Top 15 Cards from Generation 3
Core Set 2025 is right around the corner! Continuing the series we're now at Generation 3, the most impactful set thus far in terms of Standard playability and numbers of cards in top tournament decklists. It's almost a shame to limit the set list to just 15 cards, so some Champions will be grouped together with cards that were similar or were within the same evolution line.
Let's start with an honorable mention in The Purple Lily, a card so rare that it hasn't even been opened yet. It's best known lately as a nice -2/-2 effect that you get from Harvest Champions.
#15
Once upon a time Whirlwind could bounce any Champion, not just ones with 5 or less toughness. Even with the keyword functionality change Bubby is a great card to get a tempo advantage or to reset one of your key Champions, and was always useful to bounce an egg before the opponent had an opportunity to crack it.
#14
Light as an element wasn't played much at the beginning, but with Heroes like Aldric Soyhammer and Seraph the need for a good sweeper has become very important. As far as Retribution goes, Mirri is the most efficient Champion with the keyword, being big enough to attack in the early game while having a blanket 4 damage effect on the opponent's Champions that they must respect before committing anything more onto the board.
#13
To this day Spriggon is the best Lifebloom Champion out there. A 4/9 for 2 mana is a great rate, and it comes with an evolution line that is decent and can spread the Lifebloom to another Champion if needed. A turn 2 Spriggon has always been one of my favorite ways to start a game as it's a safe play that's hard to kill and applies good pressure.
#12
As a Normal Champion Sluggernaut has been providing defense for decks for over a year now. A 4/9 for 3 is huge and the Provoke forces the opponent to plow through 9 toughness before attacking anything they're more interested in. Sluggernaut doesn't have an evolution chain, but it doesn't really need to for it's cheap price and stats.
#11
Earthquake is a great way to catch back up when you're behind. Tearuk's best use is when teamed up with another Earthquake effect like Sangur quaking for 5, or a Fungal Spores effect from a Fungorth, effectively clearing everything with 7 toughness all in one punch. Tearuk is one of the best cards to draw in your opening hand as safety against eggs and allowing you to sculpt a gameplan knowing you have a cheap Earthquake in your pocket.
#10
Timberfawn really showcases how pushed a common can be. If you get full value it's 7/9 worth of power and toughness for 2 mana while being quite an annoyance with the Provoke ability from the Icecoobs. It's the kind of Champion you don't really want to attack, but also don't really want to let live, putting the opponent in a tough spot.
#9
Strawbash is #9 on the list, but it's evolution Berricane should be mentioned too. A 3 mana 5/6 with Windseeker is great to make sure you have your evolve cards on time, but the fact you can target Strawbash itself to find Berricane is practically a self contained combo. It's a 4 mana sequence that gets you a 6/9 that draws you a card or finds the evolution you want.
#8
Elemental Guard is a huge effect to have on a Champion. Making all your Champions of that element untargetable stops everything from Combustion, Hydroblast, Obliterate and everything in-between. They are crafted, so they're a little harder to get ahold of, but their impact on Standard has been significant. I expect Elemental Guard effects to be just as good moving forward, especially on cheap Champions.
#7
Every card in this game is a Champion and Vroom is the one that acts the most like a traditional "spell". 1 mana to get a Combustion effect should remove any problematic Champion early on, and many in the late game, all while leaving a 1/1 body behind. Vroom is cheapest a most efficient way to kill something... if you can afford the 6 life for 6 damage tradeoff.
#6
Zorkavah is a strange card. The mana limit is 9, so a 10 mana card can't actually be cast. You can play it off the eggs like Blaq or Purp, but that's pretty risky putting an uncastable card in your deck in hopes to hatch it out. Zorkavah's real power comes from it being a playable Hero that boasts one of the most powerful kits, reducing the cost of all Dark cards by (1).
#5
Galac is our #5 for being the pound-for-pound best Elemental Aegis card ever printed. 4 power is enough to get multiple attacks in to opposing Champions if you have enough shields to spare. It's evolution Galactoro is worth mentioning because Galac is so likely to survive given it's Elemental Aegis that evolving it with a Time Warp from something like Bofa Tinkertime is very easy to pull off.
#4
We've come to the eggs of the Generation 3, and they're just as strong as they were Gens 1 and 2. They're must-answer threats that provide a huge advantage if left unchecked.
#3
Pukey is the exact play you want on turn 2 when the game is just starting out. A fresh 2 cards and a sizable threat to get the game rolling. Even if you play Pukey in the mid-game and only draw 1 card from it's Greed ability it's perfectly fine, and also great if you play it later after a board clear. The value is incredibly high here and no surprise that Pukey has been one of the most common cards in all Standard and tournament decks.
#2
The Vilegrub, Vilemoth, Demothra evolution line is the most powerful to ever be printed. Just Vilegrub as a 2 mana 2/5 with Soul Reaper can take a game over on it's own. Vilemoth is the most efficient Raise Dead Champion we've seen, and happily evolves into Demothra after getting it's value upfront. Each card would be amazing on their own. As a chain together it's outright unfair.
#1
Believe it or not you used to take ANY Champion of your choice with Quantum Shift. Even after the keyword change to take the lowest toughness Champion from the opponent Fuku was overwhelmingly strong, leading to it's banning in Standard. Fuku is still a menace in Arena games and currently stands as the best card in Generation 3, and of all time.