Didn't we just did this one a while ago? Why is it back now, as though of all brawls this one is the pinnacle of joy and diversity that we need to see it more than the apparent mandatory amount of once a year.
A good taunt minion, but more to the point, hearthstone constructive is generally about small spells, so a big spell deck can easily turn the tide with this card. Make a card unplayable while making yours infinitely easier to play.
And besides, wiping that grin off your opponent for playing a bunch of small spells might make playing this card worthwhile if nothing else.
Good card for aggressive decks, and good card for a combo deck that can make it happen.
In fact this card will be more well known for its combo potential rather than as a 4 mana 7/7.
For the stats though, its just good. Your opponent draws 2 cards, but that's an afterthought. Card draw and hand advantage not being too crucial in hearthstone nowadays, but a 7/7 on 4 will always be relevant.
And then we found out that wild pyro + Acolyte of Pain is coming to standard.
So this card is good, but outclassed at the end. Oh well. If you need to draw your whole deck, then why not, but I suspect warrior doesn't really need to do that to win games.
The only reason why this card will see play is that its a pirate.
If you rid the tag, it'll be shunned so hard it would need 14 weeks of counseling.
The one damage isn't really much. Sometimes it saves your face from taking damage, but aggressive rogues wouldn't mind it anyway. A nice bonus, but that won't be why you'll play this card.
In rogue its just not exciting. Basically its doing 8 damage most of the time, with a chance for a 5/5. But at 6 mana its just never going to do more than removing 8 health from board.
This card is just good, doing 12 damage for 3 mana, in a class with access to weapon buffs.
In most aggressive decks, being able to hit face for 12 while having tempo is just an easy win. And coincidentally, pirate decks do just that, aggro out.
At very worse this card can whiff and you'll be stuck with half the damage. But in a dedicated deck, I dont anticipate this happening often.
This card is absolutely insane. Aside from the obvious synergy with Smokescreen, it basically allows you to play any spell for 4 mana, and even less following an earlier Shadowstep
So, right on top of my head, there's Sprint, Azsharan Vessel, Blood in the Water, and obviously Smokescreen. I can only imagine that this card was printed for rogue because they're absolutely certain that they wont be printing many expensive spells for them, and that they really, really wanted us to play smokescreen.
Good thing rogue can't access cards from other classes...oh wait. Damn
Its a wild card. Because in standard there's simply not many mechs to build this around.
A real shame, because I really wanted mech mage to succeed. But it looks increasingly like its going to be a mage deck with mechs in it, rather than as an entire archetype itself.
To be honest, I think this card is good. Borderline to being most valuable.
Hear me out. Combo hunter, with kazakusan-raj. Tutor out your raj, get Kazakusan out, get ancient reflection and raj for the win. You can run another naga, maybe Queen Azshara perhaps.
A long shot, but if it works, then this card has just justified itself enough in my eyes.
When I first saw Houndmaster Shaw I was thinking about the antisynergy with vanndar.
Well, with this card we might not actually need vanndar. Just get a big beast on the cheap and this card already justifies its existence.
Can even run it in face hunter, since its still doing 6 damage, and allows you a psuedo-tracking for the next turn. Just a good weapon that fits many roles in hunter.
I can see some comments about this breaking quest hunter, but I really doubt you'd run more than 1 copy in your deck.
Anything that doesn't progress quest or pressure face doesn't fit into the gameplan, and this card is only properly powerful once quest is completed. Will anyone actually hold this in your hand waiting for the perfect time to play it? At least slate is a 3/4 spidertank that requires an answer.
Outside of quest hunter? Well, it fits more into combo hunter actually. Playing control until you get your rajs, and twinbows. Its also a cheap spell that activates twinbow, so that's something at least.
You deal 6 damage and put up four 3/1s on board, on top of a must kill 5/5. Its basically malicia without the conditions most of the time.
It gets better with Revive Pet and Emergency Maneuvers, ensuring that this hydra will stay on to test your opponent's removal options. Because even if you remove the head, there's still the four 3/1s waiting to devour your face next turn.
Unfortunately the rush is granted via battlecry, but that's to be expected. Just imagine if it were an aura effect.
But it does. Now all it needs to do is to justify its inclusion into a ramp druid deck. Does it mix well with Kazakusan? Well, better luck in future expansions then.
If I haven't seen the 2022 core set, I would've rated this 5 stars because druid really needs the removal, any removal option given that absurd ramp and lightning bloom is gone. And this deals 8 damage.
But with Wrath and Living Roots being in core, and Flipper Friends doing 6 damage, what is this card supposed to do? I suppose if you're playing nagas, then this card is just better in some cases, but I'd much rather be playing Feral Rage for the needed health gain, even better with fandral back as well.
Didn't we just did this one a while ago? Why is it back now, as though of all brawls this one is the pinnacle of joy and diversity that we need to see it more than the apparent mandatory amount of once a year.
Its honestly not that bad.
A good taunt minion, but more to the point, hearthstone constructive is generally about small spells, so a big spell deck can easily turn the tide with this card. Make a card unplayable while making yours infinitely easier to play.
And besides, wiping that grin off your opponent for playing a bunch of small spells might make playing this card worthwhile if nothing else.
Good card for aggressive decks, and good card for a combo deck that can make it happen.
In fact this card will be more well known for its combo potential rather than as a 4 mana 7/7.
For the stats though, its just good. Your opponent draws 2 cards, but that's an afterthought. Card draw and hand advantage not being too crucial in hearthstone nowadays, but a 7/7 on 4 will always be relevant.
First off, why the hell is this not a mech?
A decent pay off for dredge cards. A bit slow, but for something so bulky with lifesteal, divine shield, and taunt it might be more than worth it.
At first this card is completely insane.
And then we found out that wild pyro + Acolyte of Pain is coming to standard.
So this card is good, but outclassed at the end. Oh well. If you need to draw your whole deck, then why not, but I suspect warrior doesn't really need to do that to win games.
Whatever anyone says, this card will see play and will be good in some capacity.
A worse a slower Far Sight, and at best with finley, its just discounting half your hand by 3. What else is there to say.
This card was printed for piranha. Unfortunately, Flametongue Totem is in core. So what is this supposed to do ultimately? Swarm a bunch of 1 drops?
Or are we really entertaining the idea that the fishes will actually survive for more than a turn even after the buff?
The only reason why this card will see play is that its a pirate.
If you rid the tag, it'll be shunned so hard it would need 14 weeks of counseling.
The one damage isn't really much. Sometimes it saves your face from taking damage, but aggressive rogues wouldn't mind it anyway. A nice bonus, but that won't be why you'll play this card.
In rogue its just not exciting. Basically its doing 8 damage most of the time, with a chance for a 5/5. But at 6 mana its just never going to do more than removing 8 health from board.
One mana draw a card basically. Not much else to say except that this card is just good.
Rogue might need a dredge card anyway, because of Azsharan Vessel. And this card provides.
This card is just good, doing 12 damage for 3 mana, in a class with access to weapon buffs.
In most aggressive decks, being able to hit face for 12 while having tempo is just an easy win. And coincidentally, pirate decks do just that, aggro out.
At very worse this card can whiff and you'll be stuck with half the damage. But in a dedicated deck, I dont anticipate this happening often.
This card is absolutely insane. Aside from the obvious synergy with Smokescreen, it basically allows you to play any spell for 4 mana, and even less following an earlier Shadowstep
So, right on top of my head, there's Sprint, Azsharan Vessel, Blood in the Water, and obviously Smokescreen. I can only imagine that this card was printed for rogue because they're absolutely certain that they wont be printing many expensive spells for them, and that they really, really wanted us to play smokescreen.
Good thing rogue can't access cards from other classes...oh wait. Damn
Its a wild card. Because in standard there's simply not many mechs to build this around.
A real shame, because I really wanted mech mage to succeed. But it looks increasingly like its going to be a mage deck with mechs in it, rather than as an entire archetype itself.
To be honest, I think this card is good. Borderline to being most valuable.
Hear me out. Combo hunter, with kazakusan-raj. Tutor out your raj, get Kazakusan out, get ancient reflection and raj for the win. You can run another naga, maybe Queen Azshara perhaps.
A long shot, but if it works, then this card has just justified itself enough in my eyes.
When I first saw Houndmaster Shaw I was thinking about the antisynergy with vanndar.
Well, with this card we might not actually need vanndar. Just get a big beast on the cheap and this card already justifies its existence.
Can even run it in face hunter, since its still doing 6 damage, and allows you a psuedo-tracking for the next turn. Just a good weapon that fits many roles in hunter.
I can see some comments about this breaking quest hunter, but I really doubt you'd run more than 1 copy in your deck.
Anything that doesn't progress quest or pressure face doesn't fit into the gameplan, and this card is only properly powerful once quest is completed. Will anyone actually hold this in your hand waiting for the perfect time to play it? At least slate is a 3/4 spidertank that requires an answer.
Outside of quest hunter? Well, it fits more into combo hunter actually. Playing control until you get your rajs, and twinbows. Its also a cheap spell that activates twinbow, so that's something at least.
You deal 6 damage and put up four 3/1s on board, on top of a must kill 5/5. Its basically malicia without the conditions most of the time.
It gets better with Revive Pet and Emergency Maneuvers, ensuring that this hydra will stay on to test your opponent's removal options. Because even if you remove the head, there's still the four 3/1s waiting to devour your face next turn.
Unfortunately the rush is granted via battlecry, but that's to be expected. Just imagine if it were an aura effect.
If it didn't have rush, it'll be trash.
But it does. Now all it needs to do is to justify its inclusion into a ramp druid deck. Does it mix well with Kazakusan? Well, better luck in future expansions then.
I dont know how, but this card will blow up wild and then in standard at a different time.
I mean, its practically Forest Warden Omu in most cases.
If I haven't seen the 2022 core set, I would've rated this 5 stars because druid really needs the removal, any removal option given that absurd ramp and lightning bloom is gone. And this deals 8 damage.
But with Wrath and Living Roots being in core, and Flipper Friends doing 6 damage, what is this card supposed to do? I suppose if you're playing nagas, then this card is just better in some cases, but I'd much rather be playing Feral Rage for the needed health gain, even better with fandral back as well.