Anonymous Informant on 2, double secret on 3 and a 6/6 to boot. That's just insane. Basically this card is just a free 6/6 in a dedicated deck, why wouldn't anyone play it?
Fortunately secret mage cant draw for shit so chances are good we'll not really see a 6/6 on 3 very often. But if you somehow get Counterspell and Objection! out along with this on 3 then that's just such a massive tempo play we'll forgive its lack of consistency.
Secret mage may get to tier 2 right now, on the back of this card.
Even if it just poofs the minion away (and therefore not triggering deathrattles) its still just a discover option you rather have than being something you'll toss into your deck.
There's no control mage right now that doesn't already play the millions of freeze cards, skellys, and Rune of the Archmage to top it up. This card simply doesn't fit into the deck, not even in XL decks.
That said, its an excellent discover option that can do things, particularly since outside of freezes mage really cant stop giant minions.
Alright, this card is 5 stars straight not merely because of the power level but also because you now need to test for it everytime your opponent plays something as innocent as Ice Barrier.
The level of stupid this card posses is simply absurd. Makes one feel that you need Ram Commander in every deck now just to avoid being ganked by this bs. There's simply too many good minions you prefer on curve, and there's really not many decks playing cheap enough minions to avoid skipping a turn doing nothing.
Also, this card spits in rogue's face. I'd gladly pay 1 extra mana just so Kidnap actually does what this card is going to do, instead of remaining that piss pot it is now.
The chief failing of this card is that its too expensive and conditional on your opponent's board. If they have only 1 minion you're technically gambling for this card to not be an 8 mana do nothing.
Just about the only good thing this card has going for it is that its a big monster that will likely take two value trades, but is this really what shaman needed? Just play Insatiable Devourer, which costs 1 more but can actually win the game for you.
There's just too much rng involved for this card to ever be good enough and ironically stuff like these are specifically designed to not be good, because imagine having to skip a turn because of this horseshit. So why even print cards like these, if its not fun for the opponent to suffer through and hardly going to put anyone on the edge of their seats because of consistency. At least similarly infuriating cards like The Harvester of Envy and Immolate allows you to choose when to play it.
That said, there's stuff you can do with this card to increase your chance of fuckery. Bolner and Brann + Macaw with this card is simply stupid fun. Not likely to win you many games but I guess that's the whole point isn't it?
Framester is a meme card that can legit be a real thing because cards like macaw exist. Played with bolner for that extra fuck you sauce on your opponent's steak. But as to whether it'll be competitive? Likely not. RNG is one thing, but its not even disrupting the enemy on the same turn they draw the thing. And of course, the counter does exist in Steamcleaner, so it may not even be worth it to build around.
Torghast Custodian is shit. 8 mana to sometimes remove targets? No taunt option, no lifesteal? Its Siamat but infinitely worse. And costs 8 for some reason so there's some argument to be made to just run Insatiable Devourer and forget this even existed.
Kidnap - Counters minions but not really. Objection! - Counters minions. Like seriously team5? Shafting rogues as we go along I think. But this and counterspell existing legitimately makes life miserable enough to make Tight-Lipped Witness go from absolute atrocious shit to god tier in one swoop
Life Sentence - Not sure what is being meant by remove. Does it kill? Or does it poof them away so deathrattles dont trigger? Either way, its a discover card because mages dont need stuff like these.
Contract Conjurer is just completely insane. Double secrets by turn 3 is hardly anything special, but to be able to drop a 6/6 down at the same time? Looks like team5 is pushing secret mage hard and it might just work this time. Orion, Mansion Manager is going to shit on everyone's coffee it seems.
Attorney-at-Maw is just a redundant design which is infinitely made worse by the fact that starfish exists. The only way this card would see play is that the granted immunity is a selling point, and it just might, because it allows for a value trade. But currently druid simply doesn't care about that. What they care is to play broken things, and this is about as far away from that as it can be.
Incarceration is just baffling. Practically printing hard removal for a class thats already cancerous enough, and moreover doesn't fit into any part of druid's identity. Fortunately for all of us, this is mostly a redundant card for druid, being a card that neither advances their ramp nor a card that wins them the game so I doubt its an inclusion into any list. Unfortunately for us though, it is now a legit a discover option that will likely make players tear their tiny little moustache off whenever it happens.
Because of course it will. If druid doesn't annoy me in any part of their expansion cards then it doesnt conform to druid's constitutionally set identity.
All Fel Breaks Loose is bad but it has potential because dhunter is a class that draws substantially enough that they can afford a couple of hold on cards. You can play your big demons, cheated out and whatnot, and then rez them back at a later turn. Its only problem is that you're limited to playing big demons and such as you're not playing Prosecutor Mel'tranix, which is already a hard sell in of itself. Big dhunter hasn't work since AoO was released and I doubt this card would be the pushing factor.
Sightless Magistrate is an aggro card. But occasionally it can be very difficult to play especially if it also draws the opponent cards. Its also 4 mana so its messes somewhat with the vomit identity aggro dhunter have nowadays. Might just be a miss, simply because of that Im afraid.
At time of writing, dhunter has the best card so far because Prosecutor Mel'tranix is completely broken and relic dhunter is already a decent tier 2 deck.
Perjury is so good for secret rogue that I genuinely think they have a chance at being tier 2. Imagine a card that practically guarantees Halkias survival and triggers Ghastly Gravedigger without forcing you to play a secret on the same turn. Likely we'll see it in a thief rogue package or just boat rogue all over again.
I have high hopes for Soul Seeker, but it'll likely depend largely on the meta. I still think its comparable to mutanus
Dew Process will likely be the core of a deck, perhaps in aggro druid. That extra draw potential means they might just go midrange or prompt prestor druid to come back.
Probably unplayable unless we're in dire need of taunts. Even if its an 8/8 on 5, its just not good enough in a meta where most decks would start doing all manners of unfair shit.
At least the conditions isn't that rough. Just about the only good thing I can say for this card.
Tutors weapons. That alone makes this card playable. Upgrades when you have it on hand as well? That's already more potential than Lady Ashvane have in the past 3 months.
Hard to evaluate this one because Theotar, the Mad Duke is so good I simply dont see why anyone would even bother with this card. The one good thing about it is that it costs only 1 and thus can be used to pull and kill something in hand fairly easily. But again, why bother? Just steal it with theotar like every good chap playing hearthstone.
Ironic. Had this come out in any set before nathria we'd be blasting our pants off. Instead its just more chocolate sauce on a chocolate cake.
Its dude pally support. More relevant in wild than in standard because in standard this deck isn't good.
But sometimes you'd have 2 dudes on 2 and your opponent cannot be arsed to kill them, letting you execute a satisfying finish with this on 3. But most of the time this is just 3 mana two 2/2 dudes, which isn't bad but hardly going to win you the game.
This card will see play because paladin decks are wholly dependent on cariel or countess to actually do anything remotely useful in winning the game.
But I still think the card is bad. Costing 2 to draw 1 card is fine, but since it'll always draw a card you'll never play the same turn that draw is redundant at best, and a theotar trigger at worst. So its 2 mana do nothing until next turn, and pally being the slowest class in the game. Not a good plan.
It has potential I'll concede. It does allow you to play some sort of prestor pally deck consistently, but god let it not be so, for pally's sake. So cruel to have your hopes and dreams completely destroyed by Steamcleaner
Its not great but still decent for pure pally. Especially considering that it covers a hole which is being a removal option on a stick.
The problem is that even then this card doesn't do enough. Pure pally, and doubtless all manners of paladin decks right now, are slow as hell and this card doesn't help mitigate that because it doesn't actually kill the minion. Imagine using this against implock or naga priest, they'd just rebuff that shit. So what is this card doing except making threats smaller, its not even swinging board on its own.
Still, because its pure pally support it'll see play if pure pally sees play. Not a winner, but a trooper. That's the best I can say for this card.
The only reason why this card isn't that small bonbon on a dunghill is because its a 6/5 for 5 with (mostly anyway) rush. Sometimes, just sometimes it allows you to make value trades with your other beast or outright kill the opponent.
But so many hurdles, beginning with the idea that hunters can actually keep a board of beasts ready when this comes out. Then you need to infuse it or this requires additional support to do anything at all. Then, insidiously, you need a target for this to throw itself into. And finally its a fucking 5 mana card.
Stormwind Piper is a smaller version of this, costs 3 and have 6 health meaning it'll likely survive the turn its played on curve. And that card saw no play. This card being a beast helps, but not enough in my books.
I can see lots of trembling and gnashing of teeth with this card. But this card is hardly a 5 star winner.
XL decks would simply shrug it off, and non XL decks can play around it. There's only a few decks that can't play around this like relic dhunter, rogue, mage but hunter already has a good win rate versus these guys. Now, the decks where this card would be very much helpful like quest priest rarely ever plays more than 2 cards. So its 6 theoretical damage that wins you games you should be winning already.
The one reason why I still highly rate this card is because the improved version is completely insane, and tavish being a card all hunters play means this card is always going to be a threat that will severely limit your opponent's options. And even without that improved secret, this thing still does 6 damage and cannot (so far) be countered.
All hunters need now is a way to cheat out secrets and we're gold.
Its certainly very strong, just imagine this card with something like Burning Blade Acolyte, which incidentally comes on curve.
Of course, the main problem is hunter right now simply doesn't play that many deathrattles worth mentioning. The aforementioned BBA isn't even played at all so the best you have is Azsharan Saber, which is a one off in the deck. Of course, Im not discounting hunters changing their deck to accommodate a winning card, just that there's not many deathrattle cards or support to go with it.
A card to watch for the future, because Im not certain it'll make it in this expansion.
For warriors, its not uncommon to have have an answer to big threats and besides, if youre playing this card without one then technically that's called a misplay. I call it equal to dirty rat for its effect, obviously not because its literally a 2/6 taunt that summons a minion from the opponent's hand.
Anonymous Informant on 2, double secret on 3 and a 6/6 to boot. That's just insane. Basically this card is just a free 6/6 in a dedicated deck, why wouldn't anyone play it?
Fortunately secret mage cant draw for shit so chances are good we'll not really see a 6/6 on 3 very often. But if you somehow get Counterspell and Objection! out along with this on 3 then that's just such a massive tempo play we'll forgive its lack of consistency.
Secret mage may get to tier 2 right now, on the back of this card.
Even if it just poofs the minion away (and therefore not triggering deathrattles) its still just a discover option you rather have than being something you'll toss into your deck.
There's no control mage right now that doesn't already play the millions of freeze cards, skellys, and Rune of the Archmage to top it up. This card simply doesn't fit into the deck, not even in XL decks.
That said, its an excellent discover option that can do things, particularly since outside of freezes mage really cant stop giant minions.
Alright, this card is 5 stars straight not merely because of the power level but also because you now need to test for it everytime your opponent plays something as innocent as Ice Barrier.
The level of stupid this card posses is simply absurd. Makes one feel that you need Ram Commander in every deck now just to avoid being ganked by this bs. There's simply too many good minions you prefer on curve, and there's really not many decks playing cheap enough minions to avoid skipping a turn doing nothing.
Also, this card spits in rogue's face. I'd gladly pay 1 extra mana just so Kidnap actually does what this card is going to do, instead of remaining that piss pot it is now.
Siamat is better, Al'Akir the Windlord is better, Walking Fountain is better, the list goes on and on.
The chief failing of this card is that its too expensive and conditional on your opponent's board. If they have only 1 minion you're technically gambling for this card to not be an 8 mana do nothing.
Just about the only good thing this card has going for it is that its a big monster that will likely take two value trades, but is this really what shaman needed? Just play Insatiable Devourer, which costs 1 more but can actually win the game for you.
There's just too much rng involved for this card to ever be good enough and ironically stuff like these are specifically designed to not be good, because imagine having to skip a turn because of this horseshit. So why even print cards like these, if its not fun for the opponent to suffer through and hardly going to put anyone on the edge of their seats because of consistency. At least similarly infuriating cards like The Harvester of Envy and Immolate allows you to choose when to play it.
That said, there's stuff you can do with this card to increase your chance of fuckery. Bolner and Brann + Macaw with this card is simply stupid fun. Not likely to win you many games but I guess that's the whole point isn't it?
Framester is a meme card that can legit be a real thing because cards like macaw exist. Played with bolner for that extra fuck you sauce on your opponent's steak. But as to whether it'll be competitive? Likely not. RNG is one thing, but its not even disrupting the enemy on the same turn they draw the thing. And of course, the counter does exist in Steamcleaner, so it may not even be worth it to build around.
Torghast Custodian is shit. 8 mana to sometimes remove targets? No taunt option, no lifesteal? Its Siamat but infinitely worse. And costs 8 for some reason so there's some argument to be made to just run Insatiable Devourer and forget this even existed.
Kidnap - Counters minions but not really. Objection! - Counters minions. Like seriously team5? Shafting rogues as we go along I think. But this and counterspell existing legitimately makes life miserable enough to make Tight-Lipped Witness go from absolute atrocious shit to god tier in one swoop
Life Sentence - Not sure what is being meant by remove. Does it kill? Or does it poof them away so deathrattles dont trigger? Either way, its a discover card because mages dont need stuff like these.
Contract Conjurer is just completely insane. Double secrets by turn 3 is hardly anything special, but to be able to drop a 6/6 down at the same time? Looks like team5 is pushing secret mage hard and it might just work this time. Orion, Mansion Manager is going to shit on everyone's coffee it seems.
Attorney-at-Maw is just a redundant design which is infinitely made worse by the fact that starfish exists. The only way this card would see play is that the granted immunity is a selling point, and it just might, because it allows for a value trade. But currently druid simply doesn't care about that. What they care is to play broken things, and this is about as far away from that as it can be.
Incarceration is just baffling. Practically printing hard removal for a class thats already cancerous enough, and moreover doesn't fit into any part of druid's identity. Fortunately for all of us, this is mostly a redundant card for druid, being a card that neither advances their ramp nor a card that wins them the game so I doubt its an inclusion into any list. Unfortunately for us though, it is now a legit a discover option that will likely make players tear their tiny little moustache off whenever it happens.
Because of course it will. If druid doesn't annoy me in any part of their expansion cards then it doesnt conform to druid's constitutionally set identity.
All Fel Breaks Loose is bad but it has potential because dhunter is a class that draws substantially enough that they can afford a couple of hold on cards. You can play your big demons, cheated out and whatnot, and then rez them back at a later turn. Its only problem is that you're limited to playing big demons and such as you're not playing Prosecutor Mel'tranix, which is already a hard sell in of itself. Big dhunter hasn't work since AoO was released and I doubt this card would be the pushing factor.
Sightless Magistrate is an aggro card. But occasionally it can be very difficult to play especially if it also draws the opponent cards. Its also 4 mana so its messes somewhat with the vomit identity aggro dhunter have nowadays. Might just be a miss, simply because of that Im afraid.
At time of writing, dhunter has the best card so far because Prosecutor Mel'tranix is completely broken and relic dhunter is already a decent tier 2 deck.
Perjury is so good for secret rogue that I genuinely think they have a chance at being tier 2. Imagine a card that practically guarantees Halkias survival and triggers Ghastly Gravedigger without forcing you to play a secret on the same turn. Likely we'll see it in a thief rogue package or just boat rogue all over again.
Sylvanas, the Accused is going to be the most played card of the miniset.
I have high hopes for Soul Seeker, but it'll likely depend largely on the meta. I still think its comparable to mutanus
Dew Process will likely be the core of a deck, perhaps in aggro druid. That extra draw potential means they might just go midrange or prompt prestor druid to come back.
Probably unplayable unless we're in dire need of taunts. Even if its an 8/8 on 5, its just not good enough in a meta where most decks would start doing all manners of unfair shit.
At least the conditions isn't that rough. Just about the only good thing I can say for this card.
Tutors weapons. That alone makes this card playable. Upgrades when you have it on hand as well? That's already more potential than Lady Ashvane have in the past 3 months.
Solid and good. Something warrior would welcome.
Hard to evaluate this one because Theotar, the Mad Duke is so good I simply dont see why anyone would even bother with this card. The one good thing about it is that it costs only 1 and thus can be used to pull and kill something in hand fairly easily. But again, why bother? Just steal it with theotar like every good chap playing hearthstone.
Ironic. Had this come out in any set before nathria we'd be blasting our pants off. Instead its just more chocolate sauce on a chocolate cake.
Its dude pally support. More relevant in wild than in standard because in standard this deck isn't good.
But sometimes you'd have 2 dudes on 2 and your opponent cannot be arsed to kill them, letting you execute a satisfying finish with this on 3. But most of the time this is just 3 mana two 2/2 dudes, which isn't bad but hardly going to win you the game.
This card will see play because paladin decks are wholly dependent on cariel or countess to actually do anything remotely useful in winning the game.
But I still think the card is bad. Costing 2 to draw 1 card is fine, but since it'll always draw a card you'll never play the same turn that draw is redundant at best, and a theotar trigger at worst. So its 2 mana do nothing until next turn, and pally being the slowest class in the game. Not a good plan.
It has potential I'll concede. It does allow you to play some sort of prestor pally deck consistently, but god let it not be so, for pally's sake. So cruel to have your hopes and dreams completely destroyed by Steamcleaner
Its not great but still decent for pure pally. Especially considering that it covers a hole which is being a removal option on a stick.
The problem is that even then this card doesn't do enough. Pure pally, and doubtless all manners of paladin decks right now, are slow as hell and this card doesn't help mitigate that because it doesn't actually kill the minion. Imagine using this against implock or naga priest, they'd just rebuff that shit. So what is this card doing except making threats smaller, its not even swinging board on its own.
Still, because its pure pally support it'll see play if pure pally sees play. Not a winner, but a trooper. That's the best I can say for this card.
The only reason why this card isn't that small bonbon on a dunghill is because its a 6/5 for 5 with (mostly anyway) rush. Sometimes, just sometimes it allows you to make value trades with your other beast or outright kill the opponent.
But so many hurdles, beginning with the idea that hunters can actually keep a board of beasts ready when this comes out. Then you need to infuse it or this requires additional support to do anything at all. Then, insidiously, you need a target for this to throw itself into. And finally its a fucking 5 mana card.
Stormwind Piper is a smaller version of this, costs 3 and have 6 health meaning it'll likely survive the turn its played on curve. And that card saw no play. This card being a beast helps, but not enough in my books.
I can see lots of trembling and gnashing of teeth with this card. But this card is hardly a 5 star winner.
XL decks would simply shrug it off, and non XL decks can play around it. There's only a few decks that can't play around this like relic dhunter, rogue, mage but hunter already has a good win rate versus these guys. Now, the decks where this card would be very much helpful like quest priest rarely ever plays more than 2 cards. So its 6 theoretical damage that wins you games you should be winning already.
The one reason why I still highly rate this card is because the improved version is completely insane, and tavish being a card all hunters play means this card is always going to be a threat that will severely limit your opponent's options. And even without that improved secret, this thing still does 6 damage and cannot (so far) be countered.
All hunters need now is a way to cheat out secrets and we're gold.
Its certainly very strong, just imagine this card with something like Burning Blade Acolyte, which incidentally comes on curve.
Of course, the main problem is hunter right now simply doesn't play that many deathrattles worth mentioning. The aforementioned BBA isn't even played at all so the best you have is Azsharan Saber, which is a one off in the deck. Of course, Im not discounting hunters changing their deck to accommodate a winning card, just that there's not many deathrattle cards or support to go with it.
A card to watch for the future, because Im not certain it'll make it in this expansion.
For warriors, its not uncommon to have have an answer to big threats and besides, if youre playing this card without one then technically that's called a misplay. I call it equal to dirty rat for its effect, obviously not because its literally a 2/6 taunt that summons a minion from the opponent's hand.