New Lyonar Archetype Idea

[halcyon98]

Introduction

I have this idea for a new experimental Lyonar archetype, and it’s quite different from anything else we have in Duelyst so far. It doesn’t have too many cards, and it’s poorly balanced, but then again, it’s just a random idea. Hope you all can take a quick look and give me some feedback.

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The Deck

The deck will be centralized around these 3 cards. Although the Heliosphere seems weak and trivial, it is an essential combo part. All cards in this archetype will have abilities that focus on this Heliosphere, by either buffing it, being buffed by it or summoning it.

Heliosphere

Sunlight Diviner

Opening Gambit: Give a friendly Heliosphere +3 health and Forcefield.

Coronagraphy

Summon a Heliosphere on a random nearby space.

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The Early-Game

These cards will give you a basic idea of how this deck will work. These minions are weak on their own but become formidable powerhouses when a Heliosphere is in play. The key to this combo is keeping the 1/1 Heliospheres alive.

Daybreaker

Daybreaker Ability

Opening Gambit: If a friendly Heliosphere is in play, gain +2/+2.

A very solid 2 drop. With a Heliosphere, it becomes a 3/5, a definitely overpowered stat line for a 2 drop. However, without a Heliosphere, it will play as a powerless 1/3, making it a very unattractive T1 play.

Sunshielder

Sunshielder Ability

Opening Gambit: If a friendly Heliosphere is in play, restore 6 health to a minion or general.

Again, like Daybreaker, the Sunshielder can be very powerful if a Heliosphere is in play. However, while Daybreaker is best as a T1 play, this would be more useful in later phases of the game, where you most likely do have a Heliosphere in play.

Solarium Paladin

Solarium Paladin Ability

Whenever this minion attacks, all other friendly minions gain +1/+1 per friendly each Heliosphere in play.

The 3 drop of this archetype. It can buff your swarm at a very fast rate if kept alive. Just two Heliospheres would give all friendly minions +2/+2, including the Heliospheres themselves, increasing their survivability.

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The Late-Game

This deck would not be complete without its late-game finishers. While other minions are able to create value and manage tempo fairly well, nothing was too explosive to be solid win-cons. These minions should be what really carries the match home.

Perihelion

Perihelion Ability

Blood Surge: Summon two Heliospheres on random nearby spaces.

This card is pretty self-explanatory. It would be extremely useful in cases all Heliospheres have been destroyed by late-game threats, but weak if you don’t have a strong board. Solid all around, but not spectacular.

Luminary Vanguard

Luminary Vanguard Ability

Provoke. Whenever a Heliosphere is summoned, deal 3 damage to all nearby enemies.

As a Sunriser of Steroids, this is the archetype’s main damage output. 3 AoE damage on a 3/9 Provoke is arguably better than a Makantor if this manages to stick around for long enough. Win-con number 1.

Sol Prometheus

Sol Prometheus Ability

Provoke. All friendly Heliospheres gain, “Deal 4 damage to all nearby enemies at the end of turn.”

This is the Big Boy that will probably never see play because it costs 7 mana. Its stats are pretty good, and its ability seems quite powerful on paper, and it’s theoretically the strongest finisher of this archetype. Win-con number 2.

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The Support

Of course, there are plenty of utility cards that play based on the Heliosphere. They’re pretty straightforward effects but are powerful nevertheless. Solar Flare is the AoE Lyonar needs, Sunset Charity is a simple but strong draw effect, and Golden Banneret is a late-game push.

Solar Flare

Deal 2 damage to all enemy minions per each friendly Heliosphere in play.

Sunset Charity

Draw a card. If a friendly Heliosphere is in play, draw 2 cards instead.

Golden Banneret

Your General has +2 attack per each friendly Heliosphere in play. All Heliospheres gain Provoke.

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That’s it for now

So I hope you enjoyed this little idea of mine. Again, I hope you can tell me your thoughts on this and possibly suggest some more card concepts that would fit this archetype. If you’re too unmotivated for either, at least do a quick poll. Thanks!

• I like it.
• I don’t like it.
• I’m neutral.

[ancientmage]

Interesting idea but it just doesn’t really feel all that Lyonar to me, it feels like trying to add egg gimmicks to Lyonar.

[alplod]

I agree with the previous reply. The idea is more Vanar with their vespyr synergy, not straightforward enough for Lyonar.

Though I do like your card design.

[halcyon98]

Interesting idea but it just doesn’t really feel all that Lyonar to me, it feels like trying to add egg gimmicks to Lyonar.

I do agree, but I too have no idea in which faction this archetype would belong in. But I don’t think is like Magmar eggs in a sense where eggs hatch into something else while Heliospheres must be kept as long as possible. Also, egg decks have more combo oriented around what minion the egg will hatch into, while this deck’s combos are focused on the Heliosphere itself. I did get inspiration from Embroyitic Insight when designing one of the cards, however.

I agree with the previous reply. The idea is more Vanar with their vespyr synergy, not straightforward enough for Lyonar.

My initial idea was a deck that only had a single Heliosphere in play at a time, with every card had effects like Daybreaker or Sunset Charity. I then realized that it just wasn’t practical and changed things around quite a bit. I suppose it is very similar to Vesyprs, but there are some differences as well; while Vespyr synergies center around an entire tribe, this deck centers around a single card.