King Mukla seems to be linked with King Krush in my head. If you see one then you will see the other. He offers a Banana Ramp, a Taunt on delay and +5 buff with immunity to King Krush which is also on delay. The delay is off putting till you notice Equipment Mukla's Big Brother is a BATTLECRY 12/24 Beast TAUNT. Yes, it dies first turn and now your Mukla is up and running.
Epic Mukla + Epic King Krush and fill in another (maybe Rare Lady Anacondra for spam mend beast) seems like a decent NO LEGENDARY team.
The Lich King seems to be a super solid character that does not need a ton of synergy (always helps though). He is beefy at 77hp, hits hard with 12, has a taunt, has okay heal, slow, freeze and some shadow synergy. I think that he will be a solid bench character to toss onto most comps. I can not commit to any one Equipment as they seem to fit different strategies. Frostmorne lets you slow their whole team down for you can focus fire, Void Treads offers sustain in a shadow comp and Helm is basically a DOT for anyone you slow with Frostbite.
Scabbs has cheese. Scabbs comes off the bench with Shadow Blade (speed 2) to hit and stealth. 2nd turn, while in stealth, he plays the his longest cast Wicked Stab in order to be last to act (trying to remain in stealth) with big damage. Rinse and repeat. 2 speed stealth with big last turn hit. I do not think it will be a game breaker but it does capture the feeling of vanilla wow rogue. I think he should go Honing Rod but not certain. I see him having some use in PvE and cropping up in some F2P decks.
I don't buy the bundles. I'll level up what I get as (Mercenaries-)f2p.
Pretty much my thoughts. I keep debating back and forth if I should get a bundle, but if I do it'll be Sylvanas. However the one I really want is Lich King (I mean, the way he swings that sword and points it at me! It's like he's saying "Thonson! Spend your fucking money!!!")
I will see what I get and what synergies I can put together. If I really want/need a Merc I'll find the bounty I need to grind to get them and go from there. Ultimately I will want to save as much of my gold as I can for the main mode. But will likely keep some gold to get a handful of Mercs packs every expansion cycle if I end up liking the mode.
There are 2 mercs I really want to pull from packs and leveling them ASAP.
1. Lord Jaraxxus
The demon comp seems really strong and fun for me. Tamsin and Rathorian are rares so I will get them 100%, and the bench is less important but I want Mannoroth, Gul'dan and Diablo there.
2. Malfurion Stormrage
The key to nature comps. Guff and Bru'kan are rares and Brightwing is epic, so Malfurion is the only one that will be hard to get. I also want Anacondra and Morgl in the team but they are also rare.
And I also want to play with orcs but that will require multiple legendaries. There is also a fire comp I want to check out, and maybe Diablo and the epics will be good enough for that.
In my opinion nature comp will be the most tanky, grindy team, and they will have success in both PVE in PVP. What do we need?
1. Malfurion Stormrage. His equipment can heal the party for 18. Everyone, every turn, passively. He can also speed up the party, root the opponent, or provide further aoe heal or aoe damage.
2. Guff the caster-tank. Taunt and +12/+32 every second turn? Yes please. He can also buff the whole party including the bench. His Living Brambles says: "nature combo: repeat this", and I wonder if it works with Malf's equip, providing another heal. Maybe not, but Guff is still broken. Speaking of bro'ken:
3. Bru'kan the bro'ken disruptor. Muddy footing at speed 4 that deals nature damage and slows the opponent by 10? Without cooldown? Yes please. He can also give the team +nature damage which is nice. I think he is the 3rd best, but I also think that there is someone else who is more worthy in the starting 3. Who else, than:
4. Brightwing, the swapper. This little shit is just so good in any comp, and she is even better in a nature comp. Buffing the bench is nice. Healing the whole party is something we already have, but thats what makes the party super tanky/grindy, the fact that we have more sources of heal. And lastly the best ability: swapping (with healing of course). Especially good in PVE, but it could be good in PVP aswell.
5. Lady Anacondra, who makes the cut. Serpent's bite gets double bonus from +nature damage which is nice. She can also heal, which works with our strategy.
6. Thrall Morgl the Oracle, aka the better Thrall (I mean in nature comps). I mean what would Thrall do? He has an orc-buff, a mediocre aoe, and another skill which is good with attack focused heroes. Meanwhile with the right equipment Morgl can deal damage and heal the whole party (grindy strategy, remember?) without cooldown and he can heal for 30 every second turn.
So I think that the nature comp will be pretty strong, very tanky, very grindy, but Thrall doesnt make the cut for the best 6.
Was thinking around the idea that everyone is having a great time slamming back brews but next day, all hell will break loose. A full board buff for both you and your opponent that pays dividends for both players. If the Warlock isn't finishing them this turn, your opponent gets to take advantage of the buffs. Then the party comes to a crash the next turn when everyone realizes the party is over and now have to deal with the hangover.
Xyrella is very versatile, she is a pretty good starting hero. The debuff works very well with mercs that attack a lot like Garrosh.
Atonement is an interesting skill, and I wonder if it starts counting the heals even if Xyrella is on the bench. It its the case then I could see her ability as a nuke in nature comps.
Diablo 2: Resurrected is pretty popular right now. If you understand its mechanics, you know that decreasing your opponents resistances is usually much better than increasing your own damage by the same amount. Why am I talking about this? Because in Hearthstone Mercenaries its the exact opposite.
If you gain +x [spell school] damage, it works for all of your mercs until the source of it is killed. (Maybe even longer? Im note sure about that.) Vol'jin's shadow weakness on the other hand, its unique and it sounds cool, but it only lasts for 1 turn.
Ring of Haste is no joke, but what are the best payoffs for using shadow spells? Tamsin's summon gets buffed for every shadow spell, which is nice, but if you use the Ring, your shadow spells will be faster than the summon, so its actually counter-productive.
Right now, I dont think that a shadow comp is good enough, but if they introduce more synergies, then Vol'jin and his overpowered ring will be a part of it for sure.
Super good in a vacuum, and if you think about combos, he is even better.
Any merc who likes attack buffs will love Tirion (like Samuro, King Krush or Illidan) and his debuff is also a game-changer especially when you use it with Garrosh's Mak'Gora.
Ashbringer's deathrattle is something you dont want in PVE, but its really good in PVP. BTW, in PVP Tirion is the number 1 hard-counter to Sylvanas.
Probably the best epic, and one of the best mercenaries overall.
He is a must-have in orc comps. His skills are versatile. Warchief's command is great with Sylvanas in PVP. The equipment is even more interesting. Getting windfury from Doomhammer is nice especially when you have a Rokara in your team. But Ring of Strength seems even better, a pseudo-heal that works very well with Garrosh and his Mak'Gora.
So I like Thrall a lot and I think that orc comps will be strong, and Thrall will be a huge part of the composition's success.
Must-have in a demon comp. She also has some shadow synergies. I might underestimate the shadow school, because I dont think its top tier right now, but Tamsin makes it better for sure.
BTW, shadow school. If you want to go that way, you want Vol'jin with the equipment that reduces the speed of all Shadow skills by 3. The problem with that, is your Tamsin's summon will be slower than your shadow skills, so you cant buff your demon in the same turn you summon it.
Anyways, IMO the demon comp will be very good, and Tamsin will be a key part to that team.
Reclaimed Souls + Death Volley is a party wipe for the opponent. There are ways to buff Reclaimed Souls without killing your own party, like using summons, or even better, using Samuro.
BUT, I still have 2 concerns about her.
1. She can be countered by Tirion. I know it doesnt sound like a real concern right now, but when we will have an estabilished metagame in Mercenaries PVP, there will be counter-strategies. If Sylvanas will be in every PVP comp, then its safe to assume that Tirion will be also used at the same rate. To be honest, it doesnt make her less good, I just wanted to mention it.
2. You cant kill Sylvanas. I mean, none of her abilities are "attacks", she cant get retaliation damage. Your opponent will decide when to kill her, and you will have no choice about that.
So I have my concerns, but she still seems like the best PVP merc, and I dont think she will be good in PVE.
An orc that can summon orcs? Alright. He is actually very good in orc comps. The AoE orc buff is very strong, but its somewhat complicated to apply it to everyone. I mean there are ways to damage your stuff, but sometimes you can just rely AoE damage from your opponent, and after that a good old fashioned +7/+9 AoE buff without cooldown sounds pretty good.
Must-have in orc builds, kinda useless outside of them.
King Mukla
King Mukla seems to be linked with King Krush in my head. If you see one then you will see the other. He offers a Banana Ramp, a Taunt on delay and +5 buff with immunity to King Krush which is also on delay. The delay is off putting till you notice Equipment Mukla's Big Brother is a BATTLECRY 12/24 Beast TAUNT. Yes, it dies first turn and now your Mukla is up and running.
Epic Mukla + Epic King Krush and fill in another (maybe Rare Lady Anacondra for spam mend beast) seems like a decent NO LEGENDARY team.
Lich King
The Lich King seems to be a super solid character that does not need a ton of synergy (always helps though). He is beefy at 77hp, hits hard with 12, has a taunt, has okay heal, slow, freeze and some shadow synergy. I think that he will be a solid bench character to toss onto most comps. I can not commit to any one Equipment as they seem to fit different strategies. Frostmorne lets you slow their whole team down for you can focus fire, Void Treads offers sustain in a shadow comp and Helm is basically a DOT for anyone you slow with Frostbite.
Overall, a solid bench character for me.
Scabbs Cutterbutter
Scabbs has cheese. Scabbs comes off the bench with Shadow Blade (speed 2) to hit and stealth. 2nd turn, while in stealth, he plays the his longest cast Wicked Stab in order to be last to act (trying to remain in stealth) with big damage. Rinse and repeat. 2 speed stealth with big last turn hit. I do not think it will be a game breaker but it does capture the feeling of vanilla wow rogue. I think he should go Honing Rod but not certain. I see him having some use in PvE and cropping up in some F2P decks.
-CrossOnline
Mercs’ launch: who are you going to level up first?
Pretty much my thoughts. I keep debating back and forth if I should get a bundle, but if I do it'll be Sylvanas. However the one I really want is Lich King (I mean, the way he swings that sword and points it at me! It's like he's saying "Thonson! Spend your fucking money!!!")
I will see what I get and what synergies I can put together. If I really want/need a Merc I'll find the bounty I need to grind to get them and go from there. Ultimately I will want to save as much of my gold as I can for the main mode. But will likely keep some gold to get a handful of Mercs packs every expansion cycle if I end up liking the mode.
Mercs’ launch: who are you going to level up first?
There are 2 mercs I really want to pull from packs and leveling them ASAP.
1. Lord Jaraxxus
The demon comp seems really strong and fun for me. Tamsin and Rathorian are rares so I will get them 100%, and the bench is less important but I want Mannoroth, Gul'dan and Diablo there.
2. Malfurion Stormrage
The key to nature comps. Guff and Bru'kan are rares and Brightwing is epic, so Malfurion is the only one that will be hard to get. I also want Anacondra and Morgl in the team but they are also rare.
And I also want to play with orcs but that will require multiple legendaries. There is also a fire comp I want to check out, and maybe Diablo and the epics will be good enough for that.
The nature comp’ fat thrall
In my opinion nature comp will be the most tanky, grindy team, and they will have success in both PVE in PVP. What do we need?
1. Malfurion Stormrage. His equipment can heal the party for 18. Everyone, every turn, passively. He can also speed up the party, root the opponent, or provide further aoe heal or aoe damage.
2. Guff the caster-tank. Taunt and +12/+32 every second turn? Yes please. He can also buff the whole party including the bench. His Living Brambles says: "nature combo: repeat this", and I wonder if it works with Malf's equip, providing another heal. Maybe not, but Guff is still broken. Speaking of bro'ken:
3. Bru'kan the bro'ken disruptor. Muddy footing at speed 4 that deals nature damage and slows the opponent by 10? Without cooldown? Yes please. He can also give the team +nature damage which is nice. I think he is the 3rd best, but I also think that there is someone else who is more worthy in the starting 3. Who else, than:
4. Brightwing, the swapper. This little shit is just so good in any comp, and she is even better in a nature comp. Buffing the bench is nice. Healing the whole party is something we already have, but thats what makes the party super tanky/grindy, the fact that we have more sources of heal. And lastly the best ability: swapping (with healing of course). Especially good in PVE, but it could be good in PVP aswell.
5. Lady Anacondra, who makes the cut. Serpent's bite gets double bonus from +nature damage which is nice. She can also heal, which works with our strategy.
6. Thrall Morgl the Oracle, aka the better Thrall (I mean in nature comps). I mean what would Thrall do? He has an orc-buff, a mediocre aoe, and another skill which is good with attack focused heroes. Meanwhile with the right equipment Morgl can deal damage and heal the whole party (grindy strategy, remember?) without cooldown and he can heal for 30 every second turn.
So I think that the nature comp will be pretty strong, very tanky, very grindy, but Thrall doesnt make the cut for the best 6.
Welcome Back Party - Card Design Competition Discussion Thread
Was thinking around the idea that everyone is having a great time slamming back brews but next day, all hell will break loose. A full board buff for both you and your opponent that pays dividends for both players. If the Warlock isn't finishing them this turn, your opponent gets to take advantage of the buffs. Then the party comes to a crash the next turn when everyone realizes the party is over and now have to deal with the hangover.
Xyrella
Xyrella is very versatile, she is a pretty good starting hero. The debuff works very well with mercs that attack a lot like Garrosh.
Atonement is an interesting skill, and I wonder if it starts counting the heals even if Xyrella is on the bench. It its the case then I could see her ability as a nuke in nature comps.
Warmaster Voone
Voone is mediocre. If we get more dragons, he could be somewhat better.
Vol'jin
Diablo 2: Resurrected is pretty popular right now. If you understand its mechanics, you know that decreasing your opponents resistances is usually much better than increasing your own damage by the same amount. Why am I talking about this? Because in Hearthstone Mercenaries its the exact opposite.
If you gain +x [spell school] damage, it works for all of your mercs until the source of it is killed. (Maybe even longer? Im note sure about that.) Vol'jin's shadow weakness on the other hand, its unique and it sounds cool, but it only lasts for 1 turn.
Ring of Haste is no joke, but what are the best payoffs for using shadow spells? Tamsin's summon gets buffed for every shadow spell, which is nice, but if you use the Ring, your shadow spells will be faster than the summon, so its actually counter-productive.
Right now, I dont think that a shadow comp is good enough, but if they introduce more synergies, then Vol'jin and his overpowered ring will be a part of it for sure.
Varian Wrynn
Heroic leap seems very strong, but the human synergy is not that good right now. At release orcs will be much better.
But, if they introduce more human synergy in the future then Varian could be a key to the compositions success.
Varden Dawngrasp
Varden is good, but freeze/frost synergy is not that good ATM. Without any synergy, he is just a worse Cairne right now.
Uther
Holy synergy is nice but the holy school is not very good at the moment.
Giving taunt to Sylvanas could be good in PVP, but in that case you dont want to heal her.
Kinda lackluster for a legendary.
Tyrande
Arcane damage, arcane damage, arcane damage.
Thats it, basically. Its true that you can use an equipment to boost nature skills, but why would you do that with a full arcane merc?
Tyrande is not bad, but in my opinion arcane school does the same as fire school but its less effective.
Tirion Fordring
"Put your face in the light!"
Super good in a vacuum, and if you think about combos, he is even better.
Any merc who likes attack buffs will love Tirion (like Samuro, King Krush or Illidan) and his debuff is also a game-changer especially when you use it with Garrosh's Mak'Gora.
Ashbringer's deathrattle is something you dont want in PVE, but its really good in PVP. BTW, in PVP Tirion is the number 1 hard-counter to Sylvanas.
Probably the best epic, and one of the best mercenaries overall.
Thrall
Thrall, the True Warchief.
He is a must-have in orc comps. His skills are versatile. Warchief's command is great with Sylvanas in PVP. The equipment is even more interesting. Getting windfury from Doomhammer is nice especially when you have a Rokara in your team. But Ring of Strength seems even better, a pseudo-heal that works very well with Garrosh and his Mak'Gora.
So I like Thrall a lot and I think that orc comps will be strong, and Thrall will be a huge part of the composition's success.
Tavish Stormpike
Good point, I didnt think of that.
Overall, I dont think that Tavish is good, but the combo with Saurfang could make him work.
Tamsin Roame
Must-have in a demon comp. She also has some shadow synergies. I might underestimate the shadow school, because I dont think its top tier right now, but Tamsin makes it better for sure.
BTW, shadow school. If you want to go that way, you want Vol'jin with the equipment that reduces the speed of all Shadow skills by 3. The problem with that, is your Tamsin's summon will be slower than your shadow skills, so you cant buff your demon in the same turn you summon it.
Anyways, IMO the demon comp will be very good, and Tamsin will be a key part to that team.
Sylvanas Windrunner
The Banshee Queen, The PVP Goddess.
Reclaimed Souls + Death Volley is a party wipe for the opponent. There are ways to buff Reclaimed Souls without killing your own party, like using summons, or even better, using Samuro.
BUT, I still have 2 concerns about her.
1. She can be countered by Tirion. I know it doesnt sound like a real concern right now, but when we will have an estabilished metagame in Mercenaries PVP, there will be counter-strategies. If Sylvanas will be in every PVP comp, then its safe to assume that Tirion will be also used at the same rate. To be honest, it doesnt make her less good, I just wanted to mention it.
2. You cant kill Sylvanas. I mean, none of her abilities are "attacks", she cant get retaliation damage. Your opponent will decide when to kill her, and you will have no choice about that.
So I have my concerns, but she still seems like the best PVP merc, and I dont think she will be good in PVE.
I've Got the Beast in My Sights - A Full Guide to Piloting Beast Hunter on the Wildest of Wednesdays
Thanks! It really means a lot that people appreciate this kind of guide.
I've Got the Beast in My Sights - A Full Guide to Piloting Beast Hunter on the Wildest of Wednesdays
Thanks for commenting! I’ll try to keep this up as a consistent weekly series (probably with some breaks for holidays).
Scabbs Cutterbutter
Murlocs = bad.
Oh, wait, wrong topic. Or is it? I dont think that Scabbs is any better than any murloc, so I have put him in the same category.
Actually he is worse than the murlocs. He is a gnome, he doesnt use any spell school, he doesnt have any synergy.
Possibly the worst mercenary.
I've Got the Beast in My Sights - A Full Guide to Piloting Beast Hunter on the Wildest of Wednesdays
Thanks! It’s really nice to know people noticed those decks.
Saurfang
An orc that can summon orcs? Alright. He is actually very good in orc comps. The AoE orc buff is very strong, but its somewhat complicated to apply it to everyone. I mean there are ways to damage your stuff, but sometimes you can just rely AoE damage from your opponent, and after that a good old fashioned +7/+9 AoE buff without cooldown sounds pretty good.
Must-have in orc builds, kinda useless outside of them.
I've Got the Beast in My Sights - A Full Guide to Piloting Beast Hunter on the Wildest of Wednesdays
A lot of work have been done here !
I love off meta decks and I thank you for this. Great job :)