Q Emerald Legion
Highlights
This is an ally toolbox built on the Harbingers of Skulls Q and their Necromancy , out to flood the table with Emerald Legionnaire. Erlik anchors the crypt as the star: as he lands he can push blood into the Harbingers still waiting in the uncontrolled region, jump-starting the influence race, and the rest of the crypt is smaller Harbingers along the same lines.
Since its February 2024 errata, Emerald Legionnaire only comes back from the ash heap while there are more ready Harbingers Q in play than copies already out, so the whole deck is bent on getting Harbingers onto the board. Disciple of Lazarus is the accelerator, fetching the next Harbinger from the crypt or blood-loading one already waiting, and Freak Drive unlocks the acting vampire for more actions. Villein and Liquidation bloat to keep the pool flowing to influence the crypt out, and every new Harbinger lifts the Emerald Legionnaire ceiling another notch.
The Legionnaires close the game. Each bleeds for only one, which makes bounce a losing trade for the prey — a single redirected point of pool is rarely worth a card — while the board keeps widening around it.
Defence is a toolbox of its own. The Harbingers carry Auspex , so bleeds are turned aside by Telepathic Misdirection and My Enemy's Enemy, and Eyes of Argus provide wakes. The Legionnaire swarm walls in its own right once The Unmasking is down and On the Qui Vive stands a locked wraith back up, while FBI Special Affairs Division punishes anyone who rushes an ally to death. In combat the Harbingers lean on Spiritual Intervention to end the fight or slip away untouched.
Tips & Tricks
The early game is an unlock loop: a stealthed Disciple of Lazarus or Soul Feasting, then Freak Drive to unlock, pulling the crypt into play while the vampire stays up to react. Soul Feasting doubles as the feeding that pays for all that influence. Breath of Thanatos buys stealth to land a Legionnaire recruit — or, at superior , an aggravated strike — and Call of the Hungry Dead shrugs off the one blocker that matters.
Landing the first wraith is cheap: Charisma and Erebus both shave the recruit cost. From there the ash heap is a resource — each reanimation strips seven cards out of it, so Liquidation earns its slot twice over, bloating while it stocks the graveyard the Legionnaires feed on. Wider View digs for the missing Harbinger and thins the crypt, and Babalawo Alafin smooths the hand while quietly shrinking everyone else's.
Delaying Tactics cancels the anti-swarm referendum outright; Direct Intervention cancels the master or vote aimed at the board and covers the wraiths against rushes and steals; Archon Investigation deletes the oversized bleeder before it lands. Rationing these against the table's meta is the real skill test.
Variants
The Emerald Legion was a dominant force a few years back, before the errata reined the Legionnaire in. The list here is Lech Ivanov's post-errata rebuild,leaning hard on the Disciple of Lazarus influence engine and Freak Drive to keep the Harbinger count climbing, rather than turning the wraiths into fighters.
Ivan Candioli's Zlegion, a 45-player win from late 2023, is a snapshot of the pre-errata engine at full power — extra allies and unbounded reanimation — and a reminder of why the card was toned down. The shell has gone on winning on both sides of that change.