I appreciate Starving Buzzard very much. I've always wanted to change that card to be somewhat useful again. Never did I think of the "if a friendly beast died" trigger. That's very unique and is flavorful.
I think Princess Huhuran isn't good enough. The card gets overshadowed by other effects. Honestly she is another card I wish they'd change. Even a simple "Deathrattle triggers TWICE" would at least give it a unique effect.
I like [Hearthstone Card (Wondering Monster) Not Found] but I don't think I'd want to see it in classic.
Monsterous Mark is a very cool concept. Hunter has those hit minion and face cards which make since. This is a psuedo Trample (mtg) kinda. I like it.
Storm Arrows, I just don't see what it sets up. Cool idea and all but 10 mana destroy and King Krush is out. Dunno how I feel about that. Also that with Vol'jin would be annoying.
Bestial Wrath, I don't disagree with this card going but Immune is underrated. Just saying.
Overall I liked it. Those are my highlights. Also I think considering newest set cards is dangerous. I get the effects are great or they'd fit a roll. They also have the least time to be used and explored by the community. I'd think blizzard would more likely just make newer cards but I understand swapping in cards for the same role is easier.
Princess Huhuran is not that strong of a card for sure, but while my set changes are to improve the overall power level, I still need to keep it lower to still excite people when new and stronger cards come to the game. It's sad, but thirst for money to pay the employees and develop the company is as important as giving everyone a chance to get better cards. I thought of making her a 4-Cost, but then Mok'Nathal Lion.
About Storm Arrows, I think this is the best control tool that I could probably give. Initially, it made your Hero Power target minions and destroy them instantly, refreshing on targeting minions and costing (0) when doing so. But after thinking of possible applications, this was just a way too fancy way to describe "Destroy all enemy minions" for the most part. And also it has some nice applications within Hunter, being one of the control tools to give you a free gateway to deal damage to face if you have any board. I also think it's synergy with Zul'jin is probably on an appropiate power level in Wild, seeing that nowadays you can OTK on turn 3 as Druid.
Storm arrows shouldn't exist in hunter, they aren't supposed to play control style deck.
Well, read the Strenght and Weakness section once more. It was in my intention to give Hunter a good control tool, as we all know how long Blizzard tried so hard to make it work, and easing the task would help a lot.
Also changed Monstrous Mark to be cheaper, but to be used on only enemy minions and to prevent shenanigans with Trueaim Crescent.
Greetings there! I'm here to present you my version of how I would change Mage's Core Sets. I'm jumping the bandwagon a bit with the changes after seeing some other people trying their reworks and generally accepting classes may need some updates.
This time, I've put crossfire onto Hunter. While it's very hard to actually do them, please don't think I'm going to make changes for literally every class, altough if I get bored, I might do in near future. Also chose Hunter this time, because it's time to finally change Starving Buzzard to not be the overnerfed relic of the past, and time to give Hunter a bit proper control tools to make this dream come true.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Show Spoiler
Strengths
Secrets - Hunters can place traps to surprise unprepared opponents.
Beasts - Hunters have tamed tons of exotic species to command.
Aggresion - Face is the place.
Removal - Hunters are ready for you, they will deal with you either by themselves or their minions.
Deathrattle - Death bodies release a baiting scent.
Limitations
Card Draw - Hunters can reload their weapons.
Buffs - Hunter can feed their pets to invigorate them.
Weaknesses
Survivability - Hunters can control the board, but lack tools to regain lost Health.
Card Generation - On the hunt, it's pretty hard to find refreshments. You need to be focused at all times.
New Sets
Show Spoiler
Basic Set
(token)
Classic Set
Explanations
Show Spoiler
Predatory Hunter - basically deals 2 damage, but summons a Beast. Useful for summon synergies like Unseal the Vault.
Starving Buzzard - finally able to fly without being handcapped by the abysmal effect and stats.
Some cards that were considered, but didn't make the cut
Show Spoiler
Wolpertinger - this was originally meant to be added to the Basic Set, but adding freshly released cards is probably unintuitive.
The Beast Within - probably even worse than [Hearthstone Card (Bestail Wrath) Not Found], so a big no no.
Springpaw - similar to Tinger, but probably even stronger.
Venomstrike Trap - debating whether this or Wandering Monster should make the cut. I went with the latter as a more famillar replacement to HoF'd Misdirection, but I can definitely see a world in which this card is worth including.
Steamwheedle Sniper - close contender to give Hunter an early control tool, but I already created a huge control tool for the class.
Flanking Strike - very solid, but probably too solid to ever exist in the evergreen set as a powerful tempo tool.
Overwhelm - suits the theme of having a lot of Beasts impressively, but it has the same problem of being new to the game and probably being too strong to be evergreen.
Terrorscale Stalker - I wanted to include some sort of Deathrattle synergy. This one was close to include, but I'd say Princess Huhuran is safer than this and Feign Death that I also thought I'll include.
Greetings there! I'm here to present you my version of how I would change Mage's Core Sets. I'm jumping the bandwagon a bit with the changes after seeing some other people trying their reworks and generally accepting classes may need some updates.
After a long time, I've put crossfire onto Mage. While it's very hard to actually do them, please don't think I'm going to make changes for literally every class, altough if I get bored, I might do in near future. Also chose Mage this time, because while their core sets are cohesive and fulfill the fantasy, over time, some of the cards have become either problematic or obsolete. I'm also adding some new class identity to the class - mainly Dragons and RNG.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Show Spoiler
Strengths
Spells - Mages can cast a wide array of spells.
Stalling - Mages will ensure you aren't going anywhere while they're untouched.
Dragons - These creatures contain magic that Mages gladly use.
Card Draw and Generation - Insight flows like magic and grants Mages power to cast spells quickly.
RNG - Casinos are open to you.
Limitations
Buffs - Mages can conjure their allies.
Cost Reduction - Mages can cast spells faster, but not that often.
Weaknesses
Survivability - Mages are usually fragile when you overcome their magic.
Minions - Mages do not have large minions by themselves.
Frost Nova - changed to reduce the survivability for Mage, but the new one has more payoff for the commitment of freezing your opponent's board in form of card draw.
Kabal Lackey - added as part of my revisory to my Core Set, where I increase the Classic Set to 16 cards and add necessary changes. Lackey replaced Kirin Tor Mage, because while that card was better for agressive Secret decks and provided a safer discount for them, agression isn't something this class has, so it made more sense to add a slightly weaker unit that can allow for more interesting Secret play. Also, he helps Aegwynn becoming better.
Sorcerer's Apprentice - the highlight of the changes. Replacing it with an entirely new card would still cause too much problems for Wild, so I instead opted to change her into a 1-drop to relive the days of Tempo Mage again and keep it in check. She has created some of the most uninteractive stuff over the years, and while she can still reduce the cost of spells, it's no longer applied on all spells after the first one.
Snap Freeze - it's a better card than Shatter, and that card was a close candidate to be included in the Core Sets. It's for you, Ben Brode. And for some Freeze synergy users.
Scorching Wave- added as part of my revisory to my Core Set, where I increase the Classic Set to 16 cards and add necessary changes. A new control tool. It does some nice damage to a minion, but the real value is in the upgraded damage on your Hero Power. With future expansions, this card can give those Hero Power-related cards some more oomph.
Arcane Breath - added as part of my revisory to my Core Set, where I increase the Classic Set to 16 cards and add necessary changes. This addition further strengthens future Dragon-based Mage decks.
Mana Bind -another hightlight of this set. Counterspell has been toxic throughout it's existence, creting so many unfun moments. This one will serve similar purpose without pointing a middle finger.
Frosty Fausting - a nice stalling tool for any deck that aims to draw a lot of cards. Gadgetzan Auctioneer just got a cold friend to be supported alongside. Note that it won't Freeze enemies that are already frozen.
Apexis Smuggler - a better Secret synergy card, giving you a lot of card generation.
Magna Aegwynn - the pinnacle of card generation. You can reuse a lot of your spells, and with some cost reduction, you can get even more. Also has fun synergy with Snap Freeze.
Hall of Fame
Show Spoiler
Some cards that were considered, but didn't make the cut
Show Spoiler
Ice Block - don't worry, I wanted to add it changed to add a burst heal instead of giving you Immune. But even that had some problems itself, so I did not lean towards rereturning a hall of fame'd card.
Starscryer - a decent addition, but tutoring is dangerous to have in an evergreen set.
Volcanic Potion - good AoE, but it did not fit thematically.
Violet Spellwing - was meant to be the 1-drop for Tempo Mage, but it wasn't particularly interesting, and having an evergreen Deathrattle for mage can be misleading.
Pyromaniac - not a bad card to be evergreen, but I lacked room for this. Hero Power cards were going to be in the set, but I had no idea how to fit them in.
Daring Fire-Eater - this one was close to make the cut, but obviously I tried to keep [Hearthstone Card (Sorcerer Apprentice) Not Found] to save both modes and not only Standard.
This will see play in every control priest decks, even ress priest. Ress priest will most likely not even play this minion, they just have it so they can counter their only weakness, OTK. Also in wild: Mindrender Illucia + Brann Bronzebeard is pretty much a better King Togwaggle. I guess even King Togwaggle got powercreeped, and togwaggle druid was a strong deck before this, so i don't see why this style of priest deck wont be powerfull. Just play brann + this and have a deck of bad cards like Wisp.
It's definitely an alternative to standard King Togwaggle Priest, but there are heavy differences. While this new combo has less counterplay, it uses cards that Cost (3) or less, and Togg Priest prefers to run Hemet, Jungle Hunter to thin out the deck faster. This means Mindrender Illucia + Brann Bronzebeard is slower, and every turn, the value of swapping decks starts to dimmish.
But I like this card overall. Obviously not fun on the other side of the spectrum, but this gives you a ton of possibilities to truly shape the game in your hands.
This concept has been in custom HS community for YEARS, and Blizzard has finally done it. This is slightly different to the copied card, but serves a similar purpose of being a Hero Power-related 1-drop. And that is a huge change in the conversation.
Shudderwock can now play this to use Heart of Vir'naal AND Shudderwock on the same turn. As a big fan of that legendary, this is my must craft once I get the Quest.
Umm... a decent card. Solid body to defend you, summons a good minion on average. Not a bad card, but my concern is where this can be slotted into. Highlander Hunter? Maybe? Deathrattle Hunter is something interesting, but in Standard, it's probably going to be hard for that deck to relive the 2018 days. It's certainly closer due to Shan'do Wildclaw and Mok'Nathal Lion, but there's no Carnivorous Cube and as big of a payoff. And there's obviously no Deathstalker Rexxar, althought this card is definitely a nice addition to DK, as Taunts are valuable.
Yup, Blizzard is desperately trying to make Jungle Giants work. This card is BONKERS in that deck. Not only does it curve well, but it's great after Barnabus the Stomper due to drawing cards. And also some nice synergy with both [Hearthstone Card (Menagerie Wanderer) Not Found] and Shan'do Wildclaw.
The only problem is that Druid in Wild is mostly focused on oh so infamous Jade Idol or reaching absurd amounts of Armor. I don't think Quest Druid will overtake both archetypes, but it certainly adds fuel.
In Standard, it's gonna be hard to slot this into any current Druid deck, but it's tempting due to card draw. This could be alright in Spell Druid to give you fuel, but the problem is that you'd rather play Glowfly Swarm on turn 5 instead of this, and it's a minion possible to discard through Fungal Fortunes, though that hasn't been much of a problem. And I don't know how this new Guardian Animals Druid will fare, because I don't know, I hate that I don't know, and I hate that human factor of not knowing.
Jokes aside, this is probably gonna end up more in Warrior decks, because they have an easier time benefitting from the Health reduction even without triggering the Deathrattle. Just Whirlwind or Bladestorm are enough to give you a massive board wipe and leave a 3/1. Paladin in Standard will have a tougher time doing similar things, although they still have Consecration.
In Standard, Warrior will still most likely lean towards Tempo, and even then I can see this being played there alongside Risky Skipper. This shows how much Warrior can make of the Battlecry. Still dunno what Tempo Warrior could remove to add in Barov, but he looks promising there to reset the board state. Or in general.
This lloks fun in Quest Warlock. Not only can you copy Plot Twist, you can also copy some of your removal/healing. And if your opponent plays some decent spells, you can take them and stall out for longer. These spells will also delay fatigue, letting you use your upgraded Hero Power more often and having Plot Twist screw you less often by having reduced chance of drawing your combo piece.
Obviously vulnerable to disruption effects and Soul Mirror, but it puts some mental pressure on the opponent to play carefully, or your opponent's Elekk will get fed.
Also imagine this in non-pure Libram Paladin. Getting even more Librams will feel nutty. Well, every class can theoretically use this card and get a lot of value, but it's probably niche enough that it won't become the next Zilliax. I dare to dream, though.
Blizzard is desperately trying to give Jungle Giants some support. This just screams to me that this card wants to be in that deck, because it will pull you out some pretty cheap, 5-Attack Beasts to progress your Quest fast, and then to summon larger ones post-Barnabus the Stomper. In Standard, though? It's gonna be painful to make this work. Maybe with Survival of the Fittest?
Wild can make better use of this. Standard will leave this in dust.
Oof. I think Blizz is walking on thin ice with this one. I think there's a good reason why the game hasn't seen a 1-mana minion with Spell Damage just yet, because it allows for combo shenanigans. This may reinvigorate old Freeze Mage in Wild, as these two replace the 4 mana 2/2, but due to their dominance with other variants, I doubt they would think of that.
This can definitely help Tempo Mage thanks to great early stats and Spell Damage to clear more stuff, but I doubt Tempo Mage will recover ever again after the nerf to Mana Wyrm. Highlander will have a hard time fitting in this fella. Cyclone Mage may be it's better home.
Intruiging. Even in the worst case secnario, this can give you one card, but I don't think this is a must include in midrange and control decks, as some may think. The body is nice, but the cost itself heavily reduces the potential stuff you can do, or just get more useful cards. You can obivously get junk - cheap, but the real challenge is incorporating the given stuff on the fly. On average, you'll get decent stuff.
On the other hand, this is a big fu to Plot Twist and Glide. You have this guy, and the opponent risks giving you value. Heck, this can easily cancel out a lot of Warlock stuff, including their Hero Power.
I don't exactly know which decks would run him yet. My mind thinks of trying to cheat him out, so stuff like Druid and Big Paladin. If I think more about it, this may not be as bad in Spell Druid, especially after the next rotation. The class can easily cheat out Alabaster as early as turn 5, and they also give him more protection through Ironbark and Bogbeam. The reward is great value, and if any of the cards received are spells, that can easily fuel Glowfly Swarm.
As I said under the DH Legendary card, hand advantage is not as impactful in Hearthstone, but this one can be continuous, so it can give you more information. Still not as big of an advantage, but you can definitely use some of the stuff stolen.
But gl surviving until that, which you probably should, but always be careful.
This is so good for Big Paladin, and while that archetype is not doing hot, this card definitely helps that archetype. Duel! is especially nutty, completely nullifying the opponent's minion AND being able to attack the second target. Even with Nozdormu the Timeless, this can be played much earlier, having more impact.
Outside of that though, it does seem a bit weaker, but still decent as a way to deal with one minion. Still, you'd want that guy in Big Pally.
Princess Huhuran is not that strong of a card for sure, but while my set changes are to improve the overall power level, I still need to keep it lower to still excite people when new and stronger cards come to the game. It's sad, but thirst for money to pay the employees and develop the company is as important as giving everyone a chance to get better cards. I thought of making her a 4-Cost, but then Mok'Nathal Lion.
About Storm Arrows, I think this is the best control tool that I could probably give. Initially, it made your Hero Power target minions and destroy them instantly, refreshing on targeting minions and costing (0) when doing so. But after thinking of possible applications, this was just a way too fancy way to describe "Destroy all enemy minions" for the most part. And also it has some nice applications within Hunter, being one of the control tools to give you a free gateway to deal damage to face if you have any board. I also think it's synergy with Zul'jin is probably on an appropiate power level in Wild, seeing that nowadays you can OTK on turn 3 as Druid.
Well, read the Strenght and Weakness section once more. It was in my intention to give Hunter a good control tool, as we all know how long Blizzard tried so hard to make it work, and easing the task would help a lot.
Also changed Monstrous Mark to be cheaper, but to be used on only enemy minions and to prevent shenanigans with Trueaim Crescent.
I've been playing LoL since 2015. I know she is wacko. But her base art in LoR pales in comparison to her League splash art.
Nah. She looks better in League than in the afromentioned art. I do not mind her level up art, but the base disgusts me.
Eew... the base form art looks awful. Looks like an ugly character.
Greetings there! I'm here to present you my version of how I would change Mage's Core Sets. I'm jumping the bandwagon a bit with the changes after seeing some other people trying their reworks and generally accepting classes may need some updates.
This time, I've put crossfire onto Hunter. While it's very hard to actually do them, please don't think I'm going to make changes for literally every class, altough if I get bored, I might do in near future. Also chose Hunter this time, because it's time to finally change Starving Buzzard to not be the overnerfed relic of the past, and time to give Hunter a bit proper control tools to make this dream come true.
Strengths and Weaknesses
New Sets
Basic Set
Classic Set
Explanations
Predatory Hunter - basically deals 2 damage, but summons a Beast. Useful for summon synergies like Unseal the Vault.
Starving Buzzard - finally able to fly without being handcapped by the abysmal effect and stats.
Wandering Monster - a bit better at saving your face.
Monstrous Mark - gives Hunter a way to pierce through defenses and damage the enemy hero.
Rat Pack - adds a decent minion to buff up and summon large units.
Storm Arrows - the ultimate board clear.
Princess Huhuran - lets you trigger Deathrattle synergies.
Hall of Fame
Some cards that were considered, but didn't make the cut
Wolpertinger - this was originally meant to be added to the Basic Set, but adding freshly released cards is probably unintuitive.
The Beast Within - probably even worse than [Hearthstone Card (Bestail Wrath) Not Found], so a big no no.
Springpaw - similar to Tinger, but probably even stronger.
Venomstrike Trap - debating whether this or Wandering Monster should make the cut. I went with the latter as a more famillar replacement to HoF'd Misdirection, but I can definitely see a world in which this card is worth including.
Steamwheedle Sniper - close contender to give Hunter an early control tool, but I already created a huge control tool for the class.
Flanking Strike - very solid, but probably too solid to ever exist in the evergreen set as a powerful tempo tool.
Overwhelm - suits the theme of having a lot of Beasts impressively, but it has the same problem of being new to the game and probably being too strong to be evergreen.
Terrorscale Stalker - I wanted to include some sort of Deathrattle synergy. This one was close to include, but I'd say Princess Huhuran is safer than this and Feign Death that I also thought I'll include.
Among many, many, MANY other cards…
Greetings there! I'm here to present you my version of how I would change Mage's Core Sets. I'm jumping the bandwagon a bit with the changes after seeing some other people trying their reworks and generally accepting classes may need some updates.
After a long time, I've put crossfire onto Mage. While it's very hard to actually do them, please don't think I'm going to make changes for literally every class, altough if I get bored, I might do in near future. Also chose Mage this time, because while their core sets are cohesive and fulfill the fantasy, over time, some of the cards have become either problematic or obsolete. I'm also adding some new class identity to the class - mainly Dragons and RNG.
Strengths and Weaknesses
New Sets
Basic Set
Classic Set
Explanations
Shooting Star - a bit more consistent to have in the arsenal over Arcane Explosion.
Frost Nova - changed to reduce the survivability for Mage, but the new one has more payoff for the commitment of freezing your opponent's board in form of card draw.
Kabal Lackey - added as part of my revisory to my Core Set, where I increase the Classic Set to 16 cards and add necessary changes. Lackey replaced Kirin Tor Mage, because while that card was better for agressive Secret decks and provided a safer discount for them, agression isn't something this class has, so it made more sense to add a slightly weaker unit that can allow for more interesting Secret play. Also, he helps Aegwynn becoming better.
Sorcerer's Apprentice - the highlight of the changes. Replacing it with an entirely new card would still cause too much problems for Wild, so I instead opted to change her into a 1-drop to relive the days of Tempo Mage again and keep it in check. She has created some of the most uninteractive stuff over the years, and while she can still reduce the cost of spells, it's no longer applied on all spells after the first one.
Snap Freeze - it's a better card than Shatter, and that card was a close candidate to be included in the Core Sets. It's for you, Ben Brode. And for some Freeze synergy users.
Scorching Wave - added as part of my revisory to my Core Set, where I increase the Classic Set to 16 cards and add necessary changes. A new control tool. It does some nice damage to a minion, but the real value is in the upgraded damage on your Hero Power. With future expansions, this card can give those Hero Power-related cards some more oomph.
Arcane Breath - added as part of my revisory to my Core Set, where I increase the Classic Set to 16 cards and add necessary changes. This addition further strengthens future Dragon-based Mage decks.
Mana Bind -another hightlight of this set. Counterspell has been toxic throughout it's existence, creting so many unfun moments. This one will serve similar purpose without pointing a middle finger.
Frosty Fausting - a nice stalling tool for any deck that aims to draw a lot of cards. Gadgetzan Auctioneer just got a cold friend to be supported alongside. Note that it won't Freeze enemies that are already frozen.
Apexis Smuggler - a better Secret synergy card, giving you a lot of card generation.
Magna Aegwynn - the pinnacle of card generation. You can reuse a lot of your spells, and with some cost reduction, you can get even more. Also has fun synergy with Snap Freeze.
Hall of Fame
Some cards that were considered, but didn't make the cut
Ice Block - don't worry, I wanted to add it changed to add a burst heal instead of giving you Immune. But even that had some problems itself, so I did not lean towards rereturning a hall of fame'd card.
Starscryer - a decent addition, but tutoring is dangerous to have in an evergreen set.
Volcanic Potion - good AoE, but it did not fit thematically.
Violet Spellwing - was meant to be the 1-drop for Tempo Mage, but it wasn't particularly interesting, and having an evergreen Deathrattle for mage can be misleading.
Rhonin - same reason.
Wee Spellstopper - probably a bit too toxic to be evegreen, even though Robes of Protection power crept her out of oblivion.
Pyromaniac - not a bad card to be evergreen, but I lacked room for this. Hero Power cards were going to be in the set, but I had no idea how to fit them in.
Daring Fire-Eater - this one was close to make the cut, but obviously I tried to keep [Hearthstone Card (Sorcerer Apprentice) Not Found] to save both modes and not only Standard.
Among many, many, MANY other cards…
Deck Recipes
I like this camo green. Suits Hunter well.
Great, cheap stalling tool for Paladin. Alright for Priest.
4/5
It's definitely an alternative to standard King Togwaggle Priest, but there are heavy differences. While this new combo has less counterplay, it uses cards that Cost (3) or less, and Togg Priest prefers to run Hemet, Jungle Hunter to thin out the deck faster. This means Mindrender Illucia + Brann Bronzebeard is slower, and every turn, the value of swapping decks starts to dimmish.
But I like this card overall. Obviously not fun on the other side of the spectrum, but this gives you a ton of possibilities to truly shape the game in your hands.
5/5
This concept has been in custom HS community for YEARS, and Blizzard has finally done it. This is slightly different to the copied card, but serves a similar purpose of being a Hero Power-related 1-drop. And that is a huge change in the conversation.
Shudderwock can now play this to use Heart of Vir'naal AND Shudderwock on the same turn. As a big fan of that legendary, this is my must craft once I get the Quest.
This also allows OTK Paladin (the Paladin DK OTK) to actually OTK without Emperor Thaurissan. Auctionmaster Beardo -> Tour Guide -> (HP -> 0-Cost Libram of Wisdom) x4
5/5 in Wild, 3/5 in Standard, as they have less room to abuse the discounted Hero Power.
Umm... a decent card. Solid body to defend you, summons a good minion on average. Not a bad card, but my concern is where this can be slotted into. Highlander Hunter? Maybe? Deathrattle Hunter is something interesting, but in Standard, it's probably going to be hard for that deck to relive the 2018 days. It's certainly closer due to Shan'do Wildclaw and Mok'Nathal Lion, but there's no Carnivorous Cube and as big of a payoff. And there's obviously no Deathstalker Rexxar, althought this card is definitely a nice addition to DK, as Taunts are valuable.
3.5/5
Yup, Blizzard is desperately trying to make Jungle Giants work. This card is BONKERS in that deck. Not only does it curve well, but it's great after Barnabus the Stomper due to drawing cards. And also some nice synergy with both [Hearthstone Card (Menagerie Wanderer) Not Found] and Shan'do Wildclaw.
The only problem is that Druid in Wild is mostly focused on oh so infamous Jade Idol or reaching absurd amounts of Armor. I don't think Quest Druid will overtake both archetypes, but it certainly adds fuel.
In Standard, it's gonna be hard to slot this into any current Druid deck, but it's tempting due to card draw. This could be alright in Spell Druid to give you fuel, but the problem is that you'd rather play Glowfly Swarm on turn 5 instead of this, and it's a minion possible to discard through Fungal Fortunes, though that hasn't been much of a problem. And I don't know how this new Guardian Animals Druid will fare, because I don't know, I hate that I don't know, and I hate that human factor of not knowing.
4/5
Paladin finally has a reason to run Scarlet Purifier.
Jokes aside, this is probably gonna end up more in Warrior decks, because they have an easier time benefitting from the Health reduction even without triggering the Deathrattle. Just Whirlwind or Bladestorm are enough to give you a massive board wipe and leave a 3/1. Paladin in Standard will have a tougher time doing similar things, although they still have Consecration.
In Standard, Warrior will still most likely lean towards Tempo, and even then I can see this being played there alongside Risky Skipper. This shows how much Warrior can make of the Battlecry. Still dunno what Tempo Warrior could remove to add in Barov, but he looks promising there to reset the board state. Or in general.
5/5 for Warrior, 3/5 for Paladin
This lloks fun in Quest Warlock. Not only can you copy Plot Twist, you can also copy some of your removal/healing. And if your opponent plays some decent spells, you can take them and stall out for longer. These spells will also delay fatigue, letting you use your upgraded Hero Power more often and having Plot Twist screw you less often by having reduced chance of drawing your combo piece.
Obviously vulnerable to disruption effects and Soul Mirror, but it puts some mental pressure on the opponent to play carefully, or your opponent's Elekk will get fed.
Also imagine this in non-pure Libram Paladin. Getting even more Librams will feel nutty. Well, every class can theoretically use this card and get a lot of value, but it's probably niche enough that it won't become the next Zilliax. I dare to dream, though.
4/5
Blizzard is desperately trying to give Jungle Giants some support. This just screams to me that this card wants to be in that deck, because it will pull you out some pretty cheap, 5-Attack Beasts to progress your Quest fast, and then to summon larger ones post-Barnabus the Stomper. In Standard, though? It's gonna be painful to make this work. Maybe with Survival of the Fittest?
Wild can make better use of this. Standard will leave this in dust.
2/5 in Standard, 3/5 in Wild
I'm glad Dekkster is starting to make waves in HS community. I love watching him play.
Oof. I think Blizz is walking on thin ice with this one. I think there's a good reason why the game hasn't seen a 1-mana minion with Spell Damage just yet, because it allows for combo shenanigans. This may reinvigorate old Freeze Mage in Wild, as these two replace the 4 mana 2/2, but due to their dominance with other variants, I doubt they would think of that.
This can definitely help Tempo Mage thanks to great early stats and Spell Damage to clear more stuff, but I doubt Tempo Mage will recover ever again after the nerf to Mana Wyrm. Highlander will have a hard time fitting in this fella. Cyclone Mage may be it's better home.
3/5
Intruiging. Even in the worst case secnario, this can give you one card, but I don't think this is a must include in midrange and control decks, as some may think. The body is nice, but the cost itself heavily reduces the potential stuff you can do, or just get more useful cards. You can obivously get junk - cheap, but the real challenge is incorporating the given stuff on the fly. On average, you'll get decent stuff.
On the other hand, this is a big fu to Plot Twist and Glide. You have this guy, and the opponent risks giving you value. Heck, this can easily cancel out a lot of Warlock stuff, including their Hero Power.
I don't exactly know which decks would run him yet. My mind thinks of trying to cheat him out, so stuff like Druid and Big Paladin. If I think more about it, this may not be as bad in Spell Druid, especially after the next rotation. The class can easily cheat out Alabaster as early as turn 5, and they also give him more protection through Ironbark and Bogbeam. The reward is great value, and if any of the cards received are spells, that can easily fuel Glowfly Swarm.
As I said under the DH Legendary card, hand advantage is not as impactful in Hearthstone, but this one can be continuous, so it can give you more information. Still not as big of an advantage, but you can definitely use some of the stuff stolen.
But gl surviving until that, which you probably should, but always be careful.
3.5/5
This is so good for Big Paladin, and while that archetype is not doing hot, this card definitely helps that archetype. Duel! is especially nutty, completely nullifying the opponent's minion AND being able to attack the second target. Even with Nozdormu the Timeless, this can be played much earlier, having more impact.
Outside of that though, it does seem a bit weaker, but still decent as a way to deal with one minion. Still, you'd want that guy in Big Pally.
3/5