The Ruination vs Sentinels of Light LoR Card Impressions: Shadow Isles Pack

The Ruination vs Sentinels of Light LoR Spoilers Day 8

Hey it’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here and we’re just a few days away from the Ruination event!

Almost two weeks have passed since the Rise of the Underworlds patch and the metagame is still fresh and diverse!

Before we even have the chance to solve the format, here comes The Ruination to shake it all up again!

We’re revealing new Ruination cards every day on our spoiler page.

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

Here are the new cards coming to Shadow Isles:

• Invasive Hydravine (follower)
• Withering Mist (spell)

Invasive Hydravine

• Invasive Hydravine
  • 7 mana 7|6
  • Fearsome
  • Text – When I’m summoned or Round Start: Summon an Encroaching Mist.

Today brings us some top-end support for Viego and his Encroaching Mists archetype. Seven mana is a lot, but the ability to summon two bodies with one action gives Invasive Hydravine some potential.

A 7/6 for seven isn’t great, but Fearsome should help avoid being chump blocked each time.

What’s most notable is the summon effect also triggers on Round Start, giving us the means to apply consistent pressure. Each round the Encroaching Mists will grow even bigger.

Given the Ephemeral text, on attacking turns you can send them in without fear.

Your opponent will have to either regrettably block or take a chunk of damage to their Nexus. On defending turns, you’ll simply deter them from attacking since you’ll have a reasonably sized Ephemeral blocker.

Invasive Hydravine could become a decent finisher as it does generate pressure and card advantage as turns go by.

This will likely be meta dependent as it’s possible turn seven is too late to come down. If Invasive Hydravine is your game plan, make sure you can play Viego and/or Camavoran Soldier before turn seven.

We’ll want our Encroaching Mists to be buffed at least a few times early on.

This way our Invasive Hydravine will have a real chance at closing the game, and not just summon a 1/1 or 2/2.

Withering Mist

• Withering Mist
  • 5 mana Slow spell
  • Text – Drain 2 from 2 enemies.

This is quite an interesting spell. For five spell mana we have a total of deal four, heal four. It’s sort of like an upgraded Statikk Shock for Shadow Isles, but most notably, this is a Slow Spell.

Not having the ability to cast this on the stack is a big deal, but there’s no denying that the effect is quite strong for its cost.

Shadow Isles control decks of the past would typically rely on two spells; Withering Wail and Grasp of the Undying. Both options come at Fast Speed but are extremely situational.

There are many times Withering Wail would fall one damage short of answering a board. Other times Grasp of the Undying would be overkill on one target and feel awful because it missed everything else around it.

Withering Mist may just be that nice in-between we’ve been waiting for. Most modern SI control decks rely on Freljord to stabilize with Avalanche and Blighted Ravine, and thus forgo the SI spells.

The other common direction is adding Bilgewater for Keg support which helps make Withering Wail incredible.

I think Kegs may be just the place for Withering Mist. Albeit Slow Speed, sometimes we would rather cast pre-combat to prevent attack triggers from cards like Legion Saboteur.

Other times it’s best cast earlier to avoid being blown out by a combat trick. When the trick is used prior to the attack we at least have time to block accordingly.

Keep an eye out for this one. Sometimes AoE spells only need to kill two things, and in those cases, Withering Mist will feel fantastic.

Azir Viego Mists

Deck code: CECQCAQFAYCQCBIOCAKROMICAMCQIDIBAQDQGAYEAU2TMNYCAEBQKBQBAECTQAA

[See Azir Viego Mists]

Alright so I know this looks a bit wacky, but here me out. We’ve got a bundle of Ephemerals with Shark Chariot, Soul Shepherd, and Azir. Then we’ve got the Mistwraiths and part of the Fearsome bunch.

The idea here is to add support to Viego and the Encroaching Mists. Shark Chariot becomes a free summon and three damage death trigger for Viego’s level-up requirement.

We have the ability to drop a dead Shark Chariot on a defensive turn two, then revive it with Camavoran Soldier or Azir on turn three. Soul Shepherd adds extra damage support and helps our Encroaching Mists and Sand Soldiers become more potent threats.

Overall we’re about maximizing damage and what better than Mistwraiths to help us get there. Stalking Shadows at three does pain me, but it looks too good here to pass up. Let the Mists rise and let the Ruined King prevail!

Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day

When you face a moment of silence, where does your mind wander? Does it explore the past? Gaze upon the upcoming future? Reflect on the current day?

We probably don’t even know the answer if we asked ourselves. Our minds are so preoccupied at any given moment that we often don’t leave ourselves time to think.

Give your mind the freedom to explore. You never know where it could lead you.

We’re revealing new The Ruination and Sentinels of Light cards every day at our spoiler page. To build decks with the new cards, head to our Deck Builder.