FaB: Compendium of Rathe Review

Compendium of Rathe (PEN) is a supplementary set (so you can't play draft or sealed formats with it) that focuses on bringing support to heroes. It is also the set that premiered the new FaB set, Silver Age.

This is one of the biggest FaB sets we've ever seen. It includes not only critical reprints but also an array of new cards. Let's go over what each class and talent got and how these cards can impact competitive formats!

Let's go over the cards that are supposed to improve each class and support some particular heroes.

Brute

The Brute class got just a few support cards, but the ones that stand out are the new equipment cards for Silver Age, in particular for Kayo. The other cards support Rhinar and Tuffnut and don't exactly introduce new strategies. They are supposed to consolidate already existing strategies.

Guardian

Guardians got support for auras and Seismic Surge, which will be quite helpful for Valda, Seismic Impact and Bravo, Flattering Showman.

The highlights for this class are Sense Weakness and Shield Beater. The first card will finally let Guardians interact with Allies (whether they're dragons or undead), and the second is supposed to bring back Shield-centered strategies (an archetype introduced back when the Dynasty set was released).

Ninja

Ninjas got some pretty great cards. Wind Cutter will make an old Ninja card (Silverwind Shuriken) make sense, and Become the Bottle (1) and Become the Cup (1) support one of the main Ninja archetypes: combo. These two common cards will certainly see play with Crouching Tiger (in Zen lists, for instance) and in decks centered around combos (like Ira, Scarlet Revenger and Katsu lists).

Warrior

Warriors got support for Sharpen (a new mechanic), which, nowadays, isn't that relevant. We'll discuss it again when the new hero (Hala, Bladesaint of the Vow) comes out in April. Otherwise, one of the highlights for this class is Blunten, which might only block for two but is an excellent way to disrupt decks that attack small weapons, like Runeblade and Ninja lists.

Mechanologist

This set brought a lot of new support for Mechanologists, like Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate and Maxx ‘The Hype’ Nitro. These lists will change a lot, enough for us to dedicate an entire article to them, but let's stick to the topic at hand.

The new Evo cycle fixes one of the main problems Teklovossen struggles with: how much the Evos Steel Soul cycle costs. This strategy also got more support, like Ghost Protocol: Architect and Heavy Metal Hardcore (1). The main highlight, however, is Teklo Trebuchet 2000, which will become a staple in all Mechanologist decks that center around Boost.

Ranger

Rangers didn't get much, particularly nothing too new, but they did get a new trap mechanic of sorts. Until now, traps were defense reactions that saw a lot of play with Riptide, Lurker of the Deep, for instance, but drawing many of them often got in your way. Now, traps come as actions. This means they do something when they block, but you can play them regularly as well because they also do something this way.

Another excellent addition is Bolt'n Boots, which is similar to Snapdragon Scalers but has Battleworn 1.

Runeblade

This set brought something different for Runeblades. Now, this class won't focus completely on Runechant. Instead, now it can focus on auras and on dealing arcane damage directly. We can see that shift in cards like Runic Fellingsong (1) and Weeping Battleground (1).

The Runeblade highlights are the excellent equipment cards for Silver Age, particularly Beckoning Haunt and Blackstone Greaves. The first card interacts really well with auras, and the second interacts really well with defense reactions that deal arcane damage.

Wizard

Compendium of Rathe introduced a new aura for Wizards: Sigil of Fate. We've all seen how this class has been interacting with "Sigil" permanents as of late. This new Sigil has an effect that doesn't seem that great (Opt 1), but it might become good as more sets come out.

The main highlight for Wizards is definitely Temporal Wobble, though. This is not the first Flesh and Blood "counterspell", but it is already one of the strongest. It is also one of the cheapest in terms of in-game resources and the most flexible, so we can expect it to impact Classic Constructed quite a lot.

Illusionist

The new set brought back an Illusionist mechanic we hadn't seen for a while: Mirage (a sort of backwards Phantasm). All the new cards feature this mechanic and do something when they attack.

For instance, Power of Make Believe (1) is an attack and has a decent effect. However, it can't block attacks with a power of 6 or greater. Otherwise, it is destroyed. It brings a sort of "balance" to these iconic Illusionist cards.

Assassin

Assassins didn't get anything too innovative, but they did get some interesting interactions. Lobotomy will breathe some fresh air into a dagger that doesn't see much play, and Seeker Kunai is a "surprise" card for Assassins that create Silver and want to catch opponents off-guard.

Pirate and Other Dual Classes

High Seas heroes didn't get much. Besides Shallow Water Shark Harpoon (2) and Skywarden No(1)6(1)80(3) (2), Cheating Scoundrel also stood out. This new non-attack action features the Wager mechanic and will also help Pirate heroes do what they always want to do: create Gold.

Let's look at the talent cards this set brought. Some of them aren't anything special (like Earth), but others are quite decent (like Draconic).

This set brought Light and Shadow support for Monarch heroes, particularly Ser Boltyn, Breaker of Dawn and Levia, Shadowborn Abomination. Both were quite forgotten in the meta, and these new cards could help them become relevant again.

We got some cool Elemental cards, like Elemental Strike, Colors of Aria, and the Seath cycle, but the other cards are more specific. The new Earth cards center more around buffs (Channel the Skybreaker) and attacks that benefit them (Doubling Season (1)).

The new Ice cards focus more on freezing than creating Frostbites, which could be a new way to play this talent. As for the new Lightning cards, they're nothing new. The only new thing is the red Cloud Cover (1), and we also got some cards for Silver Age.

The new Draconic talents, on the other side, are great tools for the Phoenix Flame archetype. Art of Phoenix: War and Fire That Burns Within are great examples. Furthermore, Smoldering Scales is a great Draconic tool for a big problem these strategies face: dealing with Frostbites.

Now that there are no Part the Mistveil heroes in Classic Constructed, we got some Mystic cards for them. We got some specific support cards for Silver Age, like Serpents Kiss (3) and Wax and Wane (3).

For the first time, we got Chaos support. Until now, all we had were some occasional cards, "silver bullets", per se. Now we know what this talent is all about: effects that apply to both players, whether they're good or bad. Hyper Inflation (1) and Concoct Disorder (1) stand out.

We got some modest Revered cards, more centered around Tuffnut and supporting its ability. However, we got a lot of Reviled support for both Kayo, Underhanded Cheat and Lyath Goldmane. Chain of Brutality (1), Two-Faced, and Insult To Injury (1) are some of these cards.

Besides bringing us new cards, this set stands out because of its reprints. All the expensive generic cards in the game were reprinted.

Balance of Justice, Fyendal's Spring Tunic, Command and Conquer, and Crown of Providence are some of these reprints, but others were reprinted as well. The Antiquity Pack booster (a gold booster that comes in all Compendium of Rathe booster boxes) also includes reprinted majestic staples, like The Weakest Link (1), Censor, Ripple Away, and others.

Compendium of Rathe was a highly anticipated set because LSS stated it would bring support for all heroes. Some got great support, while others got one card or two. I consider that, regardless of how many cards each got, this set did what it was supposed to.

Some of the new cards don't make sense today (like, for instance, the Opt support for Wizard), but PEN could be preparing us for the future. If in the future we get new heroes that need these cards, we'll already have a way to build them, both for Classic Constructed and Silver Age.

At the end of the day, the new set didn't improve what's already good. Verdance, Thorn of the Rose, Arakni, Marionette, and Gravy Bones, Shipwrecked Looter, for instance, didn't get any significant support, unlike the more unpopular heroes, like Teklovossen, Esteemed Magnate and Fai, Rising Rebellion. These heroes got great support.

This set breathed some new life into forgotten heroes and didn't make heroes that were already great a lot more powerful. The next competitive seasons should show how it impacted Classic Constructed exactly.

LSS should release a banned and restricted list for Silver Age soon. Once they do, we'll explore this format a little more and check out if it is struggling with any problems.

What do you think? Tell us your thoughts in our comment section below.

Thank you for reading, and see you next time!