Another decent Assemble card. Currently a 3 mana 3/4 that does nothing is trash, but if Assemble works well, this will be playable. The focus on a 1 cost limits how strong it will be, but guarantees you something to play soon.
Very good card! Death Knight has done some sick things in the past with hand-buffing, and this is better than some of the earlier cards because it hits ALL minions (not just Undead), and it develops something you have specifically crafted. I really hope Assemble works!
I can see this being a pretty strong card, though you'd probably only like it when discovered or generated, not taking up a deck slot. An 8/8 that just removes a 6 or less health minion is decent, and if it gets the bonus and you can finish off the enemy target with something else, even better.
I assume the 15 mana must be spent AFTER you've played this, which makes it pretty bad. If it's just 15 mana spent on spells so far this game, it's much better. Obviously, getting Tortollan is always going to be nuts anyway.
There's Crash 1 done! All platinum relics to boot. For some reason, the PC leaderboard seems to be broken, but here are all of my relic times if you want to challenge them yourself.
Level
Time
N. Sanity Beach
0:25.08
Jungle Rollers
0:44.19
The Great Gate
0:42.73
Boulders
0:46.58
Upstream
0:44.37
Rolling Stones
0:44.85
Hog Wild
0:40.73
Native Fortress
1:44.75
Up The Creek
1:13.31
The Lost City
1:25.01
Temple Ruins
1:01.68
Road to Nowhere
0:51.27
Boulder Dash
1:15.41
Whole Hog
0:24.52
Sunset Vista
3:04.18
Heavy Machinery
1:25.69
Cortex Power
0:36.18
Generator Room
0:55.98
Toxic Waste
0:53.22
The High Road
0:55.06
Slippery Climb
2:12.26
Lights Out
1:02.50
Fumbling In The Dark
1:29.74
Jaws of Darkness
1:27.97
Castle Machinery
2:02.94
The Lab
0:44.45
Stormy Ascent
2:36.21
Crash 1 NST relics are not really too intensive due to the lack of any powerups and there's no sliding. As long as you keep holding forward and break all of the time crates, you're going to be just fine.
Hey! I am back from the dead. Had some stuff happening IRL so I was not around.
This month I have started Sleeping Dogs Definitive edition and Finished Triangle Strategy. All amazing games. I started Librarian too and really enjoy getting those books on their shelf little by little
Also Black Flag Resync is still there waiting for a bug to be fixed, so I can finish the quest I am stuck at. loved the game.
I just saw Clickbait tycoon is a thing! I will probably check it out next month as I entered a Mortage for an apartment and this month will be hard with some extra expenses... Edit. Trying the demo today
Stormgate is this awkward "lol we're StarCraft and Diablo" for the theme, yet the narrative was effectively non-existent. Units felt... maybe this isn't the right term but floaty in how they moved? Had they of tried something completely new, maybe it would have hooked more people? It felt a bit weird to just be a clone, though I suspect their thoughts on it was it was something they knew and they wanted to be seen as the spiritual successor to StarCraft II.
I didn't mind the art style of the game, though it definitely is not cohesive in the same way that StarCraft is. Small teams have been proven to create games with higher levels of cohesion so my suspicion with that has always been that while they had great people on the team, they were used to the AAA scale that Blizzard operated their games on. Having a few people dealing with art vs having an entire team is a very different kind of battle.
1.0 was definitely rushed and it is a shame. I think it was a major mistake though to chase an RTS when the genre has been having problems for many years. New game studios shouldn't always just chase pure passion but build a solid ground. They could have built a different game, maybe even in the same universe as Stormgate and then made the RTS they dreamed of and really focused on a beautiful campaign to draw people in from the first title and then tack on a solid multiplayer experience - hopefully with no lag - to build something people would adore for ages.
I laugh at the emotional vs rational brain part though. It's just so damn true. That teaser cinematic was beautiful and Blizzard truly knows what they are doing in that department.
This new Assemble mechanic looks wicked strong. Very similar to Dark Gifts, which I would say have performed really well overall. I look forward to trying them out!
Stormgate had a number of issues and maybe the lack of mass appeal of RTS was among them, but I don't think it was the main issue.
They were forced to release the 1.0 before the game was ready, because they ran out of funds. I don't know if it was poor planning, excessive costs or trying to do too many things at once, but in any case their ambitions were larger than their budget (which wasn't tiny). The 1.0 was a lot better than the pre-release playtest, but it clearly wasn't done yet, neither in terms of content nor refinement.
Also it had a problem with the art style and characters not being very appealing. Compare that to the StarCraft shooter trailer: while my rational brain knows they can screw it up in so many ways, my emotional brain is hyped. For Stormgate, it was more like the opposite: on paper it was everything I wanted, but the style and narrative didn't draw me in.
As part of the Crash 30th anniversary deal, I picked up the Lucky 7 bundle on Steam, which contained the Crash N Sane Trilogy, Crash 4, and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
I already own all 4 games on PS4, but I don't have my PS4 with me. I also have Crash 4 on BattleNet, but that version also lacks achievements.
It feels really nice to be playing the N Sane Trilogy again (or even just any version of the original Crash games). They are games that truly stick with you forever and have meant a lot to me for nearly my entire life.
I also downloaded a thing that made it so that the N. Sane Trilogy also uses the original PS1 soundtrack. It's really dumb that I need to install a mod for a feature that has no excuse to not be in the base game, but at least it's possible to do it though. Feels so great to be hearing the original music (especially since some songs like the sewer levels in Crash 2 were utterly eviscerated in the new soundtrack), and as someone with not much modding knowledge, at least it was easy to get going. Now, the real kick in the nuts is the fact that the Spyro trilogy and CTR Nitro Fueled does have the ability to change soundtracks by default, and Crash 4 also has the original PS1 music in the flashback tapes, so it's not like licensing got in the way of it. There's really no reason that the N. Sane Trilogy shouldn't have had that feature.
Rant over. I'm extremely happy to be playing Crash again. It's a fantastic remaster of three of the best platformers ever made, and you should buy it if you don't have it already.
100% agreed, they need to do something truly special with the StarCraft shooter. They have a ton of time to settle in on what makes it special still before their final commitment so let's hope it's something they can deliver on.
The base building and large army aspects of RTS is definitely one of my favourite things. Once or twice a year I'll boot up a game like StarCraft II just to play a round or two against a bunch of AI players to experience that base building progression and churn out some fun units to play with and roflstomp them. It always makes me want to have a conquest mode in the game which would let me take my army further and allow me to take it against larger and larger forces, allowing me to play a game of StarCraft over hours or even days. Civilization sorta scratches that itch, but the game isn't in real-time which makes it less interesting to manage various UI.
I did prototype something like what I'm describing a few years back but I never really touched visuals so it wasn't great eye candy to play lol.
Skill floor 100% sucks though in RTS PVP. It's so much to get through and ladder anxiety is a legitimate thing for people which further kills games.
There's a reason why the StarCraft folks that left to make Stormgate didn't succeed: people don't want to get into those kinds of games right now. They had an amazing amount of free press for the game, lots of interest, but no staying power. I do think that they would have done better if they had a level editor and a really solid custom game engine with a better interface than the one StarCraft II had (it's still not great). So many games live just because of the potential for modding and I know that's a large piece to chew on for smaller teams, but it's always worth considering because it can be shaped off your own development tools.
I used to joke with friends about how there would be whole retirement homes built around having LAN parties to play World of Warcraft and I honestly think this is still going to be a thing.
The game and universe continue to be a titan in the space and we've had people who are retired now who started playing the game in their middle ages so it's not crazy to think it will happen.
That's so great that reforged is more recent in your mind going into the new content. I have to get through the whole thing before I can even think about playing the new stuff. It's gonna be a ton of fun but hnnng the time lol.
Hahahahaha. This is so painfully true. They'll do that after not talking about it publicly for a really long-time too. It would be nice if they were to talk about it a couple of weeks after the brawl happens to actually communicate what they want to do with it after their test so people weren't left in the dark.
Regarding the StarCraft shooter, the premise sure sounds similar to Helldivers (and in turn, Starship Troopers): authoritarian regime sends large numbers of expendable marines to battle insectoid aliens. That in itself doesn't have to be a problem, for example there are loads of zombie games. But the game play needs something that sets it apart: if it's just Helldivers in the StarCraft universe, it's likely to run into the HotS scenario you mentioned, where the potential players are already invested in another game.
I do think there is still potential for RTS in some form: people still like base building and people still like sending large armies into battle. The problem for me (and I assume most casual players) is the skill floor: you need to practice a lot to get to a level where you can actually participate and you have to repeat most of that practice if you want to return after taking a break.
Like Nirast, I only play Hearthstone. And I am VERY excited about the new stuff coming! New class shakes things up, 2v2 could be amazing, Warchief sounds fun. I'm here for it!
I am also STOKED about new Warcraft 3 content. That is still one of my favorite games of all time. I actually replayed all the old campaigns within the last year or so.
Only game I'm playing in this list is Hearthstone, so that's the only one I can really comment on. I'll say this: If Warcheif does becomea full fledged mode, it better not go the way of Twist. I'm also excited for Monk, only because Team 5 loves to evenly split the classes into teams, and you can't split 11! 12, on the other hand, is far more flexible.
Warcraft III expansion is a nice surprise, we'll have to see how it turns out. Also, here's your Forever subtitle:
I wanted to finish this last night but it was an exhausting day! I'd love to hear everyone else's opinions on the first day and critique my own. So, what do you think?
Yeah I couldn't imagine how dead the game would be if it were physical only. You might have strong card sales due to the insanity of the card market and getting things graded but I can't imagine it would be long-lived. The physical card market is gonna hit a breaking point at some point and I'm looking forward to it - I love collecting cards with great art and playing physical card games but both of those are very difficult right now.
Too right! Why would anyone even want to play Hearthstone with physical cards? The voice lines are one of the best aspects of the game. Animations are fun, too. Oh yeah, I can play any time, any where, without toting around boxes of decks and working around other people's schedules.
Nzoth, Dreams End - Probably most playable in priest because of Sol'etos, and the existing quest priest design is already a proven concept. The only issue here is that umbra already exist and is probably already the better card. Nzoth is more flexible because you can actively reduce its cost, it has somewhat anti-synergy with umbra, and the fact that nzoth can perfectly function as an AoE provided one other minion exist on board. But again, if youre building a deck thats tailored to take advantage of a specific deathrattle, go for umbra. Nzoth is only better if youre building an actual deathrattle-filled deck.
Y'shaarj, Titan Bane - Easily the best old god because it'll fit into just about any deck that plays a decent chunk of minions and is more or less guaranteed to be fully utilized in two turns, ensuring that either an untargetable minion destruction is required or you just suffer it for two turns.
C'thun, Eye of the Empire - Depending on how many side minions there are to trigger its abilities, its probably the most playable old god, simply because you actually get to use it earlier than the others via intermediaries. And if somehow you reach turn 10 having triggered them all, you get to blast 21 damage to your opponent's face.
Mastermind Yogg-Saron - The most baffling but thats by design. Its very nature ensures you will never have control over what yogg's abilities will do, nor what he will do to your hand. Playable? Probably not. He'll probably pyro your face, and I say that because though hearthstone's AI arent blockheads, team5 would probably code this to be 'extra' dumb for the memes alone.
Isiset - Im actually dumbstruck over its design. Unless breaking them out of ice means they can immediately attack, those two massive 10/10s are just gonna twiddle their thumbs while you get a punch to the face. And it also means youre essentially playing a 6 mana do nothing, which even in this power level of hearthstone likely will get you dead.
Uldir Quarantine - Theres likely another rainbow card that'll allow you to trigger this on 4. The problem is, not only are you playing a 3 mana do fuck all, even on curve this card is doing nothing special. Consider that beast tripwire does the same shit on turn 4, zero conditions, and its still only a decent card in a curated deck.
M.O.T.H.E.R - At some point of time it'll probably get nerfed. A mere 5 mana or less AoE spell in hand is all it takes to make this card completely nuts, ensuring that every deck that scales to the late game will play this because why not? Its just too much cost reduction to ignore, and if you safely play this first you probably just win the game. Good thing its a free card eh? Means it'll go through 4 different nerfs and you wont get any dust back.
Shadow Sculpt - Mug shaman bait. But its so good in that deck it'll probably single handedly bring the deck back into tier 2. Maybe.
So new expansion, and I cant pretend that Im not at least slightly hyped. Its old gods, and theres a decent-ish power level in the new cards, meaning theres a non-zero chance they'll see play. But Ive been fooled before. We shall see if the new cards hold any kind of water on release. Team5 might probably nerf cannon/dragon warrior at some point and it'll serve as a signal as to what we can expect.
Brief mention on the assemble keyword. It has strong potential. Complex, different and as the vid showcase have shown, it can actually get a bit insane sometimes. Perhaps for that reason, I feel it'll be more successful than the old gods themselves.
WARDOGS has been enjoyable. I've played a handful of matches and it's very well designed. The games are so long, not a bad thing, it just sucks that if you want to play more than 1 its a huge time commitment haha.
Attentive Tender
Another decent Assemble card. Currently a 3 mana 3/4 that does nothing is trash, but if Assemble works well, this will be playable. The focus on a 1 cost limits how strong it will be, but guarantees you something to play soon.
Fleshshape
Very good card! Death Knight has done some sick things in the past with hand-buffing, and this is better than some of the earlier cards because it hits ALL minions (not just Undead), and it develops something you have specifically crafted. I really hope Assemble works!
Stone Trogg
I can see this being a pretty strong card, though you'd probably only like it when discovered or generated, not taking up a deck slot. An 8/8 that just removes a 6 or less health minion is decent, and if it gets the bonus and you can finish off the enemy target with something else, even better.
Isiset
I assume the 15 mana must be spent AFTER you've played this, which makes it pretty bad. If it's just 15 mana spent on spells so far this game, it's much better. Obviously, getting Tortollan is always going to be nuts anyway.
What Are You Playing? - Stellar September 2026
There's Crash 1 done! All platinum relics to boot. For some reason, the PC leaderboard seems to be broken, but here are all of my relic times if you want to challenge them yourself.
Level
Time
N. Sanity Beach
0:25.08
Jungle Rollers
0:44.19
The Great Gate
0:42.73
Boulders
0:46.58
Upstream
0:44.37
Rolling Stones
0:44.85
Hog Wild
0:40.73
Native Fortress
1:44.75
Up The Creek
1:13.31
The Lost City
1:25.01
Temple Ruins
1:01.68
Road to Nowhere
0:51.27
Boulder Dash
1:15.41
Whole Hog
0:24.52
Sunset Vista
3:04.18
Heavy Machinery
1:25.69
Cortex Power
0:36.18
Generator Room
0:55.98
Toxic Waste
0:53.22
The High Road
0:55.06
Slippery Climb
2:12.26
Lights Out
1:02.50
Fumbling In The Dark
1:29.74
Jaws of Darkness
1:27.97
Castle Machinery
2:02.94
The Lab
0:44.45
Stormy Ascent
2:36.21
Crash 1 NST relics are not really too intensive due to the lack of any powerups and there's no sliding. As long as you keep holding forward and break all of the time crates, you're going to be just fine.
Next up, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back
What Are You Playing? - Stellar September 2026
Hey! I am back from the dead. Had some stuff happening IRL so I was not around.
This month I have started Sleeping Dogs Definitive edition and Finished Triangle Strategy. All amazing games. I started Librarian too and really enjoy getting those books on their shelf little by little
Also Black Flag Resync is still there waiting for a bug to be fixed, so I can finish the quest I am stuck at. loved the game.
I just saw Clickbait tycoon is a thing! I will probably check it out next month as I entered a Mortage for an apartment and this month will be hard with some extra expenses... Edit. Trying the demo today
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
Stormgate is this awkward "lol we're StarCraft and Diablo" for the theme, yet the narrative was effectively non-existent. Units felt... maybe this isn't the right term but floaty in how they moved? Had they of tried something completely new, maybe it would have hooked more people? It felt a bit weird to just be a clone, though I suspect their thoughts on it was it was something they knew and they wanted to be seen as the spiritual successor to StarCraft II.
I didn't mind the art style of the game, though it definitely is not cohesive in the same way that StarCraft is. Small teams have been proven to create games with higher levels of cohesion so my suspicion with that has always been that while they had great people on the team, they were used to the AAA scale that Blizzard operated their games on. Having a few people dealing with art vs having an entire team is a very different kind of battle.
1.0 was definitely rushed and it is a shame. I think it was a major mistake though to chase an RTS when the genre has been having problems for many years. New game studios shouldn't always just chase pure passion but build a solid ground. They could have built a different game, maybe even in the same universe as Stormgate and then made the RTS they dreamed of and really focused on a beautiful campaign to draw people in from the first title and then tack on a solid multiplayer experience - hopefully with no lag - to build something people would adore for ages.
I laugh at the emotional vs rational brain part though. It's just so damn true. That teaser cinematic was beautiful and Blizzard truly knows what they are doing in that department.
Reign of the Black Empire Card Reveals - Day 1 [Finished]
This new Assemble mechanic looks wicked strong. Very similar to Dark Gifts, which I would say have performed really well overall. I look forward to trying them out!
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
Stormgate had a number of issues and maybe the lack of mass appeal of RTS was among them, but I don't think it was the main issue.
They were forced to release the 1.0 before the game was ready, because they ran out of funds. I don't know if it was poor planning, excessive costs or trying to do too many things at once, but in any case their ambitions were larger than their budget (which wasn't tiny). The 1.0 was a lot better than the pre-release playtest, but it clearly wasn't done yet, neither in terms of content nor refinement.
Also it had a problem with the art style and characters not being very appealing. Compare that to the StarCraft shooter trailer: while my rational brain knows they can screw it up in so many ways, my emotional brain is hyped. For Stormgate, it was more like the opposite: on paper it was everything I wanted, but the style and narrative didn't draw me in.
What Are You Playing? - Stellar September 2026
As part of the Crash 30th anniversary deal, I picked up the Lucky 7 bundle on Steam, which contained the Crash N Sane Trilogy, Crash 4, and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy.
I already own all 4 games on PS4, but I don't have my PS4 with me. I also have Crash 4 on BattleNet, but that version also lacks achievements.
It feels really nice to be playing the N Sane Trilogy again (or even just any version of the original Crash games). They are games that truly stick with you forever and have meant a lot to me for nearly my entire life.
I also downloaded a thing that made it so that the N. Sane Trilogy also uses the original PS1 soundtrack. It's really dumb that I need to install a mod for a feature that has no excuse to not be in the base game, but at least it's possible to do it though. Feels so great to be hearing the original music (especially since some songs like the sewer levels in Crash 2 were utterly eviscerated in the new soundtrack), and as someone with not much modding knowledge, at least it was easy to get going. Now, the real kick in the nuts is the fact that the Spyro trilogy and CTR Nitro Fueled does have the ability to change soundtracks by default, and Crash 4 also has the original PS1 music in the flashback tapes, so it's not like licensing got in the way of it. There's really no reason that the N. Sane Trilogy shouldn't have had that feature.
Rant over. I'm extremely happy to be playing Crash again. It's a fantastic remaster of three of the best platformers ever made, and you should buy it if you don't have it already.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
100% agreed, they need to do something truly special with the StarCraft shooter. They have a ton of time to settle in on what makes it special still before their final commitment so let's hope it's something they can deliver on.
The base building and large army aspects of RTS is definitely one of my favourite things. Once or twice a year I'll boot up a game like StarCraft II just to play a round or two against a bunch of AI players to experience that base building progression and churn out some fun units to play with and roflstomp them. It always makes me want to have a conquest mode in the game which would let me take my army further and allow me to take it against larger and larger forces, allowing me to play a game of StarCraft over hours or even days. Civilization sorta scratches that itch, but the game isn't in real-time which makes it less interesting to manage various UI.
I did prototype something like what I'm describing a few years back but I never really touched visuals so it wasn't great eye candy to play lol.
Skill floor 100% sucks though in RTS PVP. It's so much to get through and ladder anxiety is a legitimate thing for people which further kills games.
There's a reason why the StarCraft folks that left to make Stormgate didn't succeed: people don't want to get into those kinds of games right now. They had an amazing amount of free press for the game, lots of interest, but no staying power. I do think that they would have done better if they had a level editor and a really solid custom game engine with a better interface than the one StarCraft II had (it's still not great). So many games live just because of the potential for modding and I know that's a large piece to chew on for smaller teams, but it's always worth considering because it can be shaped off your own development tools.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
I used to joke with friends about how there would be whole retirement homes built around having LAN parties to play World of Warcraft and I honestly think this is still going to be a thing.
The game and universe continue to be a titan in the space and we've had people who are retired now who started playing the game in their middle ages so it's not crazy to think it will happen.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
That's so great that reforged is more recent in your mind going into the new content. I have to get through the whole thing before I can even think about playing the new stuff. It's gonna be a ton of fun but hnnng the time lol.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
Hahahahaha. This is so painfully true. They'll do that after not talking about it publicly for a really long-time too. It would be nice if they were to talk about it a couple of weeks after the brawl happens to actually communicate what they want to do with it after their test so people weren't left in the dark.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
Regarding the StarCraft shooter, the premise sure sounds similar to Helldivers (and in turn, Starship Troopers): authoritarian regime sends large numbers of expendable marines to battle insectoid aliens. That in itself doesn't have to be a problem, for example there are loads of zombie games. But the game play needs something that sets it apart: if it's just Helldivers in the StarCraft universe, it's likely to run into the HotS scenario you mentioned, where the potential players are already invested in another game.
I do think there is still potential for RTS in some form: people still like base building and people still like sending large armies into battle. The problem for me (and I assume most casual players) is the skill floor: you need to practice a lot to get to a level where you can actually participate and you have to repeat most of that practice if you want to return after taking a break.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
Can't wait for Warchief to be abandoned because Blizzard makes no attempt to support the format and then questions why it didn't connect with players.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
Like Nirast, I only play Hearthstone. And I am VERY excited about the new stuff coming! New class shakes things up, 2v2 could be amazing, Warchief sounds fun. I'm here for it!
I am also STOKED about new Warcraft 3 content. That is still one of my favorite games of all time. I actually replayed all the old campaigns within the last year or so.
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
Only game I'm playing in this list is Hearthstone, so that's the only one I can really comment on. I'll say this: If Warcheif does becomea full fledged mode, it better not go the way of Twist. I'm also excited for Monk, only because Team 5 loves to evenly split the classes into teams, and you can't split 11! 12, on the other hand, is far more flexible.
Warcraft III expansion is a nice surprise, we'll have to see how it turns out. Also, here's your Forever subtitle:
World of Warcraft: 'Till you're 90!
Looking Back at BlizzCon 2026 Day 1: An Opinion
I wanted to finish this last night but it was an exhausting day! I'd love to hear everyone else's opinions on the first day and critique my own. So, what do you think?
Hearthstone Dev Interview Teases 2v2 Might Be Permanent
100%
Hearthstone Dev Interview Teases 2v2 Might Be Permanent
Gotta admit though.
If they did release physical cards, even as just a collector's item, that'd be pretty fucking sick!
Hearthstone Dev Interview Teases 2v2 Might Be Permanent
Yeah I couldn't imagine how dead the game would be if it were physical only. You might have strong card sales due to the insanity of the card market and getting things graded but I can't imagine it would be long-lived. The physical card market is gonna hit a breaking point at some point and I'm looking forward to it - I love collecting cards with great art and playing physical card games but both of those are very difficult right now.
Hearthstone Dev Interview Teases 2v2 Might Be Permanent
Too right! Why would anyone even want to play Hearthstone with physical cards? The voice lines are one of the best aspects of the game. Animations are fun, too. Oh yeah, I can play any time, any where, without toting around boxes of decks and working around other people's schedules.
12 New Cards Leaked From New "Reign of the Black Empire" Hearthstone Expansion, New Old God Keyword
Nzoth, Dreams End - Probably most playable in priest because of Sol'etos, and the existing quest priest design is already a proven concept. The only issue here is that umbra already exist and is probably already the better card. Nzoth is more flexible because you can actively reduce its cost, it has somewhat anti-synergy with umbra, and the fact that nzoth can perfectly function as an AoE provided one other minion exist on board. But again, if youre building a deck thats tailored to take advantage of a specific deathrattle, go for umbra. Nzoth is only better if youre building an actual deathrattle-filled deck.
Y'shaarj, Titan Bane - Easily the best old god because it'll fit into just about any deck that plays a decent chunk of minions and is more or less guaranteed to be fully utilized in two turns, ensuring that either an untargetable minion destruction is required or you just suffer it for two turns.
C'thun, Eye of the Empire - Depending on how many side minions there are to trigger its abilities, its probably the most playable old god, simply because you actually get to use it earlier than the others via intermediaries. And if somehow you reach turn 10 having triggered them all, you get to blast 21 damage to your opponent's face.
Mastermind Yogg-Saron - The most baffling but thats by design. Its very nature ensures you will never have control over what yogg's abilities will do, nor what he will do to your hand. Playable? Probably not. He'll probably pyro your face, and I say that because though hearthstone's AI arent blockheads, team5 would probably code this to be 'extra' dumb for the memes alone.
Isiset - Im actually dumbstruck over its design. Unless breaking them out of ice means they can immediately attack, those two massive 10/10s are just gonna twiddle their thumbs while you get a punch to the face. And it also means youre essentially playing a 6 mana do nothing, which even in this power level of hearthstone likely will get you dead.
Uldir Quarantine - Theres likely another rainbow card that'll allow you to trigger this on 4. The problem is, not only are you playing a 3 mana do fuck all, even on curve this card is doing nothing special. Consider that beast tripwire does the same shit on turn 4, zero conditions, and its still only a decent card in a curated deck.
M.O.T.H.E.R - At some point of time it'll probably get nerfed. A mere 5 mana or less AoE spell in hand is all it takes to make this card completely nuts, ensuring that every deck that scales to the late game will play this because why not? Its just too much cost reduction to ignore, and if you safely play this first you probably just win the game. Good thing its a free card eh? Means it'll go through 4 different nerfs and you wont get any dust back.
Shadow Sculpt - Mug shaman bait. But its so good in that deck it'll probably single handedly bring the deck back into tier 2. Maybe.
So new expansion, and I cant pretend that Im not at least slightly hyped. Its old gods, and theres a decent-ish power level in the new cards, meaning theres a non-zero chance they'll see play. But Ive been fooled before. We shall see if the new cards hold any kind of water on release. Team5 might probably nerf cannon/dragon warrior at some point and it'll serve as a signal as to what we can expect.
Brief mention on the assemble keyword. It has strong potential. Complex, different and as the vid showcase have shown, it can actually get a bit insane sometimes. Perhaps for that reason, I feel it'll be more successful than the old gods themselves.
What Are You Playing? - Stellar September 2026
WARDOGS has been enjoyable. I've played a handful of matches and it's very well designed. The games are so long, not a bad thing, it just sucks that if you want to play more than 1 its a huge time commitment haha.