Elder Dragon: Portal Pals and a free attack

Starforged Gauntlets accelerates the deck from the start. When the champion arrives, Cease and Desist starts a free attack and Portal Pals supplies more large units. The attack advances his total-Power level-up while the generated cards refill your development options.

It's the trio players back most for him, in guide builds and player votes. It trades the existing spell-doubling finish for immediate combat and a wider board.

Starforged Gauntlets

Gives a starting mana gem if the carrier is Titanic at Game Start. The champion’s base twelve Power and Health already qualify, without another stat relic. At two stars the relic brings you to three starting unit mana; the five-star mana upgrade raises that to four.

Cease and Desist

Gives three Impact. On Play, a carrier with ten or more Power gets Barrier and starts a free attack Challenging the strongest enemy. The base champion meets that Power threshold. This is not a team Rally: the rest of your board does not join the automatic attack.

Portal Pals

On summon, creates two random seven-plus-cost units from your regions and reduces their costs by the carrier’s base cost. The reduction uses twelve even if you played the carrier cheaply. Check the resulting costs and effects: generated units are random and are not limited to followers or Dragons.

Level 30 and three Epic slot upgrades equip the trio.

Keep a usable ramp or early defensive play. Blue Sentinel helps mana, while discounted Kadregrin the Ruined and Stalking Broodmother develop pressure and Dragon Boon. Playing different Boon reduces Elder Dragon further.

Check the champion’s actual cost and the enemy’s strongest unit before playing him. The automatic challenge can happen before you are ready to spend a normal attack token, so do not treat the free attack as optional setup. Barrier handles one damage event; it does not stop every form of disruption.

After that attack, use Portal Pals’ cards to develop a second wave if board and hand space permit. The level-up counts allied Power committed to attacks, not just Nexus damage dealt. A free swing contributes, but does not guarantee the required total by itself.

Prioritize useful mana, early defense, champion discounts and base-six-plus units that work with the star powers. The support-champion upgrade giving Flame-Wreathed Soul accelerates Boon generation, but must be unlocked separately.

Disciple of Shadows can replace the free-attack slot for earlier entry behind a wide board; check that its damage does not kill indispensable allies. The Beast Within improves the whole board’s combat. The existing spell build is another finish when you prefer stat doubling. A direct summon from Frozen Tomb can trigger Portal Pals, but skips the champion’s and Cease and Desist’s Play effects.

Three-star Dragonsire II reduces base-six-plus allies by two. Two-star Aspect of the Dragon adds starting mana and a random Dragon Boon when you play a qualifying ally. Six-star Souls of Dragons replaces Boon with Dragon Souls; that improves the plan but is not required for its ramp, Portal Pals or free attack.

• Elder Dragon relic theorycrafting by u/MartDiamond, 2025-03-10, 23 points (observed 14 Oct 2026).
• Elder Dragon early-game and mana advice by u/bzden, 2025-04-21, 9 points (observed 14 Oct 2026).
• Player-voted builds, local snapshot collected 13 Oct 2026.
• Champion guide builds and recorded clears, local snapshot collected 13 Oct 2026.
• Champion mechanics and level rewards, local data checked 14 Oct 2026.