Hey everyone and welcome to Part 2 of our Merchants of Ofir card review. Today, Andasama and Wusubi will take a look at the new Stratagems, Scenarios and cards for Monsters and Skellige. If you want to discuss the new expansion, you can join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/uSUSJZr
Part 1: Scoia'tael & Northern Realms
Part 3: Nilfgaard & Syndicate
Part 4: Neutrals & Balance Changes
Monsters
A new kind of a MO unit was introduced - Specters. They focus on Deathwish and Consume interactions, with a touch of Dominance. The expansion equipped MO with more ways of swarming the board... with Rats. This improves Glustyworp ans provides more support for Swarm shenanigans.
Stratagem: Urn of Shadows
Power rating: 2.5/5
Triggering a bronze Deathwish nets you 5 points on Harpy Egg, otherwise 4 points on average. This makes Urn somewhat draw dependent and hardly an improvement to Tactical Advantage. An average Stratagem that could become better in the future.
Scenario: Haunt
Power rating: 3.5/5
Haunt is overall a great addition for the Deathwish archetype, allowing you to snowball the round if it sticks to the board. The units spawned from Haunt play for like 17 points on their own, while offering up to 3 ways of Consuming your Deathwishes. Desert Banshee will get boosted by your Deathwish units and can Consume one of them. Barghest will eat an allied unit on Deploy and provides another Consume with his Order ability. And finally, Nightwraith is another unit for you to munch on, while setting up Glusty or cards that reward you for swarming.
Plague Maiden
Power rating: 4/5
A solid proactive play and a Consume target for short rounds. The problem with Plague Maiden's Deathwish ability and its synergy with cards like Morvudd, Bone Talisman or Yennefer is the vulnerability to cards that punish you for swarming, such as Lambert: Swordmaster. If you avoid Lambert and consume the Rats with Glustyworp, you will play into tall removal. So all in all, Maiden is strong and enables multiple archetypes, but also has some linear counters in popular cards.
The Beast
Power rating: 4/5
The Beast boosts itself by 2 at the end of your turn as long as it isn't the biggest unit on the battlefield. This makes it a decent addition to Consume-oriented Deathwish decks. Additionally, being a 7 provision card, The Beast offers some synergy with Penitent as one of its potential targets.
Penitent
Power rating: 4.5/5
Nice Deathwish ability which summons a random 7 provision unit from your deck. Other than the obvious targets in Pugo Boom-Breaker, The Beast and potentially Imperial Manticore, you can opt for fancy stuff like Dulla + Runewright. Primarily played in decks with Death's Shadow leader ability, Penitent rewards you for building your deck in a smart way.
Barghest
Power rating: 4/5
Consuming an ally on Deploy usually ensures the option of having the 2nd Consume with its Order ability. On average, Barghest is slightly better than Barbegazi, making it a great addition to any Consume deck.
Desert Banshee
Power rating: 2.5/5
For this card to find good value, you would have to play at least 3-4 Deathwishes, which means that you also need a sufficient number of Consume units in your hand. This makes Banshee an okay card that won't find too much use outside of a long round. Since it offers just one Consume with its Order ability, Barghest is the better alternative.
Noonwraith
Power rating: 3/5
A straightforward pointslam card, with the downside of possibly giving the opponent 2 points. However, this can randomly fill and thus block one of their rows, while setting up more bodies for Glustyworp. The 6 power body for a mere 4 provisions also works well with Thrive units.
Nightwraith
Power rating: 3.5/5
Nightwraith is a strong and cheap addition to both Deathwish and Swarm-oriented decks. Providing 5 points across 3 bodies on Deploy, while giving 2 additional points and an extra body when Consumed is just solid for 4 provisions. Another tool to empower Glustyworp.
Skellige
Our beloved vikings from the beautiful isles of Ard Skellig got some new Beasts, along with Druids and Alchemy cards. Will it be enough to bring Skellige back to its former glory? That remains to be seen, let's go over the new stuff!
Strategem: Mask of Uroboros
Power rating: 1/5
Unfortunately all of the Discard cards got nerfed multiple times and Sacrificial Vanguard leader ability has been on the weaker side for a long time. This makes Mask of Uroboros the very worst Strategem and definitely a downgrade to Tactical Advantage.
Scenario: Gedyneith
Power rating: 3/5
Progressing the Scenario shouldn't be a problem, as it requires you to play Druids. Gedyneith spawns a Crow Clan Preacher, so playing a Preacher from hand will result in getting Rhimzone from Chapter 1. This boosts both Preachers by 1, while slamming 3 Crow tokens with 2 power on the board. After playing another Druid like Crowmother or Crow Clan Druid, you get Mardroeme, which plays for 6+ points and boosts all your Preachers. Overall, the Scenario can play for around 20 points and only gets better with pay-off cards, but plays into tall and row punishment alike.
Crowmother
Power rating: 5/5
Crowmother has the Druid tag and spawns 2 Crow tokens with the Beast tag for a total of 8 points on Deploy. However, she also represents carry-over for the future rounds, which can result in up to 16 for 10 raw value. She helps with progressing Gedyneith, while setting up Crow Clan Druids and Axel.
Axel Three-Eyes
Power rating: 4.5/5
Axel has a Melee row ability that makes him a proactive 7 for 7, but you should always try to get as much value as possible with his Ranged row ability. With 5 Beasts on the board, he already plays as a 10 for 7, making him an excellent addition. Since all of the Crow tokens are unfortunately Doomed, Axel can substitute Corrupted Flaminica as your ultimate pay-off card.
Gigascorpion Decoction
Power rating: 4/5
Having a targeted Delirium is neat, it can answer the majority of engines in Gwent. Being an Alchemy card, you have the synergy with Crowmother, Crow Clan Preachers and Gremist. Moreover, Gigascorpion Decoction could possibly make Dagur Two-Blades and Greatswords... great again.
Crow-Eye Rhimzone
Power rating: 3/5
A simple card, spawning 2 or 3 Crow tokens with the Beast tag, depending on whether or not you control a Druid. Good follow-up to Crow Clan Preacher which also sets up Crow Clan Druids and Axel Three-Eyes. Can be an underwhelming 4 point play if your initial Druid gets murdered in a short round. The glaring weakness of this archetype is the vulnerability to Lambert and other cards that punish you for swarming the board.
Crow Clan Druid
Power rating: 3.5/5
Crow Clan Druid is a decent pay-off card, playing as a 8 for 5 if placed inbetween Beasts. We mentioned how disruptable this archetype is, so take the value whenever you can get it. Even as a 6 for 5, Druid isn't too bad. However, this card and Axel would both need to do something more impactful than just boosting themselves, if the Beast archetype is supposed to be playable.
Crow Clan Preacher
Power rating: 2.5/5
An okay proactive engine that keeps on growing, nice synergy with the Scenario. Preachers are at their best in medium to long rounds, where you play a fair amount of Alchemies. Gedyneith into another Preacher from hand spawns 3 Beast tokens, which is a very potent opener and you certainly won't lack for tempo.
Crow Messenger
Power rating: 3.5/5
Crow Messenger is an awesome proactive play which sets up the following pay-off cards. The usual Beast deck plays quite a few Alchemy cards, so you should always be able to use Crow Messenger for thinning. In a pinch, this card can be a potential target for Freya's Blessing, making Crow Clan Druid and Axel less awkward in a very short Round 3.