This thread is just for my own purposes to catalog my own thoughts about cards so I can look back on this to see what I was wildly correct or incorrect about. This is how my star rating system works. It is on a 1 to 5 scale.
5 Candle (🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️): Meta-Defining Card that shapes how we play the game.
4 Candle (🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️): Card that are played consistency in Tier-2 or higher decks.
3 Candle (🕯️🕯️🕯️): These cards see fringe play in competitive or decent cards in lower Tier decks.
2 Candle (🕯️🕯️): Cards that aren't good enough to see competitive play at a serious level, decent Arena card.
1 Candle (🕯️): Meme cards that are only played in decks with a below 15% winrate.
Neutrals:
Legendaries:
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Master Oakheart is a really well designed card. It promotes interesting deck building and opens up crazy swing turns. If you run Drakkari Enchanter and Dragonhatcher you will spawn 6 typically must-kill minions. It is a bit slow, and it won't see play in every deck, but in the decks it goes into will make a huge impact.
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The Darkness is a super fun and crazy minion. However, it has a big glaring weakness in that it is pretty terrible in every matchup. Against control they will save their removal for this minion, and it doesn't matter at all in aggro. The only application I see this having is against SIngleton Decks, as the candles shuffled messes with the battlecries of Raza, The Chained and Kazakus. But even then it is a very niche use. This card won't see any play.
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King Togwaggle is a super janky card. The body is weak and is horrible in any conventional deck. However, there is a single card combination that I think is worth talking about. The cards you need include the King himself, Explore Un'Goro, and Skulking Geist. You first play the King and then Explore at 10 Mana to destroy your opponent's deck. You put your opponent in checkmate, as if they don't switch decks you win due to the big boi minions you Discover off of Choose Your Path. If they decide to switch you can Skulking Geist their deck for a win. A fun deck, not likely viable.
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Zola the Gorgon has an interest effect, but there aren't too many decks that want it. The only decks that would want a specific card would be something like Singleton Decks picking up Kazakus. But besides that, it won't see play.
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Marin the Fox has been around since its release a couple of weeks ago. It has proved itself to be a fun card to play around with, but it hasn't done anything of note. It has some more synergy with Scrap-o-Matic, but I don't think that pushes it to the realm of playability.
Epics:
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Shimmering Courser has implications in decks that want to land a bunch of buffs. This seems only worthwhile in Spell-Heavy decks like Quest Mage or Raza Priest which both have an incredibly difficult time to remove this. However, this card is absolutely dreadful against anything that is remotely minion focused. Won't see play in anything except the horrible meme quest Paladin.
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Corridor Creeper has an effect that makes it stronger against decks or in a deck where many minions are dying. However, effects that only happen when they are in your hand have been historically terrible. I don't think this sees any play of any kind.
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Void Ripper is a mix of Confuse and Crazed Alchemist. I can see some applications in counter Doomsayer and kills a board of high health minions, ala Spreading Plague, in conjunction with an AOE spell. However, I don't think that will occur enough times for this card to be worth it.
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Arcane Tyrant bares a resemblance to Happy Ghoul, but a lot better. Decks looking to push Tempo while also running 5-Cost spells would be glad to include this to their deck. Druid with Nourish or Mage with Kabalist Tome.
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Dragonhatcher goes hand-in-hand with Master Oakheart. You can create some crazy Recruit chains and flood the board with montsrous minions. So it will see play in that deck and only that deck.
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Grand Archivist has too many deckbuilding restrictions to make the inclusion of the card worth it. Mage cant play Frostbolts, Paladin can't play buffs. This card just doesn't have the pay-off for its ability.
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Spiteful Summon has some very interesting deckbuilding implications. It encourages high-costing spells and it summons a minion aoccordingly. It sets up a Bonemare turn quite nicely. I can see this being played in Midrange decks that want high cost spells as well, like in Paladin with Spikeridge Steed.
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Rummaging Kobold is meant to be an Anti-Tech-Tech card against weapon removal such as Harrison Jones or Acidic Swamp Ooze. The problem is that the body is absolutely horrendous, and if you haven't played and used a weapon completely you don't get anything from it.
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Carnivorous Cube will be the card that pushes Deathrattle decks if they exist. I can see this being used in Hunter, Paladin, Warlock, or Rogue looking to destroy their own minions for potential benefits.
Rares:
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Shrieking Shroom is just severely understated. Summoning unreliable minions doesn't make the cut for a deck. The shroom is just too vulnerable to getting removed. Compare it to Imp Master or even Moroes.
Kobold Monk is a fairly stated tech card. However there is only one good deck this works against and that is Burn Mage. I believe that archetype will get much stronger after the expansion drops, and this card might not even see play then. You could just want straight up healing rather than stopping damage. I don't think this will see much play outside of that matchup.
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Gravelsnout Knight is reminiscent of Hungry Dragon. Like that card, this won't see any play. This in-fact may be worse because its possible for the 1-Drop to directly trade with the card.
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Ebon Dragonsmith is a card that I don't believe will see play. Its ability and stat distribution is very similar to Blackwater Pirate. That card is still in standard and wasn't remotely considered in any Pirate deck, which is must more aggressive than any Pirate deck. I don't think sees any sort of play.
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Furbolg Mossbinder is just a really terrible card. If the 6/6 Elemental it spawns gave charge then it would be something interesting. The tempo loss you get from this card just isn't good, and the requirement in having to control a minion makes it absolutely unplayable.
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Finally an anti-aggro Taunt card that won't be used by aggressive decks! Well...it won't be used by control either because it isn't better than Tar Creeper.
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I just think that Hungry Ettin is just a mix of Hungry Dragon and Acient of Blossoms. Both of which seen no play whatsoever. While this card may have a big butt, it gives your opponent a minion to buff could spell disaster for you. Don't play this card.
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Meme card. Not even a Beast.
Commons:
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Wax Elemental is definition of pack filler. It has a quirky keyword combination for such a low cost, but no player is seriously going to use this. The fact that it is an elemental is maybe cool for a
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Violet Wurm is a big boi. He could see some play in Recruit Hunter looking for big Beasts. However, there are probably better options like King Krush or Charged Devilsaur.
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Trogg Gloomeater is Venomancer with Taunt and one less attack. I think this card is absolutely busted in Arena, but I don't think it will see play in constructed.
Stoneskin Basilisk is a pack filler that is really strong in Arena, but terrible in constructed. Won't see play in any constructed deck.
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Sneaky Devil has interesting implications in Token decks wanting to go wide. However, the stats are weak and are terrible if you are behind. I just believe there are better options.
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Shroom Brewer is a much better version of Earthen Ring Farseer. The body is bulking enough to fight for the board, and it can target minions too. This has pretty interesting implications in decks that are looking for healing, such as Rogue, Hunter, or Warlock. I can see it as a tech choice if Burn Mage is incredibly popular.
Plated Beetle is a decent card that can slot in any control deck looking for a bit more defensive early game. Gaining three armor means a lot against any aggressive deck as it increases your Health total by 10%. I think this will see play in some decks.
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Good flavor, bad card. Kobold Apprentice is a one-sided Mad Bomber but costing more and having worse stats. If it hit only minions maybe something could be considered, but its unreliability even after losing stats makes it still bad.
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Compared toDefender of Argus, Fungalmancer is just a terrible card. There are so many better options to be considered. Even bad in Arena.
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Green Jelly, like Shrieking Shroom just has a too weak of a body. Hogger isn't even played and this looks horrible in comparison to that.
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Fungal Enchanter is a better version of Earthen Ring Farseer. If you are more of a board-centric deck you can trade off some minions and heal them back up for some value. And you get some extra healing on yourself. It's a fair card that I think will see play somewhere.
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Dragonslayer is good tech card against Dragon-based decks. It outright kills a Cobalt Scalebane, and knocks down bigger Dragons by usually half. However, Golakka Crawler is good because Pirates are played in a lot more decks than dragons. So this will only see a limited about of play.
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Dire Mole is the card Midrange Hunter and Token Druids have been waiting for. Crackling Razormaw has the posibility of turning this into a 4/3, and Druid's Mark of Y'Shaarj turns it into a 3/5. That is insane tempo on turn 2 and requires immediate attention from your opponent. I believe that this will be a meta-defining card. Mole Meta Bois.
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Cursed Disciple is less bad than it appears, but it is still pretty bad. The deck that has some interesting applications in is Quest Druid since this triggers the Jungle Giants activation by two instead of one. This card is also particularly difficult to get rid of against spell-heavy decks.
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Corrosive Sludge is pretty strange, as it fits the same mana-slot as Harrison Jones. The only time this is better than Harrison, especially now that every class has a potential weapon, that this is to avoid fatiguing yourself in the late game. That occurrence likely won't happen much to matter.
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Boisterous Bard just doesn't give enough of a buff to be worth its inclusion. This card would probably be find in Arena, but this is just not good in constructed.
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Sleepy Dragon is a good dragon for budget decks looking for a big boi to add. However, I don't think it will see any serious play in any competitive decks. Even with DragonhatcherMaster Oakheart decks, there are better options.
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Hoarding Dragon is similar in concept with Hungry Dragon. It gets +1/+1 over the Chillwind Yeti but at a cost for a negative effect. Unlike Hungry Dragon, this card's effect isn't random and is also a Deathrattle. Those factors possibly make it a better card, but I don't think that is good enough to warrant its inclusion in any deck.
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I don't think Silver Vanguard makes the cut in any Recruit deck. It is just too slow and too low of stats.
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Guild Recruiter is a decent showing of the Recruit mechanic. You would want to target a 4-Drop that you want to pull from your deck even if you don't find it in the first five turns. A good example would be Fandral Staghelm. I could see this being played in that kind of deck where you want a premium 4-Drop, but I don't believe that deck will be competitively viable.
Class Cards:
Druid:
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Barkskin is a pretty weak buff for Druids. It has synergy with the Lesser Jasper Spellstone and Ironwood Golem. However, it is in a weird space that makes it worse than other Druid buffs. You want to use Earthen Scales in a Top-Heavy Druid deck looking for Armor Gain. I just think there are better options in Druid than this.
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Strongshell Scavenger is probably a cornerstone card in the Recruit deck that summons 4-Cost minions. I don't think that deck will be that playable, and that there will be better options for Druid like Jade or Big Druid.
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Greedy Sprite is a ramp card made for more aggressive lists. It can ramp into Living Mana or Bittertide Hydra on curve. It is to be noted that if this dies on your team you will not be able to use that Mana Crystal. So it puts your opponent into a minor dilemma. I think it is a fair consideration in those faster Druid decks.
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Oaken Summons is a card that slots into the deck with Astral Tiger and Grizzled Guardian. If that deck got a few more tools I can see it being quite good, but not for this expansion.
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Ironwood Golem works with the Oaken Summons deck. Again, I don't think that deck will be good so this card isn't good.
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Ixlid, Fungal Lord has substantially terrible stats. I highly doubt that you can get this to stick and survive, and with cards like Potion of Madness it can backfire immensely. There are just better options if you are looking for a snowballing minion.
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Grizzled Guardian is made specifically for that 4-Drop Recruit Druid deck. It can really create a wall of taunts that are extremely difficult to get rid of. This can be pulled off of Master Oakheart for an extreme amount of value as well. I don't think this deck will be good just yet, but look out for it after the rotation.
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Twig of the World Tree is this big Mana restorative effect that is pretty crazy if used in combination with a huge card like Malygos. However, it is extremely predictable and is countered by weapons since you don't get the 20 Mana turn if this is destroyed by Harrison or Ooze. I don't think this will see play.
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Branching Paths is an extremely flexible card. It can draw, push damage, or be defensive depending on any situation. However, each option is fairly ineffective for its mana cost. I could maybe see this as a One-Of in Jade Druid just as a flex pick against aggro decks like Burn Mage. It is just Druid is so powerful right now that it is strapped for card slots.
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The thing with Lesser Jasper Spellstone is that Druid is completely desperate for removal tools. For a considerable amount of time the class ran Mulch, which is a relatively bad card in comparison to other removal spells like Sap or Shadow Word: Death. This sees play in Jade Druid as a removal option against the faster decks as there are so many core cards that upgrade this. Malfurion, The Pestilent and its according Hero Power, Ultimate Infestation, Earthen Scales, and Feral Rage can all be used to upgrade the spell.
Hunter:
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Cave Hydra has the same effect as Magnataur Alpha or Scourgelord, Garrosh's weapon. This card is pretty good at controlling the board against aggressive decks. Works really well with Houndmaster. The only problem is that Hunter is stacked on the 3-Mana slot. So I don't think this makes the cut over most other options unless it is targeting a specific deck.
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Candleshot seems pretty bad at first glance, but it can save you a lot of Health in the longrun. Hunter suffers at dealing a single damage to a minion, but with this you are able to clean up the board against Pirates quite efficiently. It also works really well with Hunter's Mark, as a 2-Mana removal tool where you take no damage is pretty solid. It's home is most likely Secret Hunter that just wants more defensive tools going into the late game.
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Rhok'delar is the reason you would want to play the "No Minions" Hunter that has been the subject of Memes as of late. I could see the deck working if Blizzard pushed more support for it, but I don't think the pay-off is worth it. It won't see any serious play until next expansion, if then even.
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Flanking Strike seems like an extremely solid card that will fit into any Hunter deck. It is comparable to Imp-losion, which saw a considerable amount of play. It can't go face, but I think that the tempo swing created by removing something and summoning a body is comparable to Firelands Portal. It is a good card that will see play.
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To My Side!, just like Purify, is a complete meme card because the deck it is for is nearly unplayable. Watch out for this card next expansion where this archetype may become more playable. For now though, complete trash.
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Lesser Emerald Spellstone makes Secrets finally playable in Hunter again. It gives you a massive swing turn on 5 which leads into a Savannah Highmane the following turn. I think it will be the backbone of Hunter decks and see an immense amount of play.
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Seeping Oozeling has the major issue of conflicting with Savannah Highmane in its mana-slot. It also has Anti-Synergy with Barnes as it doesn't retain a Deathrattle off a clean summon. I just think this card is bad and won't see any play.
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Kathrena Winterwisp is a solid card that I think goes into Secret Hunter specifically. This is due to Secret Hunter able to play a non-beast early game and save the bigger beasts until later. With cards like Charged Devilsaur, King Krush, Savannah Highmane, and even Violet Wurm it can get pretty crazy.
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Wandering Monster is an extremely solid Secret in Hunter. You will play this as a two-of in any Secret Hunter deck due to its defensive capabilities and potential to highroll the opponent. Pulling an Injured Blademaster, Drakkari Defender, or even Stoneskin Basilisk can be game winning. Very solid card.
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Crushing Walls is another fair control tool in a class that desperately need strong control tools to make it work. It can be easily played around, and is a completely dead card against Aggro. You may put it in as a Tech choice against Big decks like Priest or Druid. But besides that I think this card is pretty terrible.
Mage:
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Shifting Scroll is just a bad card. It doesn't give your Mage deck any versatility like Primordial Glyph does. It doesn't even give a discount to the spell. Shifter Zerus and Molten Blade have been traditionally terrible, I see no difference here.
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Dragon's Fury is a huge board clear that promotes the "Big Spell" mage that they are pushing. I don't thing this is reliable enough to see consistent play, and I think there will just be better options in the mage class for board clears.
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Dragoncaller Alanna's pay-off just isn't worth it in the end. You put a lot of big stats on the board, but they can still be cleared by numerous means. I feel like it would just be simpler to add Arcane Giants into Mage for a similar effect without such a heavy Deck Building restriction.
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Deck of Wonders is a fun, but terrible card. I'm glad Blizzard made sure this card sees no play because the effect is just random to play against. Five mana is a steep cost to pay for a non-immediate effect that might just be horrible for you anyways.
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Leyline Manipulator a very solid card. Pros are talking about a Non-Quest Quest mage that involves a bunch of cards that somehow ends with your opponent dying. I'm not sure if that line of play is going to work, but if it does it will be a nightmare to play against. In a more traditional sense, I think this is pretty decent in an elemental deck as it discounts Elementals gotten off of Fire Fly, Servant of Kalimos, and the upgraded versions of Pyros.
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Arcane Artificer is a defensive tool for Mage that pushes them to play big spells. The best comparison to make with this card is with Druid's Earthen Scales. You use this as a modifier for your big spells late game to gain back some Health. You probably would need to at least gain 5 Armor for this minion to be worth it. However, I just think that the body is just too weak and its uses are limited.
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Explosive Runes is a very strong card for the Burn Mage archetype. It fits right into Secret Mage as it pushes a lot of face damage while removing potential threats. This secret is definitely difficult to play around, and will cause headache for combo decks looking to stall.
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Lesser Ruby Spellstone is a bad Primordial Glyph that turns into a Cabalist's Tome in Elemental decks. I don't this card alone warrants an Elemental archetype, and even then it might not go into that deck as it may not help the deck's win condition. It will see limited amounts of play.
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Raven Familiar reminds me of King's Elekk in Hunter. The one less attack means a lot, and will likely make this card unplayable. This is a consideration for The Curator as the deck's Beast, but the problem is that Mage doesn't have any Murloc they want to play. Card just isn't good enough to see play.
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Aluneth gives Aggro Mage a real win condition and ability to be a dangerous prospect in the meta game. You can just draw your Burn and go face in hopes of finishing off your opponent before they assemble their combo. Good card with scary implications.
Paladin:
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Potion of Heroism is a card that Paladin always wanted. It is a good cycling tool in almost any deck, You are able to keep your board presence while upping your opponent's in cards.
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Crystal Lion is a good card in a currently terrible deck. Standard doesn't have Muster for Battle, which was the reason to play Recruit Paladin. This card is very powerful with cards like Lost in the Jungle and Stand Against Darkness to get a huge discount.
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Val'anyr is the ultimate value weapon. The initial cost is steep, but you gain so much in the long run. The enemy has to silence it or they will face constant pressure from it. I could see this fitting in nearly any Paladin deck. It just matters if the Paladin class itself will see much play.
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Call to Arms is a crazy good card which will carry Paladin through the Catacombs Meta. It works best with Deathrattles and Murlocs. It just puts down a bunch of bodies that are tough to get rid of and goes nicely into a Coin Steed or Tarim. Amazing card.
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Lynessa Sunsorrow is a sleeper card in my opinion. If your deck is running Potion of Heroism and Spikeridge Steed it is completely worth it. It is a defensive card that refills your hand. Of course Silence will destroy it, but that means they didn't Silence your previous buffs so that's good.
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Lesser Pearl Spellstone is a card that has a strange home. It doesn't go into Control as the 2-Slot is stacked, and it doesn't go into Aggro as you don't want to be healing. The only deck i can think of this going into is an N'Zoth Midrange Paladin with cards like Mistress of Mixtures which upgrades this fairly quickly.
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Benevolent Djinn is a good tech card against Burn Mage or Face Hunter decks. It is a must kill against those decks or you lock them out completely. The only problem I see is that this card is pretty terrible against Control as the healing you get doesn't really matter. Will see Limited Amount of play.
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Unidentified Maul is a card meant for the Divine Dude Paladin deck. Again, I don't think that deck is particularly strong and Rallying Blade outclasses it. I could see a world where you run one of this and two Rallying Blades just for more weapons.
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Level Up! is a card reminiscent to Quartermaster, but much worse. With Quartermaster its worse case scenario was a 7 mana 5/8 split between two bodies, while this will only spawn an Ironfur Grizzly. You might just play it for the sake of redundancy in dude decks for buffs, but it is definitely the worst card in the deck.
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Drygulch Jailor isn't as terrible as people think, but it is still bad. It puts the opponent in a weird place on Turn 2 because they can either destroy it to give you a kinda bad Muster for Battle the following turn, or leave it up in which you have the chance to buff it.
I really like your review so far. I don't agree with what you said about Void Ripper tbh but I think this is definitely a useful review and I agree with a lot of your reasoning. I completely overlooked and forgot about Lesser Jasper Spellstone and I honestly think that card is among the strongest in the set. 1 mana for 2 damage is good and the upgrade doesn't really matter that much. It will be a 2 of in a lot of Druid decks. I'm not sure I agree with Aluneth but honestly I've never been high on that card at all. I don't really think it would fit in Aggro Mage due to its high cost and thus high potential to sit in your hand but I haven't played Aggro Mage that much so who knows.
Also, I like how high you are on Lesser Emerald Spellstone. I personally am not THAT high on the card because it's so weak to AOE but your statement about how it makes Secret Hunter a decent archetype again is a bold one. That said, I don't think it's bad to think this card could be good. While it is weak to AOE, it DOES force out AOE if you have it fully upgraded and makes it very hard to deal with the Highmane you'll be dropping the turn after.
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KilogramHours's Full Card Review
This thread is just for my own purposes to catalog my own thoughts about cards so I can look back on this to see what I was wildly correct or incorrect about. This is how my star rating system works. It is on a 1 to 5 scale.
5 Candle (🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️): Meta-Defining Card that shapes how we play the game.
4 Candle (🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️): Card that are played consistency in Tier-2 or higher decks.
3 Candle (🕯️🕯️🕯️): These cards see fringe play in competitive or decent cards in lower Tier decks.
2 Candle (🕯️🕯️): Cards that aren't good enough to see competitive play at a serious level, decent Arena card.
1 Candle (🕯️): Meme cards that are only played in decks with a below 15% winrate.
Neutrals:
Legendaries:
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Master Oakheart is a really well designed card. It promotes interesting deck building and opens up crazy swing turns. If you run Drakkari Enchanter and Dragonhatcher you will spawn 6 typically must-kill minions. It is a bit slow, and it won't see play in every deck, but in the decks it goes into will make a huge impact.
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The Darkness is a super fun and crazy minion. However, it has a big glaring weakness in that it is pretty terrible in every matchup. Against control they will save their removal for this minion, and it doesn't matter at all in aggro. The only application I see this having is against SIngleton Decks, as the candles shuffled messes with the battlecries of Raza, The Chained and Kazakus. But even then it is a very niche use. This card won't see any play.
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King Togwaggle is a super janky card. The body is weak and is horrible in any conventional deck. However, there is a single card combination that I think is worth talking about. The cards you need include the King himself, Explore Un'Goro, and Skulking Geist. You first play the King and then Explore at 10 Mana to destroy your opponent's deck. You put your opponent in checkmate, as if they don't switch decks you win due to the big boi minions you Discover off of Choose Your Path. If they decide to switch you can Skulking Geist their deck for a win. A fun deck, not likely viable.
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Zola the Gorgon has an interest effect, but there aren't too many decks that want it. The only decks that would want a specific card would be something like Singleton Decks picking up Kazakus. But besides that, it won't see play.
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Marin the Fox has been around since its release a couple of weeks ago. It has proved itself to be a fun card to play around with, but it hasn't done anything of note. It has some more synergy with Scrap-o-Matic, but I don't think that pushes it to the realm of playability.
Epics:
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Shimmering Courser has implications in decks that want to land a bunch of buffs. This seems only worthwhile in Spell-Heavy decks like Quest Mage or Raza Priest which both have an incredibly difficult time to remove this. However, this card is absolutely dreadful against anything that is remotely minion focused. Won't see play in anything except the horrible meme quest Paladin.
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Corridor Creeper has an effect that makes it stronger against decks or in a deck where many minions are dying. However, effects that only happen when they are in your hand have been historically terrible. I don't think this sees any play of any kind.
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Void Ripper is a mix of Confuse and Crazed Alchemist. I can see some applications in counter Doomsayer and kills a board of high health minions, ala Spreading Plague, in conjunction with an AOE spell. However, I don't think that will occur enough times for this card to be worth it.
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Arcane Tyrant bares a resemblance to Happy Ghoul, but a lot better. Decks looking to push Tempo while also running 5-Cost spells would be glad to include this to their deck. Druid with Nourish or Mage with Kabalist Tome.
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Dragonhatcher goes hand-in-hand with Master Oakheart. You can create some crazy Recruit chains and flood the board with montsrous minions. So it will see play in that deck and only that deck.
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Grand Archivist has too many deckbuilding restrictions to make the inclusion of the card worth it. Mage cant play Frostbolts, Paladin can't play buffs. This card just doesn't have the pay-off for its ability.
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Spiteful Summon has some very interesting deckbuilding implications. It encourages high-costing spells and it summons a minion aoccordingly. It sets up a Bonemare turn quite nicely. I can see this being played in Midrange decks that want high cost spells as well, like in Paladin with Spikeridge Steed.
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Rummaging Kobold is meant to be an Anti-Tech-Tech card against weapon removal such as Harrison Jones or Acidic Swamp Ooze. The problem is that the body is absolutely horrendous, and if you haven't played and used a weapon completely you don't get anything from it.
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Carnivorous Cube will be the card that pushes Deathrattle decks if they exist. I can see this being used in Hunter, Paladin, Warlock, or Rogue looking to destroy their own minions for potential benefits.
Rares:
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Shrieking Shroom is just severely understated. Summoning unreliable minions doesn't make the cut for a deck. The shroom is just too vulnerable to getting removed. Compare it to Imp Master or even Moroes.
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Scorp-o-matic shares some similarities with Crazed Alchemist as a way to tech against Doomsayer and Totems. What Scorp-o-matic does better is its can destroy priority 1-Attack minions like Acolyte of Pain or Crypt Lord. It also has some synergy within the Paladin class with cards like Aldor Peacekeeper and Humility.
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Kobold Monk is a fairly stated tech card. However there is only one good deck this works against and that is Burn Mage. I believe that archetype will get much stronger after the expansion drops, and this card might not even see play then. You could just want straight up healing rather than stopping damage. I don't think this will see much play outside of that matchup.
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Gravelsnout Knight is reminiscent of Hungry Dragon. Like that card, this won't see any play. This in-fact may be worse because its possible for the 1-Drop to directly trade with the card.
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Ebon Dragonsmith is a card that I don't believe will see play. Its ability and stat distribution is very similar to Blackwater Pirate. That card is still in standard and wasn't remotely considered in any Pirate deck, which is must more aggressive than any Pirate deck. I don't think sees any sort of play.
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Furbolg Mossbinder is just a really terrible card. If the 6/6 Elemental it spawns gave charge then it would be something interesting. The tempo loss you get from this card just isn't good, and the requirement in having to control a minion makes it absolutely unplayable.
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Finally an anti-aggro Taunt card that won't be used by aggressive decks! Well...it won't be used by control either because it isn't better than Tar Creeper.
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I just think that Hungry Ettin is just a mix of Hungry Dragon and Acient of Blossoms. Both of which seen no play whatsoever. While this card may have a big butt, it gives your opponent a minion to buff could spell disaster for you. Don't play this card.
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Meme card. Not even a Beast.
Commons:
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Wax Elemental is definition of pack filler. It has a quirky keyword combination for such a low cost, but no player is seriously going to use this. The fact that it is an elemental is maybe cool for a
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Violet Wurm is a big boi. He could see some play in Recruit Hunter looking for big Beasts. However, there are probably better options like King Krush or Charged Devilsaur.
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Trogg Gloomeater is Venomancer with Taunt and one less attack. I think this card is absolutely busted in Arena, but I don't think it will see play in constructed.
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Toothy Chest, while flavorful, is just a worse version of Validated Doomsayer. Will not see play.
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Stoneskin Basilisk is a pack filler that is really strong in Arena, but terrible in constructed. Won't see play in any constructed deck.
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Sneaky Devil has interesting implications in Token decks wanting to go wide. However, the stats are weak and are terrible if you are behind. I just believe there are better options.
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Shroom Brewer is a much better version of Earthen Ring Farseer. The body is bulking enough to fight for the board, and it can target minions too. This has pretty interesting implications in decks that are looking for healing, such as Rogue, Hunter, or Warlock. I can see it as a tech choice if Burn Mage is incredibly popular.
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Backwards Razorfend Hunter? Bad. Uninteresting.
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Plated Beetle is a decent card that can slot in any control deck looking for a bit more defensive early game. Gaining three armor means a lot against any aggressive deck as it increases your Health total by 10%. I think this will see play in some decks.
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Good flavor, bad card. Kobold Apprentice is a one-sided Mad Bomber but costing more and having worse stats. If it hit only minions maybe something could be considered, but its unreliability even after losing stats makes it still bad.
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Compared toDefender of Argus, Fungalmancer is just a terrible card. There are so many better options to be considered. Even bad in Arena.
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Green Jelly, like Shrieking Shroom just has a too weak of a body. Hogger isn't even played and this looks horrible in comparison to that.
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Fungal Enchanter is a better version of Earthen Ring Farseer. If you are more of a board-centric deck you can trade off some minions and heal them back up for some value. And you get some extra healing on yourself. It's a fair card that I think will see play somewhere.
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Dragonslayer is good tech card against Dragon-based decks. It outright kills a Cobalt Scalebane, and knocks down bigger Dragons by usually half. However, Golakka Crawler is good because Pirates are played in a lot more decks than dragons. So this will only see a limited about of play.
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Dire Mole is the card Midrange Hunter and Token Druids have been waiting for. Crackling Razormaw has the posibility of turning this into a 4/3, and Druid's Mark of Y'Shaarj turns it into a 3/5. That is insane tempo on turn 2 and requires immediate attention from your opponent. I believe that this will be a meta-defining card. Mole Meta Bois.
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Cursed Disciple is less bad than it appears, but it is still pretty bad. The deck that has some interesting applications in is Quest Druid since this triggers the Jungle Giants activation by two instead of one. This card is also particularly difficult to get rid of against spell-heavy decks.
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Corrosive Sludge is pretty strange, as it fits the same mana-slot as Harrison Jones. The only time this is better than Harrison, especially now that every class has a potential weapon, that this is to avoid fatiguing yourself in the late game. That occurrence likely won't happen much to matter.
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Boisterous Bard just doesn't give enough of a buff to be worth its inclusion. This card would probably be find in Arena, but this is just not good in constructed.
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Sleepy Dragon is a good dragon for budget decks looking for a big boi to add. However, I don't think it will see any serious play in any competitive decks. Even with Dragonhatcher Master Oakheart decks, there are better options.
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Hoarding Dragon is similar in concept with Hungry Dragon. It gets +1/+1 over the Chillwind Yeti but at a cost for a negative effect. Unlike Hungry Dragon, this card's effect isn't random and is also a Deathrattle. Those factors possibly make it a better card, but I don't think that is good enough to warrant its inclusion in any deck.
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I don't think Silver Vanguard makes the cut in any Recruit deck. It is just too slow and too low of stats.
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Guild Recruiter is a decent showing of the Recruit mechanic. You would want to target a 4-Drop that you want to pull from your deck even if you don't find it in the first five turns. A good example would be Fandral Staghelm. I could see this being played in that kind of deck where you want a premium 4-Drop, but I don't believe that deck will be competitively viable.
Class Cards:
Druid:
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Barkskin is a pretty weak buff for Druids. It has synergy with the Lesser Jasper Spellstone and Ironwood Golem. However, it is in a weird space that makes it worse than other Druid buffs. You want to use Earthen Scales in a Top-Heavy Druid deck looking for Armor Gain. I just think there are better options in Druid than this.
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Strongshell Scavenger is probably a cornerstone card in the Recruit deck that summons 4-Cost minions. I don't think that deck will be that playable, and that there will be better options for Druid like Jade or Big Druid.
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Greedy Sprite is a ramp card made for more aggressive lists. It can ramp into Living Mana or Bittertide Hydra on curve. It is to be noted that if this dies on your team you will not be able to use that Mana Crystal. So it puts your opponent into a minor dilemma. I think it is a fair consideration in those faster Druid decks.
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Oaken Summons is a card that slots into the deck with Astral Tiger and Grizzled Guardian. If that deck got a few more tools I can see it being quite good, but not for this expansion.
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Ironwood Golem works with the Oaken Summons deck. Again, I don't think that deck will be good so this card isn't good.
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Ixlid, Fungal Lord has substantially terrible stats. I highly doubt that you can get this to stick and survive, and with cards like Potion of Madness it can backfire immensely. There are just better options if you are looking for a snowballing minion.
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Grizzled Guardian is made specifically for that 4-Drop Recruit Druid deck. It can really create a wall of taunts that are extremely difficult to get rid of. This can be pulled off of Master Oakheart for an extreme amount of value as well. I don't think this deck will be good just yet, but look out for it after the rotation.
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Twig of the World Tree is this big Mana restorative effect that is pretty crazy if used in combination with a huge card like Malygos. However, it is extremely predictable and is countered by weapons since you don't get the 20 Mana turn if this is destroyed by Harrison or Ooze. I don't think this will see play.
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Branching Paths is an extremely flexible card. It can draw, push damage, or be defensive depending on any situation. However, each option is fairly ineffective for its mana cost. I could maybe see this as a One-Of in Jade Druid just as a flex pick against aggro decks like Burn Mage. It is just Druid is so powerful right now that it is strapped for card slots.
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The thing with Lesser Jasper Spellstone is that Druid is completely desperate for removal tools. For a considerable amount of time the class ran Mulch, which is a relatively bad card in comparison to other removal spells like Sap or Shadow Word: Death. This sees play in Jade Druid as a removal option against the faster decks as there are so many core cards that upgrade this. Malfurion, The Pestilent and its according Hero Power, Ultimate Infestation, Earthen Scales, and Feral Rage can all be used to upgrade the spell.
Hunter:
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Cave Hydra has the same effect as Magnataur Alpha or Scourgelord, Garrosh's weapon. This card is pretty good at controlling the board against aggressive decks. Works really well with Houndmaster. The only problem is that Hunter is stacked on the 3-Mana slot. So I don't think this makes the cut over most other options unless it is targeting a specific deck.
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Candleshot seems pretty bad at first glance, but it can save you a lot of Health in the longrun. Hunter suffers at dealing a single damage to a minion, but with this you are able to clean up the board against Pirates quite efficiently. It also works really well with Hunter's Mark, as a 2-Mana removal tool where you take no damage is pretty solid. It's home is most likely Secret Hunter that just wants more defensive tools going into the late game.
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Rhok'delar is the reason you would want to play the "No Minions" Hunter that has been the subject of Memes as of late. I could see the deck working if Blizzard pushed more support for it, but I don't think the pay-off is worth it. It won't see any serious play until next expansion, if then even.
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Flanking Strike seems like an extremely solid card that will fit into any Hunter deck. It is comparable to Imp-losion, which saw a considerable amount of play. It can't go face, but I think that the tempo swing created by removing something and summoning a body is comparable to Firelands Portal. It is a good card that will see play.
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To My Side!, just like Purify, is a complete meme card because the deck it is for is nearly unplayable. Watch out for this card next expansion where this archetype may become more playable. For now though, complete trash.
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Lesser Emerald Spellstone makes Secrets finally playable in Hunter again. It gives you a massive swing turn on 5 which leads into a Savannah Highmane the following turn. I think it will be the backbone of Hunter decks and see an immense amount of play.
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Seeping Oozeling has the major issue of conflicting with Savannah Highmane in its mana-slot. It also has Anti-Synergy with Barnes as it doesn't retain a Deathrattle off a clean summon. I just think this card is bad and won't see any play.
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Kathrena Winterwisp is a solid card that I think goes into Secret Hunter specifically. This is due to Secret Hunter able to play a non-beast early game and save the bigger beasts until later. With cards like Charged Devilsaur, King Krush, Savannah Highmane, and even Violet Wurm it can get pretty crazy.
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Wandering Monster is an extremely solid Secret in Hunter. You will play this as a two-of in any Secret Hunter deck due to its defensive capabilities and potential to highroll the opponent. Pulling an Injured Blademaster, Drakkari Defender, or even Stoneskin Basilisk can be game winning. Very solid card.
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Crushing Walls is another fair control tool in a class that desperately need strong control tools to make it work. It can be easily played around, and is a completely dead card against Aggro. You may put it in as a Tech choice against Big decks like Priest or Druid. But besides that I think this card is pretty terrible.
Mage:
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Shifting Scroll is just a bad card. It doesn't give your Mage deck any versatility like Primordial Glyph does. It doesn't even give a discount to the spell. Shifter Zerus and Molten Blade have been traditionally terrible, I see no difference here.
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Dragon's Fury is a huge board clear that promotes the "Big Spell" mage that they are pushing. I don't thing this is reliable enough to see consistent play, and I think there will just be better options in the mage class for board clears.
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Dragoncaller Alanna's pay-off just isn't worth it in the end. You put a lot of big stats on the board, but they can still be cleared by numerous means. I feel like it would just be simpler to add Arcane Giants into Mage for a similar effect without such a heavy Deck Building restriction.
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Deck of Wonders is a fun, but terrible card. I'm glad Blizzard made sure this card sees no play because the effect is just random to play against. Five mana is a steep cost to pay for a non-immediate effect that might just be horrible for you anyways.
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Leyline Manipulator a very solid card. Pros are talking about a Non-Quest Quest mage that involves a bunch of cards that somehow ends with your opponent dying. I'm not sure if that line of play is going to work, but if it does it will be a nightmare to play against. In a more traditional sense, I think this is pretty decent in an elemental deck as it discounts Elementals gotten off of Fire Fly, Servant of Kalimos, and the upgraded versions of Pyros.
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Arcane Artificer is a defensive tool for Mage that pushes them to play big spells. The best comparison to make with this card is with Druid's Earthen Scales. You use this as a modifier for your big spells late game to gain back some Health. You probably would need to at least gain 5 Armor for this minion to be worth it. However, I just think that the body is just too weak and its uses are limited.
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Explosive Runes is a very strong card for the Burn Mage archetype. It fits right into Secret Mage as it pushes a lot of face damage while removing potential threats. This secret is definitely difficult to play around, and will cause headache for combo decks looking to stall.
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Lesser Ruby Spellstone is a bad Primordial Glyph that turns into a Cabalist's Tome in Elemental decks. I don't this card alone warrants an Elemental archetype, and even then it might not go into that deck as it may not help the deck's win condition. It will see limited amounts of play.
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Raven Familiar reminds me of King's Elekk in Hunter. The one less attack means a lot, and will likely make this card unplayable. This is a consideration for The Curator as the deck's Beast, but the problem is that Mage doesn't have any Murloc they want to play. Card just isn't good enough to see play.
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Aluneth gives Aggro Mage a real win condition and ability to be a dangerous prospect in the meta game. You can just draw your Burn and go face in hopes of finishing off your opponent before they assemble their combo. Good card with scary implications.
Paladin:
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Potion of Heroism is a card that Paladin always wanted. It is a good cycling tool in almost any deck, You are able to keep your board presence while upping your opponent's in cards.
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Crystal Lion is a good card in a currently terrible deck. Standard doesn't have Muster for Battle, which was the reason to play Recruit Paladin. This card is very powerful with cards like Lost in the Jungle and Stand Against Darkness to get a huge discount.
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Val'anyr is the ultimate value weapon. The initial cost is steep, but you gain so much in the long run. The enemy has to silence it or they will face constant pressure from it. I could see this fitting in nearly any Paladin deck. It just matters if the Paladin class itself will see much play.
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Call to Arms is a crazy good card which will carry Paladin through the Catacombs Meta. It works best with Deathrattles and Murlocs. It just puts down a bunch of bodies that are tough to get rid of and goes nicely into a Coin Steed or Tarim. Amazing card.
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Lynessa Sunsorrow is a sleeper card in my opinion. If your deck is running Potion of Heroism and Spikeridge Steed it is completely worth it. It is a defensive card that refills your hand. Of course Silence will destroy it, but that means they didn't Silence your previous buffs so that's good.
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Lesser Pearl Spellstone is a card that has a strange home. It doesn't go into Control as the 2-Slot is stacked, and it doesn't go into Aggro as you don't want to be healing. The only deck i can think of this going into is an N'Zoth Midrange Paladin with cards like Mistress of Mixtures which upgrades this fairly quickly.
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Benevolent Djinn is a good tech card against Burn Mage or Face Hunter decks. It is a must kill against those decks or you lock them out completely. The only problem I see is that this card is pretty terrible against Control as the healing you get doesn't really matter. Will see Limited Amount of play.
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Unidentified Maul is a card meant for the Divine Dude Paladin deck. Again, I don't think that deck is particularly strong and Rallying Blade outclasses it. I could see a world where you run one of this and two Rallying Blades just for more weapons.
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Level Up! is a card reminiscent to Quartermaster, but much worse. With Quartermaster its worse case scenario was a 7 mana 5/8 split between two bodies, while this will only spawn an Ironfur Grizzly. You might just play it for the sake of redundancy in dude decks for buffs, but it is definitely the worst card in the deck.
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Drygulch Jailor isn't as terrible as people think, but it is still bad. It puts the opponent in a weird place on Turn 2 because they can either destroy it to give you a kinda bad Muster for Battle the following turn, or leave it up in which you have the chance to buff it.
WIP, rest of the classes coming soon.
I really like your review so far. I don't agree with what you said about Void Ripper tbh but I think this is definitely a useful review and I agree with a lot of your reasoning. I completely overlooked and forgot about Lesser Jasper Spellstone and I honestly think that card is among the strongest in the set. 1 mana for 2 damage is good and the upgrade doesn't really matter that much. It will be a 2 of in a lot of Druid decks. I'm not sure I agree with Aluneth but honestly I've never been high on that card at all. I don't really think it would fit in Aggro Mage due to its high cost and thus high potential to sit in your hand but I haven't played Aggro Mage that much so who knows.
Also, I like how high you are on Lesser Emerald Spellstone. I personally am not THAT high on the card because it's so weak to AOE but your statement about how it makes Secret Hunter a decent archetype again is a bold one. That said, I don't think it's bad to think this card could be good. While it is weak to AOE, it DOES force out AOE if you have it fully upgraded and makes it very hard to deal with the Highmane you'll be dropping the turn after.