The reveal season for Legends of Runeterra: Guardians of the Ancient has continued into the non-featured regions for the next expansion.
Riot, in collaboration with Mobalytics, revealed 11 new cards today from Bilgewater, Freljord, Shadow Isles, Demacia, Piltover and Zaun, and Noxus: Bone Skewer, Monster Harpoon, Succumb to the Cold, The Wings and The Wave, Buried in Ice, Ardent Tracker, Cithria, Lady of Clouds, Chirean Sumpworker, Adaptatron 3000, Incisive Tactician, and Thrashing Snapper.
Bone Skewer is an Epic two-mana Fast spell that has an ally strike an enemy unit and then immediately has your ally return to the top of the deck.
Monster Harpoon is a Common six-mana Fast spell that deals five damage to a unit but can reduce its cost by three if you deal damage to the enemy Nexus that turn due to Plunder.
Buried in Ice is an Epic nine-mana Slow spell from Freljord that Obliterates all enemy units to summon a Frozen Tomb in their place. Frozen Tombs are the uncollectible Countdown Landmarks that resummon the Obliterated units in their same exact state after two rounds.
Succumb to the Cold is a Common four-mana Burst spell from Freljord that Frostbites an enemy. Afterward, you summon a Frozen Thrall to your side of the board.
The Wings And The Wave is an Epic one-mana unit from the Shadow Isles that can be played as either a “First Wave” 0/1 unit that summons a 0/1 Prey unit or as a “Last Wind” 3/3 unit that requires you to kill an ally to play it.
Ardent Tracker is a Rare six-mana 3/5 Elite unit with Scout from Demacia that can reduce their own cost by one mana in hand whenever you summon an Elite.
Cithria, Lady of Clouds is an Epic 10-mana 10/10 Elite unit with Challenger from Demacia. It has a summon ability that doubles the Power and Health of all of your allies and grants them the Challenger keyword.
Chirean Sumpworker is a Common two-mana 1/2 Elusive unit from Piltover and Zaun that activates its ability to Obliterate itself and transforms Chirean Sumpworkers everywhere into Sumpwork Posse if you play another Chirean Sumpworker while it’s on the board.
The Sumpworks Posse is a two-mana 4/2 Elusive unit that deals one damage to an enemy’s Nexus and their units whenever it declares an attack.
Adaptatron 3000 is an Epic one-mana 1/3 Tech unit from Piltover and Zaun that shares keywords with any Tech units you summon. Tech units can be summoned either from Heimerdinger or Production Surge.
Incisive Tactician is a Rare eight-mana 4/5 unit from Noxus that performs Rally whenever you summon him. If your allies with five or more Power struck at four different instances throughout the game, his mana cost becomes six thanks to Reputation.
Thrashing Snapper is an Epic one-mana 2/1 unit from Noxus that gains +3/+0 for the round if it becomes blocked by an enemy unit.
Meta implications
Today’s series of cards push forward existing archetypes or try to invigorate new powerful combinations. An example of a build being pushed forward is the cards from Freljord.
Succumb to the Cold is essentially a Flash Freeze combined with a Frozen Thrall for the exact mana cost. It gives Control and Lissandra decks more ways to get the imposing Landmark. Buried in Ice is a powerful stall card that can asymmetrically slow down the opponent from aggressing onto you. If you combine it with It That Stares during the following turn (or Passage Unearned when they awaken from their tombs), you’ll be presented with a powerful two-card combo that wipes the opponent’s board.
A unique module card is “The Wings And The Wave” from the Shadow Isles. It can either provide more fodder by summoning two 0/1 units for one mana or can serve as a strong tempo play for one mana and add more Slay triggers for Kindred or Nasus.
The Piltover and Zaun cards revealed today have powerful combo potential. Chirean Sumpworker needs you to add duplication cards to your deck since being able to get a two-mana 4/2 Elusive unit for having many Sumpworker is ridiculously broken. The Sumpworker has the potential to synergize with the recently revealed Zilean due to his ability to accrue multiple copies of the same cards.
Out of all the cards revealed today, Bone Skewer is the most difficult to evaluate. While the strike spell from Bilgewater allows you to remove opposing threats, it still requires you to remove your own minion temporarily while making your future draw inconsistent. Despite this downside, Bone Skewer does allow your important units to evade enemy removal—and it also recycles Play effects.
If Bone Skewer doesn’t find viability in this set, it has a healthy chance of being played in the following expansion, where Pyke is confirmed to join.
Since today’s teasers are from non-major regions, it’s unknown if the reveal season will go to Ionia for Irelia or Targon for Malphite.
You can try out these cards and more when LoR: Guardians of the Ancient drops on May 5.
