Nothing freshens up a game like a new expansion. Riot Game’s CCG is already an amazing title, but if you are itching to try new strategies and decks, the latest Legends of Runeterra expansion has you covered. Released on March the 3rd, Empires of the Ascended offers 110 new cards you can try your hands on. From a new region, nine new and interesting champions three fresh mechanics, there is a lot to get excited about in the new card set.
Like the sun, Shurima always rises
The most substantial inclusion in Empires of the Ascended would be its new region: Shurima. The sun-baked lands were once home to a great civilization which the champions and their followers now seek to restore. Shurima seems to be a more combat-oriented faction with a nice variety of interactions and tricks. Many cards use the powers of the desert to summon Sand Soldiers and give you a number of advances in combat. There are a few -X/-0 spells for that surprise blowout and some nice destroy spells as well. The most powerful of them seems to be Sandstorm, a whopping nine mana spell that allows you to Obliterate up to three enemy units or landmarks. Pro tip: you should play Darude’s song every time you do so for extra style points.
If you want to bring Shurima to its former glory, you will need to restore the Sun disk. The new landmark has a countdown of 25, and it ticks down every turn. There are also cards that will help you speed up that process, so you won’t need to wait for eons to accomplish that goal. While restoring the Sun Disk might not seem like an easy task, the reward is more than worth it since doing so will level up your Ascended champions to level three. Yep, you read that right; some can now gain one additional level.
The Sun Disk rewards you for playing cards from Shurima and brings a powerful effect
Choose your Champion
The Legends of Runeterra expansion adds nine new champions to tinker with. Included are some League of Legends fan favorites such as Nasus, LeBlanc and The Emperor of the Sands, Azir himself. While most of the new additions are relegated to Shurima, there are new additions to some of the other regions as well. Regardless of which ones you pick, they all bring new and exciting abilities to the table.
A new inclusion comes from the champions with Ascended creature type. As mentioned, these heroes can get to level three once you have restored the Sun Disk. If you thought leveling up a character once in Legends of Runeterra made it strong, you ain’t seen anything yet. All the Ascended champions have devastating effects and will usually quickly end the game in your favor.
Yo Dawg, we heard you like decks, so we put a deck in your deck
Empires of the Ascended also introduces Champion Mastery. Similar to League of Legends, you will be able to level up that mastery and earn special rewards related to your favorite character.
Mechanically speaking
Every self-respecting card game extension introduces a few keywords. The Legends of Runeterra expansion is no different and comes with three new ones. The countdown is the simplest of them and comes attached to Landmark cards. At the beginning of each turn, you advance the countdown with one, and once it reaches a specific value, something spectacular happens, depending on the card.
Predict allows you to look a the top three cards and pick one, shuffle your deck then put that card on top of it. This is a very exciting new mechanic as deck manipulation is always an important tool for winning a match. While not as powerful as card draw, Predict can still give you that edge.
A powerful effect to help you manipulate your deck
Finally, we have Reputation, the combat-orientated mechanic of Empires of the Ascended. Reputation offers a discount off your spells if your allies have managed to strike for five damage at least four times during the game. This effect can be quite powerful as it can turn good spells into extremely powerful (and mana efficient) ones.
Empires of the Ascended adds many exciting cards and mechanics to the game. If you are a fan of Legends of Runeterra, you should definitely check what the new expansion has in store.
