NicMakesPlays
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7 Min read Hey NicMakesPlays here and I’m excited to go over all the new cards today.
The new Guardians of the Ancients cards will be revealed every morning at Mobalytics so be sure to keep up with the latest cards!
You can theorycraft new decks with these cards right now by heading to the Deck Builder.
Lastly, to keep up with our previous expert impressions, click here.
Some of these are pretty crazy and add a lot of flavor to tons of archetypes, so buckle up!
Here are the new cards from today’s reveal for the Guardians of the Ancient expansion.
For more expert impressions, be sure to also check out Swim’s video!
Bone Skewer gives Bilgewater access to more removal in a unique way.
Being able to strike something isn’t Bilgewater was able to do before and you can also use it to re-use your cards by putting them back on top of your deck.
This card is extremely unique and I’m excited to see how people use it.
Easy examples are striking with something like Fortune Croaker and then using it again next turn to draw another card, Dreg Dredgers to strike and then reuse to mill 3 again, or Devourer of the Depths for a huge strike and then to reuse it’s Play effect.
Monster Harpoon is another new removal card for Bilgewater, which they haven’t had much access to before.
If you Plunder then this card goes from costing 6 mana to 3 mana. This card could be great in Gangplank Sejuani Midrange as discounted removal.
Succumb to the Cold is a Flash Freeze that costs one more but summons a Frozen Thrall.
The more Frozen Thrall support Frejord gets the more an all out Lissandra Frozen Thrall deck can be a real threat.
This card adds to the possibility of this and can buff archetypes such as Swain Lissandra.
Currently the SI Frejlord variants would prefer Flash Freeze since they aren’t as Frozen Thrall centric, but Frozen Thrall centric decks will love this card.
The Wings and the Wave is absolutely amazing at adding consistency to Shadow Isles’s strong early game combos.
It can choose to become First Wave to become tribute fodder for Ravenous Butcher, Blighted Caretaker, Glimpse Beyond, Rite of Calling or even another Wings of the Wave itself!
This card can also become Last Wind to tribute Cursed Keeper or Fading Icon for huge early game damage for cheap mana.
I think The Wings and the Wave add a lot of consistency to Shadow Isles due to their flexibility and will make Shadow Isles even more of a threat than they already were.
This card is unique since it adds a huge board wipe to Frejlord. Previously, Ruination was the main go-to board clear in Legends of Runeterra.
But not every deck is in Shadow Isles to access Ruination, so Buried in the Ice being in Frejlord can give access to a huge board clear for Frejlord/Targon or Frejlord/Shurima decks.
The first thing that comes to mind for me is Targon’s Peak decks.
Targon’s Peak decks can discount the heavy price of Buried in Ice as well as remove all of the Frozen Tombs with It That Stares.
One way or another this is an interesting alternative to Ruination and I’m excited to see what kinds of decks this makes it into.
Another one of the biggest perks you can’t ignore is that it only obliterates enemy units so you can use it to remove enemy blockers and go for game.
This card gives another Vanguard Squire-esque card to the Elite archetype.
Although this card initially costs more than Vanguard Squire it has bigger payoff since it’s a 3|5 with Scout.
Having another card with the Scout keyword can be good for Elites since it gives you a Rally with Cataclysm, works well with the Challenger from Penitent Squire and can also work towards leveling Jarvan easier.
Cithria’s latest evolution is another interesting top-end for Demacia.
This card can be used as a top-end in elites to go for huge pushes and end the game by doubling all the power and health of your allies as well as giving them Challenger.
One interesting way to use this card is by cheating it into play with Spectral Matron to try and win the game on turn 8.
This strategy has been used in the past with Tianna Crownguard and it could be revisited with Cithria, Lady of Clouds.
Chirean Sumpworker is a unique card that has potentially to be really powerful.
This card can push for huge amounts of damage with it’s Elusive keyword combined with it’s skill.
Another big thing to note is a lot of Elusives have 1 health so this can remove a ton of things that can block it such as Zoe or The Flight.
One of the easiest ways to get out multiple Chirean Sumpworkers is with Stalking Shadows.
Stalking Shadows can give you two copies of Chirean Sumpworker to easily transform into Sumpworks Posse.
Adaptatron 3000 has a ton of potential to give life to a new Tech archetype.
It can be used with Heimerdinger’s Turrets, Production Surge and Porobot to gain keywords.
A 1|3 statline is one of the better statlines for a 1 drop and somewhat rare in Runeterra.
If you are able to summon a lot of Turrets off of Heimerdinger or Production Surge then Adaptatron 3000 can become carried away when buffed.
Incisive Tactician gives Noxus access to Rally on a body.
With all the new Marauder decks going around, Sivir Leblanc and Ashe Noxus it is easy to hit Reputation in the current meta.
This card can be discounted to put on a lot of pressure since it can deal damage itself along with the Rally.
Overall, Shunpo is a bit cheaper and more versatile of a card but Incisive Tactician can be summoned when your opponent has no units, where as Shunpo cannot be activated without dealing 2 damage to an enemy unit.
Thrashing Snapper is another good option for a one drop in Noxus.
Noxus has tons of one drops such as Legion Saboteur and Precious Pet and this is another choice.
The perk to Thrashing Snapper is that in the mid-game if it gets blocked then it can trade for 4+ cost units.
If they don’t block Thrashing Snapper they take 2 and if they do block then they may be forced to lose a 3+ health unit if they don’t have any chump blockers.
Below, you’ll find two upgraded archetypes for Thresh Nasus and Deep with some the cards from today’s reveal package.
[See Nasus Thresh with the Winds and the Waves deck details]
The Wings and the Wave adds a ton of consistency for the deck to be able to fix hands to always have ways to trigger your Cursed Keeper/Tribute the prey or give things for Ravenous Butcher or Blighted Caretaker to kill.
The early game damage output is more consistent than it already is now which is a Tier 1 concept before this card even released.
[See Deep with Bone Skewer deck details]
You can use Bone Skewer in this deck to strike enemy units with your big Deep creatures and re-use powerful effects like Devourer of the Depths and Shipwreck Hoarder.
These cards can be summoned for cheap with Nautilus discount and also can be used to re-use mill cards like Dred Dredgers and Deadbloom Wanderer.
Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to ask NicMakesPlays during his streams (usually 6PM-1230AM EST).
Catch NicMakesPlays live at twitch.tv/nicmakesplays 6PM-1230AM EST
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