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).

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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 Gareth vs Lashnok Pack Analysis

So we finally have the full spoiler list for the new Epic: The Card Game Pantheon Expansion! I am very excited to pore over the new stuff. Just like last time we shall have to wait for the art to come in, but in the meantime we can speculate and analyze the new cards. I will have an article for each of the new packs. The first up is Gareth vs. Lashnok. This is one of the packs that unfortunately will not be available until February/March 2018 (unless you qualified for Epic Worlds). But anyway, here we go:  

Gareth vs Lashnok pack

Fairy Entrancer Sage Fairy Champion
2/1
Airborne – Blitz
Loyalty 2 and/or when this card attacks → Put a +1  +1  counter on this card.
Remove two counters from this card: Gain control of target champion.

When I first read this, I was underwhelmed. A very weak flier that has to be played on turn, requires loyalty, and requires it to attack to do anything. You do, however, get to gain control of a target champion. So it is a similar, if not less flexible, Turn (even though you get a body on the board). But then I thought about Winds of Change, which allows you to place 2 or 5 +1/1 counters, depending on which one you use. Now your Fairy Entrancer has to survive a turn of being out there before getting to do this, but if it works, you could be gaining control of a lot of champions. This could find its way into “Real Steel” decks, but my gut feeling is that this is just too difficult to pull off. As long as you can hit the loyalty, this isn’t a horrible draft in Limited. As I said, you do gain control of a target champion and put a body on board at least. 

Gareth’s Juggernaut 
Sage Construct Champion
5/5
Loyalty 2 → Blitz
 → This card gains unbreakable this turn.

This is another card that didn’t blow me away. It has similarities to Warrior Golem and Dark Knight, although you have to spend your gold in order to trigger this guy’s unbreakable. That being said, 5 health for a 0-cost is a lot harder to deal with than 2 from the Dark Knight or Warrior Golem. Plus, if you use something like Gareth’s Will (another Pantheon card that we’ll discuss later), then you haven’t really spent your gold for the turn (plus, the similarity in names seems to have screamed for synergy). This is a solid pick in Limited, as just putting any 0 cost bodies out there can threaten an opponent and will eventually force them to spend gold or their own 0-cost cards to deal with it. 

Master Forcemage 
Sage Human Champion
4/7
Ambush – Blitz
 → Prepare this card.
 : Deal 2 damage to each of up to two targets.

Hellion’s apprentice. If you like to use Hellion in order to blast 2 targets for 2 damage, then this is a better option. This champion requires no loyalty in order to use his/her? Ability, and anytime you play a 1-cost Sage card, you get to prepare it. Looks like our Forcemage Apprentice may have received a degree. This is a solid card that could easily find its way into death-by-ping decks. It’s also a solid draft choice in limited on par with Pyromancer. It’s a nice, simple, variant on cards that already exist. I love it when games do this. 

Forbidden Research 
Evil Event
Draw two cards.
 → You may break a champion you control. If you do, Recall.

This card got some errata since the last time we saw it. I think at the time you could simply break a champion you controlled to recall it, but now it requires an evil 1-cost card spent in order to recall. This was probably a good choice considering how important card draw is. The ability to simply break a zombie token in order to get back a draw 2, not to mention the ease in getting another card to help with loyalty, was probably a little too broken. Still, this is a decent card, especially when combined with Soul Hunter, which could actually benefit you by doing damage as well as getting Forbidden Research back to hand. If you have a lot of Evil cards, this isn’t a horrible draft card, simply because you never want to be stuck not being able to draw cards, and being able to get this one back could be quite useful. 

Run Riot 
Evil Event
Draw two cards.
—OR—
If it is your turn, you may break target champion and your evil champions get +3  and +3  this turn.

I’m not a huge fan of this card. It seems like a weaker Battlecry, mixed with basic on-turn removal. When compared to Battlecry you don’t get breakthrough, it ONLY boosts Evil champions, and if played on your opponent’s turn, you don’t get the boost AND the card draw. You have some removal, but it's only on your turn. Now, just like the previous card, if you can manage to play this while having a Soul Hunter on board, it becomes much better. That being said, I’m still not a big fan. This is a very weak card in Limited. If you are desperate for removal then I suppose go for it, but there are much better cards.

*thanks to friends who pointed out I neglected to talk about the removal portion of this card*

Scarred Priestess 
Evil Human Champion
9/7
Loyalty 2 → Blitz.
 → Prepare this card.
 : Break a champion you control: If you do, break target champion.

Evil sure likes to break its own guys doesn’t it? As long as you run a bunch of tokens, this is an ok card. It has a similar purpose that any of the tap-to-kill champions have. This requires a little more on the board, but once she’s there, she could really lock down an opponent. That 7 health is not easy to take away. The 9 strength is rather silly since you would only attack with her in desperate times. She is much more of a control-type of character. I don’t like that loyalty cost, nor does it have any kind of defensive keywords, nor Ambush. This card could find itself in a control Evil/Sage deck, perhaps with Drinker of Blood and tons of zombies, but not much else. This card is decent enough in Limited simply because it can put a body on board and destroy an opponent’s. You have to exhaust her to do it, but she stays there and her ability can be used again. And of course, once again, if you have Soul Hunter, she gives you more flexibility. 

Brak, Fist of Lashnok 
Wild Minotaur Champion
14/11
Unblockable by champions with  less than this card’s  .
Loyalty 2 → Draw a card. This card gains unbreakable this turn.

I don’t care what else is on this card, this is another Minotaur so I love him. I kind of hope the art is him about to be killed by something, but I’m guessing he is doing ok by himself. This is one of the set’s giant, unblockable champions. Everyone but Evil (for some reason?) gets one, and they all have big stats, and unblockable by champions with strength less than this card’s strength. It’s worth noting that this guy has the highest strength, which means the only champions that can block him unmodified are himself, Rampaging Wurm, and Burrowing Wurm I think? That’s scary. I have a feeling decks are going to have a lot more bounce and sweeping stuff to deal with these guys. Also worth noting that as long as you can hit the loyalty, this guy gets to draw a card (which is always needed, and especially so with Wild), AND he gets Unbreakable, which is just a suitably Epic combination. I expect to see this guy a lot. He’s a solid pick in Limited as well, just because your opponent may not have a way to deal with him. He is very slow though, so unless you can Surprise Attack him in, expect him to get wrecked on your opponent’s turn. But, I do like cards that force my opponent to react. 

Lashnok’s Will Wild Event
Draw two cards.
—OR—
Target champion gets +5  and +5  this turn. If this is the first  card you’ve played this turn, gain  that may only be used to pay wild costs.

This is one of the set’s “Will” cards. Everyone gets one. This one is for Wild and it helps you boost a champion and allows you to play an additional 1-cost Wild card. I think all of the Will cards could see play as long as you have enough in the various alignments, but I do think this is the weakest one. Just increasing stats by 5 is not that worth it in my opinion. There are plenty of cards that can help in that regard, and even though it may not cost much, it is still a card out of your hand, something that Wild already has issues with. Not to mention that the champion that is buffed is still vulnerable to any number of bounce, break, banish, etc. That being said, it seems fitting this is next to Brak, considering the buff would help him be even more Unblockable. This is also a solid Limited choice, because getting some more Wild is usually desirable, and at worst you could just draw 2 with this. 

Rybas, Canopy Sniper 
Wild Elf Champion
5/2
Loyalty 2 → Blitz
 : Deal 3 damage to a target.

Meh. A 2 life champion that requires loyalty and tapping to be useful. Direct damage is nice, and the fact that he can keep doing it if not removed is nice, but there are so many ways to deal with 2 life 0-cost cards, that I don’t think he’ll be that useful. There are so many other great Wild 0-cost cards that I seriously doubt this will be used in Constructed, and most other cards would be more useful in Limited. This gets my worst-card-of-the-set so far.

Hand of Angeline 
Good Angel Champion
2/3
Airborne
 → Recycle

This is a very generic, and weak angel. I love themed decks, so more Angel tribal inclusion is always welcomed. I think I would just prefer Watchful Gargoyle, who has Ambush, and who automatically gives me a Recycle, rather than having to wait to spend gold on a Good card. But still, another airborne body that can help with cycling and drawing cards is a good thing. This is a decent pick in Limited, but as I said, I think I’d rather have Watchful Gargoyle. 

New Dawn 
Good Event
Draw two cards.
—OR—
If it is your turn, banish all champions and then (starting with you) each player may put a champion from their hand into play.

This is one of those cards that people keep talking about breaking the game. Now, I believe that has to do with an infinite loop win combo, but a lot of the cards needed for that were not released in this set. Still though, I still like this card. Board wipes are always important in Epic, and banishing is becoming better and better, since it slows down decks by not filling up their discard pile. It is on turn, which is a shame, but I guess we can’t have everything. That second part of the ability is what causes all the ruckus. Although you have to put a champion into play first, I believe you get to choose the order of the inevitable tribute abilities. That means that dropping a Sea Titan, or a Kong, or any number of champions that do something to opposing champions, are great choices, as you have a chance to do a broad sweep, and get a huge body on board, with your opponent getting nothing. I expect this card to be abused at worlds. It is a solid choice in Limited as well, especially if you have any of those huge guys.  

Silver Wing Savior 
Good Angel Champion
7/7
Airborne – Blitz
Tribute → You may return a good card from your discard pile to your hand.

Another Angel! Man, this set is going all out. This card was spoiled earlier in the year, but it has remained good (hehe, get it?). As I said in my initial review of this card, I can practically hear the drool dripping from Tom Sorenson’s mouth at the possibilities of this card. A 7/7 airborne blitzer is a difficult thing to deal with. It trades nicely with almost all of the existing fliers, and to top it all off, you get to return a good card from your discard pile into your hand. The abuse with Good 0-cost cards will be rampant. I personally love Brave Squire, so I plan on bringing that bad boy back again and again, but there are a lot of options there, including powerful 1-cost cards. For those people looking to make an aggressive Good deck, this card could definitely make its way into your deck. This is also a very solid choice in Limited, even if you draft no other Good stuff. Fliers in Limited can win you games if your opponent doesn’t have a way to deal with them specifically.

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So that is it for the first pack. A lot of solid stuff. I think the MVP for the pack goes to New Dawn, just because it shall make for a lot of new interactions, if not be a little confusing to new players. Plus, if some other cards that were teased in the Kickstarter become legal, this card has the potential to allow for some crazy shenanigans. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this. Agree or disagree with my assessments? Are there any cards that stick out to you? I understand that most of the people who are qualified for Worlds shall not comment, for fear of leaking some awesome new strategy, but since I currently cannot even attend, I'll stir up the flames. Enjoy! And watch out for the remainder of the pack analyses. And happy gaming!

Epic Card Game: Uprising - Kark's Edict Pack Analysis (1)

Uprising for the Epic Card Game has finally been spoiled! Players around the world clamor to try and find the best combination for their decks in preparation for Worlds. The rest of us simply marvel at yet another promising expansion to the already venerable and fun game. In the next couple of articles I plan on going through each pack and what they get in this new expansion, called Uprising. I will show each card, and give my impression, including what I think it offers in terms of the Constructed and Limited formats of play.

If you missed my initial review of the game, check it out here: http://amazingspidertank.blogspot.com/2016/11/epic-card-game-review.html?spref=fb

Anyway, onto our first pack! Keep in mind that although they come in packs, they are not random, and I don't know anyone who just buys one, and not the rest.

Kark’s Edict pack contents:

Chamberlain Kark
Justice Prevails
Martial Law
Mythic Monster
Fires of Rebellion
Spore Beast
Consume
Grave Demon
Winged Death
Citadel Scholar
Fairy Trickster
Knight of Elara
and a Human/Demon token.

Chamberlain Kark - Oh boy, starting off with the most controversial card in the set I am betting. We have our first alternate win condition in Epic. Before you could only win by dealing lethal damage to your opponent, or drawing your last card. But now, you can win by gaining tons of health! This guy is a beast. He has strong attack and defense, although it's his abilities that cause the most ruckus. His tribute ability can just win you the game. You do have to double your health, but no faction can do that better than Good. His Loyalty trigger can just help you finish that push over the edge for the alternate win. He is scary.

Constructed - This is where this guy will shine. You build a deck centered around health gain and defense, and we could very well be seeing the card that helps win the first World Championship. This card could break the game. I surely hope not, but this is the first real instance of me seeing a card and worrying. It just doesn't seem that hard to get to 60 life. I have already read reports of people playtesting this card and it remaining undefeated after even 50+ games. Time will tell, but this card has the potential to be huge

Limited - Kark gets a significant push to the bottom of the pile in Limited. You are very unlikely to win because of his Tribute ability. However, if you have a ton of Good cards, he is not a pushover. He could easily gain you 6+ health, and then your opponent will have a 9/12 champion in play to deal with after that. I doubt he will be chosen very often in Limited, but with the right number of Good cards, he could still make an impact.

Justice Prevails - Another attempt at helping out the human tokens deck. That deck saw a huge boost with Tyrants, and they are clearly attempting to help it further. I do like this card. I always love drawing cards, but the second ability is the difference maker. Not only do you get to replace the card (something the human token deck needs badly), but all your little guys gain a significant boost to their attack and defense, AND all of a sudden they could gain you a ton of life to boot. My personal opinion is that this card won't matter that much simply because tokens can be eliminated a little too easily, and this card gives tokens no kind of evasion other than some increased stats, but we'll see. I think it would be cool if someone brought a token deck to worlds just to try and throw everyone off.

Constructed - This is the format this card was made for. Since tokens decks either win or lose very quickly, I don't think the righteous part will help that much, but it may be enough to keep one alive. Typically though, if your tokens manage to get through, you want them winning the game, not just prolonging it.

Limited - I don't think this card will see much play at all. If one were to get a ton of 0 cost champions and events that spawned tokens, this card may be useful, but I'm pretty sure there will be better stuff out there.

Martial Law - Another human token spawning event. You get a handful of tokens, but it doesn't modify them in any way like Insurgency or Secret Legion. The 2nd option is one of 3 off turn board wipes we have in the game, but it's drawback is pretty steep. Sure you might get rid of your opponent's stuff, and banishing is great, but giving your opponent 4 tokens to either block with, or slowly attack you and try to force your gold out doesn't seem worth it to me.

Constructed - I just don't think this can replace Insurgency and Secret Legion, and although it can be a board wipe, it seems extremely counter productive to what a human token deck is trying to do.

Limited - As a board wipe, I think it definitely warrants a second look if it is in your list or hand in Dark Draft, but there are better ones out there.

Mythic Monster - Well that is some beautiful art. Arguably the prettiest thing we get in this set for sure. This is a wonderful example of what Wild loves: A huge raging monster (excuse me, mythic monster). He replaces himself and provides a ridiculous body that will be hard to get rid of. Fun

Constructed - Unless you plan on running something that will give this guy some evasion or breakthrough, I can't imagine he will see much play. He does replace himself which is nice, but he can too easily be blocked or removed or bounced. That 15 health does spare him from any direct damage lethality though, which is something.

Limited - If you happen to have Lash or Rage also in your deck, I could see maybe adding him. If you can surprise attack him in or get help from the Jungle Queen, it could be better. But without some support I doubt he will be amazing, but I always have a fondness of giant dudes that require your opponent's attention. That tribute ability really makes up for his shortcomings.

Fires of Rebellion - Another direct damage spell, as if they needed anymore, lol. I do like this card, except for the art which is rather lackluster. I like the flexibility it offers and I imagine it will see play. I also find it funny it has a clause for multiplayer in that it affects each opposing player, and not just an opposing player

Constructed - This will find its way into most burn decks I'm sure. It does force a conversation between it and Flame Strike. You do 1 less (or fewer) damage, but you get more flexibility. In those times you feel like you have to use it on an opposing champion, it is nice that it will replace itself.

Limited - I think this is a very solid pick. As I said above it's only 1 less damage and it's nice to have the flexibility. Since there are no loyalty issues I don't see why one wouldn't want to pick it. Great card.

Spore Beast - Ooooo, more wonderful card art. Our first 0-cost of the set, and it is quite good. Ambush is always desirable, and if you can hit that loyalty, this has the potential to really turn games around.

Constructed - I really like this card but I am unsure what deck it will go into. I doubt you will have the room for it in a burn deck. It could do well in a big dino deck or a deck that tries to use Rage or Lash. it's definitely a very good card though. A 0-cost card that has ambush and the potential to remove an opponent's 1-cost attacker for a turn? Awesome. This card can win you games. I really like that it doesn't return the champion to a hand, it just keeps them expended. You could do some fun shenanigans with Rage and Lash after removing a blocker (read it's health), from a battle, then playing that event for some great breakthrough damage.

Limited - This card can definitely find play as long as you have the loyalty. Without the loyalty trigger, this guy isn't very good. He will fall to almost anything and unless you get to use his tap ability, I doubt he'll be very good.

Consume - I do like this card a lot. It's so simple and elegant. Deal damage and gain health. It of course begs the comparison between it and Unquenchable Thirst. Although UT has higher potential, you do have to banish your own stuff, which is never a good thing for Evil. This is just more consistent.

Constructed - For players who do not want to remove cards from their discard pile, and simply want a card to deal with a Muse, Thought Plucker, or off turn Juggernaut, this is the card for them. Very solid.

Limited - This is a very solid pick. You will most likely run into 3 life champions that could cause you great harm, and every little bit of health gain can help. I would have to have a good reason not to pick this card, it has a lot of flexibility.

Grave Demon - It's hard not to love the guy I got to spoil (http://www.epiccardgame.com/epic-uprising-preview-grave-demon/), and I stand by that analysis. This is a very solid card that could easily be put in a variety of decks.

Constructed - He will be in a lot of Evil decks because of Ambush, his ability to not be trashed by Raxxa's Displeasure, and his ability to remove a discard pile. In other faction heavy decks I think he can still find space because he requires no loyalty, is a huge establishing champion that can ambush, and unlike every other discard pile removal card, he does not require at least 2 1-cost cards in order to be placed like Amnesia, Heinous Feast, Keeper of Secrets, Guilt Demon, Corpse Taker. That being said, Evil does have a lot of discard pile removal, so that might be a detractor. But still, come on. It's a giant demon with ambush! Why not?

Limited - This guy is pretty much an auto include in any deck. Discard pile removal is very important in Limited due to the lower deck size (30 cards), and so any card that removes the whole deck (previously just Amnesia and Heinous Feast), is highly sought after. The fact that you get an ambushing establishing champion is some serious icing on the cake. Plus that art is amazing!

Winged Death - Despite the card's very cool art, I'm actually not blown away by it. It can in theory be an amazing card, especially when your opponent only has 1 big champion out there, but what if they have a Soul Hunter? What if they have a bunch of tokens? That sounds like gold wasted to me. 3 defense will get killed by a lot, and 4 attack isn't much.

Constructed - I doubt this will find much play. I do like airborne units, and yes it could win you a game, but it could also easily be a dead card in your hand against certain opponents.

Limited - I think this card gets a little more utility in Limited. For one, you are less likely to be facing Soul Hunters, or reliable ways of getting a ton of tokens. For another, it doesn't require loyalty, so it can be splashed without issue. And since Limited favors the big giant attackers already in my opinion, this guy could be quite devastating.

Citadel Scholar - This little nerd vexes me a little. Sage can draw a ton of cards, so he has the potential to be quite big, but there are already a lot of very big 0 cost champions, some even in this set. Sure they might not be in Sage, but I'm not seeing the worth here. I do like that he will gain at least 1 counter at the start of your turn no matter what else you do, and of course most likely 1 when he comes into play.

Constructed - I doubt this will see much play, as there are better 0 cost Sage cards out there, but I will have to see how he does in practice. Sage draws a lot of cards, so he definitely has the potential to get quite big. If you can get him big enough that your opponent has to spend gold to kill him, that will be well spent. I do love recycle triggers.

Limited - I doubt he will see much play. yes he doesn't require loyalty, yes he has recycle, and yes everyone gets to draw cards, but when your deck is only 30 cards, surely there is room for something better. As I said time will tell though because Epic has a lot of card draw in it, and if he gets big enough to require gold to remove, he can be amazing.

Fairy Trickster - Nothing makes players more mad that using their own cards against them. In typical Sage screw-you-ness, this annoying little bugger can really mess things up. It's more likely he will be banishing the top card of a player's deck when he comes in, but if he can stay around, he could cause a lot of damage. I doubt that he'll actually be used very much, because you do have to pay the cost, meaning your gold will be spent randomly, and I hope you didn't just accidentally use a board clear or something else that can't really help you.

Constructed - As I said, I doubt he will be used much. He is just way too random. I'm more intrigued in his natural evasion with Airborne, combined with Ambush AND Blitz! I love that combo.

Limited - For the same reasons above I just don't see him being played that much, although fliers are significantly better in Limited. However, with yet another expansion giving us more fliers, this little guy will probably see even less time. I do find it rather silly that this little fairy is a 5/5. Hardly seems like he could cause any harm to a dragon or an angel, but maybe he has strong magic.

Knight of Elara - I like him. Besides the very cool art and theme to connect him with Elara, a Blitzing champion that can replace himself, and then even do more stuff! Sign me up. His blocking ability is something new to Epic I believe, and man is it devastating. You will be looking to remove him with other means rather that facing him. I do find it funny though that you can block with a human token and essentially upgrade it. So blocking with 4 human tokens will actually get him killed when for any other character it would not.

Constructed - In a control deck, I think this guy can find his way. He hits very hard so he needs to be taken care of. He will most likely replace himself with a card draw, and if your opponent doesn't have a way to get rid of him, he can really start to ruin their defenders.

Limited - I still think he will find his way into a lot of decks. Hitting that loyalty trigger really goes a long way, but he is hard hitting and has high enough defense to warrant a position. His ability could really wreck certain decks too if they don't have sufficient removal.

Ending Thoughts

And that is all for this pack, stay tuned for the remainder as we celebrate a new set for Epic! I am really excited about the set and cannot wait to see what people come up with for Worlds. My biggest game changer from this pack is definitely Kark. We'll see how crazy he gets. Until then, I hope you enjoyed this article, and happy gaming!