On the last episode of Dragon Ball Z, apparently when I said “focus on cranking out some articles” I meant “fall into a lazy stupor for an entire month”. Thankfully I took the right colored pill and have re-entered the world of living, breathing card games. In my absence though, DWD added Jekk’s Bounty to Eternal over 2 weeks ago.
This content expansion closely resembles one of Hearthstone’s adventures, with a 16 mission single player campaign to go along with 16 new cards. I’ll be focusing on reviewing the cards tonight, not only in a vacuum but in terms of what they’ve done to the current metagame. Being late has its advantages I suppose.
Before we start though, a quick word on the single player campaign. I beat 15/16 missions with a more Aegis focused Rakano Aggro variant (list below) before switching to FJS Armory to deal with Jekk. Jekk is a troublesome, cheating bastard (as any good final boss should be) who starts the game with a 2/8 Warcry Weapon equipped. His deck is more or less the best Rakano draft deck I’ve ever seen. There is a scripted event in his fight where after 7 turns or his weapon breaking he will immediately Silence/Stun all of your units and summon a pair of 3/2 units with Entomb: “your opponent draws a card”. If you’re on a budget Deepforged Plate is replaceable by any decent pants you have (Righteous Fury, Shogun’s Scepter, Steelfang Chakram, even Crownwatch Longsword).
4 Inspire (Set1 #129)
4 Oni Ronin (Set1 #13)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
4 Champion of Glory (Set1 #314)
4 Crownwatch Paladin (Set1 #139)
4 Ornate Katana (Set1 #23)
4 Rakano Outlaw (Set1 #20)
2 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
4 Silverwing Familiar (Set1 #152)
4 Sword of Icaria (Set1 #315)
4 Valkyrie Enforcer (Set1 #151)
4 Hammer of Might (Set1 #170)
4 Deepforged Plate (Set1 #317)
6 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
7 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
4 Diplomatic Seal (Set1 #425)
4 Rakano Banner (Set1 #427)
4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)
There are a few ways to go about beating Jekk, and I encourage you to experiment and have some fun with him when you get there. But if he gives you too much trouble, I beat him with Furnace Mage -> Harsh Rule (Mage triggers the final cheat, then Harsh Rule negates the tempo gain and draws 2 off those 3/2s). It may take a few tries to get this to work though, as his draws can be vicious. This is the list I used to beat him:
1 Charchain Flail (Set1 #3)
4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
3 Annihilate (Set1 #269)
4 Rakano Artisan (Set1 #312)
4 Rolant’s Favor (Set0 #18)
3 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
4 Sword of Icaria (Set1 #315)
4 Valkyrie Enforcer (Set1 #151)
1 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
2 Furnace Mage (Set1 #40)
3 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)
2 Statuary Maiden (Set1 #387)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
2 Smuggler’s Stash (Set1 #396)
2 Throne Warden (Set1 #514)
1 Starsteel Daisho (Set1 #328)
1 Icaria, the Liberator (Set1 #329)
1 Sword of the Sky King (Set1 #186)
4 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
6 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
3 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
4 Seat of Chaos (Set0 #60)
4 Seat of Glory (Set0 #56)
4 Seat of Vengeance (Set0 #55)
Lastly, before I get to reviewing Jekk’s Bounty, I’d like to apologize for some misinformation I spread with my last article. I incorrectly stated that the five cards added in Vara’s Bounty do not appear in Draft. Here’s a quick review of each for Draft.
Fevered Scout
Generally below average in Draft. Plays best in a very aggressive Rakano/Stonescar deck with multiple copies of Torch, Rampage, Finest Hour, Rapid Shot, etc, where it should be attacking as a 4/4 most turns. Not a signal, certainly not worth picking early, but not completely unplayable. 2/5
Find the Way
Find the Way bundles card advantage and fixing into one very slow, fair package. It is strong in certain shells (ponderous 3+ Faction decks with strong high end cards/removal) but a bit underpowered in normal, curve oriented Draft decks. As a source of two Power drops, it is also solid alongside cards such as Pillar of Amar or Civic Peacekeeper. I consider Find the Way a middling pick that goes up or down in value based on your archetype. 3/5
Throne Warden
Slightly above average in terms of rate, although most Justice decks would likely prefer a more aggressive 5 drop. I’m not even sure if this is better in Draft than Hooru Fledgling, honestly, which has a worse rate but can fly over board stalls and block Serpent Trainers. Throne Warden’s value does creep up quickly if you have multiple Relic Weapons though. 3.5/5
Borderlands Waykeeper
Although I remain critical of this card in Ranked, I think it is arguably the best of the five for Draft. Borderlands Waykeeper is good both early and late, as it blocks well early (giving you time to draw cards or deploy fliers) and becomes Aerial Ace when you need it to. Borderlands Waykeeper isn’t a windmill slam first pick, but it is quite solid. I would be happy to pick it early and might consider it a signal that Primal might be open. 4/5
Xenan Cultist
2/4 for 3 is a decent rate in Draft, especially if you aren’t particularly aggressive. His textbox basically says “give your Dark Returns +2/2”, and I’m already happy to play 1-2 Dark Returns in most Shadow shells. As such, Xenan Cultist passes the vanilla test and plays well with one of Shadow’s best Commons. Not a high pick, but probably a bit above average in power level. 3.5/5
Now let’s get to the fun part!
Jekk’s Bounty Review
Praxis Outlaw is a cool card mechanically that is unfortunately quite underpowered. Pyre Adept isn’t exactly making waves in Ranked (or even Draft) at the moment, and Praxis Outlaw is a 3 Mana Pyre Adept with limited upside. My first thought when reading this card was that you could play 4 of them and draw all of your copies once you’ve dumped your hand (probably in a Jito shell). However, this has been confirmed to not be the case, as the first Praxis Outlaw blocks the other 3 from showing up.
Even if you could draw 4 3 Power 3/1s, would you really want to? This trades with Temple Scribe! Just a fun concept of a card that has no real hope of seeing serious play. I can’t even think of anything janky to do with it right now.
First off, you have to appreciate the flavor here; there’s something chilling about this card’s name being simply “Bait”, rather than say, “Dragon Bait” or “Tribute to the Flights” or whatever. Sometimes less is more.
Bait is powerful enough to see Ranked play, although it relies heavily on comboing with other cards (Combust, Devour, Bloodrite Kalis, Brimstone Altar, etc) to do anything. This is an interesting option for a sacrifice based Stonescar deck to consider, but only in small numbers. It competes mainly with Scraptank for the 5 slot. Your goal when playing this card should always be to sacrifice it immediately upon playing it, as Silence utterly destroys it (and the current metagame supports many decks with 4-8 Silences). Here’s a quick brew that utilizes Bait in a Scraptank shell:
4 Combust (Set1 #392)
4 Grenadin Drone (Set1 #5)
4 Slumbering Stone (Set1 #255)
4 Torch (Set1 #8)
2 Annihilate (Set1 #269)
4 Dark Wisp (Set1 #264)
4 Devour (Set1 #261)
4 Vara’s Favor (Set0 #35)
4 Assembly Line (Set1 #29)
1 Brimstone Altar (Set1 #399)
4 Champion of Chaos (Set1 #402)
1 Furnace Mage (Set1 #40)
3 Statuary Maiden (Set1 #387)
2 Bait (Set1001 #2)
4 Scraptank (Set1 #391)
1 Claw of the First Dragon (Set1 #59)
9 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
8 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
4 Seat of Chaos (Set0 #60)
4 Stonescar Banner (Set1 #419)
Bait has seen next to no ladder play from what I can tell, mostly because of the increased popularity of Armory (which rocks 4 Statuary Maidens, a nightmare for Bait).
I haven’t played with this enough yet to give a final verdict, but this seems like a spicy bullet for any Celestial Omen Control deck. No other card in the game can kill multiple Xenan Obelisks, and this does so well while Silencing your opponent’s board. The global Silence aspect of this card can also be very crippling against Void based shells (Haunting Scream, Vara Reanimator, etc) or Combo decks.
Make no mistake though, this is an extremely slow card, and running more than 1 would be ill advised. There will be metagames where even playing a single copy of this card is incorrect (this does virtually nothing against Stonescar Burn, for example). The current metagame is very Stonescar heavy, and as such Passage of Eons has seen basically zero play.
This is simply too slow for Ranked play. The most competitively interesting aspect of Hibernating Behemoth is that it offers free life gain, which is repeatable through cards such as Second Sight or Nesting Aviasaur. However, growing the Behemoth isn’t too exciting otherwise. Even at 10/10 or above, it is still a completely vanilla unit that can be answered by various 1 or 2 Power spells (Permafrost, Annihilate, Vanquish) or chumped for days. Thankfully DWD was kind enough to put Nictotraxian into the set, which is essentially the Ranked playable version of this card.
Of all the cards I’ve covered so far, this is easily the one I’m most confident will see play. This is a great anti-aggro card, popping Aegises and easily blocking most aggro staples (including Champion of Glory and Argenport Instigator) after giving them -1/0. Copperhall Bailiff isn’t worth much against slower decks or fliers, but should excel in most Jito/Rakano rich metagames. Definitely a card for any TJP Control or Armory deck to consider. I would argue that Rakano Aggro could adopt this card as well, in the right environment.
Bailiff has mostly been in tournament sideboards thus far. As a maindeck, “shot in the dark” card he is inferior to Valkyrie Enforcer/Combrei Healer/Siraf/etc, all of which have better rates in a vacuum. Baliff also struggles to do anything meaningful against Soulfire Drake and Umbren Reaper, two popular finishers for burn decks.
Hone is a flexible card with a mediocre rate, which puts it at a similar power level to something like Borderlands Waykeeper. This likely would have been busted at 4 Power, but at 5 it is generally outclassed by Throne Warden as Armory’s secondary 5 drop of choice. I would not be shocked if it sees play as a 1-2 of in Armory though; the first mode of Hone is rather unique (with the second option being more of a fail case). Upsizing a Sword of Icaria to kill a Sandstorm Titan sounds fun, especially with Armor support.
Armory is tier 1 for now, and plays 0 Hone. Throne Warden was victorious in the 5 drop war.
This card reads like a terrible meme card, but it isn’t actually quite as bad as it looks at first glance. Even with the embarrassing statline, Cliffside Porter provides two bodies/cards for 2 Power. He slots very well into Shimmerpack, where Xenan Obelisk and the deck’s namesake can upgrade Cliffside Porter from a pair of worthless 0/1s to a pair of 6/6 Dinosaurs. keystone27 has already reported reaching Top 30 with a Porterpack build. Note the use of the underplayed Whispering Wind. Here’s his list for posterity:
4 Cliffside Porter (Set1001 #7)
4 Initiate of the Sands (Set1 #74)
3 Permafrost (Set1 #193)
2 Ephemeral Wisp (Set1 #84)
1 Find the Way (Set1 #513)
3 Talir’s Favored (Set0 #11)
4 Temple Scribe (Set1 #502)
4 Whispering Wind (Set1 #202)
4 Amber Acolyte (Set1 #93)
1 Dispel (Set1 #91)
4 Scorpion Wasp (Set1 #96)
2 Marisen’s Disciple (Set1 #104)
4 Sandstorm Titan (Set1 #99)
4 Xenan Obelisk (Set1 #103)
4 Scouting Party (Set1 #488)
2 Shimmerpack (Set1 #365)
8 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)
8 Time Sigil (Set1 #63)
1 Diplomatic Seal (Set1 #425)
4 Elysian Banner (Set1 #421)
4 Seat of Wisdom (Set0 #63)
Eternal gets its first Pongify variant with Tyrannize. This feels like a fun Draft card that snuck into the set while no one was looking. Nothing Tyrannize does is even close to powerful enough for Ranked. Upsizing your own units is too inefficient to be good (2 Power for Temple Scribe, 4 Power later for Tyrannize, when you could’ve just cast Sandstorm Titan and kept your Temple Scribe), and relying on Tyrannize to answer problematic threats is even worse. When using this card defensively, you will often be trading one problem for an entirely new one. Even Deranged Dinomancer is more playable than this.
I’ve seen this run in a few Shimmerpack lists, where the flexibility of bad answer or surprise dinosaur can prove useful. I still wouldn’t recommend the card though; 4 Power is too much for this effect.
I remember seeing this one and being puzzled initially. Could Stray into Shadow be a game changer? Or is it just a trap? And is there anything Shadow can’t do?
This is an intriguing Languish variant, mostly because of how Eternal treats “-4 HP”. Units stay crippled after Stray is cast, weakening the gameplay pattern of “play my x/5, cast Stray into Shadow”, as your x/5 is now permanently Grenadin fodder. Eternal’s unique void mechanics also make Stray into Shadow a powerful hate card against Haunting Scream or Vara loops, with affected units simply coming back as x/0s and dying immediately again.
Thanks to the magic of laziness, I don’t have to tell you whether this card will end up being good or not! In the real world, Stray into Shadow has seen very small play. Withering Witch eats up the 5 slot in Feln Control (Stray into Shadow’s most likely home), and Felnscar plays too many good units to be interested in this card. Armory would play 8 Harsh Rules before considering a Stray into Shadow. I have seen the card in tournament sideboards before though.
Shadowlands Feaster is a welcome addition to Eternal’s small arsenal of Ambushers. This massive bug is one of the biggest fliers in the game, and is perfectly sized to fly down and eat Icaria the Liberator. It also has a static ability that twists once more on the Steward of the Past/Statuary Maiden formula, hating on void synergies and stockpiling your void with your opponent’s units.
This is the kind of card that might pop up as a 1-of in some control lists (especially those with Celestial Omen) but should otherwise be largely unplayed. It’s too easy to answer (Annihilate, Deathstrike, Vanquish, and so on) and doesn’t produce enough advantage against normal decks. 7 Power is just too much for this effect.
A solid cantrip that once again proves Shadow can do anything that any other faction can do. This kind of card selection + a bit of tempo later plays well in midrange/control decks. And indeed, Quarry has seen play so far in both Armory and Stonescar/Felnscar midrange, although more aggressive builds have ignored it. My dream Quarry is Quarry taking Harsh Rule and discarding Privelage of Rank for 2 Justice Sigils. Probably won’t happen, but fun to think about.
Combrei Emissary is an intentionally fringe card that is powerful in Combrei Empower decks. It fails the vanilla test spectacularly and mostly exists to turbocharge Empower cards (Awakened Student, Voice of the Speaker, Marshall Ironthorn, Mystic Ascendent, etc). Over the top “Vodacombo” Vodakon decks will likely adopt this guy.
I haven’t seen much of this card in ladder, and in tournaments Vodacombo struggles against both Stonescar Aggro and Armory. If Combrei Empower ever becomes a Tier 1 deck though, Combrei Emissary will likely be along for the ride.
A Dinosaur lord! Avisaur Patriarch is a super fun card that isn’t quite going to get there at the moment. Most of the Dinosaurs in Eternal at the moment are just Draft fodder (Scaly Gruan, Towering Terrazon) which doesn’t bode well for our lord here. Still, there’s room for future growth here, as Avisaur Patriarch is a reasonable card on its own that offers quite a bit of power for a Dinosaur focused deck.
I covered Cabal Spymaster in my second article. My opinion hasn’t changed much on the card, as I still view it as largely win more rubbish. Fellow NumotGaming writer Ben Chapman, however, disagrees with me! He dropped a video on a fun Cabal Spymaster + Yetis deck. Check it out here.
One last thing about Cabal Spymaster is that the community discovered a “Splinter Twin” style combo with Spymaster where you can instantly win the game with 4 cards. Here’s how the combo works:
- Have a West-Wind Herald in play.
- Have a Cabal Spymaster in play.
- Have a Mirror Image or Strength of the Pack in your void.
- Play Calderan Gunsmith. West-Wind Herald will Infiltrate after dealing 1 (as Gunsmith makes each themselves deal 1 to your opponent, not just the Gunsmith). Choose to copy the Gunsmith.
- The new Gunsmith will trigger again. Keep making Gunsmiths until your opponent is dead.
- You can also accomplish this with the Gunsmith already in play. Simply cast Mirror Image from hand on Gunsmith or attack your opponent directly with West-Wind Herald to start the loop.
Now granted all of these cards are terrible on their own and the combo itself requires you to play at least three factions. Still fun though!
The adventure’s namesake card is a powerful 6 drop that sports a Sandstorm Titan approved body + Rebuke. A solid threat, Jekk offers a unique bounty of strong body + free tempo + Silence. I’ve seen Jekk commonly played as a 1 of in Armory lists, where he makes an appealing Rise to the Challenge target.
Still, all I really want to do with Jekk, the Bounty Hunter is put him in decks and watch him die to various removal spells. That final mission was cold man. He deserves it.
Nictotraxian is easily the most over the top card in the expansion. As massive, 5 faction, 8/8 Flying Dragon, Nictotraxian easily catches your eye, but keeps it there with the promise of free card advantage. While I haven’t really seen Nictotraxian yet in tournament play, 5f Nictotraxian Control is a very popular deck on ladder, and reasonably competitive to boot. Playing 5f gives you access to all the best removal (although the deck is usually built base TJP), and Nictotraxian itself is a powerful finisher/card advantage engine when played along cards such as Second Sight. Here’s an example list (credit goes to LocoPojo, streamer/writer at RNG Eternal):
4 Permafrost (Set1 #193)
4 Seek Power (Set1 #408)
4 Desert Marshal (Set1 #332)
4 Find the Way (Set1 #513)
4 Lightning Storm (Set1 #206)
4 Second Sight (Set1 #207)
1 Vanquish (Set1 #143)
4 Combrei Healer (Set1 #333)
1 Decay (Set1 #95)
1 Knight-Chancellor Siraf (Set1 #335)
4 Wisdom of the Elders (Set1 #218)
2 Auric Runehammer (Set1 #166)
1 Rise to the Challenge (Set1 #320)
1 Elysian Pathfinder (Set1 #108)
4 Harsh Rule (Set1 #172)
1 Celestial Omen (Set1 #241)
1 Mistveil Drake (Set1 #242)
4 Nictotraxian (Set1001 #16)
1 Sword of the Sky King (Set1 #186)
1 Fire Sigil (Set1 #1)
4 Justice Sigil (Set1 #126)
4 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)
1 Shadow Sigil (Set1 #249)
3 Time Sigil (Set1 #63)
4 Seat of Order (Set0 #51)
4 Seat of Progress (Set0 #58)
4 Seat of Wisdom (Set0 #63)
With Nictotraxian covered, that brings an end to this review. Thanks for going on this journey with me. As I write this I hear whispers of yet another patch coming; Patch 1.18, which will come with changes to 19 different cards. I won’t be late with a review this time! Expect one soon.
