Meme card. Good for some fun moments but extremely inconsistent for competitive. And that's fine. Not every card needs to be a highly competitive meta candidate. But i'd rather play with Transmogrifier in a Plot Twist deck instead of this.
Edit: As pointed by others, this is actually a nice tech against enemy shuffling useless/harmful cards into your deck. Now Hakkar and Bomb Warrior won't be meta anymore. And Bad Luck Albatross decks died before they were even born.
Better late than never, i suppose. This card is something the game was in dire need last year when Odd Warrior was around and Druids stalled very easily through armor gain. Right now, i doubt this will see meaningful play in standard as the heavy armor gain decks are gone. This will help aggro decks against Control Warrior but that's it. But it's good to have something like this available in case we need it. Wild appreciates it because it shuts down some really ridiculous stuff (like the BEEEES!!! + Linecracker + Earthen Scales combo). High Priest Thekal suffers a major hit from this card's addition to the game as well. It's also good that Warrior has the ability to play a tempo deck now because this card would kill the class if it's only viable strategy was stall + remove + armor gain. Last year, it would be dead for sure.
Edit: Just complementing my thoughts on this card. The main problem with it is how Warrior was designed around armor as a class. The Warrior hero power does nothing other than give a little bit of armor. It doesn't impact the board in any way and it doesn't progress you towards winning the game (like Hunter). To compensate for this, they created armor synergy cards for the class. Cards that take that number (armor amount) and do X thing with it. This new tech card is capable of nullifying completely the hero power and all its synergy cards instantly. Warrior doesn't just lose X amount of health. They lose the ability to use many of its class specific cards that are meant to compensate for the weak hero power. That's really bad. Whether or not this kills the class, it certainly targets and hurts it much, much more than any other class in the game. That's not a really fair thing, i'd say.
So, we have a dragon that adds two cards of a specific type (spells) to your hand, with a specific cost (1) and from your class? That's crazy... Also, Shield Block with a 2/3 body. Slightly less armor and the card drawn isn't from your deck but lackeys are quite good so... Yeah, it's pretty crazy as well. This expansion is insane.
Yeah, but it still feels weird. Lifesteal as a word implies things like draining the life essence of other living creatures and that's certainly not a thing for warriors of light. I know it's just a game mechanic and a keyword but it doesn't feel quite right. That's just how i see it. It's not a big deal.
I'm a bit confused. I thought for sure the keyword for this was going to be Divine Shield. That's a Paladin thing, right? I mean, Paladins are good with healing as well but Lifesteal? Bloodsucking warriors of light. Alright. The card is good. That's it.
Mindflayer is a little strange. It feels like a Steal Priest card. The only purpose is to copy a valuable minion your opponent has. But it's a delayed effect because it's a deathrattle. And it's a deathrattle that only has any value through a battlecry. Cards that resummon the minion are not very good with it (Wretched Reclaimer, Embalming Ritual). Which means you need copy effects (Vivid Nightmare, Shadowy Figure, Power Word: Replicate) to make the most out of it. I don't know. I like the extra support for Deathrattle Priest but this card doesn't seem very good because you are completely dependent on your opponent to get any value out of it.
But Chronobreaker seems very powerful as a midrange minion that threatens your opponent's board if they try to remove it. Requires dragon synergy but that shouldn't be a big deal. The fact that it only damages enemy minions is a big deal. You can develop your own board freely while they will be punished when they remove this minion. It's pretty good.
Looks really strong but you need to constantly place dragons on the board to keep this. It's very unlikely that any small dragons stick for more than a turn. And big dragons come down very late in the game (and may still be removed in a single turn). It's good support for Dragon Hunter but it feels very similar to Eaglehorn Bow. Sometimes you won't have time to hold back on attacking while waiting for a dragon to play. Just like when you can't afford to let them develop a board because they are intentionally avoiding popping your secrets. If you play too greedy, you could be punished pretty hard. Also, you still need to face tank stuff that you want to remove and as with any other weapons it will be easily removed by tech cards. Zephrys isn't leaving anytime soon, after all. Overall, it may look scary at first glance but it's just good, not amazing.
Edit: Btw, this card feels completely out of place in Hunter. It looks like a Paladin card that they realized was too broken for the class last minute and just decided to give it to Hunter instead.
Good if your deck is full of high cost cards. You have a good chance of pulling something big and getting a discount on it. If the card drawn by the opponent is high cost as well then you more or less break even. This becomes more consistent against aggro decks because those decks only run cheap cards. You get a huge discount and one of their cards become too expensive for them at the same time. Highlander Mage could make good use of this and big decks could also benefit from it.
Budget Doomsayer! A nice new option for Control decks and you can do some funky things with it (like giving it lifesteal with Lightforged Blessing). Good but not amazing. Strong but not broken.
Since it only applies to dragons in the deck, this may not be as busted as it looks. You need to play this on curve to get the most out of it, a reasonable amount of dragons in the deck and you need to not draw them before you play this. It's certainly a very strong card and maybe it's too powerful, but i think people are overreacting to it. But it's true that this invokes Prince Keleseth feelings. The person who draws this first and plays on curve is always going to be ahead. This makes classes that would otherwise struggle to run dragons have a chance at a good Dragon deck. The greediest dragons like Emeriss certainly love it.
A better Shifter Zerus. The fact that it keeps its cost at 5 mana is what makes this card interesting. You can get some of those more greedy cards (like Sathrovarr) with a big discount. It's still far from a reliable card but not unplayable. But i'm getting Chameleos vibes from this.
Edit: After thinking a little bit more, i have realized that this card is pretty dangerous actually. It combines two of the most unhealthy things for competitive play: insane RNG highrolls + mana cheating. That's exactly what Mutate + Mogu Fleshshaper or Desert Hare + Evolve represent. This card could deceptively be meta warping but in a negative way.
The eggs have a triggered effect (start of turn) instead of a deathrattle. That gives your opponent plenty of time to deal with them before they hatch and you end up with nothing afterwards (i doubt the 5/5 is going to survive as well). This doesn't seem very good but it's worth at least experimenting with.
The first thing people will notice with Cumulo-Maximus is its synergy with quest, but i also see this as a nice tool for Control Shaman as well. The Warlock dragon seems strong, but slow. That means they are pushing Dragon Warlock in a slow Control direction. Fine by me.
I'd say pretty much anything else is a better target for Shadow of Death, but, if done correctly, it's easier to capitalize on the Obelisk's end of turn effect instead of getting a bunch of these birds and hoping they don't get wiped out. The bird is threatening but extremely frail. Obelisk is unreliable but always works if you do the combo with an empty deck. This bird is better if played on curve, sticking for a turn then casting Shadow of Death immediately after. But even Blink Fox would work in that case. Yeah... This actually made me doubt this bird card even more.
The mandatory "For Fun" combo card of this expansion. It has a good body and a beast tag which means it's not as hopeless as previous cards (Desert Obelisk, Mogu Cultist), but the payoff isn't as spectacular. You just get a bunch of birds that deal a ton of damage. No cool animation, no giant minion that annihilates everything and so on. It may be a better card on its own, but it's disappointing in terms of spectacle.
Good tech card with the upside of the Pirate tag. I don't think it's going to be all that necessary in standard (for now), but it could have a small impact in wild. It's main use is against "infinite" weapons like Kingsbane and Val'anyr. The fact that this is an epic card makes it a little expensive as a tech option, but cheaper than Harrison Jones. But ooze gets the job done for free against most weapons so... This is a real niche card. Designed for very specific purposes.
Yeah, that's true! A neutral counter to those is actually really nice! Thanks for bringing this up!
Meme card. Good for some fun moments but extremely inconsistent for competitive. And that's fine. Not every card needs to be a highly competitive meta candidate. But i'd rather play with Transmogrifier in a Plot Twist deck instead of this.
Edit: As pointed by others, this is actually a nice tech against enemy shuffling useless/harmful cards into your deck. Now Hakkar and Bomb Warrior won't be meta anymore. And Bad Luck Albatross decks died before they were even born.
Better late than never, i suppose. This card is something the game was in dire need last year when Odd Warrior was around and Druids stalled very easily through armor gain. Right now, i doubt this will see meaningful play in standard as the heavy armor gain decks are gone. This will help aggro decks against Control Warrior but that's it. But it's good to have something like this available in case we need it. Wild appreciates it because it shuts down some really ridiculous stuff (like the BEEEES!!! + Linecracker + Earthen Scales combo). High Priest Thekal suffers a major hit from this card's addition to the game as well. It's also good that Warrior has the ability to play a tempo deck now because this card would kill the class if it's only viable strategy was stall + remove + armor gain. Last year, it would be dead for sure.
Edit: Just complementing my thoughts on this card. The main problem with it is how Warrior was designed around armor as a class. The Warrior hero power does nothing other than give a little bit of armor. It doesn't impact the board in any way and it doesn't progress you towards winning the game (like Hunter). To compensate for this, they created armor synergy cards for the class. Cards that take that number (armor amount) and do X thing with it. This new tech card is capable of nullifying completely the hero power and all its synergy cards instantly. Warrior doesn't just lose X amount of health. They lose the ability to use many of its class specific cards that are meant to compensate for the weak hero power. That's really bad. Whether or not this kills the class, it certainly targets and hurts it much, much more than any other class in the game. That's not a really fair thing, i'd say.
So, we have a dragon that adds two cards of a specific type (spells) to your hand, with a specific cost (1) and from your class? That's crazy... Also, Shield Block with a 2/3 body. Slightly less armor and the card drawn isn't from your deck but lackeys are quite good so... Yeah, it's pretty crazy as well. This expansion is insane.
Yeah, but it still feels weird. Lifesteal as a word implies things like draining the life essence of other living creatures and that's certainly not a thing for warriors of light. I know it's just a game mechanic and a keyword but it doesn't feel quite right. That's just how i see it. It's not a big deal.
I'm a bit confused. I thought for sure the keyword for this was going to be Divine Shield. That's a Paladin thing, right? I mean, Paladins are good with healing as well but Lifesteal? Bloodsucking warriors of light. Alright. The card is good. That's it.
Mindflayer is a little strange. It feels like a Steal Priest card. The only purpose is to copy a valuable minion your opponent has. But it's a delayed effect because it's a deathrattle. And it's a deathrattle that only has any value through a battlecry. Cards that resummon the minion are not very good with it (Wretched Reclaimer, Embalming Ritual). Which means you need copy effects (Vivid Nightmare, Shadowy Figure, Power Word: Replicate) to make the most out of it. I don't know. I like the extra support for Deathrattle Priest but this card doesn't seem very good because you are completely dependent on your opponent to get any value out of it.
But Chronobreaker seems very powerful as a midrange minion that threatens your opponent's board if they try to remove it. Requires dragon synergy but that shouldn't be a big deal. The fact that it only damages enemy minions is a big deal. You can develop your own board freely while they will be punished when they remove this minion. It's pretty good.
Looks really strong but you need to constantly place dragons on the board to keep this. It's very unlikely that any small dragons stick for more than a turn. And big dragons come down very late in the game (and may still be removed in a single turn). It's good support for Dragon Hunter but it feels very similar to Eaglehorn Bow. Sometimes you won't have time to hold back on attacking while waiting for a dragon to play. Just like when you can't afford to let them develop a board because they are intentionally avoiding popping your secrets. If you play too greedy, you could be punished pretty hard. Also, you still need to face tank stuff that you want to remove and as with any other weapons it will be easily removed by tech cards. Zephrys isn't leaving anytime soon, after all. Overall, it may look scary at first glance but it's just good, not amazing.
Edit: Btw, this card feels completely out of place in Hunter. It looks like a Paladin card that they realized was too broken for the class last minute and just decided to give it to Hunter instead.
Good if your deck is full of high cost cards. You have a good chance of pulling something big and getting a discount on it. If the card drawn by the opponent is high cost as well then you more or less break even. This becomes more consistent against aggro decks because those decks only run cheap cards. You get a huge discount and one of their cards become too expensive for them at the same time. Highlander Mage could make good use of this and big decks could also benefit from it.
Budget Doomsayer! A nice new option for Control decks and you can do some funky things with it (like giving it lifesteal with Lightforged Blessing). Good but not amazing. Strong but not broken.
Since it only applies to dragons in the deck, this may not be as busted as it looks. You need to play this on curve to get the most out of it, a reasonable amount of dragons in the deck and you need to not draw them before you play this. It's certainly a very strong card and maybe it's too powerful, but i think people are overreacting to it. But it's true that this invokes Prince Keleseth feelings. The person who draws this first and plays on curve is always going to be ahead. This makes classes that would otherwise struggle to run dragons have a chance at a good Dragon deck. The greediest dragons like Emeriss certainly love it.
A better Shifter Zerus. The fact that it keeps its cost at 5 mana is what makes this card interesting. You can get some of those more greedy cards (like Sathrovarr) with a big discount. It's still far from a reliable card but not unplayable. But i'm getting Chameleos vibes from this.
Edit: After thinking a little bit more, i have realized that this card is pretty dangerous actually. It combines two of the most unhealthy things for competitive play: insane RNG highrolls + mana cheating. That's exactly what Mutate + Mogu Fleshshaper or Desert Hare + Evolve represent. This card could deceptively be meta warping but in a negative way.
The eggs have a triggered effect (start of turn) instead of a deathrattle. That gives your opponent plenty of time to deal with them before they hatch and you end up with nothing afterwards (i doubt the 5/5 is going to survive as well). This doesn't seem very good but it's worth at least experimenting with.
Nice! Tech against highlander decks is highly appreciated, but i'd rather just play Bomb Warrior if i want to counter those decks more efficiently.
The first thing people will notice with Cumulo-Maximus is its synergy with quest, but i also see this as a nice tool for Control Shaman as well. The Warlock dragon seems strong, but slow. That means they are pushing Dragon Warlock in a slow Control direction. Fine by me.
I'd say pretty much anything else is a better target for Shadow of Death, but, if done correctly, it's easier to capitalize on the Obelisk's end of turn effect instead of getting a bunch of these birds and hoping they don't get wiped out. The bird is threatening but extremely frail. Obelisk is unreliable but always works if you do the combo with an empty deck. This bird is better if played on curve, sticking for a turn then casting Shadow of Death immediately after. But even Blink Fox would work in that case. Yeah... This actually made me doubt this bird card even more.
The mandatory "For Fun" combo card of this expansion. It has a good body and a beast tag which means it's not as hopeless as previous cards (Desert Obelisk, Mogu Cultist), but the payoff isn't as spectacular. You just get a bunch of birds that deal a ton of damage. No cool animation, no giant minion that annihilates everything and so on. It may be a better card on its own, but it's disappointing in terms of spectacle.
Good tech card with the upside of the Pirate tag. I don't think it's going to be all that necessary in standard (for now), but it could have a small impact in wild. It's main use is against "infinite" weapons like Kingsbane and Val'anyr. The fact that this is an epic card makes it a little expensive as a tech option, but cheaper than Harrison Jones. But ooze gets the job done for free against most weapons so... This is a real niche card. Designed for very specific purposes.
Good AoE card for Priest and i think it's good enough to see play standalone (no need for a Dragon deck).
Triple targeted draw + damage over 3 turns is pretty good, but i don't think this will revive Pirate Warrior in standard without further support.