Hey everyone! Now that we have been through all the mono-faction cards, it’s time to review the multifaction cards! Thankfully, there are much less multifaction cards this time round, so they all fit nicely into 1 article. The monofaction reviews can be found here: Fire, Time, Justice, Primal, Shadow. Before we jump into the final set review, lets just go over the rating system one more time!

Draft Rating Scale

For this new set, I’ve decided to adapt LSV’s rating scale (mainly for a reason that I’m keeping as a surprise xP). The lower half of the list is identical to LSV, while the top half is slightly different to better distinguish between 3.0/3.5/4.0/4.5 tiers.

5.0: Premium bomb, card that consistently dominates the game and is hard to answer. (Xenan Obelisk, Accelerated Evolution)

4.5: Bomb, card that usually dominates the game if unanswered. (Pillar of Amar, Mistveil Drake, Memory Dredger)

4.0: High impact card that often generate strong value or tempo. (Annihilate, Cobalt Monument, Ageless Mentor)

3.5: Premium playable that pulls you into a color. (Awakened Student, Minotaur Lighthoof, Morningstar)

3.0: Good playable that basically always makes the cut. (Stormcrasher, Rebel Sharpshooter, Striped Araktodon)

2.5: Solid playable that rarely gets cut. (Stalwart Shield, Awakened Sentinel, Blinkwolf)

2.0: Good filler, but sometimes gets cut. (Alchemical Blast, Refresh, Thunderhoof Warrior)

1.5: Filler. Gets cut about half the time. (Amaran Camel, Amber Ring, Safe Return)

1.0: Bad filler. Gets cut most of the time. (Boltcrafter Shaman, Cirso’s Meddling, Plifer)

0.5: Very low-end playables and sideboard material. (Viper’s Bite, Decay, Centaur Outrider)

0.0: Completely unplayable. (A New Tomorrow, Mating Call, Forgotten Find)

Multi-faction Cards (And some faction-less)

Crests

Draft rating: 2.0 (3.5 if fully on-faction, 2.0 for half on-faction, 0.5 for off-faction)

You almost always run crests over a sigil as long as it is half on. The depleted condition is not the largest drawback, and scouting is definitely worth the exchange. A dual on-faction crest not only provides fixing, it also scouts! I generally pick crests at 2.0 for the first pack and adjust my rating accordingly for the 4th pack when I’ve figured out my factions.

Common Cause

Draft Rating: 0.5

This card is not really fixing because the odds of having 2 units of the same type in your hand is not very favorable early on, and even worse later on. If you run the numbers through a hypergeometric calculator, even with 7 units of the same type, you have less than 30% chance of having both in your starting hand. It improves slightly on the draw, but regardless, the reality is you are often playing this card without gaining an influence. The 0.5 is only there for the one in a thousand case where you hit like 10+ units of the same type, in which case this card is worth playing.

Family Charter

Draft Rating: 1.5

This card just feels very vanilla to me. A 1 power scout is very mediocre, but the payoff at 6 power is pretty alright (7 power for 2.5 cards). I expect this card to be mostly played in more durdly decks that usually drag the game on for long. That said, this is a good cheap relic that goes well into relic matters decks and activating cards like Monolith Guardian.

Mysterium Orb

Draft Rating: 0.5

In some very synergistic deck, I can see this card being super impactful. However, in general, I think the only reason to play this card is if you have a decent number of sentinels, in which case the second part of the card text is extremely powerful. The overwhelm is important in helping your giant sentinels push through damage (otherwise they will just get chump blocked for days). That said, this card loses points because Scourstone Sentinel already has it’s own overwhelm.

Monolith Guardian

Draft Rating: 2.0

This card is extremely swingy. A turn 4 7/7 can easily run away with the game, but it can also easily get silenced or you whiff on a relic. I generally want at least 5 decent relics in my deck before I am happy to play this card.

Whirling Duo

Draft Rating: 3.5

This card is A-MAZING. 3 power 3/3 is already alright, add on charge and lifesteal, you got a game-winner here. I’ve even tempted to give it a 4.0 because of the combination of the 2 keywords is very back-breaking, allowing you to generate a 6 health swing out of thin air and can upset race calculations.

Tinker Dronedropper

Draft Rating: 4.0

Remember how irritating Memory Dredger was to play against? Well, this is Dredger’s little sister, generating a 1/1 chump blocker instead of a 2/2. The influence requirements is a bit steep (which might make me wary of picking this over other 4.0s p1p1), but the card definitely has legs. A 3/4 flier in a world of 3/3 or smaller fliers is also really good.

Kaleb, Reborn

Draft Rating: 3.5

A 4 power 4/4 seems just good, but the blowout potential with the text and fast spells is real. More importantly, the ultimate is crazy gas late game, allowing you to shuffle your whole hand of useless sigils into your deck for more gas. That said, skycrag isn’t really a faction to get into board stalls and go late to abuse Kaleb’s ultimate, so I’m docking a 0.5 for that.

Iceberg Warchief

Draft Rating: 3.0

A 5/4 for 5 is serviceable, and giving all your other yetis +1 attack is very powerful in the yeti tribal. This is a great card in the Yeti tribal and I definitely won’t be unhappy with multiple copies of Iceberg Warchief in my yeti deck.

Auric Record Keeper

Draft Rating: 4.0

3 power, 5/5 worth of stats. If you want a card to represent vanilla big stuff, this is THE card. Playing this on turn 3 can often just allow you to run away with the game. The only drawback of this card is that it isn’t that great in the late game, making it a 4.0 instead of a 4.5.

Shush

Draft Rating: 1.0

The silence other copies effect isn’t relevant most of the time in draft (but occasionally, hitting multiple copies something like Valkyrie Arcanist or Vainglory Patrol is really feelsgoodman). You mainly play this card as a 3 power fast speed silence, and also as a way to deal with troublesome fliers.

Scaletender

Draft Rating: 2.5

The only Elysian card in this Set is not that amazing unfortunately. Getting 2 3/3s for a total of 7 power is just alright (especially given that it is situational). My mental comparison is to that of Yeti Troublemaker, but it is important to note that 3 health is significantly better than 2 health.

Deepwood Ranger

Draft Rating: 2.5

A 4/4 for 5 doesn’t seem all that great, but a 6/6 for 5, or even a 8/8 for 5 is reasonably likely with at least 6 units with 2 or more battle skills. That is a rate that I am definitely happy with. However, the question remains whether you CAN draft that many battle skills units and the jury is still out regarding that.

Eilyn, Clan Mother

Draft Rating: 5.0

Eilyn has a badass art, and the badass stats to back it up. A 7 power 6/7 endurance flier? Yes please! Throw on 2 free silences? Woots! Now, an ultimate to give it +2/+2 and is close to a one-sided harsh rule? If this isn’t the definition of a bomb, I don’t know what is. I know that dying to a single removal for a 7 cost card is a strong deterrent for giving it a 5.0, but even if Eilyn gets removed pre-ultimate, you have already gotten value from the 2 silences. Moreover, I think it will be hard to imagine a game in which you activate Eilyn’s ultimate and lose.

Recycler

Draft Rating: 3.0

A 2/2 for 3 seems lackluster, but a 2/2 for 3 that draws you a +3/+2 weapon WITH overwhelm is very powerful. Given that you always dictate which units to swing and block with, you will almost always get value from Recycler’s ultimate unless your opponent burns a removal on it. The 2 health means that it dies to cards like Into the Furnace, Heroic Bravo and Outlands Sniper, and the main reason this card isn’t a 3.5 or 4.0. Another notable drawback is that this card is pretty bad on an empty board.

Vicious Highwayman

Draft Rating: 4.0

You almost always get the first turn of 4/2 Lifesteal, Quickdraw and Warcry with the summon ping. That is already a 8 health swing. If that’s not enough of an argument to play Vicious Highwayman, the fact that you can reactivate quickdraw with any removal (including fast speed ones), makes him one of the hardest and most dangerous 4-drops to block with.

Failed Reflection

Draft Rating: 3.0

This is a turn 6, 8/8 that costs 1 unit. That grows to a 12/12, and a 16/16 (if you want to). It is rarely going to get out-sized on the ground, likely only dying to deadly and hard removal. That said, no removal means he can get chump blocked for days. Thus, I would definitely prioritize Overwhelm or Evasion mechanics if I am running this card.

Duskwalker

Draft Rating: 3.5

This card is Striped Araktodon with an upside! The +2 Maximum power can potentially allow you to ramp out a huge 7-cost threat on turn 5, which makes for an enormous tempo swing. The nightfall could also matter if you are playing night matters cards (Winter’s Grasp, Baying Serasaur)

Agile Deathjaw

Draft Rating: 1.5

This is a pretty neat card in the dinosaur tribal. However, the problem is that most of the dinosaurs are in Elysian and shadow is very light on dinosaurs. Thus, I have strong doubts about Xenan getting there with dinosaurs. Outside of dinosaurs, a 5 power 3/3 with Ambush at Night is not that impressive.

Inquisitor’s Halberd

Draft Rating: 3.0

The valkyrie ally text might occasionally matter, but importantly, any interaction is good interaction in this format. Also, 3 attack is the sweet spot for removing fliers, since the bulk of them have less than 3 health.

Rooftop Vigilante

Draft Rating: 4.0

Don’t be fooled by the valkyrie appearance, this card is so much more potent and powerful in the gunslinger tribal. Remember First-shot Rioter? Or Steady Marshal? Or all the other weapons you’ve picked up along the way? Now they all have deadly thanks to Rooftop Vigilante. This card is unbelievably impactful in all stages of the game and the only drawback is it’s vulnerability.

Crownwatch Traitor

Draft Rating: 4.0

A 5/3 quickdraw on offense, a 3/5 endurance on defense. What more can you ask out of your 4-drops? The text seems gimmicky at first, but it makes sense and makes Crownwatch Traitor an extremely powerful card on both offense and defense.

Skywalk Enforcer

Draft Rating: 2.5

A 1/4 flier for 3 is a reasonable rate, and with any curse, it grows to a powerful 3/4 flier. Notably, 4 health bounces most of the fliers as they have 3 attack. I think that a lot of people undervalue this card because they feel that they lack the curse to trigger it, but a 1/4 flier on its own is already decently playable.

Rindra, the Duskblade

Draft Rating: 4.0

4 power 5/5s are great, and getting both lifesteal and overwhelm at night is very powerful. This card is extremely solid and would definitely be an all-star in a night matters deck.

Curiox, Insatiable Seeker

Draft Rating: 2.0

That is some crazy influence requirements. BUT if you manage to hit it, Curiox is extremely powerful. A 5/5 or even 7/7 flier can easily take over the game. The ultimate is not really going to be relevant in draft because of the much lower spell density. Ultimately, whether Curiox sees play or not depends on how viable 3f decks are. I’m not 100% sold on it, but I do think a heavy time deck with multiple trail makers could potentially provide a good foundation for Curiox.

Conclusion

And that wraps up the entire set review! Well, that was certainly a ride and the multifaction cards made for a nice ending to the entire business, with quite a few high power cards! Let me know what you think in the reddit thread! Also, the brand new draft tier list will be revealed within the next 2 days! Stay tuned for that!

The Dusk Road Beckons,

Flash2351

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