Scorpion Brand New Day passed the Good or Garbage test with room to spare. The reason is straightforward: doubling reductions on enemy cards gives an Affliction shell a payoff that is easy to access and strong enough to change the final board. The source did not treat it as a cute side package. It treated Scorpion Brand New Day as the card Affliction had been missing.
The best results came from the Ancient One direction, where larger individual reductions have a clear partner. Omega Sentinel was the clearest example. When a single card is reduced heavily, doubling that reduction creates a much more threatening swing than scattering small reductions across the opposing board.
Ancient One gives the package a home
The featured Dose of Affliction build was described as stronger than expected and close to a complete list. Ancient One provided repeated opportunities for the Scorpion Brand New Day plan, while the shell had enough distributed power that it did not have to treat every game as a single-combo puzzle. Magik was optional rather than mandatory, which made the deck feel less fragile across normal games.
The deck also had room for personal choices. Elektra occupied the flex slot because Spider-Man Brand New Day was prevalent at the time, but that position could become Spider-Ham, Iceman, or another tech card. Ajax was identified as the weakest card, with Omega Sentinel named as a possible replacement. Those choices do not change the core point: the package works because it can put meaningful reductions on the board before Scorpion Brand New Day turns them into a real problem.
Luke Cage changed the equation
The source connects Scorpion Brand New Day's strength to the Luke Cage change. New Luke Cage was described as more frontline-focused, which created openings for reduction effects to matter even in games where Cage appeared. Red Guardian was also called out as an answer in the mirror. That makes the package more than a pure goldfish deck: it has play against the card players expect to stop it.
The caveat is timing. The build can play Scorpion Brand New Day early and add reductions afterward, but other cards such as Ares reward a different order. That is why a Wiccan variation was considered: Quicksilver could replace Selene, and the shell could move toward a different tempo line without abandoning the main Affliction payoff.
Other experiments had partial answers
The Agamotto version had an understandable theory. Cheap Afflictions, Omega Sentinel, and multiple Scorpion Brand New Day effects sounded powerful together. It did not convert that theory into the same recommendation. A Phantomex attempt needed more destruction support; Diamondback was a possible cut for another destroy card. The Caliban line was closer to being the best non-Ancient One shell and was set up for a Wiccan adjustment.
Those tests are useful because they show the boundary of the recommendation. Scorpion Brand New Day is good. Every deck that can mention Scorpion Brand New Day is not automatically good.
Verdict
Scorpion Brand New Day is worth picking up if you want to play Affliction. The Ancient One package supplied the most convincing results, and the card gives the archetype both a larger payoff and more room to explore after the Luke Cage change.
Watch the source video: the original episode.
