Celestial Cards Created by the New Keyword, Invoke
Invoke is a brand new keyword mechanic coming to Legends of Runeterra with the Call of the Mountain expansion.
When you play a card with Invoke, it pulls from the pool of all the Celestial cards biasing for cheaper cards over more expensive cards, and then gives you an option of 3 to choose from (similar to the Discovery mechanic from Hearthstone).
This means that you get to decide between threats removal, early game cards, late game cards, and random tech cards when picking which card you Invoke.
Every single Invoke card that isn’t targeted, like Spacey Sketcher, Solari Priestess, or Aurelion Sol, is completely dependent on how the mechanic works, so we are just going to talk about what the Celestial pool looks like and how the Invoke mechanic functions.
Here are the Celestial cards that each of the following Invoke card can generate:
- Spacey Sketcher (Invokes for 3 or less mana)
- Four spells
- Moonlight, Equinox, Moon Glow, Crescent Strike
- Four followers
- The Serpent, The Charger, The Messenger, The Joker
- Four spells
- Solari Priestess (Invokes for 4, 5, or 6 mana)
- Three spells
- Written in Stars, Meteor Shower, Comets
- Three followers
- The Traveler, The Warrior, Golden Sister
- Three spells
- Aurelion Sol/Starshaping (Invokes for 7 or more mana)
- Four spells
- Cosmic Inspiration, Tomb of the Universe, Supernova, Living Legends
- Four followers
- The Destroyer, The Immortal Fire, The Great Beyond, The Scourage
- Four spells
In the following sections, our Glimpse Beyond experts, Precipic and Rattlingbones, give their thoughts on the Invoke cards and Celestial cards they generate.
Note that some of the cards were from international releases so some of the translations may be slightly off.
Spacey Sketcher (Invokes for 3 or less mana)
- Spacey Sketcher
- 1 mana 1|1
- Text – Play: Discard a card to Invoke a Celestial card that costs 3 or less.
Rattlingbones: Pure value. Super flexible card that can be played in all sorts of targon decks (beyond just constellations). Easily one of the best 1 drops we’ve seen to date.
Moonlight
- Moonlight
- 0 mana spell, Burst speed
- Text: Reduce the cost of a card in hand by 1.
Precipic: This card lets you skip ahead on curve and it is a great Nightfall enabler. It will let you go Turn 2 Mentor of the Stones ahead of schedule and will be the pick whenever you need to smooth out your hand.
Rattlingbones: The biggest thing to keep in mind about this card is its ability to punish greedy decks. Being able to drop champions a turn earlier than your opponent had originally anticipated can result in an easy win. A lot of the aggro/mid-range champions get paired well with this card.
The Serpent
- The Serpent
- 0 mana 2|1
- Challenger
Precipic: Incredibly efficient Challenger, this will be fantastic if your opponent has 2 Health units you need to kill.
Rattlingbones: If you play a control deck and need quick removals, you can’t really go wrong with cards that can stabilize the early game. It’s incredibly strong against decks that try and win by going wide.
Equinox
- Equinox
- 1 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – Silence a follower.
Precipic: Really good tech option if you need to remove your opponent’s buff effects. It will rarely be the pick but when it is the pick you want, it will be game-winning.
Rattlingbones: While Purify isn’t played much, a 1 mana silence on a follower can be game-changing. The easiest example would be on an Endure.
The Charger
- The Charger
- 1 mana 4|1
- Overwhelm
Precipic: 4 attack + Overwhelm is very efficient. This will be the pick when your opponent doesn’t have 1 damage pings like Vile Feast or Make it Rain in their deck.
Rattlingbones: Likely to be the card of choice vs slow/greedy control decks because in order to punish those decks, you need to win the board and push damage quickly. This card can definitely help with that.
Moonglow
- Moonglow
- 2 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – Grant an ally +0|+2 and Spellshield
Precipic: Reasonable way of playing around Ruination or other expensive removals. Likely the worst Celestial card to get, however.
Rattlingbones: I agree, this is likely the worst option to come up. I can see it getting selected in very rare cases where you would want to either force out a removal spell from your opponent or simply heal up a unit.
The Messenger
- The Messenger
- 2 mana 2|2
- Text – When I’m summoned, draw 1.
Precipic: This card is basically never bad as a pick, if your other choices aren’t good you always pick this. A 2 mana 2/2 that draws a card is good at basically every stage of the game.
Rattlingbones: If this card shows up in the selection, you’re probably picking it. You really can’t go wrong in this game with a 2 mana draw 1. Especially if it comes with a body :).
It’s also worth noting that drawing a card instantly is much better than a Deathrattle effect like Avarosan Sentry.
Crescent Strike
- Crescent Strike
- 3 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – Stun two enemies.
Rattlingbones: Crescent strike is an interesting one. If you’re playing a slow deck with little to no heal, it’s likely going to be the card of choice (aside from The Messenger). Being able to prevent 5+ damage for 3 mana is super efficient.
It’s also worth noting that it targets 2 cards. Should you ever decide to play Targon + Ezreal, it’s an easy pick-up.
The Joker
- The Joker
- 3 mana 3|3
- Elusive
Precipic: This card is a fantastic racing tool offering you a card that provides good pressure through pretty wide boards.
Rattlingbones: It can be used defensively vs. Elusive archetype decks and builds some early pressure against those greedy control decks. All in all, a great card.
Soul Priestess (Invokes for 4, 5, or 6 mana)
- Solari Priestess
- 3 mana 1|2
- Text – Daybreak: Invoke a Celestial card that costs 4, 5, or 6
Precipic: This card is great. It will basically always find you a removal spell or a threat.
Written in Stars
- Written in Stars
- 4 mana spell, Burst speed
- Text – Draw a champion. Reduce its cost by 1 and grant it +2|+2.
Precipic: If you really want to draw your champion in the matchup then this card is perfectly good as a pick.
The Traveler
- The Traveler
- 4 mana 3|4
- Text – Play: Invoke.
Precipic: One of the most solid options, you will pick this basically whenever the other options are bad.
Meteor Shower
- Meteor Shower
- 5 mana, Slow speed
- Text – Deal 4 to an enemy and 1 to another.
Precipic: The ability to deal 4 and deal 1 can come up, picking this to kill 2 things can be perfectly fine.
The Warrior
- The Warrior
- 5 mana 5|5
- Challenger
Precipic: This card is comparable to Swiftwing Lancer. If your opponent has a 5 or less Health unit that you need to kill, you will often be picking this, especially if they don’t have great removal tools or stuns to stop a Challenger.
Comets
- Comets
- 6 mana, Slow sped
- Text – Obliterate an enemy
Precipic: Great removal spell. This is one of the best removal options provided in the constellation pool. Pick it if you need to kill stuff.
Golden Sister + Silver Sister
- Golden Sister
- 6 mana 4|3
- Lifesteal
- Text – When I’m summoned, summon Silver Sister.
- Silver Sister
- 6 mana 4|3
- Elusive
Precipic: This an absurd amount of value. If you need threats, you will pick this basically always. It also is notably a reasonable way to stabilize vs aggro.
Aurelion Sol + Starshaping (Invokes for 7 or more mana)
- Aurelion Sol (level 1)
- 10 mana 10|10
- Fury, Spellshield
- Text – Play: Invoke a Celestial card that costs 7 or more. Round Start: Create a random Celestial card in hand.
- Aurelion Sol (level 2)
- 11 mana 11|11
- Fury, Spellshield
- Text – Play: Invoke a Celestial card that costs 7 or more. Round Start: Create a random Celestial card in hand. Your Celestial cards cost 0.
- Starshaping
- 5 mana spell, Burst speed
- Text – Invoke a Celestial card that costs 7 or more, then heal an ally or your Nexus 5.
Precipic: The 7+ Celestial cards are all very strong so if your deck wants a finisher then both Aurelion and Starshaping can fill that role while also providing a really strong removal option.
Cosmic Inspiration
- Cosmic Inspiration
- 7 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – If you Behold: a Celestial card, give all allies EVERYWHERE +2|+2. Restore spell mana.
Precipic: This card is one of the best Celestial cards to Invoke. Getting +2/+2 on all your units will be good in most matchups, but it is genuinely amazing vs midrange and control.
The Destroyer
- The Destroyer
- 7 mana 7|7
- Overwhelm, Spellshield
- Text – When I’m summoned, grant me +1|+0 for each Celestial card you played this game.
Precipic: The combination of a giant unit with Overwhelm and Spellshield makes this a very solid win condition vs most control decks. Pick this when you need a really solid finisher.
Tomb of the Universe
- Tomb of the Universe
- 8 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – If you Behold a Celestial card, Obliterate all units with 3 or less Power.
Precipic: This is really good vs boards that go incredibly wide. Obliterating means that Last Breaths don’t matter so this is going to be a pretty common pick from your invocations.
The Immortal Fire
- The Immortal Fire
- 8 mana 6|5
- Elusive
- Text – When I’m summoned, grant me +1|+0 for each Celestial card you played this game. The first time I would die, fully heal me instead.
Precipic: The Immortal Fire is a very large Elusive body that you will often be a pick if you need a threat.
Supernova
- Supernova
- 9 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – If you Behold a Celestial card, Obliterate 2 enemies.
Precipic: Obliterating 2 units is genuinely absurd, it will completely swing any midrange or control matchup. If you face a deck with something like Swain in i,t you will often be picking this.
The Great Beyond
- The Great Beyond
- 9 mana 8|8
- Elusive, Fury, Spellshield
- Text – When I’m summoned, grant me +1|+0 for each Celestial card you played this game. I am a Dragon.
Precipic: This is a really good finisher vs any deck that has removal spells and a board presence. Pick this if you want an individual finisher that attacks through any board.
Living Legends
- Living Legends
- 10 mana spell, Burst speed
- Text – Fill your hand with random Fleeting Celestial cards. Fill your mana.
Precipic: Pick Living Legends only in the slowest of slow matchups, but in those slow matchups it will be pretty solid
The Scourge
- The Scourge
- 10 mana 10|10
- Challenger
- Text – When I’m summoned, grant me +1|+0 for each Celestial card you played this game. Attack: Give other allies +2|+2 and Overwhelm this round.
Precipic: This card is a great way to help fight through midrange boards, it’s comparable to a 10 mana Cithria but it’s probably the worst threat of the various 10 cost cards. Only pick this if you need a threat.
Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out for the rest of our analysis as more cards come out and be sure to revisit our previous impressions for the set.
Bones streams at twitch.tv/rattlingbones_ every weeknight @9PM EST
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