Conclave Arcana introduced a few really cool new abilities that give a lot more depth to the game. Mainly, Painforge and Reckless. Since I already talked about those combos before (Craniax and Shadowfey Sheek), I'm going to look at another ability that I'm trying to implement more and more into my gameplay - Bloodline Tribute.
There are currently 5 units that offer Bloodline Tribute. Interestingly, 3 of those are Legendary, one is epic and one is rare. Also, three of them have Taunt, so they're going to be killed quickly.
The strongest in my opinion is Moribund Arrowbait, especially when maxed out as she gains Rebirth - so the Bloodline Tribute is doubled (as long as the opponent does not play Craniax). She's versatile as well with only 4 mana cost, making her eligible for little league.
But if played right, all of them can help you win the game. My favorite to play is the Windseer since the Elf-Bloodline is incredibly powerful with their Archon, giving them all Execute.
Shapeshifters are among the most powerful cards among Conclave Arcana. They not only benefit from Bloodline Dominion, but also from Tribute. In this match, you can see the power of Bren Palesworn. He gets a buffer from the tribute, and his double attack gives him an extra chance to execute the enemy.
There is a little bit of luck involved, as Palifala missed Palesworn in round one - thanks to the latter being enraged already, giving him an extra melee and speed bonus.
This does not look like a winning game. And additionally, learned in this game that the Bloodline Tribute only gives attack bonus on shared attacks - so the Shanker does not get +1 melee damage, as the Windseer has ranged attack.
A little bit of luck was involved. The Merc burned Tay after round one, so one unit less to worry about. The execute worked very well on the Inept Healer, giving the Shanker the little advantage needed to, well, shank.
The Ulunds are very strong as a bloodline, too. Big Momma Bella is a great summoner, her reflection shield makes her the go-to archon for all punishing-rulesets (Reflection Shield, Return Fire, Thorns, Explosive Weaponry). And the Shield for Ulunds doesn't hurt, either, as you can see in this game.
Arrowbait goes down quickly, giving the other two Ulunds extra damage - 3 magic damage with scattershot is quite powerful. On top, the enemy chose no magic monsters - although taking Bella as summoner, too. As the Ulunds have shield, too, they have their fun with the enemy line-up.
In this one, I went hardcore into the bloodline. Only one monster is not Ulund, which is a magic-opportunity monster. Don't want to miss out on something like that in the Blast-Ruleset. Bella, again, protects my monsters from the enemy blast.
Arrowbait goes down right away, before any other of my monsters can attack. Which is great, as now all Ulund-Attacks are up to 3 magic damage, causing 2 explosion damage to adjacent units. They just stomp over the enemy like it was feeding time on the other side.
To take full advantage, it's better to get not only the defensive boost, but also the attack type. Checking the members of the bloodline can help to establish strategies for that:
The elves have some very powerful range monsters, so the Windseer is often a good choice to boost them. At level 3, it also has Close Range, making it more useful.
The gnomes don't have many melee attackers, so the Scavenger, though powerful with 3 Attack and Opportunity, kind of wastes a little of it's potential there. Gnomes are better on Ranged, especially with their Archon Razi, giving them all Close Range.
The Orcs do take more advantage of their Tribute, as there are some powerful magic orcs. They're not in the water splinter, though, so the combination of splinters available has to be fortunate.
The Dwarfs are like the Gnomes, just the other way round - they'd need a melee-tribute, not ranged.
The Drakoshan have no other magic monster in modern, so the tribute is not that useful. There are very few Drakoshan until now, so maybe that'll change.
The Ulund are the best bloodline to take advantage of the tribute. Moribund is the GOAT. Dual-Attack Tribute, low health, low mana, getting rebirth at max - can't make a case against that. All you can do is use Craniax to prevent the tribute from triggering.
Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it at least as much as I enjoyed writing :-D If you have any comments or feedback - please let me know! And don't forget to leave your own posts for me to curate. Thank you very much!
If you don't play the game yet, you can use my referral: Click here for referral :-)
