I was very impressed when I took Arjun & Spike for a spin in constructed. Being aware of their key synergies made me more receptive to the idea of pivoting into a 3-drop-centric deck when I saw them late in P1.
The end result far surpassed my expectations and has me wondering if they’re a stronger hero than Sigismar & Wingspan, albeit less generically powerful.
The draft
A P1p1 The Sandman (F) made it very easy to start in Ordis, and a P1p2 Baba Yaga (F) did nothing to change my course. I took a P1p3 Anubis (C) despite it not being the strongest card in the pack because I wanted to cut Ordis and build towards Sigismar & Wingspan. There wasn’t a compelling Ordis pick for P1p4, so I followed the rares with a Thoth (F) and continued into Yzmir with a Kadigiran Alchemist (C). Kuwat, the Dissenter (R) looked nice if I did end up in an Yzmir Sigismar, and another Thoth (C) had me considering whether I could go bureaucrats.
What changed my course was a very late P1 Arjun & Spike. I noticed that most of the characters I already had were 3-drops. My Baba Yaga (F) could make up for Arjun’s card disadvantage, and the ability to anchor characters could make playing Thoths into a losing expedition a reasonable line. Muna didn’t strike me as particularly open from the right, but it didn’t need to be as long as my other factions were.
An early Harvest (R) in P2 let me feel comfortable assuming I was Arjun, and I started to lock in when I snapped up an Aloe Vera (C). The early part of the pack also gave me a Kadigiran Alchemist (R) as an anchorable 4/4/4 while the second half of the pack gave me a Daughter of Yggdrasil (C).
Flush with desirable 3-drops, my priority from here on out was cards that could fuel my reserve and/or provide card advantage. I was willing to take a Harvest (C) before anyone else was, and Magical Training (C) was a godsend.
I realized in P4 that I had very few 1 or 2-drops, so I prioritized so-so cheap characters just to fill out my curve.
Early speculation into Axiom and not being in the most open faction at the table, Bravos, left me scraping for playables. The cards I would have most preferred to upgrade were the Moonlight Jellyfish (R) and Lady of the Lake (C).
The games
Round 1 (W): Sigismar & Wingspan (Ordis-Yzmir-X)
As the first player on T1, I played Baba Yaga (C), the lower-statted of the 3-drops in my opening hand, into their Ordis Recruit. I was relieved when my opponent had just a single character, so I only went 0-1 on T1 while going up on cards and creating fodder in my reserve.
I anchored my stronger 3-drop on T2. I didn’t see my resupply support this game, and due to my T2 play not making it to reserve due to being anchored, I made a tempo-negative T3 play of getting down a Thoth (C) and then targeting it with my own Beauty Sleep (C). This line let my opponent trade with just a 2/2/2 Baku (C) while discarding one of my 3-drops from hand, but I figured it would give me fuel in reserve for the coming turns as well as proc Thoth’s ability.
My opponent led T4 with a Robin Hood (R) which completely disrupted Arjun’s double 3-drop turn on 6 mana. I anchored my more important 3-drop, an Aloe Vera (C) which still let me win one expedition.
I decided I could live with Robin Hood on the next turn, so I had my Ordis Spy (C) sabotage their Baku (C) instead. I also replayed Thoth, anchoring it by discarding the Aloe Vera resupply. The anchored threats had accumulated by this point, and I was two expeditions from victory.
The next turn, my opponent led with Jeanne d’Arc (C), whose 2/2/2 in stats made me feel like I might be able to close out the game. I played a 3-drop into the Flamel (R) I’d been saving in hand to recover the Beauty Sleep from reserve. They had a Beauty Sleep (F) of their own to neutralize one of my three characters, but my recurred Beauty Sleep let me flip the only expedition they were ahead on to secure a double advance and the win.
Round 2 (W): Nevenka & Blotch (Lyra-Muna-Ordis)
My opponent tried for a Nevenka roll on a T1 Kodama (C) and got punished with a 1. Meanwhile, a top-decked Harvest (C) ensured that I had no problems anchoring a character every turn this game.
My opponent had a second Kodama (C) which they grew over two turns with a difficult-to-anchor Sneezer Shroom (U) that gave out a boost when another character entered. I conceded an expedition the day the Kodama woke up, but an unlucky All In (R) for 1 let me successfully contest the other side.
I was able to anchor both of my Aloe Veras this game for plenty of resupplies, but the expeditions lined up awkwardly and sometimes failed to progress.
There was an interesting turn where their Esmeralda resupplied into an Anubis, which forced me to pivot from my Flamel (R) + 3-drop plan into an Ordis Spy (C) + Baba Yaga (F) from reserve before my 3-drop so as not to have a valuable character get sacrificed.
I was ahead by one expedition on the final turn. Flamel (R) looked like an all-star here as I was able to play a Thoth, cast Beauty Sleep (C) on their best target, play Flamel to recur my Beauty Sleep, then Beauty Sleep another character to take both expeditions.
Round 3 (W): Treyst & Rossum (Axiom-Muna-Ordis)
Going second allowed me to confidently keep Baba Yaga (F), but my opponent led with an Ordis Carrier (C) anyway. The next turn, I played an anchored Kadigiran Alchemist (R) against their Ordis Recruit, and they took the turn off again to deploy The Monolith, Ordis Bastion (R). Going down just two expeditions to set up two value permanents isn’t bad, and it’s a reasonably safe plan against Arjun, who’s more likely to have one large character than two small ones.
My opponent played a Quetzalcóatl (C), and it took me a second to clock that playing my Harvest (R) into it wasn’t actually a disaster, since my anchored Kadigiran Alchemist on the non-Quetzalcóatl side was already plenty strong. I used one of the Harvest resupplies to anchor out an Aloe Vera for the next turn.
I drew into my second Aloe Vera, and Arjun’s ability let me anchor them alternately so that both were on the board for most of the game. Flamel (R) let me put a resupplied Beauty Sleep (C) back in hand so that I’d be able to cast the cheap side later.
My opponent wasn’t hitting the parts of their deck that built up Treyst counters, but The Monolith put up a fight against my anchored characters. A boosted Cernunnos (C) and Foundry Armorer (C) from reserve gave them a strong penultimate turn, but a critical Beauty Sleep (C) on the Brassbug narrowly let me trade expeditions.
The next turn, slow-rolling the Kraken’s Wrath (R) that had been sitting in my reserve let me clean up the awoken Brassbug, the Ordis Recruit, a Kelon Elemental, and a Three Little Pigs for a massive blowout and the final progression I needed.
Takeaways
Arjun & Spike are a top-tier draft hero. They require more work than the likes of Sigismar and Kojo, but I believe their ceiling is higher. They do get hurt by removal more than most heroes.
Yzmir pairs very well with Arjun & Spike due to offering card draw and spells that want to be cast from hand and then pitched to the hero ability. Magical Training is another Harvest (C), Baba Yaga is a 3-drop that gives you a card, and Kadigiran Alchemist is an anchor target on the front-side and curve-filler on the back.
While the go-wide part of Ordis doesn’t contribute to Arjun’s gameplan, there’s some synergy in the bureaucrats. The fails-to-move triggers are slightly better here, but its Quetzalcóatl (R/F) and The Council (R) that are even better here than out of Waru & Mack.
Overperformers
- Flamel (R): Although I couldn’t play this early without skipping a hero ability, this was an all-star in the late-game. Returning Beauty Sleep (C) was the winning play of R1 and R2, and the resupply is perfect for Arjun.
- Magical Training (C)/Harvest (C): Playing one of these and then discarding it to anchor a 3-drop is Arjun’s ideal T2 play.
- Kraken’s Wrath (R): Great against tokens and phenomenal with Beauty Sleep, where you can sleep a character and ensure you have as many Kraken’s Wrath targets as possible for next turn.
- Aloe Vera (C): This key card is a relatively higher pick for Arjun, since any other hero will have to do more work to get Aloe Vera to stick around.
Underperformers
- Conjuring Seal (F): I often kept this as insurance that I wouldn’t run out of cards, but I never cast it once. I imagine this is largely a function of my deck having better sources of card advantage and resupplies. This one is playable, but costing the same as your best anchor targets means you’re making a sacrifice to fit it into your curve.