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Card Review - Iona’s Smile
The Adventure Pouch is on this summer horizon but before its release we have six brand new cards for you to enjoy. The meta-game has been in a consistent state with Blue Jump, Yellow Events and Green Red Crackthorn at the top of the tier list. These new cards hope to bring a shift in power and influence new and exciting decks.
In this series of card reviews I will analyse each card individually and what they offer decks, old and new.
Iona’s Smile
Iona’s Smile is a two cost event that draws the top two flying creatures from your deck. At first glance this looks like it is suited for a flying themed deck. However, I feel this card has more powerful uses outside of flying themed strategies.
Flying Decks
This card offers flying decks two things: creatures and deck thinning. If you’re struggling for creatures and need to get on board then drawing an Iona’s Smile could be a life safer. It’s one Faeria cheaper than Wisdom and depending on your deck size, you can figure out what creatures you’re likely to draw.
Drakkar Sky Captain has always been a crucial part of Yellow Flyers battle plan. As a 2/4 he is bulky enough to harvest Faeria safely and give your flyers extended power when drawn. Flyers have a higher chance to win if Drakkar can stick around on the board. Using Iona’s Smile with Drakkar on the board will guarantee two flyers getting powered up. Don’t forget, the more Drakkars the merrier!
Control Decks
Two Control decks come to mind that could benefit from Iona’s Smile. The first is Yellow Control.
Yellow Control has unfortunately fallen out of the meta because of Yellow Events power level. I’m not entirely sure if Iona’s Smile will ignite a rebirth of Yellow Control but it can help with card draw. Yellow Control wants to generate five deserts to play Windbourne Champion. Traditional lists have ran Air Elemental to help with this task and Iona’s Smile could fetch both these cards. That doesn’t include the powerful Khalim.
What I like about Iona’s Smile in Yellow Control is it gives the deck a way to find Windbourne Champion. This creature is incredibly powerful and often plays a big role in the decks win condition. Perhaps Iona’s Smile will help bring Yellow Control back into the spotlight.
This is where Iona’s Smile could be at its best. Three Wishes deck often run the power legendarys’ of the core set; Aurora, Khalim and Garudan. Both Khalim and Garudan are flying creatures which have tremendous influence on the board. Paying two Faeria to find these two cards could be what Three Wishes needs to become more consistent. There are two flaws with this card in Wishes. The first is you have to prioritize deserts to use the card. This flaw can be answered in deck building by using Yellow as your primary colour. Finally if you draw both Khalim and Garudan before Iona’s Smile, it becomes a dead card.
Potential Decks
There are two ways you can build Yellow Flyers. You can go for a more Tempo orientated build or a Control build.
The first deck is a Control variant of Yellow Flyers. You build from the side of your Orb and use the Celestial Tower to move around the board. Drakkar Skycaptain is your priority mulligan and try and use Iona’s Smile while he is on the board. Get the most out of your buffs and use Windbourne Champion’s to finish off the game.
The second deck is classic Yellow Control with Iona’s Smile and The Emperor’s Command. Iona’s Smile will help find your powerful flyers to help close out a match. Well control is key to victory so always prioritise it over Orb damage.
The last deck is Luuu90’s Event Wishes but it has been adjusted to the meta-game. The top card is 3x Falcon Dive and the bottom card is 3x Three Wishes. I’ve added one Iona’s Smile to search up the Legendary flyers. The deck now has three Frogify to help with the rise of Deepwood Stalker Hand Buff decks.
Conclusion
I’m very excited for Iona’s Smile because of it’s potential outside of flying themed decks. I’m a big fan of Yellow Control and see it potential in Three Wishes. However in practice it may not have the power to single-handedly bring these decks back into the meta.
