Need - I was thinking about how hard it is for Crimson Decks to set up due to there being close to 0 1 drop units for Crimson Decks, the only viable options are unscarred reaver and plucky poro, neither of which belong to noxus, with the latest update all noxus 1 drops are left with 1hp I believe. That leaves Crimson decks in a weird position where any viable option sacrifices late game value, mainly due to Noxus running with very very little hand replacement or card draw, trifarian assessor, and crimson curator being the only way noxus has to refill their hand... That being said I feel that the Crimson Cult could use a 1 drop, useful to the cause.
Crimson Flagellant
1 cost - regeneration
Red Lashing (play skill)
play - deal 2 (1) damage to me and 1 to a unit (not nexus)
1dmg 3hp (2hp)
Balancing - I feel like this is a good trade off, it doesn’t replace the value of blade’s edge, but it creates a value of its own instead, one that doesn’t threaten balance, but does allow crimson decks to start building an early game without requiring crimson disciple to be in your starting hand, it’s also decently counter-able, as a play skill it gives the victim time to respond, similar to black powder bomb (I really hate that black powder bomb isn’t instant, but balance is important) it isn’t impossible to defend against. Note that the skill says and, not then, so this separates the value of the skill into 2 connected instances, if the skill is denied it stops 2(1) damage to the Flagellant, which could be positive, or negative depending on your circumstances, on the other hand there are ways to meditate value on the victims side, any positive hp boosts will nullify the effects.
Synergy - This card synergies very well with crimson decks especially as it was intended, since it is a crimson card it can be created by the crimson curator, however, I do recognize that a 1/3 with regen isn’t especially useful in this game, which is why I wanted to push the 1 damage to A UNIT, not an enemy unit, so it can be used to reactivate crimson curator for a different card. However this card does have positive synergy with other cards and decks aswell, it works kind of like a worse 1 cost noxious fervor, but it guarantees value so long as the Flagellant survives till the end of the round, that being said, this card synergies well with Vlad, bc it starts his level up requirement with at least 1 surviving unit, it synergies with Swain, bc it starts his level up too with 3 damage, It also can be used to activate other cards that require units be pre damaged, like Aurok, Flock, and Guillotine, I don’t think this works with gp very well tho, similar to black powder bomb it risks killing a unit rather than damage, but for freljord it would be able to activate scar cards, reaver and warmother would be if it a great deal from a low cost unit that could activate their requirements, an early game activated reaver would be a great help to freljord scar decks that frankly don’t see much play.
Wrap up - In conclusion, this card would be a viable 1 cost starting card for noxus decks like Vlad and Swain, especially crimson decks that desperately lack early game options. The card has value with some planning necessary, and offers an activatee and an activator for the crimson cult and alike. It also fills out some level up requirements, And gives late game value, something that is rather lacking in many 1 drop units, pretty much any poro that aren’t in poro decks, Any 1 cost unit with 1 health or below 3 damage. BUT most of all CRIMSON FLAGELLANT fills a void in noxus, the need for early game starters with more than a 1 time use (Ahem, legion sabatour, Ahem), and it finally gives Crimson decks a starting card that isn’t just crimson disciple again.
thanks!
