Blizzard introduced a wealth of Hearthstone cards in its Priest vs. Warlock match during the final reveal stream for Scholomance Academy today.
During the match, Raise Dead, Power Word: Feast, Draconic Studies, and Demonic Studies were revealed. Raise Dead is a common Priest Warlock dual-class card that costs zero mana and adds two friendly minions that died this game to your hand at the cost of dealing three damage to your Hero. Power Word: Feast is a rare Priest spell that costs two mana and gives a minion +2/+2 in stats and heals it to full health at the end of the turn. Draconic Studies is a common Priest spell that costs one mana and Discovers a Dragon. It also makes the next Dragon you play cost one less. Demonic Studies is a common Warlock spell that costs one mana and Discovers a Demon. Much like every other Study, it also makes the next Demon you play cost one less.Â
Raise Dead is a cheap way to accrue value since you’re effectively drawing two cards for zero health. While this may look like a fit for the Resurrection Priest archetype, Raise Dead has the potential to be used in faster Tempo lists like Zoo due to the fact that this card only costs health to play and not mana. Power Word: Feast is a buff card that hopes to build upon the tempo of the Priest archetype by being another buff to add to your minions. This buff is potent due to the fact it gives you the opportunity to value trade with your minions and heal it to full after performing those trades.
Draconic Studies and Demonic Studies are both a part of the Study cycle of cards that cost one mana apiece and let the next card of the same type be cheaper. When assessing Study cards, figuring out what cards can be cheated out a turn earlier can help add value to them. With Draconic Studies, Priest can find a turn-three Fate Weaver, which can be a 3/6 body on turn three. If played in the later game, there are a ton of high-value minions that Priest could appreciate, like Aeon Reaver, Skeletal Dragon, Murzond, or either version of Alexstrasza. Demonic Studies can provide an extra copy of Flame Imp or Scrap Iron Imp in aggressive lists or a third copy of Enhanced Dreadlord or the new Void Drinker in slower lists.
Hearthstone’s Scholomance Academy is scheduled to become available on Aug. 6.
