The Darkmoon Faire Races Mini-set, released back in late January 2021, was definitely a new (and pretty successful) experiment in Hearthstone - not only it was able to provide new cards that shook up the meta, but it also came with a very appreciated bundle, purchasable with both real money or gold, that contained all the 35 new cards. Now, the bundle is going to expire May 10th (tomorrow) and, for those who are yet to buy it, we decided to give you a quick overview about whether it's still a good deal or not.
Preliminary Information
This Darkmoon Races bundle costs 2000 gold or 14.99 USD and it contains 4 Legendaries, 2 Epics, 28 Rares and 40 Commons.
Now, if we were to crunch some numbers, the total dust value you'd obtain from purchasing this bundle would be:
(4x400) + (2x100) + (28x20) + (40x5) = 2560 dust value
Assuming that each card packs contains around 100 dust on average (source), you could realistically expect to get 2000 dust from a 2000 gold investment. Given these numbers, it appears that the bundle's cost is more than beneficial towards your resource investment.
TL;DR: if all you care about is dust value, then this is a great deal for you - go click that 'buy' button.
Card Evaluation
Now, the next step is evaluating the cards contained in this bundle and to see what is their impact on the current meta or their potential to see some degree of play in the next 11 months of Standard rotation. Long story short, as you're going to see in a second, most of the cards are quite good, and almost all of them have seen some experimentation or are currently seeing play in top-tier decks, some of which are listed below.
Very Good Cards
These are the cards that stand out the most. Being funny or powerful, only one thing is certain: if you don't already own them, then you definitely want to take advantage of this promotion. Darkmoon Races showcases a handful of very powerful cards, good enough to push entire archetypes into the meta or to round up some decks' already acceptable performances.
For example, Envoy Rustwix is one of the funniest cards released and allows you to play more and more big hitters in the same game without having to own them all. Crabrider is so good that it is very likely going to get nerfed soon (hey: free dust here!). Arbor Up is less aggressive than the old Savage Roar but definitely way more resilient and annoying to remove. Hysteria is one of the best early game removals (if not the best one) in Standard, and still amazing in the late game. The list could easily go on, but we trust you got the point!
Good Cards
Not every card needs to be broken, some just need to exist in order to smoothen the deck's gameplan and give more options and flexibility.
Clear examples of this are Illidari Studies, a card that has been pretty much an auto-include in every Demon Hunter since its release: being able to get an extra roll on your Outcast cards or getting a Skull of Gul'dan on 6 is too valuable to pass on. The same reasoning goes for Imprisoned Phoenix (both Mage and Shaman have gained an advantage of this early Spell Damage boost, with definitely above average results: we expect this unit to see plenty of play in the future), Libram of Judgment (a staple in Libram Paladin for both healing and damage since Pen Flinger's nerf) and Sparkjoy Cheat (there's no way Secret Rogue will ever pass up a Kirin Tor Mage that draws a card too).
Situational Cards
Even though there are cards that aren't currently seeing play, most of them have the potential to make a comeback in the future: in fact, this mini-set brought support for many archetypes that took significant blows with the rotation, but that may come back with the addition of a couple more tools in the next few months. Barricade is the perfect example: a 4/8 worth of Taunts for 4 mana is definitely not shabby, but in order to see play it needs either Control Warrior to be good or Big Warrior to make a return. The same reasoning for Backfire: I challenge anyone to tell me that 3 mana draw 3 is bad, especially since Life Tap is considered the best Basic Hero Power.
On the other hand, some cards like Mistrunner are yet to show their potential because the class they belong to needs to receive tools good enough to make them stand on their own legs. Thrall would definitely like playing with a discounted Bonemare, but since Shaman is lacking so much right now, even Mistrunner is forced to take it slow. However, there's an old saying that goes by "never say never!". Rally! is yet to overcome the meta, but we've seen some fringe signals of life from Miracle Priest with Sethekk Veilweaver and Nazmani Bloodweaver.
Final Verdict
In the end, our suggestion greatly depends on the financial/in-game resources you currently have, but if you happen to own 2000 Gold laying there without any valid reason, then you should definitely purchase this bundle.
Sure, opening packs are way more thrilling than just hitting a button and scrolling through your collection, but this is a solid way for players, especially those who can't or don't want to invest real money in the game, to expand their collection and have more (good) tools at their disposal.
Note: all the deck lists features in this article were taken from the last Vicious Syndicate meta report.
What is the best memory that Darkmoon Races' cards have brought you so far? Let us know in the comments below?
Comments
It's not that simple. I had the same dilemma after the mini set. Because I saved opened 70+ packs at the mini set, I had no need to buy it with gold or card. Then I was wondering if it was worth spending 2000 gold on it for the dust, but I ended up saving it for the new expansion, and I never regretted it.
Think about it this way: would you rather spend gold on a dust worth of a legendary and 2 epics, or would you rather open 20 packs in the upcoming expansion, with not only a chence to open a legendary and at least 2 epics, but also lower your pity timer. It may still be worth buying with your card if it is not a financial burden, but for the love of love, hold on to your gold because it's the most valuable resource we have.
Definitely a good deal, but remember, these cards can be opened in the year of the phoenix packs which we're getting an abundance of (tavern brawl, rewards track and GM/MT viewings) so I'd rather find my last remaining cards in there and save up my 2k gold for the Barrens mini-set coming out at the end of the month. (I hope)
My best memory of the Darkmoon Races? 1 mana Nitroboost Poison. I really liked those weapon Rogue decks that played minions, like vulpera scoundrel, Krastinov, or steeldancer. Losing Dread Corsair hurt that version, though.
The art of these cards have so much flavour in its design and effects. It looks like the designers had a lot of fun designing these cards.
I really think it is a missed oppertunity that there was not more lore or a big event to promote the races.
There are even race-cards in other sets and relevant spells. But well, mercenaries should be the next big thing.
2k gold is totally worth it given the fact that most of them are still played, but I have to admit I miss those LoE and Karazhan adventures!
If you're going for whether the set is good in terms of meta relevance, then maybe 2k gold or 20 bucks is a little steep. Nearly all the good cards are rares and commons and the only legendary with even the broadest relevance would be Moonfang, not rustwix, and even then its not really that good.
Of course, there's still another year so there's always the chance both Keywarden Ivory and Dark Inquisitor Xanesh would be relevant at some point, but I think its unlikely.
But if youre like me and would prefer to climb up the ladder with meme decks then this is an absolute must get, because its 4 legendaries for 20 bucks (or 2k gold), unlike the ready-to-go decks (which incidentally is quite hilarious because a nerf patch would be in literally a week after they're open for sale) which may fetch you duplicate legendaries.
I think it's a good deal whether you are f2p or not.
Worst case you can dust cards for a better gold to dust ratio than typically found in packs as the article says.
More relevant to the next miniset though - the counter argument is that if you don't buy it you will likely get all the commons and most rares from just packs obtained from end of season, twitch drops etc especially if you are already saving them up. That does come at the expense of being less likely to get cards you need from the released Barrens set though depending on how much of it you already have.