Stormhammer seems to have found itself in the wrong class thematically, but otherwise this is great. You don't need a dragon on board any earlier than turn 4 to ensure this sticks around, and don't need more than one or two free swings to make this well worth the cost as a means of early game board control. All in all, a solid replacement for Eaglehorn Bow in any Dragon Hunter deck, and a fairly compelling reason to run Kobold Stickyfinger in a dragon-heavy metagame.
Stormhammers are typical weapons for Dwarven Gryphon Riders. And since Hunter got some Gryphons and Dwarves this expansion it kind of makes sense.
Also Gryphon Riders make most sense as hunters.
The dragon synergy is odd though.
If hunter got Falstad as a legendary it would be far better. (One of the dwarven leaders and a gryphon rider himself. Also called a true friend of the red dragonflight according to a Warcraft book Day of the Dragon...)
^ This saves me the bother of writing something similar. Even then though it feels like the biggest class mismatch since (and perhaps surpassing) Omega Agent.
Flavour aside, the card is clearly good if dragon hunter works out. Currently it looks like this might be the primary powerhouse of the deck, but the few times a weapon has taken that spot in the past (I'm thinking Kingsbane, Spectral Cutlass and Skull of the Man'ari) the payoff has been a lot bigger.
On paper it is very good, but very good hasn't always translated to being used competitively.
I'm not sure about this card yet. If Hunter can consistently build strong early-game boards with at least 1 Dragon in them, then the amount of pressure Stormhammer provides is scary. However, there aren't a plethora of cheap Dragons, so we must also consider how good it'd be in the mid- to late-game. 3 damage is a nice amount for that extra push to remove a must-kill minion or get through a Taunt, but you're taking damage to do it. In the late-game, where Dragons should be at their strongest, repeated 3 damage to face can help end the game if you have ways to get through any Taunts that might be played.
There's also the Ubiquity Paradox: the stronger a weapon is (and, thus, the more it's played), the weaker it becomes due to an increase of easy, cheap weapon removal techs.
I'll just say I'd be more surprised to see this in fast decks than as part of a finisher for slower decks.
linkblade91Global Moderator 16702456 PostsJoined 02/09/2019
Posted 3 years, 5 months ago
We need to see more early-to-mid-game Dragons for this card to be really great, but it's still good.
Annoyed that they butchered the Gryphon Rider flavor by attaching dragons to it, but I guess that was about all that could be done to make it playable.
This is a very compelling reason to cut the secret package in favour of dragons in highlander hunter IMO.
What's nice is that you don't *need* a dragon to use this weapon, at worst it's still a Fiery War Axe, but if you can drop a dragon on the turns when you need an attack you can milk a lot more damage from it.
With the cards in standard at the moment, I think this card is more at home in a mid-game tempo or greedy late game deck than an outright aggro dragonhunter build though.
Nozdormu the Timeless is a "fair card" since the effect is symmetrical that's the class identity there like Equality it's fighting "Fair" but the player got control over it by their deck/class being able to abuse that, besides druid got like 20 themes by now it's inevitable one of them will be used by other classes.
Setting minions to 1 hp isn't the paladin's identity, they got only 3 cards that do that (as far as I know) and hunter got also one in the basic set Hunter's Mark, as well as poisonous beasts are also part of the class' tool kit.
Look how they themed hunter in this expansion around Gryphons/Riders/Dwarves and Primordial Dragons. I think it fits well and I have been playing hunter for a while in past. Also this Stormhammer is a ranged weapon with lightning power of it.
This is the glue that makes dragon hunter stick together and make it viable. Blizz better release Falstad as a hunter legendary upcoming year to make it fit in the lore a bit too.
Did World of Warcraft change to allow Hunters to use Hanmer/Mace type weapons?
i get the goal of trying to untie the identity from Warcraft as much as I think it sucks. But now you’re gonna alter class identity too? Just change the damn weapon name and image.... ugh team5 blows
KANSASOld God Fanatic 17452912 PostsJoined 03/25/2019
Posted 3 years, 5 months ago
The thing about weapons is that you can decide when to attack or not. You can keep this at 1 durability for three turns and then play a dragon, effectively giving this an extra durability. Most of the time, this will be at least a 3 mana 3/3 weapon, and it is not much harder to make it a 3/4, or even a 3/5. This card will be a serious help to dragon hunter. This weapon will be able to deal lots of damage for little cost. This is a nice card to have because now hunters won't have to run the secret package in order to get a good weapon.
card is bonkers in a dragon deck.
Stormhammer seems to have found itself in the wrong class thematically, but otherwise this is great. You don't need a dragon on board any earlier than turn 4 to ensure this sticks around, and don't need more than one or two free swings to make this well worth the cost as a means of early game board control. All in all, a solid replacement for Eaglehorn Bow in any Dragon Hunter deck, and a fairly compelling reason to run Kobold Stickyfinger in a dragon-heavy metagame.
^ This saves me the bother of writing something similar. Even then though it feels like the biggest class mismatch since (and perhaps surpassing) Omega Agent.
Flavour aside, the card is clearly good if dragon hunter works out. Currently it looks like this might be the primary powerhouse of the deck, but the few times a weapon has taken that spot in the past (I'm thinking Kingsbane, Spectral Cutlass and Skull of the Man'ari) the payoff has been a lot bigger.
On paper it is very good, but very good hasn't always translated to being used competitively.
Exactly, this is a weird choice for hunter... would have been better as a dragon-powered bow
GenX APM Specialist.
I'm not sure about this card yet. If Hunter can consistently build strong early-game boards with at least 1 Dragon in them, then the amount of pressure Stormhammer provides is scary. However, there aren't a plethora of cheap Dragons, so we must also consider how good it'd be in the mid- to late-game. 3 damage is a nice amount for that extra push to remove a must-kill minion or get through a Taunt, but you're taking damage to do it. In the late-game, where Dragons should be at their strongest, repeated 3 damage to face can help end the game if you have ways to get through any Taunts that might be played.
There's also the Ubiquity Paradox: the stronger a weapon is (and, thus, the more it's played), the weaker it becomes due to an increase of easy, cheap weapon removal techs.
I'll just say I'd be more surprised to see this in fast decks than as part of a finisher for slower decks.
We need to see more early-to-mid-game Dragons for this card to be really great, but it's still good.
Annoyed that they butchered the Gryphon Rider flavor by attaching dragons to it, but I guess that was about all that could be done to make it playable.
If you have the time, you should totally check out our weekly Hearthstone card design competitions! :D
A weapon like THIS in the hands of hunters? Pretty scary...
Looks pretty good, would be kind of scary if any aggressive dragon deck popped up for the class
Who needs consistency when you could have fun?
This is a very compelling reason to cut the secret package in favour of dragons in highlander hunter IMO.
What's nice is that you don't *need* a dragon to use this weapon, at worst it's still a Fiery War Axe, but if you can drop a dragon on the turns when you need an attack you can milk a lot more damage from it.
With the cards in standard at the moment, I think this card is more at home in a mid-game tempo or greedy late game deck than an outright aggro dragonhunter build though.
Very strong card! People underestimate durability. Maybe some kind of Dragon Highlander Hunter will pop up?
Nozdormu the Timeless is a "fair card" since the effect is symmetrical that's the class identity there like Equality it's fighting "Fair" but the player got control over it by their deck/class being able to abuse that, besides druid got like 20 themes by now it's inevitable one of them will be used by other classes.
Setting minions to 1 hp isn't the paladin's identity, they got only 3 cards that do that (as far as I know) and hunter got also one in the basic set Hunter's Mark, as well as poisonous beasts are also part of the class' tool kit.
about the new card there's a nice explanation here (by Almaniarra): https://outof.cards/hearthstone/558-hunter-weapon-reveal-stormhammer
Yeah if Dragon Hunter is Viable, this could be broken.
How is this NOT a shaman weapon
Hunters put their faith in the light now, eh?
Very strong if enough dragons can exist in a viable deck to support it.
Rage quitting: the best way to ensure your opponent knows they beat a giant baby.
Imagine running a Fiery War Axe that can't be destroyed by Harrison. I guess this is why Kobold Stickyfinger was printed along side it.
This is the glue that makes dragon hunter stick together and make it viable. Blizz better release Falstad as a hunter legendary upcoming year to make it fit in the lore a bit too.
Did World of Warcraft change to allow Hunters to use Hanmer/Mace type weapons?
i get the goal of trying to untie the identity from Warcraft as much as I think it sucks. But now you’re gonna alter class identity too? Just change the damn weapon name and image.... ugh team5 blows
The thing about weapons is that you can decide when to attack or not. You can keep this at 1 durability for three turns and then play a dragon, effectively giving this an extra durability. Most of the time, this will be at least a 3 mana 3/3 weapon, and it is not much harder to make it a 3/4, or even a 3/5. This card will be a serious help to dragon hunter. This weapon will be able to deal lots of damage for little cost. This is a nice card to have because now hunters won't have to run the secret package in order to get a good weapon.
Variety is always nice.
Carrion, my wayward grub.
wow, i don't know if dragon hunter will become a thing, but this one sounds OP to me
I dont want to craft Emeriss man wtf. Jokes aside nice Eaglehorn Bow replacement hope it finds a home I'm happy that this meta will be different.