Top 6 Cards & Complete Ratings of Magic Misadventures

Hello, Agigas here!

Now that a very exciting spoiler season has just ended, I wanted to review some of the most promising cards that are coming in the Magic Misadventures expansion.

The evaluations and ratings given to the cards in this article are, of course, still pretty speculative. In the coming weeks, some of the new cards are going to pleasantly surprise us, while some others will disappoint. But still, we can already start forming some early conclusions to get a headstart in the new season.

6 – Ahri

Ahri comes at a cheap cost and with a great body, and a relevant effect – sounds like a recipe for success to me.

She enables the recall archetype right away at level 1, and combines particularly well with Dancing Droplet. Her level-up condition is not easy to fulfill, but in a dedicated archetype, will be quite consistent as Ahri doesn’t need to be on the board to level.

At level 2, Ahri is devastating on wide boards, and the fact she bounces your whole board isn’t even a downside because of the cost reduction and the archetype you’ll play her in. Oh, and also because the opponent will likely die.

Overall, Ahri seems to do a lot for her cost. She is hard to remove, consistent in a deck built around her, finds strong synergies with cards in the game, and her level 2 effect seems really impressive on a 2-cost champion.

That said, she seems to be strictly restricted to the recall archetype and therefore will be a bit of a hit-or-miss champion. If the recall archetype doesn’t perform, chances are that Ahri will struggle.

5 – Yordle Captain

Yordle Captain’s stats are huge, and he will be very hard to remove before he gets to give a few buffs. This unit really owns the board and will fit perfectly in the swarm high-value playstyle of Bandle City.

One counter-argument to this card’s power is that Bandle City’s 4-drop is already stacked with overpowered units because of Poppy and Lecturing Yordle. However, I think Yordle Captain will be strong enough in his archetypes for them to make some room for him.

Plus, Yordle Captian also has the upside of being a Yordle, which we will see later in this article is gonna be a meta-defining tribe.

4 – Rumble

You thought a turn 4 Sivir was oppressive? Wait till you meet Rumble!

With the numerous discard fodders and discard synergies in the game, it is quite easy to negate the discard downside. Plus, Rumble gives you the choice on how many cards you want to discard, making him very versatile in his archetype.

The more cards you discard to play him, the easier Rumble will be to level up, and discarding all 3 will make it very easy to get the level up over 2 turns. With a Whirling Death or other strike effect during your attack, you can even level Rumble up over a single turn.

Once leveled, Rumble is a true value and tempo engine, and will quickly dominate any board.

Both Noxus and Bandle City have lots of ways to push face damage, and therefore Rumble’s effect will be quite easy to leverage.

3 – Pantheon

With the Barrier and Fated keywords, Pantheon is gonna be really hard to deal with despite his low starting health. The Fated keyword is a very powerful one, and I expect Pantheon to grow very quickly.

The Overwhelm keyword goes along the Fated one to make a very dangerous threat out of Pantheon, and we’re not even talking about level 2 yet.

The level-up conditions will always take a lot of time, but when you get there, Pantheon becomes pretty much unstoppable, with a minimum of 8 total keywords.

There are tons of packages waiting for Pantheon with open arms, and I expect him to perform really well.

2 – Wounded Whiteflame

With both the Fated and the Fury keyword, this dragon will grow really easily and dominate the board.

Its high health combines really well with its snowball play style, and that unit alone will likely push players into playing more Blinded Mystics.

The low attack combos really well with Dragon Chow, allowing you to make 2 meals out of it.

Wounded Whiteflame will likely be the best follower for any of the numerous possible Fated Pantheon archetypes, as well as for the Dragon archetype.

1 – Yordle Explorer

Yordle Explorer looks broken, and not fun broken.

Yordle already has tons of insane cards, such as Poppy, Bandle City Mayor, Lecturing Yordle, and many more. With Yordle Explorer and Yordle Captain fitting in the archetype, it seems like the Bandle City board presence will be stronger than ever.

Sure, you could just kill this 2-drop with a Mystic Shot or another removal. But what’s really scary is that then you might not have a removal at the ready for their Bandle City Mayor and Poppy. Yordles have too many cheap must-kill threats, and they keep getting more.

Moreover, Bandle City can easily pair with a region with good protection spells, such as Demacia, making the opponent’s life a living nightmare.

While I am overall very excited about the expansion as a whole and I think there are tons of really interesting new designs and archetypes, facing Yordle Explorer is not something I am looking forward to.

Honorable Mentions

Scrapheap. In a deck with discard synergies, the discard part won’t be a drawback anymore. 1 mana to manifest a Mecha-Yordle sounds like a very good deal, and Scrapheap should be an auto-include in any Bandle City discard archetype. This isn’t the flashiest, meta-defining card, but it will go a long way to enable its archetype.
Electro Harpoon. Slow speed hurts, but the amount of damage is astonishingly high. In a deck able to leverage the discard part of the spell, Electro Harpoon should be an auto-include.
Kennen. 1-drop champions should never be overlooked. Kennen is quite impressive for its cost, and while leveling him up can be hard, he will be a big payoff in dedicated archetypes, mainly alongside Ahri. Whether or not these Kennen-centered decks will be successful is still hard to say, but at the very least, Kennen should find his mark in the Bandle Tree archetype to provide Ionia to the deck.
The Mourned. Navori Bladescout has been played in a lot of high-tier decks, and The Mourned looks even better in a lot of cases for elusive archetypes. Moreover, The Mourned synergise well with recall payoffs, and will be an auto-include in recall archetypes.
Blinded Mystic. The silence effect, while situational, can be very impactful. It is definitive and the opponent can’t answer it, making it even better. Nowadays, there are a lot of followers that you want to silence (elusives, Twinblade Revenant, Monkey Idol, Lurkers…) and Fated units will add up to that very long list. Blinded Mystic doesn’t necessarily need to hit a high-priority target to be impactful, as its own body, the stat buff, and the ability to trigger Fated add up to the Silence. I think Blinded Mystic is a very strong card overall, especially in a deck with Fated units, and could be a key card depending on the meta. That said, it can come off a bit clunky, so it will likely not be run as a 3-of very often.

Beyond the Bandlewood Complete Card Ratings

Bandle City

Name	Rating	Explanation
Thunder Fist	2.0	In high-synergy decks such as the recall archetype, payoffs need to be outstanding, and this is not. The 3 mana cost makes it very expensive to play twice. I don’t expect Thunder Fist to see a lot of play even in its own archetype.
Quicken	3.0	A very interesting bounce that doubles as a protection spell if you play some small high-value units. It answers particularly well high-cost units with a low attack and could be a great tech in some matchups. A timely release with Poppy’s nerf. I’m not going to rate it too high because I’m still not sure which deck will have room for it and it doesn’t find too many good targets in the current meta, but this is a solid card.
Tornado Warrior	2.5	This is quite an interesting payoff for the recall archetype and becomes quite oppressive once it gets some evasive keyword(s). That said, Tornado Warrior costs a lot of tempo to repetitively bounce and play, and I suspect it will miss the mark as its own archetype should be more interested in cheaper units with immediate payoffs.
Cloud Stance	1.5	You really need to make recall a big payoff to justify playing this worse Elixir of Wrath. This synergizes well with the Quick Attack champions of the recall archetype, but I don’t think it will be nearly enough to grant it a spot.
Gust Monk	2.5	Card generation attached on a 2-cost unit with reasonable stats can’t be bad. That said, Bandle City has access to some of the best 2-drops in the game with Looping Telescope and Conchologist. Even in a recall archetype, I think Conchologist would be played before Gust Monk. The card is not bad, but the competition is rude.
Lighting Rush	3.0	You need to make the recall part of the card an upside to make lightning Rush interesting. Using it to protect a unit will be very strong, but situational. Recall synergies would make the recall easier to cash on, but ultimately, I worry that this card’s relatively high cost will make it hard to play at the right time.
Ember Monk	2.0	In a deck not trying to abuse its effect Ember Monk just doesn’t bring enough to the table to run it, and if you’re summoning a lot of units it is not a good enough payoff as it will get chump blocked for days.
Rissu, the Silent Storm	2.5	7/3 is a really underwhelming stat on an expansive unit, and the Stormcloud will very often trade down with 4 or 3-cost units. This card seems too expensive to be a good recall payoff.
Squeaker	3.0	This body is really underwhelming, even if you get to buff it with the augment keyword Squeaker will die to the numerous ping spells. That said the Mecha-Yordle are very good cards and if you play enough discard synergies it might be worth running Squeaker.
Scrapheap	4.0	In a deck with discard synergies, the discard part won’t be a drawback anymore. 1 mana to manifest a Mecha-Yordle sounds like a very good deal, and Scrapheap should be an auto-include in any Bandle City discard archetype.
Flamespitter	2.0	Flamespitter is a pretty underwhelming spell and I don’t see any deck that would have a spot for it. That said, it has a quite spicy synergy with Ahri as she will trigger the impact keyword several times each turn and be very hard to block with the Quick Attack keyword.
Arena Promoter	3.5	Arena Promoter is a huge unit that will own the board in the midgame. The Tough keyword is way better than an extra health point. Moreover, she also gives access to the Mecha Yordle pool, and leverage discard synergies! That said, the 4-drop of Bandle City is stacked with insane units (Poppy, Rumble, Lecturing Yordle), so this card will have tough competition.
Bilgerat Rascal	3.0	The body is underwhelming, and while the Spellshield brings some value, I think there are better ways to access the Mecha-Yordle pool. That said if you’re looking to reach a critical mass of discard effects in Bandle City, Bilgerat Rascal will be there as a perfectly playable card.
Fix-Em-Uppers	1.5	This isn’t an enabler for strategies that could be interested in playing it, and the payoff is really small.
Electro Harpoon	4.0	Slow speed hurts, but the amount of damage is surprisingly high. In a deck able to leverage the discard part of the spell, Electro Harpoon should be an auto-include.
Yordle Explorer	5.0	Nothing to see there. 🙂
Yordle Captain	4.0	Strong stats and the buff will make turn 5-6 really impressive for a swarm strategy.

Multi-region & other

Name	Rating	Explanation
Kennen	4.0	1-drop champions should never be overlooked. Kennen is quite impressive for its cost, and while leveling up can be hard, he will be a big payoff in dedicated archetypes, mainly alongside Ahri. Whether or not these Kennen-centered decks will be successful is still hard to say, but at the very least, Kennen should find his mark in the Bandle Tree archetype to provide direct Ionia access to the deck.
Rumble	4.5	With the numerous discard fodders and discard synergies in the game, it is quite easy to negate the downside of discarding. Plus, Rumble gives you the choice on how many cards you want to discard, making him very versatile in his archetype. The more cards you discard, the easier Rumble will be to level up, and discarding all 3 will make it very easy to get the level up over 2 turns. With a Whirling Death or other strike effect, you can even level him up over 1 turn. Once leveled, Rumble is a true value and tempo engine, and will quickly dominate any board.
Arena Mechacaster	1.5	Well, I’m gonna stick to my normal Arena Battlecaster on that one. This is understated and overcosted, and when we think about the fact Demacia Bandle didn’t bother to play Cithria the Bold back in the day, it’s really hard to make a case for Arena Mechacaster.
Grumbleslug	3.5	Lovely artwork, but a pretty uninteresting card. Grumbleslug still gets a good rate as a cheap access to Bilgewater with good stats for the Bandle Tree archetype.
Minion	2.5	This is understated and slow. The infinite value is pretty cool and could help some decks hold the board without playing too many early units. However, playing slow isn’t strong in Legends of Runeterra, and this expansion won’t help with it, as there are no new strong control tools and a lot of anti-control.

Ionia

Name	Rating	Explanation
Ahri	4.0	I’m still on the fence when it comes to whether or not the recall archetype will be strong enough for the meta. That said, if it ends up competitive, Ahri will be a major part of why. Her stats are great, her effect is interesting and powerful, her level-up condition demanding but consistent in the right deck, and her level 2 quickly ends games.
The Mourned	4.0	Navori Bladescout has been played in a lot of high-tier decks, and The Mourned looks even better in a lot of cases for elusive archetypes. Moreover, The Mourned synergies well with recall payoffs, and will be an auto-include in recall archetypes.
Woodland Keeper	2.5	Woodland Keeper hits like a truck before it becomes a blocker and the elusive keyword should not be underestimated. That said, I can’t find any deck that would want to make room for this card, as it is quite expensive and not so easy to abuse, so the rate is lower than what I think of the card.
Pathless Ancient	1.0	The recall archetype needs its synergies to go off to work, so if a card isn’t an enabler it better be a very impressive payoff – and this is not. Rejected even by its own archetype, I expect to forget this card exists.
Memory’s Cloak	2.5	This is really underwhelming compared to other counter-spells. Too expensive compared to Nopeify!, too situational compared to Deny. That said, this is still a card that can go in a lot of unit-based strategies, and maybe it will play a role as a tech when the meta favors it.
Nine Lives	2.0	The Time Has Come never saw play, and while this is strictly better, I still don’t expect it to be good enough to make the cut.
God-Willow Seedling	3.0	Reminiscent of Go Get It, and likely better in high-synergy decks. This is a great card to abuse powerful summoning effects and goes really well along with Kennen. It’s pretty hard to know how good this card will perform, but because of the very high tempo cost, I will refrain from rating it high, though I am excited about playing it.
Sai’Nen Thousand-Tailed	2.0	This is very slow and the 2 effects push the card in 2 different directions, making it always interesting but never the best. Because of that, I think this card often won’t find its spot in the 40.
Windsinger	1.5	I’m asking for a lot from a 6-cost unit, and Windsinger is really not impressive. Value isn’t valuable enough in Legends of Runeterra to justify playing this when you have access to several cheap, fast-speed recalls, such as Will Ionia.
Charm	2.0	The Vulnerable keyword is quite interesting in Ionia, as the region has a bunch of strong Quick Attack units. That said, the effect is very small, and the cost really high. The recall part needs to be an upside for this card to be interesting, and even then, I feel like there are a lot of stronger cards with the recall effect attached.
Children of the Forest	1.5	This high-cost spell looks like a fun build-around finisher, but in fact, it is not. 3 Ephemeral units will rarely ever be a finisher, and therefore I’m really not sure what this card’s goal is.

Targon

Name	Rating	Explanation
Pantheon	4.5	With the Barrier and Fated keywords, Pantheon is gonna be really hard to deal with despite his low starting health. The Overwhelm keyword goes along the Fated one to make him a dangerous threat out of him quickly, and we’re not even talking about level 2 yet. The level-up conditions will always take a lot of time, but when you get there, Pantheon becomes pretty much unstoppable. There are tons of packages waiting for Pantheon with open arms, and I expect him to perform really well.
Saga Seeker	3.5	Usually, I am not looking to use combat tricks on a 1-cost follower, but Saga Seeker has the ability to grow quite quickly with the Fated keyword. Pantheon wants you to start targeting your units as early as possible to level before the game ends, and Saga Seeker does help with that. Because Pantheon will likely be popular, I expect Saga Seeker to see a lot of play.
Iula	3.0	Giving Spellshield and Overwhelm, without giving the opponent the opportunity to answer it, seems like a very powerful tool for a combo play with a big unit such as Lee Sin or Vi. Although this effect is very powerful, it also comes as a bit clunky. You need unit mana to play it and isn’t very good as long as you didn’t set up a lethal combo with Overwhelm.
Blinded Mystic	4.0	The silence effect, while situational, can be very impactful. The silence effect is definitive and the opponent can’t answer it, making it even better. Nowadays, there are a lot of followers that you want to silence (elusives, Twinblade Revenant, Monkey Idol, Lurkers…) and Fated units will add up to that very long list. Blinded Mystic doesn’t necessarily need to hit a high-priority target to be impactful, as its own body, the stat buff, and the ability to trigger Fated add up to the Silence. I think Blinded Mystic is a very strong card overall, especially in a deck with Fated units, and could be a key card depending on the meta. That said, it can come off a bit clunky, so it will likely not be run as a 3-of very often.
Wounded Whiteflame	4.5	With both the Fated and the Fury keyword, this dragon will grow really easily and dominate the board. Its high health combines really well with its snowball play style, and that unit alone will likely push players into playing more Blinded Mystics. The low attack combos really well with Dragon Chow. While Wounded Whiteflame is a perfect fit for the Dragon archetype, it will also be played in a lot of other decks, and I don’t expect any Pantheon deck to not play it.
We Stand Together	2.5	While We Stand Together can swing the combat phase and protect units, it is quite expensive for a reactive spell. It does go along with Fated pretty well as it triggers 2 fated units at once. This card reminds me a lot of Troll Chant from Frejlord, although it is more expensive, and exchange some versatility in utility for 2 attack buffs. All in all, I am not expecting too much from this trick, but it does look like an interesting card in a Fabled deck.
Camphor, the Doubt	2.0	Camphor, the Doubt is extremely bad if you can’t activate its effect. The effect seems really hard to activate early enough, and even if it does activate, this card still isn’t the insane payoff you would expect from such a high-cost, difficult to leverage card.
Against the Odds	2.0	This seems really situational, and you would need your opponent to make this card worth playing. Could be interesting in a deck that plays consistently one elusive and/or lifesteal unit and not much else, but since Sparklefly got nerfed, I can’t think of any consistent deck that could really abuse this effect consistently.
Freed Colossus	1.5	Generating a few gems isn’t worth playing a 5 cost unit with no other effect and a pretty average statline.

Closing Words

Overall, this expansion’s power level seems really high, which is both concerning with a card like Yordle Explorer, but also very exciting as the meta is bound to evolve.

If you have a question, want to share feedback, or discuss this article, I’ll be happy to answer you in the comments below!

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Thanks for reading!

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