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Katie Miller

Hello everyone and welcome back for another installment of the Loremaster.

As I'm sure most of you can already tell, Deathwing has his claws in just about everything during the Cataclysm.

This week we continue to explore the deserts of Uldum by taking a look at the Wind Lord himself, Al'akir.

Like our buddy Ragnaros the Flame Lord, Al'akir is also an ancient Elemental Lord who was imprisoned by the Titans after the ordering of Azeroth. Though the very aloof Al'akir controls the realms of wind and air, he is the weakest of the Elemental Lords. He watches over the skies from his seat at the Skywall, which until recently had been completely inaccessible except from the elemental plane. However, with Deathwing's emergence into the world, and the subsequent Shattering it caused, the Skywall now looms ominously over Uldum.

Similar to Ragnaros, Al'akir has allied with Deathwing and the Twilight's Hammer to aid in the destruction of the world. He is tasked with gaining the trust of the Tol'vir, and so sends his servant, and member of the Conclave of Wind, Siamat, Lord of the South Wind to cleanse them of the Curse of Flesh. He is also tasked with invading the Halls of Origination to complete Deathwing's weapon of mass destruction.

Siamat, Lord of the South Wind successfully completed his task, and the Neferset tribe has been returned to their rightful form, only then they imprisoned him within the Lost City of Tol'vir.

We already know that we interrupted Deathwing's plans for take-over in the Halls of Origination when we paired up with Harrison Jones.

At Deathwing's request, Al'akir had summoned the Conclave of Wind - four powerful elementals of near equal power as Al'akir - to aid him in his mission. The Conclave consists of Anshal, Lord of the West Wind; Rohash, Lord of the East Wind; Nezir, Lord of the North Wind; and Siamat, Lord of the South Wind. With Siamat imprisoned, the remaining lords are left to guard the Skywall against invaders.

Just after Deathwing emerged into the world, we went to meet Al'akir head-on in his home turf; Throne of the Four Winds. Not knowing what lay in store for us during the Cataclysm, even though he is weaker than the other Elemental Lords, he is a tough match to be sure. There, he demonstrates the true extent of his powers.

He has the power to transform himself into a raging thunderstorm, transforming into a giant (we're talkin' 1000ft tall here) lightning storm. While within this form his power to manipulate the air is increased, and he can slam creatures beneath him or anywhere within close proximity to the storm.

He can also transform into a powerful whirlwind. When creatures are caught within it they are lifted into the air, only to be later ejected by Al'akir and most likely hurled over the side of a cliff. If Al'akir chooses to touch the ground while in this form he becomes a tornado. Whirling a cloud of debris that will obscure all vision, making it incredibly difficult to cast spells.

As a card Al'akir the Windlord is able to summon minions of air to his side, allowing you to put 2 ATK 1 Health Air Elementals into play every turn. He also becomes a fierce tornado and blocks the vision of his enemies and causes all Air Elementals you control to be Untargetable. You must be careful though! If you get too close to Al'akir and his allies you can become exhausted by the sheer power of the winds around him.

If you happen to be playing against a Horde or Alliance deck, including Siamat, Lord of the South Wind could be beneficial. Similar to Al'akir his powers over the air around him have the ability to exhaust non-monster enemies nearby. Like his master, he also summons smaller air elementals to do his bidding for each exhausted opponent.

Al'akir and Siamat are cards that I would love to see in a Harmonize deck that buffs tokens. Something like a Monster Paladin could be pretty sweet with Skywall. You could include all of the Keepers: Keeper Alinar, Keeper Balos, Keeper Sharus, even Remulos, Son of Cenarius. Play Wisp Amulet and Bound Vortex for more token shennanigans and then include things like Grand Crusader and Surge of Power and suddenly your Al'akir tokens are 5ATK 4Health allies with Untargetable. Sounds like fun to me! (I might have to go build this deck now.)

I hope you all enjoyed this relatively short version of the Loremaster.

Check back next week as we explore another of the Elemental Lords and one of the Old God's former Lieutenants: Therazane the Stonemother, Elemental Lord (or should I say Lady) of Earth.

-Katie
@LynestaWoW

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