Aphelios Champion Expansion – Card Ratings

The Flight – 2.0

A 2/1 Elusive for 1 mana looks good, and it draws you a card when it strikes the Nexus. The problem here is that the card does not stay on board after that, and that changes a lot.

To me, this card should be used in decks trying to cycle. The 1 mana cost and Elusive tag can also be very useful to either enable a soft-pass or serve a blocker to an important Elusive unit of your opponent. Also, The Flight can be used as a Nightfall activator.

The card looks good and probably is the closest to being a 3.0, but I think the shuffle clause limits it and so it will end up as a utility card in Nightfall or heavy cycle decks.

Starbone – 1.0

Although there are means to shuffle multiple “The Messenger” into your deck, this looks way too specific and difficult to accomplish when compared to the current meta decks. It should be a gimmick at best.

The Sky Shadows – 3.0

In the right deck, this card should always refill 2 spell mana when played. Tempo decks can make use of it to get early onto the board.

Targon region has many cards to support it (even though the best one – Pale Cascade – just got nerfed), so the guarantee that you will have some mana left to answer your opponent’s next action sounds great.

While the 3/1 stat line isn’t that fantastic, aggressive decks like Diana Nocturne or Zoe Draven could use this card as an additional must-block threat.

Nightfall has been abandoned as a mechanic lately, and seeing cards come alongside Aphelios to help the keyword is great news.

The Fangs – 1.0

4 mana for a 3/2 body is a fairly bad deal, and the Lifesteal doesn’t really save the card. Sparklefly should still remain as a better option to abuse the keyword.

The only thing left for the card is its Invoke clause, but even then, Spacey Sketcher and Zoe look to be miles ahead in terms of tempo – and I don’t think a deck needs more cards than that with that specific effect.

While The Fangs combines several good things, none of them looks to be good enough to get it over the line. 

The Veiled Temple – 2.0

So far landmarks have been pretty disappointing overall, outside of The Grand Plaza and Star Spring. The fact that they do nothing upon arrival, take up a spot on the board, and usually need to be played early in the game to have a good impact means that the payoff needs to be very good.

In the case of The Veiled Temple, mana refill is great, +1/+1 is great – but you’ve already paid 4 mana, while there is a condition that only works once per round. It just looks like a lot of trouble for something that will probably give you back the 4 mana you invested.

The Cloven Way – 3.0

While the Overwhelm tag can help it find a spot in a damage-oriented deck, I think it’s the Nightfall effect that is really important.

The double stun to any follower could be huge when played on a non-attack turn as this sets up a great open attack the next turn. This gives the card some flexibility and allows it to be much more than another Overwhelm unit.

While 5 mana for a 5/4 could be a bit weak in the long run, this unit still reminds of the Mindsplitter, although much more flexible when trying to pressure the opponent.

Troll Gifts – 2.0

I am still not sure if this is a 2.0 or a 1.0 in my book, but I felt like grant +2/+2 is a pretty good deal for 2 mana.

Although the Regeneration keyword has kind of disappeared since Trundle got nerfed, there are some cards to benefit from Troll Gifts. I’m thinking about Braum here – an unused champion that is begging for more support. Trundle could also be back in the metagame as a solid champion, and the Troll Ravager is another mid-game unit that could shine with a 5/7 stat line.

I could imagine a more midrange build of Feel The Rush, including this card instead of Troll chant, aiming to just heal a big minion in the late-game. But overall, I think it has to be considered as a card for the future more than an immediate inclusion in the current decks. 

Flurry of Fists – 1.0

When I saw the card, I immediately thought “Maybe Zed can make a comeback alongside Lee Sin”.

Although the card itself isn’t flashy, the Burst speed and the capacity to give Quick or Double Attack might be good enough to splash in a deck with 2 champions to benefit from it.

Lee Sin might be one of the biggest winners of the patch, and flexibility can never hurt. It will be hard for this card to find a spot in his deck as it looks more for stability than highroll potential, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see a copy in an old school iteration of Zed Lee. 

Otherwise, the card doesn’t look like it can find a way into the current metagame.

Gluttony – 2.0

The Undying is really happy to see this card, and Anivia could pull off some nice synergies to summon the Rekindler. But the use you can get out of the card isn’t too wide and also requires a specific setup.

The restriction of only Last Breath allies makes the card very narrow and it feels like Glimpse Beyond is miles ahead in terms of power level.

We might see a copy or two in gimmick decks around the Last Breath mechanic, but I can’t imagine this card being relevant in the grand scheme of things outside of an Anivia deck for now. 

Powder Pandemonium – 4.0

Miss Fortune just got nerfed because of the Scouts deck, but her collaboration with Gangplank might have found a new finisher.

The card doesn’t look insane, but GP/MF is a deck that is capable of dealing tons of damage and Powder Pandemonium further increases that amount – by possibly a lot!

Plunder is fairly easy to activate in decks, so we could be looking at an average of 3 or 4 Powder Monkeys and Vulnerable enemies for 4 mana. Summoning 4 monkeys is basically casting a decimate which is a 5 mana card, and this even comes with the ability to pick your trades and attack with dispensable units. That sounds like a great card that should be included on day 1 in the deck.

Wild Claws – 1.0

This is a Slow spell which requires a unit in play and probably also a way to protect it in order to safely resolve Wild Claw.

For 5 mana, this looks like a poor man’s Concerted Strike with a bonus in case of Overwhelm.

I think the card doesn’t fit the current way Overwhelm is used and is way too expensive to find a spot in the current metagame.

Molten Breath – 1.0

Once again, the Slow tag makes this spell extremely hard to use effectively.

At 6 mana, it means you have to either risk losing your unit or have a lot of mana still available.

The condition of your minion needing Fury, in addition, means that this is specific to Dragon decks, an archetype that already sees almost no play.