May 23 SRL list update

(Suspended, Restricted, Limited)

Written By - Thomas NeilsonJune 4th, 2024

The Scorching Of The Scorch Realm

The Demon Legion was undoubtedly the center of attention heading into this SRL list. The Black Magic Fallen/BMF Combo deck was quickly an oppressive list in the competitive scene soon after it's discovery, only having a hay day as long as it did thanks to the timing of SRL updates. Whilst the SRL update very much cut away at the most problematic play patterns, there was clearly also a focus on tuning down the regular versions of Onoskelis and Adramelech, which have both been consistently top-tier decks.

Whilst neither the standard Fallen Control nor Black Magic Adramelech are showing too problematic of play lines, they've certainly enjoyed a long time at the top, and the archetypes having their consistency nerfed will help pave the way for other archetypes to blossom with the release of Guardians' Creed. If these nerfs do prove too aggressive, there will be a large variety of options for a future SRL list to return enough tools to these Warlords to be able to continue to compete at a competitive level.

Onoskelis, The Fallen Angel Priestess

Bolster The Fallen Forces

The three of Onoskelis' cards added to the Restricted list share one theme, in being powerful components of Onoskelis' consistency. Bolster is specifically one of the best Starters available for Onoskelis, drawing 2, and discarding one on play. This helps to immediately start Onoskelis' engine off to churn through cards and find her important stax pieces, value generation, and interaction. Being one of the main inclusions in the BMF combo was likely the death knell for a card already close to SRL potential.

Fallen Brimstone Sky

Brimstone Sky is one of the other major parts of this discard engine, being both a 2 for 1, albeit as a fortified, but also with it's discard ability either letting you chain more discard effects, or to rip cards out of your opponents hand. With both halves of this card being impressive card advantage pieces it's no surprise to see Fallen Brimstone Sky make the list.

The Deeper We've Fallen

The Deeper We've Fallen is the last of these fallen cards to get hit, and yet another card that replaces itself when discarded. The key factors shared between the three cards hit is both the power and consistency they provide to Onoskelis, as well as their usage in the FTK setup of BMF.

Fallen Inferno

Luckily, this SRL list isn't all bad news for the Fallen Priestess. Whilst she is loosing a bulk of her consistency pieces, the return of Fallen Inferno will help to ensure that she can still maintain a reasonable degree of her discard synergy and consistency. Notably, Fallen Inferno is locked to Onoskelis, meaning it can't be abused in Adramelech combo lists.

Adramelech, The Lord Of Black Magic

Black Magic Mind Tremors

It's no surprise that Adramelech is seeing changes alongside the hits to the Fallen card draw engine, with Black Magic Mind Tremors being one of the Black Magic cards on the SRL list. For Mind Tremors, the card isn't part of the card selection/filtering, but rather a safety and consistency piece. On play, this allows you to remove any face-up card, usually dealing with the hate pieces that the deck can struggle against such as Concrete Catacombs, and it's once per turn helps to dodge inherent conscription negates like Final Resting Place. The eradication effect isn't just another way to erad even more cards, but also a piece of recovery. With Mind Tremors down to one, Black Magic will be feeling a hit not to it's consistency, but to it's ability to fight against hate cards, and it's ability to pad it's DCM.

Black Magic Tome - Greed

In contrast to Mind Tremors, Black Magic Tome - Greed is a draw piece through and through for Black Magic. One of the strongest cards in the deck, being both a draw 2, with additional eradication synergies make Tome - Greed an incredibly important piece of the deck for consistency. The deck has however shown a ton of consistency in both the BMF and regular versions, and the deck will likely continue to have a powerful level of consistency, but with slightly less strict card advantage.

Black Magic Fallen

Second Chance

If this card does see a Second Chance, it likely won't be for a while. Whilst technically a bounty card, this full suspension is clearly in focus on dealing with the incredibly problematic "BMF" Adramelech decks which were able to threaten consistent turn 1/2 kills thanks to the combined draw packages of Adramelech and Onoskelis, as well as with the Bounty Revive options of Twilight Rose and Second Chance. Whilst Twilight Rose is the stronger of the two, it's limited to once per turn, heavily limiting most of, if not all, of the combo potential. Ultimately, Second Chance is a card which will likely only ever be used in decks with potentially problematic gameplay elements, focused on consistently & repeatedly using the abilities of a single Warrior, and the suspension both eliminates the most problematic FTK potential of BMF, whilst also preventing future abuse of the card.

Ultimately, the two demon decks are largely losing consistency pieces, meaning players will still be able to leverage the strong Control tools from Onoskelis, and the fast Combo/mill potential of Adramelech, but at a less frequent rate, and with more opportunities for players to make meaningful 1-1 trades against these decks in the mid-game, without being drowned out in card advantage/selection.

Creed Caution

Past the scorch realm, the SRL list changes seem largely primed to help ease into Guardians' Creed with both nerfs to potential powerhouses that may take over once Guardians' Creed releases, and some buffs to other lists to help keep them relevant as other decks step up in the metagame.

Sharn, The ORcbane Bloodmaiden

Pride Of The Orcbane

Sharn has stayed near the top of the metagame right alongside Onoskelis, making SRL changes common. While a single card hit may seem like a small change, it's important to note that the upcoming release of Guardians' Creed will be drastically shaking things up on the competitive level. With all of the additions in the set, Sharn is receiving a minimal amount of support for her main Boars Aggro archetype. As such, even if the deck isn't taking a "hit", it will be fighting against more tuned and complete archetypes in the upcoming metagame, and especially against more interaction able to break up her strong turn one starters. Cards like Tethered To The Chaos Divine and Topaz Amulet for example, are incredibly powerful effects to counter Reservoirs Of Revival Ooze and Sildud's Call Of The Orcbane.

Castiel, Tears Of THe Lost MEssiah / Michael, The Divine Wrath

Chaos Divine Reconnaissance

One of the few Angel cards previously on the SRL list, Chaos Divine Reconnaissance has been dragged down to the restricted tier. Additionally, the card has seen a minor functional errata to it's effect in the latest update to the rulebook. This change makes it so any effect that conscripts multiple angel warriors to play at the same time will only cause Reconnaissance to draw a single card. With both of these changes, Chaos Divine Reconnaissance becomes a significantly less consistent card draw engine for Angels. Despite new additions for the Sanctify and Lost Messiah archetypes, the Angel realm may be fighting an uphill battle to hold ground on the tierlist when Guardians' Creed releases.

Halo Of The Lost Messiah

While Castiel has performed well in the metagame since EOR's release, the deck has managed to remain largely unscathed through SRL changes, with Chaos Divine Reconnaissance being one of the few relevant hits. As a strong deck picking up pieces in GCD, it makes sense that it's being preemptively reined in to prevent any early dominance. Halo Of The Lost Messiah has been crucial for the archetype as your main vehicle for accruing a significant number of Holy Counters for your third turn kill. Reducing the card to two copies doesn't prevent the deck from setting this up at all, but makes it more vulnerable in needing to find the copies, and being more reliant on shuffling Halo back into deck if eradicated. This does also make a version of Castiel leveraging Alexandria, Protector Of The Pure and Wooley slightly more appealing.

Sh'Lara, The Mystic Fire Phoenix / Merrisod, The Master Of Dragonic Spirits

Feathers In The Wind

After Onoskelis and Sharn, Sh'Lara has also straggled around the S-Tier mark, although with less overall player attention. With Guardians' Creed, whilst there was no explicit support for Mystic Fire, there are a selection of pieces for Dragons, Jinns, and crossover support between those two archetypes. Additionally, fantastic generic support like Zenacon, the Magnificent Marvel look to push the Realm up as a whole. As such, a preemptive hit to Feathers In The Wind limits how consistently explosive these decks can be in their ramp style game plans, trying to exponentially grow their resources, and drown out opposing decks in the late game. This is one card I could see being a more likely candidate for having a copy returned, but the caution into the metagame is a good option to keep things more open heading into GCD.

Ethelhime, The Strongarm Alewife

Alehouse Drink - Skoal

Like the other decks in this category, Ethelhime Alehouse Storm has been a high power list in the meta, and although it isn't receiving a huge number of supportive pieces in Creed, the additions that it's getting help to buff the consistency of the deck. Helga, The Alehouse Brewmaster will essentially give the deck six copies of Alehouse Drink - Skoal, but with only two total copies in deck, the list won't be able to hit incredibly high roll plays such as triggering multiple copies of Skoal off of Alehouse Drink - Moonshine. This change helps to lower both the floor and the ceiling of the decks potential, making it slightly less explosive and finicky.

Released From Shackles

As mentioned, alongside the nerfs to some top tiers, we do also see a few pieces coming back to help keep some other warlords competitive in the upcoming metagame.

Prometheus, The Eternal Spirit

Creationist Power Of The Primordials

One of the most explosive and dangerous decks in the early days of the game, Prometheus has finally been freed from the sins of his past, with the last 2 Titan cards on the SRL list being fully released. Whilst this may allow a previous powerhouse to step up once again, he'll be fighting an uphill battle into a field more packed with interactive tools, especially once Guardians' Creed releases. As Prometheus isn't receiving a ton of support in the set past a few alternative gameplay options like Crius, Shimmering Starborn and Percy, these changes will help to retain competitive strength.

Released From Shackles

The other card returned, Released From Shackles, is an appealing consistency piece for any build of Prometheus. Chaining eradication effects on either side of the card and being a way to recur your Warriors makes it a solid consideration. It's Bloodbourne 8 cost does make it a little more risky, and Primordial decks may not be as interested in running a full playset, but more flexibility is almost always a benefit in deck building.

Mortis, The Grimm SHadowhand / Mal'ady, Creator Of The Putrid Sickness

Across The Soul River Styx

Moving from 1 -> 2 copies, Across The Soul River Styx was another earlier candidate for the SRL list. With a higher degree of interaction available on the first turn and beyond, Mortis's openers are notably less scary, and there are relevant bounty hate pieces available to give any deck fantastic interaction against Undead. With this shift, it makes sense to open up Across The Soul River Styx to let Mortis keep up with these metagame movements. Notably, this is also an interesting buff to the Mal'ady combo decks using Sir Grimm Crimson, The Undead Prince, and Across The Soul River Styx to loop under Mausoleum. Whilst that deck largely held popularity due to the lack of support for the putrid archetype, it's possible that a package of Soul River Styx and Sir Grimm Crimson may be an appealing include in Mal'ady lists to threaten a combo kill.

Merrisod, The Master Of Dragonic Spirits

Dragon Sprite Life Transfer

In contrast to Mortis and Prometheus, Merrisod is receiving more support in GCD through pieces like Dragon Dangerclaw, and Lamp Of The Dueling Dragon. Dragon Sprite Life Transfer isn't the biggest piece to return to the deck, but as the list has had a reasonably tame performance overall in EOR, it's unlikely to be too dangerous to return Life Transfer. If the list does explode in a big way once Creed drops, there will be a larger variety of pieces to be potentially tuned down to bring the list back in line with the rest of the meta.

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