Card Spotlight - Ruunin, the Relentless

The Card Spotlight series reviews cards that we don’t typically see in competitive play. In the spotlight I'll talk about each card’s strengths and what decks could use them. Be sure to check out the video where you can see the card in action!

Ruunin, the Relentless

Ruunin has had a bumpy ride through the course of Faeria. She is a ‘star legend’ and one of the main characters of the game world but unfortunately hasn’t seen much play. This changed when Aurora, Seifer and Khalim had their land cost increased by one. Ruunin met the same fate but received a major buff when her Faeria cost got reduced to 5. This might not seem like a big deal but the difference between a 6 Faeria creature and a 5 Faeria creature is actually huge.

When Ruunin is destroyed she returns to your hand with a +2/+2 power up. This ability will trigger every time she dies and the bonus stacks. Ruunin has the potential to grow into a massive threat and becomes more difficult to remove the more she dies. At 6 Faeria it was difficult to invest in a 4/4 that needed to die once to reach the attributes of a 6 cost creature. It just wasn’t worth the Faeria. Now at 5 Faeria, Ruunin is much easier to replay. If you control one creature on a Faeria well you can use your power wheel to gain +1 Faeria and replay Ruunin. What this means is that destroying Ruunin while the controller has Faeria harvesters is a nightmare because she can be summoned again on the following turn. When Ruunin was at 6 Faeria you’d need two Faeria harvesters to summon her from zero resources. This ultimately made the card too slow for play until the recent changes.

Ruunin is a very hard card to keep in check. Destroying her over and over again can become counter-productive. The more times she dies, the more resources you will spend defeating her new, enhanced version. Transform is the only clean way to stop Ruunin in her tracks. If you want to deal with Ruunin once and for all you’re going to need Frogify or Mirror Phantasm.

Here is an example of how to manage Ruunin. My opponent played an aggressive Ruunin and destroying her with my creature wasn’t worthwhile. Alvar had a Sagami Grovecaller in a double collection spot so I’d only be empowering Ruunin while not applying any pressure myself. In the end I decided on an aggressive Windstorm Charger and used the healing of Ruunin’s Guidance to help me win the race.

Why play Ruunin, the Relentless?

Ruunin offers you two key attributes for your deck. The first is a creature that becomes more powerful when it is destroyed. A strong, reoccurring creature can be impossible for your opponent to answer. Secondly, you gain an infinite card in your hand. Runnin will guarantee you have a creature to play every time you have 5 Faeria. The Dash 2 is also very relevant when positioning your Ruunin on the battlefield. Ruunin can act as a blocker, harvester or aggressor. She is incredibly flexible.

Decks

Ruunin’s true home will be in a Mono Green. This is because of her high Forest requirement that fits perfectly in decks that use Wood Elemental and Thyrian Golem. If you want to make your Ruunin draw more consistent then you can add a Time of Legends. Ruunin can be added into dual-colour decks but keep in mind you have to spread your land development between Green and another colour.

Mono Green is a good deck right now because of the increase in Crackthorn decks on ladder. However the dawn of the Oversky is upon us and this may change in the coming weeks. Mono Green is always a solid choice for newer players because of it’s simple and linear game plan.

Conclusion

Ruunin went from barely seeing play to becoming a staple in Green lists. I’m very pleased to see Runnin become a viable option. The change was enough to make her worth the Faeria investment. Once Ruunin has died the first time you gain a solid 6/6 creature that your opponent must answer again. Long live Ruunin!