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The Chaos domain spent most of the Origins metagame as one of the worst from a competitive standpoint. Although OGN-263 and OGN-259 saw a lot of play, while OGN-267 played yo-yo with her competitive status, there wasn't a dominant Chaos legend in the metagame for a while.
Fortunately, the last month changed that dynamic, with OGS-017 rising to the top of the charts, and finally showcasing the power of Chaos cards, especially in a strategy designed to conquer aggressively.
I don't expect Spiritforged to make us wait for months before a Chaos legend becomes a force in the upcoming metagame. First, it is entirely possible OGS-017 remains a strong competitor. Then, SFD-185 and SFD-199 have many players excited and anticipating these two will be fantastic legends.
On top of those exciting picks, the way Chaos deals with opposing units is another reason to be excited for Spiritforged. The new set is designed around equipments buffing our units, which will limit our ability to remove those through sheer damage. Plus, many champion units possess Deflect, meaning we would rather not target them multiple times, or miss when we commit a spell on those.
In that context, I expect the ability to move or return those units to our opponent's hand to be a relatively safe way to handle beefed up combatants.
These articles are focused on the cards I feel will have the most impact in the Spiritforged set within their domain. However, this doesn't necessarily mean I believe they are all powerhouses we will play in every deck.
A card can also leave its mark as a fantastic side deck option, a solid support, or be a strong fit in a precise environment. Then, I rated each card out of five stars for more clarity on their expected role :
Niche synergy contributor — Great side deck inclusion.
Great fit for the Spiritforged metagame — Playable in multiple decks
Future staple for the domain — Able to shape the Spiritforged metagame
Doran's Ring
I know, again with the cheap equipment supposed to be a filler for one of that domain's synergy. It's not my fault these cards represent both a permanent buff to our units and a way to synergize with our deck. Of course, I'm interested in crafting more copies of OGN-185 to buff OGN-036 and OGN-109, or get more flexible discards for OGN-251!
Another synergy I like a lot with these cheap equipments is how they will represent a great way to trigger certain abilities. For example, SFD-124 will synergize with SFD-203 to create some SFD-T03, meaning the cost to equip will be transferred to pay another power cost later on. It will also allow targeting a unit to trigger SFD-195 when it is time to move a ton.
Hand Bargain
There is a legend in the Chaos domain which readies two runes at the end of their turn, and Riot felt it was safe to give that domain a non-restricted counter spell. Well, I guess we'll all keep two runes open when playing an important spell again OGS-017 from now on.
When a card forces your opponent to be careful about it, no matter whether you actually have it or not, it is a sign said card is pretty strong.
Fizz - Trickster
I've seen multiple posts from players claiming their goal in this new set is to play SFD-200 on SFD-140 to extract as much value as possible from that combination. It is entirely possible that spell is banished after played because of SFD-140.
I fancy a pair with SFD-111 myself, allowing to summon multiple units during our opponents turn for nothing if we had more of SFD-111 in our trash.
Another fun one would be to play the SFD-111 you hid before, summon SFD-140 and pick a SFD-136 your opponent could have never predicted since you were tapped out of runes.
Even outside those gimmicks, SFD-140 looks like a great card. Replaying OGN-168, OGS-011 or OGN-173 sounds fantastic for tempo. OGN-183 turns the new 3-cost into a draw. Last, There are four signature spells we could target in SFD-196, OGN-264, OGN-260 and SFD-204.
SFD-140 has too many synergies not to become a great card, especially as we only discussed the options in the Chaos domain. If we start digging into the Fury or Mind spells, two domains Chaos mixes really well with, the list of strong spells is endless. OGN-094, OGN-024, SFD-070 …
Edge of Night
If you control a battlefield, which will happen early on in a match, you get to hide this for a power cost. Then, whenever your opponent targets or attacks your unit at that battlefield, reveal SFD-139 to grant that unit +2 might, until it leaves the field.
If your opponent spends more resources to take it out, you get to grant +2 might to another unit for a power cost whenever you want.
This is just absurd tempo on the spot, and strong value for the remainder of the game. The card will often score a point thanks to keeping our unit alive, but we also get to re-use that buff in the future.
There are so many units in the 3 to 5-cost range that will become challenging to remove because of this card. Picture SFD-020 at 8-might during combats, OGN-103 at a base 4-might or OGN-039 at 6-might.
Something as simple as SFD-069 on turn one, conquer plus hide SFD-139 on two will be a powerful opener. You are very likely to hold with your 4-might Poro, which can then go back to base to set up a future conquest. You also got a SFD-T03 or two you'll use to equip SFD-139 in the future.
Ezreal - Prodigy
Just getting to draw one, sometimes two if your hand is empty, makes this card a solid play on most occasions. When combined with its second ability, SFD-149 becomes a must remove card. Here are a few examples :
- SFD-003 and SFD-122 are now free to repeat, while OGN-044 draws and SFD-067 reduces opposing might for no cost.
- All accelerate costs are now one energy or one power, instead of both.
- If SFD-078 is in play, any 1-cost spell is free to repeat. OGN-095 and OGN-183 say hi.
You can play the card on turn one to force your opponent into a reaction, or get more cards to help a rather weak starting hand. You could also keep it for later, so you can immediately play several cards with additional costs alongside it.
SFD-149 should become SFD-199's go-to champion unit, and probably make it into a few other decks as well.
Treasure Hunter
I've seen how difficult it was to remove OGN-185 for certain decks, and it wasn't because the card had 2-might. As such, I expect this one to become the go-to turn one play of most Chaos legends with many power costs to pay.
Obviously, the card was designed for SFD-203, but we want to be careful with this one. Indeed, if we use a SFD-T03 to pay for a power cost, we don't get to create a new one, since we have to recycle a rune for SFD-203 to trigger. Then, the 2-cost will serve to alleviate the burden of playing cards with a power cost of two or three runes : SFD-143 if accelerated, SFD-120, SFD-204, SFD-140 plus a spell with power cost attached…
While there are plenty of opportunities to use that SFD-T03 with SFD-203, there is another legend very much interested in SFD-130 : OGN-267.
Just like her Chaos-Body counterpart, OGN-267 also has a signature spell and a champion unit requiring multiple power costs. More importantly, the Bounty Hunter doesn't need to recycle runes, she is just obligated to do so in order to pay for certain cards. If those cost were lifted, I'm sure OGN-267 would be able to curve much more smoothly, and be an excellent fast-paced midrange deck, able to curve to large units such as OGN-192.
Plus, SFD-130 would pair very well with OGN-162 to move multiple times in a turn.
Closing Words
I could only find 6 high-impact cards for the Chaos domain, which is relatively low compared to other domains, considering Body Mind had 8, while Calm sits atop with 9. Yet, these cards do not include the new legends or their signature spells. Moreover, my excitement for Chaos in this new metagame stems from how Chaos cards will interact with the new equipment synergy.
Once the Spiritforged metagame will be set, I wouldn't be surprise to see Chaos as the domain with the most competitive legends.
Good Game Everyone
