Looks bad. This is obviously meant as a Shen support card, and a 2 mana barrier sounds pretty good... the problem is that it's conditionally a 2 mana barrier. You need to have supported a unit first, and Shen decks don't use any support units other than Shen himself. The odds that you'll
A) Draw Shen early,
B) Play him early and get to attack with him while supporting an ally, and
C) Also draw Moral Support early enough that the mana cost decrease is meaningful...
... well, the odds of all that happening aren't great. And what's the payoff if you do jump through all those hoops successfully? Prismatic Barrier for 1 less mana is... nice, but nowhere near good enough.
Shen decks don't want this, but will Lulu decks want it? Probably not. 1/5
Very interesting card. +2|+2 and Challenger for 3 mana is a great deal, but the downside is the spell speed: Focus speed is a LOT worse than Burst speed. Focus speed means you can't use this reactively at all, so this is NOT a combat trick and should not be compared to buffs like Sharpsight.
Because this cannot be used reactively, and it can get countered by a Stun, a Frostbite, Vengeance, etc, it needs to be a total blowout when it succeeds, in order to see play. How do you get a blowout with this buff? You cast it on a unit with Scout. Ideal case scenario would be a unit like Greenfang Warden, this card would buff it to a 4|4 with Challenger and Barrier, so you can challenge two units on your attack token turn. Cast it on any other Scout unit, and you turn them into Genevieve Elmheart for the turn.
Being able to summon an Honored Lord at Focus speed is a nice bonus, but Honored Lord is not a top tier unit at 2 mana and being able to summon him at Focus speed is not worth the mana cost increase.
Overall, this may see play in Scouts, but I don't think any other archetype wants it. 2/5
I wonder... if the DR Druid package flops, could we see Hadronox in the 2023 Core Set? 🤔 I don't think it's completely out of the question (after printing Bless, they threw Lyra the Sunshard and Radiant Elemental into this year's set), and I for one certainly wouldn't mind having yet another way to bury aggro decks!
I have no idea, but I guess you have at least a 1 in 3 chance of finding a decent Paladin card. It will be really nice if you get a worthwhile 4-drop off this for your curve.
I find the idea pretty cool that they are adding items from LoLs as spells now and then, but that doesn't seem like it will be a strong card unless it is to directly counter something like vulnerable.
If it was 2 mana, you could coin it and there would be a lot of games where this creates 2, 3 or more totems and then you just slap The Stonewright down to give them +2 attack while you had free board building from turn 1 or 2. I get that at 3 mana it is not as interesting, but at 2 it would create such polarizing games and everyone would cry about it.
I dislike neutral win conditions that can be played in literally every class, but here we are. Five stars.
"Only works in Druid" isn't exactly a downside. It does work, and it works extremely well. You don't need fancy tricks like Brann, and you don't even really need to ramp. You just need to get him in hand with Capture Coldtooth Mine (the most powerful tutor card of all time), play a bunch of otters and whelps (which nearly all Druid decks do anyway), and you will inevitably get Denathrius big enough to murder any opponent.
This toxic monstrosity needs to be removed from the set before launch, IMO.
Big-minon Druid is getting several insanely good minions. As I've mentioned elsewhere, it's an epic, so you cannot expect it to be a good general-purpose card. It is strong when you can exploit it, and Druid can definitely exploit it. It's almost a better Gigafin when used properly, and Druid has all the tools to use it properly, so I give it 4 stars.
As an epic, this cannot be expected to be strong as a general-purpose card. Big minion decks with mana cheat will certainly exploit it to great effect. It gets 4 stars because it will be a major headache in decks that use it correctly.
Locations are quite strong, but they won't be in every deck. You'll run it only if there's a specific top-tier, overplayed deck that absolutely relies on a location as part of its win condition. I give this 2 stars.
Locations are all extremely powerful, and discovering from your own deck is the best type of discover, so this is gets 5 stars. I think the played win rate will be quite high in most decks.
The cost is prohibitive, and so far I see no payoff cards that will be all that synergistic. Is it any surprise that a card named Red Herring is a trap? One star!
New Ionia Card - Kinkou Student
Shen likes this. 3/5
New Ionia Spell - Moral Support
Looks bad. This is obviously meant as a Shen support card, and a 2 mana barrier sounds pretty good... the problem is that it's conditionally a 2 mana barrier. You need to have supported a unit first, and Shen decks don't use any support units other than Shen himself. The odds that you'll
A) Draw Shen early,
B) Play him early and get to attack with him while supporting an ally, and
C) Also draw Moral Support early enough that the mana cost decrease is meaningful...
... well, the odds of all that happening aren't great. And what's the payoff if you do jump through all those hoops successfully? Prismatic Barrier for 1 less mana is... nice, but nowhere near good enough.
Shen decks don't want this, but will Lulu decks want it? Probably not. 1/5
New Hunter Spell - Frenzied Fangs
A pair of 3/3s for 2 mana seems pretty good. Base version looks like shit, as usual.
New Demacia Spell - Royal Decree
Very interesting card. +2|+2 and Challenger for 3 mana is a great deal, but the downside is the spell speed: Focus speed is a LOT worse than Burst speed. Focus speed means you can't use this reactively at all, so this is NOT a combat trick and should not be compared to buffs like Sharpsight.
Because this cannot be used reactively, and it can get countered by a Stun, a Frostbite, Vengeance, etc, it needs to be a total blowout when it succeeds, in order to see play. How do you get a blowout with this buff? You cast it on a unit with Scout. Ideal case scenario would be a unit like Greenfang Warden, this card would buff it to a 4|4 with Challenger and Barrier, so you can challenge two units on your attack token turn. Cast it on any other Scout unit, and you turn them into Genevieve Elmheart for the turn.
Being able to summon an Honored Lord at Focus speed is a nice bonus, but Honored Lord is not a top tier unit at 2 mana and being able to summon him at Focus speed is not worth the mana cost increase.
Overall, this may see play in Scouts, but I don't think any other archetype wants it. 2/5
New Hunter Minion - Batty Guest
More or less a 1 mana 3/2. That seems pretty damn good.
Sesselie of the Fae Court is a New Castle Nathria Card Revealed by Blizzard
I wonder... if the DR Druid package flops, could we see Hadronox in the 2023 Core Set? 🤔 I don't think it's completely out of the question (after printing Bless, they threw Lyra the Sunshard and Radiant Elemental into this year's set), and I for one certainly wouldn't mind having yet another way to bury aggro decks!
New Paladin Minion - Muckborn Servant
I have no idea, but I guess you have at least a 1 in 3 chance of finding a decent Paladin card. It will be really nice if you get a worthwhile 4-drop off this for your curve.
New Piltover & Zaun Spell - Scavenged Camocloaker
Oh boy... we know cards like this one from mtg and whenever an effect stands for obnoxious strategies it is this one.
This is pretty much lvl 1 Ezreal as a spell and I don't think that I need to explain what it can do when casted on an doublestrike unit and/or Taric
Sesselie of the Fae Court is a New Castle Nathria Card Revealed by Blizzard
Welp, if I pull this, it's going straight into my Hadronox Druid. :D
Riot Reveals 5 New Cards from the Upcoming "Forces from Beyond" Expansion
I find the idea pretty cool that they are adding items from LoLs as spells now and then, but that doesn't seem like it will be a strong card unless it is to directly counter something like vulnerable.
Party Favor Totem is a New Shaman Card Revealed by Buffed for Murder at Castle Nathria
If it was 2 mana, you could coin it and there would be a lot of games where this creates 2, 3 or more totems and then you just slap The Stonewright down to give them +2 attack while you had free board building from turn 1 or 2. I get that at 3 mana it is not as interesting, but at 2 it would create such polarizing games and everyone would cry about it.
New Warrior Minion - Remornia, Living Blade
There are so many ways to exploit this card, it can't help but break the game. I give it 5 stars.
New Warrior Spell - Burden of Pride
A very strong three-in-one for infuse decks. Sire Denathrius will be pleased. He gives it 4 stars.
New Neutral Minion - Sire Denathrius
I dislike neutral win conditions that can be played in literally every class, but here we are. Five stars.
"Only works in Druid" isn't exactly a downside. It does work, and it works extremely well. You don't need fancy tricks like Brann, and you don't even really need to ramp. You just need to get him in hand with Capture Coldtooth Mine (the most powerful tutor card of all time), play a bunch of otters and whelps (which nearly all Druid decks do anyway), and you will inevitably get Denathrius big enough to murder any opponent.
This toxic monstrosity needs to be removed from the set before launch, IMO.
New Neutral Minion - Kael'thas Sinstrider
Five stars, will definitely break the game and be one of the first nerfs.
New Neutral Minion - Insatiable Devourer
Big-minon Druid is getting several insanely good minions. As I've mentioned elsewhere, it's an epic, so you cannot expect it to be a good general-purpose card. It is strong when you can exploit it, and Druid can definitely exploit it. It's almost a better Gigafin when used properly, and Druid has all the tools to use it properly, so I give it 4 stars.
Nozdormu Celebrates the Fire Festival - Special Quest and Decks for July 2022
Yay for Nozdormu: no procs, no wins :/
New Neutral Minion - Prince Renathal
It's already meta-defining, so I have no choice but to give it 5 stars.
New Neutral Minion - Sinfueled Golem
As an epic, this cannot be expected to be strong as a general-purpose card. Big minion decks with mana cheat will certainly exploit it to great effect. It gets 4 stars because it will be a major headache in decks that use it correctly.
New Neutral Minion - Demolition Renovator
Locations are quite strong, but they won't be in every deck. You'll run it only if there's a specific top-tier, overplayed deck that absolutely relies on a location as part of its win condition. I give this 2 stars.
New Neutral Minion - Famished Fool
Infuse decks should never be in topdeck mode, so that's not really a concern. Any deck geared toward infuse will run this. It gets 4 stars.
New Neutral Minion - Dispossessed Soul
Locations are all extremely powerful, and discovering from your own deck is the best type of discover, so this is gets 5 stars. I think the played win rate will be quite high in most decks.
New Shaman Minion - Party Favor Totem
3 Mana for this totem? I see Team 5was to scared about making Even Shaman stronger in wild?
New Neutral Minion - Red Herring
The cost is prohibitive, and so far I see no payoff cards that will be all that synergistic. Is it any surprise that a card named Red Herring is a trap? One star!
New Neutral Minion - Bog Beast
Easy 4 stars. Fits into nearly any deck, and sticky cards like this always see success. Also counts as a two-in-one for the purposes of infuse.