Rogues Bring Thievery and Deathrattles to Fractured in Alterac Valley - Hearthstone Card Review & Theorycraft Deck

The full Fractured in Alterac Valley set has been revealed and it's time to look at all the new cards and look at how Rogue will be doing this expansion. We'll be breaking each of the Rogue cards down.

• You can see all the new cards in our Fractured in Alterac Valley guide.
• Our deckbuilder will let you theorycraft your own decks using the new cards before the expansion arrives.
• You can simulate pack openings in our Fractured in Alterac Valley Pack Opening Simulator.
• Don't forget to take part in our Tavern Crawl to earn on-site cosmetics!

Keep in mind that this is an early look at the class before we've been able to play with the new cards, so while we try to be as accurate as possible in our predictions of what is to come, no one can perfectly predict the Hearthstone meta.

Rogue Deck Themes in Fractured in Alterac Valley

Thief/burgle and Deathrattle are two main themes for Rogue in Alterac Valley. Both getting some substantial boost and build around cards to make the archetypes worthwhile.

Shadowcrafter Scabbs

Sticky fingers required.

Scabbs seems like a pretty powerful Legendary, if we consider that half the battlecry is a card that costs 6 mana - Vanish - that alone makes the card seem very strong. Clearing out board and putting two stealth minions down at the same time will provide a nice tempo swing. The hero power has potential to spawn all kinds of combo decks - only time will tell how broken free Preparation a turn for all card types is. If there is going to be new OTK Rogue deck this expansion, you can bet Scabbs will be a key part of it.

Bonus for Wild players: Generate Coldarra Drake and break your mouse :)

Cera'thine Fleetrunner

She does have time for games, actually.

This might be too much RNG even for my taste. The discount is solid and it replaces minions in your hand too, so you could get some immediate value; the body is decent for the cost. Overall an interesting card, but I'm not sure which deck would utilize the effect. Even Thief Rogue wants to play their minions that generate additional cards. Maybe an aggro/tempo Rogue as a kind of last push, or switch in a strategy if they get to mid-to-late game to fish for something to close the game with? I'm sure someone will experiment with it.

Forsaken Lieutenant

Forsaken, but not forgotten, demotion is in works.

A really powerful card wrapped in a tiny package. The ability to potentially replicate any deathrattle you choose seems like a really good ability for a deck focused on a specific strategy in mind. And with Snowfall Graveyard also making a debut, there is definitely going to be a Rogue deck that will try to make full use of it.

The Lobotomizer

Famous last words: "Why yes, I am a doctor."

One would think this is a Priest card reading the effect, but no, Rogues can *wow* too. Depending on how easy will it be for you to trigger Honorable Kill, getting a free card and information on what your opponent draws next, twice, seems like a powerful ability that lets you adjust your play ahead of time.

Contraband Stash

Discovering a time-capsule of your 8-year old self be like...

Pretty much a mini-Tess. Depending on what cards you played, this can be either a powerful tempo swing, or a total flop. Similar to having to keep the replay value in mind when playing cards from other classes for Tess' sake, this will further test your analytic and tactical thinking, planning your moves many turns ahead. Or you can just embrace the RNG and treat it like a smaller, semi-random Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron :)

Wildpaw Gnoll

I am blue, what about you?

In a dedicated Burgle deck, you should have no problem getting this guy close to 0 mana. And low mana 4/5 rush? What's not to like? Even for 4 mana this is ok, anything pass that is awesome.

Snowfall Graveyard

Snow + Bones = ???

Three turns is a lot of time to have such an effect active. This card will most likely become a build-a-round for deathrattle based decks from now on. You are taking a hefty tempo loss playing this, but you could also already have deathrattle minions waiting to be sacked, so it will depend on the situation. Either way, an effect your opponent cannot remove lasting for 3 turns, which lets you setup whatever combo you are working towards seems like a card that should have no problems seeing play.

Double Agent

Fluffy Agent and Damn! Agent are still undercover. Double was just not enough to sell the story.

Double Agent will only slot into thief-style decks, but those decks should not have a problem to earn themselves a card from other class in their hand by turn 3. So getting two 3/3s for 3 mana will be a substantial tempo push for them.

Coldtooth Yeti

He also has a sweet-tooth, so watch out!

This is one of my top picks to be one of the most hated cards of the set, if any minion-based Rogue deck makes it on top. On The Coin, you are literally Innervate-ing a Chillwind Yeti on turn 2, as in the old Druid days. When not on the Coin, it may be harder to trigger the combo, or rather trigger it early enough to provide a similar snowball effect, but a 4/5 for 3 mana is going to feel nice at any point. Often you used to coin Edwin VanCleef as a 4/4 to make an early tempo play, this is better in the same situation.

Reconnaissance

Fact checking in action.

A nice little card that supports both pushed archetypes in this expansion - Thieving and Deathrattles. Though Journey Below wasn't always a huge favorite in either despite being so cheap. This being more expensive might suffer the same fate, although the discount on the discovered minion might actually make a big difference.

Theorycrafting Rogue in Forged in the Barrens

I'm a sucker for Thief Rogue, so this is what I've got. I aim for a lower curve to get on the board early and to help trigger Coldtooth Yetis asap. Your turn 3 should be your power turn with Yeti or Double Agent and take if from there. There are plenty of cards to help you trigger Double Agent on curve.

Scabbs is there mainly for the battlecry effect rather than the hero power, but depending on the random cards you get, it could come in handy as well. Alex as a finisher or a heal, might be unnecessary, or potentially too costly for this deck, but as one of the only two really expensive cards in your (starting) deck, it should be ok. There weren't many 4-cost cards I wanted to include, so we may as well try Kazakus, providing extra pushing power with its battlecry. All-in-all, you should get on the board fast, and if you can't close games early, you lean into the card generation and rely on Contraband Stash for your late game shenanigans.

Closing Thoughts on Rogue in Fractured in Alterac Valley

I like more burgle/thief support because it is my favorite Rogue archetype, but the deathrattle route with Snowfall Graveyard is also shaping to be an interesting one and I would argue probably more be consistent. It will be fun, mostly for you, when you can pull off your combo, but that is the case with any combo deck really. I think Rogue got both silly and really solid tools to build upon into the next year. I'm very excited to see how it fares this expansion and in the future.

What do you think about Rogue in Fractured in Alterac Valley? Let us know in the comments below!

More From Fractured in Alterac Valley

We've got more class reviews that you won't want to miss! Don't forget that you can see all the cards coming in the expansion in our Alterac Valley Expansion Guide and if you want to test your luck, you can head on over to our pack opener to crack some packs.

<