Shadowverse Intro Guide

Shadowverse Mechanic & Class descriptions


Shadowverse-to-Hearthstone translations:
Ambush: Stealth
Bane: Poisonous (Note: Unlike Hearthstone, the follower does NOT have to do damage to kill - a 0 attack follower with Bane will kill another follower!)
Fanfare: Battle Cry
Follower: Minion
Last Words: Deathrattle
Rush: Rush (!!!)
Play Points/PP: Mana crystal (PP increases 1 per turn up to 10, just like mana crystals)
Storm: Charge
Ward: Taunt

Card rarites/values:
Basic: Common
Bronze: Uncommon
Silver: Rare
Gold: Epic
Legendary: Legendary (appears rainbow-colored)
Animated: Golden (animated illustration, minus HS's gold foil)
Vials: Arcane Dust


Other mechanics:
Amulets: Amulets are not followers, but can be played on the board the same way. They usually have an ongoing effect, with exceptions such as Havencraft's Countdown Amulets, and Runecraft's Earth Sigil Amulets, explained in their class descriptions.
Banish: Remove a card from the game. This does not trigger Last Words, and will not generate a Shadow.
Decking out: If a player attempts to draw a card and has no cards left in their deck, they lose. There is no increasing Fatigue damage like in Hearthstone.

Burial Rite: When playing a card with Burial Rite, if you have an open spot on the board and at least one follower in your hand, you must choose a follower to place on the board, remove its effects, and then destroy it. Once this is done the effect described after the Burial Rite is triggered.

Clash: A Clash effect will trigger whenever the follower deals damage to another follower, whether it is attacking or being attacked. Does not trigger when attacking the opponent.

Enhance: A card with an Enhance effect will allow you to pay a higher price for the card to activate an additional - or different - effect. For instance, a 3pp card with an Enhance(8) will activate the enhance effect if you have 8pp. Note that there is no choice in the matter - if you have 8pp, you must use 8pp and activate the Enhance effect, you cannot choose to play it at the base cost.

Evolve: Evolving a follower costs one Evolve Point, allows the follower to attack that turn (but only other followers unless it already had Storm), and increases its stats. Generally followers will gain +2/+2 after being evolved. Some followers will grant additional effects when evolved, and will gain more or less stats after evolving. The player that goes first gets two Evolve Points and can evolve on turn 5 or after, and the player that goes second gets three Evolve Points and can evolve on turn 4 or after.

Reanimate: Summons the highest-cost follower that has died during the game, up to the number listed one the reanimate. For instance, if your highest-cost follower that died during the game was 4pp, and you play a card with Reanimate (6), then the 4pp follower will revive on the board. If there are different followers of the same mana cost that can be reanimated, the game will choose randomly between them.

Rush: The follower may attack on the turn it is played, but can only attack other followers, and cannot attack the opponent directly.

Shadows: Graveyard-like mechanic. Whenever an amulet or a follower is destroyed, a spell is used, or a card is discarded it becomes a Shadow. Banished cards do not create a Shadow. Shadowcraft interacts with these Shadows directly, but it is not unique to the class.

Traits: Similar to a tribe, some cards have a Trait associated to them. Swordcraft is the most obvious example, with its followers being either Commanders or Officers.


Formats: Introduced into the game in December 2017, the game now features two formats, Rotation and Unlimited. Rotation only allows the use of cards from the past five expansions, as well the set of basic cards that are available from the start for each class or unlocked through the story mode. Note that the original card set (Classic) is not usable in Rotation! All cards in the game are available for use in Unlimited.

Pre-built decks: A catch-up mechanism for new players or people looking to fill out their collections. These can only be purchased with cash but guarantee a serviceable starter deck and a few core gold and legendary cards for the class. As an added incentive, one of the class legendaries in some of the decks will have alternate animated art, giving it a different look had you opened it in a pack or crafted it normally. You can purchase a pre-built deck three times for three copies of the gold and legendaries if you want, and you're free to liquefy the extras as usual. The lists on their own should be just fine in lower ranks if you're looking for a way to complete dailies while you build your collection through Take Two and rupies. Each deck is 500 crystals for the first copy, and 750 for the second and third copies. Set 3 decks contain 34 cards and can only be purchased once for 800 crystals.

Rerolling: Being that Hearthstone doesn't dump packs on you at the start like Shadowverse, rerolling doesn't really exist in Hearthstone as some players use it in Shadowverse. Rerolling involves creating a new account, opening gifted packs, and continuing to play only if the cards you received seemed good enough. This is very subjective, as it is up to the player to decide if they are targeting a certain deck, or a certain class, satisfied with core cards of any class, just wants cute girl cards, etc. Shadowverse makes it much easier to acquire packs through gameplay, generally more forgiving with rarities, and gives you 8 cards per pack, although this is somewhat offset by the fact that decks can use three copies of Legendary cards just like any other rarity, so grinding to build your desired deck is still necessary depending on its cost to craft. Compared to other games where rerolling is prevalent, it's pretty easy to reroll in Shadowverse, especially since the tutorial is skippable. Rerolling might make it easier to play the class or deck you want, but it also might make you want to kill yourself, and you can't play Anime Hearthstone if you're dead. For more information on what sort of cards to look out for when starting, check out this guide:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ibw62rcFMrkvWl_KPKUuRC_0f7LbvwE27ubQ-EJo0oQ


Class descriptions:
Bloodcraft: Bloodcraft's main mechanic is called Vengeance. Vengeance activates when you have 10 HP or less, and some cards will gain additional effects with Vengeance active. Some cards in Bloodcraft will manipulate your health total, either dealing damage to you or healing you. There are also a number of cards that summon 1/1 forest bats and create synergies with these bats. Bloodcraft sports a very powerful aggro deck with cards that deal damage, and can also play a focused control game that revolves around managing your own life total to grind or burst down your opponent.

Dragoncraft: Dragoncraft works off of a mechanic called Overflow and features high-cost, powerful followers and ramping effects. Overflow is active as soon as you reach 7 total play points, and some cards in the class will gain additional effects if Overflow is active. Some cards will grant an empty play point to help you reach Overflow and play your heavy followers faster. Synergies between discarding cards also exist in the class, with some cards that look to discard low-cost cards to deal damage or draw cards, and other cards that trigger effects when a card is discarded. Transforming low-cost cards into more valuable ones is also a theme of some cards. Flavors of the class can range from aggro, with high-powered Storm followers, to control, with a ton of ramp, draw, and heals into scary late-game threats and board clears.

Forestcraft: Forestcraft focuses on combo effects. Some cards will generate fairies - 1/1 tokens that usually cost 1pp - that are used to fuel combos. Some cards gain effects if a certain number of cards were played before it, or gain something from the number of cards in hand. Cards in the class also look to buff followers on the board to synergize with the creation of fairies. Other small gimmicks in the class include preventing enemy followers from attacking, and bouncing cards back to their owner's hands. Decks can be slightly aggressive or tempo-focused that look to finish with burst combos.

Havencraft: Havencraft has a focus on amulets. Many Havencraft amulets have a Countdown timer and a Last Words effect, so they usually last a few turns and then do something when they are destroyed. Generally this means summoning a follower, but also has effects like drawing cards or destroying enemy followers. Cards in the class also have effects that reduce the Countdown timer on amulets to speed up their effect. This usually results in playing follower(s) some turns in advance for a reduced cost, at the penalty of having potentially useless amulets linger on the board until the Countdown is over. The class also has synergies based off healing, and features a number of banish effects.

Portalcraft: Added to the game with the Chronogenesis expansion in December 2017, Portalcraft's main gimmick is Resonance, which is a status that is active if there are an even number of cards left in the deck. Some cards will trigger an effect if it is active, and some cards will focus on adding or drawing cards in order to allow you to manage your Resonance. Portal cards also focus on two different follower types: Puppets, which are 0pp 1/1 tokens with Rush that are usually generated and placed into your hand, and Artifacts, various followers with different effects that are usually placed in your deck.

Runecraft: Runecraft is a very spell-based class. The main gimmick of the class is Spellboost, which is an effect some cards have that increases each time a different spell is cast while the card is in hand. For instance, the card Wind Blast does 1 damage for 2pp, but each time another spell is cast while that card is in hand, it gains 1 more damage when used. Spellboost effects can vary from doing more damage, reducing a card's cost, or summoning more tokens. Another prevailing theme in the class is Earth Rite, a more value-based mechanic. Some cards will summon an amulet with the Earth Sigil trait, and cards with Earth Rite will consume an Earth Sigil to produce additional effects.

Shadowcraft: Shadowcraft works off of shadows, which are not unique to Shadowcraft, but features cards that create and consume shadows. Some cards have the Necromancy mechanic, which will consume a certain number of shadows to gain an additional effect, such as granting buffs, dealing damage, or summoning a follower. There is also a greater emphasis on Last Words in the class, to create more value in having your followers destroyed to gain effects and fuel shadow creation. Shadowcraft decks can range anywhere from aggro to control, featuring valuable followers and removal thanks to Necromancy effects, and some great potential burst options.

Swordcraft: Swordcraft is a very follower-based class, that has its followers divided up into two traits: Officers and Commanders. These traits work off one another, such as Officers that gain effects if a Commander is on the board, Commanders buffing allied Officers, or spells that gain effects based on the number of Officers in play or the presence of a Commander. The result is a very versatile class that can wear all hats in aggro, zoo, midrange, and control. Features a good array of Storm followers with the potential to be buffed, and some Ambush followers that can create synergies with other cards.


If you've found a class that interests you, check out this site for some deck ideas. Features everything from budget lists to optimized meta decks, so it should be a good starting place.
https://shadowverse.gamepress.gg/decks