People make a huge buzz out of this card but for what reason? They especially believe it's going to be a staple any Priest deck.
Judging from its stats, it's a Silverback Patriarch (arguably one of the worst cards in the game). Yes, it heals at the beginning of your turn and yes it could potentially synergize with Northshire Cleric and Lightwarden but in order for that to happen, both other cards would have to be in play AND the Gargoyle would have to be damaged while the other two are being left alone - a pretty unlikely scenario if you ask me. Unless the Gargoyle is buffed, it doesn't do anything, it barely trades with a 3/2 2 drop.
Edit: it also has negative synergies with Auchenai Soulpriest. At 2 hp or less, it would simply kill itself at the start of your turn.
Off-topic: I'm also a little underwhelmed by Maexxna. While 8 hp is a lot to deal with, 6 mana is a pretty steep cost. Upon being silenced (we'll see a LOT of silence), it'll become a slightly better Oasis Snapjaw for 2 additional mana.
Edit: Yes, while you can do the exact same thing with the Silverback Patriarch he doesn't have the self heal. This could really turn the tide of aggro if played right.
Divine Spirit & Inner Fire decks have been experimented with since beta, none of them was competitive, I don't think this card will change anything. If you play it with Inner Fire, it's a 4/4 for 4 mana that requires 2 cards. While it could potentially heal itself at the beginning of your next turn, a decent opponent won't let that happen.
These gimmicky decks have been killed by a single silence effect in the past. With silence being so much more popular after Naxx, they'll get worse if anything.
People are just excited for the expansion. This card is a new candidate for worst card in the game. Yes, it heals itself, but how often do your minions take damage without dying, and if it does heal itself, all you get is a 1 attack minion. As for Wombo Combos, the healing text doesn't matter, because if you can't take out one of those combos the first turn it's played, you're going to lose anyway. Ultimately this card is a Silverback Patriarch that can be ignored.
I agree that its not going to be an amazing card but it has interesting potential. Also, I don't think it and Auchenai will be a problem. Stoneskins text doesn't say heal or restore health. It says that it returns to full health. I don't think it will be considered a heal effect.
I agree that its not going to be an amazing card but it has interesting potential. Also, I don't think it and Auchenai will be a problem. Stoneskins text doesn't say heal or restore health. It says that it returns to full health. I don't think it will be considered a heal effect.
This guy reminds me of MtG creatures. By itself, I feel like this is a really shoddy 3 drop, as seem with Silverback, 1/4 for 3 are not good stats. However, I think his effect would work wonders with buff cards like Blessing of Kings, making a 5/8 that you have to deal with in 1 turn or it becomes a big nuisance. I wonder how this guy would work with Soulpriest, tho.
This card will be useful in all decks but it will really shine in decks that have major buffs.
Priest,Druid,Paladin.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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"They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."
"There's many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory but it is all hell."
I honestly think this card is basically going to be the ultimate silence and hex/poly target, and not for a priest deck either, it'll be for a druid deck I think. with mark of the wild or mark of nature. giving it taunt and a lot of health. the only way this creature will die is if you throw everything at it, or you waste a instant kill on this card. otherwise it becomes a wall you cant get through.
mark of the wild will make it a 3/6 that self heals, or nature will make it a 1/8 that self heals. in most cases you'll have to throw multiple units in order to kill this creature otherwise it becomes a pointless effort. this will pretty much stop any zergy zoo decks stone cold.
It's an awful Arena card, that's for sure. I guess with the right buffs it could be ok? I don't really like relying on combos like that. Like the Auchenai/Circle it seems like you never draw it when you need it. Much of the time you'd have to play this unbuffed, and it totally sucks like that.
Stoneskin Gargoyle
People make a huge buzz out of this card but for what reason? They especially believe it's going to be a staple any Priest deck.
Judging from its stats, it's a Silverback Patriarch (arguably one of the worst cards in the game). Yes, it heals at the beginning of your turn and yes it could potentially synergize with Northshire Cleric and Lightwarden but in order for that to happen, both other cards would have to be in play AND the Gargoyle would have to be damaged while the other two are being left alone - a pretty unlikely scenario if you ask me. Unless the Gargoyle is buffed, it doesn't do anything, it barely trades with a 3/2 2 drop.
Edit: it also has negative synergies with Auchenai Soulpriest. At 2 hp or less, it would simply kill itself at the start of your turn.
Off-topic: I'm also a little underwhelmed by Maexxna. While 8 hp is a lot to deal with, 6 mana is a pretty steep cost. Upon being silenced (we'll see a LOT of silence), it'll become a slightly better Oasis Snapjaw for 2 additional mana.
The reason it's getting such a buzz is it's potential (imo). It's a 3 cost, 1/4 self-healing minion. Combine this with Inner Fire, Divine Spirit, or even Power Word: Shield and you have a very powerful minion off the get go. This also synergizes well with Sunfury Protector and Defender of Argus.
Edit: Yes, while you can do the exact same thing with the Silverback Patriarch he doesn't have the self heal. This could really turn the tide of aggro if played right.
Divine Spirit & Inner Fire decks have been experimented with since beta, none of them was competitive, I don't think this card will change anything. If you play it with Inner Fire, it's a 4/4 for 4 mana that requires 2 cards. While it could potentially heal itself at the beginning of your next turn, a decent opponent won't let that happen.
These gimmicky decks have been killed by a single silence effect in the past. With silence being so much more popular after Naxx, they'll get worse if anything.
People are just excited for the expansion. This card is a new candidate for worst card in the game. Yes, it heals itself, but how often do your minions take damage without dying, and if it does heal itself, all you get is a 1 attack minion. As for Wombo Combos, the healing text doesn't matter, because if you can't take out one of those combos the first turn it's played, you're going to lose anyway. Ultimately this card is a Silverback Patriarch that can be ignored.
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It can make some good trades with buffs, i.e. Abusive sergeant/Shattered sun cleric, etc.
However, it competes with other widely used 3 drops such as Harvest Golem, Shattered Sun Cleric, Injured BladeMaster, Earthen Ring, etc.
It will be played allot during the first few weeks, since it's new
Harvest Golem will go up in value for the synergies it has with druid and priest new class cards, and a few neutrals.
Not sure if hyped yet.
I agree that its not going to be an amazing card but it has interesting potential. Also, I don't think it and Auchenai will be a problem. Stoneskins text doesn't say heal or restore health. It says that it returns to full health. I don't think it will be considered a heal effect.
It is considered a heal effect. https://twitter.com/bdbrode/status/491263252434014208
Hrm, I still think the wording feels like it doesn't apply to Auchenai but we wont know until we try it or Brode addresses it directly.
And an informing tweet from our very own Tehstool answered by the always magnificent Ben Brode:
Source: https://twitter.com/bdbrode/status/491263252434014208
Sounds like a Priest's dream come true! What is your opinion on this card?
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put this in a druid deck with buffing and taunt, making it an unstoppable wall, it'll become the ultimate silence/hex/poly target
This guy reminds me of MtG creatures. By itself, I feel like this is a really shoddy 3 drop, as seem with Silverback, 1/4 for 3 are not good stats. However, I think his effect would work wonders with buff cards like Blessing of Kings, making a 5/8 that you have to deal with in 1 turn or it becomes a big nuisance. I wonder how this guy would work with Soulpriest, tho.
This card will be useful in all decks but it will really shine in decks that have major buffs.
Priest,Druid,Paladin.
"To Secure Peace is to Prepare for War."
"They wrote in the old days that it is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. But in modern war, there is nothing sweet nor fitting in your dying. You will die like a dog for no good reason."
"There's many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory but it is all hell."
I honestly think this card is basically going to be the ultimate silence and hex/poly target, and not for a priest deck either, it'll be for a druid deck I think. with mark of the wild or mark of nature. giving it taunt and a lot of health. the only way this creature will die is if you throw everything at it, or you waste a instant kill on this card. otherwise it becomes a wall you cant get through.
mark of the wild will make it a 3/6 that self heals, or nature will make it a 1/8 that self heals. in most cases you'll have to throw multiple units in order to kill this creature otherwise it becomes a pointless effort. this will pretty much stop any zergy zoo decks stone cold.
It's an awful Arena card, that's for sure. I guess with the right buffs it could be ok? I don't really like relying on combos like that. Like the Auchenai/Circle it seems like you never draw it when you need it. Much of the time you'd have to play this unbuffed, and it totally sucks like that.
This reminds me a lot of Infernal Gargoyle in Shadow Era which was also a difficult to kill 3 drop in that game. http://shadowera.wikia.com/wiki/Infernal_Gargoyle
This could be good if it got buffed, but most likely not worth including at all. It's not like your opponent won't one hit kill it.
Ironbeak.
I agree with OP, my first thought when seeing it was "completely useless".
People will start running more silence anyway, so this card will be "collateral damage" meta-wise speaking.