Scorpion Brand New Day could enter the top-five conversation if the unsolved build is found. That does not make it a top-five deck already. What makes this release exciting is the open space around it: the card can support an all-in combo plan or a more measured affliction build, and neither version feels solved.
The early ceiling is absurd. The lasting question is: can Scorpion produce enough power while surviving opponents who recognize the setup? That answer will decide whether the card settles into a predictable combo shell or becomes a flexible threat that belongs near the top of the game.
Luke Cage Is Worse at the Job He Used to Do
We disagree on whether the Luke Cage change is a buff. His lower cost may fit more decks, and holding him for the back end of a game creates different decisions, but he no longer does the same job.
One speaker argued that Luke Cage’s former version would have made Scorpion Brand New Day unplayable, while the current version leaves it with real potential. That difference matters more than the cost reduction. Affliction finally has room to matter instead of being turned off by a single card.
Luke Cage still helps in the matchup. He can undo enough damage to make a game manageable, especially when the important power and timing are understood. Scorpion makes the change easier to notice because its effect reaches the full board in one shot. We agree that changing a three-cost Luke Cage that could dismantle an affliction deck by itself was a good decision. We split on whether the result deserves to be called a buff. One of us would take the old Luke Cage over the current version in any deck that would include either one.
That is also why Scorpion feels possible now. Removing the instant shutdown lets players explore combo-centric builds and mid-range builds without immediately losing the point of the deck.
Two Ways to Build Around Scorpion
The first path is a mid-range Scorpion affliction deck. The second is all-in combo. Both have appeal, and neither feels finished after the first rounds of testing.
Ancient One points toward the multiple-Scorpion route. That is a serious payoff for multiplying Scorpion itself. The goal is not merely to spread small reductions around the board. It is to create enough copies that the board-wide effect becomes the card that decides the game.
A separate route stacks a large affliction onto a single target and then doubles it. Omega Sentinel and Scorpion were the clearest example. Those ideas use the same card, yet they do not automatically belong in the same final list. One plan wants two or three Scorpions. The other wants a major affliction stack with one Scorpion in play. Leaning hard into either plan is where the stronger versions may emerge.
Hazmat plus Scorpion still gives a broad baseline across the opponent’s board. The higher-upside choices are clearer: multiply Scorpion, or make one affliction stack large enough that Scorpion’s doubling effect changes the game by itself.
Huge Clips Leave a Real Disruption Test
Players are naturally pushing this card to ridiculous negative-power totals. It has been a while since a card could double this kind of effect, so the first days are going to produce maximalist experiments. One extreme example was acknowledged as something that probably is not possible most of the time and seemingly relies on the opponent playing Scorpion too.
It puts the focus on disruption. The major question for Scorpion decks going forward is how disruptible they are. Some combo versions may telegraph their setup, leaving an opponent room to respond. Enchantress can punish a visible ongoing setup, and Cosmo can interfere with a major part of the plan at the right time.
There is a real disagreement in how to read the current builds. One view is that the maximalist versions are interaction-vulnerable combo decks. Stop the combo, and the Scorpion player may not have placed enough power elsewhere to recover. From that angle, the current versions need to be punished until the deck adapts.
The opposing view is that an unproven deck does not yet justify committing a five-cost turn-six response. The longer-term Scorpion deck may use a smaller package, aim to win by enough rather than by an absurd margin, and avoid the obvious stack players are testing now.
The visible combo versions can lose to interaction. A refined mid-range version may ask a different question. The first wave of clips should not be treated as the card’s final form.
One proposed direction is a build that can threaten a combo in some games and play a fairer mid-range plan in others. Sometimes it should threaten the large combo. Sometimes it should play a fairer mid-range game because the opponent can challenge the bigger setup.
The ceiling remains a big if. If a good enough combo becomes consistent, Scorpion could be the best deck in the game. Its floor is still encouraging: an archetype that remains available. For now, the multiple-Scorpion route and the taller-affliction route both need testing against opponents who understand the plan.
Spider Showdown Has a Reason to Keep Luke Cage Legal
Luke Cage was considered repeatedly for the Spider Showdown ban list. After the change, Luke Cage came off the list while Shadow King stayed banned. Watching strong players use Scorpion made that decision feel safer.
The claim is not that Scorpion has already won anything. The concern is more specific: One of us said Scorpion probably would have won the tournament if Luke Cage had stayed banned. Keeping Luke Cage legal preserves a response while Scorpion is still being explored.
Enchantress and Luke Cage do not answer the same Scorpion plan in the same way. Enchantress challenges a visible ongoing lane. Luke Cage matters against affliction. Which response matters depends on the strategy across the table, and that uncertainty is part of what makes Scorpion interesting.
Grand Arena’s Precons Need a Better Reason to Exist
The Grand Arena Showdown discussion landed on a separate frustration: the preconstructed decks. Some players will enter a limited mode and choose the first precon instead of building from scratch. That makes the purpose of those decks important.
One speaker saw a case for simpler precons for newer players. The same speaker felt the earlier creator precons had more intent behind them, while the current precons were criticized as making no sense.
For Grand Arena, an ongoing effect is the starting point. Scorpion should keep being tested. The card is good, Luke Cage changes the matchup without ending it, and one hoped-for direction is a focused plan that survives being recognized.
[Watch the full discussion.](the original episode)
