a 2/3 stat line with rush isn't terrible at 3 mana; Mage, Hunter and Paladin received 4 cost dragons with battlecries with the same stat lines and various effects.
Silencing the minion it attacks is also quite powerful - tempo and aggro decks can sometimes be slowed down by a well placed taunt, and if Kayne Sunfury isn't in hand you may lose the game - so an extra way to go around taunts is massive for those types of decks. Otherwise minions that have been empowered by buff spells and are big threaten to clinch the game in your opponents favor, and this rush minion can undo all of their hard work before they can claim victory.
this minion is very flexible, due to it's spellburst keyword and it's cheap cost.
1 damage is usually not enough to warrant any concern unless a minion as at (1) health OR you're facing warrior, who I believe can make exceptional use of this minion. With Execute this minion can target a single minion without using the whirlwind AOE, use Execute to remove the target and penflinger will return to the warrior's hand for an additional use.
Other uses this minion may find is removing the last health of reborn minions that have taunt or threaten to end the game next turn.
Tempo DH with Altruis may be able to use him as an extra bit of damage since he's so cheap, and bouncing him back and playing him twice will be 3 damage from Altruis and 2 damage from the Pen Flinger.
A rush minion that has an effect when it attacks and not just kills something is a strong rush minion.
Comparing it to Darius Crowley that has the same base stat line for cost, this minion seems stronger because it doesn't have the caveat of "attacking and killing and enemy minion". Doctor Krastinov JUST needs to attack for the effect to go off.
We've already seen two minions with synergies with this legendary - Steel dancer and Playmaker - both summon minions either based on your weapons attack or summons copies of rush minions.
for it's effect there's players debating whether this is better or worse than Capt. Greenskin, both that the same cost, Greenskin is slightly more aggressively statted but only has a battlecry that can be activated once. Due to Krastinov's aggressive nature and weak health line he'll also most likely only go off once without some assistance - there's possibly a deck that would have you run both minions, but not if it's in a dedicated aggro pirate deck that's been popular since AoO - Krastinov will most likely shine in a deck that focuses on gaining value with Hack the System or Armored Goon than just simple rush down playstyle.
Krastinov also shines with cards from the Rastakhan's Rumble set, spirit of the Rhino and Akali, the Rhino, that will make him either immune or give him a +5/+5 buff to increase weapon attack and durability gain
This lady is very powerful - being able to cheat out medium and big demons from your hand and deck should not be looked down upon unless you're playing against another control deck.
That said - she's very slow, as many other players have pointed out. While getting to 9 mana is not difficult for a warlock to achieve with their removal spells, on turn 9 you'll want to be clinching the win. Currently warlocks have the Dark Portal spell - which is a minion specific draw spell that will significantly decrease the cost of this minion when drawn if the conditions are met (which are also easy to meet). But with the Dark Portal you'll also end up hitting other minions more likely since this is a one-of in your deck.
There's also the issue of minions to include with Willow - cheap demons are better suited for more aggressive decks to be played on curve, and you wouldn't want to wait until turn 9 to win the game. Control decks favor mid to big demons with Aransai Broodmother, Enhanced Dreadlord and sometimes Fel Lord Beltrug, which might be okay if you don't draw them before her.
We need to see what other demons Warlock and Warlock/Demon Hunter receive this expansion, but currently Wild has more demons for this legendary to pull off than Standard.
Also this is Warlock's most attractive legendary to date, most of their legendaries are usually monstrous and scary
A good card to run with rush minions, it's got a nice stat line for cost (Kor'Kron Elite has the same stat line for 1 mana more and charge) and allows you to play two rush minions for the price of one.
Since it summons a copy of the minion with one health, minions such as restless mummy become 2 reborn monsters with rush that can trade for 12 damage across an enemy's board, or shuffle 2 Kargath primes into your deck. There's also the new Rogue/Warrior legendary Doctor Krastinov, that will allow your weapon to gain +2/+2 if both doctors attack.
Currently this minion is MUCH stronger in wild, with Dr Boom Mad Genius, Spirit of the Rhino and Akali, The Rhino could make for a very strong deck revolving around rush minions
Playing this minion on temp probably isn't a great idea, as it would be a target for removal from your opponent, but most decks that focus on Rush minions are more control centric than tempo or aggressive anyways.
This is a strong card, not just because of it's effect but because of it's cost and flexibility.
When the Boomsday Project came out, Warlock got Soul Infusion which gave the left most minion +2/+2 in stats. while it was a dead turn 1 it would be used for an impressive turn 3 with doubling imp creating 8/8 worth of stats across the board. This iteration of Zoo was popular until Year of the Mammoth rotated out.
with this card, the zoo deck utilizing Imprisoned Scrap imp can double a single demon card to spread the hand buff even further, not including the hand buff that the felosophy can give with outcast. The current tempo demon hunter only has 2 demons in the current list, which I don't believe is enough to warrant using this card.
That said, like Warlock, Demon Hunter has a nice assortment of mid to big range demons, the two most popular being Preistess of Fury and Imprisoned Antaean, although Hulking Overfiend has seen some play as well. Warlock could get some benefit from multiple Enhanced Dreadlords, Imprisoned Scrap imps or even Flame Imps if they need more activators for Flesh Giant and Brittlebone Destroyer.
it'll be interesting to see the decks this card winds up in, I believe it will be a staple for Demon Hunter and Warlock until it rotates in Standard
Edit: I forgot that Warlock has The Dark Portal available as a tool for handlock decks, which can allow for a big demon to be discounted, and then duplicated with this card.
This is a powerful card, but it doesn't win the game, merely stalls it.
Drawing 4 for 4 is pretty good, actually it's great if you're comparing it to Arcane Intellect that draws 2 for 3. This card doesn't even need a full hand to draw, if you're empty you'll "shuffle" nothing and then draw 4.
forcing your opponent to shuffle IS powerful, especially for powerful control decks like handlock that focus on collecting large hand sizes or Galakrond decks that need their win condition for the late game.
This card however does flounder against other tempo or aggressive decks, as your opponent will be emptying their hand as fast as you. Skipping your turn for your opponent to refill their hand is a game losing turn.
Also I'll just say it I wish Warlock got this card, card disruption is supposed to be their thing. And it synergies with the Quest so well, too.
I initially thought this card is garbage. it's a chillwind yeti that costs (1) more with an overload of (2) on your next turn. Sure the deathrattle gives you 4 0/2 with beneficial effects but they're removed by the weakest of AOE.
Then I noticed it's also a totem, and realized that it synergies with the totem cards Shaman has received the last year. Totemic Reflection will make it a 7/8 and a copy of itself, splitting axe will also copy it. if you purposefully activate the deathrattle you can use Totemic Might for +2 health across your board and Totemic Shock for +2 attack.
The totems creating a wide board can be utilized by the Mogu Fleshshaper to discount itself by (4), or to help create lethal with Bloodlust and Vessina.
With the new spell lightning blossom Shamans will be able to throw this out onto the field by turn 3, and while the overload will mean you wont' have much of a turn 4 your opponent will need to answer it before this snowballs into something dangerous
This minion has a sturdy health line with a powerful control utility that will see play in wall priests.
the 2/6 stat line is shared with Convincing Infiltrator, and while it lacks the formers deathrattle controlling a random enemy minion and giving it charge makes it fantastic against aggro match ups. also unlike Convincing Infiltrator, since spellburst is a once a turn effect, you could use this to make your opponent hold off on dropping minions since this taunt could steal a prime target.
Most will see this as a tool against aggressive decks, but zoo relies on hand buffing that places their minions outside of this unit's control range, DH floods the board too well to be hindered by this, and Hunters midrange package means that they'll play minions that are outside of range.
That said, there's a lot of combo and control minions with low attack power that this unit can control, such as the Demon Hunter/Hunter legendary that has 2 attack and nice effects that benefits minion trading
ehh I've played cyclone recently, what's holding cyclone back is a lot of pitiful low cost cards that do nothing like the side quests or cards that are too expensive to shot gun
This minion is not a win-condition, but rather a win-more card. This effect which extends to the player and the players minions helps control the board with favorable trades to either secure a win next turn or delay a loss.
Both classes - Hunter and Demon Hunter - are known for using their face to clear obstacles or high value targets. DH was known for using Blades of Azzinoth in all the tempo lists before it was nerfed to 6 mana and Hunter's Storm Hammer has been very popular since DoD since it doesn't lose durability. The only downside of using face is that it usually makes you lose health as well, which is avoided with this minion.
This cards cost also allows it to fit into some aggressive and mid range decks as well, while it doesn't have the aggressive attack that most classes usually want in their minions the effect, as I mentioned earlier, makes up for it, allowing for favorable trades against larges taunts or the enemy's board.
There's been some speculation that control could use this minion as well, but most control decks would either use secrets or AOE's to clear boards and minions, not minions themselves...
This is a good card.
a 2/3 stat line with rush isn't terrible at 3 mana; Mage, Hunter and Paladin received 4 cost dragons with battlecries with the same stat lines and various effects.
Silencing the minion it attacks is also quite powerful - tempo and aggro decks can sometimes be slowed down by a well placed taunt, and if Kayne Sunfury isn't in hand you may lose the game - so an extra way to go around taunts is massive for those types of decks. Otherwise minions that have been empowered by buff spells and are big threaten to clinch the game in your opponents favor, and this rush minion can undo all of their hard work before they can claim victory.
this minion is very flexible, due to it's spellburst keyword and it's cheap cost.
1 damage is usually not enough to warrant any concern unless a minion as at (1) health OR you're facing warrior, who I believe can make exceptional use of this minion. With Execute this minion can target a single minion without using the whirlwind AOE, use Execute to remove the target and penflinger will return to the warrior's hand for an additional use.
Other uses this minion may find is removing the last health of reborn minions that have taunt or threaten to end the game next turn.
Tempo DH with Altruis may be able to use him as an extra bit of damage since he's so cheap, and bouncing him back and playing him twice will be 3 damage from Altruis and 2 damage from the Pen Flinger.
A rush minion that has an effect when it attacks and not just kills something is a strong rush minion.
Comparing it to Darius Crowley that has the same base stat line for cost, this minion seems stronger because it doesn't have the caveat of "attacking and killing and enemy minion". Doctor Krastinov JUST needs to attack for the effect to go off.
We've already seen two minions with synergies with this legendary - Steel dancer and Playmaker - both summon minions either based on your weapons attack or summons copies of rush minions.
for it's effect there's players debating whether this is better or worse than Capt. Greenskin, both that the same cost, Greenskin is slightly more aggressively statted but only has a battlecry that can be activated once. Due to Krastinov's aggressive nature and weak health line he'll also most likely only go off once without some assistance - there's possibly a deck that would have you run both minions, but not if it's in a dedicated aggro pirate deck that's been popular since AoO - Krastinov will most likely shine in a deck that focuses on gaining value with Hack the System or Armored Goon than just simple rush down playstyle.
Krastinov also shines with cards from the Rastakhan's Rumble set, spirit of the Rhino and Akali, the Rhino, that will make him either immune or give him a +5/+5 buff to increase weapon attack and durability gain
Captain Greenskin can also be drawn by Ancharr! and this guy can't.
This lady is very powerful - being able to cheat out medium and big demons from your hand and deck should not be looked down upon unless you're playing against another control deck.
That said - she's very slow, as many other players have pointed out. While getting to 9 mana is not difficult for a warlock to achieve with their removal spells, on turn 9 you'll want to be clinching the win. Currently warlocks have the Dark Portal spell - which is a minion specific draw spell that will significantly decrease the cost of this minion when drawn if the conditions are met (which are also easy to meet). But with the Dark Portal you'll also end up hitting other minions more likely since this is a one-of in your deck.
There's also the issue of minions to include with Willow - cheap demons are better suited for more aggressive decks to be played on curve, and you wouldn't want to wait until turn 9 to win the game. Control decks favor mid to big demons with Aransai Broodmother, Enhanced Dreadlord and sometimes Fel Lord Beltrug, which might be okay if you don't draw them before her.
We need to see what other demons Warlock and Warlock/Demon Hunter receive this expansion, but currently Wild has more demons for this legendary to pull off than Standard.
Also this is Warlock's most attractive legendary to date, most of their legendaries are usually monstrous and scary
I believe this reveal is a precursor to some nice mid to big cost demons for Warlock in this expansion.
Really like the design
she's a cool teacher who wears sunglasses and is a legendary for my favorite class.
10/10 design, 5 stars, best legendary in the set, go home everyone
A good card to run with rush minions, it's got a nice stat line for cost (Kor'Kron Elite has the same stat line for 1 mana more and charge) and allows you to play two rush minions for the price of one.
Since it summons a copy of the minion with one health, minions such as restless mummy become 2 reborn monsters with rush that can trade for 12 damage across an enemy's board, or shuffle 2 Kargath primes into your deck. There's also the new Rogue/Warrior legendary Doctor Krastinov, that will allow your weapon to gain +2/+2 if both doctors attack.
Currently this minion is MUCH stronger in wild, with Dr Boom Mad Genius, Spirit of the Rhino and Akali, The Rhino could make for a very strong deck revolving around rush minions
Playing this minion on temp probably isn't a great idea, as it would be a target for removal from your opponent, but most decks that focus on Rush minions are more control centric than tempo or aggressive anyways.
This is a strong card, not just because of it's effect but because of it's cost and flexibility.
When the Boomsday Project came out, Warlock got Soul Infusion which gave the left most minion +2/+2 in stats. while it was a dead turn 1 it would be used for an impressive turn 3 with doubling imp creating 8/8 worth of stats across the board. This iteration of Zoo was popular until Year of the Mammoth rotated out.
with this card, the zoo deck utilizing Imprisoned Scrap imp can double a single demon card to spread the hand buff even further, not including the hand buff that the felosophy can give with outcast. The current tempo demon hunter only has 2 demons in the current list, which I don't believe is enough to warrant using this card.
That said, like Warlock, Demon Hunter has a nice assortment of mid to big range demons, the two most popular being Preistess of Fury and Imprisoned Antaean, although Hulking Overfiend has seen some play as well. Warlock could get some benefit from multiple Enhanced Dreadlords, Imprisoned Scrap imps or even Flame Imps if they need more activators for Flesh Giant and Brittlebone Destroyer.
it'll be interesting to see the decks this card winds up in, I believe it will be a staple for Demon Hunter and Warlock until it rotates in Standard
Edit: I forgot that Warlock has The Dark Portal available as a tool for handlock decks, which can allow for a big demon to be discounted, and then duplicated with this card.
okay but hear me out :
Handlock - copy Jaraxxus for that second wind
Also lets be real, if you're aggro and you let your opponent draw cards on your turn that's a game losing move.
This is a powerful card, but it doesn't win the game, merely stalls it.
Drawing 4 for 4 is pretty good, actually it's great if you're comparing it to Arcane Intellect that draws 2 for 3. This card doesn't even need a full hand to draw, if you're empty you'll "shuffle" nothing and then draw 4.
forcing your opponent to shuffle IS powerful, especially for powerful control decks like handlock that focus on collecting large hand sizes or Galakrond decks that need their win condition for the late game.
This card however does flounder against other tempo or aggressive decks, as your opponent will be emptying their hand as fast as you. Skipping your turn for your opponent to refill their hand is a game losing turn.
Also I'll just say it I wish Warlock got this card, card disruption is supposed to be their thing. And it synergies with the Quest so well, too.
DH aggro doesn't need this for draw tho, they already have spectral sight, Skull of Gul'dan, and Crimson Sigil Runner.
this card will be annoying, but fortunately won't see any play in tempo...I don't think
oh this is FILTHY
the new Druid/shaman spell Lightning blossom will also give you the extra mana to play this on turn 3 if you want
I initially thought this card is garbage. it's a chillwind yeti that costs (1) more with an overload of (2) on your next turn. Sure the deathrattle gives you 4 0/2 with beneficial effects but they're removed by the weakest of AOE.
Then I noticed it's also a totem, and realized that it synergies with the totem cards Shaman has received the last year. Totemic Reflection will make it a 7/8 and a copy of itself, splitting axe will also copy it. if you purposefully activate the deathrattle you can use Totemic Might for +2 health across your board and Totemic Shock for +2 attack.
The totems creating a wide board can be utilized by the Mogu Fleshshaper to discount itself by (4), or to help create lethal with Bloodlust and Vessina.
With the new spell lightning blossom Shamans will be able to throw this out onto the field by turn 3, and while the overload will mean you wont' have much of a turn 4 your opponent will need to answer it before this snowballs into something dangerous
This minion has a sturdy health line with a powerful control utility that will see play in wall priests.
the 2/6 stat line is shared with Convincing Infiltrator, and while it lacks the formers deathrattle controlling a random enemy minion and giving it charge makes it fantastic against aggro match ups. also unlike Convincing Infiltrator, since spellburst is a once a turn effect, you could use this to make your opponent hold off on dropping minions since this taunt could steal a prime target.
Most will see this as a tool against aggressive decks, but zoo relies on hand buffing that places their minions outside of this unit's control range, DH floods the board too well to be hindered by this, and Hunters midrange package means that they'll play minions that are outside of range.
That said, there's a lot of combo and control minions with low attack power that this unit can control, such as the Demon Hunter/Hunter legendary that has 2 attack and nice effects that benefits minion trading
ehh I've played cyclone recently, what's holding cyclone back is a lot of pitiful low cost cards that do nothing like the side quests or cards that are too expensive to shot gun
Where do I start on this minion?
This minion is not a win-condition, but rather a win-more card. This effect which extends to the player and the players minions helps control the board with favorable trades to either secure a win next turn or delay a loss.
Both classes - Hunter and Demon Hunter - are known for using their face to clear obstacles or high value targets. DH was known for using Blades of Azzinoth in all the tempo lists before it was nerfed to 6 mana and Hunter's Storm Hammer has been very popular since DoD since it doesn't lose durability. The only downside of using face is that it usually makes you lose health as well, which is avoided with this minion.
This cards cost also allows it to fit into some aggressive and mid range decks as well, while it doesn't have the aggressive attack that most classes usually want in their minions the effect, as I mentioned earlier, makes up for it, allowing for favorable trades against larges taunts or the enemy's board.
There's been some speculation that control could use this minion as well, but most control decks would either use secrets or AOE's to clear boards and minions, not minions themselves...