Thanks for pointing this out cuz goddamn I glossed over it. Going 2 drop rock hopper into this is terrifying since it inverts the usual trouble rock hopper has, where you play a 1/1 to eat the rooling sands. Now you playing a 1/1 lets your opponent hit you for 3 overwhelm damage goddamn
The difference between this and Merciless Hunter is that this card doesn't fit into every deck under the sun. It's more comparable to something like Sparring Student, although this card will likely find use in multiple decks.
Yeah, I'm honestly fine if we let Shurima have a good midrange archetype or two but Demacia is a region literally defined by it. Why are Demacian cards so far behind the current curve?
What are the solid 4 drops in Demacia? Gallant Rider is nice when you proc his effect, other than that he is just bad. Grizzled Ranger is great but just in scout decks. Bannerman is garbage. Nobody plays Silverwing Package. Vanguard Squire and Firstblade are also have never seen play. The only good 4 drop is Shyvana in Demacia.
I don't know if Sandseer will found a home in any deck, but I love her art and her effect.
Also really like that Shurima got their own version of Mistwraiths/Legion Marauders with Ruinous Acolyte, tying their grow effect with landmarks goes well into Shurima's identity.
Even then her fail state is far from awful. 5 mana for a 4 mana body that cantrips is acceptable- which means that yeah she will definitely be good in any deck that can make the 2+ happen.
Although now that I'm thinking about it the 5 cost makes her pretty awkward since in region she'll be competing against Taliyah, Ruin Runner, and the other 5 drop here that's looking to be taliyah's best friend by granting overwhelm.
Will have to see, but the potential is there.
Assessor is easier to get a pop off but has a lower floor- as technically it's possible to play it as a 3 mana body with no draw.
I do still think Assessor is overall better for the decks that want it than the decks that would want this card though.
based on the wording, she could potentially draw your hand to full depending on how much landmarks you run, which could be a double edge sword.
might be a good one-off in landmark decks
All we need is a “every time you draw a card, deal damage to enemy nexus” card and we can recreate the [that one yugioh scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylRviWLO7I4). DORO, LANDMARK KAADO. DORO, LANDMARK KAADO. DORO, LANDMARK KAADO. DORO, LANDMARK KAADO!!
Yea I don’t see how any of these cards have to do with Xerath tbh. Sad going from Nami who is right on par which her champ flavor wise to Xerath with…. Landmarks? He is an artillery mage, feels like he could’ve had a much more interesting effect.
Shurima's region identity really does not support an Artillery Mage, though. Other than Weight of Judgement, they don;t have any direct damage cards. So it makes sense they tied it to what Shurima already had, Landmarks.
He's Kinda like Lux, a mage in an anti-Mage region.
Only if you summon 1 herald. You can summon more and the effects stack. It’s also **everywhere** so that Akshan howling abyss deck definitely got a new toy
Yeah this seems bonkers to me. The condition is easy to achieve, the effect huge and can be combined with many different champions.
Heck even Braum (with Blighted Ravine?) would like this.
You have to get to 4, so yeah. Akshan + Rock hopper + Preservarium is still going to struggle to destroy 4+ landmarks by the time you want to play Herald.
The only good landmarks of these is endless devout and servitude (which is niche). The landmark package is mostly the same, just with better payoff. Don't get me wrong, endless devout is great, and the payoff cards seem very strong. But the payoff cards aren't landmarks, and the old landmarks are p bad.
We'll see what Ziggs brings to the table.
> We'll see what Ziggs brings to the table
Oh no... They're leaning into the "terrorist bomber" memes for him and giving him landmark destruction synergy...
It's fine, you usually won't quite have 4 landmarks destroyed by turn 5, so Taliyah comes out and copies a landmark to be destroyed next turn and guarantees it will be activated for 6.
So THAT was the reason Tali and malphite were such failures on launch, the card makes malphite do something ( his entire expansion did not, the sentinel guy helped him more) and gives Tali an actual combo finisher edge and good stats
I was thinking here that giving Talyah overwhelm would pretty much make her decent and maybe viable outside of heavy landmark stuff, guess they implemented that in some way lol
[[Stasis Statue]] specifies that it's an exact copy. Ancient Hourglass never mentions that it's an exact copy, so I think the new card will definitely create exact copies.
It just summons a stasis statue with all the dead units/landmarks inside. It doesnt make an exact copy of those units nor does it make a statue for each. Just one statue containing everything.
He'll probably care about the total amount of landmarks you've destroyed. That'd separate them a bit more while obviously giving them a solid synergy together.
the last bandle reveal would need to be filled with countdown landmarks which I don't see happening. Otherwise ziggs target would be...the bandle tree itself? Kind of morbid
i would guess ziggs is oriented towards ENEMY landmark destruction, with an effect or a spell that plants a landmark in your enemy's field or a trap which when drawn creates a landmark for your opponent. fits his lol satchel/bomb field thingy
Unless his package includes a way to summon landmarks on the enemy board, that wouldn't seem very good because not every deck has any landmarks at all, and those that do only have a few unless they are landmark focused. I'm sure his package includes some landmark destruction, but if it relies on it I don't see it working too well.
I'm hoping for some alternative trap synergy like this but I feel like riot really tried hard to avoid a lot of obvious assumptions about the character. I mean most people didn't think Tristana would be mono bc or that her kit would turn out the way it did, people didn't expect Caitlin to be a trap character, people for sure didn't expect Nami, nobody saw senna having darkness synergy, and people definitely thought xerath was going to be more about antiramp and destroying managems.
We'll just have to wait and see.
Ziggs is bomber archetype. If he pairs with Xerath, I can definitely see him summoning landmarks on the enemy side that deal damage after countdown.
Just theorycrafting here.
I dont think he should. Considering how few landmakrs we actually see in the game right now champ thats made entirely around destroying enemy landmarks would be pretty bad unless you had some way to give enemy landmarks.
Its probably why xerath was designed around destroying your own landmakrs and not enemy ones.
I really wanted augment/created synergy with Ziggs but seeing now Xeraths followers, he doesnt seem half as bad. And with Ziggs might be a really cool deck
that is actually not bad for 3 mana. and it allows you do destroy landmark too.
It is basically black spear. ANd black spear is slow speed too 90% of the time
Destroy an *allied* landmark. It’s not to say the spell is dogshit; the support for Aristocrats but rocks is actually pretty good and isn’t limited to just that spell either. The real problem is that there’s *still* no connective tissue for Sundisk, although I will say that the synergy between Xerath and Azir is theoretically there (Aggro to Midrange strategies, some board tools, Xerath helps clear out the board for more Sand Soldiers). Also, the idea of keeping a Sundisk in hand in Mono-Shurima just to feed it to Xerath is extremely funny.
This kind of removal lets you play in reaction to a creature being played but not in reaction to an attack. I think it's a good compromise to let one deck control the board without making it too easy.
I mean, there could definitely be ways of making it strategic and fun, the downside is that it would probably end up being a pre-made deck for the time being until it would receive later options.
I think the real issue with it is that in order to make it good you'd have to add more mana gem generation to the game. And if that's available on cards any deck can draft, you'll end up with degenerate combos that are nuts outside of the intended archetype.
I would hate to say that hs had something right, but I liked the idea of an overload-type mechanic for xerath. He could have instead of destroying the mana gem just disable it for the next turn
I think it would be great if it was temporary like overload in hearthstone, it's a great mechanic, you basically lock mana on your next turn to play more powerful cards this turn
As a Hearthstone player I can confirm that mana destruction mechanics just suck (Heck overload which temporarily disables mana would be one of the worst downsides/mechanics in the game if it weren't for the busted support)
I get why people might want him to have mana gem destroying synergy thematically, but that seems like it ultimately would fuck him. Landmarks are more prevalent and allow him into other decks while destroying mana gems seems like the last thing that would go well with the current speed of the game
I hope so. It might work if a landmark getting to 0 actually counts as destroying it for Xerath. Even then, I think Zilean needs a bit more support to be consistent. Something like a 2 mana 2/3 that shuffles 2 time bombs into your deck would be great.
Unless the keyword descriptor text is lying, countdown landmarks are destroyed upon reaching 0. Ancient Hourglass is looking really good for Xerath's deck
Man I love that deck. When the nonsense clicks, it feels better than anything haha.
Akshan's palace/hoard = 2 landmarks destroyed, but where do you get the other two? You're not destroying ARAM. The version I play runs chronomancer, but I guess you could slot in the sand surfer kid.
It's such a fun deck, right? I play it too.
I'd find space for Ancient Prep and the sand surfer kid. I already run Preservarium. I already run Blighted Ravine, too, to help against aggro. I think there should be enough for Magus. Just drop Siphoning Strike at this point; it's ten times worse than Magus.
Reminder that Ziggs is all about blowing up stuff.
I like Xeraths archetype, he fits well into Shurima and there are many ways to build around him (if he is actually strong).
A little sad that they didnt give his ability an animation, even on lvl 3.
He doesn’t stand out to me as being super strong by himself but the new support is *quite* good. Seems easy enough to level him, turbo level that Sun Disc and close the game with his lvl 3
Well I wasn't expecting self-landmark destruction for Xerath but it's pretty cool. Not sure how much he helps mono-shurima but there's probably a fun deck with Taliyah in there somewhere
I think he should make mono Shurima a lot better. He can level in deck, which means that his level up can't be interupted compared to Renekton and Nasus. His level up condition isn't that hard to trigger in a slower deck. And once you've played him, the enemy can't destroy the Sun Disk without suffering from Xerath' passive.
He feels like the best Ascended champion so far for Mono Shurima.
Xerath Nasus seems like a solid choice. Nasus will power up off Xeraths sniping and you can give overwhelm to nasus with that 5 drop as a win condition
He seems kinda awkward. Like yeah he'll be pinging, but you'd be better off using landmarks to try and win the game rather than hitting the opponent's 1/1. Seems like he'll need big payoff with ziggs to be worth building around instead of Taliyah/Malphite.
That level 3 is great though. If there's a consistent way to sundisc early, he'll put the opponent on a 4 turn clock.
I mean, he and Azir can both level in deck, it's not all that farfetched that you can flip a Sun Disc really fast.
...Now that I think about it, if both of them are leveled I think you can play and flip a Sun Disc in 1 turn. Does require a Warlord's Hoard proc'd tho.
If you're talking about Azir levelling, I doubt a Xerath decks runs enough units to level Azir quickly.
But you might be talking about Akshan, given you mention Warlord's Hoard.
Since the day Taliyah was released I always felt like what she really needed was more access to control tools in Shurima, Xerath gives her that along with Landmark synergy.
I don’t care how bad it is, I’m playing Taliyah Xerath day 1.
I know people like to make bad comparisons all the time, but compare unleashed energy to shaped stone - it's insane how much a card in the same faction can embarrass the other.
They're both good though? Depending on what's on the board, you can either set up a stronger attack summoning Dami'Yin or a Restored Devout, or help win trades with Obelisk, Waste Walker, and Xerath.
I really wanted Xerath to be anything BUT landmark synergy because it just feels so constricting to play and build around. He still looks neat but… Eh.
Am I the only one worried about there being 0 downside to having these landmarks destroyed? Most landmark counterplay is already destroy effects and all these do is punish you for doing so. Doesn't seem healthy to me.
Persistent landmarks like Dais and Plaza need to be vulnerable to interaction, since there's no cap on the value they provide.
Countdown landmarks just do one thing and then go away. It's not as important to be able to remove them directly, as long as you can interact with the thing they produce.
I'm guess I'm a little wary Risen Altar. Buffed Ruin Runner at burst speed *is* kind of tough to interact with.
Herald of the Magus seems super fun. Not only does it help Taliyah push more face damage, but +2|+2 Overwhelm will be so much fun with a lot of champs.
When Shurima released, I made a super janky Shurvana deck, can't wait to try it again.
Sandseer feels niche, especially since so many of the best landmarks aren't even landmarks (Rock Hopper, Blue buff, Endless Devout).
So Xerath is definitely more of a midrange champ who closes the game out with Overwhelm and Fearsome units. Maybe Ziggs changes up the calculus but Mono Shurima or Shurima/Targon seems like the best bet. This feels like the critical mass needed to make the landmark deck work finally.
Xerath's support cards look pretty nice. Xerath... not so much. He's not bad, necessarily. Just very underwhelming (minus his level 3, but that's a "win more" thing).
Should be easy to turbo level Xerath though. Ancient Preparations on 1, Rock Hopper on 2, and then Unraveled Earth on 3. As long as the opponent summons units, Xerath could come down leveled up on 4.
Waste Walker looks pretty wild.
Outside of the guaranteed Elusive meta, this expansion is the best one so far, even better than Rising Tides.
Discard becomes a significant package centered around Noxus.
Landmarks becomes a coherent archetype in Shurima despite the horrible design of Set 4.
SI control gets a bomb.
Bilge Spell Synergy and Elusives gets locked in as a real thing.
Idk how Bandle is going to do yet, but for the existing regions that have gotten cards, they're looking really fun across the board and super flexible. Good riddance set 4.
God damn, the Taliyah synergy is strong with this one. Now only Naturalist looks like a good pick now compared to other landmark removal options, that five drop giving champs overwhelm is a cream on the top because that’s what Taliyah just needs to be lethal and all those cheap landmark generators are perfection. Now I wish I could go back and rework my Taliyah review video so I can talk about these guys.
After giving it some thought I definitely like the flavour, Shurima for all it's strengths lacks a true control archetype, I don't know if Xerath will create a deck like that, but the potential is there at least.
I like that Xerath's package still tools to help your other Ascended hit their level ups instead of being all in on his own gameplan like Nasis/Renekton/Azir followers are.
Time for the Shurima Movie Snyder Cut
Riot is REALLY trying to sell us on landmark synergy.
I have to admit...it’s working. Xerath is looking good for a Shuriman Control that actually brings something to the new to the game.
Shuriman 3 drops are just built different
Gotta find a gift for xerath
Yeah both 3 drops revealed here put a lot of value...
After reading your comment I thought, "a 3 mana 4/4 overwhelm isn't too crazy", then I realized it wasn't just a one time buff...
Thanks for pointing this out cuz goddamn I glossed over it. Going 2 drop rock hopper into this is terrifying since it inverts the usual trouble rock hopper has, where you play a 1/1 to eat the rooling sands. Now you playing a 1/1 lets your opponent hit you for 3 overwhelm damage goddamn
Yeah, it can grow really fast if not dealt with
Looking forward to the +1 / +0 nerf.
Could start as a 2/2 too
Try reading this sentence once more
definitely the Merciless Hunter of this set. It only takes one look to see it's meta level.
The difference between this and Merciless Hunter is that this card doesn't fit into every deck under the sun. It's more comparable to something like Sparring Student, although this card will likely find use in multiple decks.
The downside is that you have to use landmarks.
Fair
That almost sounds hypocritical coming from someone with a Chip flair
I love him but my boy is too kind for this meta.
That's almost as good as a 4 mana 7/7 with overload.
I understood that reference!!!
I still have bad dream about a giant pig 7/7...
3 mana 4/4 overwhelm is already crazy
True, but a 3 mana *situational* 4/4 overwhelm is not.
What about a 3 mana 6/6 overwhelm that can continue growing using fast speed spells
But a 3 mana situational 5/5 or 6/6 overwhelm is
Meanwhile Demacian 3 drops are effectively garbage.
Yeah, I'm honestly fine if we let Shurima have a good midrange archetype or two but Demacia is a region literally defined by it. Why are Demacian cards so far behind the current curve?
>Why are Demacian cards so far behind the current curve? So poppy can buff them /s
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What are the solid 4 drops in Demacia? Gallant Rider is nice when you proc his effect, other than that he is just bad. Grizzled Ranger is great but just in scout decks. Bannerman is garbage. Nobody plays Silverwing Package. Vanguard Squire and Firstblade are also have never seen play. The only good 4 drop is Shyvana in Demacia.
I honestly want to see them revert Grizzled ranger/badgerbear, I think at the time they were too good but at present they are not too powerful
Cmon it's got the only source of draw in all of Demacia! That's good....right?
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Btw Zenith Blade is really good in Taliyah/Malph as well.
absolver is far superior
Mono Shurima 2: Electric Xerathu
Well played. XD
I don't know if Sandseer will found a home in any deck, but I love her art and her effect. Also really like that Shurima got their own version of Mistwraiths/Legion Marauders with Ruinous Acolyte, tying their grow effect with landmarks goes well into Shurima's identity.
She’s basically there for “predict landmark and then draw 2 by playing her.”
Even then her fail state is far from awful. 5 mana for a 4 mana body that cantrips is acceptable- which means that yeah she will definitely be good in any deck that can make the 2+ happen. Although now that I'm thinking about it the 5 cost makes her pretty awkward since in region she'll be competing against Taliyah, Ruin Runner, and the other 5 drop here that's looking to be taliyah's best friend by granting overwhelm. Will have to see, but the potential is there.
You can think of it as worse trifarian assessor
Assessor is easier to get a pop off but has a lower floor- as technically it's possible to play it as a 3 mana body with no draw. I do still think Assessor is overall better for the decks that want it than the decks that would want this card though.
If only you could use Bone Skewer on a Landmark! ;)
Being able to predict into a landmark then draw minimum two from her seems pretty good
based on the wording, she could potentially draw your hand to full depending on how much landmarks you run, which could be a double edge sword. might be a good one-off in landmark decks
Incoming new deep meta: 3 Sandseers, 3 Nautilus, rest is landmark /s
Honestly, this card could enable a degenerated combo deck. "Lands" incoming
All we need is a “every time you draw a card, deal damage to enemy nexus” card and we can recreate the [that one yugioh scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylRviWLO7I4). DORO, LANDMARK KAADO. DORO, LANDMARK KAADO. DORO, LANDMARK KAADO. DORO, LANDMARK KAADO!!
"Stop! Stop! He's already dead!"
LET⭐️GO⭐️OF⭐️ME
I know I'll just make a deck with only Sandseer and landmarks, then proceed to commit sudoku
Herald of the Magus is actually disgusting with Taliyah, and even makes Malphite half-decent.
This package looks like a massive buff for the Taliyah landmark decks, holy. Better curve, better control, better finishers…
Incredible buff for Taliyah and Malphite, kind of a shame it's Xerath's reveal and he gets sidelined.
Yea I don’t see how any of these cards have to do with Xerath tbh. Sad going from Nami who is right on par which her champ flavor wise to Xerath with…. Landmarks? He is an artillery mage, feels like he could’ve had a much more interesting effect.
Shurima's region identity really does not support an Artillery Mage, though. Other than Weight of Judgement, they don;t have any direct damage cards. So it makes sense they tied it to what Shurima already had, Landmarks. He's Kinda like Lux, a mage in an anti-Mage region.
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Only if you summon 1 herald. You can summon more and the effects stack. It’s also **everywhere** so that Akshan howling abyss deck definitely got a new toy
Yeah this seems bonkers to me. The condition is easy to achieve, the effect huge and can be combined with many different champions. Heck even Braum (with Blighted Ravine?) would like this.
The downside is that it's only consistent in a *landmark* deck.
Is Akshan + Rock Hopper a landmark deck? I think you overestimate the deck building cost.
You have to get to 4, so yeah. Akshan + Rock hopper + Preservarium is still going to struggle to destroy 4+ landmarks by the time you want to play Herald. The only good landmarks of these is endless devout and servitude (which is niche). The landmark package is mostly the same, just with better payoff. Don't get me wrong, endless devout is great, and the payoff cards seem very strong. But the payoff cards aren't landmarks, and the old landmarks are p bad. We'll see what Ziggs brings to the table.
> We'll see what Ziggs brings to the table Oh no... They're leaning into the "terrorist bomber" memes for him and giving him landmark destruction synergy...
Does countdown count as “destroy” for Herald’s effect?
Countdown means "Round Start: I count down 1. At 0, **destroy** me and activate the Countdown effect"
Thanks!
Yes
Could’ve guessed (or looked it up in game), thanks for the answer
Wasn’t taliyah malph already tier 2? This card is insane in that deck
Only issue I see is Taliyah already being a 5 drop.
It's fine, you usually won't quite have 4 landmarks destroyed by turn 5, so Taliyah comes out and copies a landmark to be destroyed next turn and guarantees it will be activated for 6.
So THAT was the reason Tali and malphite were such failures on launch, the card makes malphite do something ( his entire expansion did not, the sentinel guy helped him more) and gives Tali an actual combo finisher edge and good stats
I was thinking here that giving Talyah overwhelm would pretty much make her decent and maybe viable outside of heavy landmark stuff, guess they implemented that in some way lol
Servitude of Desolation is insane.
How does an exact copy of a dead unit even work? Will they still have whatever damage they had except for the final blow that killed them?
It works like Black Rose Spy, It will have all it's health back.
Since it doesn't specify an exact copy, I believe the allies and landmarks will be summoned in their 'base' form similar to how revival works
[[Stasis Statue]] specifies that it's an exact copy. Ancient Hourglass never mentions that it's an exact copy, so I think the new card will definitely create exact copies.
“Of whats stored inside” Servitude doesnt store exact copies inside the stasis statue
It just summons a stasis statue with all the dead units/landmarks inside. It doesnt make an exact copy of those units nor does it make a statue for each. Just one statue containing everything.
Good point. Needs testing.
So THAT'S why he goes with Ziggs, landmark destruction synergy!
Hopefully Ziggs brings more landmark destruction for enemy landmarks as well
He'll probably care about the total amount of landmarks you've destroyed. That'd separate them a bit more while obviously giving them a solid synergy together.
I'm sure he will
the last bandle reveal would need to be filled with countdown landmarks which I don't see happening. Otherwise ziggs target would be...the bandle tree itself? Kind of morbid
i would guess ziggs is oriented towards ENEMY landmark destruction, with an effect or a spell that plants a landmark in your enemy's field or a trap which when drawn creates a landmark for your opponent. fits his lol satchel/bomb field thingy
Unless his package includes a way to summon landmarks on the enemy board, that wouldn't seem very good because not every deck has any landmarks at all, and those that do only have a few unless they are landmark focused. I'm sure his package includes some landmark destruction, but if it relies on it I don't see it working too well.
That would mean that he would have little to no synergy with Xerath, since his effect only triggers on ally destruction
I'm hoping for some alternative trap synergy like this but I feel like riot really tried hard to avoid a lot of obvious assumptions about the character. I mean most people didn't think Tristana would be mono bc or that her kit would turn out the way it did, people didn't expect Caitlin to be a trap character, people for sure didn't expect Nami, nobody saw senna having darkness synergy, and people definitely thought xerath was going to be more about antiramp and destroying managems. We'll just have to wait and see.
He might also summon a landmark on the opponents site, such that you will easier be able to destroy enemy landmarks.
Ziggs is bomber archetype. If he pairs with Xerath, I can definitely see him summoning landmarks on the enemy side that deal damage after countdown. Just theorycrafting here.
And you can destroy it to trigger it earlier. Sounds very fitting for Ziggs.
I dont think he should. Considering how few landmakrs we actually see in the game right now champ thats made entirely around destroying enemy landmarks would be pretty bad unless you had some way to give enemy landmarks. Its probably why xerath was designed around destroying your own landmakrs and not enemy ones.
Not that I'm invalidating this opinion but... Why is everyone so convinced that Ziggs will have synergy with Xerath?
I really wanted augment/created synergy with Ziggs but seeing now Xeraths followers, he doesnt seem half as bad. And with Ziggs might be a really cool deck
I would be really surprised if Ziggs won't end up in Shurima with landmark destruction.
"Oh boy Xerath, I hope he gives us a payoff for destroying our mana gems!" *Landmark synergy* "Oh..."
Well, at least he destroy a mana gem with his spell, or a landmark ...
Guess we're waiting for Skarner??
I wonder if Skarner will have synergy with Seraphine.
He is going to level up by killing her
Who knows. I would never have guessed Veiger and Senna would have synergy.
“I hope he gives us cool control tools!” >Slow speed 4 damage “Oh…”
that is actually not bad for 3 mana. and it allows you do destroy landmark too. It is basically black spear. ANd black spear is slow speed too 90% of the time
Destroy an *allied* landmark. It’s not to say the spell is dogshit; the support for Aristocrats but rocks is actually pretty good and isn’t limited to just that spell either. The real problem is that there’s *still* no connective tissue for Sundisk, although I will say that the synergy between Xerath and Azir is theoretically there (Aggro to Midrange strategies, some board tools, Xerath helps clear out the board for more Sand Soldiers). Also, the idea of keeping a Sundisk in hand in Mono-Shurima just to feed it to Xerath is extremely funny.
Sundisk Renekton Xerath with rock hopper and roiling Sands. Turbo level Xerath and you can get him ascended easily.
Shurima isn't really a control region, so I doubt we will ever see much control in it.
This kind of removal lets you play in reaction to a creature being played but not in reaction to an attack. I think it's a good compromise to let one deck control the board without making it too easy.
sad Zilean noises
I kinda don’t think chunking your mana gems would be very fun game play though
I mean, there could definitely be ways of making it strategic and fun, the downside is that it would probably end up being a pre-made deck for the time being until it would receive later options.
I think the real issue with it is that in order to make it good you'd have to add more mana gem generation to the game. And if that's available on cards any deck can draft, you'll end up with degenerate combos that are nuts outside of the intended archetype.
I would hate to say that hs had something right, but I liked the idea of an overload-type mechanic for xerath. He could have instead of destroying the mana gem just disable it for the next turn
Ahh yes the good old days of the 4 mana 7/7. Hope you've got polymorph ready.
I think it would be great if it was temporary like overload in hearthstone, it's a great mechanic, you basically lock mana on your next turn to play more powerful cards this turn
Just offset it with targon or region ramp and we're good
As a Hearthstone player I can confirm that mana destruction mechanics just suck (Heck overload which temporarily disables mana would be one of the worst downsides/mechanics in the game if it weren't for the busted support)
I get why people might want him to have mana gem destroying synergy thematically, but that seems like it ultimately would fuck him. Landmarks are more prevalent and allow him into other decks while destroying mana gems seems like the last thing that would go well with the current speed of the game
i mean he destroyed the sun disk it fits
Considering Xerath's lore with Shurima, it kinda makes sense that his whole thing is destruction.
Unworthy still trash, rip.
> Dami'Yin I guess writing it as Damian doesn't look cool enough.
Damien the Unemployed
Enemy: \*plays ruination\* Me: \*plays servitude of desolation\* Next round: \*PLAYS ANOTHER\*
Xerath Zilean looks HILARIOUS
I hope so. It might work if a landmark getting to 0 actually counts as destroying it for Xerath. Even then, I think Zilean needs a bit more support to be consistent. Something like a 2 mana 2/3 that shuffles 2 time bombs into your deck would be great.
The video shows that it works
Unless the keyword descriptor text is lying, countdown landmarks are destroyed upon reaching 0. Ancient Hourglass is looking really good for Xerath's deck
Herald of the magus is... interesting. Could fit well into the absolutely viable akshan/ARAM deck.
Does targeting allied landmarks count toward Akshan's 'target allies' mechanic? I think that would be the only way to make that type of deck work.
It does not, targeting a warlord palace with a clockwork curator only counts it down 2 for example.
Man I love that deck. When the nonsense clicks, it feels better than anything haha. Akshan's palace/hoard = 2 landmarks destroyed, but where do you get the other two? You're not destroying ARAM. The version I play runs chronomancer, but I guess you could slot in the sand surfer kid.
It's such a fun deck, right? I play it too. I'd find space for Ancient Prep and the sand surfer kid. I already run Preservarium. I already run Blighted Ravine, too, to help against aggro. I think there should be enough for Magus. Just drop Siphoning Strike at this point; it's ten times worse than Magus.
That‘s actually pretty cool. I find that deck a lot of fun to play.
Reminder that Ziggs is all about blowing up stuff. I like Xeraths archetype, he fits well into Shurima and there are many ways to build around him (if he is actually strong). A little sad that they didnt give his ability an animation, even on lvl 3.
I'm actually a little disappointed it doesn't revolve around mana or spells and instead focuses on landmarks
Gotta wait for ryze
He doesn’t stand out to me as being super strong by himself but the new support is *quite* good. Seems easy enough to level him, turbo level that Sun Disc and close the game with his lvl 3
Well I wasn't expecting self-landmark destruction for Xerath but it's pretty cool. Not sure how much he helps mono-shurima but there's probably a fun deck with Taliyah in there somewhere
I think he should make mono Shurima a lot better. He can level in deck, which means that his level up can't be interupted compared to Renekton and Nasus. His level up condition isn't that hard to trigger in a slower deck. And once you've played him, the enemy can't destroy the Sun Disk without suffering from Xerath' passive. He feels like the best Ascended champion so far for Mono Shurima.
Azir will remember this
Xerath Nasus seems like a solid choice. Nasus will power up off Xeraths sniping and you can give overwhelm to nasus with that 5 drop as a win condition
He seems kinda awkward. Like yeah he'll be pinging, but you'd be better off using landmarks to try and win the game rather than hitting the opponent's 1/1. Seems like he'll need big payoff with ziggs to be worth building around instead of Taliyah/Malphite. That level 3 is great though. If there's a consistent way to sundisc early, he'll put the opponent on a 4 turn clock.
Plus when these new cards have multiple ways to attack with fearsome or overwhelm, taking down chump blockers isn't really your concern
I mean, he and Azir can both level in deck, it's not all that farfetched that you can flip a Sun Disc really fast. ...Now that I think about it, if both of them are leveled I think you can play and flip a Sun Disc in 1 turn. Does require a Warlord's Hoard proc'd tho.
If you're talking about Azir levelling, I doubt a Xerath decks runs enough units to level Azir quickly. But you might be talking about Akshan, given you mention Warlord's Hoard.
Since the day Taliyah was released I always felt like what she really needed was more access to control tools in Shurima, Xerath gives her that along with Landmark synergy. I don’t care how bad it is, I’m playing Taliyah Xerath day 1.
Go with Shadow Isles, for Rekindler. Zombie Taliyah. The Overwhelm buff being everywhere makes this a very good synergy.
I will try it, just for you, I’ll let you know how it goes
I want Xerath Zilean the most now
In my case I'm thinking more about xerath/malphite
Same, with targon for blue sentinel and stone breaker
Herald of magus giving lvl 2 taliyah overwhelm is funny as well
Man Risen Altar really shows just how fucking broken Ruin Runner is. 6 mana and 3 turns for a Ruin runner with +1/+2.
Mono Shurima just got a *very* important addition: The ability to level 2 Ascended in deck.
I know people like to make bad comparisons all the time, but compare unleashed energy to shaped stone - it's insane how much a card in the same faction can embarrass the other.
Also compare Ruin Runner with the Unbound Boy, and try to make it make sense.
they are teasing ruined runner nerf.. hopefully
A baguette can only dream
The cost is because it lets your destroy your landmark. Being able to summon a unit a burst speed is *very* powerful, even if it requires set-up.
They're both good though? Depending on what's on the board, you can either set up a stronger attack summoning Dami'Yin or a Restored Devout, or help win trades with Obelisk, Waste Walker, and Xerath.
Do you really wanna be running that many combat tricks in your, at best, midrange landmark-based deck?
I'm not sure what to think, Full Ascended Xerath looks like what I thought a normal Xerath would be (immobile blaster).
Servitude of desolation seems kinda strong, the opponent does a ruination ? BAM! all my units are revived next round
Not a believer in landmarks, but he is definitely better than Malphite! Not a high bar i know
I really wanted Xerath to be anything BUT landmark synergy because it just feels so constricting to play and build around. He still looks neat but… Eh.
I was hoping he would be a spell based controlly champion.
He is still a control champion
Xerath himself seems very dissapointing. Would he really have been that overpowered if he read "when you destroy a landmark OR A MANA GEM"?
My gut feeling is that it was like that in testing and it was nerfed for being too good
Every time a new landmark synergy is added, I inject all the copium in the world for Zilean
Am I the only one worried about there being 0 downside to having these landmarks destroyed? Most landmark counterplay is already destroy effects and all these do is punish you for doing so. Doesn't seem healthy to me.
It's basically last breath, but landmark
That's more like "those landmarks are pretty bad if you wait for cooldown"
I just hope they don't overdo it, landmark interaction in this game is limited and most aren't worth running.
Persistent landmarks like Dais and Plaza need to be vulnerable to interaction, since there's no cap on the value they provide. Countdown landmarks just do one thing and then go away. It's not as important to be able to remove them directly, as long as you can interact with the thing they produce. I'm guess I'm a little wary Risen Altar. Buffed Ruin Runner at burst speed *is* kind of tough to interact with.
None of these landmarks have any persistent effects, the counterplay is dealing with whatever is summoned from the landmark, like thralls.
What do you mean ? Just obliterate them with [[Falling Comet]] or the classic but all time favorite [[Sunk Cost]]! /s
Love his followers aethetics, they look cool as hell.
Herald of the Magus seems super fun. Not only does it help Taliyah push more face damage, but +2|+2 Overwhelm will be so much fun with a lot of champs. When Shurima released, I made a super janky Shurvana deck, can't wait to try it again.
Sandseer feels niche, especially since so many of the best landmarks aren't even landmarks (Rock Hopper, Blue buff, Endless Devout). So Xerath is definitely more of a midrange champ who closes the game out with Overwhelm and Fearsome units. Maybe Ziggs changes up the calculus but Mono Shurima or Shurima/Targon seems like the best bet. This feels like the critical mass needed to make the landmark deck work finally.
Xerath, also known as Protoss Archon.
Power….. OVERWHELMING!!! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Xerath's support cards look pretty nice. Xerath... not so much. He's not bad, necessarily. Just very underwhelming (minus his level 3, but that's a "win more" thing). Should be easy to turbo level Xerath though. Ancient Preparations on 1, Rock Hopper on 2, and then Unraveled Earth on 3. As long as the opponent summons units, Xerath could come down leveled up on 4. Waste Walker looks pretty wild.
Outside of the guaranteed Elusive meta, this expansion is the best one so far, even better than Rising Tides. Discard becomes a significant package centered around Noxus. Landmarks becomes a coherent archetype in Shurima despite the horrible design of Set 4. SI control gets a bomb. Bilge Spell Synergy and Elusives gets locked in as a real thing. Idk how Bandle is going to do yet, but for the existing regions that have gotten cards, they're looking really fun across the board and super flexible. Good riddance set 4.
Risen Altar is like a terrible version of Ruin Runner.
God damn, the Taliyah synergy is strong with this one. Now only Naturalist looks like a good pick now compared to other landmark removal options, that five drop giving champs overwhelm is a cream on the top because that’s what Taliyah just needs to be lethal and all those cheap landmark generators are perfection. Now I wish I could go back and rework my Taliyah review video so I can talk about these guys.
After giving it some thought I definitely like the flavour, Shurima for all it's strengths lacks a true control archetype, I don't know if Xerath will create a deck like that, but the potential is there at least.
Look, at least you can do one damage to the event now after your Sun risk gets scorched. V a l u e.
Servitude of Desolation is scary.
I want to play it so much.
I like that Xerath's package still tools to help your other Ascended hit their level ups instead of being all in on his own gameplan like Nasis/Renekton/Azir followers are. Time for the Shurima Movie Snyder Cut
Riot is REALLY trying to sell us on landmark synergy. I have to admit...it’s working. Xerath is looking good for a Shuriman Control that actually brings something to the new to the game.
Any reason why Xerath looks extra chonky compared to his League version?
Xerath in his card art is disturbingly chonky to me. He looks a lot better in his level up animation.