Hello again! Welcome to the last article in the Wyrmhollow Core Box review series: my review of Seismic Shock and its viability in championship format! In case you missed the intro for this series, check out my Domitan’s Stormcoven review. It explains everything!
A quick word – since this article is about a rivals deck suited mainly for wizards, instead of grading a card based on its viability in general like I did with Toxic Terrors, I will grade spells or wizard based objectives only based on their viability among warbands with wizards and the rest I will grade as usual.
Anyways, I’ll begin!
OBJECTIVES
Burnt Out – A non-wizard surge for 1 glory, scored when you have no power cards in your hand and you didn’t discard any in this phase. This is really nice for any build in late game since you often end up with an empty power hand. A downside of this is that you cannot Salvage as that discards a card which would forfeit the second condition. Overall, I can see this being used in control/sit at the back of the board builds, but aggro and Hold Objective will generally have more better surges available. It’s not a bad card, just uninteractive and potentially hindering.
Grade: B
Claim The Prize – A really good Hold Objective card that gives you 3 glory for holding all objectives in any territory (even no ones!) and holding 2 objectives in one of those territories. This means that you can potentially score 3 glory for holding 2 objectives! This is really great for Hold Objective players, and even aggro can potentially run it alongside Making a Statement. A trap I see this card making is forcing you to either commit 2 fighters to staying back in your territory to hold or being forced to move up. Another issue will arise if you manage to get 4 objectives on your territory (which can very rarely happen) and make this card really useless. Overall, a pretty good card but has a lot of traps involved and requires precise objective placement.
Grade: A-
Exploit the Ley Lines – Have a wizard cast their third spell in a round on a feature/hazard hex. The hard part is obviously getting a wizard to cast 3 spells in one phase. This can be pretty unreliable, especially if you are just plain unlucky, as not all wizards have spell attacks to help score this, meaning for most warbands, you will need to invest in gambit spells and/or spell attack actions. For some warbands, this can work quite well, but for most, this card just doesn’t seem good enough.
Grade: C+
Magisterial Might – Score this after a power step if a friendly Level 2+ wizard holds an objective in enemy territory. This is really good! The downside I see is that there is only 1 warband with more than one Level 2 wizard, meaning you are putting your likely-to-be most valuable fighter in enemy fire when scoring this. However, if your wizard is tanky, I recommend this for sure! Overall, a great card but requires you to risk a strong fighter.
Grade: B
Manipulating the Realmsphere – Another nice wizard objective, 1 glory for casting more spells than others in the preceding action phase. This is pretty good if you are investing in spells considering that there aren’t a lot of warbands with a wizard, and most of them only use that wizard for 1-2 gambit spells anyway. This means that it’s pretty likely that just casting 1 spell would give you this! Playing against a spell warband would make this harder but not un-doable. Matchup dependent, but is basically free glory in the right one.
Grade: A-
Places of Power – Literally Cryptic Clues, but with worse card art. You score it for having each surviving friendly fighter in a hazard hex or feature token. It’s a standard Hold Objective (or something like that) card, and is pretty good for elite 4 fighter warbands as well. Aggro warbands who need to kill and 6+ fighter warbands will have issues with it, but generally I think this is a solid card, just like Cryptic Clues!
Grade: B+
Powering Up – The better-or-worse version of Magisterial Might, it’s a surge for 2 glory (!), which you get once a wizard is activated the second or subsequent time while being on an objective token in enemy territory. First of all, it’s quite hard to have a fighter activated twice in enemy territory while on an objective. Second, like with Magisterial Might, you are putting a wizard (who you usually have only one of) at risk. This might seem like a bit too much, even for 2 glory. Maybe a wizard like Kainan can make it work but I don’t see this being used often.
Grade: C-
Shape the Realm – Supremacy, but you need a wizard holding an objective as well. Many warbands can make this work (like Zarbag’s Gitz), but by running this card, you are basically locking yourself into a Hold Objective-control type of playstyle, meaning you HAVE to stay on tokens, or else you will lose. Still, this seems like a decent card, just easily deniable. If only another card wasn’t printed in this same set that overshadows this one in almost every way (Claim the Prize).
Grade: B
Sorcerous Treasure-Hunter – You score this for 2 glory for having a wizard with 3 upgrades holding an objective. This may seem like it’s asking for a lot, but it’s actually pretty easy to do. First of all, a lot of warbands will have to be super-upgrading their wizard anyway (though a lot of them just ignore their wizard as well). Second, it only requires one fighter to be holding an objective. Finally, it’s 2 glory. Overall, I would recommend this card if your wizard is already going to get mega-upgraded (Ephilim, Kainan) or if you are playing a Hold Objective play style and have a wizard. A major issue with this is that it’s hard in the first round when you must have 3 upgrades and 3 glory to spend!
Grade: B
Spark of Creation – Kill an enemy fighter with a spell attack, and either them or you had to be on a hazard hex/feature token. A lot of wizards don’t have spell attacks, and even fewer warbands have more than one wizard with a spell attack. A major issue with this is that you have to be on a specific hex to do it, meaning you will probably either have to charge (meaning only 1 chance to hit the attack and kill) or have a low HP enemy position themselves nicely. A lot of things have to go right to score this, and the reward probably doesn’t justify it.
Grade: C
Touching the Realm – You score this for holding 2 objectives if a wizard holds one of them. This is a standard Hold Objective card so if you have a wizard and are Hold Objective this card is almost an auto-include, in my opinion. However, there are some issues with this. First of all, while in a lot of warbands the wizard is usually pretty bulky, there are some examples where this is not the case (The Shadeborn, Skaeth’s Wild Hunt, Zarbag’s Gitz). Second, it can be denied relatively easily, but this isn’t as big of a problem with this card since it is only 1 glory. Overall, pretty easy, but it doesn’t yield a big reward and sometimes is pretty risky.
Grade: B-
Unfortunate Focus – Have a third or subsequent spell target the same enemy in a round. The bonus – if your warband has multiple spell casters (Pandaemonium, Stormcoven) then this becomes a pretty easy card. The downsides – not a lot of warbands have a lot of spell casters, and you might accidentally kill the guy you are targeting down with a spell attack while trying to score this. Overall, a nice compensation if you keep missing a crucial spell on someone but requires heavy gambit spell investment to score consistently.
Grade: C
POWER CARDS
Abasoth’s Screaming Idols – Abasoth returns with a new gambit spell! Casting on one lightning bolt, this allows you to move a feature token within 3 hexes of the caster into an adjacent hex. Then, if ANYONE is on it, they take 1 damage. This can be used in 3 ways – as a ping, as a denial card, or as a desperate attempt to score a ‘stand on a feature token’ objective. This card has lots of uses and is easy to cast, so I see this getting used a lot by wizards!
Grade: A-
Arcane Reach – Gain an extra 2 range on your next spell attack made by a wizard in the next activation. Not all wizards have a spell attack, but those which do typically already have a Range 3 or more attack, and you want MORE? If you feel your wizard is desperately lacking range, then run this, go ahead! However, alternatives to this (to gain extra range, though not as much) are pushes, and they are better since they can be used on any fighter in your warband. Sometimes you need to stand still, though, where this card takes the lead. Overall, this card solves a problem that doesn’t typically happen. I mean, you can always charge to gain more range.
Grade: C- (reviewing based on warbands with a spell attack)
Celestial Conduits – This lets your wizards (plural) re-roll one dice in casting rolls while they are on a feature token, persisting till the next power step. This is a great card for warbands setting up spell combos (like Domitan can do since all of them can be level 2 wizards) and is also a nice accuracy buff for spell attacks! A downside is it only works on people on a feature token, so you need to be properly positioned. If you plan to stand on tokens anyway and have a wizard who needs to cast a bunch, use this!
Grade: B+
Celestial Surge – More wizard accuracy. This gives your next wizard holding an objective to cast a spell +1 wizard level till they cast the spell or till the end of the power step. This makes it pretty situational, and in a lot of cases, Celestial Conduits would be better because it A: affects all your wizards holding objectives, unlike this, which only affects one, and B: Conduits persists till the end of the next power step while this persists till the end of this one. Plus, Celestial Conduits can be used to save yourself from backlash if that happens, while this makes it MORE likely to happen. It’s not a very good card and is overshadowed in almost every way by Celestial Conduits.
Grade: C-
Channeled Power – A gambit spell casting on 2 lighting bolts OR is instant-cast if the caster holds an objective, and it gives all friendly wizards +1 wizard level till the next attempted spell cast or the end of the round. This is like Celestial Conduits but gives extra dice and affects everyone, even if they are not on tokens. Additionally, it can be used without being on a token. I would personally choose this card over the other 2 (Celestial Surge and Conduits) since it is a spell, meaning it can be salvaged, it can be used anywhere (though only guaranteed on an objective), and it gives more dice to all spells, which is nice.
Grade: A-
Iara’s Resistance – Another spell, casting on 1 swirly-wirly. It gives all friendly objective-holders +1 Wounds till the end of the round or till an opponent holds more objectives than you. This is nice to help score a bunch of holding objectives cause you’re harder to kill, but it also has a lot of flaws. If an opponent tries to attack you even if you have more wounds, you can always be driven back. Second, you might accidentally make a fighter large, and if your opponent kills them, you will give them twice as much glory! Overall, I would personally just take some pushes or some non-drive back upgrade in place of this, but if you are really keen on objective, you can run this in addition to those!
Grade: C
Localised Quake – A REALLY good push spell, casting on one swirly. It lets you choose an enemy within 3 hexes of the caster who is on a feature token or hazard hex and push them THREE hexes! If an enemy is holding an objective and you push them away, there is NO way they push themselves back on (well, unless they run like 8/10 gambits as pushes). It can also be used to throw someone into a lethal hex twice, if they happen to be standing in it. It can also be used on friendly fighters, meaning it can be used as a backup Redeploy or just to get your fighters within hit range of an enemy.
Grade: A
Mindwipe – A double spell, which can either be cast on one swirly or lighting. If you choose swirly, the spell lets you move a feature token within 4 hexes one hex. This is nice and has a lot of uses, from getting someone onto a token to getting someone off of a token. If you choose lighting, you can pick an enemy within 4 hexes and make them unable to hold objectives till the end of the round. Both choices have excellent disruptive potential, and this card can also be used to help out a friendly fighter, meaning if you are keen on holding objectives or live in a Fearsome Fortress-infested area, this is a good card!
Grade: B
Stir the Nest – MORE disruption for feature/hazard hexes. Casting on one lighting, it lets you ping an enemy in a hazard/feature hex for 1 damage. This is pretty nice, however, Lethal Ward exists, and it has no range restriction. The upside of this over Lethal Ward is that it can be used on people in ANY feature/hazard hex (which there are a lot of now), unlike Lethal Ward. Overall, if you like using boards with many hazard I would use this. I can see it being used in a spell-spam build on a hazard-filled board!
Grade: B-
Topsy Turvy – Flip a feature token within 5 hexes of a friendly wizard, if that token has no enemies on it. I don’t really see much use for this except if you delved in a phase and then need to flip the token back. Other than that it has basically no use, except maybe to turn a token into a cover hex without having to delve and get staggered.
Grade: D+
Abasoth’s Adaptive Assault – A spell attack, casting on swirlies with 3 range and 1 damage. It gains +1 damage if the target is Inspired and +1 damage again if the target is on a feature token! This makes it a potential 3 range and 3 damage spell attack! If your warband lacks spell damage, I would run this card for sure since it’s pretty often that you target an inspired enemy (and the feature token part isn’t too difficult as well), meaning you will constantly be hitting 2-3 damage! However, the accuracy isn’t great, and sometime you might just not need this damage and just want a Cursed Boarding Pike or something else.
Grade: B
Abasoth’s Predatory Animus – While holding an objective in enemy territory, get Innate lightning bolts. Innate is a rarely seen effect, and is always welcome! This is a great card if you have a wizard and plan on being in enemy territory, as there are a plethora of useful spells that cast on lightning bolts. However, as previously stated, maybe putting your wizard into the middle of enemy territory is not the brightest idea in the world… Overall, really useful, just really risky.
Grade: B
Arcane Sensitivity – Duellist’s Speed but for wizards. After you cast a spell, push yourself one hex. If you are loading up on spells, then this is a great card! Domitan’s Stormcoven and Stormsire’s Cursebreakers are obvious beneficiaries of this since they are all wizards. However, if you are running only 1-2 gambit spells, then Duellist’s Speed is the way to go.
Grade: B
Aspect of the Unseen Stalker – Make yourself untargetable by Range 3+ attacks and immune to spells for the round. The downside of this is that it’s an action. Playing against some warbands (Hexbane with his guns) will make this card worth it, but in other cases (which are, unfortunately, most cases) this card is worthless.
Grade: D+
Iara’s Repelling Shield – Shame that it’s restricted to wizards! This card makes you unable to be driven back as well as staggers anyone who ends a move action adjacent to you. This is a really nice card, especially for Hold Objective players. Darkwater Anchor is better in a lot of cases, but you can run both for double stability! Additionally, the stagger effect is nice too. It’s a real shame it’s restricted to wizards cause I can see a lot of other fighters getting bonus from this.
Grade: B
Quintok’s Reactive Shunter – A counter-push. After you’re pushed by an enemy, if you started on a feature/hazard hex, you can stagger yourself and push yourself. This is really good to become immune to drive backs and pushes in general if you need to stand somewhere, or you can use it as a way to sneakily hop away after an enemy fighter pushed you off a hazard/feature hex, thinking you will push back on, and instead push the other way! Unfortunately, the stagger debuff can be bad, especially early in the round, so Darkwater Anchor seems to be better here. Also, this is restricted to wizards, unlike Darkwater Anchor.
Grade: B-
Quintok’s Static Rod – An attack action, Range 2, 2 Hammers, 2 Damage. It also makes you immune to drive backs and makes objective tokens within 3 hexes immune to flips, pushes, and removes. This is a nice card for being immune to drive backs since it also involves an attack, meaning some warbands like the Sepulchral Guard might use it as an alternative along with the drive back thing. Remember that the no-touching objectives part also affects you, so don’t try to combine this with Sudden Revelation!
Grade: B+
Quintok’s Unseen Hand – A spell action cast on one swirly. It lets you push or stagger an enemy within 6 hexes, ignoring line of sight! If you roll a crit, it lets you do both. This is a really nice alternative to Distraction, the only issue being that it’s an action (but as a gambit spell it might be too strong). Overall, if you desperately hate enemies coming close to you or fear the enemy staying too far (or just want to stagger), run this. However, I can’t see someone using more than one time per round because using multiple activations on it might seem wasteful.
Grade: B-
Sorcerous Might – Gain Grievous on your spell attacks, as long as they don’t do more than 3 damage. I know a solid one spell attack that deals 3 damage, so I don’t see a lot of cases where that part would affect you. That being said, I think that Fighter’s Ferocity is a better card than this since it affects all your attacks. However, if you don’t want to fill up a restricted slot, you should run this instead! Additionally, most wizards are wizard level 1-2, so you will probably not be rolling too many crits for Grievous. An interesting thing is that it isn’t restricted to wizards.
Grade: B-
Temporarily Aligned – After you change, push yourself. This is a nice alternative to Duelist’s Speed, but I still feel it’s better. This is because that Duelist’s Speed can be used even if you don’t charge, unlike this. I am not 100% sure, but I believe you can run both of those cards simultaneously for a double push since the reaction window for Duelist’s Speed is after an attack, while this is after an activation. If this is the case, it might be fun to run both. Otherwise, I would stick to Duelist’s Speed!
Grade: B
And that’s it, finally done with this series! Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this and the rest of the series! If you have any feedback, please contact me on Twitter or Discord (VintroV2#0001)! I have another interesting article idea in the making after this, but I am still not sure about it, so stay tuned for more info, and I hope to see you again soon!
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