Rekindled Rebirth

[Shadow Era]

Ages ago, before the first Shadow Crystal fell into Human hands...

...Dragons rampaged in the deserts of Balor. They came screaming out of the sun to ravage villages, came bursting out of the sand to engulf wandering caravans, and the lands of Balor were stricken with fear - in both the Shadow and Human camps alike. All feared the scaly death known as The Sandwings.

But the people of Balor were not the type to hide forever in the shadows, before the rise of the Ravagers or the Templars, or even the mystical Twilight tribes, there were two tribes of arcane armorers who followed the Sandwings wherever they tread, hunting them for their scales with which they forged legendary weapons and armor, such as the Dragon Tooth Dagger. These relentless nomadic arcane armorers were known as The Scaleforge. But the Scaleforge were not a unified tribe - there were human and shadow Scaleforge, often vying for the limited resource of Sandwing scales, teeth, and bones that they required for their mystical crafts. As the numbers of Sandwings declined, these clashes became more intense, and as the last known Sandwings were hunted to what was thought to be their extinction, the Scaleforge fell into obscurity and began to be known only as wandering merchants and craftsmen who travelled from village to village peddling their wares.

Meanwhile, in the less dry and desolate regions of Balor, the Wulven tribes lobbied to unify the forces of the Wild under Wulven control. While willing to work together at times of mutual benefit, King Uru insisted on remaining neutral in the overall conflicts of Balor, insisting that the Wild tribes would serve neither Human nor Shadow, but their own interests. But the potential coercion of all wild creatures under the banner of the shadow-dwelling Wulven armies proved to be too great a threat for those at the pinnacle of power in the Human circles. At the end of the Festival of Seedmaan, Twilight Ritualists collaborated with Zailen Scholars from the ranks of the Templar to transfer Human souls into the bodies of certain influential creatures of the Wild. An immense energy was released with the fusion of these souls into these creatures. The Zailen Scholars were mysteriously killed in the process along with the Ritualists that led the proceedings. However, the transfer was successful, and the first Felinians were created out of whole cloth - jungle cats infused with Human souls.

The energy released however, was sufficient to rip open the crust of certain portions of Balor - penetrating to its core. This included the long dormant egg-caverns buried deep beneath the deserts by the ancient Sandwings to lay the foundation for their future generations. Now, with the egg-caverns exposed to the surface of Balor, slowly but surely, Sandwings left dormant as the Keepers of the Caverns began to awake and emerge once again from their self-imposed exile. Their plans to wait out the short lifespans of the surface dwellers were now put aside, and open conflict once again became the only option. With the resurgence of the Sandwings, the Scaleforge began to abandon their hum-drum merchant lives to return to their true purposes of hunting the Sandwings to extinction once again.

With this background, allow me to revel a card or two each day leading up to the release of Rekindled Rebirth, our next expansion set - complete with 2 new Heroes!



The Unarmed Brawler is a powerful card, allowing an alternative draw engine for Warriors who are weary of shedding blood just to draw cards. Of particular use to Boris and Vess, who do not often play a lot of items until turn 6 or 7, this ally will survive Novas long enough to deal some damage, and can do damage through all but the thickest enemy armor. A welcome addition to the Warrior toolkit, we are predicting that Unarmed Brawler will see play in numerous decks.



Rise of the Banners is another great option to add draw to a Warrior deck. If you "play your cards right" when played on turn 4 along with Birgitte Skulborn. You can manage to mobilize up to 3 support abilities AND protect them from direct targeting on the ensuing turn.

Check this post again tomorrow for more previews from Rekindled Rebirth!

[Shadow Era]

Good support abilities are few and far between in the Mage class, so this one is a welcome addition. While it can be removed easily by the opponent, the cost can be significant since it takes the sacrifice of one of their allies to do so! Its also not trivial that they will have to spend SE to remove it, which can be crucial and cause delays in their use of their hero ability.

[Shadow Era]

Black magic takes another step forward with this support ability that is sure to be one of Majiya's favorite spells. Curse of Death will be a great follow up to Curse of Doom in any Mage deck, played on turns 3 and 4 respectively. The reduction in enemy ally attack scores will go a long way toward preventing rush decks from overwhelming the mage before they can get to Nova. Maybe its time to stock up on ability removal cards in your favorite decks?

[Shadow Era]

Have you ever been playing a hunter hero - especially Vic, and the opponent decides to go solo on you so you can't use your Hunter's Gambit or Vic's hero ability to pull cards into your hand? Super annoying, right? Well with Deepwood Tiger, its "problem solved!". Tokens summoned by this ally will find a multitude of uses in your deck!

[Shadow Era]

Turn 5 in a hunter deck offers a lot of options, but this one could be super effective in combination with decoy traps laid on turn 4. The Deepwood Huntsman is an ally that gets stronger as time goes on. The Huntsman could become a staple in Hunter decks to come!

[Shadow Era]

Easter Sunday's spoiler card is (of course) Divine Justice! Yes, its an expensive card, but it does a LOT! 3 damage and - 1 resource for enemies, and 3 healing and + 1 resource for your side. Justice is served! This will certainly help balance the playing field against all those agro Mage decks.

[Shadow Era]

Another future favorite of Threbin, the Zailen Orater will soon be talking the enemy into making some unwise choices. Playing this 4cc ally is not reserved for turn 4, but for whenever the friendly hero has a weapon charged up to do damage! Useful for any Priest with a weapon, Threbin will clearly be the one to benefit the most.

[Shadow Era]

Stealth allies - rogues have stealth allies. But a 2cc ally with a 3 attack / 3 defense? Who cares if they lose 2 attack after attacking the first time? That's what backstab is for, right? You can also use them in conjunction with Covert Operative to recycle the overpowered stats. With the Viper now securely in the arsenal, the elusive really-effective-stealth-deck may now be possible!

[Shadow Era]

The Undercity Smuggler is another great card for Rogue decks using the Covert Operatives, Retreat, of the popular location Shold, Tempest Gorge. A nice 3/3 ally, and along with a secondary draw engine - if you have the right companion cards to activate it!

[Shadow Era]

The Wulven tribe has suffered a bit of late, so the Wulven Strategist is a welcome addition! This guy can access the most powerful Wulven abilities in the game for free the turn he is summoned. This should be a major game changer for the furry bunch! Maybe you can finally get Torn Apart to work like reliably with this guy in your deck!