Our Thoughts on the New Bilgewater Cards (Call of the Mountain)
Hey all NicMakesPlays here going over all the new cards revealed today to start off the second phase of the reveal season for the new expansion.
Here are the newly revealed cards for CoTM:
- Crusty Codger (Bilgewater follower)
- Fortune Croaker (Bilgewater follower)
- Boxtopus (Bilgewater follower)
- The Slaughter Docks (Bilgewater landmark)
- Lounging Lizard (Bilgewater follower)
- Crumble (Shadow Isles spell)
- Sunk Cost (Shadow Isles spell)
Landmarks
Landmarks are a cool new mechanic that’s being added to the second phase of the Call of the Mountain expansion.
They are cards that take up a unit spot on your board and have a recurring effect. They can’t be targeted by most creature removal and can’t attack or block.
These cards are comparable in effect to something like Warmother’s Call where after they are played they generate a ton of value in a way that’s pretty hard to deal with. Landmarks could easily require some amount of Landmark removal to be played in decks depending on how good they are.
Crusty Codger
- Crusty Codger
- 1 mana 2|4
- Text – Play: Deal 2 to me.
Crusty Codger is a 1 mana 2|4 that on play deals 2 damage to itself. The self-damage is a common theme of these reveals and has a lot of various potential such as with Vlad or heals.
At first, it will start off as a normal 1 drop 2|2 but what makes this card and others like it amazing is the fact that if you heal them, they keep their stats.
For example, if you use Elixir of Iron, Troll Chant, Kindly Tavernkeeper, Guiding Touch, Gems, or so on with them, they get to heal and keep their health. This makes it so all these cards that inflict self-damage are able to have good stats for their cost.
Fortune Croaker
- Fortune Croaker
- 2 mana 2|3
- Text – Play: Deal 1 to me and an ally to draw 1.
Fortune Croaker is a 2 mana 2|3 that deals 1 damage to itself and an ally to draw one card. This card has a lot of potential with Frejlord’s self-damage units such as playing Unscarred Reaver on turn 1 and this on turn 2 to draw a card and activate Unscarred Reaver’s effect.
It is also two self-damage level ups for Vlad. If this can consistently activate its effect on two then it is amazing to draw a free card.
Boxtopus
- Boxtopus
- 2 mana 3|4
- Challenger
- Text – Play: Deal 3 to me.
Boxtopus is a 2 mana 3|4 that deals 3 to itself when played. Like all of the other units in this reveal, it has amazing synergy with self-heal cards but this time this one has Challenger.
Boxtopus’s base stats of 3|4 and Challenger can be used to control the field and get amazing value out of combat tricks such as the previously mentioned Troll Chant.
The Slaughter Docks
- The Slaughter Docks
- 3 mana Landmark
- Text – Round Start: Toss 1. If you are Deep, destroy me to summon a random Sea Monster.
The Slaughter Docks is a Landmark and the first new Deep support we’ve seen this expansion. Landmarks are a completely new type of card that have unique and ongoing effects when played.
The Slaughter Docks is a 3 mana Landmark that tosses 1 each round start and when you are Deep it destroys itself to summon a random Sea Monster from your deck. Traditionally, Deep struggles in the early game so this may not make the cut in Deep in a faster meta.
Luckily, in a slower meta, this card is amazing for helping you go Deep over time then summoning a Sea Monster that would’ve cost way more than 3 mana regularly. This card also might enable some non-Shadow Isles Deep decks like Freljord Deep with Entreat for Nautilus.
Lounging Lizard
- Lounging Lizard
- 3 mana 3|5
- Elusive
- Text – Round Start: Deal 2 to me.
Lounging Lizard is a 3 mana 3|5 Elusive that on Round Start, takes 2 damage. This card is great the turn it is summoned because it is an Elusive with amazing stats.
If left alone, it can deal some serious damage and be a blocker right before it dies. It also has pretty sick synergy with buff effects since those also heal it up.
Crumble
- Crumble
- 5 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – Kill an ally to kill a unit or destroy a landmark.
Crumble is a 5 mana slow spell that kills an ally to kill an enemy unit or landmark. I think this card is great in Shadow Isle/Bilgewater variants such as The Undying decks to kill the Undying and activate its Last Breath while also removing an enemy threat.
I like how this card can kill any unit so it is an amazing late game card for a good mana cost. One thing to note is that this card can be fizzled by an opponent casting a removal spell on your units which can be a pretty big blowout.
Sunk Cost
- Sunk Cost
- 8 mana spell, Slow speed
- Text – Shuffle a unit or landmark into its deck.
Sunk Cost is an 8 mana slow spell that shuffles a landmark or unit into its deck. This is a good card because it can remove any threat without triggering their Last Breath abilities.
It also gets through things such as Taric’s Level Up and Unyielding Spirit. Its ability to hit landmarks also means that if you really need landmark removal this is an option.
At 8 mana and Slow speed, it’s clunky but if you need this effect you’ll play it.
Thanks for reading! Keep an eye out for the rest of our analysis as more cards come out and be sure to revisit our previous impressions for the set.
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