Exclusive: Three new cards from the Shadowverse: Chronogenesis expansion

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Card games that aren't named Hearthstone tend not to get nearly as much coverage as those that are, but there's a lot of exciting stuff going on in the digital CCG scene. The free-to-play Shadowverse is one of the leading alternatives to Blizzard's licence to print money: It's similar enough to Hearthstone that it shouldn't be scary for fans, but nonetheless has enough of its own (boisterous, anime-flavored) identity to stand out.

A new expansion called Chronogenesis is on the way that will add a new Portalcraft class and introduce limited rotations, which allows only cards from the five most recent sets, and unlimited, in which all the cards are playable. (Essentially a lot like Standard and Wild in Hearthstone). Of course there will be a bunch of new cards added too, and we've got three of them to reveal for you right here.

First up is Lancer of the Tempest, a 3 Play Point card with an "Enhance" ability that deals two damage to all enemy followers if it's held back for 7 Play Points. This could make it very useful for Swordcraft players who haven't always had the best board-clearing abilities at their disposal. (The second card is the evolved form.)

Class: Swordcraft
Card type: Follower
Rarity: Gold
Trait: Commander

Unevolved - Rush. Fanfare: Enhance (7): Whenever this follower attacks, deal 2 damage to all enemy followers. — Unevolved - *Rush. Fanfare: Enhance (7): Whenever this follower attacks, deal 2 damage to all enemy followers.*

Next is Leaf Man, a "regular weenie follower" as developer Cygames put it, but who also gains a big boost through Enhance: Waiting to play it for 5 Play Points will grant a buff to all your other followers, a feature that's of particular use in aggro Forestcraft decks that are apparently big in the current meta.

Class: Forestcraft
Card type: Follower
Rarity: Bronze
Trait: None

Unevolved - Fanfare: Enhance (5): Give all allied followers +1/+0. Those followers can't be damaged by spells and effects. These effects last until the end of your opponent's turn. — Unevolved - *Fanfare: Enhance (5): Give all allied followers +1/+0. Those followers can't be damaged by spells and effects. These effects last until the end of your opponent's turn.*

And finally, we have Cursed Scarecrow, a Bloodcraft follower who can't attack the enemy leader, but whose impressive stats make it very useful for knocking out other enemy heavyweights.

Class: Bloodcraft
Card type: Follower
Rarity: Bronze
Trait: None

Unevolved - Can't attack the enemy leader. — Unevolved - *Can't attack the enemy leader.*

Evolved - Still can't attack the enemy leader. — Evolved - *Still can't attack the enemy leader.*

Shadowverse: Chronogenesis will add 138 new cards to the game in total, plus three new leader cards, the Resonance keyword effect, and the Artifact trait. More information, including a list of all the previously-revealed new cards, is up at shadowverse.com.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.