Well guys, it's here. One of the previews that has been highly anticipated. A card that was originally in DvN but pushed back because Arcane Wonders wanted to playtest it some more.
The time of dragons is upon us. The bog Queen herself has sent Sardonyx, Blight of the Living, an undead dragon from another age, to do her bidding. Living creatures... beware.
The time of dragons is upon us. The bog Queen herself has sent Sardonyx, Blight of the Living, an undead dragon from another age, to do her bidding. Living creatures... beware.
As you can see, Sardonyx is one of the most expensive creatures in the game. He costs 24 mana, just as much as the Lord of Fire himself, Adramelech. He's also a level 8 dark creature. Level 8!!! The previous highest cards have all been level 6. Sardonyx is SUPER expensive to put in Dark books, let alone any Mage that isn't trained in the school. But that isn't all. Each upkeep phase, the Mage who controls him loses 2 life. Oh man. This essentially means you can't just summon him whenever you want to. You need to chose very carefully when you want to summon Sardonyx, otherwise you'll just be losing life while he isn't doing anything.
Let's take a look at the rest of him. His subtypes are Undead, Skeleton, and Dragon. He has 31 life! That's INSANE! The only other creature with more is the Earth Elemental, which has 35. But the Elemental is slow! Sardonyx isn't! And he has a great quick action attack of 5 dice with Piercing +2! Speaking of which, he has two more. One is a full action Sweeping attack of 5 dice, meaning he can hit 2 creatures in the same zone with it. The other is a full action, ranged, zone poison attack of 2 dice that can inflict rot on a roll of 8+! It's also unavoidable, so defenses won't work! He has no armor, but Fortified Position can be used to give him some!
Now his traits. He has the typical traits of Skeletons, Psychic Immunity and Nonliving. In addition, he is Legendary, for obvious reasons. On top of that, he has a new trait called Unstoppable, meaning that he cannot be hindered, and he has the Unmoveable and Uncontainable traits.
As mentioned before, every Upkeep phase, Saronyx's controller loses 2 life. They lose life, not take damage. Life is much harder to get back. Because of this, I see this card being a mid-game to late-game strategy. You don't want to summon him too early, because then the other mage just won't come at you, and you'll lose life while you're trying to get Sardonyx over to them. And you don't want to bring him out if you have too much damage, because he'll be sapping away your life, making it easier and easier for you to be killed. No, the best time to bring him out is when you're within striking distance of your opponent. A zone or less away would be ideal, although expect the enemy to run away as soon as you bring him out.
On top of that, while Sardonyx is in the same zone as living creatures, they gain the Finite Life trait, meaning that they cannot be healed. This is another great ability.
Overall, I think this is a good card. It isn't an auto-include in Necromancer books, but its pretty dang good when used at the right time. And that's just it, timing is key with this card. I can't stress that enough. There are a couple of cards that will completely shut him down. Turn to Stone and Banish will both completely stop him from being able to do anything, while still forcing his Mage to lose 2 life every turn.
What do you think of Sardonyx? I have a sneaking suspicion that many people will not like him because of the high cost, but I think he'll have his uses. You just have to be careful when using him. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Let's take a look at the rest of him. His subtypes are Undead, Skeleton, and Dragon. He has 31 life! That's INSANE! The only other creature with more is the Earth Elemental, which has 35. But the Elemental is slow! Sardonyx isn't! And he has a great quick action attack of 5 dice with Piercing +2! Speaking of which, he has two more. One is a full action Sweeping attack of 5 dice, meaning he can hit 2 creatures in the same zone with it. The other is a full action, ranged, zone poison attack of 2 dice that can inflict rot on a roll of 8+! It's also unavoidable, so defenses won't work! He has no armor, but Fortified Position can be used to give him some!
Now his traits. He has the typical traits of Skeletons, Psychic Immunity and Nonliving. In addition, he is Legendary, for obvious reasons. On top of that, he has a new trait called Unstoppable, meaning that he cannot be hindered, and he has the Unmoveable and Uncontainable traits.
As mentioned before, every Upkeep phase, Saronyx's controller loses 2 life. They lose life, not take damage. Life is much harder to get back. Because of this, I see this card being a mid-game to late-game strategy. You don't want to summon him too early, because then the other mage just won't come at you, and you'll lose life while you're trying to get Sardonyx over to them. And you don't want to bring him out if you have too much damage, because he'll be sapping away your life, making it easier and easier for you to be killed. No, the best time to bring him out is when you're within striking distance of your opponent. A zone or less away would be ideal, although expect the enemy to run away as soon as you bring him out.
On top of that, while Sardonyx is in the same zone as living creatures, they gain the Finite Life trait, meaning that they cannot be healed. This is another great ability.
Overall, I think this is a good card. It isn't an auto-include in Necromancer books, but its pretty dang good when used at the right time. And that's just it, timing is key with this card. I can't stress that enough. There are a couple of cards that will completely shut him down. Turn to Stone and Banish will both completely stop him from being able to do anything, while still forcing his Mage to lose 2 life every turn.
What do you think of Sardonyx? I have a sneaking suspicion that many people will not like him because of the high cost, but I think he'll have his uses. You just have to be careful when using him. Let me know what you think in the comments below!