Hey everyone, and welcome to Cloud City a card highlight. If you are reading this article, you belong into one of three categories. One, you also love Shadow Lord and want to see him appreciated in all his glory. Two, you want to learn more about Shadow Lord and why he can be so powerful. Or three, you don’t like Shadow Lord and think he is just a 1 dollar legendary. If you belong in group three, I have bad news for you, you are banned from reading this article. Get out of here, like a 2-drop being thrown from the field after getting rocked by the majestic card that is Shadow Lord. Now, to be clear, I am not here to tell you that Shadow Lord is a tier 1 must include card in every deck. But I do want to highlight his potential beyond being a tech choice against Golbez or aggro decks. Alright, now that we have dealt with the non-believers, lets talk about the card that brought us all here. Shadow Lord is an 8000-power dark legendary that costs 4 CP and reads: 1. Brave. 2. When Shadow Lord enters the field, break all the Forwards of cost 2 or less. 3. When a Forward opponent controls is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 damage. He also has the job “Kindred” and is Category Lord of Vermillion / Final Fantasy XI which means he has synergy with other Category XI cards. Shadow Lord has a lot of abilities, so let’s get talking about how they can be used. Brave A 4 CP Brave forward with 8000 power is on curve for vanilla stats, but as an advantage over other 4 drops because of Brave. Shadow Lord is great against aggro since he can attack and then block the next turn. If played in Wind, he can be powered up by Maria. He is also great in Earth which has many ways to pump up a forward’s power. Some common Shadow Lord targets that would see people tech him into their decks. When Shadow Lord enters the field, break all the Forwards of cost 2 or less. This ability is the main reason people play Shadow Lord, and the main reason he is written off. This ability also synergizes with his third ability, but we will talk about that later. Shadow Lord is most often thought as a Golbez counter, since a Golbez deck plays many 2 costs and can have many out at once, especially after a Golbez ability trigger. If you think of Shadow Lord as an anti-Golbez tech, then we will only see him when we see a lot of Golbez in the meta. However, I think he has a lot more use than that. There are other decks that run many two drops (and one drops) including: Cadets, Chocobos, and Unblockable Fire/Wind. If you see these in your local meta then you definitely have a reason to run Shadow Lord. However, even against mid-range and control decks, you might find Shadow Lord coming in handy. Against Earth he might ping off an Ursula, Yuffie, or Prishe, causing your opponent to look on in fear. These are all targets that Shadow Lord could hit in a Midrange Earth Deck Here are some other possible Shadow Lord targets that you might see in the current meta:
If Shadow Lord hits even one target, he is worth a card to you in card advantage, so you can think of him costing less than 4 in your match. Once he is on the field, he can make a difference with his third ability. When a Forward opponent controls is put from the field into the Break Zone, choose 1 Forward opponent controls. Deal it 2000 damage. When Shadow Lord enters the field, every two cost or less he breaks will ping an opponent’s forward for 2000 damage. In an optimal situation he could ping off a 3 drop after breaking other forwards, but this doesn’t come up very often. Where he really shines, is using removal or trades to break an opponent’s forward so you can ping another forward. These pings can be used in many ways: 1. Ping an opponent’s forward when playing a lightning deck to use a “break a damaged forward” effect. Lightning LOVES damaged forwards. 2. Ping an opponent’s forward while playing a wind deck to finish off a forward with Barbariccia. The best way to do this is to create the situation for the ping, and then play the Barbarriccia in Main Phase 2. You can also use the 5 CP Diablos summon to a similar effect. If they have a 5 CP forward out, you can break it with Diabolos, set another forward to 1000 power and ping it off with Shadow Lord all in one play. This has come in handy a few times for me since his third ability often goes under the radar. Both of these cards play very well with Shadow Lord, and allow you to play Maria in your deck. Ping an opponent’s forward and finish it off with damage from fire, lightning, or ice summons/abilities. All three of these elements have lots of ways to deal damage to finish off a forward. Ping an opponent’s forward to discourage your opponent from blocking in what would be an unfavourable trade with a lower power forward. Would you trade your Cecil into a PSICOM Enforcer? Now if they have a Minwu, then you are out of luck, but the same applies to any ping strategies you might run. Another note with this third ability, is to always use it when it comes up. I believe it is a mandatory ability but often it goes unnoticed in matches I have seen him played because everyone forgets it exists. So always ping a forward and give your opponent another threat to think about. Watch out for this asshole. Well I hope this article has led to you wanting to try out Shadow Lord for yourself. If you have any questions about Shadow Lord or have any combos you want to share with me and everyone else, feel free to comment below. And if you don’t own a Shadow Lord... go out and buy one, he’s only a buck!
About the Author: Alex Kelsch is one of many contributors to Cloud City. He mainly plays the Ice, Earth, and Lightning elements, and has a soft spot for the discard mechanic. His favourite Final Fantasy is probably 4, but he doesn’t like having to choose. Alex works as a high school teacher, specifically teaches PE and Science. He also loves playing Tennis and Soccer, and coaches several youth teams.
2 Comments
Falfore
6/8/2018 07:59:39 pm
Very well written. I pulled a Shadow Lord today and was wondering what all he could be used for. Thanks!
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Alex K
6/8/2018 09:55:43 pm
Thanks! I am glad you enjoyed the read. He is a very flavourful card for sure :)
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