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Predictions: Immortal Vanguards Pre-Release Bitesize Reviews & Polls

#1

Immortal Vanguards Pre-Release Bitesize Reviews & Polls

So exactly how good are we at estimating how good new cards will be before they come out? Let’s try and find out! With spoiler season over, I hereby challenge you to publicly state–for the record–how you expect the new expansion to perform when it finally hits coming Tuesday. Then, after a few weeks have gone by we can all reflect and laugh at how horribly wrong or instead marvel at how impressively right we were! This thread does two things: it aims to gather the summarized thoughts of everyone who dares state them and collect polling data on six distinct aspects to the Immortal Vanguards expansion. I’m calling those summarized thoughts “Bitesize Reviews” because they’re meant to be very brief, a few sentences per card at most! I’ve used my own Colloquial Tierlyst to structure mine (see below) but feel free to do them however you like. You’ll find my own BRs below and the five polls below them. Feel free to use my template to make sure you cover every card (if you don’t have thoughts on everything, that’s fine too!).

Get the template here if you like

Abyssian

Lyonar

Magmar

Songhai

Vanar

Vetruvian

Neutral

Without further ado, here are my thoughts!

@TheMatsjo’s Bitesize Reviews:

Abyssian

  • Maehv Skinsolder: Better than Lilithe, worse than Cassyva. A Viable General, but only within a few very narrow builds.
  • Cacophynos: Looks like Trash to me, but a decent pick in Gauntlet.
  • Void Talon: Underestimated, I think this might be a Viable Meta card, either by helping control big stomping threats or by comboing for massive damage.
  • Nightmare Operant: Cool for a Meme deck but Trash otherwise. I haven’t seen a way to reliably get Mechaz0rs out from your deck so I think this is a pass.
  • Moonrider: Pretty cool card and definitely Viable in Gauntlet but I don’t see it competing with the cards available to Abyssian in Ranked.
  • Infest: Just a Fun Meme. Very cool, but unreliable to make the cut, especially in this anti-swarm world we live in.

Lyonar

  • Brome Warcrest: Plugs the gaps in the Lyonar General lineup by supporting zoo and Zeal decks. Better than Zir’An (in a vacuum), but more narrow and weaker than Argeon, especially in this anti-swarm and anti-Artifact world we live in.
  • Surgeforger: An Answer or Die Top Tier Niche card if I ever saw one. I expect Surgeforger to be a Staple for zoo decks of all kinds and people to call out for nerfs against it, at least until people start running dispel to thwart it. Excellent, if you can get it up and running for two or more turns.
  • Ironcliffe Monument: A cool Answer or Die Meme card and terrifying in Gauntlet, but too slow and unreliable otherwise, especially because Vetruvian and Magmar exist. Overrated.
  • Oakenheart: Viable Niche card for a midrange Mech deck. 5 Mana is pretty steep but if you can slam it down on an established board the +1/+1 will really count for something because it pushes Cannons and Replicants over a lot of breaking points. Not essential, but a good card.
  • Prominence: Prominence just looks like a good, solid, all-around Lyonar card for many midrange decks. Brome might like it. It might be better than it looks, but I’m going to bet on it being a Viable card, although at 4 Attack you really don’t want to run it into Cyphiron.
  • Sunstrike: This looks like a Healyonar card, but Healyonar is crammed with essentials at the 4 Mana slot and the positioning requirement makes it nigh-impossible to use against Vetruvian and Magmar. I hope this turns out to be better than it looks because it just seems like a Viable card with nowhere to go.

Magmar

  • Ragnora the Relentless: An excellent General, and probably slightly better than Vaath and Starthorn, especially after the two new Egg support spells.
  • Biomimetic Hulk: People are down on this thing but I’m not convinced. I bet it’s the cheap Build Minions that will see play and you get a lot of payoff with this thing, even if it just sucks up 10 damage while you develop. Answer or Die and Viable.
  • Seismoid: I think this is a really weird design for a Mill deck but the effect is pretty good for a new swarm deck so I think it’ll see a lot of play as a Staple in that Niche.
  • Armada: I’m not sure what to think of this. I like how you can try to more or less aim its bombs but I can’t imagine people playing this over Warbeast. Another Viable card with nowhere to go?
  • Pupabomb: Pupabomb looks like a great card and a Niche Staple for Egg decks. You can even attack with a Ripper to let it die and then immediately blow it up for a buffed 14 damage.
  • Embryotic Insight: Another Niche Staple. It’s good, cheap draw but only for Egg decks. Good design imo.

Songhai

  • Shidai Stormblossom: Shidai is a weird design but undeniably strong, probably the best of the three Songhai Generals because she slots into Spell and Arcanyst decks so well.
  • Suzumebachi: Looks like Trash in any context unless you need more than 3 Chakri Avatars.
  • Manakite Drifter: This doesn’t look great right now but I have a feeling this’ll see play for some kind of combo deck that we haven’t even thought of. Here’s me hoping for a Niche Staple on this one.
  • Dusk Rigger: Really cool design but I don’t see how this would fit into a Mech deck that somehow also wants to backstab and cast spells to trigger stuff. Maybe for a janky toolbox Meme deck? Horrible for Gauntlet.
  • Second-sword Sarugi: Don’t spell decks want to just cast spells? Looks like too little too late for a deck that is doing very different things at 7 Mana. Answer or Die Trash is my bet.
  • Assassination Protocol: This card looks like a Staple for a bunch of new Songhai decks to me (unless Thunderhorn gets nerfed maybe). Another card with a lot of potential, I’m hoping Niche Staple for this one.

Vanar

  • Ilena Cryobyte: Ilena looks like the worst of the three Vanar Generals, but still fun and good in her own way. Her BBS dictates a very specific play style that doesn’t line up with Vanar’s strengths, or so it seems to me.
  • Animus Plate: A Niche Answer or Die card, but I suspect it’s too much of a win-more to actually push Vespyrs as an archetype. I somewhat hope I’m wrong because I like Vespyrs a lot, but I’m not convinced so I think this is a Meta card that’ll only be good if Vespyrs become better independently of it. 5 Mana is really steep for an Artifact.
  • Cryoblade: Might be good for Ilena Stun decks, a Viable Niche card that can reliably trade up or help finish the enemy in some kind of buff deck.
  • Draugar Eyolith: Too expensive, slow and weak to removal to see play outside of Gauntlet imo. Trash.
  • Echo Deliverant: Really cool effect but I don’t see it being worth it. 6 Mana for a 6/4 that doesn’t help with building Mechaz0r? Niche Trash, even worse in Gauntlet.
  • Denadoro: Why prop up a mechanism that isn’t working with just a stat stick that doesn’t help them be worth it? Is it worth it to give +2 to a Crystal Cloaker? Just try to make the mechanism work rather than destroy its identity, CP. Niche Trash from me.

Vetruvian

  • Ciphyron Ascendant: The weakest of the Vetruvian Generals in my experience so far. I really want to see that sabotage deck that I will hate to face come into being though. Maybe its time will come.
  • Grapnel Paradigm: A Top Tier Niche card for many Vetruvian and every Ciphyron deck that will displace Aymara Healers wherever it’s run. Play alongside Star’s Fury for maximum sadism.
  • Simulacra Obelysk: I like it but it seems really slow for the effort you put in. It’s definitely Answer or Die and you can’t stop its copies with dispel so I don’t know about this one. Maybe Viable, but with Plasma Storm and Grapnel existing it might just be unplayable.
  • Silica Weaver: I can’t imagine this being good. Niche Trash.
  • Gust: Gust seems like a good, Viable Niche card for slower Fault or Obelysk decks though. Might be hard to compete with BoA, Sirocco, Star’s Fury and Superior Mirage though.
  • Monolithic Vision: A Fun Meme in Ranked and nothing else. Potentially Top Tier for Gauntlet though.

Neutral

  • Bloodbound Mentor: I expect this to show up in Shidai and Faie decks but I’m not sure if I’ll see it played elsewhere. A Viable Niche card, imo.
  • Lost Artificer: Artifacts might see more play if they had their cost reduced. I like Artificer and think it could be a Staple for any Niche that runs a few Artifacts like some Lyonar decks and Solo Sajj.
  • Rescue-RX: It looks pretty bad but I can see it played in a Doom deck that just stalls until the clock runs out. A Viable card for a very small Niche.
  • Architect-T2K5: Better than people give it credit for, and a better Sun Wisp to combo with Ironcliffe Heart. A Viable Niche card, and grat in Gauntlet too.
  • Replicant: Simply being able to vomit 2/2’s is going to be wonderful in swarm decks and most Mech decks. A Top Tier Niche card, maybe even for Twin Fang decks running Kujata.
  • DECEPTIB0T: A Fun card, but also Trash. It’s just not going to happen, especially with that average stat line.
  • Project Ω: Trash everywhere. Love its art though.
  • S.I.L.V.E.R.: A wonderful top-end for Mech decks. I expect to see this a lot if any Mech deck actually shows up. I do think it’s too value-oriented to get Top Tier Niche status so I’m going Viable Niche instead.

On to the polls!

Poll 1: Build Keyword

On a scale of 1-10, to what degree is the Build mechanism good for Duelyst? 1 = Horrible, 5 = Neutral, 10 = Great, 11 = Don’t Know/No Answer

  • 1
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  • 11

0 voters

Poll 2: Mechaz0r

On a scale of 1-10, to what degree are the changes to Mechaz0r good for Duelyst? 1 = Horrible, 5 = Neutral, 10 = Great, 11 = Don’t Know/No Answer

  • 1
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0 voters

Poll 3: New Mechs

On a scale of 1-10, to what degree are you personally happy with the new direction for Mechs? 1 = Very Unhappy, 5 = Neutral, 10 = Very Happy, 11 = Don’t Know/No Answer

  • 1
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0 voters

Poll 4: Hype

On a scale of 1-10, to what degree are you hyped for the expansion? 1 = Not At All, 5 = Neutral, 10 = Completely, 11 = Don’t Know/No Answer

  • 1
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0 voters

Poll 5: Expansion Impact

On a scale of 1-10, to what degree do you believe the expansion will change the Duelyst metagame? 1 = Not At All, 5 = Neutral, 10 = Completely, 11 = Don’t Know/No Answer

  • 1
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0 voters

Poll 6: Preorders

Have you, or are you planning to preorder the 35 Orb preorder pack?

  • Yes, and I already have
  • Yes, I’ll buy it before the promotion ends
  • No, I’m still considering it
  • No, I don’t spend money on Duelyst
  • No, I don’t spend money on Orbs
  • No, I don’t want to preorder at all
  • No, I don’t want to preorder something when I don’t completely know what I’m getting
  • No, I’m not convinced I want the expansion
  • No, I can’t afford to
  • Don’t Know/No Answer
  • Other, namely…

0 voters

This expansion seems to be bringing in some cool new ideas and I like the ideas behind a lot of the revealed cards. I just worry that they mostly won’t have enough impact to actually affect the way the game is actually played. Unless we get a balance patch with the release, of course. I do expect some Mech decks to show up and maybe even some zoo if they can reliably top 4 Health.

Cheers.

6 Likes
[Card Discussion] Neutral - Replicant
#2

Cacophynos trash? dude its great first of the 3 hp trade then bbs it with cassy or someshit and kill there minion thus its only a common o_O

#3

The fact that you went through all of the cards and review them, I truly applause you on that. One thing I don’t like is that people keep assuming that Monolithic Vision is bad. It has so much potential as for Vetruvian we don’t have a 9 cost spell.

#4

Yeah i think its a one of for any midrage/control deck

#5

Yes I suspect it is. It’s too easy to trade a cheaper Minion into and I think the effect can be played around too easily. With Maevh you can guarantee a kill + Husk on 5 Mana which sounds really good but that requires a board state that’s beneficial to a move like that. I might just be wrong.

I can imagine, I think it’s just too random to see play in Ranked. You could get perfect answers but you’re more likely to get cards that just aren’t useful to you, and spending 9 Mana to cast it kills any tempo you might still be hanging onto at that point. I think reliability is going to weigh more heavily than potential, for most people.

#6

Niche count: 21
Trash count: 10

This expansion’s got more trash and niches than a coral reef!

In all seriousness, the niche cards are usually more worrisome than the ones that seem like they would fit into many decks.

#7

There are 2 decks that I’m really excited to play: Zoo Brome and Mech Songhai. With Zoo Brome, I believe the combination of Auroara, SurgeForger, Warblade, and other buffs will make your minions a huge threat and give you plenty of options to win the game.

In regards to Mech Songhai, I feel like people are vastly underestimating the strength of Dusk Rigger: it provides you with a 0 cost Mechaz0r activator that you can essentially use whenever you want. I feel that this will be especially strong in conjunction with S.I.L.V.E.R.: at 6 mana, you can generate at the very least a 7/5 and a 6/6 that both have Frenzy, Airdrop (kinda), Range, and Forcefield. It is also important to note that this 0 cost spell also helps Alter Rex, although I’m not sure how important that will be. Furthermore, I believe that Assassination Protocol will really help mechs, allowing you to immediately use DECEPTIBOT and Mechaz0r to gain immediate value on clearing the board. I believe these synergies will help you develop a massive, threatening board that makes it difficult for your opponent to effectively deal with. I also feel that this may also benefit off of running Project Omega simply due to the number of threats you would be able to create with SILVER at 6 mana, although I feel it may just end up being a win-more in that case (and I don’t know how large Project Omega would get in Songhai in comparison to Vanar, who would arguably be able to generate more Mech units due to Echo Deliverant). Overall though, I am interested to see how this expansion affects deck building, and what new archetypes will come out of it.

6 Likes
#8

Honestly i think eyolith is a good card.
Its effect happens immediatly despite being a build minion and they cant run from it
The only problem is i dont see this card fitting into any deck where seraphim reflection isnt just better
Its pandora and jax all over again

1 Like
#9

I wish I had the energy to participate, but I do not.
Like it though and interesting.

#10

Poll 1 build: Personally I think some of the build cards are simply bad, but a couple could be great, in particular Ironcliffe Monument. Problem with the build cards is that they are open to being killed before changing, having to be used at a certain point (like Songhai’s one for mana ramp) or is just too slow and the game will end.

Poll 2 Mechaz0r: Going off just Mechaz0r itself, i’m undecided on how dangerous the card now is. Potentially, it could be more dangerous than before but its now open against spells which could balance that out.

Poll 3 New Mechs: I think any mech costing over 4 mana is going to have a hard time fitting into a deck. Any mech costing 2 or 3 mana will most likely get in and at 4 its probably going to be on the edge. The exception would be SILVER but I’m not sure how many mechs you could have on the board at the same time as this to make it worth putting into the deck.

Poll 4 Hype: There isn’t really any deck or card I really want to play from this expansion, but that could change when all the cards are out there and revealed.

Poll 5 Expansion Impact: Yes, its going to affect mech decks at the very least. Other decks I don’t know/care as I really don’t follow the meta closely.

Poll 6 Preorders: I’m not buying the preorder pack as I’m not going to go and buy diamonds. If it was just straight up money for packs, without the diamond currency, then I would have.

1 Like
#11

Build: While I think the mechanic is pretty weak in a game as fast as Duelyst, build does have all the makings of a mechanic that can spawn broken cards. Whenever a card game releases a new mechanic, there is always one or two ridiculously overpowered cards since the developers did not have previous experience balancing that mechanic. For example, Hearthstone Quests and MTG veichles are both novel mechanics that let extremely oppressive cards, Caverns Below and Smuggler’s Copter respectively, slip through. This is only natural when introducing new mechanics, and I predict that one or two Build-related cards will fall into this category.

Mech stuff: I don’t like mechs. I feel that their synergies lead to every faction building he same deck with a few extra bells and whistles. I’m sure that mech decks from all factions will be experimented with for the first few weeks before settling on one or two optimized faction lists. However, I do think that the new mech decks will be much less sporadic than the current Mech decks, and provide more opportunities for Counterplay.

Another thing to note is that some of the mechs might be good enough to fit into non-Mech decks. Running Deciptibot and a few good tempo mechs might be a valid option for a regular old midranged deck. Deciptibot, in my opinion, is a very threatening minion. You can include it with a few decent tempo mechs, such as Chassis, Sword, and Nightmare Operant, and it will become an acceptably stated 4 drop with snowball potential. Not bad at all.

While the new mechs have pretty nice sprites, I’m a bit disappointed that all of them revealed so far are humanoid. Where are the robot puppers?

Hype: a modest amount of hype. The biggest hype generator of this expansion, the new generals, have already been released. Now we just have to wait until 4/6 of them finally become playable.

Expansion Impact:
Here is where I make a fool of myself with meta predictions. I already sold my honour to Joseki to get to S-rank, so here goes nothing:

  • Superior Mirage stocks will go WAY up, with the introduction of powerful Bloodsurge minions
  • Magmar Mech burn will be the dominant deck for the first week after the expansion
  • Seismoid or Bloodbound Mentor will become the new circulus
  • Vanar will still stick to their Anti-fun ways unless something gets nerfed
  • Maehv and Cypheron will be Sajj tier
1 Like
#12

Ciphyron is better at Sabatoge Vet and artifacts (since the ability to take no damage exists). He’s not Sajj tier.

#13

making this short and simple… expansion is gunna be totally awesome because the devs never fail to bring at least 4 broken cards to the game that pisses ppl off lol

1 Like
#14

Magesworn and Sunset Paragons will become common tech cards for Mantra and Mech decks respectively (even if MechaZor can be removed using spells now)

Ragnora will be the new most hated General with his ripper pupa bomb/greater Fortitude shenanigans.

I honestly don’t think the meta will be too different given what I’ve seen so far. Ragnora will probably rise to power, and Mech decks will be more consistent, but decks like Swarm Zirix, Wall Faie, and 8 G8ts Reva will still be top tier (yes, I think Reva is the Eight Gates general. I think Shidai is solely for Mantra)

There will be at least 2 threads made on the forums asking to nerf Mantra.

And lastly, there will be EMP…EVERYWHERE!!! (It’s already everywhere, but it will be even more everywhere than that :stuck_out_tongue:)

These are my 100% can’t possibly fail, always correct predictions.

1 Like
#15

But mechaz0r has forecield now
Unless you are cass, run lots of bloodtears or dont mind punching a 6/6 paragon aint gonna do jack shit against mech

My prediction
First two weeks are for memes and experimentation
Then we find like 3 completly broken cards/combos that dominate the meta and are run in literally every deck
Cries for nerfs which will come 2 months later in the form we least expect
When things settle down, they announce a new expansion

1 Like
#16

Rx is solid card maybe good card here is why

1.They remove it they haven’t hit your face
2.They go face you heal for 5
3. They don’t attack you ,you don’t heal for 5 but they haven’t hit you either

Is it amazing? No but Cass and Songhai are famous for being stupidly aggressive early and praying they find damage later and this card stop those type of decks.Any thing that has good late win con Nosh Rak, Death Knell,Grand Master Kraigon, Metdown,etc will think about this card.

I think people will learn you want your builds to be in play around turn 5.Anything after that is asking to be Zen rui and Grappled.Something to speed up builds tho will help this card alot

Maehv and Cypheron won’t be Sajj tier.Their bbs consistently does something useful unlike Sajj.They might not be great but they won’t be as bad Sajj or Ziran.

Sunset Pargon doesn’t work on Mechazor anymore because of Forcefield

1 Like
#17

A few things I love about this expansion:

  • Barely any RNG!
  • A heaping helping of position-based cards!
  • A big emphasis on combos!
  • Support for existing archetypes!
  • Revivals of existing keywords!
  • A push for higher impact cards!
  • Reliquarian!

Overall expected Faction Ranking in terms of how high their card quality is (higher to lower)

Magmar - Vetruvian - Vanar - Songhai - Lyonar - Abyssian

Overall expected Faction Ranking in terms of their new expected Ranked power level

Magmar - Vetruvian - Vanar - Songhai - Lyonar - Abyssian

Best revealed card per Faction & top three Neutrals

Abyssian: Abhorrent Unbirth
Lyonar: Surgeforger
Magmar: Ragnora the Relentless (or Saurian Finality)
Songhai: Shidai Stormblossom (or Penumbraxx)
Vanar: Auroraboros
Vetruvian: Grapnel Paradigm
Neutral: Metaltooth
Neutral: Capricious Marauder
Neutral: Replicant

For posterity, my quick take on the rest of the revealed IV cards!

Abyssian

Deathmark: Abyssian has enough removal that doesn’t require a board. Redundant Trash.
Horrific Visage: Like an inverse Soulshatter Pact that doesn’t help you go face. It might be a good stall card for Doom decks against swarm though? Very Niche, maybe Viable there.
Abhorrent Unbirth: Now that’s how we meme! Fun Answer or Die that is either Trash, or it’s Top Tier because you can use it in a Mech deck where it gets Rush from Metaltooth. Didn’t think of that, did you?
Gate to the Undervault: New keyword! If the Demons are good it might work for a nice chunky value deck. Amazing design. Fun Niche Viable.
Vellumscry: Very expensive but still more affordable than Rite so I expect it to see play in Wraithling or Mech decks. Niche Viable.
Furur Chakram: If any kind of swarm deck gets up and running this’ll be a Niche Staple for it. Very scary.
Betrayal: I cri evrytiem. Guess I shouldn’t be parking my Bonded Minion next to my General anymore :’(. Expensive, but probably good as a Meta tech card.
Stygian Observer: A lot of potential that’ll rock worlds if it has a sufficiently slow deck to shine in. Why not play Variax for that deck though? Seems like a Viable card with nowhere to go. Maybe I’m underselling it because Abyssian does have access to Darkfire Sacrifice. We’ll see.

Lyonar

Steadfast Formation: Too finnicky, trash.
Dauntless Advance: Great for Swarm, Zeal and Artifact decks on swing turns. Big Viable Niche card. Great in Gauntlet!
Sunbond Pavise: People are glossing over this one but I’m pretty pumped because of how much power this pushes for so little mana. Requires an established board though so I’ll go Viable for Ranked.
Vigilator: I don’t see it happening and it’s not artillery so I’m upset regardless.
Decorated Enlistee: Food for a new direction for Heal decks, a 4/5 on 3 mana might just do enough to be worth it. Niche Viable.
Fealty: I like it a lot, but I don’t know if the single Mana cost reduction is going to push it anywhere. Swarm decks might be able to completely refill their hand though so what do I know. Niche Viable/Top Tier.
Invincible: I not only need an established minion, but an unharmed one too? Seems like a fat chance, and if I want to buff something why don’t I run Afterblaze or Bond? Seems like a Viable card that won’t get into gear until the next rotation.
Call to Arms: Powerful, but it requires you to do NOTHING on 7 mana. I don’t see it: Answer or Die Trash.

Magmar

Rage Reactor: As if Ragnora wasn’t scary enough yet. Niche Top Tier Staple unless 3 Health minions disappear.
Erratic Raptyr: Terrifyingly strong with on-hand hatch effects. Yikes. Niche Top Tier Staple.
Upper Hand: Millhorn control support? Does Magmar need more cards to control the board? I don’t see this happening: Niche Trash.
Homeostatic Rebuke: Very clever card, very strong card. Too bad Magmar already had amazing control cards. Looks like a flat-out Top Tier Staple to me, regardless of Niche. Not as good in Gauntlet, but probably still very useful.
Effulgent Infusion: Drogon and Twin Fang support, a great combo card that’ll be killing people from seemingly out of nowhere in no-time. Not sure if that’s a good thing. Niche Staple.
Progenitor: Answer or Die card on a good body and Egg support to boot. Yeah that’s probably another Egg Staple. It is kind of a win-more card, but at 4-Mana I think you’re happy with only 1 or 2 eggs, especially if it’s another Raptyr Egg.
Gigaloth: It’s a bit slow but the buff is so significant that I think it could see play. Ragnora might like it for an elaborate Ripper combo for 21 damage. An all around Answer or Die Viable card.
Saurian Finality: Wow. Seriously. Magmar: the new late-game king? I’m fine with expensive spells having a lot of impact, but this really is a lot of impact. Top Tier Staple, the fourth one I’m predicting for Magmar.

Songhai

Mass Flight: Cool effect for some kind of payoff deck? I don’t know where this’d fit, but I like the idea. Viable.
Penumbraxx: A true assassin that I can’t ping down… Terrifying. Backstab Top Tier Staple Niche. Never mind: it has Build (2). Trash instead.
Thunderbomb: Songhai gets more crowd control, boooo! It looks like a fair card at that cost, terrifying with Eight Gates though… It’s like Phoenix Fire, but with all the trimmings added. Viable Staple.
Bamboozle: The meme that isn’t a meme! OBS with big payoff combo potential! Looks like a Fun Niche Staple with Eternity Painter
Substitution: Did Songhai really need another one of these? And at such a cost? I can’t think of a place for this right now. Trash.
Wildfire Tenketsu: Is there going to be an Eight Gates deck that wants to actually run minions? If so, I’ll bet this’ll be in it. Staple Niche.
Seeker Squad: That’s a lot of mana to spend for 4 Heartseekers. If the opponent can’t answer it you’ll probably just flat-out win but with all the pings in this game I suspect this’ll be Answer or Die Trash. Great for Gauntlet though.
Ornate Hiogi: Great effect but so expensive and no tempo on it. I think it’s going to be too slow: Niche Trash.

Vanar

Essence Sculpt: An amazing card for Ilena that helps her survive the mid-to-late game with her tempo playstyle. I don’t expect to see it outside of her deck, and that’s a good thing. Niche Staple, and a great design.
Protosensor: Can I buff this with Kara? No? Why am I playing it then? Trash, unless there’s some kind of combo my stupid brain is missing.
Aspect of the Bear: An actually fair Aspect card? What year is this? I really like Vanar’s theme of transforming your own stuff, I hope this sees play after the deserved nerfs to AotR and CC. Niche Viable, for token decks.
Shatter: A good card that Ilena needs. I worry that it’ll just see play in Vanarcanysts though. Niche Staple.
Crystalline Reinforcement: Answer or Die in a combo deck that I don’t know about yet. A lot of potential with Kara maybe? I don’t know how good it could be yet, but I see potential.
Hydrogarm: Stun support and Egg hate on a fair body for its price. Good card, I’m not sure Ilena can even trigger Crystallize without a nearby target though? Niche Staple.
Wintertide: Triple Vespyrs with Kara, yes! Love Vespyrs, love the card, love Seismic Elemental. Niche Staple, although I don’t think the Vespyr deck will become meta (it’s too honest for its own good).
Auroraboros: If I’m wrong about Vespyrs this is probably going to be the reason why. It’s probably just going to make Vanarcanysts more unfair though. Niche Answer or Die Top Tier. Why does CPG want the game to revolve around EMP so much?

Vetruvian

Burden of Knowledge: A free cantrip with Falcius or Iris Barrier or a pain deck enabler? Does CPG want Sajj to run Sworn minions? Weird, but interesting. Viable, in Ranked.
Kinematic Projection: Boom b**ch get out the way! Very cool idea and good to see Blast getting some support. I don’t know this’ll have enough impact but at the very least it can function as ranged removal for a turn if you have an established board. Viable.
Equality Constraint: An inverse Divine Bond? Cool! Instantly kills Structures, and that’s all you need to know. Staple if Structures see play and Viable with Ciphyron otherwise.
Neurolink: Seems like it’d be finnicky and win-more but I can see a Fun combo deck happening with this. Pandora combo 2018? I’m betting it’s Trash though, sorry.
Iris Barrier: Solo Sajj support, yay! Alongside Falcius it is going to be very difficult to get her down. I think this might be exactly what Sajj needed, especially now that she has Lost Artificer. Niche Staple.
Skyppy: Yes, it says Legendary Artifact. We’ll see if it fits (3 slot is pretty crowded) but I’d expect it will: a Staple. Also great for letting new players play around with cards they don’t have yet, nice!
Barren Shrike: It seems slow at 4 mana. Great in Gauntlet if you get it going. Why doesn’t it have Flying? Viable in Gauntlet, Trash in Ranked.
Lost in the Desert: Waaaaaaay too conditional, especially for a Faction that doesn’t move the enemy around. It’s like Decimate, but even less reliable. Trash.

Neutral

Metaltooth: Instant Mech deck Staple, especially for Lyonar because they can easily buff it but really for any variant that runs S.I.L.V.E.R.
Recombobulus: Does Kaleos want this? What is this for? I really don’t know how to judge this card, but it’s Trash in Gauntlet.
Redsteel Minos: Great art, elegant and strong effect. I’ll be trying to make a Blood Surge deck with this but I mostly expect it to rock worlds in Gauntlet. Viable.
Timekeeper: And there it is! If it weren’t a 2/2 for 4 Mana it would see actual play. Trash.
Impervious Giago: It’s Baymax in Golurk’s armor! and Divine Bond food. It might be good, but the Airdrop is really important on Guardian. Looks Viable though.
Capricious Marauder: I really think CPG is underestimating how powerful this card is going to be in Ranked. You can build your deck around abusing this to súch an insane degree. It might be a soft Meta counter to EMP though. Poor Lyonar players like me don’t even have a viable way to deal with this! Martyrdom sets our own clock back and Aperion’s Claim is 0 tempo and 2 turns away when this drops! Maybe I’m overselling this but I expect several decks to come out of abusing this thing, including Solo Faie, Ilena, Sajj, Vaath and maybe even a weird Artifact Argeon Bond deck. Answer or Die Top Tier card.
Q’orrhlma’a aka ‘Bless You’: This is an amazing piece of design that might spawn a breed of ultraconsistent Ranked decks by itself. Removing your own chaff for the late game only helps you a lot of the time and disrupting the enemy deck can be really powerful. Duelyst matches might be too quick for this effect to really matter and a 6/6 stat stick isn’t mindblowing in terms of tempo but this card is a deckbuilder’s wet dream, and I suspect it’ll be Niche Viable, at least.
Reliquarian: Looks like either a Fun Meme or something truly special. The design pegs it as a Lyonar card but I can see many decks run this, depending on how good those ‘Faction artifacts’ actually turn out to be. Really cool card in principle that I hope to be playing without punishing myself for it.

Guess I’ll find out how impressively incorrect I am tomorrow!

Briefly on the new announced nerfs:
Bloodrage Mask: Good change
Spectral Revenant: I’d have made it damage BOTH Generals instead, but good change
Aspect of the Ravager: Good change, I hope it’s enough
Chromatic Cold: Good change, but a bit conservative
Frostburn: Very good change
Saberspine Tiger: Good change, although it’s probably just useless now outside of some combo deck.

2 Likes
#18

Penumbraxx is good?

Idk seems a lot of effort and time poured into something that HAS to backstab the turn it’s spawned. Consider me unimpressed.

#19

It looks too slow for me. With build 1 it would be so interesting

#20

Oh wow, I would’ve sworn it has Build (1). Never mind then, I’m wrong.