SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
I see this mainly in Pirate Warrior for standard. I think the power of this in that archetype is less about the spellburst and more about curving into Captain Greenskin or Doctor Krastinov with an aggressive 4 mana weapon, which would allow you to play Cutting Class for free on turn 5 as well. Bomb and Enrage Warriors have their own weapons they run already and Control Warrior doesn't have a competitive win condition. Maybe Big Warrior also runs this, but I think that deck will be too slow in standard.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
A powerful stat bomb on turn 6, but how often will you have spell damage lingering around from the previous turn? I'm leaning towards the answer of not likely as most spell damage minions don't have great stats. Mage has a powerful way of enabling this with Lab Partner and Primordial Studies, but that's a 3 card combo on turn 6 which is not likely to come together. Overall, Sorcerous Substitute is a powerful play which can turn into a win condition for spell damage decks, it's just somewhat difficult to get the battlecry effect.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
The main issue with Rattlegore is that it does nothing defensive the turn it enters play, unless you summon it off of Commencement which isn't always going to happen. There is also the issue that it is crushed by silence and transform effects, which are somewhat common in standard and we are getting more of in Scholomance with Devolving Missiles. Maybe this makes sense in a Big Warrior deck, but I think that archetype is too slow for standard.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
It's almost like Azure Drake, but I don't think Drake would nearly be as prevalent in recent metas even with all of the standard dragon synergies. Drake is mostly outclassed by Big Ol' Whelp as Whelp has more stats and there isn't as much use for spell damage in standard. Steward of Scrolls is a worse version of Azure Drake as you'd rather have a card from your deck than a random one, and there is barely any elemental synergy in standard going into Scholomance (and the ones that exist aren't competitively viable). There are much cheaper ways to generate faster spells in standard like Wandmaker for Steward to ever be relevant.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
A faster version of Holy Water for 1 more mana. The issues with Initiation is that 1) Priest already has highly efficient removal and 2) for the tempo of summoning a minion and killing an opposing one, I think Cabal Shadow Priest works better as you get more guaranteed stats and can steal minions above 4 health (in exchange for the attack restriction). Initiation doesn't excel at either removal or tempo, so I don't think it sees play.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
When you compare this to cards like Flanking Strike and Restless Mummy, this just looks worse than those as the second half of the card is delayed and requires additional mana. I think Troll Batrider and Burrowing Scorpid are better options than this.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
Jandice Barov lends herself well to a tempo strategy. If you've been putting some pressure on your opponent in the early turns (1-4), then Jandice becomes a problem for them due to the shear amount of stats across 3 bodies. Sure, one of them easily dies, but you have some control over that, either choosing the weaker body or maybe a deathrattle minion. Overall, it's not going to be very often that your opponent can deal with all of the stats on turn 5, making Jandice a great play to continue pressure in a tempo deck. I see this more as a Rogue card than a Mage card as Rogue has a more defined tempo strategy going into Scholomance than Mage.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
The deathrattle reminds me of Imprisoned Felmaw, which is now a staple in aggressive Hunter strategies in standard. That's really where I see Infiltrator Lilian: in an aggressive Rogue with stealth synergies. Lilian is pretty tricky for the opponent to deal with, being a stealth minion that will usually stick around for stealth synergy cards and to push face. The immediate deathrattle pushes for more damage by either going face or helping you keep board control. Overall, I see Lilian along with Secret Passage and maybe Jandice Barov forming a competitively viable Stealth Tempo Rogue.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
I think that, on average, the random taunt minions are of poor quality. Why not just run taunt minions that are more defensive and synergize with your deck instead of running this?
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
The weird thing about Devolving Missiles is that I think it works best when your opponent has only minion on their board. If that minion is threatening, this is effectively a 1 mana Polymorph that greatly shrinks down that minion's stats. Against a wide board, it can still be impactful, but the spell goes down in consistency as it can hit a minion you don't care about hitting multiple times. I think this is more suited for slower decks like Highlander Mage who can utilize this well against a board of 1-2 minions. In Shaman, I can only really see this in Galakrond Shaman, but they already have ways to respond to the board through their invoke cards and Galakrond, the Tempest.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
I think Mozaki, Master Duelist will prove to be clunky as she demands 5 mana and multiple small spells and damaging spells within a relatively small timeframe. On 10 mana, you'd only have 5 mana to do anything after played Mozaki, and if you play her on turn 5 and she sticks around, you'd have 6 mana and a limited hand based on how early in the game it is to follow up Mozaki. For Mozaki to really work, you need to discount her, and the only way Mage can do that in standard is Jepetto Joybuzz, which is an inconsistent method to do so.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
Triggering a spellburst effect is a 2 card combo of playing the spellburst card and then the spell to trigger it. This presents inconsistency in having both cards in your hand at a given moment, so the spellburst effect needs to be powerful and consistent for it to be worth the effort. For Krolusk Barkstripper, I don't think the effect is consistent enough to play 2 cards to trigger it, even with the card's stats. Just run Deadly Shot instead if you want a hard removal effect in Hunter, it's cheaper than triggering Barkstripper's effect.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
This is very close to Mountain Giant levels of threatening, though it comes out a turn later than the giant. Still, a great payoff for the Soul Fragment package in Warlock that can also be copied through Felosophy to continue pressuring your opponent.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
This is Darkbomb but plus 1 mana for a 3/4 body. Great for contesting the board on turn 3 and potentially removing something or creating lethal in the mid-to-late game. You can probably get the battlecry effect pretty often on turn 3 considering Spirit Jailer and Soul Shear curve into this. A great payoff card for the Soul Fragment package in Warlock.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
This isn't good to play on turn 3, and even if you trigger the spellburst with a high cost spell, the effect isn't consistent enough to provide any inherent synergy for any deck. A meme card if I ever saw one.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
These weapon-buffing cards have primarily seen play in aggressive decks as a way to apply more pressure with their weapons. This is strikingly similar to Captain Greenskin, so I imagine any deck considering him will also consider Doctor Krastinov. Warrior has some great weapons in standard in already runs Greenskin in Pirate Warrior, so Krostinov seems like a perfect fit there. I think Rogue has a tougher time running Krastinov since they don't have a weapon as consistently equipped as Warrior, but that could easily change with new Rogue weapons in later expansions.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
This isn't tempo-driven on turn 1 and the effect becomes more minuscule as the game goes on, even with the effect being potentially infinite. Pen Flinger isn't synergistic or impactful enough for any deck to run.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
A good AoE even if you don't run Soul Fragment synergy as it's Volcanic Potion with delayed healing. This is limited to slower Warlock decks due to Zoolock not wanting to destroy all of their minions, but those slower Warlock decks exist already. Overall, a very solid card, especially if you are running Soul Fragment synergies.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
If you include a weapon (that attacks) in any class or deck, you want it to have an immediate effect as you are sacrificing tempo in playing a minion to play a weapon instead. Self-Sharpening Sword doesn't have enough attack or a board-influencing effect when it is played, so I don't see why any deck wants to run it.
SparkinariusCrossroads Historian 715471 PostsJoined 07/18/2019
I think this will mostly feel worse than Dirty Tricks as you'd rather have 2 cards from your deck that fit your game plan instead of cards that your opponent plays in which they control what they are and how many you get. This does work well with Bazaar Burglary and is probably the only deck this will be effective in.
I see this mainly in Pirate Warrior for standard. I think the power of this in that archetype is less about the spellburst and more about curving into Captain Greenskin or Doctor Krastinov with an aggressive 4 mana weapon, which would allow you to play Cutting Class for free on turn 5 as well. Bomb and Enrage Warriors have their own weapons they run already and Control Warrior doesn't have a competitive win condition. Maybe Big Warrior also runs this, but I think that deck will be too slow in standard.
A powerful stat bomb on turn 6, but how often will you have spell damage lingering around from the previous turn? I'm leaning towards the answer of not likely as most spell damage minions don't have great stats. Mage has a powerful way of enabling this with Lab Partner and Primordial Studies, but that's a 3 card combo on turn 6 which is not likely to come together. Overall, Sorcerous Substitute is a powerful play which can turn into a win condition for spell damage decks, it's just somewhat difficult to get the battlecry effect.
The main issue with Rattlegore is that it does nothing defensive the turn it enters play, unless you summon it off of Commencement which isn't always going to happen. There is also the issue that it is crushed by silence and transform effects, which are somewhat common in standard and we are getting more of in Scholomance with Devolving Missiles. Maybe this makes sense in a Big Warrior deck, but I think that archetype is too slow for standard.
It's almost like Azure Drake, but I don't think Drake would nearly be as prevalent in recent metas even with all of the standard dragon synergies. Drake is mostly outclassed by Big Ol' Whelp as Whelp has more stats and there isn't as much use for spell damage in standard. Steward of Scrolls is a worse version of Azure Drake as you'd rather have a card from your deck than a random one, and there is barely any elemental synergy in standard going into Scholomance (and the ones that exist aren't competitively viable). There are much cheaper ways to generate faster spells in standard like Wandmaker for Steward to ever be relevant.
A faster version of Holy Water for 1 more mana. The issues with Initiation is that 1) Priest already has highly efficient removal and 2) for the tempo of summoning a minion and killing an opposing one, I think Cabal Shadow Priest works better as you get more guaranteed stats and can steal minions above 4 health (in exchange for the attack restriction). Initiation doesn't excel at either removal or tempo, so I don't think it sees play.
When you compare this to cards like Flanking Strike and Restless Mummy, this just looks worse than those as the second half of the card is delayed and requires additional mana. I think Troll Batrider and Burrowing Scorpid are better options than this.
Jandice Barov lends herself well to a tempo strategy. If you've been putting some pressure on your opponent in the early turns (1-4), then Jandice becomes a problem for them due to the shear amount of stats across 3 bodies. Sure, one of them easily dies, but you have some control over that, either choosing the weaker body or maybe a deathrattle minion. Overall, it's not going to be very often that your opponent can deal with all of the stats on turn 5, making Jandice a great play to continue pressure in a tempo deck. I see this more as a Rogue card than a Mage card as Rogue has a more defined tempo strategy going into Scholomance than Mage.
The deathrattle reminds me of Imprisoned Felmaw, which is now a staple in aggressive Hunter strategies in standard. That's really where I see Infiltrator Lilian: in an aggressive Rogue with stealth synergies. Lilian is pretty tricky for the opponent to deal with, being a stealth minion that will usually stick around for stealth synergy cards and to push face. The immediate deathrattle pushes for more damage by either going face or helping you keep board control. Overall, I see Lilian along with Secret Passage and maybe Jandice Barov forming a competitively viable Stealth Tempo Rogue.
I think that, on average, the random taunt minions are of poor quality. Why not just run taunt minions that are more defensive and synergize with your deck instead of running this?
The weird thing about Devolving Missiles is that I think it works best when your opponent has only minion on their board. If that minion is threatening, this is effectively a 1 mana Polymorph that greatly shrinks down that minion's stats. Against a wide board, it can still be impactful, but the spell goes down in consistency as it can hit a minion you don't care about hitting multiple times. I think this is more suited for slower decks like Highlander Mage who can utilize this well against a board of 1-2 minions. In Shaman, I can only really see this in Galakrond Shaman, but they already have ways to respond to the board through their invoke cards and Galakrond, the Tempest.
I think Mozaki, Master Duelist will prove to be clunky as she demands 5 mana and multiple small spells and damaging spells within a relatively small timeframe. On 10 mana, you'd only have 5 mana to do anything after played Mozaki, and if you play her on turn 5 and she sticks around, you'd have 6 mana and a limited hand based on how early in the game it is to follow up Mozaki. For Mozaki to really work, you need to discount her, and the only way Mage can do that in standard is Jepetto Joybuzz, which is an inconsistent method to do so.
Triggering a spellburst effect is a 2 card combo of playing the spellburst card and then the spell to trigger it. This presents inconsistency in having both cards in your hand at a given moment, so the spellburst effect needs to be powerful and consistent for it to be worth the effort. For Krolusk Barkstripper, I don't think the effect is consistent enough to play 2 cards to trigger it, even with the card's stats. Just run Deadly Shot instead if you want a hard removal effect in Hunter, it's cheaper than triggering Barkstripper's effect.
This is very close to Mountain Giant levels of threatening, though it comes out a turn later than the giant. Still, a great payoff for the Soul Fragment package in Warlock that can also be copied through Felosophy to continue pressuring your opponent.
This is Darkbomb but plus 1 mana for a 3/4 body. Great for contesting the board on turn 3 and potentially removing something or creating lethal in the mid-to-late game. You can probably get the battlecry effect pretty often on turn 3 considering Spirit Jailer and Soul Shear curve into this. A great payoff card for the Soul Fragment package in Warlock.
This isn't good to play on turn 3, and even if you trigger the spellburst with a high cost spell, the effect isn't consistent enough to provide any inherent synergy for any deck. A meme card if I ever saw one.
These weapon-buffing cards have primarily seen play in aggressive decks as a way to apply more pressure with their weapons. This is strikingly similar to Captain Greenskin, so I imagine any deck considering him will also consider Doctor Krastinov. Warrior has some great weapons in standard in already runs Greenskin in Pirate Warrior, so Krostinov seems like a perfect fit there. I think Rogue has a tougher time running Krastinov since they don't have a weapon as consistently equipped as Warrior, but that could easily change with new Rogue weapons in later expansions.
This isn't tempo-driven on turn 1 and the effect becomes more minuscule as the game goes on, even with the effect being potentially infinite. Pen Flinger isn't synergistic or impactful enough for any deck to run.
A good AoE even if you don't run Soul Fragment synergy as it's Volcanic Potion with delayed healing. This is limited to slower Warlock decks due to Zoolock not wanting to destroy all of their minions, but those slower Warlock decks exist already. Overall, a very solid card, especially if you are running Soul Fragment synergies.
If you include a weapon (that attacks) in any class or deck, you want it to have an immediate effect as you are sacrificing tempo in playing a minion to play a weapon instead. Self-Sharpening Sword doesn't have enough attack or a board-influencing effect when it is played, so I don't see why any deck wants to run it.
I think this will mostly feel worse than Dirty Tricks as you'd rather have 2 cards from your deck that fit your game plan instead of cards that your opponent plays in which they control what they are and how many you get. This does work well with Bazaar Burglary and is probably the only deck this will be effective in.