View list of cards released so far in this dedicated post.
Introduction
This is the series where our contributors – high ranked ladder and Arena players – and players from Team HSP review the new revealed The Grand Tournament cards. We rate every card both in Constructed and Arena, then give you our thoughts about them. This post will be updated every time we’ll get a new review!
When it comes to the rating, we rate the cards from 1 to 5:
1 – Very Bad – The card will see no play in any kind of deck. It won’t be drafted in Arena unless you’re present with other terrible options. E.g. Magma Rager, Dalaran Mage.
2 – Bad – The card might see some occasional play in low tier or budget decks, but isn’t good enough to be played in top tier decks. It will rarely be drafted in Arena – either it needs to synergize with the deck or you need to be present with other bad options. E.g. Boulderfist Ogre, Frostwolf Warlord (Constructed), Ironforge Rifleman, Ancient Mage (Arena)
3 – Average – The card might fill some niche and see play in couple of decks. Not an especially strong card, but can be used to fill gaps in the deck after putting staple cards. In Arena, it’s the card you’re gonna draft pretty often – the card is good enough to not ruin the quality of your deck, but nothing impressive. E.g. Gnomish Inventor, Sen’jin Shieldmasta (Constructed), Bloodfen Raptor, Archmage (Arena)
4 – Good – You’re gonna see this card in a lot of decks. Either it fits into a certain archetype or is overall a good card. Your Constructed deck are mostly filled with cards of those quality. They’re strong and definitely serve their purpose. In Arena, those are the cards you actually want to see and draft – every great deck will have at least couple of those. E.g. Azure Drake, Defender of Argus, Haunted Creeper (Constructed), Harvest Golem, Mechanical Yeti, Stormwind Champion (Arena)
5 – Very Good – This is THE card that will be auto-include or at least a very strong contender. The card that is gonna be really strong and see a lot of play in many decks. Card that is often best in its role, the one that you can’t really pass. In Arena, this is the card you want to see most in the draft, the base of 12 wins Arena decks, one that you instantly pick when you see it. E.g. Dr. Boom, Mad Scientist, Piloted Shredder (Constructed), Flamestrike, Truesilver Champion, Fire Elemental (Arena)
Today’s cards were pair of Legendaries revealed thanks to player tweeting #TGTlegendary.
Fjola Lightbane
WindUpRabbit
Constructed:Â Very Good (5)
Arena: Average (3)
Can you believe This + Velen’s Chosen? Holy sh*t, it’s going to be INSANE in priest. Coin this then Velen on T3? That’s a 5/8 with Divine Shield.
Arena it’s at worst a Spider Tank, but in Priest it will be insane.
I like it, big buff to Priest.
Smashthings
Constructed:Â Good (4) in Paladin and Priest, Average (3) in all others
Arena: Good (4) in Paladin and Priest, Average (3) in all others
Getting a divine shield, while nice, is not as powerful as getting 3 random damage. Thus I think this girl is going to end up being over-shadowed by her sister (they are sisters right? I know nothing about wow lore).
The only deck that may prefer this girl over Eydis is something involving Blood Knight. But with that said, any deck Eydis works well in Fjola should work well in too (they both require the exact same set of support cards). And so therefore we might end up seeing constructed decks running both!
Another reason to prefer her sister is silence: with 3 damage the value is immediate, with a divine shield the opponent may get a chance to respond.
In Arena, the problem is getting the synergy. If you trigger it once and get a favourable trade that’s decent, but in most cases that is probably all your getting, making here only slightly above average for most decks (a bit better than Silvermoon Guardian, but probably not by much).
In conclusion, a fine card but probably has a lot less applications that her sister (for instance, she cannot function as a combo decks win condition).
Keyo
Constructed: Average (3)
Arena: Good/Very Good (4.5)
This will see a little play in Constructed, but only in niche decks (maybe Priest, but more likely an Aggro Paladin). Divine Shield is cool and all, but the fact that its only a 3/4 body that has no immediate impact on the board.
In Arena though, IÂ see this card being an almost insta-pick. Divine shield is much stronger in arena than it is in constructed, and a 3/4 for 3 is once again super good, and getting a divine shield with buff is crazzy good.
Camzeee
Constructed: Average/Good (3.5)
Arena: Average/Good (3.5)
This card is pretty good but actually not as great as it seems. Giving itself Divine Shield is a nice effect, and in a good Priest deck, this can be an incredibly difficult card to remove. However, because you can’t stack its effect, it becomes a bit conditional and likely won’t get more than 1 trigger. 3 mana 3/4 is very respectable, and the upside can be incredible when combined with Spare Parts. I can see this card being a regular addition in the right decks with self targeting spells. At first glance, it looks like it might also find a home in Mech Mage or other decks that generate a ton of spare parts, but it’s not really a good fit when it doesn’t have innate synergy. I could see it working in super slow Druid or Paladins. It’s not a lock, but a possibility. Priest is definitely where it could find a home. I’m just not sure if it’s good enough to replace Dark Cultist, and that’s what it needs to do in order to find a home.
In Arena, this card is a little worse. The pool of legendary cards you might pick up in arena is large enough that you’ll likely get a better choice than Fjola. She will likely represent no more than a 3 mana 3/4 which is decent but not well above average.
Eydis Darkbane
WindUpRabbit
Constructed:Â Good (4)
Arena:Â Average (3)
This is SO GOOD in Priest, even though their 3 spot is very contested, provides board control and a decent body (Power Word: Shield and Velen’s Chosen). Other classes, not so good. Not enough friendly targeting spells.
Arena it’s good in Priest if you have enough buff, in other classes it’s more of a 3/4 for 3.
Smashthings
Constructed: 5 (Charge Combo Warrior?), 4.5 (Priest, Paladin), 3.5 (all other classes)
Arena: 5 (Priest, Paladin), 3 (all other classes)
Before I analyse this card I want to say that I have very high hopes for this set; It seems to me that Blizzard has finally started addressing some of the problems this game has. north-sea-kraken for example, is a card that I think is fantastic for the game; new players are constantly pushed toward aggro because control decks are too expensive. This card (and her sister) solves the other problem: namely that top-tier aggro decks are too cheap (relative to control decks) to build. A third cool thing this minion does is that for the longest time control and midrange decks have not had that many any early game Legendaries, but now such decks have options (Bloodmage Thalnos and Edwin VanCleef are basically the only Legendaries that cost less than 5 mana we see in control decks).
Okay, onto talking about this card. It’s a spider tank with a very powerful ability. Turn 4 Power Word: Shield and you have a 3/5 that probably killed something. This is nice.
With that said, silence is a big thing in constructed, and so therefore I think there maybe a tendency of over-value this card; Pw: Shield + a Spare Part is great value (3 damage is really, really powerful), but if you plan on playing Blessing of Kings x2 on it you will probably become ‘over-committed’ and lose the game as a result (if silence you would lose 2 cards and 8 mana, in this case).
In the right deck with smart play I think the card is very strong. Spare Parts and small buffs like blessing of wisdom / PW:S are what you play with here.
Another really nice feature of the card is that she can add utility to your deck. For example, cast Mortal Coil on her and you get +2 damage, cast hunter’s mark on her and you get yourself a Darkbomb (sort of).
And here’s a scary thought: might a combo deck be viable? In a single turn Warrior could have: inner rage x2 + charge + spare part. A combo like this should not be too difficult to pull off. In this example she does (3+2+2+2) + (3*4) damage = 19 damage for 7 mana (on an empty board). Raging Worgen Warrior just got a new tool/replacement !!
Shaman may also have similar combo tricks: e.g. windfury + Rockbiter Weapon = 18 damage (but this takes two turns due to the lack of charge)
In Arena the card changes a little bit in the way it works: In Arena silence is not as common so you probably can get away with going ‘all in’ and casting multiple blessing of kings on her. But on the other hand, your deck probably has a lot less synergy (i.e. small buffs) than a constructed deck would typically have, making the ability a lot less consistent.
In an Arena Mage deck, for example, your only synergy probably comes from that one clockwork gnome you picked up earlier in the draft.
In conclusion, I love the direction this card Is taking the game in. The effect is powerful and doesn’t need to trigger that many times for the card to be ‘worth it’. And hell, worst case scenario you have a Spider Tank. Best case? She’s a combo decks win condition.
Keyo
Constructed: Good (4)
Arena: Good (4)
Very good in Priest and Paladin already, and it can be even better of theres any other buffs in TGT, 3 damage to one random enemy is REALLY good, a lot better than Flamewaker‘s effect which is already insane at the 3 drop, and the fact that this is neutral leads to some insane possibilities.
It’ll be good in Arena too cause its a 3/4 for 3 with a major upside, and no real downside. The fact that its a legendary though is the only possible downside, and it will really depend on what other 2 cards you can chose from, obviously if its Lorewalker Cho and Nat Pagle, this is a slam pick. The question is if its a better pick than more playable legendaries, and I don’t think there will be a clear cut answer, it will really depend on the draft.
Camzeee
Constructed: Good (4)
Arena: Average/Good (3.5)
I rate Eydis higher than Fjola because I feel her effect is more powerful. Being able to deal 3 damage is board changing and if you can string a bunch of Spare Parts together, it can really do some damage. By nature, she’s a strictly combo oriented card but we’ve seen these before (Flamewaker) and they can really hurt. I wish you could target the damage, but I’ll take 3 damage untargetable since 3 is actually quite a large amount. She doesn’t fit in any current archetypes, but it’s not too hard to see a Mage Spare Part deck or actually a Spare Part Mech Druid with Mech-Bear-Cat deck do some magic with it.
It’s not guaranteed to be an all-star, but of the two revealed legendaries, I’m inclined to favor Eydis as the one that’s going to be more viable. I like that the effect can be used multiple times in the same turn unlike Fjola and 3 damage is nothing to scoff at.
In Arena, this card is in a very similar spot to Fjola and at a push, slightly more valuable in a vacuum. Dealing 3 damage in arena is a big deal, and this card can be used for its body and potential removal.
