Eternal is in Open Beta! This means anyone can play it now on PC and Mac via Steam. To go with the launch of open beta, there was a patch with a huge number of significant changes to the card set. There are new cards, redesigned cards, and some tweaks to existing cards. Today I will be looking at the New and Redesigned cards, and in a future article I will be talking about the tweaked cards, of which there are many. I will be providing my power level ratings for the New and Redesigned cards, remember that 0.0 is the lowest and 5.0 is the highest.
*Editors Note – Eternal Cards will be updated to reflect these new changes on or around December 1st.
New Cards:
Cabal Countess
Rare 3SS Ambush, Ultimate: Pay 4 to give her +2/+0 and Quickdraw. 4/1
Ranked: 4.0
Draft: 3.5
This is a very interesting addition to Eternal. Shadow’s first Ambush unit, gives more decks tools to combat Relic Weapon control decks, which I am certainly a fan of. Ambush units are strong against control decks of all sorts as much of the removal in Eternal is not fast speed. The unit is incredibly hard to block once you activate the ultimate, giving it utility into the late game. The bane of this card is certainly Torch, which is an ubiquitous card. How strong and popular Cabal Countess is will probably depend on the popularity of control decks, specifically ones focused on Relic Weapons. If Torch is everywhere, I would probably avoid the Countess as well. You pretty much need to Ultimate this in Draft, but that isn’t a tall order and when you do it is hard to deal with.
Feln Cauldron
Legendary 3PS Relic Once per turn you may discard a card to gain 1 health. After five cards, sacrifice Feln Cauldron to draw five random spells.
Ranked: 3.0
Draft: 1.5
One of the weirder cards, perhaps the weirdest, in Eternal. Clearly intended to be a build around card, this won’t go into just any Feln deck. You will want some incentives to discarding cards as there are a number of weak spells you could end up drawing when you sacrifice the Cauldron. There are some incredibly powerful ones as well, so this might be a build around worth trying but I probably won’t be rushing to craft it. It is very painful in draft to be down so many cards before you can cash the Cauldron in. It gets much worse when you cast it in the late game where it will take that much longer to pop it.
Hooru Fledgling
Common 5J Flying 3/3
Ranked: 1.0
Draft: 3.5
Not nearly strong enough for Ranked, but this is a huge addition to the draft environment for Justice decks. With no synergies, this card can end games on its own. Fortunately, Justice also sports the best weapons, so it is not hard to turn up the heat quickly with this card. The card enables Justice/Primal decks as there are many Primal cards that encourage fliers that work well with the Fledgling.
Mark of Shame
Uncommon 3J Curse The cursed unit has -3 strength.
Ranked: 1.0
Draft: 3.0
Not nearly strong enough for Ranked, but this is a passable removal card for Justice. The most relevant function is turning off a flier or a deadly unit.
Vault of the Praxis
Rare 4TT Relic When you play a second unit in a turn, draw a card.
Ranked: 3.0
Draft: 1.0
This is a fun build around card for Ranked, but seems not worth playing in Draft as it is too hard to get value and you are taking an important turn off to cast it. In Ranked, you can play it in a token based deck to get lots of value. I have been trying it in a Elysian deck that includes a lot of the cheap value Time units along with Scouting Party. The deck is pretty strong and fun, here is the list (somewhat limited by my collection early on, I’d recommend 4x Scouting Party):
4 Talir’s Favored (Set0 #11)
4 Temple Scribe (Set1 #12)
4 Amaran Camel (Set1 #357)
4 Amber Acolyte (Set1 #93)
4 Scorpion Wasp (Set1 #96)
2 Crystalline Chalice (Set1 #359)
3 Marisen’s Disciple (Set1 #104)
4 Sandstorm Titan (Set1 #99)
2 Vault of the Praxis (Set1 #480)
4 Xenan Obelisk (Set1 #103)
4 Cirso, the Great Glutton (Set1 #362)
4 Elysian Pathfinder (Set1 #108)
2 Magus of the Mist (Set1 #233)
2 Scouting Party (Set1 #488)
1 Marisen, the Eldest (Set1 #123)
6 Primal Sigil (Set1 #187)
9 Time Sigil (Set1 #63)
4 Diplomatic Seal (Set1 #425)
4 Elysian Banner (Set1 #421)
4 Seat of Wisdom (Set0 #63)
Yeti Troublemaker
Uncommon 4P Echo 3/2
Ranked: 1.5
Draft: 3.5
Any Echo card has to be scrutinized carefully as it is an inherent two for one. I don’t think this body/cost quite gets there in Ranked, but this is strong in Draft. It can put pressure on stumbling opponent or provide a couple of solid blockers.
Redesigned:
Bronze Cuirass
Uncommon 4J Weapon +0/+4 Summon: Draw a card.
Ranked: 0.0
Draft: 2.5
Still not worth considering in Ranked, but this is now a marginal playable in Draft. Any card that replaces itself is never that bad and this can provide some utility especially on low health units.
Cabal Cutthroat
Uncommon 2S Lifesteal 2/2
Ranked: 2.0
Draft: 3.0
This is below rate in Ranked, but could be a thing in the right deck. This is less good than it looks in Draft as it trades so poorly with the two cost strangers that everyone has lots of access to. It also gets out-classed quickly as the game goes on. It is still a card you want because you need a good number of impactful two drops, and this counts. It has a tiny bit of upside if it can go unchecked for a few turns.
Champion of Cunning
Rare 5PS 5/5 PPPPP: Flying, Aegis SSSSS: At the end of your turn, your units get +2/+0.
Ranked: 2.5
Draft: 4.5
At long last Champion of Cunning gets its comeuppance. Towards the end of closed beta I was starting to feel like it was the best card in the format given how unique its impact on the game was. It appears the team behind Eternal agreed as the power level was reduced dramatically. The redesign trades the most powerful part of the old design, giving your whole team +2/+2, Flying, and Charge, for some protection in the form of Aegis and a team buff that can give you an edge in a long game. The new card is much slower to get going, probably to its downfall. This is still very hard to beat in Draft, so feel free to take it highly.
Gilded Glaive
Rare 3JJ Weapon +2/+2. Empower: +2/+2 this turn
Ranked: 2.5
Draft: 3.0
Another card that was very powerful and has been changed to more reasonable stats for the cost. I think there are better options now for Justice weapons in Ranked, Hammer of Might and Mantle of Justice. This is still fine in Draft, but not quite the game winner it once was.
Push Onward
Now called Scheme Common 3S Spell Draw one of the top four cards of your deck. Put the rest on the bottom.
Ranked: 3.0
Draft: 3.0
Push Onward held an awkward spot in that it competed directly with Wisdom of the Elders in Primal decks. It proved quite powerful, especially in decks that were trying to piece together combos or for control decks looking for specific answers. It was also very powerful that you could find a Scouting Party and play it on turn 4. The new card removes cost reduction aspect of Push Onward, and notably moves it to Shadow in exchange for seeing an extra card. This is a unique effect for Shadow, and I expect it to see play in Ranked. It is a fine card in Draft as well if you have space for some durdling.
Secret Pages
Uncommon 3T Fast Spell Play a Sigil of your choice from your deck depleted.
Ranked: 4.0
Draft: 2.0
One of the most impactful changes for Ranked in the whole patch. The previous Secret Pages enabled some very powerful three, four, and even five faction decks. One of the underrated aspects of the old version was its ability to get you double influence from one card. You could go from just Time to having double Justice for your Harsh Rule. It also made it very easy to splash single influence end game cards like Azindel’s Gift. The new card is completely different as it is a fast speed ramp spell, something that previously did not exist. It can enable some powerful starts, but it is a huge cost to take turn three or four off to cast this. Enabling a turn four Harsh Rule could be a key play pattern for control decks, however. I have enjoyed playing it alongside Xenan Obelisk to enable a fast speed way to go from 7 to 8 power, thus pumping your team unexpectedly. I like it a lot less in Draft where ramp usually isn’t as relevant.
Skycrag Wyvarch
Uncommon 5PP Flying, Killer 3/3
Ranked: 1.0
Draft: 4.0
The rate isn’t there for Ranked, but this is a strong Draft card. Being able to come down and pick off a cheap unit and be a relevant threat going forward is great.
Synchronized Strike
Common 2T Fast Spell Give +1/+1 to your units this turn.
Ranked: 1.5
Draft: 3.0
Probably not worth playing in Ranked, but this goes from a very powerful trick to merely a solid one in Draft. You can’t play too many trick effects in your draft deck, but I will usually try and fit in the first one of these.
I will be back with another installment covering the rest of the changes!
Thanks for reading,
Ben
