Overview
This guide will teach you everything you need to know about the class Shadowcraft. I will go over the basics and advanced knowledge about the class, cover the staple cards and review its Legendaries. This guide also contains the current viable meta decks of the class, which i will talk about. Hopefully you are ready to start your Shadowcraft adventure after you read this guide.
Intro
I love Shadowcraft. It was the first class I mained when I started playing Shadowverse. I personally thought that the whole necromancy theme of the class, alongside using Shadows as a resource was pretty cool. Now, after hundreds of games, i still love this class. Even though I swapped out that budget aggro deck for an expensive Nephthys decklist, i still love this class. So here I am, writing this guide for anyone who, just like me, wants to learn Shadowcraft.
What is Shadowcraft
Shadowcraft is a class that can be differentiated from other classes because of four things:
- Shadowcraft uses a large amount of Last Words followers.
- Shadowcraft uses Shadows as a resource to empower cards.
- Shadowcraft destroys their own followers for benefits.
- Shadowcraft uses the Reanimate mechanic
Lets start with the first point on this list. Shadowcraft uses a very large amount of followers with Last Words effects. These effects can range from simply generating an additional Shadow to destroying enemy followers or even resummoning the destroyed follower. Last Words are a large part of Shadowcraft and how it achieves victory.
Shadowcraft uses Shadows to empower certain cards. Shadows are generated whenever an allied follower or amulet die, whenever a spell is played, or by using certain cards that generate additional Shadows. When you use a Necromancy effect, a certain amount of Shadows is consumed to apply the effect. If you don’t have enough Shadows to activate the Necromancy effect, the effect doesn’t activate and no Shadows are consumed. Necromancy effects can vary from giving a card a simple buff to destroying enemy followers. Also, the importance of Necromancy effects can really vary. You must take the importance of a Necromancy effect into account, especially in the mid and early game when you don’t have a lot of Shadows. For example, sometimes you have to choose between activating Foul Tempests Necromancy effect or Death’s Breath Necromancy effect (when you have less than 12 Shadows for example). Knowing which effect to activate here is key. Use your best judgement in these situations and be careful about spending to much Shadows.
The third point on this list, destroying your own followers for benefits, is a very peculiar one. Shadowcraft has multiple cards that destroy their own followers for benefits, like Necroassassin and Impious Ressurection. Not only that, but Shadowcraft also has several followers that are meant to be destroyed. These followers usually have low stats but a powerful Last Words effect, like Lurching Corpse and Hell’s Unleasher. The optimal situation if of course that you use a card like Impious Ressurection or Soul Conversion on one of these followers to gain a massive advantage. Shadowcraft even has a whole deck archetype dedicated to this kind of play with Nephthys Shadowcraft, that utilizes Nephthys. Of course, these situations don’t always occur, so you usually target your weakest follower with cards like Soul Conversion to minimaze the pain.
Also, with Chronogenesis, Burial Rite was introduced. This allows you to destroy a follower from your hand to activate effects. The destroyed follower doesn’t activate it’s effects or Last Words, but this can be used in conjunction with Reanimate for some interesting plays.
The final point, Reanimate, is one of the latest additions to the game. It allows you to summon friendly followers that were destroyed during the match. Several cards use this mechanic to gain their value, Death Dragon Caller for example. You can use Burial Rites early to destroy high-cost followers, and then summon them back using Reanimate cards.
Pros and cons of Shadowcraft
-Has a lot of single target removal options
-Is a very powerful mid-game class thanks to the Necromancy effects
-Very versatile class; it has had success as an aggro, midrange and control class
-Can out-tempo almost anyone when you have a good opening hand
-Gathering enough Shadows for Necromancy effects can be difficult, especially during the earlier turns
-The class is pretty susceptible to bricking
-If you have no self-destroy cards to activate Attendant of Night and Lurching Corpse with you’re screwed
-Doesn’t have a lot of AoE damage
Staple Cards (Non-Legendary)
Just a simple spell that destroys an enemy follower to draw 2 cards. Drawing 2 cards is worth about 3 PP, so if you destroy a 1 PP follower you actually get a lot of value out of it. Not only that, but when used on followers like Lurching Corpse, destroying it even turns into a good thing.
This card is very powerful since it gives a huge tempo advantage. Being able to deal with your opponents Evolved follower without actually spending an Evolve point yourself gives you a huge advantage. Usually it isn’t that hard to collect 4 Shadows on turn 5, so it is a pretty consistent counter to the enemy’s Evolve play.
This card is a pretty plain and simple early game removal tool. It can be used in the early and midgame as a simple removal tool, or late game as a board refiller. Keep in mind that it summons Zombies specifically, meaning it can be combo’ed with Death’s Breath the turn after for a powerful defensive play.
This card is a pretty interesting card. It is a follower that can only attack the enemy leader, unless blocked by a Ward. When it is destroyed however, he destroys a random enemy follower. A 2-cost card that simply destroys an enemy follower, no matter the stats, is a huge advantage. Because Shadowcraft has multiple ways to destroy their own followers, it doesn’t really matter that it isn’t able to trade into most followers.
This card is a plain, simple and powerful 2 drop. It is a 2PP 2/2, which is good, but it also has a Last Words effect that deals 1 damage to a random enemy follower. This means he can trade into 3-drops with a 2/3 statline (when there is nothing else on the enemy board), which is very powerful.
Bone Chimera is a card that is used as a board filler because of it’s Last Words effect. Filling your board can be useful for cards like Atomy or Prince Catacomb. Bone Chimera is always included in decks that utilize either of those cards.
This card is basically Soul Conversion, but you get a 1/2 for 1 PP extra. A nice extra of this card is that you can use it on another Demon Eater, as destroying a 1/2 usually isn’t that big of a deal.
This card is one of the best defensive tools Shadowcraft has. A key aspect of this card is its’ Necromancy Effect. When activated, it summons 3 2/3s with Ward, while also giving all other friendly Zombies a +0/+1 buff and Ward. Usually your opponent has to spend a turn getting rid of this card alone. It works very well with cards that create Zombies, like Zombie Party and Lord Eachtar, since its’ Necromancy effect buffs all Zombies.
This card has to be one of the most iconic cards in the game. He is very well-known because he keeps resummoning himself endlessly (or until banished/transformed). This makes him a very powerful tool in control matchups. You can trade him into your opponents followers over and over.
He sees play in Nephthys decks, as Nephthys will just summon him from your deck.
Legendaries
Good. Twilight Queen has some usage as a tempo 4 drop in Nephthys decks. You can use this pro-actively, meaning you don’t need any set up on the board for this to work. When you use this in conjunction with Attendant of Night or Hell’s Unleasher, they will create two Liches on death. Mordecai will even summon two Mordecais!
Bad. This card is easily the worst legendary Shadowcraft has. It is terrible tempo play, a waste of shadows and a waste of a card slot in your deck. Never include this card, no matter the deck.
Bad. On first glance the card doesn’t seem to bad; its just a 4PP 3/4 with a nice effect.
However, she has some major issues that prevent her from seeing play. First and foremost, she is a 4 drop with no active effect or Evolve effect. If you play her on curve, she just gets removed by an Evolved enemy follower the next turn. When you play and evolve her, thats basically the same as playing a Goliath and Evolving it. And no one would ever run Goliath in a deck.
In the midgame you can combo her with Necromancy cards, but at that point you usually have enough Shadows. In the late game playing a 3/4 is usually a bad play. So basically there is no point in the game that playing her is really beneficial.
Very Good. A staple in midrange Shadowcraft. It also saw play in Aggro Shadowcraft, while that was a thing. Even though the stats are bad, the spells she generates more than make up for it.
Very Good. This card quickly became a big piece in a lot of Shadowcraft upon release. The card is very flexible and can be used for either board control or face damage. She has both a Necromancy and an Evolve Effect, as well as an Enhance that Evolves her ‘for free’. You can also play her with one of the effects, either for a 2 for 1 trade or 5 face damage. She is used in a lot of variations of Midrange Shadowcraft as a finisher, but she also sees play in Reanimate Shadowcraft as either a finisher or board control tool.
Bad. This card is similar to Fairy Dragon, in that it is a follower with 0 base Attack that grows as the match progresses. When played on curve, it would be something like a 7PP 6/7 which isn’t too bad. The problem with this card is that it is a 7 cost card with no further effect whatsoever. Because it costs 7, it competes with Demonlord Eachtar and Immortal Thane for a spot in your deck. Both of them have very powerful effects that impact the board immediately. This just sits there and is either removed or just ignored/stalled with Wards. It doesn’t fit in Nephthys, since it has no Last Words effect, and it is way too slow for Atomy decks to run it.
Niche. This card is an interesting addition to the class. If you’re sick of the same meta decks, you can try to make a deck around this card. This deck would include cheap Shadowcraft removal tools and followers, while also including powerful late game Neutral cards. You can stall with your Shadowcraft cards, play Alice, and then take over the board with powerful Neutral cards. Thanks to Alice you only draw powerful lategame cards. She also resummons herself, similar to Mordecai, which gives you the advantage in late game battles for board control. All in all a pretty fun card to play around with.
Good. This card was probably the most hated card of Tempest of the Gods. Because of it, Midrange Shadowcraft became the most powerful deck in the meta at the time. This was all thanks to his versatile Fanfare; it could be used as a finisher when you had board advantage, or as a way to take back the board when you were behind. Cygames nerfed the card, but it is still used in Midrange Shadowcraft today.
Decent. This card saw play in Control Shadowcraft, while that deck was a thing (RIP). Although the card has pretty weak stats on its own, the potential value of the card is insane. It summons one of three followers when played, and at the start of your turn. If left unchecked, he quickly take over the board all on his own. The follower he summons can be a 2/3 Storm+Drain, a 3/2 Bane or a 4/4 Ward. These are powerful tools for stalling and removal. However, the follower summoned is random, meaning that it can backfire if you don’t get the one you need. Maybe this will see play again when Control Shadow rises from the ashes, but at the moment it is way too slow to see play.
Very Good. This card highhandedly made a whole new deck archetype for Shadowcraft when it came out. It replaced basically Control Shadowcraft, who lacked a real game-swinging card. Nephthys trives in decks that are designed around her; decks with a lot of powerful Last Words followers with 4 different Play Point costs. She basically pulls up to 4 followers of different play costs from your deck, and activates their Last Words. This can be used with cards like Mordecai and Khawy to completely swing the board back in your favor.
Bad. This card basically got powercreeped by Pact with the Nethergod. Not only is Pact cheaper, it is also more flexible. It can be used in the early game as a simple removal tool, or in the late game as a board swinging card. The only advantage Pluto has over Nethergod is that it can be used on followers with more than 4 Defense. Usually, the 4 Defense threshold is more than enough, so you just don’t need Pluto. Also, if the opponent has a deck that plays huge followers (in which case you could make an argument for running Pluto), that deck is usually filled with removal that can deal with Pluto.
Bad. This card is a pretty bad lategame follower. First of all, it’s a 1/5 (or 4/5) for 8PP without any immediate impact. Playing this on-curve is a terrible tempo play, as it will usually be removed without much effort by your opponent. Its’ Last Words effect, which deals damage equal to this follower’s Attack to the enemy leader, isn’t worth the tempo sacrifice at all. Because it usually gets removed next turn, it will just deal 4 damage for 8PP. This card is just too slow and it’s effect isn’t impactful enough to make this card playable.
Good. This card went from being the meme legendary of Shadowcraft to being the centerpiece of a competitive deck. The power of Lord Atomy is its Fanfare, that allows him to be played as early as turn 3. There are not a lot of decks that are capable of effectively dealing with an 8/8 this early in the game. He can also be used in the midgame to activate amulets like Staircase to Paradise and Frozen Mammoth.
Important Things to Know
- Deaths Breath generates 4 Shadows; 1 when played and 1 for each Zombie that dies (if they are not banished).
- Cards and followers that are banished generate no Shadows.
- Overdrawing a card, meaning drawing a card when your hand is already full, will generate a Shadow.
- Ghosts (those 1/1s with Storm) will not generate a Shadow even if you use them to trade into other followers (except when used with Sexton).
- If you have effects that destroy an allied follower, and you have Ghosts on board, use it on them. They will be removed at the end of your turn anyway.
- DO NOT use Phantom Howl + Prince Catacomb. It may seem like a nice combo, filling your board and then giving them the Last Words Effect of Catacomb, but since the Ghosts are banished they will not proc the effect.
- Nephthys Decks always only have followers of 4 different costs. Do not include more as this can screw up the consistency of the deck. The usual curves for Nephthys decks are 2-3-7-8 and 2-4-7-8.
- When you have Mordecai on board, you can just spam cards like Soul Conversion and Demon Eater on him, since he just resummons himself when you do.
- Twilight Queen’s effect does not stack, meaning you only refresh the effect when you play two of them and thus effectively waste one instance of the effect.
Shadowcraft Decks: Midrange
The goal of Midrange Shadow is the same as any other Midrange deck; Take board control and use your followers to destroy the enemy leader. Taking and keeping board control is essential for this deck to work. The deck has a lot of removal options, as well as very sticky followers, to make sure that taking board control and keeping it is as easy as possible. It also has several finishers, like Demonlord Eachtar or Cerberus+Phantom Howl which can be used as a last resort.
Shadowverse-Portal link[shadowverse-portal.com]
The main plan of this deck is to win the board and use your board advantage to finish the off the opponent. This deck has a lot of powerful early game cards that will help you to take board control.
Try to play as much followers on-curve during the early turns of the game. If the opponent plays followers, you can either trade into them or remove them with cheap removal like Zombie Party.
Try to have Little Soulsquasher and 4 Shadows ready around turn 4/5. You can use it to remove the Evolved enemy follower without using an Evolution point, allowing you to spend it at a later turn. Play Cerberus as soon as possible. You can use her spells to fortify your position on the board. Her spells can also be used in conjunction with Phantom Howl for a surprising amount of burst damage. Try to have your board filled on turn 7. You can then use Lord Eachtar’s Fanfare to finish off your opponent. If you are behind, you can use his Fanfare to take back the board instead.
Shadowcraft Decks: Nephthys
Goal of the deck
The main win condition of this deck is to stall until turn 8, drop Nephthys, and get a comeback win from there. However, this deck can do more than just stall until turn 8. You can also try to be more aggressive by using your 2- and 4-drops to play more of a midrange game until turn 8. You can do this when you are playing against a more powerful but slower control deck (like Dimension Shift Rune). If this is not the case, you usually use your many removal tools and Deaths Breaths to prevent the opponent from hurting you as much as possible until you can play Nephthys. When played on an empty board, Nephthys is guaranteed to summon a Mordecai, Destroy the enemy’s highest attack follower and heal you for its’ attack (provided that you don’t drew all your Khawys and Mordecais). These 2 effects alone are usually enough to swing the game in your favor.
Example Decklist
Shadowverse-Portal link[shadowverse-portal.com]
How to play
The main plan of the deck is too stall out until turn 8. In order to do this, you have to use the many removal tools this deck has access to. Try to play Belenus as early as possible. When the opponent plays followers, trade into them or use removal cards like Zombie Party and Undying Resentment. If your opponent starts to play bigger followers, use Lurching Corpse alongside Demon Eater or Soul Conversion to not only remove it, but gain a couple of cards too. When the opponent is swarming the board, which decks like Aggro Swordcraft or Tempo Forestcraft like to do, use Foul Tempest to keep them at bay. Try to play Deaths Breath when you have enough Shadows for the Necromancy effect too activate. This will usually buy you a turn. When its’ turn 8, try to play Nephthys when you have 1 or no followers on board. This will ensure the best results.
If everything goes well, Nephthys will stabilize the board and drop a Mordecai onto the board. Use Mordecai to either trade or deal damage to the enemy leader.
Shadowcraft Decks: Atomy
Goal of the deck
The main win condition of this deck is to fill your board early, then use that to play Lord Atomy very early on. There aren’t a lot of decks that can easily deal with a turn 3 or 4 8/8, which is why this deck works. The deck is filled with a lot of 1- and 2-cost cards, as well as cards that summon multiple cheap followers to make it easy to activate Lord Atomy’s Fanfare. The deck also runs amulets with a positive Last Words effect, which compensates for destroying your own board. The deck generates a lot of shadows, which makes Deathly Tyrant an obvious inclusion. Deathly Tyrant is also a very powerful finisher tool, which can be used when they do happen to have an answer for Lord Atomy.
Example Decklist
Shadowverse-Portal link[shadowverse-portal.com]
How to play
The plan of this deck is too fill your board as soon as possible with cheap cards to activate Lord Atomy’s Fanfare. Play as much 1-drops and 2-drops as you can. Play Staircase to Paradise whenever you have it, as its’ Last Words effect will activate early when destroyed by Lord Atomy.
If you succeed in summoning Atomy early, pressure your opponent’s leader. Force him to trade into Atomy, instead of trading yourself. In the midgame, use Frozen Mammoth+Lord Atomy to regain board presence. During the midgame you usually just want to stall and collect Shadows. When you have 30 Shadows, you can use Deathly Tyrant to finish off your opponent.
Shadowcraft Decks: Reanimate
Goal of the deck
The main win condition of this deck is to stall until turn 8, drop Death Dragon Caller, and summon Zeus with it. In order to do this, you need to play a Burial Rite card early on, and let it destroy Zeus. Then, when you play Death Dragon Caller on turn 8, it will summon Zeus. After turn 8, you can play more Death Dragon Callers or Sow Death, Reap Life to keep resummoning Zeus. You can then use either Zeus or Aisha as a finisher. The deck contains a lot of removal to help you survive until you can pull this off.
Example Decklist
Shadowverse-Portal link[shadowverse-portal.com]
How to play
Mulligan for Zeus, Burial Rite cards or cheap followers. You want to use Burial Rites on Zeus as soon as possible (before turn 8), otherwise the deck loses a huge amount of power.
Play removal and card draw whenever you see fit. Play Ceres and Evolve her whenever you can to stall against aggressive decks. Play Khawy as soon as possible to build a huge wall that your opponent has to deal with. Then, on turn 8, drop Death Dragon Caller to summon Zeus. You can either trade with him or go face, depending on your situation. After turn 8, you can just keep playing reanimate cards to summon more Zeusses. If this isn’t enough to finish your opponent, play Aisha when you have enough Shadows.
Ending
I hope this guide gave you a good first impression of Shadowcraft.
I’m personally a bit attached to this class (since I started with it) and hope that you also find it very enjoyable.
I’m working on making this kind of guide for every class, but it will probably take a while until I finish the next one.
If you have suggestions or comments, feel free to post them in the comment section below. U can also add me if u want to conversate about this guide or other things.