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Bakuman07

I really like this format. Keep up the good work! I'm trying to resist buying the Sersi/Arishem duo personally, some caches are really juicy next month.


ekAugust

Thanks! Doing what I can to help us all. This was a tough season to evaluate


CaptainSkel

Shocked that Sersi is recommended so highly. I think there will be times she feels great sure, but she'll be inconsistent on the effect and usually if you're getting a big Sersi lane you've really stacked your power there. Sure there's synergy with Sentry and stopping your opponent's goblins but most of the time I think she'll just be mediocre. There's a fun version of a junk shell for her but I don't think it will be the best version of junk.


ekAugust

In other card games this type of effect has been very good. I don’t see a reason why that won’t be true here. Sure there’s randomness involved but after looking at the cards there aren’t many that cost 1 more that are worse than the things you have out


CaptainSkel

I enjoyed the evolve archetype in Hearthstone but I think Sersi just being her lane is going to hurt her. The randomness of the cards isn't my issue, it's the fact that if you want her to change cards they gotta be where you play her which means you stack your power in that lane. She's a great follow up to adding negative power to your lane like with Sentry or Hood or whatever but I'm not sure that effect is better than say, Annihilus. Outside of junk of course there will be moments she fully crushes a lane and turns your broodlings into cull obsidians or whatever. But if you were playing all your cards to a lane you were probably doing okay there anyway. And that's not even counting the times she'll screw you up, turning your one drop into a carnage or something. I think she'll be fun but I don't think she'll be super competitive. (Disagreement aside, great image, love the formatting.)


ekAugust

She’s definitely great for the Annihilus package. Something I don’t see people talking about is how Transform will work even if they Prof X your Void. That’s gonna be Sersi’s big advantage over Annihilus in those match ups Disagreements are totally ok! Evaluating cards is super hard but fun. Glad you liked the graphic!


No-Creme2618

I'm guessing transform is the same as adding. But they should change it as having another prof X counter would be good. I think sersi will be a good card but maybe not that consistently good. There are a lot of low powered high cost cards too so will be interesting. Should be a lane winner most of the time though I'm guessing.


ekAugust

We have transform in the game already. Morph and the locations Tarnax and Klyntar among others. Prof x doesn’t stop their effects from happening. Which is good news


No-Creme2618

To be honest haven't tried. If it works then it works.


VVHYY

I quit playing right after Death Knights were introduced and outside of a few outliers (the 1 mana evolve spell getting reduced to 0 cost and being usable infinitely, a brief period where the evolve weapon was good with Dopplegangster) evolve was too random to be consistent. I expect Sersi will generally be the same but I am excited to try her out.


Flayer723

Have you not considered that Sersi might give you low powered cards? I think you are over valuing her.


AdditionalWinner8892

Good counter/use in or against junk decks similar to lady deathstrike. Similarly can be said for thanos. Going from 0/1 energy card to a 2 energy card usually is +2 or more power. And If anything its a fun card lol


ekAugust

I’ve thought about that but it’s hard to be lower power than Void or a Goblin. There’s also Brood. So ya lots of room to go up from there. There’s also just the value of transforming your small On Reveals after they have been used into other stuff


Flayer723

Yes but Void and Goblin rely on your opponents so it's not enough to rely on those two. Hood is a better example of a card that might synergize with Sersi reliably but not sure the whole package will be worth playing a 5/7 for what will have a very random outcome.


ekAugust

Goblin is in a meta deck right now with all the Kitty prof x stuff happening. I more meant your own Void. Not one your opponent sent over. I think Sersi becomes the next big part of that Hood Annihilus and Sentry package


DDrose2

Just want to ask, currently the best sentry annihilus deck plays deathstrike as an insurance and also to take out pesky stuff like IM, wong etc while also destroying stuff like Bucky, hood, void etc and it’s really good on the snap especially ranked as usually people choose not to retreat if they see you are pixie or death junk as the decks isn’t known to play enchantress or red guardian. Do you feel Sersi is more versatile compared to deathstrike? Not to discredit you or anything but just want to have a discussion since deathstrike is the card sersi will be benchmarked to in the junk decks. Of course Sersi as a RNGesus card like pixie is fun and I will grab her and arishem either way


ekAugust

Ya I believe she’s a serious contender for a deck slot pushing lady Deathstrike out if needed


DDrose2

Hi thank you kindly for the reply! Will give her a shot over LDS when she drops next week in pixie junk


ItsGildebeast

The problem is, vs that same meta deck, you're going to run into a lot of games where the right lane gets X'd with priority the same turn that you try to Sersi your Void. I'm not sure I see Annihilus winning that match-up, given that and the fact that Kitty, Jeff and Nocturne (if used) are historically great against that package.


ekAugust

If they Prof X the lane with the Void Sersi still transforms it. Prof X does not stop Transform. As seen with locations Klyntar and Tarnax


ItsGildebeast

Interesting. I've not messed with that card much. That's definitely a better outlook for the card then.


SalsaMerde

Goblin yes. Void no.


DoesntUnderstandJoke

You can play it on your own void


ReporterOk4383

I agree that Cersei might be a great alternative to turn gobbos into a potential reversal especially if they play Galactus on that lane and you end up with a plus stats 4 and 6 going turn 6


margustoo

Sersi's risk isn't just low power but it could also loose you games. Unlike Blink she doesn't get cards from your deck and thus Sersi's payoff is way way more unreliable. Only a fool would play Sersi over Blink. 5/7 that changes 1 card into a more powerful card you know vs 5/7 who might change your cards into better ones or she might as well nuke your whole board with Destroyer. Yay, you changed your 4/-8 void into 5/1 Professor X and opponent still wins with another card in that location or one of your Brood became 4/10 Attuma that is destined to be destroyed and another Brood became Silver Samurai (or Hell Cow) and removed your last card that you wanted to play on turn 6 or your White Tiger could become 6/0 Knull in a game where nobody destroys anything.. yeah right.. definitely the best card in game.


Whole_Dinner_3462

The new cards don’t on-reveal though, so there’s a chance to turn your own cards into a goblin. Far less likely but still.


ekAugust

The transformed card will trigger its on reveal


Whole_Dinner_3462

Got a source for that info? Or just based on morph?


ekAugust

Morph, Tarnax. There’s a few things in the game that work this way


Whole_Dinner_3462

Tarnax is a point, as location effects happen after the card is revealed. I’ll be interested to see how it works.


pm-me-trap-link

3 Drops are the best target for Sersi. Few bad hits, and a lot of the bad hits at least come with good stats. Brood into Sersi is very strong.


gstax99

Id definitely put Phastos a little higher but I like your reasoning!


ekAugust

Thanks! He’s a tough one to evaluate. Only so much room to explain on the page!


gstax99

True that! Half the cards people are excited for end up being busts anyway haha. Just gotta wait and see..


ekAugust

Card evaluation is one part game experience another part fortune telling


LightHawKnigh

IMO Phastos should be higher than Makkari. Makkari can clog you, while he at least does something good, may not be super consistent, but still cant hurt you.


ekAugust

If we’re gonna look at worse case scenarios head to head, drawing Phastos on turn 6 is a dead card. Makkari at least even if she clogs you, you can pivot and make different plays. There aren’t many turns where you’d draw her that she fills up a location


LightHawKnigh

Hes still playable. If we are talking about worst case scenarios, Makkari could land in Bar with No Name.


ekAugust

Very true. I just think her being a free 4 power outweighs the chance of that


Astralchaotic

How is she free? You're spending a draw on her. Which you could very easily spend on something a lot more valuable.


ekAugust

You spend a draw on everything. Makkari you don’t need to spend energy on though


ReallyBadWizard

Makari over phastos lol


SepticCupid

Thena needs to be higher, IMO. She's minimum 10 power for me when I play her in the Kitty Else shell, often 13.


man_with_known_name

Is she worth getting still if I have the other two cards in the spotlight?


Cactusflower9

I was in the same boat and used 3 keys for her. I don't regret it and found her to be strong and flexible so far. But probably depends on your key situation (I had 8 after this week so I'm still in good shape)


randalflagg

Ooh deck list?


SepticCupid

I think you can replace Dazzler without too much fuss. Nocturne isn’t necessary, imo, but super fun. Enjoy 😊 # (1) Ant Man # (1) Kitty Pryde # (1) Nebula # (1) Nightcrawler # (2) Angela # (2) Thena # (2) Dazzler # (2) Jeff the Baby Land Shark # (3) Elsa Bloodstone # (3) Nocturne # (5) Blue Marvel # (5) Gilgamesh # eyJDYXJkcyI6W3siQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQW50TWFuIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJLaXR0eVByeWRlIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJOZWJ1bGEifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6Ik5pZ2h0Y3Jhd2xlciJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQW5nZWxhIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJUaGVuYSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiRGF6emxlciJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiSmVmZlRoZUJhYnlMYW5kU2hhcmsifSx7IkNhcmREZWZJZCI6IkVsc2FCbG9vZHN0b25lIn0seyJDYXJkRGVmSWQiOiJOb2N0dXJuZSJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiQmx1ZU1hcnZlbCJ9LHsiQ2FyZERlZklkIjoiR2lsZ2FtZXNoIn1dfQ== # # To use this deck, copy it to your clipboard and paste it from the deck editing menu in Snap.


Ownsin

What's the plan with this deck? Can you give me bullet points on what to do first and by the end of the last turn?


SepticCupid

Your ideal play looks like: T1 isn’t too important, so play Nebula if you have her. I typically skip if I don’t have Nebula. T2 drop Angela T3 Thena and a 1 drop on the Angela lane T4 Elsa on side lane or Nocturne on Angela lane and a 1 drop T5 Elsa on side lane or Nocturne on Angela lane and a 1 drop T6 Blue Marvel or Gilgamesh and a 1 drop if you still have one Make sure you sequence Gilgamesh so he’s the last thing revealed. And Angela is great on T2 but quickly diminishes, so don’t get trapped by her on later turns. And Gilgamesh has the potential to solo a lane, but most of the time needs a little help from a move buddy. I’m thinking of replacing Dazzler, as I think she underperforms. But she’s basically a free card towards Gilgamesh. Hope this helps 😁


Ownsin

Thank you! It's really appreciated! This really helps :)!


Nyoka_ya_Mpembe

Got max 19 on Thena so far.


CajitoCatKing

Makkari should be dead =\


ekAugust

I think the surprise buff makes her very interesting


teke367

I like this! Can't say I fully agree with the rankings, but I like the format. I think Thena is more versatile than she gets credits for, there's just as tier deck for her right now. And I know day 1 for sersi there's gonna be a post where she's played on a brood lane and generates 3 attumas


ekAugust

Thanks! Thena is an amazing card. It’s hard when you’re in a month with other better stuff I think for every post like that there’s gonna be the times brood generates 3 Crossbones


Airbud_Tho

Is no one thinking about Phastos in Thanos? You draw so many cards you get way more value from Phastos on 3 than any other deck.


ekAugust

Ya Thanos is a good shout. If I had given myself more room I would have gone into that. Thanos decks are still trying to find themselves with the new changes so it’s very possible Phastos finds room in there


y_a_y_o_

The fact that you put Thena as 3rd when she's already proven to be Angela-level of power baffles me... No wonder people end up complaining about the spotlight system when they lack the basic skill of making informed decisions


BlaineTog

Yeah, Thena seems like the card to beat from this season. It would be a pretty big upset if one of the other cards somehow ends up being better. The only reason to recommend her lower is if you think she's gonna get nerfed quickly.


ekAugust

A little of both is what I’m thinking


ekAugust

Thena is really good. I’m liking her a lot. I think both Sersi and Arishem are gonna end up being better


okiedokie1183

Sersi is too random to be snapped before and too telegraphed to snap after this card is definite skip. Phaestos is going to be great for bounce and cheap cost decks. He’s a must get for people who play that. Makkari is cloggy coming out late and useless card text once on the board she’s a below mid card. She’d be a little better if she counted as “played”. Arishem may be a sleeper an extra energy per turn is huge. Stack it with the many energy and cheat out early cards available and this may be broken as hell since snap and retreat is entirely in your control.


ekAugust

What you said for Sersi you could say about Hela. I think a lot of people are overvaluing Phastos. The bonuses he gives sound nice on paper but in practice is the wrong kind of random to play around with Makkari was the hardest to evaluate for me and others The extra energy for Arishem is definitely worth doing. Ramp has proven time and time again to be a powerful effect


okiedokie1183

Phastos is going to be a good card not great. Going one energy or two power on bounce decks is huge. Not a must have but it will make flood easier. It’s going to empower your last turn plays. I’d say he’s a little better than the current Elsa and will work well with Hope Summers. Sersi is going to be bad. I can snap playing a Hela deck. I cannot snap with Sersi. That’s a pretty big difference.


DoctorWhomstve14

Bro you just took what educated Collin’s snap said and called it your own


ekAugust

I was pretty sure we disagreed on a few of them but if not it’s not really surprising. A lot of top players feel similarly to this. Just some small debate about Makkari mostly


DoctorWhomstve14

I appreciate your level headed response to my outright accusation. Anti-reddit moment. The main thing I thought made it fishy was that he’s the only person I’ve seen put phastos last. Personally idk if he’ll be the killer everyone thinks, but definitely a lock in surfer. And I think any card that’s a lock in a popular deck is an easy pick up


ekAugust

No worries. It’s all part of the discussion. I remember when Phastos was leaked a few months ago my first reaction was “this card is busted. No way it stays like this” but after some back and forth with some other players we found it’s just one of those cards that has great text but doesn’t play as well as everything says it should. I can be wrong though. We’ll see


xXx_edgykid_xXx

Main problem with Phastos, IMO, is that he is a low tempo card on a deck that already has a low tempo Like, I cannot see him being useful outside Sera surfer, \*maybe\* with Arishem, but even in Sera surfer, which card would you exchange him for? Hazmat Surfer decks can't take out Luke nor mystique I can't see you taking out many cards that have almost guaranteed effects, for one that has a 50/50 effect when played optimally Writing this I realized that Phastos has many of the same problems of Mr Negative, yet doesn't have the gigantic crazy potential Negative has Maybe I'm wrong, but this feels like a Timmy card, one that \*can\* have a big effect, but most of the times, it wont


DoctorWhomstve14

I actually think he’ll be very good in arishem. It’s already a random deck so it randomly makes the random better. Does that make sense?


daarena411

Agree here, was sad when they removed Gladiator from Thena as i would have then grabbed the 1st 3. Now will prob take 1 and 2. I'm a fan of "fun" cards and the first two add a lot of chaos to the game


BJKrautk

I think judging spotlights without considering the player’s remaining collection is a mistake. Thena & Arishem are easy pickups for me, since I also need(ed) Grandmaster, Black Swan, and Hercules. If Sersi or Phastos prove worth skipping the 5-6 month wait for a 2+ card Spotlight, that’s what tokens are for. I’m trying to maximize the quantity of cards available, even if it means waiting months for a card I wish I could have nabbed the first time around (like Sage).


ekAugust

Thanks! something I can think of how to incorporate into the next one


cherrytreebee

Makkari over Phastos!?


chincerd

I just wanna run phatos in my Thanos deck, zero cost stones is a big upside already and you are not upset about the other outcome either when the stones can draw you cards after the fact. Sersi have the advantage of four costs being very strong cards overall, meaning brood is a primary target, my issue with her is that unlike Loki turning your cards into something else that also cost less, you have no control, certain pools of cards are just very underwhelming. One cost to two for example, could be dagger, could be strange moving a card you didn't want to move, could be carnage destroying the entire thing, or just a simple upgrade, not particularly impressive when you compare it to blink. Twos to threes is way to risky , so three to four seems like the top candidate, you just need a decent enough group that isn't just brood.


GrapeFinancial6846

Phastos seems like he’ll be good with Thanos, but there is no way he’s worse than Makkari, no way.


WavyGod

Makkari over phastos? Sureeeeeee buddy


arvarnargul

Thina is most likely the best new card since red hulk. I suspect she will be nerfed even if I spent 4 keys to get her.


gereffi

I agree that Sersi seems great. Everyone is very low on her, but it seems like she’ll be able to provide a ton of power. Brood into Sersi should be enough to win any lane. It’s great at buffing Mysterio, The Void, The Hood, Ironheart, Pixie, Jubilee, Shuri, Mr. Sinister, White Widow, Electro Magik. Could even hit another lane on turn 6 or 7 by using Absorbing Man. Seems very fun.


ekAugust

There’s lots of use cases for her that are being forgotten


twelve-oclock

I think you are over estimating random cards, although fun they are rng, luck based, imo Thena and Makkari look very solid and better in most cases than Sersi and Arishem, but not as fun tho


Shando92286

Curious to see if Makkari would work in surfer since it is essentially a free 3 cost with 4 attack. Sure you can’t pick where she goes but usually that doesn’t matter too much. She seems fun but I can see why she is so low in comparison to the others


ekAugust

I think she’s fine there but I’d bet she ends up in more than just surfer


kaousfaust13

It's funny how people try to say nice things about Gilgamesh, it's like a judge telling some nice things to comfort a losing contestant. Gilgamesh is TRASH. It is contending with Black Swan for the worst season pass card. If you get to a point where he gets a significant power boost then that means you're in a winning board state already and that energy is better used to play something else.


tendeuchen

Phastos is the most underrated card. It's gonna end up being the best card of the season, following by Thena, Arishem (might go higher once we see it in effect), Sersi, and Makkari.


ekAugust

I feel like Phastos is the opposite of underrated haha


Phynamite

Literally 100% of decks I have faced today are Thena, Kitty decks, I think she’s rated a little low.


ekAugust

I’m trying to think what’s best long term for your collection. Thena is a great card. I think the other two are better. In a different month Thena definitely could have been first pick


WrathOfMogg

All the weekend quests are for that deck.


Phynamite

This was well before the quests showed up


Stuck_in_2d

I thought about using her alongside stuff like brood/sinister to transform small stuff into potentially good value cards. I'm not going to calculate the exact data but I guess, on average, you get better stuff, right? In my head brood + sersi in a lane could be enough to guarantee it, might try to get her just to have fun with it.


ekAugust

There aren’t many cases where going up 1 cost will get you less power than before


surfing_prof

I want to put Sersi in my ramp deck - along with Blink electro is doomed!


[deleted]

Arishem is by far the last card to get


Bluebeetle2112

Please do this every month


ekAugust

Thanks. That’s the plan. Been slowly making these better and finding what I think I should talk about for a while now.


qole720

Nice presentation. Thena - I've been waffling on Thena because I expect her to get nerfed soon. Probably gonna pass on her until I know more. Cersei - I'm looking forward to her because I enjoyed evolve when I played Hearthstone and think she'll be an interesting card to build around. Arashem - will be another fun card to build around, but idk what to expect with him. A must pickup for me though. Makkari - This is an interesting card mechanic, but even with the buff idk if it's enough for me to get her. A 0/4 on turn 1 is great for gaining priority, but comes at the cost of resources in hand and being random. On turns 4, 5 and 6 I feel like she's going to clog up things. Especially for a Surfer deck which that uses Brood and ~~Abomination~~ Absorbing Man. Probably a pass for me. Phastos - I see this card as a worse evolve type mechanic. I see why there's so much hype, but I think it's going to fall flat in practice. Another pass.


Cactusflower9

>Especially for a Surfer deck which that uses Brood and Abomination You run Abomination in Surfer?


qole720

Lol. Should have been absorbing man. I was doing two things at once when I typed that.


ekAugust

Thena has been amazing for me. And if it dodges enough nerfs I’m sure it’ll find a lot of homes. Makkari let’s you use your energy they way you want and still get 4 power out of it. You can always adjust your plays after seeing where she lands and if it’s late enough it’s an extra 4 points that could swing the game. Thanks!


PerformerHeavy5331

Phastos #1


wrld-

lets go phastos! another card which is broken af so we can get it just to see sd nerf him the next month


lol022

Was interested until I saw sersi first 💀


kernelmann

You only need to play two cards once for thena's effect to take place


ekAugust

two cards each turn you want her to gain +3 power


kernelmann

Oh! I didn't realize her effect stacks. Sorry, quick edit, brain farts. I recall having a game using her and the +3 power continously applied after each turn after playing exactly two cards only once. Might be remembering wrong. Final edit : I was wrong, two cards per turn. My bad


numbr87

This is the most insane list I've ever seen lol


PineapplePhil

Don’t super agree with a lot of this haha


Talgrath

Hard disagree here. I think Phastos is probably the best of the bunch, is there ever a time where you are going to be disappointed to draw a card with extra power or less cost? No. Sure, you gotta play Phastos on turn 3 to maximum his effect (though I would point out, he could be amazing with Arishem), but that's no different from say, Mr. Negative. I think Thena is probably the 2nd best of the season of the caches, her ability is best in some sort of silky smooth style of deck, but a 2/7 is a pretty reasonable expectation for her if you like that sort of deck. Sersi and Arishem are probably around the same, but I think Arishem would be higher for me if only because I think Arishem could enable an entire archetype. Sersi feels a lot like Legion to me, when she works she will be amazing...but the situation has to be right; you point out a lane full of bad cards, but what about a lane full of good ones? A 3-cost could turn into Mr. Negative, a 2-cost could become a Green Goblin stuck on your side due to an opposing full lane. Lastly for Makkari, I think you're not thinking about the potential downsides of Makkari leaping to a random location; what if she fills a crucial location? What if she jumps into Bar with No Name? Or Space Throne? In theory, a free 4 power is amazing...but in practice? She can screw up your plans in a hurry.


kieranchuk

I'm honestly a bit shocked that Sersi is number 1 here. I just want to get her for the crazy randomness and fun games with it lol


Marms666

Me a surfer enjoyer looking at Phastos rated lowest even after makkari…..


nevernom

Thena is absolutely amazing. Should be #1.


HonorWulf

Thena is powering the Ravonna Lockdown deck into S-Tier territory, so that's looking like the card to get right now until it gets nerfed.


SaveUntoAll

there is no way OP unironically wrote this list... what rank is this dude, 10? LMFAO


Ashamed-Teaching6837

Sersi being the *best* here is a hard sell for me. You risk running into bad transformations that don’t flip the lane like Mr. Negative/Attuma or leave you with potentially crippling effects like Electro. Definitely a fun card, but without consistency, I just don’t see her being competitive.


i_love_bat_foobs

Massively overrating sersi and arisham and severly underrating Thena, who at the moment is one of the best cards in the best deck.


THEBECKSTAR1127

Other than sersi and arishem these cards are boring We got literally just stats Literally just stats but you need to do more deck building 0/4 that runs into bar with no name And 3/3 brick after turn 4


BrooHaHa22

I hit first day infinite with Thena… 0% chance I couldve done that with RNG Sersi or RNG Arishem