Ymzir Breakdown

Welcome to the faction of the Kraken lovers. I must confess to knowing the least about them, so you can take my ratings here with a pinch of salt. Trickster did a review on YouTube on what he thought may get played and he has probably much more practical experience with this faction than I have. Anyway, the same ratings as the other factions will be given as per the table below.

The Moonlight Jellyfish is Troy’s favourite card, so I have to start my review by acknowledging that. The card is primarily going to be used by Lindiwe to go with her sacrifice theme. The rare allows her to have card advantage as well and is a bit of an upgrade but I could see both the common and the uncommon used here. Afanas can make use of the rare if its playing Anubis as well, but its an optional inclusion in my view.

I’m not sure that any deck needs the Studious Disciple, but it’s an all-round okay card. It’s only just off the rate and the ability to reduce the cost of the next spell is probably best in Afanas which wants to use lots of spells and then maybe in Akesha who has a lot more expensive spells to reduce. I can’t see it getting upgraded to rare too often though as there are likely better targets for your rare slots.

The Mage Dancer is a really good card that entirely fits in the Afanas deck. I think the other two decks could use the common, but they really don’t particularly need the rare.

The common Stargazer is not a card I’m excited about and it only just scrapes over a D rating because its reserve stats are a little over par. The rare has an effect that Lindiwe likes and can probably use pretty well. My only worry is that it costs 2 mana, and is a little expensive for a sac cost, but you can get triple duty from it. That is the sac will give Maw two boosts and then another char gets 2 boosts. If the sac is done by gift of self, then you’re getting cards as well or boom, then you’re removing an opponent’s card.

The lady of the lake is a gorgeous looking card. There I said something nice about the common, but that’s as far as it goes. The rare might see a little play in Afanas, but I’m dubious that it will get lots of play. 

The Tooth Fairy is Ymzir’s sabotage card. It is nice and cheap which means it will see play across all the Ymzir decks.  The rare is a little better, but only from the reserve, so I expect the common to see a lot of play.

This is one of Ymzir’s strongest creatures. As a turn 1 play it is one of the strongest in the game. The common is just merely good, but the 3 mana for the 4/4/4 rare version is on Haven Warrior rare level of good. I see it less likely to be used in Afanas, but even then, it will be used in lists.

Baba Yaga is a good card draw card. The stats are a little low on the common, but it is still worth the rate with the extra card. 

I’ve never been a big fan of Alice. The stats on the common are just a little under par and then the best use from the reserve is the support effect. I could see it being used in Akesha for when she isn’t going first or for an extra after you to use to bring out a Kraken’s Wrath, but I’m just not keen on it in Afanas or Lindiwe. Alice just doesn’t do enough for either deck.

Flamel is a bit like Baba Yaga except that he allows you to bring back a spell from the reserve when you play him. This allows you to reuse your best spells rather than get a random card. I think he works best with Akesha and Afanas. Lindiwe, I don’t think wants him as he’s a bit too expensive.

On the other hand, I think Kuwat is only really good in Lindiwe. The fact that he needs a sacrifice really puts him in tune with Maw and he is strong for his mana cost. I think the rare is a show in for Lindiwe’s deck.

Dorothy Gale is removal on a character. As such its pretty good and generally useful all round for all the heroes, but it is a little expensive, so it is best used against a high-cost character on the opponent’s side. Where you already have lots of spell back removal, I could see this getting cut though. The rare allows you two bites at the cherry, but a 5 mana send to reserve on a body is vulnerable to sabotage.

Sakarbru allows you to send an opponent’s expedition back immediately, meaning that they are going to be fighting on biomes that they are not expecting to be fighting on. This is quite powerful, but due to the cost the opponent can often see this coming and pivot. However, with Akesha’s ability you can mask this as long as possible in the turn for maximum effect, so that’s where I expect to see this played, though maybe in 1’s or 2’s rather than a full set of three.

I may be wrong on the Kraken, but this splashy seven cost card probably won’t see tons of play. The sacrifice costs on both the rare and common are too much for Akesha and Afanas decks. Obviously Lindiwe likes the sacrifices so will probably use it in ones or twos, though I actually expect to see good Uniques of The Kraken appearing here.

This is a bread-and-butter spell that any Ymzir hero can use like an extra After You effect. The extra card can then be utilised in the turn to out-think your opponent. I don’t think that the Lindiwe deck will have space for this spell so I’m lower on it there, but Akesha and Afanas can both certainly use it. The rare is better, but I think few decks will upgrade this spell for the one mana reserve discount.

I probably like Gift of Self more than others do, mainly because not all sacrifices are equal. People seem to be rating this as you getting 2 cards for using two cards, however with token spam and creatures in losing expeditions, there are ways to make this card pay off. So, I don’t dislike it in either Akesha or Afanas, but its home really belongs in Lindiwe. I really think you want to play the rare there if you have the rare slots.

This is probably my favourite spell in Ymzir. It is so flexible in that you not only get to sabotage your opponent but resupply yourself. So, it’s a combined disruption effect on your opponent combined with giving you some gas. Will see play definitely in Akesha and Afanas, and maybe also in Lindiwe. 

Two mana is good value for a removal spell, and you have to seriously look at this spell. Its restrictions though mean that it is in the same boat as intimidation and teamwork training in terms of when it will really work. I feel to be really useful you’ll want the rare, but then its not that much cheaper than Banishing Gate, which is better removal. It will see play, but I think it will be more likely as a tactical common. 

Whereas I expect Magical Training to see play, the double version is too expensive, and I don’t think will see a lot of play outside draft and sealed. Afanas wants cheap spells to boost characters with the odd really good signature spell. This is not that and I can’t see Akesha wanting it either. Lindiwe will draw cards through Gift of Self, so she won’t want it either.

Banishing Gate is the most complete removal in the game, and I think if it wasn’t quite so expensive that even Lindiwe might use it. As it is I expect to see it in both Akesha decks and Afanas decks as a spell boost. 

This is good removal, if a little expensive. Being able to counter Axiom and Ordis token spawn is useful to all the Ymzir heroes and I expect it to see play both in the common and the rare form. I think it’s less likely to see play in Lindiwe that has other shenanigans to do.

A card I don’t expect to see a lot of play outside the odd one surprise copy in Akesha. Even then I think this card will probably only be used in draft and sealed.

I just don’t see this getting any real play outside draft. It’s just too expensive to pull off and with Ordis and Axiom putting in play free tokens, the opponent could well have 3 to 5 characters in play opposite this expensive spell for the same amount of mana. 

The first permanent for Ymzir is primarily one that I think Lindiwe will use as an extra sacrifice method. I am guessing that they may play the odd one or two, but I don’t expect to see a full three of them. Akesha might play the odd one to get an After you, but I’m sure sure on that one. I can’t see Afanas playing any landmarks.

For the common you are paying five mana to do nothing on your turn. Sure, you’ll get an extra card every turn after that, but you’ll feel really sad if you opponent has removal for it that turn. The rare at least gets you a card back the turn you play it, but you are still 3 mana down on the deal. I don’t expect this to see much play.

The Ymzir Bastion is I believe the worst of the Bastions. It’s way too expensive and you need some seriously big spells in your deck to make the later game 8 mana investment. Sure, the rare makes it remove fleeting as well, but you are having to play big bad spells in your deck together with this. I only expect to see this in janky fun Akesha decks but not in any serious play.

The synergy for Ada Lovelace is to put a fleeting spell into your reserve and get a card out of it to make up for the slightly sub-par stats. It’s not terrible in Akesha or Afanas, but you need to have the right cards in hand to make the synergy work. As such it’s a bit of a combo card that might see a little bit of play, but generally I expect it to get cut for numbers.

I don’t see the Bravos Bladedancer getting a lot of play except in Afanas. The seasoned ability allows you to keep the boosts that you are getting from Afanas’ ability and then resuse the following turn from the reserve. The thing is that Afanas has a choice in Bravos OOF rares for this task as we will see.

The second such choice is Red for Afanas. It is a little more expensive than the Bladedancer but starts a little bit better in terms of biome stats. It’s a valid choice in place of the Bladedancer, but I just don’t see the deck wanting to take up too many rare slots for this.

The final choice for Afanas is Hua Mulan who can be infinitely brough back from the reserve for Afanas. It is my favourite choice for this reason, but you have to keep rebuilding Hua Mulan each time so I can see others deciding on one of the other two options for Afanas.

I just don’t see the need for the Lyra Skald’s ability in Ymzir. Discarding a card from the reserve to get a random card in the reserve don’t seem like a great thing for Ymzir to want to do. I can’t see any of the heroes wanting to waste a rare slot on this.

Conversely, I think Hathor has more chance of play. Returning a spell to hand as a support ability (or character if you really must) is something that Afanas might want. I don’t think it will see much play but you might see a bit of Hathor.

The Muna Caregiver doesn’t really do anything that Ymzir wants. Its stats are terrible and even its support ability might be useful in Afanas, I can’t see anyone wasting a rare slot on this one.

The Spindle Harvesters just don’t do enough to see regular play. I think that they will get eclipsed in Afanas by Sneezer Shroom, Red and Bravos Bladedancer. 

Good old Sneezy stands a good chance of getting on of the slots in Afanas, though there is quite a bit of competition for the slots. The fact is that they want to anchor more, means that I think it could get the nod over many of the other options.

There’s an outside chance that the Ordis Trooper might see play in any deck. As a 1/1/1 for one mana, it’s a fine body for its cost. It would however take up a rare slot and those are all at a premium so the best I can see for this one is for it to see play as a decent Unique.

The Monolith Archivist is a sponge, used by Gulrang to gum up a side cheaply. I just don’t see any of the Ymzir heroes wanting this and I think that they will all pass at this rare opportunity.

I like the Monolith legate a bit better than the Archivist, though I’m not sure Afanas or Lindiwe want the disruption he can bring. It’s possible that you may see the odd one or two in Akesha, but I wouldn’t count on seeing it a lot.

The Ordis Cadets give you two bodies for two mana. This makes it the ideal card for Lindiwe as they can provide good sacrifice fodder whilst still leaving a decent body on the deck. I don’t see Afanas or Akesha wanting this.

The Attorney is yet another Ordis bureaucrat that I don’t see getting a lot of play. Paying 3 mana to lose an expedition to draw a card is not what Ymzir wants and they have better and cheaper ways to draw cards.

Same as above but there is a slightly better chance of Lindiwe wanting to use him. I don’t think that it’s a big chance and I don’t expect a lot of play for him outside his home faction.

Of all the Ordis top end characters in Ymzir OOF, I like this one the best. Anubis is an untargeted answer to problems with good stats behind it. Use an ‘Off You Go’ to get rid of a small character and then Anubis to get rid of the bigger problem. With the sacrifice effect being right in Linidiwe’s bag, that’s where I see it primarily getting played, though Akesha might use him too at times.

A six-cost character with only 4/4/4 in stats that does nothing and just blocks everything up. I just don’t see Ymzir wanting this at all.

Boom! is good removal, especially in Lindiwe. The double boost of sacrificing a character to remove a character and get the boost with Maw is just really top-notch synergy and assuming you have a spare Ordis recruit its not even costing you any more to use it. I could see Akesha use this at times, though she will probably stick to in faction spells more often than not.

I like Helping Hand a lot in Ymzir. It is really good in Afanas not only as a cheap spell, but also to provide that extra boost for the creature and also to allow it to be used yet another time. This is important as Afanas is relatively creature light. It’s just good in Lindiwe and Akesha but I can see it getting cut for numbers of rares in both decks.

I actually think that Intimidation is better in Ymzir than in Bravos. A very tempo-based game can really work for Afanas whilst boosting his own characters, and it has an outside chance at play in Akesha. I’m not sure it has a place in Lindiwe though.

I just don’t see any Ymzir deck wanting to switch all characters between expeditions. In Lyra it’s a neat trick, but Yzmir would rather use removal than this spell. Not recommended for any hero in my view.

Beauty Sleep is a very cheap and flexible spell. It can be used as pseudo removal to win an expedition, and it can be used to ensure that your growing Mage dancer in Afanas lives to compete another day. I don’t see it getting used a lot in Lindiwe though.

Meditation Training will be used extensively in Afanas to anchor down characters like the Mage Dancer for future turns and drawing cards. I can’t see it getting a lot of use in Akesha and Lindiwe however, though it could be used as a role player.

An eight-mana spell to stop everyone advancing just seems bad to me. I can’t see it being used in any Ymzir decks.

I think that the Brassbug hive has an outside chance of play in Akesha, but more likely might see play in a Lindiwe. I’m not 100% convinced on this though, since I think it is more likely that Lindiwe players will play the Ordis Carrier instead for the recruit to be sacrificed from it as it is a cheaper option. Afanas doesn’t want this.

The Ordis carrier is likely to be played in Lindiwe for the cheap token to sacrifice each turn if required. I think it might also see some play in Akesha, but I doubt that it will see any play in Afanas builds.

The final card is not one that I expect to see any real play outside of fun Akesha control decks that seeks to just stop the opponent and advance through this permanent. I don’t see it as a sensible deck though and doubt this will see much play outside draft.