Nami Review and Theorycraft

Ebb – 4.0

Flow – Ebb and Flow

As a champion spell, this is great. It’s exactly what Nami wants – a bunch of repeatable spells to spam.

One issue is that it will be hard to get full value out of it in the early- and mid-game as 6 mana is a lot, but if we think of Ebb as a regular Mystic Shot, then using it to kill an enemy unit is fair enough. 

The actual problem is that the targeting is random, which means we have a 50% chance to pay 2 mana to “do nothing” unless we actually can leverage the damage dealt to the Nexus. 

For an aggro-burn deck, this card is great. If it hits the enemy board, great, that might mean one less blocker, and if it hits the Nexus? Great! Ebb is looking like a slightly over-costed but more versatile Decimate, and these decks can appreciate interaction and burn packed into a single card. The healing is just the cherry on top and will be invaluable against other aggro.

Abyssal Guard – 2.0

Not a fan. At 4 mana, Abyssal Guard feels a bit too clunky. The Fearsome is nice to prevent it from being chump blocked, but doubtful that it’ll achieve that much.

The problem I’m identifying is that Abyssal Guard’s mana cost is merely the initial investment, but for it to truly shine it will require you to spend much more mana on buffs which will all last for only one round.

Compare it to the other 4-drops! Abyssal Guard will simply get blocked and won’t achieve very much, all the while requiring more resources instead of giving more resources like Zap Sprayfin, for example.

Avatar of the Tides – 3.0

The trick is to play Avatar of the Tides only once we have 10 mana gems. That way, with it on the board we can unload 13 mana worth of cards turn after turn, and since the Avatar creates a spell every time we cast one, we can generate an incredible amount of value after cycling through all the low-cost cards it creates.

Its use is fairly narrow and it cannot be played too early as it can stunt our mana generation, but it fills an interesting niche as a late-game value engine while not being all that expensive.

There is a possibility the first half of Avatar of the Tides’ text doesn’t function if you already have 10 mana gems. If that is the case the card becomes obviously worse, easily going down to a 2.0. I don’t believe it works that way, but I’d rather cover all my bases.

Fleet Admiral Shelly – 3.5

There is a lot of potential here, buffing an entire board by +1/+1 permanently is real scary.

At the same cost, it is much better than Slippery Waverider and I can easily see Fleet Admiral Shelly finding a home in a variety of aggro or midrange strategies.

Attune also means he naturally synergizes with Nami and makes triggering his own effect much easier.

Journeying Sandhopper – 2.0

4/3 for 3 mana is a mediocre stat-line that can easily end up trading down. The only value of Journeying Sandhopper is that the Attune keyword progresses Nami’s level-up and encourages the use of spell synergies. 

In the end, this unit is not so bad since it only costs a net 2 mana, but these stats are not going to win you the game. Unlikely to see play outside of Nami decks or decks that really need spell mana.

Marai Songstress – 3.0

A 2 mana conditional Elusive. Her stats are in line with the other 2-drops and she is aggressively statted as well, which is always a plus for an Elusive.

The main hurdle will be finding a way to consistently play Marai Singer as an Elusive on turn 2, though at least in many cases playing a vanilla 3/2 is not the end of the world.

Targon can easily pull it off via Crescendum.

Marai Warden – 1.0

This is a less flexible Petty Officer without an option to choose a Powder Keg.

At the same cost, Dreadway Deckhand has better stats and a better effect than Marai Watcher, so I am struggling to find any reason to play Marai Watcher instead, especially considering the high variance that is involved.

Maybe you’re really valuing swarming the board fast in the first few turns for whatever reason, but otherwise, I would stay away from this card.

Marai Greatmother – 2.0

3/3 for 4 mana isn’t bad – cards like Yordle Grifter have seen plenty of play. The difference is that Marai Greatmother creates random spells and you wouldn’t be able to know when you’ll get to draw and use them.

That’s two different random factors, and though 6+ cost spells are usually strong, there are also some of them that simply don’t do much of anything unless you have the proper board-state to support them.

Now the fact that the cost of the created cards is set to 3 means that Zap Sprayfin can tutor them and that’s very interesting.

The problem is that creating cards in your deck is effectively “do nothing” until these cards are actually drawn and played. To ensure that, you will need to dedicate a large portion of your deckbuilding efforts to this interaction, and I just don’t think the potential payoff is worth the cost, at least not enough for Marai Greatmother to become a staple of Bilgewater.

Tidal Wave – 3.0 

Crashing Wave – Colossal Wave

First, it asks me to play a bad Make it Rain. Ok, why not? It isn’t like I was trying to win the game anyway. 

Then somehow I need to draw into the Crashing Wave. Of course, once again Zap Sprayfin comes in very handy. Overwhelming Tide at least is better than Avalanche in most cases.

Finally, draw into the Colossal Wave (Zap putting in those overtime hours) to deal 4 damage to the whole enemy board AND Nexus. Pretty good payoff. Not as strong as Pack Your Bags but also less expensive.

When I look at it this way, it doesn’t look that bad. Getting to the Colossal Wave should be easier than stacking four Go Hard, requiring less of a build-around while still providing a ticking clock for the opponent which they have no choice but to play around or directly into.