This is a very potent spell for two classes who know how to get value from very cheap minions with strong effects.
Rogue's have plenty of minions with combos and battlecries and even deathrattles that benefit from being played at 1 mana; deathrattle rogue when SoU came out used the Anubisath Warbringer and Anka, The Buried to increase the minions in Rogue's hand by +3/+3, being able to pull that effect off more than once could mean for MASSIVE cheap minions for rogue to play. Getting a cheaper Edwin Van Cleef for a later turn can also be huge as well. Rogue's Preparation will allow them to play this spell at 1 mana, allowing Rogue to use this pretty much on the same turn they play the minions.
Mage also has plenty of minions they don't mind playing for 1 mana - Luna's Pocket Galaxy saw some constructed play when it was buffed from 7 to 6 mana, allowing minions such as Archmage Antonidas to be played for 1 mana and then go off with fireballs. Mage can also discount spells, but not as fast as Rogue, they do have access to Incanter's Flow from AoO which discounts spells in deck by (1), and Sorcerer''s Apprentice which discounts spells in hand by (1). I believe the idea for this card with mage is to get these three minions on the board with a free potion of Illusion, and then if you're opponent removes your board you can repopulate it with your key pieces and go off with fireballs.
Mage also has received Ras FrostWhisper and Mozaki Master Duelist in this set, both have fantastic synergy with each other, and having them both cost (1) and being able to throw out a barrage of cheap spells to power Mozaki's spell damage can make Ras become a very powerful AOE that could put your opponent in lethal range, if not finish the game like Demon Hunters do with Altruis the Outcast
It's stats are good for cost - 3 mana 3/4 is playable even if you're not going to be playing a lot of spells (like in arena).
It's effect is also VERY interesting, essentially a slower, more controllable Lore Walker Cho, since this will shuffle spells you AND your opponent play.
Granted by the time it comes out, removing it with a minion will be pretty easy, so you'll want to protect your elekk as best you can.
If your opponent removes the Elekk with a spell they are just giving you that spell for down the road, but that could also screw with your draw if you're trying to fish for that combo piece or that minion to finish the game.
Excellent card design, soft synergy with Tak Nozwhisker, playable in Arena for stats alone, great card.
This card is very strong because it's very cheap, flexible and combos with what paladins love to due - buff and debuff minions.
In most scenarios you'll want to wait to play this minion if your opponent has a strong minion in play, they spend their mana on an expensive minion while you're spending LESS on a cheaper minion, and while yes your opponent can ignore this and go face next turn, Paladin has access to cards such as Subdue that can turn their large minion into a 1/1 or Libram of Justice which can turn their minion's health to 1 for an easy clear.
An easy way to ensure you draw this in wild is with Crystology, in standard you can try and use Call to adventure but the extra stats granted by the draw spell will be removed once this minions battlecry resolves.
As I mentioned this minion is cheap and Flexible, and can probably find a home in multiple decks.
7 mana, 6/8 isn't bad stats for cost - Archmage Antonidas costs the same but is a 5/7.
It's effect is very powerful and could possibly snowball if left alone - knowing what your opponent drew is a huge advantage, and having that card but CHEAPER than your opponent is even better.
I don't think there's any means for a player to make your opponent draw cards in standard outside of Glide, which would require you to hit that AND this minon with Skull of Gul'Dan to use on the same turn, but we also haven't seen the rest of this set yet, who knows if there's any more draw cards in store.
In wild cards that force your opponent to draw are quite more popular - Coldlight Oracles, Research Project and naturalize are cheap ways to get your opponent to draw cards and have them cheaper than they.
Invocation of Frost has seen tons of play before and after it's nerf. Granted, it could freeze enemy minions AND players.
This card can only target minions, but it's cost is flexible enough to be used in tempo and miracle playlists. You probably won't care too much about the combo damage, either, unless you're needing to remove an early game minion, the cheap freeze effect is the main draw of this card.
Ray of Frost has seen play in constructed since RoS, and while this card doesn't have the twinspell of Ray it can still be used to stall enemy minions like it's twinspell counterpart can.
3 mana, 1/4 is a statline seen in a lot of minions that don't see constructed play (Dalaran Mage, for example), but having RUSH and WINDFURY makes this card a potential removal for cheap tokens or lackeys created by your opponent.
The spell burst effect is nice, but an expensive spell is probably not going to be super effective to increase this minion's attack if you're needing her to remove threats, due to her having a modest 4 health. However, using a big spell with her is definitely viable if you're wanting her to go face. You'll just have to make sure the fist spell you play isn't 0 or 1 mana if you need to deal big damage to your opponent with the windfury.
But again, modest 4 health, you'll need her to survive long enough to get that additional damage from mid to big spells
A potentially very strong card, that requires careful thought by the player to get the most of this minion.
There's a few things you can compare this card too.
First off, looking at the stats it's a spider tank without a tribal tag. The lack of a tag is somewhat negligible in standard, mechs haven't been that important since Boomsday Project rotated into wild, which means that this minion can still be played on curve if you want with no threat of removal outside of Shadowbolt.
The battlecry is very reminiscent of Blackwing Corruptor - both dealt 3 damage to any target they wanted, and both were placed in decks with specific construction requirments (Dragons for Blackwing Corruptor, Soul Fragments for Shadowlight Scholar).
Blackwing saw tons of constructed play before he rotated, I firmly believe this minion will also see a fair bit of play in constructed as well, and might be a real incentive for warlocks to use the soul fragment cards.
This is probably one of the better Soul Fragment generators -
Volcanic Potion saw some constructed play in mage decks as early removal (since Arcane Explosion is REALLY bad), and warlocks who play control haven't have good, cheap aoe removal since Defile since KotFT.
True for 1 mana more you can play hellfire, but Hellfire has the drawback of hurting your hero as well, and by turn 4 your opponent's aggressive board my have already hit you for enough that you don't want to deal 3 additional damage to yourself.
This comes out a turn faster, doesn't hurt your hero, and shuffles in 2 cantrips that will heal you for the cost of your hero power, which warlocks love to use.
It's fairly vanilla stats for cost - Shield of Galakrond sees play as a 4/5 taunt but only because of it's beneficial battlecry and invoke keyword.
It's demon tribal tag allows for it to be generated off of Call of the void, or even duplicated with Felosophy (with +1/+1 if played with the Outcast ability). They can also be generated from the Dark Council, which will make it a 6/8 with taunt instead, but your RNG will have to be lucky for that to happen.
If it destroys a soul fragment in your deck it becomes a massive 7/8, which is the stats of the Earth Elemental without the Overload penalty next turn.
I believe that the soul fragments for warlock were already going to see play with their synergy with the flesh giants, and these will have to be an auto-include as well.
So the problem with this minion is that soul fragments in your deck does not threaten your opponent like the bombs needed for BlastMaster Boom does. And while a 3/3 with rush is good (see Rabid Worgen) you'll need to summon at least two for this minion to be above stats for it's cost.
and keep in mind, most late game minions will have a lot of health, you'll usually need at least 2-3 of the souls with rush to clear a priority target, which is another problem for this minion. Both Demon Hunter and Warlock specialize in drawing cards, a lot of cards, as we've seen with Warlock's Hero power and plot twist, and Demon Hunter's have used Spectral Sight, Skull of Gul'Dan, Chaos Strike Crimson Sigil Runner and the new Glide cards will help ensure you draw this minion but you'll also wind up drawing the soul fragments as well, which actually makes this minion weaker.
It's very fortunate both classes have 3 cards each that generate the soul fragments, and it's obvious that if you use the soul fragments you also include this minion, but I don't think she's very powerful on her own.
2 mana deal 3 damage has seen play with Frostbolt and Darkbomb.
While this won't allow you to target face like the previously mentioned spells, this set has shown quite a few 1 drops with 3 health that this can remove.
It's primary function, however, is an additional source for the soul fragments you'll use to build your deck around for the additional life gain or for the additional bonuses the Warlock and Demon Hunter minions can use once these are shuffled in.
1 mana 1/3 minions have historically seen play, Warlocks Voidwalker and Priests Northshire Cleric being the gold standard for those minions.
While this minion will not block 3 damage to your hero or help you cycle your deck, this minion will assist with shuffling cantrips that restore health once drawn. Demon hunters hero power and their assortment of weapons gives them the option to use their face to clear troublesome minions (especially with Blades of Azzinoth), whereas Warlock's hero power and their own powerful cards damage them for beneficial effects, both will appreciate the free life gain from the soul shards.
Warlock has an additional benefit from the life gain, however. In this set we were shown the Flesh Giant, a massive 8 mana 8/8 creature who is discounted by (1) for every time you change your heroes health on your turn. Since Warlock's healing is usually negligible these will help him cheat out the giant easier without putting himself into lethal range.
In this set Druid and Shaman received the Groundskeeper, which has been compared to a better ChillWind Yeti and Sen'jin Shieldmasta.
This minion has the same stats as Groundskeeper and Taunt, plus Divine Shield, which is about 1 mana for an effect, so this minion is already efficient for cost, making it equivalent for Sunwalker from the get go.
However, because this minion is discounted for every spell placed on a friendly minion, it quickly becomes better than Sunwalker since it can easily become very affordable with the amount of cheap spells allotted in Priest's and Paladin's libraries.
Players have already made connections with Libram Paladin with this card, Paladin's most popular deck in constructed with spells that are easily discounted that are returned to hand with a deathrattle. Other players have also seen synergy with Sethekk Vileweaver since they both want the player to play spells on minions, and you're more likely to play the good stuff on yours than your opponents.
I believe both classes will find use for this minion in constructed, and both classes will have support for him in constructed and wild
What a strange and interesting Legendary for Rogue and Mage.
Clearly the main focus on this minion is that she summons 2 5 mana minions on your side of the field, even though you have to pick one that dies in one hit. At this time the 5 drop minions are not TERRIBLY strong stat wise or effect wise, the best ones you could get from Jandice would be either have good stats for cost (Venture Co Mercenary), Taunt (Scrap Golem), a strong effect at the end of your turn (Ras FrostWhisper), Rush (Doctor Krastinov) or deathrattle (Convincing Infiltrator). However since the minions she summons are random you'll most likely end up with Fen Creeper and Chromatic Egg
However both Mage and Rogue have ways to benefit from these generated minions -
Mage in RoS saw Khadgar and Conjurer's Calling with a lot of constructed play until Mountain Giants was placed in the HOF last year. Both cards can help either double the minions that Jandice creates or allows you to essentially "re-roll" on a particularly terrible 5 drop into hopefully something better.
Rogue in AoO received the secret Bamboozle, which makes a minion that is being attacked change into one that costs (2) more, so these would become a 7 mana minion. As we've seen in AoS however there has been a fair number of spell based removal that can ignore the secret if played, but many classes are still using minions for removal, so we'll have to see.
6 mana for 8/8 worth of stats is good, even better if they have rush.
Druid is known for giving their tokens wide buff spells with power of the wild and Savage Roar. When RoS was fist launched The Forest's Aid saw some constructed play since it's generally difficult for your opponent to remove a 10/10 worth of stats back to back. Other notable cards that have synergy with this spell is the legendary Goru the Mightree, which will give a permanent +1/+1 to all friendly treants in the game once played, making this spell generate 12/12 worth of stats, and Aeroponics, which turns the 5 mana draw (2) into 0 mana.
In Shaman this card is INSANE. So with cheap AOE buffs such as Totemic might and Totemic shock you can play 3 cards for a total of 16/16 worth of stats on the board which can set up lethal with Bloodlust. This spell also curves into Boggspine Knuckles, and with treants traditionally being a 2 cost minion, you can swing with the weapon and generate a board full of 3 mana minions instead. And we shouldn't forget that any card that helps you swarm the board will help discount Mogu Fleshshaper, and even the Fist of Ra-Den, although the pool of 6 drop legendaries is pretty small.
Am I the only person who thought of Rick Sanchez when I saw this card?
"The spells, the spells have poison Muh-MORTY!"
"Aw Jeeze Rick, why do the spells gotta have poison?"
"It's Team 5, Morty! They want Hunter to be a control class when it's geared for midrange and aggression!"
nertz
This is a very potent spell for two classes who know how to get value from very cheap minions with strong effects.
Rogue's have plenty of minions with combos and battlecries and even deathrattles that benefit from being played at 1 mana; deathrattle rogue when SoU came out used the Anubisath Warbringer and Anka, The Buried to increase the minions in Rogue's hand by +3/+3, being able to pull that effect off more than once could mean for MASSIVE cheap minions for rogue to play. Getting a cheaper Edwin Van Cleef for a later turn can also be huge as well. Rogue's Preparation will allow them to play this spell at 1 mana, allowing Rogue to use this pretty much on the same turn they play the minions.
Mage also has plenty of minions they don't mind playing for 1 mana - Luna's Pocket Galaxy saw some constructed play when it was buffed from 7 to 6 mana, allowing minions such as Archmage Antonidas to be played for 1 mana and then go off with fireballs. Mage can also discount spells, but not as fast as Rogue, they do have access to Incanter's Flow from AoO which discounts spells in deck by (1), and Sorcerer''s Apprentice which discounts spells in hand by (1). I believe the idea for this card with mage is to get these three minions on the board with a free potion of Illusion, and then if you're opponent removes your board you can repopulate it with your key pieces and go off with fireballs.
Mage also has received Ras FrostWhisper and Mozaki Master Duelist in this set, both have fantastic synergy with each other, and having them both cost (1) and being able to throw out a barrage of cheap spells to power Mozaki's spell damage can make Ras become a very powerful AOE that could put your opponent in lethal range, if not finish the game like Demon Hunters do with Altruis the Outcast
Ah, this is a poweful card.
It's stats are good for cost - 3 mana 3/4 is playable even if you're not going to be playing a lot of spells (like in arena).
It's effect is also VERY interesting, essentially a slower, more controllable Lore Walker Cho, since this will shuffle spells you AND your opponent play.
Granted by the time it comes out, removing it with a minion will be pretty easy, so you'll want to protect your elekk as best you can.
If your opponent removes the Elekk with a spell they are just giving you that spell for down the road, but that could also screw with your draw if you're trying to fish for that combo piece or that minion to finish the game.
Excellent card design, soft synergy with Tak Nozwhisker, playable in Arena for stats alone, great card.
This card is very strong because it's very cheap, flexible and combos with what paladins love to due - buff and debuff minions.
In most scenarios you'll want to wait to play this minion if your opponent has a strong minion in play, they spend their mana on an expensive minion while you're spending LESS on a cheaper minion, and while yes your opponent can ignore this and go face next turn, Paladin has access to cards such as Subdue that can turn their large minion into a 1/1 or Libram of Justice which can turn their minion's health to 1 for an easy clear.
An easy way to ensure you draw this in wild is with Crystology, in standard you can try and use Call to adventure but the extra stats granted by the draw spell will be removed once this minions battlecry resolves.
As I mentioned this minion is cheap and Flexible, and can probably find a home in multiple decks.
7 mana, 6/8 isn't bad stats for cost - Archmage Antonidas costs the same but is a 5/7.
It's effect is very powerful and could possibly snowball if left alone - knowing what your opponent drew is a huge advantage, and having that card but CHEAPER than your opponent is even better.
I don't think there's any means for a player to make your opponent draw cards in standard outside of Glide, which would require you to hit that AND this minon with Skull of Gul'Dan to use on the same turn, but we also haven't seen the rest of this set yet, who knows if there's any more draw cards in store.
In wild cards that force your opponent to draw are quite more popular - Coldlight Oracles, Research Project and naturalize are cheap ways to get your opponent to draw cards and have them cheaper than they.
This card is pretty good!
Invocation of Frost has seen tons of play before and after it's nerf. Granted, it could freeze enemy minions AND players.
This card can only target minions, but it's cost is flexible enough to be used in tempo and miracle playlists. You probably won't care too much about the combo damage, either, unless you're needing to remove an early game minion, the cheap freeze effect is the main draw of this card.
Ray of Frost has seen play in constructed since RoS, and while this card doesn't have the twinspell of Ray it can still be used to stall enemy minions like it's twinspell counterpart can.
Does this minion count as the alphabet soup for the bingo since she's got 3 keywords ?
3 mana, 1/4 is a statline seen in a lot of minions that don't see constructed play (Dalaran Mage, for example), but having RUSH and WINDFURY makes this card a potential removal for cheap tokens or lackeys created by your opponent.
The spell burst effect is nice, but an expensive spell is probably not going to be super effective to increase this minion's attack if you're needing her to remove threats, due to her having a modest 4 health. However, using a big spell with her is definitely viable if you're wanting her to go face. You'll just have to make sure the fist spell you play isn't 0 or 1 mana if you need to deal big damage to your opponent with the windfury.
But again, modest 4 health, you'll need her to survive long enough to get that additional damage from mid to big spells
A potentially very strong card, that requires careful thought by the player to get the most of this minion.
There's a few things you can compare this card too.
First off, looking at the stats it's a spider tank without a tribal tag. The lack of a tag is somewhat negligible in standard, mechs haven't been that important since Boomsday Project rotated into wild, which means that this minion can still be played on curve if you want with no threat of removal outside of Shadowbolt.
The battlecry is very reminiscent of Blackwing Corruptor - both dealt 3 damage to any target they wanted, and both were placed in decks with specific construction requirments (Dragons for Blackwing Corruptor, Soul Fragments for Shadowlight Scholar).
Blackwing saw tons of constructed play before he rotated, I firmly believe this minion will also see a fair bit of play in constructed as well, and might be a real incentive for warlocks to use the soul fragment cards.
This is probably one of the better Soul Fragment generators -
Volcanic Potion saw some constructed play in mage decks as early removal (since Arcane Explosion is REALLY bad), and warlocks who play control haven't have good, cheap aoe removal since Defile since KotFT.
True for 1 mana more you can play hellfire, but Hellfire has the drawback of hurting your hero as well, and by turn 4 your opponent's aggressive board my have already hit you for enough that you don't want to deal 3 additional damage to yourself.
This comes out a turn faster, doesn't hurt your hero, and shuffles in 2 cantrips that will heal you for the cost of your hero power, which warlocks love to use.
5 star card, will see play in constructed
It's fairly vanilla stats for cost - Shield of Galakrond sees play as a 4/5 taunt but only because of it's beneficial battlecry and invoke keyword.
It's demon tribal tag allows for it to be generated off of Call of the void, or even duplicated with Felosophy (with +1/+1 if played with the Outcast ability). They can also be generated from the Dark Council, which will make it a 6/8 with taunt instead, but your RNG will have to be lucky for that to happen.
If it destroys a soul fragment in your deck it becomes a massive 7/8, which is the stats of the Earth Elemental without the Overload penalty next turn.
I believe that the soul fragments for warlock were already going to see play with their synergy with the flesh giants, and these will have to be an auto-include as well.
So the problem with this minion is that soul fragments in your deck does not threaten your opponent like the bombs needed for BlastMaster Boom does. And while a 3/3 with rush is good (see Rabid Worgen) you'll need to summon at least two for this minion to be above stats for it's cost.
and keep in mind, most late game minions will have a lot of health, you'll usually need at least 2-3 of the souls with rush to clear a priority target, which is another problem for this minion. Both Demon Hunter and Warlock specialize in drawing cards, a lot of cards, as we've seen with Warlock's Hero power and plot twist, and Demon Hunter's have used Spectral Sight, Skull of Gul'Dan, Chaos Strike Crimson Sigil Runner and the new Glide cards will help ensure you draw this minion but you'll also wind up drawing the soul fragments as well, which actually makes this minion weaker.
It's very fortunate both classes have 3 cards each that generate the soul fragments, and it's obvious that if you use the soul fragments you also include this minion, but I don't think she's very powerful on her own.
2 mana deal 3 damage has seen play with Frostbolt and Darkbomb.
While this won't allow you to target face like the previously mentioned spells, this set has shown quite a few 1 drops with 3 health that this can remove.
It's primary function, however, is an additional source for the soul fragments you'll use to build your deck around for the additional life gain or for the additional bonuses the Warlock and Demon Hunter minions can use once these are shuffled in.
1 mana 1/3 minions have historically seen play, Warlocks Voidwalker and Priests Northshire Cleric being the gold standard for those minions.
While this minion will not block 3 damage to your hero or help you cycle your deck, this minion will assist with shuffling cantrips that restore health once drawn. Demon hunters hero power and their assortment of weapons gives them the option to use their face to clear troublesome minions (especially with Blades of Azzinoth), whereas Warlock's hero power and their own powerful cards damage them for beneficial effects, both will appreciate the free life gain from the soul shards.
Warlock has an additional benefit from the life gain, however. In this set we were shown the Flesh Giant, a massive 8 mana 8/8 creature who is discounted by (1) for every time you change your heroes health on your turn. Since Warlock's healing is usually negligible these will help him cheat out the giant easier without putting himself into lethal range.
In this set Druid and Shaman received the Groundskeeper, which has been compared to a better ChillWind Yeti and Sen'jin Shieldmasta.
This minion has the same stats as Groundskeeper and Taunt, plus Divine Shield, which is about 1 mana for an effect, so this minion is already efficient for cost, making it equivalent for Sunwalker from the get go.
However, because this minion is discounted for every spell placed on a friendly minion, it quickly becomes better than Sunwalker since it can easily become very affordable with the amount of cheap spells allotted in Priest's and Paladin's libraries.
Players have already made connections with Libram Paladin with this card, Paladin's most popular deck in constructed with spells that are easily discounted that are returned to hand with a deathrattle. Other players have also seen synergy with Sethekk Vileweaver since they both want the player to play spells on minions, and you're more likely to play the good stuff on yours than your opponents.
I believe both classes will find use for this minion in constructed, and both classes will have support for him in constructed and wild
What a strange and interesting Legendary for Rogue and Mage.
Clearly the main focus on this minion is that she summons 2 5 mana minions on your side of the field, even though you have to pick one that dies in one hit. At this time the 5 drop minions are not TERRIBLY strong stat wise or effect wise, the best ones you could get from Jandice would be either have good stats for cost (Venture Co Mercenary), Taunt (Scrap Golem), a strong effect at the end of your turn (Ras FrostWhisper), Rush (Doctor Krastinov) or deathrattle (Convincing Infiltrator). However since the minions she summons are random you'll most likely end up with Fen Creeper and Chromatic Egg
However both Mage and Rogue have ways to benefit from these generated minions -
Mage in RoS saw Khadgar and Conjurer's Calling with a lot of constructed play until Mountain Giants was placed in the HOF last year. Both cards can help either double the minions that Jandice creates or allows you to essentially "re-roll" on a particularly terrible 5 drop into hopefully something better.
Rogue in AoO received the secret Bamboozle, which makes a minion that is being attacked change into one that costs (2) more, so these would become a 7 mana minion. As we've seen in AoS however there has been a fair number of spell based removal that can ignore the secret if played, but many classes are still using minions for removal, so we'll have to see.
UUUGH THAT PUN
what...a very strange card for both Rogue and Mage. Will this minion have any synergy? oh wait yes, Khadgar...she has soft synergy with khadgar
6 mana for 8/8 worth of stats is good, even better if they have rush.
Druid is known for giving their tokens wide buff spells with power of the wild and Savage Roar. When RoS was fist launched The Forest's Aid saw some constructed play since it's generally difficult for your opponent to remove a 10/10 worth of stats back to back. Other notable cards that have synergy with this spell is the legendary Goru the Mightree, which will give a permanent +1/+1 to all friendly treants in the game once played, making this spell generate 12/12 worth of stats, and Aeroponics, which turns the 5 mana draw (2) into 0 mana.
In Shaman this card is INSANE. So with cheap AOE buffs such as Totemic might and Totemic shock you can play 3 cards for a total of 16/16 worth of stats on the board which can set up lethal with Bloodlust. This spell also curves into Boggspine Knuckles, and with treants traditionally being a 2 cost minion, you can swing with the weapon and generate a board full of 3 mana minions instead. And we shouldn't forget that any card that helps you swarm the board will help discount Mogu Fleshshaper, and even the Fist of Ra-Den, although the pool of 6 drop legendaries is pretty small.