So once again we're doing this, mage gets yet another two casino cards that will unironically be viable to make everyone's life a tiny bit more miserable.
The Galactic Projection Orb - This card is basically Magister Dawngrasp. It'll do some token chip damage, raise a few minions for you and may completely shift the board in your favor. Not much else to comment on aside from the fact that it'll likely see play in most mage decks. I hope to dear god that team5 have made this card undiscoverable, because it'll not be fun to see this card more than once per game.
Yogg in the Box - Its yogg, it'll see play. It might also be good enough in competitive, or perhaps more likely it might dominate this specific expansion due to the smaller spell pool. Imagine this card casting the galactic orb which then proceed to cast another yogg box. Im sure this interaction is not possible, right team5?
Watercolor Artist - Would actually have been OP if it werent for the fact that its very specifically frost spells and there isnt really any OP frost spells right now.
Sleet Skater - It looks good, but in reality its likely not better than Arcane Artificer in games where gaining armor matters. If youre going up against an aggro deck this card wouldnt gain you significant armor, and against midrange-value decks it might gain you a good deal of armor but likely it wouldnt matter. Youd much rather just slam a 1/3 that must be killed on the early turns rather than rely on a 5 mana card that stalls one minion.
But admitably, if the meta shifts to big minions then this card is quite insane, being able to essentially stall two turns + gain tons of armor.
Oh yes, priest getting some seemingly toxic cards, let's see what we can make out;
Raza the Resealed - This card is absolutely trash...if it weren't for the fact that reno's arcane bullets exists. Fact of the matter is, being able to refresh hp is just not very useful unless you can cheapen it. And having no real method of doing so other than Papercraft Angel means that for the most part it'll never realistically matter.
Unfortunately, all that changes once you reno up. The moment the random hp turns to arcane bullets you practically just win the game. Because with papercraft angel you can legit just play your entire deck, with only the unreliable rope timer being the main issue. If I have to be honest, it'll prob end up with reno getting nerfed because no one wants to lose to an rng fest that leaves you helpless as your opponent plays their entire deck.
Timewinder Zarimi - So we're giving bronze dragons to priest as well now? Is there a reason why this isnt at least an infinite dragonflight? Oh well. Is this broken? Well yes. Gaining one extra turn with no questions asked is absolutely insane, with a paltry condition. So what's on the cards? 0 mana giants for lethal? No, it'll be in a reno deck that'll likely just kill you as you watch your life slowly drain away for two consecutive turns while your opponent emotes with every card played.
Fly Off the Shelves - Ive no idea why team5 decided that this should be a one sided board clear. So we can play midrange dragon priest? Well, at least it is a board clear, because priest really needs a few more post rotation.
Scale Replica - Decent card draw option. Only comment I have is to point out that this is the level where we're at right now. Drawing two cards for two mana is apparently the standard these days. Used to be incredibly OP just over two years ago.
Careless Crafter - Love the card because of overheal support. Unfortunately it'll only predominately do two things in competitive. Draw you cards via Crimson Clergy or fuel for more hp to your face.
Purifying Power - One of the weirdest cards to be released for priest. Its so difficult to imagine this seeing play and yet the effect is so unique it makes me wonder if team5 specifically design this card to be not only playable but influential, whether its now or the coming expansions.
Its my own opinion that reno raza priest is going to be a hot thing once expansion starts, but I simply dont think it'll be as good as it seems. Maybe the odd game everything clicks and its the best deck in the world, but more likely priest simply dies way before they can pull out anything useful. There is a reason why reno decks right now isnt any good as I write this.
Oh boy pirates for rogue again, whatever could go wrong. Let's hope they dont become redundant for the next two years.
Shoplifter Goldbeard - If you take off the mask you'd quickly realize what this really is. Its Mr. Smite, except shittier. Designed entirely to take advantage of the meager amount of useful pirates available in this expansion. So what can we do with this card? About the best you can hope for is sandbox scoundrel mini into Bargain Bin Buccaneer, or Watercannon after The Crystal Cove. Basically what Im trying to say is that this card is shit, only really playable assuming rogue has plenty of handbuffs, or otherwise somehow pirate rogue is so dominant that you'll slot this in because why not?
Sonya Waterdancer - Its gonna be broken at some point in the next two years. Essentially this card allows rogue to double the effects of all their 1 mana cards. Fortunately draka is no longer in standard.
Watercannon - The only thing I like about this card is that it has 3 durability and deals 9 damage over three turns.
The Crystal Cove - Its patently obvious that the main usage of this card is to hit two things; Watercannon's token or Bargain Bin Buccaneer. However, will it be competitive, given that it has very nearly zero usage outside of those two cards? Well, this one takes playtesting, because when it does work it will seem broken as hell but when it doesnt its a brick in hand.
Sandbox Scoundrel - Doesnt take a genius to see that this card is broken as hell. Not the card itself, the mini version. The scabbs comparison is not entirely fair, because scabbs costs 4 mana, whereas the mini version is a straight up unnerfed Innervate. Guess its good thing that draka and Sinstone Graveyard is rotating.
Have to say, if rogue is playable at all, chances are good it wont be a pure pirate deck, because none of these presents a viable wincon, nor are they making me interested.
CCG has been done dirty in my opinion because it would have been a whole lot better as a battlecry. It'll go into a reno deck because why not. There's simply not that many cards in the next expansion due to rotation so CCG would be an easy pick if nothing else because of the lack of competition.
Well, the leaked weapon was a fake, and instead we got Ci'Cigi. Here's my take on the dhunter cards;
Magtheridon, Unreleased - Fine example of a card that's better left dormant than actually awake. Its not gonna be in every dhunter deck ever, because spending 8 mana to deal 3 damage to board is the kind of card that'll get you destroyed in games. Instead, you'll likely be playing it in decks that's very specifically trying to cheapen it, and then likely you'll want to keep it dormant for as long as possible. Umpire's Grasp very conveniently allows you to tutor and discount the cost.
Ci'Cigi - I'll be honest, the card is flavourful but its also shite. Let's see what the many issues are; no vanilla stats, deathrattle, no taunt, and worse still the cards it grants you are OP...4 years ago. And to add the cherry on top, the cards are going towards your right, which means getting the cards outcasted are already a challenge in of itself.
One of the cards Im firmly expecting team5 to buff at a later stage. As for now, its only hope is that tempo dhunter is back in the next meta because nothing else will make this card playable.
Lesser Opal Spellstone - I'll prob never really draw you more than 2 cards in most games. The conditions are simply too difficult to accomplish quickly. You'll need very specifically windfury or Warglaives of Azzinoth to realistically make it work. Still, drawing 2 cards for 2 is within acceptable value for draw cards.
Ball Hog - Probably going to be one of the most annoying cards to deal with. It practically heals you for 9 and removes two minions most of the time. Against an aggro deck, this card sets them back so far north they might as well concede.
Window Shopper - Hitting magtheridon with this card and its mini version is just filthy. At least next expansion where the demon pool is limited, we can expect this card to see play, and probably going to be more tilting than it should actually be.
Yes I have and its really toxic as hell. But with the power level of hearthstone nowadays, unless its very specifically fitting to a combo its highly unlikely to cause trouble. We've come to a point where even a big minion for free on turn 5 with charge cannot realistically be enough to win the game.
Skull was only really toxic because it enable cube shenanigans. Without cube it'll just be a good card.
That is to say, if the leaks are real. May well be faked.
Shudderblock - I like how team5's solution to the toxic nature of shudderwock was to simply to make it impossible to OTK, theorectically. Unfortunately, Im sure there's something to exploit out of this card otherwise it'll just never see play. Im fairly convinced this will remain a contentious card for nerfs within the next two years.
Hagatha the Fabled - It draws you two cards. That's about it. The main reason why shes 5 mana, and why her effect is actually tutoring two spells is to combine her effect with shudderblock. My guess on this card's competitive use: Its gonna have something to do with Wish Upon a Star
[Hearthstone Card (Once upon a time…) Not Found] - The only thing good I have to say about this card is that its reload that comes a turn earlier than Pack the House, which is far better than this card. Realistically however, it'll never see play in competitive.
Wish Upon a Star - On first glance, its too slow. But then when you think about what this card does, basically this gives you such an outsized advantage that you cannot help but feel it'll be worth it despite its cost. I'll say that it has a chance to see play, particularly with hagatha and shudderblock. Its a win con card, and as such should be respected.
Sand Art Elemental - Gives you windfury. And you get to do it again. What's there not to like? Its basically gonna be winning you games
Big demons again, well we'll see if it'll work out this time.
Game Master Nemsy - Great and all that, assuming you hit a big enough demon. But if I have to be honest, this card may actually end up getting nerfed because its basically Skull of the Man'ari all over again. You play this card, and your opponent either silences it or you get to set up a Doomguard lethal in like 2-3 turns. I would be shocked if the win rate of this card doesnt overshadow the entire deck to the point where victory hinges entirely on drawing nemsy before the doomguards.
Cursed Campaign - Your combo piece for doomguard shenanigans. Yes they do go dormant, but unless your opponent renos it away, that's 10 damage to their face unless they set up taunts.
Endgame - So your opponent thinks themselves smart. Kill the doomguard the same turn as nemsy and there you go, no more combo. Well, this card begs to differ. In fact, having the doomguard dead is entirely the gameplan for this end game. Another card which may end up being problematic because its just 2 mana to bring back very specifically either 5 damage to face or a massive Wretched Queen
Table Flip - What else can be said other than the fact that it supports handlock, gives you a cheap 1-3 mana board clear.
Wretched Queen - The card is excellent, but I feel its more likely to go into some sort of reno deck because 90% of the time youd much rather just play for a doomguard win con than stall.
Paladin cards are a mismash of stuff, but we can clearly see heavy support for big pally.
Pipsi Painthoof - Fits straight into big pally. Basically your opponent would be reluctant to pop this card but its highly unlikely they can escape from it forever. The only thing that really holds this card back is the fact that its a deathrattle and thus not necessarily going to fit into any other archetype. Using Dance Floor can help.
Flash Sale - In many respects this card may actually just be better than Crusader Aura, though its best usage would be in big pally where you simply need some midrange support cards. Even if it does nothing more than spawn an annoyotron, that might just be sufficient to hold on until you bring out the bigger boys.
Crafter's Aura - Looks good in theory but in practice its probably too slow for paladin. Even big pally cant use this thing and not risk death. Really does look like a card that got nerfed in design phase, because at 7 mana its really competing with so many other cards, not to mention that you dont actually get to control what you get. Makes more sense and looks better at 6 mana, and I suspect that it originally was designed at 6.
Wind-Up Enforcer - You'll never play this card until team5 inevitably buffs it by giving it taunt.
Painter's Virtue - If it didnt have lifesteal this card would only be a middling weapon that'll likely never see play. Well, its good that it does have lifesteal so now its a legit card that may actually be more competitive than it looks. Imagine being able to remove tempo, heal a bit back, and give your minions +1+1. A bit of a shame that most of the cards that buff your damage would be rotating though.
Druid cards are fairly inbetween this time. Not obviously toxic, and yet sufficiently strong. We shall have to see whether they can actually survive in a meta without Nourish in it.
Owlonius - Its a win con card but there's no more moonfire nor moonbeam. All you get is Sparkling Phial and Swipe, which technically is about 28 damage in total with +2 spell damage, which is achievable but you'd have to hold on to so many cards to make that happen. Im optimistic of the deck's chances, but obviously as with most druid decks we'd have to see it in practice to know if its viable.
Sky Mother Aviana - A very strong card that can go either way. Grant you a few legendaries that can win you the game or a few duds that you'll never recover from. The thing about aviana is that you'll prob only play this in a value ramp deck, because this effectively thickens your deck so you get a bunch of cheap legendaries at the cost of making it more difficult to get to cards you actually put into your deck.
Ensmallen - Ive no idea what exactly you'll do with this card. Seems to me that with Funnel Cake, Innervate, and Wind-Up Sapling, there's just so many ways to get more mana that this card really doesnt do much else other than extend a hypothetical advantage at a fairly expensive cost. Unlike Embiggen which clearly fits into midrange decks, what exactly is it that you'll want to do with this? Fact that it doesnt discount stuff in hand means even as a build around in a combo deck there's still the odd chance of this card turning into a brick.
Jade Display - Nice throwback. Completely rubbish though. Cant help but feel team5 purposefully made this a deathrattle just so the deck not only becomes clunky but completely unreliable as a build around.
Magical Dollhouse - Its funny because outside of lethal potential, what indeed is the druid cards that do well with spell damage? You'd want to keep Swipe because its your win con, and yet its practically the only thing that actually does stuff on board with spell damage. It'll see play for sure, assuming spell damage druid can be a thing, but Im struggling to see how druid uses up all 3 durability this card has.
Botface - Its a value card, intended to provide you with stuff to do while you get to your win con. Because realistically, with odyn being the primary win con for most if not all warriors, you dont need a card like this. Suited for reno decks, or otherwise just plain value. At very least unlike the old Rotface, it's practically guaranteed to give you something.
Chemical Spill - Doesnt matter how you look at it, its a poor card. When you consider cards like Sigil of Reckoning, Big Dreams couldnt make it in competitive, even in big decks, there's just no reason to believe that this would work as well. Perhaps you'll get lucky, get botface off this and gain 4 mini cards from it, that's about the best this card can hope for. Likely wont see play.
Lab Patron - Laughable to say the least. 4 mana 3/3, of which you can only dupe once a turn. Yeah, no chance it'll ever see competitive play. Monster in arena perhaps, nowhere else.
Boom Wrench - So far perhaps the best warrior card. Curves right into Testing Dummy, dealing 8 damage out of nowhere and you get to do it again.
Testing Dummy - I know hearthstone power levels have gone way past charts nowadays, but really? Is it even remotely fair for warrior to have a 4/8 taunt on 6 which deals 8 damage? Practically maims paladin, or any tempo deck, on its own. Fact that its a deathrattle, and with so many deathrattle support, its practically a must kill or you win the game.
Li'Na, Shop Manager - Its clearly a build around card that's likely more relevant to rogue and druid than any other class. But will it be a good, competitive card? Well, I kinda rate this around the same as The Scourge. Its kinda good when it goes off well, but there are just so many games where it spawns you no taunts/rush minions and completely screw your match.
Playhouse Giant - Prob more giants for a hypothetical handlock deck which kinda does really well with something like Gaslight Gatekeeper. Really nothing much else. Perhaps it'll find itself in druid and rogue which conventionally draws their entire deck most of the time anyway.
Nostalgic Clown - To me, this is a combo card. Prob for rogue. Its really too slow for anything else more conventional. Perhaps later reveals would make more sense of this card but at the moment, its hard to see this as anything more than a potential combo piece.
Giggling Toymaker - Its Giggling Inventor but worse. Why? Well because if you cant pop it then it cant save you. So in addition to playing the card you need to spend another card/option to also trigger it. Still, got to respect it if nothing else. Anything that can spawn two annoyatrons cannot realistically be ignored.
Rumble Enthusiast - Its practically s'theno, but worse. Not sure what can be made of this, but the random nature of the damage makes this hard to see competitive play.
Clearance Promoter - I dont know what can be made of this. But Id be surprised if this doesnt contribute to something toxic in the next 2 years.
Sing-Along Buddy - Probably the most interesting of the lot. Makes anything that refresh hp incredibly busted. I can see plenty of potential for this card to actually see competitive play.
Well, here's my opinion on the more interesting cards.
Factory Assemblybot - In my opinion, this card will never see play outside of a big deck and even then Id contend this is not good enough. 10 mana cards need to either win you the game, threaten to win you the game, or easily cheated out. This card does none of those things, and ironically cheating this out without playing it from hand means you miss out on the most important thing this card does.
Origami Dragon - Depending on the meta this card can be incredibly busted. It flips the board for you, and heal you back. Only problem is that against reactive decks this card is just useless. So a better Zilliax then I guess.
Plucky Paintfin - Played only for the tutoring effect which for a neutral card might be important. Poisonous is just a bonus, never realistically a feature youd put this card into your deck for.
Cosplay Contestant - If you can remember one of the worse legendaries ever printed, Harbinger Celestia. Yeah, this is that card. Will it see play? No.
Bucket of Soldiers - Not gonna lie, this card is scary. Deceptively innocent but when you consider that you have a high chance of getting taunt, divine shield and reborn 1/1s on board for cracking this egg, and the fact that certain decks punishes you heavily for leaving things on board, this card is an easy win. Only problem is how to crack it consistently. But Id imagine thats not a big issue for those that would play it.
Tar Slime - Will prob never see play because a 2/3 on 1 is no longer special. Just like how Tar Creeper itself has not seen play since ungoro, there's no reason to believe this card will.
Giftwrapped Whelp - Cute little thing. But really, its a Flame Imp. Good in midrange dragon decks and nothing else.
Team5 is clever. They know very well the average amount of turns games tend to end so they specifically designed this to only really work versus specific kinds of matchup i.e. control decks. Because really, against any other archetype the game would end way before turn 13 anyway.
Still, Im getting some vibes that this card is going to get nerfed, or will cause another card to get nerfed because any form of discounting would immediately turn this from meme to competitive and this card is just toxic if viable.
Its a good card, very nearly guarantees that the damage goes to face and being able to essentially board clear while doing it is just amazing.
The main problem though? Well, the battlecry basically means you'll never want to cheat this guy out and isnt that what really made King Krush good in the first place? Played as a 9 drop, this card is just...well, normal. Maybe not even that great considering that most matches rarely ever get to a point where a board clear and 6 damage to face wins you the game.
Prob would see play, but Id say old krush is more interesting to build around than plush krush.
Alright, its a hero card so it must be busted as hell. Certainly at 6 mana, remove one minion, and then having a hp that deals 3 damage. What more can you ask for?
Well, having a perfectly reasonable card that doesnt have such a bs rune restriction would be nice.
When will team5 finally notice that the rune restrictions is basically making it so every DK deck is more or less 90% decided by them instead of discovered by the community? So if the decks are useless then this perfectly good card would simply never see play. Reminds me of sindragosa, where the card just gets ignored not because the card is bad but because its trapped in a deck that'll never work.
Id love to play this in blood DK, or just as an option in unholy DK. But no. Its either rainbow, a theoretical unholy/blood midrange deck, or go bust. Wouldnt be the last time we've seen yet another card like these get ignored until team5 inevitably buffs the entire archetype.
Its definitely one of those cards that can only be judged after playtesting. But from my own impression, it really looks like something that simply cannot be relied on.
So your opponent has two big minions + several smaller ones. This thing may well just cast polymorph, hit the wrong target and get you screwed. Or it'll cast flamestrike, killing the smaller dudes while leaving two giants on board. And in any case, since it activates at the end of the turn, it'll always be a coin toss as to whether you can trust it to do the right thing, or dealing with the threats yourself.
My own opinion is that it'll see play, because of course it would. Even having random spells is better than nothing but it'll never be as good as it seem. Even if it does, we can pretty much expect vipers to be everywhere anyway.
Is there no more individual card postings in the forum anymore?
But the card itself? Well, its fine. Im almost certain this card will see play, and in fact it wouldnt surprise me if all mage archetypes play it. As for how good it'll be, likely not very good, because we've all been burned by wisdomball before.
Prob at best the card is good enough to clear board, most of the time. But really, if you're relying on this thing to save your arse you'd prob be left disappointed more often than not.
Sure theres always a chance they trigger brann early but then that's obscuring the fact that most games they dont. And if you face DK then that's usually about it for your chances.
Odyn warrior is by far the superior warrior archetype. And even then its not perfect in any respect. Most of the time youd win just putting up tempo consistently and playing around their removal.
So once again we're doing this, mage gets yet another two casino cards that will unironically be viable to make everyone's life a tiny bit more miserable.
The Galactic Projection Orb - This card is basically Magister Dawngrasp. It'll do some token chip damage, raise a few minions for you and may completely shift the board in your favor. Not much else to comment on aside from the fact that it'll likely see play in most mage decks. I hope to dear god that team5 have made this card undiscoverable, because it'll not be fun to see this card more than once per game.
Yogg in the Box - Its yogg, it'll see play. It might also be good enough in competitive, or perhaps more likely it might dominate this specific expansion due to the smaller spell pool. Imagine this card casting the galactic orb which then proceed to cast another yogg box. Im sure this interaction is not possible, right team5?
Watercolor Artist - Would actually have been OP if it werent for the fact that its very specifically frost spells and there isnt really any OP frost spells right now.
Manufacturing Error - Created entirely for spell mage, and is basically Skull of Gul'dan without the outcast requirement.
Sleet Skater - It looks good, but in reality its likely not better than Arcane Artificer in games where gaining armor matters. If youre going up against an aggro deck this card wouldnt gain you significant armor, and against midrange-value decks it might gain you a good deal of armor but likely it wouldnt matter. Youd much rather just slam a 1/3 that must be killed on the early turns rather than rely on a 5 mana card that stalls one minion.
But admitably, if the meta shifts to big minions then this card is quite insane, being able to essentially stall two turns + gain tons of armor.
Oh yes, priest getting some seemingly toxic cards, let's see what we can make out;
Raza the Resealed - This card is absolutely trash...if it weren't for the fact that reno's arcane bullets exists. Fact of the matter is, being able to refresh hp is just not very useful unless you can cheapen it. And having no real method of doing so other than Papercraft Angel means that for the most part it'll never realistically matter.
Unfortunately, all that changes once you reno up. The moment the random hp turns to arcane bullets you practically just win the game. Because with papercraft angel you can legit just play your entire deck, with only the unreliable rope timer being the main issue. If I have to be honest, it'll prob end up with reno getting nerfed because no one wants to lose to an rng fest that leaves you helpless as your opponent plays their entire deck.
Timewinder Zarimi - So we're giving bronze dragons to priest as well now? Is there a reason why this isnt at least an infinite dragonflight? Oh well. Is this broken? Well yes. Gaining one extra turn with no questions asked is absolutely insane, with a paltry condition. So what's on the cards? 0 mana giants for lethal? No, it'll be in a reno deck that'll likely just kill you as you watch your life slowly drain away for two consecutive turns while your opponent emotes with every card played.
Fly Off the Shelves - Ive no idea why team5 decided that this should be a one sided board clear. So we can play midrange dragon priest? Well, at least it is a board clear, because priest really needs a few more post rotation.
Scale Replica - Decent card draw option. Only comment I have is to point out that this is the level where we're at right now. Drawing two cards for two mana is apparently the standard these days. Used to be incredibly OP just over two years ago.
Careless Crafter - Love the card because of overheal support. Unfortunately it'll only predominately do two things in competitive. Draw you cards via Crimson Clergy or fuel for more hp to your face.
Purifying Power - One of the weirdest cards to be released for priest. Its so difficult to imagine this seeing play and yet the effect is so unique it makes me wonder if team5 specifically design this card to be not only playable but influential, whether its now or the coming expansions.
Its my own opinion that reno raza priest is going to be a hot thing once expansion starts, but I simply dont think it'll be as good as it seems. Maybe the odd game everything clicks and its the best deck in the world, but more likely priest simply dies way before they can pull out anything useful. There is a reason why reno decks right now isnt any good as I write this.
Oh boy pirates for rogue again, whatever could go wrong. Let's hope they dont become redundant for the next two years.
Shoplifter Goldbeard - If you take off the mask you'd quickly realize what this really is. Its Mr. Smite, except shittier. Designed entirely to take advantage of the meager amount of useful pirates available in this expansion. So what can we do with this card? About the best you can hope for is sandbox scoundrel mini into Bargain Bin Buccaneer, or Watercannon after The Crystal Cove. Basically what Im trying to say is that this card is shit, only really playable assuming rogue has plenty of handbuffs, or otherwise somehow pirate rogue is so dominant that you'll slot this in because why not?
Sonya Waterdancer - Its gonna be broken at some point in the next two years. Essentially this card allows rogue to double the effects of all their 1 mana cards. Fortunately draka is no longer in standard.
Watercannon - The only thing I like about this card is that it has 3 durability and deals 9 damage over three turns.
The Crystal Cove - Its patently obvious that the main usage of this card is to hit two things; Watercannon's token or Bargain Bin Buccaneer. However, will it be competitive, given that it has very nearly zero usage outside of those two cards? Well, this one takes playtesting, because when it does work it will seem broken as hell but when it doesnt its a brick in hand.
Sandbox Scoundrel - Doesnt take a genius to see that this card is broken as hell. Not the card itself, the mini version. The scabbs comparison is not entirely fair, because scabbs costs 4 mana, whereas the mini version is a straight up unnerfed Innervate. Guess its good thing that draka and Sinstone Graveyard is rotating.
Have to say, if rogue is playable at all, chances are good it wont be a pure pirate deck, because none of these presents a viable wincon, nor are they making me interested.
CCG has been done dirty in my opinion because it would have been a whole lot better as a battlecry. It'll go into a reno deck because why not. There's simply not that many cards in the next expansion due to rotation so CCG would be an easy pick if nothing else because of the lack of competition.
Will it do loads though? Prob not.
Well, the leaked weapon was a fake, and instead we got Ci'Cigi. Here's my take on the dhunter cards;
Magtheridon, Unreleased - Fine example of a card that's better left dormant than actually awake. Its not gonna be in every dhunter deck ever, because spending 8 mana to deal 3 damage to board is the kind of card that'll get you destroyed in games. Instead, you'll likely be playing it in decks that's very specifically trying to cheapen it, and then likely you'll want to keep it dormant for as long as possible. Umpire's Grasp very conveniently allows you to tutor and discount the cost.
Ci'Cigi - I'll be honest, the card is flavourful but its also shite. Let's see what the many issues are; no vanilla stats, deathrattle, no taunt, and worse still the cards it grants you are OP...4 years ago. And to add the cherry on top, the cards are going towards your right, which means getting the cards outcasted are already a challenge in of itself.
One of the cards Im firmly expecting team5 to buff at a later stage. As for now, its only hope is that tempo dhunter is back in the next meta because nothing else will make this card playable.
Lesser Opal Spellstone - I'll prob never really draw you more than 2 cards in most games. The conditions are simply too difficult to accomplish quickly. You'll need very specifically windfury or Warglaives of Azzinoth to realistically make it work. Still, drawing 2 cards for 2 is within acceptable value for draw cards.
Ball Hog - Probably going to be one of the most annoying cards to deal with. It practically heals you for 9 and removes two minions most of the time. Against an aggro deck, this card sets them back so far north they might as well concede.
Window Shopper - Hitting magtheridon with this card and its mini version is just filthy. At least next expansion where the demon pool is limited, we can expect this card to see play, and probably going to be more tilting than it should actually be.
Yes I have and its really toxic as hell. But with the power level of hearthstone nowadays, unless its very specifically fitting to a combo its highly unlikely to cause trouble. We've come to a point where even a big minion for free on turn 5 with charge cannot realistically be enough to win the game.
Skull was only really toxic because it enable cube shenanigans. Without cube it'll just be a good card.
That is to say, if the leaks are real. May well be faked.
Shudderblock - I like how team5's solution to the toxic nature of shudderwock was to simply to make it impossible to OTK, theorectically. Unfortunately, Im sure there's something to exploit out of this card otherwise it'll just never see play. Im fairly convinced this will remain a contentious card for nerfs within the next two years.
Hagatha the Fabled - It draws you two cards. That's about it. The main reason why shes 5 mana, and why her effect is actually tutoring two spells is to combine her effect with shudderblock. My guess on this card's competitive use: Its gonna have something to do with Wish Upon a Star
[Hearthstone Card (Once upon a time…) Not Found] - The only thing good I have to say about this card is that its reload that comes a turn earlier than Pack the House, which is far better than this card. Realistically however, it'll never see play in competitive.
Wish Upon a Star - On first glance, its too slow. But then when you think about what this card does, basically this gives you such an outsized advantage that you cannot help but feel it'll be worth it despite its cost. I'll say that it has a chance to see play, particularly with hagatha and shudderblock. Its a win con card, and as such should be respected.
Sand Art Elemental - Gives you windfury. And you get to do it again. What's there not to like? Its basically gonna be winning you games
Big demons again, well we'll see if it'll work out this time.
Game Master Nemsy - Great and all that, assuming you hit a big enough demon. But if I have to be honest, this card may actually end up getting nerfed because its basically Skull of the Man'ari all over again. You play this card, and your opponent either silences it or you get to set up a Doomguard lethal in like 2-3 turns. I would be shocked if the win rate of this card doesnt overshadow the entire deck to the point where victory hinges entirely on drawing nemsy before the doomguards.
Cursed Campaign - Your combo piece for doomguard shenanigans. Yes they do go dormant, but unless your opponent renos it away, that's 10 damage to their face unless they set up taunts.
Endgame - So your opponent thinks themselves smart. Kill the doomguard the same turn as nemsy and there you go, no more combo. Well, this card begs to differ. In fact, having the doomguard dead is entirely the gameplan for this end game. Another card which may end up being problematic because its just 2 mana to bring back very specifically either 5 damage to face or a massive Wretched Queen
Table Flip - What else can be said other than the fact that it supports handlock, gives you a cheap 1-3 mana board clear.
Wretched Queen - The card is excellent, but I feel its more likely to go into some sort of reno deck because 90% of the time youd much rather just play for a doomguard win con than stall.
Paladin cards are a mismash of stuff, but we can clearly see heavy support for big pally.
Pipsi Painthoof - Fits straight into big pally. Basically your opponent would be reluctant to pop this card but its highly unlikely they can escape from it forever. The only thing that really holds this card back is the fact that its a deathrattle and thus not necessarily going to fit into any other archetype. Using Dance Floor can help.
Flash Sale - In many respects this card may actually just be better than Crusader Aura, though its best usage would be in big pally where you simply need some midrange support cards. Even if it does nothing more than spawn an annoyotron, that might just be sufficient to hold on until you bring out the bigger boys.
Crafter's Aura - Looks good in theory but in practice its probably too slow for paladin. Even big pally cant use this thing and not risk death. Really does look like a card that got nerfed in design phase, because at 7 mana its really competing with so many other cards, not to mention that you dont actually get to control what you get. Makes more sense and looks better at 6 mana, and I suspect that it originally was designed at 6.
Wind-Up Enforcer - You'll never play this card until team5 inevitably buffs it by giving it taunt.
Painter's Virtue - If it didnt have lifesteal this card would only be a middling weapon that'll likely never see play. Well, its good that it does have lifesteal so now its a legit card that may actually be more competitive than it looks. Imagine being able to remove tempo, heal a bit back, and give your minions +1+1. A bit of a shame that most of the cards that buff your damage would be rotating though.
Druid cards are fairly inbetween this time. Not obviously toxic, and yet sufficiently strong. We shall have to see whether they can actually survive in a meta without Nourish in it.
Owlonius - Its a win con card but there's no more moonfire nor moonbeam. All you get is Sparkling Phial and Swipe, which technically is about 28 damage in total with +2 spell damage, which is achievable but you'd have to hold on to so many cards to make that happen. Im optimistic of the deck's chances, but obviously as with most druid decks we'd have to see it in practice to know if its viable.
Sky Mother Aviana - A very strong card that can go either way. Grant you a few legendaries that can win you the game or a few duds that you'll never recover from. The thing about aviana is that you'll prob only play this in a value ramp deck, because this effectively thickens your deck so you get a bunch of cheap legendaries at the cost of making it more difficult to get to cards you actually put into your deck.
Ensmallen - Ive no idea what exactly you'll do with this card. Seems to me that with Funnel Cake, Innervate, and Wind-Up Sapling, there's just so many ways to get more mana that this card really doesnt do much else other than extend a hypothetical advantage at a fairly expensive cost. Unlike Embiggen which clearly fits into midrange decks, what exactly is it that you'll want to do with this? Fact that it doesnt discount stuff in hand means even as a build around in a combo deck there's still the odd chance of this card turning into a brick.
Jade Display - Nice throwback. Completely rubbish though. Cant help but feel team5 purposefully made this a deathrattle just so the deck not only becomes clunky but completely unreliable as a build around.
Magical Dollhouse - Its funny because outside of lethal potential, what indeed is the druid cards that do well with spell damage? You'd want to keep Swipe because its your win con, and yet its practically the only thing that actually does stuff on board with spell damage. It'll see play for sure, assuming spell damage druid can be a thing, but Im struggling to see how druid uses up all 3 durability this card has.
Botface - Its a value card, intended to provide you with stuff to do while you get to your win con. Because realistically, with odyn being the primary win con for most if not all warriors, you dont need a card like this. Suited for reno decks, or otherwise just plain value. At very least unlike the old Rotface, it's practically guaranteed to give you something.
Chemical Spill - Doesnt matter how you look at it, its a poor card. When you consider cards like Sigil of Reckoning, Big Dreams couldnt make it in competitive, even in big decks, there's just no reason to believe that this would work as well. Perhaps you'll get lucky, get botface off this and gain 4 mini cards from it, that's about the best this card can hope for. Likely wont see play.
Lab Patron - Laughable to say the least. 4 mana 3/3, of which you can only dupe once a turn. Yeah, no chance it'll ever see competitive play. Monster in arena perhaps, nowhere else.
Boom Wrench - So far perhaps the best warrior card. Curves right into Testing Dummy, dealing 8 damage out of nowhere and you get to do it again.
Testing Dummy - I know hearthstone power levels have gone way past charts nowadays, but really? Is it even remotely fair for warrior to have a 4/8 taunt on 6 which deals 8 damage? Practically maims paladin, or any tempo deck, on its own. Fact that its a deathrattle, and with so many deathrattle support, its practically a must kill or you win the game.
My review of the reveals, interesting cards only;
Li'Na, Shop Manager - Its clearly a build around card that's likely more relevant to rogue and druid than any other class. But will it be a good, competitive card? Well, I kinda rate this around the same as The Scourge. Its kinda good when it goes off well, but there are just so many games where it spawns you no taunts/rush minions and completely screw your match.
Playhouse Giant - Prob more giants for a hypothetical handlock deck which kinda does really well with something like Gaslight Gatekeeper. Really nothing much else. Perhaps it'll find itself in druid and rogue which conventionally draws their entire deck most of the time anyway.
Nostalgic Clown - To me, this is a combo card. Prob for rogue. Its really too slow for anything else more conventional. Perhaps later reveals would make more sense of this card but at the moment, its hard to see this as anything more than a potential combo piece.
Giggling Toymaker - Its Giggling Inventor but worse. Why? Well because if you cant pop it then it cant save you. So in addition to playing the card you need to spend another card/option to also trigger it. Still, got to respect it if nothing else. Anything that can spawn two annoyatrons cannot realistically be ignored.
Rumble Enthusiast - Its practically s'theno, but worse. Not sure what can be made of this, but the random nature of the damage makes this hard to see competitive play.
Clearance Promoter - I dont know what can be made of this. But Id be surprised if this doesnt contribute to something toxic in the next 2 years.
Sing-Along Buddy - Probably the most interesting of the lot. Makes anything that refresh hp incredibly busted. I can see plenty of potential for this card to actually see competitive play.
Well, here's my opinion on the more interesting cards.
Factory Assemblybot - In my opinion, this card will never see play outside of a big deck and even then Id contend this is not good enough. 10 mana cards need to either win you the game, threaten to win you the game, or easily cheated out. This card does none of those things, and ironically cheating this out without playing it from hand means you miss out on the most important thing this card does.
Origami Dragon - Depending on the meta this card can be incredibly busted. It flips the board for you, and heal you back. Only problem is that against reactive decks this card is just useless. So a better Zilliax then I guess.
Plucky Paintfin - Played only for the tutoring effect which for a neutral card might be important. Poisonous is just a bonus, never realistically a feature youd put this card into your deck for.
Cosplay Contestant - If you can remember one of the worse legendaries ever printed, Harbinger Celestia. Yeah, this is that card. Will it see play? No.
Bucket of Soldiers - Not gonna lie, this card is scary. Deceptively innocent but when you consider that you have a high chance of getting taunt, divine shield and reborn 1/1s on board for cracking this egg, and the fact that certain decks punishes you heavily for leaving things on board, this card is an easy win. Only problem is how to crack it consistently. But Id imagine thats not a big issue for those that would play it.
Tar Slime - Will prob never see play because a 2/3 on 1 is no longer special. Just like how Tar Creeper itself has not seen play since ungoro, there's no reason to believe this card will.
Giftwrapped Whelp - Cute little thing. But really, its a Flame Imp. Good in midrange dragon decks and nothing else.
It looks like a bad card.
Team5 is clever. They know very well the average amount of turns games tend to end so they specifically designed this to only really work versus specific kinds of matchup i.e. control decks. Because really, against any other archetype the game would end way before turn 13 anyway.
Still, Im getting some vibes that this card is going to get nerfed, or will cause another card to get nerfed because any form of discounting would immediately turn this from meme to competitive and this card is just toxic if viable.
Its a good card, very nearly guarantees that the damage goes to face and being able to essentially board clear while doing it is just amazing.
The main problem though? Well, the battlecry basically means you'll never want to cheat this guy out and isnt that what really made King Krush good in the first place? Played as a 9 drop, this card is just...well, normal. Maybe not even that great considering that most matches rarely ever get to a point where a board clear and 6 damage to face wins you the game.
Prob would see play, but Id say old krush is more interesting to build around than plush krush.
One of the weirdest buff patches Ive seen in a while.
Isnt most of those cards that are being buffed rotating away from standard in less than a month? Whats the overall plan here?
Alright, its a hero card so it must be busted as hell. Certainly at 6 mana, remove one minion, and then having a hp that deals 3 damage. What more can you ask for?
Well, having a perfectly reasonable card that doesnt have such a bs rune restriction would be nice.
When will team5 finally notice that the rune restrictions is basically making it so every DK deck is more or less 90% decided by them instead of discovered by the community? So if the decks are useless then this perfectly good card would simply never see play. Reminds me of sindragosa, where the card just gets ignored not because the card is bad but because its trapped in a deck that'll never work.
Id love to play this in blood DK, or just as an option in unholy DK. But no. Its either rainbow, a theoretical unholy/blood midrange deck, or go bust. Wouldnt be the last time we've seen yet another card like these get ignored until team5 inevitably buffs the entire archetype.
Its definitely one of those cards that can only be judged after playtesting. But from my own impression, it really looks like something that simply cannot be relied on.
So your opponent has two big minions + several smaller ones. This thing may well just cast polymorph, hit the wrong target and get you screwed. Or it'll cast flamestrike, killing the smaller dudes while leaving two giants on board. And in any case, since it activates at the end of the turn, it'll always be a coin toss as to whether you can trust it to do the right thing, or dealing with the threats yourself.
My own opinion is that it'll see play, because of course it would. Even having random spells is better than nothing but it'll never be as good as it seem. Even if it does, we can pretty much expect vipers to be everywhere anyway.
Is there no more individual card postings in the forum anymore?
But the card itself? Well, its fine. Im almost certain this card will see play, and in fact it wouldnt surprise me if all mage archetypes play it. As for how good it'll be, likely not very good, because we've all been burned by wisdomball before.
Prob at best the card is good enough to clear board, most of the time. But really, if you're relying on this thing to save your arse you'd prob be left disappointed more often than not.
Because brann warrior is not very good.
Sure theres always a chance they trigger brann early but then that's obscuring the fact that most games they dont. And if you face DK then that's usually about it for your chances.
Odyn warrior is by far the superior warrior archetype. And even then its not perfect in any respect. Most of the time youd win just putting up tempo consistently and playing around their removal.