Rise of the Underworlds LoR Card Impressions: Bilgewater, PnZ, and Shurima Variety Pack

Rise of the Underworlds Spoilers Day 7

Hey it’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung and I’m here to bring you today’s reveals for Rise of the Underworld!

We’re just a few days away from launch and the recent cards look awesome!

Today we got some supporting pieces for PnZ, Shurima, and Bilgewater:

• Boom Baboon (Piltover and Zaun follower)
• Glorious Evolution (Piltover and Zaun spell)
• Shifting Sands (Shurima spell)
• Treasure Seeker (Shurima follower)
• The Time Has Come (Shurima spell)
• Reaver’s Row (Bilgewater landmark)
• Line ‘Em Up (Bilgewater spell)
• Knock ‘Em Down (Bilgewater spell)
• Volunteer Elnuk (Piltover & Zaun follower)

We’re revealing new Rise of the Underworld cards every day on our spoiler page.

To build decks with the new cards, head to our Deck Builder.

Boom Baboon

• Boom Bamboon
  • 2 mana 3|1
  • Text – When I’m summoned, create a Flame Chompers! in hand.

First up we get another solid PnZ unit. One of PnZ’s strengths is their ability to utilize discard fodder with cards like Rummage.

A two mana 3/1 is solid enough to trade on board while providing free utility in Flame Chompers. We’ll definitely see some experimentation with traditional Discard Aggro, but there’s a chance Boom Baboon will find a home in other decks as well.

Ballistic Bot has been the staple 2-drop to provide discard support, but you can’t always draw him by turn two.

Boom Baboon will help fill that roll for added consistency and likely become a common consideration when deckbuilding in the future!

Glorious Evolution

• Glorious Evolution
  • 10 mana Slow spell
  • Text – Your cards have -1 cost, Augment, are created by Glorious Evolution, and are now Tech.

If you’ve ever thought about technology replacing us all, look no further, because now we get to experience it with this ridiculously wacky card!

This 10 mana spell has the potential to lead to some absurd games. But don’t get too optimistic.

It is 10 mana after all. The earliest we can realistically cast this is turn 7 alongside banked spell mana, barring ramp.

Once cast, the card does effectively nothing the turn you play it unless you have multiple 1 mana cards that become 0 mana.

Unfortunately, we’re not likely to reach a point where we can see a payoff.

But that’s okay! Cause we can all appreciate a good Meme card from time to time, and this one definitely fits the bill!

Shifting Sands

• Shifting Sands
  • 6 mana Slow spell
  • Deal 4 to a unit. Summon 2 Sand Soldiers.

This card is a strange one. Most removal in Shurima isn’t damage-based, it’s combat-based by granting their enemies Vulnerable.

There are a few cards that deal spell damage or strike damage, but aside from Siphoning Strike being the flip side of Nasus, they don’t see much play.

The most likely comparison is to something like Sunburst. Targon also lacks spell damage which makes Sunburst an occasional 1-2 of consideration.

However, the difference between 4 and 5 damage is a big one. The Silence is also a big part as it shuts down large buffed units.

While Shifting Sands does summon two Sand Soldiers, it just doesn’t seem to justify the high cost and slow speed.

Treasure Seeker

• Treasure Seeker
  • 1 mana 2|1
  • Text – When I’m summoned, create a Waking Sands in hand.

Another strange card for Shurima, except there’s some real potential here.

As stated with Boom Baboon, efficient units that generate discard fodder can almost always find a place in Runeterra.

While Waking Sands isn’t particularly desirable, it does represent 5 damage for only two spell mana.

That could be relevant as it doesn’t come at the cost of a card in our deck so we’re less punished by any response against it.

With past reveals like Fallen Feline, we can already see more potential support for the PnZ + Shurima archetype.

Once again, that’s the Rummage Region, so Treasure Seeker could be a great fit there!

The Time Has Come

• The Time Has Come
  • 1 mana 2|1
  • Text – When I’m summoned, create a Waking Sands in hand.

I know this card looks awful on the surface. Spending five mana for two 2/2’s, and in some unfortunate cases, one 2/2.. Well that’s just downright unplayable. However, don’t underestimate the power of summoning two units at burst speed. Many of us also thought Risen Mists was a terrible card when revealed, but later showed to be a powerhouse that defined a whole archetype.

No, this card is not Risen Mists. It’s considerably worse. But I do believe this could be a tease at what’s to come. Being another card that refers specifically to Clocklings, we may be around the corner from seeing some important support.

Reaver’s Row

• Reaver’s Row
  • 5 mana Landmark
  • Text – When I count down, summon a random 1 cost follower. Countdown 2: Grant 1 cost allies +2+1 and Fearsome.

Another expensive Landmark, but one that’s built around supporting one mana units. This card is extremely slow, and summoning one-drops from our deck after turn 5 is typically not what we’d like to see.

This does nothing the turn it’s played, and the final buffing ability only applies to your one-drops that remained on the board. I’m sorry…but there’s just way too many hoops to jump through to see any realistic payoff.

The deck building cost alone is a big drawback, and is unfortunately the bane of many Landmarks.

Line ‘Em Up + Knock Em’ Down

• Line Em’ Up
  • 2 mana Burst spell
    • Text – Summon a Powder Keg. Create a Knock ‘Em Down in hand.

• Knock Em’ Down
  • 1 mana Fleeting, Slow spell

Now this is a cool design, and maybe one of my favorite Bilgewater spells yet! We now have the means of summoning a Keg at burst speed.

This can lead to some interesting interactions on the stack; giving you lots of combo potential with things like Withering Wail or The Box.

Keg Control has previously been a pretty decent archetype but would need to rely mostly on Dreadway Deckhand and Petty Officer.

Kegs always required you to precommit in order to bluff or threaten the explosive board wipe.

While bluffing is powerful in its own right, having this tool at your fingertips will force the opponent to play on their toes.

At worst, Knock ‘Em Down helps it function as a slow 2 damage removal for three mana, which isn’t awful.

At best, it’ll combo for a devastating board wipe and give you that last 1 damage ping to clean up a straggler.

Here’s a look at Keg Control with new support from Line ‘Em Up!

Deck code: CECACAYFCACQEBQEBANCAJQCAECSEMIBAQDA4AYBAMDAQAYBAUJR2KABAIDAEAIDAECQCDZB

[See Keg Control details]

Volunteer Elnuk

• Volunteer Elnuk
  • 3 mana 3|4
  • Text – When I’m summoned, create a random Elnuk in the top 6 cards of your deck.

Elnuks are back! If you were around during the Beta days I’m sure you’ll remember the unbelievable force that was PnZ Freljord Ezreal Elnuks. Long are the days of the top 10 Troop of Elnuks, but Volunteer Elnuk may just be the missing link to bring them out once again.

While I don’t know where Elnuks will fall in these modern days of Runeterra, I’m sure we’ll see a ton of experimenting!

Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day

The idea of doing something can often be better than the actual reality of doing it. We’ll become passionate about the idea, but in practice, it may even lead to disappointment.

Be honest with yourself. It’s okay if the reality doesn’t live up to your hopes and impressions. Try something new, because you may even discover a passion greater than any initial idea could inspire.

We’re revealing new Rise of the Underworld cards every day at our spoiler page. To build decks with the new cards, head to our Deck Builder.