A new Common Neutral Minion, Emerald Skytalon, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Core 2021

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Core 2021!

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If you want to save money when buying Hearthstone packs, you should check out Amazon Coins! It's an easy way to save up to 25% off Hearthstone packs so you can get into the new expansion without worrying about your wallet too much. We've got a detailed guide on how to Get Started with Amazon Coins, but if you've already dealt with them in the past, you can buy some more by clicking right here.

This was in response to Zeddy's video today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBmmACAz8j8 I just felt like sharing my response here because I really have no life XD

The nerfing method they are oblivious to is tweaking the draw rate of an overpowered card. Take example of many broken cards that have gained a mana cost and have fell into oblivion, Spiteful Summoner an example. The better solution is to simply adjust the rate it can be drawn from deck. Right now every card has a 1/X chance of being drawn X being deck size. I believe that for over-performers they should occur less, thus carrying decks less consistently.

This already sort of exists in the game in Arena where outlying classes get worse drops and weaker ones get better drafts. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to apply this to the general game where, sure, you can add Secret Passage but just know that it occurs just 4%* less in a draw than your other cards will. There can even be written an algorithm where the more a card is performing inside of these constraints it automatically adjusts itself a % or two accordingly to the point where the problem takes care of itself.

A hyperbolic example would be if there came to be a card that read, "1 mana: deal 30 damage to the enemy hero" the card would eventually be so reduced in draw rate you had a 1% chance of even drawing it, making it a pretty much useless card (not counting tutoring ofc). By this means, Skull of Guldan doesnt have to be nerfed into oblivion it just doesn't show up quite as much.

As far as I am concerned this is the natural remedy to this ongoing problem and they certainly have the brains to whip up a method of implementing this and everybody wins: people who want to play the broken cards can still play them in all their glory and people who hate them get to see them less often.

* number was originally 15% which admittedly is way too high

according to the reveal schedule today is the last day. Correct? So half of the new cards will be disclosed today ...

Welcome to my Big Turalyon guide by a player who goes 8-12 wins with him every time. I main the T-man and often end runs when I do not get him until it finally gives me him. I averaged the same number of wins on Heroic Duels but since I'm saving up gold for the next expansion I've been able to just devastate casuals with him without needing to play out another class, none of which I really enjoy.

*** There's just two weeks to enjoy this build before Duels' season rotates!!! I will be playing a lot of Turalyon's next batch of cards and write a follow-up to this guide when I feel I have a grasp of it. Also, apologies on the spacing, was written elsewhere originally and didnt paste over well, no way to fix it seems ***

So why play Turalyon in the first place?

- His hero power packs the most value of any when used correctly

- Starting item, Royal Greatsword often seals the win if played on curve
- Dominates the early rounds easily

- I've never once been victim to a C'Thun, the Shattered or fatigue
- Unbelievably fun every time!

Why wouldn't you?

- Deck is expensive and having the legendaries is pretty important

- Can get ran over by opponent's early bullshit

- Many treasures and passives do not synergize at all

- Lack of removal
- His name is really hard to spell (i had to copy/paste it)

The general mindset you want to get into when playing Turalyon is every choice matters, maybe more than any other hero, because if your hero power is summoning garbage you're probably not going to win. Sometimes you try not to use it so much early so your pool isn't so diluted by lesser picks (the first time one of your rez's dies it means there are now two in the deadpool).

Luckily, this is part of the fun: playing the mini-game both in a match and when building deck that you are maxing out your Golden Light hero power. You are going to want to pass up certain high-powered cards like First Day of School for example because in the long run it is going to muck you up.

Naturally, one of the greatest reasons to want to play Turalyon is because of his mind-blowingingly powerful starting treasure, Royal Greatsword. Priced at 5 mana, it's already excellent for its 6/3 stats (Upgraded Arcanite Reaper). On top of that you'll be summoning a daunting amount of stats... attached to minions who synergize with your hero power o.O

Keep in mind that this deck can jam up like any other and you can become susceptible to whatever over-the-top craziness that your opponent pulls off as much as they are to your's (e.g. I recently played a Druid with Greybough and the duplicate legendary passive, rip..). However, if you're a fan of both the big and rez play styles, you will want to give him a second chance.

Turalyon isn't played so much because people play him wrong. Enough attention is not given to his weaker early game and people just want to pop off with the titans. This is not how he is played.

Let's continue on to the cards you will be adding. I like to go 5-6 good legendaries and I add ONLY good ones when they offered. Simply compare to the cards listed below when deciding. Usually you will want to bolster your early game and move onto good curve cards. The first few rounds are easy wins but as you advance your games will take longer and your cheap win condition appears less. ALWAYS TAKE NO MORE PLEASE.

TURALYON's ARSENAL & ANALYSIS

I play not just to win but also to have fun. Because of that I am always shifting my roster up to whatever mood I'm in. There are some core cards that I never change though. I have tried out several Paladin cards in my dozens of games with this build and these are the ones that always keep coming back.

Must Haves:

Sphere of Sapience - This is one of the reasons you should breeze by the early rounds. Sphere pretty much guarantees you get your Greatsword when you need it. It also turns away expensive legendaries we don't need early on.

Oh My Yogg! - Don't laugh.. This card carries. When you go 12 rounds in a row you are guaranteed to transform a few treasure spells into garbage a few times. Opponents often do not respect it and lose a huge chunk of power of their deck for their foolishness. Remember never to cast when they have coin. Acceptable turn 1 play, but for maximum output use a little later on.

Sneaky Delinquent - Dependable early game and a useful resurrect,
Argent Braggart - While a wretched hero power target, your pool will be filled by the time it comes out. It's just too much value to pass up on since we are going big.

Wolfrider - Solid early game removal and fine resurrect target. It just makes sense.
Fishy Flyer - Early game cannot be stressed enough and four damage for 2 is always fine. Later into runs you may want to carefully manage this card with Sneaky Delinquent because they can fill your hand up a bit much.
Blessing of Authority - Combos with Argent Braggart and resurrected Sneakies. It's just a plain strong card for what we are trying to accomplish.

Legendary List (in order of importance):

Keymaster Alabaster - Double your chances of screwing with their treasures. I remember first giving Ally a try out and thinking, hey why not. Capturing their power cards at 1 mana is soul-crushing. Excellent resurrect at that.
Ragnaros, Lightlord - Not to be passed up unless you do not own (will likely not return to Duels for a while).
Turalyon, the Tenured - Surprisingly good. It's removal which the deck needs and I am rarely disappointed when drawn by Greatsword. Awesome resurrect.

Ysera - Unfortunately not the Lich King but is still a welcome addition to this deck. I own her golden!
Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound - A terrifying 10/10 plus more. Not necessary but can win games all by itself being drawn out early.
Cairne Bloodhoof - Solid curve minion, acceptable Greatsword and resurrect targe
Tirion Fordring - Oh, Tirion... This card is a mixed bag, it being a massively great hero power pick BUT can sabotage your Greatsword if drawn first and your opponent destroys him. All in all, it is a great choice but has cost me some long games that could've been won much faster.
Loatheb - Just plain good and acceptable draw from Greatsword.

Alexstrasza - Can be good especially in later rounds when opponent's have tons of health.

Support Cards:

Animated Broomstick - Very useful control tool and not a terrible rez.

Loot Hoarder - It's alright, albeit slow. This is a personal choice matter.
Consecration - The classic Paladin AoE. You just can't go wrong.

Not Recommended (in starting deck, fine during selection):

Goody Two-Shields - Took me a while to depart from using this gal. It's just too slow and we do not pack enough spells. Wolfrider is leagues better.
Darkmoon Dirigible - Seems a good idea and when corrupted it certainly is. However, I always find myself having to play it on curve and a 3/2 div shield for 3 is too slow.

Truesilver Champion- I stopped running this as it conflicts with weapons we already have and other minions and hero power take care of its niche.

Fleethoof Pearltusk - While having an 8/1 rusher for 2 mana is tempting, this card is little help in the early game and overkill versus wide boards.

PASSIVES THAT TURALYON LOVES

All passives are not created equal. These are the ones you need to choose in order of importance. If it isn't listed it isn't worth your time.

Fist Pick:

Rocket Backpacks - This is just simply great, overshadowing most of the early passives.
Scattered Caltrops - These add up to a lot of damage. Controlling the board is extremely important and these will help achieve that.
Recycling - This is an excellent choice because we will be summoning several 1 health minions. It will really keep you out of death range long enough to apply your own deadly value.

Mysterious Tome - Very helpful to boost our subpar early game. On a high roll you will get Rigged Faire Game and start the game with three extra cards!
Grommash's Armguards - This isn't terrible at all. Optimally you will be getting the jump on the opponent all the sooner! However, we don't run a lot weapons or are offered any we like, so it isn't high value.
Pillage the Fallen - I never get offered this one oddly, so am unsure if its interaction of playing a NEW weapon will proc it, destroying that new weapon. If so, it's garbage, if not a solid choice.
Ever-Changing Elixir and Unlocked Potential are never to be taken and they are a detriment to the game plan.

Second Pick:

Disks of Legend - Oh yeah. If you are lucky enough to be offered to this you want to take it. Pretty self explanatory and will increase your odds of rezzing those big boys.

Scepter of Summoning - Similar if a little worse than Disks is this Sceptre. Being able to cheat the costly legs out for 5 is a terrific benefit.

Emerald Goggles - Always a great pick-up, it aids both the early and late game.

Mummy Magic- This can really help bring the most out of your Fishy Flyer and Sneaky Delinquent. Such early game value is important.
Book of Wonders and From the Swamp (does this still exist?) are never to be chosen as they can or will lead to wrecking our hero power.

TURALYON's FAVE TREASURES

Just like passives the treasures you are offered can decide how many wins you get, both if offered and if you can draw them. These are the ones that work for me. If you are not offered any of these use your best discretion.

First Pick:

Loyal Sidekick - Great pick since it passively gains stats when rezzed: for just 2 mana your hero power resummons it with just one less health than when you cast it for 4.

Vampiric Fangs- One thing this deck is weak at is removal, hence the Paladin class.This spell will save your butt and keep you alive.
Crusty the Crustacean - Sure, it is a terrible rez but we critically lack removal short of rush so is still a high priority selection.

Murloc Holmes - A bite-sized Keymaster, this makes for a solid hero power rez. Solid 3-drop at that.

Anything that summons trash minions is to be passed up. Also Princess is really not as exciting as it sounds like it would be.

Later Picks:

Staff of Scales - Easily my favorite treasure. If you can get all six snakeys to die your chances at summoning two poisonous rushers for 2 mana is high. Completely broken on Turalyon. Opponents tend to concede when it gets through their head that they are not allowed to have board anymore.

Wand of Disintegration - Removal. Nuff said.

Book of the Dead - Removal. Nuff said.

Hyperblaster - (slow) Removal. Nuff said.

Archmage Staff- A decent choice as it can bestow some good stuff.

(Coming Soon: High Priority Cards to Draft!)

Well, I hope that helps! I had a good time writing it while I had to endure a lengthy zoom meeting in the background. I highly encourage anyone who tried old-school Turalyon before and felt he wasn't strong enough to try my build. At the very least it's a ton of fun. Always mulligan for early game and keep an eye on your deadpool: try to manipulate it so you have the best chance of squeezing the most value out of it.

Also, Turalyon's emotes are arrogant af. Use them often for maximum tilt. Feel free to ask any questions or leave any comments.

As we now on March 25th the new Reward track will release. So it will be most likely optimal to hold on weekly quests until Thursday to have a small kick for new Reward track, right?

Source: https://outof.cards/hearthstone/2839-hearthstones-200-patch-is-releasing-on-march-25-heres-whats-in-it

Hi guys, 

Thought this could be a fun little thread where we all share the deck (or decks) we're playing in the final week of the Year of the Phoenix. Personally, I'm giving my favourite deck over the last two years a farewell tour. My Big Paladin has been getting more and more great big minions such as Scrapyard Colossus, Plagued Protodrake and Runaway Blackwing in the Year of the Phoenix but some key cards are rotating in a week's time, like Colossus of the Moon and Duel!. Who knows? The deck may be able to survive rotation, but just in case it doesn't, I want to give it one last go this week. 

Final Week of the Year Big Paladin (The Fun, Less Good Version)

Wild · Big Paladin · by cydonianknight · 5 years, 1 month ago

• 1 Desperate Measures x 2
• 1 First Day of School x 2
• 2 Air Raid x 2
• 2 Lightforged Blessing x 1
• 2 Snack Run x 1
• 2 Subdue x 1
• 3 Consecration x 2
• 4 Barricade x 2
• 4 Truesilver Champion x 2
• 5 Duel! x 2
• 6 Hammer of the Naaru x 2
• 7 Commencement x 2
• 8 Plagued Protodrake x 2
• 8 Tirion Fordring x 1
• 8 Turalyon, the Tenured x 1
• 10 Colossus of the Moon x 1
• 10 Runaway Blackwing x 2
• 10 Scrapyard Colossus x 2

7,820 Dust 753 0 Copy Deck Code

the 2 mana card in hand is a murloc minion 100%

I would like to hear what people here have to say about pokemon brilliant diamond and shining pearl (BDSP).

I know we haven't seen much but i'm pretty happy even though i never wanted a gen 4 remake that much.

I did think they made a pretty bold move with the trailer they presented.

being Forged launched the 30th, I assume that when we open the packs gifted during march, they will be Forged packs ... correct ?

https://lor.mobalytics.gg/meta-tier-list

So Tf Fizz, and TF Aphelios being both at the very top of S tier is definately a problem one might say.

One combos out for 20 elusive damage the other invokes infinitely until you concede.

This is definately a unhealthy spread of extremes where you on the one hand want to run 3 box's but also want to have otk potential.

Thats not a realistic expectation for 90% of decks out there.

Its enough I would say to discourage ladder players all together for the next two weeks till a balance patch lands.

Hopefully we'll see tweaks for the new cards/champions as well.

We havent seen this level of overrepresentation at top tiers since burn aggro was everywhere and ironically that deck wouldn't be any good now even if they un-nerfed that 1 mana 3/2.

All that being said I'm confident we're gonna see some possitive changes like Riot has done in the past, so let's keep the baby rage to a minimal.

is now about 400 gold less, than "usual".

additional, new packs will come out, which means, one has to spend the earned gold midexpansion. 

This is far worse than i expected. I was originally on the optimistic side.

Damn.

So with card reveal season in full swing, I've noted that in the "Recent Threads" section is filled with nothing but card discussion. While this isn't bad or anything, I feel that it should have its own tab next to "Recent Threads" and "New Threads" that way it's dedicated and doesn't bury other threads being posted that aren't about a new card being discussed.

For example, I posted a new concept a week or so ago and a few users were commenting on every card they could so I don't know how many people saw what I posted because it was buried so far down in the forums, and I didn't want to self bump because that would have been pretty audacious.

First off, let's be clear: I'm not here to cry and complain "boo hoo some anonymous person on the internet doesn't like me" etc. But I've been noticing a lot of downvotes recently that don't make sense.

Example #1: I posted a deck a few weeks ago, and upvoted myself. Someone else came along and downvoted it. No comment or anything. What's the point? If you don't like the deck, offer some constructive criticism. Why was it worth someone's time to just randomly downvote a deck?

Example #2: During the card reveal season leading up to Darkmoon Faire, I went around voting on and commenting on every card, like most of you did. Every now and then someone would make an inflammatory statement and get a bunch of downvotes, or get lots of upvotes for a really funny one. Makes sense. But I saw lots of downvoted comments (mine and other people's) where there was nothing to like or dislike.

It looks to me like some folks (or maybe just one really antisocial dweeb) are just going around downvoting everything they see. Does this bother anyone else? if we're all here to discuss the game, share decks and thoughts, and even disagree with each other, doesn't this type of behavior cheapen the legitimate use of the downvote?

I welcome your thoughts.

Whether it's ranked or duels I see this card all the time. For the 80 times I've seen it shuffle in at the start of game I think I've seen it actually play out three times or so. Still people always throw it in. Why? No I do not play aggro decks.

Hello everyone! Don't know if anyone else has the same problem, but i always collect the majority of cards in each expansion, but i end up playing the same meta decks over and over. 

I usually use HSreplay to find competitive decks, but i would like to know what sites you visit in order to find fun decks. I don't want to search for Tier 1 decks, but also not win 1 out of 10 games meme decks. I want something in the middle, like decks that differentiate from the Top decks and use some not so played cards, that can win if you play many games and learn how to pilot that deck.

''Lucky Dragon Casino Mage" that was shared in this site, is a good example. Relies too much on RNG to be reliable, but i love Mage and have good results with the deck without it being meta.

Thank you for your suggestions.

I'm finding myself in the middle of another meta where no viable deck appeals to me and statistically speaking I have a 50-50 chance of having one I like around this time in the next expansion as well.

I've never understood why the bulk of the Hearthstone population doesn't feel more cheated when metas settle and only 5-10% of the cards released see play at all. It's no different then buying a footlong sandwich from a Subway and taking two bites then throwing it away!

These are cards good money was spent on or excitement was had awaiting them and then *poof!*, have fun getting beat by the 3 or 4 decks that work if you want to play them. Wait forever to open a Legendary and chances are it stinks. Greedy big effect card? Ha, good luck it'll do anything.

To me it just reeks of laziness that is only allowed bc the community doesn't urge them on buffing cards more: they've shown some indication of wanting to buff cards but imho it's miserably short every time. 

Pencils have erasers for a reason and squeeky wheels get the oil. I would seriously raise your voice (which equals $ to them) on trying to get this game away from the robotic states it always falls into. My solution? At least monthly buffs and nerfs. Shake up the metas and have something to look forward to every month.

Speculation is always fun, so I couldn't resist doing a bit of sleuthing when I heard about the new 'mercenary' characters we'll be seeing. This thread is primarily about the characters that will appear as Legendary minions in constructed, but will involve a discussion about the characters appearing in the Mercenaries game mode to set out all the evidence.

By the sounds of each each class will have a mercenary character, with us currently knowing about the troll shaman Bru'kan. We don't yet know the other 9, but we do see that Bru'kan appears on Chain Lightning (Rank 1) (as well as the Rank 2 and 3 versions), which seems to be a quick and simple way to show the growth of the character from a low level scrub to a high level powerhouse worthy of a legendary card.

So these Rank cards likely give us clues about the other mercenaries. Currently the only other Rank card we know is Imp Swarm (Rank 1), which shows a female forsaken warlock. 2 down. 8 to go.

OK, so it's optimistic to say anything about all 10 at this point, but we actually know a surprising amount already: In the Barrens cinematic and the key art we see 5 prominent characters, two of which are Bru'kan and the forsaken warlock. It stands to reason then that the other 3 are also mercenaries, giving us a tauren druid, blood elf mage and orc warrior (presumably the Rokara mentioned in the Deep Dive).

That leaves 5 classes vacant, who I first assumed would also be seen in the Barrens expansion, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Here's where the Mercenaries game mode key art comes in. In it we see 3 categories of characters:

1. Basic heroes: Valeera, Rexxar and Illidan (I assume all 10 will be present in the game mode).
2. Other characters we are are already familiar with in HS: Rag, Eudora, and a baby King Krush in the top corner (at least I assume it is Krush based on the artwork titled King Krush 1 in the press kit https://blizzard.gamespress.com/Hearthstone-BlizzConline-Press-Kit).
3. Previously unknown characters, notably including Rokara and the tauren druid from the Barrens cinematic.

One of the 3 complete unknowns is a monkey (maybe a baby King Mukla?), who we can safely assume is NOT one of the class mercenaries. That leaves a human female with a hammer and a gnome with a fine set of facial hair, who I assume to be the paladin and rogue mercenaries respectively.

It doesn't look like we have any direct info on the hunter, priest or DH mercenaries yet, but we do still have 1 clue: so far the horde and alliance races have been represented exactly once (except goblins, sorry guys). I doubt we'll see a pandaren, so that gives us night elves, dwarves, draenei and worgen as options. Honestly, since the whole theme is very WoW Classic centric, I don't expect to see a worgen who, like goblins, joined in during Cataclysm. Yes, blood elves and draenei joined in after Classic too, but only a little bit, and they have to make up the numbers somehow.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and also assume they want the race-class combinations to mirror those seen in the WoW Classic cinematic, not least because they directly reference it in the Barrens cinematic with the tauren scattering dust(?) over a cliff overlooking a river, and with the forsaken consuming the life of surrounding grass to summon a demon. So that gives us a dwarf hunter. 

Obviously they cannot do night elf druid as per the WoW cinematic, but that's convenient because DHs can only be elves, so the night elf needs to be the DH anyway. Finally that leaves a draenei priest, which is about as fitting as you could ask for.

So, all in all, I predict we will have the mercenary race - class combinations of:

Along with this, I don't expect the 5 alliance classes to get a Rank spell this expansion.

This all falls flat on its face if the 2nd expansion isn't alliance focused, but everything points towards it (even the Year name) so I'm not too worried.

------------------------------

Edit: from the Q&A it looks like the alliance mercenaries will be in the Barrens expansion, but otherwise the speculation remains intact.

Hello,

The dual-class cards introduced in Darkmoon Races, like Resizing Pouch, get sorted under "Neutral" in the deckbuilder and deckviewer. Dual-class cards introduced in Scholomance Academy, like Trueaim Crescent, get correctly sorted under Demon Hunter and Hunter.

It seems to be broken, it just won't play stuff even if it has mana to play stuff, it just won't I see the bot pass a turn with Thresh in hand twice for no apparent reason..

Also the first one almost always skips playing the fleeting spider, wonder it it wants to actually get spell mana, or "play better"

It wasn't like that at first you always saw curve plays no matter what almost all the time.. think they tried to tweak it, or use some ML algorithem but it didn't do well there.

Am I the only one that noticed that?

A new Rare Hunter Minion, Savannah Highmane, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Core 2021

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Core 2021!

Get Cheaper Card Packs

This section contains affiliate links.

If you want to save money when buying Hearthstone packs, you should check out Amazon Coins! It's an easy way to save up to 25% off Hearthstone packs so you can get into the new expansion without worrying about your wallet too much. We've got a detailed guide on how to Get Started with Amazon Coins, but if you've already dealt with them in the past, you can buy some more by clicking right here.

Here are my thoughts, followed by a few questions:

My thoughts:

Lord Jaraxxus is one of the best cards ever printed by Hearthstone. It inspired the creation of all the hero cards that came in the Frozen Throne. It has the best emote of the game during Christmas. Plus, Lord Jaraxxus was Ben Brode's favorite card. Even though Hearthstone created an instant kill through a card, Sacrificial Pact, people still played Lord Jaraxxus. Because the risk was worth the play.

Then came Bloodreaver Gul'dan which outclassed Lord Jaraxxus and players had to wait two years to play Lord Jaraxxus.

Now Lord Jaraxxus is again a deleted card because [Hearthstone Card (zephyrs the great) Not Found] produces Sacrificial Pact and instant kills Lord Jaraxxus. This fact will be true forever in Wild.

A few questions:

If Sacrificial Pact is nerfed, would Lord Jaraxxus see play?

What are the chances that this change may occur in light of the accessibility of Sacrificial Pact to all highlander decks?

Thank you for your time. I would have posted this in a card discussion area for Lord Jaraxxus but there is no place to discuss Lord Jaraxxus.

Murlocs are looking pretty trash right now though. So we will probably have to wait an expansion or two before it's actually viable but still cool. 

A new Legendary Priest Minion, Natalie Seline, has been revealed!

Discuss this card below or head on over to the card page to give it a rating!

Learn more about Core 2021

Head on over to our dedicated guide for Core 2021!

Get Cheaper Card Packs

This section contains affiliate links.

If you want to save money when buying Hearthstone packs, you should check out Amazon Coins! It's an easy way to save up to 25% off Hearthstone packs so you can get into the new expansion without worrying about your wallet too much. We've got a detailed guide on how to Get Started with Amazon Coins, but if you've already dealt with them in the past, you can buy some more by clicking right here.

With Blizzard introducing the Initiate Set as an alternative to making 200 cards (Naxx to present) any time you want to try making a new class, I decided to give it another shot.

Meet Scanlan Mellowridge, Gnomish Bard extraordinaire. Well traveled and with many adventures under his belt, he prefers the slower pace of his local tavern these days, where he entertains the patrons with songs and tales of his past exploits. But make no mistake, if there's trouble, he has more than a few aces up his silk sleeve. 

Bard in fantasy settings is a nimble, versatile support class, and I wanted to capture that with the hero power costing 1 rather than 2. The Bard can always sneak in a small word of encouragement in the middle of combat, whether to themselves or an ally.

But the Hero Power is much more than a small heal. Every time you use it, you generate a Note (up to a maximum of 3) that are displayed on the Hero Power button similarly to Silas' and Kael'Thas' abilities in Battlegrounds. Notes enable the class' keyword: Melodic

With some cards requiring 1 Note, while others 2 or 3, there's always an interesting decision to be made on whether to use a Melodic card now, hold off to play a more powerful one later, or plan out your turns so you can accumulate more in the interim.

The class has multiple ways to cheaply draw cards to maintain a nimble, versatile playstyle, while also excelling in stat manipulation (buffs, handbuffs and debuffs), once again drawing on the Bard's identity as a support class. And when you've been around as much as Scanlan has, you hear things, and no one understands the power of information better than the Bard, giving the class access to powerful 1 mana Secrets and related synergy cards.

To balance things out, the class has access only to limited amount of healing beyond its Hero Power, and very few ways to deal damage directly from hand. It also has no hard removal or area of effect damage spells in its arsenal.

Unlike Demon Hunter, that had a 20 card Initiate set and got 15 cards per Year of the Phoenix expansion, I decided on a 30 card Initiate set (mostly because Secrets and Secret synergies take up so much space), which will probably allow me to get away with giving Bard the normal 10 cards per expansion, before picking some of the Initiate set to become part of next year's Core.

To see all 30 cards: Click here: http://www.hearthcards.net/setsandclasses/#6574-Bard

Looking forward to your feedback.

In the past, when Basic cards were sent to Wild via Hall of Fame we saw them become Common rarity cards which could then be Disenchanted. One perfect example is Mind Blast, which I have the regular copies of still, but disenchanted the golden copies.  I am expecting the same to happen when the Core set is implemented, although I haven't heard or seen specific confirmation of this yet.  It might have been mentioned in one of Iksar's community Q&As, but I can't remember.

But here is an interesting wrinkle: 11 of those Basic cards which will be part of the Core set are being assigned a Rare gem, and 1 will be an Epic.  So now I'm wondering if they will still all disenchant as Commons, or will those 12 cards have the higher rarities?  Technically the Core cards are not the same as the Basic versions of the same card, but would they assign them different rarities?

Personally, I'm only going to be dusting the golden Basic cards because I don't need them in gold, but I play a decent amount of Wild and I want to give Classic a try so I'll need the regular copies of all the cards for those modes (mostly for Classic though).

If all the Basic cards are assigned the white Common gem, all 143 (x2) golden Basic cards dusted as Commons is still 14,300 dust, or 100 dust short of crafting 9 legendaries.  But if these 12 cards follow their Core rarities, it's 16.100 dust for disenchanting all the golden Basic cards, which is just over 10 legendary cards worth of dust.

Either way I will be happy to cash in those golden basic cards for some major dust!  But still curious to see what happens with the rarity of these 12 cards at the rotation.