Weave Winds

Weave Winds

Energy Cost: 6

Choose a Magi. On the chosen Magi’s next turn, if that Magi has any Creatures in play, they may not play non-Weave Creatures.

(Card text subject to errata. See above.)

The Card by Itself:

This card is can win you the game on the spot, so long as you fulfill a list of big “ifs.” The scenario is as follows: you have just defeated an opposing Magi. You still have six (preferably seven) energy on your Magi after doing so. Play Weave Winds. They can now only play one Creature on their Magi’s flip, leaving them totally exposed to beatings and free energy from you on your follow-up.

In most situations during a two-player game however, Weave Winds is essentially a trap, or a very irritating win-more card. If you have a dominant board position, i.e. your opponent has few Creatures in play, this hoses them to some extent. But you were already winning and you just spent six energy to have no permanent effect on the board. If you the board is even close to equal (or worse, your opponent is winning) though, the card just does nothing. It can never dig you out of a hole. For this reason, putting more than one copy in a two-player deck just seems terrible and I recommend against it.

This card was extremely hateful in multiplayer games, and due to it being a whole lot of no fun, 2i saw fit to errata this card so that it only affects one player. You can still use it in multiplayer games, and it may even be better, since it doesn’t draw quite so much aggro from the whole room. You can use the threat of this card as a highly effective bargaining chip to steer players away from attacking you, as not being able to play more Creatures will leave the unfortunate soul bleeding in shark-infested multiplayer waters where mercy can be pretty scarce.

The Card in Context:

If you are running Kesia as your finisher, this card is an absolute beating. Being able to play it for four energy (less than her energize rate) means that she can spam it and leave your opponent unable to play Creatures for several turns. You should then be able to crush your opponent with whatever guys you have in play, especially with all the energy your gaining. One more reason why she’s absolutely insane.

The other Magi who can make special use of Weave Winds are Marella and Ninx. Since Marella can only draw one card per turn due to Vapid, your opponent can quickly out-pace you unless your plays are pretty big and dangerous. With her eight energize, Weave Winds is not too expensive and is a pretty good follow-up to attacking multiple times with a Junjertrug or other Weave fatty.  

Ninx, on the other hand, is even better at using Weave Winds for its most powerful purpose and can also play it using just one energize. She defeats a Magi, plays the Spell, kills the one Creature the opponent can muster using as much of her energy as possible, and uses Stare Down to kill the opposing Magi from basically full health. Conveniently, Weave Winds uses up exactly all of Ninx’s energize so getting her to zero shouldn’t be too much of a problem when your plan is casting this Spell.

The final Weave Magi that bears mentioning in connection with this Spell is Wence the Wanderer. He’s a useful card draw Magi in general, can play Weave Winds using just his energize, and has a way to play it for even less. His Power, Wence Is Here, can manipulate the very top card of your deck. If you see Weave Winds, you can use a Maelstrom Flask to cast the Spell for three energy. A bargain. With the steady stream of Creatures you are hopefully drawing, you should be able to overwhelm or at least make the situation pretty dire for an opponent given even one turn that they can’t add to their defenses.  

Other Magi who can play this with one turn’s energize:

Marella, Savant

Scyalla

Taisa

Tuku has a pretty annoying turn if he combines Weave Winds with his Power, Restrain. This will leave the opponent unable to play non-Universal Relics or Spells, and non-Weave Creatures … so basically all the cards in his hand. This lock will cost though, coming in at nine energy to pull off, so he can’t do this very often.

Other Stuff:

As with all other Weave Spells, you can get Weave Winds back with Weave-woven Anklet, but you can’t control when or if they blow up that Relic, so you can’t really plan around that happening. And, as a Spell, Weave Winds interacts favorably with Universal cards such as Rayje’s Construct and Robes of the Ages.

It bears mentioning that along with Spells such as Drought, Harmony, and Spirit of the Weave, you can lock down opponents decently well. Further, your Spells such as Brushfire, Crushing Growth, and Sawgrass (and possibly Countless Blades) can help you get them to the magic number of one Creature in play.

If you use Binding on the one Creature they do have, that’s just … spiteful.

Sources:

• Bluefurok for the card image.