Hamm, the Hungry - I love the idea, the art, and the fact that hes chewing on an oversized joint but honestly, this card isnt really good. It'll see play because it enables druid cards, and it still does remove a minion from your opponent's deck, but the keyword here is deck, not hand. Furthermore, this card is merely a 5/5 at the of the turn. What made mutanus good wasnt simply because of the hand interaction but also because he gains usually more stats than a typical 7 cost card. Hammy here doesnt, and at 6 mana there's little to no chance he survives till the next turn.
Draconic Delicacy - If you get this in arena, you probably just auto win from that point. This card is a menace in that format. In standard however, not so much. Yes, it'll remove something and it'll take another 5 extra hits to remove, but at the end not only is this card slow, its also no guarantees that it'll keep you alive while you play it.
Small chance you buff it up to all hell, your opponent plays yogg and you immediately concede. Yes, that's another unfortunate consideration.
Food Fight - 3 mana to do nothing but grant a 6 health token to your opponent. Against stuff like pally or shaman this will straight up kill you. In most other cases though, its a good card if you can get it to work consistently. My money is on the negative.
Char - Not good, but mostly because its redundant in a class that already have tons of removal options that are better. Even hunter doesnt need this crap.
Undercooked Calamari - Good in handbuff decks, useless without it. I dont see how this card will see play in either hunter or warrior.
All You Can Eat - Probably one of the best cards for warrior, if not straight up the best. Draw three cards for 3, in warrior, is premium. Even in hunter itll see some play. Seems like the power level of cards have yet again reach new heights.
Muensterosity - It has taunt, and if cheated out this card can actually win you the game. The problem though is when you dont cheat it out. Even if you do, I doubt itll take over the meta anytime soon.
Line Cook - Perhaps its deliberate that this card doesnt have a tribal tag. But really, I dont see where this card is actually good. Even in the current taunt warrior, its not like the class has no card draw or value options. Considering that the wind-up cards never saw any play, there's no reason to believe this card would turn tables anytime soon.
Cup o' Muscle - Any drink cards that cost 1 will surely see some form of play, because why not? It gives decent stat buffs for 1 mana, and you can do it three times. If bunch of bananas can see play, why wouldnt this one?
Overall, I think warrior cards are fine. But I see more application in hunter than in warrior itself. Team5 seems to be pushing warrior hard towards either menagerie or taunt warrior, both of which are tier 4 decks at their time. Perhaps it'll work this time? Well, at least hunter wouldnt be disappointed.
Sasquawk - Its a good card that will see competitive at some point. As to what it will actually do, Ive no idea because it can be anything from board reload, to a hail mary for lethal. Guess we should think ourselves lucky that this isnt a rogue card.
Ranger Gilly - A card that is good for both sides of hunter and priest. Specifically dangerous in zarimi priest, and might actually get that deck nerfed a third time.
Death Roll - I like it because it basically means any board that has one minion on it will just attack your opponent's face and die. Whether it'll see much competitive play depends on how consistent such a thing actually is because outside of that its simply too expensive.
Chatty Macaw - Useful mostly in priest because hunter spells that target opponents tend to be small and undirected.
Furious Fowls - The intention, is probably to have the other cards repeat it like chatty macaw etc. That may account for the fact that this card is so slow, and probably more expensive than its worth. Its practically Trolley Problem at twice the mana. At least it can hit face, I guess.
Birdwatching - Play this along with dorian, get two sasquawk and then the following turn do it all again. Dangerous, but thats really about it in terms of value.
Parrot Sanctuary - Its dangerous as hell. You can build yourself a really low value deck, play this and get three 1 drops on turn 2 (1 on coin). If both hunter and priest have good draw engines, this card is straight up busted and would probably be nerfed to 3 mana.
Trusty Fishing Rod - My opinion is that its not really good. 3 mana to do 1 damage and get a one drop is not exactly gone value. When you consider that desert spear has three charges, and summons 1/1 with rush, how is this better by comparison?
Pet Parrot - To be used with pet sanctuary to fill your board with 1 drops. Decent card for any aggro deck.
Catch of the Day - Its a good one drop, particularly when pulled out without battlecry. The problem? Well its not gonna suddenly start making stuff like pet parrot and fishing rod broken cards. Only thing good here is that its a 1 drop with battlecry, and its a 3/3 rush minion.
Have to say, hunter cards always have this uncanny knack of being ungimmicky and direct to the point. This certainly doesnt disappoint in this expansion. I can see plenty of potential for hunter, but more so for priest. Ironically the best set for priest this expansion are the hunter cards.
Its the same argument for stuff like Nine Lives. Its not that the card is bad, but if the card is only playable in the late game, and only after key targets are dead, assuming it doesnt get transformed or renoed out, then the card needs to win you the game or its never gonna be considered. Same reason for why stuff like Stranglethorn Heart is barely ever seen despite being a tradeable, and presents a nifty win con.
Its way too much greed for my taste. I chose amalthul as an example because thats in every priest deck, and even then I cant see this card being played.
Narain Soothfancy - Its not a bad card but Im not sure any archetype that actually wants to play this would be successful. It gives you two copies of the card at the top of your deck but you still got to pay full cost to play it, so its not really much of an advantage. Plus, playing a 4/4 that bricks your hand by two cards comprising of something that isnt certain, is not likely to be good enough in any deck outside of control. Perhaps it'll see play, but unlikely the win rates gonna be good.
Chillin' Vol'jin - Exceptional card against certain archetypes but useless in others. Will see play only if hunter cards are up to scratch.
Sensory Deprivation - Its 6 mana mindcontrol with the most pitiful condition ever. Basically broken as fuck assuming control priest can even manage to get back to form. If it does however, this card is undoubtedly toxic and will prob be nerfed
Twilight Medium- So you look at narain and think to yourself that this card must be broken. Well, the problem is this is practically a brick in your hand until you get narain out and until you reach a card you want to discount. So basically youre gonna be destroyed 90% of the time while this does absolutely fuck all.
Sauna Regular - I honestly think this would have been one of the most broken cards printed for a class that can barely ever take advantage of it. Like seriously, both dhunter and priest hardly ever have cards that damage themselves, and this is the only worthwhile reward for doing so. Prob gonna see play in dhunter, in priest though Im not sure.
Rest in Peace - Unplayable unless the most expensive minion that have died at your side is literally amanthul and no one else.
Nightshade Tea - Probably playable in dhunter, assuming it can be discounted consistently. In priest though this card is likely one of the worst cards ever printed purely to make other cards work. Take 2 damage to deal 3 damage...to a minion. Like even holy smite does that at one mana less.
Hot Coals - Not good for priest. Doing 2 damage to your enemy board is only barely acceptable, but at 3 mana though? Priest can do better
Brain Masseuse - Worthless trash. So you have cards that synergizes with taking damage. But this need to happen on your turn. So what happens is you'll prob just end up taking 4 damage to your face and lose a minion, whilst progressing none of your supposed payoffs. Not to mention that this is practically unplayable in the late game.
Acupuncture - Its 1 mana burn. Acceptable in aggro decks. Does priest have any? Well, none so far.
This is the weirdest ever set for priest because none of its cards seem to fit priest's playstyle, or synergizes much with anything they already have currently. The only exeception is sensory deprivation, whereas other cards like narain and twilight mediums are coin flips as to whether they can see any play.
Those hunter cards better be good. Otherwise zarimi might actually get nerfed yet again, because what else is priest supposed to be even doing next expansion?
Aranna, Thrill Seeker - Its a good card. Well, unfortunately its a good card for dhunter and completely worthless for shaman. The main problem is that both classes dont really have loads of ways to self damage, meaning the only consistent method of using this card us via weapon swings. And to make matters worse, if your opponent has a board, or you cant kill the minion your targeting, then this card might just redirect it to a minion, so all that build-around can be essentially for nothing.
Perhaps the priest cards will make this card worth it, or perhaps team5 have cleverly ensured that this card can never realistically be a build-around and is just another decent card in the deck. One wishes it was a warlock card instead but it'll likely be nerfed to the ground if it was.
Cliff Dive - Its a big dhunter deck card and even then unless its pulling double inquisitors its unlikely to do much other than removing two minions. Suitable enough in the right build, but the archetype has to be playable first. Unless there more support, I simply cant see it.
Climbing Hook - It pretty good in a deck built to support it but very awkward to play. In most cases youd prefer to already have a weapon equipped so you can go cliff dive on turn 6 for the inquisitors, so where does this card come in? Its arguably too slow in any other deck, and bizarrely may be redundant/slow in a deck where this card fits the most in.
Dangerous Cliffside - Funny this card. Its probably intended to just do chip damage, but with the sigil + a buff like raid leader, this card is already doing 12 damage, not counting face damage alongside it. And that's not even the most efficient way to do it probably.
Paraglide - Its only playable because aggro dhunter can probably get this outcasted more often than not. Other than that this card is probably just trash. You never want to draw cards for your opponent, even if you end up overdrawing them a little.
All Terrain Voidhound - This card has a problem. Its entirely unplayable if its not drawn by cliff dive. And that's why I think its trash even in a big dhunter deck because it bricks your hand. Even if we want to believe this card is playable, the question is why even bother when inquisitor is bigger and better in every way.
Sigil of Skydiving - In a dedicated deck this card is just broken. Anything that has charge, and can be setup the turn prior is bound to be on the edges of being nerfed
Adrenaline Fiend - Its basically just a 2 mana raid leader. Gonna give you upwards to 10 damage along side the location and sigil. And thats not even efficient because of board space.
Its the best dlc Ive played in terms of amount of content, and the extension of the usually obscure lore most souls games are burdened with. Fromsoftware are geniuses with dlc design, not a single one have disappointed. Its rather amazing that this dlc is easily equal to entire games like dark souls 3 etc.
But I do think there are certain elements of this dlc which I didnt particularly like;
- You can see how the storyline for Miquella would have worked if elden ring was a book and the protagonist possessing a semblance of character. The problem here is that the protagonist (which is us) doesnt actually have any character and fromsoft has deliberately made it so because the alternative is to have branching storylines like that of witcher etc. So as a result, whatever the conclusion of Miquella's storyline may be, we're simply curb stomping him and his boyfriend to the ground simply because thats the only way to progress the game. I really dont see any motivations to dethrone Miquella, especially given that the entire game we have been given the impression that Marika and the greater will are essentially corrupted.
- I really dislike this current trend of fromsoft boss designs where they always have some kind of fuck you skill that'll shave 80% of your health. And in my opinion all this stems from the fact that they are specifically designed around the spirit ashes. You can tell by how summoning npcs/real players in elden ring (some in the base game but nearly all in the dlc) is almost always a net negative. In the dlc this is particularly true. Its thematic to summon Thollier and Ansbach for the final boss, but the boss then becomes impossibly hard if you do so.
- The blessings are a mistake. I like exploration so that's not a problem to me, but souls games have always minimized the rpg aspects of their game. If you want it a little easier, then grind a bit more. In elden ring though, the rpg aspects is nearly unavoidable. You can legit be one shotted by normal creeps if you refuse to level up your blessings. In the original dark souls even a level 10 scrub can tank a hit from a black knight. In elden ring dlc, messmer's shit troops can one shot you legitimately.
At least Im done with the dlc so I can take a very welcome break from elden ring...for a moment anyway, before going back in with different builds. Great dlc, but I cant help but feel this trend of increasingly insane bosses have to take a break at some point otherwise I would seriously consider petitioning fromsoft to just insert fingerprint greatshield and antspur rapier into all their games from now onwards.
7 mana to get started and then the sandwich only ever comprises of minions drawn after the weapon was first played. Not to mention that there's no realistic method of rearranging the bread means even as combo potential you can easily get screwed if what youre intending to draw gets drawn too early.
Of course there's plenty of ways to manipulate it, and certainly tutoring means you can at least attempt to get what you want and thereafter you play these minions for only 2 mana, but its still such a tall ask. One might be tempted to also ask how warrior or druid is supposed to actually survive while all this is happening but you wouldnt think team5 would print this at 7 mana if they werent convinced it could work.
Carress, Cabaret Star - Only reason why I like this card is because of flexibility, though admitably 99% of the time it'll at least have +2+2 with taunt pasted on it almost by default. Infuse this one with nature/frost to more or less take back tempo. Quite useful in shaman, but in DK that is not yet certain.
Carefree Cookie - This one's a weird little card because it requires your minions be dead to gain value. Perhaps in DK where there is tons of tokens available that this can find its best usage. In shaman however, its very nearly useless because you may question why would anyone bother when they can just play stuff like bloodlust etc. instead. And before anyone thinks this is gonna even survive past the same turn its played, I can assure you there will be no chance of that happening in competitive standard.
Razzle-Dazzler - Its elemental inspiration but you may argue that this is substantially worse. Even that card only really worked because you were going all out of your way to make sif work so there really isnt any contrivance. This card however...well maybe in reno decks.
Frosty Décor - Gonna be one of the most annoying cards I can already see it. Its good enough to see play but is shaman good enough though? Shaman is presently having trouble with their late game so this card stalls and yet towards no real end goal in sight. Still, good card for any occasion.
Siren Song - Not being able to choose via discovers makes this card substantially worse than discovery of magic. I can presently see no reason to run this card. Mage has sif as an end game so all the contrivance is tied up to a win con. Both shaman and DK however has none of that. So why bother with this card?
Matching Outfits - If ever there was a card that's so outwardly shit its this one. 4 mana to evolve one minion. And if that evolve whiffs then youve just wasted 4 mana to do fuck all. Seriously, there was a time where primordial wave was said to be too expensive to be of any practical use, and heres one that evolves one card at one mana more.
Meltemental - Yes, this card is solely printed so you can use matching outfits on curve and pretend like youve made some genius move. However, the crucial problem being that two 4 mana minions on turn 4 is hardly a game winner unless your opponent's a sap, and youre essentially praying your opponent cannot actually remove this minion. One further point being that this card standalone is actually not too bad, comparable with imposing anubisath. If they couldnt get past this on turn 3, then surely keeping the card on board is a no brainer.
Decent card, if stall is the plan. If shaman has more late game options this might actually unironically see play.
Shaman cards...uninspiring. Let's hope dhunter cards are better, or token based because otherwise I cant see the class having anything more than reno shaman or nature shaman.
Yeah but crop rotation can never truly whiff whereas this one can actually be 4 mana to do nothing significant. Empty boards nowadays are fairly uncommon, and usually if you end your turn with one youre either a control deck or you're playing from behind quite badly. In both cases, this card is merely decent. Unplayable otherwise.
In any case, Im sure if youre gonna play this card at all it'll always be in a deck that has gorefiend in it, because why even bother playing stand against darkness in today's meta anyway. To me its sole purpose is to end games, otherwise playing crop rotation will likely be the better choice.
Eliza Goreblade - There's no reason why this card should be blood-frost rune restricted, but yet team5 persist. What this essentially does it condemn this card into being played in rainbow but little else. Facts are that the rune system for DK is currently one of the worst features of the class, ensuring that archetypes for DK remains strictly restricted to whatever the hell team5 has cooked up, with little the community can do about it.
Also, why is this a blood-frost rune card anyway? It neither affects health or freezes anything. Youd think it'll be more suited with unholy but what the hell.
As for the card itself. I think its on par with the likes of helya in that winrates will spike considerably harder should the card be played (and triggered) early. Buffs your minions but crucially also buffs your hp. Have to go through some playtesting first because it obviously clashes with the hero card.
Frostbitten Freebooter - Being a deathrattle is annoying though with howler you could potentially do 10 damage to face. For the lack of consistency it might just never see any competitive play
Slippery Slope - You may be forced to play this if youre running a frost deck because theres really not many ways to actually draw cards for DK. At least the card does have a function outside of drawing you cards.
Snow Shredder - Youd think something like that can easily take over the meta but its possibly just way too slow outside of the perfect hand. If triple frost tempo comes back then this card will see play, with a good play winrate.
Horizon's Edge - Its a card to cheapen seaside giant. Because even the most conservative estimate would put it at 3 turns to trigger this 5 times, and Im sure a dedicated deck can do it in 2 turns if the opponent has a board. Might actually get nerfed because however you look at it this is still doing 15 damage to the opponent for 4 mana + plonk a free 8/8
Brittlebone Buccaneer - Anything that doubles value should be respected. As to what this card can actually accomplish, Im sure it'll be competitive.
Ghouls' Night - Possible the only reason why eliza gorefiend has a blood/frost rune requirement, because you can conceivably OTK with double of this card assuming theres an empty board. That means, as dumb as this card looks (it compares poorly to crop rotation), it becomes significantly more powerful with gorefiend, and being able to hit face means your opponent can never leave their board empty once the setups done.
But really team5, gorefiend shouldnt be rune restricted just because of this one card. Because outside of the gorefiend setup this card is trash.
Summoner Darkmarrow - If we ever get mines in standard again this card will absolutely terrorize standard. But look at this card on its own, in the warlock class, I cant say Im a fan. Its a bit too slow, sort of like how baron rivendare and necromechanic has never worked in competitive. At least this card guarantees the deathrattle cards you play after it will indeed die.
Announce Darkness - Meme card. Funny until your face is suitably flat from all the stomping and you promptly delete the deck.
Sacrificial Imp - I personally think its shit unless you get a cheap spell that destroy your own stuff. Even then I still fancy playing egg than this card, because at least the egg can be played without losing any value. This card however, cannot.
"Heath" Drink - Only playable if the meta turns greedy. Otherwise, just stick to drain soul.
Eat! The! Imp! - Now that's a card that's good. Killing a token is hardly difficult and it may allow some form of aggro zoolock to return. Of course this applies mostly to warlock. Rogue dont really need cards like these.
One jump attack from a big weapon is usually all it takes because you very nearly always get a free follow up attack after that. All non-boss mobs dont stand a chance.
Jump attacks in this game is just broken to be honest.
The best tip ever if youre struggling to beat bosses:- Just use a greatshield.
Yes, thats basically it. Using greatshields and a load of patience will vastly improve your winrate against any and all bosses. Granted I have not yet beaten the final boss (ive been deliberately playing this slowly to explore the entire map) but that's my own conclusion thus far.
Speaking of bosses, these are without a shadow of a doubt some of the most infuriating boss designs Ive seen in souls games, all of them. The base game itself was already pushing some buttons but the DLC ramped it up mercilessly. Nearly all bosses have some bs attack that they start using at about 75-50% health and most of which will completely annihilate you if it connects. Not to mention that the bigger bosses (Divine beast dancing lion, yes Im looking at you, you big fk) can sometimes execute some crazy move that will corner you causing the battle to be more a clash of cameras rather than an actual fair fight.
I'll usually fly into a boss using my best fashion souls build, dual wield, prepared for a wonderful epic fight. No summons, no mimic.
Then I'll beat the boss wearing some bs armor holding fingerprint greatshield on one hand and antspur rapier on the other, summoning my other (better) half. Yes. That's what elden ring shadow of the Erdtree does to even veterans of the game. Be efficient, or you might as well just put a pot on your head, strip naked and start practicing timing every single attack the bosses can pull out - and even then Im sure they'll pull out some garbage attack that'll completely catch you offguard at least 20% of the time.
I miss the old days when soul games are more about the fantastic world and its lore, rather than a single line of progressively insane bosses.
Party planner Vona - There are stuff you can do with Ouroboros since its a deathrattle. Copy it, trigger its deathrattle multiple times, etc. Unfortunately for this card I cant see it ever being good enough, nor can I see the value be more than the initial 8/8 summoned. So in actual fact, the value of this card is simply whether we can accept a corpse bride for one mana more. And the answer for me is a resounding no. Not that warlocks or rogues ever need cards like these anyway.
Facts are, if youre playing against priest or reno decks, this card might as well not exist in your deck.
Cursed souvenir - Probably trash if Im honest. Monstrous form does the same practically because if we are completely honest theres a near zero chance a +3+3 buffed minion stays on board anyway. And this card cost 1 mana more. But aside from all that, its also a card you can never ever play against mage, unless its very specifically suicide warlock.
Felfire bonfire - Deals damage and cheats mana. Two things that gets you looked at. So yes, its a good card.
Fearless flamejuggler - Not good because it costs 2 mana and has neither rush nor taunt. When you consider shadowblade slinger is 1 mana its baffling how this card isnt at least a 1 mana card or have rush. Only way this card gets looked at is raise dead being introduced back to standard or theres a self deal damage card that cost 0.
Party fiend - Upgrade to flame imp. Does the turn 1 play well. What more else you want from this? Perhaps there would be a time where flooding board would be useful to warlock.
Treasure Hunter Eudora - If blizz was smart, theyd make Eudora a rogue skin featuring the signature card art, sold for 20 bucks and very likely theyd make bank. As for the card itself, its kinda a weird one to judge because the loot is actually just the duels treasures similar to kazakusan, and you only get two of them. Only reason why kazakusan worked back then is because you get to discover 5*2 loot and even then it was only ever playable in a class like druid. For rogue though, I can see them finishing the game way more consistently than rely on a 6 mana card that comes with multiple layers of conditions. I dont see why we should even bother with Eudora when new marin is just about as broken if not more so.
Great card art though. A shame that the signature version will likely come bundled with trash no one wants and sold at 50 bucks.
Mestra, Mask Merchant - If I got to be honest, this card can whiff fairly hard since all the KotFT heroes are so godawful weak nowadays theyd probably see zero play in today's meta. And yet for the chance at getting lightforged cariel alone, youd probably just go all in and put this in your deck even if you have no intention whatsoever of playing warlock cards.
Swarthy Swordshiner - Its unironically good in a non-dedicated weapons deck. Prob gonna see play because pirate rogue is likely going to be good enough.
Knickknack shack - I dont understand what this card is accomplishing over cards like dubious purchase which draws you three cards immediately for the same cost plus relief some pressure off the board.
Sea shill - You'll likely see this in paladin. Very often.
Sanc'Azel - I really like the card because it grants something paladin tends to lack, which is removal via rush minions. That the location also grants rush and +3 attack means no matter what the forms, this card will always be of some use. But seriously, unless we see a slower pally that is not handbuff appear this card would probably never be played. There's simply not reason to play a midrange card when essentially all your cards would be buffed as hell and your main priority would be to smack face.
Sea Shanty - One of the more confusing cards introduced to paladin, because it should theoretically incentivize playing loads of smaller spells. I guess this must be the payoff for playing liadrin to gain access to some rogue spells. May be more useful for mage, who also have access to this spell.
Lifeguard - Mage would play it. Paladin though, probably not. Its too useless for a class that barely has any direct damage spells. Unless the rogue set start introducing several cheap ones, there's no reason for paladin to play this.
Lifesaving Aura - Im going to mention this solely because granting sunscreen for saving a person's life is about as unrelated as it gets.
Power Spike - No reason to believe this is playable. It may be direct damage + a massive buff but if your entire gameplan hinges on smacking face, then surely youd just play handbuff pally of which this card would be useless in. There's presently no reason that I can think of to suggest that midrange pally would be better than handbuff.
Grillmaster - Got to respect the tutoring effect even if drawing two cards for 4 mana isnt exactly new nor useful at the most of times.
All in all, paladin's set looks to be in disarray. None of these cards make a deck on its own, and bizarrely I can see some of these cards being better in mage than in paladin. Unless the rogue set radically change the complexion of making paladin decks my prediction would be that we play the exact same handbuff deck + sailboat captain and that's about it.
Since the location is usable immediately, my guess is that you can buff a minion up to 8 times assuming the card itself can keep attacking and somehow not die.
Edit: Now confirmed by team5. The location will close after you use it. So you cant actually keep attacking and buffing in the same turn.
Raylla, Sand Sculptor - Comparable to vex crow, probably playable, though we should perhaps ask what is such a card that requires plenty of cheap spells doing in a deck that allows paladin cards to be played. So perhaps its an indicator that pally's identity relates to cheap spells. It would be interesting to see how this card can work because its kinda broken if it ends up working well.
Tide pools - Perhaps the most broken location, maybe just even with puppet theatre and will very likely be nerfed. Aside from the fact that you can easily just put this into big spell mage, it can potentially allow you to cast three spells immediately after playing this, and on top of that cheapens seaside giant by a massive 6 mana in one turn. Yeah, Id be surprised if this card isnt nerfed, assuming that mage can hold up in the meta, which I suspect it can.
Seabreeze Chalice - The best drink card so far, but we've only really seen one. Does the job of clearing board really well, or just strike 6 to face for 3 mana.
Marooned Archmage - Yes its mana cheat, but its only for one card and theres an exactly zero chance it lives till the next turn. So for me, its just shit really. Unless your opponents an idiot, you'll never reap anywhere near the potential of this card.
Now, let's address the archetype for mage, which is big spells. I think there is a world where it can work, but Im also a bit skeptical whether it'll ever take the meta as far as it seem. For one thing, it forces you to cram alot of expensive cards into your deck, where only three cards allowing you to cheat them out. And secondly, the moment you start playing your power cards, handbuff pally can have easily dropped 20/20 worth of stats and youre already at the brink of death. Sometimes you play Surfalopod on 5, then Under the Sea on 6 and drew Tsunami, putting such an incredible amount of stats on board. And then there are times where all those cards are in your hand, and you whiff your first three turns hard and die.
We'll see how well it'll go for mage next expansion.
Incindius - The eruptions will hit all enemies for 1 (in effect 2) damage, but if this card stays beyond one turn then they upgrade in damage every turn. Only thing I like about this card is that it really doesnt matter if incindius is dead, the eruptions will still exist in your deck to provide swing turns whenever you draw them. The problem is that its still a 6 mana card with no taunt/rush and whether you draw those eruptions is really down to the almight rnjesus. Most turns in hearthstone standard dont tend to last longer than 9 turns so in reality if you dont draw those eruptions in 2 turns you basically just played a oasis snapjaw for 6 mana. Still, good enough card to see play.
King Tide - Okay, so you get to play one big spell for 5 mana the next turn, or alternatively, play them both at turn 9. Your druid opponent instantly concedes. I guess for that reason it can work, depending on the big spells to be revealed this expansion.
Adaptive Amalgam - Signature card art excellent. Card however, not so much. Its a card you either build around or just not bother because what it is most of the time is just a tunneling weasel that'll likely screw you at a later turn.
Beached Whale - Its a card everyone would actively look to cheat out because 20 health with taunt is about as nuts as it gets. The most convincing is perhaps with thunderbringer, but I still dont think it sees much play. Red Herring is a 4/12 at the same cost and sees little to no play, and more to the point even if you managed to cheat it out, then what? Still need to win the game. And its not like hearthstone 2024 doesnt have a plethora of options to destroy minions anyway.
Terrible Chef - Nice concept. Just play the egg instead which is one mana less, it'll make more sense.
Hozen Roughhouser - Its innocent looking but its actually just rokara printed exclusively for pirate decks. It'll likely do well assuming that pirate decks actually are playable
Cryopractor - Cryostasis never saw any play. What makes anyone think this would?
Hamm, the Hungry - I love the idea, the art, and the fact that hes chewing on an oversized joint but honestly, this card isnt really good. It'll see play because it enables druid cards, and it still does remove a minion from your opponent's deck, but the keyword here is deck, not hand. Furthermore, this card is merely a 5/5 at the of the turn. What made mutanus good wasnt simply because of the hand interaction but also because he gains usually more stats than a typical 7 cost card. Hammy here doesnt, and at 6 mana there's little to no chance he survives till the next turn.
Draconic Delicacy - If you get this in arena, you probably just auto win from that point. This card is a menace in that format. In standard however, not so much. Yes, it'll remove something and it'll take another 5 extra hits to remove, but at the end not only is this card slow, its also no guarantees that it'll keep you alive while you play it.
Small chance you buff it up to all hell, your opponent plays yogg and you immediately concede. Yes, that's another unfortunate consideration.
Food Fight - 3 mana to do nothing but grant a 6 health token to your opponent. Against stuff like pally or shaman this will straight up kill you. In most other cases though, its a good card if you can get it to work consistently. My money is on the negative.
Char - Not good, but mostly because its redundant in a class that already have tons of removal options that are better. Even hunter doesnt need this crap.
Undercooked Calamari - Good in handbuff decks, useless without it. I dont see how this card will see play in either hunter or warrior.
All You Can Eat - Probably one of the best cards for warrior, if not straight up the best. Draw three cards for 3, in warrior, is premium. Even in hunter itll see some play. Seems like the power level of cards have yet again reach new heights.
Muensterosity - It has taunt, and if cheated out this card can actually win you the game. The problem though is when you dont cheat it out. Even if you do, I doubt itll take over the meta anytime soon.
Line Cook - Perhaps its deliberate that this card doesnt have a tribal tag. But really, I dont see where this card is actually good. Even in the current taunt warrior, its not like the class has no card draw or value options. Considering that the wind-up cards never saw any play, there's no reason to believe this card would turn tables anytime soon.
Cup o' Muscle - Any drink cards that cost 1 will surely see some form of play, because why not? It gives decent stat buffs for 1 mana, and you can do it three times. If bunch of bananas can see play, why wouldnt this one?
Overall, I think warrior cards are fine. But I see more application in hunter than in warrior itself. Team5 seems to be pushing warrior hard towards either menagerie or taunt warrior, both of which are tier 4 decks at their time. Perhaps it'll work this time? Well, at least hunter wouldnt be disappointed.
Seems to be that way, thanks for the clarification
Sasquawk - Its a good card that will see competitive at some point. As to what it will actually do, Ive no idea because it can be anything from board reload, to a hail mary for lethal. Guess we should think ourselves lucky that this isnt a rogue card.
Ranger Gilly - A card that is good for both sides of hunter and priest. Specifically dangerous in zarimi priest, and might actually get that deck nerfed a third time.
Death Roll - I like it because it basically means any board that has one minion on it will just attack your opponent's face and die. Whether it'll see much competitive play depends on how consistent such a thing actually is because outside of that its simply too expensive.
Chatty Macaw - Useful mostly in priest because hunter spells that target opponents tend to be small and undirected.
Furious Fowls - The intention, is probably to have the other cards repeat it like chatty macaw etc. That may account for the fact that this card is so slow, and probably more expensive than its worth. Its practically Trolley Problem at twice the mana. At least it can hit face, I guess.
Birdwatching - Play this along with dorian, get two sasquawk and then the following turn do it all again. Dangerous, but thats really about it in terms of value.
Parrot Sanctuary - Its dangerous as hell. You can build yourself a really low value deck, play this and get three 1 drops on turn 2 (1 on coin). If both hunter and priest have good draw engines, this card is straight up busted and would probably be nerfed to 3 mana.
Trusty Fishing Rod - My opinion is that its not really good. 3 mana to do 1 damage and get a one drop is not exactly gone value. When you consider that desert spear has three charges, and summons 1/1 with rush, how is this better by comparison?
Pet Parrot - To be used with pet sanctuary to fill your board with 1 drops. Decent card for any aggro deck.
Catch of the Day - Its a good one drop, particularly when pulled out without battlecry. The problem? Well its not gonna suddenly start making stuff like pet parrot and fishing rod broken cards. Only thing good here is that its a 1 drop with battlecry, and its a 3/3 rush minion.
Have to say, hunter cards always have this uncanny knack of being ungimmicky and direct to the point. This certainly doesnt disappoint in this expansion. I can see plenty of potential for hunter, but more so for priest. Ironically the best set for priest this expansion are the hunter cards.
Its the same argument for stuff like Nine Lives. Its not that the card is bad, but if the card is only playable in the late game, and only after key targets are dead, assuming it doesnt get transformed or renoed out, then the card needs to win you the game or its never gonna be considered. Same reason for why stuff like Stranglethorn Heart is barely ever seen despite being a tradeable, and presents a nifty win con.
Its way too much greed for my taste. I chose amalthul as an example because thats in every priest deck, and even then I cant see this card being played.
Narain Soothfancy - Its not a bad card but Im not sure any archetype that actually wants to play this would be successful. It gives you two copies of the card at the top of your deck but you still got to pay full cost to play it, so its not really much of an advantage. Plus, playing a 4/4 that bricks your hand by two cards comprising of something that isnt certain, is not likely to be good enough in any deck outside of control. Perhaps it'll see play, but unlikely the win rates gonna be good.
Chillin' Vol'jin - Exceptional card against certain archetypes but useless in others. Will see play only if hunter cards are up to scratch.
Sensory Deprivation - Its 6 mana mindcontrol with the most pitiful condition ever. Basically broken as fuck assuming control priest can even manage to get back to form. If it does however, this card is undoubtedly toxic and will prob be nerfed
Twilight Medium- So you look at narain and think to yourself that this card must be broken. Well, the problem is this is practically a brick in your hand until you get narain out and until you reach a card you want to discount. So basically youre gonna be destroyed 90% of the time while this does absolutely fuck all.
Sauna Regular - I honestly think this would have been one of the most broken cards printed for a class that can barely ever take advantage of it. Like seriously, both dhunter and priest hardly ever have cards that damage themselves, and this is the only worthwhile reward for doing so. Prob gonna see play in dhunter, in priest though Im not sure.
Rest in Peace - Unplayable unless the most expensive minion that have died at your side is literally amanthul and no one else.
Nightshade Tea - Probably playable in dhunter, assuming it can be discounted consistently. In priest though this card is likely one of the worst cards ever printed purely to make other cards work. Take 2 damage to deal 3 damage...to a minion. Like even holy smite does that at one mana less.
Hot Coals - Not good for priest. Doing 2 damage to your enemy board is only barely acceptable, but at 3 mana though? Priest can do better
Brain Masseuse - Worthless trash. So you have cards that synergizes with taking damage. But this need to happen on your turn. So what happens is you'll prob just end up taking 4 damage to your face and lose a minion, whilst progressing none of your supposed payoffs. Not to mention that this is practically unplayable in the late game.
Acupuncture - Its 1 mana burn. Acceptable in aggro decks. Does priest have any? Well, none so far.
This is the weirdest ever set for priest because none of its cards seem to fit priest's playstyle, or synergizes much with anything they already have currently. The only exeception is sensory deprivation, whereas other cards like narain and twilight mediums are coin flips as to whether they can see any play.
Those hunter cards better be good. Otherwise zarimi might actually get nerfed yet again, because what else is priest supposed to be even doing next expansion?
Aranna, Thrill Seeker - Its a good card. Well, unfortunately its a good card for dhunter and completely worthless for shaman. The main problem is that both classes dont really have loads of ways to self damage, meaning the only consistent method of using this card us via weapon swings. And to make matters worse, if your opponent has a board, or you cant kill the minion your targeting, then this card might just redirect it to a minion, so all that build-around can be essentially for nothing.
Perhaps the priest cards will make this card worth it, or perhaps team5 have cleverly ensured that this card can never realistically be a build-around and is just another decent card in the deck. One wishes it was a warlock card instead but it'll likely be nerfed to the ground if it was.
Cliff Dive - Its a big dhunter deck card and even then unless its pulling double inquisitors its unlikely to do much other than removing two minions. Suitable enough in the right build, but the archetype has to be playable first. Unless there more support, I simply cant see it.
Climbing Hook - It pretty good in a deck built to support it but very awkward to play. In most cases youd prefer to already have a weapon equipped so you can go cliff dive on turn 6 for the inquisitors, so where does this card come in? Its arguably too slow in any other deck, and bizarrely may be redundant/slow in a deck where this card fits the most in.
Dangerous Cliffside - Funny this card. Its probably intended to just do chip damage, but with the sigil + a buff like raid leader, this card is already doing 12 damage, not counting face damage alongside it. And that's not even the most efficient way to do it probably.
Paraglide - Its only playable because aggro dhunter can probably get this outcasted more often than not. Other than that this card is probably just trash. You never want to draw cards for your opponent, even if you end up overdrawing them a little.
All Terrain Voidhound - This card has a problem. Its entirely unplayable if its not drawn by cliff dive. And that's why I think its trash even in a big dhunter deck because it bricks your hand. Even if we want to believe this card is playable, the question is why even bother when inquisitor is bigger and better in every way.
Sigil of Skydiving - In a dedicated deck this card is just broken. Anything that has charge, and can be setup the turn prior is bound to be on the edges of being nerfed
Adrenaline Fiend - Its basically just a 2 mana raid leader. Gonna give you upwards to 10 damage along side the location and sigil. And thats not even efficient because of board space.
Its the best dlc Ive played in terms of amount of content, and the extension of the usually obscure lore most souls games are burdened with. Fromsoftware are geniuses with dlc design, not a single one have disappointed. Its rather amazing that this dlc is easily equal to entire games like dark souls 3 etc.
But I do think there are certain elements of this dlc which I didnt particularly like;
- You can see how the storyline for Miquella would have worked if elden ring was a book and the protagonist possessing a semblance of character. The problem here is that the protagonist (which is us) doesnt actually have any character and fromsoft has deliberately made it so because the alternative is to have branching storylines like that of witcher etc. So as a result, whatever the conclusion of Miquella's storyline may be, we're simply curb stomping him and his boyfriend to the ground simply because thats the only way to progress the game. I really dont see any motivations to dethrone Miquella, especially given that the entire game we have been given the impression that Marika and the greater will are essentially corrupted.
- I really dislike this current trend of fromsoft boss designs where they always have some kind of fuck you skill that'll shave 80% of your health. And in my opinion all this stems from the fact that they are specifically designed around the spirit ashes. You can tell by how summoning npcs/real players in elden ring (some in the base game but nearly all in the dlc) is almost always a net negative. In the dlc this is particularly true. Its thematic to summon Thollier and Ansbach for the final boss, but the boss then becomes impossibly hard if you do so.
- The blessings are a mistake. I like exploration so that's not a problem to me, but souls games have always minimized the rpg aspects of their game. If you want it a little easier, then grind a bit more. In elden ring though, the rpg aspects is nearly unavoidable. You can legit be one shotted by normal creeps if you refuse to level up your blessings. In the original dark souls even a level 10 scrub can tank a hit from a black knight. In elden ring dlc, messmer's shit troops can one shot you legitimately.
At least Im done with the dlc so I can take a very welcome break from elden ring...for a moment anyway, before going back in with different builds. Great dlc, but I cant help but feel this trend of increasingly insane bosses have to take a break at some point otherwise I would seriously consider petitioning fromsoft to just insert fingerprint greatshield and antspur rapier into all their games from now onwards.
The weapon is actually pretty...well crap.
7 mana to get started and then the sandwich only ever comprises of minions drawn after the weapon was first played. Not to mention that there's no realistic method of rearranging the bread means even as combo potential you can easily get screwed if what youre intending to draw gets drawn too early.
Of course there's plenty of ways to manipulate it, and certainly tutoring means you can at least attempt to get what you want and thereafter you play these minions for only 2 mana, but its still such a tall ask. One might be tempted to also ask how warrior or druid is supposed to actually survive while all this is happening but you wouldnt think team5 would print this at 7 mana if they werent convinced it could work.
Carress, Cabaret Star - Only reason why I like this card is because of flexibility, though admitably 99% of the time it'll at least have +2+2 with taunt pasted on it almost by default. Infuse this one with nature/frost to more or less take back tempo. Quite useful in shaman, but in DK that is not yet certain.
Carefree Cookie - This one's a weird little card because it requires your minions be dead to gain value. Perhaps in DK where there is tons of tokens available that this can find its best usage. In shaman however, its very nearly useless because you may question why would anyone bother when they can just play stuff like bloodlust etc. instead. And before anyone thinks this is gonna even survive past the same turn its played, I can assure you there will be no chance of that happening in competitive standard.
Razzle-Dazzler - Its elemental inspiration but you may argue that this is substantially worse. Even that card only really worked because you were going all out of your way to make sif work so there really isnt any contrivance. This card however...well maybe in reno decks.
Frosty Décor - Gonna be one of the most annoying cards I can already see it. Its good enough to see play but is shaman good enough though? Shaman is presently having trouble with their late game so this card stalls and yet towards no real end goal in sight. Still, good card for any occasion.
Siren Song - Not being able to choose via discovers makes this card substantially worse than discovery of magic. I can presently see no reason to run this card. Mage has sif as an end game so all the contrivance is tied up to a win con. Both shaman and DK however has none of that. So why bother with this card?
Matching Outfits - If ever there was a card that's so outwardly shit its this one. 4 mana to evolve one minion. And if that evolve whiffs then youve just wasted 4 mana to do fuck all. Seriously, there was a time where primordial wave was said to be too expensive to be of any practical use, and heres one that evolves one card at one mana more.
Meltemental - Yes, this card is solely printed so you can use matching outfits on curve and pretend like youve made some genius move. However, the crucial problem being that two 4 mana minions on turn 4 is hardly a game winner unless your opponent's a sap, and youre essentially praying your opponent cannot actually remove this minion. One further point being that this card standalone is actually not too bad, comparable with imposing anubisath. If they couldnt get past this on turn 3, then surely keeping the card on board is a no brainer.
Decent card, if stall is the plan. If shaman has more late game options this might actually unironically see play.
Shaman cards...uninspiring. Let's hope dhunter cards are better, or token based because otherwise I cant see the class having anything more than reno shaman or nature shaman.
Yeah but crop rotation can never truly whiff whereas this one can actually be 4 mana to do nothing significant. Empty boards nowadays are fairly uncommon, and usually if you end your turn with one youre either a control deck or you're playing from behind quite badly. In both cases, this card is merely decent. Unplayable otherwise.
In any case, Im sure if youre gonna play this card at all it'll always be in a deck that has gorefiend in it, because why even bother playing stand against darkness in today's meta anyway. To me its sole purpose is to end games, otherwise playing crop rotation will likely be the better choice.
Eliza Goreblade - There's no reason why this card should be blood-frost rune restricted, but yet team5 persist. What this essentially does it condemn this card into being played in rainbow but little else. Facts are that the rune system for DK is currently one of the worst features of the class, ensuring that archetypes for DK remains strictly restricted to whatever the hell team5 has cooked up, with little the community can do about it.
Also, why is this a blood-frost rune card anyway? It neither affects health or freezes anything. Youd think it'll be more suited with unholy but what the hell.
As for the card itself. I think its on par with the likes of helya in that winrates will spike considerably harder should the card be played (and triggered) early. Buffs your minions but crucially also buffs your hp. Have to go through some playtesting first because it obviously clashes with the hero card.
Frostbitten Freebooter - Being a deathrattle is annoying though with howler you could potentially do 10 damage to face. For the lack of consistency it might just never see any competitive play
Slippery Slope - You may be forced to play this if youre running a frost deck because theres really not many ways to actually draw cards for DK. At least the card does have a function outside of drawing you cards.
Snow Shredder - Youd think something like that can easily take over the meta but its possibly just way too slow outside of the perfect hand. If triple frost tempo comes back then this card will see play, with a good play winrate.
Horizon's Edge - Its a card to cheapen seaside giant. Because even the most conservative estimate would put it at 3 turns to trigger this 5 times, and Im sure a dedicated deck can do it in 2 turns if the opponent has a board. Might actually get nerfed because however you look at it this is still doing 15 damage to the opponent for 4 mana + plonk a free 8/8
Brittlebone Buccaneer - Anything that doubles value should be respected. As to what this card can actually accomplish, Im sure it'll be competitive.
Ghouls' Night - Possible the only reason why eliza gorefiend has a blood/frost rune requirement, because you can conceivably OTK with double of this card assuming theres an empty board. That means, as dumb as this card looks (it compares poorly to crop rotation), it becomes significantly more powerful with gorefiend, and being able to hit face means your opponent can never leave their board empty once the setups done.
But really team5, gorefiend shouldnt be rune restricted just because of this one card. Because outside of the gorefiend setup this card is trash.
Summoner Darkmarrow - If we ever get mines in standard again this card will absolutely terrorize standard. But look at this card on its own, in the warlock class, I cant say Im a fan. Its a bit too slow, sort of like how baron rivendare and necromechanic has never worked in competitive. At least this card guarantees the deathrattle cards you play after it will indeed die.
Announce Darkness - Meme card. Funny until your face is suitably flat from all the stomping and you promptly delete the deck.
Sacrificial Imp - I personally think its shit unless you get a cheap spell that destroy your own stuff. Even then I still fancy playing egg than this card, because at least the egg can be played without losing any value. This card however, cannot.
"Heath" Drink - Only playable if the meta turns greedy. Otherwise, just stick to drain soul.
Eat! The! Imp! - Now that's a card that's good. Killing a token is hardly difficult and it may allow some form of aggro zoolock to return. Of course this applies mostly to warlock. Rogue dont really need cards like these.
One jump attack from a big weapon is usually all it takes because you very nearly always get a free follow up attack after that. All non-boss mobs dont stand a chance.
Jump attacks in this game is just broken to be honest.
The best tip ever if youre struggling to beat bosses:- Just use a greatshield.
Yes, thats basically it. Using greatshields and a load of patience will vastly improve your winrate against any and all bosses. Granted I have not yet beaten the final boss (ive been deliberately playing this slowly to explore the entire map) but that's my own conclusion thus far.
Speaking of bosses, these are without a shadow of a doubt some of the most infuriating boss designs Ive seen in souls games, all of them. The base game itself was already pushing some buttons but the DLC ramped it up mercilessly. Nearly all bosses have some bs attack that they start using at about 75-50% health and most of which will completely annihilate you if it connects. Not to mention that the bigger bosses (Divine beast dancing lion, yes Im looking at you, you big fk) can sometimes execute some crazy move that will corner you causing the battle to be more a clash of cameras rather than an actual fair fight.
I'll usually fly into a boss using my best fashion souls build, dual wield, prepared for a wonderful epic fight. No summons, no mimic.
Then I'll beat the boss wearing some bs armor holding fingerprint greatshield on one hand and antspur rapier on the other, summoning my other (better) half. Yes. That's what elden ring shadow of the Erdtree does to even veterans of the game. Be efficient, or you might as well just put a pot on your head, strip naked and start practicing timing every single attack the bosses can pull out - and even then Im sure they'll pull out some garbage attack that'll completely catch you offguard at least 20% of the time.
I miss the old days when soul games are more about the fantastic world and its lore, rather than a single line of progressively insane bosses.
Party planner Vona - There are stuff you can do with Ouroboros since its a deathrattle. Copy it, trigger its deathrattle multiple times, etc. Unfortunately for this card I cant see it ever being good enough, nor can I see the value be more than the initial 8/8 summoned. So in actual fact, the value of this card is simply whether we can accept a corpse bride for one mana more. And the answer for me is a resounding no. Not that warlocks or rogues ever need cards like these anyway.
Facts are, if youre playing against priest or reno decks, this card might as well not exist in your deck.
Cursed souvenir - Probably trash if Im honest. Monstrous form does the same practically because if we are completely honest theres a near zero chance a +3+3 buffed minion stays on board anyway. And this card cost 1 mana more. But aside from all that, its also a card you can never ever play against mage, unless its very specifically suicide warlock.
Felfire bonfire - Deals damage and cheats mana. Two things that gets you looked at. So yes, its a good card.
Fearless flamejuggler - Not good because it costs 2 mana and has neither rush nor taunt. When you consider shadowblade slinger is 1 mana its baffling how this card isnt at least a 1 mana card or have rush. Only way this card gets looked at is raise dead being introduced back to standard or theres a self deal damage card that cost 0.
Party fiend - Upgrade to flame imp. Does the turn 1 play well. What more else you want from this? Perhaps there would be a time where flooding board would be useful to warlock.
Treasure Hunter Eudora - If blizz was smart, theyd make Eudora a rogue skin featuring the signature card art, sold for 20 bucks and very likely theyd make bank. As for the card itself, its kinda a weird one to judge because the loot is actually just the duels treasures similar to kazakusan, and you only get two of them. Only reason why kazakusan worked back then is because you get to discover 5*2 loot and even then it was only ever playable in a class like druid. For rogue though, I can see them finishing the game way more consistently than rely on a 6 mana card that comes with multiple layers of conditions. I dont see why we should even bother with Eudora when new marin is just about as broken if not more so.
Great card art though. A shame that the signature version will likely come bundled with trash no one wants and sold at 50 bucks.
Mestra, Mask Merchant - If I got to be honest, this card can whiff fairly hard since all the KotFT heroes are so godawful weak nowadays theyd probably see zero play in today's meta. And yet for the chance at getting lightforged cariel alone, youd probably just go all in and put this in your deck even if you have no intention whatsoever of playing warlock cards.
Swarthy Swordshiner - Its unironically good in a non-dedicated weapons deck. Prob gonna see play because pirate rogue is likely going to be good enough.
Knickknack shack - I dont understand what this card is accomplishing over cards like dubious purchase which draws you three cards immediately for the same cost plus relief some pressure off the board.
Sea shill - You'll likely see this in paladin. Very often.
Sanc'Azel - I really like the card because it grants something paladin tends to lack, which is removal via rush minions. That the location also grants rush and +3 attack means no matter what the forms, this card will always be of some use. But seriously, unless we see a slower pally that is not handbuff appear this card would probably never be played. There's simply not reason to play a midrange card when essentially all your cards would be buffed as hell and your main priority would be to smack face.
Sea Shanty - One of the more confusing cards introduced to paladin, because it should theoretically incentivize playing loads of smaller spells. I guess this must be the payoff for playing liadrin to gain access to some rogue spells. May be more useful for mage, who also have access to this spell.
Lifeguard - Mage would play it. Paladin though, probably not. Its too useless for a class that barely has any direct damage spells. Unless the rogue set start introducing several cheap ones, there's no reason for paladin to play this.
Lifesaving Aura - Im going to mention this solely because granting sunscreen for saving a person's life is about as unrelated as it gets.
Power Spike - No reason to believe this is playable. It may be direct damage + a massive buff but if your entire gameplan hinges on smacking face, then surely youd just play handbuff pally of which this card would be useless in. There's presently no reason that I can think of to suggest that midrange pally would be better than handbuff.
Grillmaster - Got to respect the tutoring effect even if drawing two cards for 4 mana isnt exactly new nor useful at the most of times.
All in all, paladin's set looks to be in disarray. None of these cards make a deck on its own, and bizarrely I can see some of these cards being better in mage than in paladin. Unless the rogue set radically change the complexion of making paladin decks my prediction would be that we play the exact same handbuff deck + sailboat captain and that's about it.
For anyone wondering about the location.
Since the location is usable immediately, my guess is that you can buff a minion up to 8 times assuming the card itself can keep attacking and somehow not die.
Edit: Now confirmed by team5. The location will close after you use it. So you cant actually keep attacking and buffing in the same turn.
Raylla, Sand Sculptor - Comparable to vex crow, probably playable, though we should perhaps ask what is such a card that requires plenty of cheap spells doing in a deck that allows paladin cards to be played. So perhaps its an indicator that pally's identity relates to cheap spells. It would be interesting to see how this card can work because its kinda broken if it ends up working well.
Tide pools - Perhaps the most broken location, maybe just even with puppet theatre and will very likely be nerfed. Aside from the fact that you can easily just put this into big spell mage, it can potentially allow you to cast three spells immediately after playing this, and on top of that cheapens seaside giant by a massive 6 mana in one turn. Yeah, Id be surprised if this card isnt nerfed, assuming that mage can hold up in the meta, which I suspect it can.
Seabreeze Chalice - The best drink card so far, but we've only really seen one. Does the job of clearing board really well, or just strike 6 to face for 3 mana.
Marooned Archmage - Yes its mana cheat, but its only for one card and theres an exactly zero chance it lives till the next turn. So for me, its just shit really. Unless your opponents an idiot, you'll never reap anywhere near the potential of this card.
Now, let's address the archetype for mage, which is big spells. I think there is a world where it can work, but Im also a bit skeptical whether it'll ever take the meta as far as it seem. For one thing, it forces you to cram alot of expensive cards into your deck, where only three cards allowing you to cheat them out. And secondly, the moment you start playing your power cards, handbuff pally can have easily dropped 20/20 worth of stats and youre already at the brink of death. Sometimes you play Surfalopod on 5, then Under the Sea on 6 and drew Tsunami, putting such an incredible amount of stats on board. And then there are times where all those cards are in your hand, and you whiff your first three turns hard and die.
We'll see how well it'll go for mage next expansion.
Incindius - The eruptions will hit all enemies for 1 (in effect 2) damage, but if this card stays beyond one turn then they upgrade in damage every turn. Only thing I like about this card is that it really doesnt matter if incindius is dead, the eruptions will still exist in your deck to provide swing turns whenever you draw them. The problem is that its still a 6 mana card with no taunt/rush and whether you draw those eruptions is really down to the almight rnjesus. Most turns in hearthstone standard dont tend to last longer than 9 turns so in reality if you dont draw those eruptions in 2 turns you basically just played a oasis snapjaw for 6 mana. Still, good enough card to see play.
King Tide - Okay, so you get to play one big spell for 5 mana the next turn, or alternatively, play them both at turn 9. Your druid opponent instantly concedes. I guess for that reason it can work, depending on the big spells to be revealed this expansion.
Adaptive Amalgam - Signature card art excellent. Card however, not so much. Its a card you either build around or just not bother because what it is most of the time is just a tunneling weasel that'll likely screw you at a later turn.
Beached Whale - Its a card everyone would actively look to cheat out because 20 health with taunt is about as nuts as it gets. The most convincing is perhaps with thunderbringer, but I still dont think it sees much play. Red Herring is a 4/12 at the same cost and sees little to no play, and more to the point even if you managed to cheat it out, then what? Still need to win the game. And its not like hearthstone 2024 doesnt have a plethora of options to destroy minions anyway.
Terrible Chef - Nice concept. Just play the egg instead which is one mana less, it'll make more sense.
Hozen Roughhouser - Its innocent looking but its actually just rokara printed exclusively for pirate decks. It'll likely do well assuming that pirate decks actually are playable
Cryopractor - Cryostasis never saw any play. What makes anyone think this would?