Welcome to the second part of this series, in which I rank all the new reward cards by their rarity, and their effectiveness in the bronze/silver leagues. In this episode we will be looking at the 8 rare cards, and we are gonna dive right in, starting from the least playable card:
8th: Venari Seedsmith
In my opinion the worst card out of the rares is the Seedsmith. In bronze leagues it has hideous stats, and is borderline unplayable in my experience. The only matchup this could potentially see play would be for Earthquake rulesets due to the scavenge ability, but even here it's low hp makes it unreliable. In silver leagues it is comparable to Goblin Chariot, but with 1 less speed and hp, and the addition of the scavenge ability hardly makes up that.
7th: Venari Bonesmith
While I think a lot of you might disagree on this one, I feel like this card doesn't live up to its potential. Life leech is one of the strongest abilities in the game in my opnion, but the Bonesmith utilizes it very poorly with its low magic attack even at silver leagues. The addition of poison is nice, and justifies the low magic stat, but synergizes poorly with life leech. All in all I think this card is trying to do to much at once, and looses it's potential as a specialized card in the process.
6th: Exploding Rats
Exploding Dwarf is one of my favourite cards, so when the Rats where spoiled, I was super excited. After playing with it for a while, it is however clear that it doesn't live up to my fantasies. In bronze I would hardly ever play it, but for certain rulesets in Silver leagues it can pack quite a punch. Namely rulesets grating monsters opportunity, sneak or allowing meele attackers to attack from any position, is where the Rats shine. For this reason I rank it 6th, but had it gained the redemption ability at lvl 4 instead of 5, it might have been a challenger for the top spots.
5th: Twilight Basilisk
Next up we have the Twilight Basilisk, the first of two dragon monsters in this list. It has a flaw similar to the Exploding Rats getting redemption a level too late, as from lvl 5 this monster gets the stun ability. However, reach combined with 2 attack from lvl 2 makes this card a beater, that slots in a ton of dragon builds, and the single point of armor makes it a very nice second tank, especially in low mana matchups. In silver it falls off a bit compared to bronze leagues, but is still a powerful card in its own right
4th: Gargoya Devil
This card is isn't cheap at 7 mana, and it's basestats are not that high either. In a lot of ways it feels like a budget version of the epic Lava Launcher, we will be covering in the next episode. The thing that sets the Gargoya Devil apart however is the fact that it gains the Deathblow ability in silver leagues. I think most of us have probably lost to the Scarred Llama Mage once or twice, and if so you should try countering it using the Devil. For this reason alone I rank the Devil highly, but add to it some good defensive qualities in the form of flying and close range, and you have a decent card!
3rd: Naga Assassin
This monster is insanely fast all the way from lvl 1. As in faster than your sneak monsters trying to eliminate my backline. And for this reason, the Naga Assassin is an excellent choice for that vulnerable last spot on your team. Combined with the backfire ability at lvl 4, this makes it an excellent pseudo tank, with a small ranged attack. Adding to it's worth is the fact that this monster is only 2 mana, which makes it shine in low mana matchups, as well as making it flexible for slotting into different teams.
2nd: Venari Crystalsmith
Coming in at 2nd place is the Crystalsmith. The main use of this card is as a second healer in the Shieldbearer build that is very common especially in bronze. It has a low range attack and speed, but decent hp. When comparing it to Divine Healer, it is hard not to prefer the Crystalsmith in bronze and silver, where it is more or less strictly better. From gold onwards when Divine Healer gets slow and the Crystalsmith gains Dispel, the Divine Healer becomes stronger. In most cases however, you will likely be running both on your team.
1st:
And the best new rare reward card is...
Venari Wavesmith! As someone correctly guessed in last episodes comments, I couldn't not choose the Wavesmith as my first pick. This card is simply busted when compared to the rest of this list. The protect ability, which it has from lvl 1, essentially makes it a Truthspeaker for the Water splinter, with the added benefit of being a magical attacker. All in all this means that this is an autopick for most Alric teams, and while it doesn't add additional utility apart from protect in silver, it gains an additional magic attack point, ensuring its continued viability. In bronze this card is a bomb, and is honestly better than even some legendary creatures out there. Pick up some copies of these and save in a vault for the long term!
That concludes todays episode, I hope you enjoyed following along for another ranking. Feek free to critisize and comment on my picks in the comment section below. Next time we will be looking at the epics, and I hope you have a great time until then.
Thank you for coming to my Splintertalk.
/ZenMasterLee