[Gods Unchained] Trial of the Gods card list review #2 - Thaeriel the Olympian Powerhourse

Hey guys! Today we are going to continue the review of the Trial of the Gods card set. In this post, we are taking a look at the cards for the Light god. If you missed the first one where I go over Neutral cards here is a link for that one: https://steempeak.com/hive-140217/@z3ll/gods-unchained-trial-of-the-gods-card-list-revealed-we-are-getting-neutral-spells

DISCLAIMER:

All of this data is subject to change before and after the release of Trial of the Gods.
Many card names are placeholders. Many cards do not have tribes assigned, but will prior to release.
Rarity of cards are not final. Some of these cards may be deleted. We may add cards prior to release."

Aetheric Alarm

A 5 mana 0/5 relic that reads: After your opponent summons a creature, summon a 0/1 with frontline. At the start of your turn, this relic loses 1 durability.

Looks quite strong, it is a good tool to slow down your opponent and can even set up a creature that you can then buff with cards like Canonize or Astraea's Envoy since it is a 0 strength creature. Creatures summoned are called Aetheric Bell Watcher and don't have any tribe tags so that won't be a part of any of those archetypes. It seems to fit most in decks that want to reach higher mana more often aka control decks. I think this relic has too much durability. You are paying only 3 mana for something that has an effect on the game for 5 turns if it isn't dealt with relic destruction cards. Probably gonna get adjusted to 4 durabilities or something to just slightly lower its potential.

Athenian Democracy

A 3 mana spell that reads: Give each creature in your deck +1 health. Draw a card.

A permabuff to all creatures you gonna draw into for the rest of the game, for 3 mana? And it cycles itself? Sounds pretty good. Is it though? It isn't a huge buff though but it still counts when you are fighting for the board and trying to get value trades and some extra favor over your opponent. Sacrificing 3 mana for it is going to be hard against aggro decks but it can help a lot versus midrange. Not the strongest card but it has the potential to fit some midrange lists.

Athenian Guardian

A 2 mana 1/2 Olympian creature with Frontline and reads: At the end of your turn, if this creature has 3 strength or less, give it +1/+1.

We already saw this card in the early expansion teasers and for some reason, it stayed in this form, which is definitely broken. It's simply a 2 man 2/3 Frontline on your opponents first turn after you play it and that is okay. But it scales more for the next two turns. Just too much, it feels like a Light staple card for pretty much all deck types. There are further shenanigans that you can pull off with Reformation, lower its attack to 1 again and buffing its health to re-enable further buffs to the creature once it reaches 4 strength.

Battle Priest

A 3 mana 2/5 Mystic creature with Roar: Gain 1 favor for each enemy character.

This card could play a part in the new Mystic archetype that could be created alongside Frumentarii Researcher a neutral that deals 2 damage when you summon a Mystic. The roar effect doesn't matter that much but stats are decent and well fitted for a Light card, favor is just a bonus. Don't think there is much more to this card since it isn't impressive in any way, that tribe tag saves it though.

Blessing of Light

A 3 mana spell that reads: Gain 5 favor. If you have a relic equipped, it gains: “At the end of your turn, gain 5 favor.”

Is this too much? I think it is. On the first turn, you get 10 favor for 3 mana, sounds decent, not amazing but decent. Getting 5 more is looking pretty good already. If a game where you can hold your relic for more than 2-3 turns it is going to be better than drawing a card in most cases since Sanctum could offer you something that you actually need in a given situation, possibly even prolonging this effect. This won't go too well with Golden Harpe since it has very limited turns but with basic ones that you have on 1 mana could do really well. Also a good card for that nasty Divine Messanger all-in.

City Therapon

A 1 mana 2/2 Olympian creature with Afterlife: Add two Injured Soldiers to your void.

We've seen this one in the early tease also. Very nice support for the Olympian tribe, Injured Soldiers are also Olympian so having them in the void buff the effects of cards like Spartan and speeds up meeting requirements for something like Empire's Footman. Simple yet effective card.

Divinity Makes Right

A 3 mana spell that reads: Draw the Chosen One from your deck, give it ward & frontline.

This could really help broaden the choices in deckbuilding for The Chosen One decks. Maybe goofy decks with Dragon Tooth Warriors and similar creatures could work more consistently with this included. In a vacuum, spending 3 mana to draw a creature and give it ward and frontline is mediocre at best but if it is the right creature it can be very powerful. Don't expect to see this too much in the meta except if we see the rise of this type of decks, which I doubt will happen.

Dragon of the First Pillar

A 7 mana 4/4 Dragon creature that reads: At the start of your turn, give +1 strength to each friendly creature. Roar: Choose one -- This creature gains backline, or This creature gains frontline and +4 health.

Not very strong for a 7-drop in terms of stats and even if it gets to live for a turn or two. What gives it a bit of power is versatility depending on the matchup/situation. As a frontline, it can save you versus aggro and as a backline, it can survive a couple of extra turns to accumulate value. I'm not sure if it will fit any Light deck since the 7 mana slot has some pretty powerful cards already and they aren't used that much besides Penitence and Griffith.

Ecclesiast Order

A 3 mana spell that reads: For each creature you control with strength 2, draw a card.

This is just, WOW! This card is definitely going to be a good fit in a Zoo type of decks and maybe even in a couple of other styles of Light since 2 strength is pretty common on 1-4 mana cost creatures for Light. Drawing 2 cards is something you should aim for to make it worth it and this feels like it will be easy to manage. Summon Acolyte god power just got indirectly buffed with this one.

Fated Warrior

A 3 mana 3/3 creature with Frontline and reads: After this creature is healed, give it +1 health. Roar: Give the Chosen One ward.

An upgraded version of pretty weak neutral, Battle Aurochs the effect doesn't make it much better. Sure it goes well with Golden Harpe but not much more. Olympians and Mystics will have another way to fill the 3-drop spot. Doesn't seem fit for The Chosen One archetype neither, maybe giving a random creature Ward could be used as a one-of but not much else.

Fortify

A 2 mana spell card that reads: Draw a card. Give a creature "At the end of your turn, if this creature is at full health it gains +2 health. Otherwise, it heals for 2."

Now this one looks like an attractive option for buff/sustaining an important creature on the board, plus it cycles itself. So for only 2 mana worth of tempo has potentially infinite value. It is definitely gonna find a spot in a lot of Light decks because of such a low cost versus return potential. It goes well with Fated Warrior, still doesn't make it much better. The more interesting choice for synergy is Injured Hetairoi which turns him into Favor generator as well... Divine Enchanter.

Healing Light

A 4 mana spell that reads: Fully heal all friendly creatures, and give them +1 health. Gain 4 favor.

Healing Light can use those similar synergies to give some extra value but it is just too expensive to be considered a top option to do this job. On its own, it doesn't really help you much to fight for the board control so you are much better at developing a 4-drop that running this card. Recovering Sigil does almost the same thing and it cycles itself for only 2 mana and it still doesn't see play.

Lysander, Champion of Light

A 6 mana 3/7 legendary Olympian creature with Frontline, Ward, and reads: At the start of your turn, completely heal this creature. After a friendly creature is healed, they gain +1 strength.

Quite possibly one of the strongest cards in the set. Your opponents need to be able to remove it in one go. Do you want to remove him with a spell? Try a bit harder! You want to attack other creatures or hit face because you don't have enough damage? You are out of luck! Thank god he has only 3 strength, well after a single Canonize your opponent is on a clock that isn't so forgiving and if they don't have an immediate answer it is pretty much the game. Of course, it all depends on how the meta evolves but I'm absolutely sure there will be a competitive list with this bad boy.

Lysander's Mercy

A 7 mana spell that reads: Put each creature on the board onto the bottom of their controller's deck.

This is another incredible card. In case someone thought that they need more options for removal in Light, you don't have to look any further. A strong removal like this will be a great asset for some greedy control, it is also negating all Afterlife effects since the creatures aren't destroyed. Depending on how much Ward creatures are a part of the meta this card will vary in relevancy, at the same time because of its existence it might be influencing an uptrend in those creatures.

Lysander's Spear

A 3 mana 0/3 relic that reads: After you play a Light card, add 1 durability to this relic. Ability: Give +2/+2 to a creature, then remove 2 durability from this relic.

One of the big reasons we will see quite a lot of Iron-tooth Goblins around. For 3 mana, the minimum expected value is +4/+4, which is nice but you could easily do more than that if you relic doesn't get destroyed. The only negative side of this relic is that you spend 3 mana on the turn you play it and you don't get any benefits. On the other hand, it can give so much more than other buffs while also not having the downside of needing to already have a creature on board before you play it. Midrange Light is getting a lot of choices and this is one of the strongest ones in the 3 mana slot.

Parsimon Razor

A 1 mana 1/1 relic that reads: At the end of your turn, move the Chosen One two cards closer to the top of your deck. Afterlife: Give the Chosen One +1/+1 and move it two cards closer to your deck.

Another good support for The Chosen One decks. For 1 mana over two turns, you can move the Chosen One 4 spots. This and Divinity Makes Right complement this archetype so well I won't be surprised if it becomes a part of the new meta.

Phyrne, Aristocrat Courtesan

A 6 mana 3/3 legendary creature with Backline that reads: At the end of your turn, if there are no friendly Athenian Guardians on the board, summon one.

Pretty weak for a 6-drop. Not even Backline that summons these Frontline creatures will help it survive for long because clearing a 3 health creature won't be a problem for the most part. It does summon Olympians and it might also get Olympian tag itself further in development but even with that it doesn't seem that it will find a spot in many decks.

Salter, High Athenian

A 3 mana 2/2 legendary creature with Ward and Roar: This creature gets +1 strength for each enemy creature and +1 health for each friendly creature.

Expecting 2 creatures on the one side of the board and 1 on the other sounds pretty average, no stats to back it up just something that feels is the case most of the time, anyway let's take this as an example. This means that on average it will be a 3/4 or 4/3 creature with Ward for 3 mana. Looks good! Giving it 1 extra health won't be too hard if you can play a creature beforehand. Great aggro/midrange creature, nothing too special but gets the job done.

Trial of the First Pillar

A 6 mana spell that reads: All creatures have their strength and health set to 1. Summon a 1/7 Pillar with frontline and can't attack.

In a Light Champion reveal this card was 5 mana and I'm glad they decided to nerf this a bit. At 6 mana this "removal" looks fair. The Pillar is enough to stop the whole board of 1/1s so any aggression is defused. Even if you don't find a great target versus aggro, just delaying their plan for a turn or two will be quite impactful. Man, Light will be in such an interesting spot this expansion.

Vengeful Lokhagos

A 4 mana 3/3 Olympian creature that reads: At the end of your turn, if this creature has not attacked since entering the board give it +1/+1. Roar: Give the Chosen One ward and +1/+1.

Basically a 4 mana 4/4 that grows each consecutive turn you don't make an attack with it. Has the same roar as a couple of cards in Light already, maybe this mass of The Chosen One Ward givers could create something new with the archetype but I wouldn't put my hopes in that too much. These roar effects seem to fit more in non-Chosen One decks as they still give Ward to a random creature in your deck/hand. The card itself ain't too impressive, not attacking for a turn just to get +1/+1 feels like a too big of a trade-off, you didn't trade, damaged face, nor did you get any favor. Kinda silly to play this in hopes of value.

Veteran Hoplite

A 1 mana 2/6 Olympian creature with Roar: Deal 4 damage to this creature.

Nice 1-drop for the Olympian tribe decks, goes well with a lot of new cards that involve healing as well as the old one such as Harpe and of course the god power Heal. This isn't preferably a turn one play but more like a combo piece for getting tempo with other cards. It can even serve as a Skeleton Heavy with the god power use. Quite a flexible card and because of its low cost it will be used for gaining tempo advantage in a couple of Light archetypes.

That's it for today's review. Light is getting nice support for many types of decks, including Midrange, The Chosen One, Control, and even Aggro. With additional board clears now there is no doubt Light will be able to prepare for any match-up. Olympian tag did get a lot of new creatures but not much direct support. Maybe the sheer number of Olympians could enable a card like Spartan to carry it hard enough, we will see. If you have any questions or want to discuss some cards in detail please leave a comment below.

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Thank you for reading!

,z3ll