We’ve just concluded the latest seasonals and you know what that means.

Expansion time! It’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here and I’ve returned with another top 10 list!

• Once again, allow me to drop the usual few disclaimers.
• These cards are in no particular order.
• No Champions, as they are the obvious place to start with when deck building.

This list isn’t solely based on power and playability. You don’t need me to tell you that a one mana 2|2 with upside is a good card. So instead we’ll focus on the more juicy stuff.

The real potential powerhouses and crazy designs!

I’ll be honest, the majority of this list will be spells, but you just gotta go with the flow. Alright, let’s get started… Drumroll, please!

Drum Solo

This is a pretty big deal for PnZ. All this time the region’s card draw options have been limited to either cantrips, symmetrical draw, discard draw, or expensive burst draw. While they all have their merits, they do require the right synergy to be effective.

Drum Solo is a straight-up card-draw. Five for two isn’t a fantastic rate, but it’s made up by the cost reduction so long as you can enable Flow.

Now, of course, you can whiff and hit 0-1 mana spells; minimizing value. However, being able to pull anything from your deck at a reduced cost could be a real game changer. There are no restrictions here, not just spells, units, or non-champions.. It’s simply draw-two.

Perhaps we’re about to see old Fizz TF make a return? If there’s a deck that loves card draw, it’s that one.. And it’s getting another spicy card as well..

Fish Fight

While a Slow speed Single Combat is a little on the weak side, a one-sided slap to the opponent’s unit is incredible! This does require some specific building, but if we can figure out an efficient list, Fish Fight will be an absolute all-star.

Even its drawback of returning the weapon to hand can be a good thing. There are times we’d rather move the equipment from one unit to another, but in order to do that, the host unit either needs to die, or we have to spend extra mana to equip it with something else.

Honestly, even in the worst case, Slow speed Single Combat is still pretty okay. I imagine this will be a Demacia staple moving forward, so long as equipment becomes a mainstay.

The Expanse’s Protection

This is Bastion for two mana. It may not give stats, and the effect may be temporary, but nine times out of ten, it’s a two-mana Bastion.

More often than not Bastion is used as a reactive protection spell. The opponent casts Vengeance? Bastion. Our unit’s about to get bounced by Homecoming? Bastion. While there are a few niche scenarios when this isn’t the case, they are far and few between.

If we ever see Lee Zoe make a return, The Expanse’s Protection becomes incredibly mana-efficient insurance. And what does it cost? Put Hookmaster into the deck. That’s it.

Of course, this won’t be the case for all region combinations, but Targon is already in a decent spot as far as equipment goes. Lodestone and Wandering Shepherd are both solid options and easily splashable. Be on the lookout for this one!

The Darkin Aegis/Joraal

Oh, man… As a baseline weapon, this card is already in a good spot. Granting +1|+1 and tough is already solid and will make combat a lot harder for the opponent. But that’s not all…

The backside of this card is our cheapest Darkin yet, and it’s a real punisher! Joraal is going to cause nightmares for spell-based decks, while also picking off enemy units. Thankfully the tax window only applies during combat, though it will make it more difficult to abuse spells like Recall and Homecoming.

We already know Demacia’s getting a big push towards playing equipment this patch, and this seems like a no-brainer inclusion. Overall this looks super solid and likely will become another Demacia staple.

Opulent Foyer

I really like the design of this landmark. Three mana is about the limit we can afford to play without falling too far behind, but what really makes this great is it guarantees a unit on summoning.

Ephemerals make for excellent deterrents, as there’s often no reason for the opponent to attack a unit that’s already going to die unless they have multiple attackers. And in that case, we get a free block on either the most threatening target or a free favorable trade.

This also gives us a repeatable way to build up Hallowed triggers. With its effect triggering upon gaining the attack token, it synergizes with Scouts, Free Attacks, and Katarina!

We’ll have to see how many times this card can reliably trigger throughout a game. Summoning three Ghastly Bands gives us a little more than our mana’s worth, and any more than that is awesome value.

Fanclub President

I know its stats are awful, but the potential payoff is pretty insane. I don’t think it’s completely out of the question to play a 2/2 on turn four. After all, we already play TF and Aloof Travelers.

There are a lot of good spells that cost five mana, and they become insane when you have to consider them at two mana. Sunburst, Harsh Winds, Eye of Nagakabouros!? That’s just to name a few.

If you thought Ferros Financier was miserable to play against, have fun trying to play around with Fanclub President’s spells!

The Unforgiving Cold

It’s our second spell of the three-four mana “Once you have Equipped” bunch, and this one is equally as punishing. It’s Harsh Winds for four mana. It’s even got the potential to be better than that, as it does have double-spell applications. Does anyone else remember Ezreal Teemo?

This also fits perfectly into Ashe Noxus as a cheaper Harsh Winds. It should be easy enough to throw Hookmaster into the deck and call it a day. The deck’s already lacking 2-drops, so it sounds like a perfect fit.

Not all decks that want Harsh Winds will be able to justify an equipment package, so I don’t see this as an outright replacement. Each card will have its own place. Overall, Frostbite is still a niche mechanic, so it’s gonna depend on how the meta shapes up in the end.

Crowd Pleaser

+2 Power and Quick attack for two? That’s a pretty reasonable combat trick. Wait, it’s in PnZ!?

Crowd Pleaser is basically a miniature Rising Spell Force, except, it actually looks good! The difference between a two and three-mana combat trick is huge, and at two, it could do some real damage.

Think of it like PnZ’s version of Pale Cascade. However, instead of acting as a minor protection buff, it lets you strike enemies out of nowhere! It’s going to be pretty awkward committing a block hoping to trade, then the opponent casts this in response. What a blowout.

Not only that, but when Flow is active we get a free spell to replace it? Call me crazy, but this card looks nuts! Even when punished by removal the card still replaces itself. But when things work out, the payoff is incredible and at such little cost. I’m scared of this one.

Bloodcursed Harpy

Very few 6+ cost units are worth considering in Runeterra’s increasingly fast meta.. But Bloodcursed Harpy may just meet the bar. Scout is a busted keyword, plus we get to combine it with a free instant equip from hand. Then if it were to die, instead it just gets healed at the cost of the equipment?

Standalone this threatens a lot of damage. If we assume the average 2-cost equipment grants two power, then we can push 16 damage in one round. Obviously, we have to expect some form of interaction, be it blockers or removal, but that’s A LOT of damage in one card.

Demacia’s ready to make a comeback, and if the equipment comes to the forefront, there’s a decent chance Bloodcursed Harpy follows alongside.

The Unending Wave

And now we know why Twisted Fate is getting rotated. What is this card!? It’s the third and final equipment-reduced spell, and this card is absolutely bonkers!

Design space for spells in Bilgewater is tricky thanks to cards like Nami and Shelly. Additionally, card draw has typically been limited or came with caveats because of TF. The Unending Wave is absurdly powerful, and it’s in the region that can abuse it more than any other!

Yes, Fleeting is a real drawback, but the decks that can truly abuse this card don’t even care. Either the cards are cheap enough to play without worry, or they become easy discard fodder.

Fizz TF could make its return. Who needs pre-nerf Pick a Card when you have The Unending Wave!? Between that, Rummage, and Stress Testing, it’s time to turbo level TF once again!

At least that’s my hope haha. Fizz TF was peak Runeterra in my eyes.. 🙂

Conclusion

It may only be three champs, but I think we’re in for a wild expansion. There’s a lot of potential playables here, and the spells look insane!

Don’t forget to take the time to mess around and enjoy it!

Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day

While we may not control the environment around us, we can control our outlook. Reframe our negative thoughts to positive ones.

Life is a lot easier when we don’t make it mentally harder on ourselves.

To explore all Legends of Runeterra cards including the new ones from Domination, head to the Card Gallery.

The post Top 10 Domination Cards to Watch appeared first on Mobalytics.

They say to save the best for last. I’m Jordan “WhatAmI” Abronson and today we are dropping some absolutely legendary final day reveals.

If you want power, precision, and synergy, then you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s check out our final day of Darkin Saga spoilers.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Vayne

Holy infinitely rallying nonsense batman. If you thought that a leveled Katarina was a problem wait till you get a load of Demacia’s newest powerhouse.

Coming down on turn three with enough stats to clog the board and make her difficult to remove, Vayne immediately generates value and presents threats.

If you happen to successfully level her than the hits just start coming faster and faster. Her kit is extremely thematic as there is simply no escape from a powered-up Vayne.

She will hunt you down wherever you try to run attacking over and over again until you simply cannot defend any longer.

This card is going to be a nightmare to defend against for any control deck, and plenty of midrange piles will have problems as well.

I am confident in saying that we are witnessing the arrival of Demacia’s new premier champion, and possibly one of the defining cards of our new meta game.

Condemn

At six mana this card is practically unplayable. Its floor is a significantly worse concerted strike that sits in your hand and mocks you for including it in your deck. That said, the ceiling is absolutely bonkers.
Hate spike reminds us that one mana removal is pretty nuts even on a small scale. This card will be active a significant amount of the time in any deck that wants it. Vayne, Scout, or even an old-fashioned Rally will get it done. Deck space will be an issue, but this looks like a potential powerhouse removal tool for Demacia.

Fish Fight

Depending on the amount of equipment you can slot into your deck this card could be significantly worthwhile. Also, a nice way to get a premium equipment onto your intended target without having to sacrifice the unit it is currently attached to.

This also calls out to me as a solid way to turbo-level Kayne. A champion who desperately needed some worthwhile ways to accelerate his gameplan.

I don’t know if this will be enough, but it definitely pings my radar as something that is worth an attempt.

Steadfast Elkin

Tough in the early game is an absolutely brutal keyword to deal with.

This card can gain access to that effect and lock down the board as early as turn two or three, all while being a solid aggressive attacker. Aggressive Demacia is eating well today.

Zealous Ranger-Knight

War Chefs is turning in his grave. Two mana 2/3 is a premium early game stat line to lock down a board, and later in the game in an equipment heavy deck this can do a solid impression of a full board pump.

Seems like an immensely powerful inclusion in equipment based Demacia.

Widowed Huntress

A small challenger unit for four mana that jumps an equipment onto itself from your hand? The effect is cute, but the mana point feels like it is unlikely to be sufficiently powerful in any deck that particularly wants to play it.

Faithful Wolfdog

This effectively wants to be a one mana “pick up the dropped weapon and go fight with it” unit. Seems like solid support for a potential forge archetype, but probably not going to manage to make the cut in baseline Demacia midrange. Not unless we get significantly more equipment based.

Kind-Hearted Recruit

Brightsteel Formation got a baby brother and he is here to potentially wreak some havoc. My first thought here is to use these powerful new demacia equipment support cards to try to work with Jax. I don’t know if that will make the grade or not, but it’s an interesting idea at the least.

Bloodcursed Harpy

Six mana Demacia cards have some big shoes to fill. You have to contend with Cithria and Genevieve, two majorly powerful ladies. This card’s fortitude might give it a chance, but I’m not holding out any particular hope. Buffing your entire board and/or having access to challenger are really good effects.

Bonus Deck: Holy Tumble

Deck code: CECAKBQFBQGQ4EA4AIAQKFBRAECQADACAYAAWFIFAEDAKAYBAEAB2AIDAAFACBAAAIAQMAASAA

[See Holy Tumble deck details]

What’s better than attacking a bunch of time in a row? That’s right, attacking a bunch of times in a row and getting stronger every single time you do it. Hallowed seems like a natural fit for Vayne and, as we’ve already seen from Gwen/Katarina, that archetype loves extra attacks.

Vayne herself will rarely be the target of tumble here, but she can definitely carry the banner if she needs to. The main plan is to try to get in with Gwen as often as possible, draining your opponent’s life away with each swing. We do have a few solid backups though.

Eternal Dancers has always shown through as Gwen 2.0 if you’ve left your leading lady at home or she’s been taken out of play. Multiple attacks with this card will end a game in short order. Beyond that Rekindler is a powerhouse, bringing back whatever part of the engine our opponent was able to stop.

This deck just keeps on coming in and should be a nightmare to deal with for any sort of control player. Midrange battles may prove to be a little bit trickier as we don’t exactly defend ourselves the best, but Condemn can help out with that at least a touch.

All in all, this deck looks like a blast to play and I’m looking forward to giving it a whirl in the next few days as we get access to all these cool new cards. I’ll see you all out there on the ladder, tumbling away.

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Vayne appeared first on Mobalytics.

Seasonals has concluded, but the Darkin Saga has yet to reach its peak.

I’m Jordan “WhatAmI” Abronson and we’ve got some terrifying new tools to try out today.

Let’s check out what powers we’ve been gifted today by our Darkin Overlords.

To see the rest of the Domination reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Legionary Charge

The combat trick side of this card feels ever so slightly underwhelming. That leads me to believe that we probably want to be putting it into our deck as a tutor effect. That said a two-mana tutor, assuming we build our deck to accommodate it, is quite a powerful effect.

While I’m not sure exactly how to best take advantage of this effect yet, there’s clearly some level of impressive potential here. And the dual purpose of being a potentially quite reasonable combat trick when you already have your tutor target is a huge upside.

Brutal Skirmish

Noxian single combat for one more mana is a huge deal. This is a region full of gigantically stated units and forcing bad trades for our opponent sounds great. Murdering the equipment they might have is just the icing on this delicious cake.

Use cases abound here, but there’s one that jumps right to the top of the list and demands to be at least tested. This will potentially level a Swain mid combat while making sure he crashes through to hit the enemy nexus. That, my friends, is what we call the biggest of oofs.

Rune Squire

This is exactly the kind of support that riven needed. A small body that helps reforge her powerful win condition while also impacting the board in a meaningful way. I love everything about this card and can’t wait to test with it.

Icathian Myths/Golden Spatula

Another split card that can either come down as a two mana 3/2, or show up as a four mana giant equipment. This reads as a potentially quite powerful inclusion for decks based around either Fiora or Akshan.

Taking your powerful attacking champion and suiting it up to unreasonable sizes while at the same time adding consistency to what generally wants to be a relatively unit light deck is a great thing for one card to do.

The Darkin Aegis/Joraal

I’m having a tough time evaluating this one, no pun intended. This is a huge mana investment in the early game to make an important unit relatively difficult, but not impossible, to kill. Later tough just won’t look all that impressive most of the time. That’s only one side of the coin though.

The other side is a brutal unit that basically forces your opponent to pre commit any combat spells they wanted to cast when you attacked them. That effect is absolutely huge into almost any kind of deck.

Control decks will have fits not knowing how you’re going to attack. Possibly even worse though enemy midrange decks will simply not be able to effectively fight with you over pump wars during combat. I think the limitation on this card is powerful enough to at least deserve some looking in to.

Bonus Deck: Swain Skirmish

Deck code: CECQGAQDAEDQSAQFBIY2MAIDAYFA6EIVAEAQGLQBAYBRWAQDAUFJQAOGAHKQCAQGAMHBMAA

[See Swain Skirmish deck details]

You’ll likely recognize the base deck here as something that did quite well during our last ladder season. The Noxian tools we’ve been given feel like they slant in here exceedingly well, displacing some of the cards I was always a little bit unhappy to be forced to put in my deck anyway.

Legionary Charge fixes any consistency issues you had by effectively allowing you to run five Leviathan. It also works great to turn a random portal unit or tiny value creator into a real threat whenever you already have your engines running, or simply want to push that extra bit of damage.

Brutal Skirmish will take care of any pesky equipment while putting in some serious work in leveling our boy, Swain. This is another area of weakness this deck always had and the new card should allow us to play on a significantly more aggressive bent more effectively.

All in all, I would not be surprised if there is some form of quite powerful midrange deck to play with here as the new season comes upon us. I’m definitely going to be looking to test the new Noxian single combat and tutor package in a few different archetypes as soon as they are available.

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Day 6 Demacia and Noxus Variety Pack appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey all, it’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here.

Today we’ve got a handful of support cards for Shadow Isles and Shurima!

To see the rest of the Domination reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Camouflaged Horror

Seven mana is a lot these days, but Camouflaged Horror presents a payoff that’s well worth the investment. It comes down and strikes an enemy for seven, while also leaving a 7/5 Fearsome body on board. It’s almost like a bigger Riptide Sermon, unless things don’t go as planned..

The big downside is that it’s counterable. While it may not be easy to deal five damage at fast speed, having this card eat a Vengeance isn’t going to feel great.. And what’s even worse is getting bounced by a Homecoming!

Evolve also comes with a deck building cost, and playing this as a 5/3 is awful. There’s potential we see this as a one or two-of in a Midrange Evolve list, but it’s really going to depend on how the meta shapes up. If Ionia remains king, Camouflaged Horror will remain unseen.

Curse of the Tomb

This is a pretty strange spell for Shurima. In a way it feels similar to Disintegrate, except it’s stuck in a region with a huge lack of damage spells. Shurima succeeds best in combat by taking advantage of vulnerable enemies. Sure you can double up the damage and trade up, but at best you two for one yourself.. And at worst, you get completely blown out!

Disintegrate’s advantage is that it can be combined with cheap spells to deal with just about anything. That’s not often the case for Curse of the Tomb.

At the very least it does add another Predict spell into the pool, but I really can’t see this making sense in any deck.

The Altar of Blood

This looks like a fun build-around card that aims to cheat out a big Darkin a few turns earlier. Shurima does play well with the Slay archetype, and combined with Shadow Isles it’s possible to build up triggers quite quickly.

However, taking off turn two in order to set this up is a real cost, especially when we need to develop units early to start the slaying spree. I don’t expect we’ll see much of this, but it’ll definitely be a fun concept to experiment with!

Swinging Glaive

I haven’t been the biggest fan of equipment, and they’ve kinda played out to my expectations since their release. Of course cards like Bloodletters and Lodestone are great, alongside the Improvise staple; Hookmaster. Cost matters a lot, and that’s why most others haven’t seen success.

Swinging Glaive is no different. While generating Lucky Finds on strike is nice, three mana is just too much of an investment, especially considering the payoff isn’t guaranteed. If this were to trigger upon attack I would maybe consider it, but as it stands, it feels a bit weak.

Opulent Foyer

If you ever wanted a more consistent way to build up Hallowed triggers, now you’ve got it! Opulent Foyer actually looks pretty reasonable. While three mana landmarks are often pretty bad, we can sort of compare this to God-Willow Seedling in terms of tempo. It may not represent the same level of defensive threat, but summoning any Ephemeral unit is often enough to help halt an attack.

This also fits perfectly with Katarina as we’re able to gain attack tokens on the opponent’s offensive turn. This forces them to open attack, or else it opens a window for us to play Katarina and summon a Ghastly Band on the same action.

Gwen Katarina has been a solid deck for a while and it always lacked a proactive 3-drop outside of Katarina. Opulent Foyer may just be the perfect fit.

Wraith of Echoes

We’re definitely in meme territory with this one. It’s pretty hard to justify playing a six mana 2/5 that doesn’t actually do anything the turn you play it. Even if you’re able to trigger its Round End effect, the benefit only applies if you have additional copies of the card readily available.

That said, it’s got some hilarious applications with Minion. Perhaps this will birth the true Minion OTK deck!? 😉

Moonlit Glenkeeper

Moonlit Glenkeeper feels like Nightfall’s version of Blighted Caretaker, except instead of two Saplings, we get one 3/1 Sapling. While a 2/3 Fearsome for three is pretty awful, the 3/1 Sapling can force a very favorable exchange.

It’s a great card against other unit based decks such as Demacia, but will fare poorly into control decks or those with access to cheap pings. It’s an ‘A’ in some situations and an ‘F’ in others, so because of this, it may only make the cut in small numbers (or not at all).

However, be prepared as its another notable card added to the Unspeakable Horror pool.

Bonus Deck: Minion OTK

Deck code: CEDAGAIFFAXTCAQFAQDBQAIDAQGQCBIKO4AQCBBUAEDAKIQDAIBQIAYLAEDAIFQBAECQCBABAMCQCAIBAQAQCAQEBABACBIPDE

[See Minion OTK deck details]

Alas, we finally have Minion OTK!

Utilize copy spells like Fading Memories and Iterative Improvement to create multiple Minions to flood the board. Then once Wraith of Echoes is online, our Minions will continue to grow bigger and bigger until the opponent’s inevitable DOOM! 😀

At least, that’s the hope haha. Regardless, this deck looks like a blast to play! It’s definitely on my list of early patch experiments! 🙂

Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day

Where do we draw the line between what we think we want for ourselves, versus what we actually want?

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Day 5 Shurima and Shadow Isles Variety Pack appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone, Kuvi here, for the fourth day of the new expansion Domination.

After getting more Flow support yesterday, today’s batch includes Seraphine and related PnZ support! Now let’s get started!

To see the rest of the Domination reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Seraphine

Tying together the Flow package, Seraphine is a 2 mana 1|4 that creates a random new 2 cost spell in hand on summon. A new spell is a spell you have not played this game. She levels up when you’ve played 6 or more new spells in a game. When leveled, Seraphine also copies new spells you play that cost 2 or less, making her a baby Karma, of sorts.

Seraphine’s spell creation is not region restricted, which means you can create a 2 cost spell from any region in the game. This will undoubtedly lead to some pretty crazy moments with some more of that PnZ randomness. With her general spell creation and duplication, Seraphine seems like a very flexible Champion that could fit in a variety of regions and decks.

High Note

High Note, Seraphine’s Champion spell, is a 2 mana fast speed spell that deals 2 damage to a unit and 1 damage to another if you’ve played 6 or more new spells that game. This spell is similar to Mystic Shot, with a bit less general flexibility not being able to target the Nexus, but a bonus after you’ve leveled Seraphine.

High Note works especially well with Seraphine’s level 2 if you haven’t played a High Note already that game, making it a great Champion spell for her to have.

Acorn, the Hextechnician

Acorn, the Hextechnician is a 1 mana 1|1 Elusive from PnZ that reduces the cost of your most expensive spell in hand by 1 on Nexus Strike.

Like other 1 mana 1|1 Elusives with value effects, you’ll find it hard to trade down with this card, as it can generate a significant amount of value if left unchecked.

It’s a good way to start discounting spells early for Seraphine and to enable Flow later on.

This card can also be used to play expensive spells sooner than you’d otherwise be able to, which I could see working well with cards like Feel the Rust or Glorious Evolution.

Inspired Plans

Inspired Plans is a 2 mana +1|+1 Equipment from PnZ that generates a new Fleeting 2 cost spell in hand on Attack. This card has a lot of variance because it’s an Attack effect, making the difference between creating a slow or focus spell you can’t use until after combat or a fast or burst spell you can use during combat can be pretty large. This card can still generate repeated value and create some crazy moments, so I’m looking forward to seeing what people do with it.

Fanclub President

Fanclub President is a 4 mana 2|2 from PnZ that manifests a 5 mana spell on play and sets its cost to 2. Effectively discounting a spell you manifest by 3 is incredibly powerful. Potentially having access to cards like 2 mana Harsh Winds, Entomb, or Concerted Strike, this card will consistently create unexpected blowouts and turn the tides of games.

It’s an amazing card that pushes the PnZ Flow package up with it, and I expect this card to easily become a PnZ region staple.

The Zaun Diva

The Zaun Diva is a 8 mana 7|5 from PnZ that deals 1 to all enemies, or 3 to all enemies if you’ve played 6 or more new spells that game. You will primarily be seeing this card in spell decks so expect its relatively easy condition to be met by the turn this comes down. This card offers some board clear and finishing potential for the Flow and new spell archetypes.

The Zaun Diva works well with Back Alley Barkeep particularly well, as it also allows you to play her a turn early and curve rather nicely.

Crowd Pleaser

Crowd Pleaser is a 2 mana burst speed spell from PnZ that gives an ally +2|+0 and Quick Attack for the turn. If you have Flow active it also creates a new random 2 cost spell in hand. This card is a decent combat trick that also gives some value back in Flow decks and pushes their game plan forward, offering 2 different 2 cost spells in one card.

Drum Solo

Drum Solo is a 5 mana burst speed spell from PnZ that draw 2 cards. If you have Flow, it reduces the cost of both cards by 2. With Flow this card discounts 4 total mana from the cards drawn, making its net cost only 1 mana. This might just be the new best draw spell in the game.

On top of the incredible value this card offers, it also allows you to play cards up to 2 turns sooner than you’d otherwise be able to, enabling lots of interesting combos that I’m excited to see.

I hope you guys liked this card reveals analysis article, my DMS are always open if anyone wants to discuss what’s written in this article or anything LoR related!

Bonus Deck: Seraphine Karma

Deck code: CECACAIEGQBAIBACA4BAMAQOEQCAMBAOCULCQAYBAECBWAIGAIQAGAICBQUTCAYBAIBAKAIDAQBQCBQEFM

[See Seraphine Karma deck details]

Using PnZ and Ionia control tools and activating Flow, this deck is meant to stall and outvalue out opponent until it’s our turn, when we pop off, doubling or even tripling our discounted spells and destroying our enemy with Hexite Crystals and more.

This deck should be really good against control archetypes like Karma Master Yi since we outvalue and outtempo in the late game while denying their gameplan.

It’s also fairly strong against midrange decks like Fiora Pantheon because of the efficient disruption like recalls, mystic, etc…

On top of being able to slow midrange down enough to be able to make it into the later stages of the game. Unfortunately, aggro will most likely be a pretty big weakness for this deck.

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Seraphine appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey everyone NicMakesPlays here. Today we got a batch of Ionia and PNZ cards from the new set.

I’m going to go over the cards today and my predicted viability of them.

To see the rest of the Domination reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

The Witness

This card is amazing at being disruption and a 3/3 blocker for cheap. On offensive turns you can use spells to push and activate Flow. Then on your opponent’s turn you can play it to ruin their attack token/plays. This card is essentially an Ionian Arachnoid Sentry with an extra health.

Dragoncaller

Dragoncaller is a bit expensive although it does have a powerful effect. If you can continuously activate Flow each turn you get an Ephemeral 6/5 Elusive attacker on offensive, and one to block with on defense. The issue is in later turns Ionia usually has stronger strategies such as winning the game with a leveled Lee Sin or Karma. Ionia is also mostly good against removal and Dragoncaller gives them a good target for removal that isn’t proactive or winning them the game.

The Spirit of Wuju

The Spirit of Wuju is a solid card to continue refueling your hand with spells while maintaining board presence. The ability to have a blocker for defense, and add a spell to your hand is very valuable for midrange Ionia decks such as ones that involve Viktor.

Viktor gives you cheap 0 mana spells and is a bit more unit based than other Ionia decks. This makes Spirit of the Wuju perfect for decks such as Viktor Karma or Viktor Lee.

Unworthy Soul

Unworthy Soul gives Ionia yet another Recall spell for opposing Units or Landmarks. In the past cards such as Will of Ionia were in the best decks in the game, and currently Homecoming has been in the best decks in the game for multiple seasons such as Ahri Kennen and Nami Lee Sin.

Unworthy Soul is just a new take on these cards and is likely to be great if history repeats itself. Flow makes Unworthy Soul cost 2 less and it also destroys attachments before it does so. This card has both the bonus of potentially being cheaper than Will of Ionia/Homecoming and destroying attachments such as Equipment for certain metas.

The Darkin Harp

The Darkin Harp can either give a unit +2/0 and Quick Attack or turn itself into Stryaatu. +2/0 and Quick Attack is great in PNZ for units such as Flame Chompers to rack up quick kills in the early game. Straatu is a strong 8/6 Quick Attack unit that can help you refuel and discount your hand in the late game.

The fact that Darkin Harp can be versatile as utility in the early game or late game makes it great because it’s consistently reliable. This card will shine particularly in decks that involve Flame Chompers such as Jinx Lulu.

Zaun Bouncer

Zaun Bouncer is perfect for Viktor decks to continuously refuel spell mana. Viktor’s Hexcore Upgrades cost 0 so you are able to reliably activate Flow.

While Viktor becomes a threat over time, you can use Zaun Bouncer to give you extra spell mana and interrupt the enemy strategy.

Bonus Deck: Harp Jinx Lulu

Deck code: CECQCAYECIBAGAQCCECQCBAMBUTSQLIBAQCBAAICAQBQIAQBAQARYAIGAQEACAICBQAQGAQKAA

[See Harp Jinx Lulu deck details]

Jinx Lulu is perfect at using the new Equipment, The Darkin Harp. Jinx Lulu is a deck centered around buffing Flame Chompers to get easy kills in the early game and create board control. You can buff Flame Chompers with The Darkin Harp to give it Quick Attack so it can continuously rack-up kills throughout the game.

Boom Baboon gives you extra copies of Flame Chompers as well. After you dump your hand you can use Jinx or summon Styraatu from the Darkin Harp to refuel!

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Day 3 Ionia + PNZ Variety Pack appeared first on Mobalytics.

The next Darkin has been released and it decided that being merely fearsome simply wasn’t terrifying enough.

I’m Jordan “WhatAmI” Abronson and I’ve got some crazy new spoilers for you here on what looks to be a solid day of Darkin variety support cards.

To see the rest of the Domination reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

The Darkin Harpoon/Ibaaros

The first half of this card is interesting as it almost seems to be working at cross purposes to itself.

Fearsome is a very aggressive keyword whereas spending two mana to maybe draw a card next turn seems rather slow. That said I could see this in some kind of tempo Go Hard deck or potentially even true aggro if you could find enough one drops to spam out to make this worthwhile.

On the flip side though Ibaaros is an absolute monster. You all know that I am an Atrocity gamer and this just screams to be thrown at my opponent’s face. I’m not sure what an Atrocity/Ibaaros deck would look like, but you can bet that I’m going to try to find out.

Test of Spirit

This feels like Ye’ Been Warned and Shakedown had an ugly baby. I’m not going to lie this feels extremely awkward to but into a deck. Maaaaybe a more aggressive leaning Miss Fortune plan could justify it but I’m not really sure you would want this even then. More toys for Burble Fish though.

Skrappy’s Partzapalooza

As we’ve seen from husks in the past, a single random keyword might be one of the highest variance bonuses you can give to a unit. This strikes me as too unreliable to make Mecha-Yordles playable, but being discardable is definitely a point in its favor. Even at zero mana though I’m not sure this makes my decks.

Fracture

This one though I absolutely love. Freljord now has its own personal powerful and flexible way to answer problem equipment. A touch of burn, a smidge of plunder proc, casual board wipes for the more controlling among us, this card has it all and I’m looking forward to playing with it.

Warden of the Tribes

I’m not going to lie, this looks an awful lot like an un-deny-able Mind Meld attached to an overwhelm body if you decide you want to build a deck around it. Nine mana is an awful lot, but non-ruination decks are going to have a heck of a time being alive when this hits the board. Portal Warden anybody?

Twilit Protector

Another piece of solid support for the good old Celesbians deck. My heart wants to say that this will be enough to bring Leona/Diana into the playable range, but my head says solid two drop was not really what that deck was missing. Definitely a good excuse to try one of the top thematic decks in Runeterra out again though.

Bonus Deck: Norra of the Tribes

Deck code: CEBQGBQKB4IRKAIGBECACAIBD4CQCAIBBABAKCRRUYAQCBQKDQAQMAAGAUDACCYREITSQBIBAQAQUAIDAEBACBIKTAAQCAIBDMAQEAIC

Nora decks have never had a problem establishing board control and tempo. They enjoy drawing cards and spamming down a host of units to swarm all over their opponent. What they do occasionally have though, is trouble actually ending the game in their favor.

Somehow, I think that pumping your entire board to epic proportions is a solid way to address that particular issue. We’ve got six tribes already represented here (seven if you count Mr. Elnuk), and that’s likely to be enough to crush a board right there when Warden comes down on nine.

Never forget though that our game-ender reads “summoned,” not “played.” So, any hits we get off of all the portals we’ll be making can help out quite nicely. A full board pumped up to Mind Meld levels of silliness should crash right through our poor opponent’s defenses.

Aside from that we’ve also got Ornn at the top to make some crazy weapons, backed up by new friend Icevale Cultist to make sure he is a lethal threat whether he comes down leveled up or not.

Last but not least we’ve got some truly cheeky open attack we can create courtesy of any portals we hit combined with Wildclaw’s Ferocity. Dropping this on a random unlucky portal hit is fine, dropping it on a Combat Cook is just absolutely brutal.

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Day 2 Variety Pack appeared first on Mobalytics.

We’re gearing up for the seasonal tournament with our first round of Darkin powerhouses. Sounds like the perfect time to roll out the next.

I’m Jordan “WhatAmI” Abronson and we’re going from zero all the way to one hundred on our first spoiler day with some absolutely insane new cards.

Let’s check them out.

To see the rest of the Domination reveals, head to our Spoiler page where they’ll be revealed each day until its official release.

If you’d like to see our expert breakdowns for the cards, check out the rest of our reveal articles.

Varus/The Darkin Bow/Chain of Corruption

I’ll admit that I am a little less high on this Origin after seeing the way that Kayn turned out.

Though a deck where you get to auto-draw both your champions on turn four does sound kind of cool. The problem is that deck would have truly horrific building restrictions, possibly to the point of unplayability.

If we look Varus on his own though perhaps with the help of someone like Akshan or Pantheon, then perhaps he has more potential. Charging up a fourteen-point overwhelm attack is a pretty solid way to end basically any game after all. And don’t get me started on what happens if you give this lad double strike.

Last but not least the Darkin champion spells are a big deal because you’ll see them significantly more often than any other champion spell.

Chain of Corruption is highly mana intensive, but can allow you to dictate an entire combat at burst speed.

This will lead to some nasty blowouts that I am definitely going to brew.

Blooming Cultist

Effectively a two mana 3/2 elusive that can’t be played until turn three or four is an interesting stat line to be sure. I suspect this will see play in cultist-based decks simply as a solid activator and a way to push lethal attacks with equipment later in the game.

I don’t know if the effect it has on its own will let it make leaps outside of that archetype, but I could potentially see a bandle elusive aggro deck wanting something like this.

It’s not quite decimate-fishy, but it’s doing its best impression. Fervor-Fern perhaps?

The Sudden Surge

This one on the other hand is absolutely nutso-busted and will be a meta-defining card in whatever deck can play it.

At four mana this can still be a brutal combat trick. When you set it down to two it will simply become impossible to play around and smash opponent’s board and life totals at will.

Buhru Cultist

Another card that will be an absolute staple in cultist decks. Early defense or pressure as needed combined with later in the game burn out potential is a top tier one drop.

The question then becomes if it is powerful enough to see play in other aggressive archetypes.

My gut says no, because most super low to the ground decks don’t really want to take the time off necessary to equip up their units.

But that said Ionian Hookmaster is a premium two drop, and a floor of a one mana 2/2 is quite solid. I would not be surprised to see these taking up the coveted one mana slot.

The Unending Wave

What? Just… what???? I know as a writer I’m contractually obligated not to be speechless but come on folks. This is a card that is clearly and brutally busted with both Twisted Fate and Nami. You know, two of the already most top tier champions we have in this game that dominate formats at the drop of a hat?

I mean, I love the Mordekaiser Artwork and I’m looking forward to seeing my boy crush some heads, but I’m getting Twisted Fate/Fizz flashbacks here. Hopefully I’m wrong and the fleeting clause will be enough to keep this monster in check, but I’m not betting on it.

Lunari Cultist

A two mana 1/3 that effectively makes two gems on summon is potentially a pretty premium package. As a long time Mountain Goat Afficionado this will compete heavily for that slot. I don’t know which we’ll end up running or if it will be a split, but this is definitely going to give the goat a run for its money.

The Expanse’s Protection

Um, I guess this is “You don’t get to play around tricks anymore,” the expansion? I’m not going to lie between this and The Sudden Surge my control player instincts are yelling at me to run and hide. If my opponent is holding up two mana both Mystic Shot and Vengeance are off the table? Send help.

Icevale Cultist

This says it’s a cultist, but it reads like the Ornn support that we’ve all been waiting for. I’m not sure if this will be enough to take the big seven drop into the competitive realm, but guaranteeing that he has overwhelm before needing to level is a pretty powerful step. Five mana 5/5 aint the worst thing either.

The Unforgiving Cold

Basically, just four mana Harsh Winds in most scenarios? There’ll obviously be some spots where you wish you could freeze a smaller unit *cough* Teemo *cough* but as a general rule this is another pretty power combat trick for the cultist archetypes.

Remember how I said playing Varus and Kayne together was going to be too restrictive? Well, the more I read through this spoiler the more I think that might have been just a touch on the “judging a book by its cover” side of things. This is quickly moving towards “we’re at least going to have to test this.”

Ambitious Cultist

As anyone who has played with Shen knows, a four mana 3/5 is a pretty solid way to shut down an early to mid-game board.

This will add a small but potentially powerful spell on top of that. Honestly feels like a high-power midrange value unit in any deck that wants that kind of thing, cultist or no.

The Violent Dischord

Powered down Mystic Shot here is clearly signaling that we are going to get some more love for Fun Smith style archetypes in the future. This isn’t much to look at on its own, but with a single boost it’ll shoot for four at fast speed. Pretty nasty.

Bonus Deck: Varus Strikes Twice

Deck code: CUEACBICA4AQMCRGAEDASIABAYBROAIGBQEQCBQHAUAQMBIGAIDAECBCAYAQCARRAEBQEGIBAYFBYAIGAISACBQJFAAQMBAHAEAQMBQ2

[See Varus Strikes Twice deck details]

You know what’s better than attacking your opponent for fourteen points of Overwhelm damage? That’s right, attacking for thirty. A fully charged up Varus flurrying his fists will simply lay waste to anything that stands between him and your opponent’s nexus absolutely imploding on itself.

Though to be fair this is under the assumption that the bow will keep its buff through the first half of double attack. We’ll have to see exactly how this interaction works before we confirm the otk as real, but even without it there’s some powerful midrange options here.

We do need quite a few targets to level Varus, but Momentous Choice and Lunari Cultist should be able to help us out with that. Backup dance Master Yi is here as our secondary win condition and to make our already inexpensive interaction that much more ridiculous.

And just in case drawing our main win condition for free wasn’t enough card advantage Sai’Nen has our back on the top end. This looks dreadfully unrefined from where I’m sitting right now, but the bones of something gruesomely powerful are here. The “to test” list for the new Darkin saga begins to form. Are you ready?

Stay tuned for more reveal articles! To build your own deck, head to our Deck Builder.

The post Domination Impressions: Varus appeared first on Mobalytics.

In this patch breakdown, we’ll discuss all the buffs/nerfs/adjustments from the latest balance changes.

We recommend following along with the official Riot patch notes if you’re looking for their explanations related to game design.

With just a week and a half till seasonals the meta is about to get turned fully on its head.

I’m Jordan “WhatAmI” Abronson and you better start up those brewing engines because we’ve got a patch that is going to demand some new strategies be brough to the forefront.

Balance Changes

Leona

Coming down on five in her own deck we can reasonably assume this lady of light will always be leveled. That means we’ve been given a five mana 4/6 with challenger, barrier, and a stun effect for your opponent’s strongest unit.

I don’t know if that will be enough to catapult Leona to dominance but it is an absolutely huge tempo swing. One that might be enough to let some powerful midrange strategies shine.

Sun Guardian

A three mana 3/4 is nothing to sneeze at. And one that will continue to grow is pretty nice. With no keyword this will never be anything but a brick wall, but if a wall is what you need Badgerbear 2.0 is here to deliver.

Solari Stellacorn

This looks like a bit of an innocuous effect at first glance. However, I want to keep in mind the power of adding health to challenger units. Four mana is a lot to ask for this effect, but stellacorn is now at least worth taking a look at in the right kind of archetype.

Morning Light

This is actually quite the scary turn five play with Leona if you have banked mana. You can still buff your board while stunning three potential blockers from your opponent. Anyone planning to combat your aggression with units is going to have some serious issues.

Sunburst

I was already occasionally willing to play these alongside vengeance. Taking it down to five mana gives this card a niche of its own and I am excited to see all the different possibilities that will be unlocked.

Nocturne

The lord of the night is finally also the lord of fear. This will unlock huge amounts of deckbuilding potential for this powerful tempo four drop. Who knows where he’ll land but it is great to see him unhooked from an otherwise quite linear and defining archetype.

The Twisted Treeline/Vilemaw

I enjoy this kind of buff. The kind that allows things to be more powerful thematically while at the same time unchaining them from specific decks.

That said this still starts actually attacking extremely late in a deck that wants to be quite aggressive. I’m on the skeptical side of this one.

Hate Spike/Kennen

I put these two together because they are effectively reverts of recent buffs.

Both of these cards were proven to be extremely powerful after the nudge they were given. Unfortunately, this may mean they regress into unplayability, but only time will tell where they land.

Concurrent Timelines

The difference between one mana and two is absolutely huge. More even than just the tempo it saps from the deck that wants to play it, this powerful effect now has significant counterplay in Nopeify. This might not kill the deck entirely, but I suspect it will take it out of tier one contention.

Targon’s Peak

Alas, peak game play has been delayed another turn. That said this card was almost always coming down early thanks to the region it tended to be paired with so it’s more like they’re setting it back to the turn it was meant to be on all along.

The god draws of this deck will still do crazy things, but the average has been touched up just a bit to take the sting off of trying to play against it. I think that this will be a welcome nerf for many. Let the meme decks stay meme decks.

Viego

Oof. Possibly one of the hardest ways to nerf a card is to up its mana cost. Going from five to six is a serious hit.

Along with multiple other rough moments for his favorite decks Runeterra’s favorite misty lad may be bound for the outskirts of the metagame once more.

Sai’Nen Thousand Tailed

This nerf will hit the defensive capabilities of this card while not particularly effecting its planned place in the decks that love it. This is a well-deserved hit but not one that I think takes the fox out of playability.

The Harrowing

Bringing this powerful slow spell back to its original mana cost makes some amount of sense when you are buffing the deck that uses it best. Fearsome aggro was a powerful force, so we’ll see if it still enjoys this card at the ten mana mark.

Rite of Calling

The difference between zero mana and one is catastrophic. There might still be decks that want to use this card, but they will be few and far between. Single champion Shurima decks are definitely going to feel the sting of this one.

Riptide Sermon

This will take what was arguably the best card in the game and tell it to slow down a minute. You still basically get a three point tri-beam for six mana so I could see it making some decks. It just won’t be the auto three of in every bilgewater deck it had become.

Decimate

Jayce players rejoice. The time for six mana eight damage directly to face has come! In all seriousness this will sadden a great many burn decks, but perhaps that means we can get some additional power for our aggro lovers in other exciting places now?

Tahm Kench

I think this officially un-benches Mr. Kench here. Sir Thomas Kenchium has decided that Runeterra moves too quickly to wait a turn and will begin devouring the instant he hits play.

This is going to lead to some crazy tadpole mirrors, let me tell you.

Fiora

Any time a card says “Win the game,” I get scared. That said the pushing of this powerful lady to four mana means that you can’t really build a deck with her as the only card anymore which I approve of.

We’ll have to see if her new powerful stat line can carry the deserved mana cost increase it brought with it.

Master Yi

While this is an absolutely huge buff I don’t know if it solved the fundamental problem that Yi had. Namely that he was quite effective on turn three and basically useless later in the game.

We’ll have to see if the ceiling being raised so high makes up for the continued depth of the floor, but I remain skeptical.

Ornn

If there is a deck that can make Ornn come down leveled up consistently then I could see some cool things happening here. That said a seven mana card with no protection and no instant effect is not something I am particularly thrilled to play in a metagame filled with Ionian bounce triggers.

Swain

Holy overwhelming game ender batman. The level one buff is cute but the level two buff is absolutely mind blowingly powerful.

If you can consistently drop this leveled on turn five or six Swain will now single handedly end games. Noxus is on the rise and its general is ready for war.

Illaoi

It’s nice to see this powerful lady get her point of health back.

That said I doubt this will be enough with all the other hits that her archetype has taken. I think unfortunately our lady of tentacles will remain sidelined.

Iula

Grant is a huge upgrade to this card. I may just be a degenerate but my first thought here isn’t “Yay pantheon buffs.” My first thought is “Huh, now I get to spellshield my Zoe un-interactably on turn three.” Good times.

The Paper Tree

Erm, I guess this is technically an upgrade. Kind of giving half a forge each time a unit that is equipped manages to attack though doesn’t quite seem like it’s good enough? Maybe this will do something cool with Bandle City Jax but I am not exactly holding my breath.

Shrieking Spinner

This will turn spiderlings into must-block threats and any fearsome spider into a terrifying damage dealer. I don’t know if the decks that want it can justify slowing down on turn four to spend all their mana on a slow threat like this, but it is now definitely worthy of consideration.

Ritual of Renewal

I’ve got to admit I’m still not really sold on this card. A four mana do nothing is better than a seven mana do nothing for sure, but it’s still not really something I’d like to main deck. Karma buff maybe?

Leviathan

Remember earlier with Viego where I said mana was one of the hardest points on a card you could hit? Yeah. Along with the swain buff this warship has me quaking in my boots and trying to figure out the best Noxus tempo deck I can find.

Magical Journey/Realm’s Caretaker

I’ve lumped these together because I don’t really think the buffs here get them into the realm of playability.

Maybe if you can guarantee your chime hits Nora? But other than that, I’m not really seeing the power here.

Grumpy Rockbear

While an extra point of health is obviously nice this is still a random stat stick without any keywords that comes down too late in the game to really be worth it. I understand what Mr. Rcokbear is grumpy about and I don’t think this buff is going to help with his mood.

Mammoth Shaman

This card’s gargantuan stats were not really the issue here.

Being six mana and not doing anything the moment you hit the board is a rough place to be. I’m going to be on the doubting side of this particular shaman.

Windsinger

Elusive is an absolutely huge keyword to put on any unit. And 3/3 is a respectable set of stats for an Elusive unit to have. Six is still quite a lot of mana, but this could potentially turn into a powerful one of in some specific decks.

Funsmith

Again, the thing that has been adjusted was not really what the card needed. It’s nice that when this card is forced into combat it can actually do anything now, but she still doesn’t want to be there. I don’t think this will take Funsmith into top tier viability any time soon.

Bonus Deck: BloodMoon

Deck Code: CEBQIAYJC5EWBWIBAMBAGAIHBEAQMAYXAMBAGCKWLQBACAZOG4AQEAYIAMBQGCITEMZQEBIJBUHACBADAI

You know what powerful champion loves playing a value/tempo game and does a bunch of damage to help with Swayne’s level up? That’s right, moon boy is here to help our new Noxian overlords realize their reign of terror. Even better Sunburst also just got a powerful tune-up.

Six damage is half of Swayne’s level up condition all on its own. And removing almost anything for the now quite reasonable price of five mana is nothing to shake a crow at.

Beyond that we’re just running a suite of powerful units and solid removal spells. Midrange find your own win condition decks have long been some of my favorites and I will definitely be trying to make this one work come patch day.

Thanks for reading! For more expert impressions, check out our other LoR guides.

The post Legends of Runeterra Patch Notes Breakdown (Patch 3.13.0) appeared first on Mobalytics.

Hey, it’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here and today I’m bringing you my top 10 list of cards that are worth watching from the new expansion; Awakening!

Before we begin, let me drop the usual few disclaimers.

• These cards are in no particular order.
• No Champions, as they are the obvious place to start with when deck building.
• This list isn’t solely based on power and playability. Some of these cards will be notable meta players, such as the new removal spells. Others are more theoretical, as these cards have huge potential if the right pieces are put together.

We’ve got a ton of decks to explore this time around, so don’t be too shocked if some of your favorites don’t make the list. It was tough choosing only ten cards.. So this time we’ll be starting with a few honorable mentions!

Honorable Mentions

Hexbliterator

One of PnZ’s common weaknesses is its inability to deal with larger units. While it may have efficient damage removal, it often relies on help from regions like Noxus or Shadow Isles to deal with threats outside of its reach.

Hexbliterator is a step toward filling in that gap. It’s a little on the weak side as five damage won’t always get the job done.. But the Obliterate can be a nice bonus.

It’s not quite top 10 material, but hey, it’s a great card to pick off of Ferros Financier!

Celestial Impact

Piggybacking off of Hexbliterator, Celestial Impact is a solid option for a lot of the same reasons. It fills that gap of being a top-end removal in a region that lacks reliable options.

Seven mana is a lot, but it’s definitely a nice catch-all answer to a single major threat. And once again, it’s a great Ferros Financier target!

Tempting Prospect

We haven’t really seen this type of effect in Runeterra, at least not at this type of cost. What’s even more interesting is that it’s in Demacia?

Tempting Prospect helps us find the right follower or equipment for the situation. If there’s ever a specific piece we need for a combo, this can almost be a way to tutor it. It’s sort of like a Time Trick, but better. The only caveat being we can potentially whiff and hit nothing..

I’m not sure whether the average midrange Demacia deck will want a card like this, as they can’t always afford to spare any mana.. But cheap cantrip spells are almost always effective in some way, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before it finds a home.

Heavy Metal

If you’ve read my articles before, you know I’m all for two mana deal twos. Even at slow speed, you can’t really go wrong.

What makes this even better is the region it’s in. Bilgewater has a knack for having garbage tier spells and minimal removal options, but Heavy Metal doesn’t fall into that camp.

This allows Bilgewater a bit more freedom to utilize its Keg and spell synergies without solely relying on its second region. And if equipment ever defines the meta, it only gets better!

Wuju Style

If there was an 11th card on my list, it would be Wuju Style. But unfortunately, there’s another more efficient Ionia spell that’s taken its place. (Spoilers, sorry!)

Regardless, Wuju Style is a fantastic spell that perfectly fits Ionia’s double-spell archetype. The attack half is great alongside Quick Attackers to allow even more bluffs that the opponent must consider. Then on the backside, we get a two mana Elixir of Iron for protection.

In a way, this can sort of function like a Troll Chant effect as we’re able to cast each spell on different targets. Three mana isn’t an outrageous cost, so this will definitely win some exchanges.

All that said, the card does still have some situational uses. It’s a bit too costly to rely on solely as a protection spell, and there won’t always be a perfect target for both halves. Regardless, it provides excellent value for one card and will definitely be worth considering in multiple lists.

Top 10 Awakening Cards

1. Momentous Choice

Starting off our top 10 we have the spell that beat out Wuju Style… Momentous Choice. This card is a nutty combat trick. While it does have a bit of a deck building cost, the payoff is a mini Twin Disciplines for ONE MANA!

I know, two health is very different from three. But Elixir of Iron is already a solid card, and we also have the ability to flex it into an attack buff.

Assuming equipment becomes a mainstay, I suspect Momentous Choice will be a staple piece of interaction for a long time.

2. Forsaken Baccai

I was absolutely floored when they spoiled this card. What in the world IS this!?

Released as a one mana 2|1 with Predict and I’d already be sold. Ekko Zilean is going to have a field day with this one. But no… This card can actually turn into a 3|2!? Excuse me!?

The Cultist tag also makes this a Kayn staple, though that’s probably the least of our worries.

This is a ridiculous 1-drop. It may even be enough to bring back the old Noxus Shurima burn decks. If there’s a way to efficiently build equipment into the list, the deck will have six 3|2’s with this and Legion Rearguard.

3. Quietus

We got Hate Spike at one mana, and now we get this? Shadow Isles is getting some really efficient removal spells, and it’s going to be needed to help halt the increasing aggression.

Quietus is essentially a miniature Culling Strike at slow speed. One mana makes this a premium choice, and there’s no clause preventing it from killing champions.

This will kill a good number of things, but we’ll still have to be careful of it fizzling to buffs. At the very least, it’s a good tech card against equipment.

Gotta love the buff to Burblefish!

4. Gift of the Hearthblood

This is a strange card to evaluate, but what really intrigues me is the cost we’re paying for the effect. At first glance, we may compare this to Avarosan Hearthguard. Instead of getting a 5|6 body, we heal four and draw a card (plus equipment buff).

However, a key difference is the spell mana. We can theoretically play this as early as turn three if we want to; which bolsters every unit and equipment draw from that point forward.

That’s a pretty interesting consideration. While I don’t suggest taking a huge tempo loss on the first three turns, this could actually be a realistic play pattern in more controlling matchups.

Outside of that, Gift of the Hearthblood offers a nice mid to late-game value tool. It’s basically the Freljord Starshaping, and that’s pretty good as is!

5. Fireth, Reaper of the Sands

This unit may look like a Sand Soldier that can’t block. But it’s so much more than that! On average, it’s a Reborn Grenadier that draws us an equipment. Ephemeral disincentivizes the opponent from blocking, and beyond pushing damage, we gain permanent value!

Fireth is a powerful aggressive tool. Its only real drawback is it doesn’t function defensively, and will force us to re-equip our Improvised card to retain value. I imagine it’ll be the frontrunner for aggro, but perhaps take a back seat to the other equipment options in slower decks.

6. Ionian Hookmaster

At a quick glance, Ionian Hookmaster looks a lot worse than Fireth.. But I think it’s actually the opposite. Ionian Hookmaster is the only 2-drop other than Jax that can immediately gain equipment without paying an additional cost. And what makes this better than Fireth is that it stays on the board!

On average it’s a 3/2 with a keyword. Even as a 3|1 it will still trade well and give us the equipment when it dies. I see it as a pre-nerfed Boom Baboon in terms of being a valuable 2-drop. This card is very good!

I’m pretty confident this falls into the staple 2-drop category. Improvise is just so powerful because you don’t have to pay the initial equip-cost, but still, retain the value after the unit dies!

Unless equipment ends up being garbage, be prepared to see a lot of this card.

7. Combat Cook

I usually like to alternate between similar effects, but I think it’s interesting to see how the Improvise cards compare. Combat Cook is another great contender.

With the Forge ability, Combat Cook will be a 5|4 (with keyword) on average. Then when it dies, drops the Forged version of the equipment. There’s really nothing not to be liked; it’s an excellent 4-drop.

I mentioned this the other day in my reveal article, but the only real downside is its cost. There’s a lot of competition in the four-slot, so that does limit its usability depending on how decks are built.

Either way, it’ll definitely see play in the equipment archetypes, and still, potentially find a home outside of them as well.

8. Heedless Resurrection

This.. Is a scary card.. Even without the cost reduction, paying five spell mana to summon the strongest dead champion is super powerful! Shurima is already the region with some of the hardest champs to kill.. And look how easy it is to bring them back! It’s basically a Mist’s Call without timing restrictions or the chance of whiffing.

It also allows for more possibilities of duplicating champions. Rekindler was the most common way before, but having access to this for three mana unlocks some broken combinations!

Coming back down to reality, we can’t forget that this card literally does nothing when none of our champions have died. That is a massive downside, and quite likely writes this card off as not being the problematic nightmare it appears to be.

However, the combo potential and ceiling is high, so it definitely had to make the list as a card to watch!

9. Seal in Steel

Seal in Steel offers a really unique effect. It falls into the Glimpse Beyond/Noxian Fervor category, being a very good counterspell to opposing interaction.

When used on a large unit, we get to save all of those stats onto the equipment that can be used repeatedly. This could very easily give us a three mana, grant +5|+5.. or even better!

It’s a great way to save those built-up Fated stats and reuse them later. The one thing to note is it Obliterates the ally, so we can’t take advantage of any death or slay triggers. This makes sense given its name, and overall won’t matter in most cases.

10. Junk Construct

I raved about this card in my reveal article, and frankly, I’m surprised there hasn’t been much talk about it.

I think Junk Construct is quite possibly the most unfair 2-drop in the entire game. We’re paying only two mana for a 2-drop, PLUS a second 2-drop, OR 3-drop, a few turns later. That’s an entire unit of free stats at no cost! As a 2/2 this already trades with most things, but then you’ll end up a whole card ahead within a few turns later.

On offense, this will help aggressive decks swarm the board even faster for cards like Sneezy Biggledust. On defense, it’ll be an aggro player’s nightmare when you get a second unit to halt their attack.

Piloted Shredder has come to Runeterra and I’m scared. Junk Construct is one heck of a card. Do not sleep on this 2-drop!

Conclusion

You may be wondering why I didn’t include any equipment on the list, and to be honest, they’re tough to evaluate. As a whole, I definitely expect they’ll make an impact in the game. Though I’m not certain how many will be directly playable. I believe the Improvise cards are likely the strongest, as they all come attached to the unit.

Well, that wraps up my top 10 list! If you want to reach out and discuss more, feel free to hit me up on Twitter @Shugo_LoR!

Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day

We all have a long list of things we’d love to spend time on, and I’m not talking about a bucket list.

Take a moment to consider all of our possessions, hobbies, and commitments. I imagine it’s a pretty long list, and in some ways, it can be a bit intimidating.

I like to think of this as our own personal backlog. Us gamers are very familiar with this term, but what if we extend this thought to everything else in life?

Before I take on anything else, I like to look at my personal backlog, because in most cases it already includes a much greater priority than the newly considered endeavor.

How often do we select something new and overlook what’s already right there in front of us?

The post The Top 10 Awakening Cards to Watch appeared first on Mobalytics.