I know you wanted a short list, but I'd like to be more comprehensive here because other people might be interested in having access to this. A lot of this is opinion, so take it with a salt lick. Basically, all the class Epics and Legendaries have a niche, so aside from neutrals there really isn't a short list per se.
Druid:
Cenarius: (Control) Decent value but his body is expensive.
Bestial Wrath: (Any) Underutilized IMO, counts as excellent removal that scales with quality of beast minions onboard, all for the cost of an Arcane Shot.
Archmage Antonidas: (Control/Combo) Not very useful in fast aggro decks. Mage control is greatly hampered by recent nerfs, both marginalizing the kinds of decks you'd see him in as well as simultaneously creating a niche for him. Time will tell.
Ice Block: (Any) Excellent card that happens to be at the forefront of current balance whining alongside Pyroblast.
Spellbender: (Any) Underrated IMO, either prevents direct damage, unconditional removal, or catches buffs intended for opposing players' minions, she'll either eat shit for you or become a stompy, either fate is to your advantage.
Pyroblast: (Any) Literally makes the class, decks without it are pale imitations. Wow, such skill. Much tears. Very Pyroblast.
Paladin:
Tirion Fordring: (Any, though primarily Control/Midrange) The best class legendary in the game, potentially a 5 or 6 for 1 value between his formidable body and Ashbringer combined if he's not polymorphed or silenced. No, I'm not kidding.
Sword of Justice: (Any, though primarily Aggro) I'd almost rate this a must-have, though your mileage may vary. Most use it to buff cheap minions and Recruits, but is also pretty dangerous when used on lategame control minions as well.
Avenging Wrath: (Control, Midrange) Excellent pseudo AoE removal that can also be used as direct damage to the face. Unlike other AoE removal, can simultaneously strip away Divine Shields and damage or even kill the minions that once possessed it, a rare and valuable trait.
Lay on Hands: (Control, Midrange) Best to play when you already have the game under control, of limited use when you're behind due to mana cost. Puts a huge damper on decks that push direct damage finishers.
Priest:
Prophet Velen: (Control) Can be a pretty scary finisher, makes everything you do better. Is more like a supertaunt than anything else. Best alongside other supertaunt finishers like Ragnaros the Firelord and Ysera, for homogeneity.
Shadowform: (Aggro) Most priest decks aren't aggro, so we'll most likely need an Adventure or Expansion before this card finds a truly viable niche. Can swing games but deprives you of your healing ability, so it's a double-edged sword.
Mindgames: (???) This card is an oddball. It's technically better in an aggro deck as an anti-control mechanism except for the fact that it's a 4 drop. Could just as easily pull Ysera or a Novice Engineer. Suffers from 'Girl with a Curl' syndrome.
Edwin VanCleef: (Aggro, Combo) Potentially strong legendary, synergizes well with cheap rogue stuff, can be absurdly powerful very early in the game if the stars align.
Preparation: (Combo) Very niche but works well to set up the Combo mechanic and counts as a spell for purposes of VanCleef and Gadgetzan Auctioneer, though it has few uses aside from that. Will generally be used for Fan of Knives, Assassinate, or Sprint, as you won't really get much value out of it otherwise. Wish it drew you a card as well.
Patient Assassin (Control) Solid removal on a one turn clock, similar functionally to Corruption, but with the added bonus that you can pay the mana and then wait to choose what it kills. More useful in Arena, but may find a niche as a second pair of Assassinates in more control-oriented deck archetypes.
Kidnapper: (Combo) An offensive brewmaster. Creates tempo advantage but not really card advantage, can be difficult to use in a way that benefits you directly.
Shaman:
Al'Akir the Windlord: (Control, Combo) Underrated legendary. His body isn't that strong but it combines pretty much every persistent minion ability simultaneously and is an amazing target for buffs. Will be incredibly sick when Shaman finally gets some healing spells.
Far Sight: (Combo) Dangerous card if used advantageously. Underrated, IMO. Works best (Obviously) in a deck with a lot of expensive threats, can use it to pay forward some interesting plays like 0 cost Lightning Storms, turn 5 Ragnaros the Firelord, etc.
Earth Elemental: One of the most dangerous minions in the entire game, magnet for hard removal.
Warlock:
Lord Jaraxxus: Cornerstone of Warlock control decks, added benefit of recouping health lost to Life Tap and people hitting you over and over (as they're wont to do when faced with Gul'Dan). Ill-advised addition to an Aggro deck, however, as he's just too expensive and slow to get rolling.
Pit Lord: Strong, cheap body that hurts you pretty badly. Could be used to get big taunting Molten Giants into play before slapping Jaraxxus down. While very powerful, also quite risky.
Bane of Doom: Interesting removal that creates card advantage, oftentimes a 2 for 1. Very random, and awesomely also creates a random demon if you use it to deal lethal damage to your opponent.
Twisting Nether: Blanket unconditional removal. Expensive and decisive. Like Deathwing without the monster or the discard. The other cornerstone of modern Warlock control decks. Larry Niven would be proud.
Warrior:
Grommash Hellscream: Best WC3 character made into a card. Gimmicky combo legendary that can simply end games if he has the right setup. Will probably come back into vogue in Warrior One-Turn-Kill combo decks once Moltens get nerfed.
Shield Slam: Gimmicky combo card that combines well with Shield Block and Armor Up!, niche usefulness however.
Brawl: Twisting Nether -1. Randomly chooses which minion lives among ALL present on the board. Generally used to take the heat off current combo decks against aggros in the meta.
Sylvanas Windrunner: Arguably best neutral legendary, often yields 2 or 3 for 1 card advantage as your opponent frantically removes her with all minions on deck, or has to otherwise morph/silence or control what she takes.
Bloodmage Thalnos: Utility is his middle name. Replaces himself on death and improves odds of yielding card advantage with direct damage removal. Simple, elegant, powerful.
The Black Knight: Great situational anti-taunt removal with a complimentary Yeti attached.
Nat Pagle: Recently fixed to 50/50 odds, don't bring him out with huge expectations, just hope he at least replaces himself before he gets scoured from the field.
Big Game Hunter: Sneaky way of dealing with high power legendaries and Giants.
Neutral (Control)
Ragnaros the Firelord: Potentially a win condition in his own right, causes big changes in plans across the table.
Tinkmaster Overspark: Cheap Polymorph effect with a 2/2 body attached, can either neuter strong opposing minions or at least make them more manageable, or roll the dice and make your Novice Engineer into a badass dinosaur.
Ysera: Also a potential standalone win condition, though she takes some time to spool up.
Baron Geddon: This dude has been gaining popularity recently and basically hard counters weenie decks if you can survive them long enough to bring him out. Can also reach through taunts to peck your opponent for a few health while he figures out how to deal with him.
Doomsayer: Delayed Blast Twisting Nether with a little dude attached. Mostly functions as a supertaunt but can save your butt if he's allowed to go off. Unfortunately he has no attack power so can usually be killed for free if your opponent has the means. Works great for freeze mages, too bad that approach has been nerfed.
Giants: These all have niches, generally you'll see Mountain Giants in control decks that draw lots of cards, Molten Giants in comboish decks and/or control decks that survive with low health or can reliably lower their own health, and Sea Giants in either aggro decks or anti-aggro control decks that bring these guys out just before large board clears. Can be a nasty surprise for the other guy, but their usage can be considered a little cheesy.
Neutral (Aggro, Combo)
King Mukla: Strong, cheap body that gives your opponent cheap minion buffing spells in the form of two bananas. Can be somewhat risky to use except against creature-light control and combo decks. Creates interesting combos with Cho.
Leeroy Jenkins: This card ends games and is the cornerstone win condition in a lot of otherwise shaky aggro decks. Top tier.
Alexstrasza: Mostly used on the opponent to set up big damage combos, can also be used as a massive clutch heal on yourself, all while leaving behind a powerful 8/8 body.
Old Murk-Eye: Scary powerful in Murloc decks and nowhere else. As niche as it comes, but if you build your deck around him and his kin it can be very explosively powerful in the early game.
Murloc Warleader: Niche Murloc buffer, currently used in many Warlock decks but Murlocs in general also fit in Druid and Shaman decks that try to win early and pack strong buffs.
Neutral (Other)
Lorewalker Cho: Interesting card in minion-heavy decks, functions as a supertaunt against spell-focused decks. Can be very fun, though nichey.
Millhouse Manastorm: Strong body for cheap, potentially debilitating drawback, can be a way to bait strong spells out of your opponent's hand early. Very risky and largely considered terrible as fuck.
Captain Greenskin: 5/4 body for 5 with an Upgrade! attached, if you know you'll be using weapons he's a fine addition and can help you curve out redundantly with Sylvanas Windrunner.
Elite Tauren Chieftain: Fun card, can be pretty strong in Murloc heavy decks but has a random component that also grants a boon to your opponent. Almost as metal as Arthas.
Harrison Jones: A super-powered Acidic Swamp Ooze as a 5/4 for 5, with the added benefit of drawing cards equal to the weapon's durability. More useful against rogues, can completely fill your hand against Doomhammer. Niche but fun and potentially debilitating depending on board state.
Cairne Bloodhoof: Stronger version of Harvest Golem. Potentially a total value of 8/10 for 6. Underrated, IMO, even despite sharing the exact same vulnerability to morph/silence effects.
Gelbin Mekkatorque: Another fun legendary, like ETC. Can make a good difference in games if he summons the chicken and it lives to see the following turn, otherwise can accidentally help your opponent more than he helps you.
Hogger: Strong in many decks, although he's relatively easy to remove, mostly annoying. In decks with strong buffing he can swing games pretty unfairly, however. Absolutely unreasonable with Cenarius's +2/+2 form on the table, but he's bad enough with just a Blood Imp.
Illidan Stormrage: Similar to Hogger but more controllable, though largely considered not quite as good.
The Beast: Big monster, decent stats for the price, poops out a 3/3 for your opponent when he dies. Largely considered suboptimal, though he's a fine choice in Arena depending on what other legendaries end up in the triad.
Gruul: Big scaling threat, more useful for the pseudo self-healing aspect, tends to function more like a supertaunt, which is totally fine. Increases in power on both the end of your turn and your opponent's.
Malygos: Cool legendary that doesn't seem to see much play. Really strong in decks with direct damage, especially those that can hit the opponent directly, or with really cheap removal/direct damage such as Druid, Shaman, or Rogue. Underrated IMO, though I understand why other legendaries get priority, since he only affects your preexisting potential rather than giving it to you directly, and is only as good as the cards you have access to.
Nozdormu: Niche dragon that can swing games in your favor if you put him in a relatively simple or decisive deck to play, can cause your opponent to go on tilt from frustration. Very trollish card.
Onyxia: Pretty self-explanatory. Situationally strong, though her whelps are often of suspect utility and you can't play any other creatures until you suicide them into your opponent's creatures if he doesn't clear them himself. Also pretty sick if you have Cenarius onboard, and per ZomgSap's post below, she also synergizes extremely well with effects like Power of the Wild, Savage Roar, and Bloodlust, as long as an appreciable number of her whelps survive summoning sickness.
Deathwing: Also pretty self-explanatory. Will either win or lose the game for you almost immediately upon playing him. Very shit-or-get mentality, works best if your opponent is already in topdeck mode and you have a relatively empty hand yourself.
Hungry Crab/Blood Knight: Blatant hate cards that can be useful but only due to metagame trends. Sideboard fodder for when the feature is added. Very good when contextualized and completely suboptimal otherwise, just like all hate cards.
Captain's Parrot/Southsea Captain: Great cards for the pirate deck that doesn't exist yet. Wait for a Bloodsail adventure for these to come into their own, as of right now the metagame doesn't really support Pirates, as they're not good as buffing neutrals or as good as Murlocs if you want to make a theme deck. Their time is soon approaching, however, mark my words.
Great post man. Only thing I would add is to Onyxia. She is amazing in a Shaman Stealth-fury deck. Or a Shaman deck with bloodlust period. I run her, Rag, Leeroy and BMT in my current rank 8 shaman control. So fun :) Onyxia is even better if you drop her turn 9, then Bloodlust and Windspeaker on turn 10 or Bloodlust+windfury+rockbiter= :)
You listed Archmage Antonidas for Mages yet you said that its no bueno for aggro decks even though 95% of mages are running aggro decks right now. Its not a must have card :) Same with Spellbender. Its underrated because its not that good. Its 3 mana + you dont get to choose which minion to protect. Ice block and Pyroblast I agree with.
In case you didn't figure it out, I actually listed every epic and legendary in the entire game and gave my thoughts on them, both good and bad. Something's presence on the list doesn't imply a recommendation, just that it is in fact an epic or legendary. Sorry if you skimmed the first post and thought that I felt every epic and legendary in the game deserved a spot in every deck.
I feel Spellbender is underrated because against certain decks (Paladin and Druid, primarily) it can suck up a huge buff and become a legit threat. A lot of its potential is in the fact that it's not Ice Block or Ice Barrier, you put out Spellbender against a druid and he's like 'Ermah Ferk, Erce Blerk!' and then puts Mark of the Wild on his Novice Engineer, and suddenly you now have a 3 mana Sen'jin Shieldmasta on your opponent's turn that can attack on your next turn. It can also prevent your opponent from finishing you with Power Overwhelming. The one major weakness of the card is Blessing of Wisdom, which while annoying doesn't break it at all. Also I'm imagining heavy secret themed mage decks building momentum in the coming weeks, at which point a lot of the time Spellbender will come out with a 4/3 Kirin Tor Mage at the same time and simultaneously buff and protect an Ethereal Arcanist.
To Infares: Whats better, The beast or King Krush...... I see you have no comments on krush, thats why I ask. I also ask cause I have a hunter beast based deck, comboed with some "give adjacent minions taunt"...... beast can be just silenced to avoid the pooping..... whatya think?
King Krush makes a way bigger entrance despite his cost, and I think he's better. The Beast is still a pretty strong creature but you just don't see him being used that much. Giving him taunt as a means of baiting silence and freeing him from his drawback also makes him vulnerable to The Black Knight in constructed.
I am going to tell you my case, I had krush: Bought a 40 pack, got nozdormu and golden commander, those alone granted me 1200 dust, aswell another 750 for extra cards, and kept disenchanting alot of golden cards, at the end I already have ragnaros inserted in my deck, but I dont know what to get as a second legendary.
I decided to DE krush cause in my games I wasnt being able to survive till the 11th or 12th turn, so either krush wasnt there in my hand to be played earlier, OR in the case it was played he could just not do that much thnx to my low health.... I tought "hey The beast sinergizes with my deck, AND it costs 6 mana......, not 9!!!", doing more damage if let be... and why not try to leave a tundra rhino one turn before so when I drop the beast he can give his punch right away.
The second BIG BUT....... I am reading Sylvanas is.... if not the best, the second best card in the game (neutral of course.... cause everybody knows paladin got their SUPREME OP TIRION), and now I want to take that hard choice of getting either sylv OR the beast...... I think both sinergize fine with any combination of either go aggresive in the "chargie" way, or passively by giving them a taunt buff...... I still think either polymorph or hex are the only things that really KILL these cards, cause anything else you do to these guys is half productive for the enemy (in the case you get to silence the beast to avoid pooping finkle).
Thank you very much for the response: I HAD KRUSH...... and actually the deck that is getting me up there (I started level 21 now I am 17) is the hunter one, based on beasts.
I experimented around 10 games with him, and it was a total failure..... 7 loses 3 wins and if I actually used him once, it was plenty. I know he has the charge, but by the time you land it on the field, most of the time its too late to counter the next one or couple of turns, which by that time define the battle.
I will keep an eye trying to decide for sylvanas, which in the long run might be the best choice....
Thank you very much for the response: I HAD KRUSH...... and actually the deck that is getting me up there (I started level 21 now I am 17) is the hunter one, based on beasts.
I experimented around 10 games with him, and it was a total failure..... 7 loses 3 wins and if I actually used him once, it was plenty. I know he has the charge, but by the time you land it on the field, most of the time its too late to counter the next one or couple of turns, which by that time define the battle.
I will keep an eye trying to decide for sylvanas, which in the long run might be the best choice....
Are you around infares?
Yar. I agree with cemeth, if it's between xyz legendary and Sylvanas, you probably get Sylvanas. That assumes you already have most of the high tier commons and rares, though.
Like most of the hight tier common and rares...... not really. a lot of time investment to achieve that, maybe I have 75% of them, at least one card. still a good decision to go for sylvanas?
Like most of the hight tier common and rares...... not really. a lot of time investment to achieve that, maybe I have 75% of them, at least one card. still a good decision to go for sylvanas?
A lot of people in this thread are probably going to mention the obvious ones (Rag, Sylvannas, Bloodmage) but, it may not be the absolute best but I think people underestimate the strength of Cairne Bloodhoof. Especially in a paladin deck. I used Cairne with a great amount of success and I suppose lately a lot of people have started to use him but I do think he's top tier, at least for me. I suppose I just like him so much because he's very very easily a 2 for 1 and him being silenced isn't the worst thing ever, I'd rather have Cairne silenced than Tirion.
Could anyone give me a list of the Epics and Legendaries required (1 or 2 for epics) for an optimal build for each class?
I know you wanted a short list, but I'd like to be more comprehensive here because other people might be interested in having access to this. A lot of this is opinion, so take it with a salt lick. Basically, all the class Epics and Legendaries have a niche, so aside from neutrals there really isn't a short list per se.
Druid:
Hunter:
Mage:
Paladin:
Priest:
Rogue:
Shaman:
Warlock:
Warrior:
Neutral (Any):
Neutral (Control)
Neutral (Aggro, Combo)
Neutral (Other)
Whew, and there's my summary. D:
Thank you very much for that. You went far beyond what I asked for and that's great, I appreciate it. Valuable insight indeed.
Wow! I suggest pinning that post!
good one, i also suggest to pin that somewhere :)
Great post! I hope it won't drown in a pool of new threads.
*Request Sticky*
Great post. Thanks
Great post man. Only thing I would add is to Onyxia. She is amazing in a Shaman Stealth-fury deck. Or a Shaman deck with bloodlust period. I run her, Rag, Leeroy and BMT in my current rank 8 shaman control. So fun :) Onyxia is even better if you drop her turn 9, then Bloodlust and Windspeaker on turn 10 or Bloodlust+windfury+rockbiter= :)
Thanks for that, I'll edit that info in.
In case you didn't figure it out, I actually listed every epic and legendary in the entire game and gave my thoughts on them, both good and bad. Something's presence on the list doesn't imply a recommendation, just that it is in fact an epic or legendary. Sorry if you skimmed the first post and thought that I felt every epic and legendary in the game deserved a spot in every deck.
I feel Spellbender is underrated because against certain decks (Paladin and Druid, primarily) it can suck up a huge buff and become a legit threat. A lot of its potential is in the fact that it's not Ice Block or Ice Barrier, you put out Spellbender against a druid and he's like 'Ermah Ferk, Erce Blerk!' and then puts Mark of the Wild on his Novice Engineer, and suddenly you now have a 3 mana Sen'jin Shieldmasta on your opponent's turn that can attack on your next turn. It can also prevent your opponent from finishing you with Power Overwhelming. The one major weakness of the card is Blessing of Wisdom, which while annoying doesn't break it at all. Also I'm imagining heavy secret themed mage decks building momentum in the coming weeks, at which point a lot of the time Spellbender will come out with a 4/3 Kirin Tor Mage at the same time and simultaneously buff and protect an Ethereal Arcanist.
To Infares: Whats better, The beast or King Krush...... I see you have no comments on krush, thats why I ask. I also ask cause I have a hunter beast based deck, comboed with some "give adjacent minions taunt"...... beast can be just silenced to avoid the pooping..... whatya think?
Deck: please open a new tab.
http://www.hearthpwn.com/deckbuilder/hunter#8:1;42:1;86:2;94:1;99:1;101:2;114:1;162:2;163:1;167:2;179:1;225:1;239:1;279:2;304:1;317:1;372:1;422:1;488:2;500:2;503:1;542:1;630:1;
King Krush makes a way bigger entrance despite his cost, and I think he's better. The Beast is still a pretty strong creature but you just don't see him being used that much. Giving him taunt as a means of baiting silence and freeing him from his drawback also makes him vulnerable to The Black Knight in constructed.
I am going to tell you my case, I had krush: Bought a 40 pack, got nozdormu and golden commander, those alone granted me 1200 dust, aswell another 750 for extra cards, and kept disenchanting alot of golden cards, at the end I already have ragnaros inserted in my deck, but I dont know what to get as a second legendary.
I decided to DE krush cause in my games I wasnt being able to survive till the 11th or 12th turn, so either krush wasnt there in my hand to be played earlier, OR in the case it was played he could just not do that much thnx to my low health.... I tought "hey The beast sinergizes with my deck, AND it costs 6 mana......, not 9!!!", doing more damage if let be... and why not try to leave a tundra rhino one turn before so when I drop the beast he can give his punch right away.
The second BIG BUT....... I am reading Sylvanas is.... if not the best, the second best card in the game (neutral of course.... cause everybody knows paladin got their SUPREME OP TIRION), and now I want to take that hard choice of getting either sylv OR the beast...... I think both sinergize fine with any combination of either go aggresive in the "chargie" way, or passively by giving them a taunt buff...... I still think either polymorph or hex are the only things that really KILL these cards, cause anything else you do to these guys is half productive for the enemy (in the case you get to silence the beast to avoid pooping finkle).
Readvice would be very thankful.
Thank you very much for the response: I HAD KRUSH...... and actually the deck that is getting me up there (I started level 21 now I am 17) is the hunter one, based on beasts.
I experimented around 10 games with him, and it was a total failure..... 7 loses 3 wins and if I actually used him once, it was plenty. I know he has the charge, but by the time you land it on the field, most of the time its too late to counter the next one or couple of turns, which by that time define the battle.
I will keep an eye trying to decide for sylvanas, which in the long run might be the best choice....
Are you around infares?
Yar. I agree with cemeth, if it's between xyz legendary and Sylvanas, you probably get Sylvanas. That assumes you already have most of the high tier commons and rares, though.
Like most of the hight tier common and rares...... not really. a lot of time investment to achieve that, maybe I have 75% of them, at least one card. still a good decision to go for sylvanas?
Go for it.
thank you very much all, ranaros and sylvanas are a happy couple now :).
A lot of people in this thread are probably going to mention the obvious ones (Rag, Sylvannas, Bloodmage) but, it may not be the absolute best but I think people underestimate the strength of Cairne Bloodhoof. Especially in a paladin deck. I used Cairne with a great amount of success and I suppose lately a lot of people have started to use him but I do think he's top tier, at least for me. I suppose I just like him so much because he's very very easily a 2 for 1 and him being silenced isn't the worst thing ever, I'd rather have Cairne silenced than Tirion.
Cairne is especially awesome when you can resurrect him after he dies, you can potentially have three Baines up at once as Shaman and Paladin. :p