Epic: The Card Game Pantheon Riksis vs Tarken Pack Analysis/Full Art Spoiler!

Welcome to the final pack of the Epic: The Card Game Pantheon Expansion, Riksis vs Tarken!

Riksis vs Tarken

Elder Greatwurm - 1 cost Wild Champion

30/30 - This card can't gain powers or abilities.

Ah, the banner child of Epic. The original champion from the Kickstarter, that after reading the rules and finding out that you only start with 30 health, makes your jaw drop. I like this art better than the original, although either can be used because he remains unchanged. We just need a way to Blind Faith our own champions so we could abuse him more. He's still ridiculous in Limited, as if your opponent doesn't have an answer, you WILL lose. Always fun.

Gift of Furios - 0 cost Wild Event

Target champion gets +6/+6 this turn. Or 1 gold - Draw two cards.

Minotaur on the front, it automatically moves up in my book. It's art is legitimately pretty awesome. +6/6 stats are pretty insane, and although I don't think it's as good as Rage, Lash, or Go Wild, it will still really hurt if my opponent gets this in Dark Draft and then hits me with an 11/8 Blitzing Unbreakable Dark Knight.

Rising Storm - 1 cost Wild Event

Deal 5 damage divided any way you choose to up to five targets. Draw a card.

I also got very excited when I first saw this card. It is basically a Lightning Storm that draws a card instead of being Recallable. The art is absolutely fantastic and is easily top 5 in the set. Only dealing 5 damage does hurt it a lot, especially with these last two packs giving us huge statlines. The card draw is amazing, but one of the biggest draws of Lightning Storm was its use in Limited, with that Recall ability. Without it, Lightning Storm wasn't used as much in Constructed, and I fear the same may be for this. It's still a decent Limited pick as it doesn't require Loyalty, draws a card, and can deal with a lot of little guys, which is always a common thing in Limited.

Carrion Demon - 0 cost Evil Champion

3/4 Blitz. Break any champion damaged by this card. When this card damages an opponent - Banish their discard pile.

My immediate thought upon seeing this card is a comparison to another venerable Evil champion in Thrasher Demon. They both have blitz, both have similar stats, at least starting out, and they both break any champion they damage. Now while Thrasher Demon can keep growing until your opponent is forced to spend gold to get rid of him, this little guy provides a much more useful and disruptive ability. He gets to banish an opponent's discard pile! Discard pile manipulation is a huge thing in Epic, as it can really control an opponent's options when it comes to recall abilities or retrieval, and it completely stops easy card draw with recycle abilities. In Limited formats, the lower deck size can lead to outright wins when an opponent draws all of their cards, but this card can halt that. It practically demands a block, and almost everything that blocks it will get broken, unless they manage to become unbreakable through another ability. It's another relatively simple card, combining stuff that is already in Epic, but together makes a great new card to play with. My only problem now is how to decide which 0-cost Evil cards I want in my decks, as there are so many great ones to choose from!

Dark Prince - 1 cost Evil Champion

8/7 Airborne. Blitz. Tap: Put a demon token into play.

Here is another Kickstarter exclusive card. I think I like the new art more, as it is a lot more dynamic and unique, but the old one is solid, and since the cards are the same, you can use whichever one you want! Airborne with Blitz is very common now, so I'm not really excited about that or anything, and tapping to put a demon token into play is something I would very rarely do. I'm glad he became legal, but I don't really care for yet another flier.

Red Mist - 1 cost Evil Event

Draw two cards OR If it is your turn, break all champions that aren't prepared.

This is an interesting card. This card really makes you think a lot of how it is used. It is an on turn board wipe, which is nothing too crazy, but it has a clause that you may be able to use it to make it a one-sided board wipe, which is absolutely huge! Josiah Fiscus spoiled this card and did a much better job explaining it than I could ever do, so just read this. In short: “If it is your turn, break all champions that are expended or flipped."

Rise of the Many - 1 cost Good Event

Your 0 cost champions gain +3 power and blitz this turn. Draw two cards.

I have always been a sucker to themed decks, and the human token theme has always intrigued me. There is something so satisfying about filling the board with a huge army, and wiping your opponent out. In the past, it has been difficult to pull off, but this card could help bring it back. This very simple texted card does so much. ALL of your 0-cost champions (not just human tokens), gain +3 power and blitz this turn. This helps everyone, so if you wanted to boost that Dark Knight and Demon Tokens, go right ahead! You have a Muse out as well? Don't worry, this will help her too! And then, to add on top of this, you get to draw 2 cards! This is what really sold the card for me. I love draw 2-and cards. Every one of them is amazing. In Epic, you need to maintain your hand size, and although the secondary ability of many events can let you draw 2 cards, it's cards that let you draw 2 cards AND do something else that can really help get you ahead in a game. What is also amazing about this card is that it does not require any loyalty or any other dedication to Good. This card can go anywhere where you have a bunch of 0-cost champions and it will probably shine. This card will also be a pretty easy draft choice in Limited, considering its flexibility. Plus, I really love the art on this card. It shows so many different characters on it, many of which are represented as 0-cost champions. I love it when a card matches its ability with the art.

Silver Wing Griffin - 0 cost Good Champion

3/3 Airborne. Blitz. Righteous.

Here is another fairly simple card. If you can combine this with any number of boosting events like Rage, Go Wild, or the new Gift of Furios, this guy quickly becomes a huge pain. Airborne and Blitz are common, but it being a 0-cost and having Righteous is crazy. I played a game where I attacked with this guy, was blocked by a Wild Roc, I played Gift of Furios, and all of a sudden I killed the Roc, gained 9 health, and STILL hadn't spent my gold. Very nice. Also, with so many fliers, this card will be very useful to block at the very least.

Silver Wing Paladin - 1 cost Good Champion

7/6 Blitz. Tribute - Draw a card. When this card blocks or becomes blocked - This card gets +7 power this turn.

Here is another card similar to War Lion of Valentia. It has 1 fewer defense, Blitz instead of Ambush, a guaranteed draw 1 instead of a Loyalty requirement, but has the exact same strength gain upon blocking or becoming blocked. I tend to lean more on Ambush abilities, but that guarantee card draw is really nice, especially in Limited. This card is also a human so benefits from certain cards more than the lion. These 2 cards are just so similar though. I think I'd rather only have 1 of them to make room for a different card. Same with Runek and Scarred Berserker.

Dark Eyes - 1 cost Sage Champion

8/7 Airborne. Blitz. When this card damages an opponent - Draw a card.

Yet another flier with a big statline. This card stands a better chance of drawing a card than the Scarred Berserker thanks to being Airborne. In Limited this will have to be dealt with, and games could quickly get out of hand if not, but this card is doesn't to gush about.

Halt! - 1 cost Sage Event

Expend target champion. Draw two cards. OR If it is your turn, expend each champion target player controls and draw two cards.

This card is fun, although I probably wouldn't build a deck around it. It is a great mind game card similar to Ceasefire. Do you hold back a big guy and attack with a little guy? Which champion do you attack with first? This card could foil those plans. It is a draw 2-and as a result so that is very nice. It can also be used on or off-turn. The on-turn ability is considerably better, as it will expend the entire opposing board, AND draw 2 cards, which could easily give you the swing you need for a win. It also has an exclamation point in the title, which I don't recall seeing before. I wonder why?

Shield of Tarken - 1 cost Sage Event

Draw two cards. Each of your champions gain untargetable this turn.

Let's end with a bang. I have already mentioned how important draw 2-and cards are in Epic, so this already comes with those same benefits, not to mention have the pack's namesake. Each of your champions gain untargetable this turn. That is a game-ending ability, especially in Limited formats. If you have some board presence already in the form of an army or even a hard-to-get-rid-of target such as Brak, Fist of Lashnok, playing this card can negate most removal in the game. Sure, wide sweepers may be able to get you, but in Limited it is less likely your opponent will have them. This is one of those surprise cards that will win games. Cards like Demonic Rising and Deadly Raid are both solid picks in a Dark Draft game, simply because they can be a surprise way to beat your opponent, and this card helps that as well. Not only that, but since it is a Sage card (an already sought after faction in Limited), it will help with Loyalty costs.
-

I think the MVP of this pack is Shield of Tarken. I think it is a better game ending card than Halt! and I love the game ending cards and draw 2-and cards. What do you think? Do you agree with my assessments? Let me know, and happy gaming!

Epic: The Card Game Pantheon Shadya vs Valentia Pack Analysis/ Full Spoiler Art!

Oh boy, the final two packs from the new Epic: The Card Game Pantheon expansion! First up is Shadya vs Valentia. Let's dive in:

Shadya vs Valentia

Gareth's Automaton - 1 cost Sage Champion

9/6 - Tribute - You may return target event card from your discard pile to your hand.
Sage ally trigger from discard pile - You may banish another card in your discard pile. If you do, Recall.


A decent statline that forces a block, although it has no evasion like flying or unbreakable. The tribute ability is a nice way of getting back any event, especially 0-cost events, which can be played immediately if needed. The recall ability is also nice. I think this card will fare better in Limited than in Constructed, but I could be missing some kind of event abuse.

Lycomancy - 1 cost Sage Event

Draw two cards or If it is your turn, transform up to two target champions into wolf tokens.

Awesome art to this card. Fairly generic card. On-turn removal is a dime a dozen but you at least can transform 2 big targets, although it isn't removing a board presence. I would rate this card fairly low. It will be used in Limited as removal but I can't imagine anything else.

Owl Familiar - 0 cost Sage Champion

1/1 - Airborne. Tribute - You may return target 1-cost event card form your discard pile to your hand.

A Kickstarter card brought back. This is exactly the same as the Kickstarter, which is nice if you want to use the "alternate art". This is a key component to the insta-win card drawing combo, but we still lack the Time Master from the Kickstarter. Still though, a 0-cost airborne champion is useful, especially with this pack in circulation with all of its flying champions. Gaining back 1-cost events is nice, especially since you could instantly use them if you haven't spent gold yet.

Ritual of Scara - 0 cost Evil Event

Target a champion. Each of your evil champions deal 1 damage to it. Or 1 gold: Draw two cards

I like this card. It is similar to Unquenchable Thirst with it's targeting damage. A 0-cost card that allows you to take out a 1-cost card is always nice. This will be a fun addition to a zombie deck, which will have no trouble getting lots of Evil champions out. Unlike Unquenchable Thirst, this gives you a card draw option, so it might edge out the latter. UT was nice, but I hated to lost my own Evil cards in my discard pile. The health gain with UT is nice, but Consume was more consistent. So Ritual of Scara gains the lead!

Runek, Dark Duelist - 1 cost Evil Champion

8/8 Ambush. Blitz. Break any champion damaged by this card. Unbreakable on your turn.

A solid statline with the very useful Ambush and Blitz keywords. It automatically kills anything it hits, although it probably would anyway doing to be so big. But it's still nice. The Unbreakable on your turn is awfully nice. This will be a very good Dark Draft pick and will be a big thorn in many a game.

Scarred Berserker - 1 cost Evil Champion

7/10 Blitz. Break any champion damaged by this card. When this card damages an opponent - draw a card.

It's sad this card comes right after Runek. I like Runek better than this in almost every way. The statline difference is fairly negligible. They both break champions damaged. This guy lets you draw a card if it gets through, but with no evasion and no blitz, I am thinking that will be difficult to pull off. I kind of wish it drew a card upon damaging another champion, but that would be too good, especially with Ritual of Scara existing. :). This guy being a human is a slight edge, since there are many cards that help humans and not vampires, but that is also pretty negligible.

Pelios, Storm Lord - 1 cost Wild Champion

14/14 Loyalty 2 - Draw a card. Tribute - Deal 3 damage to a target.

This guy came out of nowhere. He has some awesome pantheon-esque art, with a huge statline, the ability to draw a card with loyalty, and a little dainty tribute damage ability that can target anything. I doubt I'd see this guy in Constructed, considering all of the other good options, but in an all-Wild deck, you'd always get a card draw. He will be decent in Limited.

Wild Roc - 1 cost Wild Champion

8/9 Airborne. Ambush.

Let the waterfall of Airborne champions begin! This is an extremely simple champion. 8/9 with Airborne and Ambush. It trades well with most fliers and if your opponent cannot deal with it, it will cause trouble. This will be a solid pick in Limited. The lack of card draw, extra damage, and evasion makes it less likely to be used in Constructed, but maybe an all-airborne deck could find some room.

Zaltessa's Fire - 0 cost Wild Event

Deal 3 damage to target champion. Recall for 1 gold: When this card leaves your discard pile - deal 2 damage to each opponent.

If you missed my spoiler article for this card you can view it here. This is great to take our many other troublesome low-life champions such as Muse, Thought Plucker, or Guilt Demon. Its Recall ability is the best part of this card. It behaves similarly to Scara's Gift, except you don't need to have Evil cards to help get it back to your hand. I have found it to be a great card to help whittle down an opponent's life total, and an easy thing to do if I, for some reason, have found yself unable to play something off-turn. I think this card could possibly find its way into a control Evil/Wild deck with some direct damage finishers. This is a solid pick in Limited due to not needing any Loyalty requirements.

Royal Intervention - 1 cost Good Event

Gain 5 health. Draw a card. Or Each player returns one of their champions to its owner's hand. Banish all other champions. The player whose turn it is draws a card.

This psuedo-off-turn removal is interesting. It is one of those cards I think could be abused if I could just wrap my head around all of the interactions. It is similar to New Dawn, just maybe a little less hard-hitting and lets you save your favorite champion for later. The gain 5 health and draw a card is pretty generic, especially considering Second Win basically does it for free. This is great to play if you are really far behind on board presence, but giving your opponent their champion in their hand is risky. You can use this off-turn, which is hugely important, and it can deal with any single champion no matter what they have on them since the return-to-hand doesn't "target". Using it off-turn does give your opponent a card, which is never good. This is definitely an ok pick in Limited, and it could find its way into Constructed, especially with a ton of big champion decks being a popular deck archetype.

If you want a much better analysis, check out Tom Sorenson's blog as he spoils this card and does an awesome job: http://www.tomsepicgaming.com/pantheon_royal_intervention/

War Lion of Valentia - 1 cost Good Champion

7/7 Ambush. Loyalty 2 - Draw a card. This card gains Unbreakable this turn.
When this card blocks or is blocked - This card gets +7 power this turn.

I got really excited when I first saw this card. For one, the art is amazing, and to my knowledge we haven't had a lion in Epic before. But two, I thought this was something that could deal with the giant unblockable champions we have seen earlier in this Pantheon set. However, I was reminded that those big guys are unblockable by champions with power less than them, and this lion only gets stronger AFTER blocking. Oh well. It still gets really huge on offense though and is going to kill pretty much everything it blocks. The Ambush is really important, and statline is big enough to be a problem. If you can Rage or Lash the lion, he could get pretty scary on offense. The Loyalty is a really big boon, and this card gets very decent or alright depending on if you can hit it. Unbreakable off-turn is practically unheard of, and card draw is the best icing on the cake.

Warrior Angel - 1 cost Good Champion

9/9 Airborne. Blitz. When this card attacks - You may banish target evil token champion.

Lastly for this pack we have another Kickstarter exclusive. I think this is the first alternate art that switches the genders? Both pieces of art are very well done, I'm not sure which I like more. The new art is more dynamic and action-filled, but the weapons and armor I think are better on the original. We end on another huge flier. banishing a target evil token champion is thematic, but way too conditional to be counted on. Blitzing Airborne champions are nice, and this one is gigantic, trading positively with almost all the others, including the above Wild Roc. Definitely not my favorite angel, but I'm glad he/she finally becomes legal (that doesn't sound right).

-

I think the MVP of the pack goes to Zaltessa's Fire, although it could be overshadowed by Royal Intervention if a really good combo is found. Well that is it for the first pack. Do you agree with my assessments? Do you have a favorite card? Let me know! And happy gaming!

Epic: The Card Game Pantheon Demigods Spoilers

Pantheon Demigods Spoilers

by Guest Blogger (Brad Minnigh( | Jun 12, 2018 | Card Preview, Guest Posts, News |

It is my pleasure to bring some spoilers from the remaining two packs from the Epic The Card Game: Pantheon expansion! We have been clamoring for news ever since Pantheon was announced, and I am so excited to finally get my hands on the final two packs. Shadya vs Valentia and Riksis vs Tarken are the final two packs, and they give us 24 new Epic cards to add to our lovely collection! These packs will be available to those lucky enough to attend the Origins gaming convention in Ohio. But don’t worry, they will be available to retail probably in July, so that’s right around the corner.

These last packs do not bring the game-changing cards like Chamberlain Kark, or the giant, unblockable champions. These packs help bring a wide variety of cards to help round out the set, which I think is perfectly fine. There may not be a bunch of new abilities or keywords, but the cards have the abilities we all know and love, and have combined them in a lot of unique ways. This helps this set be familiar and thematic to veteran players, but more importantly will not bring in complexity creep that may drive away new players, like some other games do. There are some Kickstarter exclusives that are finally made “legal” (one from each color, but with new art!), and some of the most beautifully drawn cards we have to date. And of course, there are a bunch of new cards with which to smite our foes and slam on the table in Epic fashion. In the first four packs of Pantheon, we had some themes going on; such as giant unblockable champions, the “Will” cards, and new draw 2-and cards. In general, the theme I get from these two packs are an invasion of flying units (although you draw 2-and fans will get some love as well). This pack adds a bunch of fliers that are really gonna shake up the Limited meta I think. For this initial announcement of the set, however, I am not going to talk about any of them (just a little tease to tide you over), but rather a mix of 0-cost and 1-cost cards, one from each faction.

In general, I think these packs help bring the rest of the Pantheon expansion together in a wonderful bundle that does everything a expansion should in a game. I hope you enjoy them, I know I have.

First up is Zaltessa’s Fire:

This of course is a 0-cost Wild Event, with a pretty typical Wild ability of dealing 3 damage to a target champion. This is great to take out many other troublesome low-life champions such as Muse, Thought Plucker, or Guilt Demon. It also has a very fun 1-cost Recall ability where when it is recalled, you deal 2 damage to each opponent. Besides being extremely good in a multiplayer game, I actually have found it very useful in my Limited Dark Draft matches. It behaves similarly to Scara’s Gift, except you don’t need to have Evil cards to help get it back to your hand. I have found it to be a great card to help whittle down an opponent’s life total, and an easy thing to do if I, for some reason, have found myself unable to play something off-turn. I think this card could possibly find its way into a control Evil/Wild deck with some direct damage finishers. Could be fun!

Second up is Rise of the Many:

I have always been a sucker for themed decks, and the Human Token theme has always intrigued me. There is something so satisfying about filling the board with a huge army, and wiping your opponent out. In the past, it has been difficult to pull off, but this card could help bring it back. This very simple texted card does so much. ALL of your 0-cost champions gain +3 offense and blitz this turn. This helps all of your free dudes (not just human tokens), so if you wanted to boost that Dark Knight and some Demon Tokens, go right ahead! You have a Muse out as well? Don’t worry, this will help her too! And then, to add on top of this, you get to draw 2 cards! This is what really sold the card for me. I love draw 2-and cards. Every one of them is amazing. In Epic, you need to maintain your hand size, and although the secondary ability of many events can let you draw 2 cards, it’s cards that let you draw 2 cards AND do something else that can really help get you ahead in a game. What is also amazing about this card is that it does not require any loyalty or any other dedication to Good. This card can go anywhere where you have a bunch of 0-cost champions and it will probably shine. This card will also be a pretty easy draft choice in Limited, considering its flexibility. Plus, I really love the art on this card. It shows so many different characters on it, many of which are represented as 0-cost champions. I love it when a card matches its ability with the art.

Speaking of 0-cost champions that could benefit from Rise of the Many, we go into Evil with Carrion Demon:

My immediate thought upon seeing this card is a comparison to another venerable Evil champion, Thrasher Demon. They both have blitz, both have similar stats, at least starting out, and they both break any champion they damage. Now while Thrasher Demon can keep growing until your opponent is forced to spend gold to get rid of him, this little guy provides a much more useful and disruptive ability. He gets to banish an opponent’s discard pile! Discard pile manipulation is a huge thing in Epic, as it can really control an opponent’s options when it comes to recall abilities or retrieval, and it completely stops easy card draw with recycle abilities. In Limited formats, the lower deck size can lead to outright wins when an opponent draws all of their cards, but this card can halt that. It practically demands a block, and almost everything that blocks it will get broken, unless they manage to become unbreakable through another ability. It’s another relatively simple card, combining stuff that is already in Epic, but together makes a great new card to play with. My only problem now is how to decide which 0-cost Evil cards I want in my decks, as there are so many great ones to choose from!

Last up is a Sage card, and one that could shake up the meta the most: Shield of Tarken.

I have already mentioned how important draw 2-and cards are in Epic, so this already comes with those same benefits, not to mention have the pack’s namesake. Each of your champions gain untargetable this turn. That is a game-ending ability, especially in Limited formats. If you have some board presence already in the form of an army or even a hard-to-get-rid-of target such as Brak, Fist of Lashnok, playing this card can negate most removal in the game. Sure, wide sweepers may be able to get you, but in Limited it is less likely your opponent will have them. This is one of those surprise cards that will win games. Cards like Demonic Rising and Deadly Raid are both solid picks in a Dark Draft game, simply because they can be a surprise way to beat your opponent, and this card helps that as well. Not only that, but since it is a Sage card (an already sought after faction in Limited), it can help pay their various powerful Loyalty costs.

This is a guest blogpost from Brad Minnigh. Brad is married with 3 kids, and plays a variety of board games/card games/video games. He is an avid boardgamegeek and has been very active on a number of game forums as well as a Senior Playtester and guest designer for the successful Summoner Wars card game by Plaid Hat Games. For Epic, he has managed to organize two World Qualifiers at his local gaming store, and he is looking forward to more events!