The Deadmines, United in Stormwind's mini set, is going be live in less than 24 hours, and we're just done with one of the tightest reveal season ever!
Now that we're able to have a look all the cards, we can see that this mini set has some recurring themes shared by multiple classes:
- Pirates: the main focus of the mini set - almost every class got one and there are some Neutral tools too!
- Parrots - Battlecry Beasts that replicate something you previously did.
- Tradeable: back and stronger than ever - now you get an additional bonus every time you Trade!
Now, remember that, as usual, the Deadmines mini-set will be purchasable with 2000 Gold or cash ($14.99 for the whole thing).
Quote From Blizzard Delve into the Deadmines in the United in Stormwind Mini-Set, coming November 2! Edwin VanCleef and his crew are waiting for you with 35 unique new cards featuring Pirates and new Tradeable synergies! Get them in United in Stormwind packs, or get the entire 66-card Mini-Set for $14.99 or 2000 Gold!
Now let's see what we can expect from the Demon Hunter, Druid and Hunter cards that the Deadmines will bring to the game. Have a good read!
In case you missed it, a few days ago we published our United in Stormwind mini-set prediction article - how well do you think we did?
Demon Hunter
We start this review article with what is definitely not going to be the most sensational card of this mini set. We really struggle to see why Proving Grounds got printed. What really boggles our mind is that the new minions will be summoned from your deck, so there won't be a Duel! interaction: chances are you're going to suicide both of them and you're going to skip your entire turn without having accomplished anything!
We do see two scenarios, which unfortunately do not seem to be quite here, in which Proving Grounds may be somewhat useful: the first one implies filling your deck with minions with less Health than attack, so that you'll always have some remnants after they fight; the second one is filling your deck with stuff like Imprisoned Antaen or having Ace Hunter Kreen on board before casting the see mana spell you see above.
As we already said, both these scenarios look quite unrealistic, and so are the chances of Proving Grounds to see competitive play with this card pool.
We can see it as a budget Skull of Gul'dan that may become relevant after the latter rotates next year, but for now it just seems to be overly redundant. Demon Hunter is the class that struggles the least when it comes to card draw, and the fact that its Questline is Final Showdown says it all.
It's a good option to have, and we like the fact that Need for Greed encourages players to be traded, but for now it doesn't seem to have what it takes to make the cut into the meta.
While this card can be considered as a rather good unit in a vacuum, we think that it happens to be printed in a rather hostile meta. In order to express what we're trying to say, let's take Token Druid, one of the most common (and powerful) decks out there: many of the minion this archetype runs have 3 Health - Razormane Battleguard, Encumbered Pack Mule, Bonechewer Brawler, Far Watch Post. Crow's Nest Lookout lines up terribly against all of them and many more, like Wailing Vapor.
We're not saying that this minion is hopeless, but just that it won't probably be its time for a while.
Druid
Before talking about this minion, we want to point out that there are just 5 Choose One spells currently in Standard: Sow the Soil, Power of the Wild, Feral Rage, Nourish, Runic Carvings. This limited pool doesn't give Jerry Rig Carpenter many options to work with, but we can definitely see some potential in there.
First of all, you'll want to draw a Choose One spell you'd like to get both the effect of, doesn't matter if you'll have to pay its cost twice. If you look it this way, we can imagine a curve like turn 1 Lost in the Park, turn 2 Carpenter into turn 3 Feral Rage's Evolve Spines, which would complete the first step of your Questline and leave you Evolve Scales to use later on.
Another way to exploit Carpenter's effect is in Anacondra Druid, where Nourish is hands down one of the best cards in the deck and most of the times you'd like to cast both its halves.
Pretty much a mix of Shadow Visions and Thrive in the Shadows for Druid. Yes, it is not limited to spell, but if you manage to play the Discovered card you'll get another copy of it, while also thinning your deck. Not bad at all.
Remind that sometimes you do not really want to get the full effect and play the Discovered card: for example, if you're playing a combo deck like Celestial Alignment Druid you might just want to have Lady Anacondra in hand, without caring about the copy still in your deck.
On a side note, this is another Arcane spell for Druid: we starting to see a pattern here...
As many people already stated, this one's going to be one of the best cards (if not the best card) of the entire mini set. Not only it grants you remarkable flexibility, allowing you to decide between a Holy Smite (Redgill Razorjaw for those who like pointing out that a Rush minion cannot ignore Taunt) and a Voidwalker based on the current state of the board, but it also fills one of Token Druid's weaknesses: on-demand removal for the early game.
Moreover, Druid of the Reef also has synergy with Oracle of Elune. In fact, the latter states that the copy will be summoned after you play a minion (yes, great reading skills Avalon), so you'll get a secondary 1/3 with Taunt or 3/1 with Rush, and not just a plain 1/1.
Rip Druid of the Scythe: you won't be missed.
Hunter
Druid has a really similar spell in its Core Set called Mark of the Wild, which even got buffed, but has seen zero play in 7 months. While this is something to keep in mind, it is also true that Hunter is a lot more proficient with Deathrattles, and playing Doggie Biscuit on an 'egg' minion like Nerubian Egg or Bloated Python would put your opponent in a rather sketchy position. The Rush part is obviously good to have, but we think it's going to be quite difficult to have it active fast, so we don't expect to see Doggie Biscuit being played at its full potential very often.
Doggie Biscuit may also make the cut into Face Hunter as a way to get a couple favorable trades and establish early dominance and maybe Questline Hunter too, since it represents both card draw for its Tradeable side and an additional trigger for Tavish, Master Marksman.
On a final note, it's really interesting that Doggie Biscuit doesn't target Beasts only, as many similar cards did in the past: the flavor was literally there...
As we predicted, here's some Rat Hunter support. The thing is that Defias Blastfisher does not seem to be very appealing: sure, the effect looks good on paper and it can even deal damage to face, but it has low stats and seems to be a little overcosted. Maybe we're being too harsh with our review, but at least that is our first impression.
If we were to highlight a possible combo, we'd say that Rodent Nest into Defias Blastfisher deals 10 damage split across all enemies, but you cannot possibly build a deck around just a two-card combo.
Basically a Terrorscale Stalker that doesn't need the Deathrattle card to be on board but that is tied to the last one triggered - we'd say that this is a good deal. However, there doesn't seem to be many relevant Deathrattles in Standard, as the best one for an on-curve play are Bloated Python and Devouring Ectoplasm, but nothing else for the moment.
We expect Monstrous Parrot to become better and better with time and new sets, as Deathrattle support will eventually be printed.
What do you think about these cards? Are there any you're excited to play with? Let us know in the comments below!
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