Some thoughts on Shattered Fates - A card for each Hero

[Wes Davis]

I got to thinking that the Design Team decided to create at least one card for each and every Hero in the game. I'm going to call this each Hero's "Pet" card.

Warriors
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Amber - Desparate Measures. Amber is generally trying to kill you quicker than you kill her. There are Amber decks with more of a mid to late game build, but, I think the best ones just smack you down. Desparate measures gives you a huge boost of damage for a small investment. Assuming you have a buffed Jewelers Dream in play with at least 2 durability left you can cast whatever, deal 3 damage, use the ability of Jewelers dream to get you 2 resource to cast Desparate measures and deal an additional 5 damage. And heck, you get two more resources back to drop something else. This card speeds up an allready fast deck to speeds that are going to be hard for Control decks to contain.

Boris - I don't really know! I've been going over the list again and again, but, Boris is such a well rounded Hero that it's hard to say what will benefit him. But, it's late so I'm going to go with a dark horse - Gaderi Reaver. Gaderi gives Boris a little more Item Destruction and it's somewhat versatile letting him kill an item or ability. Should go a long way towards knocking a hole in opposing control deck strategies letting Boris' armies win the day. (if you've got a better idea let me know because there probably is a better card that I'm just missing)

Tala Pureheart - This one is easy -- Rilard's Buckler. With it you can possibly bump up one of the allies you gave Protector by +3/+3 all for a cost of 2. Not very often you'll get the full +3/+3, but, even +1/+1 for 2 is pretty decent, you get more than that and it's just gravy.

Ter Adun - Spiked Bolas Strike. Ter Adun is best suited to a control strategy with his ability and his biggest problem is opposing allies. This helps give his EA time to kill opposing allies in relative safety, and recursion is easy with Brax Veteran.

Logan Stonebreaker - Pithing Spear. Fit's like a glove with Logan's ability. I hear there was a time when Logan was OP with a SE cost of 3. All that's old is new again.

Vess Swifthands - Will to Fight. Will to Fight is a pretty amazing card. The only downside is that's it's not easy to get the resources to cast it and an ally that is game changing. Well, with Vess and his ability you can get a Scourge Colossus out on turn 6. And I think you'll probably see that happening quite a bit. Move over Mijya, there is a new Haste hero in town.


Mages
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Eladwen - Incendiary Curse. I believe that the days of 'rush' being associated with Eladwen are over. I think the new meta, with all the discard, forces Eladwen into more of a control posture. And the Devs gave her a fantastic tool towards that end. Combined with Transmogrification Curse you've got a very reliable win condition. Goodbye 'Rush' Eladwen, say hello to 'Curse' Eladwen.

Nishaven - Thunderstorm Golem. It's a growy creature that is immune to your Hero ability, in fact, your hero ability makes it grow. Clearly a card designed for Nish.

Aramia - Urigon's Fang. Cast a Dagger of Fate on turn 3 then summon this to take control of the board. On turn 6 you can summon another Dagger of Fate to keep it going. Maybe even use Wooden Staff if you are going without Allies. Either way it's a nice bit of control.

Mijya - Infernus, Tyrant of the Damned. Portal Mijya just got better. Infernus comes out swinging for 7 points of damage, enough to one shot a Sandworm. Plus if you time it with your Hero ability you can get one extra damage there.

Gravebone - Dakrath. Gravebone got a ton of help, but, most of the help is just to get Dakrath into play quickly. Opposing decks will HAVE to have some sort of ability ready to go to remove Dakrath because he'll slice through your armies like so much tepid butter. And even then he'll probably be right back in a turn or two. Just a nightmare for unprepared Heroes.

Raikka Spellseeker - I think Raikka is going to go for tempo wins, and I think in that case Grimghast is going to be nice considering how well he'll combo on turn 3 with Raikka's abiltiy. But, if you are playing a little slower and are loaded up with Novas Flameborn Defiler is the way to go. He'll laugh at your Nova and give all your other creatures Blazing. So, I'll say 2 pets on this one, but, I think Grimghast is the way to go, helping to achieve that early board control.

Hunters
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Gwen - Woodland Spotter Gwen relies on her weapons more than the other Hunters. And without Rapid Fire her damage output falls to levels that other decks have a chance to deal with her. Woodland Spotter gives her another avenue to maintain that 2x attack pace. Plus he comes out on turn four, after FLB and before SS. So, he fits in nicely.

Victor - Raven's Gambit. The perfect closer for Victor's ability. Works flawlessly for him.

Ythan Redthorn - Demetryo, Twilight Extremist. I look for Ythan to be the Hero most often sporting a Twilight deck. Look for insane amounts of damage from Demetryo in matches to come. So, you could really lump all the support cards for Twilight decks in here, but, I think Demetryo is going to be the card that makes it all fast enough to be effective.

Banebow - There are a couple of cards that I think will enhance Banebow, but, neither seem specific to Banebow. The first is Mark of the Feared. This combined with Banebow's ability is a killer, able to take out a Sandworm. Plus it's useful to use on your own creatures if the need arises. It could suppliment or replace Perfect Shot. The second is Shriek of Revulsion. I hate to include it here because it'll be so widely used, but, I've played a fair amount of Banebow (FF's Burning Vengeance) and to my mind Shriek of Revulsion really helps that deck out. It replaces both Shriek of Vengance and Sever Ties leaving you stronger against both Support abilities and Attachments. (but, a little weaker vs some other targets of SoV) I'd feel a lot better packing 4 Shriek of Revulsion when I'm facing an Amber or Majiya. So, yeah, two generalist cards here for me.

Baduruu - Easy one here -- Emore Crossbow. Drop this on turn 4 and if your opponent can't kill it he's toast. Even if he can kill it you'll still have the tempo advantage. It's an amazing card for Baduruu and should make him quite popular.

Skervox - Anmors Horn - Gonna be a lot of Allies with poison dying in a battle with Skervox. So, Bounty Hunter is probably going to be played. And with that Anmor's Horn looks pretty good. Add in Anmor's Call for more draw.


Priests
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Zhanna - Devoted Knight. I can't find another card that I believe will have more impact on a typical Zhanna deck. The ability to drop a turn 4 Tidal Wave and potentially a turn 5 Kings Pride is just too good. (More likely a turn 5 Aeon)

Jericho - Confluence of Fate. I've gone back and forth on what is going to be the lynchpin of a Jericho deck, and it's quite possible that Confluence of Fate is it. It'll let you burn through your deck to build all those cool synergies.

Threbin the Righteous - Rod of Smiting. Therbin is a weapon-centric hero and as such needs a beatstick. I believe that this is going to be it. Paired with Justicar Alysia and Threbin's ability this card will swing for 6 damage. The same as two swings of WBT and Darkclaw's ability.

Rogues
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Lance - Eriss Fateweaver. She hits hard Hasted out the gate and with an extra point of SE on deck she can destroy an ability. Then with her Stealth she may have a shot to destroy yet another ability next turn. Just gives Lance a ton of options.

Serena - Skilled Ironmonger. Yeah, it ain't groundbreaking, but, many Serena decks are using Puwen so this is an upgrade there. Many others are using Black Garb a prime target for the Skilled Ironmonger. But, getting extra whacks in with your Anklebreaker ain't bad neither. It's a small tweak, but one that should pay dividends.

Garth Ravensoul - Thoughtripper's Cutlass. Yeah, you'd think Serena would be the one loving Thoughtripper's Cutlass, but, I don't think Serena can afford to give up her Anklebreaker. Garth on the other hand can combo his ability with a weapon to kill allies and force a discard. In my opinion much more useful than how Serena has to attack an opponent to get the discard.


Wulven
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Darkclaw - With cards like Shriek of Revulsion hitting the meta I think solo Darkclaw is going to struggle a bit as his all ready vulnerable Speedstrike will be even harder to keep up. I've always been a fan of Allied Darkclaw myself. And towards that end I think Soothjaw is a pretty good fit. Can take the spot of WotF in all wulven decks and you don't lose any tempo. And tempo is going to be key for allied Dark Claw.

Moonstalker - Damn, there are soo many good, no great cards for Moonstalker. He's going to be such a pain in the rear. But, the card I like best for him is Griptooth. Griptooth will protect your allies from things that sneak past stealth, plus he'll never go away for long with Arythyle's Crypt. It's just going to be an impossible nut to crack for a lot of decks. Not like Moonstalker was weak to begin with.

Bloodfang - Well, it's gotta be Riphide for Bloodfang. He'll give you a quick 6 points of damage to the opposing ally with the lowest health out the gate on turn 5. Then he'll stick around as a monsterous 6/7 beast that you'll have to deal with. I don't think he'll be enough to save Bloodfang from being a worthless Hero, but he helps.

[morbius]

Desparate Tactics would work even better with Boris decks built around Berserker's Edge, that was immediately thought in my head the moment I saw that card. Under perfect conditions you could do 20 damage to the opposing hero on a single turn (attack, then desperate tactics)! Sadly, I don't think a viable deck based on that strategy could be built. If only Zoe Silversmith wasn't so useless.

[Jo3yb0i]

Personally I think all warriors got one card that is pretty much a MUST ADD for both human and shadow warrior... Yari Marksman

[Daemon Rayge]

Personally I think all warriors got one card that is pretty much a MUST ADD for both human and shadow warrior... Yari Marksman

I agree. An insta-kill anything is just awesome. He is the main reason why I want to play a Warrior come SF.

[busti]

I think that the premise is wrong, and that the DT didnt create a card for each hero. Im pretty sure however that they created a few specifically for certain heroes that were weak in DP, amongst which none of amber and boris would belong.

However this thread could be about which card would help the most each hero and that would be fun as well

[ipoop245]

It's still hard for me to see how Baduruu can get better in SF , T5 Stop! Thief , LLN , Acid Jet , FP ..etc is still a pain for Baduruu

[AnomalousT]

The card I'm actually looking forward to playing with Banebow is Charred Cowl of the Damned. I think when you think of "undead" you think of Gravebone. But what you're forgetting is that Banebow uses his bones as his arrows

[Wes Davis]

Are you prepared to give up WotF?

[AnomalousT]

Are you prepared to give up WotF?

No. I'm not prepared to give up WotF, but obviously Charred Cowl of the Damned is for the mages and the hunters. And Banebow is a skeleton. . . so. . .

Edit: Yes I'll give up WotF for Sceuth Tombstone. It's a draw specifically made for undead decks, so combine that with sac lamb and I think a more aggressive Banebow deck without WotF would be totally viable

[planarbox]

Totally disagree on Jericho, Embers of the Just was made for him. Because it comes back to your hand you now also have a reliable way to use lingering essence. Which essentially turns him into Zhanna with way too many fireballs. Throw in the fact that he also gets to set a target ablaze every time he does this and you're talking some serious pain for the opponent.