Hi everyone!
I’m back again, and this time I’ll be reviewing the cards released in the third Shadowverse expansion, Tempest of the Gods. So far, this expansion seems really promising and I’m really looking forward to playing with these new cards as well as seeing how the metagame will evolve.
Starting with Forestcraft, I’ll be writing a review for the new cards from each craft (at least I’ll try).
But before we get into the card review, let me give a rundown of the grading system I’ll be using. It is based on the Luis Scott Vargas set review scale (a well-known MTG hall of fame player). Card explanations are way more important than the grade itself.
5.0: A must-have meta-defining card. An auto include in any kind of deck. e.g. Ancient Elf
4.0: A staple card. Good in practically every deck. e.g. Crystalia Tia
3.5: Good in multiple archetypes, but not a staple. e.g. Elf Girl Liza
3.0: Staple in an archetype. e.g. Elf Knight Cynthia
2.5: Role-player in some decks, but not quite a staple. e.g. Grand Archer, Selwyn
2.0: Niche card. A part of some unknown archetype. Most cards are in this category. e.g. Underbrush Beast Girl
1.0: It sees play… Never. E.g. Elven Archery
Evaluations
Deepwood Anomaly
Unevolved
Whenever this follower attacks the enemy leader, deal damage to that leader until their defense drops to 0.
Evolved
Whenever this follower attacks the enemy leader, deal damage to that leader until their defense drops to 0.
Cards like this is amazing. Sure, this card in particular is quite bad but I like them nonetheless. It’s big threat and can lead to some really fun situations where when you win, you feel like a God. It’s nicely designed and good for fun/casual play.
As for why it sucks in competitive; most of the time it is just a big body and a tempo loss. It is similar to seraph, except there are way more answers to this card than there are for Seraph. Even if your opponent doesn’t have a direct answer, it is possible for them to create situations where it cannot connect with their face.
While I won’t say that the card is completely unplayable in competitive, as of right now it will be passed over in favour of other cards. Perhaps in future expansions it’ll receive the support it needs to create an archetype centered around the card, but right now I don’t see it possible.
Grade: 2
Elf Queen
Unevolved
Fanfare: Restore X defense to your leader. X equals the number of shadows you have. Then change your number of shadows to 0.
Evolved
….
This card is obviously bad in PTP decks, but it does have merit in White Wolf decks or perhaps in the more eccentric Control Forest. Forestcraft as a class can generates shadows quite easily due to all the Fairy tokens that you can generate, so the heal you get from this card is quite substantial.
Unfortunately, the spot it is directly competing with is Fairy Beast, which comes out a turn earlier and perhaps more reliable. This one turn is very important, especially against aggro decks which seek to kill you before turn 7. One good thing is that it does have a bigger body to compensate.
Why not run both? I’m not sure really. I’m not sure just yet on how it compares to Fairy Beast. After an Elf Queen is played, the other copies of the card will become a lot worse, so maybe it’ll be run as a 1 of in decks that want a very powerful heal option.
Grade: 2.5
Waifu Material: 4
Crystalia Aerin (aka Emilia-san)
Unevolved
Ward.
Fanfare: Restore 3 defense to your leader.
Enhance (8): Recover 1 evolution point.Evolved
Ward
Another card that’ll be competing with Fairy Beast for the heal slot in Forestcraft decks. Unlike Elf Queen, this card has the same play point value so it can be more directly compared. While the 3 hp heal is obviously quite underwhelming compared to Fairy Beast, it does come with a ward and an interesting enhance effect to offset the small heal.
As for how the Ward effect compares to the higher heal, it’ll be worse against burn and spot removal such as Dance of Death, but better for overall board control. This makes it better against decks that try to win with value as heal isn’t too valuable in those matchups. Therefore, it’s playability will depend a lot on the metagame.
Grade: 2.5
Waifu Material: Infinite. She’s the best SV Waifu.
Jungle Warden
Unevolved
Ward.
Enhance (10): Summon a Jungle Warden. Then give all allied Jungle Wardens Storm.Evolved
Ward
I really like this card. Although a 5 drop 4/5 with ward isn’t bad, it isn’t really amazing either. The real strength of this card is in the enhance effect, potentially pushing for 8 face damage when the game goes long.
Unfortunately, Forestcraft doesn’t have an existing competitive archetype that wants to play the long value game until turn 10. This may change this upcoming expansion because of cards like this that give Forestcraft a more flexible finisher.
Grade: 2.5
Fairy Cage
Whenever you play a card, put a Fairy into your hand if you don’t already have one.
Turn 4 do nothing to potentially get a fairy never?
???
I don’t get it. Maybe there will be some shenanigans to do with Fairy Cage, but I don’t see it.
Grade: 1.0
Mighty Dwarf
Unevolved
Clash: Deal 2 damage to the enemy leader.
Evolved
Clash: Deal 2 damage to the enemy leader.
This card has an interesting clash effect; however, something like this is designed more for Aggro Forest, and Aggro Forest already has lots of other options to close a game turn 7.
Grade: 2.0
Vist, Elf Butler
Unevolved
Ward.
Whenever you play a Forestcraft follower that costs at least 6 play points, subtract 3 from the cost of this card.Evolved
Ward
Another ward for Forestcraft… Perhaps Forestcraft will become the new wardcraft. Regardless, this card’s stats are pretty nice as it can tank most turn 4 evo cards such as Floral Fencer, Elven Princess Mage, and Cudgel. The secondary effect can also lead to some interesting tempo play.
I’m not quite sure how to evaluate this card. Perhaps this combined with Jungle Warden will be the missing links to make Control Forest viable. Or maybe there might be another use for this card that I’m not seeing right now.
Grade: 2.0
Man-Eating Mangroove
Countdown (2)
Whenever an enemy follower attacks your leader, deal 2 damage to that follower.
The more I write this review, the more I’m convinced that Cygames really wants us to play a slow Control Forest archetype with all the wards and disruption they’re pushing out. We’ve already seen a lot of the ward options, this will will provide the disruption half.
This is the ultimate shut down on the weenie decks that try to flood the board with weak followers and go face. However, it is practically worthless against other control and combo decks. So depending on the metagame, this card will either be insane or complete garbage.
Grade: 1.0 or 5.0
Sukuna, Brave and Small
Unevolved
…
Evolved
Evolve: Gain +2/+2 if at least 3 cards were played this turn.
There are already a lot of good two drops in Forestcraft, the best being Rhinoceroach. Perhaps this might see play in an aggressive deck or value oriented deck. However, it is a lot of investment to get the full effect as you need to play 3 cards and an evolution point; an evolution point you would rather spent for Elven Princess Mage most of the time anyways.
This isn’t a bad card, a 2 drop for 6/6 worth of stats can be incredibly valuable. But I find it hard to see a lot for it in any current or new archetype.
Grade: 2.0
Waifu Material: 3
Cybele
Unevolved
At the end of your turn, give all other allied followers +0/+1.
Evolved
At the end of your turn, give all other allied followers +0/+1.
Perhaps if this effect was on a fanfare then it would be a much better card as it would create some interesting value trading scenarios. Especially because you can do some interesting bounce shenanigans with it. However, as it is, it really does is give some fairies a bit more survivability into the next turn.
Grade: 2.0
Beetle Warrior
Unevolved
Fanfare: Gain +1/+1 and Storm if at least 2 other cards were played this turn.
Evolved
…
Uh, wtf Cygames. On 5, it’s basically Albert but with 1 less health. On 3, it is still a decent 3 drop. And this is in a class that already has bounce shenanigans with Roach. There really isn’t much to say. This common card is fucking amazing and will be staple in any kind of aggressive Forestcraft deck — maybe even in all forest decks from here on out.
Grade: 4.5
Ivy Spellbomb
Deal 3 damage to an enemy follower. Then deal 2 damage to the enemy leader if at least 2 other cards were played this turn.
With zero cost fairies and easy access to play multiple cards in a single turn, this card is very good in an aggressive Forestcraft decks. It’s no pre-nerf Piercing Rune though. Still, I think it will be a staple in Aggro Forest.
Grade: 3.0
Dryad
Unevolved
Clash: Give the enemy follower -1/-0.
Evolved
Clash: Give the enemy follower -1/-0.
The clash effect feels underwhelming. While it is good against token decks, Forestcraft as a whole is already well tuned against these types of decks. This card offers nothing new and is absolutely horrid against the rest of the field.
Grade: 2.0
Conclusion
Forestcraft got some really interesting cards, be it just a fat god, some good waifus, or just more insects. Some cards could potentially reinforce current archetypes quite a bit and maybe even start a new competitive archetype with Control Forest.
I think Forest has all the tools to stay a really strong craft in Shadowverse!
My top 3
3/ Beetle Warrior
2/ Elf Queen (cuz waifu)
1/ Crystalia Aerin (cuz utlimate waifu)
CIao.
Maid to kill 