LonkTheSane joins us to go over the most versatile mythics in each color, giving you an idea of what to craft with your wildcards and essence.
My foray into Mythgard began in late October. I am one of those that crossed over from Magic the Gathering. I had actually won an invitational qualifier and was looking forward to competing at the invitation in Roanoke this past November.
But if you’ve been following Magic, you know that things have been, ummm, not good. Let’s just say that A LOT of elks were involved. In one year’s time, we went from having one of the best standards of all time, to having standard in a terrible state.
My frustrations with the game led me to take a break from it, and I chose to not go to the qualifier. Don’t feel bad, I have 0 regrets over it.
But while I was starting my sabbatical, I saw Jeff Hoogland streaming Mythgard on his channel. I wanted a new CCG to sink my time into, so I decided to check it out. Hundreds of hours in the game and my own youtube channel later, I think it’s safe to say I’m happy to have stumbled upon it.
Having an understanding of Magic does translate very well when picking up other similar games. But one thing that does not translate nearly as well is being able to decide what cards are good and which are bad in game I was still learning. I crafted cards that I later regretted, and it’s sad to realize you’ve wasted that essence and those precious few wild cards on cards that have no place inside a functional deck.
Judging by the number of people on the subreddit asking what they should craft, I’m going to guess that there are plenty of others that are fearful of the same thing.
After playing both competitive and janky decks on my channel, I’ve sifted and distilled all the cards in the core set and came up with a list of the most “must-craft” mythic rare for each color.
The most important thing I was looking for when coming up with this list was versatility. Which are the mythic rares that show up in decks again and again? Which ones are just as likely to be in an aggro deck as they are a control deck? That way, if you try one kind of deck and don’t like it, you can easily slot these into another type of deck and not feel like you’ve wasted resources on it.
In other words, these may not be the most powerful cards, but they are the ones with the most utility.
I’m only picking one for each color, but I’ve also listed a few honorable mentions for each. The honorable mentions may be just as versatile, but less powerful than the one I chose, or they may be more powerful but somewhat less versatile than my choice. Either way, they are still good enough to merit consideration when crafting new cards.
Here are my picks:
Red- The Oak of Dodana
Of all the cards on this list, the Oak is the one that feels like it has the most synergy with its respective color. Red’s minions tend to be smaller, rush minions aren’t shy about crashing into the opponents’ minions as a means of removal, and Wings of Abaddon loves eating your other minions to make itself an unstoppable powerhouse. So the ability to get extra value out of their sacrifices is huge. Even when the opponents do inevitably manage to chop it down, the ability to choose its replacement to put in your hand is very powerful as well. It’s no wonder this tree grows in pretty much every deck with red in it, from aggro all the way to control.
Honorable Mentions: Stairway to Hades; Gigantomachia; Seven Ring Ritual
Orange- Scion of Pride
A 4/4 with overrun for 4 mana is solid. But the Pride of Place spell it generates is what makes this a must-have. You can use it to pump up one of your smaller minions into a more formidable 4/4. Or you can use it to cut down one of your opponent’s big, tough-to-kill minions such as Sappo or Chort Stag into something that’s actually manageable. It’s one that I think gets overlooked by newer players because it’s subtle in how versatile and powerful it can be. Arguably, it’s not on the same power level as To Heaven and Back or Armageddon Angel, but its versatility means that it’s able to find a home in virtually every orange deck.
Honorable Mentions: To Heaven and Back; Armageddon Angel; Lavish Proxy
Yellow- Twin Junah/Twin Blanque
Technically, these are 2 different cards, but functionally, they are the same. Play it out, get a token of the other. So you can craft one, then craft the other once you have enough essence. Truthfully, this was the hardest color to choose from. Yellow is almost exclusively a control color that dabbles in midrange only on occasion, and never into aggro, so versatility is harder to judge when its used in so few archetypes. In the end, I went with the Twins because they are probably the most efficient minion in the game. 9 power for just 6 mana is incredibly good, and the ability to split it across the board just makes it all the more powerful. They are tough to kill when they are both on the board, and can be used either defensively, or as a big stompy finisher to close out the game.
Honorable Mentions: Sapo, the Devourer; Zolea, the Unclean; Tangleskein
Green- Traitorous Murmur
This was the one that surprised me the most. In a color full of big stompy minions, a tempo/removal spell ends up being the one I choose. But that’s just the thing, there is no shortage of large minions in green, but there is a shortage of good removal spells, which makes Murmur all the more valuable. 6 mana and 3 green gems may seem expensive, but bear in mind that green is played pretty much exclusively in midrange and control, so it’s definitely well within the budget. It’s also important to note that it’s the type of removal spell that can end the game immediately, when the opponent rage quits as their biggest minion is stolen right out from under them.
Honorable Mentions: Chort Stag; Iku-Turso; Bela, the Witch Queen
Blue- Magnus Thorsson
Of all the hard choices I had to make, this was by far the easiest. Thunderclap is a 1-sided sweeper for 4 mana. For just 1 additional mana, you get a 4/4 body attached to that sweeper. I don’t think I need to explain any further how awesome that is. A vanilla 4/4 by itself would normally cost around 4 mana. That is a huge discount to get a sweeper and a decent sized minion all in 1 package. 5 mana is a bit costly for an aggro deck, but most are plenty willing to stretch their mana curve a bit to add such a powerful effect. And it goes without saying that he has a home in midrange and control as well.
Honorable Mentions: Kara Mourningwives; Bragi Runesinger; Junkyard Valhalla
Purple- Rogue Idolon
Purple is a strange color. From what I discovered when doing my color wheel series on my channel, I found that purple is either very controlling, or very aggressive, with not a whole lot of ground in between. That will likely change now that the "purple patch" has dropped, but it will not change the fact that we somehow have a great control minion that is efficient enough to fit within an aggressive deck. The ability to completely shut out an opposing minion can be an actual lifesaver at times. And its blast ability means it can hit your opponent, damage their minions, and stay out of harm’s reach while doing so. Expect to find a place for it in every archetype.
Honorable Mentions: Master of Shadows; Jin Sook, Dollmaster
Whether or not these are the choices are the correct ones is a debate best left for the comments section. But at the very least, all the ones I have listed are worth trying out and are the ones least likely to leave you with buyer’s remorse.
And if you do end up with buyer’s remorse, just be thankful you don’t have to spend $100 for a full playset only to watch it get banned from every format because...elks.