If you already have the 90 pack bundle, why not decide for yourself when you have finished opening those? It will be much easier to judge when you know what you have already opened and how much is left that interests you.
Certainly you want to spend the dust at some point, with a sensible long-term goal being to open just the right number of packs each expansion to cover the dust costs. But what that actually means depends on how lucky you are with epics and lengedaries, hence my advice to decide after opening the 90.
I personally found spell hunter interesting on paper but uncreative in practice: it worked because so many of the spells summoned minions that it basically played like a normal deck, just with a couple of super strong cards making up for not having any true minion cards.
I imagine the same happens with mage. If it works it will be off the back of the minions the spells summon/generate, at which point it won't feel much different to normal. That said, I agree with others that mage spells just don't summon enough minions at the moment, and when you aren't in control of the board you often can't afford to throw spells at the opponent's face.
So I don't expect it to work, at least for now. And then my own opinion is that even if it does ever work, it won't be as interesting as the fantasy of a lone mage casting spells left, right and centre makes it sound.
Calling it right now: this will cancerize ladder and will be nerfed in an emergency patch only a few days after release.
It's good, but it can't do anything crazy with 1 health. It is not even that good against demon hunters, so I doubt it will ever be on the nerf list, and certainly not in the first few days when demon hunters flood the ladder.
'Wind' is sometimes used as a euphemism for a fart, while one's 'nether regions' include the bottom. So the aroma the flavour text speaks of is not a nice one.
I want it known that Blizzard sullied this forum, not me :)
I a bit surprised this card's artwork made it into the short expansion cinematic when Akama didn't.
Regardless, the card is OK but unimpressive compared to warrior's other rush minions. Probably not very reliable having a damaged minion on turn 3, and because of that I don't expect it to see that much play.
Absurdly strong secret, and would be run even if it'S the only one in the deck.
Basically makes it so every single minion you play has to be removed via spells or else you get some very unpredictable value out of it. The bigger the minions the greater the punish.
I expect this to be nerfed to "costs (2) more" within the first month. We're talking about a card that basically gives you a 5-drop at turn 3 that most likely value trades. Even with the amount of possible low-rolls, just the amount of pressure and awkward playarounds this creates will be worth it. It's basically Rat Trap except no way to really play around it over multiple turns.
The fact it transforms the minion rather than summons a new target is pretty important. You are basically paying 2 mana without knowing the outcome, so a 3 mana boost seems fair and in line with these effects in the past. Indeed, shaman got Explosive Evolution recently, so we know the effect itself is worth about 2 mana. The trade off is the reduced control but additional disruption potential that comes with it being a secret.
Anyway, the artwork is hilarious, and reminds me a bit of Ogre Ninja. Ogres rarely become rogues, but those who do truly are masters of disguise.
Nah, it is way more versatile than just an enrage trigger-er. You can finish off an enemy minion, let a friendly minion survive a trade, or just make it more awkward to kill a friendly minion as 1 health <= divine shield.
Err, OK then. That's a long way from the naaru I was expecting. It's a shame I stopped enjoying murloc decks about 4 years ago, so I can't say I care for these guys at all.
Ah, that explains it. So by itself it really is mediocre, but it feeds into so many synergies (spell costing 5 or more, wide board, treants) that it functions well.
I was surprised to hear Firebat say it was one of the best cards in treant druid, even by mulligan win rate. Perhaps the least fancy (post-nerf) epic in the game is a little better than I gave it credit for.
Yeah, it's interesting judging DH cards. Their consistently high power level makes them look so scary compared to the usual mix the other classes get, but of course it is needed just to make up the numbers.
I hope it eases off in the next 2 expansions a bit, or at the start of next year we'll have DHs utterly dominating standard.
You can think of it like real wars with traitors and double agents. Illidan's enemy is the burning legion and Sargaras, not individual demons. Furthermore, more than any other character I can think of Illidan wants to win by any means necessary, so he's not going to turn away demons who choose to side with him.
Expect the basic DH cards, but not any of the others. After all Zephrys only pulls from basic and classic, and for now DH has no classic set.
Wild
Yes, I expect so. Or the devs will add it when people complain enough...
Justicar and Baku raise it to 2 damage I think, but you will need to find an official source for that.
Even DH is pretty pointless, yes.
No.
Yes, it just picks from the current pool of deck recipes.
Misc
I have wondered this myself. I doubt DH will be playable. Dungeon Run might be a small enough effort for them to add the class buckets and starting deck for, but all the rest seem very unlikely. The easiest of those is Rumble Run, but that requires messing with the entire structure where you compete with all the other classes.
Frankly the class doesn't have enough cards or game-plans for these to work very well yet.
If you already have the 90 pack bundle, why not decide for yourself when you have finished opening those? It will be much easier to judge when you know what you have already opened and how much is left that interests you.
Certainly you want to spend the dust at some point, with a sensible long-term goal being to open just the right number of packs each expansion to cover the dust costs. But what that actually means depends on how lucky you are with epics and lengedaries, hence my advice to decide after opening the 90.
I personally found spell hunter interesting on paper but uncreative in practice: it worked because so many of the spells summoned minions that it basically played like a normal deck, just with a couple of super strong cards making up for not having any true minion cards.
I imagine the same happens with mage. If it works it will be off the back of the minions the spells summon/generate, at which point it won't feel much different to normal. That said, I agree with others that mage spells just don't summon enough minions at the moment, and when you aren't in control of the board you often can't afford to throw spells at the opponent's face.
So I don't expect it to work, at least for now. And then my own opinion is that even if it does ever work, it won't be as interesting as the fantasy of a lone mage casting spells left, right and centre makes it sound.
It's good, but it can't do anything crazy with 1 health. It is not even that good against demon hunters, so I doubt it will ever be on the nerf list, and certainly not in the first few days when demon hunters flood the ladder.
'Wind' is sometimes used as a euphemism for a fart, while one's 'nether regions' include the bottom. So the aroma the flavour text speaks of is not a nice one.
I want it known that Blizzard sullied this forum, not me :)
Bouncing Blade was less predictable. This is quite a lot better than that (most of the time), and I wouldn't call it a reprint.
I a bit surprised this card's artwork made it into the short expansion cinematic when Akama didn't.
Regardless, the card is OK but unimpressive compared to warrior's other rush minions. Probably not very reliable having a damaged minion on turn 3, and because of that I don't expect it to see that much play.
The fact it transforms the minion rather than summons a new target is pretty important. You are basically paying 2 mana without knowing the outcome, so a 3 mana boost seems fair and in line with these effects in the past. Indeed, shaman got Explosive Evolution recently, so we know the effect itself is worth about 2 mana. The trade off is the reduced control but additional disruption potential that comes with it being a secret.
Anyway, the artwork is hilarious, and reminds me a bit of Ogre Ninja. Ogres rarely become rogues, but those who do truly are masters of disguise.
It took me a while to understand the flavour text for Netherwind Portal. I now regret that I understand the flavour text for Netherwind Portal.
Nah, it is way more versatile than just an enrage trigger-er. You can finish off an enemy minion, let a friendly minion survive a trade, or just make it more awkward to kill a friendly minion as 1 health <= divine shield.
It's OK, the flavour text acknowledges the murlocs are not native to outland.
Looks like its time to make use of my favourite tree again.
Err, OK then. That's a long way from the naaru I was expecting. It's a shame I stopped enjoying murloc decks about 4 years ago, so I can't say I care for these guys at all.
Ah, that explains it. So by itself it really is mediocre, but it feeds into so many synergies (spell costing 5 or more, wide board, treants) that it functions well.
I was surprised to hear Firebat say it was one of the best cards in treant druid, even by mulligan win rate. Perhaps the least fancy (post-nerf) epic in the game is a little better than I gave it credit for.
Look up naga lords in WoW. The large shell-like thing at the bottom is its fist. Once you work out what is going on the art is actually quite good.
Yeah, it's interesting judging DH cards. Their consistently high power level makes them look so scary compared to the usual mix the other classes get, but of course it is needed just to make up the numbers.
I hope it eases off in the next 2 expansions a bit, or at the start of next year we'll have DHs utterly dominating standard.
I'm going to disappoint you here, but that only targets enemy minions.
At least Plot Twist can add a tiny bit of skill back into it, but then you're still paying 8 mana and 2 cards, and hoping to draw him of course.
You can think of it like real wars with traitors and double agents. Illidan's enemy is the burning legion and Sargaras, not individual demons. Furthermore, more than any other character I can think of Illidan wants to win by any means necessary, so he's not going to turn away demons who choose to side with him.
My expectations:
Standard
Wild
Misc
Frankly the class doesn't have enough cards or game-plans for these to work very well yet.