New Shaman Spell - Chain Lightning (Rank 1)

Love it. Love it. Love it. 

Shaman needs some efficient early removal and I think this will work. It's cheap, deals good damage, and doesn't have overload. 

I like this upgrading mechanic. If you draw in the mid or late game, you might still kill something. And if not, it's 2 mana.

It has potential certainly. Combined with Imprisoned Phoenix, this is just a 2 mana remove 2 minions in most cases, which also incidentally gets better with time.

But theres something inside me that says Landslide is a better card no matter the circumstances as long as overload is still a tolerable concept in control shaman.

Pretty sure this is just playable at 1 and will never lose relevance throughout the game...unless of course there's way better stuff yet to come and you don#t even need this

Chain Lightning (Rank 1) seems solid. Another great 2 cost removal card for shaman. Shaman really loves their amazing 2 mana removal spells! Chain Lightning (Rank 1) is a alternative to Landslide if your not overloaded before turn 5 (Pretty hard, not gonna lie.), and after turn 5 it can help remove some minions so that's good. But it feels bad to compare it to other spells like Landslide and Lightning Storm because Chain Lightning (Rank 1) only removes 2 minions instead of potentially an entire board, and that's it's weakness. As long as the meta is pretty aggro-y with lots of tokens Chain Lightning (Rank 1) will be a lot worse, and in meta's where it's a bit more midrangey/control focussed Chain Lightning (Rank 1) will shine.

Solid card at every rank, nice 2 for 1 usually and position matters gameplay. Great card all around.

Solid card, we need to see more nature synergies for shaman.

I'm not sold yet on this upgrade effect. For Chain Lightning (Rank 3) dealing 8 damage to 2 minions on turn 10 might not be enough to remove the big minions one would expect at 10 mana. Ofc you are only paying 2 mana to deal 8 damage across 2 bodies, but I feel we'd need additional cards to completely remove the 2 minions. There's also that 50/50 on which adjacent minion gets hit, if you target the middle minion 

Cleave, but not trash.

I'm wondering how good this will be regarding elusive minions

Flexible and great with spell damage (no longer totem though of course) - I like it.

OK. Random adjacent isn't great. 

Its just solid removal at all periods in the game. Its first form is entirely solid for playing on curve, and though it doesn't scale as well as it might into the late game, it isn't ever going to be an entirely dead card.

Good card, but did we have to add more RNG to Shaman removal right at the same time we fixed Lightning Storm?

Where's the overload ?
And did they precised what happen once you have (5) mana?
Asking for a friend

I'm excited to see how this upgrade mechanic works out.  It's nice to have cards that are useful in the early game, but aren't completely useless if drawn later.

I got such WC3 vibes off this spell reveal!  It almost made me buy Reforged!  But they I remembered... it's WC3 Reforged...

Love this type of card. Fits perfectly, great theme mechanic and useful. Here's hoping to a good expansion for shaman that doesn't leave them in the broken or useless category for once

Good for Control Shaman I guess, especially good when played with + spell damage.

Very solid card, will see play in most Shaman decks

I like the idea of the ranked spells, that way it won't feel so bad if you draw it late.

Not bad. I love positioning matters cardss

excellent aoe that gets stronger , sign me up

seems like a great card to me the fact that it is 2 mana is even mroe awesome if hagatha was still in standart this card would be even better 

i don't like the RNG aspect

Absolutely love this ranked spell mechanic, kind of reminds me of schemes and spellstones.

Not fun of this ranked spells :/

Love the new "ranked" spells, and the fact that it doesn't have overload!

Seems fairly strong.

Removal without overload, nice.

Don't really like the randomness in this card. There are better Shaman removal options in my eyes.

Solid removal, good with Discover effects as well. Nice card will see play!

The best ranked spell so far. Great board clear in every rank.

why only 2 targets?in wc3 and wow it hits 3.Well anyway the card looks great and when you discover it from a random card it can help with board clear ,dont know if you want it in your deck.

2 Mana remove 2 small Minions alone is already quite good. And unlike Cleave, you get to decide the targets.

Plus, there's the Spell Damage support that Shaman has (Rune Dagger, Imprisoned Phoenix), and will get (Novice Zapper, Bru'kan).

I like this ranked spells! We will have to see them in action, but I like this one more than the warlock one for now

My fav card from the early spoiler

Could be amazing with the new shamy legendary.

Solid tempo card that synergizes with Bru'kan - seems great.

Super strong if you could combo it with Bru'kan. Without him, still a good spell that could shine in Spell damage decks.

Potentially a very powerful card when combined with Brukan etc

I don't like the "random" thing, i'd prefer a "deal damage to the left or right too" instead. But that said, the upgrade think is really good especially in control deck who reach 10 mana quite easily

Surprised to see nobody mentioned Forked Lightning. The effect and even the name itself is similar. It deals 2 damage to two random enemy minions with 1 mana and 2 overload.

For 1 additional mana and no overload, you get to choose one target, effectively choosing the second target, since it's an adjacent minion (not ideal all the time, I know). It also upgrades, making it viable during the late game. I think it's very powerful. You would also love to discover it by Instructor Fireheart with 10 mana.

Great control card. Its base form is good enough, and upgrading scales quite nicely with the phase of the game. Also bonus flavor for being one of the most iconic Shaman spells.

It's not that RNGish, with 3 minions you just start at the left or right, if there are more you problably also have more mana, so you can combine this with another removal, or maybe you just care of 1 target and whatever dies next is just a bonus.

Very flexible card i like it!

I was always sad that Forked Lightning wasn't good enough. Now I'm happy.

This will be a decent add to spell shaman love the flavor.

Thanks for posting all of the ranks! I was wondering if it jumped more or did more damage as it ranked up (I'm glad to see it's the latter), and whether or not it would cost more, too.

Edit: apparently I don't know how to Reply. This was a reply to @JackJimson

Control Highlander Shudderwock Shaman.

Really nice addition to that deck.

Nice cheap removal!

At least 4 stars, voted 5 tho :]

Just does not seem like it is that good. Honestly, it should be adjacent minions. This card just feels like a wasted epic slot.

Is this my control shaman coming along? :)

The rank idea is very Warcraft 3. I like it very much

I think the upgradeable cards are being undervalued.

I love adjacent minion mechanics and, therefore, I love this spell. Now, it may seem like the RNG is unnecessary but, in this case, I don't think that's a bad thing, since there is no RNG element guaranteed, it's only there if the minion targeted is in the middle. 

Also, this is a control tool and the rank up mechanic tends to favor control, so I can honestly expect this card to see some play, unless Shaman is dead next expansion.

I can see this being a very good card in combination with Bru'kan

strong anti agro card

How many ranks?

I wish instead of the damage increase, it would increase the amount of targets as upgraded...

toumpano

Interesting board clear.

Seems a solid board clear - and looking forward to the nature synergies shaman will get

Still not sure how I feel about spells being broken up into different types...

Good enough

Fair, but a little too RNG

Good spell damage support and early removal vs aggro

Hm... In the early game this card is excellent, especially with Shaman's apparent Spell Damage synergies. Even later in the game, the cost of this card alone makes it playable as an extra bit of removal, despite the damage not being stellar. Could be the difference between clearing a board or losing the game though.

Nice one, and no overload. At least lets hope the upgrade doesn't either

Nice card with Nature Spell damage but why epic

Upgrades to what at Turn 5? At least there's no Overload.

Great card, especially with any spell damage.

I like how its progression through ranks is steady. Can be really good even on 2, and better but not too much better later.

Also, makes positioning against Shaman more relevant.

Looking forward to more nature spells)

Standard

Solid card. It will be played

Love the value and the artwork

A ramping Cleave 😮

No overload? Great!

Very nice concept of level ups for spells. Baseline is not weak so it should see play in standard.

Seems pretty good. Really love the idea for ranked spells, having utility that scales with game length is a very cool mechanic. We saw some early workings on this with Schemes, but these can work as top-decks and will likely be worth running more often than Schemes were.

I like this card.  Upgrading means it can be useful in both early and late game.  Solid looking card!

I like cards that make players think about positioning, but I don't think will be great without Spell Power (which Shaman is getting, it looks like) after the early game. I suppose it depends how wide the most popular decks will go. 

I think this will fit nicely into a bunch of shaman decks because of its flexibility in early and late game. 

Seems solid

even when scalate whit mana it is very good on early but not too much after

good cheap Shaman removal

The Rng part is stupid they could of just made it select 2 enemy minons.

Well if control shaman is a thing this might see play

Quote From Dreams

The Rng part is stupid they could of just made it select 2 enemy minons.

No, they couldn't. There is no effect in the game that allows you to make two selections. They'd have to add new functionality to the UI, and they are not going to do that for the sake of one spell.

I'm not saying they will never do that -- in fact, they probably should at some point. But not now, and not for just one card.

Good card on its own, but I love even more when they add cards that force your opponent to place minions to play around.

Quote From FortyDust

Quote From Dreams

The Rng part is stupid they could of just made it select 2 enemy minons.

No, they couldn't. There is no effect in the game that allows you to make two selections. They'd have to add new functionality to the UI, and they are not going to do that for the sake of one spell.

I'm not saying they will never do that -- in fact, they probably should at some point. But not now, and not for just one card.

Personally, I don't think the RNG kills this card. The only time it is relevant is if your opponent has 4 or more minions and you want to hit two of the minions in the middle. And even then, it is only a 50/50 chance.

If they did want to get rid of the RNG they could have made it say "deal 2 damage to a minion and the minion to it's right" and it would function exactly the same but without the randomness.

Maybe a staple. Any HOMM fan would feel the nostalgia because of its name

Very strong AOE, but Shaman has already got enough low-cost AOEs. Not sure this one seems much play

Nice card. It's very solid against agro deck and thanks the "upgrade" mechanics can be played later on in the game. Let's see if Nature spell will have some other synergies

UNLIMITED POWER! Can't post gifs here but I feel the Palpatine GIF would be perfect to describe it. 

Strong card that you hope to see get generated, but don't put into your deck.

I love the concept of ranked spells. These will give it such a better feel no matter what time of the game you draw it. This one will be plenty of fun to play.

i don't like the randomness of this kind of effects, if you could choose the minions it damage it should be better or atleast choose the side the damage goes

Looks pretty good

Ah, Control Shaman, and without overload too!

Solid card

Slightly better Cleave... I don't know.

Good cheap removal.

I just think it's funny how every page has 2-3 people saying "And there's no overload!". Anyways, great card, it's even decent on rank 1.

Brings back MTG memories, which had great art.

could be part of some control/nature OTK deck

Very nice stable board clear card. 

will get lots of play i think

Nice removal that will fit a lot of decks

Rank 1 is quite decent already. I can see this getting quite some play, especially in a deck centered around Bru'kan.

good card

Combined with Bru'kan, this can provide efficient removal for a slower Shaman. Chain Lightning (Rank 1) is also pretty decent as a standalone card acting as a Cleave with late game upside, as well as how Shaman has other sources of spell damage. Hopefully Control Shaman has enough of a win condition after rotation to make the archetype viable!

I feel like a card this strong should have some sort of overload but I don't care

Good spell whenever you pick it. 

Solid removal that is only made better with spell damage. 

Love these rank up spells, this one is no exception. So good. 

good

I think this is pretty good as early board control. The first rank alone can deal 4 damage to minions for 2 mana. Control Shaman, if that is even going to be a thing, will run this. I'll be interested to see if there are going to be any slower strategies for Shaman, or if they're all going to be Murlocs.

Love it 

Good removal tool, specially in the higher ranks. Might see some play with Bru'kan

Solid rank card

Should be relevant in the early and mid-game, and even in the late game with some spell damage.

Decent early removal, solid

can find its place in control decks

Strong removal that upgrades and no overload.

Even baseline this is great, probably one of the strongest ranking up spells we got.