Our Thoughts on Hearthstone's Ashes of Outland Demon Hunter Cards

We've made it to the actual Ashes of Outland cards! It only took us three reviews.

We'll be going through the classes in alphabetical order, which coincidentally puts Demon Hunter first. I suppose that's a good thing, keeps all those other cards they just got fresh in your mind.

As always, our reviews are the best, every other review is worse than ours, and therefore you don't even need to look at them to compare. It's just a fact of the universe, like cheesecake being the best cake or turtles being the best... well, anything.

Sounds flashier than 'Ginger Sigil Runner'.

Quote From ShadowsOfSense

This is such a fun design for an aggressive card, I love it.

It perfectly negates the downside of running a lot of low-cost cards by having an ability that keeps your momentum going when you topdeck this. It's hardly ever going to be a bad idea to weave this 1-mana card into your turn, and while without the Outcast effect it is only a 2/1, you're rarely going to find yourself running this in a deck where that's an issue.

This is just.. Novice Engineer but more aggressive and for 1 less mana. I see no reason not to expect this in every Aggro Demon Hunter deck. It's not broken or anything, it's just a simple, good card.

Burn With Me

Quote From ShadowsOfSense

Whirlwind so nice, we did it twice.

This is probably one of the oldest Fan Creations ideas ever - an AoE that's split into two parts, so that it gains twice the advantage from Spell Damage and can clear little things from Deathrattle triggers. We've even seen a much larger version of it before in Earthquake.

While it's a shame this wasn't given to Warrior - which can make use of the self-damage effect much better - it's nice to see a smaller board clear for Control Demon Hunters to run. They will run this, of course, because it's a wonderful anti-aggro tool. Not just against Deathrattle spawns, but also against Divine Shields should those be relevant. This will be a great tool against that new neutral card for token decks. Rustsworn Cultist?

On Wednesdays we wear pink.

Quote From Noxious

A solid card. The stats aren't amazing, but they're not trash either. Do you find yourself without anything to play on turn 3? Pop this ghost on your board, and you might just find something. A solid card that offers a good choice of three tribe-locked cards. Maybe you'll get your third Imprisoned Antaen from it.

Illidan! What do your elf eyes see?

Quote From ShadowsOfSense

I know I popped off about Feast of Souls in the last review, but like… damn, they really do have a hell of a lot of card draw, huh? I'm suddenly not so sure Feast of Souls will make that big a splash in a class that can power through their deck so quickly even without it.

Spectral Sight is a fine card - drawing one card is a bit below average, drawing two a bit above, so it sits perfectly where it should. With all the other draw tools available to Demon Hunter, it's hard to say which decks would want this over others. Maybe you just slide it in as a one-of? I guess Highlander decks would run it.

Yo Ashton! You need a scarier name man.

Quote From linkblade91

Taz'dingo! Sen'jin Shieldmasta has finally met his match, attaching Lifesteal to a 4/3/5 Taunt minion. While not super flashy or exciting, this card could still be a decent enough minion for Demon Hunters who want to outlast their opponent. Any form of life recovery is paramount in a class that wants to attack with their face often, and this is some of that. Not much to say, really: he's got Taunt, he's got Lifesteal, and he's here to get the job done.

Wanted to be a regular summoner, but those plans fel through.

Quote From Noxious

An 8/3 that costs 6 to summon, and summons a random demon from your hand when played. I'm not confident about this card. The statline is… not great, though the low health does help get that demon to drop from your hand faster. I feel this card could have been better if it cost 5 mana and had a 7/3 or 6/3 statline. You are basically trading a lot of mana, almost an entire turn's worth, for a glass cannon that probably won't stick around to even deal damage. Why wouldn't you just summon that demon sitting in your hand by yourself? This isn't Warlock, you don't need to circumvent the discard mechanic.

Compare this to Voidcaller. A solid minion that is worth its stats, especially if played on turn 4, considering its powerful effect. The effect also fits better with the Warlock class, and the smaller mana cost gives you room to do a powerful play on the same turn, if you find yourself in the late game. Fel Summoner, by comparison, just feels awkward.

Nobody knows who's making glaives that small.

Quote From ShadowsOfSense

I really hope this is just a cute one-off and we don't end up like Paladin did and accidentally make Murlocs a core component of the Demon Hunter class.

As it stands, this is a really solid card. Average 2-drop stats and with your Hero Power it can quite easily achieve its Battlecry, making it a premium removal card. I'd expect to see this pop up quite a lot in the early days of Demon Hunter, but we'll have to wait and see if it gets refined out of decklists. It's not particularly synergistic with other cards the class has, so even though it's very good it might just not make the cut.

Phenomenal nether power; itty bitty living space.

Quote From Noxious

Let me tell you just how insane this card is. First up, you get a 10/6 minion for just 5 mana. It's also a demon, so you have a decent chance of discovering it with Netherwalker.

This already sounds like a good deal. But wait! Its effect deals 10 damage, randomly split among all enemies. That includes your opponent's face. It also happens to be dormant for two turns, giving you a little leeway to clear the board in advance and make sure most of that damage goes straight to that poor Warlock on the other side.

To truly understand just how powerful this card is, we need to peer into the past, on the day our friend Arch-Thief Rafaam was brought into the game.

- Rafaam costs 9 mana, so you can't really do much else on the turn you play him. Imprisoned Antaen costs 5. If played in the late game, you still have half your mana to be up to no good.
- Rafaam lets you discover three powerful spells. One of those spells is Timepiece of Horror. Timepiece of Horror has the same effect as the Antaen as soon as he wakes up, but costs 10 mana, so your turn is over the moment you play it. It's also not a minion, so there's no extra board presence offered by this spell.
- The two advantages Timepiece of Horror has over Imprisoned Antaen are as follows: Timepiece of Horror doesn't give your opponent any time to react to it. There's no two turn cooldown. Once it's cast, your opponent has no counter to it. The second advantage, and this might be cheating, is that Timepiece of Horror can be ignored in favor of the other two spells Rafaam offers: Lantern of Power and Mirror of Doom. 
- The advantages I listed above pale when you consider you can fit two, and with discover effects, perhaps even more Imprisoned Antaens in one game.

I don't see this card ever not being used.

I suppose it is pretty Rare to have two skulls.

Quote From Demonxz95

If you wanted to have a strong Outcast effect, here you go! This card is very strong. 5 mana to draw 3 cards has mostly been the norm. Even when Nourish has been nerfed to 6, it still has a home with Untapped Potential.

At 5 mana, it's already decent, but the Outcast effect is simply just insane. Reducing the Cost of anything by 3 is simply strong and on 3 cards, it's insane. It even helps get Outcast effects drawn easier to activate. Very strong card.

She's really mad somebody stole her jacket.

Quote From ShadowsOfSense

Almost Avenging Wrath (definitely didn't have to look up that card name) on a stick? Sounds good to me.

While you could see it as a downside that you don't get the effect immediately, I think the upside that your opponent needs to deal with this card or face the assault again more than makes up for it. Even the fact that it can hit face is a double-edged sword (hah) - you can pressure to kill the opponent by either gambling on leaving their minions alone and hitting face or by clearing their minions and guaranteeing the face hit, but if you're looking to clear the board you can't rely on that extra 6 damage going where you want it to.

This will definitely find a place in lists that focus more on the high end of the mana curve - I don't know that it's quite there for a more midrange deck though.

Contrary Shell Smash + Baton Pass

Quote From linkblade91

Keeping in mind the "old adage" that Rush minions are basically spells that deal damage to other minions, Coilfang Warlord is an 8-mana "Deal 9 damage to a minion. Summon a 5/9 with Taunt." This makes it very comparable to Firelands Portal. For one more mana, you're getting 4 extra damage and a guarantee that the 5-cost minion you're summoning will be a 5/9 with Taunt. That's fantastic. None of this RNG garbage where you could low-roll a Former Champ or a Stormpike Commando; just a straight-up, better-than-its-Cost minion with immediate impact on the board. Sure you can't roll a Zilliax either, but shut up I'm trying to make a point here! All-in-all, the lack of RNG means this is a very reliable removal+summon combo. If only Naga was a minion type you could take advantage of, this would be an 11 out of 10 card.

Illidan keeps bragging about how he got them from Azzinoth; nobody else knows who that is.

Quote From ShadowsOfSense

The control tool of control tools. This card is what Sul'thraze and Fool's Bane wish they were. Which I suppose makes sense, because Warriors have a far easier time managing their health through armor than Demon Hunters may have through their occasional bouts of Lifesteal.

Combine this with your Hero Power to make your own, better Sul'thraze; combine it with Inner Demon to kill as many minions as you want until your Durability runs out. This card is going to see a lot of play in Control lists. The only question is whether or not those lists will be beaten out by more aggressive ones.

Get in to the pit, get out of the pit, jeez. Switch it up now and then!

Quote From linkblade91

Remember when I said I love Taunt minions? Well, here we go again! A giant Taunt that can Recruit pull its friends into the fray is always appreciated by yours truly. Mana-cheating in general is extremely powerful under the right circumstances. Looking over the list, the four best options (at time of writing) appear to be Imprisoned Antaen, Hulking Overfiend, Priestess of Fury, and Wrathspike Brute, and yet two of them won't proc their abilities being pulled out this way. Ultimately, this means the card needs more options to truly succeed. *shrugs* Perhaps we'll see more heavies before the Year is out. Control Demon Hunter is something I badly want to see happen, but I'm just not sure it will happen right away.

Always going after every abel bodied minion.

Quote From Demonxz95

If you remember in my Charge vs Rush article, I asked if we would ever see another Charge card in the game. Dinotamer Brann may have summoned an old Classic, King Krush, but the last proper collectible Charge card printed was Chillblade Champion, all the way back in Knights of the Frozen Throne! And well, here it is.

But not only does it feature a surprise comeback of Charge, it also features arguably the most quintessential effect that the entire collective Hearthstone community unanimously thought would never appear in the game (and the entire r/customhearthstone community would tell you the same thing), and has been a subject of harsh discussion talks regarding card creation… Ignoring Taunt. This effect is basically what pushes DH into an aggressive direction.

A 4 mana 3/5 with Charge by itself is already strong, and the effect is a game-winner. Your opponent play some Taunt minions? That's okay, go face for 10 damage anyway. It's just simply that strong. I'm for sure going to craft this card on day 1 if I don't open it, which is not something I typically do to even most cards the community believes to be strong.

Trust me, it only hurts a little bit!

Quote From GoliathTheDwarf

I’m personally very excited for Ashes of Outland to be the first card set to feature legendary minions and spells interchangeably. For demon-hunter’s introduction to the game, this is both perfect flavor-wise and an interesting use of hero-power mechanics.

Lore-wise, this perfectly reflects one of the demon hunter’s most iconic abilities in Warcraft, the unleashing of their inner-demon. This momentarily fills them with power and transforms their body, making them grow larger and sprout demonic wings, basically turning their body into that of a demon for a short time. The temporary nature of this ability is excellently reproduced in the card, with the effect only lasting for two turns.

This card also provides a unique workaround to the ever-increasing amount of “new hero power” cards. Whether it’s cards that upgrade your hero power or give you a new one, like the Uldum quests, the fact that these last for the rest of the game can limit their power-level. Otherwise, they would be way too unbalanced. Metamorphosis works around this issue by providing two rounds of very strong and expensive burst damage, but then returns to the normal hero power afterwards. I’d personally like to see more cards in the future that use this concept as a creative way to circumvent the danger of such powerful abilities to the balance of the game.