Following Nasus’ reveal earlier today, Riot Games introduced nine new collectible cards that are coming in Legends of Runeterra’s next expansion, Empires of the Ascended.
The latest cards that were shown off from the new region of Shurima include Siphoning Strike, Baccai Reaper, Rampaging Baccai, Sanctum Conservator, Spirit Fire, Rite of Calling, Weight of Judgment, and Ruinous Path.
The new cards’ abilities
Siphoning Strike is a Rare five-mana Slow spell that has an ally strike an enemy unit. If that unit is killed by this effect, every allied champion of yours will be granted a +2/+2 buff for the rest of the game. Baccai Reaper is a Rare one-mana unit with Fearsome and 1/2 combat stats in addition to an effect that grants him a permanent +1/+0 whenever you slay enemies.
Rampaging Baccai is a Rare five-mana 4/6 unit with Overwhelm and a skill that activates when played after you’ve slain four units where it and the weakest enemy unit will strike each other. Sanctum Conservator is an Epic eight-mana 8/5 unit with Fearsome and a skill that activates when played after 13 enemy units were slain by you in the game. Once the Conservator is played, it will kill all enemy followers and then summon a copy of itself.
Spirit Fire is a Rare seven-mana Burst spell that gives all enemies a -2/-0 debuff and a Round End ability that will make the card deal two damage to itself. Rite of Calling is a Common zero-mana Slow spell that has you either kill your own ally or destroy one of your mana gems to draw a champion card from your deck.
Weight of Judgment is a Common four-mana Slow spell that either deals two damage to a champion or seven to a follower. Ruinous Path is a Rare two-mana Slow spell that draws you one card. In addition, if an enemy unit was slain earlier in the round, the enemy Nexus is drained for two health as well.
Meta implications
Aside from being Nasus’ champion spell, Siphoning Strike provides potential removal options for Shurima with the added benefit of giving you a wealth of extra stats for the rest of the game. Since Siphoning Strike can be responded to, an enemy can destroy their own unit, bolster it, or weaken your unit to prevent the Strike from succeeding.
Baccai Reaper adds onto the Slay mechanic by providing a unit that has formidable stats for its cost as long as you can keep killing enemy units while it’s on the board. After witnessing one enemy’s demise, it has average stats for its cost. But after seeing two or more slain units, the Reaper has powerful stats for its cost.
Sanctum Conservator is comparable to Rhasa the Sunderer from the Foundation set. After fulfilling the condition, the Conservator can remove the widest boards of followers, no matter how weak or strong they are. In addition, the ability to gain 16/10 worth of stats can also end the game on the spot if the opponent isn’t prepared to deal with Fearsome units.
Spirit Fire provides a board-wide combat stat debuff to survive as well as the ability to clear those weaker units and obtain slay credits by having them die to their newly provided debuff.
Rite of Calling provides more consistency in finding your champions while also giving you the chance to slay your own units. If used effectively, this card can help you find your Nasus sooner.
Weight of Judgment is another card from Shurima that changes its effect whether it’s targeting a follower or a champion. If you use the Weights of Judgment against a follower, the card is efficient with its damage for the mana cost, but the opposite is true if you’re trying to remove a Champion since the damage is only two.
Ruinous Path adds to the Slay mechanic by giving the deck more cycle and stall with healing. In a worst-case scenario, you can always use the Ruinous Path as a cantrip with no other effect for two mana if you’re digging for an answer.
You can try out these cards and more when LoR: Empires of the Ascended becomes available on March 3.
