In an effort to continually improve the runway to a new set release, Legend Story Studios chose with Rosetta to reveal all of the Common and Rare cards in the upcoming set during spoiler season last week. Therefore, the most spicy and exciting Majestic and Legendary cards now wait patiently for their new owners to reveal them to the world at the Rosetta World Premiere in Tampa, Florida. And while some murmurs arose about the lack of impact the spoiler season had this time around, the fact remains that Rosetta already contains impactful, powerful cards at both Common and Rare. Here are 10 cards that stand out from the crowd for both limited and constructed play.
1. Burn Up//Shock
I would be remiss if we started this list anywhere other than with the newest card type in the game: Meld cards. A Meld card is a card with two halves that can be activated independently or in concert with each other. It counts as a single card with combined typing (Runeblade/Lightning Action/Instant) and enables incredible synergies within their respective heroes. We have currently seen these cards printed at both Rare and Majestic, and I wouldn’t be surprised if several more were discovered this coming weekend at those rarities as well. Although I’m a Wizard stan at heart, Burn Up//Shock terrifies me to my core. Aurora has already seen some Blitz experimentation thanks to the 1st Strike decks, and all signs indicate the full-on return of the Cheerios Briar archetype that made her so potent in constructed formats. The fact that this card gives us another activation of Electrify alongside a free point of arcane damage for 0 cost is shocking. I see this being a staple of both limited and constructed formats for Aurora.
2. Rootbound Carapace
In the words of Han Solo, “She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid”. Rootbound Carapace is a rockstar under the hood. At base-level, this card acts as a 0 for 4 defense reaction in a limited set with few ways to stop breakpoints. If a player has the capacity to Decompose. Couple that with the fact that both Verdance and Florian are desperate to Decompose early and often and you have a recipe for a highly sought after card in the draft setting. Simply put, a defensive card that allows you to Decompose on your opponent’s turn means that you can activate your hero’s effect much more quickly and safely than if you could only do it on your turn. Rootbound Carapace feels like a natural inclusion in constructed for this reason as well. It may be a simple card, but its power lies in how much it does for the Earth heroes that play it.
3. Fruits of the Forest
Yum Yum...
That is all.
But really, much like Rootbound Carapace, this card does nearly everything you want and need as an Earth hero. A solid 3 for 7 attack action card that can apply pressure? Check. A way to fill your graveyard with Earth cards quickly for Decompose? Check. Life gain to help you stabilize in the midgame? Check. Blocks 3? Well… we can’t all be perfect. Fruits of the Forest hearkens back to the Windup suite of cards from Heavy Hitters, and I am confident in saying that this is a very good move by LSS. Those cards felt powerful, synergistic, and incredibly fun to play. It’s clear that LSS recognizes that and I’m happy to see them leaning that way in terms of design again.
4. Trip the Light Fantastic
Speaking of instant speed discard effects, Trip the Light Fantastic is one of the best answers that this set provides to the arcane conundrum. Without access to arcane barrier equipment, how does one interact with Arcane damage in a meaningful way? This is a topic worthy of an entire article in and of itself, but with cards like Trip the Light Fantastic, LSS could be tipping their hand as to how we might be interacting with Arcane damage in the future. In the here and now, however, this functions similarly to Fruits of the Forest above: it does just about everything you want in a Lightning card. It’s an on-rate, breakpoint lightning attack that can activate synergies with other lightning effects, and it can be used to prevent Arcane damage in a limited format with (thus far) only a few ways to consistently stop Arcane. I expect to see at least a few limited format games come down to Arcane damage for lethal being stopped by an activation of Trip the Light Fantastic.
5. Vantage Point
Vantage Point is another card that seems tailor-made for this set’s limited format. However, don’t allow that fact to cloud your judgment on the card: LSS might as well have scribbled “FINISHER” across the textbox. Overpower was introduced to the game in Bright Lights, but didn’t make a lasting impact on any format until its inclusion in the Heavy Hitters set. A toned down version of Dominate, it was kept in check in the Heavy Hitters limited format thanks to the inclusion of both Block cards and a wide variety of attack reactions in Warrior. This set, so far, has zero attack reactions, zero block cards, and exactly one defense reaction which we highlighted earlier. That makes this one of the most face-up finishers I’ve seen LSS print in recent memory. I plan to watch my opponent’s pitch zone like a hawk in case I see this card make its way through the deck for a second cycle finish. If so, I know that the game has a very specific damage clock I need to play around.
6. Arcane Cussing
This was the first card revealed during the spoiler season that made me say “What the $@#&”. Arcane Cussing will certainly have its place in the limited format, but its impact in Constructed is patently absurd. Talk about bolstering the Runeblade class… Vynnset mains rejoice, as this card can be played and then immediately triggered by her hero effect if followed up with a Shadow non-attack action. It can also come in handy if the Runechants needed to Rune Gate an attack from Banished already exist. It forces the opponent into a full-block scenario, lest they grant you three new Runechants on the back end. In aggro Viserai, Arcane Cussing acts as a Revel in Runeblood on the board, forcing your opponent to accept their fate as 3 more Runechants will almost certainly be hurtled at their face. This card is nuts, and does a huge service for the Runeblade class as a whole.
7. Glyph Overlay
If you thought I’d pass by the opportunity to pump the tires on my spoiler card for this set, then you’d be wrong. How could I? Glyph Overlay is the first card that ACTUALLY feels like you could easily activate its Surge effect. Again, I could write an article about my thoughts on the Surge keyword, but let’s keep things focused on THIS card in particular. Surge requires you to buff a spell well past its base damage, and no card is as easy to do this with as Glyph Overlay. That’s because it is the only card that has the buff baked into its card effect! Couple that with the above average Surge effect printed on the card and you have a recipe for a Wizard staple in any deck that plans to run Sigils. Will it see the light of day in limited? Yes. Will it be played in constructed? Very likely, yes.
8. Exploding Aether
Exploding Aether deserves your attention for a myriad of reasons. For one, it is a strict upgrade to Stir the Aetherwinds as it has natural go again and can apply to weapons. Also, IT CAN APPLY TO WEAPONS. Do you happen to remember the time they printed a signature weapon called Kraken’s Aethervein? They declared it to be Iyslander’s signature weapon, who then proceeded to rotate out of both the classic constructed and blitz formats. Now, in the Living Legend format, Kraken’s Aethervein can reach its true potential thanks in part to this card. Even if that combo doesn't break the LL meta in half, this card will still do major work in classic constructed and blitz for just about any wizard hero that can pay for it.
9. Chorus of the Amphitheater
Chorus of the Amphitheater earns the distinction of the card that tickled my “Johnny” brain most quickly. I love trying to win games in creative, unexpected ways, and Chorus scratches that itch in every aspect. Here we have a slightly under-rate spell that acts as a 2 for 2 arcane at blue, but comes with the (possibly?) insane benefit of essentially amping the arcane damage of every spell you play during the turn. Its analog is an Aether Wildfire connecting for 1 on your opponent's turn, at the cost of discarding a single card. Factor in the fact that it more easily empties your hand for a Kindle activation and you start to see all of the reasons why I love this card out of the gate. The jury is still out on whether this card is bait in Constructed, but I have high hopes for it!
10. Overflow the Aetherwell
THIS… This is the Zap we needed, but we didn’t deserve. On a day where Wizard players were inundated with 0 cost 3 damage spells, this spoiler from MajiinBae stood head and shoulders above the rest. Here is just one example if you want to know why: to date, I've logged over 100 games with Blaze, Firemind in blitz. A play pattern I've often found myself in lately involves my opponent dropping to no resources after I've blocked with an Absorb in Aether. Because they have seen me commit cards to blocking, they assume little to no damage will be coming their way in response. This has opened up the opportunity to banish something like an Aether Arc via Blaze and send it for 3 damage thanks to the buff from Absorb. With blue Overflow the Aetherwell, we can make this same play, trigger its Surge effect and then use the resources to send Waning Moon in as a follow-up. This is one example of many that highlights how potent extra resources can be in Wizard. This will likely be an auto-include in every Wizard deck that plays any amount of Amp effects going forward.
Conclusion
Again, I can understand how some in the community have been a bit let down by how the Rosetta spoilers season unfolded. However, if the power level of these Rosetta commons and rares are any indication, we have a great deal of excitement in store for us when the majestics and legendaries are discovered next weekend! What do you think about the set so far? Are there any more deserving common or rare cards that I missed? Be sure to sound off below and I hope to see you in Tampa this weekend!
