# Mel, Newly Awakened: Nexus Night Chase Card

_2026-08-17 · RiftCompare_

A deep dive on Mel, Newly Awakened's Nexus Night promo (069b/166) — her draw-and-Empower payoff explained, every printing compared, and how she stacks up against Riftbound's other grails.

We've already covered [every confirmed Vendetta Nexus Night promo](/blog/riftbound-vendetta-nexus-night-promo-cards) as a set — this post is the deep dive on the one everyone's actually chasing: **Mel, Newly Awakened**, promo printing **069b/166**.

## What Mel, Newly Awakened does

She's a **4-energy, 4-Might Mind unit**, and her printed text does two jobs at once. First, a simple value trigger: **"When you play me, draw 1."** Second, a scaling payoff through **Empower**: pay 3 energy on a later turn (once, and only while she isn't already Empowered) to flip her Empowered — after which **your spells and abilities can't be countered**, and **any effect you control that would give a unit -Might gives an additional -1 Might**. (New to Empower? [Our full keyword guide](/keywords/empower) breaks down exactly how the two-stage upgrade works.)

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That's a genuinely control-shaped payoff — protect your own removal and spells from being countered, then make the removal you do land hit harder — which tracks with Mel's reputation as a Vendetta control legend's headline piece.

## Draw-1 now, a bigger Mel later

The two halves work on different clocks. The draw trigger fires the instant she hits the board, so she's never a dead card even if you never find the spare energy to Empower her. Empower is the payoff for sticking around: bank 3 energy on a turn you can spare it, and every spell or removal effect you play afterward gets meaningfully harder to fight through.

## Every Mel, Newly Awakened printing, side by side

The regular Epic base print, the Showcase alt-art, and the Nexus Night promo are, once again, the same card mechanically — same stats, same text. The promo (069b) is the one that turned Vendetta's current Nexus Night season into a genuine chase.

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## Where she sits against the other Nexus Night grails

Mel, Newly Awakened sits in the middle of Riftbound's three big Nexus Night promo grails: pricier than [Lee Sin, Centered](/blog/lee-sin-centered-nexus-night-promo) (Unleashed's season), but well short of [GGEZ Teemo](/blog/ggez-teemo-riftbound-explained) (Origins' original, and still the priciest of the three). That's partly a function of timing — Vendetta's Nexus Night season is Riftbound's current one, so her print run hasn't had nearly as long to dry up as Origins' did.

## Is she worth chasing?

If you're building a control shell around Mel, the promo print is a genuine collectible upgrade to your deck's showpiece — the ability is identical to the base print, so you're paying for the art and the scarcity, not extra power. If you just want in on Vendetta's current chase-card conversation while it's still actively unfolding, rather than years-settled the way Origins' is, this is the one to watch.

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Source: https://riftcompare.com/blog/mel-newly-awakened-vendetta-spotlight