Forces From Beyond – Top 10 to Watch
Hey, it’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung here and today I’m bringing you my top 10 list of cards that are worth watching in Forces From Beyond!
A few things to note before we get into it.
- These cards are in no particular order.
- No champions, as they’d account for the first three slots.
- This list isn’t solely based on power and playability. I’ve opted to not include generic archetype units such as Boisterous Host or Sultur.
Let’s explore a little deeper!
To explore more cards, head to the Card Gallery. If you have an idea in mind, head to a Deck Builder.
1. Supercharge
The community went crazy over this card when it was first revealed, and for good reason. Supercharge offers the perfect combination of keywords, and at focus speed, there’s no way to interact with it before it resolves.
Papercraft decks have become increasingly popular these days with Ruin Runner being one of the primary hosts thanks to its keyword combination of Overwhelm and SpellShield. Supercharge lets us turn any unit into the perfect host!
Akshan Lee has seen practical experimentation before, but it’s always been difficult to play Lee without Targon. With Zenith Blade nerfed and Supercharge revealed, Shurima looks a lot more appealing.
What makes Supercharge even stronger is the keywords are permanent. Even as a “give”, the card would still work efficiently on the combo turn. Being a “grant” gives it some added utility and makes it feel fine to cast earlier.
Get your pings ready!
2. Windswept Hillock
It’s finally happened… Yasuo got a boat!
One of the biggest issues of Yasuo decks is… Not drawing Yasuo. Even when you did, you often needed to draw a second in case he was removed. While we’ve always had tutors like Entreat or Rite of Calling, it just wasn’t feasible due to their regions. The best region pairing for the Stun archetype is undoubtedly Ionia Noxus. Now, this is all possible!
Windswept Hillock does come at a pretty hefty cost.. Spending five mana on a landmark is a lot. The one benefit is it does Stun an enemy upon entry, and that can sometimes be enough to stop the enemy’s turn, or at least weaken it.
Once Yasuo’s leveled, Windswept Hillock becomes a powerful removal engine, provided you’re able to keep Yasuo around. This also helps remove blockers and clear a path to strike with Yasuo or Fae Bladetwirler.
Overall, I don’t expect Yasuo to make any major waves, but this should help the archetype feel a lot better to play.
3. Drop The Bomb
It may not be flashy, but a two mana deal two is always a solid consideration; even at Slow speed. The Scrappy Bomb is a nice addition to help make this an excellent slot into Xerath Zilean or similar builds.
Drop The Bomb will be a great tool for decks that lack solid removal in their respective regions. Bandle + Freljord is a good example, as there aren’t many ways to deal with units outside of combat. The Scrappy Bomb also helps enable transform effects. Even Bandle + Noxus may want this in some capacity.
Two for two without drawbacks is a solid rate, so we’ll be seeing a good amount of this card.
4. Hate Spike
Speaking of two for two’s. Hate Spike offers a deal two at Fast speed! While it does require you to kill an ally, there are a lot of easy targets to make this efficient. It also summons a random Husk, which gives the deck another fodder unit for future effects.
This is also another card in the Glimpse from Beyond/Noxian Fervor/Single Combat category. When the opponent goes to remove your unit, you can cast Hate Spike in response to damage theirs. However, this is notably worse in response compared to the above cards, as pointing two damage at a unit isn’t always useful.
I do think the baseline is a bit lower with this card. Having to sacrifice an ally to deal only two damage can be a real cost. It’s also Vulnerable to being fizzled. When combined efficiently, the ceiling is a strong two mana removal with upside, so it’ll see some experimentation.
5. Void Abomination
Eight drops in LoR are historically unplayable, especially the ones with wonky text. And don’t get me wrong, there’s a strong probability that Void Abomination is exactly that.
What’s interesting, however, is the prospect of creating a controlled, late-game win condition. Void Abomination gains all the keywords your allies have had throughout the entire game. It’s not random!
If we’re able to build a deck around it, it’s possible to turn Void Abomination into a Pantheon-like finale. Remember those Elusive + Scout + SpellShield auto-win games? What if instead of crossing our fingers for the best, we just play Void Abomination and WIN!?
This may not be competitive, but it sure will be fun!
6. Formal Invitation
At three mana, this essentially functions as a three mana draw two. It’s Scribe of Sorrows x2 but in spell form. Standalone this is good value, but also has the potential to accelerate certain strategies.
Imagine copying more Mistwraiths or Wraithcallers. The deck performs best when it draws those power cards in multiples. While it doesn’t improve odds of playing them on curve, it does provide more fuel for the deck to apply pressure and buff its endgame finisher.
A notable card to compare this to is Stalking Shadows. While it can’t search for cards from the deck, it doesn’t have the Ephemeral drawback. It also doesn’t require the deck to be built with multiple followers, which is one of the main requirements of Stalking Shadows.
The one key downside is it can draw token followers, so be careful running it alongside Vile Feast.
7. Riptide Sermon
It may be six mana and Slow speed, but dealing four while simultaneously summoning a 3|3 is a great tempo swing. You can sort of imagining it as a pseudo-Tribeam that doesn’t require setup, and that’s pretty good!
It is worth noting that Spawn does change the equation. In some cases, already having a Tentacle on board makes this considerably weaker. In other spots, it can work to your benefit.
The two nexus damage won’t always be important, but alongside Jayce or Lux, can be a way to pressure and finish the game. Many lethals have happened off the back of Shock Blast, so Riptide Sermon does have potential there.
8. Trifarian Training Pits
The ceiling on this card is absurd. Aside from Katarina or casting a Rally on Taric, we haven’t seen anything quite like this.
Repeatable Rallys is a dangerous design space, which gives this card potential to do some crazy busted things. That being said, it’s also a four-mana landmark that does nothing, unless you can attack the turn it comes down.
Now one problem with Rallys is they are only good when your units can attack and survive to swing again. This is why we haven’t seen much of Blood in the Water, as most of Lurk’s units are quite frail.
Where I do see the potential is alongside Sivir. She naturally meets the requirement while SpellShield can protect her long enough to be able to attack. Roiling Sands looks even better when your opponent has to play around multiple attack tokens.
There’s also some potential in Ashe Noxus decks, as they often have trouble closing out the game without Ashe freezing the entire board. Many of the units have 5+ power, and they’re certainly sturdy enough to survive a hit.
If you summon this on the turn you want to Rally and get an attack off, you’ve at least achieved the standard rate of Rally for four mana. Any subsequent attack makes this card insane. However, having this on the board makes it easy for the opponent to play around. You can bet they’ll be saving their removal for all your 5+ power units.
9. Ransom Riches
I don’t have much to say about this card other than the fact it’s a solid one-mana spell in Bilgewater. This adds a strong card to the 1-cost pool for Burblefish and Coral Creatures, which in turn lowers the odds of hitting one of the useless ones.
Realistically, it’s a one-mana spell that procs Nami and Shelly while potentially generating something of value. In a deck that turns trash into a win condition, that’s good enough!
Bonus points, this card is incredible in Nami Shellfolk!
10. Rite of Passage
This may be one of the most impactful cards of the expansion. While it does require you to have played and destroyed the landmarks, it enables some absurd play patterns in the following turns.
Blighted Ravine is a ridiculous card and an auto-keep against many matchups. Once you’ve played the first one, Rite of Passage allows you to summon one for only TWO SPELL MANA.
Emphasis on the “spell mana” part. A common play pattern is to not overcommit to the board while the opponent still has four unit mana available. How are we supposed to play around with a two-spell mana Blighted Ravine!?
If we want to take this a step further, you can even combine Rite of Passage with Imagined Possibilities for a three spell mana, focus speed board wipe.
This removes any window of action from the opponent, allowing you to avoid any protection spells. Time in a Bottle also functions the same for an additional mana.
Any decks that play Rite of Passage will likely want three copies of Preservarium. This helps give us more landmarks that can be played early, ensuring Rite of Passage has a viable target. And hey, summoning a Preservarium for two spell mana is great!
One small downside to Preservarium is that it requires unit mana to be played. Aside from that, it’s a very efficient form of card draw. Rite of Passage makes it even better!
We also now have an efficient way to get a second Sun Disc, while still serving a use outside of that. Even when we’re not guaranteeing our choices, many landmark decks will find solid value with this.
There are a lot of wild possibilities with this card, and there’s more to explore from here. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination, but before I do that.
Rite of Passage + Time Bomb.
Conclusion
That covers my top 10 watch list for Forces From Beyond! I can’t wait to dive in and start brewing! What cards are on your list? If you want to spark a discussion, feel free to hit me up on Twitter @Shugo_LoR.
Shugo’s Productivity Thought of the Day
When you’re feeling down, instead of remaining quietly where you are, get up and do something physical.
Go for a walk, exercise, do some housework, etc. It’s a simple act that moves the needle forward.
And when we move forward, we tend to feel better. So get started!
To explore more cards, head to the Card Gallery. If you have an idea in mind, head to a Deck Builder.
