Players have been looking forward to a shakeup in the Steel Rebellion meta, and the new mini-expansion is looking to do just that. The Shadowverse Twitter has revealed five new cards that each look to shuffle the board a bit. Each one supports a different, underplayed archetype in the format.
Slayn, Steelwrought Vampire
Slayn, Steelwrought Vampire promises to be a strong addition to the already popular Machina Bloodcraft. The deck had already proven strong enough to get fringe tops prior to him, so his addition should boost it even further. A 6/6 for 6 Machina type with a passive upside is already a great deal.
His abilities are easy to unlock, with cards like Metal Blade Demon and Unleash the Nightmare filling your hand. Rush and Drain are fine traits to help stabilize the board. Storm is just a bonus ability that helps Slayn act as a win condition. The deck has been starving for additional Machina followers to use, so expect him to see a ton of play.
Solomon, Lord of Magic & Seal of Solomon
Solomon, Lord of Magic looks like an interesting addition to Steel Rebellion‘s Spellboost archetype. The deck has seen fringe play in rotation, but it hasn’t managed to post any solid results. Solomon may find a home there, but his abilities are a bit underwhelming for a legendary rare.
For 2 pp you get a 2/2 that has spellboost to reduce the fanfare cost of Seal of Solomon. The seal has spellboost as well, granting you the ability to search the highest cost follower in your deck and reduce its cost by how many times it was spellboosted. However, I really see this card shining in Unlimited, searching out Giant Chimera as a finisher. If you feel really cheesy, you could grab Prophetess of Creation and play her from hand!
Sonia, Protector of Hope
Sonia, Protector of Hope is a solid addition to Havencraft, providing a 4/4 ward that has an incredible enhance effect. For 7 pp, she becomes indestructible and un-targetable. She also gains immunity to targeting on evolve. Sonia looks to be the bane of every Steel Rebellion deck that plays aggressively. She effectively shuts off every type of removal while stopping storm decks right in their tracks. Rotation will be the most likely home for her. Machina Havencraft can use her to help stall out games and buy time for their win condition.
Ruinous Dragon
Ruinous Dragon serves as an upgrade to the classic 5/5 Dragon we’ve come to know since the very first set of Shadowverse. The Ruinous Dragon gives you a Lightning Blast to help stabilize the board. The overflow condition makes it seem as if the card was designed with Ramp Dragoncraft decks in mind. However, whether or not the retrain is good enough to see play remains to be seen.
Colossal Skull Lord
Colossal Skull Lord looks to be a natural fit in the control-oriented Shadowcraft Machina deck at first glance. However, its effect also applies to your own followers, punishing you for having non-Machina cards. It also does nothing if your opponent is playing a Machina deck of any kind. In such cases, it’s effectively a 7 pp 6/6 vanilla creature. You could cheat the card into play with Fleeting Joy, but outside of that, expect this one to see little-to-no play.
What do you think of the new Steel Rebellion cards? Do you plan on putting them in any of your decks, or do you think there are better alternatives? Let us know in the comments below!
