The Evolution of Ramp Dragon (Unlimited)

As someone that had played many TCG’s before stumbling across Shadowverse, I already knew what my favorite archetypes and strategies were. Coming from the Magic: The Gathering community, I was no stranger to ramp archetypes. I may have started playing Shadowverse as a Roach Forest main but I quickly gravitated to the ramp-craft that we all know and love: Dragoncraft.

Despite being a mostly free-to-play gamer the hefty price tag often associated with Dragoncraft never deterred me. Upon the release of Tempest of the Gods Dragoncraft was often referred to (not-so-affectionately) as “Walletcraft”. This was the first time we had ever seen lists costing upwards of 50,000 Vials. Filled to the brim with powerful Legendaries, Dragoncraft was the only thing standing in the way of Demonlord Eachtar’s initial reign of terror. I like to think of Dragoncraft as the hero of that story, as Eachtar has been and most likely will remain a nasty curve-topper, but I may be in the minority there.

A brief history of Ramp Dragon’s conception goes something like this:

Bahamut Ramp- Rise of Bahamut is released. Dragoncraft went from being solely focusing on the tempo provided from Dark Dragoon Forte and soon adopted the enormous Legendary Bahamut. Before his nerf this world-ending dragon blew up amulets as well as all followers. On top of that he was initially a 13/13.

Neutral Ramp- With the release of Tempest of the Gods came an influx of burly neutral Legendaries. Chief amongst them being Israfil. The craft was also introduced to the incredibly busted Grimnir (unnerfed). Hitting ten Play Points when the opponent was only at five or six was often how Dragon buried its opponents. Sahaquiel, a holdover Legendary from Rise of Bahamut, also became a key catalyst of the new Ramp shell. There were also a few design/development mistakes that slipped through the cracks here. This included, but is not limited to Windreader Zell costing only two PP, Ourorboros gaining you three HP upon dying, Lightning Blast’s enhance banishing the opponent’s WHOLE board. The deck suffered many nerfs throughout its lifecycle, thus came new iterations.

Queen of the Dread Sea Ramp- When Wonderland Dreams released and we faced a hellish nightmare where Neutral Blood dominated the metagame. After a month of brewing anti-meta answers to mostly no avail, Cygames finally nerfed many of the primary offenders. This allowed for the metagame to grow. Before her nerf, Queen could cost down a neutral and a non-neutral card in your hand to zero PP. Combing this with Zeus and Genesis Dragon you could chunk out HUGE amounts of storm damage. After her nerf, the craft quickly ditched her but kept the storm aspect of the deck at the top of its curve.

Storm Ramp Dragon- After ditching all of the gimmicks of having to use a neutral pay-off suite or using Queen of the Dread Sea, Ramp Dragon finally stream-lined into a Storm-based killing machine. Hitting ten PP on turn six meant you could start dropping Zeus and Genesis Dragons on the opponent’s head early. This also meant that the craft started adopting Forte once again. While the ramp deck maintained the control elements of its predecessors, the games would often end quickly as it would only take a few swings from the massive Storm threats that this deck produces.

Polyphonic Ramp- This is a revisiting of the controlling Dragon Ramp decks of old. The deck needed a little more staying power and a way to grind down the control elements coming from Haven and its Heavenly Aegis/Aether of the White Wing package. Most decks would play one or two and cut something like Genesis Dragon. It worked for the most part, though it was slow and left the deck a little more susceptible to the aggro decks of the format.

Roost Ramp- As the format became flooded with aggressive strategies Dragon players started going back to the gimmicks. Couple this with the fact that Dragon Roost had been unplayable (literally, you weren’t even allowed to put it into your deck) at several points in time in the game’s first two years. Players were eager to see just what the card could do and it seemed like a good way to speed up your clock. The main problem with this was simple: Other Storm Dragon decks. I personally never played this variant but I can say I super KO’ed every person that’s ever dropped a Roost on the board. They tap out and I usually one-shot them with Forte’s and Zeus’s.

Disdain Midrange- After the release of Omen of the Ten, Aggro Dragon became a mainstay in the Unlimited format. As a natural evolution in most TCG’s a midrange variant soon popped up. Is still used the Galmieux, Disciple, Servant, Serpent Drake, Disdainful Rending core as its Aggro predecessor, yet it utilized a heavier ramp package. This included the recently un-nerfed Sibyl as well as Breath of the Salamander and the Poseidon/Masamune package. Going just a bit bigger than the aggro deck is often a sound way of neutralizing it.

Cocytus Ramp- This takes us to the present day. After having played Altersphere on a consistent basis the consensus is in: The Cocytus Deck is beyond broken. That said, Prince is a hefty nine PP and hitting turn nine is never promised in a format where anything goes. This is where Dragoncraft comes in. Having access to all of the most efficient ramp options throughout the game’s history means that Dragoncraft theoretically hits ten PP on turn six 75ish percent of the time. Prince of Cocytus on turn six is hardly fair and having playtested the deck non-stop its just as fun as it sounds.

Most lists run a full 18 pieces of ramp. That is a playset of Dragon Oracle, Aiela Dragon Knight, Aiela Dragon Sword, Draconic Fervor, and Sibyl of the Waterwyrm. The common build also plays a full playset of each Poseidon and Masamune, Raging Dragon. The duo is decimating rotation right now, and after having played them I can see why.

Another common piece of tech that the deck has is the Lyria, Azure Maden package. Most Satan Ramp decks are built in such a way that Cocytus is the only hit of Lyria.

Here is my current Configuration of Satan Ramp:

Card Choices:

Lyria, Azure Maden- A key piece of Satan Ramp’s late game as she tutors up your haymakers. Another small thing to note is her damage shield. Being able to shrug off one attack is not a non-factor when evaluating her worth on the board. I’ve actually had a situation in which her damage shield made her survive to my next draw step and I ripped Astaroth’s Reckoning.

Aiela, Dragon Sword- One of the best pieces of ramp in the deck. Her low cost and the fact that she can trade on the board in the evo turns is paramount to bridging the evo turns to your “late game” action. She is what I consider to be the second-best ramp option in the deck.

Whitefrost Dragonewt Filene- This is a piece of technology that is underplayed in my opinion. So far I’ve only seen the Disdain Aggro variants playing her still. For me, she’s a good early play, affects the board with her solid body, her ping off of evo, and the Whitefrost Whisper. I cut a Lyria, a Masamune, and an Aiela, Dragon Knight to fit a full playset of Filene in. Its a steep cost as Lyria and Masamune are integral to the deck’s core, but I honestly feel like its necessary against the aggressive decks in the format. She also acts as the decks only four-drop. By playing her and her spell she allows you to curve out on turn four while maintaining card and board advantage.

Masamune, Raging Dragon- The power of this two-drop cannot be overstated. The way that Masamune takes over the board is unrivaled by another two-drop in the entire game. With just Masamune and some trash ramp leftovers, you can take back board-control while also mounting a lethal force for the following turn. The way that he and Poseidon synergize is one of the more obvious combos, yet none the less deadly.

Aiela, Dragon Knight- Arguably the worst piece of ramp in the deck. I chose to cut one in order to fit more utility into the deck. while she is admittedly lackluster, she’s on the rise in Unlimited ramp decks as hitting nine PP as early as possible is paramount. The earlier Cocytus hits the board the less likely the opponent is to be able to slog through it.

Dragoncleaver Roy- An infinitely better three-drop than Aiela, Dragon Knight, Roy gives us one of two things: cheap ramp, or a solid-rate removal spell. While he is slower than just playing Dragon Oracle, he is still the second fastest ramp option to it. Roy also gains value as a way to contain the board through trading as he already nets you the spell when he hits the table. He also gives us an additional “five-drop” as deploying him and the spell on the same turn is pretty decent too.

Sibyl of the Waterwyrm- The true lifeblood of the deck. Sibyl’s un-nerf allowed Ramp Dragon to become a viable strategy in the Unlimited metagame once again. Both ramping and healing you, Sibyl bridges you from the mid-to-late game perfectly. On top of her other benefits, she is huge. Sibyl must be answered when she comes down lest the opponent risk all of their work on your life total be undone.

Poseidon- He is just one of the many versatile cards from Rotation to make its way into the Unlimited builds of Dragon. In a pinch, he provides an early game Ward when you accelerate him. In the mid-game, when you’re a few PP ahead of the opponent he stalls long enough for you to find a Bahamut, Prince, or Lyria. After you’ve hit the ten PP mark he forms the infamous combo with Masamune that Rotation players know all too well. Overall, I really just love how flexible Poseidon is. There have been plenty of games that his accelerate mode has just protected a turn four Aiela, Dragonsword on the play and that was enough to bridge me to a turn five Sibyl.

Prince of Cocytus- The namesake of the deck, Satan himself. Not much more needs said about the power of the Cocytus deck. On top of that, he is tutorable with Lyria and with her ability to refund seven PP you can tutor and drop him in the same turn if you have ten PP available. Given that this is a “control” deck his stats matter too. Being a PP cheaper than the original Prince of Darkness and the fact that he’s +1/+1 bigger means that he is more effective on the battlefield. Control decks can often hold their evo points longer given the fact that they boast an extensive removal suite to contend the board with. A 9/9 is nothing to scoff at when it comes to clearing lethal attackers. I’ve also had the circumstance arise (more than once) when I dropped Satan and also cleared another attacker with Blazing Breath. Original Satan couldn’t do that.

Bahamut- A control options from formats past, Baha may have been nerfed, but he is still the best at clearing a board of followers. His 9/9 (11/11 after evo) body is also huge. I’ve lost track of how many times Lyria has missed Prince and found Baha and its won me the game the following turn. I drop Baha, clear their board and they come up shy of his 11 Def and concede. His drawback of not being able to attack if their board has two or more guys is laughable in this deck. Between Breath of the Salamander and Masamune (not to mention most of the cards in the Cocytus deck) all pave the way for Baha to wipe out half of the opponents life points.

Blazing Breath- One of the most effective removal tools in the game. Its a simple effect, but can make the opponent stumble just enough for us to ramp ahead. I would never cut this card, despite its power waning when the metagame shifts away from board-based decks. Its just been such a live draw in the opening turns.

Seraphic Blade- A catch-all that protects us from strange outlier cards in addition to being mainboard hate for a turn-two City of Gold. I rarely sand-bag this Blade as it is a nice way to buy time and breathing room in the first few turns.

Dragon Oracle- The heart and soul of the deck. This is THE card you want in your opener, and the more the better. It’s even OK in the mid-game as it will draw you a card in addition to ramping you ahead. NEVER mulligan this card back.

Breath of the Salamander- The other side of the coin as its counterpart Seraphic Blade. Its solid spot removal, but even better as a sweeper. The fact that we’re so focused on ramping actually breaks this card. You can enhance it around the same time you’d be dropping a Sibyl (usually turn four). I will sandbag this card unless absolutely necessary as its so good at catching back up.

Draconic Fervor- Another oldie but a goodie. Every part of this card’s text is relevant to the ramping/controlling role we are aiming to play every game. I actually prioritize Fervor over Sibyl whilst mulliganing. The fact that its guaranteed to ramp you on five PP, unlike Sibyl is what pushes it to the front for me as far as opening hands go.

Mulligans and Play Patterns

Prioritize cheap ramp. This consists of Dragon Oracle, Both Aielas, and Draconic Fervor (in that order). Aiela, Dragon’s Sword gains some points if you are going second as she will evolve sooner. Next, Prioritize removal or a five-drop ramp card. These two will serve the same purpose as you are looking to make the opponent stumble or undo some of the damage they’ve done to your life total. After that, I would throw back anything else other than cards that fit into these two categories. If the game drags out your topdecks are better than the average opponents as your deck is stocked full of haymakers that will be lights out as soon as you cast them.

The single goal of the deck is to drop an expensive “lights out” follower way before you’re supposed to. The full suite of 17 ramp cards means that on average you’ll be about two-and-a-half PP ahead of the opponent. A Bahamut or a Prince of Cocytus on turn seven will usually mean game over for many of the higher tier strategies in Unlimited.

I hope this look through time at my favorite archetype hits home for some of you and gives you that extra nudge to play a ramp deck in Unlimited, or just give you the insight that Unlimited is home to many fun decks. It’s not all aggro decks that end the game by turn six.

-MAC

Aggro Shadow VS Mid Shadow (Unlimited)

As we approach the end of January 2019 one thing has become apparent: Shadow Midrange isn’t going anywhere. It should come as no surprise that a Demonlord Eachtar-based midrange deck is tearing it up in Unlimited. Daria Rune may be on the rise, but her resurgence has only managed to displace the Holy Mage Haven decks and the Disdain Dragon builds. After the dust settled Shadow had managed to stay on top.

With the raw power of Shadowcraft in mind, I propose a question: is Shadow Midrange the only Viable Shadowcraft deck in Unlimited to climb ranked ladder with? What about taking down tournaments? I’ve theorized that the answer to these questions is simply no. I am a student of history and I can recall when Eachtar was first released. Shadow and Dragon were vying for dominance at the dawn of the Tempest of the Gods era. Before the nerfs these were the only two decks to play.

Then, a friend and I began to tinker with aggressive Shadowcraft lists on ranked ladder. By combining the power of Phantom Howl and Cerberus we could end the game before Eachtar even came down. The disgusting part was that we got to play Eachtar as well just to enable a “go long” strategy for the more controlling decks popping up in the format (post Eachtar, Grimnir, Lightning Blast, and Windreader Zell nerfs) like Haven Aegis Control.

The key strength of the deck was that it was, on average, at least a turn and a half faster than Mid Shadow. This is important in certain matchups. When playing against a control deck or a hyper-aggressive deck being faster is critical. We could kill Ramp Dragon just as the player hit their Overflow turns. We could kill an Aggro Blood player just before our own life total hit zero.

Don’t get me wrong though, Shadow Midrange does have its merits. I’ve found that in Shadowverse (much like many other TCG’s) midrange decks are much more forgiving than stream-lined aggressive decks. This is due to the fact that aggressive decks need to lean on mounting an early lead through consistent pressure. Midrange decks, on the other hand, do not. Sure, a low-to-the-ground midrange deck can mimic an aggro deck’s early turns, but it also has comeback potential. There are cards that the midrange build gets to play that give up applying pressure, but net you card advantage in return. Lady Grey, Death’s Breath, and Cerberus, Hound of Hades are all great examples of comeback cards.

While both decks share a multitude of cards (Eachtar, Lurching Corpse, Demon Eater, Soul Conversion, Goblin, and Gremory) and both are trying to aggressively swarm the board, they are built Fundamentally different. Shadow Midrange is looking to leverage their sticky followers to keep the board long enough to set up a kill with Demonlord Eachtar on turns seven-through-eight.

Shadow Aggro, on the other hand, is looking to kill in a few hefty bursts. You are all-but-guaranteed eleven damage with the turn five Cerberus into turn six Phantom howl combo (five damage from the five Ghosts provided from Phantom howl, two damage from Coco, two Damage from Mimi, and two damage from evolving a Ghost). This means that you only have to deal a total of nine damage in the first five turns. There are even some nasty draws where you can leverage a turn four phantom howl going second which deals seven damage on its own (with an evo).

Shadow Midrange Unlimited

Here you can see that this list prioritizes synergies and sticky followers (followers that maintain board presence or card advantage even after being destroyed) in order to generate shadows and keep board control. This all plays into the turn six plan to swarm the board and go wide. The deck is looking to muster an army. Whether it be through an “army in a can” card like Death’s Breath, Cerberus, Hound of Hades, or just by curving out the deck is trying to hit a critical mass of followers. Turn seven is the turning point of the deck. Not only does Shadowcraft have access to one of the most deadly seven-drops of all time in Demonlord Eachtar, but it also gets Gremory.

Fortunately for the rest of the crafts, Gremory is limited to just a single copy in Unlimited. She is the prime example of what I mean when I say that one and two cost Legendaries will end up shaping the meta game in Unlimited. Even without her enhance effect she can still bury the opponent in card advantage. You see, the thing I didn’t realize at first about Gremory was that her ability can stack on top of its self. I had an opponent refuse to deal with my evolved Lurching Corpse for three turns. When I eventually ate it with Demon Eater it drew me a full grip of five cards. That’s ridiculous.

With her enhance she gets even more out of control. Not only does she provide an Eachtar-like buff by evolving your whole squad, but she also grants them the “Last Words: Draw a card” boon. I can’t think of any sound arguments for a Shadowcraft deck excluding her, so if you’re looking to dabble in Shadowcraft don’t leave home without her.

Shadow Aggro Unlimited

With the Aggro shell, you give up the “sticky” followers and replace them with aggressive options. Instead of trying to play two-drops like Lady Grey and Belenus, you’re looking to gun down the opponent’s life total with the likes of Lesser Mummy and Dark Conjurer.

In addition to playing more aggressive followers, the curve is also a bit more aggressive. Shadow Midrange already has a more aggressively-slanted curve than most of its midrange peers, but Shadow Aggro aims to take that a step further. Shaggro plays more one-drops, more two-drops and fewer three-drops than its predecessor. I’ve also cut the four-drop slot to make the deck even leaner. We’re also playing two Eachtars instead of the full playset. Eachtar is more or less our corner case haymaker (vs control or a midrange deck that aims to contain our board) if the game goes too long.

The removal package has even been tweaked with the new set. Instead of the “army in a can” removal you get with Zombie Party, you instead gain the flexible removal option of Manifest Malice. Manifest Malice allows you the option of killing a one defense follower alongside a two defense follower, a three defense follower, or just a small follower and going to the dome for one with the Ghost it provides.

One last tech piece I would like to point out is Nicola, Forbidden Strength:

I initially tried two in the aggro shell, but they just cluttered up my hand and I would end up milling cards in the midgame. However, this follower has a lot of things that the aggro deck is looking for. It’s cheap, recurring, gains ATK, and gives us a burn spell. Nicola is fun to infuriate the opponent with during the opening turns. As they kill him he will be recurring and getting stronger. The burn spell isn’t that impressive but it has allowed me to kill through wards a few times. The necromancy is incredibly corner-case, but I’m sure there are situations where it could come up.

An honorable mention for the aggro shell is Marian the Mummy:

If I were to ever cut Cerberus from the list this is the card I would go to as our aggressive curve-topper. If Eachtar wasn’t so back-breaking to face without packing your own I would even argue that you could run a few of these alongside Cerb. As it stands though, Marian will have to wait in the wings. She is basically an Albert in Shadowcraft, which is nothing to scoff at.

Pros and Cons

The pros of going Shaggro over traditional midrange include:

-Strong game VS slow combo decks (D-Shift) or control decks that answer threats one-for-one (Dragon Ramp).

-Very proactive strategy that can punish poor draws from the opponent.

-Games are over fast, which means the deck is good for grinding the ladder with.

-You get to maintain much of Mid Shadow’s core and in doing so gain access to many mid-game tools that will give you an advantage in the aggro mirror.

The cons include:

-A worse matchup in the Shadow mirror as the midrange variant can control the board better.

-The hands can be a bit clunky if you draw too many of your midgame cards in the opening turns.

-Phantom Howl is a dead card when facing many of the Haven Builds playing Forbidden Ritual.

That’s it for this week. Hopefully, some aggro aficionados will sleeve this bad boy up and hit the ladder. I know one of the main complaints I’ve seen about Shadow Midrange is that the games can drag out. This deck solves that problem by being much more proactive at reducing the opponent’s life total.

-MAC

Legendary Review Altersphere Edition (Part 2)

Last week I reviewed nine of the eighteen Legendaries. This week I will be wrapping up the list. As before I will be giving each Legendary a rating one-through-five stars. There will be a Rotation and an Unlimited rating. Each of which will be based on overall playability and power in each respective format.

For a review of:

1. Aether of the Warrior Wing
2. Blazing Lion Admiral
3. Zebet, Lady of the Flies
4. Corpsewyrm Fafnir
5. Sylvia, the Condemner
6. Dyne, Master Swordsman
7. Forest Oracle Pascale
8. Carbuncle, Immortal Jewel
9. Alterplane Arbiter

Click HERE…

So let’s jump right in!

10. Sweet-Tooth Medusa

Runecraft Legendary

Rotation: 3.5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 2.5/5 Stars

For me this is a pretty baseline Legendary in Rotation. She comes down right after the evolve turns, is a mid-size body, and either builds your board or eats theirs. I think of this card as more of a one-sided, six PP sweeper. You often don’t want to drop her unless she produces a Medusiana.

She seems like an OK comeback card, but I don’t know where she’s supposed to find a home to slot into. Mysteria Rune definitely doesn’t want her, nor does any dirt-based (Earth Rite) Rune deck.

My next problem with this iteration of Medusa is her cost. The last Legendary Medusa we got was in Bloodcraft and she only costed four PP.

Granted, this version takes a whole serpent mini-archetype to support I feel like she’s more impactful at four PP than Sweet-Tooth is at six.

Don’t get me wrong, the fact that Venomfang’s serpents have to stay alive on board for a whole turn just to pay off is tough. At four she also comes down right at the start of the evolve turn too, which makes it even harder for her and your snakes to survive.

On the other hand, Sweet-Tooth Medusa just sits in your hand until she’s ready. Then you drop her on turn six, make a Medusiana and you’re ready to roll. She’s better than Venom-Fang as far as ability and raw power is considered. She just comes down so late and she has no home in Rotation right now.

As far as Unlimited is concerned I’d say she is just powerful enough to sneak into the format as anti-midrange/anti-combo tech. You don’t have to be afraid of strategies that flood the board with mid-size threats like Daria if you’re just wiping it with a Medusiana on turn six. She seems like she could be a bit slow, but maybe a strategy like D-Shift Rune can tech her if the format is right.

11. Slumbering Calamity

Runecraft Legendary

Rotation: 4/5 Stars

Unlimited: 4/5 Stars

This is a card that is hard for me to evaluate for the current Rotation meta. I’m not sure if there is a good Dirt Rune home for it, but Calamity is quite powerful when it’s enhanced. It has OK stats for a three-drop, when you proc Earth Rite (a 4/3 ward). However, the real power is when it hits the board on turn eight, regardless if you control an Earth Sigil or not.

If you think about it, it’s just a better Grimnir. Back in the days of Tempest of the Gods, Grimnir used to be a scourge. His enhance ability dealt four damage to all enemies. So, you knew that any deck aiming to take you to turn ten (or turn six if it was Dragoncraft) was going to dome you with an Enhanced Grimnir. You see kids, back before Cygames was overly cautious we got awesome formats where a three PP 2/3 Ward follower could kill their whole board and hit them for four.

Now all that’s left of poor Grimnir is this:

He’s still good. I still play him in some of my Unlimited lists, but he isn’t OG Grimnir good. Calamity is this good, possibly better. This also adds to the sweeper that Rune has at six PP in the form of Mastermage Levi.

I don’t know if there’s a home for Slumbering Calamity in Rotation. There’s a large possibility that there either is or there will be. As far as Unlimited is concerned I will be putting a few in my Dirt Rune list. The card is powerful and answers the board very well. Its enhance is a bit costly, but it’s still not complete trash as a three-drop.

12. Dragon Impress Otohime

Dragoncarft Legendary

Rotation: 3/5 Stars

Unlimited: 2.5/5 Stars

This is an example of a craft-shifted card that I feel like Cygames played it too safe on. First off, it’s not even really a different card. It’s just a bigger Otohime in a different craft. The two play identically and their effects are the same.

You can see that her Swordcraft counterpart is literally just a smaller body for one less play point.

The fact that Dragon’s Otohime makes this:

And Sword’s Otohime makes this:

Hardly feels like a difference to me.

I will at least say that, much like Fafnir’s new rendition, Dragon Empress is much better than her predecessor. Firstly, seven PP is much easier for Dragoncarft to reach, than Six PP is for Swordcraft. Secondly, her Vanguards can be used immediately to take back the board, thanks to the fact that they have traded a stat in the back for Rush. Lastly, I think Dragoncraft is better at leaving board space open than Sword is. There were so many times in Darkness Evolved format that my opponents had to sandbag their multiple Otohimes because their boards were always so full.

In Rotation this really only slots into the devoted ramp decks centered around Prince of Cocytus (see later on in the list). The more aggressive builds of Dragon look to curve out into Poseidon and Masamune, which I think is a better set up anyways. Aggro/Disdain Dragon keeps a pretty congested board as it needs to constantly be applying pressure. So I don’t really see Dragon Empress doing work here.

I think that Dragon Empress is much more a Rotation card than an Unlimited card. I honestly don’t really think that this is a better seven drop than Zirnitra, Dragon’s Flame, but only time will tell.

I could see this slotting into PDK builds in Unlimited for maximum value, but I don’t see that being a Tier One strategy until PDK gets unnerfed.

13. Hastewing Dragonewt

Dragoncraft Legendary

Rotation: 4/5 Stars

Unlimted: 4/5 Stars

This is yet another iteration of Invocation that intrigues me. I’m not sure how to gauge it as my TCG background has not prepared me for it. The face value of the card seems to say that it goes in an aggro deck with a decent-sized top end. I’m thinking Azi Dahaka, Poseidon, even Genesis Dragon or Zeus. Unfortunately, both Galmieux and Forte both come up short of seven Play Points.

This would most likely slot into the Aggro Dragon shell in Rotation, just due to the fact that a four PP 3/3 Storm follower isn’t bad up front. Throw together the fact that if you go long and curve out, they start popping out of your deck. It all comes together to form a nice cohesive, aggressive shell.

In Unlimited I am tempted to throw this into my Storm Ramp list to try it out. My list is a bit more control-oriented, but I’m sure I could cut Draconic Fervor amongst other cards and turn the shell a bit more aggressive. My top end already includes Zeus and Azi, so the shell isn’t even that far off from what it needs to be to play this spicy pay-off.

14. Diabolus Agito

Bloodcraft Legendary

Rotation: 3.5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 3/5 Stars

When I first saw this card spoiled I misread one thing on it that actually made me like it a ton. You see when I first read the spoiler for this card I thought that it said that it had Ward… because that’s the logical thing that its missing right? I don’t see what makes this card a Legendary as opposed to a Gold or even a Silver.

In Rotation it may serve as a way to bridge the evolve turns until you hit Darkfeast Bat. It would be way better in this role if it had Ward, but what are you going to do. It seems as though Bloodcraft is doomed to have stupid Legendaries, most of which will never see play (I’m looking at you Thunder Behemoth, Calamity Bringer, Vania, Psema, etc…).

In Unlimited I can almost guarantee that Agito will never see any play. It doesn’t really do anything, and it doesn’t slot into any solid strategy in Unlimited. Without something like Ward or Storm, it is most is likely doomed to be mediocre forever.

15. Crimson Rose Queen

Bloodcraft Legendary

Rotation: 3.5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 2.5/5 Stars

The “shifted” Blood Legendary is a remix of Rose Queen. The body is better, the spell is better, and the craft that it is in is even better. A craft with a ton of burn already, that couples with the Crimson Bursts, is a much better home for a Rose Queen effect.

Even with having Ward, being in a better craft for the effect, and the spells gaining you life… She’s still really not that great. She was an awesome concept and I was in love with the idea of a Rose Queen in Bloodcraft. However, she doesn’t do anything better than any of the other Legendaries in her craft. In Rotation, you have Darkfeast Bat at eight PP and that just kills an opponent on the eighth turn. Here you have to survive after dropping Crimson on the eighth turn. Then maybe you kill them on turn nine.

Unlimited doesn’t get any better for the Crimson Queen either. Trust me, I tried to make it work. I drafted up a cliche control blood shell, crafted two Rose Queens and started grinding games. Game after game, she either didn’t win the game, or I only had a few cards in my hand when I had a chance to slam her. She doesn’t work, and its more to do with the fact that she is based on a card that came out in the Classic Pack than it has to do with her. She is a strict upgrade from the original, yet she still isn’t viable.

16. Laina, Sister of Judgment

Havencraft Legendary

Rotation: 4/5 Stars

Unlimited: 3.5/5 Stars

I’m interested to see if this card plays a role in bringing back Control Haven in Rotation. She seems like she could do a lot if the meta settles on the Daria-style big-guy beat’em up decks like Mysteria. If the opponent makes the mistake of having a board with bigger stats…and all of those stats happen to be the same Atk, then her evo will be lights out.

Her front side is easily abused as many of Haven’s utility followers all have one Atk. Unicorn Knight, Jeweled Priestess, and Father Punishment all only have one Atk and would all get buffed by Laina’s Fanfare.

As far as midrange Havencraft strategies are concerned I’m pretty positive that paying one more for Eachtar is more worthwhile. You may be able to curve one into the other (in something like a Holy Lion strategy) but I feel like jamming a bunch of six and seven PP haymakers into the deck could be a mistake. Only time will tell though. Certain metagames could very well determine that Laina is a staple of the craft. She has the power for Rotation, she just needs a home.

As far as Unlimited goes, I’m not sure any deck wants her. She could go into Storm Haven, as many of your storm followers have two Atk, but that archetype has all but died out with the arrival of Holy Mage Haven. Holy Mage doesn’t want her, so there’s another deck checked off. My build of Summit Temple could use her, as you can’t play something like Dark Jeanne (her effect is counter-intuitive to the strategy). Many of my followers are all over the place stat-wise so I’d have to do some work in order to make her Fanfare more explosive.

17. Holylord Eachtar

Havencraft Legendary

Rotation: 5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 4.5/5 Stars

Now, this is an example of knocking the whole “shifted” Legendary out of the park. Holylord Eachtar’s predecessor still strikes fear in the hearts of Unlimited players to this day.

This iteration of Eachtar is reminiscent of the nerf that Demonlord got during the Tempest of the Gods era. Here you trade the ability to summon a variable amount of 2/2 Zombies for just a static two 1/2 Wards. The buff in the front is important. Both buff for two Atk when they come down, so going for lethal, or taking back the board is much more manageable.

I thought the first Eachtar was a perfect example of what a seven-drop Legendary should be and this Eachtar is no different. While he’s not inherently as powerful as the original, Holylord is still a knockout punch in Rotation. I’ve seen him popping up as a finisher in the Holy Lion shell, and I think this is the perfect home for him.

In Unlimited, I feel like Holylord is a superstar, but he just lacks a home. The control Haven shells could pick him up. Summit Temple could even make use of the fanfare as it’s a board-based deck (plus the 1/2 Ward tokens synergize with Summit Temple as well). Other than that, I don’t see where Eachtar fits in. I have been trying to draft up a midrange Haven list that mirrors Shadow Midrange, but so far, I’ve seen that the curve is lacking significant one and three drop follower slots. If he should find a home in Unlimited, I’d say the new Eachtar is 5/5 stars easily.

18. Prince of Cocytus

Neutral Legendary

Rotation: 5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 5/5 Stars

I didn’t expect to see another Satan out of Cygames, but they really outdid themselves this time. This Prince is leaps and bounds above the last one.

Not only does Cocytus cost one less, has a bigger stat line, but his deck also blows the Apocalypse Deck away. As I’ve said before about Zebet and the Lord of Flies: sure, there is a larger pool of cards to pull from, but the pool is much more powerful and diverse. Filling up your deck with six PP 8/8 Storm followers and five PP 13/13’s is sweet, yet is often not enough on its own anymore. At the ten drop slot most decks have already won or have a combo kill lined up.

The Cocytus Deck is packed with thirteen unique and disgustingly powerful cards. One of which is just straight up Ancestral Recall (from Magic: The Gathering).

For those of you that play other TCG’s I don’t have to try and sell you on the fact that this card is BUSTED. Not only that, but Infernal Surge is drawing you three cards from the Cocytus Deck, meaning that it has a zero percent chance of drawing into filler cards.

On top of having generically good cards, like two PP 4/4’s that draw two as a Fanfare, the Cocytus deck also has answers to amulets, cheap ways to clear the board, and even ways to interact with the opponent’s hand. In addition to the deck having flexible answers, and nasty threats that give you card advantage, the deck also has an overall lower curve. Where the average card out of the Apocalypse Deck costs seven, there is an array of cheap-to-mid costed cards out of the Cocytus deck.

In Rotation the card kind of feels oppressive out of the Dragon shells as ramping to nine PP on turn six can be a feel-bad moment. I believe that he will be the go-to finisher in most ramp and control decks until he is nerfed or the aggressive decks become so powerful that he becomes too slow.

I will say that I have had a ton of fun both playing and playing against PoC. I had a Vengeance Control shell that I had shelfed until PoC was released that I slotted one into and suddenly the deck has a viable end game (even in a format as crazy as Unlimited). I think the card has legs and competitive viability, aside from the fact that I love the flavor and effect so much that I don’t care if he ends up being obsolete in the future. I still think Prince of Darkness is a 5/5 star legendary to this day, just because of how unique and sweet the effect is.

As an addendum, last week I said that Aether of the Warrior Wing could wiff if you didn’t have a follower exactly one cost higher than the amount of PP that you had. Apparently this was a misread on my part and she is actually worded so that she can’t miss.

Other than that, This is the end of my Altersphere Legendary review. I hope this has brought insight, entertainment, or possibly even both. Note that these ratings are all my opinion and they very well could be completely off. I do feel as though the cards that I rated highly deserve it and that many of the rest do just fall in line with the plethora of mid-tier bulk-legendaries that Cygames produces every set.

Much love,

-MAC

Legendary Review Altersphere Edition (Part 1)

Altersphere (released on December 26, 2018) is the eleventh expansion and the newest set in the Rotation format. The set plays with the idea of “shifting” older legendaries from the original seven crafts into different ones. For instance, let’s take a look at Fafnir and his new counterpart:

The original Fafnir hails from the Classic Pack that released with Shadowverse in its infancy. Anyone that’s been playing for the last year at all will see that he is not much to write home about. Investing nine play points is one hell of a commitment considering most decks in the Unlimited format close the game before then. Having started playing in Darkness Evolved I can’t say exactly how useful of a tool this was for Dragoncraft during the “Classic” era, but he was supremely lackluster in every format that followed.

Having been resurrected the Altersphere rendition of Fafnir now belongs to Shadowcraft, and his effect has been overhauled to both fit the theme of his new craft while also boosting his playability.

In this review I will be looking at each of Alterspere’s 18 Legendaries and rating them based on power and playability. Each will receive two ratings: one for Rotation and one for Unlimited. While I aim for this site to focus on Unlimited I feel that it would be unfair to both the cards and their designers to only give an unlimited rating on a set that was clearly made to help balance out the Rotation metagame.

1. Aether of the Warrior Wing

Swordcraft Legendary

Rotation: 4.5/5 Stars

Unlimited:3.5/5 Stars

This Swordcraft commander cares both about card economy and curving out. Two things that you want to be doing in an aggro or midrange shell. Thankfully that is where Swordcraft really shines. The way that Aether is worded means that whether you play her on curve turn three or on turn seven, you will be setting up for a big play on the following turn. Another thing she has going for her is only costing three. So far I have been of the opinion that almost every Legendary that Cygames has produced that’s costed three PP or less has been a home run. Having that much power that low on the curve has felt pretty good so far.

In Rotation I could see this card being a staple. Her 2/3 body is pretty unimpressive but she is a commander and is technically card advantage. These things combined with her low cost all add up to a solid follower. Her Evolve ability also buffs the team in the back, which can help a board-centric craft like Sword.

One of Her biggest downfalls is that her wording means that you do have to have a follower that costs exactly one plus the number of play points you currently have in your deck for her effect to trigger. That means you have to have a deck that has hits all along the curve or she will wiff some amount of the time.

In Unlimited she has the same things going for her, but even more holding her back. The fact that she is not very aggressive means that the Aggro Sword shell probably won’t be picking her up. That means that the Midrange shell is her only home. With the deck-building restrictions I mentioned earlier she could be a dead top deck if the game goes too long and you go past the top of your curve. All that said though she is solid card advantage and she does set up a curve for you meaning that if you can secure her turn three you will have a turn four play and so on.

2. Blazing Lion Admiral

Swordcraft Legendary

Rotation: 3.5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 2.5/5 Stars

I have always found Invocation to be an intriguing concept. Its a mechanic that doesn’t really work in a physical TCG setting so its fun to see it in action. Learning from the missteps of Hearthstone, the designers had to make very restrictive conditions lest we end up in a “Patches the Pirate” metagame.

That said, I do think that in Rotation Invocation is quite powerful, despite Cygames’s careful balancing act. In Midrange Sword I don’t think its out of the question to trade fifteen guys throughout the match. To my understanding once this is proc’ed for one Invocation trigger it will trigger every turn consecutive to that as long as there are Blazing Lion Admirals in the deck.

While his Invocation is quite powerful, the body and attack triggers are kind of underwhelming. Admiral at least has rush so the attack trigger will activate immediately, I can’t justify paying the full seven PP for this follower. That means drawing them leave dead weight in your hand. Rotation is a very “curve-out” format and if the opponent dumps an Omen of Disdain or any other relevant seven-drop, Admiral just won’t match up. This brings up the Invocation conundrum I often find myself in: How many is the right amount?

Flauros is the only Invocation follower I’ve played and so far I’ve settled on two. Draw one early, there’s still one in the deck to activate the Invocation on. If you run three you risk drawing one or more each of your games and as I’ve said before this card is dead weight if you draw him and have to play him for his casting cost.

This card isn’t anywhere near the level of Unlimited. Its slow, costs a ton, and doesn’t win the game on its own. For just six PP you get Yggdrasil which is often a win condition in the decks she sees play in.

3. Zebet, Lady of the Flies

Shadowcraft Legendary

Rotation: 4/5 Stars

Unlimited: 3.5/5 Stars

Zebet is an awesome testament to flavor in design space. She is a much more functional version of her predecessor Lord of the Flies.

Lord of the Flies was one of my first “build-around” Legendaries and I had a ton of fun with the card. Unfortunately the power level just wasn’t there. You HAD to protect him with Death’s Breath or he just died as he is a big PP investment for such a small body. With Zebet you get more control over when to use her on the curve. Drew her early and need an on-curve beater? Play her for four PP. Have seven PP and don’t want have access to an Eachtar? Play her on seven and get an additional body on board. You’ve hit the late game and you and your opponent are in a top deck war? Slam her on ten PP to take back the board single-handedly.

She also has access to a wider host of minions than her ugly counterpart.

While you can make the argument that her ability will hit the minion you desire less often due to having a wider pool to grab from, there are also two more utility bugs that can give the opponent fits. I have not seen a unanimously-decided-upon Shadow list for Rotation, but I’m sure she will pop up in a control or Midrange list somewhere this season.

In Unlimited I have already heard stirrings of a copy or two of Zebet helping people climb the ladder with Mid Shadow. This makes sense as she is so flexible as far as her cost is considered. Vengeful mantis also seems nasty in the shell. Only true veterans remember when Shadow Reaper costed one less and was in every Shadow deck…

4. Corspewyrm Fafnir

Shadowcraft Legendary

Rotation: 3/5 Stars

Unlimited: 2.5/5 Stars

This is a card that I feel suffers the fate of having no real home. While Shadowcraft has adapted to be an aggro deck, a midrange slog-fest, and several reanimator-themed combo shells (Atomy/Mordecai/Deathly Tyrant) Shadow has never really had the tools to shine as a control deck. The main problem that I’ve found with it behaving as a control shell is that its hard to generate shadows proactively to trigger your necromancy effects if you are in the control role.

Its much easier to spam followers and tokens, trade on board, and make more tokens/draw cards than it is to try and answer the board with spot removal and sweeper effects. Don’t get me wrong, I think an undead Fafnir that clears the board is awesome, and its leaps and bounds above its Dragoncraft predecessor, but it just doesn’t have a home in Rotation yet. Hopefully a crazy brew will prove me wrong, or even some home runs will pop up for Control Shadow in the expansions to come.

As far as Unlimited is concerned this card will most likely never supplant Eachtar and friends. You don’t want to wipe your own board if you’ve spent the whole game going wide for an Eachtar OTK. Eachtar also wipes the board more effectively. The fact that Corpsewyrm’s necromancy isn’t flexible hurts its chances a lot. It HAS to necromancy for X and X HAS to be the strongest follower the opponent has in play. All that while costing nine PP and it doesn’t win the game on the spot. It’s just too slow for the lawless wastes of Unlimited format.

5. Sylvia, the Condemner

Portalcraft Legendary

Rotation: 3.5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 3/5 Stars

Sylvia presents Portal Players with a new puzzle: How do you appropriately evaluate and use your evolution points? Just like with Ardent Sniper Silva her Accelerate effect is much more useful than the body she represents in the later game.

This is not top say that you will “never” use the body, as four damage to the dome is pretty decent, but accelerating and wiping the opponent’s board seems amazing on turn four or five. The giant trade off is that it takes an evolution orb, and it doesn’t leave a follower behind to force the opponent to trade into. The flip side is that it represents a solid board wipe for a low cost and at a turn when most board wipes aren’t online yet.

I see this most solidly slotting into puppets as it is already a tier one deck, but you most likely would rather be evolving Paracelsus, but the Accelerate board wipe seems a bit tempting.

In Unlimited I don’t see a direct home for Sylvia, as there aren’t that many solid Portal decks in Unlimited. That’s just the product of it being the youngest craft and having access to a much smaller card pool. That said there are plenty of aggressive Dragon, Shadow, Forest, and Blood decks that play to the board on the early turns and the Accelerate ability could be quite handy to a midrange or control Portal shell.

6. Dyne, Master Swordsman

Portalcraft Legendary

Rotation: 3/5 Stars

Unlimited: 2/5 Stars

Dyne plays a key role in the Artifact Portal archetype. Artifact Portal has tried to gain a foothold since its release in Chronogenesis, but has suffered many consistency issues. This is just the nature of putting cards into your deck at random. This version of Portalcraft lacks real card advantage outside of Icarus and Deus Ex Machina as all the Artifacts go into your deck and not your hand. I built Artifacts when the deck fist came out but was never impressed with any of its synergies save the raw draw power of Deus.

Deus Ex Machina helps you draw into your powerful artifacts and since most of them are cheap she allows you to refill your hand after you’ve deployed your robot army as long as you’re in resonance.

The archetype’s payoff and win condition is Safira.

Safira is decent enough for Rotation, but I’ve never been killed by one in Unlimited.

With all of this said, Dyne serves the crucial role of bridging the mid game from the evo turns onward. The fanfare can be devastating and the fact that he has rush means that you don’t have to waste an evolve point just to trade through their stragglers. Triggering the five damage clause seems only feasible in a game that has dragged on to turn eight or so, but at least he remains a relevant draw throughout the curve.

Since Artifact Portal is not even a thing in Rotation it sure as hell isn’t a thing in Unlimited, thus Dyne has no home in the wasteland.

7. Forest Oracle Pascale

Forestcraft Legendary

Rotation: 2/5 Stars

Unlimited: 1/5 Stars

I’ve never been impressed by Sun Oracle Pascale… and Forest Oracle just seems like a worse version in a different craft.

First is the cost difference. This is not a powerful effect, so why does it cost another play point? Midgame legendaries have only gotten stronger since Sun Oracle was released and now it costs one more? This also says nothing of the fact that the ability is much harder to proc on Forest Oracle. Sun Oracle Pascale requires you simply have an earth sigil in play. Playing four cards in a single turn is much harder. Even in a craft that’s predicated on playing a ton of fairies, it’s still harder than simply having an earth sigil on board.

One of the things that really holds the Pascale(s) back is the fact that the effect triggers on the end of the turn. I do realize the degenerate combo potential of doubling your board’s power, but it happening at the end of turn just kills it for me.

I’d be genuinely surprised if this card saw Rotation play outside of memes and that means I can guarantee that it will never be viable in Unlimited.

8. Carbuncle, Immortal Jewel

Forestcraft Legendary

Rotation: 4/5 Stars

Unlimited: 3/5 Stars

I want to love this card. Its a sweet concept and I love the diversity it adds to Forestcraft. Regaining evo points is always powerful and the fact that the sparkles it generates cantrip mean that you will maintain card economy.

The only problem I have with this card is the same one that I have with Portal’s Artifacts. They get placed in the deck at random and with no real deck manipulation that leaves drawing them up to chance. Sure, you can hit a critical mass of Artifacts/Sparkles so that your chances to draw them are significantly higher, but that takes a lot of work. Even then it still boils down to chance and raw card draw.

The thing that saves Carbuncle for me in Rotation is the existence of Apostle of Unkilling:

The fanfare on Apostle allows you to possibly pull a Sparkle out of the deck and place it into your hand. This mitigates the random placement of the Carbuncle’s Sparkles in the deck. Your deck construction will be limited to either zero or close to zero one-drop spells so that you can ensure Apostle hits 100 percent of the time.

I wish Carbuncle was playable in Unlimited but I doubt it. Despite being fairly low-costed (for a Legendary at least), giving a ton of small advantages, and generating powerful spells, I doubt it has the power level required or home to make it.

9. Alterplane Arbiter

Neutral Legendary

Rotation: 1.5/5 Stars

Unlimited: 0/5 Stars

This is a unique design space, and it is obviously only something that could be done with the digital medium that Shadowverse is built upon. While it is a “neat” effect… It’s just really underwhelming. I’m sure in take two this card is OK, but anywhere else, this is just a bad draw two. Let me put Arbiter in perspective just by comparing him to a silver card from Altersphere:

Pactbound Demon

For one less PP and one less Atk and Def you get to draw three cards instead, not two random cards from your opponent’s craft that will most likely not bolster your deck’s strategy. Yes, you will take three damage when the Demon dies, but at least it will be cards from your own deck that support your own strategy.

My other problem with the functionality of this card is that the cards from the opposing craft have to be basic. For the most part a majority of the basic cards are trash now. If you have the time to browse through all of the basics in the game’s eight crafts there are some real duds in there. I’m not investing seven PP to maybe grab a costed-down basic and just pray that its even useful.

If the effect was to pull any two cards from the opponent’s list that were from their craft (not neutral) this guy gets a lot cooler. Maybe he lets you snag a Roach from a Forestcraft opponent while you’re playing Runecraft. Unfortunately, with the way that Arbiter has been designed, that scenario is impossible to engineer. Even then I feel like the effect is balanced, it just shifts the card pool from basics to “what the opponent is playing”.

Either way, like I said this is a cool concept, but it is far from powerful. It’s technically card advantage, but it will not show up anywhere competitive. It won’t show up in Rotation. It won’t show up in Unlimited. I will liquefy everyone that I open.

That does it for this week’s Article. In the past, I’ve done Legendary Reviews in a single one-shot article, but with larger sets and the addition of Portalcarft, I’m going to be breaking the review in half. Next week I’ll be bringing you all the other nine Legendaries and my reviews for each of them.

Deuces,

MAC

Yggdrasil Midrange (Unlimited)

Yggdrasil Midrange has been a labor of love since the card was released. Forestcraft is my favorite craft and I thought the idea of a midrange threat that could set up combo kills was an awesome addition to the craft. Her costing seven play points initially was a huge draw back though. I tried for months to make her work in the deck, but in the end the aggressive tempo lists and the OTK Roach lists didn’t want her. Her buff was much needed. The fact that she could come down a turn earlier actually made a world of difference. Now her boons could make lethal combo plays as early as turn seven.

I wanted to build a shell that could lean into either of her spells. A list that could adapt based on what it drew. That meant that I was going to Include Roach as I always do. The card is nuts and can easily provide six or seven storm damage on its own with just a couple cheap plays and a bounce spell.

People have clamored for years after this card was released about how it needs limited or nerfed. Instead, Cygames has always tagged the surrounding cards of the Roach combo. The first to fall was Goblin Mage. Her nerf made the OTK less consistent unless you cut the one-drop followers from your list. The next to fall was Aria, Guiding Fairy. Thanks to Roach you can only play a single copy of Aria in unlimited. Long story short, the card is nuts and should be considered in most Forestcraft lists if only for small burst damage potential or the fact that it can double as removal on critical turns. In this deck, It is used for chip damage to soften our opponent for our “real” combo turns.

The main boon that this list has over the traditional “Roach OTK” list is the fact that it gets to play all of Forestcraft’s incredibly solid two-drop followers. Storied Falconer, Insect Lord, and Fairy Dragon are all boons to the craft as a whole and it’s exciting to unlock this deck-building aspect.

Card Choices: 

Water Fairy- We need all the cheap fairy support we can get to support our mid-to-late game Fairy Dragons. This card is also ideal for trading in the early turns as it represents two bodies.

Rhinoceroach- This card needs no introduction. It may very well be the best card in the craft and it would take a ton of convincing to get me to exclude it from any Forest list.

Fairy Dragon- The payoff card in the list. This card is the cheap finisher we need to play into Yggdrasil’s Wrath of Nature spell and a solid ward all wrapped up in a cheap package.

Insect Lord- If cheap interaction is key in the metagame, then Insect Lord is your man. It allows you to play combo turns and remove something at the same time. Just recently I needed an extra point of power on the board to finish off an Opponent with Wrath of Nature and I needed to clear a three defense ward. Insect Lord was the perfect bug for the job.

Royal Falconer- I have loved this card since its release. It fits so well in both aggressive and midrange strategies. It represents two decent, low-costed bodies, and the fact that his fanfare is the trigger to make tokens means that bouncing and replaying him ad nauseam is a ton of fun. His Evo trigger is also relevant as it can turn all of your Skystride Raptors into removal.

Liza, Queen of the Forest- As her name would suggest, she is in fact the queen of Forestcraft. She tutors up token generators like Water Fairy, and when she dies she either pulls Yggdrasil to set up your combo turns or Cassiopeia to clear the opponent’s board.

Metera, Peerless Shot- Just recently this slot was actually for Starry Elf. I figured out early in testing that Wood of Brambles was one of the most important components in this deck. After seeing her performance in the Cygames Rotation tournaments I was sold. She is the perfect evo-turn play as she can three-for-one the opponent (She pings a guy to death, trades over another guy, and regains card economy with her clash trigger). My theory here is that if we’re drawing more cards and clearing the board better in the mid-game then we will inevitably survive and draw to our Wood of Brambles.

Cassiopeia- In every list but OTK Roach I have replaced Will of the Forest with Cass. The fact that you only have to pay one more PP to add a 3/3 body to the board clear effect is awesome.

Yggdrasil- The backbone of the deck, and my favorite card in the craft currently, Ygg gives you so many options on top of gaining some measure of board control and even a bit of survivability.

Wood of Brambles- While Ygg is the backbone of the deck, this card is the heart and soul. Without this card it will often be difficult to close games. It generates fairies, allows you to easily contest the board, and can be abused with our bounce spells to prolong its countdown, not to mention generate more fairies to kamikaze for our Fairy Dragon count.

Nature’s Guidance/Airbound Barrage- Our bounce spells are grouped together as they fill a similar role: reuse and abuse our fanfare triggers. They can do anything from spam Royal Falconer, set up a Roach OTK, or even rebuy Yggdrasil to set up another big turn. One replaces its self, while the other acts as removal. I would say that Barrage is the better of the two in this deck as maintaining board control is important to a midrange deck, but we need all six one-drop bounce spells for this shell to work.

Fairy Circle- Our other one-drop Fairy generator. This card is far from good but serves a purpose in this Forest deck more-so than any other as Fairy Dragon is a hungry boy.

Sylvan Justice- An oldie, but a goodie. Justice lets us contest the board in the early game and generates Fairies, which means we want it. This deck doesn’t work if we can’t kamikaze Fairies throughout the game.

Mulligans

You are really looking for three specific cards in your opener. From best to worst you need either Wood of Brambles, Water Fairy, or Sylvan Justice. From there I would secure a non-Roach, two-drop follower. Fairy Dragon is only useful in the early game if you have an early Brambles active and you’ve traded some Fairies, but he is a big ward for cheap and you don’t really need to sandbag him until the late turns just to secure a win. I also like to secure a mini-strategy in the opener. Brambles/Falconer into a bounce spell or a Metera going second have both payed off for me recently.

Play Patterns

The deck is a combo deck wrapped in a midrange shell. I’ve killed opponents just with chip shots and never once going from the combo. On the flip side I’ve also 20’ed an opponent on turn eight with a double Fairy Dragon-Wrath of Nature combo. the deck is adaptable and will reward you for understanding when to pivot. If you’ve identified that you’re the beatdown chances are that you don’t need the Dragon/Wrath combo as the game will close before turn eight (the optimal Dragon combo turn).

If you’ve identified that the opponent is the beatdown, then play the control role, clear the board, and try to set up an OTK on a later turn. Wood of Brambles is awesome in this deck as it helps in both situations. If you’re aggressively reducing the opponent’s life total, Brambles makes it harder for the opponent to remove your constant stream of cheap followers. If you’re trying to control the board and stem the bleeding, Brambles helps your small followers trade up.

Another factor to keep in mind is that most midrange strategies rely heavily on evo points to take back the board. This means that you have to have a solid understanding of when and what to evolve. Metera is a no-brainer, but if you don’t have her it gets a little harder. You’ll have to answer questions like: Should I evolve this fairy to just eat a one defense enemy follower that could threaten an aggressive evo next turn? Should I run all my Fairies into this Daria, then drop a Falconer, evo it, trade and then have a bane Skystride Raptor in hand if they are holding another Daria?

Closing Statements

If you enjoy Yggdrasil, Fairy Dragon, or even midrange Forest decks in general, then this is the deck for you. Its a unique blend of cards that are simultaneously powerful and underplayed. One of my favorite feelings is setting up an OTK against an opponent that has no clue of what the deck actually does. I feel like this deck belongs right at home in Unlimited Format and its a ton of fun to play.

-MAC

Top 5 Decks to Play in Unlimited (December 2018)

Unlimited format is a somewhat lawless environment. With access to every card ever created, there is a ton of room for innovation. Anyone can pick up a deck archetype, refine it, and have success with it. That is the nature of any eternal format in any TCG. With so many strategies coming out of Shadowverse’s ten expansions, you will see plenty of diversity on the Unlimited ladder. 

There are, however, decks that rise above the rest. Consistency is key in having a functional deck in unlimited. While there are numerous degenerate archetypes in the format, most are kept in check by consistency issues. Atomy Shadow and D-Shift are prime examples of this. 

In this article, I’m going to break down the five best (in my opinion) decks to be playing on the Unlimited ladder and in the Unlimited tournament scene currently.  This list will take consistency, power, and overall fun into account. I will not be discounting any decks based on having a difficult learning curve. Many of the decks in the format require difficult decisions and an intimate understanding of both how you and your opponent’s decks work. I don’t think its fair to overlook a strategy just because its hard to learn. 

Deck #5: Shadow Midrange

According to the number-crunching minds on the Shadowverse GamePress site Mid Shadow (along with Aggro Dragon) is the unlimited deck with the highest play rate. This is most likely due to the un-nerfing of Demonlord Eachtar’s necromancy ability. This deck aims to grind out the opponent on the board in order to set up a lethal Eachtar attack. One of the popular lines of play has always been to set up a stocked board on turn five, drop a necromancy’ed Death’s Breath on turn six, and finish off on turn seven with an Eachtar to pump the team for an OTK. 

With Eachtar at full power this deck can go long if it needs to as well. This version of the deck plays cards like Andrealphus and Prince Catacomb to both generate board advantage and accumulate a stockpile of shadows for the mid-to-late game. Almost every piece of the deck is designed to help out on the board. Belenus, Lady Grey, Lurching Corpse, Death’s Breath, Zombie Party, Prince Catacomb, and Eachtar all aim to take the board and keep it. Whether it be nuking enemy followers or creating “army-in-a-can” scenarios, most cards in the deck are for board control. 

The other pieces of the deck boil down to card advantage and disruption. With so many last words followers in the deck Soul Conversion and Demon Eater serve double duty both drawing cards and triggering these abilities. One of my favorite lines of play is dropping Lurching corpse on turn two just to sacrifice him on turn three to draw two cards, all while blowing up one of the opponent’s threats. As far as disruption goes we get access to the Omen of Silence. I had to read this card twice when it was spoiled. It effectively shuts out our spell-based opponents for a turn and with a deck this full of sticky threats a turn could be the difference between victory and defeat. Rulenye single-handedly shuts down OTK Roach, D-Shift Rune, and burn-spell-based blood or rune decks.

My flavor pick in this list is playing original Cerberus over Cerberus, Hound of Hades. While Hound of Hades does play to the board and that is what this deck is aiming to do, I just like the reach that OG Cerb provides. The Coco and Mimi help win the race in a midrange mirror and their effect is felt immediately. Rather than dropping two sub-par followers, you get two spells that are relatively powerful given their low cost. In the mirror, I like pushing damage as aggressively as possible and making the opponent trade defensively. Cerberus helps put the opponent on the back foot early and with enough sticky followers, the game should be fairly elementary to close out. 

As far as difficulty to play, I’d say this deck is towards the bottom. The game plan is simple and straight-forward: Get on the board early and keep it. Your mid-game hay-makers like Death’s Breath and Demonlord Eachtar are explosive enough to close out games on their own and your other followers stick up the board pretty well. 

As far as “fun” goes I’d say its in the middle. If you like combat, then this is the deck for you. If you like flashy kills, this can still be the deck for you as Cerberus and Eachtar can knock the opponent’s life down out of nowhere. If you enjoy complexity and plays with a ton of lines, then this is a less appealing choice. The deck is OK at coming back from behind, but as a board-based deck you mostly wear your heart on your sleeve. If the opponent can keep your board clear they know they are safe for the most part as you lack any real reach as far as storm followers or burn spells go. 

Deck #4: Aggro/Disdain Dragon

The other deck with the highest usage rate on Unlimited Ladder is none other than Aggro Dragon. This archetype has seen growing success, despite seeing one of its key pieces nerfed (Hippogryph Rider). This is mostly due to the fact that the “Disdain engine” (Omen of Disdain, Servant of Disdain, Disciple of Disdain, Disdainful Rending) is so strong. The pay-off to this archetype is either drawing extra cards or taking complete control of the board.

Galmiuex is a house when she hits the board and hitting her enhnace ability makes keeping board control easy. Pair her abilities with force of the dragonewt and the opponent will have to think twice before flooding the board with cheap followers. Even being nerfed, the Omen of Disdain is quite powerful. Her initial cost of five pp is even convenient as she will be coming down right in the middle of the evolve turns. 

Just as the power of Shadow Midrange centers around Demonlord Eachtar, so too does Disdain Dragon center around the busted abilities of Galmieux. Dragon has another insane threat in its toolbox as well though. Dark Dragoon Forte, an old favorite of mine, helps close out games insanely fast as well. Where Shadow lacked reach, Aggro Dragon has no shortage of it. Forte is so potent that she demands a non-combat-based answer immediately. 

This version of aggro dragon puts a premium of going after the oponent’s life total very early on. In previous versions of Aggro Dragon there was a lot more set up. You needed to lean on pay offs like Hippogryf Rider or Pheonix Rider Ainya. This requires a ton of commitment to the board to generate an advantage. Here this all changes. With Forte’s Storm and Galmieux’s ability to simultaneously take back the board, generate card advantage, and go dome with her evo effect, the ability to kill out of nowhere is ever-present.

As far as fun goes, this is right up my alley, and Dragoncraft is one of my favorite crafts. I love ramping play points and dropping threats and sweepers early so this deck is for me. It combines the nuances of using combat to clear the board or just going to their dome in order race. It isn’t as “sticky” on the board as Shadow Midrange, but it also provides a much faster path to victory. 

Complexity of play is also here. While its not the flashiest deck in the format (or even on this list for that matter) it is incredibly versatile and can allow for some of the easiest wins you’ll find on ranked ladder. If an opponent stumbles you will punish them hard. The deck draws a ton of cards for cheap and your sweepers and storm threats will wreck both their board and their face. 

My flavor pick in this list is Poseidon. I’ve seen this curve-topper flex spot be anything from Azi Dahaka to Hippogryph Rider. So far in testing the flexibility of Poseidon has reigned supreme. In the early game, he gives you a small ward to protect your damage-dealers. In the late stages of the game (sooner if you’ve ramped a few times) he is a big body that gives you a ton of breathing room. 

Deck #3: Suicide Aggro Blood

This is the first deck on the list that actually took me some getting used to. I’ve toyed with Vengeance builds of Bloodcraft in the past, but this is by far the most aggressive. The curve on the deck is insanely low and you enter vengeance way faster than most builds just from all the self-ping effects. The low-costed cards in the deck are what make it so difficult to pilot. Sequencing correctly is where the real technical play comes in. Do you spam your zero-drops in the early turns to set up Valnareik on turn three, or do you hold them to proc Flauros on turn four? These scenarios separate the veterans of the craft from the inexperienced. This isn’t just a straight-forward beat-em-up deck. Vengeance has always been an archetype centered around the delicate balance of managing your life total. 

The main strength of the deck is definitely the Omen of Lust. Seeing a trend here? Many of the omens and their set up cards are incredibly powerful. The impact of Omen of the Ten can even be felt in the Unlimited format. Valnareik is exactly what the archetype needed as a pay-off. A low-costed storm threat that doubles as removal is insane. That’s not to mention the fact that she can buff herself every turn you smack yourself for damage. 

The deck plays some of my favorite self-damaging cards of all time as well. Razory Claw and Blood Pact are powerful for their cost. The fact that both ping you and pull you towards Vengeance help swing their downside into an upside. The rest of your self-damaging effects, while not completely throw-away, are simply being played because they deal self-damage for incredibly cheap. The Parish is decent, and all three modes have a purpose, but who actually wants to be playing Gift of Bloodkin? 

The other stand-out card from all of the stock Suicide Aggro lists is Flauros. His upside is very high as getting his invocation off will put you so far ahead on the board. His last words trigger gaining you three-to-five life will also keep you alive in circumstances that you would otherwise be dead and you don’t have to shove other pointless life gain effects into your deck to circumvent all the damage you deal yourself. Even hard-casting him for four PP isn’t all that bad as he gets huge and trades well. 

My spicy flavor picks are in the form of my three flex-slots. For these, I chose two Viras and an Alexandrite Demon. The Viras trade very well in the evo turns and can even keep you from dying in tight spots where your life total is critically low. There were more than a few games where she saved me where no other card (even the Black Mask of Death) would have saved me from my OTK Roach opponent. The Alexandrite demon is the poster child of flex-slot cards. She provides the options of spot removal, or card advanatage. Both options ping you on a delayed trigger so they both advance our overall game plan. While not the most powerful card in the list she is definitely cheap and flexible which is all I was really looking for. 

The difficulty rating on this deck is towards the upper echelon, but as I said before I won’t be counting that against the deck. If you like extremely aggressive strategies and photo-finishes then this is the deck for you. This deck has some of the best reach in the format. The one thing holding it back from the top slot is its inability to go long. If an opponent takes you past turn seven or eight you will most likely be out of cards and very low on life. The key to victory is to hit the opponent as hard as you can on the critical evo turns. This is when the Omen of Lust and Flauros will do your heavy lifting. We’re playing two copies of Dark General as our curve-topper to help mise wins off top-decks. 

The deck is hard to master but incredibly fun. There is always room to improve your sequencing so if you enjoy a deck that you can learn as you play it more then this is the deck for you. Its aggression is also unparalleled in the format so the power aspect is there.  

Deck #2: OTK Roach Forest

OTK Roach has always held a place near and dear to my heart. It was the second deck I ever played after starting with Tempo Forest back in the days of Darkness Evolved. The deck has one of the most powerful endgames in the format. If you don’t hide behind a ward or kill the roach player before turn seven, chances are they have it rolled up. The real power of the deck comes down to its consistency. With so many ways to tutor both roach and ways to bounce it, the deck feels more like playing a game of chess than a card game. The deck will play out very similarly every single time.

For the uninitiated, OTK Roach centers around the most busted storm follower of all time : Rhinoceroach. Its fanfair allows you to play out cheap (including zero-cost) cards into five open play points. At five play points you can play the roach, trigger its fanfair, bounce it to your hand with one of your one-cost bounce spells, play it again and go for lethal damage.

This deck is severely underplayed in my opinion. It has the power and the flair, but it can seem daunting to pilot. I had to put around ten hours of practice into the deck before I could comfortably identify when I had lethal. Even as new sets release and we get new toys for the archetype I still have to practice with the deck. The little nuances matter a ton when most of your deck is optimized to kill an opponent with roaches alone.

The first “new” toy that the craft got was Yggdrasil. While not entirely new, her buff in the last game patch that lowered her cost from seven PP to six allowed the craft to adopt her. Since your optimal kill is turn seven or eight, the deck really wasn’t interested in Yggdrasil’s previous iteration. Now that she can come down before the combo turn the spells that she grants are incredibly useful. Blessings of Creation is an obvious boon for the roach combo. Both its zero-cost and enhance abilities are great when going into the combo turn.

Wrath of Nature can be useful when trading after the evolve turns, or to set up kills with non-roach followers. Most players will get so tied up in trying to stop a roach kill that they can forget about the left-over utility followers like Feena’s and Aerin’s.

Not only are the spells useful, so too is the body that Yggdrasil provides. With an evo point, Yggdrasil’s four attack and drain ability add to your survivability. Complimenting Arein’s fanfair, Yggdrasil allows you to go further into the late-game with aggressive opponents that aren’t cooperating with your OTK plan.

The next piece of technology came in the recent Omen of the Ten mini expansion. Liza is a strict upgrade to Goblin Mage and is exactly what a deck like OTK Roach was looking for. She tutors Roach, grabs a late-game follower when she dies, and isn’t a dead draw if you already have a hand full of Roaches. Its not hard to see that she was tailor-made by Cygames to help out good ‘ol Roachcraft.

I won’t go into a full breakdown of all the combo lines in this article, but the deck is full of ways to kill an opponent out of nowhere. Little tech choices matter. The fanfair and enhance abilities on Whispering Woods, The fact that the Fairy Wisps that Aria and Flower of Fairies generate are zero-drops, even the slew of spells that Apostle can grab us: they all matter.

I have OTK Roach fairly high on my list simply because I’m not afraid to play it. I main’ed the deck for the better part of a year and have played many iterations of the deck. The deck has always been powerful, at times even oppressive, yet it still lacks a significant foothold on ranked ladder or on the tournament scene. I feel like I’m not even biased in saying that its because its a really challenging deck to play. Like with Suicide Aggro Blood though, I don’t feel like this discounts the deck from making into any top fives.

My closing statements on this deck are that it is incredibly consistent, powerful, fun to play, and is extremely viable. While it sits at the top of the scale as far as the learning curve is concerned, don’t let that scare you away from playing it. Every victory feels so good. When you’re going off you feel invincible and it’s not just another mindless victory derived from smashing aggressively costed followers into the opponent’s head turn after turn. While Aggro Dragon and Shadow Midrange function like sledge-hammers, OTK Roach is a much more graceful, nuanced approach to unlimited.

Deck #1: Holy Mage Haven

If you’ve been playing or following unlimited at all this deck is on your radar. It has recently been all over ladder and just recently was played to top finishes in the Cygames Esports tournaments. The deck focuses on a simple premise: Set up a turn two golden city, play low-costed, low-countdown amulets and draw cards. The “pay-off” card that allows you to finish out games in just a single swing or two is the namesake card. Holy Mage can come down on turn three and immediately start beefing up while you answer your opponent’s board with your amulets.

The deck functions like the Ambush Frog Sword builds from Tempest of the Gods. That deck would plop down a turn three (pre-nerf) Vagabond Frog and just start pumping him up while slicing up the opponent’s life total turn after turn. The main difference here is that while Holy Mage may lack the ability to re-ambush every turn, it plays many solid cards that can answer difficult threats. The fact that most of the removal in the deck is “at random” is actually a boon. This allows the removal to nuke followers despite having ambush. I’ve never seen the mirror, but I’m guessing that it all comes down to who has more birds in the end.

Speaking of birds, lets talk about the other line of play with this deck. There are many games where you won’t even draw a single holy mage but the power of Golden City still allows you to storm down the opponent with birds. Holy Falcon and Regal Falcon are real threats. The fact that a double-city draw means that it will pop every bird generator as soon as you draw it is nuts. With evo points the falcons will make quick work of the opponent’s life total. Even if the opponent answers them, the damage is done. Storm is a fair ability.

The real power of the deck comes from its consistency. With City of Gold’s invocation ability, you are insured to always have it turn two. Even if the opponent blows one up, its just a minor set-back in the grand scheme of this deck’s design. Simply leave up two play points and another one will plop right of your deck onto the field. If this deck proves too cancerous for the format this is the card that I see getting nuked. Sure, you can make Holy Mage cost four just like Vagabond Frog and it would most likely kill this iteration of the archetype. The problem there is another variation already exists. Enstatued Seraph builds have already been showing up in numbers on the unlimited ranked ladder. City of Gold is the real back bone of this archetype, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

This deck has a very high power level, is straight-forward to play, and costs even less than a rotation deck to build. From a fun stand point I would say this is low-to-mid tier, but I prefer decks with a skill gap. A deck that I can learn new things about even after hours of play time with it. If that is what you’re into then this isn’t really the deck for you. However, if you’re looking to climb the unlimited ladder fast, or you just enjoy mindlessly powerful strategies, then this may peak your interests. The deck isn’t bad by any means, its just an auto-pilot deck. This deck is the new hotness so get in on the action before Cygames nerfs it and it fades into the same meme-status that Frog Sword did.

These are my top five picks for Unlimited in December. Altersphere is just around the corner (December 26th) and it could shake the whole metagame up, but I’d be more inclined to believe that a buff or nerf would be the culprit for a major unsettling of the meta. If you pick any of the decks on this list and put in the time to learn them I am positive you will see results. Whether it be ladder climbing or tournament play all of these archetypes are powerful enough if you are willing to put in the effort.

Much luck and see you around

-MAC

Unlimited Potential

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