Overview:
Since the major update of Shadowverse, many balance changes had been added. More importantly, they added new cards called the Shadowverse Darkness Evolved pack. These new cards swept the game and introduced new strategies and deck builds.
So what exactly are these Darkness Evolved pack? Well, they added 109 new cards for each classes including Neutral. I will not be listing each one of them. Instead, I will mention the changes they brought for each classes, some guides, some suggestions and maybe mention some noteworthy cards.
By the way, the Shadowverse team will sending 5 Darkness Evolved pack for every player who finishes the tutorial before December 28, 2016. This is a token of their appreciation for the success they gained since the launch of the game. If you still haven’t claimed the reward, you still have plenty of time to login and play the game.
Shadowverse Darkness Evolved Guide:
Forestcraft:
Forestcraft is well known for its ability to overwhelm the field with followers. With the addition of the Darkness Evolved cards, Forestcraft gained a lot flexibility. The most noticeable cards are Elf Knight Cynthia and Crystalia Tia.
Elf Knight Cynthia: Whenever another allied follower attacks, give it +1/+0. Evolve: Summon 2 Fairies. Whenever another allied follower attacks, give it +1/+0.
If you think of Forestcraft, you think of Fairies and how to take advantage of Forestcraft’s enormous prowess of putting Fairies into your hand. Many players takes advantage of these Fairies by using Petal Fencer which turns every Fairies that comes into play into another Petal Fencer. It’s great but with Elf Knight Cynthia, you can make, not only your Fairies more dangerous, but any other followers including Neutral cards. In my opinion, this is an even more flexible version of Petal Fencer. As a result, you’ll gain an more reliable strategy and maybe, have a priority follower to evolve as a change.
Crystalia Tia: Fanfare: Summon a Crystalia Eve. Give it Ward and evolve it if at least 2 other cards were played this turn.
You see a lot of Forestcraft users who are very adept at using Nature’s Guidance or Ancient Elf to do a synergy of combo. Well, Crystalia Tia makes them even more dangerous. What makes this card even more game changing is, it fits with any other types of Forestcraft deck. It is so good that you won’t even miss the previous version of Homecoming.
Swordcraft:
In my opinion, Swordcraft undergone the least changes compared to other classes. This doesn’t mean that it has gotten weaker. In fact, because of the Darkness Evolved cards, it has improved a lot. The most noticeable card addition is Leonidas and Avant Blader.
Avant Blader: Fanfare: Put two random Officer cards from your deck into your hand.
The struggles for Swordcraft is the shortage of Officers from time to time especially against Control Decks. Avant Blader gives you a lot more supplies of Officers during these times. As a result, even at later turns, you’ll still have Officers you can deploy and combo with your Commanders.
Leonidas: Last Words: Summon a Leonidas’s Resolve.
This made the Swordcraft class competitive even through the late turns. The reason for this is actually because of Leonidas’s Resolve. Leonidas’s Resolve gives +3/+3 and Rush for any followers that comes into play. This means that even a Quickblader becomes dangerous at 4/4 stats! Considering the play point cost of the cards available for Swordcraft, you can end the match in a few turns even if your opponent still has large defense points.
Runecraft:
Runecraft class gained a lot because of the Darkness Evolved cards. The not so popular Earth Rite deck now become more competitive and can even go head to head against high tier Shadowverse decks. For Earth Rite, the most noticeable card and should definitely be a part of any Earth Rite decks is Remi and Rami Witchy Duo. Most card additions are to improve Earth Rite however there is a certain card that really stabilized the Spellboost aspect of Runecraft. That card is Witchbolt.
Remi and Rami Witchy Duo: Evolve: Earth Rite: Summon a Guardian Golem.
Admittedly, there are a lot of noteworthy cards added to the Earth Rite side of Runecraft. Well, it’s given that you should get those Earth Rite-summoning cards to actually make an effective Earth Rite deck. What’s good about Remi and Rami Witchy Duo is the Guardian Golem it summons upon evolving. This should be the priority unit for evolution. The stats are great and Guardian Golem can protect you from your opponent’s counter attack. Coupled, with other spells, you can literally flood the field with plenty of followers with Ward.
Witchbolt: Deal 4 damage to an enemy follower. Draw a card if an evolved allied follower is in play.
This card looks pretty normal at first glance. But think of all the cards that you’ll likely put for your Spellboost deck, this is the missing link. Spells of Runecraft are pretty effective and can even wipe out an entire enemy followers in the field. But that is considering that you have Spellboost enough to actually kill the follower. Witchbolt gives you the option to kill those pesky strong cards played at a very early turn. The best thing about this card is, you’ll have a potential to draw a card when you have an evolve follower which makes your drawing prowess even more troublesome.
Dragoncraft:
Dragoncraft usually relies on high cost cards and have the quality over quantity play style. With the Darkness Evolved cards, not anymore. These new cards gave more options to Dragoncraft and utilize its main strength which is the ability to gain an advantage of having more play point orbs you can use each turn.
Dracomancer’s Rites: Whenever you discard a card from your hand, draw a card.
Dracomancer’s Rites basically gives birth to a new deck centered around discarding lots of cards and utilizing Angel Crusher. Coupled with Wildfang Dragonewt, you can even deal direct damage to your opponent’s leader while discarding cards.
Dragonsong Flute: Fanfare: Transform each card in your hand that costs 3 or less into a Hellflame Dragon if Overflow is active for you. Whenever a card that costs 3 or less is added to your hand, transform it into a Hellflame Dragon if Overflow is active for you.
Dragonsong Flute lets you overwhelm the field with quantity without sacrificing too much quality. Hellflame Dragons only cost 2 play point orbs and has Rush ability. At 2 play point cost, the stats and ability are terrific. A real game changer for the Dragoncraft class.
Shadowcraft:
The cards available for Shadowcraft is already pretty good. With the Darkness Evolved cards, the flexibility and synergy have improved astronomically. The most noticeable cards are Midnight Haunt and Lord of the Flies.
Midnight Haunt: Countdown (2) Fanfare: Gain 13 shadows. Last Words: Change your number of shadows to 0.
Using this card, you can unleash the Deathly Tyrant’s ability very early in the game. It’s actually pretty overpowered since you can possibly end the match as early as turn 6 with the right cards.
Lord of the Flies: Fanfare: Summon a Velocious Beetle, Virulent Hornet, or Vicious Scorpion. At the start of your turn, summon a Velocious Beetle, Virulent Hornet, or Vicious Scorpion.
Okay, we’re are so used to using Death’s Breath to suddenly turn the tables around. Lord of the Flies gives you even more advantage when it comes to overwhelming the field with followers. This Legendary card works with Mordecai the Duelist to hammer down the nail on your way to winning.
Bloodcraft:
Darkness Evolved cards for Bloodcraft reinforced the decks which uses Forest Bats for offense. It also introduced a new card Bloody Mary which introduced a new kind of way to play Bloodcraft.
Bloody Mary: During your turn, deal any damage dealt to your leader to the enemy leader instead.
Bloody Mary is a unique card that improves the Bloodcraft’s ability to inflict direct damage to the enemy leader. Bloody Mary combined with Dire Bond will inflict 6 direct damage to the enemy leader and still gain the healing effect of the card. There are also many cards that deals damage to your leader which you can reflect to your opponent instead.
Vania, Vampire Princess: Whenever an allied Forest Bat comes into play, deal 1 damage to the enemy leader. Evolve: Summon a Forest Bat.
Deck utilizing Forest Bats are very aggressive. Having this card in you deck will give you more damage output and end the game earlier than your normal Forest Bat deck.
Havencraft:
The Darkness Evolved cards for Havencraft provides interesting new synergy to the class. Elana’s Prayer and Enstatued Seraph are the most noticeable. Because of their uniqueness, new decks centered around these two cards were formed and they are good enough to push you through higher ranks.
Elana’s Prayer: Whenever your leader’s defense is restored, give +1/+1 to all allied followers.
Getting lots of healing cards will not only help restore your defense. With the use of Elana’s Prayer, you can even turn each followers in play more dangerous. With the right amount of Countdown Amulets and plenty of healing cards, the situation can quickly gets out of hand if you are the opponent.
Enstatued Seraph: Countdown (1) Last Words: Summon an Awakened Seraph.
Awakened Serap: Countdown (1) Last Words: Summon a Renascent Seraph.
Renascent Seraph: Countdown (1) Last Words: Summon a Seraph Lapis, Glory Be.
Seraph Lapis, Glory Be: Countdown (1) Last Words: Win the match.
I felt the need to list all the stages of this card to give you an idea how this card works. Basically, you’ll win the game regardless of your opponent’s leader defense. There is a synergy using this card and can potentially end the game at turn 9. You will need to survive the early turns and control the amount of damage you take but it will be worth it. Using Hallowed Dogma, Sister’s Initiate and Healing Prayer after the turn you played this card will guarantee you a win. You can even use this card to create a hybrid deck that uses Elana’s Prayer and Enstatued Seraph.
The Darkness Evolved cards brings a lot of new strategies and synergies to the game. Experiment on them to get the most out of the new cards. Each of them definitely has a place in your deck depending on your play style and the available cards you currently have.