Magi-Nation Card Review
Arderial
by Kroodhaxthekrood
Rating Scale
Magi-Nation Duel has only one traditional format,
Constructed, where all cards are legal except for a limited few. Cards will be
rated in this context with the rating scale shown below. These grades do not
tell the whole story and should be viewed in the context of the writing which
accompanies them.
1: Unplayable. Actively bad or
detrimental to your board own board in some way.
2: Low-Impact. Not actively bad but
doesn’t do a whole lot.
2.5: A little better than “meh”.
3: Role Player. Cards which are
simply not played as much but either could be good given
support or are at least decent or fun options.
3.5: Very strong with the required
support.
4: Staple. Strong cards which see
lots of play (or should) but are not completely busted.
5: All-star. Practically an
auto-include in most if not all of decks from that region.
Now, on with the show:
Magi
Adis – 2
Adis has a exactly average stats at 15/5, and two of her
three starting cards are good enough. However, she has no additional effect on
the board other than energy output and magi just need to do more than that. She
was made even worse in later sets as 2i printed more anti-discard tech.
Amara – 3
Amara has a lot of interesting things going for her. Her
numbers are slightly low, but good enough. Her starting cards fit in a Hyren
theme. Soothing Song is a great effect and one that encourages playing
spell-heavy decks (also making her starting Shooting Star actually great).
Finally, the ability to play KT spells without penalty could lead to some
interesting stuff. She gets a 3 because no one has found a way to really break
her yet.
Arderian Adept – 5
Shimmer got BUFF. This magi is one of Arderial’s most
powerful options to try and win with. Her play pattern is to spend all her
energy then Undream her Sandstorm Orshaa at the end of turn, also triggering
the Storm Shield she starts with. If she is not disrupted, this means she is
effectively energizing for 9 each turn (5 from her normal rate + 8 from the
Orshaa – 4 from actually playing the Orshaa). This is more than Nar magi. When
you take into account her souped-up Storm Shield, she probably energizes for
about 13-15 on average (2-3 creatures in play). This is more than anyone except
All-High King Korg. As a direct result of this play pattern, Adept decks are
encouraged to play straightforward, board-centric games and are incentivized to
play out lots of creatures (gaining more energy from the Shield).
Aula – 4
Aula is an amazing setup magi. The combination of Windsight
and Cloud Sceptre means she can churn through your deck to assemble a huge hand
of ideal cards for whoever comes next. Her only drawback is that she’s not
Delia, and is therefore only really used in non-Arderial decks or decks that
don’t want to spend the card slots on all the Vellups.
Aula, Mindseeker – 3.5
Mindseeker is dual-region, which is inherently busted by
itself, and in the best dual-region combo in the game. She’s a little harmed by
the 4 energize and the two potential drawbacks on her version of Windsight.
First, she is forced to include lots of big spells (Cataclysm and Typhoon
mostly) which takes up deck space. Second, she has the potential to create
awkward situations (like drawing a Tradewinds after using Windsight). Still,
very fun and powerful given the right deck.
Defender of the Sky – 3
On one hand, she has great starting cards and a great
effect. On the other hand, she has 10 starting energy and is only playable in
an Xyx theme deck.
Delia – 5
It’s rare to see an Arderial deck that doesn’t have Delia in
the first slot because she’s so good at what she does, which is to play
Vellups, profit from Strengthen, get more Vellups, and draw a billion cards
while actually putting pressure on the board.
Elios – 3
I’ve been trying to break this guy for years but I haven’t
been able to do it, in either mode. I don’t think it’s really possible to make
great, but a Lady of the Sky + Elios deck would be really fun.
Jaela – 2
Jaela has a similar story to Adis: 15/5, decent starting
cards, and a terrible effect.
Kalius – 4
Kalius has terrible stats at 12/4. Awful. Thing is though,
his starting cards are great and Wind Spawn is one of the better magi powers in
the game. The ideal role for this guy is as a finisher in a highly aggressive
Arderial deck (of which there are plenty), because his sheer speed can usually
finish off at least one magi. Try to build Kalius decks with creatures that
have powers that make them discard themselves or find some other way to make
use of the leftover energy before it falls off your board.
Klynn – 3
She wants to be played in spell-heavy decks so she can make
good use of Seer and her starting Robes of the Ages (her best feature). Not
much else to say.
Lady of the Sky – 3
Above average energy numbers at 16/5. Legacy is quite
powerful, but only if she goes in the first slot. The problem with that is her
starting cards stink, so she will be very inconsistent in her ability to affect
the game. Most competitive decks will be able to steamroll her as a result.
Lasada – 2
Look, magi without additional text are not good. Lasada is
at least a slice above the others in that his effect draws you cards, but the
price is still much too high. At least Nightmare’s Dawn gave him Heart of the
Sky, so if you start Lasada you get to immediately look through your opponent’s
deck to see what kind of shenanigans are coming your way.
Lasada, Emissary – 3
This guy has some amazing starting cards. Still gets Heart
of the Sky as well. Diplomacy is also potentially a powerful effect, only
requiring ways to discard cards (Tradewinds is a good start). He’s not
consistent enough to be great, but certainly not a terrible setup magi.
Niffer – 4
Allies is an outrageous effect, allowing Niffer to play relics
from any one other region she wants, including Core. Many newer players will
underestimate the importance of this ability, but it breaks the rules of the
game in a drastic way and can create some pretty absurd situations. Even if she
only chooses to be an Arderial/Orothe magi to round out that deck, it’s still
nuts.
Nimbulo – 2.5
Nimbulo is only 1 starting energy below average size, which
is fine. His starting cards are pretty good, though not amazing. Energy Drain
does turn a profit and can act as small removal, so hooray for one of the few
Unlimited Arderial magi who actually does something! Also, Nimbulo wants to
splash Quallon.
Ora – 3
Ora’s energize is fine but her flip turn will leave a little
to be desired since 12 is a bit low on the starting energy side of things.
Still, her starting cards are great and Strengthen is a very good mechanic. Ora
wants to play lots of smaller creatures so she can get more value out of
Strengthen, and some Arderial decks do exactly that.
Shimmer – 2
Shimmer has an effect that actually does something, but
Creature Bond requires her to put herself in danger of being killed to gain a
minimal benefit. Her starting energy is also a low 12 and when you combine
these things she simply has too low of a board impact.
Shivara – 3
Shivara has not really been explored by the community but
has powerful effects in aggressive Arderial decks.
Sorreah – 5
Starting: Sorreah’s Dream + any two Arderial spells.
Incredible flexibility, though it must be said that if you have spells in the
discard pile you will be forced to choose from there first. Suppress shuts off
what makes most other magi great and reduces them to a stat block. Combine the
two and you have an A-list bad-boy. Yes. Sorreah is a man.
Sorreah, Warrior – 4
Almost as good as his normal version. He loses 1 starting
energy, and effectively has the same amazing starting cards. Dream Block has
the potential to be even more annoying than Suppress but the problem with it is
some decks’ creatures don’t have a lot of powers on them.
Stradus – 2
Arderial wants to attack. Backlash doesn’t do nothing, but
it’s pretty close. Add to that some below-average stats and starting cards and
we have ourselves a dud. He wasn’t even good before the errata to Bubble Xyx.
Voice of the Storm – 5
This is one of the most busted magi in the game. First of
all, we have the best possible dual-region combination so already she is great.
Second, her energy numbers are solid. Third, Hurricane Orish is a strong card
and the ability to cherry pick any Arderial or Orothe relic makes her more
flexible than Dhalsim from Street Fighter. If that was it she’d still be a 4.
Diplomacy, however, is incredibly powerful and will save metric tons of energy
over the course of her time in play. It was even better before errata, when she
could double dip on the discount.
Magi: TLDR
5
Arderian Adept
Delia
Sorreah
Voice of the Storm
4
Aula
Kalius
Niffer
Sorreah, Warrior
3.5
Aula, Mindseeker
3
Amara
Defender of the Sky
Elios
Klynn
Lady of the Sky
Lasada, Emissary
Ora
Shivara
2.5
Nimbulo
2
Adis
Jaela
Lasada
Shimmer
Stradus
Creatures
Aerial Flist – 4
This guy is great in Arderial while not being overpowered in
any particular way. He is flexible thanks to Dreamwarp, aggressive thanks to
Charge, and benefits from certain corner cases involving dual-region creatures
(Voice of the Storms). While the latter is true of all dual-region creatures,
Arderial has a lot of them as well as access to powerful dual-region magi.
Alaban – 3
Alaban has a big effect on the table, being able to
essentially Shockwave a creature with its Undream power. The thing is, Arderial
decks have spells that can do this without less investment and their spells
usually synergize more with things they’re trying to do. Add to the fact that
most Arderial magi cannot play an Alaban after a single energize step, and you
have a creature that does not see a lot of play despite its power.
Alaban Kit – 2.5
Mostly what this does is draw the first attack of an enemy’s
turn, but it is just annoying enough to make them deal with it before attacking
your more important creatures. It’s also usually small enough where attacking
it won’t be too big of a problem and it can die to a lot of incidental removal.
Ayebaw – 3.5
Double Strike is a good effect. To players not as familiar
with the flow of Magi-Nation games, it looks like a great effect, and it can
be. The problem with all additional attack mechanics though, is that attacking
creatures in this game reduces the strength of further attacks that creature
makes. Ayebaw needs plenty of support to give it enough energy to keep making
attacks that matter, but thankfully Arderial has lots of options to do just
that.
Ballistic Baldar – 3
This is basically an Alaban that goes wide instead of tall.
Barreling Vemment – 2
I’m not gonna lie, One-Two would be a great power if you
swarmed the board with a lot of Vemments. Thing is, this is the better of the
two Vemment creatures and they all cost 4 so swarming with them is very
difficult and not really worth it.
Brannix – 2.5
This guy is fine but just too expensive for too low of an
impact unless you’re guaranteed to face another Arderial deck.
Bubble Xyx – 2.5
Formerly a 5, the errata hit this guy pretty hard. Burst is
a very good power. Drawing one card in Magi-Nation is roughly worth two energy,
so drawing three cards is roughly worth six energy and Burst allows you to do
it for effectively four. That’s a big deal. The fact that it has to survive and
can no longer be copied with Sorreah’s Dream brings this guy down quite a bit.
Cloud Narth – 3
By itself, this guy doesn’t do much. With a Pharan, you can
spend two cards to generate three energy. Most of the time this is too much
cost, but some magi have ways to make it cheaper and then it’s a pretty big
deal.
Cloud Orshaa – 1
A zero-cost eight energy creature! Sign me up! This card is
a trap. It only seems good if you’ve got useless, low-impact spells to pitch to
Mystic Binding but why is your deck playing spells you know are useless and
low-impact?
Comet Hyren – 2.5
What are you possibly attacking where Bright Tail will come
into effect on a 7-energy body? Then again, there’s always Kalius. And hyren
theme decks.
Cyclone Vashp – 3
I like this card. It’s got an effect you can build around
and it’s aggressive about it. There’s no real problems with it either. Its only
shortcoming is that Arderial has better removal options to work with.
Cyclone Xyx – 2
This card costs seven and isn’t very powerful, even against
Arderial.
Elder Vellup – 4
Good body + a tutor effect = staple creature. Also, Delia
exists. The only reason this isn’t a 5 is that it’s sometimes the only thing
you can do in a turn.
Elder Yark – 2.5
Good defensive creature in an aggressive region.
Ember Vard – 4
Two energy for five damage is a fabulous rate. You can even
control when Scorch triggers by playing spells in your second PRS Step. Plus
it’s a “may” ability to begin with so you don’t have to lose a blocker if it’s
not beneficial to do so. Not sure why more decks don’t run this creature.
Epik – 1
Sorry Epik, your name does not match your effect on the
game. This is as close to a four-energy do-nothing as it gets. In a game where
good decks didn’t draw five cards a turn or whatever, maybe this card would be
good enough.
Firestorm Orish – 2.5
Bit of a weird one. Firestorm nets your board one energy,
which is fine but nothing to write home about. In practice, it’s a little
better than that because you get to put three energy onto something that can
really benefit from that. You still need to discard two in order to gain the
three. No cheating, because that would be unfair… or something.
Flutter Yup – 3.5
All you have to do is grow this thing a little and it
becomes very annoying to deal with. You do have to invest into it though. It’s
not very good by itself.
Flying Darbok – 3.5
Airlift is an extremely powerful ability. All that is
required to make it work is having a Flying Darbok already in play. But they’ll
kill it right? Well, Arderial has access to Jetstream and Warrior’s Boots and
Kalius. So no. They won’t have a chance.
Flying Hinko – 3
In Arderial, this usually doesn’t trigger that much, as a
lot of the energy-adding powers are a bit janky. Mostly a Naroom card.
Galiant – 2
This guy is so situational it’s almost as if Riding Tall
does nothing. A lot of the time it doesn’t even turn a profit, and not being
able to decide where the energy goes is a big drawback.
Grand Epik – 2.5
This card is interesting for sure. Let’s examine the average
case: 5 energize. Mind Feast will reduce your energize to 3 (ouch!) but Dream
Binge means that your total field gains 6 energy that turn. That’s pretty bad
since magi is much more valuable on a magi and you’re only really gaining one
overall. The potential here is to synergize with Elios.
Hurricane Orish – 4
This guy is a big deal. There’s not a single competitive
deck in the game that doesn’t play Relics or Spells, meaning Spell Drain will often
trigger at least once. If it ever triggers twice, this guy more than pays for
itself. The real bonus is that a five-energy creature is big enough to merit a
serious resource commitment to actually kill, meaning that trigger is all the
more likely to happen. Also, VotS.
J’lith – 2.5
People don’t play this card because Coveting is an enormous
drawback and because the benefit of Collector got reduced to “once per turn”.
However, having had this thing in play, it can get pretty big pretty fast. This
is my kind of bad creature.
Lightning Braggle – 2
This card does nothing. I don’t understand why it even
exists. Poison Baloo Root, which can also be played for 3, has a better version
of the same power … that only costs 1!
Lightning Hyren – 2
Shockstorm costs way too much. See above.
Lovian – 3.5
The only downside to Lovian is that it’s too small to be
scary by itself. In decks that can grow it up, this guy is annoying to deal
with. Not everyone splashes Shockwave (although some do).
Night Hyren – 2.5
This thing is too expensive.
Orathan Flyer – 3
This card actually does work and is fine in any deck that
wants to play creatures (all of them). The problem with it is its slow,
defensive nature in a region that wants to be fast and aggressive.
Orish – 3
Good, solid creature. Nothing to write home about. Much
better than Epik.
Pharan – 3
See Cloud Narth.
Rainbow Hyren – 2.5
Shining Light really only affects Thunder Hyren in a
meaningful way (unless we’re getting crazy and doing some oddball Yerthe hyren
stuff). Gift only affects Monarch Hyren. Those cards aren’t great so boosting
them isn’t great. It’s very pretty though.
Rayalon – 4
While Rayalon is a tad expensive, Study is an incredibly
strong, unique effect. Arderial cards in later sets want to synergize with
spells, and the region has a lot of good ones. So does Core. Plus, Rayalon
incentivizes attacking, which is right on theme.
Renegade Epik – 2.5
Incredibly narrow, very strong ability.
Sandstorm Orshaa – 3
In Arderial, this card doesn’t do too much. Stinging Sands
is a good power that will rarely be useful, and an eight-energy Illusion has
its ups and downs. In Arderian Adept decks this becomes a 5, but not because it
actually does anything itself.
Shock Vashp – 2.5
I actually like this card. The problem is there are exactly
three Arderial Vashp creatures and committing six to nine deck slots to this
“combo” isn’t worth it. Really it’s not worth it because none of the Vashp are
that strong. They’re all pretty medium. Still, the Shock on this card is
actually not a bad rate.
Spray Narth – 3.5
This is a Cloud Narth that is sometimes one more energy to
play for one more energy generated and sometimes completely busted.
Tempest Hyren – 3.5
Lightning Storm is a very strong effect. The hyren does have
to survive the attack with enough energy to cast the spell, but casting
discounted spells during the Attack Step is really good. Like some other
creatures in region, it just needs to be topped off every now and then.
Thankfully, Storm Ring boosts it by 2.
Thunder Hyren – 2.5
I want to like this one. It’s got two interesting powers,
especially Replenish. It’s just too awkward. Its pieces don’t fit together
well. If you use Shockstorm, you don’t have enough to also use Replenish. If
you use Replenish, you’re wasting five energy or something else has to go very
right. You don’t really want to have to grow your seven-energy creatures before
they become effective either. Basically, this needs exactly Rainbow Hyren to
work out well.
Thunder Vashp – 2.5
Too narrow. Good when you can target an annoying 3-energy
creature but just not worth the slot.
Vellup – 5
My pick for second-best creature in the entire region. See
Delia. Even without her though, this thing is worth it.
Vemment – 2.5
Unless you’re guaranteed to face Orothe, this does mostly
nothing. You’re never guaranteed to face anything.
Warlum – 4
Arderial has some nice relics and tutoring for them is also
super nice. This is an example of a great errata. They took it from a 5+ down
to a 4, as opposed to Bubble Xyx which they hammered until it was dead.
Wind Hyren – 3
Invigorate is a great effect. This guy will therefore have a
huge target on its head. Good luck. There’s a hyren subtheme in Arderial
though, and this is one of the better ones.
Wyle – 3
Tap Strength is really cool. Energy Transfer is a good
power. The opponent has to play into this for it to work out really well, but
it’s just good enough on its own where it’s reasonable.
Xyx – 5
This is my pick for Arderial’s best creature overall. The
region is so darn good at attacking and removing creatures with spells that a
well-timed Xyx often kills magi. Like, very often. There’s nothing fancy about
this thing. It’s just a workhorse.
Xyx Elder – 3.5
I used to run at least one Elder in all my Arderial decks. I
also used to play Ora a lot. This card can be extremely powerful but there are
enough conditions on its power that it doesn’t belong in a lot of decks.
Xyx Minor – 3.5
Any time you can get out multiples and boost at least one of
them, these things put in some work. The issue with them is one of them by
themselves does next to nothing.
Yarothis – 3
Powerful. Narrow.
Creatures: TLDR
5
Vellup
Xyx
4
Aerial Flist
Elder Vellup
Ember Vard
Hurricane Orish
Rayalon
Warlum
3.5
Ayebaw
Flutter Yup
Flying Darbok
Lovian
Spray Narth
Tempest Hyren
Xyx Elder
Xyx Minor
3
Alaban
Ballistic Baldar
Cloud Narth
Cyclone Vashp
Firestorm Orish
Flying Hinko
Orathan Flyer
Orish
Pharan
Sandstorm Orshaa
Wind Hyren
Wyle
Yarothis
2.5
Alaban Kit
Brannix
Bubble Xyx
Comet Hyren
Elder Yark
Grand Epik
J’lith
Night Hyren
Rainbow Hyren
Renegade Epik
Shock Vashp
Thunder Hyren
Thunder Vashp
Vemment
2
Barreling Vemment
Cyclone Xyx
Galiant
Lightning Braggle
Lightning Hyren
1
Cloud Orshaa
Epik
Relics
Abwyn’s Quill – 3.5
The biggest interaction with this card is against enemy
Ormagons, where the Quill is the best possible card to have. It’ll never
actually reverse-Devastate your opponent since they see it coming, it just
protects your board from the mass removal, which is great. To make it
offensively strong on the offense, you’re mostly looking at Forgotten Dancer. There
are lots of random interactions for this relic though, and it’s a great tech
card as a result.
Alaban Gloves – 2.5
Offensively, it puts the energy back on their magi. It’s an
Arderial relic so what exactly are you trying to combo with this?
Arderial’s Crown – 2
The definition of low-impact.
Cloud Sceptre – 5
This card is quite silly, allowing players to dig very far
into their decks to find the perfect cards for their strategy. Five cards is
two-and-a-half turns worth of the normal card draw. For one energy. Repeatable.
Dreamthread Bracelet – 1
Why does my magi want to pay for the power? It already paid
for the creature…
Eye of the Storm – 1
Most of the time this card does what it says: “Do nothing”.
Now that the errata says you can’t alter the die roll, you’re as likely to
discard your hand as you are to draw five cards, and the former outcome is way
worse than the latter is good. This card was too good as printed, but alas,
those days are gone.
Eyes of Arderial – 3
This card does things. It just does weird things that aren’t
obviously great.
Hand of the Sky – 3
Often this is a worse version of Mask of Abwyn, since it
costs 1, but sometimes you can gain access to a powerful spell you wouldn’t
otherwise have and that’s quite nice.
Heart of the Sky – 4
Looking through your opponent’s entire deck for the low cost
of one energy is a very good ability. Being able to play a spell from it is
nice, but not really what this is for. Much more likely to be able to play a
removal spell at a key moment than Hand though.
Kalius’ Ring – 4
The Purity rings are generally good cards and this is no
exception. Arderial has lots of good spells and creatures so not being able to
splash isn’t usually a big deal for them. For instance, Arderial doesn’t have
to splash Tradewinds, they just have it. Repeatable small-dude removal is a
good thing to have.
Mask of Abwyn – 4
Information is underrated. This card lets you see your
opponent’s entire hand every turn. You’ll know what they can do to you and will
be able to optimize your play. Also, this card is free.
Orathan Amulet – 2.5
Before Daybreak, this card was a meme. There were only 2
Orathans and the Flyer already has an energize of 2. Arderial/Orothe decks just
have better stuff to do. Gets a little better after Daybreak. Still kind-of a
meme.
Shock Ring – 1
This card’s text is fine. Certainly not a 1-level card,
though not amazing. The thing is, this card replaces cards that could otherwise
be Storm Rings. This is a mistake. Storm Ring is the best. Also, much of the
commonly played Arderial removal doesn’t actually discard energy (Shockwave,
Abwyn’s Gift, Kalius’ Ring, Cataclysm), so Shock Ring doesn’t synergize with a
lot of it.
Storm Ring – 5
This card is free and will trigger a lot of times if your
Arderial deck is doing what it should: attacking stuff. It’s really quite
deceptive how much energy this will net you over the course of a game.
Storm Shield – 4
In Arderian Adept decks, this is a 5. Outside of that, this
is a 3. That averages into a nice 4.
Storm Wings – 2.5
What is this card supposed to be doing? I’ve never figured
it out.
Relics: TLDR
5
Cloud Sceptre
Storm Ring
4
Heart of the Sky
Kalius’ Ring
Mask of Abwyn
Storm Shield
3.5
Abwyn’s Quill
3
Eyes of Arderial
Hand of the Sky
2.5
Alaban Gloves
Orathan Amulet
Storm Wings
2
Arderial’s Crown
1
Dreamthread Bracelet
Eye of the Storm
Shock Ring
Spells
Abwyn’s Gift – 5
The Gift spells are generally very strong, this one
included. Arderial has enough cheap creatures to make the additional cost of
bouncing one of your creatures minimal, and there are even a few ways to turn
it into an upside (Vellup, Kalius, etc.). Other than that, Shockwave is already
a 5 so who wouldn’t want one that costs 2 less?
Cataclysm – 4
Expensive and symmetrical, this still blows up everything.
And you’re in the region with Xyx. And Jetstream. And everyone gets Warrior’s
Boots.
Crushing Winds – 5
The Crushing spells are all pretty much the nuts. Winds is
even one of the better ones of the bunch. The printing of these spells in
Nightmare’s Dawn was a very warping effect of Magi-Nation, since small
creatures (especially those who have exactly 4 energy) are no longer safe, no
matter what region one faces.
Cry of Thunder – 3
You have to have three guys out (or two Xyx) before the
Attack Step to make this efficient. Then they must attack, but that’s not
really so bad as you want to do that anyway most of the time. Powerful,
conditional effect.
Eclipse – 3
This is too expensive to really abuse but is quite an
annoying effect. Again though, Arderial wants to be the aggressor.
Fog Bank – 3
The old combo was to put this on a Lovian to create a
mostly-invincible defensive wall. That’s still decent but at the risk of
sounding like a broken record, Arderial wants to be the aggressor. Cheaper and
situationally more powerful than Eclipse.
Jetstream – 4
This only gets a 4 because not every deck is set up to take
advantage of it. In decks that are, this is Warrior’s Boots 4-6, making whatever
deck that is fast like … lightning? The wind? Assorted sky stuff.
Lightning – 2.5
It’s flexible. It’s fine. It doesn’t do a lot.
Sandswirl – 4
This card is often played as a one-of tech because it can
shut down a lot of annoying things, including some pesky unnamed effects (like
a Cawh). It has a multitude of uses, including the often overlooked mode of
playing it for 1 on a big creature to help your team of small guys punch
through.
Shockwave – 5
The OG. This card is still probably the single overall best
removal spell in the game because there are no strings attached.
Shooting Star – 3
On power level, this is probably closer to a 2.5. I rate it
a 3 because so many Arderial magi include it as one of their starting cards
that most decks will probably benefit from playing Shooting Star as a one-of.
Shrink – 3
Situational but powerful effect. This simply needs to target
a 6+ energy creature to become efficient.
Solar Flare – 3
If you only have one creature to buff with this spell, it’s
not even that bad. If you have two or more, it does get pretty insane. Very
conditional though.
Sorreah’s Dream – 5
This card has so many uses it’s unreal. Funnily enough,
these uses are less common in Arderial decks than they are in other regions, so
this will often be splashed in non-Arderial decks, where it’s still great. In
Arderial, the Xyx creatures are typically the best things to target (RIP
Bubble).
Spirit of Arderial – 2.5
Kind of weird. Potentially backbreaking against a ton of
decks out there, but the symmetry hurts you too. The theory is that Arderial is
(probably) the best region at drawing cards so it won’t hurt you as much as it
hurts them.
Starlight’s Genesis – 2
By itself, this is a 1. With Sunbeam’s End it turns into a
Tradewinds. Sunbeam’s End is bad. This is bad without a bad card. The fact that
this isn’t a 1 shows you how good Tradewinds is.
Storm Cloud – 3.5
This is a tech card against Colossus effects or Cawhs. Against
anything else, it’s really not that much worse than a Shockwave either (except
vs Burrow I suppose). Great include but not necessary to play tons of them.
Sunbeam’s End – 2
By itself, this is a 1. With Starlight’s Genesis, this is a Submerge.
Starlight’s Genesis is bad. This is bad without a bad card. The fact that this
isn’t a 1 shows you how good Tradewinds is. Because let’s be honest, that’s
really what you’re going for. Not the energy. You want the cards man.
Tradewinds – 5
This is the best card draw spell in the game and my pick for
the best Arderial card in general. You don’t even need to play discard pile
strategies to make this card insane. That’s just a possible bonus and a reason
for a lot of other regions to splash this card.
Tranquility – 4
This effect is backbreaking against Cald and d’Resh and situationally
powerful against everyone else. It does a lot for its 2 energy investment, and
will always pay you back for the card spent. Use this to protect a big board
you’ve just built up.
Updraft – 3
After the errata, you’re not really playing this in Arderial.
This is a Bograth card. Bograth has Mist Hyren.
Volt Shield – 2.5
I’m not in love with this build-a-Lovian effect. It costs
you a whole card and then they just target something else with their spell…
Spells: TLDR
5
Abwyn’s Gift
Crushing Winds
Shockwave
Sorreah’s Dream
Tradewinds
4
Cataclysm
Jetstream
Sandswirl
Tranquility
3.5
Storm Cloud
3
Cry of Thunder
Eclipse
Fog Bank
Shooting Star
Shrink
Solar Flare
Updraft
2.5
Lightning
Spirit of Arderial
Volt Shield
2
Starlight’s Genesis
Sunbeam’s End
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