Top 15 Cards from Generation 1
Core Set 25 is right around the corner, and with it's release will come a bigger focus on Legacy. The format will include every card in Champions history up to this point, even cards banned in Standard. To get a perspective on what Legacy might look like lets go back to where it all started: Generation 1.
#15
Rush is awesome to clear out a pesky Champion or to press damage. Ooga was one of the best aggressive options in Nature in the beginning, and still boasts a good rate. Having a good evolution line from Monke helped too.
#14
A 2 mana 4/4 with Rush appears in top8s and winner decklists as Lulu. It's cheap and pressure the opponent's health as well as killing Eggs before they can hatch. Monke is solid on it's own and comes with a solid evolution chain into Ooga and Oogachief as well.
#13
Lumi is a solid card on it's own, being a 7/4 with 2 mana at minimum. It's cheap cost makes it good at all stages of the game, and Bless enables favorable trades or pushes damage quite well.
#12
Psyop has been one of my favorite cards to draft in Arena. The floor of this Psybeam Champion is switching it's own health, leaving you with a 4/12, which are fine stats to have by default. Psyop's strength comes when it has a different juicy target, altering the board while leaving you with hefty stats.
#11
Pandorable doesn't see much play, but it's rate is very high. Lifebloom (4) opens attacks and saves key creatures, and the cheaper the cost of the Champion with Lifebloom the better. Playing a 1/6 on the first turn isn't the worst either.
#10
Hydrofang is cheap and hits really hard. A 2 mana 5/4 is perfectly fine to curve out with, and the face damage of Vortexing for 4 is welcome on turn 2 or even turn 9. Hydrofang is similar to a 2 mana 4/4 Rush, but has a touch more power to trade better to attack the opponent.
#9
Eggs and the Hatch mechanic all started in Generation 1. Grun is good at accelerating out your big green monsters, but suffers from the fact that many Champions you put in quickly have sweeper effects like Earthquake, which make them less useful early. Still, an egg is an egg and Grun is quite strong.
#8
Bloo get a small nod over Grun because of huge, aggressive monsters like Juju Winterspear, Xaramath, or Gigaquakk that will keep you opponent on the backfoot and keep them there. Ice/Water can play a little better at protecting their eggs too, with Blizzard and Tsunami rather than Earthquake which sweeps the egg as well.
#7
Floriana is the first of many "Angels" in Generation 1. All 9/9s with an elemental ability. The Angels are pushed to be good and their effectiveness when cast shows that. However, Floriana is one that costs 5 mana and doesn't directly impact the opponent's board so it's on the weaker end of Angels.
#6
Ignacius is huge and has immediate effect on the opponent's Champions by dealing damage to two of them. The raw stats are there, but slightly suffers from it's inconsistency. Luckily Ignacius is big enough to always survive it's own Inferno damage, which is a key break point for any inferno Champion.
#5
Zephyrion comes down at the right time to create a big tempo swing by bouncing an opposing Champion. Turn 5 is also about the time you'll have some Champions of your own with damage on them, making them attractive targets to bounce and reset their stats and abilities.
#4
Earthquake is always a strong ability that could can sculpt a game around to find the best opportunity to deploy. Even if you clean up just one opposing Champion you've gotten you money's worth out of Dustrael.
#3
Ponk is a very important egg because Light doesn't have another that costs only 1-mana. Light also has possibly the most impactful Champion to play early in Aldric Soyhammer.
#2
Recent Angels have been costs at 5-mana, and there were a few of those in Generation 1 as well. Two only cost 4 mana though, and Sin is one of them. 4 mana for a 9/9 is already good, but tacking on Psybeam to get extra health and affect the board is icing on the cake.
#1
Purity is pound-for-pound the best Angel in Champions. Sin requires a little set-up to maximize while Purity can be a 4 mana 12/9 at worst. Bless tends to play a little better than Lifebloom since its proactive to make favorable trades and work on the opponent's life total.