A new expansion has arrived, and with it the explosion of new ideas. Immortal Vanguard also brings us a new mechanic in Build, while also adding a brand new General for each of our factions! Let’s jump in with some decks and some interesting plans for the Johnny-inclined. (If the names feel unfamiliar, Here’s a link to all the cards from the new expansion.)



A quick word – the average power level of ‘strong’ cards has risen, with this set and all other previous expansions being now available together, so laddering failure for Johnny style decks is at an all-time high. A lot of these decks also fold to Plasma Storm, so that is fun. Press on though, and you will find *something* that works for you!

(I had this article half-written but got disappointed by the state (mostly) Magmar cards were released in, resulting in no motivation to write – so now is a good time to finish it.)

Lyonar

A concept that I’ve been enamoured with for a long time is genuine Heal-Burn. Zir’An has a chipping tempo style affair with Gold Vitriol, Sunriser and Hallowed Ground which is quite good, but I’ve always felt the ‘Shadow Priest’ emanating out of Argeon, so the addition of Sunstrike makes this an interesting prospect. Bloodbound Mentor is one of my favourite cards from the expansion for its versatility and toughness, making a good backup plan out of Roar. Pause and have a look at the individual images in the player below for an idea of how it all threatens to work.

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A re-imagining of my Wholly Immolation concept from way back in 2015 (Old timers will remember a deck called Firestorm pioneered by Elithrion, and my version was with Flameblood Warlocks, Twilight Sorcerers, Alcuin Loremasters, Manaforgers, Sabrespine Tigers… and just 3 Holy Immolation as the spells) and now seems like the time when it becomes a fun tier 2 type of deck to play when you get the need to try something unconventional yet thematically Lyonar. Use Trinity Oath liberally, especially since you’ll usually have used a Flameblood or attacked something, and it should often cost less than 4. Lucent Beam is rotating out, so this iteration of the deck won’t last long, sadly. Enjoy it while you can!

Expansion Competitive Impact:

Unrelated to the expansion itself but very relevant – Sabrespine Tiger now costs 4. This change along with the heavy push from CPG towards empowering swarm decks for Lyonar result in Surgeforger and Fealty being the cards to look out for, while Sunstrike is playable. Swarmy Titan Brome would be my pick for top success.

Creative Impact:

Steadfast Formation is a safe pick for Arcanyst decks, Oakenheart for mechs, Sunbond Pavise and Dauntless Advance fit well in swarm and Decorated Enlistee can dodge Plasma Storm. Ironcliffe Monument is a very flavourful card, but it is best not relied upon. Something for everything, but nothing crazy.

Dud prediction:

Call to Arms seems like it was made for a different, slower tactical game and being dispellable does it no favours.

Expansion Rating: 2/Magmar

Magmar

Now that we have the *actual* expansion with (relatively speaking) the correct costs for the new cards, I can post the deck I rather liked as a slight evolution of my old Twin Fangs deck. The concept is pretty simple – gain Twin Fangs procs with the help of cards such as Flash Reincarnation, Kujata, Blistering Skorn, Elucidator and Catalyst Quillbeast – but the execution is what makes this deck fun and challenging, and with a new twist. Enter Effulgent Infusion. (Hidden Quest: Try to ascertain if the in-game image below is lethal – answered later)

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This allows a few combos with cards in the deck already, and Twin Fangs effectively doubles its own damage with it. The highest damage potential is with Vaath, and you can run a secondary Drogon engine with Cryptographers alongside, which I tried out above. I prefer running it in Starhorn, because your opponents tend to stay out of your attack range as Vaath (I wonder why) and thus the effectiveness of the combo is reduced, as often only your minion gets to attack. The ‘clever’ part of the deck is exploiting the fear from Natural Selection, Lavslasher and Decimus – by running none of them, creating room for the combo instead. The deck is best utilised as a mix-up tool on ladder between actually running proper DeciHorn or MidVaath to avoid the regulars from reading you!

Expansion Competitive Impact:

Well – 3 Duelyst Melees won by Midrange Magmar, a bunch of fairly harsh words and a patch later, we can think about a slightly tweaked Saurian Finality being a strong component of a Solo Vaath archetype and Homeostatic Rebuke (which in my opinion, is still a card that should not see the light of day as a Magmar spell altogether) is not comically under-costed anymore. Erratic Raptyr and Gigaloth could see play purely because of how oppressive both can become, but the ‘golem’ package is still strong enough to be the primary go-to setup. Armada is not seeing enough play, but I still expect this to be an occasional pain in the neck for high-end games.

Creative Impact:

Largely favouring Ragnora in this department, being both new and perhaps coming in with the strongest Bloodbound Spell of the new pack, cards like Rage Reactor, Pupabomb and Embryotic Inisight combine well with older (soon-to-rotate-out) cards like Morin-Khur, Wild Inceptor and Lava Lance. Effulgent Infusion, as above, should tickle the fancy of Bloodrage players (Akurane regularly hits S rank with it), while Seismoid is a Mechhorn staple. Progenitor is average with snowball potential, and Biomimetic Hulk is one of the rare Build minions worth a mention.

Dud prediction: Upper Hand is a curious mismatch given Magmar’s excellent ability to either remove completely or deal minion damage alongside a friendly body.

Expansion Rating: Magmar/Magmar



Vanar

Finally, 7 mana Ghost Seraphim into Flawless Reflection is dead. The level of punishment received for leaving two Luminous Charges or Gravity Wells alive and removing everything else, to be killed from 16hp next turn while also navigating your position to avoid Aspect of Shim’Zar + Thunderhorn blowouts was just too darn high. Well, the expansion brought support to Infiltrate and Vespyr-focused decks, and the Arcanyst set-up continues to thrive, so I felt like testing out relatively cheap no-Epic+ decks alongside a proper version for Vespyr Kara and Arcanyst Ilena. Pause and check for the finishing moves in both game images below for a quick idea.

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Arcanyst Vanar decks are nothing new if you’ve been around circa Ancient Bonds – but the unlimited acquisition of cards from that expansion now allows for a very cheap and effective Arcanyst setup utilising Ilena and her cheaper stun synergy cards. The completed Arc Ilena takes some inspiration from Minmaxer, who played high-level Arc Kara for months. Vespyr Kara on the other hand, has usually been under-par. The new support does not make it top-tier, but there is a lot to like about the minion buff and buff-synergy cards. A proper *stunning* Ilena is probably still a little ways away, perhaps coming into her own with the next expansion.

Expansion Competitive Impact:

More of a ‘Patch 1.93’ Impact, in many ways, as Ghost Seraphim took a little tumble from its high position on the pantheon of 7 mana minions. This came after a general feeling that IV did not add anything that would be a strong competitive staple – cards were aimed more at fleshing out synergies and the neutral newcomers did not reveal anything bigger than Repeating-BBS Faie/Kara with Bloodbound Mentor, and Aspect of Shim’zar into Deceptib0t to summon S.I.L.V.E.R.

Creative Impact:

Ilena gets a mish-mash of synergy, but it is not immediately obvious what the best combination of cards is, among Essence Sculpt, Cryoblade and Shatter. On the other hand, Animus Plate, Crystalline Reinforcement and Wintertide are all Kara-friendly, Reinforcement also working well with the Mentor-BBS spam style decks. Denadoro is a blatant attempt at trying to make Infiltrate work as a standalone archetype, but it does not seem to be enough. Kara and Faie gain extra utility with Hydrogarm. Draugar Eyolith is the most expensive Build minion, which makes it a risky play in any deck, but the immediate slowing effect is sometimes worth a punt.

Dud prediction: The well-named Auroraboros is a curious concept. If you went wide, your swarm benefits from pay-off like Razorback, not something that ‘tries again’. If you went tall, you could spend the 5 mana on other single large creatures. So, who wants it?

Expansion Rating: 2/Magmar

That’s all for the first part of a rather delayed set review – the second part should be following soon, looking at the other three factions, as well as Build and the new Mechs. Adios for now

– and if you scrolled down here for the Maath quest –

Elucidator (4) – Flash (0) – Quillbeast (1) – Overload (1) – Effulgent on Elu (3) – 9 mana

Vaath goes from 10 to 12 – 14 – 19 – 23

Elucidator goes from 5 to 24 – the last 4 atk that Vaath gets from Infusion triggering Quillbeast (dealing 1 damage to itself and Elu) only occurs on Twin Fangs and not on the Elucidator since the attack gain is post-Infusion, so it is one off from lethal!

Feels. Bad. Man.