This was a tough choice and I wouldn’t fault anyone for arguing for any of a long list (see bottom). The reason I picked her is something my brother once said to me. It went something like, “the more games of MND I play, the more I just want to use the biggest [energy index] Magi I can, no matter what they do.” The Lady is the highest energy index Magi in Arderial at 21 (energy index is Starting Energy + Energize rate), and her Effect adds 2 to your combined energy index. While that number isn’t a completely accurate representation of a deck’s power, and some Magi (like Ullig) fool you, it does help evaluate it. If you are using better Jaela in combination with any of the other Magi on this list, that goes a really long way. In fact, the only reason she ranks so low, imo, is that she is pretty inconsistent. Her starting cards don’t do much, and if she doesn’t go first, she’s only half as good. I think that she is honestly the ultimate deck-building challenge in Arderial because if you can make her consistently powerful just with your deck construction, then she becomes way awesome.
Okay, the first nine thousand times I read this card I didn’t get it. Then I played against the one deck that alternate Aula fits in to and lost. It wasn’t close. When you discard Cataclysm and Typhoon each turn to her Windsight Power, you don’t care about not drawing any other cards after that. By the way, you can still draw cards before you use Windsight every turn. Also, Arderial/Orothe is made of win. 4 Energize you say? The deck she fits in has 3 Hurricane Orish and 3/3 Spray Narth/Pharan. Also, if you get a good 2-4 turns out of her drawing a million cards, you don’t care because Voice of the Storm can’t really lose after that.
6. Niffer
This might be controversial at first glance, but hear me out. Niffer can go into any deck. Period. Of course there are a few exceptions, but you get the point. The first thing to point out is that Niffer is also an Arderial/Orothe Magi, which is insane, because the combination of those regions is so very, very strong. She can play any Crushing Spell you want, and she can actually never pay a regional penalty. Oh, also Overwrite does stuff, but that’s not even the point.
5. Aula
I’m a huge fan of Aula as a set-up Magi, and between Cloud Sceptre and Windsight, she can tear through your deck looking for just the right options for any opponent you might be facing. If you need to dig more just cast Tradewinds. You can recycle your deck roughly every 4-5 turns if you get serious, so you can keep re-using the best cards in your deck against varied opponents. She does this faster than most card drawers out there, though it does come with a hefty energy cost. Also, compared to Delia, Aula is faster at finding Relics and Spells that you might need.
4. Sorreah
Sorreah is one of the few Magi who is so good because not because of what he does, but because of what your opponent can’t do when he shows his girly face. Every other Magi on this list has some kind trouble against Sorreah (who you can really only beat if you out-energize him or he has no cards), and he shuts off many of the best Magi in the game from every other region. Amanax? Terrible. Agram? Hilariously bad. I haven’t even mentioned that his starting cards have more options than a Swiss-army knife, but they do.
3. Delia
A serious Magi for serious business. Delia is the premiere Arderial set-up Magi because she’s so consistent. Aula versions are great but, Delia does the same. good. thing. every. game. It helps that that thing is to generate tons of extra resources in hand while thinning your deck, pressuring your opponent and tutoring situational Creatures with Elder Vellup to hand-craft ways to win. Many Magi that draw cards have trouble also finishing off an opposing Magi or two. Not Delia. Delia will just grind them out with relentless, flying … what are those exactly? Also, Delia is hard to mis-play. Play Vellups. Play more Vellups. Profit.
Post errata and everything, VotS still has one of the most busted Effects in the game. The only reason she’s not number one is that she can really only go into one specific deck type: Arderial/Orothe, usually control. Oh no. So sad. She only goes into the dual-region deck sporting some of the best tools in the game for … anything. Her two cards to pay attention to are Hurricane Orish (starting) and Spray Narth (+Pharan). Free energy good. Lots of free energy better, and in that department, VotS cleans up, leaving her free to use all those Arderial/Orothe control tools to wreck you.
Arderian Adept is the second-most broken Magi in Arderial, and one of the most powerful Magi in the whole game. Arderial is a region adept at supporting aggressive strategies where its Magi spend all their energy each turn to pressure their opponents, and when Adept does this, her combo with Sandstorm Orshaa and her starting card, Storm Shield, means she’s gaining 4+2X, where X is your number of Creatures in play (conservative average is about 13 free energy per turn with her energize). It feels like even more because your Creatures get huge for nothing and she’s left with 8 energy, making it hard to kill her. She doesn’t need that many specific cards to support her, either, and can work well in slower, bigger, more controlling decks as well – though the more guys she has out the better she gets. Basically, you don’t need much deck space to support her, which means she can go into most Arderial decks and be great.
Honorable Mentions
Amara, Ora/Defender of the Sky, Elios, Kalius, Shivara
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