Due to the changes in the rewards, it seems that I am going to have to play more this season perhaps, but for now, I still have to wait for my playing cards to come back from EOS rental. With the new reward changes, I thought it would be good to see what changes at the end of the next season.

Along with the reward changes, there is also a new set of reward cards introduced, which were made available at the end of the EOS. I am not sure if this is normal, but there are 21 "old" reward cards that are around 50% of the way through the distribution, and now there are 11 more being introduced - this is going to add many millions more rewards cards into the game, so I assume that the rewards are going to be quite card-heavy, which might offset the loss of rewards on starter cards. If there aren't a lot more cards coming in rewards, then it is going to mean that it is going to take a very long time until all of these cards are out of print.

On top of new cards, there is also "Reflection Shield" which is a new ability thrown into the mix and this is going to be quite a gamechanger in many respects, as especially with "amplify", reflection has been a massive gamechanger in recent months.

The Legendaries in the new set seem to be just that, quite legendary, and they are going to change the gameplay quite a bit, but since I didn't get any of those in my chests, I thought I would have a quick run-through of what I did get and my initial thoughts on what it affects. I am not one of those technical players who understands all of the intricacies and interdependencies, but it does help me to at least get prepared for what to expect. I can't actually play any of these in the leagues I frequent, because I don't think any of them will hold up under the pressure until they are close to max.

Let's go!

Blood Maker

First up, the common "Blood Maker" for the FIRE set, which is fast and has a decent range strike maxed at 4 - because you know, ZAKU needs a little bit of strengthening, the poor guy... Not only that, it also comes with scattershot at L1, so paired with Zaku, it is going to be a bit of an animal and with the neutral Gem Meteor having scattershot as well as piercing, FIRE is going to be very strong once this combination comes together.

Vampire Bat

With a very silly name (as it exists), the EARTH splinter Vampire Bat is another common card, but at 3 MANA, it shouldn't be underestimated, because while it only has a MAX Melee of 3, it also has Flying and Dodge and a speed of 5, making it pretty hard to hit, so it could cause some troubles, especially if teamed up with Blind or some additional speed. It also gives earth a little more flight capabilities, so shields aren't as necessary perhaps on Earthquake rulesets.

Revealer

This Death card is a bit of an interesting one, as it is slow and not overly powerful, but also comes with Stun, magic and immunity - but more importantly than that, it has the new Reflection Shield ability, giving it some protection against for example, Zaku. I feel though, that it is a bit of a fringe player in the mix and might take a while to fit it into the rotation well.

Ever-Hungry Skull

Another strange name, but fair enough, there are a lot of cards to name out there... Bit, this Death card is again going to be a fringe player, because what it is geared for is for Weak Magic Rulesets, as it only has one HP, but at max, an 11 shield. This means that it can take opportunity attacks and if set with Bone Golem or Scale Doctor with Repair, could prove a bit of a thorn in the side of Opportunity monsters. With Flying it is also has a 25% chance of being missed, so that helps too.

Merdhampir

Merde! And then for Water, there is this middle of the road card, that I don't think I am going to ever play well. I like Life Leech, but I rarely get Cripple to work to my advantage, and the same with Snare. Still, those who play water a bit might find it useful... for something.

Vampiric Blossom

Straight out of The Little Shop of Horrors, comes this Earth Splinter card, which thankfully adds a second Immunity monster to the range to go along with Epona and, it does have a half decent amount of speed and attack. The most interesting thing about this card though, is having the oppress with Range, plus Death Blow. I imagine that it might come in handy against a Cube in a poison ruleset, as it should effectively deliver a 12 HP hit to it, if it is the last one standing. In a poison ruleset, this behind Epona, would beat a Last Standing Cube before fatigue set in.

Dhampir Infiltrator

And, this Dragon card is going to be a right bastard for some, especially for those who like to play Kron at the back, as not only does it have Sneak, it also has Double Strike, so while the max blow is only 2, it doubles up and will also deliver either Affliction or Cripple, lowering the max health and stopping it from healing. Since I don't have a Kron, I don't mind....

Tide Biter

Well, it makes a change from the pillow - I think it is also wearing Seinfeld's Puffy Shirt. But, I think this is going to be an interesting card too, because it has Reach paired with True Strike so it doesn't miss, plus it doesn't take blast damage, due to the Reflection Shield. This could make it quite a dark horse of a card that will see it take some unlikely wins. It is also only 3 Mana, so it delivers quite a range and weight for the low-mana rulsets.

How'd I do?

As said, this isn't my area of expertise and I didn't want to go into all the details and every combination of each, because that would make this post 20,000 words long. However, with new cards comes new possibilities and it is always interesting to see how the gameplay changes. Of course, I don't have any of these maxed yet, so they are all pretty well useless at this point for me in Diamond and Champion, but they are likely going to start filtering into Silver and gold very soon, so it is going to be interesting to hear how people are finding the changes in play.

I wonder how long it will take me to earn a max of any of these....

Taraz
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