Hey everyone! Androod here taking another look at last week's spoilers and what they mean for constructed. We got some sweet ones so let's dive in!

The Deathcries archetype is getting more and more pushed as spoilers roll out. Lord Blightbark is easily going to be the most important card in this deck. Two resources is a great rate for an effect this powerful. Everyone’s first thought it going to be “How do I play this with Underworld Crusader?” But seeing as how a lot of the supporting cards for this archetype are un-factioned that may be a difficult task. One of the cards I’m most looking forward to playing alongside Blightbark is BlightBramble from my spoiler article last week.The deathcries will “cascade” giving you ten bodies on the deploy for six resources.

Grounds Creeper is a solid troop that will end up as a one or two of in the deathcries deck. I wouldn’t make it a four of like Lord Blightbark due to a lot of the good deathcry troops being in the four to six cost category and we don’t want our curve to be too top heavy but there is some potential here.

Blightbark Paladin is a solid troop that curves out nicely the turn after you play Lord Blightbark. Just by itself this card is pretty much a guaranteed two for one. The deathcry being modeal means it will rarely go to waste. It’s also worth noting that the ability is a permanent modifier and permanent minuses have proven themselves powerful in the past helping to deal with recursive troops or reducing lethal troops to <1 attack.

I really like this card. A big speedy body that is always dragon some candles along with him after combat. The big butt on this guy means it dodges Strangle as well as rot cost. Short of a Herofall there’s not much that will stop you from getting at least one Illuminate trigger off this bad boy.

Scion of Lyvaanth just has value written all over it. Unlike most cards in this set it has a faction, unfortunately Ardent strategies takes a huge hit with the gem rotation but it’s not irrelevant. This alongside Light the Votives and Guidance is going to be potent.

I’m including Twilight Archon and Twilight Eclipse together because I have pretty much the same things to say about both of them. Hex has never had a “constants matter” deck before in constructed and I’m hoping these two cards make that a reality. So far we have seen a ton of cards that generate Daybreaks but only one that generates a Nightfall. This will definitely be an archetype I look to explore early one since it's wildly different than anything we’ve gotten before and my playset of Radiant Physicians need dusting off.

The Librarian is a card with a sweet design. A three cost troop that gives you two evasive bodies that can generate card advantage is very attractive. The librarian demanding removal and leaving the Curator behind is great value. We’ll have to see what the supporting cast looks like to determine how relevant the body being left behind is.

Now this is my kind of card. Quick? Check, Sweet mechanic? Check, Draws cards? Check. Bounty is an accurate description for this card. I’m excited to give my old Diamond/Sapphire escalation deck from old standard another shot since all of the supporting cards are still legal. Escalate loves prophecy!

So far this is the only card I’ve seen that may have a home in my pet deck “Redlings”. Adding another Shin’hare to the deck to increase the race variety a bit and the potential two for one is appealing. Redlings is in the market for bodies that don’t mind getting thrown under the bus and this fits that description.

Blight Knight is a card that I’m glad exists. In addition to checking the existing dreadlings strategies this will be in the conversation for how good the candle decks are going to be. On top of being hateful a 3/1 for two resources and single threshold is reasonable. It’s also interesting that this counts for the human racial shard despite not being any of the three thresholds it produces.

If the format ends up in a place where this card is good it will be a dream. A consistent source of card advantage and a constant for the potential daybreak/nightfall deck I mentioned earlier means this card could have legs in standard. If standard finds itself in a faster place this would be a tough sell though. A five cost Constant that doesn’t generate any value until the next turn doesn’t do much to impact the board against aggressive strategies.

Lady Violet Blightbark has a very unique and powerful ability. It’s worth noting that her ability targets which means it can be responded to meaning a strangle can come down and ruin your day. I would need a rules clarification to properly evaluate this card as there are more than a few infinite combos that could be enabled if the “1 Shot” portion of the return to play death cries of cards like Elder of Lost Ages isn’t carried over.

This is quite possibly to Timmyest card in Hex. I can’t imagine there is a single player that isn’t wanting to summon a bunch of dreadlings with this big fella in play.

Battle of Destiny has slipped under the radar of several spoiler discussions I’ve seen and I think it’s very powerful. Wild isn’t exactly known for quality removal and I think this is as best as it’s going to get. Since the troop just deals damage equal to it’s power and doesn’t fight it means you’re far more likely to get a straight up one for one with it, this also means that troops with lethal make it a guaranteed piece of removal. Fateweave being stapled on to this card is what pushes it into constructed playability and helps you come out ahead of the one for one card exchange.

Primordial Sabretooth is the only one of the Primordial cycle that I would consider adding into my standard deck. A two cost basic action that deals five to an opposing troop would see play and this is just a strict upgrade to that. The ability is only counterable via spell shield since it’s an ability not a card and late game this provides you with a way to close out the game and kill an opposing troop for seven resources. I’d had a hard time finding it correct for a non-Angus ruby deck to not run three to four copies of this.The Sabretooth is an exceedingly flexible card and I look forward to playing it.

If there is a big Ruby or Ruby/Diamond deck in the format Lumagoth will be sitting at the top of the curve. It’s unfortunate that our six drop dies to Strangle but it leaves behind four bodies at least and will end the game if left unchecked.

This card will help you lock up board state very quickly. I would have a hard time playing more than one or two copies since six is a steep cost to pay for removal but the potential three for one is worth it. This hitting any card and not just troops is a big upside as well.

This is a card that I’m looking forward to playing in immortal more than standard. The idea of hitting this card off a Titania’s Majesty with a spell shield gem is terrifying. Outside of Diamond’s Favor there’s isn’t much in the way of removing it. In standard if you can play this on nine versus a Ruby/Wild deck there isn’t much (if anything) they can do to win the game after this hits the table.

With cards like this our constant deck may see the Light of Day yet. This offers us a way to remove an opposing threat while also adding a constant to the board. This card also has potential outside of a dedicated constants deck as five resources to void any opposing card with upside is a pretty solid rate.

This card screams value in the right situations. Since you can’t guarantee you’ll have three one cost troops in the crypt you can’t afford to many copies but one is definitely worth the opportunity cost. Returning a combination of Thunderfield Seers and Wakuna Lookouts sporting a Fateweave gem is what has my attention the most.

While six resources for a basic speed catch all isn’t exactly efficient this could be used as a reserved catch all in some mono shard decks that may not have access to some situational tools. I can’t see many decks triggering the return clause outside of a Psychic Ascension it’s pretty much just free upside. Mono Wild or mono Blood are decks that come to mind that could want access to this type of effect.

In addition to having a sweet name this card has a unique ability. It’s hard to properly judge this card with only two of the assumed 5 escalation cards known. Currently I would have a hard time finding this card to be worth the slots with the only known cards being Light the Votives and Bounty of the Magus. When evaluating cards like this you have to think about what the card does if you don’t draw an Escalation card, In that situation a flying ½ for two just doesn’t cust it for constructed. I am withholding final judgement until we have a full spoiler though.

If you enjoyed this article and want to hear me ramble about spoilers some more make sure and stay tuned to Battleshopper.com for my weekly spoiler wrap ups.

Thanks for reading!

-Mike Kletz (Androod)

@Androod27 on Twitter