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Heirs of the Omen is the third set for Shadowverse : Worlds Beyond, and Runecraft still relies on the same trio of Legendary cards from Legends Rise. 10134120 is a midgame machine spellboosting our hand three times. 10134110 represents a ton of pressure, spellboosts our hand five times, and often is our finisher through its enhance ability. Last, 10134310 is basically a free turn once we discounted it enou.
Through the power of these three cards, Runecraft decks are able to adopt different play styles :
- We can play as a midrange proactive deck, looking to dominate from turn four to seven. In that scenario, we use 10134120 alongside 10133130 to anchor the board early, while 10234120 and 10134110 bring immense pressure in the follow-up turns, representing a full board each.
- Against slower opponents, or simply because we don't have the ressources to pressure our opponent, a combo oriented game plan works just as well. Here, we'll focused on slowing down the pace, looking to keep the board clean and our defenses high. Our focus will be to discount 10134310, and unleash an OTA type of turn down the line. That turn typically revolves around 10104120 or 10134110 enhanced ability.
Heirs of the Omen brought 10304120, another card able to deal a good chunk of damage in the late game, which added a new wrinkle to that gameplan.
Overall, Runecraft probably is the best class in Shadowverse : Worlds Beyond since the game launched. Thanks to its trio of fantastic legendary cards, the class always managed to be competitive, mixing the midrange and combo play styles perfectly.
In this third set, Runecraft will be very similar to what we played during Infinity Evolved, with the hybrid Spellboost - Earth Rites deck leading the way. Arguably, that build can still be played the same way as we did in Infinity Evolve. Yet, the arrival of 10304120 offers an alternative to 10104120, with yet another card able to serve both to wrestle tempo in our favor, or contribute to a devastating late game combo.
How to Play the Runecraft Spellboost Deck
This would be the default way to build the deck since Infinity Evolved, and these 40 cards have remained the same with Heirs of the Omen. The only change we could observe is the inclusion of 10304120 in some lists. The 3-cost is another double purpose type of card, perfect for Runecraft's strategy. We can use it early on to control the board, or later in the match, to add 90004330 to our damage potential.
In order to include it, the deck will typically remove 10104120 and two copies of 10133130. Since we now focus on direct damage to close the game, and do not require finding 10104120 anymore, swapping one 10031310 for a third 10234120 improves our ability to bring pressure in the mid-game.
Speaking of pressure, I see many players pilot this deck thinking they have time, and they should just drag the game until they reach 10134310 plus 10104120. I believe we have to think the opposite way : Bring pressure if you can, force your opponent to answer your threats. Let the combo build itself and reward you for dictating the pace of the game.
If you play with that intend, and actually manage to put your opponent on the back foot, the game becomes so much easier to navigate. Indeed, you aren't trying to find ways to survive until 10134310 and 10104120 are ready to play. Instead, you are asking your opponent to answer problems, until an unsolvable one comes around.
Even if you lost some health early on and need to play 10132310 to heal back up, handling the board first will guarantee you aren't just buying time, but actually getting out of the danger zone.
Not only surviving until turn ten gets easier this way, dealing damage to our opponent also improves 10104120 cards. Ten health means 90004110 wins, while 90004130 represents six or twelve, depending on if you have one or two. Then, progressing through these break points is important.
Even without 10104120, dealing a bit of damage through the course of the game make 10134110 and 10304120 direct damage potential much scarier for the opponent.
Heirs of the Omen has slowed the pace of the game a bit, but raised the damage potential of most classes. Then, while it might look easier to control the board compared to Infinity Evolved, we will likely have to be able to absorb a couple of heavy blows in order to reach 10 energy.
Swordcraft now uses 10324110, Havencraft gained 10364120, Dragoncraft's Disdain synergy is very much damage oriented, and Portalcraft's 10374110 tells you everything about that new strategy.
In a way, this environment rewards seizing the board even more, as we want to force our opponent to be reactive instead of dealing direct damage to use without consequences. Then, don't think you are safe simply because the board does not look threatening.
Runecraft Spellboost Deck Tips and Strategies
Impose your flow on a match
Thinking our combo isn't available until we get ten play points so we play like we are in a giant waiting room will lose you so many games. Instead, keep your opponent under pressure, give them cards to worry about. This way, turn ten comes to you, rather than having to pray for your life until you can reach it.
If you manage to get all Evolves and Super-Evolves out of your opponent, you might be able to just slam 10104120 or 10134110 even if 10134310 was not spellboosted enough, and win through sheer value.
Know your opponent's comfort zone
In order to reach ten play points, we will have to go through our opponent's comfort zone, that time they have their best cards available and start throwing heavy blows. We already discussed how much simpler it is to play with initiative rather than being forced to answer every problem they throw at us. Yet, if we have to, it is important to have an idea which type of cards they will typically use:
- Dragoncraft: Storm followers mostly. Have a Ward ready, and keep your health high.
- Abysscraft: Direct Damage through 10154110. Keep your health high and pressure to make it a board centric battle.
- Portalcraft: Chips away at your health through the course of the game, until 10374110 starts to push damage for real. Keep your health high and give them something to worry about.
- Forestcraft: Lots of cheap cards until they land a heavy blow, sometimes up to 20 damage at once. Their combo is available before ours, so we have to play like a midrange, pressure minded deck in this one.
- Havencraft: Chips away at your health through the course of the game while keeping your board clean. Keep your health high in order to reach turn ten and win in one swing.
- Swordcraft: Focuses on the board until Storm followers come for the kill from turn six to nine. Keep their board clean and your health high.
Manage your Evolves
Evolving is a key part of performing with this deck. We can use them for pressure, defense, or support depending on how we anticipate to win that game.
Our two main evolve targets are 10232110 and 10234120, while we typically want to keep a Super-Evolve for the win, either with 10134110 or to pair with 90004310.
Running 10304120 gives us a bit more freedom in that area, although we have to make sure our opponent can't heal out of our damage range to rely solely on 90004330 for the win.
Yet, it can be difficult to keep up with an opponent using their evolves and pressuring us while trying to keep ours for the perfect moment. Then, keep in mind 10134120 has a solid defensive evolve, although we would like to transform 10134110 for free if possible to handle board duties.
Also, 10133120 has a support Super-Evolve, in case we would need to dig for 10104120 to close the match.
Budget and Possible Inclusions
The hybrid deck is fairly set in stone at this point, with only the choice to run 10104120 or 10304120 as our second win condition alongside 10134110 in the air.
If changes were to occur, it would most likely be to adapt to a changing metagame. For example, 10133130 would likely be cut in a very slow-paced environment. This would reduce our need to generate a lot of Earth Sigils, meaning 10133120 could likely go as well, giving ourselves more room for draw, or diverse win conditions.
We could almost envision running both 10104120 and 10304120 in that slow metagame.
Budget wise, If you do not have three copies of 10134120 or 10134110, your deck will necessarily be worse. This is the main issue with Runecraft, the class is quite demanding in terms of legendary cards.
At the most, I could consider removing the Earth Rite package if 10234120 was missing, playing the deck with the Spellboost synergy only :
Feel to include strong legendary cards such as 10304120 or 10204110 if you do have them.
Closing Words
At full strength, I believe Runecraft can compete with any deck in the game. Sure, the draws, especially in the mid-game, will have a huge impact on the deck's ability to perform, while most decks will push for lethal before we reach our combo.
However, when this deck manages to keep the opponent in check early, and transition to a strong mid-game, I feel there is little the opponent can do about it, no matter the class they are playing. From there, we simply ask if they want to lose early to 10134120 and 10134110, or wait for 10104120 to show up.
