Throne of the Tides, Voyage to the Sunken City's mini-set, goes live tomorrow, June 1, and we've got some thoughts on the new cards coming for Demon Hunter, Druid, and Hunter. Let's go over the new cards and see where we're headed in the mini-set meta. Have a good read!
In case you missed it, a few days ago we published our Voyage to the Sunken City mini-set prediction article - how well do you think we did?
Demon Hunter
Before talking about this card, we have to consider the class it was printed for: Demon Hunter has little to no mass removal, with Sigil of Flame and Chaos Nova the only two remaining AoEs in Standard. Therefore, more removal options for Illidan are something we should be happy about.
The 5 mana cost is quite significant, as it may come down too late. Moreover, you have to Dredge a card that costs 5 mana or more for Topple the Idol to be better than Chaos Nova, without even taking into account that the former doesn't have the Fel School. Sure, Dredge allows you to set up your following turns, but we're kinda negative on this spell's viability.
It appears that Demon Hunter has a thing for 2 mana 2/2s that do something when you attack. You can use Fossil Fanatic to either tutor specific Fel spells (like Sigil of Reckoning in Big DH) or just to cycle through your deck. Fanatic can be comparable to United in Stormwind's Felgorger, but we think the former is better than the latter because of multiple reasons:
- Demon Hunter has vast attack synergy has at disposal;
- Although it requires an attack, Fanatic is still cheaper and less awkward to play;
- Fanatic's effect can be triggered multiple times (in different turns or with cards like Multi-Strike).
Fossil Fanatic is not a flashy card, but sometimes decks need solid tools to rely on, and this is the case. We'll see it played a lot.
A really good card, especially against aggressive strategies. There are many cheap Fel spells in the game, such as Chaos Strike, Multi-Strike and Fel Barrage, which curve perfectly into Herald of Chaos. While its basic form is pretty much an Acolyte of Agony, being able to fulfill the Battlecry's requirement will give you no less than Eye Beam with a body. Overall, a really strong card that pushes Demon Hunter into slightly slower Fel builds.
Druid
Spirit of the Tides' timing is kind of awkward: floating mana was a Druid thing back in 2019 with Saviors of Uldum's Untapped Potential.
Given the complete lack of synergy, we wonder why we should play it: it doesn't take a genius to figure out that floating mana is a bad thing, especially if you're playing aggressively - in order to compensate the loss of such important mana crystals, you need more reasons than just a +1/+2 at the end of the turn. Moreover, Spirit of the Tides can be seen as both a 2 mana 2/2 and a 3 mana 3/4, since you need to invest (at least) one more mana for it to grow - at this point isn't it better for you to just play a 3-drop that does not rely on snowballing?
Right now there aren't enough reasons for you to play this card. With more future synergy maybe, but now there's no chance.
Excellent card for any aggressive Druid decks that want to go wide. Sure, you'll need to run enough Nature spells for Herald of Nature to be always active when you need it, but there are a few tools like Living Roots, Composting, Sow the Soil and Thorngrowth Sentries that you don't mind running in the first place.
Arbor Up's loss hurts a little less now.
While it has "combo" written all over it, Malygos is not in Standard anymore, so things are not going to be as easy as they could've been some years ago.
As things are right now, Moonbeam is a 1 mana deal 2 that allows to you chew through Divine Shields and that can also go face. Druid does not have card draw issues, but the Arcane Spell School has the chances to become relevant down the road.
We're quite hesitant about this card's viability in the short-term, but at the same time we think it has the potential to become relevant with further card releases.
Hunter
Now this is a card. Although 3 spells is quite the stiff requirement, a 3 mana 3/3 that deals 5 damage is no joke. The Naga tribal tag is just the icing on the cake, as it allows Ancient Krakenbane to be tutored with Conch's Call alongside with a spell that can directly work towards Krakenbane's Battlecry.
Basically a Kill Command with a 3/3 attached to it, Krakenbane's Battlecry will usually be ready for turn 4/5, which is remarkable to say the least. Naga Face Hunter can finally become viable, but we also expect Big Beast Hunter to experiment with a larger Naga package for the early game.
Removal for Hunter. In its base form, Shellshot represents a 3 mana deal 6 damage, which scales even further with any Spell Damage buff. While you won't be able to target your opponent's face with it, this spell played on curve pretty much guarantees the kill against any enemy minion. Moreover, the fact that the damage is dealt in multiple portions means that you'll be able to successfully pierce Divine Shielded units (just like Moonbeam will do for Druid).
As final note, we deeply hope that Shellshot won't bring back Defend the Dwarven District into the meta.
Now this is interesting design. K9-0tron reminds us a bit of Galakrond's Awakening's Skydiving Instructor, with the difference that it trades 1 mana cost for the summon effect to be tied to the 1-drop being in the bottom 3 cards of your deck.
Looking at our collection, there seems to be quite a few juicy 1-drops you'd love to cheat out of your deck: Bubbler, Vicious Slitherspear, Irondeep Trogg and Peasant are all strong picks, especially if you can follow up your play with a Doggie Biscuit. What if you miss? Well, it's still a 2 mana 2/3 with Dredge, which isn't that terrible!
There isn't support for Mech Hunter right now and K9-0tron alone can't do miracles, but we think of it as a good start for future Hunter builds.
In case you're wondering how to read it, K9-0tron is supposed to be a pun for "Canine-o-tron". You're welcome.
What do you think about these cards? Are there any you're excited to play with? Let us know in the comments below and don't forget to visit our Throne of the Tides Guide to see all the cards that have been revealed. You can also create decks before the launch with our deckbuilder.
Hearthstone's Throne of the Tides mini-set releases on June 1, 2022.
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