Introduction
Back from the snack!
This is the Second part of the Blackrock Mountain (BRM) Class Card Review. The reason these reviews are going long is that I decided it would be nicier to go very deep into each and every card that this expansion has, to try to explain my visions regarding that specific card.
Before starting this last past, I would like to respond to some comments saying that the power level of the cards in this expansion is lower than Naxxramas: I actually believe it’s not. I belive this expansion will affect the game as much as Naxxramas did, because the power level of some cards here, as in Naxx, is somewhat higher than the ones we can find in Packs, just like Naxxramas.
In case you clicked this link first by accident, don’t forget to take a look at the other 2 parts of this Full review:
https://hearthstoneplayers.com/blackrock-mountain-card-review-neutral-cards/
https://hearthstoneplayers.com/blackrock-mountain-card-review-class-cards-part-1/
Now, let’s get back to reviewing the cards, shall we?
The Review!
Continuing the other Parts trend, I am separating the cards by Class, so this way it becomes easier for you to understand the impact the cards are going to have on the Class overall. After reviewing and discussing the card, I make a small analysis on how I think the class will look after the Expansion hits.
Rogue Cards
Dark Iron Skulker: This kind of card is very, very hard to analyse. The reason for this is that its ability is very new to the game, and nothing before this has been added or even suggested. Therefore, its impact on the metagame is going to be unknown until we actually get a chance to play it. Regardless of that, I am going to give my opinion about this card: I believe this card is not what rogue needs – having this guy cast multiple backstabs for you do sounds nice, and there is no drawback on his ability really (outside of his weak 4/3 body for a 5-drop), but this just seems anti-synergic with all the other rogue cards except for fan-of-knives, and this guy on its own is only “good” against Face Hunter, given the fact other aggro deck’s minions have 3 Health or more (Mech Mage), with a few exceptions (the 1-Drops), and even against Face Hunter if it comes to a point this guy actually generates value, you’re probably already dead because its turn 5 and this is killing more than one minion (meaning there was more than one minion on the board). My suggestion is to stay away from this card, but I recognize this has some potential.
Gang Up:Â Probably the card I disliked most on the expansion, this card is (in 90% of the games or more) a “2 mana: Do nothing”, which seems to be the main “idea” of this card. It doesn’t cycles itself, it doesn’t add to the board, it doesn’t add to your hand, it simply does nothing. Because of that, I believe this is going to be that kind of card that are going to be seeing as much play as totemic-might and divine-spirit.
Overall Class Analysis: We still don’t know if Rogue got much from BRM, but at least from Gang Up we’re pretty confident it won’t get. Dark Iron Skulker however is still something we can only wait and see. One thing is for sure: Oil Rogue gets no updates this expansion…. Oh, wait a second!! Emperor Thaurissan is an auto-include in Rogues too! Well, at least the Expansion’s Big bomb might end up seeing play in Rogue’s most successful archetype of today’s meta game, giving it some extra power to keep up with other deck’s updates.
Shaman Cards
Fireguard Destroyer: Shaman just got the strongest 4-drop in the entire game, even stronger than piloted-shredder and arguably stronger than all 5-drops in the game as well, this guy is just a bomb. There is nothing wrong with it, its body is huge, getting it into big-game-hunter range isn’t bad because you also run other 7+ attack minions on your deck, there is simply no bad points about this big guy. I loved every single thing about it, and you also have the remember that the 1-overload, although Harmless, might end up making it so unbound-elemental becomes a playable card once again, since you’ll now be able to curve him into this guy, getting a very strong board position with 2 cards that synergize with each other, but are still very strong by themselves.
Lava Shock:Â Different from the first guy we just spoiled, I don’t really liked this card. I know this card is getting people hyped all over the internet, but there is something about this card that just doesn’t seem good to me. Shamans usually have the exact number of cards available to them during the game, and removing a strong card from your deck just to add a support card, on a deck that does not cycle/draw very much just seems like a waste. Ok, you will be, sometimes (not always, not even half of the times you cast this), getting 2 free mana with this, but what will you do with these 2 free mana if you don’t want to cast stuff with it? And you just spent 2 mana to cast this card, which just negates the bonus mana you just got. The 2 damage is also irrelevant, so I believe this card will not see play at all.
Overall Class Analysis: I still don’t quite know for sure if Fireguard Destroyer is enough to push Shaman to the top, but for sure it helps, a lot! The 4-drop slot was always problematic, and this guy is indeed a gift from heaven, however Shaman’s lack of draw still hasn’t been fixed, and I don’t believe it ever will since, for Blizzard, mana-tide-totem is enough draw mechanism for the Shaman class.
Warlock Cards
Demonwrath: Despite all the hype that has also been around on the Internet about this card, I do not believe Demonlock needs another sweeper, yeah you could end up swapping that one copy of Hellfire for this, but overall I think Hellfire is much better, since it not only has more uses, it also deals 3 damage, and the difference between 3 and 2 damage is huge, as discussed previously on this review. I think this card is powerful, but not enough to compete with the other Warlock’s sweepers, however I can see many Demonlock players using this, since it is a demon synergy card.
Imp Gang Boss: This card is exactly what Demonlock needed to be pushed to the top. Even not being a huge card, its got a nice effect, but that is not what makes this so special: This card becomes special by the fact it is a playable 3 mana Demon, which is something Demonlocks have been begging Blizzard for quite some time. This card fixes the curving problem Demonlock had, and well…. It’s a good Demon! I believe this card to be very “gap-filling” for the Demonlock, I just don’t know how strong the deck will be yet, because we all know every other class is also getting buffed.
Overall Class Analysis: Demonlock was clearly the aim for Blizzard in this expansion, I believe their goal is to get rid of Handlock as it is, by nature, an extremely powerful deck. By adding cards like this you make sure other Warlock decks get buffed while Handlock stays untouched. Even though Handlock is not the most powerful deck in the ladder, it is the most consistent and overbuffing the most consistent deck in the game would be a huge mistake. Demonlock will be, for sure, the most played Warlock deck right after the Expansion hits, we just don’t know if it will be the best Warlock deck later.
Warrior Cards
Axe Flinger:Â Axe Flinger is Blizzard slowly adding cards to make a future “masochist” Warrior deck viable. Sadly, this future is nowhere near, and this card is plain unplayable. The fact it costs 4 and only has 2 attack makes it weak for Aggro decks, “combo” Warrior decks are extremely inconsistent by nature, and a deck with Axe Flinger doesn’t even have a OTK (one turn kill) viability, which leads me to believe this card is horrible, at least right now, and will not see any play.
Revenge: Whirlwind went to the Gym, got big, and came back doing 3 damage to everything! Sadly, whenever Whirlwind stops going to the Gym it goes back to doing only 1 damage and gains some weight. Jokes apart, there are a lot of complications about this card, using this over Whirlwind makes it so you can’t “Grommash->Whirlwind->Execute(the taunt)->Smash!”, but I believe there are a lot more uses to this than there are to Whirlwind, so this card might end up seeing play over Whirlwind because of how versatile it is.
Overall Class Analysis: Warrior Control got another tool this expansion, unfortunately it’s not what it needed: Card Draw. Revenge is a pretty neat card, but we still don’t know if Revenge and Emperor Thaurissan are enough to push Warriors to the top playable tier. I believe Warriors will remain in the shadow of greater decks during this expansion’s lifetime, and probably always will until Blizzard adds a stronger Draw mechanism for the class. If you played Warrior Control enough you have noticed how acolyte-of-pain is not enough for the deck, and how there are some points in the game where your opponent will have a lot more threats in hand than you, loosing you the game eventually.
Class Card Tier List Prediction
So I decided it would be informational to also post a small list of the classes I think got more buffed by this expansion, so here is the list:
- Paladin
- Warlock
- Hunter
- Shaman
- Mage
- Druid
- Rogue
- Priest
- Warrior
Warrior cards quite didn’t make the cut to push the class up, while the Paladin ones were just amazing. Other classes basically just got one card, while everyone (but Aggro!) got Emperor Thaurissan. The first five classes got significant buffs with their new cards, while the last four classes got only minor buffs.
Conclusion
Woah!! We finally finished writing about these cards!
The season is about to end, so I will try to get some ranks, maybe top 100, the thing about this BRM date is that I literally spent the last 2 days of the season theorycrafting about BRM.
But I don’t have much to complain, thinking about the cards was amazing, and so was writing all of this. Here I am hoping I was able to bring you guys all the ideas I had about these cards, and I hope to see you guys soon on all the BRM Theorycrafting Guides that are about to come!
See you guys later,
Love yal!!
 
 
 
 /TheNubaHS
