Journey To Un’Goro Card Review #5

Introduction

Great news everyone, it seems that the new cards are being dropped really quickly this time around! With 5+ cards every day, we’re bombed with tons of new content and we can already start theorycrafting. Just like every time, I’ll try to review most of the cards – give you my thoughts about how powerful they are, whether they will see play or not etc.

I’ll rate every card from 1 to 5, where 1 means “the card is garbage” (unplayable in Constructed), through 3 – “average card” (might see some Constructed play, but it’s not really amazing) to 5 – “insane!” (a card that will almost surely see Constructed play and be powerful). Remember, however, that at this point I’m still reviewing the set without knowing all the cards. Even with the knowledge of every card it’s sometimes hard to predict whether one is good or bad, so take the ratings with a grain of salt.

If I made a mistake somewhere, took the wrong version of the card (sometimes the early translations aren’t 100% correct) or misunderstood the effect, let me know in the comments and I’ll fix it as soon as possible!

Other Un’Goro reviews:

• #1 – Initial Stream Release
• #2 – Up to March 22
• #3 – Up to March 26
• #4 – Up to March 29

Card Reviews

Spirit Echo

It’s a pretty interesting “card draw” in Shaman. The card is actually pretty decent and can be played as a refill in something like Murloc Shaman. Aggro decks that rely heavily on board tempo need some ways to refill, because otherwise they would be completely destroyed by one or two AoEs. Let’s say you have 4 Murlocs on the board and you play this – it’s like drawing 4 extra cards with a delay. So if Murloc Shaman takes off, it might be their way to refill the hand.

Bad news is that since it’s a Deathrattle it’s a) not instant and b) can be countered by Silence or Devolve.

Seems like a much more powerful option in board flood decks than slow decks, if you have 1 or 2 minions on the board you’d rather just play Ancestral Spirit on your big guy. MIGHT see play in Midrange Shaman – remember that Azure Drake is rotating out, so Mana Tide Totem is all that’s left. It will probably be either this or Ancestral Knowledge, I don’t really know which one is better in Midrange (yeah, it depends on the situation).

Card rating: 3.5/5

Tortollan Primalist

I really hate cards like that. This is like a mini-Yogg. Less powerful, but more consistent. But it still has TONS of variance and it can either win or lose you the game on the spot. You’re paying 8 mana for a 5/4 body, so that’s like 4 mana too much. That 4 mana is “Discover a random spell and cast it”. So in order for it to be worth it, the spell would need to be let’s say at least 3 mana (since it’s like a card draw too, so +1 mana) and it would need to hit whatever you want.

But wait, there are stuff that don’t have random targets, because they don’t have any targets! There are Secrets, AoEs or cards that summon thing (like Call of the Wild). So if anything, I’d say that this card has some slight chance to see play in Mage. Mage has tons of Secrets and AoE cards, so you’d get at least 1 harmless option most of the time.

But to be fair, it would be REALLY worth it only if you discovered a big AoE like Blizzard or Flamestrike. If you get something small, it’s like an Ethereal Conjurer that can fail and you can’t keep the card for later.

I can’t see this card seeing play, because it’s just too inconsistent. And I hope that I’m right, otherwise prepare for 8 mana 5/4 + Call of the Wild in Trolden videos.

Card rating: 2/5

Stegodon

2/6 Taunt. Beast tag. It’s a filler card, so it definitely won’t see tons of play, BUT it’s not as terrible as it seems. It’s like a Sen’jin Shieldmasta which has seen an occasional constructed play, but with a different stat distribution. I can’t say that it’s a better stat distribution – it heavily depends on the meta, but right now it’s probably worse. As long as people will play 3 health minions in the early game, 3/5 > 2/6. The fact that you can kill those 1/3’s or 2/3’s in one hit is big. 3/5 also trades with 4/3 3-drops without dying, although 4/3 statline is rare in constructed.

Beast tag can also matter in something like Hunter or Druid, in a deck that runs Beast synergies. I don’t imagine Midrange Hunter or Beast Druid playing this, but hey, it’s always some extra synergy.

Overall probably won’t see play, but it’s not the worst card ever.

Card rating: 2/5

Spikeridger Steed

This, on the other hand, is much more interesting. It might be the buff Paladin needs. I think that it’s really powerful. It basically turns any minion on the board into mega-Sludge Belcher. 3/5 that Deathrattles into 1/2 was often hard to kill. Imagine you stick a 3/3 minion on the board and play this. Now you have a 5/7 that Deathrattles into 2/6 – both Taunts.

The problem with most of the buffs is that it’s too easy to 2 for 1 them. You don’t want to cast buff when you don’t get immediate value, because if the minion gets removed you lose minion AND the buff for 1 card (more often than not). Sure, this can still be countered by Silence, by Hex or Polymorph, but against more traditional removals even when it gets killed, you still get something back. It can also make your board more resistant to board wipes like Brawl – even if your big minion dies, you still get 2/6.

I don’t know if this alone makes the Paladin’s Quest viable, it’s still a hard call, but it’s a step in the right direction. I really like this card.

Card rating: 4/5

Cornered Sentry

That’s an interesting mechanic. Maybe not particularly powerful, but interesting. 2/6 Taunt that summons 3x 1/1 for the opponent. Not really a 2-drop – on turn 2 it’s a 2/3 with Taunt in the best case scenario (when the 1/1’s trade back), which is very average. Sometimes it might even lose you the game, like you can’t really play this against Zoo Warlock on t2 or else he drops Dire Wolf Alpha and just kills it for free.

But what’s interesting about this card is the number of synergies it has. Summoning 3 extra minions for the opponent. Well, first of all it synergizes with Whirlwind effects – if you drop this and Ravaging Ghoul on the same turn in the mid game, you get a 2 mana 2/5 Taunt. That’s much better. 3 extra minions have a great synergy with Brawl – you can dilute the board with small minions to reduce the chance that a big guy survives. Let’s say your opponent has 2 big minions on the board, you play this + Brawl. Now there is a 1/3 chance a big minion survives, 3/6 that a 1/1 survives and 1/6 that your Taunt survives, so the odds are pretty much 2 for 1 in your favor. It also has synergy with Mind Control Tech – you can now use MCT on a single minion and even though you’ll steal a 1/1 most of the time, it’s like a play that doesn’t cost you much but can get you ahead by far. E.g. you make that play against a single big minion (let’s say Ancient of War) and you have 1/4 chance to steal it and pretty much win the game on the spot. It also has a synergy with Sea Giant – it’s a 2 mana minion that makes it 4 mana cheaper. Warrior has never played Sea Giant, but maybe in some Midrange deck?

There are probably many other synergies. I really like this card’s design, because it’s simple and yet it opens a lot of possibilities. Even if it won’t turn out to be good, I bet that people will still experiment with it.

Card rating: 3/5

Tyrantus

It’s a really boring Legendary, but I’d say that it’s a bit more powerful than people think (I’ve seen it being called “trash tier” or “worst Legendary in the game” already). First, we need to see how much Aggro there will be in an expansion. This straight up sucks against Aggro, but it might actually be amazing in slower matchups. 12/12 that can’t be removed with spells is great – slower decks rarely have enough minions on the board to deal 12 damage just like that, so it might stick. There are even synergies with Beast stuff like Menagerie Warden – of course it’s a dream that won’t likely happen, especially since it doesn’t fit into Beast Druid (which is more of an Aggro or fast Midrange deck).

This card makes sense in a) slower meta and b) slow Druid deck. Like, I would most likely play it in Astral Druid. Maybe in Ramp Druid too. But the main problem is that IF the meta slows down, people will be prepared. Stuff like the new Rogue’s 5-drop (the one with Assassinate on Combo, I can’t remember the name) or even good old Big Game Hunter are great counters to this card and if the meta would be slow enough for this to see common play, it would be more than slow enough for those cards to see play too.

Overall I think that we might see this card from time to time if something like Ramp Druid will be a part of this expansion, but don’t expect wonders.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Ravasaur Runt

Okay, so, if this would hit Adapt 100% of time, it would be really powerful. 2 mana 5/2, 3/3 or 2/5 – those are all worth like 2.5 mana, which is nice for a 2-drop. 2 mana 2/2 with Divine Shield (Shielded Minibot or 2/2 with 2x 1/1 Deathrattle (better Haunted Creeper) would be a return of most powerful 2-drops. I mean, sometimes you would hit a Frostwolf Grunt or a worse Faerie Dragon, but you’d get at least one good Adapt like 90% of time. It would be bonkers.

But it’s not. Having 2 minions on the board is a big requirement. It obviously synergizes with Pirates – turn 1 Pirate + Patches is 2 minions. But hey, it’s not that easy. If you a) miss the 1-drop b) draw your Patches and not summon it c) one of your 1-drops gets killed d) you draw it in the mid game with 0-1 minions on the board, well, yeah, it sucks. It’s not consistent.

I think that this card can be looked more as a combo 3-drop than 2-drop. It’s very hard to hit on turn 2, but on turn 3 you can combo it with Alleycat or Lost in the Jungle or stuff like that. But it’s now a 2 cards combo, which – once again – is inconsistent. I think the closest deck to making it consistent is Zoo Warlock, because it’s the most board flood deck in the game. But I’m not 100% sure whether it’s good enough to put into the Zoo.

Adapt is a nice mechanic, but it’s already a bit inconsistent. Then if you add inconsistency of this card not always proccing… Yeah, it might not be good enough.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Spiritsinger Umbra

Oooh, that’s fun. This card is similar to Brann Bronzebeard or Fandral Staghelm – in a way that it’s rarely on-curve play. They’re easy to kill on curve, but if you get to combo them, they might be insane. Just like Brann has been played in decks with multiple Battlecries, this will be played in decks with multiple Deathrattles – especially the cheaper ones.

Let’s take a new Priest as the example. You’re running out of steam? No problem, just play this + Crystalline Oracle + Bloodmage Thalnos. Now you get 2 cards instantly and 2 more after the Deathrattles, so in a way this card has become 4 mana 3/4 “draw 2 cards” – insane value. I think it might even make sense in a slower Hunter list, the combo with Kindly Grandmother would be really nice, not to mention that if Umbra sticks to the board, it will be hell for the opponent. I understand why Sylvanas Windrunner is rotating to Wild, because those two would be an instant Mind Control (although random) + both would still be on the board.

That’s for the good news. For the bad news is that Brann was still probably better. Why? Because the density of powerful Battlecry minions was way higher than Deathrattle minions. Majority of the deck doesn’t run any Deathrattles or runs maybe 1-2 in total, that’s not enough to put this card in. Only the dedicated Deathrattle decks, like N’Zoth, the Corruptor decks, run enough Deathrattles to justify it (and maybe Hunter I’ve mentioned before – the deck runs tons of such cards regardless). Also, most powerful Deathrattles are more expensive – it will be like 9-10 mana combo most of the time, Unlike Brann that could get some powerful combos for 2 or 3 mana cheaper (e.g. the one with Kazakus).

But that’s fine, if the card costed 3, it would probably be broken. Since we don’t know the whole set yet, I assume that we might see more Deathrattles. Right now the card is 4/5, but IF Deathrattle theme fails (e.g. Priest won’t play Deathrattle) it might not see play at all. And if we get some powerful, cheap Deathrattles, well, it might be auto-include everywhere.

Card rating: 4/5

Fire Plume’s Heart

Oooh, I really like this one. I was afraid that Warrior’s Quest will have something to do with Taunts, and it does. But luckily Blizzard has delivered and gave us some new, strong Taunt option to make it easier to accomplish. When you finish the Quest, you become a Ragnaros… without actually reducing your health to 8. Majordomo Executus would be insane if Ragnaros’ health was higher and here you go.

What I like about this quest and about Taunt Warrior build now is that it’s obviously good against Aggro, because of all the Taunt minions you run. And it’s pretty solid in slower matchups too, because once you get 8 damage Hero Power, that’s tons of tempo AND value.

You lose your Armor Up Hero Power, so you become slightly vulnerable, but remember that you’re running a deck full of Taunts. The normal reaction to the OP Hero Power is rushing someone down – like in case of Lord Jaraxxus. But it’s impossible, because Warrior will play a Taunt after Taunt and throw that 8 damage every turn. It’s like a boss battle. I think it’s seriously powerful and might make the Control Warrior back into the meta. Maybe even some sort of heavy Taunt Midrange Warrior, we’ll see.

Card rating: 4.5/5

Direhorn Hatchling

It’s like a bit weaker version of White Eyes, not Legendary. While the first body is similar – 5/5 Taunt and 3/6 Taunts are comparable, even though 3/6 has one stat less, health is more important on Taunts. Then the second token is much bigger on Shaman, but to be fair, 6/9 is big enough. And what’s important is that it’s a Deathrattle. You know what it means? Yeah, N’Zoth, the Corruptor value. Taunt Warrior with N’Zoth, here I come. Sadly, N’Zoth won’t count for the Taunt Quest, but it can be really great tempo swing to bring this + Infested Tauren back, it’s like building a huge wall from nowhere.

Card rating: 4/5

Giant Wasp

Well, it’s like a bit bigger version of Patient Assassin. To be fair, it might be a bit more powerful, because 1 health is easier to deal with in Stealth than 2 health is – stuff like Wild Pyromancer, Maelstrom Portal or Swipe all kill Assassin while they don’t kill this guy. But I still don’t think it’s enough. It’s just average. On turn 3 it’s often worse than Silent Knight, because if you want to kill something small, you don’t really need Poisonous tag. It has better late game scaling, but then again it’s easier to kill a 2 health minion in Stealth in the late game.

While the card isn’t terrible, it’s pretty average, so I doubt we’ll really see this in Constructed right now.

Card rating: 3/5

Dinomancy

Control Hunter anyone? Maybe not necessarily Control, but this card will definitely allow to play a slower Hunter builds. I mean, the main problem with playing a more board-oriented Hunter was the Hero Power – it did NOTHING for the board and while it put enemy on the clock (not always) and this does, oh it does so much. Not only it’s a cheap (2 mana is much less clunky than 3 mana of Shadowform), having a Hero Power that gives +2/+2 on demand is insane. That’s TONS of value you’re getting every turn without using any extra cards at all. Sure, it’s restricted to Beasts, but Hunters play tons of Beasts. Some even get extra synergy with buffs – like Rat Pack.

Then again, going all-in on Control Hunter might not be the best idea, because Hunter lacks one thing – a board wipe. Every Control deck has some way to neutralize big boards. Hunter doesn’t. So it might be played in Midrange Hunter instead.

Any faster deck will obviously play the normal Hero Power still, but hey, if you build a slower Hunter it will definitely be a great option.

Card rating: 4/5

Grievous Bite

It’s interesting. You certainly don’t want to play this in faster Hunter builds, because you don’t really need board clears that can’t deal face damage. A slower Hunter build, though? Definitely! It’s like a mini Explosive Shot, pretty solid early game board clear, good combo with things like Unleash the Hounds to finish the damaged minions afterwise… I mean, to be fair, if you compare it to Maelstrom Portal, it sucks. Same mana cost, pretty much a similar effect (1 more damage on main target, but hits max 3 targets), but Maelstrom also summons a 1-drop. It just shows how OP is the portal.

But this card would definitely see play in a slower Hunter build. The deck would most likely also play Bloodmage Thalnos – spell damage makes this card even better, 3 + 2 damage is even more powerful. Overall a decent card, but it might not see any Constructed play because the Hunter might just not need it.

Card rating: 3/5

Jeweled Macaw

Great 1-drop. We’ve already learned that cards like Babbling Book or Swashburglar – 1/1 1-drops with an instant card draw – are really good. They offer a nice turn 1 play and aren’t useless in the late game. It also combos nicely with the Hunter Quest – you play your 1-drop for the Quest, but you also can get something bigger that you don’t need to put in your deck in the first place. Pretty great.

Webspinner was an auto-include in Hunter, because it was a cheap Beast that cycled itself – good way to activate Kill Command and Houndmaster. Depending on the situation, Battlecry might be stronger than Deathrattle, so I think it might be even better. Very solid card in any slower Hunter build (I don’t think face Hunter will play it, because it’s a low tempo card).

Card rating: 4/5

Stampede

Card draw for Hunter. It’s like a Lock and Load, but for Beasts. And I think that it might be even more powerful. First of all, it costs only 1 mana, so it’s easier to combo. Then, Hunter runs quite a lot of cheap Beasts. And then, you also get more Beasts, which you can immediately play and cycle them – with Lock and Load you could get a minion that you couldn’t cycle.

But what’s most important is how insane this is with the new Hunter’s Quest. Not only you play a lot of 1-drops, most of which will be Beasts, so in the mid/late game this will allow you to draw up to 4-5 cards easily.. but the rewards from Hunter Quests are also 1 mana 3/2 Beasts that cycle themselves. With Stampede not only they will cycle themselves, but also give you random Beasts. If you draw few cards from this, there is quite a solid chance that you will get something huge that will make finishing the game easier.

This might be a way to play the Quest in not all-in full Aggro Hunter. It seems like they’re trying to push a slower, Beast-oriented Hunter archetype and with this much support it might actually work.

Card rating: 4/5

Stonehill Defender

Interesting. I mean, it’s a bit similar to other discover cards, like let’s say Kabal Courier. Understatted 3 mana that discovers you something better. However, 1/4 Stats for 4 mana is very weak. Sure, it’s 100 times better than Silverback Patriarch (that card is crying somewhere in the corner) but it doesn’t seem amazing. What’s solid is that it’s basically 2 Taunts in 1 for the sake of Warrior’s Quest, so the deck might run it to accomplish it faster. It’s like a I Know A Guy with a 1/4 body.

Okay-ish card, but I don’t imagine it seeing play outside of the Taunt Warrior.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Ornery Direhorn

Frodan was pretty amazed with this card on the stream, but I’m really not. Adapt is worth around 1 mana, so it’s like a 5 mana 5/5 Taunt. Without any other effects, that wouldn’t really be playable.

I mean, the card is not BAD, but you need to hit the right Adapt option. +3 Health is 5/8 Taunt for 6 mana – that’s good. Divine Shield is good, it makes it a better Sunwalker – but Sunwalker isn’t a crazy Constructed card. +1/+1 is okay-ish, 6/6 Taunt, but not really crazy.

But we need to remember that there are tons of options that don’t fit this card too well. Poisonous? Nope. Windfury? Nope. +3 Attack? Nope. Stealth? Nope. Even “Can’t Be Targeted…” can be completely useless if it just dies on the board.

I’d say that for the Adapt card to be good, it needs to be good with at least half of the Adapt options, so you would hit the ones you want consistently. This one is good only with 2 of them, then maybe 2 or 3 where it is situationally good. I don’t think that’s enough. It’s barely playable only because of the Taunt Warrior theme, but I think that there are better options overall.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Stubborn Gastropod

Hahah, it’s like a troll card. It won’t work most of the time, it will RARELY work, but when it works it can work wonders. Imagine you dropping this vs some 8/8 minion and smiling when your opponent has no way to answer this. Yeah. But no, it won’t happen that often.

Early game it just trades with other small drops 1 for 1. And since it has 1 Attack, it can’t really pressure. So you’d most likely be better off playing something like Pompous Thespian. And later in the game while it CAN get value, if your opponent has some smaller minion he can still trade it. If he has weapon, he can kill it. If he has small removal, he can kill it. It’s really easy to kill 2 health minion in the mid/late game, if your opponent has absolutely no way to deal with it, then it’s good. But if he has no way to deal with a 2 health minion, well, you’re incredibly lucky.

Pretty bad card, I don’t think it will see play.

Card rating: 2/5

Primordial Drake

It’s the only Dragon of the expansion. So for people wondering whether Dragon decks will be viable – the short answer is no, they won’t. I imagine that the Drakonid Operative might still be played, because it’s completely nuts, but Dragon decks in general are generally dead.

But this card isn’t particularly exciting. It’s a bit similar to Baron Geddon. And while yes, it has better stat distribution and Taunt, it comes a turn later and the effect isn’t happening every turn. And how much Baron Geddon has seen play recently? That’s right, zero.

The problem is that a) those cards are good against Aggro, but on turn 8 you usually have a board control already. You need AoEs like 3 or 4 turns earlier than that. And b) 2 damage isn’t really exciting AoE option. 3 is the right number – Aggro decks don’t run that many 2 health minions right now, they just prefer the 3 health ones, because they’re harder to answer. I don’t know how exactly the meta will shape, but I think that people will still generally avoid 2 health minions to play around the weaker AoEs.

The card is just okay, it’s nothing exciting.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Sated Threshadon

Erm… Most likely a filler card. It’s okay-ish in Arena, but not in Constructed. When you pay that 7 mana, you want something crazy powerful. Not a 5/7 that summons 3x 1/1 on Death. 5/7 stats are weak for a 7-drop and the effect isn’t even that exciting. It makes it a bit more resistant to removals, but it’s not like those 3 Murlocs are going to do you lots of harm.

Bad card, I don’t see it being played in Constructed at all. Oh wait, the ONLY way I can see it being played in Constructed is the Shaman’s quest – Unite the Murlocs. After all it says Summon. But to be fair, you’d need to play a very specific Shaman deck. If you play all-in Murloc deck, you most likely finish the Quest before turn 7. And otherwise… why are you playing the quest?

Card rating: 1.5/5

Tar Lord

I think that this card is nuts. Ancient of War is known as one of the best Taunts in the game and you get it in Warrior. Even better, because it has 11 health. “BUT STONE, IT ONLY ATTACKS FOR 1, IT’S SO BAD”. No, dear kids, it’s not, because you play it in the same deck you play the Warrior’s Quest. When you play this Quest, all you need to do is survive – you don’t care about dealing damage with your Taunts, you don’t care about putting pressure – the Ragnaros Hero power will do it for you. And for that this minion is perfect. It will count for the Quest and it will protect your Hero. All you need to do is put a huge wall of Taunts that nothing passes and you should be able to win. That’s your game plan, at least.

I will definitely try it in Taunt Warrior, it looks so juicy.

Card rating: 4/5

Charged Devilsaur

Oooh, that’s neat! I didn’t think they will print a new Charge card at all and instead they didn’t print a Charge that can go face immediately. This card is a War Golem + Charge in a single card. And when you combine two cards into one with no drawbacks, it’s usually worth it. To be fair, the two combined cards aren’t too powerful, but hey.

The fact that you can play it and kill something immediately AND you will still have a minion on the board with which you can get another trade OR go to the face makes it definitely better than Icehowl. Not to mention that it’s 2 mana cheaper.

Okay, I don’t think it will see a lot of Constructed play. Maybe even no Constructed play at all. But it’s an amazing Arena card – it’s good that they made it Epic, because it’s bonkers when you get it. It gets you 2 for 1 90% of time.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Jungle Giants

And the Druid’s Quest. I first thought that it will be something Beast-related, that they will try to push this archetype further, but this is more interesting. It might be a time Ramp Druid gets back into the meta. In Ramp Druid, playing 5 minions with 5+ Attack isn’t that hard. And the reward… the reward is insane. Making ALL the minions in your deck cost 0. It means that every turn is a tempo turn. If you build your deck right, you can easily flood the board every turn while not dumping your whole hand at once.

Yes, you will have your 0 mana Ancients of War, 0 mana huge Legendaries etc. but that’s not most important. The most important thing is that you will be able to cycle through your deck incredibly easily. Fandral Staghelm will cost 0, so you can combo it with Nourish (which becomes basically 3 mana, draw 3 cards), Wrath etc. Sadly Azure Drake cycles out, but don’t forget about Gadgetzan Auctioneer. At 0 mana it means that you can draw like 5-6 cards easily on a single turn. So you can draw tons of cards, play few minions and still have full hand. That’s the important part – with this quest you will be able to tempo out on the board WHILE being resistant to AoE in a way that you can refill right after your big board gets cleared.

Also, remember that this says SUMMON, not play. It means that it will work with Jades. But I don’t think that it necessarily fits the Jade deck – that deck already has a slow start, so having -1 card will hurt heavily + it takes a while before you start summoning 5+ attack Jades.

The quest is really solid, and it’s not that difficult to accomplish, but I’m not 100% sure whether Ramp Druid will be good enough to see play. I mean, it didn’t really get tons of support this expansion.

Binding Heal

Oooh, this card is insane. Especially if the meta will eventually turn into Aggro fest again. The main Priest issue when playing vs Aggro was healing your minions vs your Hero. Keeping minions alive meant that you have less health to work with, but at the same time you had stuff to trade. Healing your face = vice versa. Binding Heal can heal both.

If you’re using it defensively, it’s a strictly better Flash Heal which has seen play in Priest in the past. However, a common use of Flash Heal was to combo it with Auchenai Soulpriest to deal 5 damage. And while you can still do it, now you also deal 5 damage to your Hero. If you’re at high health and want to finish low health opponent, it’s still good. And it’s definitely a solid defensive option in case of a faster meta. Remember that you can combo it with Northshire Cleric to cycle it, with Priest of the Feast to get 3 more health etc. Or just with Injured Blademaster to instantly heal it to full while keeping yourself healthy at the same time.

A solid card overall, but it won’t likely see play in any slower meta.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Elder Longneck

I’ve actually made a similar card before the expansion. Not EXACTLY the same, but I thought that the new Rager will be 5/1 with Adapt if you’ve played Elemental last turn. This is a bit similar, 5/1 for 3 with Adapt, but with a new mechanic – if you’re holding a 5+ Attack minion. It obviously goes well into the Druid’s Quest deck. It’s a cheap way to get +1 (and since you only need to play 5 minions, it’s 1/5 finished) and the minion itself is not as bad as it might seem.

I mean, the card isn’t amazing unless you hit the right options, but it costs 3 mana, so it doesn’t have to be game-winning. In this case, +3 Health is probably the best one, making it 3 mana 5/4 Beast – great. Divine Shield turns it into a more powerful Scarlet Crusader, but the +2 attack really matters here – it trades into every common 3 and 4-drop. Stealth is good outside of matchups that play cheap source of 1 AoE damage (e.g. Shaman and Warrior). +1/+1 is okay-ish – 6/2 minion for 3 wouldn’t be played, but depending on the board state it might be good enough. Deathrattle into 2x 1/1 isn’t that bad, because it needs to be killed twice. “Can’t be targeted” might be situationally good against let’s say Mage, so he can’t ping it.

Yeah, the card isn’t breathtaking etc. but the most important thing is that it’s very easy to activate (assuming you play a slower Ramp Druid, you have a lot of 5+ Attack minions) and it gives you progress towards the Quest. And one thing I like about Druid Quest is that Druids don’t care about turn 1 anyway – they can easily skip it.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Free From Amber

I honestly don’t know what to think about this card. The thing is, if it would Discover from the pool of every card, it would be pretty great. But it’s only Priest + Neutral, so it’s much worse. Priest has zero 8+ cost minions, so it’s only Neutrals. And you know what is the average 8+ neutral card? Yes, it’s garbage. And one of the best ones – Ragnaros the Firelord – is rotating out.

There are TONS of 8+ fillers and just “vanilla stats” or “shitty effects” minions. Doomcaller, Eldritch Horror, Faceless Behemoth, North Sea Kraken, The Boogeymonster.

Remember that the card says SUMMON, not Play. It means that it summons the body and the Battlecry doesn’t proc. So it makes cards like Onyxia or N’Zoth, the Corruptor even worse than some of the fillers, because they’re vanilla cards. Giants are also vanilla 8/8’s…

Your best bet is something like Y’Shaarj, Rage Unbound. Or Ysera. But what is the chance to get one of the good ones? I bet that it’s less than 50%. Which is DEFINITELY not enough to play it. Most of the time you’ll summon like an 8/8 vanilla minion for 8 mana. Would you play that in your deck? Hell no. So you won’t play this one.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Radian Elemental

Priest has got a 2-drop and it’s pretty solid. The class seems to be stealing everything from other classes, now it has stolen Sorcerer’s Apprentice from Mage. But to be perfectly honest, this kind of effect is powerful in Mage. Priests aren’t know for chaining multiple spells on one turn. Priest spells are very situational, you usually cast one and you’re done. And you don’t really get tons of value when you discount one.

It has synergy with the Priest Legendary, but the Priest Legendary is pretty bad (later about that). What I like about this card is that it’s t2 Elemental, so if you’d want to make a Priest Elemental deck (it’s possible, even though the class didn’t get lots of Elementals/Synergies), it fits the curve pretty nicely.

It also has nice synergy with PW:S. When you can cast it for free, it’s basically a 2/5 for 2, which is really solid in Priest.

One possibility that’s not very likely right now is some combo deck. Just like Mage has its Exodia with Apprentices and Antonidas, Priest might need that spell reduction to chain some crazy combos someday. Right now I can’t see any, though. It’s a solid card, but it seems a bit overrated by the community. Just like Mana Geode was.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Shellshifter

Sen’jin Shieldmasta powercreep! Seriously, this card is pretty good in Ramp Druid. Just like every “Choose One” card, it adds flexibility to your deck. Even if one option is picked only 10-15% of time, it’s still going to matter in some scenarios. Let’s say that you don’t need Taunt, but you need to push the last points of damage – then you’d prefer Stealth. Or if your Taunt gets a bad trade on the board (e.g. opponent has a 5/5 minion), then instead of sacrificing it you might decide to take that damage and trade next turn instead.

I also wonder how this card will work with Fandral. Will it be 5/5 with Taunt and Stealth? It would make sense given how it works with everything else. Which is pretty funny, because it might actually be negative if you need Taunt right away (because Stealth will negate it before you reveal the minion).

Decent card, might fill the 4-drop slot in Ramp alongside Mire Keeper.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Lyra the Sunshard

And that is the Priest’s Legendary I’ve mentioned before. And it’s… pretty poor. It’s a bit similar to Archmage Antonidas. It’s also cheaper, so easier to combo. BUT, the fact that Archmage has 100% chance to give you one of the most powerful spells in the game – Fireball (flexible, can be used as removal or as burn) – and this gives you a random Priest spell is a big difference.

I’ve talked about this multiple times, but there is a big problem with Priest spells. They’re VERY situational. Majority of them don’t work well in every situation. The dream is to get a chain of spells, but you see, if you get one of the Shadow Words (Pain, Death, Horror) and there is no target, the chain breaks. Silence/Purify when this is only minion on the board? Chain breaks. Expensive spell? Chain breaks. Even if you don’t chain but cast few spells from your hand right away, this has a chance to give you a bunch of useless stuff.

One good thing about this is that Priest also has a lot of cheap spells. It means that in case you play this + the 2-drop Elemental, now you can cast the potions, PW:S, Holy Smite etc. for free. So there is a chance to chain if you get lucky.

Overall I don’t like this card. It would be great at 4 mana, but at 5 it seems too clunky. You have to keep a few cheap spells for it, because you won’t always be able to chain + you might end up with almost no value at all.

Card rating: 2/5

Giant Anaconda

This is… a weird card. It’s a bit like a Voidcaller, but with one significant difference. It’s 3 mana more expensive while not having much better stats. If that card would cost 5, it would be broken. At 6 it might be playable. At 7? I don’t know. It’s really, really easy to kill. You also summon random 5+ Attack minion, so you can’t control that. You can get the 5/1. Or a 5/5 Ancient of War, because the Battlecries don’t proc.

I don’t like this card. I don’t think it’s good enough. It’s good only in very specific situations – let’s say you only have cards like Soggoth the Slitherer or the new Druid Legend in your hand. Then you can cheat them out earlier and it will be good. But it’s REALLY only in very specific situations, your hand needs to be perfect or you need to get lucky.

Oh, and it’s one of the worst topdecks. If you have no other 5+ Attack minion in your hand, congratz, you’ve played a 7 mana 5/3. It’s kinda good for the Quest, because you can finish it quicker, but at the same time it’s a bit pointless after you already finish it – since your minions are free you can just play the big minion and you don’t need this to get it out.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Tortollan Forager

That’s interesting. 2 mana 2/2 that draws a card is very good. It can be played on t2 if you miss Wild Growth and it’s not bad in the late game at all. 5+ Attack minions also obviously synergize with your Quest and it has a solid chance to give you something big.

But the truth is that there are TONS of terrible 5+ attack minions. You’re very likely to get some vanilla thing akin to Salty Dog (I know that the card is no longer in Standard, but that’s not the point). Or I don’t know, you get Core Hound and it’s not really a minion you want to play.

I think that the card would be better in other class than Druid, mostly because Druid will ALWAYS play t2 Wild Growth over this, so in the end it’s more like a plan B.

Card rating: 3/5

Earthen Scales

Ooooh, I love this card. It’s a great defensive option in slower Druid list. It’s a very interesting effect, because it’s very rare for Attack turns into something defensive, if you know what I mean. Like, you play a Feral Rage mostly for the Aggro matchups. The card is okay-ish, but when it comes to Armor gain, this might be much better.

I mean, let’s even take an average scenario into Account. Let’s say you drop that 4-drop with Taunt and you give it +1/+1. Now, this is +1/+1 and Gain 4 Armor for 1 mana. That’s pretty good already, isn’t it? And that’s when you cast it on 3 Attack minion, one of the smaller you’ll have in your deck. Then again, it also has great late game scaling. Imagine using this on some 8 Attack minion. Boom, +1/+1 and 9 Armor for 1 mana. Very efficient.

Great anti-Aggro tech card, while not completely useless in Control matchups, especially if you run Gadgetzan Auctioneer in your deck (then you can cycle it too). Pretty bad in a slow meta, but hey, tech cards can’t be always good.

Card rating: 4/5 (in the right meta, of course)

Air Elemental

Pretty straightforward, it’s like a smaller Faerie Dragon. It has 1 health, but it’s a bit harder to kill, since it can’t be pinged by some stuff (e.g. Mage’s Hero Power). Still, it’s a 2 mana 2/1 that does nothing more. And protecting your 1 health 1-drop isn’t the most important thing ever. It has an elemental tag, but I’ll be honest that I like the Glacial Shard more – the effect has better late game scaling and it’s also an Elemental.

This is pretty bad, it still dies very easily while not really bringing anything to the board. MAYBE if you want to play even more 1-drop Elementals, but I don’t really think you do.

Card rating: 2/5

Volatile Elemental

I think it’s pretty bad, actually. What I like about it is that it only works on minions – so it can’t randomly target face, it means that it can’t be played in Aggro. The biggest problem with this card is that it’s very easy to play around. You need to play this INTO a minion and then it still usually trades 1 for 1 with other small drop. If you play this when your opponent has no minions, it’s very easy to kill and completely negate value.

I like the concept, but I honestly don’t think it’s good enough.

Card rating: 2/5

Open the Waygate

Hahah, that’s fun! I have to say that this is one of the most crazy cards in the game. Bending time. Taking an extra turn for 5 mana. I honestly don’t think it’s very powerful, but it’s one of the most fun cards from the whole set. But first things first.

The card is only good in slower matchups. It’s one of the slowest Quests. Because not only you need to GENERATE 6 spells from outside of your deck, you need to cast them. And since most of such generated spells are random to certain extent, it basically means that you might not have a good target for them etc. It will take a big of time to cast 6 of them. So it’s completely useless against Aggro. Not to mention that paying 5 mana to take extra turn is not that good in Aggro matchups. I mean, you get extra draw, maybe you can play an extra Taunt, but you should have already stabilized before you can play it.

What I really like about this card is the combo potential. Since it costs 5 mana, you won’t be able to do A LOT of things cards-wise. But, minions are different story. Basically, if you stick a decent board, like let’s say even 10 damage, now you can hit with it once, maybe even develop something for up to 5 mana, then play this Quest and then hit with everything again. That ~10 damage board can easily change into OTK when you have some extra burn in your hand. I’ve also seen the Giants synergy in the Toast’s video – that’s actually pretty interesting combo deck. You play Ice Block + a lot of other spells. You get Arcane Giants for free and you get popped at low health so Molten Giants are also free. You drop all the Giants, then you take extra turn and you can immediately hit with them. That’s an easy way to deal 16, 24 or even 32 damage depending on how many Giants you have. I don’t think it will be too good, but hey, it’s interesting.

Oh, and I will play the tune from The Rocky Horror Picture Show every time I play this Quest. LET’S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!

Card rating: ?/5 (I honestly have no clue how good it will be)

Primordial Glyph

Obviously, auto-include into the Time Warp Quest Mage build. But it’s hard to tell whether it will be good enough, so let’s focus on the other things.

This card is really solid in most of the Mage lists. It’s a cheap way to pick whatever card you need for the situation. Since the card gets discounted by 2, if you cast it immediately, it’s like you’ve played a 0 mana Discover. That’s great considering that you can pick whatever fits the situation. And what’s even better is that you don’t HAVE to play the card immediately. You can play this on turn 2 and have a discounted Flamestrike in your hand – if your opponent floods board you can cast it on turn 5. The only downside is when you discover a 1 or 0 mana spell, but those are pretty uncommon in Mage. Majority of the spells cost 2 or more. And if you discover another Primordial Glyph, you can “reroll” for free!

The card is flexible + it’s a pretty cheap spell synergy + it’s even better with mana discounts like Sorcerer’s Apprentice… Yeah, a very solid card.

Card rating: 4/5

Fire Plume Harbinger

This is very hard to rate at this point. It heavily depends on how many Elementals will be played in Elemental Shaman deck. This has to hit at least 2 to pay for itself – then it’s like a 0 mana 1/1. But to really get value it needs to hit at least 3 or 4 Elementals, which is actually quite a lot. But there are a lot of powerful Elementals, so it might make an appearance. It’s like a mini-Emperor Thaurissan for Elementals only.

What I really like about this is that you can make your 1 mana Elementals cost 0. It’s powerful because you can now fit them into ANY turn to activate the Elemental synergies next turn. I think that it has a chance to be played in Elemental Shaman, but only if the Elemental density will turn out to be relatively high in the final builds.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Igneous Elemental

It’s like a bigger Fire Fly – a small Elemental tokens generator. But it’s really slow. 1 mana 1/2 is also not that great, but at least you a) get the token immediately so you can play it too if you need and b) weak stats on 1-drop are more forgiving. This is a 2/3 3-drop, so it’s incredibly slow. But at the same time, it’s a solid value AND it gives you 2 more Elemental activators.

That said, I thought that Elemental decks will look different. I thought that there will be “average” Elementals and then cards that synergize with Elementals that DON’T have Elemental tag. But it turns out that most of the strongest Elemental synergy cards are also Elementals… Which is kinda weird, but okay. It means that you DON’T need that many Elemental activators, because powerful cards are the activators at the same time, if you know what I mean. So it might turn out that the card is redundant.

Anyway, this is like pretty average. If Elemental deck will need more small Elementals, it MIGHT see play, but otherwise I don’t think.

Card rating: 3/5

Shimmering Tempest

When Babbling Book meets Loot Hoarder. But honestly, I think that it’s weaker than Babbling Book, because 1/1 1-drop > 2/1 2-drop and you get the spell immediately. And it’s worse than Loot Hoarder in the decks where you need to cycle through your deck. But, it has the synergy with Quest AND Elemental synergy, so those are two things that are going on for this card. But it’s not a crazy card, it’s only okay at best.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Stormwatcher

Well, it’s definitely better than Grotesque Dragonhawk. The same cost, but 4/8 is WAY better than 5/5. I mean, this is still a pretty bad card, but it makes some sense at least. 8 health means that it might survive a turn and then the Windfury can do its job. If you play buffs in your deck, they basically double on this minion. You buff it to 10 Attack and you deal 20. But honestly, I don’t think it will see play, it looks more like a filler card.

Card rating: 2/5

Hot Spring Guardian

Well, that’s an amazing anti-Aggro card. You get a 2/4 Taunt that has an Earthen Ring Farseer effect – you can heal anything you want for 3. AND it’s an Elemental on top of that. It will definitely be played in Elemental decks in case of Aggro. Imagine this into Tol’vir Stoneshaper – it’s like GG against Aggro. Solid card, I like it. It might even make into the Elemental Shaman in faster meta, because the healing can be used to keep minions alive instead. Solid card.

Card rating: 4/5

Frozen Crusher

6 mana 8/8 is huge. But the fact that it freezes itself, which means that you have to skip every other turn hurts. You can’t attack on the turn you summon it, then you can attack on the next turn, then you can’t attack again. So it means that in 3 turns it has attacked only once – that’s really, really slow. And I don’t think that stats that are a bit over the top justify that effect. Of course, you can Silence it or something, but it’s still just a pile of stats then. Might be okay-ish in Arena, but I can’t imagine this seeing Constructed play.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Tidal Surge

Another Shaman card that’s anti-Aggro. Blizzard is making sure that the current Aggro Shaman won’t get new tools. Not only this can’t hit face, but the healing is also pretty useless in Aggro deck. I mean, it seems like a very inferior Jade Lightning. Not only it can only target minions, but the 4 healing isn’t that powerful, especially since you can’t even target it. I mean, it MIGHT see play if Shaman didn’t have access to better removal. But he has, so I don’t think it’s good enough. Maybe in a very aggressive meta, like it would be great against Pirates, but I doubt that Pirates will be a problem anymore.

Card rating: 2/5

Fire Plume Phoenix

Meh, it’s a filler card. Okay, it’s better than Stormpike Commando, but that card sees no Constructed play at all. It basically costs 1 mana less and has Elemental synergy, but it’s still very average. 3/3 stats on a 4-drop are very weak and the effect needs to be insane for the card to see play. 2 damage is not enough. I actually think that it’s close to being viable, I think that at 3 damage it might seriously see some play. It would be like a smaller version of Fire Elemental. But at 2? It just doesn’t kill enough stuff.

It’s not the worst card ever, but it doesn’t seem Constructed viable.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Meteor

Hahah, I love this card. Flame Lance can go away into the Wild, I have my Meteor now. FIFTEEN damage to a minion is a lot. It kills pretty much anything in the game, besides some heavily buffed targets. But what’s even better is the 3 damage to adjacent minions. I really hope that this card sees play, because it will force people to play around it by positioning correctly. Bad positioning will finally be punished.

It’s very similar to the Hunter’s Explosive Shot, but honestly more powerful. While yes, it costs 1 more mana, 10 more damage on the main target means that you can kill just about anything with it. 5 damage of Explosive Shot made it meh against really big minions.

I think that this card makes sense in a Control Mage. Big removal + semi-AoE. It would definitely be played in the current Reno Mage. But I don’t think that people will play Highlander deck after Reno rotates out, Kazakus + Solia are probably not enough to justify not running 2 copies of staple cards.

I like it, it’s not too powerful, but it might see some Constructed play.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Primalfin Champion

Yes, YES! That’s exactly what Paladin needed for the buff strategy to work. I’ve talked about this before, but that was exactly the biggest problem with buff decks – if you put all your eggs into one basket and it gets killed, well, it sucks. All your buffs are gone. But this one? If it gets killed, you get all the buffs back. It makes it extremely valuable buff target. Not only opponent has a big threat to kill, but then you can throw all your buffs on something else.

Of course, there are obvious counters, so it won’t likely ever rule the meta. Shaman can still destroy it with Hex or Devolve. It can get Polymorphed. It can even get Silenced. But those were already the problems buff decks faced. It’s not like buffing anything else plays around those problems, no. But this plays around tons of other removals – around trading, around “damage” removals etc.

The main problem is that it’s a 1/2 for 2. So it’s not really an on-curve play. It dies too easily and you get no value. It’s more of a combo card – you want to play this and throw a bunch of buffs on it. Then you get let’s say +3 for the Quest for 3 cheap buffs AND you get them back again, so you can finish the Quest very easily. In the best case scenario you might even finish the Quest on curve. And turn 5 Galvadon is straight up busted. The card can win the game on the spot and it’s VERY unlikely that your opponent will be able to answer it so early (if at all). Definitely a good card in buff Paladin. I’m still not 100% sure about the deck, but it got much better with this card.

Card rating: 4/5

Adaptation

Fair card. Adapts are worth about 1 mana. This Adapts a minion for 1 mana. Great when you cast it on Primalfin, okay-ish otherwise. But the most important thing is that it’s a 1 mana buff that’s not bad at all. It’s playable, which means that it’s another buff you can run in your deck to finish the Quest. What more can I say? The exact value still heavily depends on the situation and what options you get. If you adapt your 1/1 to kill an 8/8 then it’s amazing. But if you hit +3 health on your 1/1 then it might be a bit useless. Or I don’t know, you get to choose between Taunt, Stealth and Can’t Be Targeted on your very small minion.

But still will probably see play in Buff Paladin.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Devilsaur Egg

Ooooh. I’m actually really glad that we’ve got a new Egg. I liked to play around with the Egg cards. It fits nicely into a few kinds of decks – decks that buff stuff and Zoo-like decks (sometimes they’re the same thing even). Like, I would most likely play the hell out of this card in Zoo Warlock, but Power Overwhelming is rotating, which is a bit sad. I mean, there are still multiple other activators, but it’s not the same. It might be played in the buff Paladin. Or maybe Egg Druid will make a comeback? If you have ways to activate it, it’s like a better Twilight Summoner which has seen SOME Constructed play.

Overall the card is probably a bit weaker than Nerubian Egg. 2 mana 4/4 is better than 3 mana 5/5. But both serve a similar purpose – “buff catcher” and an AoE resistant play. I like the card, although it might not see tons of Constructed play.

Card rating: 3.5/5

The Voraxx

Really cool card. Definitely an auto-include in the new Buff Paladin. Basically, when you play a buff card (or any card, but since it’s a friendly minion it’s most likely a buff), you summon a 1/1 and it also gets the same buff. So if you play this + Blessing of Kings, you end up with 7/7 and 5/5. Another way for the buffs to “not put all your Eggs into one basket” – since you double the buffs now your opponent needs to removals, so basically instead of him getting 2 for 1, you might even get some extra value with the right buffs. I also love it with the Spikeridged Steed. It’s a 10 mana combo, but oh boy, it’s TONS of value. For 10 mana and 2 cards you get a 5/9 Taunt, a 3/7 Taunt, both of which Deathrattle into 2/6 Taunts. That’s crazy Taunt Wall – 5/9, 3/7 and 2x 2/6 all in one turn and with 2 cards. Not to mention that if this card sticks for one turn, if you run Dinosize, yeah, you get 2x 10/10.

But outside of the Paladin, I’m not sure honestly. It might have been decent when Velen’s Chosen was in Standard. That + PW:S would make it good. Other classes don’t really have tons of playable buffs, so I think it will work best in Paladin. But the concept is interesting and even if it won’t see play right now, it might in the future.

Card rating: 4/5

Molten Reflection

Well… it’s like a Faceless Summoner that’s 1 mana cheaper, but with a restriction of only working on friendly minions. It’s a spell so it gets some synergies… but outside of getting this from random effects, I can’t really see this being too good. Oh wait, there is one combo – Leeroy Jenkins + Abusive Sergeant + this = 10 mana and 3 cards for 16 damage… But you know what? Mage can pull of the same with 2x Fireball and Frostbolt – I mean, 1 less mana, but goes pass the Taunts and is more flexible. Not to mention the single card Pyroblast. Mage doesn’t need burst.

The best way would be to copy a big minion in the late game a turn after you play it, when it sticks. But Faceless Manipulator isn’t really worse than this. Neither is on-curve play and you usually play them at 10 mana, so 1 mana doesn’t matter that much. And the ability to copy opponent’s minion is big. E.g. he plays Rag, so copying it might be the best way to deal with it. Or he plays Ysera, you copy it and then Poly it. So I still think that this is either a bit weaker or on the same level as Faceless. Making it okay-ish card, but nothing impressive in Mage.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Emerald Reaver

Oh, it’s like a less aggressive version of Shadowbomber. To be fair, the card is pretty bad. The only deck I can imagine wanting to play this is Hunter with the 1-drops quest, but there are just better 1-drop options – including Fiery Bat, which as a similar effect, but one that has chance to actually get the early board lead instead of dealing useless 1 face damage on turn 1.

Bad card, won’t see play.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Cruel Dinomancer

Woooow, that’s interesting. This is NOT a card that you’d want to play in fast Discard Zoo, like the current lists. It makes more sense in a slower Discard list, which actually might be good given the Warlock’s Quest. Warlock’s Quest works better in the long games, so making your deck a bit slower is not a bad idea. And this is great for mitigating the damage. If you play a deck full of Discards for the sake of the Quest, you’re DEFINITELY going to Discard some minions. Remember how many times you discard your Doomguard? Well, you can resummon it with it. Okay, that’s the best case scenario, but even resummoning some 4/4 or something like that could be good enough.

The main problem is that a) you need to play this in a slower Discard and this deck might turn out to be not good enough. Discard cards are generally pretty aggressive and b) it’s still random. It costs 6 mana and it’s only 5/5, so it’s better summon something good. But if you discarded a Voidwalker, then well, you get a 1-drop back. That’s not a great value.. You can’t control your discards, making this a little bit too random.

We’ll see, interesting card, I’ll try to build a slower Discard Warlock, but I’m not sure if it will work.

Card rating: 3/5

Bittertide Hydra

It has a Fel Reaver vibe, but it’s MUCH worse. It of course fits into Aggro decks, because those are the decks that generally don’t care about their health too much. However, Discarding cards was generally better – it took like 3 or 4 turns before you even felt the effect and if Fel Reaver stayed on the board so long you pretty much won. This is different. While it’s still great in Control decks, it can really backfire in Aggro mirrors.

In Aggro vs Aggro, your health is precious. Not only you spend you turn 5 on a pretty slow play – I mean, sure, you drop a big bomb, but it’s not a fast card – but you also can’t trade with it. You have to go face. And if your opponent is just a little big ahead in the race, he can stop racing you face and just throw all he has into this guy. Imagine every small minion = 3 damage to your face. 4 small minions = 12 damage. Oh, maybe you have some more minions on the board? If your opponent plays Unleash the Hounds that deals 3 times more damage than it should… Yeah, it’s too risky of a play. So overall I think that it might be nice card only if you were basically one of the only Aggro players on the ladder, to punish Control decks.

But not even every Control deck. Remember that it’s still a pile of stats, so it can sometimes be removed quite easily. But that’s not even too bad. The worst case scenario is Shaman playing Volcano. That’s basically game over, you take 24 damage on the spot. Card’s pretty bad. It makes some sense, but it’s too risky.

Card rating: 2/5

Chittering Tunneler

3/3 that Discovers a Spell? Great! Oh wait.. you need to pay your life for the spell. Nope, that makes the card bad. With Reno rotating out, Warlock doesn’t want to play too many self-damage effects and this one is certainly not worth it. You’d be better off playing Kabal Courier – the Discover value is similar, maybe even a bit higher, and sure, you get -1/-1 stats, but you don’t deal self damage. And imagine getting three 5+ mana spells, that’s A LOT of damage you’re taking.

While it might be okay-ish in slow matchups, it’s straight up unplayable in any Aggro or faster Midrange matchup. When your opponent wants to kill you, you try to stop him instead of helping him. Okay, you CAN combo it with Violet Illusionist, but it’s a really slow combo and not worth it to be fair.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Iron Hide

Very straightforward card. Unplayable in any slower meta, because you simply don’t need to waste a card to get 5 Armor. It’s a nice tech in case of heavy Aggro meta. It seems that they’ve really printed TONS of anti-Aggro tools and this is one of them. It also has the obvious Shield Slam synergy, but you rarely need extra Armor in slower matchups anyway.

Okay-ish card, but feels like a worse version of the new Druid’s and Priest’s ones.

Card rating: 3/5 (in Aggro meta)

Nesting Roc

Good Arena card. In constructed… not that much. You a) don’t really need Taunts in aggressive decks where it’s easy to proc and b) it’s hard to proc in the decks where you need Taunts. Anyway, you usually need Taunt when you DON’T have other board, to protect your face. And those are the situations where this doesn’t have it.

Anyway, the best case scenario of a 4/7 Taunt for 5 is solid, but not solid enough for it to see play. It’s just too inconsistent.

Card rating: 2/5

Rockpool Hunter

This card is INSANE. I don’t want to call it a new Small-Time Buccaneer, because Murlocs might still not be good enough, but it’s crazy good. It has vanilla stats, it has a Murloc tag AND it has a powerful effect. It’s very easy to find a target in Murloc deck. The only thing that keeps it from being broken as hell is that Shaman will want to play turn 1 Quest, so it’s hard to hit this on the curve. But if you play Quest + Coin out a Murloc and follow-up with this, well, then it’s great.

Card’s pretty straightforward, it works like a better Shattered Sun Cleric for the Murloc decks. Most of the minions you’ll be playing will be Murlocs so the restriction isn’t big. Yeah. Very good card. The question is whether the Murloc Shaman deck will be good enough.

Card rating: 4.5/5

Emerald Hive Queen

Interesting. It’s a bit like a new Zombie Chow – a card that slow deck can drop on turn 1 to trade with. The main problem here is that Zombie Chow’s downside was less severe. If you drop this on t1, it basically means that you can’t play any other minion until it dies. So the only decks that MIGHT want to play it are the ones that play spells/weapons on turn 2/3 – maybe some kind of Control Warrior? Or maybe Ramp Druid? But to be completely fair, it looks pretty bad. The downside is big and if you’re looking for an anti-Aggro 1-drop, Mistress of Mixtures seems like a much better choice. You sacrifice 1 health, but you gain +4 healing.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Biteweed

A mini-Edwin VanCleef. Edwin is obviously one of the most powerful Rogue cards and its staple Legendary. This one seems a bit worse, to be fair. Edwin is “worth it” after just 1 card combo, as a 4/4. This needs to be combo’d with at least 2 cards to be worth it. And it will never reach the crazy state of Edwin. Even if you combo it with 4 cards, that’s still “only” a 5/5. Sure, 2 mana 5/5 is obviously great, but how many times you get to combo something with 4 cards?

Then there is an issue of having too many “combo” cards like that. Edwin – you want to combo with multiple other cards. Auctioneer – the same. Questing Adventurers – the same. This MIGHT take the place of Questing since Conceal leaves Standard and it will be harder to hide a small Questing before it grows. Immediate stats = tempo = this might be better, but I’m not sure.

Oh, but wait. This card’s text is a little bit different than Edwin’s. Edwin specifically says “earlier this turn” and this says “this turn”. If it means that it also gets +1/+1 for itself than it’s a whole another story, as it starts at 2/2 and is easier to combo. Depending on which one is true, the rating will be different. It’s 3/5 if it doesn’t proc from itself and 4/5 if it does.

Card rating: 3/5 or 4/5

Sudden Genesis

It’s a bit like a Blood Warriors that a higher tempo. However, Blood Warriors was already played in a deck with Arcane Giants which could be replayed immediately, so it’s actually lower tempo in that case. This card combos with Whirlwind effects – you can double up your board after Whirlwind effect. But it’s very situational, because you need a) strong enough board b) whirlwind effect c) this d) your opponent needs to not have a big AoE. So most of the time it’s not going to work.

I think that there MIGHT be some combo potential to this card, like it might have been played instead of Faceless Manipulator in Combo Worgen deck, but that deck is dead for a while already. Maybe something else I’m missing, but right now I can’t really think of anything solid.

Card rating: 2/5

Tar Lurker

Another of those Taunts with 1 Attack on your turn. This one is 4/7 for 5 on the opponent’s turn, which to be fair, might be the worst of all 3. The main problem I see is that Warlock isn’t really a Taunt class – it doesn’t have any Taunt synergies. It doesn’t have Elemental synergies too. Also, Reno rotated out so Control Warlock might be dead and this doesn’t look like a Zoo card.

Overall it’s hard to say. I MIGHT have played it in RenoLock, but I don’t know if there will be a Warlock deck that will want to play it. It’s pretty average to be honest.

Card rating: 3/5

Razorpetal Lasher

Razorpetal is a 1 mana spell that deals 1 damage. 2/2 for 2 is pretty bad, but Rogue doesn’t really have a good turn 2 anyway, so it’s passable. I like the extra spell in the hand, because it’s only 1 mana. It’s a cheap source of ping when necessary, it can activat combos and it’s great with Gadgetzan Auctioneer and it has INSANE synergy with Spell Damage, especially Malygos.

The problem is that now with Emperor Thaurissan out of Standard, it will be harder to combo Malygos. Rogue would need to generate some Coins in order to play Malygos easily. However, in the Wild, the deck has got a huge buff. It’s now very easy to get multiple 1 mana spells that will deal 6 damage each with Malygos.

Okay card, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has seen some play, as the 1 mana spells are pretty versatile in Rogue.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Razorpetal Volley

Interesting, but I think that the previous one is better. It’s a 2/2 body on the board vs 1 extra 1 mana deal 1 damage in your hand spells. Sure, this might be better in Malygos build, but in others I think that the minion is better.

It has the same uses as the minion, so I won’t really get into the details. It’s still okay card, especially since it can be A LOT of fuel for Gadgetzan.

Card rating: 3/5

Vinecleaver

Interesting weapon, but most likely too slow. I’d like a smaller version of this, like a 3 or 4 mana that summons 1 recruit per hit. It has obvious synergy with the new 4-drop that Adapts your Silver Hand Recruits, this can make you summon more quite easily. But it’s a late game combo. In the end you pay 7 mana for a 4/3 weapon and a bunch of 1/1’s, which might not be the best deal ever. A delayed super-big Muster for Battle. Oh, and it’s a great weapon destruction card – it doesn’t get too much value upfront and due to the huge mana cost it’s a TERRIBLE tempo loss when it gets destroyed.

Card rating: 2/5

Humongous Razorleaf

It’s the “can’t attack” minion between Ancient Watcher and Eerie Statue. It’s about on the same strength level as those two. And they haven’t seen play in a while. Well, it fits as well as the other two into some Silence (Purify!) or Taunt deck, but I don’t expect those decks to work right now. I mean, they didn’t really get any love, so why would they suddenly start working? Below average card, I don’t think it will see Constructed play right now. Maybe in future.

Card rating: 2/5

Ultrasaur

It’s an interesting stat distribution, but at the end of the day it’s still a filler card. You will see it from time to time in Arena when someone didn’t draft any better late game options, but you won’t play a vanilla 7/14 minion in Constructed. For 10 mana. It’s way too slow and at this point there is almost no way that your opponent won’t be able to answer that. And if he indeed won’t, you’d be better off playing something like Ysera to get much more value. Very, very filler card.

Card rating: 1/5

Bright-Eyed Scout

I mean.. 4 mana 3/4 that draws a card is good. But it changes the card’s cost to 5, which is generally bad. I don’t think that there is a deck besides Astral Druid that has cards with average mana cost of 5 or more to consistently get value out of this. Most of the decks run tons of small stuff, making this pretty bad. Imagine turning that Shield Slam into 5 mana spell, not really worth it, right? Of course, the best case scenario is you drawing a big minion, like the Druid’s Legendary, on curve, and playing it for 5 mana after this one. But that’s a dream. It will make into some highlights, but I don’t think it’s good enough.

The only thing I can see going for this card is the new Hemet synergy. If you remove all the 0-3 mana cards from your deck, now your average topdeck SHOULD cost over 5 mana. It means that this card is a better Gnomish Inventor at this point, so a pretty decent way to cycle. Still, it’s pretty hard to see this in Constructed.

Card rating: 2/5

Eggnapper

Filler card. It’s like a Haunted Creeper for 1 more mana. 3/1 stats are arguably similar to 1/2, depending on the scenario. The card won’t see Constructed play, it MIGHT be played in Arena if you don’t get better picks, because even if it gets pinged, you still get those two 1/1’s back.

Bad card.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Giant Mastodon

I mean… Bog Creeper. You end up paying 2 more mana for only +2 more health on this one. It’s really a bad deal. It’s a bit like an Ancient of War, but also for 2 more mana. Not really worth it. Sure, it has a Beast tag, but you rarely end up caring about Beast tag on 9-drops, because they die very fast and if they stick you get so much value that you probably win. The dream scenario would be copying it with Menagerie Warden after it sticks, but how likely is that? Hint: Not too likely.

Filler card.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Pterrordax Hatchling

Ooh, it’s like the 3 mana version of the 2-drop that requires 2 minions to Adapt. And while that one made some sense, because 2/2 with Adapt for 2 mana is good, this one isn’t. You end up with vanilla or below vanilla minion with this one. 5/2, 2/5, 2/2 with Divine Shield, 2/2 with Taunt or Windfury (hahah) – all for 3 mana. Not really good. Even the best option is pretty bad, so no, the card won’t really see any Constructed play.

Card rating: 1/5

Steam Surger

When, if you play Elemental synergies in Mage, this card is definitely auto-include. 4 mana 5/4 that draws you a card – even though it’s a specific and not incredibly powerful card, it’s still great value. You get extra 2 mana and then another small Elemental for the sake of synergies.

But to be fair, Elemental Mage doesn’t look too exciting. So far the only class with real Elemental synergies (especially thanks to the Legendary) is Shaman.

Card rating: 3.5/5

Obsidian Shard

Well, it starts at 4 mana, which is kinda too slow. But the good news for this weapon is that even after playing just 1 card from another class, which is not that hard with Swashburglar, this is a 3 mana 3/3 weapon which is already pretty good. Still, there is one problem. It’s hard to run it with only 2x Swashburglar in your deck. You might not draw it, you might not get a card you can play early etc. and this will sit as a 4 mana weapon. In order to reduce its cost more consistently you’d need to play more “Burgle” cards. Right now Rogue doesn’t do that, but maybe with the new additions? It’s hard to rate this card, because in the right deck it would be very powerful – you could easily get it down to 1 or even 0 mana. And imagine the tempo of 0 mana 3/3 weapon, that’s GREAT.

Right now, however, I won’t rate it too highly, because I don’t have huge faith in the Burgle Rogue archetype.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Feeding Time

Oooh, it’s like a balanced version of Imp-losion. Maybe even too balanced. People have asked thousand of times to make it always deal 3 and summon 3 imps. And such a card would be very powerful at 4 mana. But at 5? Well, it’s much worse. It seems barely playable. 5 mana is a lot for 3 damage and 3x 1/1. It’s very slow for a Zoo.

Time will tell, but I don’t think it will see play. And it definitely will never see play in the Wild, as the Imp-losion is simply superior. This is a bit comparable to a 2 roll from 4 damage Imp-losion, which was usually underwhelming.

Card rating: 2/5

Bloodbloom

It’s a Cho’gall but without the body. Which makes it a bit more versatile, because you can cast it as soon as turn 2. It makes the card much more interesting and it has some potential. For example, imagine this + Kara Kazham! in Zoo. For 2 mana you summon 3/3, 2/2 and 1/1. That’s an insane tempo turn in Zoo and Kara Kazham is not that terrible later. Sure, you lose 5 health, but a) in slow matchups it doesn’t matter and b) in fast matchups you get big enough board to make good trades and you actually save health in the long run.

You can also use it as an early board wipe with Twisting Nether, at the cost of 8 health of course. But that’s with a slower Warlock. Also this + Siphon Soul. You end up paying only 3 health (since you heal for 3) and you get a 2 mana “Destroy a minion”, can be used as an early answer to something like 4 mana 7/7 that you can’t kill.

Of course, this is still situational, as it’s a 2 cards combo AND you spend 2 cards to make it worth. Kara Kazham seems like the best combo, as it’s most consistent. But the problem is that when you draw this and no Kara Kazham, then it’s pretty useless in Zoo. Zoo doesn’t really run any other expensive spells. So yeah, after thinking for a bit, it’s not as strong as I’ve first thought. But hey, it might have some combo potential somewhere down the road.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Hallucination

So, it’s a bit like the Swashburglar. But instead of a 1/1 body you get to pick one of the 1 choices. Swashburglar seems better turn 1 play, but this is WAY better in the late game. Picking the right option for the situation is great. And since it’s a cheap spell, it gets all the synergies like Gadgetzan Auctioneer. This card is pretty powerful and well, if you play this AND Swashburglar, the new weapon also might see some play. This card still need testing, but I think it’s quite good.

Card rating: 4/5

Envenom Weapon

It was actually a common prediction pre-expansion. So, the card is interesting. This is an INSANE tempo gain for Rogue. If you dagger up + play this you pay 5 mana in total and you get to kill any 2 minions. The problem is that it’s at the expense of your health. If you kill something small, than the poisonous keyword isn’t really worth it. But if you want to kill something big, you have to stab it and take a lot of damage. Let’s say you kill two 6 Attack targets – that’s 12 health. Considering the lack of healing in Rogue, it’s A LOT. Running 2 of this would be a suicide.

Well, there is an option to run Violet Illusionist too, so you won’t take damage. But that’s again more cards combo. Also, will Rogue really need that card? The class gets a 3/4 minion with Assassinate attached to it. It might be enough, to be fair.

People seem to be excited for this card, I have kinda mixed feelings. It might be good, but might also be useless.

Card rating: 3/5

Sabretooth Stalker

Filler card. Might be okay-ish in Arena, but in Constructed it feels bad. You pay 6 mana to get 8/2. Sure, it has Stealth, so it might survive, but Stranglethorn Tiger seems much better. Costs 1 less, has more health, so it’s harder to take down and it’s better for trading. This is only good when you play to go face with it and it doesn’t die. And by “good” I mean 8 damage for 6 mana that might not even connect because of Taunt or any 2+ damage AoE. If it was 3 health it might actually be good, but at 2 it’s too easy to deal with.

Card rating: 1.5/5

Vicious Fledgling

Oooh, that’s interesting. Probably not good enough for Constructed, but it will be busted in Arena. I mean, even in Constructed it might be good enough. If it gets killed by removal, it’s 1 for 1. And if it survives, it will be harder and harder to kill. I mean, it would adapt EVERY TIME you hit face. Windfury would be the best Adapt option, as you would be able to attack and Adapt again. This is a 3-drop that can potentially win the game by itself, although it’s a pretty rare scenario. Get Windfury and let’s say +3 Health. Then get “Can’t be targeted” and 3 more health. Then get some Attack and I don’t know, Divine Shield or +1/+1. And keep attacking and keep Adapting. It’s scary if you think about this surviving AND getting Windfury. But that’s very rare case.

Overall I don’t think it will see too much Constructed play, but it will be a nightmare of many Arena players.

Card rating: 2.5/5

Primalfin Totem

Oooh, that’s pretty cool. A new Totem. At 2 mana it’s pretty cheap and it gets more and more value over time. It’s definitely a high priority target. But it seems to be too slow to see play. You’d ideally want to put this in Murloc deck and get tons of value. But it really starts getting value on the 3rd summon – two 1/1 Murlocs aren’t good enough yet. So it really needs to stay on the board for a few turns. If it does, then great. But if it gets removed right away, then it wasn’t too good. One thing that works for it, however, is that you get 1/1 at the end of you turn. So even if it gets removed right away, you still get that 1/1 value.

It might be too slow for Murloc decks and slower decks might not need it. But what I like about it is the Quest value – if you manage to stick it for the few turns, you can finish the Quest REALLY quickly. So yeah, it’s really hard to tell at this point, it MIGHT see some play, but I wouldn’t overestimate this card’s strength.

Card rating: 3/5

Closing

That’s all folks. All reviews are done. I really wanted to cover EVERY card from the expansion, so this turned out to be my longest post ever – 14k words or 80k+ characters. Probably no one will ever read that, but hey, it was fun writing it at least!

I will start doing the brews tomorrow, so expect to see the first ones on Monday. I hope that you’ll like them!

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comment section below. And if you want to be up to date with my articles, you can follow me on Twitter.

Good luck on the ladder and until next time!

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