Very strong card that actually does something on 8 and needs to be removed before it does more harm. And if its on an empty board, you still get two 3/3s.
Its just that powerful, but fortunately in a class that is not famed for midrange, and its likely too slow for aggro.
Priestess of Fury, except there's no way (at present) to cheat it out. So its kinda balance in my opinion.
However, as much as I like Old Gods, N'zoth in particular, I am disturbed by the fact we've continuously received Faceless cards, nearly in ever expansion.
Overpresence of Faceless cards spread through expansions makes the Old Gods theme less unique, much less than it should, in order to convey the proper amount of forbidden occultism.
This is an interesting take on randomness. Usually when a card does something random, you won't know what will happen until you play it, but now you are able to plan ahead because you know right when the game starts exactly what this does. And even though the card is inconsistent, all of the effects are positive. Even though this was obviously meant to be a joke card, it actually wouldn't be a bad pick if you needed a generic 2-drop.
8 mana may be a bit much, but the effect is pretty strong. I don't think it will be nearly as good as priestess of the fury because she was able to spread out the damage more evenly, which made her slightly more consistent. This only hits two targets, and if those miss, then you wasted your turn. I also don't like that they can hit face. It does make this a finisher card, but it also makes it less reliable as a board clear type thing.
I am getting a "big warrior" vibe from a lot of these cards. It would be interesting to see how they support that archetype.
This actually seems really good. With a cheap spell, it can basically be viewed as a Volcanic Potion + a 1 mana 2/5. And for any class, nonetheless. Classes that struggle with AoE will love it even more.
I think the best thing to compare this to is Colossus of the Moon. Basically, it will be bad just about everywhere except for "big" decks. I don't have much hope for Big Warrior, though with the right support cards this could go nuts. Someone also mentioned pairing this with N'Zoth, the Corruptor to get a full board of unstoppable monsters, if you can find an opportunity to play him that is.
Well, obviously there's combo potential here. Druid getting old Innervate back (even with the Overload downside) is nothing to laugh at. Theere are a lot of game ending combos in this game that can potentially be pulled off by just having some free extra mana.
If Shaman has some sort of Overload payoff this can be huge. Hell, even if they don't it's still worth to run this just to cheat out some swing cards (like the buffed The Lurker Below, imagine dropping that thing on 4 against some Demon hunter and wiping their board completely)
In Druid it obviously helps big Druid in the early game (a lot of the time you lose by having to pass one turn because you didn't draw big guys on curve and this is a better option than Innervate). Hell maybe Quest Druid can make a return with this (how does the Quest work with overloaded mana crystals? Do they count as unspent?)
Honestly this has a great amount of applications. Mana cheating has only gotten stronger as the game evolved.
Guess we know now why Twin Slice was nerfed. Spellburst is an interesting concept, but more supportive of small spells than big, for obvious reasons.
Some notable cards in my opinion;
Shan'do Wildclaw - Unfortunately for druids, this will likely be more broken in hunter more often than not. Beast hunter can go some miles if buffed with +1+1, but more likely we see this in highlander hunter for that double King Krush on 10.
Frazzled Freshman - Powercreeping at 1/4? and its a priest card. Yes please.
Diligent Notetaker - Deceptively powerful card that will be in every shaman deck, I'm sure of it. The question would be whether this also gives you back discounted copies of spells?
Nature Studies - Powerful card, reminds me of malygos druid back when raven idol was still a thing. If there's a 1 mana deal damage to face card for druid, this is straight up insane.
First Day of School - No this is not what paladin needs. Draw cards is what they need, not 2 random 1 drops. It does help with getting resources though, and since its a 0 mana spell, its likely to be broken somewhere.
fluffy...drakonid - 4/9 for 6. And its a dragon.
Lightning Bloom - Broken card for both sides. Its just a turn 1 0 mana play a 5 drop, skip the next turn. And since shaman and druid typically have poor turn 2s, there's little reason not to just play 2 of this and chance a highroll in midrange decks. And let's not forget that this effectively supports Malygos shenanigans on either side. The effect should have been refresh instead of gain mana crystals, but I guess shaman's on one of its bipolar moods again.
Very nice set of cards. And let's have a fanfare for what will likely be the most tilting card until it eventually gets changed - Transfer Student. Oh yes. If there's one thing I like more than rng effects is those that immediately punch me in the face when I see that game board as the announcer shouts out my hero's name.
This card has some very interesting uses. You can use it with a board clear for extra value, or as a way to get extra burst damage with something like Crackle. I can't exactly say how good I think this card will be, but I am very excited to try it out.
Now this could potentially devolve one minion three times, which could make it strong against a single minion. Although, your opponent would need to have only a single minion that can be devolved three times for that to work.
Still though, it's a cheap spell with a decent effect, and people will rage over it.
0 mana cards are dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets nerfed to 1 mana. I am not saying this is too OP or poorly designed, it is just a lot of value for 0 mana. It can be both a good turn 1 play, or a good turn 2 play, or just a really handy way to round out your turn later in the game. If paladin ever is a good class in the meta, it will be partly because of this card.
Small Spell Mage might make a return? Obviously very strong in Rogue, especially if they get more Burgle support.
The combo aspect makes it a bit difficult for Highlander Mage to use (unless you just need to fill your curve). Either way, 1-mana combos are usually rather easy to pull off if you have low-cost cards.
I was just about to point out how sad it is that Rogue currently has no real payoff Legendary for Burgling and they're not gonna get one seeing how all class legendaries are dual class (and I doubt they would make a Burgle legendary as a dual class), but then I remembered Bazaar Burglary exists. I guess that's not exactly a great card all things considered, but hey, eventually we might reach the critical mass of burgle cards so the quest handicap will finally be outweighed.
The main thing keeping me from really liking this card is that you can't use the Spellburst effect on the turn you play this card, which makes it much easier to deal with her. But I am probably underestimating it.
Decent potential. It's effectively 0 mana to get a spell since the cost reduction will cancel out the 1 mana cost of this spell. You don't even need to use the reduction on the card you Discovered, or play the spell on the turn you play this.
Could be good for Kael'thas Druids since it easily makes up for 2 of them 3 spells needed.
New Warrior Minion - Troublemaker
Very strong card that actually does something on 8 and needs to be removed before it does more harm. And if its on an empty board, you still get two 3/3s.
Its just that powerful, but fortunately in a class that is not famed for midrange, and its likely too slow for aggro.
Priestess of Fury, except there's no way (at present) to cheat it out. So its kinda balance in my opinion.
Darkmoon Faire as Expansion 3 in 2020 - Is Blizzard Really Teasing us Hard or is it Deception? Old Gods?
I'll go with Darkmoon and Old Gods as my bet.
However, as much as I like Old Gods, N'zoth in particular, I am disturbed by the fact we've continuously received Faceless cards, nearly in ever expansion.
Faceless Corruptor, Convincing Infiltrator, Faceless Lackey, just to name a few.
Overpresence of Faceless cards spread through expansions makes the Old Gods theme less unique, much less than it should, in order to convey the proper amount of forbidden occultism.
Patch 17.6 - Scholomance Pre-Orders, Battlegrounds Updates, July Card Nerfs
I love this.
New Neutral Minion - Transfer Student
This is an interesting take on randomness. Usually when a card does something random, you won't know what will happen until you play it, but now you are able to plan ahead because you know right when the game starts exactly what this does. And even though the card is inconsistent, all of the effects are positive. Even though this was obviously meant to be a joke card, it actually wouldn't be a bad pick if you needed a generic 2-drop.
New Warrior Minion - Troublemaker
8 mana may be a bit much, but the effect is pretty strong. I don't think it will be nearly as good as priestess of the fury because she was able to spread out the damage more evenly, which made her slightly more consistent. This only hits two targets, and if those miss, then you wasted your turn. I also don't like that they can hit face. It does make this a finisher card, but it also makes it less reliable as a board clear type thing.
I am getting a "big warrior" vibe from a lot of these cards. It would be interesting to see how they support that archetype.
Scholomance Academy is Hearthstone's Next Expansion! Here's Everything You Need to Know
maybe the mono class legendaries will be the underground experiments
New Neutral Minion - Wretched Tutor
This actually seems really good. With a cheap spell, it can basically be viewed as a Volcanic Potion + a 1 mana 2/5. And for any class, nonetheless. Classes that struggle with AoE will love it even more.
New Warrior Minion - Rattlegore
I think the best thing to compare this to is Colossus of the Moon. Basically, it will be bad just about everywhere except for "big" decks. I don't have much hope for Big Warrior, though with the right support cards this could go nuts. Someone also mentioned pairing this with N'Zoth, the Corruptor to get a full board of unstoppable monsters, if you can find an opportunity to play him that is.
New Druid/Shaman Spell - Lightning Bloom
but it's balancced because they have to pass turn 2 :^)
New Druid/Shaman Spell - Lightning Bloom
Well, obviously there's combo potential here. Druid getting old Innervate back (even with the Overload downside) is nothing to laugh at. Theere are a lot of game ending combos in this game that can potentially be pulled off by just having some free extra mana.
If Shaman has some sort of Overload payoff this can be huge. Hell, even if they don't it's still worth to run this just to cheat out some swing cards (like the buffed The Lurker Below, imagine dropping that thing on 4 against some Demon hunter and wiping their board completely)
In Druid it obviously helps big Druid in the early game (a lot of the time you lose by having to pass one turn because you didn't draw big guys on curve and this is a better option than Innervate). Hell maybe Quest Druid can make a return with this (how does the Quest work with overloaded mana crystals? Do they count as unspent?)
Honestly this has a great amount of applications. Mana cheating has only gotten stronger as the game evolved.
Scholomance Academy is Hearthstone's Next Expansion! Here's Everything You Need to Know
Guess we know now why Twin Slice was nerfed. Spellburst is an interesting concept, but more supportive of small spells than big, for obvious reasons.
Some notable cards in my opinion;
Shan'do Wildclaw - Unfortunately for druids, this will likely be more broken in hunter more often than not. Beast hunter can go some miles if buffed with +1+1, but more likely we see this in highlander hunter for that double King Krush on 10.
Frazzled Freshman - Powercreeping at 1/4? and its a priest card. Yes please.
Diligent Notetaker - Deceptively powerful card that will be in every shaman deck, I'm sure of it. The question would be whether this also gives you back discounted copies of spells?
Nature Studies - Powerful card, reminds me of malygos druid back when raven idol was still a thing. If there's a 1 mana deal damage to face card for druid, this is straight up insane.
First Day of School - No this is not what paladin needs. Draw cards is what they need, not 2 random 1 drops. It does help with getting resources though, and since its a 0 mana spell, its likely to be broken somewhere.
fluffy...drakonid - 4/9 for 6. And its a dragon.
Lightning Bloom - Broken card for both sides. Its just a turn 1 0 mana play a 5 drop, skip the next turn. And since shaman and druid typically have poor turn 2s, there's little reason not to just play 2 of this and chance a highroll in midrange decks. And let's not forget that this effectively supports Malygos shenanigans on either side. The effect should have been refresh instead of gain mana crystals, but I guess shaman's on one of its bipolar moods again.
Very nice set of cards. And let's have a fanfare for what will likely be the most tilting card until it eventually gets changed - Transfer Student. Oh yes. If there's one thing I like more than rng effects is those that immediately punch me in the face when I see that game board as the announcer shouts out my hero's name.
New Hunter/Druid Minion - Shan'do Wildclaw
Blizzard thinks people will make Beast Druids with this.
But in reality, it's going to be used for King Krush combos.
Hearthstone Gets New Weapon Frames Later This Month - Class Weapons Look Amazing
Yup, it's just been a large pain in the ass!
So happy they're finally changing things up.
New Shaman Minion - Diligent Notetaker
This card has some very interesting uses. You can use it with a board clear for extra value, or as a way to get extra burst damage with something like Crackle. I can't exactly say how good I think this card will be, but I am very excited to try it out.
New Shaman/Mage Spell - Devolving Missiles
Now this could potentially devolve one minion three times, which could make it strong against a single minion. Although, your opponent would need to have only a single minion that can be devolved three times for that to work.
Still though, it's a cheap spell with a decent effect, and people will rage over it.
Darkmoon Faire as Expansion 3 in 2020 - Is Blizzard Really Teasing us Hard or is it Deception? Old Gods?
Would be really funny if it turns out that this is just Blizzard trolling us for a whole Year.
„LUL, gotcha! Anyway, here's TGT 2"
But, yeah, sounds cool if they tease the 3rd Xpac like that.
Alternatively... could Darkmoon Faire be connected to the upcoming new Game Mode in any Way?
New Priest Minion - Frazzled Freshman
This card will definitely see play in any minion-based priest deck. It is just a good card.
New Mage/Rogue Minion - Wand Thief
5-star card with a 5-star flavor text.
Fantastic for any Mage, fantastic for Burgle Rogue. What's not to love here?
New Paladin Spell - First Day of School
0 mana cards are dangerous. I wouldn't be surprised if this gets nerfed to 1 mana. I am not saying this is too OP or poorly designed, it is just a lot of value for 0 mana. It can be both a good turn 1 play, or a good turn 2 play, or just a really handy way to round out your turn later in the game. If paladin ever is a good class in the meta, it will be partly because of this card.
New Mage/Rogue Minion - Wand Thief
Small Spell Mage might make a return? Obviously very strong in Rogue, especially if they get more Burgle support.
The combo aspect makes it a bit difficult for Highlander Mage to use (unless you just need to fill your curve). Either way, 1-mana combos are usually rather easy to pull off if you have low-cost cards.
I was just about to point out how sad it is that Rogue currently has no real payoff Legendary for Burgling and they're not gonna get one seeing how all class legendaries are dual class (and I doubt they would make a Burgle legendary as a dual class), but then I remembered Bazaar Burglary exists. I guess that's not exactly a great card all things considered, but hey, eventually we might reach the critical mass of burgle cards so the quest handicap will finally be outweighed.
New Neutral Minion - Onyx Magescribe
4/9 for 6 isn't bad, and the effect could be strong. Might see play in spell-Dragon decks.
New Druid/Shaman Spell - Lightning Bloom
I've seen this card several times on HearthCards as a Shaman card, so it's cool to actually see it in the game now, and as a dual-class card.
I don't think it's too strong, but it has some potential.
New Paladin Minion - Goody Two-Shields
The main thing keeping me from really liking this card is that you can't use the Spellburst effect on the turn you play this card, which makes it much easier to deal with her. But I am probably underestimating it.
New Druid Spell - Nature Studies
Decent potential. It's effectively 0 mana to get a spell since the cost reduction will cancel out the 1 mana cost of this spell. You don't even need to use the reduction on the card you Discovered, or play the spell on the turn you play this.
Could be good for Kael'thas Druids since it easily makes up for 2 of them 3 spells needed.
Standard Hearthstone Decks to Try After Blizzard Swung the July 2020 Nerf Hammer
It's always curious if Hearthstone will support a mechanic forever like Discover or pretend it never happened like Inspire.