A card from Magic: The Gathering exists called Time Warp, which at a converted mana cost of 5, gives you an extra turn. Additionally, there's also a card called Time Walk which does the same thing for 2, and is part of The Power Nine.
Prior to the reveal of this card, one of the devs noted that this was his favorite Quest.
Here's a Mage Quest that everyone is excited about, because it literally allows you to take 2 turns in a row without opponent interruptions, which is something unseen in Hearthstone. To complete the Quest, you just need to cast 6 spells that weren’t in your deck. That may sound hard to do at first glance, but in reality, there are a lot of cards to do this with: Babbling Book, Cabalist's Tome, Burgly Bully, Archmage Antonidas, Mana Bind. In Wild, you also have Spellslinger, Ethereal Conjurer and Nexus-Champion Saraad. In addition to that, we also have newcomers, Primordial Glyph, Shimmering Tempest and Steam Surger. If you start second, The Coin also counts as the spell didn’t start in your deck. In all honesty, there are more than enough cards to do this to make this Quest easier. You can easily play Open the Waygate on turn 1, then perhaps Babbling Book or Shimmering Tempest on turn 2 (maybe the latter for tempo).
So, there's been a lot of talk over using Arcane Giant with this card to essentially deal 16 damage uninterrupted, and not very expensive either. If you can reliably draw all of this stuff, then this actually could become a deck. With the amount of options you have, this is a very exciting Quest and I see why people are hyped. I didn't think much of it at first, but I think it’s probably one of the better Quests.
So speaking of Open the Waygate, here's a spell that people are excited for with the Quest. Namely because it's possible to Discover another copy of this card through this card's effect so you can get even more progress done with the card. Unlikely, but you could possibly complete the Quest on turn 2 by chaining Primordial Glyphs together. Expect a Trolden video of that.
Not only is it really good the Quest, but it's also just good in general because what you Discover costs 2 less so you can take advantage of it easier. The card of course will see play in Quest Mage, and has a good chance to see play in other Mage decks too. Basically Unstable Portal in spell form with Discover, and we know how good Unstable Portal was.
Here we have a rather interesting Shaman card with mixed opinions (crazy, I know). Some people think it's good because of the cost reduction, and others think it's overrated because it just isn't that good. Although the cost reduction is admittedly amusing, Trump did mention in his review that if you reduce the cost of 2 Elementals, then this is essentially a 0 mana 1/1 (Wisp, Murloc Tinyfin) which is bad, therefore suggesting that at least 3 Elementals need to be reduced to make this efficient. While a valid point, this is an Elemental in itself so it can trigger Elemental synergies cheaper, and the Elementals themselves will also be cheaper too because of the Battlecry. So, it's better and it is interesting. It has potential but we'll just need to wait and see.
If Fire Plume Harbinger wasn't good enough for you, then this will be. While it may look mediocre at first, this card is actually very strong. It's an Elemental itself to trigger Elemental synergies (turn 3 into turn 4 Steam Surger seems good), that gives you two more Flame Elementals when it dies, which is very useful for reasons I've already explained, and reasons you already know. It's obviously going to be very, very good in Elemental decks.
But it's not just that, for this card is also extremely useful in Rogue Quest decks as the Flame Elementals will be easy to get 4 copies of, even easier in Wild too. Play 4 Flame Elementals through Fire Fly or this card, and you now have easier access to Crystal Core.
Here we have the PavelSports card. In normal circumstances, it looks like a worse Loot Hoarder. And you're right. HOWEVER, it is an Elemental so it may have a place in Elemental Mage decks, and the spell you get didn’t start in your deck so it’s a spell that will count for Open the Waygate. Realistically, I think this card will only be good enough for Quest Mages, and possibly Elemental Mages. The card you'll get is normally going to be good as the only really bad Mage spell to get is Shatter.
And here we have our second filler card of the set. It's a large Windfury minion, but unlike other Windfury minions of this nature (Windfury Harpy and Grotesque Dragonhawk), this one's actually a little more amusing because of the 8-Health giving it the ability to live through turns better (that and it has the annoying 4 Attack for Priest). It obviously won't be good in Constructed, but it'll be decent in Arena, and the artwork is pretty awesome.
Here's a cool Elemental (which is ironic because it's literally a "hot" spring guardian). It’s a 2/4 Taunt for 3 that restores 3 Health. Restoring 3 Health can actually make quite a difference (lots of Rogue decks for example, run Earthen Ring Farseer) to save a minion or even your hero sometimes. It's a decent Taunt minion with a healing effect, and it's an Elemental. It's a good card. Will be played in Elemental Shaman.
This is the first collectable card in the game with the word "Frozen" in its name. Cards that have the word "Frozen" in its text box includes Ice Lance and Shatter.
This is the first 6 mana 8/8 in the game.
This is the first minion with an effect that freeze itself (or can, but it will always do it).
COMPARABLE CARDS:
4 mana 7/7
REVIEW:
Here's a very weird card. Basically, it can only attack every other turn as it freezes itself after it attacks, meaning it can be hit by Ice Lance or Shatter, the former of which is rotating out, and the latter isn’t being used by anybody. It's honestly not as bad as it seems though as it does put on early pressure on the board as a 6 mana 8/8, and it is an Elemental so you maybe can put this into an Elemental deck. Play this on turn 6, then Stone Sentinel or Blazecaller on turn 7. You also can have some pretty dank Purify synergy (or just Silence in general).
Well, we just reviewed Hot Spring Guardian only 2 cards ago, and Shamans have another healing card here. This one deals damage and heals all in one. For 4 mana, you deal 4 damage (it's restricted to minions for some reason. I don't see why it can’t face) and do something else, kinda like that one Shaman card. In non-Jade Shaman, summoning a 1/1 actually isn't too much worse than restoring 4 Health to your hero though of course, the healing will be imperative at some point. It's playable I guess, but I don't see this being played when Jade Lightning is a thing, even in non-Jade Shaman decks, it's arguably on the same power level as Jade Lightning.
Here's a 4-drop Elemental, that although looks basic and unimpressive at first, actually has some potential, namely to curve into Servant of Kalimos better. In addition to that, it also deals 2 damage when you play it. If that doesn't sound exciting, think of it as a Disciple of C'Thun and a Divine Strength attached into one card. Does it sound better now?
It may not be played in Mage because they already have Water Elemental, but I could see this being played in other Elemental classes (Shaman, and Priest is you really want to try).
This and Volcano are tied for having the highest damage values of any card in the game (15), though this card as a bonus, also deals 3 damage to between 0 to 2 other minions.
This card is intentionally made to be able to kill all of dinosaurs in the expansion.
There's currently no collectable minions in the game that can survive the 15 damage.
Deal 15 damage to a minion… yeah, 15!!! Both Explosive Shot and Flame Lance now weep in depression in the corner. That 15 damage will kill anything you come across (except a really highly buffed C'Thun, The Ancient One, or a really huge Jade Golem). In addition to destroying a minion 99.99% of the time, you deal 3 damage to minions beside that, essentially casting a Multi-Shot with set targets in addition to dealing 15 damage. Do I need to speak more for why this card is good?
Do you remember how everyone thought The Last Kaleidosaur sucked upon first reveal? Here's the card that possibly makes them eat their words. When it dies, you get all spells you cast on it back, so you can cast them again to refill your spell ammo, and get the Quest done better. It's vulnerable to Silence/Hex/Devolve, which may become slightly problematic if Shamans are very popular in the meta. It still has potential though.
Here is a unique and rather amusing Paladin card. It's a buff card so it will go into the Quest Paladin deck. Basically, you Adapt anything you want to. Namely, Crackling Shield and Flaming Claws are equal to some existing Paladin spells (Hand of Protection and Blessing of Might, respectively). Here, you actually get the Adaptation and you get to choose. Some Adaptations are good, some not too great, and others are situationally good (Lightning Speed or Shrouding Mist for example). Though better in that regard, it can also be worse as if you really need the 3 Attack or Divine Shield, you aren't guaranteed to get it, so realistically, this is about the same power level as Hand of Protection or Blessing of Might, or maybe a bit better because of the flexibility. Just about any of these 3 cards could have a spot in the Quest Paladin deck.
For our final Neutral Legendary, we have a very unique card. Very much like Djinni of Zephyrs essentially serving as the replacement for the card as it leaves Standard (which has happened by time this is written). It's different though, because you have to cast the spells on this minion and then you get a 1/1 Plant with the same spell copied to it. Before you get any ideas, this does not work with the Quests like The Last Kaleidosaur or Open the Waygate (but it theoretically would work with Lakkari Sacrifice if you find a way to do this). Due to the added restrictions compared to Djinni of Zephys (you have to cast it on this minion, and the minion with the copy is always a new 1/1 Plant, I don't think this is quite as good as Djinni of Zephyrs. In fact, kind of a niche card, but you could do some cool things with.
Rating: Average/Good
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Link to Part 1 + 2017 Rotation Reviews
Link to Part 2
Link to Part 3
SECTION 7 (Posted April 4th)
Open the Waygate and Time Warp
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Here's a Mage Quest that everyone is excited about, because it literally allows you to take 2 turns in a row without opponent interruptions, which is something unseen in Hearthstone. To complete the Quest, you just need to cast 6 spells that weren’t in your deck. That may sound hard to do at first glance, but in reality, there are a lot of cards to do this with: Babbling Book, Cabalist's Tome, Burgly Bully, Archmage Antonidas, Mana Bind. In Wild, you also have Spellslinger, Ethereal Conjurer and Nexus-Champion Saraad. In addition to that, we also have newcomers, Primordial Glyph, Shimmering Tempest and Steam Surger. If you start second, The Coin also counts as the spell didn’t start in your deck. In all honesty, there are more than enough cards to do this to make this Quest easier. You can easily play Open the Waygate on turn 1, then perhaps Babbling Book or Shimmering Tempest on turn 2 (maybe the latter for tempo).
So, there's been a lot of talk over using Arcane Giant with this card to essentially deal 16 damage uninterrupted, and not very expensive either. If you can reliably draw all of this stuff, then this actually could become a deck. With the amount of options you have, this is a very exciting Quest and I see why people are hyped. I didn't think much of it at first, but I think it’s probably one of the better Quests.
Rating: Good/Very Good
Primordial Glyph
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
So speaking of Open the Waygate, here's a spell that people are excited for with the Quest. Namely because it's possible to Discover another copy of this card through this card's effect so you can get even more progress done with the card. Unlikely, but you could possibly complete the Quest on turn 2 by chaining Primordial Glyphs together. Expect a Trolden video of that.
Not only is it really good the Quest, but it's also just good in general because what you Discover costs 2 less so you can take advantage of it easier. The card of course will see play in Quest Mage, and has a good chance to see play in other Mage decks too. Basically Unstable Portal in spell form with Discover, and we know how good Unstable Portal was.
Rating: Good/Very Good
Fire Plume Harbinger
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Here we have a rather interesting Shaman card with mixed opinions (crazy, I know). Some people think it's good because of the cost reduction, and others think it's overrated because it just isn't that good. Although the cost reduction is admittedly amusing, Trump did mention in his review that if you reduce the cost of 2 Elementals, then this is essentially a 0 mana 1/1 (Wisp, Murloc Tinyfin) which is bad, therefore suggesting that at least 3 Elementals need to be reduced to make this efficient. While a valid point, this is an Elemental in itself so it can trigger Elemental synergies cheaper, and the Elementals themselves will also be cheaper too because of the Battlecry. So, it's better and it is interesting. It has potential but we'll just need to wait and see.
Rating: Average/Good
Igneous Elemental
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
If Fire Plume Harbinger wasn't good enough for you, then this will be. While it may look mediocre at first, this card is actually very strong. It's an Elemental itself to trigger Elemental synergies (turn 3 into turn 4 Steam Surger seems good), that gives you two more Flame Elementals when it dies, which is very useful for reasons I've already explained, and reasons you already know. It's obviously going to be very, very good in Elemental decks.
But it's not just that, for this card is also extremely useful in Rogue Quest decks as the Flame Elementals will be easy to get 4 copies of, even easier in Wild too. Play 4 Flame Elementals through Fire Fly or this card, and you now have easier access to Crystal Core.
Rating: Good/Very Good
Shimmering Tempest
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Here we have the PavelSports card. In normal circumstances, it looks like a worse Loot Hoarder. And you're right. HOWEVER, it is an Elemental so it may have a place in Elemental Mage decks, and the spell you get didn’t start in your deck so it’s a spell that will count for Open the Waygate. Realistically, I think this card will only be good enough for Quest Mages, and possibly Elemental Mages. The card you'll get is normally going to be good as the only really bad Mage spell to get is Shatter.
Rating: Average
Stormwatcher
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
And here we have our second filler card of the set. It's a large Windfury minion, but unlike other Windfury minions of this nature (Windfury Harpy and Grotesque Dragonhawk), this one's actually a little more amusing because of the 8-Health giving it the ability to live through turns better (that and it has the annoying 4 Attack for Priest). It obviously won't be good in Constructed, but it'll be decent in Arena, and the artwork is pretty awesome.
Rating: Average
Hot Spring Guardian
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Here's a cool Elemental (which is ironic because it's literally a "hot" spring guardian). It’s a 2/4 Taunt for 3 that restores 3 Health. Restoring 3 Health can actually make quite a difference (lots of Rogue decks for example, run Earthen Ring Farseer) to save a minion or even your hero sometimes. It's a decent Taunt minion with a healing effect, and it's an Elemental. It's a good card. Will be played in Elemental Shaman.
Rating: Good/Very Good
Frozen Crusher
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Here's a very weird card. Basically, it can only attack every other turn as it freezes itself after it attacks, meaning it can be hit by Ice Lance or Shatter, the former of which is rotating out, and the latter isn’t being used by anybody. It's honestly not as bad as it seems though as it does put on early pressure on the board as a 6 mana 8/8, and it is an Elemental so you maybe can put this into an Elemental deck. Play this on turn 6, then Stone Sentinel or Blazecaller on turn 7. You also can have some pretty dank Purify synergy (or just Silence in general).
Rating: Average
Tidal Surge
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Well, we just reviewed Hot Spring Guardian only 2 cards ago, and Shamans have another healing card here. This one deals damage and heals all in one. For 4 mana, you deal 4 damage (it's restricted to minions for some reason. I don't see why it can’t face) and do something else, kinda like that one Shaman card. In non-Jade Shaman, summoning a 1/1 actually isn't too much worse than restoring 4 Health to your hero though of course, the healing will be imperative at some point. It's playable I guess, but I don't see this being played when Jade Lightning is a thing, even in non-Jade Shaman decks, it's arguably on the same power level as Jade Lightning.
Rating: Average
Fire Plume Pheonix
Fire Plume Pheonix
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Here's a 4-drop Elemental, that although looks basic and unimpressive at first, actually has some potential, namely to curve into Servant of Kalimos better. In addition to that, it also deals 2 damage when you play it. If that doesn't sound exciting, think of it as a Disciple of C'Thun and a Divine Strength attached into one card. Does it sound better now?
It may not be played in Mage because they already have Water Elemental, but I could see this being played in other Elemental classes (Shaman, and Priest is you really want to try).
Rating: Good
Meteor
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Deal 15 damage to a minion… yeah, 15!!! Both Explosive Shot and Flame Lance now weep in depression in the corner. That 15 damage will kill anything you come across (except a really highly buffed C'Thun, The Ancient One, or a really huge Jade Golem). In addition to destroying a minion 99.99% of the time, you deal 3 damage to minions beside that, essentially casting a Multi-Shot with set targets in addition to dealing 15 damage. Do I need to speak more for why this card is good?
Rating: Very Good
Primalfin Champion
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Do you remember how everyone thought The Last Kaleidosaur sucked upon first reveal? Here's the card that possibly makes them eat their words. When it dies, you get all spells you cast on it back, so you can cast them again to refill your spell ammo, and get the Quest done better. It's vulnerable to Silence/Hex/Devolve, which may become slightly problematic if Shamans are very popular in the meta. It still has potential though.
Rating: Good
Adaptation
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
Here is a unique and rather amusing Paladin card. It's a buff card so it will go into the Quest Paladin deck. Basically, you Adapt anything you want to. Namely, Crackling Shield and Flaming Claws are equal to some existing Paladin spells (Hand of Protection and Blessing of Might, respectively). Here, you actually get the Adaptation and you get to choose. Some Adaptations are good, some not too great, and others are situationally good (Lightning Speed or Shrouding Mist for example). Though better in that regard, it can also be worse as if you really need the 3 Attack or Divine Shield, you aren't guaranteed to get it, so realistically, this is about the same power level as Hand of Protection or Blessing of Might, or maybe a bit better because of the flexibility. Just about any of these 3 cards could have a spot in the Quest Paladin deck.
Rating: Average/Good
Devilsaur Egg
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
It's an egg, so it’s good. It curves with Ravenous Pterrodax. It could be really good in Paladin with the Quest. Let's just move on to the next card.
Rating: Good/Very Good
The Voraxx
FUN FACTS:
COMPARABLE CARDS:
REVIEW:
For our final Neutral Legendary, we have a very unique card. Very much like Djinni of Zephyrs essentially serving as the replacement for the card as it leaves Standard (which has happened by time this is written). It's different though, because you have to cast the spells on this minion and then you get a 1/1 Plant with the same spell copied to it. Before you get any ideas, this does not work with the Quests like The Last Kaleidosaur or Open the Waygate (but it theoretically would work with Lakkari Sacrifice if you find a way to do this). Due to the added restrictions compared to Djinni of Zephys (you have to cast it on this minion, and the minion with the copy is always a new 1/1 Plant, I don't think this is quite as good as Djinni of Zephyrs. In fact, kind of a niche card, but you could do some cool things with.
Rating: Average/Good
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