This is probably going to see play in almost every paladin deck, because it's draw, tutors, it has immediate impact on the board, it works well with Handbuffs (On the main body at least) AND it works really well alongside other popular cards in paladin such as Varian, King of Stormwind. And if it's near the bottom of your deck, you can Radar Detector as well to find it. This is just so flexible.
Also i feel like this is a really good The Garden's Grace target, if you run that holy spell as well. Maybe Holy Mech Paladin will be a thing?
And on top of that, we haven't seen the Azsharan/sunkun card yet. So that might be an additional reason to play The Leviathan as well. What an amazing card!
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
This is an insane card, this is a must-include for ANY shaman deck. It's also a elemental, so Granite Forgeborn can also discount it. This card is just insanely good.
Edit: RIP wild. Blizz has to nerf this card already because alongside Unstable Evolution this will break wild. Remember rolling Sorcerer's Apprentice or Radiant Elemental was an insane highroll that stole games? How about getting that reliably as early as turn 3....
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
2 mana draw draw 5 in a mech heavy deck? Sounds very good. The problem? Seafloor Savior is the only CLASS mech we know of after rotation, and most other mechs in standard are either rotating or in the core set.
Seriously, if we ignore core set cards and rotating cards all mechs in standard (we know of so far) are:
Seafloor Savior, Amalgam of the Deep which is a amalgam, Goliath, Sneed's Masterpiece and Popsicooler. All other mechs are either rotating or part of the core set. Sure paladin still has 4 cards that haven't been revealed yet, but those will NEED to be good pay-off cards or have some good synergy in order to see play.
Now that i'm thinking about it, Paladin does still have the "shuffle to bottom of deck" card that hasn't been shown yet, so maybe that's a mech. And paladin also still has it's collosal minion that has yet been revealed, so maybe that is a mech paladin card. (Similarly to mage with Gaia, the Techtonic) We will have to see though. Honestly i'm surprised to see mech paladin maybe returning. Would have expected Murloc paladin instead lol.
Also i'm not sure if this even sees play in wild, unless the mech stuff this expansion is really good. If the rest of the mech paladin cards are good, than paladin has a lot of mech synergy from Boomsday that they might be able to create a new mech paladin deck with.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
This seems good alongside Multi-Strike. Also it's exactly the same as Ace Hunter Kreen, but Lady S'theno allows you to attack enemy minions for free after casting spells. Let's be honest, Ace Hunter Kreen was one of the worse legendaries in Scholomance, which was a VERY powerfull expansion, so seeing him powercrept isn't really that surprising. I'm glad they decided to make this powercrept reprint more board based though, and DH actually has to cast a bunch of spells in order to clear the board. So it still takes a lot of work in order to remove stuff. I really like this card, just because it actually takes a bunch of recources in order to take full advantage of Lady S'thenos effect.
In which decks does this slot into though? I'm not sure. I think that maybe Fel DH might slot this into their deck, or experiment with it. Also maybe there is some more support in this set, which has not been shown yet. After all, there still are 6 DH cards unrevealed. So maybe it has some really strong support that we haven't seen yet...
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
This is an insanely flavorful card. Everyone knows that the most flavorful cards see plays years from now (look at Unite the Murlocs) and Pirate Admiral Hooktusk is one of those kinda cards. An 8 mana 8/8 pirate is just solid stats, and you wont be happy to see this summoned by The Juggernaut. Also having to play 8 other pirates is not that bad. You have Cutlass Courier to draw pirates, and you have Azsharan Vessel to summon a bunch of pirates. Actually playing 2 Azsharan Vessels could theoretically activate Pirate Admiral Hooktusk, so maybe the "pirate package" might see play in other rogue archetypes in the future? Also Pirate Admiral Hooktusk + Shadowstep seems really strong... If Shadowstep is still in the core set.
As for the effects:
Take their Supplies!: Tickatus but you add their cards to your hand. This can just end combos AND you can steal something important, like draw or burn from an aggro/midrange deck. This option seems really solid, mainly because it's basically a reload. Also this option is really good after your opponent dredged a card, because now you can steal it.
Take their Gold!: This seems solid if you know that your opponent has a important card/combo piece in their hand. Seems like a solid choise after you kill their Taelan Fordring if that card is still in the core set, or after they did some other kind of tutorred draw. AND obviously this is AMAZING against Questline decks, should they finish their questline really late.
Take their Ship!: This seems good against a slow/grindy control deck but that's it. Basically only good for stealing lets say a big taunt. 8 mana Mind Control (with 8/8 body) might seem good, but i'm not sure. The other 2 option just look way stronger in most situations.
I think Pirate Admiral Hooktusk will 100% see play in some kind of aggro/midrange pirate rogue deck. Especially considering rogue also gets some other good midrange cards like Crabatoa that they can slot into the deck. And in wild... This might become the centerpiece of a pirate tempo rogue deck. After all it says SUMMON, and wild has cards like Patches the Pirate and Parachute Brigand. I really hope pirate rogue will be a thing in wild.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
Defend the Dwarven District will use this to replace Overwhelm. Also might be good in a Big hunter deck, so they can survive the early game. Also we haven't seen Naga stuff in hunter yet, so maybe it has some additional synergy. This card seems VERY good.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
Very good, solid and seemingly balanced card. I bet this will see a lot of play, because it has something for literally almost every class and deck.
Ring of Tides is amazing for any slower/value deck, or any combo deck that wants to double up on something. I can see this relic being VERY good in decks like Burn shaman, or normal Questline Shaman. Maybe some druid deck in wild might also be able to use this relic well. There has to be a lot of combo potential with this card. Looking forward to seeing what Markmckz will do with this relic.
Xal'atath is amazing for Aggro Shadow Priest, or some other kind of aggro priest deck. Mainly because of Voidtouched Attendant. Defend the Dwarven District Hunter will also LOVE this relic. This just boosts that decks power in Standard and Wild. (As if it needed to be stronger....)
Horn of Ancients is amazing for almost any deck. It's good in tempo/midrange decks and in slower decks. Getting a cheap collosal minion seems like something that can give you a very powerful turn, which may swing the game in your favor.. or win even harder than you were before... even though it takes some mana for casing Horn of Ancients and the collosal minion, so it doesn't really scam that much mana. Horn of Ancients is still potentially the best option for most decks, because it's just that flexible.
Queen Azshara will see a lot of play, and i really hope she is the free battle pass legendary. (And i hope she has a diamond version of both herself AND the relics. That would probably be some gorgeous art.)
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
"mini" Deathwing, Mad Aspect that you can run 2 copies off, AND only targets enemies. But it has less stats and costs 1 more mana. Still warrior does have acces to Provoke, so if it survives you can still kill a bunch of other minions. This seems quite decent...... Wait... wait wait wait... "three different random ENEMIES" oh... my... yogg... it can go FACE.
Alright this will see play in a lot of warrior decks as a finisher, or as the most expensive card of the deck. This will 100% see play in a more midrange warrior deck, and in control warrior because it can act as a "mini" Deathwing, Mad Aspect.
In wild it wont see any play, because it's 9 mana. And it faces competition from Deathwing, Mad Aspect.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
Sweet value card. I like it! It can be... akward to use sometimes, but you can get some more Wildfires or other spells with it. Just a solid minion. I bet she will see a bunch of play in both Tempo/burn style mage decks, and in slower mage decks just to get more value. Also big spell mage will love this! Glad to see (limited) value cards returning!
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
Very good alongside [Hearthstone Card (quatic Form) Not Found], it basically becomes a Prince Keleseth. or a Embiggen without the increased cost. Sure you need to work for it a bit more, but it's still a very powerfull effect. This will see play in any aggro druid deck.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
More often than not 0 mana draw a card, and you can technically tutor it thanks to dredge acting like discover. Yeah this is a must-include for any druid deck, even in the future. They will REALLY have to powercreep this before it wont see any play anymore. Worst case scenario you manipulate your next card drawn for 0 mana. This card is insane.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
No spell school, AND it gives those lackluster minions? Shaman needs some REALLY good reason to play this card, otherwise it's just a pack filler. Which would be unfortunate, considering a lot of the shaman cards shown so far are all about these Piranha Swarmers... there better be a pay-off card.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
Really good tempo/swing card, but i'm not sure if it's good enough. Sure its a ton of stats, and shamans have a bunch of spell schools available... But do you really want to play Coral Keeper into your Snowfall Guardian turn? Not only that but the elementals are just pain minions, they have no immidiate impact on the board. I'm not sure about this card.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
3 mana draw 3 for priest? Priest always struggles with card draw and they often run a bunch of spells, so this will probably be a must-include for MANY priest decks, including Shadow priest. Amazing card for THE class that struggles with draw the most.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
MEMES! this will be so much fun to play! It also removes all spells and turns them into minions. The biggest highrolls of course will be getting collosal minions with this, which will be awesome. Also this might be decent in arena.
Either way i'm looking forward to playing this card!
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
This seems very strong. Basically it's a 6 mana 6/5 + 8/2 worth of rush + deals 4 dmg to a enemy (Which you can choose thanks to it being on weapon) AND you get a 2/1 weapon if you trade the rush minions well. This seems like a HUGE tempo swing. Crabatoa seems weak when you first look at it, but wow it's insane when you think about it.
Crabatoa will see play in almost every rogue deck in standard, and basically takes Jandice Barovs spot as the big stat bomb.
Crabatoa in wild will probably see almost no play, due to it not fitting into popular rogue decks that well. Maybe some might try to make space for it regardless.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
turn 5 Azsharan Vessel + turn 6 Mr. Smite can do quite a bit of damage, especially if you somehow have a way to dredge it up the following turn. Also their really pushing Pirate Rogue, and we still haven't seen the new Captain Hooktusk card. (She is in the expansion trailer, so we know she has to be a card.) So i bet this might have some place in that deck. Also remember that IF Preparation is still in standard, it's a 3 mana "summon 2 3/3s with stealth", which is very good. Always remember that most rogue spells are balance with Preparation in mind.
Oh and the vessel is cast when drawn, which is a lot better. Basicly turns a dredge card into a "summon 2 3/3s with stealth, and draw a card". We haven't seen any rogue dredge cards yet, so who knows. Maybe rogue will get a super strong dredge card, just like druid with Aquatic Form.
Edit: Now that i think about it, Cannon Barrage would fit a lot with Azsharan Vessel I kinda hope it's in the core set.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
This card is just bad. I want to call it a arena card, but i feel like you dont even want it in arena. Sure it has some stats, but the battlecry often wont go off.
BrandonOld God Fanatic 13552486 PostsJoined 05/29/2019
wow this is an insane card, in every class but priest. Still it's a very strong 0 cost minion, and it's "mana cheat" that you need to work for. When i say "in every class but priest" dont get me wrong. It's still insane in priest, but at the same time priest is the one class that isn't that good at abusing it. Pretty much all other classes could abuse this way harder. But still this will see play in every priest deck untill it rotates, and even then it will still see play because of all the insane support it has in wild. (Sethekk Veilweavers, etc.)
Still it might need some more support in standard, but considering we got Priestess Valishj AND Serpent Wig i'm betting were going to see some kind of "when you play a spell, add a naga to your hand" card for priest. Priestess Valishj and Serpent Wig + nagas can lead to a lot of buffs, and "technically" Serpent Wig will cost 0 as long as you have nagas and Priestess Valishj in hand.
Still this card will only get better and better if priest gets ANY kind of mana cheat or generation, which priest is prone to get.
This is AMAZING.
If you attack with The Leviathan first and The Leviathan's Claw 2nd you can tutor a card that's on the bottom of your deck.
If you attack with The Leviathan's Claw first and The Leviathan 2nd you can draw a card AND tutor your next draw.
This is probably going to see play in almost every paladin deck, because it's draw, tutors, it has immediate impact on the board, it works well with Handbuffs (On the main body at least) AND it works really well alongside other popular cards in paladin such as Varian, King of Stormwind. And if it's near the bottom of your deck, you can Radar Detector as well to find it. This is just so flexible.
Also i feel like this is a really good The Garden's Grace target, if you run that holy spell as well. Maybe Holy Mech Paladin will be a thing?
And on top of that, we haven't seen the Azsharan/sunkun card yet. So that might be an additional reason to play The Leviathan as well. What an amazing card!
This is an insane card, this is a must-include for ANY shaman deck. It's also a elemental, so Granite Forgeborn can also discount it. This card is just insanely good.
Edit: RIP wild. Blizz has to nerf this card already because alongside Unstable Evolution this will break wild. Remember rolling Sorcerer's Apprentice or Radiant Elemental was an insane highroll that stole games? How about getting that reliably as early as turn 3....
2 mana draw draw 5 in a mech heavy deck? Sounds very good. The problem? Seafloor Savior is the only CLASS mech we know of after rotation, and most other mechs in standard are either rotating or in the core set.
Seriously, if we ignore core set cards and rotating cards all mechs in standard (we know of so far) are:
Seafloor Savior, Amalgam of the Deep which is a amalgam, Goliath, Sneed's Masterpiece and Popsicooler. All other mechs are either rotating or part of the core set. Sure paladin still has 4 cards that haven't been revealed yet, but those will NEED to be good pay-off cards or have some good synergy in order to see play.
Now that i'm thinking about it, Paladin does still have the "shuffle to bottom of deck" card that hasn't been shown yet, so maybe that's a mech. And paladin also still has it's collosal minion that has yet been revealed, so maybe that is a mech paladin card. (Similarly to mage with Gaia, the Techtonic) We will have to see though. Honestly i'm surprised to see mech paladin maybe returning. Would have expected Murloc paladin instead lol.
Also i'm not sure if this even sees play in wild, unless the mech stuff this expansion is really good. If the rest of the mech paladin cards are good, than paladin has a lot of mech synergy from Boomsday that they might be able to create a new mech paladin deck with.
This seems good alongside Multi-Strike. Also it's exactly the same as Ace Hunter Kreen, but Lady S'theno allows you to attack enemy minions for free after casting spells. Let's be honest, Ace Hunter Kreen was one of the worse legendaries in Scholomance, which was a VERY powerfull expansion, so seeing him powercrept isn't really that surprising. I'm glad they decided to make this powercrept reprint more board based though, and DH actually has to cast a bunch of spells in order to clear the board. So it still takes a lot of work in order to remove stuff. I really like this card, just because it actually takes a bunch of recources in order to take full advantage of Lady S'thenos effect.
In which decks does this slot into though? I'm not sure. I think that maybe Fel DH might slot this into their deck, or experiment with it. Also maybe there is some more support in this set, which has not been shown yet. After all, there still are 6 DH cards unrevealed. So maybe it has some really strong support that we haven't seen yet...
This is an insanely flavorful card. Everyone knows that the most flavorful cards see plays years from now (look at Unite the Murlocs) and Pirate Admiral Hooktusk is one of those kinda cards. An 8 mana 8/8 pirate is just solid stats, and you wont be happy to see this summoned by The Juggernaut. Also having to play 8 other pirates is not that bad. You have Cutlass Courier to draw pirates, and you have Azsharan Vessel to summon a bunch of pirates. Actually playing 2 Azsharan Vessels could theoretically activate Pirate Admiral Hooktusk, so maybe the "pirate package" might see play in other rogue archetypes in the future? Also Pirate Admiral Hooktusk + Shadowstep seems really strong... If Shadowstep is still in the core set.
As for the effects:
Take their Supplies!: Tickatus but you add their cards to your hand. This can just end combos AND you can steal something important, like draw or burn from an aggro/midrange deck. This option seems really solid, mainly because it's basically a reload. Also this option is really good after your opponent dredged a card, because now you can steal it.
Take their Gold!: This seems solid if you know that your opponent has a important card/combo piece in their hand. Seems like a solid choise after you kill their Taelan Fordring if that card is still in the core set, or after they did some other kind of tutorred draw. AND obviously this is AMAZING against Questline decks, should they finish their questline really late.
Take their Ship!: This seems good against a slow/grindy control deck but that's it. Basically only good for stealing lets say a big taunt. 8 mana Mind Control (with 8/8 body) might seem good, but i'm not sure. The other 2 option just look way stronger in most situations.
I think Pirate Admiral Hooktusk will 100% see play in some kind of aggro/midrange pirate rogue deck. Especially considering rogue also gets some other good midrange cards like Crabatoa that they can slot into the deck. And in wild... This might become the centerpiece of a pirate tempo rogue deck. After all it says SUMMON, and wild has cards like Patches the Pirate and Parachute Brigand. I really hope pirate rogue will be a thing in wild.
Defend the Dwarven District will use this to replace Overwhelm. Also might be good in a Big hunter deck, so they can survive the early game. Also we haven't seen Naga stuff in hunter yet, so maybe it has some additional synergy. This card seems VERY good.
Very good, solid and seemingly balanced card. I bet this will see a lot of play, because it has something for literally almost every class and deck.
Ring of Tides is amazing for any slower/value deck, or any combo deck that wants to double up on something. I can see this relic being VERY good in decks like Burn shaman, or normal Questline Shaman. Maybe some druid deck in wild might also be able to use this relic well. There has to be a lot of combo potential with this card. Looking forward to seeing what Markmckz will do with this relic.
Xal'atath is amazing for Aggro Shadow Priest, or some other kind of aggro priest deck. Mainly because of Voidtouched Attendant. Defend the Dwarven District Hunter will also LOVE this relic. This just boosts that decks power in Standard and Wild. (As if it needed to be stronger....)
Horn of Ancients is amazing for almost any deck. It's good in tempo/midrange decks and in slower decks. Getting a cheap collosal minion seems like something that can give you a very powerful turn, which may swing the game in your favor.. or win even harder than you were before... even though it takes some mana for casing Horn of Ancients and the collosal minion, so it doesn't really scam that much mana. Horn of Ancients is still potentially the best option for most decks, because it's just that flexible.
Tidestone of Golganneth is also good if you want to prevent Fatigue dmg or if you want to search for some kind of card that can win you the game. Tidestone of Golganneth seems good in burgle rogue cuz spells of any class, and of course it's a powercrept Deck of Wonders so obviously casino decks in wild will run Queen Azshara just for Tidestone of Golganneth. (At least i will.)
Queen Azshara will see a lot of play, and i really hope she is the free battle pass legendary. (And i hope she has a diamond version of both herself AND the relics. That would probably be some gorgeous art.)
"mini" Deathwing, Mad Aspect that you can run 2 copies off, AND only targets enemies. But it has less stats and costs 1 more mana. Still warrior does have acces to Provoke, so if it survives you can still kill a bunch of other minions. This seems quite decent...... Wait... wait wait wait... "three different random ENEMIES" oh... my... yogg... it can go FACE.
Alright this will see play in a lot of warrior decks as a finisher, or as the most expensive card of the deck. This will 100% see play in a more midrange warrior deck, and in control warrior because it can act as a "mini" Deathwing, Mad Aspect.
In wild it wont see any play, because it's 9 mana. And it faces competition from Deathwing, Mad Aspect.
Sweet value card. I like it! It can be... akward to use sometimes, but you can get some more Wildfires or other spells with it. Just a solid minion. I bet she will see a bunch of play in both Tempo/burn style mage decks, and in slower mage decks just to get more value. Also big spell mage will love this! Glad to see (limited) value cards returning!
Here is another OTK card.
First step complet questline and play Stormcaller Bru'kan.
Step 2: Get some minions. (Schooling might help with that)
Step 3: Bioluminescence
Step 4: Scalding Geysers and Lightning Bolts if it's still in the core set.
Step 5: Win.
this seems like a very powerfull card. Also Bracing Cold could discount it so you can OTK faster... I'm already quite scared of this card.
Very good alongside [Hearthstone Card (quatic Form) Not Found], it basically becomes a Prince Keleseth. or a Embiggen without the increased cost. Sure you need to work for it a bit more, but it's still a very powerfull effect. This will see play in any aggro druid deck.
More often than not 0 mana draw a card, and you can technically tutor it thanks to dredge acting like discover. Yeah this is a must-include for any druid deck, even in the future. They will REALLY have to powercreep this before it wont see any play anymore. Worst case scenario you manipulate your next card drawn for 0 mana. This card is insane.
No spell school, AND it gives those lackluster minions? Shaman needs some REALLY good reason to play this card, otherwise it's just a pack filler. Which would be unfortunate, considering a lot of the shaman cards shown so far are all about these Piranha Swarmers... there better be a pay-off card.
Really good tempo/swing card, but i'm not sure if it's good enough. Sure its a ton of stats, and shamans have a bunch of spell schools available... But do you really want to play Coral Keeper into your Snowfall Guardian turn? Not only that but the elementals are just pain minions, they have no immidiate impact on the board. I'm not sure about this card.
3 mana draw 3 for priest? Priest always struggles with card draw and they often run a bunch of spells, so this will probably be a must-include for MANY priest decks, including Shadow priest. Amazing card for THE class that struggles with draw the most.
MEMES! this will be so much fun to play! It also removes all spells and turns them into minions. The biggest highrolls of course will be getting collosal minions with this, which will be awesome. Also this might be decent in arena.
Either way i'm looking forward to playing this card!
This seems very strong. Basically it's a 6 mana 6/5 + 8/2 worth of rush + deals 4 dmg to a enemy (Which you can choose thanks to it being on weapon) AND you get a 2/1 weapon if you trade the rush minions well. This seems like a HUGE tempo swing. Crabatoa seems weak when you first look at it, but wow it's insane when you think about it.
Crabatoa will see play in almost every rogue deck in standard, and basically takes Jandice Barovs spot as the big stat bomb.
Crabatoa in wild will probably see almost no play, due to it not fitting into popular rogue decks that well. Maybe some might try to make space for it regardless.
turn 5 Azsharan Vessel + turn 6 Mr. Smite can do quite a bit of damage, especially if you somehow have a way to dredge it up the following turn. Also their really pushing Pirate Rogue, and we still haven't seen the new Captain Hooktusk card. (She is in the expansion trailer, so we know she has to be a card.) So i bet this might have some place in that deck. Also remember that IF Preparation is still in standard, it's a 3 mana "summon 2 3/3s with stealth", which is very good. Always remember that most rogue spells are balance with Preparation in mind.
Oh and the vessel is cast when drawn, which is a lot better. Basicly turns a dredge card into a "summon 2 3/3s with stealth, and draw a card". We haven't seen any rogue dredge cards yet, so who knows. Maybe rogue will get a super strong dredge card, just like druid with Aquatic Form.
Edit: Now that i think about it, Cannon Barrage would fit a lot with Azsharan Vessel I kinda hope it's in the core set.
This card is just bad. I want to call it a arena card, but i feel like you dont even want it in arena. Sure it has some stats, but the battlecry often wont go off.
wow this is an insane card, in every class but priest. Still it's a very strong 0 cost minion, and it's "mana cheat" that you need to work for. When i say "in every class but priest" dont get me wrong. It's still insane in priest, but at the same time priest is the one class that isn't that good at abusing it. Pretty much all other classes could abuse this way harder. But still this will see play in every priest deck untill it rotates, and even then it will still see play because of all the insane support it has in wild. (Sethekk Veilweavers, etc.)
Still it might need some more support in standard, but considering we got Priestess Valishj AND Serpent Wig i'm betting were going to see some kind of "when you play a spell, add a naga to your hand" card for priest. Priestess Valishj and Serpent Wig + nagas can lead to a lot of buffs, and "technically" Serpent Wig will cost 0 as long as you have nagas and Priestess Valishj in hand.
Still this card will only get better and better if priest gets ANY kind of mana cheat or generation, which priest is prone to get.