Even though we're yet to receive any official announcements, the Forged in the Barrens mini set should be getting closer, just as Iksar confirmed in his most recent Q&A (check here for the complete recap). Since the release of the last expansion we received two balance patches, one of which including a total of 10 buffs alongside various nerfs, but many players have the feeling that the current Standard meta would benefit from a card addition to its pool.
Since cards in the mini set tend to have an average power level higher than the ones contained in an expansion (you add a few cards just to shake up the meta: what would be the point of adding weak cards that wouldn't see play?), we are fairly positive that this upcoming event will bring a breath of fresh air in the format, whose hierarchies appear to have been decided with very little room for change.
Therefore, our goal in this article is trying to predict what will be supported in the next mini set. In order to do this, our judgment will be based on what archetypes got pushed in Forged in the Barrens (or even in the last year's expansions) but that still need a push in order to get to the point of being playable. Have a good read!
Demon Hunter
Predictions - Deathrattle, Sigils, handbuff
Demon Hunter was by far the easiest class to predict. In fact, a few days after Forged in the Barrens released, Celestalon stated that more Sigils will be added in the future. Given that there's an achievement based on triggering 200 Sigils, it is fair to assume that at least one of the new DH cards will be a Sigil.
Secondly, Barrens DH was almost entirely based around Deathrattle: after the recent balance patch, the archetype started finding success on ladder, but since it's totally brand new, it still feels like its missing some pieces. Death Speaker Blackthorn will be in Standard for two years, so there's no urge to support it as fast as possible, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a Deathrattle card, at least in the Neutral section.
Finally, handbuff. Sure, it may sound very strange to most of you, but hear me out: even though the closest Illidan has even gone to handbuff effects is Felosophy, the class has lots of minions that would considerably improve with the introduction of this mechanic. Take Illidari Inquisitor, but also proactive units like Bladed Lady or the Kurtrus Ashfallen as nice examples.
Druid
Predictions - Card Draw and Beast support
If you currently look at Druid's card pool, you'll notice that the rotation brought away tools like Rising Winds, Wrath, Overflow and left the class with just Guess the Weight and Fungal Fortunes (imagine it if still cost 2 mana. These are two very good spells, but they can't possibly carry Druid's card draw by themselves, especially if you want to run minions in your deck. Therefore, we think that printing some form of reasonable non-mass card draw (nothing like Ultimate Infestation or Overflow) would be beneficial for the class and would help niche archetypes like Taunt Druid to succeed.
If you take a look at Barrens Druid, you'll notice that a big portion of released cards rotate around Beasts: even though it's been quite a while since Team 5 decided to bring back said archetype for Malfurion, seeing such an all-in seems quite peculiar to us. To be precise, there are cards like Living Seed (Rank 1) (which reminds a lot of the old Call Pet) that can't just be included in a deck that runs a few Beasts, since Guardian Animals wants them to stay in the deck, and therefore you need some sort of plan. Maybe we are wrong and the mini set won't bring the support we're talking about, possibly because they want to leave it for a brand new expansion, but we're pretty sure it's a matter of when rather than if.
Hunter
Predictions - Rush and Value support
Tavish Stormpike seems such a good card on paper; however, for it to work you need lots of support as well as many proactive Beasts to bump into your opponent's characters. While brainstorming, we actually came up with an idea that could potentially make Tavish work: a high-costed Beast with Rush and low stats, which reduces its cost whenever certain conditions are met - pretty much a unit like Corridor Creeper, Knight of the Wild, Mogu Fleshshaper or Nerubian Prophet. With the correct balance, we think this would be a really elegant way to start the Tavish Stormpike chain and cheat out one or two Beasts from your deck.
Secondly, but not completely separate, we'd like to see more love for value Hunter. Even though most people though that Warsong Wrangler was going to achieve that goal, she's used mostly in Face Hunter with a very limited pools to choose from, in order to increase the consistency of getting a beefy Trampling Rhino on curve. Having said so, we expect to see a 6+ cost Beast with an effect you'd want to replicate via Dire Frenzy.
Mage
Predictions - Hero Power, Elemental and Freeze support
As you might have noticed, Mage's Forged in the Barrens set hasn't been of the greatest: Refreshing Spring Water and Runed Orb are the only exceptions in a sea of (at least for now) mediocrity - both Hero Power and Freeze Mage were not powerful or supported enough to see competitive play outside of the first few weeks of the expansion. This is a waste, since all the three listed archetypes have their own potential (as well as problems: for example, too many Freeze effects are not healthy for the game) which, in our opinion, shouldn't be left untapped.
We think that one of the problems of 2021 Mage is that Jaina is pretty much a one trick pony. No Minion Mage is not a strong as it used to be since it got nerfed twice, but the class cannot any other viable archetype - this is also a problem from the balance point of view: many people were asking for an Incanter's Flow change, but with that, the class would've probably completely disappeared from the meta radars which is something against the current Team 5 philosophy when it comes to touch the meta.
So how about this? In this mini set, the devs will try to push at least one Mage archetype that isn't No Minion, so that Jaina will have something else to play with and the meta will become more vary. If this were the actual truth, we'd definitely put up with Incanter's Flow shenanigans for another bit.
Paladin
Predictions - Murlocs, Handbuff and Silver Hand Recruit synergy
What can you possibly give to a class that is already (and by far, with more than just one archetype) at the top of the meta without making it even more powerful? Our humble answer is that you don't have to necessarily give Paladin bad cards: even though every class has some periods of time where it doesn't stand at the top of the meta, the Libram package and most of the broken stuff will rotate next April, so we don't really want the class to become the next Barrens Shaman, unplayable and just sad, don't we? Or maybe we do...
Then, the possible solution would be giving Uther cards for archetypes that were left behind in power level/support. Despite our Linkblade91's hatred for Murlocs in general and specifically for Murlocs in Paladin, the mini set may be the perfect chance for them to come back. Ashes of Outland gave us Underlight Angling Rod and Murgur Murgurgle, and the Forged in the Barrens printed a handful of Neutral support in Lushwater Murcenary and Lushwater Scout, so let's continue the journey!
Invigorating Sermon is a very odd spell: it is the only Barrens card with this kind of effect and has no buildaround tools whatsoever - we really don't understand why it got printed. Therefore, we think this might be the change for Paladin to get back some handbuff tools just like Warrior: we expect a minion that synergyzes with hand/deck buffs in the ways of Meanstreet Marshal, Saronite Chain Gang or Echoing Ooze.
Finally, I have a soft spot for Lothraxion the Redeemed. I love 'rest of the game' effects and Silver Hand Recruit cards in general, so I really hope we'll see something in support of this mechanic, especially since the Core set features not one, not two but three tools for Dude Paladin (Pursuit of Justice, Warhorse Trainer and Stand Against Darkness).
Priest
Predictions - None
We genuinely have no clue. Every Priest archetype looks supported and the 'generated by' nature the class currently thrives in makes it difficult for us to identify archetypes that we think should or will be pushed.
Sure, there's always the Tempo Priest chimera, which has received remarkable amounts of support throughout the years only for it to never really work outside of Divine Spirit Inner Fire shenanigans.
On the other hand, there's Shadow Priest: the Core set features Shadowform and Shadowed Spirit, and we know for sure that the archetype will come back later this year, but since it currently has little to nothing to play with, we suspect it will need the card pool provided by an entire expansion rather than being pushed by a mini set.
Rogue
Predictions - Burgle and Shuffle support
I was a big fan of when Team 5 printed Vendetta and Underbelly Fence back in Rise of Shadows. I love being rewarded for playing cards like Dragon's Hoard and I included a small Burgle package in every possible Rogue deck I played. Even though Rogue's Barrens set does not feature any Burgle support, there's Swashburglar in the Core set: maybe it was added just to provide rogue a valuable 1-drop, but one can dream.
Remember Ticket Master, Malevolent Strike, and Grand Empress Shek'zara? They are not very old cards: it's just that they are yet to see consistent play, since they received little support (even more if you consider that Stowaway just rotated...) and there are far better tools to play with, within the same class. We'd genuinely like seeing this archetype being revisited by Team 5.
Shaman
Predictions - Elemental and Murloc support
Let's be honest, a couple cards ain't gonna solve all the problems Shaman is currently facing, but they can at least push an archetype or two so that the class will be able to wait for the next expansion with something to actually do in the meantime.
It is very unlikely that the mini set will drop a 6/5 stars card that works as a buildaround win condition like Shudderwock used to be, but as we already said, this doesn't mean that the class won't receive any major goodies. For example, Darkmoon Races printed Arbor Up (which straight up revived Token Druid) and Envoy Rustwix, as well as other powerful tools like Hysteria, Crabrider and Illidari Studies, all of which have seen plenty of play in multiple archetypes.
In the end, what he predict (and hope for) are tools that will complete what Forged in the Barrens seems to have left unfinished:
- Give the class a source, doesn't matter if it's not broken, of card draw;
- Give Murloc Shaman some fangs to scare their opponents with: the rotation of Bloodlust left an incredible void;
- Give Elemental Shaman a reason to be played that isn't Lilypad Lurker or Arid Stormer, be it Midrange or Control.
Now, we're aware that we can't expect all these things, but we think that there has to be a starting point for Thrall's redemption arc, so why not have it start with Forged in the Barrens' mini set?
Warlock
Predictions - Zoolock, Demonlock, and Mill Warlock support
What Warlock desperately needs is something that will make the class less one-dimensional, in other words, less dependent on the not-so-good Tickatus Control Warlock the Bronze 10 players are so scared of. Sure, a 3-card set is not going to completely rebuild the class, but something can still be done.
First of all, both Core and Barrens feature the basis for a Discard/Zoo archetype that relies on Deathrattles, small minions and discard effects. However, the deck misses that 'something' that could push it over the meme range: we're not asking for a turn 1 Flame Imp into The Coin into Voodoo Doctor into double Happy Ghoul, but there is a middle ground we can definitely land on and be okay to live with.
Secondly, Mill Warlock needs more support: you want to put yourself in fatigue range, but then you seem to have very few tools to exploit, and therefore you eventually run out of resources or succumb to fatigue. Apart from mechanics that straight up delete the "fatigue" element, we have little to no idea about how this archetype could improve, but we definitely hope to see more support for it coming soon.
Finally, Demonlock - heavily pushed in Madness at the Darkmoon Faire and throughout all of the Year of the Phoenix just to be completely ignored by Forged in the Barrens. If you actually look at the cards, you'll notice that such archetype is not that bad: it is my personal opinion that just one good Demon or a good spell could turn it into a valid alternative to Control Warlock.
Warrior
Predictions - One Frenzy minion, One Armor gain effect, and One aggressive tool
Given the scarce success and the fact that it didn't get buffed in the last patch, we can safely say that we'll receive more support for Frenzy Warrior. The keyword's lack of success is particularly concerning for Garrosh since four out of 10 Warrior Barrens cards involve the Frenzy mechanic. Just as in Darkmoon Races we saw Corrupt, we shouldn't be surprised to see another couple of Frenzy minions here and there - could this be the chance for Overlord Saurfang to rise and start seeing play?
Shieldmaiden got recently buffed and became meta, but Control Warrior is not as good as hoarding Armor as it used to be: even though the Risky Skipper-Armorsmith combo was too much, Garrosh is currently missing a mass armor gain effect like Bring It On!, but it's slowly getting there. We think we have reasonable chances to see something happening in this direction.
Finally, Warrior has no aggressive options: one single card is not going to do the trick, but we'd like seeing some sort of hint to what will happen in the next expansions. After all, Bloodsail Deckhand seems like a very good unit in a low-curve and aggressive oriented type of deck, which is something Garrosh is very familiar with.
What do you think of these predictions? What do you think the Forged in the Barrens mini set will bring us? Let us know in the comments below.
Comments
While I am flattered by your compliment, I genuinely think that I don't stand even the slightest chance against actual developers lol
But think of all the shoes you'd get to eat!
Just a few comments;
- Handbuff is impossible in dhunters simply because Illidari Inquisitor exist. I'm looking more into cards that give dhunters value or control, maybe some sort of board clear option or discover. Its not what we expect out of the class, but not impossible.
- Shaman only needs one other card draw option to be good. A decent tutoring card, even if its just another Ice Fishing will do wonders for the class. Right now, the problem is that shaman gases out fast, much faster than every other class, and their late game sucks. So I expect either a really powerful late game card, or card draw option.
Oh, and in case the devs are reading, heres a tip assuming you've been avoiding reddit the whole of this and last week. OVERLOAD = BAD. Seriously, why is druid able to cheat mana without any downside while shaman can't get an allegedly overstated card that cripples their next turn?
- I expect more minion support for mage, though knowing team5 there's probably going to be yet another casino card that will fill the salt thread once again. Losing to paladin is nowhere near as disgusting an experience compared to a highrolling mage.
- For hunter its really simple if you want tavish to actually see some play. Just print a 2 mana and 3 mana beast with rush. It doesn't even need to be fancy. Or maybe some crazy beast with high stats but backfiring battlecry.
But more likely we'll just get more deathrattles or face options. Why? Because hunter.
I always get a little annoyed when people say 'mechanic X is bad', especially when 'bad' means weak. No mechanic is fundamentally weak, they are just over-costed. Take inspire as an example: hunter's DoD cards showed the keyword itself is perfectly fine as long as the effect matches the effort put in. Likewise, lots of independently good overload cards have existed in the past, and some are still in Standard and don't need something like Tunnel Trogg to be strong.
As for the comparison with druid's mana cheat, that's a bit disingenuous. Druid's mana cheat always comes with card disadvantage and/or a (very) low tempo turn, with the latter being a big deal in a class with frankly abysmal removal. Overload forces a low tempo turn on you afterwards, yes, but that follows a high tempo turn so you aren't really falling further and further behind like druid does. And with the overload being embedded into the individual cards, there is no associated card disadvantage. So you have to be really careful when comparing them.
Overload's weakness is that you still have to pay it even if your high tempo turn is dealt with efficiently, but that doesn't mean it is fundamentally bad. That just needs to be factored into the overload cost, especially for minions.
I went with the flashy, more memorable title. So I guess I should expect someone to pick on it.
Obviously its hyperbole, its a sweeping statement. The main problem with the overload mechanic is that the tradeoff is often poor and hearthstone has moved beyond what it was when overload was invented. Back in the day, it was acceptable to just drop a 4 mana 7/7 on coin in exchange for basically skipping a turn because the chances of it sticking for more than a turn is fairly good. Nowadays, there's just so many options available most minions simply never sticks for more than a turn. Flamewreathed Faceless would only be just a good card now. I'm not even sure if Tunnel Trogg and Totem Golem can even cut it in standard nowadays.
I dont think I need to elaborate further on the tradeoff issue. Even when shaman was incredible, i.e. galakrond and the recent evolve meta, none of them were featured anywhere except for Lightning Bloom.
As for the druid comparison, you make good points which I can agree to. But also, both lightning bloom and innervate are still being played but I still rarely ever see druid run out of cards and lose.
Someone should make a thread on this because I do think this is a topic that deserves greater discussion, but I think its simple enough to just ask the question: Can we design a viable overload card thats not just blatantly broken?
Edit: Should have added that there are two other overload cards that are consistently in shaman when it was good: Lightning bolt and lava burst. No need to explain why.
It seems like the sort of thing that I'd make a thread for, so challenge accepted! I personally like the overload mechanic, so let's see if that survives the process of putting together an essay on it. I should probably attempt to quantify how much overload cards should have while I'm at it.
Regarding good overload cards, I'm always surprised at how often people forget Serpentshrine Portal. That card seems to have got it exactly right and is rarely used as a finisher (meaning you do have to deal with the overload), so there must be some lessons to learn in there. I guess Lava Burst teaches us another lesson: if you want do design a card specifically as a finisher, pile a lot of overload onto it.
I would argue that Lava Burst has no Overload downside, since most often you use it as a finisher.
Serpentshrine Portal represents current Hearthstone power level. Years ago it would be 3-mana - deal 3 damage...
Currently good cards have "2 card value" in them I think. Look at other powerful cards nowadays, for example - Runed Orb, Hand of A'dal, Venomous Scorpid ("hard removal" and a "card draw" in one card) and so on.
Lava Burst's overload downside is that it is rubbish as removal. That's honestly a pretty neat feature of the overload mechanic since it gives the devs some control over which archetypes a card is made for, without taking too much agency away from players. E.g. Lava Burst could have just been the same as Mind Blast, but overload allows it to be more versatile while still strongly incentivising throwing it at the face.
I know you were exaggerating with the 3 mana deal 3 damage remark (we've always had Lightning Bolt to show that's a 1 mana thing with overload 1), but I nevertheless think people often overstate power creep. Serpentshrine Portal can be compared to SI:7 Agent quite easily, for example, and to be honest they're still pretty close. For reference, the mean stats for s 3-drop in Standard are 2.67 attack and 3.59 health. I know we have to be careful when comparing across classes, but in this case I think this comparison is valid.
I hope there is some kind of zoo priest support.
I predict that Shaman will finally get card draw!... but everything has Overload attached to it
Overload Session: 2 Mana Spell, Overload: 1, Draw cards equal to your current Overloaded Mana Crystals (X).
I'd like some overload support in Shaman especially with the Unbound Elemental buff.
This site amazes me with it's well written conjecture. Well done once again!!
I appreciate the kindness - I humbly thank you for the support! :)
It'd have to be Wailing Caverns yea? That or the centaur attack on northwest watch post.
If its WC I expect to see reiterations of druid of the fang for druid, Kresh for hunters, etc.
People were talking about Wailing Caverns, especially since May's card back is based around it.
[Hearthstone Card (Wailing Caverns) Not Found]
To be fair though, unless I embarrassingly missed something, there's no official statement about it.