Go! Review the Fourth, and let it guide you! Beware the dark side of hedging and guesswork; do or do not, there is no wrong prediction. Close your eyes, let your intuition and inherent inability to ever be wrong guide you. Death Star. Baby Yoda. Midichlorians.
You've a Soul of Ice; you're willing to sacrifice some spells.
Quote From sinti This is an interesting take on the "cycle mechanic" Mage has going for it last few expansions. It allows you to get an immediate board presence via cycling your spells rather than future value with cards like Mana Cyclone or Dune Sculptor. Similar in playstyle to Vex Crow, but you have to work for the 5/5s more than you would have for the 2-drops, which you are rewarded for with bigger bodies. Maybe a Wild deck with Flamewaker can rise to the occasion, giving the deck more versatility.
Talking about spells on a stick this expansion, we've had Assassinate with Flik Skyshiv, Sprint with Valdris Felgorge and now we have a … necklace on a stick?:o This card is basically Dragon Soul for elementals. Obviously it will play differently as a minion than a weapon, though I do feel like Mage can get more out of the effect than Priest and also elemental tag, for the card itself and tokens, has great synergy in the class.
Elemental Evocation might be a combo piece to look out for, it already worked wonders for Mana Cyclone, it will work for Chenvaala too.
Hopefully this Dragonqueen doesn't go crazy.
Quote From Demonxz95 Before I get into the actual card itself, I'd like to point out that Allie's reveal videos are always awesome. If you haven't watched her reveal video for this card, go watch it. It's great, and her cosplay in that video is just as awesome.
Into the actual card though, I wasn't expecting a Reno effect, but at the same time, it's kind of awesome flavorwise to symbolize her alliance with the League of Explorers. The effect can be an occasional hit or miss, but usually it's going to be pretty good. If you're lucky enough to somehow get another Dragonqueen Alexstrasza (as Allie got in her reveal video through Azure Explorer generated by her), then you're going to be rolling in value. The randomness might falter its playability a little bit, but I expect that it justifies the experimentation of a Highlander-Dragon deck. Isn't Reno supposed to be a Dragon after all? If you're running one, try this card out. It just naturally fits.
In Wild, you could get something like two Twilight Whelps, although in Standard, chances are you'll usually get one large Dragon, or 2 medium-sized Dragons. I'd say this has a pretty good chance of experimentation seeing as how Highlander decks are already seeing play. You don't even need Dragons for the effect to work, but it wouldn't hurt to add at least a few.
Drying his wings after is a nightmare.
Quote From linkblade91 If you think of Rush minions as spells that can only damage minions, Diving Gryphon functions very similarly to a Shadow Bolt that tutors another Rush card. In a class that lacks both in Draw and Removal, the combination is wonderful. It supports Clear the Way, can pull heavy-hitters such as Zilliax and Oondasta, and could even tutor itself to keep the chain going. The Beast tag allows for additional shenanigans; replicating the Gryphon with Dire Frenzy, for example, or pairing it with Scavenging Hyena in the early game. This is a solid card.
They're just painting the gem orange, what a rip-off.
Quote From Demonxz95 So here's our quintessential meme card of the set. I'm not going to evaluate this from a competitive standpoint, because the card isn't intended to be used like that. It won't see any serious play, but it's not supposed to.
But if you do want to play this, you'd need to play it in a deck that draws a lot of cards. Plot Twist Warlock decks are a perfect home for this effect to get a lot of Legendaries fast. Rogue can also abuse this effect well. Perhaps Priest could also combo this Princess Talanji somehow. The only serious application is that it might nullify a Bomb or Corrupted Blood, although this is a bit inconsistent.
Obviously, it’s going to be better to draw the cards that you put in your deck nearly 100% of the time, but if you feel like just messing around for a little bit, you might put this little fella in to create some silly games. It’s also going to create a bit of hilarity (and maybe frustration) if pulled from a random effect.
What's a Pirate's favourite card? Probably still Patches.
Quote From ShadowsOfSense Well, this was unexpected.
I've gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed that the first Legendary weapon since the concept was introduced to the game is wasted on a joke card like this. This could've easily been a Rare or a Common. It's not like it'd be horrifyingly overpowered to have two of them in your deck. I'm not even sure it's worth playing one.
Warrior really needs to see some additional Pirate support in its remaining cards if this wants to have any chance of seeing play. Right now everything else it has is just far too strong in comparison. Pirates are an aggressive deck that would probably enjoy the refill, sure, but it's just not good enough in Standard, I think.
I suppose it's fitting it's an anchor at least, seeing as the deck won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
She can do this all day.
Quote From sinti Let's start with the obvious, this is a Volcanic Potion that can be "upgraded" if you're holding a Dragon in your hand. I'd say that is a pretty damn amazing AoE! Will definitely see play in any Dragon deck, easilly.
Now, to the matter at hand … the hell is this wording? I'm going to assume that they chose this phrasing so they could fit the effect on 4 lines of text, which is the maximum ever used so far on a Hearthstone card. But that does not excuse the confusion the wording creates. "Enemies" implies enemy hero as well, which is not how the card works, we saw that in the reveal video. I would argue "…only damage enemy minions." would fit in there barely, but it would and it would be very clear as to how the card works from the get go. Oh well, maybe next time :)
It's not his fault, it's all the wax on his hands.
Quote From ShadowsOfSense Now this is a cool weapon tech!
Occasionally printing in new weapon counters is a common practice for the devs, similar to Secret counters; until recently we didn't even have any of those in the Basic and Classic set! This actually borrows the idea from the Secret counters, as Kezan Mystic was nabbing Secrets as early as Goblins vs Gnomes.
Now, this does have the worst stats to mana cost ratio of any weapon counter so far, but it also has the absolute best effect of any weapon counter. Taking your opponent's weapon effectively gives this card a damaging Battlecry as well, as you can swing with the weapon straight away. You might even get to keep on doing it if they had more than one charge left.
It's a high mana cost compared to Acidic Swamp Ooze, so it's harder to weave into a turn, but it does offer you some agency beyond just playing the minion for the turn, so I expect this to see some experimentation if there's widely used weapons in Standard. Where this really shines is Wild, though; get ready to see some salty Rogues and Druids as their Kingsbanes and Twigs of the World Tree get nicked.
All these Ravens gathering together, getting stronger... some kind of conspiracy if you ask me.
Quote From sinti Had this card been a common or rare, I'd say this would be a decent addition to a budget zoo or midrange decks. Good stats for a 3-drop with an upside. But since it is an epic, it is probably going to end up being a pack filler imho. No one is going to craft this as a must have, nor is the effect that amazing.
Realistically, how do you get more than two copies of this? In Rogue, but if that is your goal, you are not duplicating a random 3-drop in the first place. Hunter maybe? You can meme it out with Dire Frenzy I guess. There are some other tools, but even less consistent. Without some additional support, this card truly feels absolutely random, identity wise at least.
Comments
Disagree with the assertion that the wording of Breath of the Infinite is confusing. The word 'only' is just an extra if statement: if it's a minion, and if it's an enemy, it takes damage.
I would agree if the card read 'damage enemies instead', since the 'instead' causes the conditional effect to override the base effect.
Honestly confused at why people keep saying Diving Gryphon is a good card. It absolutely won't see play.
When you're looking at a hunter deck to consider the card in, we're looking at either a) an aggressive deck, or b) Highlander Hunter. There are no other Hunter decks right now, and nothing indicating a likelihood of any others arising as yet. And to immediately cut to the chase on one of these, Diving Gryphon is nowhere near aggressive enough for an aggressive Hunter list. You're running Animal Companions and Eaglehorn Bows there - and there's a lot less chance of finding a slot because you can run two-ofs.
So, let's consider Highlander Hunter. Firstly, note the deck doesn't run many Rush minions to be pulled; basically just Springpaw and Zilliax. Also note we don't necessarily WANT to run more because we have Houndmaster Shaw. Meanwhile, what are you dropping from your 3-drop slot to fit this in?
- Animal Companion? Probably not. It's the closest call we have on the list, but you're dropping solid board presence (including Huffer, who is literally a direct improvement over this in every way) for removal. The deciding factor is that Animal Companion feeds into Zul'jin, which is not the case for Gryphon.
- Eaglehorn Bow? With all Highlander Hunters running fundamentally secret-heavy lists, this seems unlikely. Even without any secret procs, it's better removal than the Gryphon is (two separate removals rather than one, albeit at less power) while also allowing for sudden face damage.
- Masked Contender? Also close, now I look at it, but realistically I don't think you're dropping the Contender here. It slots into curve so beautifully, and contests board rather than removing it. That said, I MIGHT be persuaded on this if we see other Rush minions we actually care about pulling.
- Snip-Snap? Definitely not. Board in a can, and activates more Zilliax value later on.
- Hunter's Pack? Definitely not. Refill that also feeds into Zul'jin. I cannot disagree enough with people who drop this card from Highlander Hunter lists.
For posterity it's also worth noting that we're already running a LOT of 3-drops in a Highlander list. So, the near-inevitable conclusion I have to draw is that you're not fitting this into a list. And can you really say a card is good if it won't go into a list because half a dozen options are better? What good is a card you can't play?
"Good card" and "will not see play" are not mutually-exclusive: you can have both at the same time. Because in a way you are right: sometimes there just isn't enough space for all these good cards. As of this moment, Diving Gryphon does not really have a home in the currently-existing decks.
...which is where I take issue with your argument, because I feel you're being short-sighted. SN1P-SN4P is on the verge of rotation, to name one example, whereas the Gryphon has plenty of time to still see usage. Highlander Hunters today might become Rush Hunters tomorrow, or at least slot in a larger Rush package, and the Gryphon could find a home there.
I disagree with the analysis of Ancharrr. 2/3 is pretty good stats for a 3 cost weapon and the effect is premium quality. I mean, compare it to Livewire Lance, which costs one more, has 1 less Durability and pulls arguably worse minions.
The trade for that is of course that you need to build a Pirate deck, which might not be easy in Standard right now. However, I'm quite sure Warrior will get new Pirates soon, otherwise this card wouldn't have been printed.
And even if that doesn't happen, this card will obviously be used in Wild, at the very least.
Actually, Breath of the Infinite’s wording is fine. The first line already indicates that only minions will be affected “Deal 2 damage to all minions”. The text at the back just signifies that it will only hurt the “enemy” minions if you are holding a dragon.
Hats off to Shadows for the very entertaining (and no doubt 100% accurate) analysis!
I'm honestly really hopeful for Ancharrr. I love the pirate aesthetic, and I enjoy abusing overpowered aggro decks (i.e. pirate warrior of old). Warrior has been receiving some really strong cards this expansion though, and none of them include pirates thus far. If we see some stronger pirates (maybe some value-oriented ones that even synergise with Dragons), this may be worth a try. With Galakrond, the Unbreakable's hero power, this could turn into a cheaper Arcanite Reaper when invoked that also refuels your hand, and the battlecry of drawing minions and giving them +4/+4 could help finish off some games with that little bit of extra reach.
The return of aggro pirate warrior is probably wishful thinking though. Pirate Warrior wasn't strong because it had a bunch of strong and aggressive pirates, it was strong because it had all that, plus weapon buffs. There are not enough good weapon buffs in standard to make use of this card's minimal effect. And besides, you wouldn't even want this in an aggressive deck since you'd just be drawing all your tiny cost pirates that wouldn't be doing much at this point in the game. If you're using Ancharrr to draw your Southsea Deckhands or Bloodsail Corsairs, you've probably lost this game. However, if you're using this to draw bigger, more midrange value-oriented pirates like Captain Greenskin or Southsea Captain, this card becomes a little better. If we get some cards this expansion that bridge the gap between dragons and pirates, we may see a very strong archetype on the horizon.
Holly smokes, i just noticed the Alex flavor text. nice reference to the GoT disastrous of a finale
EDIT: nvm its not the flavor text by blizzard. its from this website isnt it? well done nonetheless
Yeah, all the "flavor" lines are done by Shadows :D
The real line for her is
"Givin' lives and takin' names."
Yeah, Blizzard should just hire Shadows tbh
That's a bummer. I really like this flavor texts, it's a pity they ain't the real ones.
I agree, the flavor texts you guys come up with are better than blizzards.
If we get more cheap Freeze effects, Chenvaala might be enough to justify Icicle being in a deck for more Apprentice cycling.
Alex might actually be enough make me consider Reno Dragon Mage as heavily as Hand Dragon Mage..
Definitely a nice value card for highlander decks.