Card Spotlight - Sky Anemone

Card Spotlight returns after the release of the Oversky Expansion. In this series we will investigate how the Oversky has shaped the Faeria landscape. Expect to read about old and new cards and discover what decks they can feature in. Included in every article is a video of these decks in action!

Sky Anemone

Sky Anemone is a unique card and currently one of a kind in Faeria. It’s the first Flying Structure but it can also be summoned anywhere on the board. It costs 0 Faeria and only requires two special lands in order to play. This card is incredible and has tremendous potential during a match but it has one major problem, it’s got a bad colour combination. Red Yellow currently has two archetypes; Burn and Events which limits it usage.

Red Yellow Burn has been a popular archetype in Faeria for a long time. Oversky tamed this explosive burn deck and we haven’t seen much of it recently. Red Yellow Burn has limited slots in it’s build. You need your Combat creatures, mobility and burn Events. In fact the nerf to Flash Wind has made this deck a lot slower. While Sky Anemone is a strong card it is hard to find a home for it in this archetype.

Tri-colour and quad-colour decks were amplified with the recent Oversky expansion. Powerful dual-colour creatures were released to encourage these deck types. It worked, we now have the powerful Green Blue Ramp and a couple of other decks that utilise cards like Oversky Towership and Sky Yak. You’ll notice that the Red Yellow combination hasn’t had much love since Oversky’s release. Red Yellow gained Rakoan Chieftan which has been used in more combo orientated strategies. Bringing Red and Yellow together is limited in these Oversky themed decks. Sky Anemone is a fantastic but is it worth building Mountains and/or Deserts for one card?

There is one deck that can utilise the power of the Sky Anemone and that is Red Yellow Events. Monthly Cup combatant SKC was brave enough to bring this archetype to our last monthly cup. It’s a slower, control style of Event decks unlike the explosive Yellow Tempo. Sky Anemone has a home here and fits perfectly with a control strategy.

Why play Sky Anemone?

Sky Anemone has a lot of uses in many situations. Let’s not forget that Sky Anemone costs nothing!

Protecting yourself from aggression. Sky Anemone isn’t restricted by land and can be played to stop your opponent from pushing damage. This is especially good against Yellow Rush because it either demands a full Wind Soldier or multiple hits from an Oradrim Monk.

The card also allows you push your advantage and lock down potential defenders. If you want to protect your own attackers you can drop an Anemone to stop your opponent’s creatures from interacting with them.

My favourite use for this card is stopping collection. The ability to summon on Sky Anemone on an ocean tile is amazing. If you’re opponent is trying to collect across the ocean (or anywhere) you can drop this structure and lock it in place. This could prevent the required Faeria for your opponent to make their most desired play on the following turn.

It’s unfortunate that Sky Anemone is a Red Yellow card. I believe if the card had a more attractive colour combination it would see more play. However, it fits perfectly in the Red Yellow Events archetype.

This deck was inspired by SKC’s recent Monthly Cup deck. SKC is a pioneer of innovative deck building and it wasn’t the first time I’d seen him pilot this archetype. I’ve come to really love this deck because of it’s flexibly. The deck has removal, mobility, taunt and a solid win condition. I like to play this deck like the old Yellow Control. Starve your opponent of Faeria and then swoop in for the win.

Conclusion

Sky Anemone is restricted by it’s colour combination but that could be temporary. Future expansions could push other Red Yellow archetypes which would allow Sky Anemone to shine. A free and flexible Taunt like this is such a great card and I look forward to it seeing more play.