Card Spotlight – Packing Heat

As someone who loves playing constructed above all else, when spoiler season starts I am always keeping a lookout for cards that might be powerful enough to make an impact. Today I am lucky enough to share not just one, but two cards that are likely strong enough to see some amount of play.

The first is a troop from the new gnoll tribe:

This is an interesting top end for an aggressive deck. Knowing that Locke is in our deck will often cause our opponents to make conservative attacks for fear of us taking their blocker or best attacker and running it back into them. On most board states, Locke represents an attack for six or more points of damage after he steals a troop, which is reasonable for an aggressive top end.

While the cost of three resources for using Locke’s ability on subsequent turns seems like a lot of the surface, we have to remember that a lot of the time our aggressive decks will generally be spent on cards by turn six, so we will have resources to spare.

Whether or not Locke can see constructed play will likely depend on if there are supporting cards and resources to make a Ruby-Wild Aggressive shell be practical.

Our second is a unique Orc featuring the new Gladiator mechanic:

The Gladiator mechanic as a whole is kind of interesting. It makes our troops better at attacking when we want them to be attacking and better at blocking when we want them to be blocking. It also makes our troops better against basic speed removal that kills with damage such as Cremate.

Zoltog plays into the “good at attacking and blocking” ideology of Gladiator very well with his attack trigger. While it does the obvious of providing us the option of attacking for a second time, it also enables us to block with our Gladiators after attacking once with them – a pseudo-Steadfast effect. This means if we have profitable attacks but still need blockers, we are still able to pressure our opponent.

Whether or not Zoltog will see play will likely depend on the number of other constructed playable Gladiator troops. If there are a critical mass of them I would not be surprised to see Zoltog leading the pack.

Speaking of other Gladiators, I get to close out today with one more spoiler of a supporting uncommon that seems reasonable:

This seems like everything a Wild aggressive deck wants in a one cost troop. On our turn it has two points of attack so it can apply early pressure nicely, and while the activated ability seems mediocre at first glance, it enables an on board trick that our opponent will have to be conscious of during every combat step. Being able to trade our one drop to give one of our other troops extra attack or defense can make attacking and blocking annoying for our opponent. Also note that the Gladiator it gives is a permanent modifier.

What do you think of our Ruby-Wild cards from today? Let me know in a comment on the forums!

Thanks for reading,

~Jeff Hoogland

Jeff is a professional gamer who enjoys the competitive aspects of HEX: Shards of Fate. Constructed is his preferred format and he is always looking for that new piece of technology to give him a leg up on the competition.

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