Well, this has been a ridiculously packed reveal season for sure. It’s definitely not a bad thing that we’re getting all these new cards shown so quickly. However, it’s definitely making it super impractical to keep writing about every single card revealed on the NA Shadowverse Twitter. So instead of burning myself out on doing that, I’ll be going through the most notable and high-potential ones among them. Don’t worry, I’ll be talking about some personal favorites along the way as well. Either way, we’re not done yet!

Arcane Aether

Ah yes, the Runecraft Aether spell. With the confirmation of the cycle of these spells found with the previously reviewed Necromantic Aether, I’m pretty sure many of us knew what this would imply for Runecraft.

The current best deck in Runecraft, based around a bunch of stormy boys and Daria, Dimensional Witch, is the prime example of the transformative nature the Spellboost mechanic when pushed to its highest available limits. With the play point refund of Arcane Aether, we are looking at a midgame 0-cost spell that not only synergizes with copies of itself, but also Spellboosts your hand for free. Oh, and the Trees these spells give basically turns the card into delayed extra copies of Insight when played in multiples. It’s quite a terrifying notion.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Daria and all other Spellboost decks in general will waste no time in cramming a set of these into their lists on day one. But I have some doubts as to whether they’ll be able to stay in those lists in the longer run. It really boils down to how the Spellboost player answers the following question: “Would you play a 1-cost spell with no abilities in your decks? If not, how about a 0-cost version?”

That question certainly sounds more like a Runecraft thought experiment rather than as a genuine deckbuilding inquiry, doesn’t it? One can say that it has already been answered by Daria decks’ frequent usage of a full playset of Angelic Snipe, but considering all the burn and aggro damage that deck has access to, the 1-cost pinger plays quite a powerful role there. Another potential answer can be found in Commence Experiment in more combo-focused Spellboost builds. There, if the player doesn’t have access to Concentration, the spell really does become a 1-cost do-nothing (or worse). Commence Experiment also hasn’t been seeing regular play in a long time, so at least the first part of that question is answered by this case with a pretty convincing “no”.

Part two of that question remains to be answered in practice still, and at this time of writing I don’t have a definitive way to address it in theory either. Aside from the fact that Arcane Aether will prove to be a true staple for the Natura Rune deck, this card is likely to be one of the tougher ones to accurately gauge in all other contexts. Be on the lookout.

Elven Pikeman

As one may or may not know, there’s a couple “vanilla” follower statlines that the game is actively trying to avoid in its card design, aside from the obvious outlandish ones like the 1-cost 20/20 follower. One of them is the 4-cost 3-attack follower with Storm and no downside. The game has been active for over three years with its 14th card set coming in a few weeks, and that combination of keyword and numbers has yet to grace its ever-expanding card pool. To me, Elven Pikeman is Shadowverse’s way to continue to dodge creating that supposed taboo while still filling in that role in the aggro cost curve. Yes, Dark General and Laura, Enraged Commander (post-evolve) exist, but those come with a condition that either requires extra work or a deck built around them. Elven Pikeman, on the other hand, works the same everywhere he goes.

That being said, Aggro Forest now having access to a quick and easy turn 4 Storm option is quite nice. Him having the burn Last Words is a honestly a bit extra, but the additional reach is welcome. Providing a total of 6 potential face damage in one card with Evolve is quite scary and can only be matched with a Dark General in Vengeance. I don’t think he’ll be the go-to turn 4 play still, as that title belongs to and likely will stay with Fairy -> Fairy -> Elf Song, but he can be expected to be near the top end of the Aggro Forest curve thanks to his independence and clean functionality. Nice card.

Regal Wildcat

Courageous Knight continues to turn in his grave as more and more cards obsolete everything he was originally designed to accomplish. First was Cybercannoneer, then Alwida, Pirate Queen‘s Accelerate, and now this wild lad’s Accelerate. He wasn’t exactly popular in the old days anyway though, so I don’t think anyone’s mourning for the poor guy unfortunately.

Let’s hone in on this kitty cat though. The Accelerate here is a nice way to extend board if going first, but the main course of this card is absolutely when it’s played with full cost. Regal Wildcat could be seen as a “replacement” Blazing Lion Admiral, especially after his cost and statline got nerfed some time ago (revert him please), but the roles they play are quite different. Blazing Lion Admiral loves to make your wide boards snowball and grow into ridiculous sizes, while Regal Wildcat instead has a fearsome ability to steal matches the player would have no business winning otherwise.

Leaving any followers alive on the Midrange Sword player’s field is already known to be a dangerous decision, but now the lower cost followers in their hand can become utter nuisances with little room for counterplay. In fact, despite the simple-yet-effective rules text on the card, there’s plenty of different ways a Midrange Sword player can make insanely good use of it. Check them out here:

The simplest play can be done on turn 8 and onwards. Just play any 1-3-cost follower, then Storm it up with Regal Wildcat . On average, you can easily expect a scary total of 8 Storm damage, with even higher damage with Evolves.

. On average, you can easily expect a scary total of 8 Storm damage, with even higher damage with Evolves. On turn 10 or later, play Bayleon, Sovereign Light , evolve him to return to 7 play points, then slam the Wildcat down, resulting in a board containing an 8/8 with Storm and Ward, and a 4/4 with Storm.

, evolve him to return to 7 play points, then slam the down, resulting in a board containing an 8/8 with Storm and Ward, and a 4/4 with Storm. Crash Honored Frontguard General into something that could destroy him, having him leave behind the Shield Guardian from his Last Words. Grant him the buffs from Regal Wildcat , and he’ll likely end up being larger than the guy he was summoned from and can take a huge chunk off the opponent’s life total.

into something that could destroy him, having him leave behind the from his Last Words. Grant him the buffs from , and he’ll likely end up being larger than the guy he was summoned from and can take a huge chunk off the opponent’s life total. This last one requires some deckbuilding restrictions, but on turn 10, you can play Aether of the Warrior Wing, letting her search Regal Wildcat as the highest costing Swordcraft follower in the deck, then play it right after, turning an innocent 3-cost search effect into 8 Storm damage straight out of the deck.

With all that established, this kitty should have no trouble slotting itself into any Unlimited MidSword deck that could use the extra reach. And at worst, if keeping back a card pair for the Storm finish ends up being difficult, using it as a miniature Sky Fortress is just as valid an option as any. This card will bring back the days of Albertcraft and then some.

Helio, Sacrosanct Spirit

It’s certainly been a while since an Attendant of Night-style card entered the Shadowcraft pool. While the 3-cost slot in Midrange Shadow has a fair amount of strong competition from Fran, Monster Girl, Disciple of Silence, and Mechasaw Deathbringer, this guy offers something that none of these others do: board stickiness.

The things that are said about Attendant of Night and his lack of current use can be said about Helio, but keep in mind that the Zombie or Lich he summons gets pseudo-Storm from appearing on the end of the opponent’s turn. This, unlike Attendant of Night and his kin, raises the ceiling of the many boardwide buffs Shadowcraft can access. In short, face is the place. Gremory, Demonlord Eachtar, Ferry, Spirit Maiden, and several others now no longer need to hope for their opponent to kindly leave things alive on their board on their turn to apply pressure through face damage on your next turn. It is still only a single Zombie or Lich‘s worth of damage, but the best kind of board stickiness and pressure is the “invisible” board. Regenerate Spirit can even keep this pressure up by providing more copies of Helio at a discount. This route overall still is much slower than the dominant win conditions of the current Unlimited metagame, but there’s no denying that MidShadow could really use the speed boost.

Even the extremely fringe Aggro Shadow deck can take great pleasure in this card, as there he acts as a Novice Trooper who can live twice. He won’t able to do the same Storm topdecks that Lesser Mummy or Phantom Howl does, but at this point in time, this and Rabbit Necromancer will have to do to serve as the deck’s best Novice Trooper and Princess Juliet impressions.

Plenty of long-time Unlimited players have experienced and dreaded the boards that MidShadow could make back when it was the undisputed best deck in the format. With cards like Prince Catacomb, the once 2-cost Shadow Reaper (RIP), and the previously 3-cost Skull Ring (RIP), the sheer resilience and stickiness of these boards made losing to Demonlord Eachtar not feel like an award for the MidShadow player, but an inevitability. But with various metagame developments, that sticky nature of the deck has long been lost to history. Helio, along with a number of other cards, feels like an attempt from Verdant Conflict itself to return to those well-remembered roots, and there’s a decent amount of hidden potential to be found with Helio in particular. Keep an eye out.

Yuzuki, Righteous Demon

It honestly feels really weird seeing Bloodcraft get a Legendary who basically works as the middle girl between Emeralda, Demonic Officer and Calamity Bringer, but without any of the extra benefits of either. Not only does she lack the Storm that the former can gain on Vengeance, she is also missing the ability to destroy followers with Ambush or Barrier that the latter can. Instead, she comes with her own potent niche: the ability to be played before turn 7.

(Barrier is the name I give to cards like Mainyu that cannot be targeted by effects. It’s not an actual keyword in the game, and it’s only from me wanting a shorter way to talk about the ability.)

The Accelerate is honestly the strongest part of Yuzuki and will play a huge role in the Bloodcraft mirror match for one single reason: Spiderweb Imp. That ability not only serves as a clean 1-for-1 answer to one of the best Ward followers in the game, but also lets her fill a role as essential as every other 2-cost 3-damage spell Bloodcraft does. The cost of 2 life will sting a bit, but the class has been doing that to themselves for years with Razory Claw and Blood Pact and it’s nothing that an evolved Flauros can’t patch up. The real cost is spending 10,500 vials for what is basically just a shiny removal spell.

She’ll definitely be seeing play in her full 7-cost form too like every other well-designed card with Accelerate, but with the existence of the previously mentioned Emeralda, Demonic Officer and Calamity Bringer, there’s not much to say about the Fanfare that’s unique to her and would hold her over that competition. Instead, it’s best to appreciate Yuzuki as a whole for her incredible flexibility and for giving Bloodcraft a new best way to squash the infamous 2-cost spider girl.

Valse, Champion Deadeye

Valse, please never stop being the god of Swordcraft removal. We would be completely lost without you. Compared to his Magical Marksman self, this rendition of Valse shaves off 1 play point off his cost and merges his iconic duo of bullets of Holy Purebomb and Fatal Spellbomb into one package. We’re not here to discuss which one is better, as both will be seeing plenty of use regardless. Instead I’ll discuss the feats this version accomplishes.

With three copies of each Valse available to Swordcraft, it will be near-impossible for decks using Lishenna, Omen of Destruction or Enstatued Seraph as their only win conditions to have a favorable matchup vs Midrange Sword. It was already incredibly difficult thanks to the prevalence of Angelic Smite, but the six total Valse is pretty much the final nail in the coffin for that matchup. The next questions now are if the Enstatued Seraph deck will begin to use copies of Lapis, Glorious Seraph, or if the Lishenna deck will start using Biofabrication to make more copies of Destruction in Black. Nah, probably not.

New Valse is also one of the few followers in the game who is capable of combining both his Fanfare and Evolve ability to clear three cards off the opponent’s field in one go: one from his Enhance, then one from his Evolve, then one more from attacking. There’s very little overlap in the kinds of optimal targets each of these parts have, so it is ensured that only a small set of cards will be able to survive all the different ways he can take things off the field.

All that already sounds like he’s just a strictly better version of older self, and that is almost true. However, old Valse is still one of Swordcraft’s best 3-cost followers and is sure to continue to see play with this version in the same deck. Old Valse can still access his Fatal Spellbomb on Fanfare, while the new version requires an Evolve, letting the older one control board much easier when going first. His utility comes in the form of a Choose keyword, letting the player keep the spell he chose back for a later play, which also allows him to play much nicer with the opponent’s Phoenix Roost as a bonus. New Valse is very much in the realm of use-it-or-lose-it, by comparison.

Get ready to see this guy’s smug mug twice as often as before. If you non-Swordcraft players weren’t sick of him already, there’s a good chance you will in a few weeks.

Thoth

Skullcradle Widow has really come a long way from the good old days. It all started with her as a three-of in all Control and Midrange Shadow builds. Midrange Shadow eventually transitioned to big bird Andrealphus slots thanks to its sick Evolve ability. Later, Hoverboard Mercenary became a nice alternative to search Aenea, Amethyst Rebel and Mechasaw Deathbringer. And now, we have finally arrived at Thoth, that one Egyptian god everyone makes fun of for having one extra “h” at the end of its name. But while she may not command the same amount of advantage Andrealphus can provide or act as quicker draw power like Hoverboard Mercenary, Thoth offers the Shadowcraft card pool something it has been missing out on since the release of Steel Rebellion: inevitability.

Still, it will be a rough task to meet her condition while maintaining a similar level of tempo to other midrange decks. Progress would be stalled even further when facing off against control-based City of Gold decks, thanks to the bully that is Forbidden Ritual. However, there’s a couple tricks the Shadowcraft player can make use of to make Thoth‘s Fanfare go live as quickly as possible. The more accessible trick would be to use cards that summon multiple followers with Last Words like Cerberus, Hound of Hades and Lubella, Necrofamily. But then more tricks lie behind this fact: the cards don’t need to have Last Words in their effect text. Even cards who gain Last Words by other abilities count towards the total. This means the Last Words given by Gremory‘s Enhance, Prince Catacomb‘s Fanfare, and Osiris‘s whole text box are fair game. With all this mentioned, my personal estimate for how fast the Fanfare can happen would be about turn 8, assuming the deck is built with Thoth in mind.

Afterwards, all remaining cards in the MidShadow deck each become significantly more dangerous. Demonlord Eachtar now can deal a potential 8 damage to his opponent with the maximum four Zombies he summons for his standard board clear shenanigans. Prince Catacomb‘s Fanfare now doubles the Thoth damage output of each allied follower since the Skeleton he gives each of his allies would get her leader effect benefits too. Cerberus, Hound of Hades now threatens 8 total face damage just for showing up (thanks, Mimi, Right Paw Hellhound). The examples are honestly endless, but the point to take away here is that the level of inevitability Thoth provides to Unlimited Shadowcraft as a whole is quite terrifying and should not be ignored or taken lightly.

The only thing that holds Thoth back from being the best Skullcradle Widow around is that unlike her older versions, she’s required to be held back in your hand when encountered. She only gives the player the leader effect if you meet her Last Words condition on Fanfare and won’t give it to you ahead of time to automatically turn on the moment you reach ten destroyed Last Words cards. This means you’re likely to want to still use Andrealphus along with her if MidShadow can afford the extra deck space for more Last Words draw power. But with some adjustment in MidShadow playstyle and deckbuilding direction, Thoth will likely prove to be a vital contribution towards MidShadow’s return to Unlimited relevancy.

Closing Thoughts

There’s only a few more days left until the prerelease event for Verdant Conflict on the 18th. This is likely the biggest reason why card reveals have been incredibly fast for this season. I will continue to make detailed remarks on the last remaining reveals as they come, but for the ones that won’t quite make the long write-up could potentially be listed in a future “honorable mentions” section near the bottom. Shadowverse is still showing more cards than I can reasonably write about given my schedule, but this is the least I can do to try to catch up. But as always, thanks for reading. Until next time.