Buyer's Guide: Genesis Legendaries Tier List
Genesis will always be playable, but which legendaries will hold long-lasting value?
The Genesis set was the first set to be printed by Gods Unchained and has several advantages compared to the following sets. First off, it will be evergreen, meaning that if rotation of sets ever becomes a part of the game, Genesis will always be playable and never rotate out. Secondly, the supply of cards is very low and will never be reprinted as reiterated in the last Council of Mortals meeting.
There are currently around 2000 copies of Meteorite Genesis Legendary so if Gods Unchained ever becomes a popular game with a big player base, the price of especially the strong cards will skyrocket.
Here are my picks for the best legendaries when you’re about to go shopping.
S-Tier: Super strong, must-have, legendaries
The big value bomb himself is one of the most expensive cards for a reason. Besides in control-players wet dreams, you’ll find him in BWD and sleep-Deception. Besides that, you’ll have a really hard time fitting him in decks because of the aggro-oriented meta. He especially shines when it comes to drawn-out control-vs-control matches that go to fatigue. This card will very likely be evergreen and maybe even get stronger over time as stronger legendaries get printed. Right now, you’ll miss a lot because (as you’ll see) a bunch of Genesis legendaries are pure garbage.
One of the overall best cards in the game as you can see by its win rate on GUDecks. The fact that it beats Thaeriel, The Bad Boy, is mindblowing.
It’s an insane value card that gives control-War everything it wants. Sustain, value, and face damage. There’s a chance it will be power crept in the future, but since its power level is so above all other cards, it’s unlikely for a very long time.
A-Tier: Strong cards that see plays and are very likely to keep being relevant
A very strong card in midrange/control Nature. You get 6/6 in stats, 4 heal, and potential further upside for 5-mana. When those archetypes become popular again, this card will get a lot of playtime.
It got worse after the core set refresh, where the OP Valewarden Minotaur was introduced. They fight for the same spot and if you’re playing wildfire, you’ll generally prefer 2x Valewarden and therefore have a hard time fitting in Avatar of Nature. However, as soon as Wildfire is not worth running in your deck, Avatar is slightly better in my opinion.
Fighting for 2nd best Avatar spot alongside Avatar of Nature and probably coming out a bit ahead. This card is just generally strong. You can play it in both control or aggro since it gives you both tempo, value, and potential face damage.
A unique ability that makes you be able to never die from fatigue. Besides that, the stats are decent and the hoard of 3/1’s you can spawn, have a significant board presence. Sees play in BWD but got hurt a good amount by Blade of Whiteplane being added to the game.
Great card in control Death and BWD. Mostly for its healing effect. Unfortunately, the draw bonus is most of the time a negative for BWD but can still see play in certain metas. It’s best when control-War is dominant while killing you slowly with the Slayer God Power.
B-Tier: Strong cards that can be played but there are better alternatives/don’t fit in meta
Poor Avatar is having a rough time in the current meta. It used to be a top-tier deck back in the day but has become irrelevant for a long time. It still has a lot of OTK potential and if the meta ever slows down by a considerable amount, it could become an S-tier card. There’s also hope for certain combos if you can cheat out Avatar pre-9-mana with future new card prints.
Thievery on steroids. Infinite value and another sleep to stall. Sees some play in sleep-Deception but mostly as a meme pick. Losing your Orfeo’s Distraction is often too important for your survivability but it becomes better as the meta slows.
Provides great board control and sets up your Hector nicely. However, with Blade of Whiteplane being added to the game, there are better 6-drops for control War.
Very good card objectively but has a hard time fitting in anywhere. Chances are it will see play at some point in control-Deception.
Decent AoE and a bit of face damage but almost as important, being able to foresee a bunch. She was power crept a good amount with Unbound Flames which are just straight-up better. And if you have Demos available, the 7-mana slot becomes very competitive so she can be hard to fit in. She shines when wide aggro Nature is the top meta dog.
Good combo potential card. I played it in my Rockdrake deck and brought it to tournaments. With the reason nerf of Over the Line, I don’t see a place for it currently, but I’m sure it will be played again at some point when we have new card options.
C-Tier: Currently meme-cards. Might have potential but need additional new cards to see play
One more ramp card that got power crept as well with Sip of Elixir. If you really need to ramp fast, this is another option that at least is better than Mana Toad.
Could have some potential with the Chosen One or in combination with cards like Enlightenment. So far, it hasn’t worked out.
Pretty good 9-drop but inferior to both Polyhemnia and Hippacria's Monster.
Worse version of Jason which is just too slow. Might improve in the future with better legendaries being printed.
Decent removal while also being a huge thread. Might have some OTK potential in the future.
If there’s ever an Olympian good deck, Hercules will be good.
Same as Hercules.
A powerful card that is just too slow currently.
This card can be okay in aggro-Light. The main problem is that it can buff your opponent's creatures as well. You might want to add it to your aggro list if sets have rotated out and there are not a lot of options.
A tournament counter pick that is very niche. Slight chance of combo potential in the future.
Big boy that you play deep in fatigue or in desperate situations. Meta would have to be very slow before it could be even considered.
Some combo potential as already seen with Curious Wisp. A bit like a bad Lost in the Depth.
D-Tier: Bad cards. Some chance of being playable in the future with a lot of help/changes.
If there are ever more cards that flip attack/health, you might be able to make a deck around it where this card would fit. The end-of-turn effect makes this card notifiable worse since it could fuck up your combo.
A weird card that is just a bit weak. Would need an Olympian deck for Nature to be playable which is extremely unlikely.
Decent value if meta is ever about just big boys.
Some combo potential but most likely just a bad Skull Scepter.
A weak overall card that might have some chance of combo with cards like Over the Line combined with self inflicted damage.
Slight chance of being good if more AoE healing cards get printed. Even then he’s a bit weak.
Good card if Aether aggro decks ever become a thing. Very unlikely.
Okay card in some kind of aggro/midrange deception list. Would need a lot of good 4-drops to rotate out to be considered.
Superbad card but unique enough to maybe fit in some kind of combo/overdraw deck in the future.
Just a bad version of Alastrina, slight chance of OTK potential with a lot of help.
Could maybe fit in a fatigue/overdraw list.
It is a bad board clear that is just too expensive. And your GP becomes worse than ping at that stage of the game (post-8-mana).
This card is actually okay sometimes vs aggro light and nature that buffs up their small 1-drops. But it’s just too slow and still leaves bodies on the board that can be buffed.
Too slow and overall weak for a 7-drop
Same as Horus. Might seem okay, but you will always have better alternatives.
Cards that refresh mana crystals when you play stuff will always have combo potential. Would need to be in a control deck since 7-mana, is generally too slow for an OTK-deck.
Maybe to counter a potential deck that fills your hand with junk.
F-Tier: Garbage. Extremely unlikely to ever see play
The rest of the Genesis legendaries are so bad it’s hard to imagine scenarios where they would be semi-useful. Here is the list of stuff to avoid like the plague:
Hades, Underworld Lord
Anubis, Guide of Souls
The Gatekeeper
The Mastermind
Dread Queen Persephone
Glass Cannon
Alexis, Archon's Sword
Locusta, Solution Expert
Sucella
Set Oshi
Tutankhamun
Nature, Overgrown
Namebinder Zal'zie
War, Incarnate
The Nether Prince
Possessive Toupee
Light, Ascended
Shadow Prince
Blade Trader Drosis
You can consider picking up the garbage if you want to have a complete collection. You get the title “Demi God” in-game which is cool and all, but don’t expect the ladies to be impressed. So do it if you find it fun and maybe there will be some kind of utility in the future for having a complete set. Gods Unchained has surprised players before by airdropping goodies based on your collection size.
That’s all the Genesis legendaries. Be warned that if you are buying with investments in mind, there are a lot of unopened Genesis chests that would have the potential to add a significant increase to the current supply. Good luck fellow nerd.