Journey to Un’Goro Card Reviews – Arena Edition, Part 4

Introduction

Hello everyone and welcome to the last part of my Journey to Un’Goro card reviews for Arena. As always the cards are reviewed rated and put into these categories: Terrible, Bad, Below average, Average, Above average, Good, Amazing. For this part we’re going to run through the remaining cards from 31st March stream.

Card reviews

Health in Arena isn’t as important since decks aren’t as aggressive. As a Warrior your hero power is sufficient enough to restore health against aggressive decks. Pure health gain is terrible in Arena. Therefore Iron Hide is also terrible.

Rating: Terrible

Tar Lurker is similar to Tar Lord and they both have the same problem. Lurker itself isn’t a threat on the board as you only deal 1 damage to opponent’s face and you can’t trade properly with Tar Lurker during your turn. This means the opponent can choose to kill Tar Lurker when he wants to giving him time to set up a removal. Unlike Tar Creeper, Tar Lurker has the same amount of stats as many other 5 drops. Yet in Warlock big taunt minions are always welcome as Warlock’s health is very precious. Overall Tar Lurker has a few advantages and a few disadvantages too which balance each other out.

Rating: Average

Envenom Weapon is going to be crazy. You spend 2 mana for the dagger plus 3 mana for Envenom Weapon and what you get is two hard removals on demand for free. Envenom is a huge swing card and this card can generate huge amounts of tempo on board. The best thing about Envenom is that you can set it up and then hold the weapon for as long as you want to. The face damage taken could be very relevant, however the tempo gained is for sure enough to offset the health loss. Overall Envenom Weapon is going to make Rogue even stronger than it is now.

Rating: Amazing

Vicious Fledgling has a great upside on top of solid stats. If kept unchecked, Vicious Fledgling can wreak havoc and become a big threat for your opponent to deal with. Realistically, Fledgling will rarely get to attack the opponent more than once. Honestly most of the time it is going to die without even adapting once. Yet that isn’t bad since you payed 3 mana for 3/3. Fledgling has the potential to become a huge threat which it puts pressure on the opponent to remove it. If the opponent can’t deal with it, you get to adapt which is worth 1 mana. Overall average stats but has huge potential.

Rating: Good

On average cards in your deck are going to cost lower than 5 for sure. This means that on average Bright-Eyed Scout is going to make your cards cost more than they are worth. This combined with the poor stats for a 4 drop make this card very bad. Since the stats are of a good 3 drop, you are paying 1 mana for an effect which hurts you most of the time. It is also heavily rng based which isn’t something you want as you should seek consistency. Overall the card has too many downsides and the times where it’s good are rare.

Rating: Bad

Right off the bat the stats are bad. 5/5 minions usually cost 5 mana which means Cruel Dinomancer better have a good ability. And the good thing is Dinomancer’s ability is very good. For only 1 mana you get to summon a random minion that you discarded. However the requirements are pretty tough. First of all you need to have cards that discard cards in your deck. Then you need to play them before playing Dinomancer. On top of that you have to discard a minion and not a spell. All of these requirements are going to be tough to complete, however the payoff of Cruel Dinomancer is so good that it’s worth it for sure. Onyx Bishop is similar to Dinomancer. Bishop pays 3 mana for stats and 2 for effect. So the effect is one more mana in exchange of being less of a hassle to complete. Because Onyx Bishop is very good in arena Cruel Dinomancer is going to be good too given you have the right deck for it.

Rating: Good

Bittertide Hydra is going to be very strong. 5 mana 8/8 stats are +3/+3 more than you’d expect and if left unchecked Bittertide Hydra can win a game on it’s own. Most of the time the effect will trigger 2-3 times which means you will take around 6-9 damage when playing Hydra which is definitely worth for the huge stats. In some cases you may not even take any damage at all if your opponent uses a hard removal like Polymorph or Assassinate. Overall the downside isn’t relevant that much in Arena. Because of that the Bittertide Hydra is terrific.

Ratng: Amazing

The best comparison is between Eggnapper and Scarlet Crusader. Because Scarlet Crusader has divine shield it’s like it had a deathrattle summon a 3/1 minion. If you think about it that way, Eggnapper leaves two 1/1 bodies on the board whilst Scarlet Crusader leaves 3/1 body on the board. 3/1 body is usually better than two 1/1s, however the difference isn’t too big. Because Scarlet Crusader is above average in Arena Eggnapper is going to be average.

Rating: Average

Rockpool Hunter is a 2 mana 2/3 with a small upside from time to time. The effect will rarely ever trigger and the times it does it is going to be nice but nothing spectacular. Overall just a 2/3 with a small upside from time to time.

Rating: Average

Steam Surger is on par with the stats for a 4 drop. The effect is very strong when it triggers since you get pretty much a 4 mana 5/4 which adds a card to your hand. Flame Geyser isn’t too strong, however it is a card itself and because you get it for free it’s great value. Now it is going to be difficult to play an elemental on turn 3, however even if you don’t it’s ok. Playing a simple 5/4 for 4 mana is good enough. The effect is just icing on the cake. Overall a strong card by itself and really great when the effect triggers.

Rating: Good

Biteweed is just a worse version of Edwin Van Cleef. For Biteweed to be worth you need to play 3 cards in one turn and then have enough mana to drop Biteweed. This is going to be very difficult to acomplish and Biteweed is going to be bad in Arena. On top of that Biteweed is very bad in the early game as at best you will get to play him as a 2/2 for 2 mana. In the late game Biteweed is a terrible top deck too. Overall it’s just too hard to benefit from Biteweed’s effect for it to be worth.

Rating: Bad

Chittering Tunneler is insane. It’s a 3 mana 3/3 discover a card which is absolute bonkers. 3/3 for 3 mana which draws a card would be really good in Arena. A 3/3 that discovers a card? That’s just crazy value. Sure the drawback is there, however if you’re low on health you can always pick the least costing spell. The value gained from Chittering Tunneler heavily outweighs the health lost. If you compare it to Life Tap it’s a whole lot better. You take a bit more damage in exchange for a body and discovering a spell instead of drawing a card. Overall Chittering Tunneler is a huge value house.

Rating: Amazing

Bloodbloom isn’t that good because it costs a card itself. It is similar to Preparation or Innvervate, however a lot weaker. The health lost isn’t worth the extra tempo gained. You are already going to lose a lot of health with upcoming cards like Chittering Tunneler so you don’t want to kill yourself. The card is also going to be dead in hand very often since it is so situational. You can’t play it alone which means it’s going to be terrible in the late game and when topdecking. You have to consider that Preparation in Rogue, a class which heavily relies on spells and tempo, is below average. Because Bloodbloom is worse than Preparation it’s going to be at least below average. Overall the effect isn’t worth the health and Bloodbloom is going to sit dead in your hand for quite a bit.

Rating: Bad

Humongous Razorleaf is meant for constructed and is terrible in Arena since you won’t get reliable activators.

Rating: Terrible

Giant Mastodon is very similar to bog-creeper which is a terrific card in Arena. However Giant Mastodon only has 2 extra health in exchange for 2 mana. This is a terrible deal since 1 mana is worth at least 2 stats and with Mastodon you get only 2 health where as you should get 4. Yet Bog Creeper is so good that it’s a bit unfair to compare them. Even though Mastodon is worse than Bog Creeper, it’s still going to be decent in Arena.

Rating: Above average

Basically a 2/1 for 1 mana which isn’t great. The effect is irrelevant and the beast tag doesn’t matter too much.

Rating: Below average

More often than not Obsidian Shard is going to be 4 mana 3/3. Compared to assassins-blade it sacrifices 1 durability to cost 1 less mana. Assassin’s Blade is quite good and Obisidian is better version of Assassin’s Blade. Without any reductions Obsidian Shard is already a bit above average. The ability is very strong. Even reducing the cost by one makes the card very great. Anything beyond that the card becomes insane. With 2 reductions it becomes a better fiery-war-axe which is arguably the best card in Arena. Overall a good card with amazing potential.

Rating: Good

Without the battlecry Nesting Roc is a 5 mana 4/7 which makes it above average already. The ability is terrific. For only 5 mana 4/7 taunt is crazy value. The requirement isn’t too hard to trigger as by turn 5 you will have at least 2 minions quite often. 4 Attack is good enough to kill most things the opponent can put out by turn 5 and the 7 health makes Nesting Roc very durable. The best thing about Nesting Roc is that you don’t need to activate the battlecry for it to be good. If you do the card becomes very good. Roc also has nice synergy with classes that spam a lot of minions like Paladin Shaman or Warlock. Overall just a great card with solid stats.

Rating: Good

2/3 Stats are worth 2 mana which means the ability needs to be worth 1 mana for Igneous Elemental to be good. The two flame-elemental that get added to your hand aren’t worth a card individually, however because you get two of them they do add up to a card almost. The deathrattle does offset the weak stats, however a big problem with Igneous Elemental is that it’s bad in the early game. The stats are bad and you usually won’t have time in the early game to play 1 mana 1/2 minions. In the late game 1/2 elementals aren’t going to make an impact at all.The card does have very good synergy with other elemental synergy requiring cards as the 1 mana Flame Elementals are easy to fit into your curve to reap benefits from the synergies.

Rating: Average

Since it costs 2 mana to discover a spell with Primordial Glyph and it gets reduced by 2 mana, you can look at it as 0 mana discover a spell. Which is absolutely insane in Arena. Spells in Arena are more powerful than minions and discovering one almost for free is crazy. Primordial Glyph also allows you to discover a powerful spell and then play it 2 turns earlier than you’d usually. The only downside is if you discover a spell which costs 1 or less, you don’t get full value from mana reduction. Yet this can be avoided most of the time since you get offered 3 spells. Overall the cards is broken in Arena.

Rating: Amazing

Harbinger needs to reduce at least 3 elementals for it to be good. In Arena you will almost never have 3 or more elementals sitting in your hand. The stats are very bad which means Harbinger is going to die for free most of the time. In the late game it’s even worse. Overall just a terrible card meant for constructed.

Rating: Terrible

Shimmering Tempest is a better version of loot-hoarder. Getting a mage spell is slightly better than drawing a card from your deck. The 1 health does mean that it can get killed by many hero powers or small tokens, however even if it dies you still get the spell which you shouldn’t be sad about. The great aspect of Shimmering Tempest is that it’s good in most stages of the game. Because you’re playing Mage you can always use hero power to kill Tempest in desperate situations and sometimes you might get a spell like frost-nova which could save the game. Even in the late game if you top deck Shimmering, there is always a possibility of killing it yourself to get a spell. Overall a slightly better Loot Hoarder

Rating: Above average

Stormwatcher is a better windfury-harpy. For only 1 mana it gives 3 more health which makes the card a whole lot better. If you have the board Stormwatcher can be a great finisher, especially if you buff it beforehand. Still the biggest issue with Stormwatcher is that it’s very bad if you’re behind on board. It’s a win more card which can do wonders if you have the board, however it will suck if you don’t. Because of that it’s not going to be great in Arena.

Rating: Below average

Hot Spring Guardian is a squirming-tentacle on steroids. The stats aren’t great as it dies to many 3 drops, however restoring 3 health is huge and it makes the card so much better. earthen-ring-farseer is an above average card in Arena. Hot Spring Guardian has a bit different stat distribution and taunt on top of that. The great thing about it is that restoring 3 health is going to be relevant in all stages of the game. And because it has taunt it’s going to be very versatile in the late game too. Overall the card is not only strong on paper but also very flexible.

Rating: Amazing

Frozen Crusher is very anti tempo. When compared to a normal 6 drop it has +2/+2 more stats than it should for its effect which isn’t justifiable enough to pick it. It can only attack once every 2 turns because it gets frozen all the time. Having a frozen minion isn’t what you want and since it doesn’t have taunt your opponent can simply ignore it. At most you are going to attack twice with this minion since the opponent will have so much time to set up a removal for it. Overall the drawback is too much to justify +2/+2 stats compared to a regular 6 drop.

Rating: Bad

Health isn’t as important, especially in the mid game when you want to use Tidal Surge. When you take out the health that Tidal Surge restores, it only deals 4 damage for 4 mana. Of course that isn’t a bad deal, however it isn’t anything spectacular either.

Rating: Average

Best way to rate Fire Plume Phoenix is to compare it to stormpike-commando which is an above average card. Fire Plume Phoenix deals the same amount of damage, has the same amount of stats, however costs 1 less mana. You can make almost any card good if you make it cost 1 less mana and Phoenix isn’t an exception. It’s going to be very powerful in Arena. It is a reactive card and it’s a good way to climb back when you’re behind on board. On curve it’s not going to be as good unless your opponent has something with 2 health. More often than not it’s better to save it in your hand when you can benefit from the battlecry and play something else on that turn. Lastly don’t forget that it is an elemental which has some added value as well. Overall Pheonix is going to be a great reactive card and a way to help you get back on the board.

Rating: Good

15 Damage to a minion is an overkill for sure. Meteor seems insanely crazy when you compare it to explosive-shot. With explosive shot you’re dealing 9 damage in total. On the other hand Meteor deals 21 damage in total for 1 extra mana. That is difference of 12 damage for 1 mana. Granted your opponent is never going to have something with 15 health so a big part of the damage is going to get wasted. However Meteor is a lot better than Explosive Shot not only because it deals more total damage but also because dealing 3 damage to adjacent minions is a whole lot better than 2. Explosive Shot is already a great card in Arena and because Meteor is a better Explosive Shot, naturally it’s going to be terrific in Arena

Rating: Amazing

The stats are garbage for Primalfin Champion and the effect is way too conditional to be good for Arena. You can’t guarantee getting buffs for Primalfin which means most of the time it’s going to be 2 mana 1/2 which is terrible.

Rating: Terrible

Even though adapt costs 1 mana and on paper Adaptation should be good, reality is very different. The problem is is that adaptation is only good when you stick it on a minion. On itself it’s not worth a card most of the time. If you have a lot of card draw in your deck then sure Adaptation can be a handy card, however if you don’t you are going to run out of cards very soon.

Rating: Below average

Since we’re talking Arena, Devilsaur Egg won’t have any activators most of the time. Besides it has 3 health so many AoE spells aren’t going to kill it either. It’s just a card meant for constructed play.

Rating: Terrible

The card on its own is very bad. The stats suck for 4 mana. Most of the time when you play The Voraxx, you won’t have any buffs in hand and will simply play a 4 mana 3/3 which is bad. Unless you’re playing Paladin, The Voraxx is going to be just a 3/3 for 4.

Rating: Bad

Similar to faceless-manipulator Molten Reflection is very situational. Of course as long as you use it on a minions worth 4 mana you got a good deal. It shouldn’t be that hard to find a 4 mana minion to copy with Molten Reflection. If you get anything above 4 mana, you got yourself a good deal. Molten Reflection may sit as a dead card in your hand for a while, however the potential of copying a big threat is very sweet.

Rating: Above average

Shellshifter is insanely good. Both transformations are worth 4 mana which means you get the choose one effect without any downside. The card is very flexible as these choose one effects do the opposite of each other. 5/3 stealth is best used offensively whilst 3/5 taunt is very good when you’re behind on board. The ability to choose if you either want to go offensive or defensive with the card is very important here. Shellshifter is very flexible and is good in all stages of the game. In the mid game you will want to drop it as a 3/5 taunt whilst in the late game 5/3 stealth will be the preferred option. It serves as both reach in the late game and health gain. Overall the card is terrific and I’m excited to play around with it.

Rating: Amazing

For Primalfin Totem to be good it needs to summon at least 3 murlocs to get 2 mana worth of stats. The problem here is that your opponent is not going to allow you to spawn more than 1 murloc. And since you can’t protect the totem properly it’s going to summon 1-2 murlocs which is bad. Compared to mana-tide-totem Primalfin Totem is very bad.

Rating: Bad

 

 

Closing

With that it’s time to close up my Journey to Un’Goro card review series for Arena. With the expansion arriving it’s time to stop theorizing about cards and jump right into the Arena and see how these cards work in practice. That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for more Arena articles.

Until next time.

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