Ancient Krakenbane - Powerful but difficult conditions for a class like hunter. Im not too sure if it'll fit quest hunter's gameplan, but being able to deal 5 damage, plus a possible brann, is simply too good to ignore. Perhaps this heralds the coming of a new face naga hunter?
Shellshot - Better card than Deadly Shot, but unreliable as a board clear. At least it'll do 6 damage to one minion if that's the only thing there. How much are we willing to bet that it'll unintentionally progress the quest for hunter? There must be some bug somewhere in this patch, wouldn't surprise me if this is one of them
K9-0tron - Face hunter card, almost a mini drekthar if it triggers. Would it be good enough? The power is clearly there. Coin into this, put two minions out on turn 1 followed by Doggie Biscuit buff, that's respectable if nothing else.
Its just a bad removal option. How long has it been since we've seen Assassinate being played? And with Shadow Word: Death or Shadow Word: Ruin being superior options, the only niche this card has is that it prevents rez shenanigans.
The only reason Assassinate doesn't see play is because it's a control card in Rogue. Meanwhile, Coerce saw tons of play in Warrior while that was in Standard.
Also, Shadow Word: Death and Shadow Word: Ruin can't kill 4-attack minions. That was kind of a problem when Drek'thar was around. I understand that Drek'thar's not in the meta, but it highlights the issue those cards have. Conditional removal that only works based on something your opponent does isn't always the best.
Drekthar is perhaps the only power outlier that truly causes trouble to priest because they dont really have powerful AoE aside from xyrella. Funny thing is that Drown would not be an answer to drekthar neither because you'll spend your entire turn dealing with 1 out of 3 minions. And if there's already an established board it gets worse.
The point Im trying to make is that if you need removal to deal with threatening minions, SWdeath is usually good enough. Unless we happen to see ysera being commonly played on turn 4, I'd bank on a 2 mana removal option rather than 4 mana card that essentially does the same thing.
A nice option to have out of discovers, but I wouldn't put this in my deck.
If the new addition to the mysterious node is true, then it makes it even less sensible to ever want to go get it. Now that stranger grinding is near non-existent, what further motivation other than masochism to even bother about the node anyway? The reward bonus has got to be really extraordinary, otherwise there's no sense risking a cursed treasure - or even worse still, hot potato.
Book of heroes would be interesting. Wished they released this much earlier when the meta was stale.
I still doubt it. Even in the earlier much maligned druid meta where we see regular big dudes at every turn Shadow Word: Ruin and death were still one card each in priest decks.
Im not saying that the card is useless, but its the sort of thing I much rather be discovering rather than actually having it in the deck. And the reasoning is obvious; for every ramp druid there's always murlocks or naga dhunters creeping about where a 4 mana removal option is simply too slow to do anything. Even 2x SWdeath in a deck is fairly rare nowadays. Most of the time its 1 copy. We have to go back to the days of 4 mana Mountain Giants to justify 2x SWdeath let alone 2x death + 2x drown being thrown into a list.
Its just a bad removal option. How long has it been since we've seen Assassinate being played? And with Shadow Word: Death or Shadow Word: Ruin being superior options, the only niche this card has is that it prevents rez shenanigans.
Even as a silence option, Shard of the Naaru has proven itself time and again to be a core staple to the class, so this card doesn't serve that requirement efficiently.
Unless there happens to be a minion from another class that completely breaks the priest class, I wouldn't be surprised if this card is never included deliberately into any priest deck. Wonderful discover option, lousy topdeck.
Its just a terrible card in my opinion. Consistency issues aside, why would priest even play a 4/4 for 4 that neither removes threats nor blocks attacks?
You'll just as easily screw your opponent or be screwed yourself. Imagine granting a mana reduction because all three choices are over 6 mana. That's like dropping tacks on your own chair.
Choosing what your opponent draws next turn is one thing, but Id much rather just play cards that win me games.
Im really on the fence with this one. On one hand, healing for 6 should never be ignored, and on the other questions whether you even need a 3 mana heal for 6 that comes with conditions attached.
Its nearly never in naga priest because there's simply better nagas available. At best you drop treasure guard for this, and then you'll face the problem of conditions; most holy spells are reactive. And naga priest doesn't even play that many spells to begin with.
At most its a good highlander option, or a card for control priest, but Im underwhelmed. Priest has better options than a spidertank that heals for 6.
In most cases I think it'll reach 0 mana around turn 5-6, which is respectable. But its basically like Devout Pupil, in that its true strength lies in being able to play a 0 mana 5/5 on intervals of clears to swing board.
Too bad it doesn't have divine shield or it'll be absolutely auto include into all pally decks. As it stands right now, its probably mostly useful in both handbuff and control, as either a companion for varian or a board swing after an equality turn.
I would be greatly surprised if this card ceases to see competitive play at any point in the next two years.
The only reason why Im not rating this below 1 is because of Barbaric Sorceress in standard and alura in wild.
Its funny, but I suspect that its more dangerous as a mega dirty rat than actually drawing good minions from your deck. Get a pyro out with this and youre 2 mana away from wiping potentially 7 minions from your opponent's deck. That's just crazy
Equally as crazy as playing this card as a 9 cost spell. Basically if you play this on 9, and you dont have rush or taunt minions in the way, you're just granting your opponent 7 charge minions. And it gets better. If you put up 7 minions from your deck and your opponent board clears it, where do you go from there?
One last niche; Mr. Smite OTK. Yes, it would necessitate smite being in the deck when you play this, but that's not to say it cannot be done. So there's that I suppose.
Its easy to underestimate what this card can potentially do for paladin. Basically maki roll has now three functions with this card, whereas with only two previously I was seriously wondering if 2x copies is the way to go. This clears it up immediately.
So not only do you have a draw engine, you have a card that's impossible to ignore, good vanilla stats on 3, and solves the age old problem of draws for paladin. I can't imagine this not seeing play. It'll take quite a lot to dislodge this from most if not all paladin decks
Its probably the strongest card rogue will be getting this miniset.
It value trades above its cost, presents a threat of 4 damage to face that cannot easily be dealt with, and has stealth - which means your opponent has to actively play around this until its either removed or de-stealthed.
The only problem is where to fit it. In weapon rogue, I suspect, would be the best home. Its negligible in mine rogue, and you'll never mulligan for this in thief rogue. Pirate rogue is the next best guess, but Im doubtful.
Honest to god, this is a bad card. Clever Disguise is basically its superior predecessor and even it didn't push thief rogue up the top, and that was at a time where Bazaar Burglary and Vendetta existed
The one thing this card does that is of any value would be that it guarantees big spells, which may or may not be decisive (imagine getting Rune of the Archmage out of this thing) and then combining it with either tess or Contraband Stash.
But for its lack of consistency, rogue's poor stability options, strong burn options, and the fact that this card practically does nothing, its really very, very low on the priority list. Not even Swiftscale Trickster can elevate this poor card - why'd you play trickster in thief rogue is yet to be established.
Its a core card in deathrattle rogue, but the problem now being is the lack of good deathrattles.
As it stands, the best targets would be something like Burning Blade Acolyte, eggs, or anything with larger deathrattles than the original minion. But as we all know, these are hardly good cards on their own nowadays, so what is this card actually trying to accomplish?
Its not even a good fit in mine rogue, because you dont want to pop your mines without having first played Snowfall Graveyard. So like many cards in that deck (too many in my opinion) you're holding on to cards in hope of drawing specific combos. Never a good thing.
Still, as a core card in a hypothetical deathrattle rogue, it must still be respected. But for now, its just a bad card. You cant even play this on turn 1 because most rogues are currently running Wildpaw Gnoll. Sad.
Herald of Light - Inherent combo with Northshire Cleric, but in my opinion its just not worth it because Gift of the Naaru plays that role better. Perhaps it'll see some play in quest or highlander, but in most other cases you'd just play gift of narru.
Disarming Elemental - Im not entirely sure why'd anyone be playing this card. Seems like a highlander card, because its disruption but in a way that's simply too inconsistent to ever be good enough in constructed play.
Drown - It may be a cheaper Entomb but its also 4 mana to remove a threat, where Shadow Word: Death only costs 2. Probably get it off discover effects more often than actually included into a deck.
Myrmidon - Turns maki roll into draw for 1 mana. A nice inclusion in control pally, and may completely replace cards like Flash of Light. Fortunately for us, librams have rotated.
Front Lines - Very likely to be a bad card. Costs 9, meaning you might possibly have drawn all your heavy units by then, and then after played if your opponent has an answer youre just dead. Can't even play this along with pyro+equality as a sort of mega dirty rat. So chances are good you'll play this card and start praying your opponent has no answer, or their minions can't just kill you outright the next turn.
Lightray - Completely nuts. Its basically Devout Pupil without divine shield in most cases. Fits into nearly every paladin deck that wants it
Edit: I just realised that front lines is an epic card. So the trend of useless miniset epics shall continue
turn 3 Snowfall Graveyard, turn 4 Burning Blade Acolyte. Since the effect is persistent until a deathrattle is played, it'll immediately die and summon two 5/8 taunt for you
Jackpot! - Fodder for Wildpaw Gnoll and nothing else, at the moment anyway. But I suspect it'll never see any play past meme decks regardless. Rogue simply does not have the sustain for long value games.
Inkveil Ambusher - There's certainly a place for it in the new weapon rogue. And it does more or less guarantee a value trade, before being value traded itself. More importantly you can just play it and pressure your opponent into playing inefficiently because of stealth
Shattershambler - Im not entirely certain where this card will lie. At its best, you can get double 5/8 taunt on 4 and at its very worst you play it turn 1 and then proceed to not draw the perfect deathrattle card. Not even sure if mine rogue needs this card. But certainly an interesting option
Edit: Made some wording changes for shattershambler
There is a world where this card isn't completely trash. Since you'll be playing your colossal first you have the inherent advantage, and most warrior decks that play this probably have answers to an opposing colossal minion anyway.
But the problem is consistency. Unfortunately, not all colossal minions are made the same, and you can just as well get a nellie for 5 mana as much as you can get a 6 mana ozumat. And then there's also the fact that your opponent may simply get the better colossal minion too. Imagine giving away a nellie to handbuff pally, or blackwater behemoth.
Traditionally, cards that give opponent stuff have always been shit. And I can see little indication of this trend changing on the back of this card.
Basically if this is in your warrior deck I dont think you'll be winning many games. The ability to deal 5 damage, gain 8 armor is good, but if this is your response on turn 8 you'll be in for a nasty surprise.
It does do well after a vanndar buff, but that's basically the same as with anything.
Its really suffering from competition right now. Onyxian Drake is the better 4 mana taunt, and this card doesn't remove a threat.
But essentially, its not a bad card. Being able to dredge, gain armor and a 3/5 taunt is about as good as it gets. To be honest, the number of times Ive trade Heavy Plate back to my deck, that card might as well just not exist. I'd put this card over that.
I wouldn't be too surprised if control warrior starts shoving this card in. Even if it doesn't gain any armor because of From the Depths, its still dredging one card up, and that has got to count for something.
Ancient Krakenbane - Powerful but difficult conditions for a class like hunter. Im not too sure if it'll fit quest hunter's gameplan, but being able to deal 5 damage, plus a possible brann, is simply too good to ignore. Perhaps this heralds the coming of a new face naga hunter?
Shellshot - Better card than Deadly Shot, but unreliable as a board clear. At least it'll do 6 damage to one minion if that's the only thing there. How much are we willing to bet that it'll unintentionally progress the quest for hunter? There must be some bug somewhere in this patch, wouldn't surprise me if this is one of them
K9-0tron - Face hunter card, almost a mini drekthar if it triggers. Would it be good enough? The power is clearly there. Coin into this, put two minions out on turn 1 followed by Doggie Biscuit buff, that's respectable if nothing else.
Drekthar is perhaps the only power outlier that truly causes trouble to priest because they dont really have powerful AoE aside from xyrella. Funny thing is that Drown would not be an answer to drekthar neither because you'll spend your entire turn dealing with 1 out of 3 minions. And if there's already an established board it gets worse.
The point Im trying to make is that if you need removal to deal with threatening minions, SWdeath is usually good enough. Unless we happen to see ysera being commonly played on turn 4, I'd bank on a 2 mana removal option rather than 4 mana card that essentially does the same thing.
A nice option to have out of discovers, but I wouldn't put this in my deck.
If the new addition to the mysterious node is true, then it makes it even less sensible to ever want to go get it. Now that stranger grinding is near non-existent, what further motivation other than masochism to even bother about the node anyway? The reward bonus has got to be really extraordinary, otherwise there's no sense risking a cursed treasure - or even worse still, hot potato.
Book of heroes would be interesting. Wished they released this much earlier when the meta was stale.
I still doubt it. Even in the earlier much maligned druid meta where we see regular big dudes at every turn Shadow Word: Ruin and death were still one card each in priest decks.
Im not saying that the card is useless, but its the sort of thing I much rather be discovering rather than actually having it in the deck. And the reasoning is obvious; for every ramp druid there's always murlocks or naga dhunters creeping about where a 4 mana removal option is simply too slow to do anything. Even 2x SWdeath in a deck is fairly rare nowadays. Most of the time its 1 copy. We have to go back to the days of 4 mana Mountain Giants to justify 2x SWdeath let alone 2x death + 2x drown being thrown into a list.
Its just a bad removal option. How long has it been since we've seen Assassinate being played? And with Shadow Word: Death or Shadow Word: Ruin being superior options, the only niche this card has is that it prevents rez shenanigans.
Even as a silence option, Shard of the Naaru has proven itself time and again to be a core staple to the class, so this card doesn't serve that requirement efficiently.
Unless there happens to be a minion from another class that completely breaks the priest class, I wouldn't be surprised if this card is never included deliberately into any priest deck. Wonderful discover option, lousy topdeck.
Its just a terrible card in my opinion. Consistency issues aside, why would priest even play a 4/4 for 4 that neither removes threats nor blocks attacks?
You'll just as easily screw your opponent or be screwed yourself. Imagine granting a mana reduction because all three choices are over 6 mana. That's like dropping tacks on your own chair.
Choosing what your opponent draws next turn is one thing, but Id much rather just play cards that win me games.
Im really on the fence with this one. On one hand, healing for 6 should never be ignored, and on the other questions whether you even need a 3 mana heal for 6 that comes with conditions attached.
Its nearly never in naga priest because there's simply better nagas available. At best you drop treasure guard for this, and then you'll face the problem of conditions; most holy spells are reactive. And naga priest doesn't even play that many spells to begin with.
At most its a good highlander option, or a card for control priest, but Im underwhelmed. Priest has better options than a spidertank that heals for 6.
In most cases I think it'll reach 0 mana around turn 5-6, which is respectable. But its basically like Devout Pupil, in that its true strength lies in being able to play a 0 mana 5/5 on intervals of clears to swing board.
Too bad it doesn't have divine shield or it'll be absolutely auto include into all pally decks. As it stands right now, its probably mostly useful in both handbuff and control, as either a companion for varian or a board swing after an equality turn.
I would be greatly surprised if this card ceases to see competitive play at any point in the next two years.
The only reason why Im not rating this below 1 is because of Barbaric Sorceress in standard and alura in wild.
Its funny, but I suspect that its more dangerous as a mega dirty rat than actually drawing good minions from your deck. Get a pyro out with this and youre 2 mana away from wiping potentially 7 minions from your opponent's deck. That's just crazy
Equally as crazy as playing this card as a 9 cost spell. Basically if you play this on 9, and you dont have rush or taunt minions in the way, you're just granting your opponent 7 charge minions. And it gets better. If you put up 7 minions from your deck and your opponent board clears it, where do you go from there?
One last niche; Mr. Smite OTK. Yes, it would necessitate smite being in the deck when you play this, but that's not to say it cannot be done. So there's that I suppose.
Its easy to underestimate what this card can potentially do for paladin. Basically maki roll has now three functions with this card, whereas with only two previously I was seriously wondering if 2x copies is the way to go. This clears it up immediately.
So not only do you have a draw engine, you have a card that's impossible to ignore, good vanilla stats on 3, and solves the age old problem of draws for paladin. I can't imagine this not seeing play. It'll take quite a lot to dislodge this from most if not all paladin decks
Its probably the strongest card rogue will be getting this miniset.
It value trades above its cost, presents a threat of 4 damage to face that cannot easily be dealt with, and has stealth - which means your opponent has to actively play around this until its either removed or de-stealthed.
The only problem is where to fit it. In weapon rogue, I suspect, would be the best home. Its negligible in mine rogue, and you'll never mulligan for this in thief rogue. Pirate rogue is the next best guess, but Im doubtful.
Honest to god, this is a bad card. Clever Disguise is basically its superior predecessor and even it didn't push thief rogue up the top, and that was at a time where Bazaar Burglary and Vendetta existed
The one thing this card does that is of any value would be that it guarantees big spells, which may or may not be decisive (imagine getting Rune of the Archmage out of this thing) and then combining it with either tess or Contraband Stash.
But for its lack of consistency, rogue's poor stability options, strong burn options, and the fact that this card practically does nothing, its really very, very low on the priority list. Not even Swiftscale Trickster can elevate this poor card - why'd you play trickster in thief rogue is yet to be established.
All for memes, zero for wins.
Its a core card in deathrattle rogue, but the problem now being is the lack of good deathrattles.
As it stands, the best targets would be something like Burning Blade Acolyte, eggs, or anything with larger deathrattles than the original minion. But as we all know, these are hardly good cards on their own nowadays, so what is this card actually trying to accomplish?
Its not even a good fit in mine rogue, because you dont want to pop your mines without having first played Snowfall Graveyard. So like many cards in that deck (too many in my opinion) you're holding on to cards in hope of drawing specific combos. Never a good thing.
Still, as a core card in a hypothetical deathrattle rogue, it must still be respected. But for now, its just a bad card. You cant even play this on turn 1 because most rogues are currently running Wildpaw Gnoll. Sad.
Herald of Light - Inherent combo with Northshire Cleric, but in my opinion its just not worth it because Gift of the Naaru plays that role better. Perhaps it'll see some play in quest or highlander, but in most other cases you'd just play gift of narru.
Disarming Elemental - Im not entirely sure why'd anyone be playing this card. Seems like a highlander card, because its disruption but in a way that's simply too inconsistent to ever be good enough in constructed play.
Drown - It may be a cheaper Entomb but its also 4 mana to remove a threat, where Shadow Word: Death only costs 2. Probably get it off discover effects more often than actually included into a deck.
Myrmidon - Turns maki roll into draw for 1 mana. A nice inclusion in control pally, and may completely replace cards like Flash of Light. Fortunately for us, librams have rotated.
Front Lines - Very likely to be a bad card. Costs 9, meaning you might possibly have drawn all your heavy units by then, and then after played if your opponent has an answer youre just dead. Can't even play this along with pyro+equality as a sort of mega dirty rat. So chances are good you'll play this card and start praying your opponent has no answer, or their minions can't just kill you outright the next turn.
Lightray - Completely nuts. Its basically Devout Pupil without divine shield in most cases. Fits into nearly every paladin deck that wants it
Edit: I just realised that front lines is an epic card. So the trend of useless miniset epics shall continue
turn 3 Snowfall Graveyard, turn 4 Burning Blade Acolyte. Since the effect is persistent until a deathrattle is played, it'll immediately die and summon two 5/8 taunt for you
Jackpot! - Fodder for Wildpaw Gnoll and nothing else, at the moment anyway. But I suspect it'll never see any play past meme decks regardless. Rogue simply does not have the sustain for long value games.
Inkveil Ambusher - There's certainly a place for it in the new weapon rogue. And it does more or less guarantee a value trade, before being value traded itself. More importantly you can just play it and pressure your opponent into playing inefficiently because of stealth
Shattershambler - Im not entirely certain where this card will lie. At its best, you can get double 5/8 taunt on 4 and at its very worst you play it turn 1 and then proceed to not draw the perfect deathrattle card. Not even sure if mine rogue needs this card. But certainly an interesting option
Edit: Made some wording changes for shattershambler
There is a world where this card isn't completely trash. Since you'll be playing your colossal first you have the inherent advantage, and most warrior decks that play this probably have answers to an opposing colossal minion anyway.
But the problem is consistency. Unfortunately, not all colossal minions are made the same, and you can just as well get a nellie for 5 mana as much as you can get a 6 mana ozumat. And then there's also the fact that your opponent may simply get the better colossal minion too. Imagine giving away a nellie to handbuff pally, or blackwater behemoth.
Traditionally, cards that give opponent stuff have always been shit. And I can see little indication of this trend changing on the back of this card.
Arena monster, standard minnow.
Basically if this is in your warrior deck I dont think you'll be winning many games. The ability to deal 5 damage, gain 8 armor is good, but if this is your response on turn 8 you'll be in for a nasty surprise.
It does do well after a vanndar buff, but that's basically the same as with anything.
Its really suffering from competition right now. Onyxian Drake is the better 4 mana taunt, and this card doesn't remove a threat.
But essentially, its not a bad card. Being able to dredge, gain armor and a 3/5 taunt is about as good as it gets. To be honest, the number of times Ive trade Heavy Plate back to my deck, that card might as well just not exist. I'd put this card over that.
I wouldn't be too surprised if control warrior starts shoving this card in. Even if it doesn't gain any armor because of From the Depths, its still dredging one card up, and that has got to count for something.