Turmoil, a Woodland Alliance Base is likely to fall, or you’re unable to use The Sure Thing in a 6-player game

Schemes in Practice

Early game

• With the choice of starting corner, look at building slots, followers and Cat buildings
  
  
  • Almost always prioritize a double building slot corner
    
    • More = better: Total slots in your Lizard-containing outskirt clearings
      
    • If somehow a 2-slot Bunny corner is available, that’s usually your best bet
    
    
  • Then, look to your followers. 2+ matching an adjacent outskirt clearing means you can usually build this turn (important if Bunny for Better Burrow Bank or Cobbler)
    
    
  • Talk to the Cats. It’s best not to start next to a Recruiter or Sawmill. No bordering buildings are preferred, but the Workshop means you can coexist (or Sanctify) later
    
    • Priority for adjacent Cat buildings: 1) Workshops, 2) Sawmills, 3) Recruiters
      
    • Never start next to a Recruiter (Sanctify if they later build one there)
  
  
• Choose the starting Outcast with purpose since it’ll probably stick around for 2 or 3 turns
  
  
  • There are three good options, choose one:
    
    • to perform Convert Conspiracies in soon if you have Bird followers or no clear plan in mind
      
    • to craft items in now if a Vagabond is in play
      
    • to craft enhancements in soon (Bunny is a good choice)
  
  
• On your turn, focus on bidding, Ruling, and building gardens; usually starting with the 2 outskirt clearings adjacent to your corner
  
  
  • Important: In a Cats/Eyrie game, this pushes them towards each other
    
    
  • Don’t enter a bidding war with the Cats, but don’t tolerate a Recruiter either
  
  
• Continue to bid and build in outskirt clearings to push high-reach factions into each other
  
  
  • While doing this, aim for >2 gardens in 2 suits for card draw
    
    • 2 in 3 suits is preferred and should be worked towards afterwards
    
    
  • When securing your neighboring outskirt-clearings, don’t always build immediately
    
    • Sometimes use those followers to bid on key outskirt clearings near the opposite corner to direct traffic inward
      
    • Have the mindset of using your actions (and point deficit) to encourage others to police leaders
    
    
  • Securing the opposite corner will help set up a later Dominance play
    
    
  • In a Trickle-heavy early game, use the Outcast for Conversion as well
  
  
• Score when you can, but don’t sacrifice properly protecting your gardens: you usually want to be behind on points
  
  
  • Lean into scoring (including crafting) for Outcast manipulation
    
    
  • Note: In low-reach games, many open building slots may make you a “win from ahead” faction. Don’t let it go to your head, and beware the Otters and Vagabond
  
  
• Start prepping for the Flood
  
  
  • Craft Sappers/Armorers, consider holding Ambushes, and reinforce your gardens
    
    
  • Consider and possibly Nudge the Outcast towards reacting to The Flood

Mid and Late game

• Start bidding and performing Conspiracies for middle clearings & loose ends
  
  
  • Think about Bidding on, Converting, or Crusading for your adjacent non-outskirt clearing
    
    • Threat of Crusade and Cobbler make it well defended
      
    • A growing wall of Rule will help protect your other clearings
    
    
  • If Eyrie are in the game: pick off clearings they could build in to pressure them, especially 2-slot ones (this will start triggering The Flood)
    
    
  • Be prepared for The Flood
    
    • Hold on to key Ambushes, over recruit in key garden clearings, don’t build where you likely can’t protect, and manipulate the Outcast to strike-back
  
  
• When well-protected with strong card draw: Score big, take the lead, or otherwise instigate battle if close in points or to check a runaway leader (e.g. checkmate Eyrie into Attacking)
  
  
  • Use your Ambush(es) and craftables to end battles and reduce casualties
  
  
• For the rest of the game: Supplement your rituals with Conspiracies to rebuild and reinforce gardens, stifle attackers, and occasionally hinder point leaders
  
  
  • Important: Establish your 3rd card draw base if not already out
    
    
  • Continue using card draw to manipulate the Outcast for Conspiracies and crafting
    
    
  • Falling back behind in points is expected; it’s more important to protect than Score
    
    • Use Conspiracies to extend the game (effectively scoring you points)
      
    • Protect card draw to help you reinforce and Ambush
      
    • There’s no norm for points per turn, but aim for increments of 4 to 6, knowing that some turns you won’t score at all
    
    
  • Frequent attackers are the Eyrie and Otters
    
    • If Eyrie: use their Decree against them to plan recruits and possible Turmoil
      
    • If Otters: Convert, Convert, Convert

End game

• In the early-20 point range, use craftables to make up for points your gardens can’t Score and secure the win
  
  
  • Remember: Building before you craft on your turn means others likely won’t see your craftables coming. Use this to your advantage
    
    
  • Key craftables: “Favor of” cards, coins, miscellaneous other items
  
  
• Around 10 points and again in the late-teens to mid-20s range, there’s a good chance you’ll be positioned to pivot for Dominance
  
  
  • Your board position in suits or 2 (or more) corners is usually strongest at these times
    
    
  • Judge your ability to reinforce and defend these clearings on this turn and likelihood to win before someone else does vs. your chances winning via 30 points
    
    
  • See “Dominance - Vanilla use” below for tips

Cards Tips and the Knitty-Gritty of Crafting

• Ambushes
  
  
  • Hold on to these unless you have a good reason to discard them, especially for your key garden clearings, and to prep for The Flood
    
    
  • Having and revealing them will deter attacks until you’re prepared and your card draw engine is up and running
    
    
  • When you are attacked, the extra enemy losses will help protect your gardens and deter future attacks. Sometimes it’ll lead to forced Turmoil, scoring a point (e.g. from an Otter Trade Post), or even winning the game via Domination
  
  
• Cards to craft and some commentary (base deck)
  
  
  • These cards can be worth manipulating the Outcast for:
    
    
    • Better Burrow Bank (Bunny): Your best craftable and worth considering your starting garden in or adjacent to a Bunny clearing for
      
      
    • All item cards (if Vagabond): Free points that manipulate the Outcast. With the Vagabond, it earns you a future extra follower, friendly relations, and a target on their back
      
      • Be careful of the changing Outcast, overpowering the Vagabond, and crafting before your hand is full (wasting future actions)
        
      • Keep an eye out for clusters of same suit craftables. That’s a good time to change the Outcast
    
    
  • Sappers & Armorers (Bird): Good to craft as a deterrent when you get the chance
  
  
• Situational craftables
  
  
  • “Favor of” cards: Can be worth manipulating Outcast for to score points (especially vs. the Cats). Be careful not to overly hinder a player if your win isn’t in sight
    
    
  • Cobbler (Bunny): Frequently better used as a discard to manipulate Outcast or Score, but can be very useful for reinforcing gardens and making a play for Dominance
    
    
  • Royal Claim (Bird): Hard to plan and justify follower hand-space for until this card becomes relevant. Best if used only when the stars align
  
  
• Discard fodder
  
  
  • Note: you have to consider the suits of these cards and your plan to manipulate the Outcast for future turns. That being said, knowing what cards of each suit you can easily discard will improve your ability to plan and the speed of your Evening phase
    
    
  • Already crafted or “sold out” cards
    
    
  • Command Warren (Bunny)
    
    
  • Brutal Tactics (Bird)
    
    
  • Scouting Party (Mouse)
    
    
  • Codebreakers (Mouse)
    
    
  • Tax Collector (Fox): This card is uncraftable
    
    
  • Stand & Deliver! (Fox): Seemingly useful, but has a high crafting requirement and requires you to dole out points. Generally, you’re a win from behind faction, so it's best not to help others get further ahead
  
  
• Dominance
  
  
  • Swapping: Discarding a follower for an available Dominance card not for normal use
    
    
    • This is big brain play, and while it isn’t essential, it can be used to fine tune your followers, allow for a clutch ritual, and/or Nudge/Hedge the Outcast
      
    • Effectively, this means your Bird followers can be used as suited cards as long as the suit’s Dominance card is available
      
    • Swapping a suited follower you plan to manipulate the Outcast with effectively discards it twice, giving you greater control of Lost Souls
      
      
    • Note: this tool becomes more useful in the mid-to-late game as more Dominance cards become available
    
    
  • Normal use:
    
    
    • Go for Dominance when all else fails
      
      • Again, your true faction power is Ruling clearings. Dominance is a viable option for this reason alone
        
      • Gardens in clearings mean high-reach factions can’t outbid you for Rule. They have to battle, and it’ll be costly for everyone involved
        
      • Judge the board state and your likelihood to win via the normal method. If it's unlikely, pivoting for Dominance is your best option
        
      • Good reasons to pivot for Dominance:
        
        • Card draw engine is too weak due to lack of building slots (typically only in high-reach or Winter map games)
          
        • You or someone else created a runaway point leader
          
        • You were overly punished by an enemy (e.g. Otters)
          
        • You see a unique opportunity (e.g. can take advantage of an impending Eyrie Turmoil)
      • Bird Dominance is the easiest to pivot to and plan for ahead of time, but others are doable depending on board state
      
      
    • If all else doesn’t fail, stick to your plan
      
      • Winning via Dominance is still hard
        
      • It immediately paints a target on your back and puts you in the table’s spotlight – Lizards generally don’t like all the attention
        
      • The high cost for losing gardens and Outcast fickleness that follows makes rebuilding and reenforcing these clearings difficult

Faction Interactions

• Your friends
  
  
  • Otters – Buy cards from them early and hopefully paint a target on their back as you get your card draw engine going. In the mid-game, Sappers and Armorers are easy to craft and worth looking out for. Towards the late game, “favor of” cards can lead to victory
    
    
  • Vagabond – Crafting for the Vagabond gets you points, extra followers, goodwill, and draws the ire of the table towards them. Just don’t overfeed them with the hammer or too many swords, beware the Tinkerer, and try not to let them Ally with you
  
  
• Your enemies
  
  
  • Otters – Their cards are nice, but the Lizards you give them can make them extremely powerful at your expense. Be mindful of their strength and be sure they’re returning your warriors. They are generally very unhappy about being Converted, but always beware of a battle-ready Otter death ball. They can easily wipe your clearings free of gardens and ruin your game. Smart Otter players will avoid ending their turns in your Outcast clearings when their death ball is on the move
    
    
  • Corvid Conspiracy – A thorn in your side. Sometimes too costly to Expose their Plots, but necessary in multiple garden clearings. They know this, and might want to set up shop where you Rule. Save some Acolytes to Crusade against their Plots, and threaten them with Conversion if you think they plan to do something crazy
  
  
• Special considerations
  
  
  • Woodland Alliance – As long as you keep most of your key gardens away from their Sympathy or in suited clearings matching a built Base, you have little to worry about. In fact, you can make their life miserable by bidding on their warrior heavy clearings to prevent movement, Converting their warriors, and Sanctifying their Bases. You may be the best answer to the Alliance point engine in the game, but you usually shouldn’t be the one tasked with policing them. That being said, you match-up best against them from far distances. So stay away, and strike from afar when necessary
    
    
  • Eyrie Dynasty – The most likely faction to battle you (and fuel your Conspiracies). Keep your gardens near them well-protected, and be ready to restock Lizards there. Keep an eye on their decree, and take advantage of their Turmoil. It’s usually the best time to Sanctify their Roosts, Convert warriors in their clearings, and/or make a Dominance play
    
    
  • Marquise de Cat – Stay out of their way, and they’ll do their best to stay out of yours. During setup, it’s usually best to start in the corner farthest away from their buildings (especially the recruiter). Root for them, especially in the early and mid game so they can keep the other factions preoccupied. That means be careful not to Sanctify their key buildings or take Rule of key clearings. If you have to Sanctify and have the choice, go for Recruiters. It’ll stifle their recruitment and card draw, and make your new garden easier to protect. Don’t be afraid to Convert their stranded Cats for Rule, and, in the late game, manipulate the Outcast to “Favor bomb” their highest point clearings (sorry, Cats). Also, if you craft Better Burrow Bank, your best bet is usually feeding them
    
    
  • Underground Duchy (speculation) – You have the power to hold the Price of Failure over their heads, but their high warrior count and tunnel digging can put your gardens at serious risk. Steer clear of them and let them preoccupy the rest of the table, but don’t tolerate tunnels in your key clearings if you can help it. Keep in mind, in very high-reach or Winter map games you may have to confront them regularly to win building slots. With the threat to Sanctify and Convert their pieces, they should respect you. If they need to be dealt with for the table’s sake, try to get other players to support you in your Conspiratorial efforts

[Bolduniform450]

Good guide! Glad someone else enjoys the Lizards as much as me, they're such a strange and unique faction. I've found myself winning a lot of games as them in person due to other players generally not playing them much or understanding them as well, so this is also probably a good guide for those looking to play against them more effectively in niche cases.