This card review covers the initial impressions of a bunch of Socks on all the cards in Set 2.2 and is meant as a conversation starter and springboard for your own deck considerations. If you disagree with anything said or have something else to add let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page.

We’re trying out a card rating system this time, which was requested by many readers after the Set 2.1 Roundtable Review. The scale is 1-10 with 1 being Unplayable, 5 being Playable, and 10 being a must-play when using that faction. Each card has a combined value and individual values are listed along with commentary when offered.

Tempys

Razortooth Stalker

Tempys, Common, Creature, Dinosaur, Mobility

Constructed: 6/10 | Draft: 9/10

evilweevil666: Being a terrible blocker makes it worse than many people think. It’s great when you’re executing your gameplan, but you won’t always be able to do that. This weakness is amplified in constructed, as Razortooth cannot block underleveled and isn’t good enough to be a huge priority. C4/D8

Darkhands: Big Dumb Animals needed another move creature that grew. C6

Telamoniades: Mobility is going to become a competitive archetype and Razortooth will be involved when that happens. In draft, it’s everything an aggressive deck could want, although it’s not something you’ll be too excited to see in hand if you’ve fallen behind. C6/D9

Prototype0: Razortooth demands an answer. C5/D10

Tchungpo: Levels 2 and 3 are very strong. Great for rush decks. C7

Spiritfrost Shaman

Tempys, Common, Creature, Human, Rank-up

Constructed: 3/10 | Draft: 7/10

Telamoniades: Definitely a draft card. Tempys sorely needs more high-powered underdrops and having this card at common helps fill that role. C5/D7

Prototype0: Great blocker in draft that follows the rule of six. C2/D7

evilweevil666: The stats make Spiritfrost function best as an underdrop that can potentially block higher level plays, but this means it will very rarely stick around to trigger. C2/D7

Ximane: Easily killed by underleveled creatures. C3/D6

Darkhands: C4

Ice Torrent

Tempys, Rare, Spell, Free

Constructed: 3/10 | Draft: 1/10

Darkhands: No deck except Stasis Warden wants this card. Aerial Surge is a better Tempys goes-free. C1

Telamoniades: Ice Torrent will either be very important or do nothing at all. It’s a constructed engine card, potentially good if a deck that wants this effect comes together. It probably can’t be played unless there is a way to level the first one for free. All but useless in draft. C4/D2

Prototype0: C1/D2

Tchungpo: The damage output is too weak to make Ice Torrent a threat. Still, I like it and will probably try it in some brews. C5

evilweevil666: This card is unplayable. C1/D1

Ximane: Ice Torrent could become a playable card in a combo deck when the card pool grows. C3/D1

Flamebreak Invoker

Tempys, Heroic, Creature, Fire, Giant

Constructed: 7/10 | Draft: 5/10

Telamoniades: Anything that can result in a one-sided board wipe is powerful, and Flamebreak works with things you already want to be doing in Tempys decks. His stats are acceptable. In draft, he’s a slightly undersized body that pairs well with Conflagrate. C7/D6

Turkis: Flamebreak Invoker is powerful in a Flameshaper Savant shell. It increases your burn damage early like Static Shock, but has the upside of also burning the board.

Ximane: Flamebreak’s ability is not very good in draft due to Static Shock being heroic and most of the Tempys common spells leveling too poorly to be good in the slower draft format. C6/D4

Darkhands: Get more value from Static Shock and Flame Lance. Flamebreak Invoker improves the mono Tempys board clear options. C6

Prototype0: My brew senses are tingling! As mentioned above, this guy could be nutty in a Shaper shell. C7.5/D5

Tchungpo: Solid addition to a control deck. C6.5

evilweevil666: An all-star when it works and very poor when it doesn’t. C6/D4

Agamemnon

Tempys, Legendary, Creature, Giant

Constructed: 6/10 | Draft: 7/10

Darkhands: Is this a better Zyx in an aggro deck? Mobility and Aggressive on Agamemnon’s L3 is great. Open lane for 28 damage before your next turn and if they can’t kill or fill lanes another 28 with his mobility. C5

Prototype0: The fact that he has to hit a creature on your turn is a major downside. C4/D4

Telamoniades: Agamemnon’s got good stats at every level and a powerful upside-only ability. His level progression is both flavorful, becoming “more Tempys” at each level, and mechanically interesting, piling on new abilities rather than increasing old ones. Probably good in Yetis, and may enable a shell we haven’t seen yet. C7/D8

Tchungpo: L3 serves as both removal and burn! C7

evilweevil666: Agamemnon’s ability seems powerful, but a little counter-intuitive. Most of the time a creature like Weirwood Patriarch will get placed in front of this guy and they will just battle to a trade. Mobility makes it interesting, but Zyx has better support. C5

Ximane: At the very least, you’re probably killing something off and then smacking the player as well. C6/D9

Hectares: Let’s see some brews with Emberwind Evoker, Feral Instinct, or… Sap? Mark brought up a problematic boardstate on the SolForge subreddit – if Agamemnon will endlessly battle, do you have to concede / lose to timer? It will be interesting to see if the devs modify his card text to prevent this from happening. C7/D8

Nekrium

Blightskull Phantasm

Nekrium, Common, Creature, Spirit, Rank-up

Constructed: 2/10 | Draft: 6/10

Prototype0: A solid draft pick. Even vanilla it would be good. Spirit tribal soon? C5/D7

Telamoniades: Not good enough for constructed. Potential 2 for 1 in draft. C3/D7

evilweevil666: The ability is mostly irrelevant and difficult to time. C1/D5

Ximane: I wouldn’t play him if I weren’t getting immediate value. C2/D5

Xithian Host

Nekrium, Common, Creature, Abomination

Constructed: 1/10 | Draft: 2/10

Prototype0: Funplayable™ with Sigmund Fraud. C4/D3

Telamoniades: Bad in draft pretty much all the time. I’m not even convinced he’s something I want in a deck with a bunch of Frankenbaums. I think this card is an answer to the fact that Nekrium draft got pumped like crazy in the last two releases. As for constructed, he goes in the Abomination deck, which isn’t good, and he probably makes it worse. C3/D2

Tchungpo: The ability is awesome and would have made abomination decks quite strong if playing it didn’t mean losing so much tempo. Lifegain decks have similar problems making use of Host as the life gained compared to the health lost later is not worth it. C1

evilweevil666: This body is awful and the ability is not enough to make up for the fact that it loses to nearly any underlevel play. C1/D1

Ximane: Basically useless. Levels terribly, ability doesn’t do enough. Maybe playable in a budget lifegain deck? C3/D1

Spirit Reaver

Nekrium, Rare, Creature, Demon

Constructed: 5/10 | Draft: 5/10

Turkis: Because you can force both you and your opponent to gain health, this card has some interesting synergies in life gain decks running Runebark and potentially Arboris.

Prototype0: Draft multiples of this and Spiritbloom Dryad and you will probably win every draft. With a single trigger, Spirit Reaver becomes a big dude. Bonus points if your opponent tries to Vyric’s Embrace him. C6/D5

Telamoniades: He’s got the “reasonable body in draft” tag, which is good, because his ability isn’t all that easy to activate there, but he’s fine by himself with a big upside if you do get him going. In constructed, his ability isn’t good enough to build around when most decks come prepared to take out Voltrons. C5/D6

evilweevil666: Shuts off opposing life gain decks. Spiritbloom Dryad pairs well, but Spirit Reaver needs at least one more card to be good. This is one to look out for in future sets. C5/D4

Ximane: Most likely to get played as a hate card in constructed if UN lifegain becomes too dominant in the meta. C5/D4

Sigmund Fraud

Nekrium, Heroic, Creature, Abomination

Constructed: 2/10 | Draft: 3/10

Turkis: While this is certainly a fun card, and could add a little oomph to Unlegendary Abom decks, we’re checking off all our vulnerabilities with Mr. Fraud.

Prototype0: Abomination! this seems like a fun card to build around. throw this guy in with Yuru and you’ve got yourself a good time with abominations. In draft this is only good if you’re ahead. C6/D4

Telamoniades: Open to blowout potential from Zombies and Yetis and seems built for a traditionally bad deck? Yuck. He gives you another way to voluntarily kill your own creatures, so maybe this guy enables some kind of combo somewhere, but if he does, I’m not going to be the guy to find it. In draft his stats aren’t good enough to justify playing a defender, and his ability doesn’t do enough to justify the loss in board position of not only from sacrificing your own creatures but also by playing him in the first place. C3/D2

evilweevil666: Since he needs to stick around forever to generate incremental value, this guy is never going to do much. C1/D3

Ximane: Until we get a card that comes back if killed outside of combat this guy is going to be unplayable everywhere. Bad stats, easy to remove, horrible ability. C1/D2

Yuru, the Necrosage

Nekrium, Legendary, Creature, Human, Defender

Constructed: 6/10 | Draft: 6/10

evilweevil666: As with Sigmund Fraud, his stats are a huge liability. He will never stick around, meaning his ability has to function essentially as a spell. As a spell, it will almost always perform worse than Shallow Grave. Even if you get great value out of an L1 Yuru, you have leveled a highly situational card that scale poorly. C3

Ximane: Good against decks that aren’t Zombies or Yetis. He can get a lot of value even underleveled if you’re playing around him and restricting your plays mostly to lanes one, three, and five. C6/D9

Telamoniades: Affects the board as soon as he comes into play, but anything that gives people a reason to level Xrath’s Will or Glacial Crush is pretty scary to play right now. In draft he’s a risky card to have in your deck since while he might get you good value, sometimes he’s a 3/3 that doesn’t do anything. C6/D3

Turkis: Although we’ll see this in decks initially, I don’t expect it to be a lasting card in constructed. In order to obtain value from this card, two triggers are a necessity. This will put players in an awkward situation too often when Yuru is leveled during PL1, but is drawn at inconvenient times in later player levels. Players will struggle to find consistency when leaning on Yuru.

Prototype0: C8.5/D7

Uterra

Gemheart Sprout

Uterra, Common, Creature, Plant

Constructed: 2/10 | Draft: 2/10



Hectares: Uterra… Plant… Gemheart has plenty of ways to grow. Throw it in your life-gain deck as a 1-of and drop it with Patriarch in hand, giving top priority to your Runebark Guardians. Sprout’s probably not great in the current metagame but it’s definitely an exciting new life-gain tool. C5/D1

Telamoniades: Maybe a deck wants him someday, but I don’t think that deck exists in the current cardpool. C3/D2

Ximane: Horrible in draft, as it doesn’t do anything you want a draft card to do. Maybe fringe playable in UN lifegain. C2/D2

evilweevil666: This guy does not do enough. C1/D2

Prototype0: C2/D3

Umbraglim Mantis

Uterra, Common, Creature, Insect, Rank-up

Constructed: 2/10 | Draft: 5/10

Telamoniades: I’m sure I’ll lose a race to his lifegain at some point and be furious about it, but he’ll still be bad. C2/D4

evilweevil666: The six attack L1 means he will occasionally be played in a draft deck just to kill things. C1/D3

Hectares: Try three copies in a life-gain deck and save them for the x.4 opportunities when you’ve got a Runebark on board. C4/D5

Prototype0: C3/D5

Ximane: C2/D5

Shimmerfang Serpent

Uterra, Rare, Creature, Snake, Poison

Constructed: 7/10 | Draft: 7/10

Turkis: Pseudo removal. This card scales similarly to Gemhide Basher in that it gets better as you level the rest of your deck. We will almost certainly see decks containing Shimmerfang Serpent, even in cases where it is the only poison card in use.

Prototype0: Uttera finally got a removal spell. This guy can dish out damage to creatures like no tomorrow and things only get better when he’s pumped. C6.5/D6

Telamoniades: In draft, there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll get more than one card for Shimmerfang in a trade, but he poses virtually no offensive threat and can be ignored and raced. C6/D6

Tchungpo: Improves mono Uterra and AU decks. C7

evilweevil666: C7/D8

Ximane: Phenomenal draft underdrop. Taking Weirwood Patriarch buffs on-level is also really encouraging for constructed. Try Shimmerfang in a UN control deck or in a more controlling UT Yeti shell. C6/D8

Stygian Lotus

Uterra, Heroic, Creature, Plant, Multi-lane

Constructed: 6/10 | Draft: 7/10

Prototype0: Epidemic resistant. Plant tribal so you can Nuada or Cultivate it. C7.5/D7

Telamoniades: To get value from Lotus, you need to be behind. The fact that Epidemic doesn’t remove it, unlike most multi-lane plays, suggests its ability isn’t as strong as it might seem. This could be a better Hunting Pack but it’s still mostly a just-for-fun card. C5/D7

evilweevil666: In theory Stygian Lotus is one of the best comeback cards in the game, being able to match all of your opponent’s open-lane creatures. However, it will often be a dead card, when you’re even or ahead on board. You need to be getting three creatures to play it for value. That’s hard to pull off consistently, but it has the raw power to do something very few other cards can. C6/D7

Ximane: Amazing in draft. Lane spam with better stats than Ether Hounds and Hunting Pack, nearly a guaranteed two copies, and a great way to turn around a bad board state very quickly. Looks good in Tarsus decks, too. C6/D9

Darkhands: C8

Mimicwurm

Uterra, Legendary, Creature, Wurm, Multi-lane

Constructed: 5/10 | Draft: 7/10



Turkis: There are few places for cards that are powerful late but liabilities early. Deckbuilders will struggle to find a suitable home for Mimicwurm, as the majority of Uterra decks focus on obtaining and preserving board presence to combat their lack of removal.

Telamoniades: The late-game upside doesn’t seem good enough to balance out the early junk. C5/D7

evilweevil666: The only way to reliably see L3 Mimicwurm is to level multiple copies throughout the game and if you level multiple Mimicwurm you will get steamrolled early. C4

Ximane: Bonkers in draft. If Technognome is good, this guy is just better. 12 attack at L2 and 30 (!) at level 3 is just nuts, and he affects multiple lanes at once. Too slow for the constructed meta, though, even with Tarsus support. C3/D9

Darkhands: C7

Prototype0: C6.5/D7

Alloyin

Metamind Overseer

Alloyin, Common, Creature, Metamind, Rank-up

Constructed: 5/10 | Draft: 6/10

Tchungpo: Does not answer the ultimate question: Are all DJs Metaminds or are all Metaminds DJs? C5/D6

Turkis: Overseer is constructed playable and will be seen in Metamind decks. Unlike most rank-up cards, this mechanic kicks in exactly when you want it most, as extra cards at the start of a player level are very powerful. If I have to choose between playing this or a Ghox on turn x.4 I will virtually always choose Ghox.

evilweevil666: Is there room for this card in the Drix decks? While Overseer will be amazing on the turns you trigger it, Operator is the most consistent underdrop in the deck, as a single Drix activation can essentially give you an L2 creature from your L1 card. C6/D7

Prototype0: The best rank up card in 2.2: solid stats, Metamind tribal, good ability. Expect this in Drix decks immediately. C7/D7

Telamoniades: In draft Overseer has an excellent body at all levels and a potentially game swinging ability. C6/D7

Ximane: C5/D7

Darkhands: C5

Spiritforge Sentinel

Alloyin, Common, Creature, Robot, Armor

Constructed: 2/10 | Draft: 4/10

Prototype0: There are better commons with armor. C1/D3

Telamoniades: Armor is always better than it looks on the card. Spiritforge Sentinel is similar to Metamind Operator, which is a perfectly fine draft card, and he has upside with things that interact with armor, particularly Phalanx Squadron. He’ll play a solid role in a variety of draft decks. C2/D6

Tchungpo: Xrath’s Will target, but it’s still a robot and may have some synergy with Aegis Knight. C4/D5

evilweevil666: Spiritforge Sentinel is unplayable in constructed. The low attack makes it useless as an underdrop and your opponent can ignore it on-level. In draft the card trades with most on-level creatures. Armor is gaining more synergy, so being able to suit this guy up with Cypien Steelgraft makes him resilient. Phalanx (spelled correctly!) Squadron also fixes the attack problem. C1/D6

Ximane: I can’t see him being playable in constructed at all, unless some nuts Robot/Armor cards are released. C1/D3

Darkhands: D3

Phalanx Squadron

Alloyin, Rare, Creature, Human

Constructed: 2/10 | Draft: 5/10



Hectares: Is this useful in mono-Alloyin decks? The restriction on the buff makes playing it much less appealing. C2/D3

Telamoniades: Phalanx Squadron is a great card to draft around. It’s an archetype enabler, as the bonus is significant in early levels, especially on creatures with Armor. I expect to lose a lot of games to PL1 Armor Guy, Armor Guy, Phalanx Squadron, run you over. C4/D7

evilweevil666: Squadron’s buff is similar to Grove Huntress’ but much is more difficult to trigger. People may try to play the all-out Knight + Squadron + Battledroid armor deck, but that deck has too many weaknesses. C2/D5

Prototype0: C2/D4

Ximane: C2/D5

Shardthief Druid

Alloyin, Heroic, Creature, Metamind

Constructed: 3/10 | Draft: 7/10

Telamoniades: Big early body, potentially clutch hate ability, not even that small at lvl 3? And he’s got the kind of body that makes him a nightmare when pumped. An easy winner in draft. C4/D8

Ximane: Great in draft. Shuts down Nightgaunt shenanigans and doesn’t need to be leveled (though getting 20 regen on a 5/8 lategame is a bit pointless). Has a very solid body at all levels, too. Note that its ability doesn’t trigger unless the opponent has a creature with regen, despite what the card may say. Probably a bug, but it doesn’t actually operate like Oxidon Spitter. C3/D8

Hectares: Metamind tribal makes Shardthief playable in constructed as a 1of hate card. Addressing some early player frustrations, one reason to make it (and Justicar) heroic is so that they don’t shut down the playability of entire draft strategies. C5/D7

Darkhands: No deck in constructed is playing heavy regenerate.

evilweevil666: Huge level 1 stats and ok scaling mean this guy is good enough to play even when you haven’t seen a Nightgaunt. C2/D7

Prototype0: C3/D6

Palladium Simulacrum

Alloyin, Heroic, Creature, Shapeshifter

Constructed: 9/10 | Draft: 9/10

evilweevil666: This is the best card in the set, and it’s not close. My Palladium Simulacrum preview article explains why. C9

Turkis: Strengthens existing NA and AT mobility decks.

Tchungpo: What a bomb! I can see interesting grow wide AU decks with Scarab and Simulacrum. C8.5

Ximane: Nuts in any format. His L2 and L3 can easily make more than two copies, and his sheer versatility makes up for his L1 and L2 stats that aren’t in WWP range and don’t survive Epidemic. L3 is almost guaranteed value, and can take over an entire game. C9/D10

Telamoniades: Got this guy in my first draft with the new set, and he was as bonkers as I could hope. If you get to play him at level three, the game is largely over. His only disadvantage is that he’s pretty unexciting underleveled. C8/D9

Prototype0: People will play it. C9/D9

Darkhands: C10

That concludes the Set 2.2 Roundtable Review. Please say hello in the comments and tell us what we got right, what’s totally off-base, and most importantly, what you are brewing!