The Grand Tournament Cards Review PT. 2

In this series we’re going to focus on The Grand Tournament cards that aren’t stellar and explain how they can be used to their best potential. I’ll start out with how each card can be used in constructed, and what type of deck it could be used in (even including a few deck lists), and then moving on to how it can be used in arena. I will be telling you when to pick it and what type of deck it should be in, as that can be more difficult with the RNG of arena.

Argent Lance

This card is pretty difficult to use, especially with Coghammer, which is just one more mana. With Argent Lance, you can lower your mana curve and also take care of some two-health minions such as Knife Juggler and Mad Scientist, which are seen often in ranked mode. These two minions can remove any small minion you may want Coghammer to buff, and so Argent Lance is a little better because you can take care of the minion without having to worry about having a minion on the field.

In constructed, make sure that you have plenty of higher-cost minions so you can get the extra durability from it. Many Paladin decks only play Dr. Boom or Tirion Fordring towards the highend of mana cost. Argent Lance can be used in decks that are stronger in the late-game where not allowing the opponent’s board presence to develop is important to winning.

In arena, Argent Lance is a strong card to take because minion removal is very important. Make sure that your curve does have some high-cost cards in it so you can rely on the durability buff more, but don’t go too high as you will lose to faster-paced decks.

Enter the Coliseum

Enter the Coliseum is the first reliable single-card removal spell for Paladin. There is the Equality plus Consecration combo, but that takes up four card slots in your deck. With Enter the Coliseum, you can safely remove all of the creatures except the ones you want, as long as you play them in the right order.

Constructed is good with this, as you can hold on in the early and mid game with life gain spells, then play your big creatures such as Dr. Boom, Tirion Fordring, or Deathwing, then playing Enter the Coliseum to clear the rest of the field. You can then attack with or play any other minions, and then you end out on top of the play.

When choosing this in arena, make sure you have plenty of high attack minions that can win on the trade after you play Enter the Coliseum. I do not recommend keeping it in your starting hand, as it can be clunky, and you may end up losing if you don’t keep up in the early game.

Spawn of Shadows

Now onto Priest! Spawn of Shadows is the four mana Inspire for Priest and is not your average Priest card. It allows you to start laying down some heavy damage each turn to each player. If you attack with it, it ends up putting nine damage on the opponent and you only have to take two damage. This card opens new paths for Priest, allowing you to put some pressure on the opponent to either remove it or else take quite a bit of damage each turn.

Arena play would be a little more fun, as it is not picked very often and would possibly confuse your opponent. Your opponent might focus too much on the card and end up wasting some strong removal spells or strong creatures.

Sparring Partner

Sparring Partner is part of Blizzard’s idea that Taunt Warrior is going to be a deck. It’s stats are fantastic, starting at a 3/2 with Taunt for only two mana. Not only that, but it gives ANY other minion. You can use this mechanic to pull a creature out from behind those Annoy-a-Trons, or even just give one of your own minions Taunt if you are playing Taunt Warrior.

In constructed, this card has two places: Taunt Warrior and some Control Warriors. With Taunt Warrior, make sure you run some solid cards that you want to gain Taunt later on, such as Armorsmith, so you can gain armor off of her. If you play Control Warrior, use this to pull creatures out from behind opponent’s to kill, or even target one of your Piloted Shredders. In each deck, you should be playing The Black Knight as you can target an opponent’s minion, then follow up and kill it, coming out with two creatures.

This is also a solid card in arena, as it can target any minion.Taunt is a strong mechanic in arena. Forcing your opponent to trade is very good, shifting their focus so you can attack their face. Make sure you have a wide range of minions to use if you are going to take this card.

King’s Defender

King’s Defender is another card that proves Blizzard is trying to make Taunt Warrior a plausible thing. It is honestly another solid card, a three-mana 3/2 weapon. It can be pretty useful early game to either play high-health minions with taunt or even just play Annoy-o-Tron to stick on the board for a turn.

This card was made for Taunt Warrior, giving this deck a strong weapon that they can play and stay on the board for a while. Make sure you run plenty of Taunt creatures. Sometimes the extra durability isn’t worth it if you could get a better trade for the cost that could put you up.

In arena, make sure that you have plenty of Taunt creatures before you take this. If you have few Taunt creatures, it is better to just take the Fiery War Axe, as it is cheaper and seen more often then this rare. It can get clunky if you do take this with little Taunt creatures. Also, don’t be afraid to play this even if you don’t have a Taunt on the field but you do in the deck. Waiting for the Taunt can cost you if you need to remove some smaller threats before your deck takes off.

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