History AwesomeButImpractical / Shadowverse

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/119531020?lang=en Tri-Head Hound]] has three lives, and each time it dies it comes back a little stronger than before. It would make for a great source Last Words -- after all, you're getting three for the price of a single deck slot, but the Last Words Shadow archetype likes to reanimate Last Words followers of cost ''2'' or less, so Tri-Head misses out on the synergy. Its base stats are also pretty wimpy, and an opponent would be content to leave a 1/1 up so that you're forced to kill the Hound yourself instead of threatening anyone.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103131030?lang=en Maahes]] looks like a solid card -- 6pp 5/5 Ward is great, but the problem is that trying to trigger his board-clearing effect needs 2 additional cards to be played. At minimum, you have to spend 8pp for it, and by that point the opponent probably already has a board that won't be taken out by Maahes' effect. Trying to trigger his effect on-curve would involve stockpiling a few [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900111020 Fairy Wisps]] or evolving a [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101121080?lang=en Elven Princess Mage]]. Even then, it's OvershadowedByAwesome by [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101131020 Rhinoceroach]] for combo card dumps and doesn't compete well with other better control Forest cards like [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104131020 Crystalia Aerin]]. Not helping the matter that the Altersphere expansion introduced [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/111121010?lang=en Forest Defender]], who happens to a significantly better board clear for Forestcraft than Maahes and even Cassiopeia and Will of the Forest.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/106541020?lang=en Mail of Obliteration]] holds infamy as one of Shadowcraft's worst legendary cards, even below the original Corpselord of Woe. While it does have the capability of reaching massive attack scores if the Shadow deck racks up a respectable body count, it is still held back by its lack of other abilities. When Shadowcraft has other much more effective 7pp followers like [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104541020?lang=en Eachtar]], [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103521040?lang=en Khawy]], or [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108541030?lang=en Arcus]], a giant stat-stick that can't even protect itself from hard removal looks downright pathetic in comparison. The only real use it has found is as high power fodder in some Siren decks. That is, until [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/120541010?lang=en Ceres, Bride of the Night]] was released were the spell that she produces is now being capable of giving Mail the Last Word of dealing all of it's damage to the enemy leader, setting up for a potential OTK. While still very much a meme card as it requires quite a few pieces to work, it is still a massive step up from the absolute joke it used to be.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/123841020?lang=en Wielder of the Cosmos]] has the potential to become very, very big and trigger many powerful effects. The problem is that it randomizes its cost the moment you draw it, which will in turn affect how big it will become and the number of effects that can happen (also chosen randomly). It's difficult to optimize and thus doesn't see regular constructed play.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101232010?lang=en Arthurian Light]] generates Knights and bestows Storm to 1-cost followers. However, it's an amulet, so you aren't affecting the board, and you get a Knight at the ''beginning'' of your turn. In addition, giving Storm to these cards, which are most likely sporting a paltry 1 attack, is very ineffectual in assisting with board control or pushing for face damage. If you really want to use this effect, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/109241020?lang=en Latham, Honorable Knight]], although he comes in later, does the most of the same thing but comes with a large body and his Accelerate effect makes him useful as an early play or when you already played Latham.\\
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Curiously, Arthurian Light is more well-received... ''outside of Swordcraft''. Specifically, Portalcraft generates a lot of strong 1-cost Artifacts that work marvelously with Arthurian Light's ability to bestow Storm. The one drawback is that they need to obtain that card through [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107024010?lang=en Treasure Map]], so it's a 1-in-7 chance of striking the jackpot, with the remaining 6 results being very underwhelming.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/120334010?lang=en Whims of Chaos]] is essentially ''designed'' to be unpredictable; and often too unpredictable for consistent success. It randomizes the costs of all cards in the turn player's hand at the start of their turn, essentially throwing any semblance of planning out the window. The catch here is that the costs are all randomized between 1 and 10, so you can forcibly discount cards far out your usual reach (like the 20pp Dimension Shift) with minimal effort, but it's an inconsistent combo restricted to Unlimited.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/113641030?lang=en Spawn of Exile]] is the retrained version of Spawn of the Abyss, but it's also significantly less potent. Rather than deal damage when attacking from Ambush, it instead summons a bunch of [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900641040?lang=en Voice of the Abyss]] tokens. It amounts to a total of 12 damage split across all sorts of bodies, but is proven to be too slow for Rotation Blood decks of its era. [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/114641020 Cradle of Dark Divinity]] proves to be cheaper and superior for the GradualGrinder Natura Blood deck, while [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/115641030?lang=en Permafrost Behemoth]] provides a game-ending burst damage for self-damage Blood.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/117134010?lang=en Life Banquet]] draws you 2 cards. If you played 2 other cards before it, you get a [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110111010?lang=en Furious Mountain Deity]]. If you played '''8''' other cards instead, you summon '''two''' copies of [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104141020?lang=en Deepwood Anomaly]]. This second effect is incredibly DifficultButAwesome, and in the off-chance you do, you have two hulking behemoths that threaten to kill the opponent in one shot. But it will take a lot of setup to be able to play a total of 8 cards and still have 3 play points left for Life Banquet.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/120441030?lang=en Godfire Phoenix]] has an impressive 5/5 body for only 3pp, but it can only attack while Overflow is active for you, making it a sitting duck if drawn early. At the end of the turn, when you've maxed out your play point orbs, it can banish 3 enemy followers and heal you for 4 at the cost of 2 of your own play point orbs, though that's also to help keep the Phoenix from being too oppressive on its own. Still, this fantastic effect is an end-of-turn effect which is a bit too slow when compared to high-impact game enders like Ghandagoza.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/106541020?lang=en Mail of Obliteration]] holds infamy as one of Shadowcraft's worst legendary cards, even below the original Corpselord of Woe. While it does have the capability of reaching massive attack scores if the Shadow deck racks up a respectable body count, it is still held back by its lack of other abilities. When Shadowcraft has other much more effective 7pp followers like [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104541020?lang=en Eachtar]], [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103521040?lang=en Khawy]], or [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108541030?lang=en Arcus]], a giant stat-stick that can't even protect itself from hard removal looks downright pathetic in comparison. The only real use it has found is as high power fodder in some Siren decks.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101131010?lang=en Petal Fencer]] transforms every Fairy that the player summons into a copy of herself; if not dealt with, Petal Fencer is indefinitely self-sustaining. The issue is that she's a mere 2/2 for 4pp, so not only is she terribly overcosted, but she effectively only gives a small boost to the player's Fairies.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/102131020?lang=en Grand Archer Selwyn]] prevents an enemy follower from attacking next turn, or in the case that follower has low attack, returns it to the hand. All this generally does is buy time rather than actually deal with the threat at hand, and sometimes returning the target to the hand -- often in the case of a mirror match -- is among the last things you want to do.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104141020?lang=en Deepwood Anomaly]] is an 8/8 8 play point Forestcraft follower that has a powerful ability to OneHitKill the enemy leader if this follower attacks the enemy leader. It should be noted that while this follower's ability to do this is strong, the problem is that unlike [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104741020 Heavenly Aegis]], Deepwood Anomaly does not have any means of protection, meaning that any follower removal can easily get rid of Deepwood Anomaly. Even so, this follower can easily be countered with putting down several Wards (for example, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103521040 putting down a Ward that destroys an enemy follower and heal you]] can easily counter Deepwood Anomaly). Normally, this is comboed with [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103141010 White Wolf of Eldwood]] follower [[note]]This is a 4/4 follower with Rush where when it dies, it randomly puts one of the highest play point cost Forestcraft follower into your hand at the start of your next turn and change its cost to 0, ensuring a 0 cost Deepwood Anomaly[[/note]], even so, Forestcraft does not have any cards that would give an allied follower Storm. Some speculate Deepwood Anomaly was created for more control-oriented Forest decks and/or to lower the skill level for Forestcraft as a class. But even so, Forestcraft already have numerous tools to OTK a player with [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101131020 Rhinoceroach]] and Forestcraft itself [[DifficultButAwesome isn't that easy to play]] due to Forestcraft's dependence on {{Combo}}s (and Deepwood Anomaly does not fit into Forestcraft's playstyle). And for the best White Wolf value, a [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101134020 9 cost to 0 cost spell that can hit face to the enemy leader]] or a [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/106141020 10 cost Storm follower that ignores Ward and can be up to 10/10 in stats with a full hand]] has much higher value for Forestcraft and that card itself can be used to OTK someone from 20 defense to zero with the aforementioned Rhinoceroach. Subsequent expansions have introduced cards that can bestow this follower with Storm such as [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900144030?lang=en Wrath of Nature]] and [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108131020?lang=en Swiftgait Okami]] when used in conjunction with White Wolf and even so, this strategy is very easily telegraphed by your opponent, as the opponent can respond to this by appropriately warding up.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101232010?lang=en Arthurian Light]] generates Knights and bestows Storm to 1-cost followers. However, it's an amulet, so you aren't affecting the board, and you get a Knight at the ''beginning'' of your turn. In addition, giving Storm to these cards, which are most likely sporting a paltry 1 attack, is very ineffectual in assisting with board control or pushing for face damage. If you really want to use this effect, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/109241020?lang=en Latham, Honorable Knight]], although he comes in later, does the most of the same thing but comes with a large body and his Accelerate effect makes him useful as an early play or when you already played Latham.
** Curiously, Arthurian Light is more well-received... ''outside of Swordcraft''. Specifically, Portalcraft generates a lot of strong 1-cost Artifacts that work marvelously with Arthurian Light's ability to bestow Storm. The one drawback is that they need to obtain that card through [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107024010?lang=en Treasure Map]], so it's a 1-in-7 chance of striking the jackpot, with the remaining 6 results being very underwhelming.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101334030?lang=en First Curse]] damages an enemy follower, then upgrades into [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900334010?lang=en Second Curse]] and finally [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900334020?lang=en Final Curse]]. All three are terribly overcosted for the damage they do, and Runecraft's removal suite is so well-stocked that they have a large variety of efficient spot removal.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/106331010?lang=en Europa]] is a 3pp 1/4 that, when played for 5 mana or if evolved, gets Storm, Bane, and Ward, befitting her status as Zeus's daughter. Unlike Zeus, though, Europa's statline makes her unlikely to take more than one hit, and she's terrible for pressuring the opponent's leader directly. On top of that, playing her as a 3pp 1/4 without any other effect is terrible.

** Like Tista above, the Gems of Fortune Cup is surprisingly conducive to Wish Wielder. The 0-cost Gem spells help with spellboosting him into generating more legendaries, and any cards that are ill-suited for the situation can be converted into better cards with the Gems. Even if Wish Wielder has to be played on curve without boosting, he presents no loss in hand advantage which is critical in this game mode.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101431070?lang=en Deathmist Dragon]] is a 4pp 2/2 unattackable minion that does 1 damage to all followers at the end of your turn. Not only is it understatted, but doing just 1 damage to the whole board -- even yours -- is not good enough for consistent board control except against Sword and Forest's 1-defense tokens. Trying to field multiples of her is also counterproductive as the Deathmists will damage each other.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101432010?lang=en Wyrm Spire]] not only costs a lot for an amulet, but it also demands that the player generates low-cost followers to transform. Given Dragoncraft's MightyGlacier playstyle, it runs contrary to the design of most of its cards, and by the time it started getting notable low-cost follower generation, this amulet has been overshadowed by numerous other options.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104434010?lang=en Dragonslayer's Price]] does 5 damage to the whole board for 4pp, which is great as a boardwipe. The downside is that you lose your entire hand. Even if you have [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/102432030?lang=en Dracomancer's Rites]] to help refuel, you are likely throwing away several more usable cards to achieve this. And since it deals damage to ''all'' followers, you can't combo it with cards such as [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/102411040?lang=en Wildfang Dragonewt]] to get in some extra damage in since they will get killed by it as well.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110441020?lang=en Jabberwock, Nightmare Spawn]] somehow looks even worse than its ''Wonderland'' counterpart. Starting off as a 7pp 3/3, it devours low-cost followers from your deck each turn to build up its stats, and once it reaches double-digits it begins doing damage at the start of your opponent's turn. The problem? The very first sentence of its card text: "Can't attack." Doing nothing for 7pp is a pretty big deal (in comparison, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/102743010?lang=en Enstatued Seraph]] is an equally big do-nothing, but compensates with an InstantWinCondition) and trying to race Jabberwock to 10 attack in one turn means forsaking low-cost followers, a deckbuilding decision that will debilitate your early game. So not only does Jabberwock take a minimum of two turns to begin affecting the board, there's nothing that can protect it from being slain by hard removal or a Bane follower.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/105634010?lang=en Lethal Blade]] marks a follower with a debuff that causes it to take 3 damage whenever it attacks, causing it to self-destruct eventually. In Vengeance, it does this to all enemy followers. However, while it does prevent the follower from attacking ever, it doesn't actually remove it, and thus does nothing to help deal with Ward or eliminate dangerous passive or triggered effects. Nearly ''any'' removal spell, especially [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103624010?lang=en Hungering Horde]], does the job more effectively.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/111631020?lang=en Lykos Berserker]], on death, puts a 1-cost [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104633010?lang=en Blood Moon]] in your hand for risk-free Vengeance use, provided its attack is 4 or higher at time of death. It's designed for use with Bloodcraft's varous hand-buff strategies, and in a vacuum, an evolved Lykos Berserker can still provide the Blood Moon. However, at the time of printing, Vengeance Blood had better enablers in Unlimited or was generally not viable in Rotation, and [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/113631010?lang=en Azazel]] would soon render this card obsolete by being a better Vengeance enabler in both formats.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/115841030?lang=en Vertex Colony]] and [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/114841020 Absolute Modesty]] joined the growing list of underwhelming Portal legendary cards because of the whole "Artifacts with different names" shebang -- the most popular Artifacts were Portalcraft's two cheapest ones, and players would generate them en masse. Other distinct Artifacts were usually too impractical to be worth generating and may turn into dead draws at inopportune times. This meant that any supplementary burn from Modesty or Colony capped at a measly 2 or 3. Colony's Crystallize added two more distinct names with its unique tokens to push it up to 4 or 5, but this still wasn't enough for relevance. It wasn't until the next set, ''World Uprooted'', which thoroughly turned the whole Artifact philosophy on its head by adding numerous sources of a discounting token spell that could make one of three new and competent Artifacts almost on demand. Only then were these two legends RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101141010?lang=en Fairy Princess]] fills your hand with Fairies -- Great for setting up a combo with [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101141030?lang=en Rose Queen]], but terrible for most other situations. Not helping matters is her poor statline -- playing her on curve just gives you a 4/4 and a clogged hand while you still have to wait to your next turn to commence any combo plays, and the clogging may cause one to lose out more valuable potential draws. To highlight how underwhelming this ability is [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107141010?lang=en Aria, Guiding Fairy]] has the same effect (albeit at Enhance 9) but nobody even uses Aria for that.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/111141020?lang=en Forest Oracle Pascale]] as a follower is considered to be better than her Runecraft version, as Forestcraft is a class that can establish board tempo relatively easily. The problem is that it requires the player to play 4 cards or more in the same turn to utlize her effect, meaning the only way the player can activate her effect is either playing 4 Fairies in turn 10, or utilize discounted [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110131010?lang=en Luxglaive Bayle]] and Will of the Wisps should the player wants to use her before turn 10 and even so, the board she presents isn't as impactful for Tempo Forest. By contrast, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110041020?lang=en Gilnelise, Omen of Craving]], who has better use in Tempo Forest since she buffs existing followers on board to push lethal damage and [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108141010?lang=en Yggdrasil's]] [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900144030?lang=en Wrath of Nature]], which can bestow discounted Bayles Storm to push lethal damage.

* By evolving [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/113141020?lang=en Tista, Wings of Mercy]], the player is granted a leader effect that grants a +1/+1 buff to any follower added to their hand except by drawing. This includes tokens, so Fairies turn into a notable 2/2. Soon after, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/114141010?lang=en Amataz]] came along and proved himself to be a better Fariy buffer without even needing an evolve, leaving Tista largely unused. That said, Tista has a moment of glory in the "[[https://twitter.com/shadowversegame/status/1170308734507278336?lang=en Gems of Fortune Cup]]" game mode, where her ability can provide an invaluable buff to literally any follower the player gains.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/102232020?lang=en Rogue's Creed]] buffs all your followers with Ambush at the end of the turn. The issue is that there's very few ways for followers to regenerate Ambush to continue to enjoy further boosts. On top of that, it also imposes a rather tricky SadisticChoice: use their Ambush follower to contest the board and lose further buffs, or don't do anything with their followers, essentially giving the opponent free setup turns in exchange for continued buffs. Even though [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104211040?lang=en Vagabond Frog]] has endlessly regenerating Ambush to help in this regard, one wants to play Rogue's Creed ''after'' playing Vagabond Frog, as end-of-turn effects are resolved with the latest card played going last.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107231020?lang=en Noble Chancellor]] restores 1pp whenever you play a card at its Enhance cost. However, this boon is just too small to effectively offset the raised costs for Enhance, so under most circumstances he's effectively a vanilla 2/2 Commander.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110241020?lang=en Jiraiya]] is a clumsy 9pp 8/8 that turns every enemy follower into a 1/1, and when Accelerated it does the same but only to one enemy follower. There's an issue with debuffing effects as it's often a lot more efficient to just outright kill the target with a removal spell. Jiraiya isn't a bad card in a vacuum, but in its debut format it simply could not find the right deck to fit into, especially with the rest of the Usurpation package already trying to squeeze into the preexisting midrange skeleton.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101334010?lang=en Arcane Enlightenment]] costs 6 play points and can be spellboosted to draw a massive number of cards. However, one can only draw so many cards before it becomes excessive and puts one at risk of decking out, and its static high cost also prevents the player from using most of what they just drew and missing out on board development or control. In contrast, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101314020 Fate's Hand]] is seen far superior because it has a lower base cost for constant output (meaning it still is reasonable without any spellboosts), and becomes ''cheaper'' with spellboosts, offering incredibly efficient card advantage when it turns totally free.
** [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107314010 Expel Soul]] is also terrible for the exact same reasons.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103331020?lang=en Anne]] and [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103431020?lang=en Grea]] are notable for summoning the other and evolving them, despite each card belonging to separate crafts. However, they cost too much to be worth fitting into most decks, and do very little to boot. Rune's synergy-reliant archetypes also make it very hard to make an argument to run Anne anywhere.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104341020?lang=en Hulking Giant]] is a 6pp 6/6 that can't be targeted for effects, and it consumes your Earth Sigils in hand to become even stronger. This protection isn't foolproof, though, as it is vulnerable to any form of Bane and can succumb to randomly-hitting effects like those out of [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103521030?lang=en Lurching Corpse]].

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108341030?lang=en Truthseeker Faust]] gives the leader an ability that consumes an Earth Sigil for +2/+1 to a random allied follower, if available. The issue with this is that many Earth Rite decks ''want'' to keep their Sigils around for bigger plays like [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/105331020?lang=en Levi]] or [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107334020?lang=en Grand Summoning]], and the inability to choose who gets the buff can backfire.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/106441020?lang=en Python]] banishes all but the high-cost cards in your deck. In theory, it dramatically thins out your deck and improves your odds of drawing your other heavy hitters if you're at the point where you can play Python. In execution, there's too few important high-cost cards a deck would want to run without exposing itself to the risk of an opening hand filled with those cards. Python having no other keywords to help a disadvantaged player stabilize doesn't help.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/111441030?lang=en Tlaloc]] finds itself in a weird position. A 4pp 5/3 tends to die to a lot of removal, and the leader effect it bestows is situational and a little difficult to manage. Natura Dragon eventually proved to be the superior GradualGrinder deck which didn't need continual attacks.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/105541020?lang=en Corpselord of Woe]] used to be a 4/4 that required a steep cost of 6 Shadows to automatically evolve so he could attack and revive himself. This Necromancy cost was way too high to fulfill by turn 5, forcing a player to spend an evolve point themselves to use on him most of the time. Half of the remaining time, Corpselord would just sit uselessly on the battlefield, taking up space. Corpselord languished as one of Shadowcraft's worst legendary cards and was eventually salvaged by upgrading him to his current state: a 5/4 that needs 4 Shadows to automatically evolve. This broke Corpselord out of this trope, making him a reasonable beater in Rotation Midrange Shadow decks.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110541020?lang=en Rulenye]] was hyped during previews as his effect was a much-anticipated spell cost increase, which had players excited over how he would counter the much-maligned Runecraft decks. However, his effect was subject to a lot of LoopholeAbuse: Newly drawn spells were not affected as they were not in hand at the time of Rulenye being played, and Enhance and Accelerate costs, being alternative costs, were exempt from Rulenye. This led to Rulenye being excluded from many a deck as, barring some very niche situations that could buy his player a much-needed turn, he would consume 3 Shadows for nothing.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/111531020?lang=en Gluttonous Empress]] comes off as a smaller version of [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103541010?lang=en Nephthys]] for the Rotation format, summoning and immediately killing only one follower. The fact that she picks randomly from your deck means she's very unpredictable with what she can pull out and kill, so it's really impractical for either high-value Last Words or Reanimate synergies. Not helping the matter that Shadowcraft decks in Rotation don't put much emphasis on having sticky boards or lategame board presence such as Mordecai and Prince Catacombs when compared to Shadowcraft decks in Unlimited and instead put more emphasis on Arcus lategame combos, making her relatively useless.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/112531010?lang=en Baleful Necromancer]] performs 3 Reanimates, flooding your board at a moment's notice. The issue with this is his reanimate values - all three total 12, but the numbers are determined randomly. So for every instance he performs Reanimate (4) three times, there's the possibility he'll Reanimate (0) twice followed by Reanimate (12). Combined with how the rules of Reanimate work, it's most likely he'll fill your board with random cannon fodder that died on the way to turn 8 rather than anything useful.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101641030?lang=en Beast Dominator]] is a massively overstatted 6/6 for 5pp. However, if you're not in Vengeance, she deals 2 damage to you while also losing 2 attack, and so is an impractical card to play when you haven't quickly put yourself there. Within Vengeance, though, Blood typically has better plays to make in the 5pp slot to contest the board, like [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104621040 Dark Airjammer]] flooding the board or [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103621030 Squall Lancer]] killing up to three followers at once with the assistance of an evolve point.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103631030?lang=en Mastema]] is a whopping 6/6 Bane follower for 5pp, but is held back by her debilitating drawback of only being able to attack enemy followers with Ward and the enemy leader. She's great for being a massive threat when her player has had a lot of early aggressive pressure, but when behind, her inability to trade makes it difficult to come back.

* Getting good value out of [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110641020?lang=en Calamity Bringer]] is a LuckBasedMission on par with what's seen in ''VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}''. As a Fanfare, it destroys three other random followers, which can be an incredible swing in advantage if you control nothing else, but also deals 7 damage to yourself if you're not already in Vengeance, which can be very dangerous if you're ''just'' hovering above 10 defense. On evolution, if you're already in Vengeance (something very possible given his Fanfare) he deals 9 damage spread randomly across all other followers and all leaders. The possibility of outright losing the game from Calamity Bringer's effects is too colossal a risk to take for most players, until new additions in ''Rebirth of Glory'' gave incredibly convenient access to Vengeance which removed a lot of risk associated with this card.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101733040?lang=en Devourer of Heavens]] is a 2pp 5-countdown amulet that spawns a 6/6... and does a measly 1 damage to enemy followers when it finishes counting down. This added 1 damage offers next to nothing in board control compared to its basic parallel [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/100713030?lang=en Featherwyrm Descent]]. In fact, the latter may even be ''better'' than Devourer of Heavens due to summoning the Dragon a little bit sooner.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107733010?lang=en Ancient Protector]] offers an astounding 6/6 Ward, but with its countdown of 1 and its Last Words removing that Ward, it's not going to protect you for long. For an evolve point, the Ward follower gets the ability to attack and also banishes the amulet it's tied to, but on turns where you've run out, the amulet more or less just delays the inevitable.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/111731010?lang=en Marlone]] generates a simple [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900734030?lang=en token spell]] for both players. Getting the opportunity to have a cheap cycle is nice, but giving your opponent the same isn't. Not helping matters is that Marlone is a downright ''hindrance'' against a Spellboost Runecraft. Marlone's lack of direct net benefit gets him sidelined a lot.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107831030?lang=en Silver Cog Spinner]] is... [[SoOkayItsAverage decent]]. So decent that she doesn't have any use in a specialized deck, and is thus left unplayed due to Portalcraft's other decks having better things to do for 4pp.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107831060?lang=en God Bullet Golem]] can't attack the enemy leader, but in exchange it sacrifices a friendly Artifact follower, doing damage equal to that follower's cost. The problem is that the more popular Artifact decks like to generate ''cheap'' Artifacts and spam them, so 1-damage chips are not going to contribute a lot to advancing the game plan. While it combos perfectly with the expensive and eternally-reassembling [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900811060?lang=en Prime Artifact]], it's a very expensive combo.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110841030?lang=en New Order]] replaces your deck with 30 artifacts: 10 [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900811040?lang=en Radiants]], 10 [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900811020?lang=en Mystics]], and 10 [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900811060?lang=en Primes]]. Unlike [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101041030?lang=en Prince of Darkness]], this new deck isn't PurposelyOverpowered, and you'll have to make do with whatever artifact support you had on the board or in your hand. On top of that, Prime Artifact is slow and costly, and not the best draw in an emergency: having an estimated 1/3 chance of drawing that in the late-game and in a pinch is very unappealing.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/115831020?lang=en Fearsome Fortress]] is astounding -- when played while Resonance is active, it gets a whopping +3/+3, making it a titanic 6/6 Ward! So why didn't it see play? It wasn't an Artifact, nor was it a Machina, and it was a little too expensive to mesh effectively with the new "unspent play points" strategy. This situational stat stick was benched and hardly got out of it.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101031030?lang=en Angel Crusher]] has solid 6/6 stats for 6pp, and he also grows stronger on Fanfare... by discarding your entire hand. Yes, a potential 14/14 for 6pp is impressive, but he has no innate protection and can die to a single kill spell, leaving you with absolutely nothing.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/103031030?lang=en Lucius, Goblin Slayer]] has a very bizarre Fanfare effect on top of having a subpar statline. Doing 2 damage only to 1-cost followers and 1 damage to everything else makes him a very ineffective boardwipe. Sure, he's good for countering [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104021020?lang=en Goblin Princess]], but [[CripplingOverspecialization little else]]. There are even various other Goblins that he can't kill!
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108041010?lang=en Marduk]] causes you to draw cards by playing spells and damage the enemy leader by playing amulets. You also can't play followers, which is a very glaring downside. This effect disappears once Marduk leaves the field, but then again, so do the rest of his upsides. His high cost also is not very conducive to trying to make the most of his ability for the brief moment he stays in play, and if the opponent weakens him to the point where he can't reliably trade or pressure, you're left a sitting duck.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/109031020?lang=en Khaiza, Radical Gourmand]] differs greatly from his ''Bahamut'' version -- he's a 2/3 now with no effects, but serves the player one of [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900034030?lang=en two]] [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900034040?lang=en dishes]] on evolution. Both dishes being mediocre spells, on top of Khaiza's reduced bonus stats on evolution, mean he doesn't see a lot of constructed play.

* In the ''Dawnbreak, Nightedge'' mini-expansion, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108841030?lang=en Electromagical Rhino]] is easily considered to be one of Portalcraft's most underwhelming legendaries. The follower itself can put 3 extra copies of its [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900841080?lang=en Artifact counterpart]] into your deck and has Rush (and the Artifact counterpart also has the same attributes as well), but the follower's attack (along with its Artifact's counterpart) is scaled based on how many Artifacts left in your deck. In addition, Electromagical Rhino itself when played is ''not'' an Artifact, meaning it does not synergize well with [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107813030?lang=en Acceleratium]]. Both the follower and its Artifact counterpart cost 7pp, which makes playing Rhino on curve incredibly clunky and not as impactful (and would feel awkward if the player does not have enough Artifacts). This is stark contrast to the gold card that was introduced to Portalcraft, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108834010?lang=en Heartless Battle]], which was formerly in this trope up until the ''Brigade of the Sky'' expansion when Puppet Portal was given subsequent support for its playstyle.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108841020?lang=en The Which Erases]] is a 7pp legendary that has an effect of banishing an amulet or follower on board whenever a card an effect puts cards into the deck. Its high pp cost combined with the fact the effect only lasts when the follower is on board (and the banishing effect being random) is generally seen as non-impactful for Portalcraft.

** After years languishing in many players' collections as an unused card, Minthe would receive a buff and overhaul to her effect on 31 March 2020. She became cheaper and smaller, becoming a 3pp 2/2. Her main effect is changed to refilling used Shadows for Necromancy and is no longer a Fanfare, meaning that any low-Reanimate spells are now compatible with her. Also, if she enters play, she provides 20 additional shadows immediately which disappear when she leaves the field, the latter effect can be removed by certain spells, allowing the player free rein of Necromancy effects and also contributing greatly to Path to Purgatory and the new [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/116541010?lang=en Gremory, Death Teller]]. These changes got her RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap and made her the centerpiece for a new version of Unlimited PTP Shadow.

** After years languishing in many players' collections as an unused card, Minthe would receive a buff and overhaul to her effect on 31 March 2020. She became cheaper and smaller, becoming a 3pp 2/2. Her main effect is changed to refilling used Shadows for Necromancy and is no longer a Fanfare, meaning that any low-Reanimate spells are now compatible with her. Also, if she enters play, she provides 20 additional shadows immediately which disappear when she leaves the field, allowing the player free rein of Necromancy effects and also contributing greatly to Path to Purgatory. These changes got her RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap and made her the centerpiece for a new version of Unlimited PTP Shadow.

* In the ''Dawnbreak, Nightedge'' mini-expansion, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108841030?lang=en Electromagical Rhino]] is easily considered to be one of Portalcraft's most underwhelming legendaries. The follower itself can put 3 extra copies of its [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/900841080?lang=en Artifact counterpart]] into your deck and has Rush (and the Artifact counterpart also has the same attributes as well), but the follower's attack (along with its Artifact's counterpart) is scaled based on how many Artifacts left in your deck. In addition, Electromagical Rhino itself when played is ''not'' an Artifact, meaning it does not synergize well with [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107813030?lang=en Acceleratium]]. Both the follower and its Artifact counterpart costs 7pp, which makes playing Rhino on curve incredibly clunky and not as impactful (and would feel awkward if the player does not have enough Artifacts). This is stark contrast to the gold card that was introduced to Portalcraft, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/108834010?lang=en Heartless Battle]], which was formerly in this trope up until the ''Brigade of the Sky'' expansion when Puppet Portal was given subsequent support for its playstyle.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/109834010?lang=en Artifact Spark]] theoretically is regenerative burn that can finish off a weakened opponent akin to [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107314020?lang=en Chain Lightning]]. However, it can only hit the enemy leader, and the player must have an Artifact in hand to convert to another copy of Artifact Spark. This makes Artifact Spark a ''terrible'' topdeck. Players have managed to built an aggro deck around this spell known as "Aggro Artifact" with utilization of Silva's effect, but it is considered very suboptimal since constantly putting 1pp Artifacts is generally detrimental in aggro decks while the Portalcraft itself doesn't have a lot of consistent Storm or burn damage like what Swordcraft and Bloodcraft has (not to mention, Forestcraft can play a better aggro deck than Portalcraft in both formats).

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/110841030?lang=en New Order]] replaces your deck with 30 artifacts: 10 Radiants, 10 Mystics, and 10 Primes. Unlike Prince of Darkness, this new deck isn't PurposelyOverpowered, and you'll have to make do with whatever artifact support you had on the board or in your hand. On top of that, Prime Artifact is slow and costly, and not the best draw in an emergency: having an estimated 1/3 chance of drawing that in the late-game and in a pinch is very unappealing.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/114831010?lang=en Cannon Hermit Crab]] is a curious card that generates a copy of itself with half the stats should Resonance be active or the player control a Naterran Great Tree. However, the very unfocused state of Portalcraft's Natura package makes it hard to fit in a Natura engine, much less find room for this card.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/115831020?lang=en Fearsome Fortress]] is astounding -- when played while Resonance is active, it gets a whopping +3/+3, making it a titanic 6/6 Ward! So why didn't it see play? It wasn't an Artifact, nor was it a Machina, and it was a little too expensive to mesh effectively with the new "unexpended play points" strategy. This situational stat stick was benched and hardly got out of it.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101234010?lang=en Stratagem]] is a draw spell that is stronger depending on how many followers you have in play. At maximum potential, it's 5 cards for 4 play points. In practice, it's usually 2 cards to break even, 3 if you're lucky. Any lower than that and Stratagem is not worth playing, and given the fragility of Sword's followers, you'd want to be playing Stratagem in the same turn as the followers you put on the board, as they'd be easily extinguished by the opponent when they get their turn. For many Swordcraft decks that can place down multiple followers and have a reliable card draw, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/105211030 a 3pp 2/3 follower]] that draws a number of cards based on the number of Neutral followers in the board is a far more reliable card draw.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101232010?lang=en Arthurian Light]] generates Knights and bestows Storm to 1-cost followers. However, giving Storm to these cards, which are most likely sporting a paltry 1 attack, is very ineffectual in assisting with board control or pushing for face damage. If you really want to use this effect, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/109241020?lang=en Latham, Honorable Knight]], although he comes in later, does the most of the same thing but comes with a large body and his Accelerate effect makes him useful as an early play or when you already played Latham.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/102232020?lang=en Rogue's Creed]] buffs all your followers with Ambush at the end of the turn. The issue is that there's very few ways for followers to regenerate Ambush to continue to enjoy further boosts. On top of that, it also imposes a rather tricky SadisticChoice: use their Ambush follower to contest the board and lose further buffs, or don't do anything with their followers and essentially giving the opponent free setup turns in exchange for continued buffs. Even though [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/104211040?lang=en Vagabond Frog]] has endlessly regenerating Ambush to help in this regard, one wants to play Rogue's Creed ''after'' playing Vagabond Frog, as end-of-turn effects are resolved with the latest card played going last.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/102241010?lang=en Alexander]] has Rush and the ability to attack a total of ''14 times''! This, in theory, lets him function as Swordcraft's "board clear". However, he cannot ever attack the enemy leader, and while he does have a sizeable 7 defense, it's very likely he'll only manage to clear out two to three followers before succumbing to accumulated combat damage, on top of just crumpling to anything with [[OneHitKill Bane]]. He's a bit more useful with [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/106214010 Unsheathed Blade]] to basically play him 3 turns earlier, but the issue is you're using a niche card to make another niche card playable.

* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101432010?lang=en Wyrm Spire]] not only costs a lot for an amulet, but it also demands that the player generate low-cost followers to transform. Given Dragoncraft's MightyGlacier playstyle, it runs contrary to the design of most of its cards, and by the time it started getting notable low-cost follower generation, this amulet has been overshadowed by numerous other options.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101441030?lang=en Zirnitra]] is an 8pp 3/1 with Storm. Poor stats, yes, but she summons a Dragon on Fanfare and evolve. The thing is that her stats don't change on evolution either, so while she does leave some sizeable followers behind when she goes down, she'll do very little damage for an 8pp card and would only deliver in niche circumstances. Meanwhile, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/101441020?lang=en Forte]] is commonly seen as the better Storm legend, being cheaper and hitting harder. Her reprint, [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/107441010 Zirnitra, Dragon's Flame]] is significantly better because she can give you one or two 4/4s with Rush to give you board control.

** After years languishing in many players' collections as an unused card, Minthe would receive a buff and overhaul to her effect on 31 March 2020. She got a cheaper and smaller, going to a 3pp 2/2. Her main effect is changed to refilling used Shadows for Necromancy and is no longer a Fanfare, meaning that any low-Reanimate spells are now compatible with her. Also, if she enters play, she provides 20 additional shadows immediately which disappear when she leaves the field, allowing the player free rein of Necromancy effects and also contributing greatly to Path to Purgatory. These changes got her RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap and made her the centerpiece for a new version of Unlimited PTP Shadow.
* [[https://shadowverse-portal.com/card/105541020?lang=en Corpselord of Woe]] used to be a 4/4 that required a steep cost of 6 Shadows to automatically evolve so he could attack and revive himself. This Necromancy cost was way too high to fulfill by turn 5, forcing a player to spend an evolve point themselves to use on him most of the time. Half of the remaining time, Corpselord would just sit uselessly on the battlefield, taking up space. Corpselord languished as one of Shadowcraft's worst legendary cards and was eventually salvaged by upgrading him to his current state: a 5/4 that needs 4 Shadows to automatically evolve. This broke Corpselord out of this trope, making him a reasonable beater in Rotation midrange Shadow decks.