Onyxia's Lair, Fractured in Alterac Valley's mini set, is going be live very soon, and we're just done with one of the tightest reveal season ever!

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.
  • Callback Cards - Onyxia's Lair's Mini-Set features cards with mechanics belonging to Forged in the Barrens and United in Stormwind.

Now, remember that, as usual, Onyxia's Lair will be purchasable with 2000 Gold or cash ($14.99 for the whole thing). This time around there's an additional bundle for our whale readers out there: in fact, for the moderate sum of $69.99 you'll be able to purchase the entire mini-set in Golden cards!

Quote From Blizzard

Things are heating back up after the cold of Alterac Valley! Enter Onyxia’s Lair in the Fractured in Alterac Valley Mini-Set, coming February 15! After a year of growth, our heroes are max level and ready to raid with these 35 new cards. Get them in Fractured in Alterac Valley packs, or get the entire 66-card Mini-Set* for $14.99 or 2000 Gold. For the first time ever, we are also offering the option to buy an all-Golden set of all 66 Mini-Set cards for $69.99!

Now let's see what we can expect from the Demon Hunter, Druid and Hunter cards that Onyxia's Lair will bring to the game. Have a good read!

In case you missed it, a few days ago we published our Fractured in Alterac Valley mini-set prediction article - how well do you think we did?

Moreover, here are our other review articles for Onyxia's Lair:

Looking for Wild reviews of the mini-set? No worries, our Swizard has you covered!

Mage

Haleh, Matron Protectorate Card Image

This Mage set is puzzling to say the least, and Haleh, Matron Protectorate is no exception. Many people rapidly associated it to Blackrock Mountain's Flamewanker, highlighting a rather embarrassing comparison. However, we do think this is not the right way to see the card: Flamewanker was printed 6 years ago, when Mage did not have access to much card generation and has always been broken since then: saying that Haleh isn't as powerful is like saying "hey, you didn't print a very problematic card in 2022, how dare you?". On the other hand, we cannot deny that this unit is pretty underwhelming for being a mini-set Legendary.

The only reason we see Haleh, Matron Protectorate being printed with its current effect and in the current card pool is that it is not meant to make an impact on the meta now, but rather post rotation. Why this? Because right now we can't see a Standard deck that may want to run this card. You want some OTK shenanigans? Mozaki, Master Duelist is (unfortunately) still good. Want some spells-shenanigans? Sorcerer's Gambit is not viable, but it can't be worse than building your deck solely around an 8-drop.

Right now, Haleh represents a dangerous if left unchecked but othewise ignorable meat wall that any aggressive opponent won't be interested in dealing with, and for 8 mana Mordresh Fire Eye does much more with much less set up.

Deep Breath Card Image

We see Deep Breath as Arcane Brilliance payoff in a Big Spell Mage deck, which usually has a number of big spells stuck in hand and needs early-ish removal. Even having just two other spells in your hand would make this card decent, as it would basically turn into a Lightning Breath (which was undercosted only because Dragons weren't exactly Shaman's jam). However, there are a few things that do not make sense to us:

Moreover, Team 5's been cutting down Mage's value generation, so even randomly Discovering this card is going to be difficult. We don't know: a big question mark right now. We see the potential, but right now Deep Breath is not meta.

Drakefire Amulet Card Image

So here's the thing: 10 mana is a lot, even for Mage, and if you want to invest all of them in a single card, it better be something your opponent can't just ignore and keep hitting you in the face. For this reason, you need Discoverable Dragons with an immediate impact on the board, that will force your foes into dealing with, but right now the pool is not particularly proficient. For example, Mage has access to:

As you can see, the card's not going to be really good if your opponent will be the one dictating the game's pace: most Dragons have good Battlecries, which you obviously don't get when you summon them. On the other hand, if we're talking about slow and grindy matchups, then Drakefire Amulet represents a bunch of stats you can get on the board and that can threaten lethal. It's also worth mentioning that, being a Fire spell, it can be recasted by Magister Dawngrasp for extra board pressure (although summoning random Dragons is worse than Discovering them).

All in all, a very good card if all you care about are sheer stats; however, if you also need some kind of protection, you'll probably need to wait another expansion before getting there. The card is cool though, and we appreciate the fact that Team 5 is trying to push Dragon Mage once more.

Paladin

Battle Vicar Card Image

We are far away from Kazakusan-leves of convolution, but this doesn't mean that Battle Vicar is weak. In our opinion, it's literally the other way around: we think this unit is really good and will see play in almost every Paladin deck.

Why? Because it's plain, not overcosted card generation, and Paladin's Holy spells are very good: you can Discover an additional Libram, an additional buff like Hand of A'dal or Hold the Bridge or, in case you're low on health, Holy Light can be of use too.

Again: very, very solid card.

Stormwind Avenger Card Image

3 mana 1/5 like Whelp Bonker and, just like it, you have very good reasons for targeting Stormwind Avenger with buff spells. We're not talking about Tunnel Trogg or pre-nerf Mana Wyrm levels of snowballing, but it doesn't change the fact that this unit can be really powerful in both Handbuff and Aggro/Buff Paladin.

Remember that 5 health on turn 3 is really hard to remove, and pre-nerf EVIL Miscreant is the perfect example.

Ring of Courage Card Image

Another simple, yet very powerful card for the class. Ring of Courage encourages slow Paladin strategies, which will need a big help after Librams will rotate in April. For example, take the synergy with Blademaster Samuro: the more behind you are, the stronger the removal will be, and Uther does not despise having options to clear the board with. Sure, it's not a Holy spell, and therefore it won't benefit from effects like Cariel Roame, Battle Vicar and Knight of Anointment, but that doesn't make Ring of Courage unplayable at all.

Moreover, if you're already far ahead and a 2 mana +1/+1 isn't exactly what you need, you can always Trade it back into your deck and draw a more impactful card. A very good addition to Paladin's card pool.

Priest

Mi'da, Pure Light Card Image Fragment of Mi'da Card Image

Just as we predicted, here's Deathrattle Priest support that helps you staying on the board. Mi'da, Pure Light is an extremely annoying unit to handle, granting its controller a viable source of life gain thanks to the Divine Shield layer - unless your opponent has some unconditional removal like Siphon Soul, they'll probably need to trade at least once to get rid of this Legendary.

While not having Taunt makes Mi'da, Pure Light arguably worse than Lightshower Elemental against aggressive opponents, this Legendary unit has the advantage of being fairly easy to bring back, as Priest has many tools to dig spells from their deck: Devout Dungeoneer, Spirit Guide (Fragment of Mi'da is a Holy spell) and Thrive in the Shadows all look viable ways to fish out Mi'da again.

Moreover, for each time Mi'da dies, Xyrella, the Devout will shuffle a Fragment in your deck, turning Priest into an even relentless end-game threat, grinding to dust all those who will dare to venture in that territory.

Lightmaw Netherdrake Card Image

When we looked at Lightmaw Netherdrake for the first time, the very first thing that came to mind was Duskbreaker, one of the strongest and most unforgettable Priest cards ever printed. Same cost, same tribal tag, same AoE effect and slightly better stats: the only thing that diversifies these two Dragons lies in the fact that Lightmaw has a more difficult condition to meet, which isn't exactly its fault, since Duskbreaker was plain broken.

All in all, this unit's viability depends on how easily you can guarantee its effect to go off in the early game, and we think Anduin has good chances to fulfill the the Battlecry's condition, especially since the class can take advantage of Spirit Guide. Probably one of the best cards in the entire mini-set.

Horn of Wrathion Card Image

Tutor draw with tempo bonus. While Lightmaw Netherdrake and Skeletal Dragon are the only Dragons Priest currently has in its class card pool (with the latter rotating in two months), the support for this archetype is receiving is really high quality and suggests that Team 5 has some serious projects for Dragon Priest in the near future. For now, all we can do is appreciating these quality cards and hope they'll become playable as soon as possible.

Rogue

Smokescreen Card Image

8 mana is a lot for Rogue, but we can't stop looking at the sheer value Smokescreen can provide: although Rogue is yet to receive decent class Deathrattles (which, at this point, is mind boggling to us), even a Neutral-heavy list build in order to play this spell as soon as possible seems worth our attention.

We don't have high hopes for Deathrattle Rogue to be a thing in the future (there are a bit too many weak spots), but hell, this is going to be one of the funniest cards of the mini-set.

SI:7 Smuggler Card Image

Here's the SI:7 support we've been waiting since United in Stormwind. SI:7 Smuggler remembers SI:7 Assassin and SI:7 Informant in the way that it grows stronger and stronger with each SI:7 card you've played in that game, and the effect helps you getting back part (if not all) of the tempo you lost previously by playing Find the Imposter and, you know, building your deck with a rather harsh restriction.

If you're not familiar with how Questline Rogue works, you want to drop your SI:7 cards as soon as possible, in order to get your hands on Spymaster Scabbs when it's not too late. SI:7 Smuggler, on the other hand, invites you to go greedy, which we think is a detrimental way to see the card: while you don't really want to play it as a 3 mana 1/3 that summons a 1-drop (unless your hand is that desperate), you don't even have to wait for Smuggler to summon a 7-drop - settling for 3/4/5 cost units is the best compromise between tempo and value (especially since you can always Shadowstep it).

It goes without being said that Find the Imposter Rogue is going to play 2 copies of this unit just to increase the density of SI:7 available and because... well, it's a good card!

Tooth of Nefarian Card Image

Although you can use it to target both minions and heroes, 3 mana deal 3 is not exactly what Rogue wants: the class has plenty of better burst options, starting from the cheaper Sinister Strike. Burgle Rogue, on the other hand, will gladly take Tooth of Nefarian: the deck suffered a lethal blow with Wildpaw Gnoll's nerf, but it appears that Team 5 is willing to give the archetype more (balanced) support, and we're very happy with their decision on the matter.

In that deck, Tooth of Nefarian can act as a finisher together with the usual Wicked Stab (Rank 1) or as a Burgle card generator for your other tools like Double Agent: Wand Thief is going to rotate pretty soon, and Discover is very good at granting you a good quality spell. Quality over quantity, and Discover over random.

What do you think about these cards? Are there any you're excited to play with? Let us know in the comments below!