Top 10 Heart of the Huntress Cards to Watch
Hey all it’s Trevor “Shugo” Yung and I’m back with the latest Top 10 Cards to Watch for the new expansion; Heart of the Huntress!
Before we get started, allow me to remind you of the usual disclaimers.
- These cards are in no particular order.
- No Champions will be included, as they are a given.
- This list isn’t solely based on power. Cards may be considered for their future potential.
Head to our Deck Builder to start creating your own Heart of the Huntress creations!
Anura & Froop
In many card games, cheating mana is one of the most broken things you can do. We’ve seen it before with the likes of pre-nerf Bandle City Mayor and Gleaming Lantern, because after all, they were nerfed for a reason.
Cost reduction is particularly powerful due to its scaleable nature. Static effects like these apply to multiple cards at a time, allowing for explosive turns that wouldn’t normally be possible. Play two 2-drops for the price of one, or spam down 1-drops at no cost at all! To top it off, this reduction effect stacks.. So if you ever get a second Anura & Froop on board, be prepared to dump your entire hand!
One difference to keep in mind is that the reduction only applies to units with a different subtype from what’s on board. This can limit the explosiveness of certain hands, but in many cases won’t matter at all. Anura & Froop is basically release day Bandle City Mayor, except limited to the subtype archetype.. And that’s a good thing, because launch day yordles were busted!
Return-o Wrench
Any card with the text “When I’m discarded” always has potential, as they essentially equate to 0-mana cards with upside. If you’re ever forced to discard a card, there’s gonna be a payoff. Tack on an extra bonus and you’re laughing. Return-o Wrench fits the bill, but what’s even cooler is that it’ll come right back to be discarded again!
The only real repeatable discard target we’ve had is Lost Soul, but looping Twinblade Revenants comes at a steep cost, so it usually won’t happen more than a couple of times. There is no cost to Return-o Wrench. The card will be equipped for free when discarded, and returned for free once the unit dies. While we do lack control over which unit gets equipped, and whether or not the opponent will remove it, that’s totally fine. Each strike is going to poke some Impact damage, which will definitely cause grief for them over time.
I think the worst part about this card is its region. While Bandle City has had some discard-centric decks in the past (Jinx Lulu, Yordles in Arms), it’s definitely the third choice after Nox/PnZ. Aside from that, this card’s got potential to be extremely powerful. Just be careful that it doesn’t attach to Flame Chompers!
Glacial Saurian
Heart of the Huntress is a very combat heavy expansion, and Glacial Saurian fits in perfectly. It’s more or less a better Avarosan Hearthguard, assuming you’re playing enough subtypes. While Hearthguard applies stats across the entire deck, you still need to draw them. Glacial Saurian ensures immediate value, by granting the top three a buff and drawing one to hand!
Glacial Saurian is everything you want from a 5-drop, and can even come down early with help from Anura & Froop. Very solid card, what’s not to like?
All-Terrain Trooper
When it comes to Ambush, All-Terrain Trooper is the bread and butter. Every Ambush deck will play this. It fits the curve early, gives access to vulnerable on command, and flips over at no additional cost. Standalone this card is great, but when combined with the rest of the package, it’s fantastic.
Vulnerable pairs perfectly with Nidalee, allowing you to easily quick attack enemy units. Additionally, All-Terrain Trooper provides 2/4 triggers towards Nidalee’s level-up condition for only two mana.
To top it all off, it’s an early game Prowl target. Simply being a 2-drop that can threaten Prowl activation is very strong. Remember how unfair pre-nerf All Out was? Well it’s back, so long as you stay in the shadows.. 😉
Prowl
Combat tricks have always been powerful in LoR due to their burst speed design. Removal often tends to fall short when comparing costs, which makes buff spells extremely efficient.
Speaking of extremely efficient.. We now have Prowl, the next iteration of the one mana +2|+2. If the Ambush archetype becomes a mainstay it’ll be off the back of this card. When the opponent plays a Shadow in the Brush, then equips it, good luck contesting it on board. Prowl will trump your response, and if that shadow happens to be Nidalee, they’ll have even more copies of Prowl to follow up. 🙂
I’m calling it now, next patch Prowl goes to +2|+1.
Temple to True Ice
We’ve got yet another landmark that buffs stats, and at three mana, it’s certainly cheap enough to be worth considering. Growing health equal to its power is pretty unique and could fit right at home with Noxus. Trifarian Gloryseeker is the obvious first choice with LeBlanc right alongside. Honestly, Ashe could like this as well.
I don’t know if we’re quite at a point where this card is playable, but it’s a very interesting build-around. The payoff is high if you can afford the deck-building cost, but more importantly, still function well enough in games where you don’t draw the Temple.
All-Seeing Oracle
All-Seeing Oracle is a really cool design. You get a 4/3 body for four mana, a little bit of hand/deck information, and a “Gotcha!” card that could really mess up the opponent’s game plan. This allows the player to invest upfront in order to obtain a cheaper (albeit situational) Deny for later.
In certain control matchups this will be a game-changer. Being able to have that silver bullet answer for the end game, on top of a proactive unit, is outstanding.
That said, this card is very meta dependent, and won’t slot into every Ionia deck. If you have to trade this with their 1-2 drops just to stay alive, you’re in trouble.
Age of Dragons
It wouldn’t be a Runeterra expansion without a big flashy new spell. So how is Age of Dragons? Well honestly, it’s “Feel the Rush” at home. Unlike its predecessor, it’s not guaranteed. In fact, you could cast this spell and get nothing at all!
Additionally, Age of Dragons won’t save you from attacks. Not only do you have to rely on luck, but these dragons aren’t summoned to the board.. They are drawn to hand and reduced to zero. Unlike FTR, you can’t play this to immediately get two blockers. Plus, you have to actually include dragons in your deck. That’s a steep cost! 🙂
That said, nine cards deep is a good amount, so you’ll likely hit at least something. But is it good enough? For Standard, it does have potential. Having an “I win” button is a powerful thing, and we do still have access to a good amount of ramp cards. Assuming we can reliably cast this by 7-8, it’s a real payoff. There’s potential, I’ll give it that!
Avenging Vastaya
I’d never have expected to be given Rite of Negation on a creature, but here we are!
As far as costs go, this is a total of five combined (2 unit, 3 spell) mana for the counterspell. In addition, we do get a 3/3 unit with SpellShield. Plus, five mana is pretty accurate given that Rite of Negation eats a unit or mana gem as part of its cost.
What makes Avenging Vastaya so good is the ability to hold up Rite of Negation for only three mana, while still supporting the Ambush game plan. This can be a powerful insurance policy alongside a buffed up Nidalee.
The one caveat to keep in mind is it’ll eat up your one Ambush slot. This means Avenging Vastaya should likely only be played on or before the turn where you need to hold up a deny. Additionally, while in shadow form, you’ll need to hold protection (did anybody say Prowl?) to ensure it doesn’t get picked off before the opponent commits their game winning spell.
All in all, Avenging Vastaya offers a lot of utility at little cost, and I expect it’ll create some very interesting play patterns from both sides!
Siren Song
Having an “everywhere” buff at only four mana is absurd.. But not only that, you get a Husk on top of it! If you play Siren Song followed by a 1-drop, you’ll immediately receive a +2|+3 buff PLUS a keyword to that unit. That pretty much makes up for the tempo loss on its own, and beyond that, you’ll skyrocket ahead thanks to the permanent buff.
If you aren’t playing The Poro King in Bilgewater, you don’t know what you’re missing!
Conclusion
Well that wraps up my top 10 cards to watch for Heart of the Huntress. Do you agree? Disagree? Are there any cards you think I missed? Feel free to hit me up on Twitter @Shugo_LoR!
Head to our Deck Builder to start creating your own Heart of the Huntress creations!
