[Top 12] Shadowverse Best Decks In The Game
For nearly eight years, Shadowverse has introduced many mechanics that have shaped the meta countless times. On its final expansion set, players are scrambling to make the most of their card collection. And yet, some players still wonder, what is the best deck for them to play with? Get your notes ready, players, as we dive into the best decks Shadowverse offers for the old and new!
12. Buff Dragon
"There's nothing lame about doing your best!" - Coach Joe, Fiery Counselor
Starting off with our list is a personal favorite of mine since its inception in 2020. That archetype would be Buff Dragon. Buff Dragon is known for increasing all Dragoncraft follower’s defense by one.
Then, whenever a Dragoncraft follower is played, it will activate certain effects ranging from additional play point orbs to evolving. Based on its current defense.
Buff Dragon’s greatest strengths are:
- Buff ‘Em Up!
The most common strength Buff Dragon has over others is its ability to buff Dragoncraft followers’ defense in the deck. The most common example of this is Megalorca Rider.Image
Megalorca Rider is a two-cost Silver Dragoncraft Follower that increases the defense of all Dragoncraft followers in your deck. Then, it will put a random Academic follower (excluding herself) from the deck into the player’s hand.
Megalorca Rider is a good support card that simply buffs Dragoncraft followers and puts a random Academic follower from your deck into your hand. - Accumulated Buffs
Another strength Buff Dragon has is the accumulation of its buffs. If a Dragoncraft follower’s defense is increased repeatedly, it would eventually lead to it giving its best effects yet. And look no further than Dion.Image
Dion, Scarlet Scion is a two-cost Golden Dragoncraft Follower that has Rush and increases the defense of all Dragoncraft followers in the player’s deck. He also has additional effects based on his current defense.
If his defense is at least three, the player gains a play point orb. And if the defense is seven or higher, the player recovers an evolution point.
While he starts out as a weak follower, Dion is a perfect example of not underestimating such a card. Once his defense is higher than his play cost, he can help support the player in many ways possible.
He’s also used as a free removal against followers with low defense so that if he ever attacks, he won’t be destroyed that easily. - Crowd Control
Finally, Buff Dragon’s best strength is its ability to clear the board of enemy followers. One good example of this is the Heavenscale Dragon.Image
Heavenscale Dragon is a five-cost Golden Dragoncraft Follower that has Ward (an effect that forces opponents to target that follower before they can use their followers to target the player). When summoned, it will decrease the attack and defense of all enemy followers in play, equal to this card’s defense. Then, if its defense is at least five, the player draws two cards.
With its two powerful effects, Heavenscale Dragon can tip the scales to the player’s favor thanks to his Fanfare effect. It also helps that if the player cares about ensuring the card is buffed above five, they’ll able to deal with high-cost followers the enemy opponent has.
Through these strengths, it’s important to have cards that will complement them. The top three cards needed for a Buff Dragon deck are:
Coach Joe, Fiery Counselor
“There’s nothing lame about doing your best!”
That is Coach Joe’s motto in life. No matter how much you lose, it’s important that you strive to be the best in every way.
Coach Joe, Fiery Counselor is a five-cost Legendary Dragoncraft Follower that has Ward. When he is summoned if the total defense of all allied followers in play is at least twenty, Coach Joe will deal five damage to all enemies. Then, when he evolves, if his defense is at least eleven, he’ll deal seven damage to the enemy leader.
He also has a one-cost Crystallize effect with a Countdown of one that banishes a card from your hand and places a copy of it into the deck. It’ll also put a copy of himself into the deck and increase the defense of all allied followers by one. Then, if the banished card has the Academic trait, the amulet will gain Last Words which will allow the player to draw two cards when it’s destroyed.
As the signature card of Buff Dragon, Coach Joe is the epitome of what Buff Dragon is all about. If the player has him in the early turns, they can easily use his Crystallize effect and grant the player two more cards at the start of their next turn.
And when the time is right, players can play Coach Joe with his buffed defense that can finish the game with his high-output damage.
Tarasque
Inspired by the ancient tale of a dragon in France, this version of it is far from its original form.
Tarasque is an eight-cost Legendary Dragoncraft Follower that has Rush and Ward. When summoned, he increases his defense by eight and deals seven damage to the opponent.
He also has an effect called Invocation that instantly puts a follower from the deck to play without activating its Fanfare effects. For Tarasque, it will invoke the copy with the highest defense in your deck with at least eleven or more defense.
Based on his effects, Tarasque is capable of being an offensive and defensive follower. If it’s in the player’s hand, the player can bide his/her time and play it, dealing high-output damage to the leader directly. But, if the player is lucky enough to increase Tarasque’s defense up to eleven, it will Invocate and act as a shield.
Other than that, he also works as a free removal that can destroy any follower thanks to his high attack and defense.
Doomsday Shark
Sharks. One of Earth’s greatest predators of the sea. And to see one grow big is a good reason why I’m thankful that Jaws doesn’t exist.
Doomsday Shark is a five-cost Legendary Dragoncraft Follower that has Rush and the ability to summon another copy of itself when played from the hand. It has Last Words that when destroyed, it will increase the defense of all Dragoncraft followers in your deck by two.
It also has an Accelerate effect (an ability that allows the player to play a follower as a spell for a cheaper cost) that puts two Coral Sharks into your deck and increases the defense of all Dragoncraft followers in the deck by one.
Coral Shark is a two-cost Silver Dragoncraft Follower that has Rush and summons a Hippocampus if its own defense is three or higher when played from the hand.
Hippocampus is a five-cost Bronze Dragoncraft Follower that has Ward. When it evolves, it loses Ward but increases its attack and defense to seven.
With these effects, Doomsday Shark is a powerhouse as a removal and a support card. This shark can become fodder that can destroy followers with five defense or higher and supports your Dragoncraft followers once it dies. As an Accelerate effect, it can add two Coral Sharks that can help as defensive followers if their defense is increased to three or higher.
Other Notable Cards:
Dragonborn Striker
Militant Mermaid
Lucky Mermaid
Wyrmcrafting
Gunbein, Lofty Dragonewt
11. Evolve Blood
"I suppose I'll dance with you" - Mono, Garnet Challenger
Bloodcraft is a class known for thriving in pain. Whatever hurts you, makes you stronger but in this case, it is evolving followers that matter.
In Shadowverse, players only have two or three evolution points based on who has the first turn. Whoever goes first gets two evolution points while the player that goes second gets three. For this deck, it saves the player great trouble from using too much of it as long as they fulfill its condition.
For Evolve Blood, it’s just a Tuesday for them.
Evolve Blood is a combination of Machina cards from the latest set and cards that are about evolution from previous ones. Evolve Blood relies on evolving followers without relying on the player’s evolution points due to its limited uses.
Evolve Blood’s strengths are:
- Easy Evolution
One of the most important tactics Evolve Blood follows is evolving as many followers as possible. For this deck, some followers have easy conditions that will allow them to evolve immediately. That follower is Metallic Bat.Image
Metallic Bat is a one-cost Bronze Bloodcraft Follower that will add an Assembly Droid to your hand when it’s destroyed. But, whenever defense is restored to the player, Metallic Bat evolves.
Metallic Bat is a simple but effective card that allows it to evolve for free during the player’s second turn. This card goes best when Ruins of Aiolon grants the player the Recovery card token so that the player can play it when a Metallic Bat is in play. - Supportive Cards
Evolve Blood’s second strength revolves in synergy with Machina and non-Machina cards. One such card is the amulet, One Reminder.Image
One Reminder is a one-cost Bronze Bloodcraft Amulet that can fuse with other Machina Cards in your hand. Once played, if it is fused with at least one card, its Countdown is increased to two.
One Reminder’s effect activates based on the start and end of the player’s turn. If it’s the end, it restores one defense to the player. If it’s the start of the turn, the player draws an additional card.
One Reminder is an efficient card refilling your hand and restoring a small amount of defense to the player. It also helps that it has a lot of Fusion materials to be used to fuse to it such as Recovery and Assembly Droid from other Machina cards. With these strengths, this card will ensure that you’ll reap those benefits with ease.Chain Reaction Chain Reaction
Finally, Evolve Blood’s greatest strength is the power to create a chain reaction to evolve two or more followers in a single turn. And look no further than Blooming Dancer.Image
Blooming Dancer is a two-cost Golden Neutral Follower that when summoned, will automatically evolve as long as there is another evolved allied follower in play. In her evolved form, the player draws a card when she’s destroyed.Blooming Dancer is an example of playing the right cards at the right time. As long as an allied evolved follower is in play, Blooming Dancer can destroy any enemy follower without sacrificing any of your other followers on the field.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards for an Evolve Blood deck are:
Mono, Garnet Challenger
With her elegance and strength, Mono is the Resistance’s strongest fighter and the eldest of her two sisters, Tetra and Aenea.
Mono, Garnet Challenger is a two-cost Legendary Machina Follower that grants the player Garnet Release if five allied followers have evolved in this match. Although she cannot be evolved by normal means, her evolved form’s effects are very potent.
In her evolved form, she gains Storm and Strike. Whenever she attacks, if ten allied followers have evolved this match, all allied evolved followers gain Storm like her.
Garnet Release is a two-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Token Spell that simply evolves all allied Machina followers that haven’t been evolved.
Mono has been a household name when it comes to Evolve Blood since her introduction in 2019. Her spell lets the player evolve her and other Machina followers, allowing the player to utilize her Strike effect to give all other evolved followers Storm.
Lian & Alfie, Hunters/Lian & Alfie, Companions
While Bloodcraft is mostly about bloodthirsty monsters and demons, it is also home to its hunters who stalk their prey in the dead of the night. For these two, their prey are the beastly monsters that dare to hunt innocent people. Their names are Lian and Alfie.
Lian & Alfie, Hunters is a two-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has Ward and Clash. Clash is an ability that activates whenever the follower with Clash battles the enemy follower, regardless of who attacked first. For the Clash effect, it deals one damage to an enemy follower, before battle damage is done.
Then, if another allied follower evolves, Lian & Alfie also evolve, increasing their Clash effect to three damage.
They also have a Fusion effect that allows them to fuse with any card in the player’s hand. The effect only activates if five allied followers have evolved. And when the conditions are met, their card is Transmuted into Lian & Alfie, Companions.
Lian & Alfie, Companions is a one-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has the same effects as an evolved Hunters except it gains the effects of reducing all damage from effects to zero and immunity from any effect that destroys them, including Bane (an effect that any amount of damage from a follower with Bane will instantly destroy a follower).
Lian & Alfie is another card that helps in reaching ten evolutions. Their Hunters and Companions forms are important as shields that can destroy followers with weak defense or weaken followers with defense higher than them.
Ruler of Retribution
Born from death and rebirth, this monstrous demon seeks nothing but rage and vengeance for all of humankind.
Ruler of Retribution is a five-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has Rush and restores three defense to the player. It has Last Words that places another Ruler of Retribution to the deck that costs one play point and increases its attack and defense to ten. It also has a unique effect called Invocation.
Invocation is an effect that sends a copy of a certain follower to play when the card’s conditions are met. But, if the invocated follower has a Fanfare effect, that effect won’t activate because it was summoned from the deck rather than being played from the hand. For Ruler of Retribution, it will invocate another Ruler of Retribution with five attack or less if five or more allied followers have evolved this match.
The Ruler of Retribution is a powerful card that is used to sacrifice itself to destroy enemy followers. But, if the player managed to summon its one-cost form, he/she must evolve it and play Mono and her token spell to give it Storm.
This tactic is mostly used in finishing the game where the player is confident in destroying any follower the enemy has and dealing twelve to twenty damage to the enemy player.
Other Notable Cards:
Asuka & Shiori, Twins
Doublame, Seeker of Beauty
Gadel, Ravenous King
Aluzard, Linked Vampire
Oceanus, Shifting Grace
10. Banish Blood
“You know where to stab to get the best scream!?” - Milnard, Demon Butcher
One of the newest archetypes, Banish Blood (popularly known as Milnard Blood) is all about emptying your deck until it reaches ten cards or lower. And how may you ask?
Simple! By banishing your cards and drawing them as much as possible. And when players reach the threshold, the cards that they have can easily turn the tide and punish opponents for underestimating them in their banishing and drawing spree.
Banish Blood’s strengths are as follows:
- Quick and Deadly
The most common tactic Banish Blood has is its ability to quickly empty its deck. A good example of this is Hell’s Heartbreaker.Image
Hell’s Heartbreaker is a two-cost Bronze Bloodcraft Follower that has Rush and the ability to banish two random cards from your deck. Then, it will banish a card from your hand put a copy of it to your deck, and draw a card.
It also has a secondary effect that activates when this follower is added to your hand. When added, if there are ten or fewer cards in your deck, the player reveals it, increases its attack & defense by two, and grants it Storm.
Hell’s Heartbreaker is one of the few cards that can banish a card and be useful in the later turns. If the player gets lucky in getting her after ten cards, it would allow them for a direct attack on the opponent. - Adaptable Choice
Another strength Banish Blood has is its adaptative strategy, be it from emptying the deck or being defensive against enemy followers. On that note, let’s look at Buller.Image
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Buller, Child of Evil is a two-cost Silver Bloodcraft Follower that has the same effect as Hell’s Heartbreaker. The only difference is that if the player has reached ten cards or less, they can play Buller in a different form. If the player’s deck has ten or fewer cards and has at least two play points, the player can either play Buller as Heavensworn or Hellsworn.
Buller, Heavensworn has Ward and the same ability as her original form. For Buller, Hellsworn, it will destroy two random enemy followers and restore four defense to the player.
Buller is an adaptable card that is mostly used in banishing cards. But, when the time calls for her alter egos, they’re used as support cards. Heavesworn is a Ward follower that does the same job as her original self while Hellsworn is an efficient removal follower that also restores the player’s defense. - Great Protection
Finally, Banish Blood’s best strength is its support cards that can defend the player once the conditions have been fulfilled. The card that describes this strength is Lawful Evil.Image
Lawful Evil is a three-cost Golden Bloodcraft Follower that has Ward and the same effect as the followers mentioned above. Its secondary effect however is far different than the other followers.
At the end of your turn, if the deck has ten or fewer cards, Lawful Evil increases its attack and defense by three and grants the player the effect to reduce any damage by one until the end of the opponent’s turn.
Lawful Evil shows that every challenge has its own reward. One of which is her effect.
By reaching ten or fewer cards, Lawful Evil will not only increase its attributes but also grant the player to reduce any incoming damage. This is a useful effect that only works if the player expects a high amount of damage coming his/her way.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards for a Banish Blood deck are:
Mildred, Demon Butcher
If Hell is described as an unforgiving place filled with misery and suffering, she would definitely fit the bill as a demon in that place. Reason why? Check her quote below her portrait and you’ll see.
Milnard, Demon Butcher is a five-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has Storm and Drain. She has multiple effects that during the player’s turn, if this card is banished from the deck, it will summon a copy of it in play and will return to the player’s hand.
Then, whenever this card is added/returned to the player’s hand, if there are ten or fewer cards in the deck, Milnard’s cost will change to two and will increase its attack by three & its defense by one.
As the most sadistic demon in existence, Milnard shows why she’s as dangerous as she can get. Players that can play her card correctly are granted a cheap and deadly follower that deals high-output damage and regains as high as nine-defense.
Milnard’s ability to return to the player’s hand works very well with the cards of Banish Blood as she’s mostly used as the card to banish from the player’s hand and adds a copy of herself into the deck.
Vampire Liberated
When I first saw the card, I thought it was the usual Romeo and Juliet schtick of forbidden love and whatnot. What I didn’t expect was that the vampire was a girl. <cricket noises>
Look, it’s just that you don’t judge a book by its cover and so on, so let’s look at the card.
Vampire Liberated is one-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has Ward and the same effect of banishing cards from your deck and hand, much like Buller, Lawful Evil, and Hell’s Heartbreaker. But, when she’s added to the player’s hand and the condition is fulfilled, the player reveals it, increases its attack & defense by four, and recovers one evolution point.
Then, when she evolves, if the conditions are also met, she’ll deal damage to all enemy followers equal to its attack.
Vampire Liberated is a cheap but powerful follower that can only be played when the deck size is very small. Like Milnard, she’s also used as banishing material but the problem is that she won’t create copy, just like Milnard.
Even so, her ability to clear the board with seven damage is powerful enough to keep her in the deck.
Grasping Spider
Do you know that spider silk is stronger than steel, tougher than Kevlar, and more elastic than rubber bands? If this were the case on this spider, does that mean you’re its lunch?
Anyway, Grasping Spider is a ten-cost Legendary Bloodcraft follower that has Bane (an effect that any damage dealt by this follower will instantly destroy the attacking/defending follower) and the ability that when it comes into play, all enemy followers will be unable to attack until the end of their turn. Then, reduce this follower’s attack and defense equal to the number of cards in your deck minus ten.
Grasping Spider also has a two-cost Crystallize effect with a Countdown of three turns. When it comes into play, it will banish two cards from the deck. Then, if the deck has ten or fewer cards, it will subtract its Countdown by two. And when it’s destroyed, it will summon a Grasping Spider.
As the latest Bloodcraft card from the mini-expansion of Heroes of Shadowverse, Grasping Spider shows why it’s deadly. Although it’ll be destroyed if the player doesn’t reach ten or less, its effect to stop enemies from attacking is straightforward and powerful.
Its effect is more powerful if the enemy has filled their board with their followers. It would force them to not play any followers and must rely on their spells that could remove them from play.
But, when this follower is played when the deck reaches ten, it will be a nigh impenetrable fortress with Bane.
Other Notable Cards:
Raving Vampire
Sanguine Night
Case Cracked
Nacht, Blood Huntress
Kyrie, Fragment of Hope
9. Other Haven
“Only sadness remains” - Concordia
“A good defense is a good offense”. This quote relates to Other Haven’s greatest tactic: Enduring an enemy’s onslaught
Other Haven is a jack-of-all-trades type of deck that has cards from other Havencraft archetypes. From Heal Haven to Evolve Haven, Other Haven has it all for you in terms of support and removal.
Other Haven’s greatest strengths are:
- Academic Assistance
Other Haven’s main gimmick is about using different cards from different archetypes such as Heal Haven’s Academic followers. These followers rely on gaining buffs through defense recovery.
One of the important cards needed to play as a Heal Haven player is Lou, Lady-in-Training.Image
Lou, Lady-in-Training is a one-cost Golden Havencraft Follower whose effect activates when a follower whose attack/defense is increased. It would then restore one defense to the player and it evolves.
Once evolved, Lou has an effect that at the end of the player’s turn, it will damage a random enemy follower equal to Lou’s current attack.
Lou is a powerful card that destroys enemy followers without attacking. A player needs to have her in their deck as a cheap follower that has removal and a continuous effect that will be a challenge to the enemy player. - Delightful Healing
Another important aspect of Other Haven is that the majority of its cards rely on healing the player as much as possible. Some cards also have effects that activate whenever a player heals their defense. The card that does that is Winged Brilliance.Image
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Winged Brilliance is a two-cost Golden Havencraft Amulet whose effect is all about Countdown reduction. Normally, it doesn’t belong to a Heal Haven deck, but, when fused with two Havencradt cards in the same turn, it will Transmute into Greatwinged Luminance.
Greatwinged Luminance is the Transmuted version of Winged Brilliance that relies on defense recovery. Whenever the player restores its defense, it’ll be able to activate three different effects based on the number of times the player’s defense is restored.
For the first effect, the player draws a card. Then, one play point is recovered. And finally, the amulet destroys a random enemy follower in play.
Greatwinged Luminance can only be played when it fuses with two Havencraft followers. This card is more viable than Winged Brilliance as its effect is more in tune with Heal Haven’s strategy. Effects Based on Evolution
Another strength that Other Haven has is its ability to borrow Evolve Haven’s evolve effects. They have followers that don’t need evolution points to evolve. While Lou is a good example of this strength, there is another follower who offers their abilities to Other Haven.
That follower is Meus Gourmand.Image
Meus Gourmand is a two-cost Golden Havencraft follower that when played, will deal one damage to a random enemy follower and restore one defense to the player. Then, if three allied followers have evolved this match, Meus Gourmand will evolve as well.
And as it evolves, it will deal two damage to another random enemy follower and restore two defense to your leader.
Meus Gourmand is a special card that automatically evolves should the player reach three evolutions in this match. This follower helps clear enemies with very low defenses.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards needed for an Other Haven deck are:
Elluvia, Graceful Lady
The founder of Chanel once said, “Elegance is when the inside is as beautiful as the outside.” As the head of Edith, Elluvia shows why elegance is taught there.
Elluvia, Graceful Lady is a four-cost Legendary Havencraft Follower with Ward. She has the effect that at the end of the turn, she will restore one defense to the player. But when she evolves, she’ll give the player the effect that whenever their defense is restored, all allied followers increase their attack and defense by one.
Elluvia’s effect is the backbone of Other Haven and must be played as soon as possible. Once played, players will be able to strengthen their followers for the rest of the match. With it, players can buff their followers and quite possibly turn the weakest of them into powerhouses.
Concordia
While she may be sorrowful, that doesn’t stop her from doing her duties.
Concordia is a five-cost Legendary Havencraft Follower that has Ward and the ability to banish an enemy follower. After that, she’ll grant the player the ability to reduce the next incoming damage to zero once and evolve.
In her unevolved form, whenever the opponent plays a follower, Concordia restores two defense to the player once. But in her evolved form, she’ll decrease the played follower’s attack and defense by two and restore defense to the player.
She also has an Invocation effect that activates at the end of the turn if the player has at least one evolution point and has used one in that turn,
Although Concordia’s not that strong, her effects say otherwise. With the power to banish any follower and the ability to decrease an enemy follower’s defense, Concordia shows that it's not about a follower’s strength but in its effects.
Sekhmet, Goddess of Plague
Hailing from the Egyptian pantheon is the goddess of war and healing, Sekhmet.
PS If you want to know why she’s named Goddess of Plague, it’s because she can cause one every once in a while.
Sekhmet, Goddess of Plague is a three-cost Golden Havencraft Follower that gains Ambush (an effect that allows this follower to not be targeted by any enemy attack or spell. It will only be removed if this follower attacks or loses Ambush by an effect) until the end of the opponent’s turn. Then, at the end of the player’s turn, she’ll decrease all other followers’ attack and defense by one and restore the player’s defense by one.
While the card may look disadvantageous, it is a powerful one that can easily decrease an enemy's followers’ attributes. While it may also decrease your own followers’ attributes as well, they would be fine because thanks to Elluvia’s effect, they’ll be able to return to their original attributes in no time.
Other Notable Cards:
Verdilia, Rogue Professor
Limonia, Ruinous Saint
Orchid’s Examination Hall
Fount of Tranquility
Tanzanite Convictor
8. Evolve Haven
“Come! He will show us a miracle!” - Jeanne, Worldwalker
Much like Evolve Blood, Evolve Haven is also about evolution. But the difference behind it is that every class with an Evolve deck always has different conditions for activating their effects.
Even so, Evolve Haven has become strong enough to the point that it has overthrown Evolve Blood of its high-rank status which lasted for a month. Evolve Haven has a plethora of effects that can create a powerful tempo of evolved followers.
Other Haven’s strengths are as follows:
- Holy Evolution
In this version of Evolve Haven, some cards have very easy conditions to the point that a player can easily do it with their eyes closed. One of those cards is Holy Kitty.Image
Holy Kitty is a one-cost Silver Havencraft Follower that will evolve if there are any allied amulets in play.
As the easiest follower that can evolve right away, Holy Kitty can evolve as long as the player has an amulet in play. Don’t Stop Healing!
Another important aspect of Evolve Haven is that some cards are supported based on the number of times allied followers evolved and the ability to support the player further. One of those cards is Fount of Tranquility.Image
Fount of Tranquility is a one-cost Bronze Havencraft Amulet that has a Countdown of four turns. When played, it will subtract its Countdown equal to the number of times allied followers have evolved this match. When it is destroyed, it will restore two defense to the player and draw two cards.
Fount of Tranquility is a simple but excellent card that can work in both early and late game. In the early turns, players will have an immediate response to early aggro play by their opponents, and in the late game, it becomes a cheap card that immediately destroys itself to draw cards and restore defense.Control Then Evolve
Another strength that Evolve Haven has is its capability to control the board while evolving their followers. The best example of this is Oceanus.Image
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Oceanus, Shifting Radiance is a two-cost Golden Neutral Follower that grants players an option to choose one of her token spells; “Drop of Kindness” and Flowing Mercy. Then, if at least three allied followers have evolved this match, Oceanus also evolves as well.
Drop of Kindness is a one-cost Golden Neutral Token Spell that restores three defense to the leader.
Flowing Mercy is a one-cost Golden Neutral Token Spell that destroys an enemy follower with five defense or less.
Oceanus is one of the most used Neutral cards in the game, equal to Blooming Dancer. Her token cards are perfect due to their adaptability to suit any situation. Her heal spell works great in restoring defense and her removal spell can easily dispatch any enemy follower at a cheap cost.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards needed for an Evole Haven deck are:
Jeanne, Worldwalker
“I am not afraid. I was born to this.” - Joan of Arc.
Jeanne d’Arc is one of Shadowverse’s very first characters to appear as a legendary follower. In her sixth version, Jeanne, Worldwalker is a seven-cost Legendary Havencraft Follower that when summoned, will recover four play points.
It also has the effect that if the player plays their third follower in their turn, Jeanne will evolve and deal five damage to all enemy followers.
Her evolved form has Storm, Ward, and Strike where she gives other allied Havencraft followers the effect to reduce damage from enemy effects to zero. After that, she will evolve all other unevolved Havencraft followers.
For her sixth incarnation, Jeanne is Heal Haven’s trump card during the later stages of a match. Her ability to evolve and protect other Havencraft followers from damage effects is very useful against enemies that deal damage in either character effects or spells that deal damage.
To achieve this effect, the player must summon Aether after five evolutions, and their play point orbs reach eight or more. This will allow Jeanne to activate her Fanfare effect and allow you to play more followers to reach her evolved form. Players have to be wary as misplaying Aether in another turn will increase the possibility of losing the match.
Aether, Guardian of Light
The power of light will always shine in the darkest of corners.
Aether, Guardian of Light is a four-cost Legendary Havencraft Follower that randomly puts one of the highest-cost Havencraft followers that costs less than the player’s total play point orbs into play. Then, if at least the player achieves five evolutions in this match, the follower that came into play will activate its Fanfare effects.
Aether is a great follower that summons followers that cost less than the player’s play point orbs. This card is essential during the fourth/fifth turn to summon Elluvia and gain her evolved effect. She’s also great when summoning other followers such as Jeanne.
With that combo, Aether and other Havencraft followers to gain Jeanne’s buffs and evolve as well.
Limonia, Ruinous Saint
Faith is a powerful that can make or break someone. In her world, God has stopped responding that it is up to her to shoulder the weight of her followers. Then, she had an epiphany, what if she could create a true God through machinery?
This is her answer.
Limonia, Ruinous Saint is a two-cost Legendary Havencraft Follower that puts her token spell, “Salvation of the Fallen”, into the player’s hand. When she evolves, she will subtract one from the cost of a random “Salvation of the Fallen”.
Salvation of the Fallen is a one-cost Legendary Havencraft Token Spell that restores two defense to the player and draws a card. It has an additional effect that if at least three allied followers have evolved this match, it will grant the player immunity from the next damage that will be dealt to them. Then, if seven allied followers have evolved, it will summon a Heavenly Aegis.
Heavenly Aegis is a nine-cost Legendary Havencraft Token Follower that is immune to damage and all other effects except effects that change its attack and defense.
As one of the newest cards from the Mini-Expansion, Limonia is a powerful follower that can summon one of Havencraft’s greatest follower tokens. It’s all thanks to followers such as Aether and Jeanne that its token spell can summon Heavenly Aegis immediately.
Once Heavenly Aegis is summoned, the opponent will have no choice but to defend with everything he’s/she’s got to not let Heavenly Aegis deal the final blow to them.
Other Notable Cards:
Blooming Dancer
Elluvia, Graceful Lady
Divine Wolves
Regretful Apostle
Meus Gourmand
7. Natura Sword
“By noble decree, I guide my subjects” - Bayleon, Shining Sovereign
Returning into the meta is Natura Sword, an archetype that was introduced in 2019. To describe the Natura archetype, Natura is based on the world known as Naterra. Its inhabitants have animal-like characteristics but what makes them similar is how they’re attuned with nature.
The Natura archetype relies on the generation of its cards and its amulet, the Naterran World Tree.
Naterran World Tree is a one-cost Bronze Neutral Token Amulet that when it comes into play, it will destroy another Naterran World Tree that has been played the longest.
Necromancy is a unique ability by Shadowcraft players that uses a significant amount of shadows to activate an effect. A good example of this can be seen in this deck’s strengths.
Natura Sword’s strengths are:
- Cheap and Fast
Natura Sword’s Best advantage is its ability to summon cheap followers. One of those followers is Fox Spearman.Image
Fox Spearman is a one-cost Bronze Swordcraft Follower that has Storm and the effect of summoning a World Tree when he’s destroyed.
As a Natura version of Quickblader, Fox Spearman is a powerful card that can swiftly deal damage to the opponent immediately. He also has an effect that effectively spawns a World Tree so the player can immediately play another one to start generating cards. Faster Support
Another strength Natura Sword has is its ability to support the player as fast as possible.
The card in question is Fleet Tigress.Image
Fleet Tigress is a four-cost Silver Swordcraft Follower that has Rush. It will also restore the player’s defense and play points by two if at least five allied cards have left play this match. And when she’s destroyed, she summons a World Tree.
Fleet Tigress is a nice alternative for a Natura deck in the event the player doesn’t have a lot of cards that support the deck.Natural Wrath
Finally, Natura Sword’s greatest strength is its ability to deal with the enemy through the destruction of the World Trees. Natura cards are known for their effects based on the number of World Trees that were destroyed in this match. A good example of this is Brothers’ Pride.Image
Brother’s Pride is a one-cost Bronze Swordcraft Spell that deals two damage to a random enemy follower. Then, if at least ten allied cards have left play this match, it will deal ten damage instead and summon a World Tree.
Brothers’ Pride is a good example of a card that can deal with the followers with very low defense at the start of the game. But, when the player has reached ten allied cards that have left play, it will destroy any high-cost follower through its damage.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards needed for a Natura Sword deck are:
Bayleon, Shining Sovereign
Naterra is a beautiful world filled with ancient tree lines and lush forests. As the Forest King, it is his sole duty to protect Naterra and rule it with a just hand.
Bayleon, Shining Sovereign is a three-cost Legendary Swordcraft Follower that has Ward and will evolve if at least ten allied cards have left ply this match. When he evolves, he’ll gain Storm and grant the player his effect. Once each turn, whenever an allied World Tree is destroyed, the player will add the token spell, “Luminous Blade” into their hand.
Luminous Blade is a zero-cost Legendary Swordcraft Token Spell that increases the attack and defense of a Natura Follower by one. Then, if at least twenty allied cards have left play this match, it will increase those attributes by two instead. And if that follower is Bayleon, the spell will also deal two damage to a random enemy follower.
Befitting his status as a righteous king, Bayleon shows why he deserves to be the king of the forest. His evolve effect is easy to fulfill and he can deal damage immediate damage to the opponent.
His token spell is also great to the point that the player can stockpile it until another Bayleon comes into play, allowing the player to buff him up until it reaches eleven or more.
Benevolent Mother
She is the mother of Naterra, the one who wished for the power to save her people and thus, grant harmony to all. But, when those people would dare disturb her and her children, she would stop at nothing to protect her world.
She is Viridia Magna, the Sacred Mother.
Benevolent Mother is a four-cost Legendary Neutral Follower that has Rush and Bane. Although she can’t evolve with evolution points, she has the ability to attack twice in a single turn. And when she is destroyed, she’ll summon two World Trees.
Then, if at least five allied World Trees were destroyed in this match, it will summon a copy of herself and it will evolve. Her evolved form grants her Ward and the ability to restore four defense to the player at the end of their turn. When she’s destroyed, she will summon another World Tree.
Like a mother protecting her child, Benevolent Mother is a powerful follower that not only destroys two followers in a single turn but also supports the player with her restorative effects. She’ll also help summon World Trees in both her unevolved and evolved form that can assist the player in drawing more cards.
Fiery Strike
With their swords combined, they will do whatever it takes to defend their worlds from any danger.
Fiery Strike is a three-cost Golden Swordcraft Spell that summons two Steelclad Knights. It also has a Fusion effect, that uses any Swordcraft cards as their base material. The spell’s effects also increase based on the number of cards that were fused to it.
If one card is fused, it will summon a World Tree. If it’s two cards, it will deal five damage to a random enemy follower. And if three cards were fused to it, it would summon two Fox Spearmen instead of two Steelclad Knights.
Fiery Strike is a cheap and powerful spell that relies on it being fused with cards. Once the player succeeds in that department, they can instantly remove a follower, draw a card, and deal direct damage to the opponent.
Other Notable Cards:
Tony, Plucky Polliwog
Lieutenant’s Report
Benevolent Mother
Untold Kick
Lupine Crusher
6. Artifact Portal
“Tell me. Who am I fighting?” - Agyll, Purelight Prototype
Hailing from the eighth class is the archetype, Artifact Portal. Artifact Portal relies on using followers known as Artifacts, ancient machines that were said to be made by an advanced civilization.
One good example of an Artifact card is Analyzing Artifact.
Analyzing Artifact is a one-cost Bronze Portalcraft Follower that allows the player to draw a card if it’s destroyed.
While its effect is simple, every Artifact in Portalcraft has unique effects that range from card generation, board control, or straight-up damage.
In Artifact Portal’s case, its main goal is adding Artifact cards into the player’s deck and overwhelming the enemy with those followers.
Artifact Portal’s strengths are as follows:
- Artificial Production
Artifact Portal’s main goal is to mass-produce Artifacts through followers who put those Artifacts into the player’s deck. One of the important cards needed is Elina.Image
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Elina, Winged Evangelist is a two-cost Silver Portalcraft Follower that puts four Keenedge Artifacts into the player's deck and changes their cost to two. When she evolves, she’ll put an Alterplane Onslaught into the player’s hand and change its cost to one.
Keenedge Artifact is a five-cost Bronze Portalcraft Follower Token that has Rush and Drain (an effect that whatever damage this follower has is equal to the restored defense of the player).
Alterplane Onslaught is a four-cost Silver Portalcraft Spell that banishes an enemy follower with four defense or lower and puts a random Artifact card from the player’s deck into their hand. Then, if Resonance is active for the player, it will put two Artifact cards in the player’s hand instead.
As for the effect in question, Resonance is an effect exclusive to Portalcraft that activates whenever the player has an even number of cards in their deck.
With these effects, Elina can add four copies of Keenedge Artifact that the player might be able to get as a way to regain their defense. Through her evolved form, she can grant players a cheap removal that banishes enemy followers and the added benefit of getting more Artifact followers, if Resonance is active. Artifact Variety
Artifact Portal also excels in a variety of effects based on the number of Artifact followers with different names that were destroyed in this match. A good example of this strength is the Jet-Powered Pugilist.Image
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Jet-Powered Pugilist is a one–cost Bronze Portalcraft Follower that has Storm and the ability to add four Analyzing Artifacts into the player’s deck. But, if at least six allied Artifact followers with different names were destroyed in this match, he’ll put four Airstrike Artifacts instead and change their costs to one.
Airstrike Artifact is a five-cost Bronze Portalcraft Token Follower that has Storm and Last Words that deals two damage to the opponent.
Jet-Powered Pugilist is one of the perfect cards an Artifact Portal player can get on the first turn. Not only does he have Storm but also has the ability to add four Analyzing Artifacts that can generate cards in the later turns. Then, if the player reaches six destroyed Artifact followers with different names, he can add Airstrike Artifact into the mix and deal direct damage to the opponent at such a cheap cost.Call the Artifacts
Finally, the best strength Artifact Portal has is its ability to call Artifact followers from the deck to your hand. And no other follower does it better than Carnelia.Image
Carnelia, Amnesiac Attendant is a two-cost Golden Portalcraft Follower that has Fanfare. If at least six different allied Artifact followers were destroyed in this match, Carnelia gains the ability to evolve for free.
When she evolves, she’ll put two different random one-play point Artifact cards from the deck into the player’s hand.
Carnelia’s Evolve effect shows the importance of calling Artifact cards into the player’s hand. Artifact cards such as Analyzing and Airstrike Artifacts will greatly benefit from this effect since the effect doesn’t specify the original cost of the chosen Artifact card.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards for an Artifact Portal deck are:
Agyll, Purelight Prototype/Agyll, Purelight Exemplar
When people ask about their purpose in life, they would reply that it’s about certain events that would shape them into who they are now. In his case, he would question his existence until his eyes were opened to the great world.
Agyll, Purelight Prototype is a two-cost Legendary Portalcraft Follower that puts a random Artifact follower (excluding himself) into the player’s hand when summoned. He also has a Fusion effect that relies on Portalcraft cards. When fused, if there are five or fewer Artifact cards added to the deck, he’ll add two Analyzing Artifacts into the deck.
But, if it exceeds the number, he will Transmute into Agyll, Purelight Exemplar.
Agyll, Purelight Exemplar is a one-cost Legendary Portalcraft Follower that has a powerful Evolve effect. When he evolves, he grants the player an effect that activates based on the number of Artifact cards that have entered play during the player’s turn.
If it’s the first, third, or fifth Artifact card played, the player draws a card. Then, if it’s the second, fourth, or sixth Artifact card, the player recovers a play point.
Known for its powerful ability, Agyll’s base form is mostly played after Agyll’s Transmuted effect was played. The player must have Agyll within their hand so they can immediately gain his Transmuted form’s power.
Without it, players will struggle to empty their decks of their added Artifacts. But once activated, they can unleash the full might of the Artifacts through the Purelight Exemplar’s regeneration effect.
Dyne, Cannonsword Soldier
There are those who are chosen to wield such greatness. For him, it’s just another day of fighting to survive.
Dyne, Cannonsword Soldier is a six-cost Legendary Portalcraft Follower that has Ward. He also has another effect that when summoned, he’ll deal five damage to all enemies. But, if the player managed to add twenty or more Artifact followers into the deck, he’ll deal ten damage instead.
Even though he’s humble, Dyne’s effect is one of the most powerful board removals that only a few followers can withstand such damage. While the condition may look difficult, the effect can be achieved by using cards that add many Artifact followers such as Jet-Powered Pugilist and Elina.
It may look like a gamble, but in Shadowverse, it’s all about the risk and the rewards in pulling off such a feat.
Retrafia, Divine Mother
“A mother’s love is everlasting”
Her words may seem gentle, but her actions betray her otherwise.
Retrafia, Divine Mother is a nine-cost Legendary Portalcraft Follower that deals damage equal to the number of different allied Artifact cards that were destroyed this match when played. She also has another effect that grants Rush and Ward to an Artifact follower when it comes in play.
She also has a Crystallize effect that costs one play point and a Countdown of ten turns. The amulet has an effect that also grants Rush and Ward to an Artifact follower that comes into play but will subtract its Countdown by one. Once the amulet is destroyed, it will summon Retrafia in all of her glory.
As the proclaimed “mother”, Retrafia grants Artifact followers the ability to become cheap removals against enemy followers. Her Crystallized effect is best used during the early turns of the match after the players add Artifact followers to their deck.
Then, once the player reaches seven or more destroyed Artifact cards, they can play her as is and deal high-output damage to all enemies in play.
Other Notable Cards:
Sisterly Bonds
Duel With Destiny
Icey, Infirm Eternal
Electric Rhino
Postapocalyptic Girls
5. Last Words Shadow
“Welcome to the world of fantasy!” -Dark Alice, Foul Fairytale
One of the most common archetypes in Shadowcraft, Last Words Shadow is an archetype based on destroying as many allied cards as possible, specifically with the effect of Last Words.
This archetype supports this type of self-destruction as it grants the player powerful effects for each allied card with Last Words that was destroyed.
Last Words Shadow’s greatest strengths are:
- A Price Paid in Destruction
One of Shadowcraft’s most notable tactics is sacrificing your followers to gain an advantage. It also helps that the player’s main goal is to generate as many shadows as possible. An example of this is Night Terrors.Image
Night Terrors is a one-cost Bronze Shadowcraft Spell that reduces an allied follower’s defense by five. After that, it would draw two cards for the player.
Night Terrors is a good example that destroying a follower has benefits. By destroying the follower, the player will gain two shadows and two cards for the price of one. Revelry in Death
Shadowcraft is well known for destroying followers and another trope of the class is Last Words. If you play a Shadowcraft deck, many of its followers have Last Words and it’s important to destroy them as much as possible. One of the cards that works well with Last Words Shadow is the card Poisoned Apple of Revival.Image
Poisoned Apple Of Revival is a one-cost Golden Shadowcraft Spell that chooses an allied follower and gives it the Last Words effect based on its class.
If it’s a Shadowcraft follower, it will summon a copy of itself. If it’s a Neutral follower, the player draws two cards. Then, if at least five allied followers with Last Words were destroyed in this match, the targeted follower gains Rush and Bane.
This spell card is very potent in creating more Shadows and more followers. This card is very efficient in giving your follower Bane to remove enemy followers with very high defenses or with Ward.Necromantic Power
Now we begin on the power of Necromancy. Necromancy effects are a staple in Shadowcraft that one must always use to spend on their power effects. One of the most currently used cards with Necromanct is Hellfire Strike.Image
Hellfire Strike is a one-cost Golden Shadowcraft Spell that deals two damage to the enemy player. But, if the player has at least four or more shadows, the spell will also deal two damage to all enemy followers in play.
Hellfire Strike is a very cheap card that can clear enemies that have very low defenses once the player has gained a lot of shadows to spend from.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards for a Last Words Shadow deck are:
Grave Voidknight/Grave Adjudicator
Some embrace darkness as a means of strength. As for him, he demands the souls of the living as his nourishment.
Grave Voidknight is a two-cost Legendary Shadowcraft Follower that has a Fanfare effect (an effect that is activated when a follower is summoned from the hand and enters play) with Shadowcraft’s signature effect, Necromancy. Necromancy is an effect that uses shadows to activate its effect. In the Voidknight’s case, the player gains an evolution point if he/she has four or more shadows. When he evolves, he’ll deal four damage to an enemy follower and restores two defense to the player.
He also has a Fusion effect that uses Shadowcraft cards as his material. His fusion effect is based on the number of cards fused to him in a single turn. If two or fewer cards were fused, he’ll use his Necromancy effect and spend four shadows to put a random Shadowcraft follower with Last Words in the player’s hand. And if the follower is fused with three or more cards, it will Transmute into Grave Adjudicator.
Grave Adjudicator is a seven-cost Legendary Shadowcraft Follower that is the Transmuted version of Grave Voidknight. He can reduce any forms of damage to zero and is immune from all effects except effects that change this follower’s attack and defense. He also increases his attack and defense by two whenever an allied follower is destroyed in this match.
As the signature card of this deck, Grave Voidknight can add Shadowcraft followers that have Last Words if the player fuses two or fewer cards. His Fanfare effect is viable thanks to his Necromancy effect. But, the real reason this card is heavily used is through his Transmuted form.
If the player succeeds in creating Grave Adjudicator, they can summon him and use him to increase his attributes without harm. Any allied follower that is destroyed will become his food that will make him powerful to no end.
Dark Alice, Foul Fairytale
Welcome to Wonderland! A place where many things that shouldn’t happen happen! And one of those things is an alternate version of Alice.
Dark Alice, Foul Fairytale is a seven-cost Legendary Shadowcraft Follower that has Rush (an effect that allows the follower to attack an enemy follower after being summoned) and the inability to evolve using evolution points. She has a Last Words effect (an effect that is activated whenever a card is destroyed) that will add a copy of her into their hand. But, when Dark Alice is summoned, if there were at least ten allied cards with Last Words that were destroyed in this match, she will evolve.
When she evolves, she gains Storm (the ability to attack the follower or leader when summoned) and a revised Last Words effect that will summon a Crystallized version of herself and subtract one from its Countdown.
To explain those effects, Crystallize is an effect that plays a follower as an amulet in a cheaper cost with an effect called Countdown where the amulet will last for a certain number of turns until it’s destroyed. For a Crystallized Dark Alice, her amulet will last for three turns.
Her amulet also has an effect that whenever a card with the Neutral trait comes into play, it will reduce the Amulet’s Countdown by one. And when her amulet is destroyed, it will summon a copy of her.
Dark Alice is an exceptional card that can spawn itself thanks to its Last Words. The player can easily use her Crystallize effect and summon her after it is destroyed. And if fewer than ten cards with Last Words were destroyed, the player won’t have any problems with it since a copy of Dark Alice will be granted to the player.
When Dark Alice’s conditions have been fulfilled, the player won’t have trouble getting Dark Alice because the evolved Dark Alice will summon a Crystallized version of it instead of adding a copy of it.
Kagero, Vellsar’s Sheath
Welcome to Vellsar, a world filled with monsters, from the flying tengu to the monstrous werewolves. But within Vellsar is a spirit who has possessed an ancient blade. And his name is Kagero.
Kagero, Vellsar’s Sheath is a two-cost Legendary Shadowcraft Follower that gains Rush and Bane if at least five allied cards with Last Words are destroyed in this match. Then, if Kagero is destroyed, the player will add his token spell, “Soulflash”, into their hand.
Soulflash is a one-cost Legendary Shadowcraft Token Spell that deals five damage to a random enemy follower. Then, if at least fifteen allied cards with Last Words are destroyed in this match, the spell will also deal five damage to the opponent.
Kagero is a small yet powerful follower that can easily sever any enemy follower thanks to the condition of five destroyed allied cards with Last Words. His Soulflash can also deal with enemy followers with five defense or lower and can deal five damage to the opponent once its Last Words condition is also fulfilled.
Other Notable Cards:
Desert Wanderer
Naterran Peace
Valkyrian Lance
Rivaylian Outlaw
Ruler of the Necropolis
4. Machina Rune
“Minor progress achieved!” -Tetra, Sapphire Leader
Introduced in 2019, Machina Rune has returned once again in the final set. When it was introduced, the Machina archetype revolves around units that are from Aiolon, a futuristic dystopian world filled with countless machines. For this deck, one of the archetype’s unique token cards is Recovery.
Recovery is a one-cost Neutral Machina Spell Card that restores one defense to your leader and two defense to all Machina followers in play. This spell is often used in recovering damaged Machina followers after it attacks an enemy follower.
Machina Rune’s playstyle is all about clearing the board of enemy followers before unleashing powerful spells against the enemy. This archetype also focuses on controlling the playing field and ensuring that the player survives the enemy player’s attacks.
Machina Rune’s greatest strengths are:
Tech Support
One of Machina Rune’s most important strengths is its ability to put random Machina followers in your hand. A good example of this would be the Ruins of Aiolon.Image
It is a one-cost Silver Neutral Amulet that allows the player to put a random Machina follower in their hand. Once destroyed, it will either give the player a recovery card or draw another card if their evolution points are greater than the opponent's.
Ruins of Aiolon is an amulet card that is needed for Machina decks as it allows players to get any Machina follower card. This amulet also doesn’t punish players if their evolution points aren’t greater than their enemy followers. It will either give them a Recovery card or another drawn card to their hand.Draw Spells
What makes Runecraft decks unique is their abundance of draw spells such as Fate’s Hand.Image
The spell is a five-cost Bronze Runecraft Spell and when played, will allow the player to draw two cards. What makes this card unique is its Spellboost ability.
Spellboost is an exclusive effect to Runecraft where it activates whenever a player plays a spell card. Then, if a card with Spellboost is in its hand when a spell is played, it adds a Spellboost stack by one to the Spellboosted card.
There are many types of Spellboost effects in Shadowverse that range from increasing a spell’s damage to reducing its cost. For Fate’s Hand, it is cost reduction.
The return of Fate’s Hand allows Runecraft players to have another way to draw more cards and be able to get the cards they need.Quick Recovery and Control
Finally, one of the greatest strengths of Machina Rune is its immediate control over the board with its Machina spells. One such spell is Arts of Trust.Image
Arts of Trust is a four-cost Golden Runecraft Spell that adds two Recoveries to your hand. Then, it will give the player the effect that until the end of this turn, any Machina card played will deal two damage to a random enemy follower. This card’s cost will also be reduced by one, as long as the player plays a Machina card.
Arts of Trust is a powerful spell that adds more Recoveries and punishes the opponent’s followers with the leader effect. This card is very beneficial if you have a lot of low-cost Machina cards in your hand.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards for a Machina Rune deck are:
Tetra, Sapphire Leader
In Aiolon’s history, the spark of its rebellion began with three sisters. The middle sister, Tetra is the leader, the one who would lead her people to freedom.
Tetra, Sapphire Leader is a three-cost Legendary Runecraft Follower that adds a Recovery to the player’s hand. Then, if a Machina card is played, she will immediately evolve.
Her evolved form also has three effects that activate whenever a Machina card is played. Each effect activates once that it includes, play point generation, random damage to a random enemy, and adding Azure Blast to your hand.
Azure Blast is a two-cost Legendary Runecraft Token Spell that deals two damage to a random enemy four times.
This card is one of the strongest cards in Runecraft as it allows the player to deal eight damage to random enemies. As long as the player plays low-cost Machina cards like Recovery, they’ll be able to reach Tetra’s full potential.
Ginger, Raging Word
Words are more than capable of cutting deep within our souls. As for her, words do far more than wounds. It can curse you!
Ginger, Raging Word is an eight-cost Legendary Runecraft Follower that adds the card Scorching Curse to the player’s hand. Then, when it evolves, it will give the player the effect that at the end of each turn, if there are no Scorching Curses in your hand, the player will add one copy to it. Ginger’s card cost is also deductible as long as the player plays a card with a trait such as Natura or Machina.
Scorching Curse, however, is a zero-cost Legendary Runecraft Spell Token whose effects are based on the chosen follower. If it chooses an allied Ginger in play, it will deal three damage to all enemy followers and restore three defense. Then, if it’s an allied follower with a trait, a copy of it will be added to your hand except its cost, attack, and defense are reduced to one.
This card is the most important in your deck as it creates cheap copies of Machina followers in your hand, especially Tetra. This card also helps in clearing the board of enemies and allowing the player to recover some defense.
Technolord: Origin
If there ever were a God of Machines, that’s what I believed he would look like.
Technolord: Origin is a nine-point Legendary Neutral Follower that when played, will deal a pool of damage equal to the number of other allied Machina cards that were played in this match. It also has an Accelerate effect that deals three damage to an enemy follower and allows the player to draw a card. This effect is only active if at least three other Machina cards are present in the player's hand.
While the cost of Technolord is staggering, its Fanfare ability can instantly kill the enemy player, as long as fifteen to twenty allied Machina cards are played. This card is also very helpful in destroying an enemy follower and drawing a card since the Accelerate effect’s conditions are easy to fulfill.
Other Notable Cards:
Rocketbroom Witch
Tech Wizard
Rosy Court Magician
Connected Hearts
Amaryllis, the Princess
3. Ramp Dragon
“Thrive under my influence” -Celestial Wyrm God
Dragoncraft. The class where the greatest dragons in existence are from. Including it’s gigantic play costs.
The Dragoncraft class relies on increasing your play point orbs to play its followers due to its staggering play costs. The goal is to reach Overflow, where a Dragoncraft player gains it when he/she starts his/her turn with seven or more play point orbs. This in turn would introduce players to the classic Dragoncraft archetype, Ramp Dragon.
While Ramp Dragon is a bit slow to play, its high-cost cards are very powerful and its effects make up for its slowness. It’s also noted that many cards within the latest sets are known for decreasing the costs of some cards so they may be playable in the later stages of a match.
The following strengths of Ramp Dragon are:
Bigger is Better
As said above, Ramp Dragon has its fair share of very big followers with very big playing costs. The best example is currently one of the highest-cost followers in the game which is Lowly Dragon.Image
Costing a whopping ten play points, this big dragon deals seven damage to all enemies and draws a card. But if you don’t have enough play points, you can play it for its cheaper cost through its Accelerate effect.
Accelerate is an effect introduced in 2018, where a follower can be cast as a spell for a cheaper cost. In Lowly Dragon’s case, it costs two play points to activate its Accelerate effect to deal three damage to an enemy follower and draw a card.
Lowly Dragon is a perfect example when it comes to bigger cards. With its Accelerate, you can destroy followers and draw a card as a discount. But when played as itself, it will deal tremendous damage and clear the enemies’ board of countless enemies.Faster Ramping
Another benefit of Dragon Ramp is that there are a lot of cards that help in gaining empty play point orbs. The latest card is the Dragon Temple.Image
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Dragon Temple is a two-cost Silver Dragoncraft Amulet that makes the player choose from two spells: Scaled Stampede or Mighty Gust. Then, it will subtract its countdown equal to the number of Dragoncraft followers that originally cost at least seven play points. Finally, when its Countdown reaches zero, the player will immediately gain an empty play point orb.
For Scaled Stampede, it is a four-cost spell that destroys any card in play. As for Mighty Gust, it is also a four-cost spell that deals three damage to all followers. Both spells have the effect that whenever a Dragoncraft follower that originally costs 7 or more play points comes into play this turn, it’ll change their play cost to one.
Dragon Temple is a cheap and powerful card that relies on having at least 2 or more Dragoncraft followers that originally cost seven or more play points. This will allow the player to gain an additional play point orb faster.
And for the other tokens, the player has cheap spells that can either clear the board of the enemies’ followers or destroy any card at the cost of one play point. All in all, Dragon Temple is a powerful card on par with the Dragon Oracle.Powerful Recovery
With Dragoncraft’s Ramp strategy, it also has powerful spells that are worth the struggle to reach ten play point orbs. One of the cards in question is All That Glitters.Image
All That Glitters is an eight-cost Silver Dragoncraft Spell that has many effects within its repertoire. From recovering your defense to forcing two random enemy followers to not attack, it is a powerful card that needs to be used sparingly.
When done correctly, this card can turn the tide in your favor against opponents who rely on followers.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards for a Ramp Dragon deck are:
Celestial Wyrm God
Shadowverse has its fair share of gods yet none can compare it to Celestial Wyrm God.
A seven-cost Legendary Dragoncraft Follower, Celestial Worm God has Ward and the ability to destroy an enemy follower and restore your defense by five. Then, it banishes all cards that originally had six play points or less, leaving your deck with cards that cost 7 or more. Finally, if the player reaches ten play point orbs, all Dragoncraft followers that originally cost at least seven play points have their costs halved and rounded up.
From those effects, the Celestial Wyrm God is the signature card of the Dragon Ramp deck. While it removes all your low-cost cards, it is up to the player to play it if he/she has ten play point orbs. While some would choose to play it once they get seven to nine play point orbs, it's better to bide your time and reach ten play point orbs to reduce your Dragoncraft followers' costs in half.
Relic Dragon
The wealth of a dragon lies within its hoard. But for this dragon, it is the relic that shapes its life.
Relic Dragon is a seven-cost Legendary Follower that has Storm. When summoned, the player discards a card from its hand and puts a copy of it into its deck. Then, the player draws a card, and if that drawn card is a Dragoncraft follower that costs at least seven play points, change its cost to 0 until the end of your turn.
Then, if Relic Dragon were to be destroyed, restore three defense to the player and put a Relic Dragon into your deck.
Relic Dragon is an unstoppable follower that will always place another copy of it when it is destroyed. It also helps that it reduces any Dragoncraft follower that costs at least 7 play points to 0, making it free to play on your turn. Through those effects, Relic Dragon is one of the most powerful cards the Dragoncraft class has to offer.
Drache, Soaring Flare
There once was a dragonewt who yearned to fly Vellsar’s skies like a free bird. Unfortunately, his duty as the head of his clan clashes with his idealistic dreams. Even so, his dream never died and as long as he has breath in his lungs, he will fly higher than ever before.
Drache, Soaring Flare is a nine-cost Legendary Dragoncraft Follower that has Rush and the ability to deal damage to all enemies equal to his attack. He also has a Fusion effect that uses Dragoncraft followers that originally cost seven play points. His Fusion effect activates based on the number of times Drache is fused with a card.
If it’s the first time this match, it will put his token spell, “Staggering Conflagration”, into the player’s hand. If it’s the second time, the player gains an empty play point orb. If it’s the third, the player draws two cards.
Staggering Conflagration is a one-cost Legendary Dragoncraft Token Spell that increases the attack of a Dragoncraft follower by two and deals two damage to a random enemy follower.
Drache is a powerful follower who can potentially end the match due to his Fanfare. The player can increase his attack even further by using his token spell to increase his attack. Finally, his Fusion effect allows him to support the player while he’s in the player’s hand.
Other Notable Cards:
Degenerate Dragon
Irma, Dragon Princess
Voracious Venomclaw
Waterwyrm’s Blessing
Rola, Hellfire Dragon
2. Wrath Blood
“The world will dance in despair” - Diabolus Hedone
Wrath Blood is not only the easiest deck to master but also the strongest due to its easy conditions. Wrath is an exclusive effect for Bloodcraft whenever the player damages him/herself during their turn. Then, if the player damages him/herself for the seventh time in a match, the player now gains Wrath and all cards with Wrath as their effect will activate.
Wrath Blood is about being aggressive in hurting yourself and quickly releasing the effects of Wrath. In most Wrath decks, many cards will damage the player when they are played.
Wrath Blood’s strengths are as follows:
No Pain, No Gain
One of Wrath’s greatest strengths is the rewards gained after achieving Wrath. The most common of those rewards is restoring the player’s defense. A good example of this is the follower, Dice Devil.Image
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Dice Devil is a two-cost Silver Bloodcraft Follower that will deal one damage to the player at the end of the turn. Then, if Wrath is active for you, it will randomly restore your leader’s defense from a random number between one and six.
In its evolved form, however, the defense restored is increased to a random number between four and six.
Dice Devil is one of the cards known for rewarding players for gaining Wrath. The risk/reward ratio is very staggering and Wrath players easily know that every pain that they dealt to them is worth it.Cheap Adaptability
The next strength Wrath players have is that their deck is the most adaptable deck it ever has in the current rotation. One of those notable cards is How To Train Your Bat.Image
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How To Train Your Bat is a one-cost Golden Bloodcraft Spell that deals one damage to the player and draws a card. It will then deal one damage to the player and draw another card at the start of that player’s next turn.
The spell also has a fusion effect that can fuse with any card, only if Wrath is active for the player. Once it fuses with another card, the spell will Transmute into How To Train Your Wolf.
How To Train Your Wolf is the Transmuted version of How To Train Your Bat that recovers one evolution point. Then, the player will gain an effect that during their turn, all damage dealt to them will be reduced to zero.
How To Train Your Bat is a very good card that allows the player to gain Wrath faster. Once Wrath has been achieved, the player can fuse any card to it and play How To Train Your Wolf to regain an evolution point and gain damage immunity from all of their cards that would deal damage during their turn.First Blood
The last great strength Wrath Blood has is its ability to get hurt as fast as possible.
During its inception last 2020, Wrath can be achieved in a span of four to five turns. Now, Wrath can be activated as early as turn three. The best example of this is Weapon Tamer.Image
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Weapon Tamer is a one-cost Bronze Bloodcraft Follower that adds a Serpent to your hand and deals one damage to the player when summoned.
It has the effect that whenever the player plays a follower that has at least one defense, Weapon Tamer gives it Rush and deals one damage to the player.
Like Harmonic Wolf, Weapon Tamer is one of the notorious cards in Bloodcraft that can give the player Wrath in a matter of few turns.
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards for a Wrath Blood deck are:
Diabolus Hedone
Demons are known for their false promises and dark magic. For her, she dances the Danse Macabre, the dance of death that brings despair to all.
Diabolus Hedone is a three-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has Rush and deals one damage to the player when played.
Diabolus Hedone is one of Bloodcraft’s greatest followers who utilizes Wrath perfectly. This is perfect for players who want to quickly finish a match since Hedone can clear a board filled with enemies. And when the board is cleared, Hedone can immediately attack the opponent thanks to its Storm effect.
Chaotic Chimera
The chimera is one of Ancient Greece’s most notable monsters that was said to have a combination of different animals. But what if, a demon can control it?
Chaotic Chimera is a twelve-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has Ward and a Fusion effect of fusing with any card. The Fusion effect only activates if Wrath is active. And whenever cards are fused to it, the cost to play it is reduced by three.
Once it’s played, it deals six damage to all enemies, restores six defense to the player, and draws three cards.
Based on its effects, Chaotic Chimera is the perfect balance of offensive and defensive capabilities. With its damage targeting all enemies, it will not only clear the board but also defend the player from enemy attacks.
Its draw and recovery effect is worth it since the fusion requirements would be worth it. It’s important to not fuse as many cards as possible because it can only fuse once per turn.
Rouge & Verte, Werekin
Werewolves come in all shapes and sizes. As for these two, their bite is much more ferocious than their bark.
Rouge & Verte, Werekin is a six-cost Legendary Bloodcraft Follower that has Rush and Bane. It would first give the player the effect that whenever the player is damaged on their turn, it would deal one damage to the enemy and restore one defense to the player. The effect only activates only five times per turn.
They also have Follower Strike which is similar to the Strike effect, except the effect activates whenever the follower attacks an enemy follower. For them, it will reduce their damage taken by zero and would proceed to deal one damage to the player.
Finally, when Rouge & Verte destroys an enemy follower, they will regain the ability to attack again and the effect can only activate five times per turn.
Albeit their costs, Rouge & Verte are one of the deadliest Wrath cards that can simply kill enemy followers by attacking them with their Bane effects. It helps that the player can restore their defenses and punish the enemy player by simply destroying their followers.
It is a win-win situation that brings the power of Wrath to its fullest potential.
Other Notable Cards:
Fear’s Disciple
Silver Snipe
Garnet Rondo
Razory Claw
Blood Pact
1. Amulet Haven
“With your prayer. A miracle will alight!” -Angels of the Covenant
After seeing the top eleven decks of the season, it is time to reveal the best current deck of the game. Hailing from the Havencraft class is Amulet Haven.
To better understand it, Amulet Haven relies on using Amulets, cards that are akin to Magic: The Gathering’s Artifacts. But unlike Artifacts, amulets take space in the playing field and some amulets are destroyed after certain turns.
Amulets also have different effects be it during the player’s turn or when it is destroyed.
Before the release of its final set, players who want to play Haven Amulet struggle to make it work on rank matches (including myself). Now, Amulet Haven returns to the top rankings thanks to its Natura cards.
Utilizing the power of the World Tree’s Last Words, Amulet Haven combines tactics of destroying World Trees and utilizing other followers that benefit the destruction or presence of an allied amulet.
Its greatest strengths are the following:
Amulets Galore
Much like Natura Sword, Amulet Haven has the best benefit in utilizing the World Tree to its fullest. And since Amulet Haven requires the use of more amulets, it requires the card, Naterran Peace.Image
Naterran Peace is a one-cost Golden Neutral Spell that places two Naterran World Trees into your hand. Then, if five allied World Trees are destroyed during this match, the player restores two defense.
This card allows you to add more World Trees to your hand and utilizes the World Tree’s effect to draw more cards in the later turns.Crystallization
Another keyword effect known in Shadowverse is called Crystallize. This effect is mostly seen in Havencraft cards and rarely seen in certain classes. For this effect, a good example would be the Divine Wolves.Image
Divine Wolves is a five-cost Golden Havencraft Follower with Crystallize as one of its effects. Introduced in Verdant Conflict, Crystallize allows the player to play the follower as an amulet, When played, it will gain Last Words and Countdown based on its Crystallize cost.As an amulet, Divine Wolves’ Last Words summons the follower version of Divine Wolves. Then, if the summoned follower comes into play and an allied amulet is present, it will evolve the follower into its powerful form. The same also applies to its original counterpart when it summons another Divine Wolves.
Divine Wolves is an excellent card in Amulet Haven due to its evolve effect. As long as the player gets a Naterran World Tree in play, the Divine Wolves’ effect will always activate from its Crystallize effect and Fanfare effect.Powerful Effects Based on Destroying Amulets
While destroying amulets is a bit tedious, some cards benefit from it as long as it’s within their hands like Wingbeats of Prayer.Image
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Wingbeats of Prayer is a six-cost Golden Havencraft Amulet that when destroyed, summons two Adamantium Birds and gives them Ward. At first, it is an expensive card to play, but whenever an allied amulet is destroyed, its play cost will be reduced by 1.
This card is a great card within Amulet Haven due to the World Trees destruction effect. Thanks to that, the player will be able to play it for free and summon two followers with Ward as extra defense
With these strengths in mind, the top three cards needed for an Amulet Haven deck are:
Angels of the Covenant/Seraphs of the True Key
There’s once a saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” And when you look at them, you’ll see to it that you will believe in their abilities.
Angels of the Covenant is a one-cost Legendary Havencraft Follower. It has a Fusion effect that only works with Havencraft cards.
Whenever it comes to play, it will subtract an allied amulet’s Countdown by one. Then, if at least one allied amulet is destroyed at the end of your turn, the follower returns to your hand.
But, if ten allied amulets are destroyed in this match and this card fuses with a Havencraft card, it will Transmute into Seraphs of the True Key.
For its Transmuted version, Seraphs of the True Key is a three-cost Legendary Havencraft Follower with Ward. When summoned, it will summon four random amulets with Countdown and give all amulets with Countdown Last Words that when destroyed will deal 2 damage to the enemy player and restore 2 defense to the allied player. But, if Seraphs of the True Key is destroyed, it will subtract ten from the Countdowns of all allied amulets with that effect.
Angels of the Covenant is an amazing card that works well with Amulet Haven. Combined with World Trees and other cards Crystallize, it would be a matter of time before the player can Transmute it into Seraphs of the True Key. With its Ward and Last Words, enemy players must risk destroying it at the cost of getting dealt with six-eight damage while the allied player restores its defense through its effect.
Garuda, Winged Radiance
Named after the Indian god of the sky, Garuda returns as its fourth form in the game. Garuda, Winged Radiance is a six-cost follower with a one-cost Crystallize effect that allows the player to draw an additional card in the next turn.
But, its best effect is its Fanfare effect that reduces a Havencraft amulet to zero. When that amulet comes into play, it will deal damage to a random enemy follower and the enemy player based on its original play cost.
This card is exceptional due to its Crystallize and Fanfare effect. If you got it on the early turns of the game, you’ll be able to make the most of it to get another card in your next turn. Then, if you have Wingbeats of Prayer, you can immediately reduce its cost to zero and deal six damage to an enemy follower and the enemy player.
Shining Prayers
If you’re not into Shadowverse’s story, you might be confused about why a priestess is with a small furball on the card art.
Shining Prayers is a six-cost Golden Havencraft Spell wherein like Wingbeats of Prayer, reduces its play cost by one whenever an allied amulet is destroyed. But, if that amulet is a World Tree, it will reduce its cost again by one.
Shining Prayers’ ability is very powerful as it destroys an allied amulet to gain its Last Words effect and banishes an enemy follower from play.
This card is important to Amulet Haven due to its powerful removal in banishing an enemy follower rather than destroying it. It also destroys an allied amulet, giving much-needed space if you have Seraphs of the True Key in your hand.
Other Notable Cards:
Meowskers, Shaggy Consul
Selena, Clergy’s Judgment
Orchid’s Examination Hall
Desert Wanderer
Concordia
Final Thoughts
And with it comes to a close. A celebration of how much gameplay Shadowverse has evolved for over eight years.
From the simple strategies of Spellboost to the complex effects of Transmute, this game has truly cemented itself in the history of trading card games.
With its final story part coming this May, I believe that these decks represent the vast history of players who strive to make the best deck possible.
I hope that you will have a fun time with your deck building and I will personally see you someday in the next chapter of Shadowverse in Worlds Beyond!
