New Neutral Minion - Blademaster Samuro

Really interesting neutral aoe, love it!

It's like a neutral Swipe. If Dragonmaw Scorcher can see even a minuscule amount of play, Samuro will get to see play as well.

It has a decent Frenzy payoff, but I wonder if there will be some handbuff options to make it really powerful.

This and the rank up spells gave me major WC3 vibes for sure!

Forgot to mention, Blademaster + Inner Rage... the attack gain should happen before the Frenzy effect right?  Because the spell damaging the minion would have to resolve before the effect triggers.  Meaning if Inner Rage is part of the Core set and remains the same it's a two card, 4 mana 3/5 Rush that also does 3 AOE to all enemy minions even before you Rush attack.

Even if Inner Rage isn't Core, I'll maybe try it out in Wild a bit.

How good this is will depend on how easy it is to buff it before you proc the Frenzy effect.

If you can somehow buff this then this card is straightup insane. But that's probably the biggest problem with this card. The two classes that can easily buff its attack, warrior and paladin, already have another swing option in Lord Barov, so the only other class that can reasonably do it is rogue with Cold Blood.

Not sure if this will ever take the meta by storm. Probably not. But I'm fairly certain team5 wouldn't just print cards like this without some kind of support card for it, so I'm on the fence with this one.

Nice neutral AoE. The Power of the Card depends on how much handbuff stuff we will see .

Really seems like more of a Warrior or Paladin legendary doesn't it?

Warrior can combo with Inner Rage for a quick Hellfire, Paladin can just buff it and run it into something for variable amounts of damage (Blessing of Might meta pog)

Should at least appear in Libram Pally (since Pure is going away anyways unless they print more support)

REALLY interesting and good card. Might as well see play in nearly every class. Blademaster Samuro is really good alongside handbuffs and it's 6 health makes it really easy to survive a trade and get the Frenzy off. Rogue can definatly use this very well to actually get an good AOE card, Libram Paladin can also use it well, and obviously Warrior, Druid and hunter. Hunter now get's a board clear thats not a secret, and it might enable some midrange/combo hunter deck with Beastmaster Leoroxx to finally shine. Also Rogue can REALLY use Blademaster Samuro because rogues only have like 2 other Board clears, those being Fan of Knives and Blade Flurry. I'm really hyped for the amount of stuff Blademaster Samuro could enable, and i'm so happy to see some an amazing neutral anti aggro card. OH and priest can cast Apotheosis on Blademaster Samuro in order to heal a LOT. 

I know this is way too early to say this, but Blademaster Samuro might become a must craft, and i wouldn't be surprised if Blademaster Samuro would either become really OP and nerfed quickly, or become Zilliax level loved/balanced. Time will tell!

Quote From YourPrivateNightmare

Really seems like more of a Warrior or Paladin legendary doesn't it?

Warrior can combo with Inner Rage for a quick Hellfire, Paladin can just buff it and run it into something for variable amounts of damage (Blessing of Might meta pog)

Should at least appear in Libram Pally (since Pure is going away anyways unless they print more support)

Rogue with Nitroboost

Paladin Blessing/Libram

Warrior Inner rage

Any handbuff.

A lot of classes can buff his attack up real easy. He's basically a swipe/hellfire for 2 cards in most classes if he lives. I'm certain he'll see play probably in aggressive and midrange decks that have those early attack buffs to compete in mirior matches.

Wonder if this card has a special interaction with Apotheosis. Would you heal from the damage triggered by the frenzy effect?

Quote From Caro

Wonder if this card has a special interaction with Apotheosis. Would you heal from the damage triggered by the frenzy effect?

as long as Frenzy is consistent with other abilities then yes. Abilities are usually coded to be part of the minion and as such will apply any added keywords (such as lifesteal and poisonous).

If Rogue gets a cheap spell to give a minion poisonous this could be very interesting

Finding a way to either hand or board buff him makes him pretty solid at getting rid of smaller minion hordes. 

Quote From YourPrivateNightmare

Quote From Caro

Wonder if this card has a special interaction with Apotheosis. Would you heal from the damage triggered by the frenzy effect?

as long as Frenzy is consistent with other abilities then yes. Abilities are usually coded to be part of the minion and as such will apply any added keywords (such as lifesteal and poisonous).

 

If Rogue gets a cheap spell to give a minion poisonous this could be very interesting

Well rogue is getting Plague Scientist in the core set. And a 7 mana board clear for rogue shouldn't be terrible to pull off, but may not be efficient. 

Quote From Caro

Quote From YourPrivateNightmare

Quote From Caro

Wonder if this card has a special interaction with Apotheosis. Would you heal from the damage triggered by the frenzy effect?

as long as Frenzy is consistent with other abilities then yes. Abilities are usually coded to be part of the minion and as such will apply any added keywords (such as lifesteal and poisonous).

 

If Rogue gets a cheap spell to give a minion poisonous this could be very interesting

Well rogue is getting Plague Scientist in the core set. And a 7 mana board clear for rogue shouldn't be terrible to pull off, but may not be efficient. 

Usually boardclears above 5-mana need to be extremely consistent to be played, even in control decks. A 7-mana combo in a class that arguably cannot play control (aka survive until delivering a game winning board swing) that also relies on drawing 2 specfic cards (one of which you can only run 1 of) seems a bit too janky to work out.

The only way I can see it work is if you also run Cold Blood (as an alternative combo for Samuro) as well as a bunch of other minions that synergize at least somewhat with Plague Scientist...and then you'd still have to build a decent tempo deck around that small gimmick that allows Rogue to clear board they otherwise couuldn't (which still isn't a 100% guarantee because Samuro needs to survive the initial hit, meaning he won't be abled to break through buffed up clowns or any kind of big taunt really)

I like the idea, but the meta would have to be bizarrely slow and specific for this to work in any capacity

With the right support bet this could be great :)

Probably one of those cards that you put on most decks.

This dude parties. Frenzy is intriguing. 

I mean it depends on whether hand buff options are strong or whether you can combo it with another card easily. It could be used in paladin along side its different methods of setting health to 1.

Frenzy seems dramatically better on things with Rush

I've been waiting to see this guy as a card for a long time.  It seems like the hand buff mechanic might make a reappearance with this next expansion.  Hopefully it works out better this time than last.

Could be good, need to see the rest of the set to see if there's enough support for it. As of right now, it seems alright

Easy board clear for pal

Easy board clear for pal

I love playing handbuff Paladin in Wild. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to unpack this one!

With hand buff support, this could be powerful, but outside of that it's a bit like Arcane Explosion on a Midway Maniac. Without Midway Maniac's useful tribe, I don't think this will see play outside of hand buff decks.

If this can be buffed, it will be pretty good.

Handbuff needed.

aoe effects are always welcome

Feels like a good card every ctrl deck

Apotheosis with Blademaster Samuro is looking great!

can be useful

This and Toxic Arrow would be a 6 mana kill all enemy minions and summon a 1/4 poisonous minion.

At the moment, not much handbuff exists, and based on history, it is rarely a winning strategy. Let's see if this changes in the future!

Interesting with Apotheosis in Priest.

Nice Paladin addition

I can really see this card in paladin ,but also maybe in warrior .Depends on what kind of cards will warrior get with this expansion .

Handbuff decks wet dream :D

It's a great all-classes board clear effect, maybe Priest wouldn't need a broken AoE this expansion then! It works for Paladin too

Deadly card on a handbuff deck. Also good in decks that can buff it with cheap spells. In general I like it!

Very Handbuff dependent, which usually isn't a good sign.

But there's some stuff you can do, like this + Cruel Taskmaster

This reminds me of "Sally" on Gadgetzan. This seems better depending the situation though. In some classes y feel this will see a lot of play. Maybe even in priest. 

Does anyone know if Lifesteal applies to the frenzy effect?

I can see it in a control or midrange deck

If lackeys weren't going away, this would be a nice way to keep them under control. As it is, it needs to be combined with another effect to be relevant.

Great card for Warrior with Cruel Taskmaster still around and Enrage synergies. But as it has Rush already, a simple buff might be enough for great effect. Really interesting card!

I agree with the most people here, could be a great board removal with buffs.

It doesn't take that much work to make Blademaster Samuro a very effective AOE. Seems like a great card for a lot of board-centric decks.

Cool card, even better if it's buffed!

I dont know what to say except: its really good.

Decent by itself, absolutely balls to the walls bonkers when combined with Apotheosis, especially since Wild Pyromancer is leaving. Will see play in every controlling Priest decks as a combined Reno Jackson and board clear.

Handbuff failed usually in the past, but this can also benefit buffs on board. Interesting effect, definitely will see play at launch.

Will be interesting to see if this can be buffed fast enough to not be a tempo loss.  Could be really good if it can be consistently played with a buff...

Overlord Runthak is a neutral way to buff hand but classes that have spells for buffing (Rogue w/ Cold Blood seems super fun) can make this card even more nuts. Love the design and expect to see him in a lot of decks.

I think this will get a  BUNCH of experimentation. I think a bunch of classes can make interesting use of this. 

Seems okay might need some buffs tho

Too bad Embiggen is no longer in standard, aside from that I can see this in any deck that buffs hand'deck minions, maybe in warlock with Deck of Chaos.

Not a build-around, but the combos it enables are such fun!

Unless the stats can be boosted I don't think this card is too good. Guess we have to wait to see the rest of the set to be revealed to see the final verdict.

Stage Dive, attack and clear a zoo board for 5 mana, or buff it again with Inner Rage and deal against something bigger.

Warrior gonna love it.

This + Apotheosis = awesome!

Paladin hand but is gonna love this. The flavor is great too

I see this as a great card even without handbuffs, but that might be the stealth rogue meta influencing me. With some simple handbuffs this could become a potent board clear.

Interesting that unlike spellburst, it doesn't need to be on board, so I see paladin and priest liking this too. This + 1 libram of wisdom and you suddenly have consecration.

I like

5 stars for Warcraft 3 nostalgia, but the effect is good to enable some seriuos board clear

It'd be great if it could go face, kind of like Ras Frostwhisper, but I'm sure they're afraid of it getting to powerful

Useful on its own. Amazing if buffed? Like 1/4 rush+windfury with spellburst gain stats as spell cost.

A 5 mana fully neutral 3 damage boardclear alongside Abusive Sergeant for any tempo/fast midrange deck. While not very flashy and somewhat lackluster on its own, Blademaster Samuro can make an impact on the meta, especially with that juicy 6 Health stat.

The blademaster is finally part of HS - nice!

This can deal some absurd amounts of damage to the enemy board with enough buffs but even baseline he's still good for popping divine shield or clearing out smaller stealth minions or small minions hiding behind beefy taunt minions.

Quote From Fedrion

Stage Dive, attack and clear a zoo board for 5 mana, or buff it again with Inner Rage and deal against something bigger.

Warrior gonna love it.

True i never thougt of [Hearthstone Card (Inner Rage[Hearthstone Card (for the Blademaster. This could be stronger than i expected

i dont like that cards, giving every class decent aoe will not be good

Quote From Horus

The blademaster is finally part of HS - nice!

Injured Blademaster is THE blademaster.

About the card, we need to see more handbuff (or inboard attack buff) to evauate how good Blademaster Samuro will be. By itself it's a bad swipe (2 dmg to a minion and 1 dmg to other enemy minons) with a body, but with 2 or 3 attack can be a good removal against aggro decks.

reminds me of Sergeant Sally. therefore, not very good imo

This could really turn the tide in battle - stack it with a Lifesteal effect it could be a full heal.

Too weak as it is - but depends very much on the availability of handbuff mechanics or cheap attack buff spells, have to watch wait for this

Arcane explosion with extra steps

This card is really good, I can see it run in enrage warrior or priest with the lifesteal buff

This would be fun to play In libram paladin. 

Great aoe

Can have nice combos with certain buff cards from paladin and priest.

buffable card with boardclear options

In Wild, it will be insane in the recent Handbuff paladin builds.

So after thinking about this for quite some time (and reconsidering a lot of previous assumptions due to core set changes) I've realized that this might possibly be an absolute monster of a swing card in Control Priest.

The reason being that Control Priest, at this point, is comprised of mostly spells (with C'thun as a finisher) and usually only running a few minions to be drawn by Insight as well as Palm Reading to discount spells in hand. So with this in mind it is not entirely unlikely to be able to get out Samuro + Apotheosis consistently and for an adequate cost, which is effectively Reno + Hellfire and most likely game over against any aggro deck (which becomes even better considering the removal of most burst options and the resulting reliance on minion damage for these decks).

So yeah, if C'thun is a good enough win condition for Priest then Samuro will make sure you won't lose to any aggressive deck

So many possibilities with this one, I look forward putting it in Rogue decks. Nice flavor too :)
Taste my blade!

Goes great in Buff Paladin. Any Turn 3 handbuffs? 

In my earlier post on this card I didn't really think much about it cause' board clears aren't exactly in demand, and this one takes too much set up to be good.

But now that the core set is out, and I saw to my horror how many removal options have been effectively removed from standard, this card is suddenly more valuable than it first seems. Specifically, the loss of Wild Pyromancer is especially painful to classes like paladin and priest, and with rogue having no board clears at all means its really just this card or the somewhat unreliable Wretched Tutor, and since this card doesn't damage your own minions, its really a worthwhile exploration to make this card work.

Outside of that, there's a slight chance this sees some play with zoolock, depending on whether tempo-board based battles are going to dominate the next meta. Its really just an Abusive Sergeant away from swinging board, and since Nerubian Egg is in standard there might be more than one reason to include sergeant into the deck.

A great If. Might be an option for a non-control card that wants to pull of a combo, but for most classes a two card combo won't be reliable enough.

Why am I tempted to try this in a hand-buff deck?

Jokes aside, if this was even just 1 damage I think it'd still see play, especially, as others have pointed out, since many removal options are leaving us with the arrival of the Core set. If you manage to slap a few low-cost buffs on this in the late game it could turn out to be a great removal tool, with some additional damage from Rush to boot. Couple it with a cheeky bit of Lifesteal and wham-bam, Samuro's you're uncle.

Strong in buff decks, paladin for example

Too expensive and situational

I mean, it works well if you couple it with Cruel Taskmaster or Inner Rage, but outside of that it's a hefty Arcane Explosion.

I can't wait to play it with the new core legendary that buff minions on hand

Dont like it but we will see if it will be meta defining or not

I can already see people messing this up with Inner Rage 😅

Love it. 

This is good even without buffs. Will see play.

Nice Neutral AoE that scales with buffs seems pretty strong. Libram Paladin will be able to get Samuri big enough to wipe most wide boards, which is pretty spooky. Blizzard also hinted at some potential for handbuff, so we'll see how this card pans out.

There are so many different ways this effect could be used; I cannot imagine this not seeing play in a majority of decks.

Very versatile, though its base form is a bit weak; find a way to buff it.

This is going into Libram Paladin for sure

very godo whit hand buff or warrior innerrage

neutral board kill hype

I love this card. It has tons of potential.

I imagine seeing Blademaster Samuro in Libram Paladin as a replacement for lists that run Wild Pyromancer (which won't be in the core set) and for being a decent board clear on its own with multiple Libram of Wisdoms. I have a tough time seeing this in any other class without seeing more of the expansion cards as no other class cares as much about a Whirlwind effect or have a consistent way to buff Samuro's attack. Warrior is losing a lot of its enrage synergy losing both Inner Rage and Battle Rage in the core set, so they will have a tougher time justifying running Samuro. Overall, Samuro doesn't have the most universal effect, but that effect will work extremely well with classes that have the tools to take advantage of it.

Good card design w

Interesting AOE, but needs specific synergies to be good.

Quote From johnyap11

Too weak as it is - but depends very much on the availability of handbuff mechanics or cheap attack buff spells, have to watch wait for this

It's already a full enemy-only board clear with Plague Scientist. It does not need to get stronger than that.

(And if you only need to clear small- to medium-sized minions, Cold Blood works just fine.)

So many possibilities here... I think that any controlly deck with a way to buff this or synergize will play, it's a great tempo swing against any aggro or swarm deck for sure. 

Shame it's a 4 cost, so you have to choose between him and kazakus!

Right now I think only Warrior can play it in combo with Inner Rag for an easy 3 mana aoe. Otherwise u need some buff or handbuff, but in this case I think that it will too slow and too situational

Would love to see this played in Paladin. Between Handbuffs and regular buffs like BoK, this can do really well.

Looks good

can see this in libram paladin or any buff deck tbh

Great in a deck buff paladin with Mankrik.

As a class card I would probably dismiss it, but as a Neutral ok

Great with Apotheosis !

One of the best cards in this set.

Mediocre card, but the Diamond version looks great!

Rush is the reason this will be viable

buff buff buff... how fast can u buff this thing? fast easy buffs and combos make it a power house, but is it too slow?

I really like this card, and will help the board clear of classes without that ability. 

Will see play if Frenzy Warrior with Overlord Saurfang becomes a thing. Outside of that remains to be seen.

EDIT: I was expecting another Frenzy pay-off card for Warrior in the final card dump. Now I'm not so sure, it's a good fit in that deck. Luckily, this card is very versatile so we will have to see it pop up somewhere, right?

good card

It's a preeeeety good card, especially for a neutral. Surprisingly versatile overall, since it's useful even without buffs.

I love the samurai flavor, they should make more like that

Okay effect. Irritating Stats

SORDE

From one hand it seems to slow for rogue. From the other hand rogue could use some board clear in ie. Token Druid matchups. Eaither way seems like interesting card that could see some play. 

Any class that can consistently buff its minions (Paladin, Warrior, Priest) can make use of this card. Overlord Saurfang will love resurrecting this too. I expect to see this a lot in the meta, and I'm glad it's getting the diamond treatment too. 

With some buffs from other minions or spells it will be huge card

Bad body, but really good clear in the right decks

Pretty spicy with some handbuffs 

crazy with hand buff. Love it! 

Works really well with buffs. Provides a decent Neutral tool for any deck that thinks they can take advantage of his Frenzy effect. One of the few Frenzy cards that has a reliable way of triggering Frenzy. Should see some play, especially early in the expansion, and I think there are a number of classes that can make him work for them.

Nice

Great card when buffed. The art is the best part, though!

not broken but decent

Buff him up a bit and he becomes really scary. Druid decks with Survival of the Fittest look like the best place for this but I'm sure more classes can find a way to make him work.

Get some buff into a board clear, solid card

Seems strong in warrior with frenzy support and aoe support.

I like the potential of this. They've sucked me in with the handbuff cards, which obviously makes this much better.