How do I play around prophecies? You’ve asked yourself that question when facing a Prophecy Battlemage deck. Maybe you’ve asked it when you lost a race in an aggro mirror match up. You’ve asked it when you couldn’t play around that last rune break which triggered a Piercing Javelin and made you lose. The prophecy mechanic is conceptually at the...
Play Around Prophecies #2: Prophecies by Attribute – Know Your Opponent
This second article in our Playing Around Prophecies series for new Legends players will look at the prophecies by attribute. Knowing the prophecies your opponent might be running allows you to make better sequencing decisions for your plays and attacks. This can increase your win rate and success in Legends.
In the first article of the series, we looked at The Basics of Playing Around Prophecies. If you have not yet read it, we highly recommend to read it first.
This article will provide you with a comprehensive and filterable list of all prophecies by attribute. This includes an assessment of their play frequency and threat-level. In step two, you will learn more about the most frequently played prophecy cards and strategies to play around them.
Prophecies by Attribute – Play Frequency and Threat-Level

BloodDragon007 has created this wonderful Prophecy Card Chart pdf. It provides an at-a-glance overview of all prophecies by attribute.
The table below shows a complete list of all prophecy cards by attribute. You can find an assessment of play frequency and the threat-level of each prophecy card. Click on the column titles to change the order of the table. Use the search box to filter the rows in the table. For example, searching for Strength will only show the prophecies in the red Strength attribute.
Note: the table is subjective and shall be amended based on community feedback to provide an iterated and improved overview.
Attribute | Type | Card | Additional Effect | Play Frequency | Threat-Level |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Strength | Creature | Sharpshooter Scout | Summon: Deal 1 Damage. | Low | Situational. Can kill any 1-health creature or deal face damage. |
Strength | Creature | Circle Initiate | Beast Form: +2/+1 | High in Aggro | Situational. High impact for counter-attacks in aggro mirrors. |
Strength | Action | Fear Totem | Unsummon a Creature and reduce it's cost by 3. | Medium | Unsummons one of your or their creatures'. Can interrupt your attack plan. Can push their counter-swing. |
Strength | Creature | Graystone Ravager | None | High in Prophecy Battlemage. Low, otherwise. | High, when you are at low health. |
Strength | Creature | Green Pact Ambusher | None | High in Aggro | High, when you are at low health. |
Strength | Creature | Protector of the Innocent | Guard | Medium. | Medium. Can protect against one swing and trade favorably. |
Strength | Action | Cast Out | Unsummon a creature. | Low. | Unsummons one of your or their creatures'. Can interrupt your attack plan. Can push their counter-swing. |
Strength | Item | Covenant Plate | Mobilize. Guard. +3/+1. | Medium | Medium. Can protect against one swing, trade favorably or counter-swing. |
Strength | Creature | Morkul Gatekeeper | Guard. Summon: Give a creature +2/+0. | High in Aggro. | Medium. Blocks further attacks and boosts creatures for a turnaround swing. |
Strength | Creature | Grahtwood Ambusher | Summon: Deal 1 damage to all enemy creatures in this lane. | Low | Low. Removes wards and low-health creatures only. |
Strength | Creature | Cliff Hunter | Summon: Battle an enemy creature. | Low | Medium. Can remove a small creature and survive. |
Intelligence | Creature | Soul Wraith | Guard | Low | Low. Blocks further attacks. |
Intelligence | Creature | Embassy Guard | Guard. Ward | Low | Low. Blocks further attacks. |
Intelligence | Creature | Pointy Wall of Spikes | Guard. When Pointy Wall of Spikes takes damage from a creature, it deals that much damage to that creature. | Medium | Low. Blocks further attacks and can kill an attacker. |
Intelligence | Creature | Shrieking Harpy | Summon: Shackle an enemy creature | High | Low. Shackles a creature to suppress further attacks. |
Intelligence | Action | Wisdom of Ancients | Give each friendly creature a random Keyword. | Low | RNG-based: Guard blocks further attacks. Ward, Lethal allow favorable trades. |
Intelligence | Action | Burning Touch | Deal 2 damage to a creature | Low | Low. Can kill or damage a creature. |
Intelligence | Creature | Camlorn Sentinel | Guard | Low | Low. Blocks further attacks and can trade favorably. |
Intelligence | Action | Firestorm | Deal 2 damage to all creatures in a lane. | Low | Medium. Can damage or kill creatures in a lane. |
Intelligence | Action | Grave Grasp | Shackle an enemy creature. Summon a 1/1 Skeleton for each enemy creature in its lane. | Low | Medium. Shackles a creature and can trade next turn. |
Intelligence | Action | Lightning Bolt | Deal 4 damage. | High | High. Can damage a creature or burn face. |
Intelligence | Creature | Mystic Dragon | [None]. | Low | Medium. Puts a 4/4 creature on board to trade next turn. |
Intelligence | Creature | Insightful Scholar | Summon: Draw a card for each card your opponent drew this turn. | Low | Low. Possibly gains card advantage. |
Intelligence | Item | Spear of Embers | +3/+3. Instead of equipping Spear of Embers, you may throw it at an enemy creature dealing 3 damage | Low | Low. Can remove a creature or push a counter-attack. |
Intelligence | Item | Staff of Ice | Mobilize. +1/+1. Summon: The wielder deals 2 damage. | Low | Low. Can damage or remove a creature or deal face damage. |
Intelligence | Creature | Fate Weaver | Summon: Draw a card. If it's a Prophecy, you may play it for free. | High (in Prophecy decks) | High. Card advantage and an pull additional prophecies in a prophecy deck. |
Intelligence | Support | Summerset Orrery | Uses: 3. Activate: Shuffle all Prophecy cards in your hand into your deck and draw that many cards. | Low | Low. Card cycling. |
Willpower | Action | Illusory Defenses | Summon a 0/5 Illusory Wall with Guard in each lane. Sacrifice them at the start of your turn. | Low | Low. Blocks further attacks. |
Willpower | Action | Outflank | Give a friendly creature in each lane +0/+2 and guard. | Low | Low. Blocks further attacks. |
Willpower | Creature | Cleric of Kyne | Summon: Give a creature +0/+2. | Medium (mostly in token decks) | Low. Buffs a guard or other creature to enable favorable trades. |
Willpower | Action | Harmony | Give all enemy creatures -2/-0 until the start of your turn. | Low | Low. Can reduce damage to face. |
Willpower | Action | Healing Potion | Gain 5 health | Low | Low. Can extend or end the game with Ring of Namira in play. |
Willpower | Creature | Priest of the Moons | Summon: You gain 2 health. | Low | Low. Heals a little and can trade. |
Willpower | Action | Stand Watch | Give a creature a Guard. Draw a card. | Low | Low. Resource extension paired with a block. Can be used to allow for trades into a creature hiding in shadows. |
Willpower | Action | Be At Piece | Set a creature's power to 1. | Low | Low. Can reduce damage and facilitate favorable trades. |
Willpower | Creature | Golden Initiate | Drain | High | High. Can gain life and trade to turn the tables. |
Willpower | Creature | Cloudrest Illusionist | Summon: Give a creature -4/0 this turn. | High | High. Can reduce damage and trade favorably to turn the tables. |
Willpower | Creature | Knight of the Hour | Guard. Summon: You gain 3 health. | Low | Medium. Heals, can block attacks and trade favorably. |
Willpower | Creature | Loyal Housecarl | Summon: Give a creature +2/+2 and Guard. | Low | Low. Can block attacks and facilitate favorable trades. Also puts a token on board. |
Willpower | Action | Piercing Javelin | Destroy a creature. | High | High. Removes a powerful creature. The reason the prophecy mechanic exists. |
Agility | Creature | Daring Cutpurse | Pilfer: +1/+1 | Medium (Pilfer Monk) | Low. Can trade favorably and snowball, if left unanswered. |
Agility | Creature | Dune Stalker | Summon: Move another friendly creature in this lane. | Low | Low. Can protect a creature from being killed. |
Agility | Creature | Fighters Guild Recruit | Guard. Lethal. | High | Medium. Can block attacks and trade into creatures without ward. |
Agility | Creature | Gloomlurker | Summon: Give a creature Cover. | Low | Low. Can protect a creature against trades. |
Agility | Creature | Silt Strider | Guard. Summon: Move a friendly creature to this lane. | Low | Low. Can block attacks and help to regain control over a lane. |
Agility | Creature | Blacksap Protector | Guard. | Low | Low. Can block attacks and trade favorably. |
Agility | Creature | Brotherhood Slayer | Slay: Put a Completed Contract into your hand. | Medium | Medium: Can trade favorably, draw a 0-cost card and extend magicka. |
Agility | Creature | Moonlight Werebat | Drain. | Medium | Medium. Can gain life and trade. |
Agility | Creature | Nix-Hound | Summon: Shackle each enemy creature with less power than Nix-Hound. | Low | Low. Can lock down attacks of tokens. |
Agility | Creature | Valenwood Sentry | Guard | Low | Low: Can block attacks and trade favorably. |
Agility | Creature | Assassin Beetle | Summon: Play a Prophecy from your hand. | Low (green prophecy deck only) | Situational: A versatile effect. Can pull any prophecy. |
Agility | Action | Ransack | Deal 3 damage and gain 3 health | Low | Medium: Heals and can remove a creature or deal face damage. |
Agility | Action | Whispering Claw Strike | Give an enemy -2/-2 and a friendly creature +2/+2 | Low | Situational: Can buff a guard and slow-down your assault. |
Endurance | Action | Hush | Silence a creature | Low | Medium. Can silence your creatures with an aura effect or silence their shackled creature. |
Endurance | Action | Arise | Summon a 1/1 Risen Dead with Guard in each lane. | Low | Low: Can block attacks. |
Endurance | Creature | Fharun Defender | Guard | Low | Low: Can block attacks. |
Endurance | Item | Covenant Mail | Mobilize. Guard. +1/+3 | Medium | Low: Can block attacks. |
Endurance | Creature | Frostbite Spider | Lethal | Low | Low. Can trade favorably and help to gain trade priority in field lane. |
Endurance | Action | Jyggalag's Incursion | Each player gains +2 max magicka. | Low | Situational. Both players gain magicka, but your opponent is running a greedier deck. |
Endurance | Creature | Mentor of the Watch | Guard. Summon. Give a creature in your hand Guard. | Low | Low. Can block attacks and trade favorably. |
Endurance | Action | Mummify | Transform a creature into a 2/2 Shriveled Mummy. | Medium to High | High. Can reduce damage and prohibit discard pile recursion. |
Endurance | Creature | Bonewalker | Guard. Summon: +1/+1 for each enemy creature in this lane. | Low | Low. Can block attacks and trade favorably. |
Endurance | Creature | Cursed Spectre | Summon: Silence another creature. | Low | Medium. Can silence your creatures with an aura effect or silence their shackled creature. |
Endurance | Action | Midnight Sweep | Summon a 2/2 Colovian Trooper with Guard in each lane. | Medium | Low. Can block attacks and trigger cards relying on a creature in both lanes. |
Endurance | Creature | Lurking Mummy | Guard | Low | Low. Can block attacks and trade favorably. |
Guildsworn | Creature | Guildsworn Apprentive | Guard. Summon: Draw a card. | High in Guildsworn. | Medium. Extends resources and can block attacks. |
Crusader | Creature | Tyr | Breakthrough. Guard. | Medium in aggro crusader | High. Can block attacks and provide a huge turnaround swing. |
Neutral | Creature | Blackreach Builder | Guard. Summon: Gain 2 health. | Low (only Dwemer or Abomination decks) | Situational. Life gain and can block attacks. Facilitates turnaround swings in Dwemer decks. |
Neutral | Creature | Gearwork Spider | Guard. Summon: Summon all Gearwork Spiders in your discard pile. | Low | Low. Can block attacks. |
Neutral | Creature | Crocodile Brute | When Crocodile Brute is Consumed, draw a card. | Medium in Consume decks. | Low. Can trade and provide resource extension. |
Neutral | Creature | Lurking Crocodile | [None] | Medium (in aggro) | Low. Can provide a turnaround swing. |
Neutral | Creature | Midnight Snack | Guard. Last Gasp: Reduce the cost of a random Dragon in your hand by 1. | Low, only dragon decks. | Low. Can block attacks and reduce cost of a dragon in hand. |
Neutral | Creature | Spider Worker | Summon: Draw a card. | Low (only Dwemer or Abomination decks) | Low. Can gain card advantage. Facilitates turnaround swings in Dwemer decks. |
Neutral | Creature | Adoring Fan | Guard. Immune to Silence. Last Gasp: Adoring Fan will return | Low | Low. Can block attacks. |
Neutral | Creature | Sparking Spider | Guard | Low | Low. Can block attacks. |
Neutral | Creature | Portcullis | Guard | Low | Low. Can block attacks. |
Neutral | Creature | Dark Harvester | Guard. Summon: Gain 4 health. | Low | Low. Gains life and can block attacks. |
Prophecies by Attribute: Strength
The most commonly played prophecy cards in the red Strength attribute are Circle Initiate, Graystone Ravager, Greenpact Ambuser and Morkul Gatekeeper. They often indicate that your opponent is playing an aggro deck.
Circle Initiate
Circle Initiate is used in aggressive decks to facilitate a counter-swing. The Nord will grow when a rune is broken. She can then deal a lot of damage and trade favorably against a other early game creatures. Your opponent will have to make an important decision about lane placement, which will give away their tactics…
…played to field lane and you can still trade into her
If your opponent plays Circle Initiate as a prophecy into the field lane to let you trade into her, your opponent is probably concerned about the damage you are dealing, and are baiting you into a trade. Even if your creature survived the trade, they could still have a damage-based removal spell in hand (e.g. Channeled Storm). If you take their bait, you’ll play right into the removal spell, so consider your moves carefully.
…played to field lane and you cannot trade into her on your same turn
If your opponent plays Circle Initiate into the field lane and you cannot trade into her that turn, your opponent intends on trading with your creatures. They will likely break a rune to trigger the +2/+1 beast form before they trade. If you have the magicka to remove enough threats to avoid a rune break or if you can put a guard out, that can prevent them from taking favorable trades.
…played to shadow lane
When your opponent plays her into the shadow lane, you need to see if they have the ability to break your runes. If so, they likely intend to go face the following turn. This is important in aggro mirrors, as it signals your opponent’s intent to race. If you can remove the Circle Initiate (or a bigger threat) it might be a good idea to use your remaining magicka to do it, or at least shackle her or put a guard down to block some of the damage.
Graystone Ravager
Your opponent will probably play Graystone Ravager to the shadow lane to protect him from being removed by a cheap charge creature. He is used only to push damage and needs protection. If you see him played in battlemage, your opponent could be on a prophecy strategy, so be extra careful when breaking runes and do it in a controlled way.
If your opponent plays Graystone Ravager into field lane, they probably want to trade into a creature. Use this as a cue about who is currently winning the race if you find yourself in an aggro mirror.
Greenpact Ambusher
Greenpact Ambusher is played in aggressive lists to block attacks in aggro mirrors or to push damage. This card has a unique ability which summons it for free from hand when your opponent has a full lane. This almost gives her “double-prophecy.” Your opponent will usually play her to the lane where he can block the most damage or trade into the best possible creature.
Morkul Gatekeeper
Morkul Gatekeeper is often run in aggro and midrange lists. The card has a home in many decks, not just in orc tribal. It’s a guard to protect you from an attack, and it buffs a creature by +2/+0. Due to its low health, you can easily remove it with a cheap creature or cheap removal. But when you go face, be aware of Morkul Gatekeeper and the +2/+0 buff particularly when you are at low health. This card definitely has the potential to decide close aggro mirrors.
Prophecies by Attribute: Intelligence
The most commonly played prophecy cards in the blue Intelligence attribute are Shrieking Harpy, Lightning Bolt and Fate Weaver.
Shrieking Harpy Lightning Bolt Fate Weaver lul
Shrieking Harpy
This 2-drop is one of the most powerful cards in the game. When pulled as a prophecy, your opponent can shackle your biggest creature. Across the many games I have encountered her, there have been quite a few where she has lost me the game by preventing my lethal and opening up a turnaround swing for my opponent.
Sometimes she can give you interesting clues about your opponent’s tactics. Depending on your attack sequence, your biggest creature may already have attacked. If this is the case and your opponent does not shackle it, they may have life gain options and/or removal in hand to deal with it next turn. Instead of wasting a shackle on it, they shackle something else. This cue can inform your remaining card plays this turn, e.g. consider removing Shrieking Harpy to deny the two points of damage if you have a 4 health creature on board: an Ice Storm might be coming up.
Harpy is also the reason why you might first want to go in with cards that have a certain keyword like Drain or Pilfer. We will look at this in more detail in an upcoming article Play Around Prophecies: Going-in with the right keyword..
Lightning Bolt
Lightning Bolt is one of the scariest prophecies. If your opponent is playing blue you should always expect to trigger one. If you are at 4 health or below, you should seriously weigh the risk of attacking, because bolt can lose you the game immediately. Instead, try to heal, shackle their creatures or put guards down to buy you a turn. Beware of silences and charge creatures, however. Note if your opponent is playing silence or charge colors, or if they have already played their silences. Consider putting your opponent onto a clock with your attack. If you can, it might be okay to take the risk and break the rune.
If you have lethal yourself, you should look at the number of cards your opponent has left and at the number of bolts in their discard pile. This way you can estimate the chance of triggering the prophecy. Consider the impact of a bolt on the board position. Does it have the potential to shift the clock when you are currently ahead? Does it even matter?
Fate Weaver
If your opponent pulls a Fate Weaver, you can expect high prophecy density in their deck. Oftentimes your opponent can put an additional 5-7 points of attack onto the board when they pull Fate Weaver. With lethal, you have nothing to be afraid of. But if you don’t have lethal, you need to be prepared to take at least another 7 points of damage. Can you survive that? Maybe your opponent has a Lightning Bolt or Cliff Racer in hand?! Can you even survive all of their creatures on board plus 11 points of damage? If not, you need to use your magicka to dodge their attacks by removing something, putting down a guard, or shackling something. Otherwise, it can be a risky move to go face.
You should risk it, if your opponent is very likely to win the game anyway and you can find a winning line even when it involves a lucky top deck draw.
Prophecies by Attribute: Willpower
Golden Initiate
You can find Golden Initiate in control and midrange decks as a way to gain life. While the 3 magicka daedra does not have an immediate impact on your damage output, it will drain for three points on your opponent’s following turn and can turn the tables quite surprisingly often.
When you are in control of field lane and still have attacks left, your opponent is likely going to hide it in the shadows. Golden Initiate will be able to go face or potentially trade into a creature with an attack value of 2 or less. If you manage to keep a 3-attack creature in shadow lane or in hand to contest Golden Initiate you will be fine. Having to trade two 2-attack creatures against the daedra feels really bad, as it takes away 4 points of attack.
For your play and attack sequencing, Golden Initiate is a good reason to keep a creature with shackle or silence in hand when starting to break runes.
Cloudrest Illusionist
Clouldrest Illusionist can have an immediate impact on your current turn and spoil one of your next attacks. The high elf reduces the attack value of one of your creatures by -4/-0, oftentimes avoiding one attack entirely. Not only does this have an adverse effect on the amount of damage you can deal per turn, it also puts pretty decent stats on the board and can also reduce the number of empowers you get this turn.
There may even be circumstances where your opponent decides to not play Cloudrest Illusionist as a prophecy, but keep it in hand. In this case, they likely have an Execute or Devour or other form of power-based removal in hand. This play is more likely if you only have few creatures on board and the game is still in opening or at parity.
When you are winning, Cloudrest Illusionist can definitely help to turnaround a game for your opponent. Depending on your remaining magicka and the distribution of your creatures across lanes, the high elf will likely be played to contest the highest attack creature that your opponent can kill with it. If your opponent plays it to the other lane they might have removal in hand or want to race you (please refer to the Circle Initiate section in this article for more details).
Piercing Javelin
Piercing Javelin is probably the most famous prophecy in The Elder Scrolls Legends. The card is pretty polarizing: you either hate it, or you love it. This action is hard removal and has turned games either as a first rune prophecy or as a last rune prophecy. Piercing Javelin is run almost exclusively in control and midrange decks. If you are facing such a deck archetype and it can run yellow cards, chances are very, very high that a full playset of Piercing Javelins is included, as many consider it an auto-include.
Your opponent loves pulling this prophecy, as it removes your biggest threat while saving them 5 magicka. So what is a good way to avoid this card killing your most powerful creature? For one, attacking with the biggest threat (or the one you want to survive) first will oftentimes force your opponent to remove a smaller creature in order to avoid the additional damage. The second option is to keep that creature in hand until the end of your attacks and play it last before passing the turn. Your opponent will have to waste the Javelin on your highest power creature on board and you can happily slam down an even more powerful one.
Alternatively, there are a small number of creatures that your opponent cannot target with actions, such as an exalted Indomitable Ordinator, Nahagliiv, Hulking Scalon, a waxed Corinthe Brawler or a Daedric Titan supported by one additional creature in each lane. Shadowmaster and Ebonthread Cloak can at least protect one of your creatures temporarily until your next turn.
Prophecies by Attribute: Agility
The most frequently played prophecies in the Agility attribute are Fighters Guild Recruit, Daring Cutpurse, Brotherhood Slayer and Moonlight Werebat.
Fighters Guild Recruit
You can frequently find the 1/2 lethal argonian with guard included in control and midrange decks that can run green. The best situation for your opponent is when Fighters Guild Recruit appears from your last attack and you have no magicka left for a counter-play. If you have no guard or removal left to play, your opponent can trade into your best unwarded creature.
When you sequence your attacks against a deck with Fighters Guild Recruit, you might want to keep a warded creature’s attack for last. Although in some cases you may not prefer this attack plan, it might help you to remove the FGR right away (more likely, your opponent will play it to the other lane).
Oftentimes, you will find FGR in combination with lane shifting cards like Shadow Shift or cards that allow your opponent to kill off an additional creature. Squish the Wimpy, Sword of the Inferno or Quicksilver Crossbow are the most prominent examples in this case. It can therefore be important to remove FGR immediately to avoid even more collateral damage. Using your remaining magicka to remove FGR and holding back on a cheap removal action (e.g a Firebolt, two Nord Firebrands) can oftentimes win you the game, if you manage to protect your bigger threats from the trade.
Daring Cutpurse
You can find Daring Cutpurse in pilfer decks where it has the potential to snowball if it goes unanswered. The Khajiit does not have an immediate impact on your turn, but lets your opponent race in an aggro mirror. You can get cues about who is ahead in the race if your opponent trades Daring Cutpurse intoone of your creatures. In this case your opponent thinks that you are ahead in putting them onto a clock.
Carefully consider how fast the khajiit can snowball. With Master of Thieves and/or Thieves’ Den coming down, you will lose health very quickly. You should remove the thief as early as possible.
Brotherhood Slayer
When you trigger Brotherhood Slayer off a runebreak, your opponent will attempt to get the most out of the wood elf’s slay ability for their midrange strategy. Luckily, the prophecy does not immediately impact your attack, but it can give your opponent gain magicka advantage by trading effectively. If your opponent’s deck also contains the red Strength attribute, expect your opponent to be running Unstoppable Rage in their deck.
Aim to slow down or remove Brotherhood Slayer. Warded creatures can effectively deal with the wood elf in field lane if you still have any attacks left. When your opponent plays the slayer into the shadows you can shackle and trade into them. Similarly to Golden Initiate, you can address Brotherhood Slayer in shadow lane nicely with a shackle and a 3-attack creature from hand.
Moonlight Werebat
The beast Moonlight Werebat is pretty similar to Golden Initiate. With stats of 4/2 you can more easily remove it with Firebolt, Fell the Mighty, Sorcerer’s Negation, or Blackhand Messenger, to name a few. Without removal from hand you can use silence, shackle or warded creatures to deal with the prophecy in a reasonable way.
Prophecies by Attribute: Endurance
The most frequently played prophecies in the purple Endurance attribute are Mummify, Covenant Mail and Midnight Sweep.
Mummify
This action mummify transforms a creature into a 2/2 Shriveled Mummy. Your opponent will use it to deal with an aggressive threat or to counter a powerful aura, last gasp, veteran, or summon effect (to prevent it from re-triggering). The combo pieces in your combo deck are also very vulnerable to a Mummify. Sparksmith, Dragonstar Rider, Gnarl Rootbender, Lillandril Hexmage and Apex Predator are primary targets for Mummify as your combo breaks your opponent’s runes.
Covenant Mail
Covenant Mail is an item with the mobilize keyword. Your opponent can guard their empty lane with it or equip it to a creature in play. By blocking your attacks and trading into one of your creatures, the item can effectively impact your current turn. Keep this in mind when you are racing in an aggro mirror as this may turn the favor for your opponent.
Midnight Sweep
With Midnight Sweep, your opponent can effectively block attacks in both lanes. This probably reduces the impact of your attacks by a little. If your last attack triggers the prophecy, the two guards may effectively block your charge creatures. Therefore, Midnight Sweep might be a reason to play the charge creature first to ensure that this damage gets through.
A great counter-play option to Midnight Sweep is Crusader’s Assault, but also silences or breakthrough creatures can effectively deal with the small guards.
Prophecies by Attribute: Multi-color Cards
There are a few dual-color prophecies that consistently see play.
Guildsworn Apprentice
This 1/2 guard effectively blocks one attack and draws your opponent a card to play on their next turn. While the Argonian in itself is not a dangerous threat, the additional card advantage will potentially help your opponent to find a turnaround.
Tyr
This 5/4 Nord is a very dangerous prophecy that you can find in almost any deck archetype. With a statline of 5/4 and both breakthrough and guard, Tyr can not only block attacks, but the high attack power can turn aggro mirrors in your opponent’s favor. What’s worse, Tyr is a great threat in a control deck for an Unstoppable Rage play.
Let’s look at an example: your token deck has creatures in both lanes and you go face with the creatures in shadow lane, first. Your last attack from this lane trigger a Tyr prophecy and you still have attacks left from field, without having lethal. If your opponent contests with Tyr infield lane, you will likely be able to trade into him and be fine. If your opponent plays Tyr into the shadow lane, this play should worry you, because it’s quite probably an indication of an upcoming Unstoppable Rage play.
Therefore, when making your sequencing decision, consider keeping a 4-power attack in shadow lane for last to potentially deal with any Tyr play. With removal in hand you should immediately remove Tyr to play around the Rage, if you cannot survive the breakthrough damage and the following swings.
Prophecies by Attribute: Neutral Cards
Neutral prophecy cards are generally weaker than their colored counter-parts. The reason is simple, as they may be included with any deck.
Lurking Crocodile
You can find Lurking Crocodile in aggressive, mostly prophecy-heavy decks. The crocodile is a strong clue that your opponent is on a prophecy deck. Your opponent will use the crocodile to increase the prophecy density in their deck. While the animal cannot stop your assault, your opponent gets an option to trade or to build his own board presence. You might want to re-calculate the clock and plan your attacks more carefully to ensure that you can deal with any additional prophecy you will likely trigger off the next rune break.
Crocodile Brute
Your opponent will play Crocodile Brute in their midrange or aggressive deck exclusively to benefit from its consume mechanic. They will often desire to get the crocodile into their graveyard and happily trade it into one of your creatures. Therefore, dodging the crocodile with a lane move, a warded creature or a shackle can be elegant ways to play around it.
Summary – Prophecies by Attribute
This article is a long read, but knowing your opponent’s prophecies is an important step to playing around them. You have seen that attack sequence and the ability to remove creatures after a prophecy trigger can have a huge impact on your ability to win games. Being able to contest a Golden Initiate or Brotherhood Slayer in shadow lane with a Crown Quartermaster or other 3-attack creature from hand can make a huge difference. Also, against Control Crusader or Rage Guildsworn you can make a difference to attack with your 4-power creature in shadow lane last, to be able to deal with Tyr. These are some of the more advanced tips to play around prophecies.
In our previous article we discussed the questions to ask yourself before breaking a rune. We hope this article has been helpful in getting to know the most commonly played prophecies. With this in mind you can greatly improve your Legends game play and improve your game play. Below is a list of the additional articles in this series. To get notified about new articles, please subscribe to the blog and let us know your feedback in the comments section below.
Play Around Prophecies #2: Prophecies by Attribute – Know Your Opponent
This second article in our Playing Around Prophecies series for new Legends players will look at the prophecies by attribute. Knowing the prophecies your opponent might be running allows you to make better sequencing decisions for your plays and attacks. This can increase your win rate and success in Legends. In the first article of the series, we looked at...