Each flightpath has uses, which is good to see - sometimes choice cards secretly aren't choices at all, but this one there are reasons for different decks to want each effect. I don't know if I'd include it in many decks, but the healing is an especially nice choice for any class that needs it - Warlock especially.
Can duplicate cards if you have ways of activating the Deathrattle, but outside of Hunter Duels I don't see that happening. Even there it's pretty mediocre in comparison to what else you could be doing.
Shaman already has so many cards for its Elemental lists, I don't know if this makes the cut without a specific combo in mind. They don't particularly need more discounts, and they have better weapons they could be running instead.
Just like with Rustrot, this is the new Silence tech card for as long as it's in Standard. You need Silence? You add this. Really good use of Tradeable.
Maybe worth it in Questline Warlock as a stabiliser. Terrible everywhere else, because you don't want to be going to such low health anyway and it isn't strong without the buff.
I won't immediately write this off, because two minions having Windfury seems like a good OTK set-up. If that doesn't pan out though, it'll still be great in Arena.
>Zuljin's Hero Power WILL NOT keep the [It costs (0)]-Buff -> However, Zuljin will recast the quest after which it can progress/complete from Zuljin's re-casts of damage-dealing spells and regain the [It costs (0)] buff >Zuljin's Hero Power WILL refresh after a spell is played by you, no matter if the quest reward is played again or not.
This means that any other change to the Hunter Hero Power after the upgrades, it will loose its cost reduction (and minion-targeting-ability, if at all applicable) but refresh when a spell is played. There is of course the option to wait until one plays for example Deathstalker Rexxar before completing the second step of the questline to create a zombeast factory...
But yeah, that's all folks! THought it would be an interesting little tidbit!
Really aggressive statline is interesting, but ultimately this is too easy to take out. They won't spend much resources sniping it off, leaving them with plenty of mana to deal with whatever it recruits.
Lowest cost board-wide buff Druid has access to, which is something. It'll see experimentation in token decks, because it's literally designed for them, but won't make the cut anywhere else. It doesn't have the versatility for that.
Delayed draw 1, even if it's discounted, seems pretty mediocre. I guess you use it to set up for a pop-off turn with other card draw cards, but overall I'm not impressed with the whole concept.
Not a fan of this ultra card draw direction they're trying for here. Seems pretty mediocre, and invites you to dilute your deck with card draw instead of actual threats.
I think the HS team really screwed up with the entire expansion here. Because if Mage gets nerfed, then Warlock will need to be nerfed as well because that deck is disgustingly strong and only being held back by Mage. And then if it’s not Mage/Warlock it will be Shaman and so on… everything is at way too high of a power level right now,
I tend to think that Mage is actually a big part of what's enabling Quest Warlock decks. Both offer uninteractive win conditions, and both feature tons of card draw, but current incarnations of Quest Warlock are dramatically more vulnerable to aggressive strategies. You can see this a lot in Face Hunter/Quest Warlock matchups - the deck collapses because because by the time they get Stealer of Souls + Draw online, their health is too low to play any of the cards they draw.
The health costs of cards is a big part of it, but there are other weakpoints in Warlock that Mage lacks. School Spirits is okay as AOE, but Mage has Fire Sale when they need to answer wide boards, and for solitaire match-ups they can just trade it away. Warlock can reduce the cost of cards in hand over time with Runed Mithril Rod, but Mage gets to reduce the cost of literally every card in their deck with Incanter's Flow (a fact that would matter less if they had worse card draw). Warlock is fundamentally a combo deck that relies on several key demons to cascade into its win condition, so you can disrupt them with a fair number of cards (e.g. Glide, Star Student Stelina, Mindrender Illucia, Felsoul Jailer, Mutanus the Devourer). Mage, by contrast, just needs to run a bunch of goods spells (as that naturally gives them lots of access to different types) along with burn for the end game, making it pretty easy for them to play around the few counterplay options that are available (e.g. Oh My Yogg! and Counterspell, and to a lesser extent Cult Neophyte and Ogremancer)
Nuts with the Questline and an incredibly aggressive card all around. Can even be used defensively if you really have to, which makes it so much better.
Can't think of anything too insane off the top of my head, but that's a really strong tutor to watch out for whenever they print a Fel spell. Works great with the new Legendary since you'll be building around Fel spells anyway.
Big variety of things you can do with this, and it becomes better later in the game as you get to activate more Deathrattles with it. I'm definitely including it in every Priest deck, but only because I'm a sucker for cards like this - still might make the cut in Shadow Priest, I guess.
I mean, you can get a decent number of 2/1s out of it usually - I'd say probably 2 hits average, 3 not out of the realm of possibility - but I don't really know why you'd want to? It's kind of slow and you mess with things like N'Zoth if you were trying for that.
The 3/7 that summons 2/2 Taunts has seen play as a tech card, so I don't count this out immediately. Having said that, the effect is much worse, so I don't anticipate much experimentation before it gets relegated to Arena.
Them being 2/2s is irrelevant, you should always be trying to evolve them anyway. Really good card when part of that kind of combo, but mediocre otherwise.
I was really down on this until I realised it can go face. Seems like a worthy inclusion in an Overload-centric deck, but not something you just toss in if you only have a few. Tradeable obviously great, as always.
Death's Bite was really good in Warrior, and this seems similar. Warrior obviously had synergies for that specific Deathrattle, but you get to curate what Deathrattle ends up on this with your deckbuilding so you can potentially end up with something even nuttier.
Good value generator for Arena. Difficult to include in a combo deck unless you don't mind which combo piece you get extra copies of, which is rarely the case.
Big Spell Mage hasn't been a thing for a while. I'd rather just run Incanter's Flow for consistent drops than risk accidentally landing the bonus on a low-cost spell and wasting it.
New Neutral Minion - Flightmaster Dungar
Each flightpath has uses, which is good to see - sometimes choice cards secretly aren't choices at all, but this one there are reasons for different decks to want each effect. I don't know if I'd include it in many decks, but the healing is an especially nice choice for any class that needs it - Warlock especially.
New Neutral Minion - Entrapped Sorceress
Alright in longer Questlines, especially ones which make use of spells themselves. Kind of rubs up against Venomous Scorpid, but maybe you run both?
New Neutral Minion - Enthusiastic Banker
Can duplicate cards if you have ways of activating the Deathrattle, but outside of Hunter Duels I don't see that happening. Even there it's pretty mediocre in comparison to what else you could be doing.
New Shaman Weapon - Auctionhouse Gavel
Shaman already has so many cards for its Elemental lists, I don't know if this makes the cut without a specific combo in mind. They don't particularly need more discounts, and they have better weapons they could be running instead.
New Neutral Minion - Royal Librarian
Just like with Rustrot, this is the new Silence tech card for as long as it's in Standard. You need Silence? You add this. Really good use of Tradeable.
New Neutral Minion - Lion's Guard
Maybe worth it in Questline Warlock as a stabiliser. Terrible everywhere else, because you don't want to be going to such low health anyway and it isn't strong without the buff.
New Neutral Minion - Battleground Battlemaster
I won't immediately write this off, because two minions having Windfury seems like a good OTK set-up. If that doesn't pan out though, it'll still be great in Arena.
Dwarven District + Zul'jin Interaction
Just for everyone who is interested, I did some science:
Playing Zul'jin after completing Defend the Dwarven District questline and dropping the reward leads to the following effects:
>Zuljin's Hero Power WILL NOT keep the [It costs (0)]-Buff
-> However, Zuljin will recast the quest after which it can progress/complete from Zuljin's re-casts of damage-dealing spells and regain the [It costs (0)] buff
>Zuljin's Hero Power WILL refresh after a spell is played by you, no matter if the quest reward is played again or not.
This means that any other change to the Hunter Hero Power after the upgrades, it will loose its cost reduction (and minion-targeting-ability, if at all applicable) but refresh when a spell is played. There is of course the option to wait until one plays for example Deathstalker Rexxar before completing the second step of the questline to create a zombeast factory...
But yeah, that's all folks! THought it would be an interesting little tidbit!
New Warrior Minion - Cowardly Grunt
Really aggressive statline is interesting, but ultimately this is too easy to take out. They won't spend much resources sniping it off, leaving them with plenty of mana to deal with whatever it recruits.
New Druid Spell - Sow the Soil
Lowest cost board-wide buff Druid has access to, which is something. It'll see experimentation in token decks, because it's literally designed for them, but won't make the cut anywhere else. It doesn't have the versatility for that.
New Demon Hunter Spell - Sigil of Alacrity
Delayed draw 1, even if it's discounted, seems pretty mediocre. I guess you use it to set up for a pop-off turn with other card draw cards, but overall I'm not impressed with the whole concept.
New Demon Hunter Weapon - Lion's Frenzy
Not a fan of this ultra card draw direction they're trying for here. Seems pretty mediocre, and invites you to dilute your deck with card draw instead of actual threats.
Quest Hate
I tend to think that Mage is actually a big part of what's enabling Quest Warlock decks. Both offer uninteractive win conditions, and both feature tons of card draw, but current incarnations of Quest Warlock are dramatically more vulnerable to aggressive strategies. You can see this a lot in Face Hunter/Quest Warlock matchups - the deck collapses because because by the time they get Stealer of Souls + Draw online, their health is too low to play any of the cards they draw.
The health costs of cards is a big part of it, but there are other weakpoints in Warlock that Mage lacks. School Spirits is okay as AOE, but Mage has Fire Sale when they need to answer wide boards, and for solitaire match-ups they can just trade it away. Warlock can reduce the cost of cards in hand over time with Runed Mithril Rod, but Mage gets to reduce the cost of literally every card in their deck with Incanter's Flow (a fact that would matter less if they had worse card draw). Warlock is fundamentally a combo deck that relies on several key demons to cascade into its win condition, so you can disrupt them with a fair number of cards (e.g. Glide, Star Student Stelina, Mindrender Illucia, Felsoul Jailer, Mutanus the Devourer). Mage, by contrast, just needs to run a bunch of goods spells (as that naturally gives them lots of access to different types) along with burn for the end game, making it pretty easy for them to play around the few counterplay options that are available (e.g. Oh My Yogg! and Counterspell, and to a lesser extent Cult Neophyte and Ogremancer)
New Hunter Spell - Aimed Shot
Nuts with the Questline and an incredibly aggressive card all around. Can even be used defensively if you really have to, which makes it so much better.
New Demon Hunter Minion - Felgorger
Can't think of anything too insane off the top of my head, but that's a really strong tutor to watch out for whenever they print a Fel spell. Works great with the new Legendary since you'll be building around Fel spells anyway.
New Priest Spell - Call of the Grave
Big variety of things you can do with this, and it becomes better later in the game as you get to activate more Deathrattles with it. I'm definitely including it in every Priest deck, but only because I'm a sucker for cards like this - still might make the cut in Shadow Priest, I guess.
New Warrior Minion - Remote-Controlled Golem
I mean, you can get a decent number of 2/1s out of it usually - I'd say probably 2 hits average, 3 not out of the realm of possibility - but I don't really know why you'd want to? It's kind of slow and you mess with things like N'Zoth if you were trying for that.
New Neutral Minion - Stockades Prisoner
No Rush makes this probably not worth it, even in decks that can reliably awaken it only a turn or two later. The body is good, but not that good.
New Neutral Minion - Cheesemonger
The 3/7 that summons 2/2 Taunts has seen play as a tech card, so I don't count this out immediately. Having said that, the effect is much worse, so I don't anticipate much experimentation before it gets relegated to Arena.
New Shaman Spell - Tiny Toys
Them being 2/2s is irrelevant, you should always be trying to evolve them anyway. Really good card when part of that kind of combo, but mediocre otherwise.
New Shaman Spell - Overdraft
I was really down on this until I realised it can go face. Seems like a worthy inclusion in an Overload-centric deck, but not something you just toss in if you only have a few. Tradeable obviously great, as always.
New Rogue Weapon - Counterfeit Blade
Death's Bite was really good in Warrior, and this seems similar. Warrior obviously had synergies for that specific Deathrattle, but you get to curate what Deathrattle ends up on this with your deckbuilding so you can potentially end up with something even nuttier.
New Neutral Minion - Nobleman
Good value generator for Arena. Difficult to include in a combo deck unless you don't mind which combo piece you get extra copies of, which is rarely the case.
New Mage Weapon - Celestial Ink Set
Big Spell Mage hasn't been a thing for a while. I'd rather just run Incanter's Flow for consistent drops than risk accidentally landing the bonus on a low-cost spell and wasting it.
New Demon Hunter Spell - Fel Barrage
Seems really fun with the new Legendary. Clear the board with other Fel spells and then this will automatically hit the face!