I’ve seen my fair share of weird decklists over the years but instead of just meming about it I decided to try and make something potentially useful and go over some common mistakes I see in people’s deckbuilding.
Deckbuilding requires a different skill set. Being good at reading your opponent or playing your deck optimally doesn’t necessarily relate to building good decks. Also building good decks doesn’t always mean you’re the best at playing them properly.
I’ve seen players who mostly netdeck but learn their decks inside out and perform very well and I’ve seen people who are great at building decks in limited formats but don’t perform that well in rotation. That’s why I wish we had more tournaments with deckbuilding challenges but that’s a different topic.
When building a deck you need to balance between power and consistency. Power allows your deck to make very strong plays and consistency allows you to always execute your game plan and never lose games due to bricking. I personally value consistency a lot more because over a large amount of games having a very high chance to get your deck going translates into higher winrates. Sacrificing some consistency to get an edge is a viable strategy when you’re facing a strong opponent and want to have an ace up your sleeve, but I generally would rather have slightly weaker turns if that means that my deck always does the same thing and I get the chance to play the game every time.
Another issue with the strategy of sacrificing consistency is that tech cards in shadowverse are generally BAD.
There are a couple of reasons for this. There are no side decks in Shadowverse and you have to play multiple decks so your tech cards will probably be useless in a couple of matchups. Shadowverse is also very fast at the moment so having a dead card in your hand that you have to save for a specific situation can be very punishing. Yes you might remember that one time this crazy tech card saved your life but what you don’t remember are the 10 games where you drew it and it just sat in your hand doing nothing. When the games are this fast and when you have to play strong cards every turn to win, having even 1 dead card in your hand can cost you the game. There are some exceptions, one card like that is Archangel of Remembrance. It was very strong in a meta dominated by Last Words shadow but it was never really a dead card as it helped a lot of the decks in the format cycle through their deck and get to their combo pieces. Basically, for a tech card to be good in Shadowverse, it needs to be playable on its own, even if you don’t meet the specific circumstances in which it’s the best at. As for bad cards… the examples are many. A random one I remember from recently is people playing Force Barrier in Spellboost. You might say that Force Barrier is a spell so it works well in Spellboost, but the thing is, Force Barrier only really works if you save it for the turn when you’re about to take a lot of damage (usually pretty late in the game) and it does absolutely nothing before that. And Spellboost is a deck that needs to play all of their spells ASAP to get their discounts in time and to be able to snowball the game early. You really can’t afford to save your spells in that deck, you need to play them fast or your tempo swing might be delayed by a turn or two and that can very well cost you the game even if Force Barrier helps you survive an extra turn in the late game. Now there is a new similar card from this set: Counter Magic. That card is much better as it has an immediate effect on the board but also the protection effect lasts until the next time you take damage even though it only negates it once.
Now there is nothing wrong about netdecking, you don’t have to build your decks yourself to do well but I do like to at least mess around with the ratios to optimise the deck a bit for my playstyle and to maybe make it more consistent if I find some of the cards to not be useful for me. That’s not something super unique, a lot of people do that, I think, but while I do agree that players have different playstyles so their opinion on certain cards might be different, there are absolutely good and bad decklists. I feel like some players change cards just for the sake of changing the deck a bit and making it their own but end up making it worse in the process by including some questionable cards or cutting key pieces of the deck.
So here is a simplified guide on card ratios:
Cards at 3 copies: Those are cards that are either CRUCIAL for your gameplan OR are so good that you don’t mind drawing multiples of them every game.
Warning! DON’T cut cards which are important for your deck to function. I’ve seen people play 2 Aria in Sekka, I’ve seen people play 2 Dragon Oracle in dragon, there was even a guy waaay back in the day who argued that 1 Arthur is enough for sword because the second and third ones are not as good. Yes, it’s true that some of these cards get worse the more you draw of them but they are so strong and so key for their decks that playing them on curve will drastically increase your win rate and it more than makes up for the occasions where extra copies could have been different cards which would have helped you. You might remember the game where you drew all your Arthurs and bricked but you won’t remember the game where you could have had Arthur on 7 if you played 3 in your deck but you didn’t so you lost.
Cards at 2 copies: Those are good cards that you don’t want to draw multiples of. They are Not necessary for your deck to win but are good to have at some point in the game. It also applies to cards you only want to play to finish the game and you can afford to draw them very late. Examples of this are cards like Necroimpulse in Last Words from last month’s meta, Garven in some Rally Sword decks and Alberta in forest.
Cards at 1 copy: Those are either cards that you can search and you don’t need multiple copies of, or tech cards/situational cards that you don’t mind not drawing in half of your deck every other game. Examples of this are cards like Ghandagoza in Face Dragon, City of Gold and a bunch of random tech cards like Chanteuse, Angelic Smite, Fall from Grace and so on.
When I test my deck I usually pay attention to which cards are just sitting in my hand when I win/lose the game and if they’re not necessary for my deck to work I might just cut them from the list. Even if you play a card as a 1 of, assuming you draw around 20 cards every game you will draw that card every other game, so it better be useful in half of your games or it’s just gonna rot in your hand.
So how do you like to build your decks? Do you like optimised consistent decks or do you like to roleplay as Yugi and have a bunch of 1 ofs for every possible random situation?
Shadowverse was first released on June 17 2016. By this moment, the game has already had their 5th Anniversary! YAY! *insert cheerful emote here*. Shadowverse has also received some attentions this year because of the collaboration event “Buddy System All Stars”. With these events going, we generally got an idea on how newbie friendly Shadowverse is. So, if you want to make your buddy quit being an alcoholic or quite smoking and instead get addicted to this game, here are the TOP TEN REASONS WHY SHADOWVERSE IS THE BEST GAME!
Waifu Online Trading Card Game
If your friends like anime, just tell them this game is basically Hearthstone with anime graphics and Japanese voices.
One of the major factors that rises this game’s popularity is the art style. Calling them extraordinary might not be an exaggeration. I now present some of the best cards in the game.
Some of the cards are even fully animated like this one here
Easy to understand mechanics and tutorial
When first starting out the game, there are some terms that people need to be aware of. But you don’t need to master them all at once, you can learn as you progress. For example, when you play Forestcraft for the very first time in solo – story missions, there would be some explanation like this:
The game even tells you to drag and drop the card like what is seen below
With a detailed tutorial like this, people can understand the mechanics step by step and will not get overwhelmed. In needs of more details? Here is an article DB Momojelly has written for us to understand more about the in-game mechanics : https://dawnbreakers.team/2021/08/08/the-keyword-dictionary/
Rewarding Missions and F2P Friendly
The missions are quite straightforward and is rewarding. Especially for people who just started playing it. There are some really rewarding missions like the ones listed below
Elite Battle. Each elite battle will give 100 rupies. With a total of 24 missions, it is 2400 Rupies in total!
Private Missions (Without Quitting). Play with anyone in a private match. Each match would give 100 rupies. The limit is 20 matches, in the end it is a whooping 2000 Rupies!
Play Story. Each character has their own story. The story also gives decent rewards. It varies from rupies until sleeves! Who would not want this handsome looking guy as a sleeve?
Looking for a casual gameplay and want to have a chat in a discord community? Join the discord! Finding private match to clear missions and asking for tips would be helpful here! https://discord.gg/CMzzbuf5
Looking for a competitive scene where you wish to be the very best? Shadowverse had a huge stage called World Grand Prix that is hold once every year! (Except in 2020 because of COVID-19). Find more informations here : http://svo.gg/
Want to compete with other people but still be a casual player? You can join Shadowverse Weekend! What is it? Basically people playing decks they ‘like’ in a competitive format so people could try being competitive while still playing the game for fun!
There are some events like in-game grand prix that happens once in a while.
There is also a treasure chest hunting event that could drop sleeves, emblems, or other good stuff like rupies or even lots of packs!
Cool Storyline
To be honest, I really enjoy shadowverse story. The story was written really well. The characters design and voice acting’s are really appealing. Lots of plot twist both sad or happy. Currently there are 13 seasons of stories and each seasons usually have multiple class to play. You can totally take your time here and enjoy it!
The best part about the story is you can participate using decks you create on your own. It feels like you will be the main protagonist here and beat all of the evil guys. And with diverse Classes, you can see each other perspective and draw the line from each story. In the end, everything makes sense. Here are the class choices for reference.
And here is the story world map.
Very Balanced
Balancing in trading card games is sometimes hard. But not with Shadowverse. Certain classes usually get super strong in the different rotation seasons while some other classes are basically totally unplayable.
They made sure that, if a class is super strong, the next expansion they would print really terrible cards for the related class when the strong cards got rotated. On the other side, the unplayable classes get really broken cards. To make it fair, they also printed a broken neutral card. It is balanced if every single class has access to the same broken card.
Shadowverse matchmaking is usually based on the class you played as well. For example, when you play as last word shadow, you are likely to meet all the amulet haven players. When you switch and play amulet haven, you will meet resonance portal. You can predict your next opponent and bring a card to counter it.
If playing in rotation feels totally unbearable, it might be good to let off some steam in unlimited. Because every single deck could set up lethal by turn 6 or even faster.
Diverse Meta and Strategic Deckbuilding
There are 8 classes. Each class has access to cards related to their own class and neutral cards. In rotation, you have access to 5 expansions and each expansion is replaced after existing for 15 months. The replaced expansion is still accessible in Unlimited format.
Currently, there are 21 expansions accessible in unlimited. Oh, and each expansion has 3 legendaries, 3 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronze cards for each class (at least the new ones do). With an additional 2 legendaries, 3 golds, 2 silvers, and 3 bronze cards for the neutral cards. So, each expansion has 106 cards. Which means, in rotation you have access to 110 cards for each class. Each deck contains 40 cards and a maximum of 3 of the same card. Imagine the possibilities of creating decks like this?
With these huge selections, now we proceed on how to make a deck. Especially, selecting the win condition!
Deal damage straight to your opponent face each turn?
Is it through OTK even when your opponent had 35 HP?
Or reducing your opponents maximum HP until the maximum is not even a positive number?
Don’t forget the ping as well
It is all your choice! Curious about the decks? Here are the list taken from this link :
Turns out Last Word Shadow is really popular and is chosen by 173 out of 256 players. And it is quite sad for bloodcraft since this class got picked only 3 times out of 256 players.
By the way, shout outs to Zhiff because he has been providing us with good resources for information about the Meta and he informs us about what is going on each expansion.
Full of Interaction
Trading card game means you have interactions such as trading. Whether it is when you trade followers, play spells or amulets to destroy followers, or dealing damage straight to the face. There are lots of interactions involved in this game! Especially when you are a Haven main and play Amulet Haven or Sanctuary Haven. The best card with lots of interaction is of course this one:
Shadowverse doesn’t just have sleeves and emblems as skins, but also leaders! The game tends to have collaborations with other famous brands like Princess Connect, Granblue Fantasy, Manaria Friends, Champions Battle, World Flipper, Uma Musume, you mention it! Even better, each leader has their own reactions such as greetings, thanking your opponent, thinking, shocked, even when they got damaged. Usually here is what happening each of the match:
We start the match by greeting to each other
After that, if need some time to think, use ‘thinking emote’
After taking too long to think, use ‘apology’ then ‘thank’
If they suddenly make a huge board or summon a strong follower, use ‘shocked’.
Usually your opponent would do ‘taunt’ to make the battle more interesting.
Also, this is one of my favorite voices from shadowverse
The developers listen to your input!
Developers always try to deliver the best to us. When people were complaining about how strong ladica and jatelant were, the developers immediately took action and nerfed them. When the natura and machina mechanics were about to get rotated, they brought them back because they knew we love the natura and machina mechanics.
Also, each year there is a so called anniversary leaders voting! Basically, each player casts their vote on which card they want to make into a leader skin. In the end, each class would get the most voted cards as a new leader. The results of this year’s anniversary can be found below:
Based on previous experience, the 1st voted leader would get created right away! They won’t bother to waste their time to create a leader out of a 2nd or even 3rd place leader first. Don’t worry!
There is also an event where players could ask things like the idea behind the cards, the new mechanics, or Lorena’s real gender.
Shadobasu Sugeeee Tanoshi!
Last but not least. The catchphrase that was used in the shadowverse anime was ‘SHADOBASU SUGEEEEE TANOSHI’. I never realized until the main character, Hiro Ryūgasaki, pointed it out for me. Starting at that moment, I become more deeply in love in shadowverse! I was really glad when they printed some of the basic cards of the shadowverse anime like these:
And here is an even better news. Next expansion, we would get a shadowverse anime collaboration as an expansion! Which means, now we can totally become the main protagonist and top-deck every single card we need at the very exact moment. SHADOBASU, SUGEEEEE TANOSHI!!
Anyway, thanks for staying with and reading this article. By the way, some of the points stated should not be taken seriously. At the end of the day, despite some of the jokes, shadowverse had a special place in my journey and I still feel shadowverse is one of the best games I ever played. I hope this article would be useful and hopefully make your day! Let me finish this article with one of my speedrun drawings
So I don’t play the switch game so we’re gonna do some top tier totally not lazy rushed content. This is yo boi too lazy to hit GM Nitro OnlyFans. Am currently in the middle of a move IRL so here is my last minute attempt and hoping to do a real article post move after the release reviewing all the sword cards.
1) A meta slower then turn 8. Won’t happen ever, but a man can pray (copium). At the moment even if a game reaches turn 8 or later it’s mostly already decided the outcome by turn 6 or earlier which leads to rather boring and not very interactive gameplay
2) Decks Archetypes that I would like to see support again would be Evo Sword, Loxis, any Bloodcraft deck at this point not really picky, Roost dragon, Kuon Type of spellboost, Volteo. Some of these are more competitive than others but i think all are fun and deserve a spot in the meta even if low tier.
3) Onto more likely things: So far a lot of what I wanted, we are getting. Sword is getting one new good legendary, dragon is getting 3pp ramp but I’m excited to see what will be the sanctuary replacement for the set
4) No one’s gonna read this far but all hail Mr Pasut God King Emperor and SEAO qualifier. Crisome is love Crisome is life, sometimes Crisome isn’t very nice.
5) I’d Like to see the best leader from the poll, Naht, our queen and savior be there. Sekka would also be nice as the forest cards we have seen. Not much else to say NahtNaught best girl and Sekka is the root to all evil but kinda fun to play.
6) Momo to stop bullying me. Like please we are very Sadge rn. If you made it this far check out my onlyfans at www.Copium.com
7) To see Worlds in person (pending on covid stuff). Love going to different offline events for every game and being able to actually hang out with the people you spend so much time with.
8) To see nerfs to Last word Shadow and Ladica. Shadow for being boring and linear. Ladica because she inherently is very limiting of future design space in the game.
9) To return to normal copium levels. Currently there are too many cancer decks and shitty tier 3 memes in my format. Ideally the format will have one or two best decks and most of the tier 2 decked will have interesting match ups and have some real options when choosing the 3 you want to bring to SVO’s and other tournaments.
10) Another wonderful year of shadoba in 2022 and much love and thanks to everyone in the community got meet so many awesome people am excited to spend more years playing a children’s card game with yall
Okay so hear me out, everyone has their own list of favourite waifus and leaders in Shadowverse (Filene is perfect). But no one remembers the guys. No one remembers the husbandos. That’s what I’m here for, to celebrate their manliness/handsomeness in the most heterosexual way possible. Without further ado, let’s begin.
10. Vampire of Calamity
Okay by the way, this list was written in order. Imagine having a list of top husbandos without ranking them. Here, we have this guy here who somehow doesn’t have a name even though I always thought he did. I mean okay to be fair, I like characters with white hair so there might be some bias there BUT damn do guy characters look really good in the vampire outfit. Kinda sad he didn’t see much play and he’s rotating already though.
9. Basileus, Outworld Invader
Anyone feeling the nostalgia yet? I remember this guy very well, but in a good way. Damn, I miss banishing Sword’s boards and the Portal mirrors. It’s kinda crazy that there were people that were calling for his nerfs but we have cards like Bayleon that exist now – and he doesn’t even have full stats on Evo. But anyway, I really love his evil guy look and I missed when Portal had cards like this that were actually thematic.
8. Loxis, Homestead Pioneer
I’m quite sure I’m gonna get flamed for not putting him higher on my rankings but I would if I didn’t hate this card so much. Okay so once again, I know he has white hair but damn does he have ikemen vibes. He has such a cool design, and I really love his pose with his cape up in the air that really adds to the vibes. Best part is, he’s looking away from the camera and that really makes him even cooler. Also, he has probably the most iconic and cooler voice lines in the game in my opinion. His voice actor really nailed his lines so well and made him sound so damn handsome (I play with Japanese voices though, never knew how any of the English voice lines sound).
7. Servant of Usurpation
Man, I do miss this card. I remember when Sword was a fair and board-based deck. He has one really cool-looking hoodie which is really mostly why I like his design a lot, though his smug face is kinda rad too. And no, I know there may be people wondering if I chose this card because of his abs but no. Also I never knew he had a bird.
6. Yurius, Traitorous Duke
Ah yes, the Blood card that made the deck really strong pre-nerf and was such a pain to deal with. I was honestly surprised he dodged a nerf, but I guess the other cards were a way bigger problem (I’m talking about ROG Vengeance Blood for those who didn’t play back then). Honestly, his design isn’t exactly outstanding but one of the main reasons he’s placed on my list is because I love his lore. I won’t spoil much here, but let’s just say he did an oopsie to his brother.
5. Grimnir, Voidwrought Wind
I love this Chunibyo so much. I like this version the most though, especially with the blue hues and his pose here. His design didn’t change much from his older version, but I have to say I’m kind of biased because I like his Valentine’s version in Granblue Fantasy, and damn does he look good.
4. Shuten Doji
Okay so the main reason he’s so high on my list is because I have 3 animated copies of him and I played this deck too damn much when it was in rotation, and damn does he look so good when animated. Even in the normal form, I really like the colour scheme of this art, with all the different shades of blue (especially his sword). His facial expression here really seals the deal, making him look suave and give off ikemen vibes like Loxis.
3. Nicola, Forbidden Strength
This guy is straight up handsome as hell. I actually prefer this version to his latest form, mainly because the background here really makes him stand out. Not just that, his pose (yea I really like characters with sick poses) really fits him well, as a sort of mysterious character that keeps calling himself a monster. His outfit is really well designed too, but of course it’s his silver/gray hair that seals it for me.
2. Albert, Levin Saber
I don’t need to say much about this guy right? Dude looks so good it makes guys question their sexuality.
1. Maiser, Neighbourhood Hero
Well, some might know that he was bound to be here as my number one. I have to admit, before he was released, Albert was always my favourite character. But Maiser really looks too much like my favourite anime character (Chuuya Nakahara from Bungo Stray Dogs) and damn he has such a really handsome face. I also love his colour scheme so much, with my favourite combination of red/blue/brown/white and damn does he look so good with the way he wears his outerwear. If Cygames ever releases him again though, I really hope they make him wear black or make him look more serious/depressed to match where he is in the story now.
So that’s it for my top husbandos in Shadowverse! I’m sure many of you might disagree with me, but it’s fine to have different opinions anyways. Except well, just know that my rankings are perfect and yours isn’t.
Over the years, Shadowverse has introduced many different characters that we have come to enjoy to this very day. Ranging from interesting and grand monsters to the loveable waifus that could be found in every class, the game variety is truly remarkable to say the least. In this Article, I’m going to be talking about my favorite characters that are in Rotation right that one or more cards in their lifetime. Some choices may surprise you while others will probably also be on your list. Regardless, this will be a good time to reminisce on cards of old that you may or may not have forgotten in this age of Shadowverse.
Lucifer:
Kicking it off with my favorite card from the past, his new form foregos all his past flavour for a more powerful effect tied with evolving. What I liked about old Lucier was the contrast in his base and evolved form, base heals and is stated very defensively while evo form burns opponents and is stated very offensively, which matches his lore pretty well. Now that he’s fallen, he is all about the damage and is pretty powerful in a deck that could evolve 7+ times early on in a match. Maybe his next form will harp back to his pre-fallen stage, where he heals you or does an effect based on healing.
Odin:
The next card on the list is Odin, the all seeing father. Odin has gone through several changes throughout the years and the current one I love the most. This version actually mentions Sleipnir, the horse he rides on all his art, while also banishing things just like the original. In norse mythology, Odin is an incredibly powerful being so I feel his card should have been a little more impactful. However, this card fits his lore pretty well so I will overlook this for now.
Grimnir:
SAA! SONO MUNE NI KIZAMA GA YOI WARE KOSO WA GUNSHIN ODORIKURU BOFUUN GURIIIIMUNIIRUUU!!! If this card caused any ptsd to my older shadowverse players, I’m not sorry. Playing this card for 10 and playing this while also going face pre-nerf was the best feeling for the person playing it while also bringing despair to your opponents. The card dropped off when they removed the face damage but they kept his board clearing potential in all his forms. His newest can go face and is probably his best version to this date.Weird how he sees play when he is able to go face. Alright Cygames, make him win the game so he’s not good in his next version.
Ladica:
Look, I know what you’re thinking. Why is this card on your list, Nitro? Put down all your pitchforks and hear me out. This character is just hilarious and funny especially when you find out and experience her story in story mode. Most people don’t even remember her first card and that it got buffed in its lifetime. So Cygames did the right thing and gave her one of the most powerful cards ever printed which caused many people to lose turn 5-6 through wards and people hate her now. Come on now people, it’s just a card, lol.
Roy:
Roy, one of my favorite dragon cards of all time, comes back even stronger in his current version. Originally was a flexible 5 pp ramp/ deal 3 (or 6 in the mirror) which was a key card in most dragon decks at that time. Now he hates dragons more, he gains storm when enhancing and punches you in the face while also ramping you at a low cost of destroying a card on the field. Oh, he also just ramps you in his base form. Power Creep at its finest, gotta love it.
Albert:
Finally, the best and final card for last. This card and Daria really got me into the game when it came out in Tempest of the God and this card is just a more powerful version of his original card. The art is amazing and his voiceline while more dark and gloomy fit the expansion he came out in. Shadowvers has sped up drastically so turn 9 is non-existent in most games but his enhance ability is really powerful. Hopefully we can see it coming up more in the future if the meta slows down more. Overall, this card will always hold a special place in my heart. Also Cygames, can we delete levin albert. That didn’t exist, right. Right?
With the new mini expansion, the meta has seen some change in the past week with new cards being added. This article will explore the tier list of this meta and a short summary of each deck.
S
A
B
C
S – The best decks in the format, has decent odds even in bad matchups
A- Good decks that have some advantages over other decks but just below S tier decks
B- Decent decks that have specific matchups advantages but bad overall matchups in the meta
C- Playable decks that might require some specific set up or hand
This tier list does not indicate what is the best deck to bring for a tournament but it shows what is popular/strong in ladder/rank. Unlike other card game, the archetype in shadowverse only indicate the playstyle of the deck however the matchups might differs. Example: Sanctuary Haven despite being a control deck is favoured into Bayleon Sword which is a combo deck where traditionally Combo decks are favoured into Control decks.
Last Word Shadow Archetype: Midrange/Combo Difficulty: Normal
One of the dominant decks in the meta even before the mini. The deck focuses on getting 10 Last Word destroyed and runs cards that would allow you to summon multiple last words cards thus creating tempo while reaching your win conditions. Once you reach 10 last words destroyed, your deck unlocks powerhouse effects such as Kagero, Chris and Linkstaff which contribute to your win conditions. The deck also has Ceres which is often used as the main win condition, giving the deck more reach towards lethal. The list above is taken from recent JCG winner, カロ 藤 糸屯 一 that ran a very standard list with a 3 off every standard Last Word cards and 1 Necroimpulse. Some players are running Luna from the new mini expansion offering you a way to recover evolution points to evo Ceres or Gatekeeper.
Another deck that survives the mini expansion and continues to show dominance in the meta. Byaleon Sword is a deck that focuses on being able to always play out Bayleon each turn. The deck aims to reach turn 6 (Turn 5 going second if you evolved a ramiel) and plays out Bayleon going face while having 3 remaining PP to play other cards. Because of how the deck is built you will always be able to search out Bayleons because the amount of sword followers ran is only 3. The deck also includes a gimmick that allows you to grab a 0PP Bayleon by playinging Dramatic Retreat on a Bayleon and searching it with cards such as Pompous Summons, Sunny Day Encounter and Armed Butler. Leod might look like an odd card in the list however you could pair it with Bayleon after playing it out with the reminding 3PP and allow for more reach of lethal range. The list above is taken from the same JCG winner, カロ 藤 糸屯 一 which is pretty standard, however, people are reducing the amount of Leod ran to 0 to focus purely on searching out Bayleon.
Manaria Rune Archetype: Combo/Midrange Difficulty: Normal
One the few decks that is able to climb to tier S in the meta thanks to Isabelle. Manaria Rune plays around reaching 20 or less cards in your deck by drawing or banishing cards in your deck with cards such as Riven Earth, Arcane Duplication, Grea and Anne. Once you reach under 20 deck size, Grea and Anne become powerful tempo based cards that allow you to compete with the board while creating 2 powerful win condition spells which are Resentful Blaze(Grea) and Rending Blast(Anne) that requires 5 or less cards in your deck. The main reason why the deck bounced back in the meta would be Isabelle which offers the deck more tools from board control, card cycles and damage reach. The list taken is from a top 8 JCG player, XI that runs a very simple manaria list, however, the deck could be more complex by running other cards such as Glimpse Beyond that offer more evolve point while accounting for different spells played for Quatra Magic (Isabella spells) or Mileka that acts as a fusion material for Isabella to avoid fussing other important followers.
Finally a new deck that came out from the mini, Isabella Rune is a deck that could be considered as Spellboost rune. However, the core of the deck revolves around Isabella’s spell, Elements of Creation where you play 7 different spells to have access to a 5PP deal 10 and heal 10 while being unable to lose if you were to reach the Reaper card (meaning about to deck out). The deck is designed to run as many different spells as possible to reach 7 different spells played as fast as possible and because of how many spells are played, the spellboost package fits nicely into the deck. The deck shown here belongs to あっしゅ, 3rd/4th JCG that runs a very unique list with Sudden Showers. A more common list would be running cards like Ghios because of how many spells that are played to utilize spellboost.
Accel Forest Archetype: Combo/Aggro Difficulty: Hard
Accel Forest is a deck that revolves around Fairy Flowering that gives you access to grant a follower free evolve, +2/2 and storm if you have played 6 accel cards. The main target would be Ladica because of her ability to attack twice, making this combo 14 damage. Another notable target would be Varmint Hunter but generally the idea is to deal 14 damage with Ladica+Flowering while dealing chip damage in the early game with methods such as invoking Walder, Varmint Hunter ping damage, Alberta’s effect every turn, Arisa’s spell and other tempo based damage. The deck can also reach OTK potential with a combo set up with Pastures on turn 6 into the Ladica+Flowering on turn 7 making it 20 damage. Arisa offers the deck new ways to clear the board and provide a new bounce target with the amulet, making the deck more consistent. The list shown is belong to top 16 JCG, Lua｜弱者の反撃 that runs a pretty standard list with 1 racoon. However, some accel deck runs Aria alongside some of the fairy/wisp package like GrandSlam (Fairy Slugger) or feybolt to give the deck more damage reach as the deck wants to deal as much chip damage as possible because the Ladica+Flowering combo isn’t exactly OTK and relays on other sources of damage.
Sanctuary Haven Archetype: Control Difficulty: Hard
Sanctuary Haven focuses on maintaining a healthy life point total while controlling their opponent’s board and also building their own board. The deck tries to heal 3 times a turn and utilize all 3 Sanctuary effects. The deck tries to stall until late game where it has exhausted all of their opponent’s resources or reached a stage of the game where the untargetable ward followers are too big to be removed and starts creating problems for the opponent. The deck also plays notable cards that increase the cap of their max life point such as Archangel of Evocation and the new card from the mini, Master Chef. Being above 20 life points prevents the deck from being OTK from popular decks such as Last Word, Bayleon Sword, Accel Forest and many other decks that have methods to OTK. The list presented belongs to 山神カルタwho got 3rd/4th in JCG and runs some tech cards such as Puresong Priest and Acolyte’s Light. Common list would be maxing out Evoction and Unicorn Alter ,however , 1 Ra, 2 Zelganea and 2 Abdiel are common ratios.
Machina Portal is widely considered as a jack of all trades, having the most versatile matchups in the meta. The deck generally controls the opponent’s board with removal cards but Slaus offers the deck an option to block a board space for the opponent while giving them negative effects from increasing the cost of the cards to debuffing the board -2/2. The deck also runs powerful followers that are generated from Belphomet or Nefarious Invasion such as the Armored Tentacle that can’t be targeted, has a ward and heals for 4 that creates an issue for decks that try to go for face damage. The deck also has synergy with Absolute Tolerance as many of the removal are follower’s damage effects such as Maisha, Combustion Demon, Mega Enforcer and many more. Machina Portal list are very unique and this summary could not do justice to how deep the decklist can be but the list shown belongs to あっしゅ, JCG 3rd/4th and runs ratios that could be quite common but there are many different variation such as running Archangel of Evocation to have more max life point, maxing Archangel of Remembrance to have more banish options, and many min maxing of ratios. The only advice I have in regards to the Machina Portal list would be to understand why each card is run at this ratio and the purpose of each card in every match up.
Amulet Haven remains in the meta despite having no relevant cards in the mini and being nerfed in the beginning of the meta. The deck goal is to reach 7 destroyed amulets for Jaletant’s full potential while dealing chip damage in the early stages with Meowskers and Revolver Eagle. The deck’s role in the meta is to punish decks that hate dealing with banish, most notably Last Word Shadow and the deck even has an amulet banish with Abdiel being able to answer Tyrant and Celestial crystallize. The deck also has huge nuke potential in the late game with Vengeful Sniper dealing damage based on destroyed amulets. The list shown belongs to our very own player, Praetorian, who piloted the deck to top 8 of SVO and runs a very standard list. There are lists that tech Eris as an alternative win condition however the problem lies with the fact that you will have board space issues.
Resonance Portal has been a meme for a long time however with Yuwan and Automachina Maiden, the deck is now consistent and is able to sustain. The goal is to reach resonance 10 times (a keyword that activates when your deck size number is even, there is an indicator at the bottom left). The problem of the deck in previous meta was the deck does nothing but simply drawing cards but with Yuwan being able to control the board while creating tempo and contributing to the resonance count, the deck is much more viable. The deck’s main goal is to play down magna zero for 10 resonance, deal 10 damage to all enemies and in most cases reduce Absolute Tolerance to 0 if there are 2 bodies on the enemy side. (You reduce 30 costs because you dealt 10 to the face and 20 to the board) The deck also has some tempo turns by invoking Automachina Maiden and protects you from being storm damaged. The list presented belongs to ライスシャワー who got top 8th for JCG and runs a standard list but there are list that run some of the Machina cards such as Mega Enforcer to draw and control the board. Some lists also ran Cloud Gigas to give more protection and because it returns to the deck, it also contributes to resonance.
Eris Haven is a new deck that came out from the mini where the goal is to control your opponent while maintaining a healthy life point total and having constant damage from Eris’s mini Aegis, Relic Goddess. Relic Goddess can’t be removed from the game unless the defense reached 0 from a debuff, however, these effects are rare in the metagame and only Disrestan could answer this. Eris could be searched with Four Pillar Tortoise making the deck consistent. The deck runs similar cards to Sanctuary Haven as it tries to stay as healthy as possible with high max life points. The amulets produced from Eris’ leader effect are not impactful until Relic Goddess is summoned. Damage dealt to face are usually from Relic Goddess, Ra, Jeanne and the Cylinder Relic from Eris leader effect. The list here belongs to Yoyou that won the Sapphire Chronicles tournament hosted by TGS (The Gaming Stadium) with what seems to be teched with multiple 1 off as the deck is still being refined. There are lists where Eris is run in Ward Haven or even Sanctuary but the problem with Eris in general would be the fact that it is only good going second compared to going first because Relic Goddess will be summoned on turn 7 instead of 6 if going first.
Box OTK Shadow Archetype: Combo Difficulty: Normal
Decklist Box OTK Shadow focuses on doing an OTK combo with Soul Box and Ceres’s spell, Darkness Desire. The plan is to evolve Ceres multiple times with cards such as Forced Resurrection and Gold Mine Necromancer helping you to revive Ceres. The damage effect is given to Soul Box at least 3 times with an amulet on board to trigger Soul Box evolve effect making it a 7 attack follower and when it dies, triggering Darkest Desire’s effect 3 times dealing 21 damage. The deck does not need to necessarily be an OTK as you can deal chip damage over time with Death of the Party and to reach more damage, Skeleton Dreamer could help you get there as well. Another notable factor that made this deck more playable than before would be because of Luna giving back evolve points, allowing you to evolve Ceres 3 times even if you’re going second. The list shown belongs to an anonymous player that got 3rd/4th in JCG and runs some of the Last Word Package such as Tyrant and Wicked Rebirth that helps you build some form of tempo and board control with Lurching Corpse.
Midrange Sword is a new deck that was recently shown in JCG and is still in unknown territory for most people. The deck focuses on getting rally 7, 10 and 15 to trigger powerful card effects such as Cat Admiral, Shield Phalanx, and the new mini card, Erika. The deck has a great balance in most stages of the game from early game to late game but lacks any real method to prevent OTK from killing the deck since the meta is completely based on winning around turn 5-7. The list here belongs to Chrom that got top 16 in JCG and runs a very unique list with GME (Great Mother Embrace, not GameStop stocks) and Proven Methodology that pulls Erika since she is the only officer in the deck. More common lists ran cards like Fieran, Bunny&Baron and Frenzied Corpsmaster however those lists had not been succeeding in my research and have died on ladder and tournaments over the past days.
Natura Dragon also known as GejiGeji Dragon (Centipede Dragon) saw popularity before mini and has stayed in the meta as a low tier deck with specific match up purpose. The deck aims to control the board while ramping consistently with Newfound Allies – guaranteed to pull Djeana and Sentinel when there is a Tree on the board. The deck has a lot of aoe clears such as Georgious and Tiamat and in late game has access to Godfire Phoenix that banishes 3 followers while healing for 4. The list shown belongs to 謎のアルターエゴ・R who got top 16 in JCG and runs Forte instead of the original list that runs Cosmic Angel. This might be due to the fact of meta changes and it is noted that Rowen offers the deck more damage output since the deck lacks in Damage. A similar concept would be to run Disrestan and Grimnir along with the evolve package but the deck is known as Evolve Dragon and lacks the consistency of ramp compared to this version.
Evolve Rune is an archetype that was popular in the first month of the expansion but died off later on. The deck focuses on evolving 5 times to have access to Tetra and Grimnir that provide lot of damage in 1 turn. The deck has a lot of ways to reach 5 evolutions as soon as possible with free evolve cards such as Marie, Awakened Robot and Fruits of Wisdom. The mini expansion did provide the deck new support with Parsol Witch giving the deck more cycle, heal and damage all in 1 card. The list is piloted by 謎のアルターエゴ・R who got top 16 in JCG and runs a very standard list but it is noted that a more common list would still run Doged Detective as it is a great free evolve card. Vincent is played because of how often you can reach 3 played spells such as Repair modes and Delta Cannon from Tetra. The lack of Isabella would be the reason why the deck falls behind as this deck could not utilize her as much as the other 2.
Wrath Blood is a deck that focuses on reaching Wrath, where you have dealt 7 ping damage to yourself in that game. Majority of the cards in the deck run some form of self inflict damage card and have bonus effects once you reach Wrath. The deck also runs Urias now which is a powerful card that gives you powerful leader effect once you evolve him: an extra card draw every start of turn, deal 1 to the enemy each time their follower dies in your turn, and you take no damage from effects during your turn, which is a good payoff considering the deck mostly harms you. The list shown belongs to a ladder player who had gotten a 14 win streak with the deck and runs Ayer to refill the hand since the deck does lack hand size in the early stage of the game. A more common list would be running Blood Pact instead and recently Xeno Diablo has been teched in for more damage reach as well. The main issue with Wrath Blood would be the fact that the pay off from wrath is not as powerful in comparison to other decks in the meta. The deck is also taking a risk from doing self harm effects that might lead to being killed early if you’re not careful.
Buff Dragon is a deck that aims to buff the defense stats of followers in the deck to give access to extra effects once the card is buffed. In most cases all you need is a +0/2 buff to gain the bonus effect and the deck has a lot of tools to reach that point. The deck plays like a midrange deck aiming to make a very high defense follower that is very hard to remove at times and could deal damage from cards such as Razia, Flame Pillar, Rock Whale and Drache. The list shown belongs to a ladder player who had 17 win streak and runs the deck without Georgious or Tiamat, the 2 core of dragon craft in terms of board wipes. The deck was buffed and gained a new powerful support card – Prophetic dragon, however, due to the nature of Dragon decks needing to ramp, the consistency of the deck to ramp is lacking and even if you are able to buff your followers in a huge number, it is only usually 1-3 follower a turn from dragon and would be easily cleared even if they have high defense.
Conclusion
My closing thoughts would be that the meta is very Combo centric with 4 of the best decks being Combo or shared said archetype. Games end by turn 7 in most cases or even earlier and that would mean that in order to fight the meta, decks need to be able to finish games at a similar pace or earlier. Aggro decks sound good in theory, however, with the amount of board clear/healing from the majority of decks, it might not work out. Shadowverse has become more reliant on setting up future turns instead of contesting the board in some cases. However, if players are not careful, early game boards could snowball out of hand and cause you to lose. In short, if you want to win in this meta, consider a deck that is able to win early or has consistent of method of preventing you from being OTKed or bursted down.
This review will be my personal opinion on the new cards in the current rotation meta using a 1-5 rating scale with:
1 being completely useless or not worth running at all
2 being just below average in terms of value or use
3 being average
4 being above average, a card that is game changing/flexible at times and still strong when not
5 being a busted card that you should be running
*Keep in mind I am being very generous with my ratings and I’m trying to find what makes them good more so than what makes them bad.
Golds
Empyreal Unicorn – 4
Stats: 1/2
Effect: Ward.
Evolved:
Stats: 3/4
Effect: Ward.
Evolve: Give your leader the following effect – At the end of your turn, if your leader’s defense is 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, or 18, deal 2 damage to the enemy leader. If it’s 4, 8, 12, 16, or 20, draw a card. (This effect is not stackable and lasts for the rest of the match.)
Empyreal Unicorn is the new haven gold and is a 1/2 follower with ward. Just with that alone, I see this card as being better than average. It’s cheap, can be used in ward decks, and has a permanent leader effect on evo that can potentially be controlled to either do 2 dmg or draw you an extra card. Ward haven isn’t really viable right now in my opinion but this is just a good card that can be used in almost any haven rotation deck that has the room.
Parasol Witch – 4
Stats: 2/2
Effect: Fanfare: If allied followers have evolved at least 1 time this match, draw a card.
Then, if at least 3 times, restore 3 defense to your leader.
Then, if at least 5 times, gain +1/+1 and Storm.
Evolved:
Stats: 4/4
Effect: –
Parasol Witch in my opinion is an almost busted card. Rune has become one of the best classes in rotation to run the evo package and this card does it all. It can provide card draw, heal your leader 3 health, and can become a 3/3 with storm all for 2pp. This is definitely an amazing card and the only thing stopping it from being a 5 in my book is the fact that you need to have evo followers to gain these effects. It’s easy to get all 3 effects, but a busted card would probably just have a similar effect with even less prerequisites.
Tempest Slayer – 2
Stats: 4/4
Effect: Bane.
Fanfare: If allied followers have evolved at least 3 times this match, gain the ability to evolve for 0 evolution points.
Evolved:
Stats: 6/6
Effect: Bane.
Evolve: Banish an enemy follower or enemy amulet.
Tempest Slayer is just a little bit late to the party. When evo sword was popular, this card could have been played as a tech card. Sword has always lacked good banish and this card only requires 3 evos to be able to evo for free. However, this is a review on the card in the current meta so it’s going to get a low score no matter how good it could have been in a previous meta. It’s probably a 1 but I’m going to give it a 2 because getting 3 evos in sword is not hard and the banish + bane on this card is still kind of useful. I doubt this card is going to be played this expansion but it could definitely be worse.
Malevolent Wall – 1
Stats: 1/9
Effect: Crystallize (1): Countdown (10)
During your opponent’s turn, whenever an enemy follower attacks, subtract 1 from this amulet’s Countdown.
Last Words: Summon a Malevolent Wall.
———-
During your opponent’s turn, whenever an enemy follower attacks, randomly activate 1 of the following effects.
-Summon a Cursed Stone.
-Deal 2 damage to all enemy followers.
-Deal 2 damage to the enemy leader. Restore 2 defense to your leader.
Evolved:
Stats: 3/11
Effect: (Same as the unevolved form.)
You know how I just said it could be worse? Yeah, this is the worst. It’s effect doesn’t seem bad on paper, but what makes it bad is how unreliable it is with it being a random effect. This card will not be doing much for you besides being an annoying follower that your opponent won’t want to deal with. It’s effects probably won’t stop you from losing majority of the time and a fun fact about the effect that summons the cursed stone is that it triggers once the opponent attacks. This means that if the opponent attacks face, then it will summon the 3/3 ward and your opponent’s attack will still hit your face.
Racoon Enchanter – 3
Stats: 3/2
Effect: Rush.
Fanfare: Draw a card. If at least 2 other cards were played this turn, draw 2 cards instead and gain +2/+0.
Evolved:
Stats: 5/4
Effect: (Same as the unevolved form, excluding Fanfare.)
Racoon Enchanter is a pretty decent card. I like it’s effect a lot because it reminds me of a simpler time in Shadowverse. A time when fair cards like this were greatly appreciated and loved by all. This card is just average in the current meta because it costing 3 is a bit much when Forest wants to play multiple cards in the same turn and it’s body still might not be enough to clear big targets like Mistolina/Bayleon.
Prophetic Dragon – 5
Stats: 5/5
Effect: Accelerate (1): Gain an empty play point orb. If Overflow is already active for you when this card is played, draw a card.
(Can only Accelerate if this follower has at least 7 defense.)
———-
Ward.
Fanfare: Summon 2 Prophetic Dragons and change their defense to X. X equals this follower’s defense.
Evolved:
Stats: 7/7
Effect: (Same as the unevolved form, excluding Fanfare.)
Ok, maybe I’m wrong here but I feel like this card is busted. It’s played in buff dragon, which is not the best right now, but this is definitely one of the best cards for the archetype. It can be used as ramp (which good enough already) or it can be used to make a wall of 3 big dragons with ward and a lot of health. Something this impactful can save you from dying in situations where you would have had no other way to survive. For instance, this could potentially stop a Bayleon loop going face or Ladica going face twice.
Grim Desecrator – 3
Stats: 2/2
Effect: Accelerate (3): Deal 5 damage to an enemy follower. Burial Rite: Draw a card.
———-
Rush.
Bane.
Fanfare: Reanimate (8) and Reanimate (4).
Evolved:
Stats: 4/4
Effect: (Same as the unevolved form, excluding Fanfare.)
This card seems really good to me, but right now is not it’s time to shine. It’s effect itself is very strong, but isn’t as useful as it sounds in the current meta since last words shadow is still one of the best decks in rotation and you don’t have the greatest reanimate targets in that deck. Maybe if burial rite makes a return, we’ll see this card in action.
Automachina Maiden – 3
Stats: 4/5
Effect: Invocation: At the end of your turn, if Resonance has been activated for you at least 10 times this match, invoke this card.
———-
Ward.
Fanfare and Last Words: Draw a card.
Evolved:
Stats: 6/7
Effect: (Same as the unevolved form, excluding Fanfare.)
Automachina Maiden is nice when you get it for free but if you draw it, it becomes a lot worse. There is a way to put it back into the deck (Yuwan or Remembrance) but that requires you to evo. Also resonance decks draw a ton of cards, which means you have that many more chances to draw this card.
Master Chef – 5
Stats: 2/2
Effect: Ward.
Fanfare: Increase your leader’s maximum defense by 1 and restore 1 defense to your leader.
Evolved:
Stats: 4/4
Effect: Ward.
Evolve: Increase your leader’s maximum defense by 1, restore 1 defense to your leader, and draw a card.
This is just a really good card that speaks for itself. 2 cost 2/2 that has ward and increases your max health on play and evo. There’s no downside to this card and it’s a great defensive card. We are going to see this card being played for most if not all of its time in rotation.
Legendaries
Luna, Soul Keeper – 4
Stats: 0/2
Effect: Fanfare: Put a Luna’s Doll into your hand. Necromancy (6): Recover 1 evolution point.
Evolved:
Stats: 2/4
Effect: Evolve: Put an Allure of Shadows into your hand.
Luna’s Doll
Effect: Countdown (1)
Last Words: Restore 1 defense to your leader. Draw a card.
Allure of Shadows
Effect: Destroy an enemy follower that costs 5 play points or less.
Necromancy (8): Summon an allied copy of that follower.
Luna has an insane effect for being a 1 cost. Getting an evo back for 1pp is such an amazing deal and you can even get a removal card to help clear. The downside and reason why this card is not a 5 in my opinion is that both of her effects cost a lot of shadows. It costs 6 for the evo on play and her spell’s additional effect costs 8. This means that later in the game, you’re going to have to spend shadows even if you don’t want to and this can prevent you from getting your necroimpulse active on future turns or you might have to make plays with your shadows in mind.
Arisa, Evergreen Arrow – 5
Stats: 2/2
Effect: Fanfare: If at least 2 other cards were played this turn, summon a Forest Guardian’s Bow.
Whenever this follower’s attack or defense is increased by an effect, deal 1 damage to all enemy followers.
Evolved:
Stats: 4/4
Effect: Evolve: Choose – Put a Gale Arrow or Storm Arrow into your hand.
Whenever this follower’s attack or defense is increased by an effect, deal 1 damage to all enemy followers.
Forest Guardian’s Bow
Effect: Countdown (2)
At the end of your turn, give +1/+0 to all allied Forestcraft followers.
Whenever this card is returned to your hand, draw a card.
Last Words: Draw a card.
Gale Arrow
Effect: Give +1/+0 to an allied Arisa, Evergreen Arrow.
Deal 1 damage to an enemy follower.
(Can be played only when both a targetable allied card and enemy card are in play.)
Storm Arrow
Effect: Your opponent draws a card.
Deal X damage to the enemy leader. X equals half the number of cards in your opponent’s hand (rounded up).
Arisa kind of reminds me of Kokkoro, but way better early in the match and maybe less useful later. Her amulet is a good bounce target that has countdown 2 so you can use it to set up a future turn and it also draws you a card when returned to hand so it’s like getting a free Sagittarius amulet. Gale Arrow helps you clear wide, early boards a bit easier and Storm Arrow can deal chip damage or help close games out. In most situations, it’s probably better to use Storm Arrow as a finisher or to help set up lethal since it draws your opponent and additional card.
Yuwan, Dimensional Avenger – 4
Stats: 2/2
Effect: Fanfare: Banish a card in your hand and put a copy of it into your deck. Draw a card.
At the start of your opponent’s turn, if Resonance has been activated for you at least 5 times this match, deal 4 damage to a random enemy follower. Then, if it has been activated at least 10 times, deal 4 damage to the enemy leader.
Evolved:
Stats: 4/4
Effect: Evolve: Summon an Analyzing Artifact.
At the start of your opponent’s turn, if Resonance has been activated for you at least 5 times this match, deal 4 damage to a random enemy follower. Then, if it has been activated at least 10 times, deal 4 damage to the enemy leader.
Yuwan is a close 5, but I give it a 4 because it is only useful in one archetype (Resonance Portal). However, in said archetype, this is a must include 3 of card. Just playing him will let you gain 1 to your “times resonance activated” counter while also shuffling a card back into the deck (which might not always be useful). Upon evo, you summon an analysizing artifact with will help you trigger resonance again if it is not banished by the opponent. Triggering resonance 5 times will deal 4 to a random enemy follower at the start of their turn and triggering resonance 10 times deals 4 face. All of this on a 2 cost definitely makes this an overloaded card, but you won’t be seeing this played in Machina Portal this expansion.
Urias, Final Vampire – 5
Effect: Fanfare: If Vengeance is active for you, draw a card.
Fanfare: If Wrath is active for you, draw a card.
Evolved:
Stats: 5/5
Effect: Evolve: Put an A Horrible Night into your hand.
A Horrible Night
Effect: If there are at least 4 cards in your hand, discard 3. Otherwise, discard your hand.
Put a The Nightmare Begins, Bloody Claw, and Cursed Aura into your hand.
If any other allied A Horrible Nights have been played this match, deal 3 damage to all allies and enemies (excluding Urias, Final Vampires) instead of discarding and putting cards into your hand.
The Nightmare Begins
Effect: Give your leader the following effect: At the start of your turn, draw a card. (This effect is not stackable and lasts for the rest of the match.)
If any allied Urias, Final Vampires are in play, deal 1 damage to your leader and recover 1 evolution point.
Bloody Claw
Effect: Give your leader the following effect: During your turn, whenever an enemy follower is destroyed, deal 1 damage to the enemy leader. (This effect is not stackable and lasts for the rest of the match.)
If any allied Urias, Final Vampires are in play, deal 1 damage to your leader and 3 damage to a random enemy follower.
Cursed Aura
Effect: Give your leader the following effect: During your turn, reduce damage to your leader to 0. (This effect is not stackable and lasts for the rest of the match.)
If any allied Urias, Final Vampires are in play, deal 1 damage to your leader and all enemy followers.
This is exactly what blood was looking for. Blood has been severely disadvantaged this expansion and Urias is here to help bring blood back into existence. He can possibly draw you a card or 2 on play and when you evo him, you get 3 (technically 4) unique spells. All of the 3 spells generated from A Horrible Night are permanent leader effects and all of them are very good. Unfortunately, this card is only a good enabler. Blood is still lacking a strong finisher, cards with a lot of flexibility, and cards with great value. There are some cards that fit the descriptions above (Mono is a very strong finisher with the right set up), but hopefully blood gets a little more love next expansion so that all the blood mains out there can play their favorite class a bit more comfortably.
Rowen, Dragon Lance – 1
Stats: 3/2
Effect: Rush.
Fanfare: If there are no Curse of the Black Dragons in your hand, put 1 into your hand.
Enhance (5): Summon a Dragonslayer Spear.
Evolved:
Stats: 5/4
Effect: (Same as the unevolved form, excluding Fanfare.)
Curse of the Black Dragon
Effect: At the end of your turn, if this card is in your hand and there are 3 or less Curse of the Black Dragons in your hand, activate the following effects.
-If Overflow is not active for you, reveal this card and deal 1 damage to your leader.
-If you have 10 play point orbs, reveal this card and deal 2 damage to a random enemy.
Effect: Countdown (2)
Summon a Dragonslayer Spear
While this amulet is in play, your leader has the following effect: Allied followers, spells, and effects deal +1 damage.
Last Words: Destroy a random enemy follower.
Rowen is complete garbage (IMO). This card is not going to see very much competitive play this expansion, if any at all. His hp is slightly lacking and his effects are too conditional and his on play effect has a downside. You won’t want to play him early because his spell will deal damage to your leader and you will have to play him for his enhanced cost a good amount of the time, even if you don’t want to. Dragonslayer Spear (the amulet) is good once you get it on the board but I’m not sure what’s the best way to abuse this at the moment. You might be able to get some value from it in buff dragon but you definitely don’t want to run Rowen in that deck because you have very few slots in your deck to work with. Natura Dragon has the same problem. This card might be better than I’m rating it but I highly doubt that it is.
Isabelle, Intrepid Mage – 5
Stats: 3/3
Effect: Fusion: Runecraft followers
Whenever cards are fused to this card, if it’s the first time this match, put a Quadra Magic into your hand.
If it’s the second time, put an Insight into your hand.
If it’s the third time, put a Crimson Sorcery into your hand.
Evolved:
Stats: 5/5
Effect: Evolve: Put a Fate’s Hand into your hand. Spellboost the cards in your hand. Recover 1 play point.
Quadra Magic
Effect: Deal 2 damage to X random enemy followers. X equals the number of other allied spells with different names played this match.
If X is at least 7, put an Elements of Creation into your hand.
Elements of Creation
Effect: Deal 10 damage to the enemy leader.
Restore 10 defense to your leader.
Give your leader the following effect: When you reach the Reaper at the bottom of your deck, reduce your leader’s maximum defense by 5 instead of losing the match. (This effect is not stackable and lasts for the rest of the match.)
Isabelle is a busted card for two very big reasons. She creates spells in your hand when you fuse into her and also when you evo her. Evo-ing her also spellboosts the cards in your hand as a bonus. The other reason is Elements of Creation is an insanely powerful card. Elements of Creation is pretty expensive but getting Quadra Magic active is pretty easy and dealing 10 damage face and healing 10 of your leader’s health can be game changing. This card is probably going to see play for the entirety of its time in rotation.
Erika, Loyal Swordsavant – 4
Stats: 2/1
Effect: Storm.
Fanfare: Rally (7) – Put a Killer Instincts into your hand.
Whenever another allied follower or amulet comes into play, gain +1/+0 until the end of your turn.
Evolved:
Stats: 4/3
Effect: Storm.
Evolve: Rally (15) – Put an Erika’s Sleight into your hand.
Whenever another allied follower or amulet comes into play, gain +1/+0 until the end of your turn.
Killer Instincts
Effect: When your opponent plays a follower, destroy it and this amulet.
Erika’s Sleight
Effect: Summon 2 Quickbladers.
Erika is a pretty good offensive card that get’s some nice bonus cards if you have a high rally count when you play/evo her. Rally Sword really needed a card like this and she might even see play in other sword archetypes outside of the aggressive ones. I personally would just run her in Rally, but some people have been having success with her in some Bayleon decks. The reason why I gave this card a 4 is because if your opponent has a big ward on the board, you’re still going to struggle getting past it and Erika can only trade into it. Some of these other cards are always useful, whereas this one does have a few situations where it can be a dead card.
Eris, Atoned Priestess – 3
Stats: 2/4
Effect: Ward.
Fanfare: Put a Sphere Relic into your hand. Recover 2 play points.
Evolved:
Stats: 4/6
Effect: Ward.
Evolve: Give your leader the following effect – At the end of your turn, randomly summon 1 of the following amulets that is not already in play for you.
-Prism Relic.
-Cylinder Relic.
-Octarelic.
(This effect is not stackable and lasts for the rest of the match.)
Sphere Relic
Effect: Fanfare: Banish an enemy follower with 3 defense or less. If any allied Relic Goddesses are in play, banish an enemy follower with 9 defense or less instead, then banish this card.
At the start of your opponent’s turn, combine with an allied Prism Relic, Cylinder Relic, and Octarelic to become a Relic Goddess.
Prism Relic
Effect: At the start of your turn, deal 2 damage to a random enemy follower.
If any allied Relic Goddesses are in play, deal 6 damage instead.
Cylinder Relic
Effect: At the start of your turn, deal 1 damage to the enemy leader.
If any allied Relic Goddesses are in play, deal 3 damage instead.
Octarelic
Effect: At the start of your turn, restore 1 defense to your leader.
If any allied Relic Goddesses are in play, restore 3 defense instead.
Relic Goddesses
Stats: 6/6
Effect: Reduce damage to this follower to 0.
Can’t be affected by effects except for those that change this card’s attack or defense.
Evolved:
Stats: 8/8
Effect: (Same as the unevolved form.)
Eris is a good card, but IMO, not a great card. She provides a lot of utility and you can play Sphere Relic the same turn you played Eris as long as you have the board space, but the payoff is only a 7/7 beat stick that is not affected by effects. This is nice and all, but relics are going to be flooding your board and this is just going to buy your opponent more turns to set up a potential otk. I feel like this card is too fair to be rated any higher.
Hello, I am Suya. I am one of the newest members in Team Dawnbreakers, SEAO Division. I am going to show you a free to play guide for everyone who just started playing Shadowverse.
It is quite hard for someone who just started playing to instantly create a deck. For beginners, you want to create a strong deck first before creating other kinds of decks. Liquefy every other card beside the cards you will use in the future. It is best to analyze some decks you will create later to avoid liquefying useful cards . Another strategy you can use is to never liquefy all the powerful cards in case they get nerfed – then you can get full vials from them! Once you finish creating a deck you are ready to play in the ladder or non – ladder.
There are several ways to obtain cards
Creating cards
You can create cards in the cards section or in your decks. It costs vials to create a card, liquefy cards or get it on events to obtain vials. There are also vials from the story mode.
Buying packs in the Buy Packs section.
It is not guaranteed to obtain cards as you wanted in this section, but it gives you a lot of cards which can be useful for you either you use it, collect it, or liquefy it. Make sure to always buy the top 5 sets to focus on playing the rotation format. To buy 1 pack, we need to consume 1 ticket or 100 rupies. There are various ways to get these items.
Story
You will get rupies and different rewards from the story as you progress it.
Daily Missions
By finishing each mission, you will get rewarded accordingly. Each mission will reset every 22 hours once it is cleared. If you tick the “Solo Player Missions” you will get non-multiplayer missions. This is recommended for beginners to tick it to avoid wasting time and easily lose in the ladder. Keep in mind that you will get less rupies for going these!
Achievement
There are lots of rupies coming from achievement. Farming rupies by clearing achievements will reward you with rupies greatly.
Arena
Cygames schedules Grand Prix frequently on specific dates. The Grand Prix is divided into 3 stages (stage 1, stage 2, and final stage) and 2 Groups (Group A and Group B). When grand Prix is held, there will be 1 free entry every day
The reward from grandprix/arena accumulates with each match you win. If you are confident to win, you can re-enter the grandprix by spending 150 rupies and get more value than what you spent.
For 4 wins you get 100+ rupies and a pack and for 5 wins you get 200+ rupies and a pack so you can go infinite if you only get 5 wins. Even with 4 wins you get your investment back.
Take Two and Open 6
Take Two is a format where you pick 1 out of 3 craft and randomly pick 2 cards each until you reach 30 cards to play.
Entering Open 6 lets you pick 1 out of 3 craft and open 6 packs (2 from the newest set and 4 others each). Winning 4 matches lets you keep a gold phantom card and winning all 5 matches lets you keep either a legend or gold card. Open 6 also allows you to keep all cards you got from packs.
Both require the same ticket. Both formats are the same as Grand Prix. You can play both to complete your achievement. To gain more cards, it is recommended to enter “Open 6” rather than “Take Two”.
Temporary Cards
Trading a temporary card with 3500 temporary gems will give you 1 temporary legend card. Only 1 legend card is possible to be traded for each kind of card. You will get 400 temporary gems every day as a daily mission. You also get a small amount of gems with every win.
Overall Shadowverse is not the most generous CCG but it’s also not the most difficult in terms of collecting cards without spending money. If you are willing to put in the time you can get a decent collection of cards without spending any money.
Welcome to the Shadowverse Keyword Dictionary. In this dictionary, I’ve listed out keywords in Shadowverse, defined them as the game does, and provided helpful information regarding the keyword to explain how cards with the keyword may perform in the game. I’ve also included here some unofficial terms that are good to know that players might use when talking about Shadowverse. This dictionary is a supplement to MomoJelly’s Beginners’ Guide to Shadowverse (coming soon), and as such, is intended for newer players looking for a quick place to CTRL-F a mechanic they are not understanding or need further details on. If there are words you’d like to see added to this dictionary, you can send a dm to MomoJelly on discord or ping her on the Dawnbreakers discord. @her on twitter if you want. Up to you.
Evolve
A mechanic unique to Shadowverse and accessible to all classes, Evolution is very key to swinging tempo or taking the lead in Shadowverse. If the player is going first, the player gains the ability to evolve on turn 5, and if going second, this ability is gained on turn 4. This is not the only first vs second difference for evolution either; if you are going second, you get one more evolution point than your opponent. Evolution points are a resource expended to evolve a follower. Only one follower can be evolved per turn using an evolution point. Normally, a follower cannot attack on the turn it is summoned, but if you evolve a follower, it will gain the ability to attack other followers on that turn (however, it will not be able to attack the enemy leader). A follower will also typically gain +2 attack and +2 defense when evolved, but there are exceptions to this. There are followers with the specific keyword Evolve: these effects will activate when that follower is evolved with an evolution point. There are also cards that have an additional effect only in their evolved state. Examples:
Fighter is a neutral follower that gains the standard +2/+2 stats on evolve as well as the regular ability to attack other followers.
Archangel of Remembrance is a neutral follower that also gains the standard +2/+2 stats on evolve as well as the regular ability to attack other followers, and in addition to this, the card has an Evolve: ability. When an evolution point is used to evolve Archangel of Remembrance, the card prompts the user to select a card from their hand, puts a copy of that card into the player’s deck, then draws 2 cards.
Yurius, Traitorous Duke is Bloodcraft (unlimited, not in rotation) follower that when played is a 3pp 1 / 5 follower. When evolved, the card gains +4 attack and does not gain any defense. Both unevolved and evolved, Yurius has the effect “Whenever an enemy follower comes into play, deal 1 damage to the enemy leader and restore 1 defense to your leader.” Only when evolved, however, does Yurius have the effect “Whenever this follower attacks and destroys an enemy follower, if this follower is not destroyed, restore 4 defense to this follower.”
The evolution mechanic also interacts with other keywords. Union burst and Skybound Art effects will activate sooner depending on the amount of evolutions that have occurred in a game. There are also cards that will gain bonus effects if a certain amount of evolves have occurred in a game.
Fanfare
According to Shadowverse, “Fanfare effects activate when you play the card from your hand using play points”. (similar to Hearthstone’s Battlecry) The keyword fanfare denotes that the effect that follows the word activates when the card is played from the player’s hand, and this is to be taken explicitly. If a card is summoned from the effect of another card, for example, if it is invoked or reanimated, then the fanfare effect will not activate.
Elf Child May deals 1 damage to a random enemy follower when the player spends 1 play point to play the card from the player’s hand.
Last Words
According to Shadowverse, “Last Words effects activate when the card is destroyed.” (similar to Heartstone’s deathrattle) Followers are destroyed when attacked by another follower whose attack is equal to or greater than the follower’s defense, or a follower is destroyed when it received damage from an effect that is equal to or greater than the follower’s defense, or a follower can be destroyed by an effect from another follower, including bane. However, last words effects do NOT activate if a card is banished, transformed, or returned to the player’s hand.
When Skullcradle Widow is destroyed, the player draws 1 card.
Ward
“If 1 of your followers in play has Ward, the opponent can only attack that follower. If mulitple allied followers have Ward, the opponent may attack any of them.” If you have an allied follower with ward and other followers without ward, your opponent’s followers can only attack the follower with ward, and your opponent’s followers will not be able to attack your other followers or your leader until the follower with ward is removed. (Similar to Hearthstone’s Taunt)
Rush
“Followers that have Rush can attack enemy followers on the same turn they’re played. On the next turn, they are also able to attack the leader.” Followers cannot attack the turn that they are summoned unless they have an effect that allows them to. Rush is an effect that allows a follower to attack on the turn the card is played, but this attacking ability is restricted to only the opponent’s followers. This restriction is lifted the following turn.
Storm
“Followers that have Storm can attack on the same turn they’re played.” Unlike Rush, storm followers have no restrictions to what the card can attack when played. Some effects give followers storm and some followers gain storm under certain circumstances due to their effects. Storm followers often represent burst damage or win conditions.
Bane
“Followers that have Bane automatically destroy any other followers they attack. Followers that attack them are automatically destroyed.” (Similar to Magic the Gathering’s death touch or Hearthstone’s Poisonous) There are exceptions, followers with an effect that prevents them from being destroyed by the effect of another card will not be destroyed by bane.
Drain
“Your leader recovers 1 defense for every point of damage that followers with Drain deal when attacking. Drain doesn’t activate when followers defend.” (Similar to Hearthstone’s Lifesteal) A follower with drain restores health to the player’s leader equal to the follower’s attack, regardless of the defending follower’s or leader’s defense.
Ambush
“Followers that have ambush can’t be targeted by enemy spells, amulets, or followers. They lose Ambush if they attack or deal damage.” (similar to Hearthstone’s stealth) Though ambush followers cannot be targeted by effects, effects with randomly selected targets can still affect ambush followers.
Strike
“Follower’s Strike effects activate when attacking an enemy. They do not activate when receiving attacks from enemy followers.” Strike effects can also be further divided into Leader Stike, which activates only when the follower attacked the leader, and Follower Strike, which activates only when the follower attacks another follower.
Clash
“Follower’s Clash abilities activate before damage is dealt, whenever attacking or defending against an enemy follower. It does not activate when attacking leaders.” Take for example Owlcat, when attacked or attacked by a 1 attack follower, Owlcat’s effect will destroy the 1 attack follower before it does any damage to Owlcat, letting the Owlcat survive the attack.
Choose
“Select one or more cards. Different effect will activate depending on the cards chosen.” Cards with Choose will prompt the user to select a card or cards from some options. These options will be listed in the card’s effect, and you can click on the name of the card in the effect to read more about that card.
For example, when played from your hand, 0. Lhynkal, the Fool gives you the option to choose between Rite of the Ignorant and Scourge of the Omniscient to add to your hand. You can click on “Rite of the Ignorant” or “Scourge of the Omniscient” to read more about these cards.
Countdown
“Countdown amulets have a number that counts down 1 at the beginning of your turn. When the Countdown reaches 0 the amulet is destroyed.” An amulet with countdown will usually have a last words effect that will activate when the amulet has finished counting down; the countdown on the amulet will reduce by 1 at the start of each turn, but some have additional effects that can help speed up the countdown.
Pinion Prayer is an amulet with countdown. With a countdown of (2), if this card is played on turn 1, then the countdown will hit 0 on turn 3, summoning a Holy Falcon, which is a 3pp 2/1 with storm. Countdown amulets allow a player to play less play points for strong cards by paying for those cards with time, rather than play points. These cards require thinking ahead and sacrificing tempo and board space when they’re played to receive the payoff later.
Invocation
“Invocation allows you to play cards directly from your deck by satisfying specified requirements. Even if you have multiple copies of the same card in your deck, activating Invocation will only put one copy into play.” When a card is invoked, if it has a fanfare effect, the fanfare effect will NOT activate. Invocation cards are listed in the Battle Stats page in game.
Enhance
“If you have enough play points, they’re automatically spent to activate the Enhance effects of a card when you play the card from your hand.” Enhance cards allow you to spend additional play points to activate additional effects on a card. Sometimes, it can be tricky to manage an Enhance, Accelerate, or Crystalize card, with these cards, if you have enough play points to play the higher cost version of the card, you do not have the choice to play the card for its lower cost effects.
For example, if you want to play rapier master for Enhance (6), it will gain +3/+3 and bane and ward, you need 6 or 7 play points, if you have 8 or 9 play points it will play the card for Enhance (8).
Accelerate
“If you do not have enough play points to play a card, it can be played as a spell instead for the Accelerate cost. Only the Accelerate effects will activate when a card is played this way.” If you have enough play points to play a follower for its full cost, you are not able to play a card for its accelerate effect. One way to conceptualize and view Accelerate effects are as a separate spell card from the full cost follower it is attached to.
Reclusive Ponderer is a 4pp 3/3 follower with ambush, but if you have less than 4pp, you can play Reclusive Ponderer for its accelerate cost, to play it as a 1pp spell that draws a card. Effects that prevent you from playing spells, prevent you from play a card for its Accelerate effect.
Crystallize
“If you do not have enough play points to play a card, it can be played as an amulet instead for the Crystallize cost. Only the Crystallize effects will activate when a card is played in this way.” Similar to Accelerate, Crystallize effects play a card for a play point cost less than the full cost follower the effect is attached to. Crystallize plays a card as an amulet.
Sacred Groundskeeper is a 5pp 4 / 5 follower. If you have less than 5pp, you can play this card for Crystallize, playing this card as a 1 pp amulet with Countdown (9). This amulet has the effect “At the end of your turn, subtract X from this amulet’s Countdown. X equals the number of allied followers with Ward in play.” and “Last Words: Summon a Sacred Groundskeeper.” The amulet does not have ward, but the full cost follower Sacred Groundskeeper does. The amulet summoned by the crystallize effect will summon the full cost follower version of Sacred Groundskeeper when the amulet is destroyed.
Rally
“Your Rally count increases by 1 each time an allied follower comes into play. An effect written as Rally(10) will activate if your Rally count is at least 10. Followers that have Rally as a Fanfare effect do not count towards their own Rally count when played.” Rally increases when you play a card from your hand, and it increases when a card effect summons followers. When you burial rite a card, it also increases the rally count. Rally count can be checked in the Battle Stats page. Cards with Rally will usually also display the rally count on the card’s description when you click on the card in your hand.
Banish
Banish is an effect that is written into cards, but unlike other keywords, it does not have an option to click on it to get more information. When an effect banishes another card, that card is removed from play, but it does not generate a shadow or activate the card’s last words effect if it has one. Banish cards are counted as “removed from play” but not “destroyed”.
Union Burst
“Union Burst effects activate if your turn number is equal to or greater than the Union Burst value. Whenever an allied follower evolves during your turn, the Union Burst value of the cards in your hand decreases by 1.” Union burst effects were introduced with the tie-in cards with Princess Connect. These cards are no longer in rotation. The union burst card needs to be in your hand when a follower evolves for the union burst value to be reduced.
Skybound Art
“Skybound Art effects activate if your turn number is equal to or greater than the Skybound Art value. Whenever an allied follower evolves during your turn, the Skybound Art value of the cards in your hand decreases by 1. (Super Skybound Arts will have their own starting value.)” Super Skybound Arts have their own starting value, but function the same as the Skybound art, in terms of being reduced whenever an allied follower evolves. Like Union Burst cards, the card with Skybound Art needs to be in your hand when you evolve to reduce the Skybound Art. The number in the parenthesis following the Skybound Art text, ie, Skybound Art (8), will update as followers are evolved. Skybound Art was introduced as a part of the Eternal Awakening card set and as a part of the Granblue Fantasy tie-in that themed that set. As of writing this article (pre-mini Renascent Chronicles), Skybound Art cards are currently in rotation.
Maneuver
“Followers with Maneuver can’t attack. If an allied follower that meets the specified conditions comes into play, it will temporarily leave the area, allowing the follower with Maneuver to attack. When the follower with Maneuver leaves play, the follower Maneuvering that card will return to play.” As of the time of writing, all followers with Maneuver are tokens.
When Val, Trusty Getaway Car comes into play, it cannot attack. While it is in play, if a follower that originally costs 2 pp or more comes into play, then that follower will Maneuver Val. That follower will “leave the area” (this does not count as leaving play), and then Val will be able to attack. When Val is destroyed or banished, the follower that was Maneuvering Val will return to play. If Val is transformed, then the follower that was Maneuvering Val will never return to play.
Necromancy
“If you have enough shadows, they’re automatically spent to activate the Necromancy effects of a card. This can happen when they’re played, evolved using an evolution point, or under other specified conditions.” Necromancy is often checked using some other keyword, ie, Fanfare: Necromancy (1) – which can translate to, “When this card is played, if you have at least one shadow, spend 1 shadow and activate the following effect:”
Shadow
A shadow is a resource in Shadowverse, though Shadowcraft uses Shadows the most with its Necromancy effects, every class actually generates and has shadows. A Shadow is generated when an amulet or follower is destroyed, when a spell is played, when a card is overdrawn, or when a card is discarded. Depending on the resolution size of your game, you can see how many shadows a player has on the screen:
Reanimate
“Randomly summon a copy of 1 of the highest-cost allied followers that has been destroyed during this match and costs less than or equal to the Reanimate value.” By checking the battle log and going to the Destroyed Followers tab, you can check which cards might be reanimated. If a Reanimate (4) effect is activated, but there is no 4 cost followers that have been destroyed, and only one 3 cost follower is destroyed, then you can know before playing the the Reanimate effect, that you will summon that one 3 cost follower.
Burial Rite
“If you have a follower in your hand and an open space in your area, remove its effects except those that change its attack or defense and put it into play. Then destroy that follower to activate Burial Rite effects.” As described by the game, it is important to remember that you need both a board space and a follower in hand to sacrifice to use a burial rite effect. Also note that if you have a board space and a follower, if you play a card with a burial rite effect, you will be forced to activate the burial rite effect to play the card. Because effects are removed from cards sacrificed with burial rite, followers with last words destroyed by burial rite will not activate any last words effect nor will they count to effects that track the number of cards that had last words when destroyed.
Overflow
“Overflow effects activate when you have at least 7 play point orbs. It’s mostly Dragoncraft cards that have Overflow.” Rather than Necromancy or Fanfare, effects that trigger at a certain point or by meeting a requirement of resources needed, Overflow is more of a state. This state does require the player to have at least 7 play point orbs for the state to be active. Cards with Overflow are often worded like “Do X if Overflow is active for you” or “If Overflow is active for you, do X”
Vengeance
“Vengeance abilities take effect when your leader’s defense is 10 or lower. It’s mostly Bloodcraft cards that have Vengeance.” Similar to Overflow, Vengeance is a state that is only active when the requirement, of having 10 or less defense, is met. Where effects “Do X if Vengeance is active for you” or “If Vengeance is active for you, you do X”. Unlike Overflow however, there are cards that will artificially put the player in a state of Vengeance being active without the player needing to have a defense of 10 or less.
Wrath
“Wrath is active when your leader has taken damage during your turn at least 7 times in a match.” Wrath is another Bloodcraft state that is active once the requirement of dealing damage to your own leader 7 times in a match during your own turns is met. Like Vengeance, this state can be artificially activated by other card effects.
Avarice
“Avarice is active when at least 2 cards have been added to your hand from your deck in a turn. This includes drawn cards and cards destroyed due to having a full hand.” Avarice is another Bloodcraft state that is active on turns where the requirement of having drawn at least 2 cards is met. This includes the start of turn draw. If you go second, you draw 2 cards on your first turn and therefore are in avarice on the first turn.
Spellboost
“When you play a spell, the Spellboost abilities of cards in your hand activate.” Playing regular spells and accelerating followers both count towards spellboosting cards in your hand. There are also followers with effects that will spellboost the cards in your hand.
Earth rite
“If you have an Earth Sigil amulet in play, it is automatically destroyed to activate Earth Rite effects. This can happen when cards with Earth Rite are played, evolved using an evolution point, or under other specified conditions.” If an earth sigil is not in play, then earth rite effects will not activate.
If there is an Earth Sigil in play when Juggling Moggy is played from the player’s hand, then the leftmost earth sigil is destroyed and Juggling Moggy becomes a 2 / 2 follower with Last Words: Summon 2 Earth Essences (which are Earth Sigils, with no additional effects). If there is not an Earth Sigil in play when Juggling Moggy is played, then it is a 1 /1 follower with no additional effects.
Resonance
“Resonance effects occur when your deck has an even number of remaining cards.” Like Overflow and Vengeance, Resonance is a state that is active when there is an even number of cards remaining in the deck. It is mostly Portalcraft cards that have effects that activate when Resonance is active.
Traits
In Shadowverse, in addition to being categorized by class and type(Follower, spell, amulet), cards can also have traits. Some traits are class-specific, while others can apply to cards from any class. Some effects will only affect cards with a certain trait.
Commander
A Swordcraft-exclusive trait that is applied to Followers and Amulets. There are less commander cards compared to Officer cards in Swordcraft. Commanders can often buff or otherwise affect Officer cards.
Officer
A Swordcraft-exclusive trait that is applied only to Followers (at the time of writing, to my knowledge). There are many swordcraft officer cards and tokens. These cards can have effects that only activate when an allied Commander is in play.
Levin
A Swordcraft-exclusive trait (at the time of writing) that is applied to Followers and Spells. Some Levin cards synergize with having other Levin cards in play, in your hand, or in your deck.
Earth sigil
Earth sigil is a Runecraft-exclusive trait applied to Amulets. Amulets with the trait “Earth Sigil” are destroyed to activate Earth Rite effects.
Mysteria
Mysteria is a trait almost exclusive to Runecraft. (The only exception is Grea the Dragonborn, a Dragoncraft card from the Rise of Bahamut set). Some Mysteria cards synergize with having played other Mysteria cards or having other Mysteria cards in your hand.
Artifact
Artifact is a trait exclusive to Portalcrat. Artifact cards are almost exclusively tokens. The only exception is Ralmia, Sonic Racer. Many cards synergize with different aspects of artifact cards.
Machina
Machina is a trait that is not exclusive to any class.
Natura
Natura is a trait that is not exclusive to any class.
Colloquialisms
Listed below are some less formal terms often used within the Shadowverse community to describe decks, plays, and other experiences surrounding the game.
Ramp
Gaining additional play point orbs other than the ones that you gain naturally with every new turn
Bounce
Return a card from the board to its owner’s hand
Smorc
Play very aggressively and only attack your opponent’s leader, ignoring their board and trying to get their health to 0 as fast as possible
Face
The leader. When targeting the opponent’s leader, this is often referred to hitting them in the face.
Tempo
Like tempo in music, tempo in Shadowverse can be described as keeping pace with the game, to specify it is using your play points effectively each turn and using your cards to maintain your position on the board. If your opponent has 4 followers on the board, and you only have 1, then you can be described as having lost tempo. Sometimes players will play cards even if they can’t activate their effects just to get more followers on the board and that is usually called playing for “tempo”. It is a somewhat abstract term that you learn and understand better the more you play the game.
Lethal
Having enough damage to reduce your opponent’s health to zero
Trade
Using your followers to destroy your opponent’s followers even if that means losing them in the process
Tutor
Cards that let you draw specific cards from your deck
Buff
Increase the attack or defense of a follower
Token
A card created another card. Typically, tokens are not a card that you can open in a card pack or put into a deck. For example, fairies are tokens. Fairies are created from other card effects, but you can not put the card “Fairy” into a deck.
OTK
Short for “One Turn Kill”. In Shadowverse, an OTK can be described as a turn where you can deal 20 damage to the opponent’s leader in one turn.
With the release of Darkness Over Vellsar came two very important cards in Anne Mysterian Imperatrix and Grea Scorching Fury. These two cards not only provide a reliable win condition via token generation i.e Rending Blast and Resentful Blaze, but also provide strong mid game board presence. They also provide utility by milling cards in order to get to twenty as well as healing and play point recovery via evolution. The deck has finally picked up steam after nerfs and with the meta slowing down as a result. The deck’s game plan is very straightforward and it usually wins in the same fashion regardless of match up. Stall the game with removal while gathering Anne and Grea’s spells. OTK the opponent using a combination of damage on turn eight or nine ideally with 5 cards in deck for increased damage.
II. Rotation
The deck lost Mystic Absorption with the rotation of World Uprooted, serving as both valuable removal and card draw. It would definitely still be relevant now especially with all the Last Words Shadow running amuck in the current meta game. But overall much of the deck still remains intact.
III. Decklist
The list is pretty standard some run three copies of retracing the past or copies of Crystal Fencer to spellboost. There are even other cards like Glimpse Beyond that you can run for added utility. For the most part you will see most lists are something like this just with different ratios of cards. The most common way to win is turn 8 with Elmott and two Rending Blasts
IV. Other Cards
Transcendent Simulacrum – can be used to further accelerate gameplan as well as getting Anne and Grea’s twenty or less effects especially going 2nd, but overall it is not necessary in my opinion you can mill very fast even without it
Magical Squirrel – Spellboost and draw, it’s a good card in this deck feel free to use it. It is definitely more standard alongside Elmott and Covenant Mage
Covenant Mage – Draws and can cost zero making it a good target for Rending Blast in the late game, but unfortunately does not spellboost
Elmott Pyrestarter – This card serves a similar purpose to Lynkal in that it helps you OTK more consistently, typically run at three copies
Crystal Fencer – used to spellboost both Runie and Elmott when under twenty cards, but can be played early
Glimpse Beyond – utility spell used to recover evo points for Anne and Grea ideally, can be run but is not necessary
VI. General Gameplan
Turns 1-4
Draw cards, gather combo pieces, and minimize damage with removal such as Riven Earth, Authoring Tomorrow, Aleister accelerate, etc.
Turns 5-7
Swing the board using Anne, Grea, or Aleister while using evos to mill cards from the deck. Continue to draw cards if possible in order to reach five.
Turns 8-10
OTK your opponent using any Rending Blasts, Resentful Blazes, Runies, and or Elmotts that you have accumulated over the course of the match.
VI. Tips and combos
If you evolve Grea she is only 1pp which allows you to play multiple spells or Annes in the mid or late game.
When duplicating either Anne or Grea make sure you have at most twenty-six cards in deck with evolution. Anne is preferred, try to play them only them to not copy the wrong card.
– Against classes that don’t heal evolving two Annes allows you to win even through a big board. Try to hit face with her effect if possible
– It is okay to evolve Aleister even if his evolve isn’t free his evolve mills the same number of cards as Anne and Grea. His accelerate can be used to mill 6-8 cards alongside them in the same turn.
– Don’t be afraid be afraid to use Runie for draw or removal in the early game, it doesn’t have to always be used for damage.
-Save a Crystal Witch or a Covenant Mage as a target for Rending Blast
VI. Matchups
Machina Portal (Favored) They don’t put on a ton of pressure early, although the armored tentacle can be quite annoying to deal with. You can burst them even if they play Belphomet on turn nine. Sometimes they do have double Absolute Tolerance in the mid game, but you should be favored most of the time.
Last Words Shadow (Slightly Unfavored) Celeste Omega shuts down your OTK and usually that one turn is enough to give them a good chance of winning but if they chain multiple it can be devastating. Try to create a large board in the mid game with Grea or Anne to dissuade them from playing it, but they can also just clear with Tyrant and play Celeste the next turn, if you are unable to kill them. Try to keep an answer to Celeste like Anne or Aleister
Evo Dragon (Favored) You should have time to set up OTK’s most of the time as the deck is fairly slow, some do run Archangel of Evocation which can make it quite awkward. Try to set up a large board in the mid game as it can be difficult for them to deal with, even with something like Georgius. Try to have a board in order to make Grimnir lethal less likely before 10 play point orbs in combination with Direstan.
Rune (Even) Against both Evo Rune and in the mirror you are both generally looking to race to OTK, more so in the mirror. Evo Rune is definitely more proactive in the early game so play accordingly. In both matchups the opponent will most likely not give you a target to Rending Blast so keeping Crystal Witch or Covenant Mage as a target in hand is a good idea. Likewise, try to leave an empty board if possible. In the mirror try to cast spells while developing followers if you have multiple copies as sometimes you will not have enough play points to play them all in one turn. Against Evo rune clearing a big board can be difficult especially without Vincent’s effect, If anything you can stall Grimnir lethal.
Sword (Unfavored) Against Rally Sword try your best to minimize damage and ideally copy Anne with Arcane Duplication. Authoring Tomorrow on even turns is very good in this matchup. It is okay to use Grea’s spell to clear boards especially if they invoked Fieran. They will usually always have a board so use Crystal Witch and Covenant Mage to cycle instead of saving them to Rending Blast. Against Bayleon Sword they usually can kill you faster than you can kill them. Anne is not always a reliable ward to counteract it unfortunately. Try to keep your health high as sometimes they are only able to deal eighteen damage. Grea’s spell can be used to kill Leod in either matchup which can be very useful.
Forest (Unfavoured) If they are going full in on the OTK they usually can just combo faster than you can. If they have Aria active it usually makes it very to clear any boards you do have. Using Grea evo to play alongside Anne in the same turn is usually very good. You can play out Grea’s spell to force out Sluggers if they haven’t played them already. Try to mill as fast as possible looking to kill them on turn seven or eight. Using Grea evo to play alongside Anne in the same turn is usually very good. You can play out Grea’s spell to force out Sluggers if they haven’t played them already. Try to mill as fast as possible looking to kill them on turn seven or eight.
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