Which Legendary cards have no drawbacks?

[Xan]

Which Legendary cards would you say have no drawbacks compared to other cards?

I'd have to go with Flameblade Champion for starters, it has slightly below average stats but its special ability makes up for it hard.

The other one would be Echo Wisp, its weakness is Epidemic but that would also destroy Hunting Pack and Ether Hounds anyways, while Wisp has much higher attack and at level 3 fills the whole field. Paired with a level 3 Ferocious Roar it can be quite effective.

[DemoEvolved]

"below average stats"
"dies to epidemic"
those are downsides.

#1 I'm gonna go with Oros, Deepwood's Chosen which is solid at every level, has breakthrough and the pleasant upside of gaining health when he hits the opponent's face.
Ghox gets #2, passable stats at all levels and amazing upside of drawing cards.
Aegis Knight gets #3. Solid body with a dab of armor AND a touch of instant damage onPlay and great upside if you buildaround.

Honorable Mention goes to Brightsteel Sentinel, whom albeit has the same stats as flameblade, but the upside that gives an absolutely insane amount of armor for one turn is just so great, it's hard not to rank him higher. I guess you don't get value if you fail to block with him on turn played, so that's a downside. But it is frankly hard to NOT get value from him.

Every other Legendary has some obvious downside, I surveyed them. But you can mostly build around to compensate

[DemoEvolved]

except binben, he's just bad.

update: Binben has been improved by SBE, and now produces much more powerful creatures at higher levels

[Xan]

"dies to epidemic"
those are downsides.

I don't count this one as a drawback because it is shared with Ether Hound and Hunting Pack, which are non-legendary cards with the same problem, sure they got SLIGHTLY more HP but Echo Wisp is esentially a pure upgrade over those two cards.

Flameblade's below average stats would normally be a drawback, but his ability to damage all enemy creatures makes the low stats not that important since often you can clear the board with him. And since he's Tempys you have a lot of options to buff his attack for one turn.

edit: would Zimus count as no drawback? His only counter is Metasculpt and Botanimate, but using him in a deck with Soul Sacrifice or Grave Pact can quickly give you multiple Zimuses at level 3.

[DemoEvolved]

Epidemic is a staple in any Nek deck. It melts on-level Echowisp at every level. Ether Hound lives to Epidemic at every level.

Echowisp 1 also dies to a Level 1 Static Shock which is a staple in Tempys decks and lets the opponent play another spell.

Wierwood Patriarch pumps an on level Ether Hounds at every level, this can give you lots of board control early in a level. Echowisp is a good blocker, but it also invites the opponent to kill the second token with an underleveled card.

And, Echowisp is a Spirit. This means it will not proc Yuru the Necrosage who gives free tokens when a neighbor is killed. Ether Hounds will.

So Echo has quite a few downsides that Hounds doesn't.

[SkullDude ☠]

I completely agree with DemoEvolved, Oros is probably one of the only legendary cards that has almost no drawback. It is the perfect card if your running a deck that has an "above 100 health" strat.

[Xan]

I just fought a guy with 3 Oros in his deck. Nothing I could do. A 6/6 level 1 with Breakthrough and Healing on damage is too good.

Scorchmane Dragon is also good, its level 1 is a weak defender but level 2 and 3 are above average with no downsides.

[SkullDude ☠]

Ridgeback is also a card with no drawbacks, breakthrough, and each time it damage opponents health, it gives +health + attack to al your creatures, and at lvl 3 breakthrough too....

[DemoEvolved]

Ridgeback is a great card and I would run it in any Uterra deck. but i think it has an important downside or two.
Ridgeback has 4 health at PL1, and 7 HP at PL2.
The spell Frostshatter Strike is a staple of Tempys decks and deals exactly 4 damage at PL1 and 7 at PL2. So if you play your deck and the opponent has Tempys, now you are gambling if you play a Ridgeback.
Another thing that nukes Ridgeback is that the level 1 dies to incidental damage (damage not directly targetting the Ridgeback) from this play: Tempys Flamebreak Invoker + Static Shock + any other tempys spell, (like Flame Lance), which is *kinda* common in Tempys.
I'm defining "No Downside" as cases where the opponent removes your card AND gets value on his side.

You could say that Oros is victimized by Dreadbolt at every level, but I *think* dreadbolt is not a Nek staple because it is level gated removal, and it is only a 1 for 1 trade whereas these other cases I'm talking about the opponent gains significant value while also removing your threat.

[DemoEvolved]

In the new set, I would keep my eye on: Grimgaunt Doomrider which can be easily a 5/8 on turn played, and is tough to remove, gaining value pretty much every turn. I would rather have a Doomrider over an Oros I think.

[123 Casual Player]

Ironmind Acolyte. It's basically a free card.

[DemoEvolved]

however, IA is garbage if you fail to have Ghox in play, or if you fail to draw Metamind Adept 2, or if you do not have the Draw 2 cards (Free) already leveled. So there's a lot of cases where it is a card which is clogging your hand with a dead play. So he is not without a heavy downside.

However, with the properly built, mostly legendary deck to support it, yeah IA is nuts.

[Sins]

Cercee also lacks one- her attack IS low, but I think its better to compare her to the Blight Walker- whose only advantage is being a zombie. Even then, with mobility she's strictly superior.

[DemoEvolved]

Cercee cannot be put in play for free via Xrath's will. Also she does not gain regen benefits from Xrath, dreadnight of varna.
blight walker cannot be targetted by Chiselhearth Archer or Tangle. Cercee can. (However those cards are commonly used atm)

Downsides:
Niether cercee nor bwalker put any pressure to block on the opposing player in the first 2 Player levels.
Each of them can be rendered impotent by an on level Epidemic which is a nek staple.
If you fail to draw them in PL1, they are a dead draw for you in later levels. (U are not going to want to block a level2 with a 1 attk creature)
Each of them are weak to Armor. Armor is not really a thing, but there are a few cards like Aegis Knight, Gargoyle and Brightsteel Sentinel that will shut her down.