Epic Card Game: Uprising - Flames of Scarros Pack Analysis (2)

Here we go, part 2 of 4! This time we are looking at Flames of Scarros. I will be going through each card in the pack and offering my thoughts including what I think they give in terms of Constructed and Limited. I hope you enjoy!

If you missed the first one, Kark's Edict, here it is: http://amazingspidertank.blogspot.com/2016/11/epic-card-game-uprising-karks-edict.html

Flames of Scarros pack contents:

Scarros, Hound of Draka
Hunting Pack
Go Wild
Little Devil
No Escape
Saren, Night Stalker
Force Field
Reset
War Machine
Brand, Rebel Fighter
Master Zo
Silver Dragon
and a Wolf/Zombie token.

Scarros, Hound of Draka - As with Kark, and the other titular champions in Uprising, Scarros continues the new trend of the Loyalty X keyword, which is just a slight modification of Loyalty. Now your loyalty is only limited to the number of cards in your hand. If you go full Wild with this guy, you better watch out! As with most Wild cards, Scarros has a little bit of everything to offer. He deals damage to the board, damage to the opposing player, and he's a huge champion by himself. Boasting stats higher than even his owner, Draka, he will definitely be seeing a lot of play. I don't think his art fits with Wild as he looks more like a Demon than a wild creature, but I was assured by someone at Epic that Scarros may be "mutated by energy from an evil source, but he's Wild at heart"

Constructed - Scarros will be in most Wild decks, especially burn. He just does so much damage. He can wipe the board and hit your opponent in the face. Sure, Draka's Fire may be more consistent, but it can sometimes hurt yourself, and it definitely doesn't leave a giant 11/11 on the board for your opponent to deal with. I can't wait to have like 9 cards in my hand from card draw on my opponent's turn, and then hitting my opponent's board and face with 8 damage.

Limited - Scarros will see less play in Limited but that completely depends on what other cards you get. If you have a decent amount of Wild, he's a must have. And considering how popular Wild is in Limited, you will probably see a lot of him. I don't think his slowness is that much of a factor. He's awesome.

Hunting Pack - Wow, Wild gets all the awesome art. I really like wolves, and I'm so glad they are getting so much love in this pack. I think this will be a decent card but we'll see.

Constructed - If you are running a wolf deck, which I hope everyone who plays Epic does at some point, then this is probably going to see play. We'll see how competitive it is but I think it could be quite good. If you have a handful of wolves already out on the board and expended from attacking or something, this card could take out a lot of different Champions. You can definitely get something with 3 health, which is probably not great, but if you can hit something with 6+ life, then you got something. Adding 3 other wolves into play is important as an establishment. It may not be consistent enough for most people though.

Limited - I doubt this will see much play. It's just not consistent enough to spend your gold to just put out 3 weenies and maybe kill a low life champion. Other free cards can do a lot of that, and the wolves don't even have blitz. However, if you have enough wolf support and can find a way to give the wolves blitz, this could be good.

Go Wild - Haha, Wild also has the most hilarious art in Epic. This card just drips with testosterone and I love it. It's too bad the card itself is rather bland. When you have Lash and Rage in the same faction, this just doesn't hold any weight. Recycle is nice, but I'd rather have Lash and Rage almost in every case.

Constructed - Not much to say, I sadly think this card is a dud. maybe I'm missing something, but Rage and Lash are much better choices

Limited - Same thing here, although it may see more play if people don't have access to the 2 better cards. Recycle is always nice.

Little Devil - Here is another Evil 0 cost blitzing champion. The Airborne is nice, but I think Evil already has enough of these and they do a better job. I'd much rather have a Dark Knight or Guilty Demon. However, if the meta favors fliers more then maybe this will see play.

Constructed - Guilt Demon and Dark Knight are much better. Maybe if you are running a really specific 0-cost blitzing deck you will find room for this but I doubt it.

Limited - He could see play. A surprise 4 damage after your opponent spent gold can be nice, but he probably won't do too much else. 4 defense is at least annoying enough that it might draw out your opponent's gold though.

No Escape - I always like direct removal, so this card catches my eye. However, I prefer my removal on my opponent's turn, and this card just gives my opponent way too much flexibility. I like some of the shenanigans you can do on your turn, and there are situations where this card can save you, but I'm thinking there will be better choices. Tom from Tom's Epic Gaming Blog got to showcase this card and he does a great job of analyzing it. http://www.tomsepicgaming.com/epic-uprising-spoiler-no-escape/

Constructed - As I said I think there are better cards out there for Evil in terms of removal. There are some trick decks that I'm sure could use this card though. My Drinker of Blood and Soul Hunter deck comes to mind. Break your own Soul Hunter, dealing damage to your opponent, and then get a Drinker of Blood back to your hand for future use. Not the greatest play, but it could be fun.

Limited - Since there is a huge need for removal in Limited, I think this can always find a place in a deck. It's not the best card out there, but you can help yourself in a lot of ways on your turn, and it could save you in a pinch on your opponent's.

Saren, Night Stalker - This guy is very big, very hard to kill on your opponent's turn, and has the potential to stay around a little longer since he has the magic life total of 6+, but he's not amazing.

Constructed - I will be surprised if this sees a lot of play. I predict him being bounced or weenie blocked most of the time. He crushes if he can get through, but I don't think you could take a chance with him in Constructed.

Limited - This is definitely better in Limited, but sadly most of the bounce cards in Epic are must-haves so I fear the same thing will probably happen to him as in Constructed. However, your opponent doesn't automatically get bounce cards or weenie blockers, so Saren might work. He is awesome if your opponent has already spent their gold on your turn.

Force Field - This might be the first card to give us 2 "Or" options, although they are very similar. I do like the flexibility, but I doubt this card's usefulness.

Constructed - This is obviously meant for a control deck, but with Sage having so many good sweepers and bounce effects and such, I find it hard to justify spending my gold on a stall tactic. And the times that you really need to lower offense, is usually not before your opponent spends their gold. Usually the situation is that you are against the wall and you need the offense lowered immediately. Only now they will spend their gold AFTER you play this and you will be in trouble again. The 2nd option can be nice if the opponent has flooded the board and you need to stall a ton of units, then save your blockers for attackers that actually have any offense left, and it's nice to draw a card to replace it, but still. Fumble exists and is a 0 cost card that allows you to draw a card with Recycle.

Limited - Meh. There are better cards out there for Sage especially. Certain situations may call for it and if you have no sweepers I guess this will have to do, but you're in trouble already if that happens.

Reset - A similar Hasty Retreat and Vanishing, but this card costs 1 gold, and hits everyone. Could be good against tokens, but those decks aren't very popular right now. I hate giving my opponent a card and why would I want to do this on my turn and rob myself of doing anything really productive?

Constructed - The why is if I have a ton of 0 cost attacking cards. If I have a board/hand filled with Dark Knights, Ambush Demons, Shadow Imps, etc, this card could do work. Play this to return everything, including blockers, then attack with all your 0 cost stuff. Outside of that and only in desperate situations would I recommend this in another deck.

Limited - For the same reasons above, it can be a good finisher if your opponent has a ton of blockers or tokens, and/or if you have a lot of blitzing 0 cost champions, but other than that I wouldn't play it. I love seeing Minotaurs in the art though!

War Machine - I like this one. It reminds me of Frost Giant in that it can be good at removing blockers, but it's less consistent. Or maybe it's just different. Banishing is very nice. If you can manage to Surprise attack this guy you get around Dark Knight attacks which is nice. You have to hit that Blitz though or else this guy is a weak sweeper. I am happy it only hits the opponent though. I really like the card though

Constructed - I think he will go into a lot of decks, and not just because the art is amazing. We need a similar thing to chant when it comes in like "Grond!" from Lord of the Rings. This card can get rid of a ton of nasty stuff, and get rid of them forever. Sweeping banishing stuff without any drawback is practically unheard of in Epic, so this guy will fit it. In a strong Sage deck the loyalty shouldn't be a problem either.

Limited - You really need the loyalty to make him work, but I wouldn't blame an auto inclusion either, as it can be a decent sweeper for certain stuff and leave behind quite the body. The Blitz could wreck though (hahaha siege puns).

Brand, Rebel Fighter - Adding to our impressive list of 0-cost Good champions, the hardcore brand joins us. I am torn with this guy. I love ambush, and he can boost himself when he comes in, and the Loyalty thing is very nice if you can hit it, but I don't know where to put him. I'm probably missing something?

Constructed - I don't think he really fits into a human token deck as he just doesn't do much to help the engine like other 0 cost champions do, and he isn't amazing to be put into a combative big Good guys deck or a dragon deck. I dunno, I'm sure someone will figure out some amazing combo with him but at first glance I can't see it.

Limited - I really doubt this guy's inclusion in anything besides a heavy Good deck, and even that is in question. There are just so many better 0 cost stuff in even Good, let alone in other colors.

Master Zo - This guy looks like he will have some amazing background lore. He also looks like a huge pain to get rid of, but he might just not do much otherwise.

Constructed - He is quite the big body, and ambush is awesome, but your opponent will get a chance to remove him when he's played, and that would be awful. Meanwhile, if you play him on your turn, he will just sit there waiting to be killed too. I think there are too many ways to get rid of him before he can have some evasion, and he's just way too slow to be that great. However, if you expect or see that your opponent doesn't have direct removal, then he could last forever.

Limited - He has no faction loyalty, so that's a big plus. He's very big and has ambush, which are more pluses. And then if your opponent doesn't have a good answer for him, he can survive all over the place, so that's nice. I do worry about the many windows of opportunity an opponent has to remove him, and I hate how slow he is, but we'll have to see how he does in real life.

Silver Dragon - I love dragons, and this one looks different from the others, so that's cool! This dragon is very big, and can go toe to toe with almost every other flier in the game, and most likely will defeat them all and stand a good chance of surviving except for Draka (but at least it's a trade). it is slow, but it replaces itself and can remove some pesky tokens. Great stuff.

Constructed - I think it'll be in a lot of decks. It doesn't require loyalty, and there are so many good cards that add tokens that we need some good removal, and this thing does it in spades. It's a huge body with the natural evasion of flying, so it will be very hard to take out. Most other fliers cannot beat it and survive. The card draw really puts it over the edge as it is an amazing ability to have. I am sure I know of at least one Worlds Qualifier who will find a place for this thing in his deck.

Limited - This card is an auto include for me for the same reasons I said above. No loyalty needed, a huge body, a flier, it replaces itself, and can even remove so harmful stuff in addition. Great card!

Ending Thoughts

Well that wraps up Flames of Scarros. As I was going through this pack I definitely felt like it was weaker than Kark's, but there are some solid cards in here in the Silver Dragon, Scarros himself, and War Machine. Hmmm, actually that might be it. Oh well. Stay tuned for next time, when we go into Velden's Wrath! I hope you enjoyed this and as always, happy gaming!