I don't think I'm going to do a full set review (maybe I'll update it with scores if people want them). But here are my impressions based on the full set spoilers.
UPDATED!
While I've given this set a lot of thought - I didn't pour over the ratings like I usual do. Therefore, there may be some internal inconsistency. But keep in mind, the difference between a 2 & 3 and a 3 & 4 is really nitpicky and not as wide a gap as it may seem.
Also, everything is rated for standard ladder. I didn't consider Wild. I didn't consider Specialist (RIP) or whatever the new format is called (Shield? Paragon?). Just good ol' standard ladder.
Also, please excuse the formatting problems. I'm trying to iron them out.
In general - Set themes
Overall, this set seems insanely powerful. I also thought Boomsday was going to be incredibly powerful, though. So it's hard to guess how these things play out.
Reborn seems like an incredible mechanic, but they used it very conservatively, IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if a handful of Reborn minions are consistently seen on ladder.
Some of the quests seem very good, and I think that a handful of them will become the go-to deck for that particular class. I'll get into which ones in more detail below.
Highlander/Singleton/Reno decks seem bad. Slightly better than expected, but not good. As many thought, the class payoff cards just aren't very impressive. And Zephyrs is one of the coolest cards ever printed, but I don't think it's doing enough.
Class cards
Druid
The druid quest looks legit. Oasis Surger and Hidden Oasis are great cards post quest. The token cards put out a lot of pressure very quickly after the quest too. BEEEES!!! works in the best way possible (the extra bees don't kill themselves). I think the deck will want some manner of definitive way to end the game, because some decks are able to deal with the piles of stats. Luckily, Savage Roar does that.
With the exception of Garden Gnome (which doesn't look too good), all of Druid's cards were quest or late game focused, which is good. Druid needed a lot of help in that area.
Also, Elise has some really interesting combo potential after you draw through your entire deck. I wouldn't be shocked if this is a thing.
Secret Hunter looks like it received a massive power spike. Pressure Plate, Hyena Alpha, and Hunter's Pack are all cards that slot in very easily. I think it isn't unreasonable to suggest that Secret Hunter may be the most powerful deck in the class.
Hunter's quest is incredibly interesting, and I think it might even be playable. Despite requiring a whopping 20 minions, hunter has a lot of help in that regard with Unleash the Hounds, Swarm of Locusts, and Halazzi. What is cool is that I think you can still run the Master's Call package. Beast Hunter is pretty Zul'jin + Dire Frenzy focused. I wonder if the Quest is good enough to challenge that.
Explanation for ratings: Just a heads up, the rest of the Highlander cards are getting 2's. Unlike Elise, none of them are worth playing outside of a Highlander deck. I truly want to give Unseal the Vault a higher rating than this. I think Master's Call Hunter could play this because I think that deck wants to play Swarm of Locusts. Speaking of Swarm of Locusts, this is a pretty juicy card and as about close as we see to Hunter getting "AOE." (DK Rexxar being the other time). Plus the synergy with Scavenging Hyena is pretty awesome. The problem with both the Quest and Locusts is Zul'jin. Unleash the Beast and Dire Frenzy seem like they still might be the preferable end game. Hyena Alpha is obviously nuts in Secret Hunter, and I think Hunter's Pack is good there.
Mage
Mage got a lot of interesting stuff, but I'm not sure any of it will oust Cyclone/Giants mage. The Highlander stuff is uninspiring. The Quest seems like it's one of the worst. The secret synergy it got is nice, but the secrets themselves still aren't terribly impactful. Flame Ward is no Explosive Runes.
Dune Sculptor is interesting in a "Dart Frog-Cyclone" type of Mage. It may even be worth considering in Giants Mage. And I think Tortollan Pilgrim gives Giants Mage a slightly different way to play the game. Naga Sand Witch may be great for the memes, but looks pretty terrible.
Reno the Relicologist: 2 Raid the Sky Temple: 1 Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron: 2 Tortollan Pilgrim: 4 Naga Sand Witch: 1 Dune Sculptor: 3 Arcane Flakmage: Dependent on Secrets Could Prince: Dependent on Secrets Flame Ward: 2 Ancient Mysteries: 4
Explanation for Ratings: Raid the Sky Temple feels like it's a meme to me. So does Puzzle Box...but I'm hedging slightly on Puzzle Box. There might be a world where you just Hail Mary some shit with it and Tortollan Pilgrim. Speaking of, I think Pilgrim is pretty good and introduces his own variant of Giants Mage as stated above. Ancient Mysteries is a pretty sick card, but the secrets available to Mage aren't that impressive right now, IMO. And until there's something closer to the level of Explosive Runes, I don't know if the Secret Deck comes together. So the two secret minions, while great in the secret deck, are unplayable until that deck is good.
Paladin
Fucking paladin. It got so much random shit. For starters, Highlander and Tip the Scales just seem terrible.
The 1-health package probably works within a Secret deck as psuedo card draw. So I actually think that deck got a slight bump, for whatever that's worth. There are also some very strong neutral cards that look like they can give you some added game. All in all, I think this deck has a better shot this go around, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.
I also think the Quest may work thanks to Crystology and Salhet's Pride. Between those two and Micro Mummy, Murmy, and Temple Berserker, you have a set of 6 cheap minions that can all be tutored for pretty consistent quest completion. The real question becomes, "Then what?" Mechano-Egg and Mechanical Whelp make a lot of sense. Maybe you start buffing and copying Prelates for Undatakah weirdness. Paly has a lot of sustain and ways to get this quest done quickly, so I think it has a shot.
Sir Finley of the Sands: 2 Making Mummies: 3 Tip the Scales: 1 Micro Mummy: 2 Pharoh's Blessing: 2 Salhet's Pride: 3 Brazen Zealot: 1 Ancestral Guardian: 2 Sandwasp Queen: 2 Subdue: 2
Explanation for Ratings: Making Mummies is getting an artificial bump here because I'm not sure what other Paladins are going to see play. OTK and Mech still exist, but both come with many flaws. I think a Quest deck could fill the roll of a midrange-y/endgame-y deck with less polarized match ups and be more suited for ladder. That said, I don't think the pieces are truly there yet. Right now, it has to play a handful of fairly weak Reborn cards and the end game appears to be relying on Mechano-Egg and Mechanical Whelp...both of which are uninspiring as stand-alone minions.
Priest
Anduin was apparently the 5th Savior of Uldum. Priest got so much here, it's almost embarrassing. I won't get into all of the nitty gritty, because I can write a paragraph or two on almost all of the cards, but I'll hit a few highlights.
I was worried about the Quest, but I'm not anymore. They supported the daylights out of it. Holy Ripple, Penance, Neferset Ritualist, Injured Tol'vir, the Reborn mechanic in general, etc. You'll get this completed and without a ton of difficulty. That said, I'm not even sure the "Zoo Priest" needs it? Because that's how much freaking support they gave the deck. I'm guessing that it probably will. I wonder if it will also still include things like DS/IF simply because Amet is a ridiculous card.
High Priest Amet: 5 Activate the Obelisk: 4 Plague of Death: 3 Psychopomp: 4 Wretched Reclaimer: 4 Grandmummy: 4 Holy Ripple: 4 Sandhoof Waterbearer: 3 Penance: 3 Embalming Ritual: 3
Explanation for Ratings: All of these cards are very playable. The trick is going to be figuring out what combination of them work best. I feel like most versions of priest from here until Divine Spirit/Inner Fire rotate will want to Play Amet. Unless he's taken a ton of damage, he's giving most minions +3 health or more. That's crazy. Admittedly, I'm not entirely sure about the Quest. It's absolutely playable, but I still don't know if it's great or just win more. Based on Priest's general lack of win conditions, I'm going to lean towards the Quest being great and not win more. Wretched Reclaimer reminds me a bunch of Terrorscale Stalker, and I think that it and Psychopomp work really well together in the early game.
Rogue
The Rogue quest is just silly good. It's upgraded Baku, and it's so easy to complete. This on top of the fact that Rogue still has all of it's good classic/basic tempo cards. Sure, the quest is "offset" by the fact that the class cards are random and sometimes hard to play, but I'm not sure how much of an issue that is when you can do 3 damage to anything every turn, while still playing busted cards like Vendetta, Backstab, etc. To be honest, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they increase the completion amount at some point down the road.
Rogue also got a "big deathrattle" type of deck that probably won't be better than the Thief deck because sap exists and you'll lose the mirror.
Anka, the Buried: 2 Bazaar Burglary: 5 Shadow of Death: 2 Whirlkick Master: 1 Bazaar Mugger: 4 Sahket Sapper: 3 Plague of Madness: 1 Hooked Scimitar: 3 Clever Disguise: 3 Pharaoh Cat: 5
Explanation for Ratings: I already detailed how good I think the Quest is. Deathrattle Rogue was almost a thing once. But tempo, lackey, Hooktusk, and thief rogue just seem so much better, especially with Cube no longer in standard. I think the only card that is surprising here would be my rating of Bazaar Mugger. When you sit back amount of 3 health minions that see play now, and the amount of very good 3 health minions that are added, I think Mugger makes more sense. He's no Zilliax, but I don't think he's a slouch either.
Shaman
Shaman also got a great set. It got some low-key totem stuff that doesn't really do much for me. But it also got Vessina, and she's pretty great in Aggro and Murloc decks.
Control Shaman got Earthquake, but more importantly Plague of Murlocs, which is one of the nuttiest I've seen in a while. Sometimes Devolve wasn't very good because their big minions still might be big, but you never have to worry about that now. Plague of Murlocs bundles transform and AOE into an incredible 3-mana cost. For reference, Lightning Storm costs 3 mana (overload 2). Plague is insane and will probably be a staple in almost every build of Shaman except for maybe the absolutely most aggressive variants.
Also, the Shaman quest looks outstanding, and I think it might be the strongest Shaman variant because of how good lackeys synergize with the quest. I say that I think it might be the best because of the Battlecry burn damage Shaman has - and I think that will give battlecry the edge over murloc against specifically Warrior. You have Kobold Lackeys, Weaponized Wasp, Fire Elemental, Shudderwock, Lifedrinker, Swampqueen Hagatha. Heck, if you want Pyroblast, you have that too via Pit Crocolisk. It looks really impressive to me.
Vessina: 4 Corrupt the Waters: 4 Splitting Axe: 1 Plague of Murlocs: 5 Mogu Fleshshaper: 2 Earthquake: 3 Weaponized Wasp: 4 Sandstorm Elemental: 3 EVIL Totem: 3 Totemic Surge: 2
Explanation for Ratings: While I think that Quest will be the strongest version of Shaman, I fully acknowledge that there are great chances for Murloc and Aggro to be incredible, which is why I rated it a 4. I said so much above, that most of these ratings should make sense. I didn't mention Mogu Fleshshaper much because it's weird. That effect is very good, but the stats seem far too conservative. Mutate exists, so that's something.
Warlock
I think Warlock got enough powerful stuff to move it away from the all-in 1-drop Zoo to something similar, but slightly more suicidal and midrange. Diseased Vulture, Neferset Thrasher, and EVIL Recruiter are all a bit slower, but I think the payoffs are worth it. You still play carpet, because...Carpet. But I think you can get rid of all of the uninspiring cards like Dire Wolf, Abusive Sergeant, etc. You may even include Riftcleaver because he's huge and swingy.
Warlock also got more good sacrifice cards in the form of any Reborn minion (Murmy!) and Serpent Egg. Tekahn seems to low impact for now. There just don't seem to be enough Lackeys for him to be a worthwhile loss in tempo.
Plot Twist Warlock got a fun quest. That might help. Or it might be totally unnecessary. I guess it depends on if the influx of midrange decks even let the deck get that late.
Dark Pharaoh Tekahn: 2 Supreme Archaeology: 2 Riftcleaver: 4 Diseased Vulture: 4 Impbalming: 1 Expired Merchant: 2 Plague of Flames: 2 Neferset Thrasher: 4 EVIL Recruiter: 3 Sinister Deal: 2
Explanation for Ratings: Warlock has 2 tiers of cards in this set. Cards that look like no-brainer playable (4's), cards that have some pretty concerning flaws. I think the Lackey stuff will work, and EVIL Recruiter will see play. But Sinister Deal is the worst Lackey generator so far, and I think that hurts a great deal. Expired Merchant seems good, but I have no idea how and where yet. Same with Plague of Flames. I think Impbalming is an awful card. The downside is bigger than people realize. Control doesn't seem like it needs it, and I really don't think Zoo does either.
Warrior
The elephant in the room is Dr. Boom. I don't think that anything Warrior got is supplanting the pretty tight Bomb Warrior lists that we have now. The quest might be neat, and even good. But we probably won't know for about a year because it won't be played enough.
If anything, you maybe see some Frightened Flunky float in and out of Bomb, but more likely, Control Warrior. Restless Mummy is disgusting and is almost certainly an include. Plague of Wrath probably finds a home somewhere.
It's a shame, but that's how good Warrior has been.
Armagedillo: 2 Hack the System: 1 until Boom is Rotated Bloodsworn Mercenary: 2 Livewire Lance: 3 Tomb Warden: 2 Plague of Wrath: 3 Into the Fray: 2 Armored Goon: 1 Restless Mummy: 5 Frightened Flunky: 4
Explanation for Ratings: The taunt stuff all get 2's because I just don't think it's there. Except for Flunky, that card is stand-alone playable. Restless Mummy is an excellent card that is probably played straight away. Livewire Lance is too good a card for me to rate it lower than a 3, but I don't think it's going to see any play.
Neutrals
A few really interesting ones. Colossus of the Moon isn't as bad as people think. That is a really sticky big dumb idiot. Siamat seems like the type of card that will find a number of places to live because he's so flexible. History Buff's name makes me laugh. Infested Goblin has a bunch of synergies where it might show up in more decks than we'd think. Bone Wraith might be really good. It shares a lot of similarities with past cards that were also very good (Sludge Belcher, Saronite Chain Gang) Beaming Sidekick can help you win a lot of trades, and it comes down very quickly.
TL;DR
I think Priest takes the biggest leap from unplayable to probably competitive in some fashion. Rogue and Warrior - the rich got richer. Mage didn't get anything that jumps out at me. Shaman Quest seems legit. Shaman got almost as much as priest. A non-token Druid should probably emerge from somewhere. Secret Hunter seems great. The rest, maybe not so much. But the Quest appears to be very interesting at least. Ugh...Paladin. I think the Quest works, but don't know about anything else. Warlock could have probably done a bit better, even though it did get some nice stuff. Highlander seems bad.
Meta will be Warrior, Rogue, Shaman, Mage and Hunter. Zoo and Priest got some of the best cards but probably have to wait till nerfs to those 5 classes to become playable.
The god curve of secret hunter is pretty scary good. I'm not sure the deck can play Hunter's Pack though, ofc it seems like a good card but you are a curvy deck and I don't see any moment when you'd want to spend 3 mana doing something else than taking board control or doing face damage. If Zul'jin isn't enough to close the game this card won't save you, and will most of the time clunk your hand and mess up your curve. But that's just my opinion.
The god curve of secret hunter is pretty scary good. I'm not sure the deck can play Hunter's Pack though, ofc it seems like a good card but you are a curvy deck and I don't see any moment when you'd want to spend 3 mana doing something else than taking board control or doing face damage. If Zul'jin isn't enough to close the game this card won't save you, and will most of the time clunk your hand and mess up your curve. But that's just my opinion.
I admittedly didn't play a ton of secret hunter this format. But I would find myself pretty out of resources around turn 7 or 8, give or take. Especially against something like Warrior. I think Hunter's Pack shines in those types of match ups. Now, is it worth including it for those kinds of specific late game situations?
In our current format, I would say yes, since Warrior was such a common match-up. But that could change this format.
While I agree Warrior and the Mech package will not be dethroned as the go to deck, I see alot of support for Taunt Warrior. But what is the end goal for Taunt Warrior. Sure, they can get to the late game AND they can survive. But how do they win? Alot of decks these days have 'infinite' value cards or ways to extend fatigue. Warrior no longer has the luxury of hitting the armor up button and waiting turn after turn.
I do think the new Hunter's Pack card will see play and it almost always gives you a play on the same turn or next turn on curve. You don't want to take turns off in an aggro deck, but you might need it if games and decks have aggro counters and secret counters.
I was also impressed by the Druid quest after seeing on screen, but I still feel there is not enough support in the Choose One cards. As you said, many decks can deal with piles of stats, so that doesn't impress me. But without a Jade Idol, there is no scaling or end game bomb that will get you a win. Savage Roar will close out games for sure, but you had to take 4 turns off without using all of your mana and you might be far too behind to keep a board as you are busy trading away. Without Naturalize, Druid will have to use their Rush minions to deal with threats.
I think the one of my most potentially combo breaking or fun card is going to be Blatant Decoy. Just think about it. Jepetto makes your big boys cost 1. Decoy puts them into play. So if you can figure out a way to abuse this or combo out, this is potentially really strong. Deathrattle decks might not be dead afterall.
And I mean, the craziest card that has to see some play because of the crazy involved is Octosari. Wait, what?!?! Draw 8 cards? Utterly insane effect. What can we do with this card? We have to break this card. Some ideas that I have...
Curio Collector OTK? Archmage Arugal Value town? Prismatic Lens Divine Favor copycat? Dead Ringer Nomi Priest deck? Shadow of Death OTK? Supreme Archaeology easy quest mode? Portal Overfiend overload?
Anka, the Buried draw your deck Mecha'thun? Gral the Shark big boy stats? Da Undatakah draw ya deck? Mecha'thun easy mode?
Meta will be Warrior, Rogue, Shaman, Mage and Hunter. Zoo and Priest got some of the best cards but probably have to wait till nerfs to those 5 classes to become playable.
I think that seems like a pretty reasonable conclusion.
I believe that Zoo Priest, Zoo Warlock, and Token Druid are probably good enough to be in the middle of that pack.
Slower Druids and Paladin give me some reason for concern.
I also have a strange feeling that Mage could be pushed out a bit. If the meta gets more midrange-y (especially secret hunter), that could give Mage some real fits.
While I agree Warrior and the Mech package will not be dethroned as the go to deck, I see alot of support for Taunt Warrior. But what is the end goal for Taunt Warrior. Sure, they can get to the late game AND they can survive. But how do they win? Alot of decks these days have 'infinite' value cards or ways to extend fatigue. Warrior no longer has the luxury of hitting the armor up button and waiting turn after turn.
That's pretty much what they do though. Straight up control/fatigue warrior is one of the best decks in the game, and they don't have any other plan than survive until you die on your own.
Meta will be Warrior, Rogue, Shaman, Mage and Hunter. Zoo and Priest got some of the best cards but probably have to wait till nerfs to those 5 classes to become playable.
I think that seems like a pretty reasonable conclusion.
I believe that Zoo Priest, Zoo Warlock, and Token Druid are probably good enough to be in the middle of that pack.
Slower Druids and Paladin give me some reason for concern.
I also have a strange feeling that Mage could be pushed out a bit. If the meta gets more midrange-y (especially secret hunter), that could give Mage some real fits.
Don't underestimate the random BS Mage can pull out of nowhere, if anything Warrior seems most vulnerable because Quests give other classes chance to rival the value from Dr. Boom.
When you said “I thought boomsday would be incredibly powerful, so” do you not think BDP is not strong? I would argue it’s the strongest set in standard right now.
anyways, nice wrap up I basically agree with everything you said. Now the big question... to pre-order or to not?! It’s so expensive tho :(
I hope they buff the Highlander decks a bit. The Mage one specifically looks abysmally bad. deal 10 damage randomly among minions isn't very good, especially against the new cards that have been released. the Neutral Genie card is pretty cool and seems powerful, but I don't think it's enough to play it in mage specifically.
I see the new highlander fitting in rogue, where you can bounce it back with shadow step for tons of value.
When you said “I thought boomsday would be incredibly powerful, so” do you not think BDP is not strong? I would argue it’s the strongest set in standard right now.
anyways, nice wrap up I basically agree with everything you said. Now the big question... to pre-order or to not?! It’s so expensive tho :(
I agree. It is the most powerful set right now. But it didn't really register at the time. Likewise, I think this set is really powerful, but I wonder if BDP will suppress some of these cards in the same way KNC did.
In fact, I think that is exactly what will happen (at least with Warrior). And I think it's possible that ROS keeps a lot of new mage cards from seeing much play.
It's a tricky thing to predict!
I always pre-order, but mostly because I like the heroes and have the spare cash. It's pretty easy to save up enough gold between expansions these days, that if you don't have the $80 to spend, I wouldn't recommend it.
Being a Priest player, almost exclusively, I would agree that Priest did get a shit done of value, I don't think there's a bad card in the lot. Having said that, I think it will take a while for Priest to emerge/break through the current meta.
I can see at leat three possible routes:
A solid midrange deck, zoo to start, control the board with sticky minions and Arms, shuffle a bunch of cards back into your deck via Spirit of the Dead, Surrender to Madness and Quest Hero power for the late game.
A better Resurrect deck with Blatant Decoy, Penance, Holy Ripple.
A OTK/cycle deck with High Priest Amet, Stonetusk Boar, Divine, Divine, Innerfire/topsy for 28 damage, adding chip damage with reborn and things like mech bombs or Kobold Sandtrooper, and the usual pyro, acolyte, northshire, circle shenanigans
And I would think that the Quest will be used in almost all Priest decks.
I think the one of my most potentially combo breaking or fun card is going to be Blatant Decoy. Just think about it. Jepetto makes your big boys cost 1. Decoy puts them into play. So if you can figure out a way to abuse this or combo out, this is potentially really strong.
If it's already a 1 mana cost card... you would just play it. Why would you need to cheat it out with Decoy?
I don't think I'm going to do a full set review (maybe I'll update it with scores if people want them). But here are my impressions based on the full set spoilers.UPDATED!In general - Set themes Overall, this set seems insanely powerful. I also thought Boomsday was going to be incredibly powerful, though. So it's hard to guess how these things play out. Reborn seems like an incredible mechanic, but they used it very conservatively, IMO. I wouldn't be surprised if a handful of Reborn minions are consistently seen on ladder.
Some of the quests seem very good, and I think that a handful of them will become the go-to deck for that particular class. I'll get into which ones in more detail below.
Highlander/Singleton/Reno decks seem bad. Slightly better than expected, but not good. As many thought, the class payoff cards just aren't very impressive. And Zephyrs is one of the coolest cards ever printed, but I don't think it's doing enough.
Class cards
Druid
The druid quest looks legit. Oasis Surger and Hidden Oasis are great cards post quest. The token cards put out a lot of pressure very quickly after the quest too. BEEEES!!! works in the best way possible (the extra bees don't kill themselves). I think the deck will want some manner of definitive way to end the game, because some decks are able to deal with the piles of stats. Luckily, Savage Roar does that.
With the exception of Garden Gnome (which doesn't look too good), all of Druid's cards were quest or late game focused, which is good. Druid needed a lot of help in that area.
Also, Elise has some really interesting combo potential after you draw through your entire deck. I wouldn't be shocked if this is a thing.
Hunter
Secret Hunter looks like it received a massive power spike. Pressure Plate, Hyena Alpha, and Hunter's Pack are all cards that slot in very easily. I think it isn't unreasonable to suggest that Secret Hunter may be the most powerful deck in the class.
Hunter's quest is incredibly interesting, and I think it might even be playable. Despite requiring a whopping 20 minions, hunter has a lot of help in that regard with Unleash the Hounds, Swarm of Locusts, and Halazzi. What is cool is that I think you can still run the Master's Call package. Beast Hunter is pretty Zul'jin + Dire Frenzy focused. I wonder if the Quest is good enough to challenge that.
Mage
Mage got a lot of interesting stuff, but I'm not sure any of it will oust Cyclone/Giants mage. The Highlander stuff is uninspiring. The Quest seems like it's one of the worst. The secret synergy it got is nice, but the secrets themselves still aren't terribly impactful. Flame Ward is no Explosive Runes. Dune Sculptor is interesting in a "Dart Frog-Cyclone" type of Mage. It may even be worth considering in Giants Mage. And I think Tortollan Pilgrim gives Giants Mage a slightly different way to play the game. Naga Sand Witch may be great for the memes, but looks pretty terrible.
Paladin Fucking paladin. It got so much random shit. For starters, Highlander and Tip the Scales just seem terrible.
The 1-health package probably works within a Secret deck as psuedo card draw. So I actually think that deck got a slight bump, for whatever that's worth. There are also some very strong neutral cards that look like they can give you some added game. All in all, I think this deck has a better shot this go around, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it. I also think the Quest may work thanks to Crystology and Salhet's Pride. Between those two and Micro Mummy, Murmy, and Temple Berserker, you have a set of 6 cheap minions that can all be tutored for pretty consistent quest completion. The real question becomes, "Then what?" Mechano-Egg and Mechanical Whelp make a lot of sense. Maybe you start buffing and copying Prelates for Undatakah weirdness. Paly has a lot of sustain and ways to get this quest done quickly, so I think it has a shot. Priest
Anduin was apparently the 5th Savior of Uldum. Priest got so much here, it's almost embarrassing. I won't get into all of the nitty gritty, because I can write a paragraph or two on almost all of the cards, but I'll hit a few highlights.
I was worried about the Quest, but I'm not anymore. They supported the daylights out of it. Holy Ripple, Penance, Neferset Ritualist, Injured Tol'vir, the Reborn mechanic in general, etc. You'll get this completed and without a ton of difficulty. That said, I'm not even sure the "Zoo Priest" needs it? Because that's how much freaking support they gave the deck. I'm guessing that it probably will. I wonder if it will also still include things like DS/IF simply because Amet is a ridiculous card.
Rogue
The Rogue quest is just silly good. It's upgraded Baku, and it's so easy to complete. This on top of the fact that Rogue still has all of it's good classic/basic tempo cards. Sure, the quest is "offset" by the fact that the class cards are random and sometimes hard to play, but I'm not sure how much of an issue that is when you can do 3 damage to anything every turn, while still playing busted cards like Vendetta, Backstab, etc. To be honest, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they increase the completion amount at some point down the road.
Rogue also got a "big deathrattle" type of deck that probably won't be better than the Thief deck because sap exists and you'll lose the mirror.
Shaman
Shaman also got a great set. It got some low-key totem stuff that doesn't really do much for me. But it also got Vessina, and she's pretty great in Aggro and Murloc decks.
Control Shaman got Earthquake, but more importantly Plague of Murlocs, which is one of the nuttiest I've seen in a while. Sometimes Devolve wasn't very good because their big minions still might be big, but you never have to worry about that now. Plague of Murlocs bundles transform and AOE into an incredible 3-mana cost. For reference, Lightning Storm costs 3 mana (overload 2). Plague is insane and will probably be a staple in almost every build of Shaman except for maybe the absolutely most aggressive variants.
Also, the Shaman quest looks outstanding, and I think it might be the strongest Shaman variant because of how good lackeys synergize with the quest. I say that I think it might be the best because of the Battlecry burn damage Shaman has - and I think that will give battlecry the edge over murloc against specifically Warrior. You have Kobold Lackeys, Weaponized Wasp, Fire Elemental, Shudderwock, Lifedrinker, Swampqueen Hagatha. Heck, if you want Pyroblast, you have that too via Pit Crocolisk. It looks really impressive to me.
Warlock
I think Warlock got enough powerful stuff to move it away from the all-in 1-drop Zoo to something similar, but slightly more suicidal and midrange. Diseased Vulture, Neferset Thrasher, and EVIL Recruiter are all a bit slower, but I think the payoffs are worth it. You still play carpet, because...Carpet. But I think you can get rid of all of the uninspiring cards like Dire Wolf, Abusive Sergeant, etc. You may even include Riftcleaver because he's huge and swingy.
Warlock also got more good sacrifice cards in the form of any Reborn minion (Murmy!) and Serpent Egg. Tekahn seems to low impact for now. There just don't seem to be enough Lackeys for him to be a worthwhile loss in tempo. Plot Twist Warlock got a fun quest. That might help. Or it might be totally unnecessary. I guess it depends on if the influx of midrange decks even let the deck get that late. Warrior
The elephant in the room is Dr. Boom. I don't think that anything Warrior got is supplanting the pretty tight Bomb Warrior lists that we have now. The quest might be neat, and even good. But we probably won't know for about a year because it won't be played enough.
If anything, you maybe see some Frightened Flunky float in and out of Bomb, but more likely, Control Warrior. Restless Mummy is disgusting and is almost certainly an include. Plague of Wrath probably finds a home somewhere.
It's a shame, but that's how good Warrior has been. Neutrals A few really interesting ones.
Colossus of the Moon isn't as bad as people think. That is a really sticky big dumb idiot.
Siamat seems like the type of card that will find a number of places to live because he's so flexible.
History Buff's name makes me laugh.
Infested Goblin has a bunch of synergies where it might show up in more decks than we'd think.
Bone Wraith might be really good. It shares a lot of similarities with past cards that were also very good (Sludge Belcher, Saronite Chain Gang)
Beaming Sidekick can help you win a lot of trades, and it comes down very quickly.
TL;DR I think Priest takes the biggest leap from unplayable to probably competitive in some fashion.
Rogue and Warrior - the rich got richer.
Mage didn't get anything that jumps out at me.
Shaman Quest seems legit. Shaman got almost as much as priest.
A non-token Druid should probably emerge from somewhere.
Secret Hunter seems great. The rest, maybe not so much. But the Quest appears to be very interesting at least.
Ugh...Paladin. I think the Quest works, but don't know about anything else.
Warlock could have probably done a bit better, even though it did get some nice stuff.
Highlander seems bad.
Just a quick question: would anyone actually want card review scores? Their usually fairly nonsensical, but sometimes people enjoy it.
Meta will be Warrior, Rogue, Shaman, Mage and Hunter. Zoo and Priest got some of the best cards but probably have to wait till nerfs to those 5 classes to become playable.
The god curve of secret hunter is pretty scary good. I'm not sure the deck can play Hunter's Pack though, ofc it seems like a good card but you are a curvy deck and I don't see any moment when you'd want to spend 3 mana doing something else than taking board control or doing face damage. If Zul'jin isn't enough to close the game this card won't save you, and will most of the time clunk your hand and mess up your curve. But that's just my opinion.
I admittedly didn't play a ton of secret hunter this format. But I would find myself pretty out of resources around turn 7 or 8, give or take. Especially against something like Warrior. I think Hunter's Pack shines in those types of match ups. Now, is it worth including it for those kinds of specific late game situations?
In our current format, I would say yes, since Warrior was such a common match-up. But that could change this format.
While I agree Warrior and the Mech package will not be dethroned as the go to deck, I see alot of support for Taunt Warrior. But what is the end goal for Taunt Warrior. Sure, they can get to the late game AND they can survive. But how do they win? Alot of decks these days have 'infinite' value cards or ways to extend fatigue. Warrior no longer has the luxury of hitting the armor up button and waiting turn after turn.
I do think the new Hunter's Pack card will see play and it almost always gives you a play on the same turn or next turn on curve. You don't want to take turns off in an aggro deck, but you might need it if games and decks have aggro counters and secret counters.
I was also impressed by the Druid quest after seeing on screen, but I still feel there is not enough support in the Choose One cards. As you said, many decks can deal with piles of stats, so that doesn't impress me. But without a Jade Idol, there is no scaling or end game bomb that will get you a win. Savage Roar will close out games for sure, but you had to take 4 turns off without using all of your mana and you might be far too behind to keep a board as you are busy trading away. Without Naturalize, Druid will have to use their Rush minions to deal with threats.
I think the one of my most potentially combo breaking or fun card is going to be Blatant Decoy. Just think about it. Jepetto makes your big boys cost 1. Decoy puts them into play. So if you can figure out a way to abuse this or combo out, this is potentially really strong. Deathrattle decks might not be dead afterall.
And I mean, the craziest card that has to see some play because of the crazy involved is Octosari. Wait, what?!?! Draw 8 cards? Utterly insane effect. What can we do with this card? We have to break this card. Some ideas that I have...
Curio Collector OTK? Archmage Arugal Value town? Prismatic Lens Divine Favor copycat? Dead Ringer Nomi Priest deck? Shadow of Death OTK? Supreme Archaeology easy quest mode? Portal Overfiend overload?
Anka, the Buried draw your deck Mecha'thun? Gral the Shark big boy stats? Da Undatakah draw ya deck? Mecha'thun easy mode?
I think that seems like a pretty reasonable conclusion.
I believe that Zoo Priest, Zoo Warlock, and Token Druid are probably good enough to be in the middle of that pack.
Slower Druids and Paladin give me some reason for concern.
I also have a strange feeling that Mage could be pushed out a bit. If the meta gets more midrange-y (especially secret hunter), that could give Mage some real fits.
That's pretty much what they do though. Straight up control/fatigue warrior is one of the best decks in the game, and they don't have any other plan than survive until you die on your own.
i was legit looking forward to your review
I can do one then :)
it won't be as in depth as the past ones, since I got into a lot of that here. But I can certainly figure out some scores!
i think murloc/highlander paladin is going to be good
Favorite Cards: 1. Lord Jaraxxus | 2. Malygos| 3. Edwin VanCleef | 4. Zephrys the Great| 5. Deathwing
Don't underestimate the random BS Mage can pull out of nowhere, if anything Warrior seems most vulnerable because Quests give other classes chance to rival the value from Dr. Boom.
I’d love to hear it! (Sidenote: I’m writing my “10 Words or Less” review tonight & would appreciate if ya read it.)
"The quickest way to 'think outside the box' is to realize the truth: the only real box is the one you create by limiting your thoughts."
Bruce Garrabrandt
When you said “I thought boomsday would be incredibly powerful, so” do you not think BDP is not strong? I would argue it’s the strongest set in standard right now.
anyways, nice wrap up I basically agree with everything you said. Now the big question... to pre-order or to not?! It’s so expensive tho :(
I hope they buff the Highlander decks a bit.
The Mage one specifically looks abysmally bad. deal 10 damage randomly among minions isn't very good, especially against the new cards that have been released. the Neutral Genie card is pretty cool and seems powerful, but I don't think it's enough to play it in mage specifically.
I see the new highlander fitting in rogue, where you can bounce it back with shadow step for tons of value.
I agree. It is the most powerful set right now. But it didn't really register at the time. Likewise, I think this set is really powerful, but I wonder if BDP will suppress some of these cards in the same way KNC did.
In fact, I think that is exactly what will happen (at least with Warrior). And I think it's possible that ROS keeps a lot of new mage cards from seeing much play.
It's a tricky thing to predict!
I always pre-order, but mostly because I like the heroes and have the spare cash. It's pretty easy to save up enough gold between expansions these days, that if you don't have the $80 to spend, I wouldn't recommend it.
Being a Priest player, almost exclusively, I would agree that Priest did get a shit done of value, I don't think there's a bad card in the lot. Having said that, I think it will take a while for Priest to emerge/break through the current meta.
I can see at leat three possible routes:
A solid midrange deck, zoo to start, control the board with sticky minions and Arms, shuffle a bunch of cards back into your deck via Spirit of the Dead, Surrender to Madness and Quest Hero power for the late game.
A better Resurrect deck with Blatant Decoy, Penance, Holy Ripple.
A OTK/cycle deck with High Priest Amet, Stonetusk Boar, Divine, Divine, Innerfire/topsy for 28 damage, adding chip damage with reborn and things like mech bombs or Kobold Sandtrooper, and the usual pyro, acolyte, northshire, circle shenanigans
And I would think that the Quest will be used in almost all Priest decks.
Finally an expansion post that actually contributed something other than “cards suk no hype nvr buying again”
i agree with most of this post. I like the set a lot and am sad taunt warrior is drowned out by two already too good decks.
Also “Colossus of the Moon isn't as bad as people think. That is a really sticky big dumb idiot.” made me laugh a lot.
If it's already a 1 mana cost card... you would just play it. Why would you need to cheat it out with Decoy?
maybe you play jepetto in the hopes of drawing blatant decoy, so you can easily trade them off to summon more big boys from your hand.