Long time, no Hex article. Part of the reason is that there hasn't been much to write about. In a few short days Shattered Destiny will be six months old. Aside from Hex's first expansion and the Frost Ring Arena, there has been little in the way of game updates, which is concerning since many of the features of the game that really make me want to play (dungeons, character creation, double back) seem ages away. Waning enthusiasm aside, a new card set is always enough to pique my interest, and the recent glut of spoilers make me optimistic that the set will be launching within the next few months, at the very least be playable at Gen Con (if Hex will be there this year).
The three new keywords in this set are Allegiance, Shift, and Prophecy. You can read about all these keywords here, but today I'm going to focus in on Prophecy and the Coyotles, who seem to be heavily associated with it. Now in the first two set these prescient pups took a back seat to their Ardent allies, the Humans and Orcs. While they got their fair share of cool cards, the next two expansions are going to focus on the Coyotle, alongside the Necrotic, Vennen, and Elves.
Prophecy is a keyword mechanic that functions similar to cards like Spirit Dance and Shrine of Prosperity, which allow you to invest in the cards that are still in your deck, making them stronger when you draw them. Prophecy is much like that, strengthening the cards in your deck. Troops get beefier, Actions get cheaper, and resources gain extra charges. Lanupaw, Prophet of Fate is one of the Unique Coyotle, and the queen of prophecy in the set. When you play her, she buffs the next action, resource, and troop in your deck, and as you reap the rewards of her visions, she becomes stronger. One interesting aspect of Lanupaw is that she requires three different thresholds to play. Multi-threshold cards won't necessarily be making their debut in Hex with Armies of Myth, since The Triumvirate was possible to summon in Shards of Fate. But Armies will be your first chance to open them from packs and include them in your deck. And these multi-threshold cards aren't just restricted to cards of legendary rarity.
Dreamsmoke Mystic is an uncommon that requires both sapphire and wild threshold. While many of the Coyotle Prophecy cards will buff cards in your deck, others like the Mystic can be used to dig through your deck to find them and get them out more quickly. One of the more interesting multi-threshold cards is Brown Fox Scout, which will likely become a staple of the constructed format. Brown Fox Scout is ostensibly boring: a 3/2 troop for two resources, requiring sapphire and wild threshold with no evasion or combat abilities. What makes the scout unique is that while it is the top card of your deck, it will reveal itself to you and allow you to play it directly from the top of your deck to the field. While this already combos well with prophecy cards that make your troops bigger, the icing on the cake is that Brown Fox Scout is a Quick Troop, meaning you can play it during an opponent's attack to screw up their combat, or at the end of your opponent's turn, denying them the ability to use basic actions like Extinction or Crackling Bolt to kill it. You also don't lose a draw when you play the Scout, making it a free troop in many ways, so long as you have the resources and threshold to play it.
Some prophecy effects are powerful enough for you to build around their effect by themselves. While Lanupaw and many others have Prophecy effects that give moderate buffs, Indigo Dreamwalker can cause the next card in your deck to be played for free. This could create crazy situations with huge actions like a turn-five Citadel of Adamanth or a free Zodiac Divination with resources available to play the cards you just drew. Even Escalation cards are strong with Dreamwalker, since in addition to having their resource cost stripped away they get shuffled in to hopefully be drawn again. There aren't any reliable ways to know what the topmost action of your deck will be, but nonetheless the Dreamwalker will be an incredibly fun card to play in Highlander formats where zany, expansive cards can easily be played.
There's a few dozen spoilers for Armies of Myth out already, with more getting previewed every week. Hopefully we'll have a rough release date in the next week or so, and I'll get a chance to draft the Coyotle myself. It would also be nice to get an update on Mercenaries & Chest Opening, but at this point I will take what I can get. The Armies of Myth patch will also bring about Extended Art, though instead of being tied to the doubleback feature it will be a gold sink for Frost Ring grinders. I'll post my thoughts about that next week, along with a closer look at Shift, which seem to be an ability tied to the Necrotic.
In the mean time, keep watching the main site and forums (or reddit) for spoilers.
