Patch 5.2 Variety Cards Preview

Zero cost cards are always spicy and Chained Caster is no different. Deploy him whenever you need an easy nightfall trigger, then save his Shackles for later in the game. Or leave a few of these on board to stare menacingly at your opponent until you unchain them for a big open attack. He’s certainly one of the most exciting ways we can write “2 mana 3|2”.

Lord Broadmane just hates to see units suffering. Noxus has had many different ways to execute damaged units in the past, but this offers a unique level of flexibility in that it can take out smaller threats wholesale.

It’s been a while since Bandle City has gotten a new recall tool, and this card fills a very particular niche. Use it on an ally being targeted by an enemy spell and watch as it fizzle’s on the Owlcat’s trusty spellshield.

Slow spells that target units are typically difficult to make work since they’re easily intercepted by opposing removal. BBB removes a lot of that tension by making a copy for herself, free of charge. She’s a great target for Udyr’s stances, but can also do cool things with cards that incidentally target like Bellows Breath.

Decks that utilize damage from skills have historically leaned aggressive, but Chakram Dancer allows these decks to dance circles around other fast decks. Her skill also grants her admission to Jhin’s exclusive club, making it easy to pair her with other exciting damage skills from around Runeterra.

The word is that Bird(s) are back with their own violent snack. Demacia comes free with its own robust bird population, but you can also use Neeko’s origin to expand the scope of your birdwatch.

When we started work on Elder Dragon we wanted to give every region a new Dragon that Eddy could unite via their origin. For various reasons that cycle ended up broken between the various Fate’s Voyage variety sets. For Shurima’s dragon we wanted to expand upon the keyword manipulation that we’ve done with cards like Quicksand. Now Shurima’s dragon has awoken, their skill will allow them to shut down powerful keywords like Elusive, Deathless, and Lifesteal.

The promise of endless value is one of the most exciting elements of the Shadow Isles, and Erastin is no disgrace in that regard. Most cards in this space either cost mana to replay (Minion, Ledros) or can’t block (Undying) but Erastin suffers neither of these weaknesses. He just keeps coming back, forever and ever.

LoR’s second Porobot is out of Beta and ready for a Production Surge. Play a few of these early and let them power out your 6 cost spells for the rest of the game while chipping in for damage and blocking.

These spirits coming in pairs make room for some exciting strategic options. Since the copy is exact, it takes on effects like handbuffs and deckbuffs, giving you double the elusive power. Recall decks can also find ways like Ahri’s effect to recall the ephemeral copy, keeping the Sea Spirit train rolling.