Ok, this is all my personal opinion, and you can respond as you wish. My rating won't be based on some sort of flat scale, this will mostly be opinions on cards, where they fit, and how much impact I feel they could have. I choose not to use a rating scale because cards vary alot based on class and meta, and honestly nothing ever ends up being exactly like we expect. Honestly, we need more deck slots, but that is another topic. Ok, let's get this thing rolling.
Anub'ar Ambusher - Our first class card. Rogue is already known for having some of the most efficient creatures and spells and this certainly isn't a miss on that side of things, however it does do the right sort of things to not strictly push the current archtypes over the top. In terms of tempo rogue, and aggro rogue this card requires alot of though before you can just slam it into your deck. Its still strong, there are few 5/5s at 5 let alone 4, this gets a number of favorable trades, and it does put on a fast clock. Naxx also introduces a number of strong 5 cost minions however, and they don't really have major drawbacks, meaning this won't trade up as often as it used to, and running alot of battle cry minions to make the drawback a bonus does put you at odd with another Naxx card with alot of hype, Nerub'ar Weblord. Either way, I think the card is strong, the drawback isn't the most punishing, and can be a positve if played correctly
Avenge - Another class card, another secret for Paladin, who lacking in secrets compared to the other classes, however this one falls a bit flat. It has huge potential, the buff is extremely strong, but your play to control it and the opponents counter play will be the entire success or failure of this card. Obviously this is a huge selling point on the secrets change, under the old secrets rules this card is just bonkers, under the new ones this is a card that requires alot of effort and skill. Yes, its a mini kings, but it costs a card, and you don't get the bonus of surprise, your opponent knows this is happening. It does play extremely well with Noble Sacrifice in the early game, and I could see a new aggro pally deck that wants more secrets than Shockadin, but we'll have to see. I don't think it will see alot of play after its initial testing shows its variance to be too high and mostly toward negative.
Baron Rivendare - Our first Legendary, and one of the first cards leaked. A total variance machine, this guy just doesn't seem like he'll make it. The stats are just amazingly bad. The only reason Mogu'shan Warden sees play is its a huge speed bump, and Oasis Snapjaw seems better than this in most situations. Yes, you can get some sweet value from this if you have a decent set of deathrattles in play, and I guess this does eat up a ton of damage or a good removal, but I think silences are going to make a huge comeback and this being a vanilla 1/7 just makes getting any value out of it low. It will see testing, and probably play, since its a 1 of legendary that does give decent gains if you make it work, but I feel like consistancy will beat out variance with this guy.
Dancing Swords - Ah, a drawback on a non-legendary/non-class card. This cards drawback isn't even that bad in the right situations, obviously this fits directly into Backspace Rogue, and really any tempo deck could gain from this. It does draw them a card, but if you're controlling the tempo of the game a super efficient minion can likely 2 for 1, meaning this is only a 1/1 but its even crazier if they can't deal with it. Against other aggro decks if you can kill 2 of their guys and save yourself a ton of damage this is likely worth feeding them a card anyway, because it just buys you time to get to the cards you have to crush aggro. A safer Millhouse Manastorm, I think this has tons of potential.
Dark Cultist - The priest class card comes in strong. Priest was lacking solid minions that weren't insanely high variance. This is somewhat weak to silence, I guess you could say that, or a very manipulatable deathrattle, but just being a 3/4 for 3 makes this awesomely awesome. Its works great with the priest class ability and what priest wants to do in general. Pretty much and auto-include in every priest deck. I hate playing against priests, because the randomness of cards like Thoughtsteal and I think this will give them an even larger foothold in the meta, which I may hate, but I think is good for the health of the game.
Deathlord - Boy, this guys a hot topic. The most insanely robust minion for its cost, with one of the wildest deathrattles in the game. Even silenced this thing is a trade machine against zoo, and they likely won't want to silence it, hoping to get some value back. Outside of zoo this card is still hugely interesting. The frequency your opponent gets the best possible card off this will be how often its a blowout, but mostly I think this card is super good. This will do good things, like ruin battlecries or expose cards you opponent may have been hoping to save, and while it could lose you some games, on the whole it does alot to the state of any game. Your opponent is going to want to trigger that deathrattle for value and so its all about getting enough yourself before that happens and I easily see this doing that a million times over. This is alot nastier than Mogu'shan Warden, and I feel it will see tons of play.
Death's Bite - The joyous warrior class card. This is yet another synergy piece. This pretty much beats Arcanite Reaper at almost every turn. It does a similar amount of damage, but comes out strongly on an important part of the curve. It transitions well from Fiery War Axe and enables tons of the cards warrior wants to enable, like Rampage, Execute, Battle Rage, plus obviously all the Enrage minions, this will create some new decks, and give old ones a great new weapon.
Duplicate - I'm sure its no secret....I mean no surprise that this card has had people up in arms about its merits. I think now that Mad Scientist has been spoiled this has alot more value. I can't say for sure the interaction that occurs if the Scientist fetches it, but either way piling up free secrets is good, free anything is good. This is good with a number of the mage class creatures, and I think you could easily build a deck that this has no bad targets for, however its variance on targets and whether or not you actually want to try to beat down with creatures will make this almost strictly an aggro card I feel, though it could see niche play in control to multiply card draw minions like Acolyte of Pain and Novice Engineer, or board wipes like Doomsayer. This card will be fun if not overtly powerful.
Echoing Ooze - One of the coolest cards to be spoiled, this card is nothing extraordinary by itself, but will lead to some of the grossest games in Hearthstone history. Buffs, especially the cheap ones in druid, will lead to games you just win or lose on turn 1, and some of the pally buffs will lead to dominating mid/late games. The way this interacts with cards like Flametongue Totem and Stormwind Champion are also great. Not for every deck, but super fun card.
Feugen - To start, I didn't think it was possible they'd let us have this guy and his brother Stalagg, needless to say I was wrong. This guy is nasty, a great 5 drop, and based on what has happened in the game, silencing him may or may not be a must before disposing of him. I'm not sure how the game state reads him being CC'd (Polymorph, Hex, Tinkmaster Overspark) but I think that will have some impact as well on how the card and his brother are handled. Will see play in almost every deck that wants to play 5 cost minions.
Haunted Creeper - This is a very interesting card, and I think plays well with a number of others. First off, its a beast, so you'll see more of these than you think because of Webspinner. Secondly, its a fairly high value creature. Its another card that plays well with other deathrattle minions, plays great with something like Sword of Justice and Knife Juggler, this is the new Harvest Golem, 3/4 worth of stats for 2 mana, what a deal. Won't be great everywhere, as it doesn't trade quite as well as Harvest, but certainly a nice persistent minion.
Kel'Thuzad - The final boss of Naxxramas, and one hell of a card if you ask me. Some people say you have to have board control to play this, and that isn't specifically the case, you do need some sort of board presence, you don't want to cast this with nothing at all on board unless you have to, but even if you only have a couple mediocre guys and they have 1-3 good ones and you can only trade your 1-2 guys for one guy and then get it back this is worth that swing. If you can trade them down to a minion that can't kill your KT on its own and an don't have removal you just win, its not about having total dominating board position, just having a position. Some people say this is a win more, but that isn't entirely the deal, you could be neutral or behind and this can still get value as long as you have some kind of trade. Yes, if you're already ahead on board or able to play this, trade your whole board for theirs then get your whole board back its nuts, but its not as narrow as people think. Also, the fact this is something pretty much everyone will have its going to see alot of play.
Loatheb - The card most likely to be nerfed. This card is warping, but similar to other legendaries drawing it at the wrong time won't matter, but like Kel'Thuzad almost every player will have this and as a 5/5 for 5 its going to see play in pretty much every deck, even aggro will want this as a top-end card to prevent board wipe/comeback plays. It will get old to see this pretty much all the time, and finding a deck that doesn't care about the opponent playing this, or feeling the need to play it themselves will probably do alot, because you have to plan for if they have Loatheb. This card is crazy good atm.
Mad Scientist - Interesting, this is effectively class card, for the 3 secret classes. I do feel like this doesn't have alot of chance to see play in hunter, but I only say that because the order you play secrets in matters so much more in a hunter deck, having misdirect trigger and then explosive trap killing the minion or freezing trap, negating the Misdirection seems pretty bad, and a card like Snake Trap generally requires other cards to be good enough. In pally and mage decks however this has alot of potential, though much more so in mage. Casting your spells and attacking minions in the right order can win or lose you the game with Mad Scientist, and I think this will lead to some cool new secret based mage decks, and more potential 1 ofs of almost every secret just to mess with gameplay. In paladin its just minion value, but he pally secrets all synergize fairly well, even if its not a huge cost bonus its still like a 2/2 Novice that only draws you a secret, which is fine. This card will certainly see play.
Maexxna - Super Emperor Cobra. This card is another interesting one. Being 2 power is a bummer, as I feel like Stampeding Kodo has a chance to make this card unplayable, otherwise this either eats a hard removal spell or almost always 2/1s them, generally getting value. Its not a huge clock, but it is something you have to get rid of, often at a big cost, before you can play anything decent. 8 toughness is just crazy, and the power to trade for almost anything makes this card at least viable, plus, she's a beast, so its likely hunters will want to play this at least some extra percentage of the time.
Nerub'ar Weblord - The king of value killers. This guy hits so many cards its amazing, even cards with drawback battlecries get punished. True, it means you aren't likely playing battlecry minions, and his stats aren't dominating, but his existence alone will shape the day to day meta. Not the most powerful card, obviously they avoided making him overtly hard to remove, and there are a few creatures I wish this hit that is doesn't like the Divine Shield minions, and SI:7 Agent. I don't know how much play he'll all the time, but he makes alot of the best minions in the game right now not as good.
Nerubian Egg - Almost everyone is in love with this card, and obviously if Ancient Watcher can be made to work why can't this. However, I don't think its as good a people want it to be. Ancient Watcher is already bigger than this, and the decks it fit into could use its body very quickly. Killing your 0/2 isn't as easy as silencing or giving taunt to a 4/5. Also the application of this as an anti-aoe card, while mediocre also buys your opponent time by not adding any early pressure. You never want to be playing this on turn 2 unless you're eating it with a Void Terror on turn 3, so almost no one wants to be playing this without alot of good reasons that don't distract you deck from its job. People are going to want this too be good more than anything, so it will see play, it is fairly high impact if you break it, so that does mean people won't be able to resist.
Poison Seeds - What an interesting card. The fact that his specifically says destroy then replace makes me think this has alot less value than I want it to. Casting this and having your opponent still get all his deathrattles and an army don't make this super attractive, and unless druid is foregoing a number of its own strong minions it won't likely be getting much value off of that portion of the effect either. They do have the ability to play this and Kel'Thuzad in the same turn because of Innervate, but that is about the only time I see this being beyond a niche removal spell, though that is likely enough, since druid only has Naturalize as hard removal.
Reincarnate - The combo card of all combo cards. This card will certainly see play, and probably a fair amount of it, with our without Ancestral Spirit. Its a fun card, it does something different and combines well with a number of other already good cards like Cairne Bloodhoof, Sylvanas Windrunner, and almost any good charge minion. No need to explain its value.
Shade of Naxxramas - A hot topic indeed. The shade does seem like it has potential in the right spots, drawing it early and getting it down and keeping it alive along enough to say Flametongue Totem, Rockbiter Weapon, and Windfury a 5/5 or better will win at least some games, how many is alot more debatable. This is generally just awful if you play it after turn 7 or so, but there may even be a few long games where this is good then, but not likely. Spending your turn 3 to set up your turn 6 or higher but having no impact before then is pretty risky in alot of match ups.
Sludge Belcher - One of the more interesting cards in the set, this is a Sen'jin Shieldmasta with a Goldshire Footman taped on, with some interesting applications. This isn't the highest value target for silence, and no part of this card is over powered, however the fact that the 1/2 spawns on death is nice in so much as it does safeguard against AoE slightly, and provides what could be just the right amount of taunt. I feel like Abomination does a very similar thing to this, but maybe maybe the 5 toughness means more, IDK. We'll see where this goes, but I figure Abomination will see play before this, especially with some of the other high value 5 drops coming out.
Spectral Knight - Spectral Trademaster. This guy is awesome. Not every deck wants alot of 5 drops, but this is one of the ones you probably want a fair amount. He trades for alot of other 5s and almost all 4s, and he gets those trades almost every time, and his high toughness is going to be a real issue. He's immune to Stampeding Kodo and Big Game Hunter unless at least one other card is involved, and I can't see a many non-aggro decks not wanting this.
Stalagg - The lesser of the two in most peoples eyes, I can see this guy being the more definitive of the two more often than not. He's weak to Big Game Hunter and Shadow Word: Death, and alot of cheaper minions can trade easily with this guy, however it seems like deciding whether or not to play him and have the chance of getting that 11/11 Thaddius will be a big deal. Sometimes you opponent will have to remove this guy with something different or have double removal so as not to be blank to the much stronger Thadd. Not everyone will be willing to take the risk on what is likely a low value minion, but hell its generally safer than playing Venture Co. Mercenary, and that card has seen at least some play.
Stoneskin Gargoyle - This is on odd value card. It doesn't trade for much without help, and this seems very similar to Silverback Patriarch which isn't something many people ever wanted ever. Giving this a boost through some form of buff however makes this a much higher priority, however its still likely they can fairly easily kill it, so that doesn't mean much. Weird priest gimmicks aside I don't see this popping up very often.
Undertaker - Besides a recently broken Wrestlemania streak, this guy is likely to be one of the highest if not the highest impact card in the set. Many of the current deathrattle minions are playable, and many of the new ones are perfectly good, making this guy one of the best 1 drops in the game. Holding back a couple minions is already a fairly common strategy so you don't get blown out by AoE, and that keeps this guy at least marginally strong all game, even a turn 7 3/4 and a couple other small deathrattles can be enough pressure, and then you start the game on this guy and they can't deal with it you likely win very very quickly, which will be sad for alot of people.
Unstable Ghoul - Another awesome cheap taunt. Low cost taunts have been fairly weak and outside of Voidwalker most of them saw very little play, but this guy will likely see a fair amount. The deathrattle is relevant, as in the worst he'll trade with the low cost minion he died to, and against some decks this card will blank whole turns. I've played Abomination, and I'll easily play this miniature version.
Voidcaller - Besides overloading the word Void for warlocks, this guy is pretty fun. I don't think its strictly strong, its weak for its stats, and the free minion has to be in your hand and be good enough otherwise this reminds me of an Alarm-o-Bot. Some games it will be awesome, others it will be awful, but at least it has some body, even a slightly cost ineffective one. And you're a warlock so you'll likely have something if they don't silence this guy, even it its only saving you a small amount of mana.
Wailing Soul - The most build around card in the set, he turns on a number of cool cards, like Ancient Watcher and Dancing Swords as well as turning off some debuffs that may get played on occasion. He doesn't hinder effective vanilla minions and could easily see play in a midrange deck built around the previously mentioned cards along side Chillwind Yeti and Boulderfist Ogre. In a format where silence will likely be good, having 0 minions for your opponent to hit and some you actually want silence yourself is pretty sweet. Not for everyone, but may be great on the right day.
Webspinner - The hunter class card is great. Its both fun and value, though sometimes you'll get totally hosed and get something like Angry Chicken, Hungry Crab, Young Dragonhawk, or worst of all Captain's Parrot, most of the time you'll at least get something to fit into your curve somewhere, and you could get something awesome, like Maexxna, Stranglethorn Tiger, or even another Webspinner. Will certainly see play, and like many hearthstone cards will lead to some great stories of victory and defeat.
Zombie Chow - What an interesting card. Another powerful low cost minion that doesn't exactly fit an aggressive strategy. It seems like it could see play along side Undertaker, just to give you enough/more cheap deathrattles. This plays its best when its trading very early before you begin attacking the face, and in that case its super. You opponent isn't that likely to want to waste a removal spell early, but it will give weapon classes a bit more value in trading than non-weapon classes. The value body means this will see play, but how many decks it sticks around in will probably vary. Obviously the way this plays with Auchenai Soulpriest is very sweet, and a better trading cheap minion you can still heal on turn 2 seems strong for them. As I said before priest already seems like its getting some sweet cards, this might just be another one.
Feel free to tell me how wrong I am about everything.
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To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
I think that Control Warrior is gonna like it if Loatheb starts being seen everywhere, since they can just tech Arcanite Reaper to kill it (Or plan to use the 2nd hit of Death's Bite, but Arcanite is less situational and if Loatheb is everywhere it is likely decks are primarily midrange/control) and if they have been armoring up then Shield Slam still works as removal if need be (Since it hits at 6 mana) a good deal of the time. Though I do think Loatheb is being a bit overrated, even if he is still top notch, especially with the addition of other powerful 5-drops (And if Anub'arak Ambusher gets popular...).
However I don't think Undertaker is viable, it's overrated. If you want to make value of this card you need to build your deck with low mana cost cards with deathrattle, leaving you no choice but building a big part of your deck around deathrattle card, is this card worth it ? I don't think so, expect in turn 1 coin and another 1 mana card with deathrattle this card will be easily removed from the board by most classes. Also worth mentioning that if not use in early game this card won't be a big threat.
Thank for that good review I really didn't think of the deathrattle trigger by Poison Seeds before.
I'm not sure how sensitive they (Feugen and Stalagg) are to Silence, only the second one, and only if you're actually playing it, the deathrattle is pure bonus and only the second one matters. Venture Co. Mercenary has an actual drawback and can only be played in the right situations, they silence Stalagg yeah it could be a bummer not to get your Thaddius but you still got a 7/4 with no drawback at all.
Also, saying Undertaker isn't viable is insane. If there are already 2 playable cheap deathrattles, and there are at least 2 new playable cheap deathrattles that is close to enough, especially if you tack on a few good late games ones. This guy being a 2/3 for 1 is pretty much assured, and that is good enough in non-control decks, and the upside is even in the late game its possible to grow this guy. Leper Gnome, Loot Hoarder, and Harvest Golem are all already good playable cheap deathrattles. Add in Zombie Chow, Haunted Creeper, Nerubian Egg, Unstable Ghoul, and Deathlord on the low end and you easily have enough. You also still get mid/late games deathrattles like Cairne Bloodhoof, Sylvanas Windrunner, Feugen, and Stalagg. Throw in some of the class cards for the right classes, like Webspinner and Savannah Highmane for hunter, Voidcaller for Warlock, Dark Cultist for Priest, and Mad Scientist for secret using classes and you have alot of solid options for it. I'm not saying the card is the best card in the game, but I think that honestly it will become the aggro creature of choice.
I think that Control Warrior is gonna like it if Loatheb starts being seen everywhere, since they can just tech Arcanite Reaper to kill it (Or plan to use the 2nd hit of Death's Bite, but Arcanite is less situational and if Loatheb is everywhere it is likely decks are primarily midrange/control) and if they have been armoring up then Shield Slam still works as removal if need be (Since it hits at 6 mana) a good deal of the time. Though I do think Loatheb is being a bit overrated, even if he is still top notch, especially with the addition of other powerful 5-drops (And if Anub'arak Ambusher gets popular...).
Loatheb isn't the end all be all of 5s that is for sure, but what he does is something very specific and extremely strong at the right time. If you ever get a decent advantage against anyway, even warrior, dropping Loatheb that turn will almost always assure you maintain that advantage, and against certain decks in the current meta is effectively like taking a free turn. I certainly don't think the card just wins every game it gets played at all, its one turn you can't use spells, spells tend to be the cards that let you gain those big advantages.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
Duplicate - I'm sure its no secret....I mean no surprise that this card has had people up in arms about its merits. I think now that Mad Scientist has been spoiled this has alot more value. I can't say for sure the interaction that occurs if the Scientist fetches it, but either way piling up free secrets is good, free anything is good. This is good with a number of the mage class creatures, and I think you could easily build a deck that this has no bad targets for, however its variance on targets and whether or not you actually want to try to beat down with creatures will make this almost strictly an aggro card I feel, though it could see niche play in control to multiply card draw minions like Acolyte of Pain and Novice Engineer, or board wipes like Doomsayer. This card will be fun if not overtly powerful.
since doomsayer triggers at the start of your turn and secrets cant be triggered on your turn i dont think you would get dupes
Duplicate - I'm sure its no secret....I mean no surprise that this card has had people up in arms about its merits. I think now that Mad Scientist has been spoiled this has alot more value. I can't say for sure the interaction that occurs if the Scientist fetches it, but either way piling up free secrets is good, free anything is good. This is good with a number of the mage class creatures, and I think you could easily build a deck that this has no bad targets for, however its variance on targets and whether or not you actually want to try to beat down with creatures will make this almost strictly an aggro card I feel, though it could see niche play in control to multiply card draw minions like Acolyte of Pain and Novice Engineer, or board wipes like Doomsayer. This card will be fun if not overtly powerful.
since doomsayer triggers at the start of your turn and secrets cant be triggered on your turn i dont think you would get dupes
I more mean you can have the secret active and play a doomsayer, if they kill it you get two more, if they don't you wipe them. I'm should have clarified.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
Hey guys, here is a link to a video I made with a quick display of each card. Not so much a full review on each one (as mentioned earlier, ain't nobody got time for that haha). Anyways, if you want to see a one stop shop of what the cards are and what they look like, as well as pricing for the wings, check out the video. :)
I had actually cancelled my card breakdowns because I've been focusing on laddering and doing other things on my blog. Nice to see someone putting in such an impressive amount of effort. Quality work.
Thanks, I wish I had evaluated a few cards differently. I didn't totally trash Sludge Belcher, like some people did, and that is good because that card has shown itself to be the real deal. I think Unstable Ghoul is also very strong but Zoo is losing its foothold a bit. I also went conservative on Nerubian Egg and that card is just soooo easy to activate for most classes it can't help but see play, bit of an oversight on my part, though it doesn't fit every deck. There is still a fair bit of time before we get our last few cards and see how the meta shapes up in the end, but so far its been a great experience for most people I think.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
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Ok, this is all my personal opinion, and you can respond as you wish. My rating won't be based on some sort of flat scale, this will mostly be opinions on cards, where they fit, and how much impact I feel they could have. I choose not to use a rating scale because cards vary alot based on class and meta, and honestly nothing ever ends up being exactly like we expect. Honestly, we need more deck slots, but that is another topic. Ok, let's get this thing rolling.
Anub'ar Ambusher - Our first class card. Rogue is already known for having some of the most efficient creatures and spells and this certainly isn't a miss on that side of things, however it does do the right sort of things to not strictly push the current archtypes over the top. In terms of tempo rogue, and aggro rogue this card requires alot of though before you can just slam it into your deck. Its still strong, there are few 5/5s at 5 let alone 4, this gets a number of favorable trades, and it does put on a fast clock. Naxx also introduces a number of strong 5 cost minions however, and they don't really have major drawbacks, meaning this won't trade up as often as it used to, and running alot of battle cry minions to make the drawback a bonus does put you at odd with another Naxx card with alot of hype, Nerub'ar Weblord. Either way, I think the card is strong, the drawback isn't the most punishing, and can be a positve if played correctly
Avenge - Another class card, another secret for Paladin, who lacking in secrets compared to the other classes, however this one falls a bit flat. It has huge potential, the buff is extremely strong, but your play to control it and the opponents counter play will be the entire success or failure of this card. Obviously this is a huge selling point on the secrets change, under the old secrets rules this card is just bonkers, under the new ones this is a card that requires alot of effort and skill. Yes, its a mini kings, but it costs a card, and you don't get the bonus of surprise, your opponent knows this is happening. It does play extremely well with Noble Sacrifice in the early game, and I could see a new aggro pally deck that wants more secrets than Shockadin, but we'll have to see. I don't think it will see alot of play after its initial testing shows its variance to be too high and mostly toward negative.
Baron Rivendare - Our first Legendary, and one of the first cards leaked. A total variance machine, this guy just doesn't seem like he'll make it. The stats are just amazingly bad. The only reason Mogu'shan Warden sees play is its a huge speed bump, and Oasis Snapjaw seems better than this in most situations. Yes, you can get some sweet value from this if you have a decent set of deathrattles in play, and I guess this does eat up a ton of damage or a good removal, but I think silences are going to make a huge comeback and this being a vanilla 1/7 just makes getting any value out of it low. It will see testing, and probably play, since its a 1 of legendary that does give decent gains if you make it work, but I feel like consistancy will beat out variance with this guy.
Dancing Swords - Ah, a drawback on a non-legendary/non-class card. This cards drawback isn't even that bad in the right situations, obviously this fits directly into Backspace Rogue, and really any tempo deck could gain from this. It does draw them a card, but if you're controlling the tempo of the game a super efficient minion can likely 2 for 1, meaning this is only a 1/1 but its even crazier if they can't deal with it. Against other aggro decks if you can kill 2 of their guys and save yourself a ton of damage this is likely worth feeding them a card anyway, because it just buys you time to get to the cards you have to crush aggro. A safer Millhouse Manastorm, I think this has tons of potential.
Dark Cultist - The priest class card comes in strong. Priest was lacking solid minions that weren't insanely high variance. This is somewhat weak to silence, I guess you could say that, or a very manipulatable deathrattle, but just being a 3/4 for 3 makes this awesomely awesome. Its works great with the priest class ability and what priest wants to do in general. Pretty much and auto-include in every priest deck. I hate playing against priests, because the randomness of cards like Thoughtsteal and I think this will give them an even larger foothold in the meta, which I may hate, but I think is good for the health of the game.
Deathlord - Boy, this guys a hot topic. The most insanely robust minion for its cost, with one of the wildest deathrattles in the game. Even silenced this thing is a trade machine against zoo, and they likely won't want to silence it, hoping to get some value back. Outside of zoo this card is still hugely interesting. The frequency your opponent gets the best possible card off this will be how often its a blowout, but mostly I think this card is super good. This will do good things, like ruin battlecries or expose cards you opponent may have been hoping to save, and while it could lose you some games, on the whole it does alot to the state of any game. Your opponent is going to want to trigger that deathrattle for value and so its all about getting enough yourself before that happens and I easily see this doing that a million times over. This is alot nastier than Mogu'shan Warden, and I feel it will see tons of play.
Death's Bite - The joyous warrior class card. This is yet another synergy piece. This pretty much beats Arcanite Reaper at almost every turn. It does a similar amount of damage, but comes out strongly on an important part of the curve. It transitions well from Fiery War Axe and enables tons of the cards warrior wants to enable, like Rampage, Execute, Battle Rage, plus obviously all the Enrage minions, this will create some new decks, and give old ones a great new weapon.
Duplicate - I'm sure its no secret....I mean no surprise that this card has had people up in arms about its merits. I think now that Mad Scientist has been spoiled this has alot more value. I can't say for sure the interaction that occurs if the Scientist fetches it, but either way piling up free secrets is good, free anything is good. This is good with a number of the mage class creatures, and I think you could easily build a deck that this has no bad targets for, however its variance on targets and whether or not you actually want to try to beat down with creatures will make this almost strictly an aggro card I feel, though it could see niche play in control to multiply card draw minions like Acolyte of Pain and Novice Engineer, or board wipes like Doomsayer. This card will be fun if not overtly powerful.
Echoing Ooze - One of the coolest cards to be spoiled, this card is nothing extraordinary by itself, but will lead to some of the grossest games in Hearthstone history. Buffs, especially the cheap ones in druid, will lead to games you just win or lose on turn 1, and some of the pally buffs will lead to dominating mid/late games. The way this interacts with cards like Flametongue Totem and Stormwind Champion are also great. Not for every deck, but super fun card.
Feugen - To start, I didn't think it was possible they'd let us have this guy and his brother Stalagg, needless to say I was wrong. This guy is nasty, a great 5 drop, and based on what has happened in the game, silencing him may or may not be a must before disposing of him. I'm not sure how the game state reads him being CC'd (Polymorph, Hex, Tinkmaster Overspark) but I think that will have some impact as well on how the card and his brother are handled. Will see play in almost every deck that wants to play 5 cost minions.
Haunted Creeper - This is a very interesting card, and I think plays well with a number of others. First off, its a beast, so you'll see more of these than you think because of Webspinner. Secondly, its a fairly high value creature. Its another card that plays well with other deathrattle minions, plays great with something like Sword of Justice and Knife Juggler, this is the new Harvest Golem, 3/4 worth of stats for 2 mana, what a deal. Won't be great everywhere, as it doesn't trade quite as well as Harvest, but certainly a nice persistent minion.
Kel'Thuzad - The final boss of Naxxramas, and one hell of a card if you ask me. Some people say you have to have board control to play this, and that isn't specifically the case, you do need some sort of board presence, you don't want to cast this with nothing at all on board unless you have to, but even if you only have a couple mediocre guys and they have 1-3 good ones and you can only trade your 1-2 guys for one guy and then get it back this is worth that swing. If you can trade them down to a minion that can't kill your KT on its own and an don't have removal you just win, its not about having total dominating board position, just having a position. Some people say this is a win more, but that isn't entirely the deal, you could be neutral or behind and this can still get value as long as you have some kind of trade. Yes, if you're already ahead on board or able to play this, trade your whole board for theirs then get your whole board back its nuts, but its not as narrow as people think. Also, the fact this is something pretty much everyone will have its going to see alot of play.
Loatheb - The card most likely to be nerfed. This card is warping, but similar to other legendaries drawing it at the wrong time won't matter, but like Kel'Thuzad almost every player will have this and as a 5/5 for 5 its going to see play in pretty much every deck, even aggro will want this as a top-end card to prevent board wipe/comeback plays. It will get old to see this pretty much all the time, and finding a deck that doesn't care about the opponent playing this, or feeling the need to play it themselves will probably do alot, because you have to plan for if they have Loatheb. This card is crazy good atm.
Mad Scientist - Interesting, this is effectively class card, for the 3 secret classes. I do feel like this doesn't have alot of chance to see play in hunter, but I only say that because the order you play secrets in matters so much more in a hunter deck, having misdirect trigger and then explosive trap killing the minion or freezing trap, negating the Misdirection seems pretty bad, and a card like Snake Trap generally requires other cards to be good enough. In pally and mage decks however this has alot of potential, though much more so in mage. Casting your spells and attacking minions in the right order can win or lose you the game with Mad Scientist, and I think this will lead to some cool new secret based mage decks, and more potential 1 ofs of almost every secret just to mess with gameplay. In paladin its just minion value, but he pally secrets all synergize fairly well, even if its not a huge cost bonus its still like a 2/2 Novice that only draws you a secret, which is fine. This card will certainly see play.
Maexxna - Super Emperor Cobra. This card is another interesting one. Being 2 power is a bummer, as I feel like Stampeding Kodo has a chance to make this card unplayable, otherwise this either eats a hard removal spell or almost always 2/1s them, generally getting value. Its not a huge clock, but it is something you have to get rid of, often at a big cost, before you can play anything decent. 8 toughness is just crazy, and the power to trade for almost anything makes this card at least viable, plus, she's a beast, so its likely hunters will want to play this at least some extra percentage of the time.
Nerub'ar Weblord - The king of value killers. This guy hits so many cards its amazing, even cards with drawback battlecries get punished. True, it means you aren't likely playing battlecry minions, and his stats aren't dominating, but his existence alone will shape the day to day meta. Not the most powerful card, obviously they avoided making him overtly hard to remove, and there are a few creatures I wish this hit that is doesn't like the Divine Shield minions, and SI:7 Agent. I don't know how much play he'll all the time, but he makes alot of the best minions in the game right now not as good.
Nerubian Egg - Almost everyone is in love with this card, and obviously if Ancient Watcher can be made to work why can't this. However, I don't think its as good a people want it to be. Ancient Watcher is already bigger than this, and the decks it fit into could use its body very quickly. Killing your 0/2 isn't as easy as silencing or giving taunt to a 4/5. Also the application of this as an anti-aoe card, while mediocre also buys your opponent time by not adding any early pressure. You never want to be playing this on turn 2 unless you're eating it with a Void Terror on turn 3, so almost no one wants to be playing this without alot of good reasons that don't distract you deck from its job. People are going to want this too be good more than anything, so it will see play, it is fairly high impact if you break it, so that does mean people won't be able to resist.
Poison Seeds - What an interesting card. The fact that his specifically says destroy then replace makes me think this has alot less value than I want it to. Casting this and having your opponent still get all his deathrattles and an army don't make this super attractive, and unless druid is foregoing a number of its own strong minions it won't likely be getting much value off of that portion of the effect either. They do have the ability to play this and Kel'Thuzad in the same turn because of Innervate, but that is about the only time I see this being beyond a niche removal spell, though that is likely enough, since druid only has Naturalize as hard removal.
Reincarnate - The combo card of all combo cards. This card will certainly see play, and probably a fair amount of it, with our without Ancestral Spirit. Its a fun card, it does something different and combines well with a number of other already good cards like Cairne Bloodhoof, Sylvanas Windrunner, and almost any good charge minion. No need to explain its value.
Shade of Naxxramas - A hot topic indeed. The shade does seem like it has potential in the right spots, drawing it early and getting it down and keeping it alive along enough to say Flametongue Totem, Rockbiter Weapon, and Windfury a 5/5 or better will win at least some games, how many is alot more debatable. This is generally just awful if you play it after turn 7 or so, but there may even be a few long games where this is good then, but not likely. Spending your turn 3 to set up your turn 6 or higher but having no impact before then is pretty risky in alot of match ups.
Sludge Belcher - One of the more interesting cards in the set, this is a Sen'jin Shieldmasta with a Goldshire Footman taped on, with some interesting applications. This isn't the highest value target for silence, and no part of this card is over powered, however the fact that the 1/2 spawns on death is nice in so much as it does safeguard against AoE slightly, and provides what could be just the right amount of taunt. I feel like Abomination does a very similar thing to this, but maybe maybe the 5 toughness means more, IDK. We'll see where this goes, but I figure Abomination will see play before this, especially with some of the other high value 5 drops coming out.
Spectral Knight - Spectral Trademaster. This guy is awesome. Not every deck wants alot of 5 drops, but this is one of the ones you probably want a fair amount. He trades for alot of other 5s and almost all 4s, and he gets those trades almost every time, and his high toughness is going to be a real issue. He's immune to Stampeding Kodo and Big Game Hunter unless at least one other card is involved, and I can't see a many non-aggro decks not wanting this.
Stalagg - The lesser of the two in most peoples eyes, I can see this guy being the more definitive of the two more often than not. He's weak to Big Game Hunter and Shadow Word: Death, and alot of cheaper minions can trade easily with this guy, however it seems like deciding whether or not to play him and have the chance of getting that 11/11 Thaddius will be a big deal. Sometimes you opponent will have to remove this guy with something different or have double removal so as not to be blank to the much stronger Thadd. Not everyone will be willing to take the risk on what is likely a low value minion, but hell its generally safer than playing Venture Co. Mercenary, and that card has seen at least some play.
Stoneskin Gargoyle - This is on odd value card. It doesn't trade for much without help, and this seems very similar to Silverback Patriarch which isn't something many people ever wanted ever. Giving this a boost through some form of buff however makes this a much higher priority, however its still likely they can fairly easily kill it, so that doesn't mean much. Weird priest gimmicks aside I don't see this popping up very often.
Undertaker - Besides a recently broken Wrestlemania streak, this guy is likely to be one of the highest if not the highest impact card in the set. Many of the current deathrattle minions are playable, and many of the new ones are perfectly good, making this guy one of the best 1 drops in the game. Holding back a couple minions is already a fairly common strategy so you don't get blown out by AoE, and that keeps this guy at least marginally strong all game, even a turn 7 3/4 and a couple other small deathrattles can be enough pressure, and then you start the game on this guy and they can't deal with it you likely win very very quickly, which will be sad for alot of people.
Unstable Ghoul - Another awesome cheap taunt. Low cost taunts have been fairly weak and outside of Voidwalker most of them saw very little play, but this guy will likely see a fair amount. The deathrattle is relevant, as in the worst he'll trade with the low cost minion he died to, and against some decks this card will blank whole turns. I've played Abomination, and I'll easily play this miniature version.
Voidcaller - Besides overloading the word Void for warlocks, this guy is pretty fun. I don't think its strictly strong, its weak for its stats, and the free minion has to be in your hand and be good enough otherwise this reminds me of an Alarm-o-Bot. Some games it will be awesome, others it will be awful, but at least it has some body, even a slightly cost ineffective one. And you're a warlock so you'll likely have something if they don't silence this guy, even it its only saving you a small amount of mana.
Wailing Soul - The most build around card in the set, he turns on a number of cool cards, like Ancient Watcher and Dancing Swords as well as turning off some debuffs that may get played on occasion. He doesn't hinder effective vanilla minions and could easily see play in a midrange deck built around the previously mentioned cards along side Chillwind Yeti and Boulderfist Ogre. In a format where silence will likely be good, having 0 minions for your opponent to hit and some you actually want silence yourself is pretty sweet. Not for everyone, but may be great on the right day.
Webspinner - The hunter class card is great. Its both fun and value, though sometimes you'll get totally hosed and get something like Angry Chicken, Hungry Crab, Young Dragonhawk, or worst of all Captain's Parrot, most of the time you'll at least get something to fit into your curve somewhere, and you could get something awesome, like Maexxna, Stranglethorn Tiger, or even another Webspinner. Will certainly see play, and like many hearthstone cards will lead to some great stories of victory and defeat.
Zombie Chow - What an interesting card. Another powerful low cost minion that doesn't exactly fit an aggressive strategy. It seems like it could see play along side Undertaker, just to give you enough/more cheap deathrattles. This plays its best when its trading very early before you begin attacking the face, and in that case its super. You opponent isn't that likely to want to waste a removal spell early, but it will give weapon classes a bit more value in trading than non-weapon classes. The value body means this will see play, but how many decks it sticks around in will probably vary. Obviously the way this plays with Auchenai Soulpriest is very sweet, and a better trading cheap minion you can still heal on turn 2 seems strong for them. As I said before priest already seems like its getting some sweet cards, this might just be another one.
Feel free to tell me how wrong I am about everything.
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
You basically hit the nail with everything I agree with.
ain't nobody got time for that
I had forgotten about that :(
Quality post! How exciting that we are so close to release! I can't wait to see how all these cards actually pan out.
Sucks that we have to wait until August 19th until we get the full set.
I think that Control Warrior is gonna like it if Loatheb starts being seen everywhere, since they can just tech Arcanite Reaper to kill it (Or plan to use the 2nd hit of Death's Bite, but Arcanite is less situational and if Loatheb is everywhere it is likely decks are primarily midrange/control) and if they have been armoring up then Shield Slam still works as removal if need be (Since it hits at 6 mana) a good deal of the time. Though I do think Loatheb is being a bit overrated, even if he is still top notch, especially with the addition of other powerful 5-drops (And if Anub'arak Ambusher gets popular...).
Nice post. I didn't even know about a third of these cards. Everything seems accurate too!
The minion that silences all your other minions is gonna be sweet.
I'm not sure how sensitive they (Feugen and Stalagg) are to Silence, only the second one, and only if you're actually playing it, the deathrattle is pure bonus and only the second one matters. Venture Co. Mercenary has an actual drawback and can only be played in the right situations, they silence Stalagg yeah it could be a bummer not to get your Thaddius but you still got a 7/4 with no drawback at all.
Also, saying Undertaker isn't viable is insane. If there are already 2 playable cheap deathrattles, and there are at least 2 new playable cheap deathrattles that is close to enough, especially if you tack on a few good late games ones. This guy being a 2/3 for 1 is pretty much assured, and that is good enough in non-control decks, and the upside is even in the late game its possible to grow this guy. Leper Gnome, Loot Hoarder, and Harvest Golem are all already good playable cheap deathrattles. Add in Zombie Chow, Haunted Creeper, Nerubian Egg, Unstable Ghoul, and Deathlord on the low end and you easily have enough. You also still get mid/late games deathrattles like Cairne Bloodhoof, Sylvanas Windrunner, Feugen, and Stalagg. Throw in some of the class cards for the right classes, like Webspinner and Savannah Highmane for hunter, Voidcaller for Warlock, Dark Cultist for Priest, and Mad Scientist for secret using classes and you have alot of solid options for it. I'm not saying the card is the best card in the game, but I think that honestly it will become the aggro creature of choice.
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
Loatheb isn't the end all be all of 5s that is for sure, but what he does is something very specific and extremely strong at the right time. If you ever get a decent advantage against anyway, even warrior, dropping Loatheb that turn will almost always assure you maintain that advantage, and against certain decks in the current meta is effectively like taking a free turn. I certainly don't think the card just wins every game it gets played at all, its one turn you can't use spells, spells tend to be the cards that let you gain those big advantages.
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
since doomsayer triggers at the start of your turn and secrets cant be triggered on your turn i dont think you would get dupes
I more mean you can have the secret active and play a doomsayer, if they kill it you get two more, if they don't you wipe them. I'm should have clarified.
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.
Good write up thanks
Hey guys, here is a link to a video I made with a quick display of each card. Not so much a full review on each one (as mentioned earlier, ain't nobody got time for that haha). Anyways, if you want to see a one stop shop of what the cards are and what they look like, as well as pricing for the wings, check out the video. :)
http://youtu.be/Z3DgkUJ34is
Cheers
D: Beat me to it.
I had actually cancelled my card breakdowns because I've been focusing on laddering and doing other things on my blog. Nice to see someone putting in such an impressive amount of effort. Quality work.
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Thanks, I wish I had evaluated a few cards differently. I didn't totally trash Sludge Belcher, like some people did, and that is good because that card has shown itself to be the real deal. I think Unstable Ghoul is also very strong but Zoo is losing its foothold a bit. I also went conservative on Nerubian Egg and that card is just soooo easy to activate for most classes it can't help but see play, bit of an oversight on my part, though it doesn't fit every deck. There is still a fair bit of time before we get our last few cards and see how the meta shapes up in the end, but so far its been a great experience for most people I think.
To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of the women.