Seraphine Riftbound Legend Guide | Hextech Analytics

Seraphine’s Field Guide

As you play any spell, including a Reaction, you may exhaust Starry-Eyed Songstress and three ready friendly units to take two Energy off it: Power is never reduced, and a one-Energy spell wastes half the discount. The real price is the units, because an exhausted unit cannot take a Standard Move, though it still defends a battlefield it occupies. Look for spells that cost at least two Energy, and for turns where three units have no attack worth making. Units and tokens enter exhausted by default, so a board that just arrived usually cannot pay that turn. I would put several cheap units down early for that reason. Paying with the units you meant to attack with is usually the mistake: exhausting them trades their attack for two Energy.

How Seraphine wins

Seraphine aims to score by putting more units on battlefields than the opponent can answer and using cheaper spells to add to them. With the discount, Encore can add two Recruits and replace itself with a draw. Not Alone can turn that crowd into one large holder, because every other exhausted unit you control adds to her Might. Inspiring takes another route: Disarm 2 helps her win fights a 3-Might unit would otherwise lose, and her draw refills the hand. Neither the Legend nor either Champion readies anything, so units that paid the discount stay exhausted this turn unless another card readies them. Near the finish, keep enough ready units to contest the winning point instead of spending them on a cheaper spell.

Key interactions

Play Encore before the move or after combat

Starry-Eyed Songstress · Encore

Encore costs three Energy and one Power, so the Legend's discount leaves one Energy and one Power. Encore has neither Action nor Reaction, which means you play it in your open Main Phase and never during combat. If its +1 Might or its two damage should change this turn's fight, play it before the attackers move. You must choose two different modes, so Encore cannot make four Recruits or deal 4 to one unit. If you only want Recruits and a card, playing it after combat usually works better, because by then you know which units survived and which three are still ready to pay.

Move three units together for Inspiring's draw

Seraphine, Inspiring

Inspiring lets you draw one card, once each turn, when you exhaust three or more friendly units at the same time. A Standard Move with three units does it, because moving several units together is one game action and their exhaust costs are paid simultaneously. The group must share a destination: split them between two destinations and neither move exhausts enough units to draw. Inspiring can be one of the three, and if they move into an enemy-occupied battlefield, Disarm 2 gives an enemy unit there -2 Might when she attacks. A fourth mover still draws only one card, so add it only if the fight needs it.

Count every exhausted unit for Not Alone

Seraphine, Not Alone

Not Alone has 1 Might plus 1 for each other exhausted unit you control, wherever those units are. Move her with two other units and she becomes exhausted, which plays a Recruit to your base; that Recruit enters exhausted, so she counts the two movers and the Recruit for four Might. Discount a spell with the Legend and three ready units at base and she becomes seven. Your units ready at the start of your next turn, so she shrinks until you exhaust them again, and every exhausted unit the opponent kills makes her smaller. Judge her size by the board that will exist when combat happens.

Strengths

Three units that were staying at base anyway can take two Energy off a spell without costing a card.
Not Alone grows from every other exhausted unit you control, so the units that moved or paid for the Legend still make your holder larger.
Inspiring can turn a three-unit group move into a card once each turn, so a turn spent repositioning the board can still refill your hand.

Weaknesses

The Legend discounts only spells, never Inspiring, Not Alone or other units, so a turn spent only on units gets nothing from it. A spell that can wait may get the discount later.
Recruits from Encore and Not Alone arrive exhausted, so they usually cannot pay for the Legend until your next turn. Plan each discount around units that were already on the board.
Not Alone drops to 1 Might when your units ready at the start of your turn. Losing exhausted units shrinks her, and losing ready ones leaves the Legend short of units to exhaust.