JustAddBacon Introduction
Howdy y’all! This is everyone’s favorite sleep-deprived content creator, other than MissasaurusRex, bringing forth a very fresh look at the brand new cards released for Skyweaver in the 12/22 patch stream. This is the first time we’ve gotten new cards since Nocturna, which happened well over a couple months ago, and also the first time we are getting new cards in the soft-launch era. Despite the advice of some of my editors, I have decided to write this article, reviewing these cards as fast as possible. To ensure that these takes are as fresh and hot as possible, I have committed myself to writing them all in two sittings, (one proved impossible) before they are even added to the game! Will some be on point? Maybe. Will some be god-awful? More likely. In any case, I am super excited to bring this to y’all, so let’s dig in!
{{Ari's Insight}}
5/5
First things first, this is a huge nerf to {{Zam}} decks and I am all here for that. But before I talk about why, I need to explain just how powerful this spell is. {{Ari’s Insight}} is a 1-mana draw spell in Intellect. As a general rule, 1-mana draw can never be too bad because of the strength of consistency it brings. If the draw is also targeted, then it’s even more consistent. What makes {{Ari’s Insight}} so powerful is that it is a 1-mana targeted draw that can hit any card in your deck on command. Cards like {{Eldritch Lore}} and {{Cast in Chrome}} are already known to be strong, so this ought to be no different. Additionally, its placement in Intellect allows it to pair with fairly good cards like {{Angler}} and {{Cross Reference}}. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that the existence of {{Ari’s Insight}} improves these cards in comparison, more so than the other way around.
Where {{Ari’s Insight}} gets really interesting in my opinion is its applications in practice. First off, I imagine this card is an auto-include for Banjo {{Etherwail}}, and it has only further committed {{Etherwail}} to being most optimal in Banjo, as it is a backup option to find either {{Etherwail}} or {{Gift of Aya}}. Moreover, this essentially becomes a better {{Eldritch Lore}} when its cost is reduced by cards like {{Orchid}}. In short, this is a must-have for combo decks in Intellect, like {{Zam}} OTK.
Speaking of {{Zam}}, {{Zam}} actually takes a major hit with {{Ari’s Insight}} increasing the number of counterplay options against its deck. With the current card pool, Mai is capable of running a fairly good aggressive Unophobia list. I specifically call out Mai here because her card pool only has one 10 mana card. Strength has {{Titanic}}, Wisdom has {{Touch the Sky}}, and Heart has both {{Undragon}} and {{Grave Roil}}. Agility has no 10-cost card, meaning the only 10-mana option for Mai is {{Iron Mask}}, which, among other things, gives your hero armor. Given that Mai can run Ari’s Insight (she can, I’ll bet on it), this means that in any Zam matchup Mai can consistently equip armor on turn 11, which essentially invalidates Zam’s ability to produce lethal. For this reason, I am in love with Ari’s Insight, and now consider Zam in a tournament setting to be very risky.
{{Disciple of Gusto}}
4/5
In short, this card is terrifying. As I have previously mentioned in my guide to Heatwave, the deck thrives on two key strengths: hard-to-answer units (be they safe like {{Sky Keeper}} or sticky like {{Songrider}}) and continuous, mounting pressure. This card provides both of these on a new and useful position on Heatwave’s curve and also works to remedy one of the biggest weaknesses of Heatwave (see my guide on Heatwave for an explanation.) Between this and one other new unit, I think Heatwave is ready to start exploring new mix-up based approaches as the deck becomes less formulaic. So what actually makes this card so scary? Well, the combo of Stealth and Banner has historically proven strong, as evidenced by cards like {{Gato}} and {{Cube Jr.}} losing this in previous nerfs and weak cards like {{Meranda}} receiving it as sizable buffs after histories of weakness. At four cost, it is a bit less dangerous, though 4 mana banner units can and are still generally useful, looking at cards like cards like {{Cleo}} and {{Miss Aya}}. Whether or not {{Disciple}} is as sticky as them, or more, will affect the strength of this card, but I’ll wager that Stealth + Shroud will be sticky enough for many patches to come. Answers certainly exist ({{Waterline}}, {{Seal of Doom}}, {{Salvage}}, {{Volcanic Blast}}, {{Chain Storm}}, and potentially {{It’s A Trap}}) but those options are already pressed versus Heatwave, and having to drop them just to answer a {{Disciple of Gusto}} is quite unfavorable for the opponent.
With that said, why would they bother to answer {{Disciple}}? Several reasons. First off, this carries buffs almost as hard as my editors carry my articles. {{Glorious Mane}} and {{Flame Sword}} both pair strongly with this, and the classic pocket sand follows this on curve. Additionally, Disciple’s text effect allows the user to take full advantage of other powerful Agility tools like {{Grim Reprisal}}, {{Firesight}}, or {{Flock}} without the recoil damage. Depending on how things shake out, it may also work well with {{Anoint in Flame}} and {{Samya’s Speed}}, which I’ll be covering later in this piece.
Hypothetically, I could see some limitations for {{Disciple}}. It can get eaten up in aoe or sniped by things like {{Backstab}} or {{Lightning Vial}}. It also, like many units in Heatwave, doesn’t trade into other units at the most efficient rate. Fox, however, has {{Stone Fist}}, which is currently a busted spell. A 5-cost 5/6 with Stealth and Shroud is very rarely going anywhere, and I don’t suspect good players of Heatwave will neglect the power that Disciple brings to the table.
{{Grasping Maiden}}
4/5
{{Grasping Maiden}} is certainly the oddest card of the bunch, although something tells me the design team would be rather pleased to hear that comment. I don’t have any particularly strong opinions on Maiden, so I’m going to reduce its description to two main points 1.) this is yet another overstated Wisdom unit, which we all know that constructed and discovery definitely needed. 3/6 Guard and Barrier body is large, and at 5-cost it is unlikely to be going anywhere easily, and 2.) this card is terrifying as a turn 3 play because you can delete someone’s entire board with it. Turn 3 {{Squiddy}}? Mana Potion into {{Mushka}}? An early {{Hive}}? Anything without lead is likely to get black-holed, and the Wisdom player can likely follow-up with simple aoe spells when Maiden is busted open. However, this card doesn’t seem to be doing anything exceptionally broken , which places it below average when compared to other Wisdom cards. In a prism like Agility, this would be much higher 4/5 or maybe even a 5/5. It’s good, but it’s competing in a tougher field.
One other aspect of this card is the meme potential, given that Ari put a lot of thought into how this card interacts with copy effects. If a Maiden is copied, the copy will also summon the dusted unit on death. The applications for this only seem really apparent in Banjo, but I don’t think there’s much of a reason at the moment. Why not just use the copy spell on the original target?
{{Ada's Valor}}
3/5
I’m sure Kiru will correct me if this ends up being wrong, but I’m pretty sure this is a nerf to Strength in Discovery. Constructed, on the other hand, will certainly enjoy having a more tactical option. 3 mana to do 3 damage is not a bad rate (see: {{Burn to a Crisp}}, {{Cryogen’s Ire}}), though the card will need to bring something more to justify itself over options like {{Strike Down}}, {{Snap Trap}}, {{Whisk Away}}, and {{Water Rune}}. Frankly, I don’t see aoe Blind being that strong here, but spells that generate evasion have proven to be fairly useful in other card games. Having Ada’s Valor locked in Strength prevents some of the more dangerous threats from pairing with it easily, but it may also work well on curve as an insurance policy against board-based removal.
{{Bouran's Ethos}}
4/5
While this patch may have knocked Zoey aggro down a couple of pegs due to {{Wall of Dead}}’s rework, I would actually argue that Heart as a whole has received a huge buff with the addition of this card to the game. Heart generally has a weakness to units with Armor, as many of its powerful units (e.g. {{Doom Shroom}}, {{Allbane}}, and {{Flame Phoenix}}) generally and many of their spells focus on smaller chunks of damage. While options had previously existed (like {{Twisted Metal}} and {{Chain Storm}}), only a few were well suited in dealing with this weakness. With Ethos, however, now we not only have a reliable tool for answering units like {{Gladiator}}, {{Heavy Cavalry}}, {{Geode}}, or {{Mighty Steed}}, but we can also consistently tutor it. At a baseline level, dark is probably the most searchable element in the game due to fate. Secondarily, cards like {{Carrion Crow}} and {{Dark Adept}} now have a strong and reliable higher-end target to hit, as opposed to key cards like {{Wall of Dead}}.
As an example, I want to highlight how well Ethos fits into Horik decks. Secretly, Horik control decks had an issue with recurring armor units, such as Cavalry, Geode and Steed. Their primary answer for these things was options like {{Sunder}}, {{Chain Storm}}, {{Titanic}}, or {{Chill}} + {{Funeral Moon}}. These options, however, were often pressed to address other issues, weren’t reliable enough to rely on, or could simply fall flat. Ethos not only helps patch up this weakness without compromising the aggro matchup, but also synergizes well with the deck. Ethos’s second ability allows it to be burned for health, which is invaluable for a deck that tends to go +1 on every unit. Overall, this card adds a lot to Heart’s options, and will be frequently considered for deckbuilding.
{{Oni Smith}}
5/5
I really hope this card isn’t busted because I think there is a convincing case to say that it certainly is. I’m not there yet, but I do recognize it. Oni checks basically all the boxes for a midrange unit that Fox could want: it is a decent ball of stats and keywords with immediate board presence. Compared to {{Void Knight}}, it has the same cost, guard, a +2/+2 stat buff option, no recoil, and a 2 damage wither option, all at the cost of 1 less damage and no aura. On top of all of that, Smith is a 4-mana fire unit, meaning {{On the Hunt}} will never hit it before a more important target like {{Hot Dog}} and will find it before deleting attachments on key pieces like {{Vlad}}. All and all, there’s not much to say other than the fact that it appears to be a very strong card.
{{Samya's Speed}}
3/5
{{Samya’s Speed}}, while perhaps the most poorly-named of the bunch (Compared to Valor, Reflection, Ethos, and Insight, “Speed” just sounds weak) presents a very well designed spell for Agility, filling in key niches that were previously missing. Perhaps most importantly, Agility’s premier spell-searcher {{Lau Sensei}} previously lacked strong Agility targets; while targets like {{Strike Down}}, {{Whisk Away}}, and {{Toil and Trouble}} exist, these options are not available to Mono-Agility aggro. Although Speed is certainly not going to be as effective as these cards, it scales well with Banner effects and is enabled by cards like the aforementioned {{Lau Sensei}} and {{Anoint in Flame}}.
In fact, this can be used to quickly enable {{Anoint in Flame}}. Heatwave in particular may find great advantage from this spell, since it can easily produce Banner and reduce the cost of Speed. Whether or not that will be worth the recoil, I am somewhat doubtful. Outside of Heatwave, the only place I see this working is in Mono-Agility, but it may find a good niche.
{{Lotus's Reflection}}
4/5
This card is prime grief material. A 4-cost card that draws two is a little weak when compared to cards like {{Crystal Cache}} and {{Tempest Brew}}, but its other effects are what make it very powerful. Banking two mana has already been proven to be strong ({{Rosewater Charm}}), but also drawing and then secretly copying a spell is nothing but bad news for the opponent. Skyweaver is a game designed around the singleton format, and every other copying effect has a limiter on it, most of which are either cost or stats (like in {{Illusion}}, {{Manage Memory}}, and {{Evermore}}). Reflection, however, is doing copies unconditionally, and without revealing the drawn and copied card. For the rest of the game, or until your hand is revealed, your opponent may now have to play around 2 copies of {{Seal of Doom}}, {{Touch the Sky}}, or any other relevant threat. Of course, you could just drop the copy, and it’s just a fair-and-balanced {{Mr. Whiskers}}, but even then, you still get a lot of value from the spell.
One place I really expect this card to shine is in {{Floodwater}} decks for Banjo. Banjo’s floodwater already plays rather high on the curve, can use strong cost reduction like {{Sea Mage}}, {{Orchid}}, or {{Magnanimous}}, and is rife with abusable targets such as {{Shell Officer}}, {{Deepus}}, {{Krakus}}, TTS ({{Touch the Sky}}), and (especially) Floodwater. Personally, I don’t think the double Floodwater will ever be game-breaking, but it does essentially guarantee the Banjo player infinite cards and 0 OOD damage, along with infinitely-looped removal and healing. Expect to see this in a lot of Wisdom decks.
{{Mercurial Mimic}}
3/5
Honestly, I don’t have incredibly high hopes for this card. I’m sure it’ll be fine, but the high-roll scenarios don’t seem likely to be relevant. For this card to be strong, you either need a unit that’s been buffed beyond 4/4, or is a unit with a statline worth a 5 mana investment. Simply put, the number of times that happens verus most decks is rather rare, so the better hope for this card is targeting an ally. Here, we may have better hope, but for anything worth targeting you’ll need it to either be played on the same turn or for it to last a turn. That seems like too much risk to me, so I don’t expect this to make the cut for lists like Mira Metal.
Pharonis
4/5
Pharonis is the light finisher Heart has been wanting for a long time, and it does its job rather well. Immediate board presence is perhaps the most important aspect of a finisher, and while it’s no {{Titanic}}, the number of effective responses to {{Pharonis}} is rather small. Units like {{Titanic}} and {{Gusto}} can respond, while spells like {{Frigid Blizzard}}, {{Burninate}}, and {{Sunder}} can either partially or wholly answer this. Pulling from the bottom is strong for this card, as Heart has other ways to cycle through the graveyard pile ({{Undergrowth}}, {{Temple Watch}}, {{Unfallow}}), meaning it is more likely to find units with strong effects like {{Cleo}}, {{Casket}}, or {{Temple Watch}}. Aside from that, the Guard on the resurrection target and the Shield on Pharonis give this card a greater than expected amount of safety, meaning it will be an effective player.
One last spot I saw discussed for this unit was perhaps in either Sitti Cheat or Axel Etherwail Decks. Needless to say, I have some opinions on this. Sitti Cheat is a deck that revolves around the interactions between {{Puppet Master}}, {{Wartlock}}, {{Hydrex}}, and {{Undragon}}. The key synergy here is utilizing powerful death effects way ahead of schedule, and I don’t see {{Pharonis}} working for this. It does nothing as a target for {{Wartlock}} and can potentially be a dud for {{Puppet Master}}. As for {{Etherwail}}, I think there is a much stronger case for this unit. Axel Etherwail decks already take advantage of {{Ancients Rise}}, and–as long as it doesn’t come down first–{{Pharonis}} won’t be short on targets. Whether or not this is practical will be hard to say, but I am certain it will be a considerable option.
Closing
Did I get everything right? Of course I did, I have never been wrong. However, if you, dear reader, for some strange reason believe I did, be sure to leave it in the comments below. Special thanks to Zygote and the Skyweaverleagues team for helping me get this article done so fast, and also massive thanks to the Horizon team for giving us such a wonderful addition to the game. I wish y’all a Merry Christmas, and happy hunting in Sky.
Just Add Bacon is a callously comical player of the Skyweaver community, working on projects between SkyStreamers, Skyweaver Leagues, State of the Sky, and his own personal team, Fox Fang. He is also very active in the competitive scene, holding the Grandweaver constructed rank and Masters between his accounts and three tournament wins of his own, along with 2nd in two of the most recent leagues. His favorite decks are Horik Control and Fox Aggro. “Basically, anything I can put a dragon or fox into. Or both.”
