MND Regional Review: Nar

Magi-Nation Card Review

Nar

by Kroodhaxthekrood

Credits and special thanks:

Shoutout to Cahje93 and Aerrilias for their help getting started.

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

A disclaimer about Nar magi: As a rule, Nar magi have low starting energy numbers, high energize rates, and only one starting card. This differs sharply from the typical magi of all other regions in the game. Most magi have about three starting cards of varying degrees of playability, and the average magi in the game has 13/5 stats. While the average Nar magi’s stats are 12/5, there are only four magi in the region with lower than 6 energize rate and three of those four have natural ways to increase their energize. These factors add up to a few things worth mentioning:

·       Inconsistent draws. Having only one starting card massively increases the variance of your starting hand relative to magi of other regions in the game. At the highest levels, this matters a lot, especially in combination with the next point.

·       Weak early. Low starting energy numbers mean your flip turn is less powerful than other regions. You simply have less energy to put into play, especially going first. While some Nar magi break this rule, it is important to note.

·       Limited card selection. Many Nar magi may only play Nar and Universal cards or receive a greater-than-usual penalty for splashing. The Nar region is meant to be isolated from others in the Moonlands, and this mechanic represents that. It does, however, limit a Nar player’s deck building options.

·       Strong late. Larger energize numbers mean that the longer your magi survives, the greater your chances of taking over the game. This is the tradeoff for the other areas of weakness. As a result, Nar plays out vastly differently than other regions in the game. They don’t have powerful flip turns that establish dominating boards or spend tons of energy to defeat a magi out of nowhere. Nar looks to *ahem* snowball the game, relying on out-energizing their opponents and grinding them into submission. Nar cards and Nar decks need to take this into account, and therefore so do these reviews.

Aurorea – 4

Not being able to play Universal cards is a big drawback, even in Nar which doesn’t splash non-Universal cards, not having access to Belt, Boots, etc. certainly hurts. On the other hand, Mistress of Frost is very powerful. An energize rate of 9 is tough to beat. Expect Aurorea to run basically all the cards which freeze magi. Also, if her deck is freezing magi a lot, expect Aurorea decks to run only a handful of high-impact spells.

Balachron – 3

Numbing Wit is nice because freezing creatures is the best kind of freeze. Most Nar creatures need to be frozen to reach their full potential and sometimes the opponent blows up all your Arctic cards. Freezing relics is fine, especially if your relics provide effects rather than powers. That said, 11/6 is not a great stat line in Nar and Kintor isn’t a very strong card to start with.

Bronn – 3.5

Bronn has good Nar stats, a relatively reliable way to damage magi in Icefang Battlesled, and never wants to splash. Snowball is a good build-around power and wants to target something with 4+ energy (Furok Protector is an amazing way to accomplish this feat). This in and of itself makes Bronn good at handling large opposing creatures. The build-around factor comes in because the Snowballed creature dies and end of turn. What he wants to do is Snowball it, attack with it (optional), then use a spell after combat that has a cost of discarding a creature. Due to the high cost of his power and the fact that Icefang Battlesled also has an expensive power, Bronn only wants creatures to be frozen.

Emaya – 3.5

10/5 is awful and she is penalized for splashing. Not a good start. Korul isn’t a particularly good card. Her nameless effect can increase her energize but a) your opponent doesn’t have to play relics most of the time and b) Nar likes to blow up enemy relics. Improvise is a very strong power though, effectively generating four energy worth of value on board for no energy cost. You need to play lots of relics in your deck, as well as keep at least one creature in play (or be able to play one) at all times. Emaya needs to Improvise every single turn to stay relevant. Also, she doesn’t want to freeze magi and she probably doesn’t want to freeze relics since she might be playing some of them.

Erisa – 3

11/6 isn’t good in Nar. On the other hand, it’s not like you put this magi in your stack expecting her to stay in play. Nomad, Legacy, and a creature freeze from her guaranteed Zyavu means Erisa’s job is to spend a bunch energy on creatures and then die. The problem is that unlike Trygar, Erisa doesn’t grant her leftover cards any protection from the opponent’s turn and, unlike Interchange or Ritual Spear, your magi doesn’t reveal right away. Instant Fortress can stop their spells and powers for a turn, but they can still attack your board to death if they have creatures out. This means Erisa has to spend 4 energy on Fortress plus some more on removal, leaving her little energy left over to deposit her creatures for the next magi. The other way is to win the die roll, go first, and hope which, with only one guaranteed starting card, isn’t usually paying you off. Overall, she’s fun to try but not consistent in any manner. She gets a “just for fun” rating of 3 from me.

Fray – 3

13/6 isn’t even that good of a stat line in Nar, because despite having the highest energy index in the region at 19, with an energize of 6 you’re not really out-energizing a lot of competitive magi. Yaromant is the best card in Nar, so that’s nice. Big Chill can add up, since it triggers both on offense and on defense. It also stacks up nicely with a lot of other Nar cards which remove energy from the opposing magi in some form. Savvy opponents will find ways to spend all their energy every turn against decks with a lot of these effects, but Big Chill happens before their Play Creatures step. Fray isn’t a bad magi, she just feels pretty mediocre in competitive play.

Hajnyn – 1

Aside from his name (ninja but backwards), the only good thing about this guy is that he starts with any Arctic card. He needs that to fuel Iceberg anyway. Basically, 13/5 isn’t going to out-energize anyone and Iceberg always causes you more energy than the opponent. Nar has other ways to directly discard creatures.

Halsted – 5

Holy crap Crack is annoying. Lots of very competitive decks rely on relics to make powerful plays. We’d probably all be fine paying one extra energy for Warrior’s Boots, but two (much less three if he freezes relics on you)? Crystallize is also a great card because it slows the game way down, and with 8 energize that’s exactly what Halsted wants to be doing. Not splashing is a limitation but only in deck construction, not in actual play. Nar decks just don’t play non-Nar, non-Universal cards as a rule since so many of their magi have this drawback.

Helgrem – 3

This guy is very weird. He’s 12/6 which isn’t great in Nar and starts with Ice Furok, which is a fine card but doesn’t synergize very well with All for One which wants the biggest creatures possible (but definitely not a Vrak). Helgrem wants the triple Kyroll deck. One for All can be really aggravating, especially against Vellups, but sometimes it hurts you too. Sure, you can break the synergy with All for One but what if you have multiple multiples in hand? Not being able to play cards in a region with poor card draw is a big yikes. I think if he had better energy numbers he’d be a decent build-around magi. As is I don’t think he quite gets there.

Koza – 2.5

Koza basically stinks. 11/6 isn’t good. Refract isn’t good. Borrow is funny but not reliable. Steal is actively useful but Nar has so many ways to damage magi they don’t necessarily need that ability from their magi.

Laranel – 4

Furok Protector basically always nets you a nice bit of energy advantage, making it a very nice play for your weak starting turn. On top of that, Cold Shoulder actively protects your cards (if you remember to remind your opponent about it all the time). Other than that, Laranel is the quintessential Nar magi who gets better the longer she survives.

Locke – 4

Locke has the right energy numbers for the region and can play his starting Frost Hyren off a single energize. Treasure Hunt gives a Nar player access to some much-needed card draw, even if it’s expensive and you’re getting the worst card out of your top three. You do actively want to freeze Locke because 3 energy for 2 cards is much better than 2 energy for 1 card, especially since it changes it to the worst and best cards out of the top 3. Sadly, Locke doesn’t naturally have a way to freeze himself so either he doesn’t go in your first slot (which stinks because he wants to draw cards) or you rely on luck (which your opponent probably doesn’t have to do).

Odavast – 4

10/7 is good. Mombak is good. Ice Wall is good. You see this guy as the last magi in a lot of Nar decks. He’s nothing fancy but he also doesn’t care.

Thast – 3.5

This is the guy you want to combo Erisa into since Invigorate will then boost up his numbers and make Ice Grinder more powerful. Even with no creatures in play, Ice Grinder is still energy advantage but obviously it gets much better. Thin Ice is an okay spell but it’s basically at its best in Thast decks which want swarms of little guys instead of lower amounts of larger creatures. This guy can keep up the pressure pretty well if he maintains a board of creatures. The problem is his first turn. If Erisa can set him up, he can probably take over. If not, who knows?

Ust – 3

Brittlebreak isn’t very good because you don’t know if your opponent is playing a relic-heavy deck or not. He’s got the energy numbers to succeed, even if they are strictly worse than Halsted, Aurorea, Laranel, Odavast, and Locke. Gambit is an interesting high-risk effect. Typically we don’t want to rely on stuff like this because it’s so easy to just die unexpectedly and cards like Spirit Drain don’t require an opponent to attack you in order to defeat you. That said, Nar has the very powerful Hailstorm Pendant. I don’t think Ust decks want to just sit there not playing creatures because how do you win that way? Ultimately, while he isn’t bad, this means Ust ends up falling short of a 4 in power level and he doesn’t have a very build-around ability. In sum, this drops him to about a 3.

Velouria – 4

Velouria is surprisingly strong. Even if they leave only two energy on their magi, Adore gives you a 4-energy swing (removes 2 from them and adds 2 to you). She also has the highest starting energy of all Nar magi, so she actively wants to go first when you win the die roll. Hunter Furok also synergizes nicely with what she’s trying to do, making an ideal partner to Adore.

Magi: TLDR

5

Halsted

4

Aurorea

Laranel

Locke

Odavast

Velouria

3.5

Bronn

Emaya

Thast

3

Balachron

Erisa

Fray

Helgrem

Ust

2.5

Koza

2

N/A

1

Hajnyn

 

Creatures

Aegris – 4

A speedy Aegris can give Nar a way to directly discard creatures from the board. This uses up a Warrior’s Boots, so it costs 2 cards and 3 energy for a Shockwave, and it requires creatures to be frozen, but it is a way to do it. The reason this guy is so good, though, is that you can often grind games to the point where the opponent is only playing off their energize and so sticking an Aegris onto your board means they either remove it and spend less energy building up their own board or they play a creature and your Aegris just kills it.

Blizzard Hyren – 3

This card is a bit on the expensive side, but Storm is pretty dirty if both creatures and magi are frozen. Fury doesn’t really come up that often but in the rare case where creatures are not frozen and you have two good attacks, it’s nice to have. Basically, this is a nice AOE card and it can be worth running one or two.

Djarmander – 4

Relics are generally the least useful thing to freeze, not because it’s bad to do so but because Nar has access to a lot of things which just blow up enemy relics. This tension is very evident on Djarmander itself, but that’s actually a good thing. If you need to freeze relics, this’ll do it. If you want to blow them up, Dreamdrain gives you a bonus for doing so. What you don’t want to do is put Djarmander in a deck that plays lots of relics that have powers.

Dryte – 4

Dryte’s Snowball seems like a win-more ability, and to a certain extent it is. However, Nar doesn’t have a ton of cards which deal effectively with lots of enemy creatures at once. That gives this creature a solid role to fill, because as long as you can find that first attack this thing is good at taking out the trash.

Frost Hyren – 3

This card isn’t bad. You definitely run it on Locke. Freezing creatures is awesome as is punishing the opponent for playing relics. This just takes up your whole energize and Odavast, Velouria, and all the 3.5 magi have trouble playing it.

Frost Raxis – 3

Giving the opponent a choice isn’t great. The ability to repeatedly blow up enemy relics is. Nar has other ways to blow up relics though, so it doesn’t need this creature.

Furok Protector – 4

Thick Coat means you’re getting 2 free energy on average when you play this creature. That’s called efficiency. Resistance is some nice gravy on top of that.

Garlak – 3

If Nar could splash creatures this guy would be fun with a Gargagnor. As is, it’s good if it lives, extremely medium if it doesn’t.

Glacier Hyren – 3  

Big dude is big. Magic Resistance means this particular big dude is annoying to kill. If creatures are frozen, this big dude is even more annoying to kill because, while Frostbite costs 3, it gains that energy back and makes their team smaller in the process. If creatures are frozen they can’t really Ormagon you and attacking is annoying so the best way to take this out are powers, but creatures are frozen so that’s expensive too.

Gransaber – 3

Chill on a big dude once again. This is just a big creature that’s slightly more difficult to remove compared to your average big creature.  

Great White Narth – 3

Overwhelm is basically just a worse version of Dryte’s Snowball. What makes Dryte good is that it can attack a second time. Overwhelm can add more energy against huge swarm boards, but Dryte is much more consistently useful. Sustain is cool and all, but the Play Creatures step happens in between the attack and the power so the extra five energy doesn’t help you play out more guys. It helps you play spells, and that’s not nothing.

Grendile – 3

It’s big and good at attacking stuff. It combines with other magi damage in Nar, though when you have incidental magi damage in a lot of places it has diminishing returns.

Hunter Furok – 3

Adding even one energy to your magi is very useful. Chill can sometimes come up if the opponent damages but doesn’t kill your Furok. The difference between 7 and 8 energy also allows non-frozen Aurorea, Odavast, and Bronn to play this creature from a single energize.

Ice Arboll – 3.5

There’s nothing terribly fancy about Ice Pack. It just wants you to have a lot of creatures in play. I find that Nar decks usually don’t have more than 2-3 creatures in play at a time. You only need two (aside from the Arboll) for Ice Pack to be good, but in an atypical deck with more small creatures Ice Pack gets extremely strong. Thast likes a lot of small creatures in play too…

Ice Furok – 3

Smash is very powerful. It’s also slow.

Ice Hyren – 3

Another big Nar creature that has pretty good effects. Shared Strength will usually be active and Ravage is some nice upside on a big creature. It just takes up your whole turn and doesn’t protect itself.

Ice Vinoc – 3

This creature is fine but nothing to write home about. Icy Vines is a 2-point energy swing but the opponent has to give it to you.

Iceberg Hyren – 3

Nar doesn’t really have access to Will of Orothe. Sure, you can splash it but on most of your magi it’ll cost 8 energy. This means you can’t really force the opponent to attack your Iceberg Hyren, but they’ll never want to on their own, so it’s a nice defensive creature you can sit behind to start the process of out-energizing your opponent.

Icefield Ashryte – 1

Narrow, can’t use Thermal Stress if creatures are frozen. No thank you.

Ickle – 2.5

More relic hate. This one is trivial for the opponent to deal with.

Kintor – 2.5

Usually Snowblind works out in your favor but a 33% chance to fail is very bad because when it fails you lose your creature in the process.

Korul – 2.5

Slow and inconsistent.

Krenkrajak – 3.5

You have to have a specific deck to want to freeze magi a lot. Either you’ve got Aurorea, Kintor Furs, a low spell count, or something to that effect. Then Krenkrajak is a good card for you.

Kyroll – 4

This card is a reason to want one-sided creature freeze. It’s also pretty cool with Halsted. It’s also good enough by itself since it can Smash something and then if they don’t use removal on it you can attack, Drift Back to hand and re-play Kyroll. It takes up a whole energize step, but it does come down and give you immediate value unlike a lot of other big Nar creatures.

Mombak – 4

Cold Pack is just a nice efficient energy boost. It’s also one of the rare cards commonly played in Nar decks that works fine when it’s not frozen. Multiple Mombak are great together as well, each gaining two energy from the other’s Cold Pack if they’re frozen or one if not.

Polar Eebit – 2.5

It still dies to removal just fine. All Eebits do, but this one is by far the easiest Eebit to actually deal with.

Polar Rudwot – 3

It has to live long enough to attack, but Snowbank is pretty awesome.

Rask – 2.5

Chill is actually good on small creatures! You so often see this kind of ability on creatures that already have 8-ish energy and at that point it doesn’t come up much. An attacking Rask can always get a nice profit out of Chill, but it has to live long enough to make that happen. Satiate on the other hand is something Nar decks typically want to avoid. Yaromant (the best creature in the region) grows very large. Furok Protector comes down above 3. Mombak is pretty ubiquitous. Basically, Nar decks have enough creature growth that Satiate isn’t something they’re typically looking for.

Rask Deserter – 2

Too narrow. Also, many Nar decks don’t play that many relics to begin with (though Ice Lens is pretty universal).

Saitorr – 2

It’s really too bad that a card-draw creature in Nar has this particular ability. Nar doesn’t draw many cards compared to other regions and Snuggles could draw you a ton due to the low starting energy on a lot of Nar magi. It’s never going to live until your beginning of turn though. Plus, this means you have to navigate the game into a situation where you don’t need to play (many) cards for a turn. There are too many conditions here to be worth it. Sorry Tigger.

Sarf – 4

Sarf does enough things that it’s a generally useful card. It can sit in play if you need a creature, it can damage magi for a highly-efficient chunk with Freezerburn, and if it lives you can Snatch one of their relics and use Freezerburn (or sit back to block).

Snow Barl Pup – 4

Dream Draft allows you to play a free 4-energy creature on your opponent’s turn. That’s pretty incredible. It’s not a 5 because it doesn’t always work when you want it to. While most competitive decks draw tons of cards, not all of them do. Additionally, sometimes you don’t draw it against their setup magi.

Snow Hyren – 3

If your magi can play this creature in a single energize (many can), it’s pretty decent. Having creatures frozen basically means any time a creature attacks you get an energy from Cold and Colder. On the other hand, if creatures are frozen Energy Transfer becomes inefficient because it costs 1 more than it adds. And, like all large creatures, if they use a removal spell on it you’ll be very sad.

Sunglare Celphet – 2

So ugly it’s charming. Reflect is so easy for the opponent to play around that it basically has no text.

Tithragar – 2.5

Too narrow. Cool card though with a fabulous Monty Python flavor text reference.

Tundra Hyren – 2.5

We haven’t really seen a one-sided freeze effect yet, so this is cool design space. That said, I’d be much more interested in a one-sided magi or relic freeze, since Nar almost always wants to have all creatures frozen at all times anyway. I see this card as being mostly unnecessary thanks to the prevalence of Yaromant, Zyavu, and Essence of Frost.

Vrak – 3.5

Since you can’t really rely on Vrak staying in play to leverage Really Really Big’s enormous energy gain, what you want to do is play it in decks that have lots of ways to discard their own creature. Ice Rupture is probably the best thing to pair this card with. Also, if you’re winning and in the full grip of your snowball strategy, dropping a Vrak onto the table can be a really difficult spot for the opponent.

Wasperine Stalker – 4

Not as good in Nar as it is in Naroom because there are a bunch of magi damage cards just lying around in Nar. Still, this has the advantage of staying on board after you damage their magi, and that’s very good.

Worgle – 2.5

Much more conditional than some of the other AOE options Nar has. Potentially more powerful, but the other ones also don’t require you to discard them from play.

Yaromant – 5

First of all, this is an Arctic card. It’s also the most important kind because it freezes creatures and turns on most of the other cards in the region. You’d probably play it if it did nothing else. Scavenge is insane though, triggering and netting you energy when any creature dies (even better if you have a Djarmander out or something). This creature often grows to giant proportions, especially since Nar has plenty of cards that allow it to sacrifice their own creatures for profit.

Yaw – 1 

Too expensive for the ability. Run Dream Balm instead. Even if it’s frozen it only costs 3.

Zyavu – 4

Sometimes you don’t have a Yaromant and this creature is good enough. You always run 3 copies because so many of your creatures rely on being frozen.

Creatures: TLDR

5

Yaromant

4

Aegris

Djarmander

Dryte

Furok Protector

Kyroll

Mombak

Sarf

Snow Barl Pup

Wasperine Stalker

Zyavu

3.5

Krenkrajak

Ice Arboll

Vrak

3

Blizzard Hyren

Frost Hyren

Frost Raxis

Garlak

Glacier Hyren

Gransaber

Great White Narth

Grendile

Hunter Furok

Ice Furok

Ice Hyren

Ice Vinoc

Iceberg Hyren

Polar Rudwot

Snow Hyren

2.5

Ickle

Kintor

Korul

Polar Eebit

Rask

Tithragar

Tundra Hyren

Worgle

2

Rask Deserter

Saitorr

Sunglare Celphet

1

Icefield Ashryte

Yaw

Relics

Blizzard Core – 1

They had to errata this because you could splash Gargagnor and actually be able to use this ability. Still, you’d have to blow up all the opponent’s creatures, have paid extra for a Gargagnor (sometimes 2 extra), paid 5 for this relic, and still have a ton of energy on your magi. That’s a lot to ask, even when you can control it. With errata you have to wait until your Energize Step which means if you’ve put your opponent in this position you don’t need this card to defeat them. Spend the 5 energy on something actually useful.

Bronn’s Battle Staff – 3

This card might be good. It stops some really annoying spells such as Vaporize and Spirit Drain. It does not stop Crushing Fungus. For this card to be useful, you really have to have relics frozen though, so it can discard itself or something you didn’t spend energy on. Nar doesn’t have many creatures you’d be happy to spend on this effect, if any at all. I’m also not sure Nar decks need this ability, because if they’re controlling the game it’s because the opponent is very limited in what they can actually play and is more concerned about surviving.

Cauldron of Ice – 3.5

Really cool card in more controlling builds of Nar, as long as neither magi nor relics are frozen that is. The setup cost is definitely real at 2 energy, but once this relic is in play you’re paying 1 extra energy to turn your worst card in hand into another copy of a powerful spell.

Chill Cane – 3.5

Chill Cane is really cool if Nar decks can find ways to discard cards. Some of their magi have this ability innately, like Emaya and Halsted. You can run Channeler’s Gloves alongside one of those magi to get some extra draw power in a region without much, and that’s a big deal. Waste Not also randomly hoses decks that rely on the discard pile. Nar doesn’t so it’s relatively free to you. Even the turn you play Chill Cane you’re getting above-rate draw, as long as you can keep triggering Want Not. 

Dreamdrain Charm – 3

You’re paying 2 to limit your opponent’s energy on their next turn. They better have at least 2 relics in play (almost no one has spells that stick in play but it does come up once in a while). On your turn you can just discard this card if it’s your only relic or spell in play. You don’t want Crystallize in decks that run Dreamdrain Charm and Crystallize is a more powerful card. Also, you never know how many relics you’ll face.

Essence of Frost – 4

The ability to just have everything frozen all the time is very powerful. Sometimes you don’t want to freeze magi, but if you have relatively few spells and play relics mostly for their effects this card is mostly upside. It’s also harder to get rid of than even a Yaromant. It’s almost a 3.5 because you don’t want this card in decks that avoid freezing magi.

Hailstorm Pendant – 5

This card is really strong. Spending 2 (3 the first time) to deal 7-8 damage is absurd. It’s not a traditional build-around because Nar doesn’t want creatureless decks. Rather, you just put this in a control deck and if they remove all your creatures every turn you get to punish them for it very hard. If they don’t, you live which means another turn of out-energizing the opposition. Also, some of your powerful spells require you to discard your own creatures which allows you to set up pretty dirty turns.

Ice Lens – 5

Ordinarily, something like this would be a 4. In Nar, Magnify is the single best way the region has to draw cards. Additionally, there is no Nar deck that doesn’t rely on freezing at least creatures. That means you always run at least 2 copies of this card in your deck, often the full 3.

Icecap – 2.5

It’s not that this card doesn’t do anything, because it does. It either ends up slowing them down for a turn or outright crippling relic-heavy decks like Orothe. It’s just that it costs 3, doesn’t help you on board, and the opponent gets to make the decisions for it instead of you.

Icefang Battlesled – 4

This card is relatively expensive but you get that value right back. It’s imperative not to freeze relics if you want to make use of this card though.

Icy Heart – 2

You have to play 4 humongous things in order for this card to be worth it. I’d rather just spend the full amount on 3 humongous things and play better cards in my deck. If it said “printed energize” it’d be a super-combo with Thast. It doesn’t say that though.

Icy Prison – 3.5

If you’re ahead on board, dropping an Icy Prison can outright defeat a magi over the course of two turns. Basically, you have to maneuver the game into a position where their magi is sitting on low energy (you have lots of magi damage to create this situation) but has a good amount of creatures out. The most common situation for this is immediately after they have flipped over a new magi, but you can also just walk them into this position by damaging their magi directly a bunch. Often, they will get fed up with losing energy for free and elect to spend all or most of their energy playing out creatures. You can also Crystallize their creature so it reduces their energize for no real benefit. Once you drop this, you get to remove the last point of energy from their magi somehow and remove their creatures and they lose a magi. This pairs up very well with Dryte, and any other cards which can remove multiple creatures in a turn.

Instant Fortress – 3

Super expensive. Doesn’t protect your board against attacks. Can be good against heavy removal decks though, especially when you flip a new magi. Suffers because of its cost and because you don’t know what you’ll be facing.

Kintor Furs – 3.5

Two energy and a card turns freezing magi and relics into a one-sided affair, but you still get the benefit of your cards counting as frozen. This gives Nar decks that ordinarily don’t want to freeze magi or relics the option to do so.

Void Stone – 3

Drawing cards is good, but you want the relics you play to stay in play or discard themselves to their own abilities. On the other hand, this card does discard itself just fine and one energy is below rate as far as card draw is concerned. Also, it lets you discard Dreamdrain Charm and Icy Prison but not before those cards have reduced your energize rate at least once. Demand does stack with Halsted’s Crack effect, which is pretty brutal, and it gives non-Halsted magi a smaller version of Crack. Between the two abilities, this card is decent.

Relics: TLDR

5

Hailstorm Pendant

Ice Lens

4

Essence of Frost

Icefang Battlesled

3.5

Cauldron of Ice

Chill Cane

Icy Prison

Kintor Furs

3

Bronn’s Battle Staff

Dreamdrain Charm

Instant Fortress

Void Stone

2.5

Icecap

2

Icy Heart

1

Blizzard Core

Spells

Blizzard – 4

Because you can’t play this card during PRS 1, it doesn’t help you push for lethal on an opposing magi. What it does do is directly discard creatures from play. You do need to spend two real cards to deal with the opponent’s one creature, as Nar doesn’t really pack small re-usable creatures. However, it slows the game down and as long as you’re discarding more energy than you’ve spent (in total), this card is good, especially when you get to actually attack with something and then Blizzard it away. This card doesn’t look good, but it is.

Brittlebreak – 2.5

You can never know ahead of time how many relics the opponent has. I’ve typed that text a lot for this region.

Crushing Ice – 3

This is one of the worst Crushing spells. Paying four energy to deal seven damage is very good. The problem is that, if you’re playing Nar, canny opponents will not keep three energy on their magi for you to just remove. Also, if your magi is frozen is becomes 5-for-7 and that’s not as good. You still have to play enough magi damage effects so the opponent respects them, but I’ve had this card in hand many times and never feel excited by it.

Crystallize – 5

Slows the game way, way down. Replaces itself. Deals with giant creatures for the low price of 2 energy. You have to eventually deal with the creature for real but all you really want to do as Nar is grind people down and this card is a superstar at doing that. It is vital to remember that the creature can still use powers, so pick your target wisely. This card also enables a combo, which is just to stack a Nightmare Channel on the same creature. The opponent will end up needing to spend their own removal cards on the Crystallized creature to try and dig out of that awful situation.

Exposure – 3

The Spirit Drain of Nar. I see this card a lot but, as with Crushing Ice, I doubt its effectiveness. Of course it’s good if the opponent doesn’t play cards, but even when they do I might just rather have a Sarf. It’s not like you’re fighting Core magi more than 50% of the time.

Flashfreeze – 3.5

Nar decks don’t often have insane amounts of cards in play, so a lot of the time you’re not getting incredible value. Thast-style decks that want more creatures in play than average will probably appreciate this spell though.

Ice Rupture – 3.5

(In a Danny DeVito voice) Two words: Vrak. It’s also pretty awesome with Furok Protector. This card requires you to pay a pretty real cost but boy does it give you a lot of power.

Icepack – 2

I can think of exactly Kyroll who wants this card on it, and even then it’s not insane.

Ominous Chill – 2

Not as good as it is in Bograth, since discarding the creature is a much higher cost in Nar and your creatures are bigger on average anyway. I gave it a 3 in Bograth so in Nar that’s about a 2.

Refract – 2.5

The definition of “meh”.

Shattering Wind – 2

This card does nothing so often you just shouldn’t put it in your deck. Again, players will not hoard energy on their magi against Nar. You want magi damage incidentally or repeatedly over turns, not at the cost of a whole card.

Shattershards – 4

This card alone means Nar decks are good at blowing up enemy relics, and is a big reason why some other relic-related Nar cards go down in value. So good it’s played in Cald.

Snowball – 3

Definitely fun but not super reliable.

Spirit of Nar – 3.5

Actually pretty devastating a good amount of the time. They don’t get to play creatures or any more spells or relics. Nar doesn’t have a ton of ways to come back from losing situations and this card helps in that regard, especially if you have plenty of magi damage in your deck.

Thin Ice – 4

Looks bad but really, it’s three energy spent to gain somewhere around 4-5 worth of value on average.

Whiteout – 2

If Yaromant, Zyavu, and to an extent Essence of Frost weren’t so ubiquitous you might actually play this card. Nar creatures just want to be frozen all the time, so they don’t have much use for a temporary freeze like this.

Spells: TLDR

5

Crystallize

4

Blizzard

Shattershards

Thin Ice

3.5

Flashfreeze

Ice Rupture

Spirit of Nar

3

Crushing Ice

Exposure

Snowball

2.5

Brittlebreak

Refract

2

Icepack

Ominous Chill

Shattering Wind

Whiteout

1

N/A

Find all the regional reviews kept in cold storage on the Magi-Nation Duel hub page. 

MND Regional Review: Arderial

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

Find all the regional reviews on the Magi-Nation Duel hub page.  Come fly away with me...