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Draft has changed with March of the Legion. In every eight-person draft I’ve participated in thus far, there have been at least two to three people drafting Priest, and for good reason. Not only did the casting classes get a boost with an array of good weapons, but Priest also has a lot of depth when it comes to playable class abilities in March of the Legion.
Commons
Chasten is the premier Priest ability in March of the Legion Draft. Perhaps not as powerful as Elements’ Fury, Chasten deals 3 damage for 3 resource points, and the damage is unpreventable, which could be useful against an opposing Grandma Deadsie. If you plan to go Priest, then you’ll want to draft these early to dissuade others from drafting Priest.
Priest gets another excellent ability that forces your opponent to discard valuable cards. Mental Anguish gives you a +1 card advantage, and if you’re able to use it correctly, you may be able to get not only the card advantage from it, but also card quality. For example, you can play Mental Anguish on turn 3 and make your opponent chuck two cards, or you can wait until he or she has only two cards left in hand and then play Mental Anguish so your opponent doesn’t have the option of choosing which cards to discard. More than likely, the last two cards will be two high-cost allies or two abilities that destroy allies, weapons, or a combination of those cards. Mental Anguish is only useful if your opponent has cards in his or her hand, so unlike Chasten, of which you’ll want to draft as many as you can, two to three Mental Anguish would be sufficient for any Draft deck.
Absorb Magic will more than likely be a great side deck card. You’ll want to pick up at least one during the late picks of a pack. Abilities that are troublesome to play against in March of the Legion Draft are Warlock Training, Mage Training, and Sheath of Light. They all need to be dealt with right away or you’ll have a hard time winning the game. After game 1, if you see any of these or remember passing one of these game-breaking abilities, then you can bring in Absorb Magic. Absorb Magic also heals damage from your hero, which may keep you alive an extra turn and, possibly, win a race.
This card reminds me a lot of Flash Heal from Heroes of Azeroth. There is a very important distinction, though. Flash Heal heals damage, which means your hero or ally has to have damage on it, without dying, for it to be an effective way of saving something with the heal. Infusion of Fortitude, however, gives your ally +3 health, which makes it more useful on allies that wouldn’t survive an attack and receive the benefit of a small heal. Infusion of Fortitude is a great combat trick for ensuring your ally survives an attack, or you can use it to prevent your ally from being destroyed by an Elements’ Fury or a Bloody Welcome. What really makes Infusion of Fortitude playable is that it costs only 1 resource to play and it is an instant ability. Infusion of Fortitude is not something that’ll be drafted very early on, so you’ll more than likely be able to draft a couple in the later stages of the packs.
Uncommons
This card has multiple uses. You can use Touch of Darkness to take out one of the many March of the Legion 1-cost allies with 1 health, or you can get rid of that last card in your opponent’s hand that’s been waiting to see the board until just the right time. Your opponent may also play around a Mental Anguish and try to keep three cards in hand at all times. You can play Touch of Darkness and Mental Anguish on the same turn, ruining any plans he or she may have had.
I dismissed this card at first, but then I realized that it’s actually quite playable. Heartening Arrival can turn a game around in just a few turns. Because you’ll most likely play at least one ally per turn, the amount of damage your opponent is forced to deal out to win will be much more than your hero’s printed health of 26. Heartening Arrival can also help you plan attacks better by ensuring that some of your allies get a chance to attack multiple times because they’re continually being healed. This will also help you gain control of the board and eventually win the game since you won’t be as concerned with the amount of health your hero has.
With so many good Priest abilities vying for slots in your deck, Priest Training does not offer enough to warrant play. It can be good for a one-time 5 damage heal from your hero or to keep one of your bigger allies alive a little bit longer, but it can set up a very easy 2-for-1 trade for your opponent. Most of the time, Priest Training will not find a space in your Draft deck.
Rares
Holy Nova is an amazing card. But you already knew that from simply reading the text box. It only costs 2 resource points to play and may be able to destroy two or more opposing allies. Holy Nova does restrict your options by pinning you in the Horde faction, but both factions are very playable, so that doesn’t make Holy Nova any less attractive.
Prayer of Fortitude makes your allies almost indestructible to damage and allows you to get in at least two more attacks in the course of a game. If your opponent doesn’t destroy your Prayer of Fortitude, then he or she better have a large amount of Punctures to deal with your allies. Your hero also gets +5 health, making it more difficult for your opponent to finish you off.
In Draft, it is very hard to make sure that your allies and abilities get Shadow Weaving’s benefits. Shadow Weaving is very good in Constructed, where players can build their decks around having shadow allies and abilities that deal shadow damage. But until we see and can draft more sets with allies and abilities that deal shadow damage, Shadow Weaving is not worth drafting.
There isn’t a whole lot of ability hate in March of the Legion Draft, making Twist of Faith a first pick. In Draft, you might find yourself in situations where you had to play either a Groundshaker Earnheart, Magdeline Prideheart, Weeble, or Darynus, and your opponent also played one on the following turn. If you can gain control of that ally with Twist of Faith, you’ll be free to attack with your big ally and not have to trade, making a huge swing in your favor.
This card may be useful in Draft, but most of the time if you draft a decent enough deck, you won’t need Kindred Spirits and it’ll probably just end up as a resource. It could be good in a Constructed deck with untargetable or elusive allies, but it won’t see much play in Limited.
Both aggressive and control strategies can work when drafting Priest. Priest is very flexible and has decent ally removal, card advantage, and card quality. Card quality is especially important in Draft, and cards like Mental Anguish and Touch of Darkness, which force your opponent to discard cards, can pay dividends in helping you win. Disrupting your opponent’s game plan is very key, and not giving him or her the chance to play better cards can help out tremendously.
The next time you draft March of the Legion, you may not be the only one attempting to draft Priest. Remember that you might have to take cards a lot higher, since more people are catching on that Priest is now a powerful way to go.
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