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.
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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!