10000witnesses joins us today to cover a less popular (but still amazing!) game type in Mythgard, Arena. He also begins his descent into rating every single Mythgard card for limited play, beginning with the Norden, or blue, faction.
Greetings.
About me: I’ve been playing card games since I got into MTG about 15 years ago. Before Mythgard, I’d played MTG (including Arena), Hearthstone, Shadowverse, The Elder Scrolls: Legends, Artifact, and Gwent. I consider myself to be a limited specialist, and focused on the draft modes of all of the above games. I consistently reach the Mythic ladder for MTGA draft, and have been an infinite drafter (where average reward exceeds entrance fees) in all of the above. I’ve only been playing Mythgard a bit over a month, but I currently average 7 or 8 wins in Arena, with several 9-0 runs. I consistently 9-0 every gauntlet (not that this says much, the bots are easy). I go by Adrenochrome in game.
Mythgard limited (Arena/Gauntlet) is great, but I feel it’s misunderstood. I can tell it’s much less popular than ranked because it often takes ages to find a match. I’m hoping to get some more people excited about Mythgard Arena and get these queues to decrease!
I suspect that some people are turned off that you don’t get rewarded in Mythgard in the usual sense for doing well in limited. You don’t get more resources than you would playing ranked. Your reward is that if you keep playing, you get to play as many limited matches as you want, which for a player like me is still fun. I’d rather keep drafting with different decks and always be on even footing with my opponents rather than grind the same ranked deck over and over against the same meta decks. I do hope that eventually the developers will add another limited mode with a higher entry fee and higher potential rewards for those who excel at the format.
Unique quirks for Mythgard limited:
The selections allowing you to increase or decrease your probability of seeing certain colors are extremely powerful and should almost always be selected over all but the very best cards. They’re much better early in the draft, but even fairly late can be worthwhile, as you’ll get to redraft during the Arena if you’re losing games. The (+) cards have a greater effect than the (-) cards and should be preferred if you’re confident in your colors.
Sometimes you won’t be sure on your colors at the first selection, in which case it can be better to (-) the colors you know you won’t play this draft.
Speaking of color, the majority of your decks should be 2 colors. If you utilize all the (+) and (-) selections you’re offered, you always end up with more than 40 good cards and so end up with a consistent 40 that doesn’t sacrifice quality. It’s entirely possible to splash a 3rd color too, but it does decrease consistency a bit and I think generally the slight increase in card quality isn’t worthwhile. The situations where I think 3 colors are warranted are 1) if you have to switch a color midway through a draft because one just isn’t flowing or 2) some Rainbow’s End decks will want 3 to maximize how many quality enchantments you can pick up. Monocolor decks should not be forced, but occasionally happen if the best cards just keep flowing in a single color. If you’re halfway through a draft and still haven’t found your second color, look at whether you’re better off trying to stay monocolored.
The game will sometimes offer you 2-4 cards in one pile. It usually does this for weaker cards that require additional synergy to function, but sometimes you get solid standalone cards in these piles. Be careful about overdrafting—unlike in some games, the deck limits (4 for common, 3 for uncommon, etc) are still in place for limited. The game will sometimes allow you to draft 5+ of the same common but you still won’t be able to put them all in your deck.
Mythgard limited games are much less bomb-oriented than games like MTG or Hearthstone. There just aren’t many cards that are powerful enough to take over the game single-handedly, and the ones that are tend to be fairly priced. Successful drafts are much more about building a cohesive deck with a focused strategy than about the single best cards you draft.
The burning system in Mythgard does make it so that powerful but situational cards are quite a lot better than they would be in other games. Rather than sitting dead in hand, you can just burn these cards first and hope to draw them later. Sometimes you do immediately redraw them and are stuck with them though, so that doesn’t mean it’s ok to run tons of situational cards and not worry about it! These are still not great cards, they’re just not as bad as they would be in other games.
It’s nice that the game shows you your path and power options at the start of the draft but you get to pick them at the end. Occasionally this opens up additional options—for instance, if you know you could use Rainbow’s End, you can prioritize enchantments and go for it if the good ones are flowing.
Specific path reviews:
Turn of Seasons:
The most consistent path overall, the main appeal here is the free extra card draw every few turns. The rest of them don’t matter too much, but be careful about winter, as the Fragile 1 can randomly screw you over sometimes if you’re not paying attention. I see people make bad trades all the time not realizing that it’s winter and their minion will die.
Journey of Souls:
Generally solid. In most drafts, this will draw you 2-3 cards for free, although they tend to be weak early-game creatures so are worth a little less than a random card. Still free value.
Disc of Circadia:
My 3rd choice for non-theme decks. I generally only play this if I’m not offered ToS or JoS and can’t draft enough enchantments or artifacts. It theoretically can enable reanimator strategies, but I’ve not found this to generally be viable in limited (though you can bet if I’m offered Disc and a few Hopeless Necromantics early I’m still going to go for it). Don’t count on being able to pull this off though. The best way to use Disc in normal decks is after you dump your hand, so you can flip it Night to Day without losing a card and thus start using it as card advantage. This is powerful, but very slow, and may limit you from using your power when you’d want to earlier. It does get a little stronger in very aggressive decks that dump their hand and in purple decks where you may have a bunch of items you don’t mind discarding. The actual bonuses from Night are negligible and from Day are symmetric and not that strong.
Rainbow’s End:
I think this is actually the strongest path in decks that can use it, but you probably can only draft a deck that lets you use it about 25% of the time it’s offered. You don’t want to play bad enchantments just to fill your deck with them, but if you can get at least 8+ enchantments you actually would want in your deck anyway then this is great. You burn the enchantments preferentially early game, and are likely to get them back as free draws. I think Blue, Yellow, and Purple tend to have the strongest enchantments for limited so you’re more likely to be able to use it in these colors.
Fires of Creation:
I’ve never been able to make this work in limited. The forgelings are actually extremely powerful, and if you somehow got enough artifacts to support it, I’m sure the deck would be nuts…but good artifacts are rarely offered and I’ve never gotten enough of them to support this path. Matryoshka is probably the best common artifact, so if FoC decks exist they’re probably based around several Matryoshkas but you still need a lot more than that to make this tick.
Specific power reviews:
Impel:
Probably the best power for most decks. The extra options it provides you in combat can be invaluable, and even if you never use it your opponent always has to try to play around it.
Infuse:
Great in aggressive decks, helping you trade up in combat or get a little free damage in. Goes best in red rush decks but playable anywhere.
Reconstruct:
I like this one in control decks, especially if you’re using Rainbow’s End and have a bunch of enchantments you want occupied. Generally a bit too slow for aggressive decks.
Smite:
Pretty bad, not affecting the board is not where you want to be. I’ll choose this in aggressive decks if I’m not offered Impel or Infuse though.
Foresight:
Also pretty bad for the same reasons, but I’ll take this in a control deck if the other options are Smite and Mend. I won’t be happy about it though.
Mend:
I never play this. It’s not horrific but I just think you always have better options.
Now, onto the fun part! Individual card/color reviews. Note that all of these ratings are for limited purposes only! Also, ratings like this are inherently controversial and I may well have misevaluated some cards—if you think I’ve made a mistake, let me know in the comments and we can discuss! I’m going to do this LSV-style (if you’re familiar with MTG). Here is the rating system I’ll use:
5.0 – Nigh-unbeatable bomb (note—these are extremely rare in Mythgard, I’m not sure I’ll even be giving anything in the core set this rating).
4.0 – Great card and a good reason to be in this color. I am always pleased to play this card in any deck.
3.0 – Solid. Not necessarily a reason to play that color, but is basically always going to make the cut in all but the nuttiest of decks.
2.0 – Filler. Makes my deck about 50% of the time but is easy enough to cut.
1.0 – Niche. I consider these unplayable in most decks, but there are specific focused decks where these might be elevated to filler or even solid. They’ll still never be great.
0.0 – Completely unplayable.
BLUE
There are two broad styles to blue decks: aggressive Valkyries and control. Both can have an enchantment subtheme. Note that blue aggressive decks work best as base-blue rather than a supporting color, since you really want to be able to consistently play Valkyrie Tough on turn 2 for tempo. Valkyries are often offered as stacks of 2-4 valkyries at once, so it’s easier than you might expect to get substantial tribal bonuses.
Cairnhenge – 3.0
This one looks pretty innocuous, but goes a long way towards helping you win combats throughout the entire game. Cairnhenge into Valkyrie Tough is the highest tempo start in the game and lets you dominate that area of the board. It’s a little weaker in control but still makes the cut in most decks.
Fey Plagiarist – 1.5
Not really a one-drop, as it usually won’t do anything on turn 1. It can be decent later but is very situational and usually won’t get you value.
Field of Poppies – 1.5
Usually doesn’t do enough to be worth a card. For combat, this is sort of like half a Cairnhenge, but it doesn’t help your minions survive which is the most important part. It can combo with some AoE spells but those usually aren’t great either. This is best in a controlling Rainbow’s End deck but even there I find it doesn’t usually make the cut.
Freki Scout – 3.0
Great in aggro, acceptable in more controlling strategies as early defense.
Grease Monkey – 1.0
Even in the most dedicated Valkyries deck, this doesn’t do enough to be worth the spot. I see this played against me all the time and it never does anything.
Honed Edge – 2.0
Decent filler in very aggressive decks to help you win a trade. Never exciting, though it gets a little better if you have several frenzy creatures.
Jaunt—0.0
Not worth a card
Singing Stone – 2.5
Note that this card always gets offered alongside other blue enchantments, which makes it a lot easier to take and factors into the rating. If you look to be enchantment based this is quite good, though it’s not powerful enough to make me try to force it as a first pick. If it’s offered with a couple of cards I want to take anyway though, it can be an easy decision.
Berserkr Sickness – 1.5
Generally not worth a card, but if you have several large overrun minions and are a bit short on playables this can get in there. This is likely to be overrated because people will remember the times it won them the game but not all the times it was useless.
Breath of Wintertide – 1.0
It’s like Field of Poppies, but a lot worse. (Costs twice as much and isn’t an enchantment). I’ll give it a 1.0 because you could theoretically combo it with Forked Lightning and have it not be completely useless, but this is still a highly situational combo that doesn’t even do that much. I wouldn’t play it unless I was absolutely desperate for playables.
Brising Necklace – 2.0
Not awful, but very unexciting. This is basically a cantrip that can make more cantrips. I’d play it in a controlling Rainbow’s End deck but there will usually be better alternatives.
Demolition Speedway – 3.0
This is better in aggressive decks but similar to Cairnhenge can make the cut anywhere. It gives quite a bit of reach and helps you trade up. Note that it’s a lot worse defensively however, so you’ll typically burn this rather than play it early game against aggro. I think Cairnhenge is slightly better in most decks, but I’d rather have 1 of each than 2 of either one.
Draupnir Band – 1.5
Better in controlling decks with a high curve, still not as good as it looks. It’s just a bit too situational. It probably makes you about 1 temporary mana on turn on average, which is not really worth 2 mana and a card. If your deck is really big and slow this might get up to a 2.0, but if your deck is that big and slow it’s probably bad.
Einherjar Thane – 2.5
Decent enough 2 drop, usually makes the deck but certainly cuttable. It gets a bit better if you have multiple ways to buff it like enchantments or Godsblud Transfusion.
Eir Healing – 1.0
Too expensive and situational for a cantrip. Control decks can play this as bad filler in a pinch, aggro shouldn’t touch it.
False Mjolnir – 1.0
Too low impact for most decks, but if you’re extremely aggressive and light on playables it can be worthwhile. It gets up to a 2.0 or even 2.5 in specifically BR aggro with plenty of rush, since playing this on a big creature and slamming a couple little rush creatures into it is a semi-viable combo kill. If your deck isn’t aggressive enough to make your opponent worry about their life total this is useless though.
Ice Spike – 2.5
Decent small removal with a little utility, though the stun is typically not very consequential. I sometimes cut this from aggro decks but usually it’s good enough.
Jorthsong –1.0
If you actually find a target this looks pretty great, but somehow they never seem to have an enchantment when you want to play this and then it’s totally dead. I think it’s just too situational for the current meta though it could be quite good in the future if more high-power/expensive enchantments are released.
Lore Broker – 2.0
Average/playable stats for a 2-drop. I don’t think the abilities matter much, as the breach information is only valuable for a few turns mid game. The card is fine but usually will be outshined by other rares or mythics offered alongside it.
Norn Datacore – 0.0
There may be decks where this does something, but every time I’ve seen it played it just gets destroyed after doing basically nothing. I can’t even really imagine the limited deck that would want this so I’ll just call it unplayable.
Ravine Guardian – 2.0
Slightly better in control decks than aggro, though it can useful to protect your creatures. It doesn’t attack well though and tends to trade on defense, so it’s only ever fine without potential to be great.
Root of the World – 0.0
Save this for contructed combo, it’s too much of a tempo loss for limited.
Sons of the Pack – 1.5
This is understatted without help, and there aren’t that many quality canines you want to be playing. Obviously if you can get it to 4/4 that’s pretty good but most decks won’t be able to do that. It does help that this tends to get offered in a stack with a couple other canines, but I still don’t think it’s good enough unless you get tons of them…Valkyries are generally better. I will note that it’s possible to draft a hyperaggressive BG canine deck since green also has some low-cost canines, and if you’re in specifically that deck this is more like a 3.0. Having drafted that deck a couple times for science though, I can report that’s it not very good and I’d try to avoid that archtype and Sons of the Pack.
Stone Mother – 2.0 (in control)
This is decent in very controlling decks as it can be very hard for some aggressive decks to get past. It’s pretty bad against other control decks though, so still doesn’t always make the cut in good decks. It’s not worth playing in aggro.
Valkyrie Tough – 3.0
The best-statted 2 drop in the game. I’ll always play as many of these as I can get in blue aggressive decks, and it’s fine in control too so long as you’re base-blue. Be careful about overdrafting these—because these are often offered as pairs within stacks, it’s easy to end up with 5+ of these and not be able to play them all.
Black Hatter – 3.0
Most of the time this will just get killed without giving you much value, but at least they had to prioritize killing it. Occasionally you get a game where your opponent doesn’t have the tools to deal with it promptly and this just wins the game though. I’ll always play this in blue decks for that chance, but just be aware that it usually underperforms in practice.
Brainstorm – 2.5
Decent in any deck, though not amazing in any of them. I’ll usually play 1-2 of these, though they do get cut from good aggro decks.
Daughters of the Forest –2.5
A little fragile, but some decks just can’t deal with these effectively and they tend to dominate those games where they survive. Like Einherjar Thane, these do best in decks that can support them with some buffs.
Earthslide – 4.0 in Rainbow’s End, 0.0 otherwise
In a deck with tons of enchantments, this can be a huge bomb. Most decks aren’t doing that though, and so most decks won’t be interested. Don’t take this early and try to force the enchantment deck though, it rarely works out.
Einherjar Berserkr – 2.5
Perfectly solid. Stats are ok, and it’s pretty easy to give it Frenzy without much tempo loss. Gets up to 3.0 with a bit of enchantment support. A little weaker in control decks, where this often gets cut.
Ensnaring Serpent – 2.0
Stats are pretty good, ability isn’t great but is occasionally relevant. I actually don’t like this much in aggressive blue decks because they tend to have higher-priority 3 drops and this is among the weaker ones for those decks. It’s a fine defensive creature for controlling decks though.
Forked Lightning – 1.0
A bit too situational for most decks, just doesn’t do enough for the cost. You could try to combo it with Field of Poppies or Breath of Wintertide but playing multiple bad cards to get an average effect on combo is a trap.
Fossegrim – 2.0.
Stats are fine, but the awaken ability is a bit hard to use and is usually wasted. Usually you can find better alternatives in the gold/mythic picks.
Freki Sidecar – 3.0
This is another card where the potential power level is immense, but usually it just dies. Still, you can get a little immediate value from the rush attack, and if it’s not answered can sometimes translate to unbeatable tempo. It plays very differently in aggressive and controlling decks, but most will be interested.
Godsblud Transfusion – 3.0
I initially underrated it since this kind of effect is weak in most card games and can lead to card disadvantage, but it’s actually excellent with the way Mythgard combat works. You always want to use this when your opponent plays a minion to block and trade, and this lets you kill that minion with yours surviving and healing. That puts them in a tough situation where now your minion is much harder to answer and you’ve already gotten your value out of that initial attack. Better in aggro than control but any deck can make good use of this.
Loki’s Veil – 0.0
This just does nothing most of the time.
Maelstrom – 2.5
Better in control, but playable anywhere. You can usually play this as small removal to get immediate value, and then it sticks around and can make life difficult for your opponent. Note that this can hit your own creatures too and be careful.
Road Queen – 4.0 in Valkyries, 2.5 otherwise
In a dedicated Valkyrie deck, this is your best card, and Valkyrie decks are excellent when they come together. The stats are ok for filler in control and may get incidental value, but you know where you want to play this.
Seahaven – 2.5
Pretty much any deck with enough creatures can make use of this. Agile is great for getting face-damage though and is in short supply in blue, and the armor makes it much more like for your creatures to survive to attack. The armor also makes this a fine defensive option in control decks, since many decks have trouble attacking through this effectively. Some control decks with low creature counts may cut this however.
Skilled Hacktivist – 3.0
Yeah, the stats aren’t great, but every deck likes drawing cards. If this breaches twice you probably just win, and if you get one attack in you’re happy. Lurker makes it feasible to protect in most circumstances, so I never really cut these.
Stormdottir’s Chosen – 3.0 in Valkyrie’s, 2.0 otherwise
This looks like the payoff for the Valkyrie deck, but it’s actually not great—she just tends to die before she can grow much. It’s still a fine card you’ll always play, but it’s not as good as it looks.
Bragi Runesinger – 4.0
Nice defensive stats, and the card selection is always helpful. He often survives long enough to get something frenzied either. I’ve never used or seen him used to draw the enchantments, but I guess it’s a nice option to have, although if Bragi lives that long you’ve probably won anyway. He’s not a bomb, but he’s a good card you’ll always play.
Bridgeway Troll – 1.0
Just a bit too overcosted for a highly situational effect.
Junkyard Valhalla – 4.0
Super slow card, but will grind out value and can win long games for any deck.
Kara Mourningwives – 4.0
She’s just a ball of stats, but the stats are good. She’s a removal magnet, so most of the time she’ll die pretty fast, but if your opponent can’t kill her quickly they’ll die pretty fast.
Odinthrone – 0.0
It’s such a stretch to imagine where this is good. You need creatures with high toughness to survive this, but creatures with high toughness care less about having alpha strike. And having low toughness opens you up to removal blowouts that can just lose you the game. This is too slow and expensive to be worth messing around with for a relatively minor combat advantage.
Rider of Edda – 3.0
I’ve never actually seen this card in play, but it seems fine enough. The stats are fairly average, and getting an extra Thane or two is fine if unexciting. Obviously better in a Valkyrie deck though not insane even there. Note that the rider is not a Valkyrie itself.
Rune of Denial – 0.0
Way too overcosted for the effect
Tailroot Wurm – 3.5
The Valkyrie Tough of the midgame, most blue decks play enough enchantments that it’s easy to play this as a 4 mana 6/6, and that’s just bigger than everything else and lets you continue to control the flow of the game. This is one of the payoffs for playing blue, though of course if you somehow have an enchantment-less deck this is not good.
The Long Winter – 0.0
Too expensive for a relatively weak symmetric effect. It’s quite hard to make this consistently be more beneficial to you than your opponent.
Thunderclap – 4.0
A great reason to play blue. In most matchups, this card is solid removal. However, against very aggressive decks (which are excellent in draft), this is a huge blowout and can just win games by itself.
Timberland Troll – 2.5
Solid midrange minion. You’re not sad to play 1-2 of these in aggro or control, though in the best aggro decks you prefer to be faster and in the best control decks you have Tailroot Wurms instead. The regen is more relevant on this card than most as it is often tough enough to survive combats.
Valkyrie Enforcer – 2.0
This ends up being a little bit overcosted/situational for either Valkyries or control and often gets cut. It’s best in decks with plenty of swift minions so you can make room to move blockers out of the way. Defensively the bounce tends to not make a huge difference, making it a bit weak unless you’re attacking. This is also a relatively easy card to play around, so the better your opponents are the worse this gets.
Winter Wolf – 2.5
Canines are unexciting, but swift on a minion with good stats is quite powerful. This is filler for most decks, but it’s quite good filler.
Blackened Jotun – 3.0
I like this a little less than Tailroot Wurm, but it still has great stats and overrun on a minion this size is highly relevant. You always get your mana’s worth with this one. It’s a bit expensive for Valkyrie decks but usually they can still squeeze in one or two of these.
Giant’s Stairway – 3.5
A bit clunky, but very powerful. This gives a lot of punch for aggressive decks to end games or for control decks to solidify board control. I’ll play 1-2 of these in pretty much any blue decks.
Jotun Shatterfist – 2.0
A bit clunky as well. Blackened Jotun is easier to use and better overall, but this can be playable for similar purposes.
Magnus Thorsson – 4.5
Like Thunderclap, but better. I’m still hesitant to call this a bomb in the usual sense because there are control decks that this is not great against and plenty of ways to beat it. It’s about the best Mythgard cards come for limited however, and does destroy pure aggro decks much like Thunderclap.
Tyr Monomund – 4.0
4/5 is a little weak for the cost, but if you get to attack with this it just takes over the game, since you’re either getting free removal or dealing tons of face damage.
Allfather’s Horn – 3.5
It’s expensive and can sometimes rot in your hand, but it’s not too hard to get a board state where this just kills everything or wins you the game. It’s better in aggressive decks though playable anywhere.
Cataclysm – 3.0 (in control) 2.0 (in aggro)
The face damage on this can be awkward but is what makes it playable in aggro decks. Control decks are always interested in mass removal though this may sometimes be unplayable if your life is too low.
Hyperborean – 3.0
This is better in control, but you’re usually happy to play one or two of these. They have good stats for the cost and are just very hard to trade effectively with. Overrun on something this big ends games pretty fast.
Triassic Kraken – 3.0
I’ve been impressed with this. While the stats are worse than Hyperborean, regen 3 is a lot and the global immobilize is surprisingly good. Completely shutting down Impel is great. A lot of opponents seem to forget about it too, so I’ve seen all kinds of major misplays come from having this down.
Draugr – 2.0 in control
I’ll play this in most control decks as a finisher, but it’s not actually very strong for the cost so don’t take it highly. It’s just too slow, and doesn’t affect the board immediately. I like Hyperborean or Volcanic Risi better and you can’t play too many big cards like this.
Ingrid Stormdottir – 3.0 in Valkyries specifically
This is way more expensive than Valkyrie decks are trying to go, which means you actually have to make an effort to get to 7 and makes this much weaker. That said, the card advantage potential is insane and should draw you a bunch of cards, so I’d say it’s worth the effort in all but the very best and most streamlined Valkyrie decks, which consistently kill before turn 7.
Volcanic Risi – 2.5 in control
Too expensive for aggro, but this is a fine finisher for control decks, with good stats and some AoE potential.
Living Mountain – 2.0 in control
8 mana is a bit too much, especially for a minion that doesn’t affect the board immediately. Good aggro decks will kill you before you can cast this. That said, it sure is big and hits hard, so if you think you have a deck that can live long enough to play this then it’s fine to try!
That wraps up the bluebcards, join us next time for the other colors!
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