Card Spotlight: Milteo & Luzen After the Nerf

Milteo & Luzen from Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond was one of the defining Abysscraft cards before the May 28 balance patch. After moving from 6 cost to 7 cost, the deck is still around, but its tournament presence looks smaller.

Before the latest balance patch, the card was one of the biggest reasons to respect Abysscraft. Its plan was direct, explosive, and difficult to ignore: pressure early, reach Milteo, super-evolve, and turn the rest of the game into a burst of evolved followers. Once Crest: Milteo & Luzen is active, every follower you play evolves automatically, while Fanfare and Enhance abilities stop activating.

The payoff is big. Ghosts become real damage. Small followers become immediate pressure. The deck can pivot from early chip damage into a lethal push very quickly.

Then came the May 28 patch.

Milteo & Luzen was changed from 6 cost to 7 cost, which sounds small on paper but hits the deck exactly where it matters. A one-turn delay gives opponents more time to set up wards, find healing, build larger boards, or simply hit face, as Artifact Portal has been doing since its buff. It also makes Milteo turns less flexible, especially in games where the Abysscraft player needs to stabilize and pressure at the same time.

Card previewMilteo & LuzenFollower / Legendary / Blossoming Fate / #10554110Illustrated by Mikeboshi

Before the Patch

Before the nerf, Milteo Abysscraft had real tournament results.

The clearest example is Shadowverse Open AMEU on May 10, where Noire won with Earth Rite Runecraft and Milteo Abysscraft.

Milteo was also a major presence at Shadowverse Online Championship 2026 May. The deck did not win that event, but it could have. On Day 2, Milteo Abysscraft rose to 15.3% of the field, behind Evolution Forest but ahead of several other major archetypes. That matters because OCS May was held before the May 28 patch.

At the same time, OCS also showed the beginning of the deck's decline. The event was ultimately won by Evolution Forest and Midrange Abysscraft, not Milteo. Even before the direct nerf, the format was already adapting.

After the Patch

The first big post-patch test was much rougher.

At BO3 Showdown Vol.1 on May 31, the Top 8 did not include Milteo Abysscraft. Abysscraft was still present, but through Midrange Abysscraft and Evolution Abysscraft instead. That is probably the most important post-patch signal so far: the class survived, but Milteo was not the Abysscraft deck converting at the top.

SVLabo’s late-May tier summary tells a similar story. Milteo Abysscraft still appeared, so people were still playing it, but it was not showing up as much as the top decks. The archetype landed in Tier 2, with fewer high-rate posts and tournament appearances than the format’s leading decks.

That does not mean the card is unplayable. It does mean the deck’s position changed. Before the patch, Milteo was one of the format’s main threats (I wasn't a big fan of it to be honest). After the patch, it looks more like a real deck with real counters, not the default Abysscraft menace.

So, Is Milteo Still Worth Playing?

Of course, but the deck asks more of you now.

Milteo & Luzen still gives Abysscraft a powerful and quick way to end games. The deck can still win without always drawing Milteo, using early followers, Ghosts, and burn damage to pressure opponents before the crest turn. But the nerf changed the margin for error.

At 6 cost, Milteo could arrive before some decks were fully ready or before other 7-costs like Neptune. At 7, opponents get an extra turn to heal, build wards, or pressure back. That extra turn matters most against decks like Havencraft, Dragoncraft, and slower strategies that can survive the first wave and force Abysscraft to find another push.

The deck is also more matchup-dependent now. If the opponent can deny drain, block Ghost damage, or stay outside burn range, Milteo can struggle to finish. If the opponent stumbles, though, the card still does what it does best.

Verdict

Milteo & Luzen was slowed down, but it's still here.

Before the patch, Milteo Abysscraft had a tournament win through Shadowverse Open AMEU and a strong OCS May presence. After the patch, it missed the BO3 Showdown Vol.1 Top 8 and dropped into SVLabo’s Tier 2 range.

But it is not a disappearance. Milteo is still a playable build-around, still a dangerous ladder deck, and still one of Abysscraft's most recognizable cards. The difference is that now, the deck has to fight for the game instead of simply arriving on turn 6 and taking it.