Safe crafts?

Hi guys. As you may have seen in the salt thread I got fucked this opening. I am also on holiday so unable to play around with all the new stuff to work out what is good.

This leaves me with many desirable quests, legendaries and epics to craft but I know that shit is super risky right now. 

Here is a run down of what I need and would appreciate some opinions on whether they will be long term good or not.

Corrupt the Waters

Untapped Potential

Bazaar Burglary

Activate the Obelisk

Hack the System

Zephrys the Great

Anka, the Buried

Octosari

King Phaoris

Psychopomp

Plague of Death

Tortollan Pilgrim

Micro Mummy

And all 4 new explorer cards. 

I know some of these are definitely not going to be good long term cough Octosari cough I was just looking at my gaps in the set and will prioritize the best ones to craft. 

Thanks in advance for help/opinions

Imo, there is no real safe craft this expansion.

Maybe Corrupt the Waters, because condition is a non-condition, and reward is basically universal for any deck. And powerful.

All the other cards you mentioned have important or even major vulnerabilities that rule them out of 'safety', even if they may turn out to be very good, as i think it is the case for Activate the Obelisk.

Zephrys the Great is granted fun, that's for sure. Yet again, Highlander is not 'safe' right now.

I would say say all the quest you mentioned are worth it and I feel only priest is hard to make it work.

Warrior not so much as dr boom is still in standar and I feel that hero power is better for most situations.

Then  plague of death (1 copy at least, 2 might be overkill) and psycochomp seem great.

Finally Zephyris (sorry if I misspelleda lot, having trouble writing right now.) feels incredible in Highlander style decks, but I would craft it only if you feel you enjoy the explorers (Tried Elise and Reno and they feel great, still surprised by the last one)or feel like playing wild. 

As allways, your should craft according to your existing collection.

Some personal opinion to the list you posted:

Corrupt the Waters is great.

Untapped potential is probably no T1 and the more fun versions feature Zephrys and Elise. 

Bazaar Burglary is strong! .... for a meme deck. It‘s defintily a usefull card if you are into burgle rogue. No T1 but i got to rank 3 with this card yesterday.

Activate the Obelisk is losing big time against warrior - and that’s a problem rn. It‘s basicly inner fire priest in disguise. Same goes for Psychopomp and plague of Death. The later ones will see 100% play at some point though. As long as priest finds a Tier 1 deck that is.

Hack the system is not worth the dust.

Zephrys is a must craft imo. It’s unfortunate that you have no other reno card though. Reno and Brann are the 2 winners atm but all 4 see play. Those cards will be reconsidered in every expansion now.

Anka and Octosari have no real implications right now, i wouldn‘t write them off but other cards are more important.

King Phaoris is (to my surprise) a powerhouse. There was this weird Prismatic lense - spell paladin that featured him but this deck is dead already. Mages use him though! I would‘nt recommend crafting him just yet but it‘s defintily no loss if you open him in a pack!

Micro mummy is essential for quest pally (strong deck! Especially against warriors) and tortolan is great in mages. Both cards are worth it of you plan to play those decks. Long term, tortolan is probably the safer one.

If zilliax is a must i dont see why Siamat isnt

Quote From Marega

If zilliax is a must i dont see why Siamat isnt

I agree, Siamat is just a late-game Zilliax

Quote From Marega

If zilliax is a must i dont see why Siamat isnt

I did get him in gold fortunately as well as Collosus of the moon 😂.

Whilst I do love Priest I see that as one of the jankiest quests to pull off consistently. 

Warrior quest I could skip as mech and taunt are both really solid . 

Highlander stuff I do like but I think those decks are the highest risk right now. 

The epics I will probably just do one copy of each. 

My 2 cents

Corrupt the Waters :You don't have to build your Deck around it and it's good in several Decks also battlecries are always going to a thing even after it rotates so it's definitely a good craft...

Untapped Potential: It's clunky to complete,gets rekt by Aggro and right now it just can't hope to beat Warrior... I'd hold out on this one for now but it could get better in the future...

Bazaar Burglary: It's easy to complete and the reward is nice but I don't think there's much difference in powerlevel between Decks that play it and Decks that don't... After all you're still playing Tempo Rogue you might mitigate a bit of face damage but you still can't deal with Aggro well...

Activate the Obelisk: It's worse than it looks on paper... If your opponent doesn't damage you or your minions you can't complete it and even when you do you're basically playing the same old DS+IF Deck...

Hack the System: Don't craft this... 2 4/3 a turn aren't worth the dust and Dr.Boom is soo much better than this in any scenario...

Zephrys the Great: The card itself is really good but it has restrictions so you wouldn't need to spend dust just on this but also on the other cards required to play Highlander Decks... So if you have a big collection go ahead and craft it if you don't you'd be better off spending your dust somewhere else..

Anka, the Buried: It's been 4 days since the expansion launched and I've yet to see this card played... The effect has potential but I wouldn't craft it right now...

Octosari: Just no please don't waste dust like that...

King Phaoris: The effect is good but I still wouldn't call it a safe craft...

Psychopomp: The card is okay but Priest sucks hard so I'm not sure it's worth the dust right now...

Plague of Death: Same as above...

Tortollan Pilgrim: If you play Mage this is a great way to spend your dust... Shadow Visions on a stick will be good until it rotates and probably even after that... 

Micro Mummy: If you want to play Quest Paladin it's a good card but it can be replaced... Personally I'd never spend that much dust on a card like this one... 

I’m having fun with an Anka and octosari deathrattle deck

its not great but it can be nuts

as For just crafts

idk Siamat seems like the best so far

zerphys is great but i still have my doubts about if Highlander decks are gonna end up being good. Highlander mage is a lot of fun right now but if Aggro finds a way or if mage gets nerfed then who knows

No safe craft here, even King Phaoris is not safe, coz of potential Mage nerf. I think, just wait and play control war, or secret hunter, OP decks, CW will be nerfed and secret hunter will be new tier 1, my opinion, ofc.

Corrupt the Waters: Safe craft, will definitely be playable not only now, but also at any point of time since the reward is pretty universally good.

Untapped Potential: Quest druid lacks early game tempo but cards like hidden oasis help recover a lot. Too many people are playing it so winrates might drop. Value overflows after you complete the quest (remember fandral staghelm?)

Bazaar Burglary: Quest rogue lacks early game tempo like quest druid, but the reward helps you beat control decks. Consider running more defensive cards (like khartut defender, zilliax etc) to make it all-rounded. 3/2 weapon with immune while attacking allows you to make good trades and conserve health. 2 mana for 6 damage over 2 turns is pretty good, and synergy with tess greymane makes thief rogue good against control.

Activate the Obelisk: Quest priest with the divine spirit/inner fire package is quite common now, and seems to fluorish in a mage and warrior-oriented meta. High priest amet is almost seen in every quest priest deck, so you might consider crafting him as well. Restoring 3 health and giving +3/+3 for 2 mana is actually pretty good against any type of deck. Quest may seem difficult to complete, but you will be able to do so sooner or later. Aggro decks will go face, and control decks will damage your minons.

Hack the System: The quest itself isn't too hard to complete, but the reward isn't that overwhelmingly strong. Compare it to quest warlock (un'goro) and you'll understand.

Zephrys the Great: Adapts to every situation, but can only be run in highlander decks. Safe craft if you plan to play wild highlander decks as well. Gives tirion every time if played right, gives ooze against a weapon, gives crazed chemist against doomsayer and kills jaraxxus with sacrificial pact. Gives you lethal with savage roar/bloodlust/damage spells. And it's not even random, it happens every time. Some run it in non-highlander decks for a late game surprise.

Anka, the Buried: Hasn't seen much play yet, most likely better in wild for combo shenanigans. Aside from being a little on the slow end, 1 mana 1/1 deathrattle minions work well with cards like necrium vial.

Octosari: Looks like a meme at first sight, and is most likely actually a meme. Aggro decks don't usually need a turn 8 play, and control decks don't need to draw 8 cards either. Also somewhat slow since it doesn't die quickly most of the time. But if miniature brawl ever comes back, you know what to do :)

King Phaoris: Used in mage decks with a lot of big spells, and meme paladin. Coin prismatic lens on turn 3, and hope king phaoris comes out as a 4 cost minion. All spell deck just for fun.

Psychopomp: Very solid card used in quest priest decks. Everything is a good target... except itself. The summoned minion (injured blademaster if you played it on turn 3) is usually pretty hard to remove on turn 4. Also really good synergy with high priest amet and activate the obelisk.

Plague of Death: Twisting nether but better. Removes any type of sticky board, and should generally be used in control priest archetypes due to high cost. Potentially a target for king phaoris along with mass resurrection

Tortollan Pilgrim: Often seen in highlander mage decks which already have a lot of value. Casting an extra copy of puzzle box of yogg-saron, blizzard, flamestrike or power of creation is usually a good idea seeing there's a 5/5 body attached. Be wary of having too many different spells in your deck since this card would end up being inconsistent, and hearthstone is all about consistency of pulling of combos and synergies.

Micro Mummy: Often seen in quest paladin, which specialises in beating control warrior. You might want to check out making mummies and da undatakah for that. Summoning a 2/2 copy of a minion with card text is good almost all of the time. This card could also see play in aggressive paladin decks, but since murloc paladin is dominating the meta, that has yet to be seen.

Prioritise: Corrupt the Waters, Untapped Potential, Bazaar Burglary, Activate the Obelisk, Zephrys the Great, Psychopomp

Others have pretty specific uses, but it is generally recommended to hold onto your dust until the meta settles down in 2-3 weeks.

Quote From MalcolmReynolds

Quote From Marega

If zilliax is a must i dont see why Siamat isnt

I agree, Siamat is just a late-game Zilliax

Zilliax has a lot of healing potential with magnetic. Make a big mech such as pogo-hopper and get 20 health after making a trade. Zilliax also trades nicely with many 4 drops so you can play it on turn 5 as well. On the other hand, siamat costs 7 mana, and does not have lifesteal. Giving him rush and divine shield to kill off a minion is a common play, but I wouldn't deem him necessary since he's slightly slow against aggro and doesn't help too much against control decks, unlike tirion fordring.

If anything can be considered a safe craft, here's a list of what's likely to be good over a few expansions: (epics and legendaries excluding quests only)

Anubisath defender

Tip the scales

High priest amet

Psychopomp

Plague of death (standard only)

Vessina

Diseased vulture

Armagedillo

Livewire lance (standard only)

Bloodsworn mercenary

Siamat (note that he's an elemental)

Zephrys the great

Vulpera scoundrel

If you play wild Zypher is incredibly safe.  Also pretty solid in standard. 

Corrupt the Waters will likely be a tier 1 deck, and there’s super fun combos in wild.

Depends. Are you Standart only? If so, Corrupt the Waters is a must, everything else in your list is pretty much meh to OK levels of playability and meta importance. For Wild tho... Zephrys the Great is a must for any Reno deck and Bazaar Burglary is destined to create some very strong deck. Pretty much it.

For some things you never mentioned,  Untapped Potential makes quite cheap and effective deck, and Supreme Archaeology is used in expensive, but fun and unique Plot twist deck. Siamat is a perfectly above average Jack-of-all-trades legendary. But must craft? Nah.

Quote From Marega

If zilliax is a must i dont see why Siamat isnt

Siamat is 2 mana more than Zilliax, making it more appropriate to answer 1-2 midrange threats as opposed to spending so much mana to clear 1-2 hyper aggressive threats (especially against wide/token-based boards). Zilliax also addresses direct healing against burn decks/finishers, particularly when used by decks without ample amounts of healing/armor. Zilliax always also left a taunt behind (albeit a small one), which Siamat doesn't do if used aggressively like Zilliax.

Against midrange decks that start snowballing between turns 5-9 Siamat is great. For aggro decks that snowball between turns 1-5 Siamat is a pretty meh neutral version of Godfrey that doesn't even clear that much of the board.

Great input so far guys. Lots to take on board with this set it seems. 

I want to be impulsive and craft loads of them lol but with opinions so conflicted I will definitely wait a little while and see what sticks. 

Shaman quest seems to be the most universally good quest and that will fit straight into a elemental/overload deck nicely so I might do that one first and have some fun with it. 

Quote From RavenSunHS

Imo, there is no real safe craft this expansion.

Maybe Corrupt the Waters, because condition is a non-condition, and reward is basically universal for any deck. And powerful.

All the other cards you mentioned have important or even major vulnerabilities that rule them out of 'safety', even if they may turn out to be very good, as i think it is the case for Activate the Obelisk.

Zephrys the Great is granted fun, that's for sure. Yet again, Highlander is not 'safe' right now.

Highlander is not safe? Literally the best archetype in wild atm and zephrys is a great addition! Why are you lying?

Highlander is not safe? Literally the best archetype in wild atm and zephrys is a great addition! Why are you lying?

Wild safe and Standard safe are 2 very different things.

I am more tempted to play wild more than ever but am missing the first few sets that rotated because I Thanosed them lol

It depends on whether you care about ladder progress or not. I personally don't care (stuck at rank 15) and for me, Zephrys the Great has been an absolute blast.

Combining him with cards like Youthful Brewmaster, Barista Lynchen or Elise the Enlightened allows you to have multiple "perfect top-decks", which is just so much fun to play and difficult to play against: will I get a heal, a board clear, a single target removal, Tirion Fordring, or something completely unexpected? You never know and it's always fun to be able to react well to the situation on the board.

It's definitely been fun for me to play my own Highlander Mage and Druid, so I can definitely suggest Zephrys and some Highlander action, but no idea whether these'll be good if you want to climb ladder.

Quote From Pullanisu

Quote From RavenSunHS

Imo, there is no real safe craft this expansion.

Maybe Corrupt the Waters, because condition is a non-condition, and reward is basically universal for any deck. And powerful.

All the other cards you mentioned have important or even major vulnerabilities that rule them out of 'safety', even if they may turn out to be very good, as i think it is the case for Activate the Obelisk.

Zephrys the Great is granted fun, that's for sure. Yet again, Highlander is not 'safe' right now.

Highlander is not safe? Literally the best archetype in wild atm and zephrys is a great addition! Why are you lying?

First, this is obviously a thread about Standard.

Second, do you have any proof for accusing me of being a liar?

Sure, Zephrys is a great addition, but before SoU, Renodecks were around t3. I doubt one card can make them jump on top tier.

Proof, or there's only one liar here, and that's not me.

No fights here please.

In terms of ladder viability, I couldn't care less I never play ladder anymore really. I wouldn't mind hitting the rank 15 floor though instead of being rank 20 all the time.

Dying to craft semi Highlander Quest Druid with Elise and Zephyrs but yeah meta and all