In most games like Elder Scrolls: Legends, the choice of your profile avatar is a purely superficial decision that won’t affect gameplay or your collection. But ESL is not like most games, and every decision here matters, right down to the picture on your profile.

Depending on the race of your avatar, you will receive different legendary cards when you reach levels 24 and 32. In addition to this, you will also receive different card rewards every time you level up. This may sound confusing, but don’t worry; I’ve read the word walls and studied at The College of Winterhold to bring you the ultimate list of avatar races, and what cards each one will bring you.

#10. Nords

At the bottom of our list are the Nords. This race brings an incredible amount of aggro firepower to the table. Nords draw their powers from destroying enemy runes, and can also be used to balance out decks like Prophecy Battle mage.  At the end of the day though, and the rewards here are a little too varied to make them a viable choice for avatar selection.

Avatar Rewards:

As a Nord, you’ve got a 1 in 4 chance to pull the following legendary cards: Haafingar Marauder, Miraak, Dragonborn, Relentless Raider, and Tyr. These are all solid on-tempo cards and you’d probably get the most use out of Relentless Raider, but none of the others are particularly good.

#9. Orcs

Orcs are one of the most fun races to play in ESL because of their cheap creatures, tremendous synergy effects, and large number of breakthrough and charge abilities. Choosing an Orc as your avatar is a great way to build your Orc deck up with legendary and epic drops as you progress. The problem here is that neither of the rewards are particularly meta-defining. Sure, they’re good cards, but there are much bigger rewards offered from other races.

Avatar Rewards:

As an Orc you’ve got a 50/50 chance to pull either Wood Orc Headhunter or Gortwog gro-Nagorm. These are obviously both very powerful cards in an Orc deck, but the specificity of their use is also their biggest drawback. Other races offer powerful, meta-bending cards that can be used in many different deck builds. Unless you’re Orc-crazy, these rewards don’t really make sense.

#8. Wood Elves

Wood Elves are the backbone of any good assassin deck, and as long as agility remains one of the more popular colors in the game, Wood Elves will continue to dominate.  If you choose Wood Elf, be prepared for a lot of fast-striking and lethal creatures and not a lot of actions.

Avatar Rewards:

As a Wood Elf, you’ve got a shot at getting perhaps the only auto-include legendary in the game in Ungolim the Listener.  For this reason alone, Wood Elves are viable to most players. Of course, this is balanced out by the fact that you also get Allena, one of the least played and most off-tempo cards in the game. You've got to give something to get something here, and it might be wiser to save up those Soul Gems and get Ungolim the old-fashioned way.

#7. High Elf

High elves serve as the basis for most control mage decks and their heavy synergies with actions make them ideal for players who are looking to go that route. If you run an intelligence/willpower deck like Ancano’s Cunning that has a high number of removal actions and finishers, making your avatar a High Elf will help expand on those concepts and get you more cards that you need.

Avatar Rewards:

Your first reward as a High Elf comes at level 24 and it is Ayrenn. This unique, legendary creature will reduce the cost of all actions in your deck by 1, and get you an action back from your discard pile. She’s a terrific creature that works great in any control build. Your other possible reward is Mentor’s Ring, which is a powerful item that can transfer and spread abilities like drain and charge. The problem here, and why High Elves are low on our list, is that neither of the rewards are really viable for new players.  That being said, if you have a control mage deck and you’re missing Ayrenn, go for it and choose a High Elf avatar.

#6. Redguard

Redguards are a powerful group of humans that are masters of technology and items. You’ll commonly see card abilities among Redguards like Expertise and Treasure Hunt, and while Redguard theme decks aren’t very popular, many of their more powerful characters make up key components in Battle mage decks… including the famous Merric Battle mage build.

Avatar Rewards:

Choosing a Redguard avatar will only net you one specific legendary guard, but that one card happens to be Merric-at-Aswala. You’re guaranteed to get him, and his OP summon ability can be an instant game-changer and is a must-have if you know you want to go for a combo-Battle mage deck.

#5. Khajit

The Khajit are the quick-clawed race of cat-people that you fell in love with playing Skyrim. In ESL, their play style is centered on the Pilfer ability, and a well-timed attack from an army of Khajit can be a devastating quick-kill. They pair particularly well with Willpower support cards and are the basis of any good Monk deck.

Avatar Rewards:

Despite Khajit’s lack of viability in the higher ladders of ranked play, the rewards for being a Khajit are the reason why it’s so high on our list. With Descendent of Alkosh, Ahnassi, Quin’rawl Burglar, and Thieves’ Den, you’ve got 4 powerful cards that can all be used by new players who are looking to grind. Ahnassi is one of those cards that is really powerful on its own, and being able to steal Guard from creature in a Pilfer-heavy Monk deck is huge. Quin’rawl Burglar is a great card for new players, but Thieves’ Den is another example of a card that is very powerful in Monk decks but useless anywhere else.

#4. Imperial

Imperial Army decks are all about summoning overwhelming amounts of small creatures and then buffing them using support cards and Officers. This is one of the most appealing decks for new players because we’ve all seen this kind of Meta in other CCGs, and it’s a pretty easy dynamic to pick up. Plus, most of the cards are affordable if not dirt cheap.

Avatar Rewards:

The reason that Imperials make the top 5 of our list is because, unlike Khajit, 2/3 of their rewards are very good cards on their own in addition to being crucial additions to any Imperial themed deck. General Tullius and Lucien Lahance are both legitimately good cards no matter what.  Unfortunately, you do have a 1/3 chance of pulling Renowned Legate, which is just not a great card and is really only useful in hardcore Imperial decks. Bottom line: if you are a new player, or if you play endurance and want to go for Lucien, play as an Imperial.

#3. Dark Elf

Dark Elves are all about control and using creature death to your advantage. Powerful Last Gasp abilities paired with the right action at the right time can flip board control in and instant and give you the control advantage you need to win games. One word of warning for casual players: games with a lot of Dark Elves are usually pretty tight control contests, which means these games tend to take longer to finish.

Avatar Rewards:

Dark Elf gives you four possible reward cards, all of which are solid, albeit not meta-defining. Two of the cards have powerful Last Gasp abilities. Besides those, Queen Barenziah is an incredibly powerful creature that works well in any deck. As a cost 4 6/3 with drain, it’s T1 tempo. But the most important thing about these rewards is that they are all cards you can play early on in the ranked ladder, which makes a big difference. For new players, Divayth Fyr alone is such a powerful card that he alone can win you games early on in the ladder.

#2. Argonian

Argonians are the slippery lizard-like race that populate most good agility decks. Their creatures are cheap and powerful and often carry powerful abilities like lethal, Prophecy, and Pilfer. Often overlooked, Argonians make up some of the most used cards in high-ranked ladder play, and choosing them as your race will give you a huge leg up for those critical Meta showdowns.

Avatar Rewards:

There’s only two possible options here for your level rewards, and both of them are great. Obviously, Red Bramman would be ideal, with his insanely OP summon ability that silences and shackles all enemies in a lane, but even if you whiff on him, you could do a lot worse than Black Marsh Warden.  If you’re worried about getting a card that you won’t use much, Argonian is a safe bet.

#1. Bretons

The top spot on our list goes to the Bretons, who flit between aggro and control. The Bretons are the quintessential Battle mage race, but they’re strong enough on their own with their heavy hitting Atromancer class, as well as many of their cards that create ward. This is a great class to choose if you just aren’t exactly sure yet which direction to go. The rewards here are varied and universally used enough to fit in almost any type of deck.

Avatar Rewards:

The rewards you’re looking at for being a Breton are either Daggerfall Mage, a cost 3 2/2 with Ward that can put a Tome of Alteration in your hand, the ubiquitous Supreme Atromancer, and High King Emeric, a dual color unique card that is an auto-include in all Sorcerer decks. Of the three rewards you’ll probably get the most use out of the Daggerfall Mage, so if you decide on being a Breton, it might be wise to switch after you land him. No matter what your experience level is, there are really no drawbacks to picking Breton, which is why it made the top spot on our list.

Also be sure to read:

Elder Scrolls Legends - Best Decks To Buy

Top 5 Elder Scrolls Legends Best Decks

Top 15 Elder Scrolls Legends Best Cards

[Top 5] Elder Scrolls Legends Best Starter Decks (Cheap and Effective)