Azir was a mortal emperor of Shurima in a far distant age, a proud man who stood at the cusp of immortality. His hubris saw him betrayed and murdered at the moment of his greatest triumph, but now, millennia later, he has been reborn as an Ascended being of immense power. With his buried city risen from the sand, Azir seeks to restore Shurima to its former glory.
The Emperor of the Sands joins Riftbound as a Calm - Order legend, but shares nothing with Leona, and another Token specialist, but plays very differently to Viktor.
Indeed, while the other two pack a good amount of removal, Azir is more proactive in how he develops, only packing the essential removals OGN-209 and OGN-213. Instead, the Spiritforged release will look to play more proactively, a direction its ability sort of forces him to follow.
Azir is not forced to build around tokens, and doesn't have that many cards to do so. The legend will run a copy of OGN-233 and three of SFD-153 but won't use the likes of OGN-221 or OGN-208. Instead, the ability will require a good amount of equipment cards, typically nine to twelve, logically tilting the deck towards its own units rather than the ones the opponent develops.
At first glance, one might look at tournaments lists and notice Azir plays very few units. However, multiple spells will summon Sand Soldiers, which combined with the equipments, represents more than half of the build.
Thus, whether you attempt to buff one unit with gears, or try to exhaust your opponent through creating new soldiers turn after turn, the Emperor of the Sands will be played with its own development and synergies as the priority.
Spiritforged Azir Deck
Azir Signature Cards
With only one copy of SFD-177 as the chosen champion in the best performing Azir deck so far, it is safe to say both champion units aren't impacting the metagame a ton at the moment. Actually, SFD-050 sees more play alongside Ornn rather than its featured legend.
As for SFD-177, the card makes a lot of sense to run, but one copy feels enough. Indeed, the card is rarely used as a turn two proactive play. Rather, it is kept as a constantly available, surefire way to conquer a battlefield, sending it immediately alongside tokens thanks to the accelerate keyword.
SFD-198 follows a different path, looking like a clear staple at the moment, and a reason why Azir would rather play gears and tokens rather than its champion units early in a match. The 6-cost spell naturally fits in the deck as Azir needs to play a plethora of equipment cards to make sure it can use its ability every turn. Without this additional reward, the deck probably wouldn't be as reliable, so expect multiple copies of SFD-198 in most Azir decks.
Azir Staple Cards and Synergies
Azir is a conqueror type of legend, looking to score every turn as he takes battlefields back from its opponent.
Among the equipments the legend has to run to trigger its ability, SFD-153 and SFD-042 fit that philosophy the best. One features the most might for its cost, while the other creates tokens we can use in the future.
Once in control of a battlefield, Azir has the chance to be quite annoying to its opponent through hidden cards. SFD-154 to add some might, OGN-213 to remove an opposing attacker or SFD-043 to retreat our units to our base, ready to attack again next turn.
When those translate to a hold, Azir can use that turn without the need to conquer to instead develop tokens in its base, or play more expensive cards.
This last card can also serve to score the last point in a match, just like SFD-163 will also serve that purpose. The deck packs plenty of ways to use our tokens as soon as they are summoned, so SFD-163 and SFD-043 don't have to be kept in hand for ever, they can also be used during the course of the match.
