Shou Lao & Dragon of the Moon
This month’s Season Pass is bringing some massive and scary Dragons. The Season Pass card Shou-Lao the Undying looks to be a strong new meta presence, while the Super Premium Season Pass card Dragon of the Moon is a bit more of a puzzler. I'll go through the key synergies and strategies for both cards, plus touch on the synergistic new Series 4 Skill, Majestic Wingbeat.
Shou-Lao the Undying
To become the Iron Fist and gain its power, you have to punch the dragon Shou-Lao in the heart! Gnarly!
The last time we got a card that benefited from specific amounts of cards being played, it showed just how easy it is to build and play towards this type of incentive. Thena immediately became one of the best cards in the game. I know a lot of people were skeptical about how awkward she might feel before she actually released. Still, it was immediately apparent how easy it was to use Kitty Pryde or other low-cost cards to ensure maximum benefit, without it feeling like much of a restriction. I expect the same for Shou-Lao, and he seems strong enough to fit into a variety of proven and novel shells.
How does it actually work?
Shou-Lao gives the last character you play a buff, not the last card. So you can play a Skill in between. This will come up more than it might seem, since you'll often want to play a Skill together with Shou-Lao on turn 6, occasionally before him rather than after. At the end of his text, he has a little counter to keep track of how many turns you've fulfilled the condition, and it will show you the buff you'll get. Remember, it's now many turns you've played multiple cards, not how many cards you've played.
Cards that can ease the requirement
Any inexpensive card that fits your deck’s strategy will help make sure Shou-Lao is dishing out a sizable buff. 0-Cost cards can make it so we can even play on curve if we want. Kitty Pryde is the dragon queen, as she has synergy with both Shao-Lao and Lockheed (releasing the same day), since she means you always have a 1-Cost available. She helped fulfill that role when Thena was first released, but since then, we've gotten a bunch of Skills added to the game, and the skills may end up outshining/obsoleting Kitty.
These cards all add cheap (or free) cards to your hand. I think nearly every Shao-Lao deck will have at least one of these cards.
Discounting your cards is another way to ensure you can play more than one! There really is potential for a Shao-Lao bounce deck, among the many other archetypes he can slide into.
Cards with shared synergy
Werewolf is where a lot of players are going to start with Shao-Lao. WWBN has already been doing well, and Shao-Lao is an even better partner for him than Annihilus. Zombie Scarlet Witch also rewards playing multiple cards (as do Angela, Elsa, and Hope), so that is an obvious synergy. Magik means more turns for a card that cares about turns.
Buff Targets
Shou-Lao is handing out big enough buffs that you don't necessarily need to target cards that can further leverage that power, but there are plenty worth considering for each deck Shou-Lao might fit into.
Variants
Scosco's Day One Shou-Lao Decks
Dragon Wolf
Wolf can bounce around, and you can play Shou-Lao on the final turn with a 1-Cost to hand out a buff and grow Werewolf all at once. This is where I'm starting.
Zombie Wolf
Wolf Zombies is the version of the archetype that has been simmering just under the surface, not quite strong enough to break through. This is a fun deck to play and can definitely win games for you to start the season.
Dragon Bounce
Joaquin Torres is iffy, but he did just receive a buff, possibly in anticipation of this deck! Majestic Wingbeat gives us a way to discount and buff out 5-Cost cards.
Budget Zoo Shou-Lao
If you are still an early collection player, you can still reap the benefits of Shou-Lao the Undying. The curve is a little tight in Zoo decks, but you could further lower the curve by taking out Ka-Zar for something cheaper.
Dragon of the Moon
I have sky-high confidence in Shou-Lao, but my optimism for the other Season Pass card is a lot more dim. This card seems awkward, has a few strong synergy payoffs, and feels a couple of points low on Power.
All Hands on Deck
Instead of “BOTH hands,” Dragon of the Moon says “ALL Hands.” Is this a hint that Second Dinner is working on a mode with more than 2 players, or is this just a bit of future-proofing or an attempt at explicit clarity?
Stacking your Opponent's Hand
We do have a few ways to add even-costed cards to our opponent’s hand, one of which just received a slight buff. Was Master Mold buffed specifically as a Dragon of the Moon friend? It seems likely, which means the developers are pointing us towards a Ronan deck. Assuming the lower-case “even-costed” is consistent, following Baron Mordo up with Dragon is the Moon means our opponent will have a pretty useless feeling card in their hand. Bearing in mind that Black Widow has strong anti-synergy with Ronan, we can still imagine uses for her in non-Ronan Dragon decks.
Additional Synergies
Dragon of the Moon afflicts wide, so building around an affliction package is a different direction we can go. However, Dragon of the Moon isn't anywhere near good enough to supplant a card like Scorpion, so he'd have to earn his way in elsewhere. Moon Knight is one of the more exciting synergies to attack your opponent's hand, though it's a bit awkward since we'll either reduce the number of Dragon targets or discard an afflicted card from our opponent's hand.
Variants
Scosco's Day One Dragon of the Moon Decks
Moonan
Moon Poison
High Moon
Moon Surfer
Wrapping Up
The Season Pass always provides the most value per dollar in the game, and with a powerful and flexible card like Shou-Lao available, that is only heightened. Despite mixed community sentiment, another card for an additional $10 in the Super Premium Season Pass is also solid value. The shift to a variant with the base card immediately available in Snap Packs was a significant player-friendly improvement. However, the majority of players aren't going to miss having Dragon of the Moon in their collection, excepting Ronan super-fans.
What are your thoughts on Shou-Lao and Dragon of the Moon? How will you be utilizing them once the Dragon Season starts tomorrow? Let us know down below in the comments!