The new Onyxia's Lair miniset has been revealed, and launches February 15!

Now that we're able to have a look at all the cards, we can see that this mini set has some recurring themes shared by multiple classes:

• Dragons - After more than two years since Descent of Dragons went live, we're receiving another Dragon-focused card release.
  
  • Black Dragon Callbacks - A four-card cycle featuring the most (in)famous Black Dragons in Hearthstone.
• Callback Cards - Onyxia's Lair's Mini-Set features cards with mechanics belonging to Forged in the Barrens and United in Stormwind.

This article is going to discuss what decks the Shaman, Warlock, Warrior, and Neutral cards may be good in and what interactions they have in Wild.

Shaman

This may be good in a Spell Damage burst deck that runs Spirit of the Frog and Drek'Thar. However, that deck already runs Rune Dagger as a way to boost spell damage, so it's possible this card would be unneeded and harder to set up. It may be worth trying though as a way to boost the consistency of Spell Damage in addition to Rune Dagger. This may also be nice in Even Shaman which cares about both board buffs and Spell Damage.

Wild Shaman has way better healing options than this, and Shaman combo decks either combo without Discounts using Shudderwock or use Emperor Thaurissan. We don't think this card will see any play.

Wild has a lot of stronger removals for Control decks, including Hagatha's Scheme and Volcano. It's also not a nature spell so it reduces the efficacy of Primal Dungeoneer. The only deck we think this might possibly see play in is a deck that wants Fire spells to enable Multicaster draw.

Warlock

This can be very powerful in Wild. Many Wild decks draw through their decks very quickly, improving the speed at which the Agonies from Curse of Agony will be drawn. In addition, this shuts down the no-duplicate decks that can be found in Wild. Finally, Wild has Augmented Elekk which can let you shuffle 6 copies per cast instead of 3. Combo decks using Warlock's powerful draw and removal options can be quite strong with this as a finisher.

Remember when Dragon Hunter was a thing? Rotnest Drake was one of the most powerful cards in it. This is similar, with 1 more attack and discarding a card from your hand. Although discarding is generally a downside, Wild has a lot of cards that want to be discarded: Boneweb Egg, Clutchmother Zavas, Silverware Golem, Fist of Jaraxxus, High Priestess Jeklik, and Hand of Gul'dan. A Discard Warlock with some of these cards may find Spawn of Deathwing to be a powerful tempo minion that also helps further your Discard synergy.

This is a Fel spell that can be combed with Felwalker, and is decent removal for wide boards. However, Wild Warlocks don't have to settle for decent as they have some of the most powerful removals in the game in Defile, Dark Skies, and Plague of Flames. Therefore, this card will probably not see any play as all of those removals outclass it. One niche interaction for Wild is that this can quickly reduce the cost of Jumbo Imps.

Warrior

This is good for tempo, but it's hard to see what decks this will fit in in Wild. Pirate Warrior is a very refined list and would rather have minions that help with quest completion. This may fit into some niche decks that want cheap removal, but in Wild, Shield Slam and Execute fit that purpose and don't damage your hero. 

A potential combo you can do is to use Silas Darkmoon to give your opponent a Soulbound Ashtongue and then attack that minion after using Hit It Very Hard twice.

This may be ok in Big Warrior or Tempo Warriors that want buffs.

This is a Shield Slam on a stick. It may be played in Control decks, Menagerie decks which want dragons, and Even Warriors which can easily gain Armor and don't have access to Shield Slam itself. As a Taunt, this may even be playable in Taunt Warriors as a high statted Taunt with a bonus effect.

Neutral

In general, this is weaker than Acolyte of Pain. However, there is one combo that you may want to try: Whelp Bonker and BEEEES!!! will draw 5 cards for 6 mana.

In most Wild decks, you don't want to be spending mana inefficiently in the early game due to the speed and efficiency of Wild. Even in a Taunt Warrior deck, you'd rather be playing efficiently using all your mana.

However, there is one deck where this card can shine: Untapped Potential Quest Druid. This deck ends 4 turns with untapped mana anyway to complete the quest, and this can be a cheap Taunt to help recover the board.

This card is so bad in Wild, it wouldn't see any play even if it didn't need a Dragon in hand to activate.

As an 8 mana Dragon that does nothing the turn it is played, it is definitely too slow for competitive Wild play, where aggro decks and combo decks can both beat you before then. However, there are some off meta, fun decks where this can be an interesting piece.

Any decks that go into fatigue quickly may want to use this to prevent fatigue and gain a powerful deck - so something like a Neeru Fireblade or even Void Contract deck. You can use this as an option in Dragon decks to have some powerful cards to finish out games.

In addition, Wild has some options for playing Kazakusan way before turn 8. The fastest would be in an Astral Communion deck, where if you play coin and Lightning Bloom on turn 1 into Astral Communion, you can play Kazakusan as soon as turn 2 if you draw him. A more consistent way to do this may be to run a Paladin deck with Prismatic Lens with this as your only minion, and a variety of cheap spells. This will allow you to get him into play on turn 4 or 5. Finally, you can try playing it in a Warlock deck with The Dark Portal.

This is a really powerful card that has immediate board impact and can clear up to 20 hp worth of minions the turn you play it. Despite this, Raid Boss Onyxia is too slow for Wild unless you play it before turn 10 or for less mana. The best decks for this may be dragon decks that use it as a top end and care about the dragon activator effect, Luna's Pocket Galaxy decks, and Druid decks that can ramp and play this early.

What do you think about these cards? Which Wild decks will they see play in? Let us know in the comments below!