Hey again, this is part two of Fireflyer‘s review of the new cards coming out in Mean Streets of Gadgetzan. In my first review I went over a little less than 44 of the new cards coming out in the next expansion so if you haven’t checked it out already I would go there first to see my initial reaction to the cards. We are currently up to 84/132 released cards, 4 less than where I wanted to be for this guide but I will go over the last cards in my final review. Without further delay, let’s check out what’s new in the next expansion!
Druid: Ramp Returns
Jade Blossom: Druid gets another ramp themed card, a Wild Growth that costs 1 more mana but also summons you a Jade Golem. This is one of the new aspects that the gang the druid belongs to has introduced to the game. Jade Golems are a 1/1 the first time you summon one and they increase in size each time you cast one so the second would be a 2/2 and the third summon a 3/3 Jade Golem. In a Jade themed deck I could see this being useful but in a regular ramp deck that may not use a lot of Jade Golem summons, it might be better to just use regular Wild Growth or the new Pilfered Power. I suspect that Jade Golem decks will be popular though, it seems like a strong mechanic since all of the summons happen along with other good effects.
Hunter: Future Fatties
Rat Pack: This card continues to follow the theme of Hunter which is making stuff in your hand bigger before you cast it. Although it’s kind of nice being able to swarm with a ton of rats, I don’t see it doing much other than summoning them. If they had charge like Unleash the Hounds that would be another thing.
Knuckles: This guy seems pretty basic, he’s a big minion that can also deal face damage while keeping your opponent’s minions off the board. It seems good since it fits into the Hunter hero power of continuously doing damage to their face so I like it. The other good thing is that he has a huge body to use Houndmaster with, much like how it’s used with Savannah Highmane. This allows it to swing for more damage on offense into your opponent’s face and also makes him a big defensive wall with a lot of health. The main thing I like about him is his mana cost since Hunter doesn’t have too much that it needs to cast on Turn 5, right after Houndmaster or Infested Wolf and right before Savannah Highmane.
Mage: Secret Spells
Kabal Lackey: Now that more mage cards have been released we can see that their new focus is secrets. This first guy is great, he allows you to drop secrets for free which I felt has always been a problem for mage, spending the mana to drop them down when they’re so inefficient at 3 mana instead of Paladin’s 1 mana or Hunter’s 2 mana. This allows you to effectively make a secret cost 1 mana if you hold this in your hand instead of going aggressive with him, which you can also do. This should set up for a lot of good secret stuff.
Volcanic Potion: It’s a bigger Whirlwind. Once again Mage gets another board wipe control card. Nothing much to mention other than it being pretty effective and also noting that it hits your minions as well, unlike other Mage spells like Arcane Explosion or Twilight Flamecaller.
Potion of Polymorph: Mage just got an amazing control card. Sure you can play around it like most people do with Snipe but this card is effectively a counter to any creature as long as you feel like it’s coming. About to hit turn 6 and worried that your opponent wants to Emperor Thaurissan? I think this card will see a lot of play and will definitely be used in the new Mage Secret deck as a defensive control card.
Kabal Crystal runner: Here’s another card that synergies well with secrets, basically being the Mage’s version of a Thing from below. Use your early game to play secrets and control your opponent while also cheapening this minion until he costs zero mana and can be played for free. Because it relies on secrets it won’t be used in decks other than secret based ones but in those decks it will be super powerful, just like Thing from below is right now with the Midrange Shaman totem decks.
Inkmaster Solia: My jaw dropped so hard when I saw this card. First, it’s another fun Reno Jackson effect but secondly, the ability is SO powerful! This card allows you to either tempo out with things like Flamestrike or Firelands Portal in the same turn you cast her, or even better, casting something that costs 10 like Pyroblast or even better than that, the 10 mana potions you can make with Kazakus. I will be crafting this and Kazakus right when the expansion releases so I can make a Reno style mage deck.
Paladin: Small but Strong
All of the Paladin cards have been released for the set, so if you haven’t checked out Part 1 of this review, it will have all of the other Paladin cards that are coming out.
Grimscale Chum: Could be useful in a Murloc aggro deck but those aren’t really popular with Paladin decks so I don’t see it happening. You never know though, maybe some new weird Anyfin can happen deck.
Grimestreet Enforcer: If this card didn’t cost so much I could see it being used but by the time it’s turn five and you’ve put this guy out, you shouldn’t have many minions left in your hand.
Grimestreet Protector: Whoa this card is very versatile. It’s a big taunt minion while also giving you the ability to protect other important minions from damage. It costs quite a bit but is big enough to make up for the cost, so I think it’ll be used in arena but not so much in constructed unless something interesting happens with divine shield and makes it super useful.
Priest: Dragon Destruction
Mana Geode: This card combos well with Northshire Cleric on turn 1 to create some good healing synergy. However I just don’t see it getting to proc the healing effect that many times to make enough minions to make it super powerful. But, because it only costs 2 mana, I think this gives priest ways to be more aggressive without just focusing on dragons.
Raza the Chained: Another fun Reno style card, thanks to the gang Priest is part of. The only note I want to add about this is that it works really well with Inspire cards and Justicar Trueheart.
Rogue: Sneaky Stealthers
Jade Shuriken: Another great rogue spell that does effective damage while also giving you a bonus effect. If you didn’t read about Jade Golems above in the Druid section, look up there to see what they do. This card may see play since there is a lot of Malygos Rogue going around and it fits into that deck type, but we’ll see if more Jade Golem cards come out for Rogue.
Shaman: Â Only One
Jade Lightning: This is the first card revealed for shaman and it’s a decent burn spell, not the best but it doesn’t have Overload so there’s that to consider. Shamans aren’t known for their spell damage like Rogues are so this might not see play unless there is a good Shaman Jade Golem deck. Read above in the druid section to see what Jade Golems do.
Warlock: Damaging Demons
Abyssal Enforcer: Here’s a Hellfire type effect built into a big demon. It works real well with Warlock synergy already and is a nice big demon for demon based decks.
Seadevil Stinger: Warlocks have had popular murloc decks before so I could see this becoming a powerful card if that deck comes back into reality. That’s the only way this is that effective though, only murlocs.
Bloodfury Potion: It’s good for aggro but it’s a little expensive for such a small buff. I don’t think it will be used that much unless demon becomes a popular deck type.
Felfire Potion: Another mass aoe damage that synergies well with other warlock stuff. Good for board wiping and triggering warlock abilities like Floating Watcher (not in Standard) but you get the idea.
Warrior: Tons o Taunt
Grimy Gadgeteer: Another Grimy Goons card that pumps stuff in your hand. I don’t think it’ll be used, it doesn’t seem like a good ability for warriors but I could be wrong.
Brass Knuckles: A weapon that doesn’t do enough damage to be good, but has the Grimy Goons buff. Once again, don’t think it’ll be that good for warrior decks. The damage needs to be a lot higher and the existing things that buff weapons don’t really help this ability since it focuses your deck more on minions than your weapons.
Gangs: Deadly Discovery
Grimy Goons
Grimestreet Smuggler: Just a normal sized minion with the Grimy Goons effect. In decks that abuse the ability, which I think Hunters will do best, I think it might see play kind of like how C’thun decks run Beckoner of Evil which is just a simple body with the C’thun effect.
Don Han’cho: This card could be run in decks that don’t focus on the Grimy Goons buff just because his buff is big enough to be deadly on its own. I think Control Warrior is going to maybe have a deck type that uses these buffs and strong minions to make them insanely strong. People are also talking about comboing this with Doppleganger but a lot of the Hunter cards make me think this will see play.
Jade Lotus
Jade Spirit: A basic body with the Jade Lotus effect. The mana cost seems a bit high, if it was three I think it would see play more than four mana. Depending on how needed the Jade Golem ability is, it might be put into decks just to buff them up.
Aya Blackpaw: On its own, this card is a 5/3 and a 1/1 for 6 mana, which drops a 2/2 when she dies. With even just one or two Jade Golem cards, I could see this being pretty nasty. I’m sure there will be some sort of Jade Golem deck, I’m thinking Rogue with all of its ability to cycle through cards quickly in its deck and also cast free Jade Golem cards using Preparation.
Kabal
Kabal Chemist: The potions this guy can give you are all of the cards in this set that have the word Potion in the name. They are only warlock, mage and priest potions but a lot of them are pretty crazy. It’s random but getting a rare or epic potion, possibly a 3rd or 4th for your deck is pretty good. I’m sure it’ll see play, even in just regular control decks without focus on potion stuff.
Kazakus: The other two gangs were showing off their leaders in the past few weeks so I just wanted to put this guy back up to show off Kabal’s leader. If you want to see my thoughts on him, check out Part 1.
Neutral: Variety of Value
Once again I didn’t do reviews for a lot of the cards since they seemed pretty basic and didn’t have much to talk about. Here are the cards so you can still look at them and check out their abilities for yourself but I don’t think they need to be discussed: Worgen Greaser, Hired Gun, Blowgill Sniper, and Hozen Healer.
Huffer Trio
Tanaris Hogchopper: The first card of the “Huffer Trio”, which is what I call them. They are three hogs that each get charge for different situations. This one will probably never get to activate in competitive play so I wouldn’t use it.
Spiked Hogrider: The second of the Trio, this one may activate because Taunt is used quite often. You can’t guarantee it though, so I don’t think it will be used since it’s too situational.
Leatherclad Hogleader:Â This one may see play because there are quite a few decks that like to hold a lot of cards in hand. Also because it’s big it can deal some good damage like a Leeroy Jenkins does, but it still costs a bit too much and is too situational.
Grown-up Minions
Backstreet Leper: It’s a bigger Leper Gnome that still has 1 health so it won’t be used because it does too easily to hero powers or Wrath.
Toxic Sewer Ooze: It’s a bigger Acidic Swamp Ooze that doesn’t completely destroy your opponent’s weapon. If it destroyed I think it would be used but since it doesn’t, regular Acidic Swamp Ooze is much better since it’s cheaper.
Backroom Bouncer: It’s a bigger flesheating ghoul that only triggers off of friendly minions. If it had the same ability I would definitely use it over the other but since it’s only friendly minions, probably not.
Worthy Mentions
Dopplegangster: This card will be combo’d with the Grimy Goons buff a lot. Make it huge in your hand and summon out copies of big guys. Also works well with Evolve.
Bomb Squad: It’s a removal card that isn’t a spell and can be put into any deck. The downside can also be avoided using things like evolve or shadowstep. Interesting card and I’ll be interested to see how it is used if it even sees competitive play.
Burgly Bully: A loatheb type counter to spell-based decks. Play this early so you can force your opponent to either give you lots of coins or waste a removal spell on it.
Fight Promoter: Very easy to activate this battlecry and the card draw is enough to make it worth casting. In decks with lots of creatures that have high health this card will definitely be used as a draw mechanic that also gives you a minion to either kill other minions or go aggressive.
Madam Goya: A much better Barnes effect that costs a bit more mana. It’s very random but I’m sure just like Barnes, as long as the mana cost isn’t too high, this card will probably be used in a lot of decks. I personally think the mana is too much but I have heard some people praising this card. We will see.
Conclusion
That’s all for Part 2 of my Mean Streets of Gadgetzan review. As I mentioned earlier, this puts us up to 84 of the 132 cards coming out in the next set. Once all of the cards have been revealed, I will do a final review of the remaining cards and also add a little section of my ideas that may or may not pan out in future deck construction.
If you’re bored, you can always follow me on Twitter at @HS_Fireflyer or come hang out with me on stream at twitch.tv/itsFireflyer. I’m starting to stream regularly again so you should be able to catch me on at 6-9 PM EST. I’m still trying to find a good schedule so if you believe there are better hours I should stream, let me know!
Leave me some love below and let me know of any thoughts you have on the current cards. What cards can you not wait to craft and what kinds of decks do you think will come out of the new set? I do my best to reply to everyone so don’t be afraid to say something! I hope you guys enjoyed the read and I will see you for part 3!
