HMMMMMM not sure how I feel about this. I'm pretty casual, there's sometimes days or weeks I don't touch this game. I'd need to see how fast the progression is.
And is XP given by games played, not won, so that's good.
The system limits you to 9000XP a week. which means progression may be fast?
I'm curious about tier rewards for Hero Skin Choice and Expansion Card back. Are they offering previous hero skins and card backs or something completely new?
Cuz if it's a cool new hero skin I'd totally grind for that
5/1 is BAD for stats, giving it divine shield makes it ... less bad, but still bad.
There's not a lot of elemental synergy in standard to justify playing it for it's tribal tag.I guess Mage could technically use it as a way to activate Elemental Allies and Animated Avalanche, but that's it.
In Wild Shaman are able to generate it off of their earthen might or even use it with elemental reaction to draw a card, or Kalimos or any of the Un'Goro elementals that wanted you to play elementals on curve to activate their effects.
In standard Paladin could probably find the most use out of this minion, Salhet's Pride could draw this minion, play it on turn 4, and if it somehow survived equip the blessing of authority or Blessing of Pharaoh's on it to make it a massive threat for your opponent.
But most likely this minion will not see play in Standard.
It's okay in the Arena, the divine shield allows for it to trade into two minions, and it's attack means it can trade up if you go first.
For stats minions that have more health are generally looked upon favorably.
The River Crocolisk sets the gold standard for 2 mana minions since basic, and this minion follows in it's footsteps, but the battle cry could make it a little slow.
most hero powers require your hero to spend 2 mana to use them, Demon Hunters at 1. Meaning that unless you play the Tour Guide on turn 1, you won't be able to use your hero power and play this on turn 2 to draw two additional cards.
HOWEVER - if you're playing an aggressive deck such as face Hunter, Zoo Lock, Tempo Demon Hunter and Aggro mage, that doesn't really matter, since they'll have other two mana options to play. And if they don't a 2/3 isn't terrible, since those decks have TONS of draw.
It's synergy with hero powers means it can also fit in decks that want to use their quests or sidequests - Face Hunter's Toxic Reinforcements needs the hero power to be used 3 times, and Priests Quest Activate the Obelisk requires them to use their hero power before AND after to active the quest and reap the rewards.
I think it's stats make it a safe choice in Arena, if you don't have a better statted minion available to play
However, this minion allows for a VERY aggressive playstyle that will allow you to empty your hand and then refill it at the end of your turn.
Decks such as Tempo Demon Hunter and the Zoolock will adopt this minion for sure, and Zoolock's imprisoned scrap imp will make this minion a healthy 3/4 that can draw 3 cards if they play their hand correctly, allowing them to not have to rely solely on Hand of Gul'dan being discarded to draw minions.
Tempo Demon Hunter, while already having card draw with Sigil Outrunner, Spectral Sight and Skull of Gul'dan sometimes just want...MORE. It'll be interesting however to see if DH uses this minion over Glide, since Glide can draw 4 AND force your opponent to shuffle their hand as well.
With Mage also getting what looks like an aggressive shell this little minion may be adopted by Jaina as well to draw their cheap removal and efficient minions
This is going to be a fun card, but certainly not a card that will decide any matches.
Due to the pool of spells available, it will never be consistent. And since it has no impact on the board, unless you play a board clear spell the turn it lands your opponent will most likely use their own resources to clear this minion on the next turn so it won't snowball.
There will probably be a Tavern Brawl focused around this minion, I betcha. It's too meme worthy for Team 5 not to play with.
3 mana 2/4 is pretty weak in stats, but this effect more than makes up for it.
For classes that like to control the board with minions there's usually one minion they don't want removed so they can keep pushing for lethal - Demon Hunter's Altruis the Outcast comes to mind - but they're modest health makes them an easy target for cheap removal.
This minion's function in tempo and aggressive decks will be to render cheap single target removals useless - even spells like betrayal and combustion that require a target will not work with this minion on the field.
The effect counts itself, as well, and it's not a battlecry, meaning you don't have to only have a few minions protected at a time, but all of them if possible.
an 8/8 minion for 8 stats is very acceptable, the Lich King in KotFT was an 8/8 at 8 mana with taunt that would generate a card at the end of your turn.
This minion is not as impactful, however, it doesn't have the taunt to protect you and slow your opponent down, and for it's true value it's death rattle must be activated - which can be ignored by transforming or silencing it.
Should it's death rattle go off, however, you're left with a 7 mana minion on the board. There's several 7 mana minions that rely on their battlecry effect or the Choose one to make up for their stats, but there's minions such as Skeletal Dragon and Winged Guardian who have high health and taunt, or Marsh Hydra who has rush.
The pool of 7 mana minions makes activating this minions deathrattle a gambit.
Fortunately, that's not as much of a downside in the Arena, where you want to control the board as best as you can, and being able to keep contesting the board with a large minion after another large minion has died is fantastic
So in The Boomsday Project Mage received the Research Project, a 2 mana spell that drew you and your opponent 2 cards.
For aggro mage this was fine, as they would refill their hand with burn to push lethal on their opponents.
In theory this spell can become BETTER than Research Project, as there's no upper limit to spell damage you can have, but reaching that spell damage can be tricky.
Namely, any minion that has spell damage has a soft taunt - your opponent will focus on that minion once it's on the board , with either their own minions or single target removal. Fortunately Mage does have 2 good spell damage minions that were introduced in this set - Lab Assistant and Mozaki, The Master Duelist. Lab Assistant is a cheap, flexible minion that grants spell damage +1, and Mozaki gains additional spell damage per spell played - Mozaki with this spell will always draw AT LEAST 2 cards, which is good.
Mage has ways to discount this spell as well, if aggro mage comes back the Sorcerer's Apprentices can discount this spell by (1) per apprentice and Incanter's Flow will reduce all spells in your deck by (1).
It's a good draw spell but this spell will require some work to make it GREAT, which may stop if from seeing play on the ladder
This minion is like if Hogger and Troggzor the Earthinator were combined into a minion.
The last Trogg minion we got was the Burgly Bully, a 5 mana 4/6 who gave you the coin everytime your opponent cast a spell. with 6 health it was pretty sturdy and could withstand most direct damage spells, and if it didn't it would still net you a coin.
With 1 attack less this minion should be able to absorb all but the strongest single target removal spells (siphon soul, Shadow Word: Pain, etc) and produce 1, maybe 2 tokens with taunt.
There are a lot of decks that use minions as removal, however, so there's a good chance this guy comes out on the field and is just removed by something bigger.
It's slow to play and easy to play around, and the stats and effect aren't particularly good in Arena, either. I don't think this minion will see play
yeah there's a lot of questions, and people don't seem to be happy with it.
lot of angry comments and questions so far in the AMA
HMMMMMM not sure how I feel about this. I'm pretty casual, there's sometimes days or weeks I don't touch this game. I'd need to see how fast the progression is.
And is XP given by games played, not won, so that's good.
The system limits you to 9000XP a week. which means progression may be fast?
I'm curious about tier rewards for Hero Skin Choice and Expansion Card back. Are they offering previous hero skins and card backs or something completely new?
Cuz if it's a cool new hero skin I'd totally grind for that
Wand Maker looks a whole lot cooler with the paint
ArcWitch Willow doesn't work.
Not because she has no minions to summon - but because of Warlocks draw you're more likely to draw your minions before you can play her.
At least I didn't craft her
I want Willow to be cool but yeah she just has NO targets
if every deck runs two oozes then it's time for every deck to run two Hoard Pillagers!
A-HA TECH COUNTERING TECH!
Rattlegore was the one I tried to find first and was the one I found the last.
Nice puzzle, thanks guys
I'm still mad that Making Mummies isn't called "Making Friends"
I know what it's referencing, that doesn't mean I like it less
UGH THAT PUN
Depends on what classes my dailies have me play for that day
Probably Big Warrior though. I love trying to make that deck work.
I got the Marsh Queen as my free quest and my buddy said it was going to be a good card.
it required so much work, oh my god.
5/1 is BAD for stats, giving it divine shield makes it ... less bad, but still bad.
There's not a lot of elemental synergy in standard to justify playing it for it's tribal tag.I guess Mage could technically use it as a way to activate Elemental Allies and Animated Avalanche, but that's it.
In Wild Shaman are able to generate it off of their earthen might or even use it with elemental reaction to draw a card, or Kalimos or any of the Un'Goro elementals that wanted you to play elementals on curve to activate their effects.
In standard Paladin could probably find the most use out of this minion, Salhet's Pride could draw this minion, play it on turn 4, and if it somehow survived equip the blessing of authority or Blessing of Pharaoh's on it to make it a massive threat for your opponent.
But most likely this minion will not see play in Standard.
It's okay in the Arena, the divine shield allows for it to trade into two minions, and it's attack means it can trade up if you go first.
For stats minions that have more health are generally looked upon favorably.
The River Crocolisk sets the gold standard for 2 mana minions since basic, and this minion follows in it's footsteps, but the battle cry could make it a little slow.
most hero powers require your hero to spend 2 mana to use them, Demon Hunters at 1. Meaning that unless you play the Tour Guide on turn 1, you won't be able to use your hero power and play this on turn 2 to draw two additional cards.
HOWEVER - if you're playing an aggressive deck such as face Hunter, Zoo Lock, Tempo Demon Hunter and Aggro mage, that doesn't really matter, since they'll have other two mana options to play. And if they don't a 2/3 isn't terrible, since those decks have TONS of draw.
It's synergy with hero powers means it can also fit in decks that want to use their quests or sidequests - Face Hunter's Toxic Reinforcements needs the hero power to be used 3 times, and Priests Quest Activate the Obelisk requires them to use their hero power before AND after to active the quest and reap the rewards.
I think it's stats make it a safe choice in Arena, if you don't have a better statted minion available to play
1 mana 1/3 is VERY weak in stats.
However, this minion allows for a VERY aggressive playstyle that will allow you to empty your hand and then refill it at the end of your turn.
Decks such as Tempo Demon Hunter and the Zoolock will adopt this minion for sure, and Zoolock's imprisoned scrap imp will make this minion a healthy 3/4 that can draw 3 cards if they play their hand correctly, allowing them to not have to rely solely on Hand of Gul'dan being discarded to draw minions.
Tempo Demon Hunter, while already having card draw with Sigil Outrunner, Spectral Sight and Skull of Gul'dan sometimes just want...MORE. It'll be interesting however to see if DH uses this minion over Glide, since Glide can draw 4 AND force your opponent to shuffle their hand as well.
With Mage also getting what looks like an aggressive shell this little minion may be adopted by Jaina as well to draw their cheap removal and efficient minions
This is going to be a fun card, but certainly not a card that will decide any matches.
Due to the pool of spells available, it will never be consistent. And since it has no impact on the board, unless you play a board clear spell the turn it lands your opponent will most likely use their own resources to clear this minion on the next turn so it won't snowball.
There will probably be a Tavern Brawl focused around this minion, I betcha. It's too meme worthy for Team 5 not to play with.
3 mana 2/4 is pretty weak in stats, but this effect more than makes up for it.
For classes that like to control the board with minions there's usually one minion they don't want removed so they can keep pushing for lethal - Demon Hunter's Altruis the Outcast comes to mind - but they're modest health makes them an easy target for cheap removal.
This minion's function in tempo and aggressive decks will be to render cheap single target removals useless - even spells like betrayal and combustion that require a target will not work with this minion on the field.
The effect counts itself, as well, and it's not a battlecry, meaning you don't have to only have a few minions protected at a time, but all of them if possible.
an 8/8 minion for 8 stats is very acceptable, the Lich King in KotFT was an 8/8 at 8 mana with taunt that would generate a card at the end of your turn.
This minion is not as impactful, however, it doesn't have the taunt to protect you and slow your opponent down, and for it's true value it's death rattle must be activated - which can be ignored by transforming or silencing it.
Should it's death rattle go off, however, you're left with a 7 mana minion on the board. There's several 7 mana minions that rely on their battlecry effect or the Choose one to make up for their stats, but there's minions such as Skeletal Dragon and Winged Guardian who have high health and taunt, or Marsh Hydra who has rush.
The pool of 7 mana minions makes activating this minions deathrattle a gambit.
Fortunately, that's not as much of a downside in the Arena, where you want to control the board as best as you can, and being able to keep contesting the board with a large minion after another large minion has died is fantastic
So in The Boomsday Project Mage received the Research Project, a 2 mana spell that drew you and your opponent 2 cards.
For aggro mage this was fine, as they would refill their hand with burn to push lethal on their opponents.
In theory this spell can become BETTER than Research Project, as there's no upper limit to spell damage you can have, but reaching that spell damage can be tricky.
Namely, any minion that has spell damage has a soft taunt - your opponent will focus on that minion once it's on the board , with either their own minions or single target removal. Fortunately Mage does have 2 good spell damage minions that were introduced in this set - Lab Assistant and Mozaki, The Master Duelist. Lab Assistant is a cheap, flexible minion that grants spell damage +1, and Mozaki gains additional spell damage per spell played - Mozaki with this spell will always draw AT LEAST 2 cards, which is good.
Mage has ways to discount this spell as well, if aggro mage comes back the Sorcerer's Apprentices can discount this spell by (1) per apprentice and Incanter's Flow will reduce all spells in your deck by (1).
It's a good draw spell but this spell will require some work to make it GREAT, which may stop if from seeing play on the ladder
This minion is like if Hogger and Troggzor the Earthinator were combined into a minion.
The last Trogg minion we got was the Burgly Bully, a 5 mana 4/6 who gave you the coin everytime your opponent cast a spell. with 6 health it was pretty sturdy and could withstand most direct damage spells, and if it didn't it would still net you a coin.
With 1 attack less this minion should be able to absorb all but the strongest single target removal spells (siphon soul, Shadow Word: Pain, etc) and produce 1, maybe 2 tokens with taunt.
There are a lot of decks that use minions as removal, however, so there's a good chance this guy comes out on the field and is just removed by something bigger.
It's slow to play and easy to play around, and the stats and effect aren't particularly good in Arena, either. I don't think this minion will see play