Happy April Fools! As you may have heard, we're not participating this year, so enjoy this review of the Druid cards from Ashes of Outland instead.
We do intend to have all the class reviews (plus the neutrals) out before the expansion launches. The mathematically minded of you will realise that we have more classes left than we do days (not even counting neutrals, which is currently split into three reviews). As such, we'll have a few days where multiple reviews go up, so make sure to check back if you think you missed one. We're going in alphabetical order, so it should be easy to notice.
As always, our reviews are actually prophetic visions of the future of the game, which we experience by breathing in the vapours from cracks in the ground near volcanoes. It's all very scientific, promise.
Maybe this card can count as our April Fools joke.
Quote From Noxious This card is… confusing. Compare this to Wrath. With Wrath, you have two choices: Deal 1 damage and draw a card, or deal 3 damage. If we ignore the first choice, Wrath is basically a Bogbeam that costs one less. Bogbeam deals the same amount of damage for one extra mana, or for 0 mana if you cast it when you have over 7 mana crystals. There are some issues I see here: Firstly, once you're up to 7 mana you're probably not going to be that constrained that you can't spend some mana to do some damage. But, say you're playing a deck with big minions and you need to have as much mana as you can while still dealing some damage. Then, why not go for Wrath so you have the choice to draw a card and maybe get something more useful? 2 mana is not a big price to pay, you'll probably have enough left over to still summon a big minion from your hand.
But what if you need that extra mana to cast more spells, not minions? Then get [Hearthstone Card (Ysiel Wildsinger) Not Found]. Reduce her cost with Imprisoned Satyr and you're good to go. I feel a disconnect between Bogbeam and everything else Druids are getting in Ashes of Outland. Perhaps there is a facet of this I am not seeing, but I don't understand why anyone would pick Bogbeam over Wrath.
No wonder he was imprisoned, cheating all that mana.
Quote From Noxious Interesting card, especially for big minion Druid decks. The spiritual successor of Dreampetal Florist, Imprisoned Satyr achieves one thing Dreampetal Florist could not: The fact that it stays dormant for two turns gives you a chance to adjust the amount of minions in your hand and potentially target which minion will get the cost reduction. If you can pull this off on an [Hearthstone Card (Ysiel Wildsinger) Not Found] or, in Wild, on Aviana or [Hearthstone Card (Kun, the Forgotten King) Not Found], you can build up massive momentum. This fact can potentially make the Satyr's inferior 5-mana cost reduction better than the Dreamflorist's cost reduction of 7, giving you more control over your game and, ultimately, your win condition.
Don't grow too much, or there won't be mushroom left!
Quote From Noxious We've seen a lot of mana boosting cards come into the Druid's arsenal over the years, from the original Innervate / Wild Growth to crazy variants like Biology Project and Living Mana. Thus, the question I have for this card is, why do you exist when Nourish does? Just like Bogbeam, this is another new card with a very similar yet probably inferior effect to another. The advantage this card holds over Nourish is the ability to cast it at turn 4, which also happens to be a pretty important time in a match against several types of decks. Can you sacrifice turn 4 to get 2 mana crystals?
This card is already worthless in Untapped Potential decks, where Nourish is by far superior. You can also argue Nourish is a bit too high-cost for its first effect to even matter if you're not playing with Untapped Potential, but what most people use Nourish for is the card draw. Druids already have enough ways to boost ahead with mana crystals, especially in Wild (though this card seems to be made for Standard, where mana booster cards are more situational, like Breath of Dreams), and it's much less detrimental to your game if you use Wild Growth on turn 3 rather than using Overgrowth on turn 4.
Now, it's not a completely terrible card, but part of why I'm so critical of it also stems from that fact that Overgrowth is just boring. Breath of Dreams, for example, is an interesting card. You draw a card, and if you've got draconic friends, you also get a mana crystal. Great! But a card just as bland as one from the Basic set, with nothing else to make it more interesting is disappointing. Since Druids are getting some manner of spell synergy this expansion, that's what this card should have revolved around. An effect like "Gain two empty Mana Crystals. If you already have at least 7 Mana Crystals, add two 8-cost minions to your hand instead" would have fit the Druid's expansion theme better. It could have even gotten crazier. Warlock recently got a crazy boost in Descent of Dragons with Valdris Felgorge, which increases their maximum hand size to 12. What if this card gave you an eleventh mana crystal if you already had 10 mana? It could get pretty insane, but it would still be better than what this card currently is.
Where do I grow my fungus? My ceiling, hun.
Quote From Noxious Sometimes, I wonder if [Hearthstone Card (Book of Spectres) Not Found] was accidentally added to the wrong class, and which class got the spell that was meant for Mage. I now need to wonder no further, as Fungal Fortunes has provided me with the answer! I'm not exactly sure what it happening between those two classes, with Mage also getting the Druid's Crystalsong Portal in the form of Font of Power, but I'm intrigued.
If you're playing a crazy Spell Druid deck, you only condition to not use this card is if [Hearthstone Card (Ysiel Wildsinger) Not Found] is still in your deck. If it's "safe" to draw, then this card is extremely powerful. If Spell Druid is going to be a successful archetype in Ashes of Outland, this spell will be an auto-include in every single deck of that archetype. Its value is so good to the point that if you have two of those in your deck, you could probably get away with needing no other type of card draw!
Unfortunately, for any other Druid deck - one that employs more than a minion or two - this card is extremely dangerous. I would not risk using it in a deck with big minions, or in Wild C'thun decks, and not even in Jade Druid decks.
Suited and rooted.
Quote From ShadowsOfSense This card puzzles me, in that I think it's a decent enough card, I just don't really understand why the second part of its effect exists.
Gaining +1/+3 and Taunt for 2 mana is perfectly average - same number of stats and same keyword as Mark of the Wild, with one edging out the other depending on whether you particularly care more about Attack or Health. I'd say in general Ironbark is better, in fact. This is ignoring the extra clause on the card, of course, which I guess pushes it over the edge even more?
Don't get me wrong, the fact that once you hit 7 mana the spell is now free is all upside. Having that ability is only a boon. I just don't really understand why Druid got two cards with it this expansion (one significantly worse than the other) when it isn't like… an archetype you can support? Especially not with just those two spells? Like yeah, it's a cool bonus on the spells, but why though? I've been puzzling it over ever since the cards were revealed, because neither of them are particularly groundbreaking effects, and the bonus isn't enough that you'd choose to run them specifically because of it. Bogbeam is bad, you'd pick Wrath over it when deckbuilding every time; Ironbark is decent enough, you'd certainly run it in decks that might instead have run other low-cost single target buffs, but I don't really see myself deliberately cutting better cards in a Big Druid or Ramp Druid deck for a minor buff just because I can get it out for free sometimes. It's still only +1/+3 and Taunt that could've been another big minion or draw card.
I don't even know if I'd be excited to be wrong about this. It's such a weird, minor mechanic to introduce and I can't really feel anything more than mild bemusement at it. I guess this exists now. Let's hope it goes the way of Freeze Shaman before the accidentally release something actually broken with it.
Practice social distancing, even from yourself.
Quote From Noxious Powerful! For the balanced cost of 4 mana, you get to duplicate any minion and keep the original one somewhat safe. Combined with a big minion, cost reduced by Imprisoned Satyr, things can get pretty exciting. [Hearthstone Card (Ysiel Wildsinger) Not Found], Aviana, Lucentbark, Mulchmuncher and Winged Guardian come to mind when thinking about minions that would most benefit from this combo. I could even see it used on cheaper minions with funky effects like Conjured Mirage or Escaped Manasaber. All in all, it's a versatile card with a lot of potential. Sure, it might not be used in combos as interesting as the ones I have talked about, but it's still a real solid card.
Something tells me they're not here to teach you how to dance.
Quote From Noxious Yet another interesting card! Very similar to Force of Nature in that it swarms the board with 2/2 minions, but this one has the potential of going way above three measly Treants. I suspect it will be very popular in spell-heavy decks, but it can still be useful in decks with a… normal amount of spells!
Keeper Stalladris is staying in Standard for another year. While it was "usurped" by Untapped Potential in the Choose One category ever since Saviors of Uldum, with the emergence of Spell Druid in Ashes of Outland, Stalladris and Glowfly Swarm could make a great team. If Fungal Fortunes is to be successfully used, Druids will need to rely on as many spells as possible to put minions on the board, and Glowfly Swarm is sure to be one of them.
Why did they make those cool goggles? Not marsh else to do out there.
Quote From Demonxz95 Marsh Hydra is a pretty intriguing card to me. At 7 mana, it can take out a problematic minion right away, leave a body on the board, and give you a large minion for your next turn. It's quite useful on curve, but even later, an 8-drop will be threatening in the late game for your opponent to deal with.
May I remind everyone that Hir'eek, the Bat will be rotating out when the set releases? Exactly! The worst option is gone. At this point, we just hope that there won't be another one in this set in the remaining cards.
I like this card. It's a nice way to remove a threat now on turn 7 and have a decent minion to curve into next turn on turn 8. The effect is also not a Battlecry meaning you can cheat it out with Strength in Numbers. It's also VERY strong in Arena.
Please be meta so casters have to say your name!
Quote From Demonxz95 The "prime" cards are a neat mechanic, where you get a small card now and a big card later.
A 3 mana 3/4 with Taunt is fairly good by itself. Not game-breaking, but good. In his Prime form, he'll summon a 9/9 with Taunt, and another 9/9 with a choice of either Taunt or Rush. Combined with Ossirian Tear or Fandral, my guess is that the Fungal Giant will simply have both Taunt and Rush instead of summoning one with Rush and one with Taunt.
He is quite a bit slow, but it's a nice introduction to the Prime mechanic, and it's pretty good in Arena just as a 3/4 Taunt for 3, and the Prime form if you draw it can seal the game. In Constructed, he's slow and his Prime form can sometimes be easily dealt with, but one thing that I do think is cool is that you can run him with Embiggen without ruining his Prime form.
For her, spellcasting is a breeze!
Quote From Noxious Aha! It's Aviana, but with spells! If Spell Druid is to be successful, I can definitely see this card seeing play. If, unfortunately, it ends up failing, then Ysiel will join Aviana in the Hall of Cool But Mostly Unfortunate Cards.
Ysiel Windsinger is a card with identical stats to OG Aviana, and almost the exact same effect. Now, with powerful new options such as Germination and Ironbark, Ysiel might actually stand a chance to survive for more than one turn compared to her feathered sister. We have yet to see whether this comes to pass.
If Ysiel ends up being successful, and that's a big if, then I believe she can enable some insane plays similar to what Force of Nature and Savage Roar could do back in the way, but with Glowfly Swarm instead this time around. Simply leaving her alive for one turn on the board could spell doom, with The Forest's Aid as well as Gift of the Wild buffing the board up to hardly survivable levels.
Aviana was similarly awesome on paper when she was revealed years ago. I hope Ysiel will do an outstanding job.
Comments
I'm looking forward to the potential of Token Druid with all these new creature generating cards and ways to negotiate around it.
Those 2 cost 0 if you have 7 mana cards are there to manage your hand size effectively so if you play a card like UI or the card that heals and draws for 5 you can still manage your hand size well. Yes I would say these cards suit a combo deck or chef nomi deck
What about using the "costs 0 if you have 7 mana" with Gadgetzan Auctioneer? Druid already has plenty of card draw, but well...
"As always, our reviews are actually prophetic visions of the future of the game, which we experience by breathing in the vapours from cracks in the ground near volcanoes. It's all very scientific, promise."
Lovin all the descriptions of your reviews, haha.
I wonder about the interaction of Ysiel Windsinger 1 mana spells vs 0 cost mana spells with 7 mana crystals.
Will it stay 0 cost, or they disregard it and make it 1 mana cost spell?
Since you play Ysiel after reaching 7-mana they'll probably cost 1.
Or maybe it depends on when you draw them.
Lots of people (myself included) overlook Overgrowth and Bogbeam, but I think its likely we'll be seeing more of these cards than we think.
Overgrowth is a turn 4 ramp for 2, with an effect on 10 that is not yet confirmed (2 Excess Mana or 1). Disregarding that last point, its still a ramp for 2, and considering you can already ramp with Breath of Dreams or Wild Growth, this one can come 1 turn earlier, which is significant. At the end, we may as well be seeing druid ramping fast enough to be 4-5 mana ahead of the curve, and with cards like Winged Guardian being so handy at stabilizing there may not be any class outside of rogue that can deal with these effectively. This is not a quest card, its an embiggen/big druid support card that does what its supposed to do, give druid bigger turns at the cost of the the current turn.
Of course with ramping fast comes with risks, which is why cards like Bogbeam exist. Ramp up fast, then regain some tempo with a 0 cost 3 damage spell. Play Winged Guardian/Marsh Hydra, then deal 3 damage for free, as early as turn 4-5. That's the kind of turn plays that win games.
We do actually know that Overgrowth will only give one Excess Mana... kind of.
The tweet that claims this also claims that it does this 'just like Nourish', which is of course incorrect, but I'd be inclined to believe it anyway.
It makes sense that you only get 1 Excess Mana. With 2, you can actually setup some insane malygos-kaelthas strats.
Still, my fingers crossed that you can get 2. The card is already good on its own, if it gives 2 Excess Mana, then it might well just be broken.
I didn't know I needed a Fires of Pompeii reference on this site, and then one happened. Thank you
Archspore Msshi'fn sure looks strong to me, as does Blizzard's meme game in naming its Prime's Choose One tokens: Msshi'fn At'tac and Msshi'fn Pro'tec.
And Demonxz95 is correct that only one Token will be summoned with "Choose Both" effects: Fungal Gargantuan. Now that's a golden animation!
One thing that I think not enough people appreciate is Blizzard's meme attempts and the flavour text. A good bit of it is really bland, but sometimes they're gold (one of my favourites is Level Up!).
too bad, was really hoping they'd just say "fuck it" and let the guy summon two spawns...although that would probably make Quest Druid ridiculously op
I'm trying to work out the most disgusting thing you can do with 3 spells for druid. In theory, you could play Ysiel Windsinger, followed by 2 Nourishes, leaving you with 3 mana. If the FoN/SR combo still existed, the answer is obvious, but without it, I'm stuck. Playing The Forest's Aid, followed by 2x Gift of the Wild produces an impressive board, but it's hardly game winning, and by the time you've pulled all 6 cards needed for that, you'll have probably drawn so much of the deck that Chef Nomi is a viable alternative.
The sad thing about Ysiel Windsinger in standard is that Kael'thas Sunstrider can probably do it better.
The best way to play her in my opinion is to draw towards your win condition, with expensive cards like Overflow. That's it really.
I mean why not both then? Run the Forest combo and if that doesn't work, give em the nomi
Also you can just use Satyr to discount Ysiel.
Also also if the Ysiel turn is dealt with (which really depends on how prevalent Warlock and/or Zephrys is in the meta) You still have a bunch of Forest's Aids (and presumably Savage Roar or something similar if you'Re running a dedicated spell deck) to keep reloading until your opponent is out of stuff.
The bigger problem would be to get by not playing a lot of stuff when Tempo decks are obviously going to own the meta and Druid isn't exactly known for playing well from behind
I'm not saying they can't be used in tandem, I'm saying that a 10 mana, 6 card combo has only ever been playable when it's sealing a game. Merely generating a huge board, for a full 20% of your deck, with the ability to do so again with yet another card, is generally not a game winner. Any successful combo like that has generally been an instant game win, not a "if you can't clear this board, and another, or burn me down in the mean-time, I win".
Druid is one or two cards away from being broken at the moment, and I'm not sure how they proceed without either making it a failed archetype, or hopelessly broken.
Look at the fact they're losing a lot of their existing support (survival Ferocious Howl) Treant synergy (Landscaping, Dendrologist, Mulchmuncher,Treespeaker) and combo/0TK support (Flobbidinous Floop, Juicy Psychmelon).
As a replacement, they're getting different 0TK support (Imprisoned Satyr) and this weird, spell synergy without any decent spells build. Either Druid gets a really, REALLY strong, high cost spell in future, or they spend a year in the wilderness IMO.
On a side note, I'm really looking forward to factoring in Marsh Hydra in my Jungle Giants deck in Wild.
It seems like in general, Druid is getting a lot of utility options in this expansion without any real "tent poles" outside of the meme-potential of Ysiel Windsinger. And honestly, that's probably a good thing: Druid has a lot of identity in the current meta with multiple viable archetypes (Embiggen, token, AND quest), so it's more deserving of generic cards than the proverbial shot in the arm that other classes like Shaman and Warlock need.
Just a correction here, you can't play Germination on Winged Guardian because it can't be targeted by spells
Correct! It seems my review bloodlust has yet again clouded my view of the most simple of mechanic interactions.