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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.