It only needs to be revived once to basically give 10/6 worth of stats for 4 without any other cost (playing 4 cards in a row being rather positive tempowise, and the plant comes back at that precise moment where you take the upperhand by dumping your hand). The card is balanced, has a lot of potential, is perfectly suited for the Rogue playstyle and refills a spot in the curve that's loosing Pillager.
Yet people are criticizing the card and complaing about Rogue having "bad legendaries", literally a month after founding how good Shaku is in Aggro Rogue AND hipstering about how they "knew it from the start". Except everyone trashed Shaku when he got announced.
I'd say "wtf guys", but after having been a Rogue main for so long I'm actually not surprised at all. Rogue cards are just doomed to be treated like shit until they break through >_>
Let's just clear out one thing. 5/4 for is the agressive standard for 4 drops. So a recursive 5/3 ISN'T weak. With that kind of mindset, you'd literally look up to Shredder if you had to judge it today...
11
~~ Nathanandhishat's card reviews proudly present... ~~
The pinnacle of the princes, the titan of the two drops, there can only be one, ladies and gentlemen, Prince Keleseth!
While this card has had a rough time on these forums so far, I'm here to fight it's corner, and stake the claim that it's one of the (potentially) most powerful, and certainly one of the most interesting cards from the new expansion.
First of all I'd like to discuss the sheer strength of the base design of this card, as I feel it's worth going over. Cards which restrict the way you build your deck in exchange for very powerful effects are not a new idea in Hearthstone, (Reno, Kazakus, the Quests) and they haven't always been great, but they have always been interesting, and our buddy Keleseth is no exception. Building a deck using this card asks two things of the player: can your deck function without any other two drops?; and can your deck take advantage of the buff effect well enough that it's worth the inclusion? These are difficult, important questions for a deckbuilder to consider, and make the card far from an auto-include, in any deck. As far as I'm concerned, any card that is an auto-include for decks of it's respective class is a fairly poor design, and Keleseth is as far from that as a card can possibly get.
Another interesting facet to the card is the way in which it's restriction isn't a hard lock on other two drops in your deck, but, as was the case with Reno and co., a soft one; by which I mean that you can play other two drops in your deck and still take advantage of the effect if they're out of your deck by the time you play Keleseth. This may sound irrelevant, but Knights of the Frozen Throne has brought with it a few new targeted draw spells, which, if you build your deck correctly, can ensure that they pull all other two drops out of your deck, setting you up to activate Keleseth's battlecry and have a good ol' time. The cards in question are Forge of Souls and Ice Fishing, both of which I think are cards with high potential in their own right. Imagine a new take on Pirate Warrior where the sole two drops beyond Keleseth are two copies of Fiery War-Axe and one copy of Forge of Souls; or an aggressive Shaman list running two Bluegill Warriors alongside one Ice Fishing; These setups allow you to mulligan hard not just for Keleseth himself, as you normally would, but for these targeted draw spells also, which are not only great value for the mana, but also now serve as activators for your powerful legendary later, and thin your deck to increase your chances of drawing him. These ideas aren't perfect, of course, and there's always the chance that your targeted draw spell gets stranded in your deck, leaving you with a dead card when you draw Keleseth, but the potential for decks like this is high.
Design talk aside, what decks does this Prince fit in? Well, there are a few that have been tried so far, including a new take on Zoo Warlock, aggressive Paladin lists, and some versions of Quest Hunter, but none have been particularly successful on ladder. As I mentioned above, I think this card could fit well into Warrior and Shaman lists too, particularly the latter, as Shamans don't sacrifice too much at the two drop slot in order to play this, and it gels well with Doppelgangster and Saronite Chain-Gang, two cards which all the aggressive evolve Shaman decks are currently playing. The ability to buff up all your small, insignificant Evolve-fodder minions adds more depth to an already powerful deck. Other classes tend to have to sacrifice too much power by putting aside their staple two drops, but the ones I mentioned definitely have the potential to make use of the card going forward.
So there you have it, a small ramble on the virtues of an unpopular two drop legendary. I hope it inspired you to look deeper into the synergies offered by new cards, and to try some of the ideas out; who knows, Keleseth Evolve shaman may be the next big thing.
Until next time, I've been Nathanandhishat, you've been gorgeous, goodnight!
2
After playing with this card for a bit (around 50 games) in Quest Rogue, I've gotta say it's actually pretty good. It's an excellent mirror-breaker, as it can trade into any opposing 5/5's and come straight back. Reviving it in Quest Rogue is no problem at all, and I've been able to consistently do it twice per game, sometimes even more. It's great against Taunt Warrior and Quest Mage too, as they can fully clear your board, but they can't get rid of this. Sure it's weak toHex and Polymorph, but those cards are naturally bad against Quest Rogue anyway so he'll likely still be a 5/5 when the dust settles from that. I should mention that this card's value goes down very quickly after turn 4, and the sooner you can get him out and start eating up your opponent's resources the better, so foregoing the quest for a turn to make an aggressive Sherazin play isn't even a bad idea. Overall solid card, and I'm glad to see an innovative new mechanic performing well.
2
This one card will single-handedly enable a whole new archetype, which is an amazing thing for any single card to do. Not only this, but the archetype in question is incredibly open when it comes to how you build the deck. Just thinking about it briefly my head is buzzing with cards like Youthful Brewmaster, Gadgetzan Ferryman and even Wisp, cards which weren't even remotely playable before, now suddenly up for consideration. The 'bounce' style deck also plays very nicely with Rogue's other new Legendary, Sherazin, Corpse Flower, a card which I think is deceptively powerful, and will soon be as dreaded a sight on turn four as Piloted Shredder was. All in all, can't wait to try out these new Legendaries and this new archetype, it's gonna be a seriously wacky experiment.
3
Hey,
League of Explorers is rotating soon, so Karazhan would be a better adventure to invest in if you plan to play Standard. For Wild, LoE is much better I'd say. In terms of upcoming adventures, they've announced that all the expansions this year will be pack expansions, so you'll be waiting a while for a new adventure if you choose that option. Hope that helps!
- Nathan
9
As a student of Game Design, it'll be interesting to see if Gwent, allegedly skill-focused and balanced as it is, manages to reach or surpass the same level of popularity as Hearthstone. It certainly sounds like it'd provide a better basis for a competitive game than Hearthstone. As much as I love the game, it's emphasis on emotional highs and lows delivered through random chance and big, swingy effects doesn't mesh well with a consistent competitive scene in my opinion. It does, however, make for an excellent spectator game, with it's clear, polished visuals and explosive moments, and that's something that even the biggest Esports have problems delivering. I should really try Gwent though, been seeing a lot of content about it crop up lately.
6
This card reminds me a lot of Vengevine from MtG. It's even a plant too! In terms of playability, it honestly seems pretty good. Even in an average Rogue deck, getting a free 5/3 when you have your Edwin VanCleef turn seems great, and getting to 4 cards a turn can be pretty easy. Just going Swashburglar - Shadowstep - Swashburglar gets you 3/4 of the way there, is neutral in terms of cards spent/cards gained, and only costs 1 mana. Xaril, Poisoned Mind helps it out a lot too. And if nothing else, it's a fun Shadowcaster target. One to watch for sure.
13
While most people are comparing this to Undercity Huckster, I think a more apt comparison is Mana Tide Totem. Both draw you a card for use on your next turn, and both continue to do so each subsequent turn if they survive. This draws you slightly weaker cards on average, but it also has power, which means your opponent can't trade into it for free. This lacks tribal synergy but has Stealth synergy instead. All in all, I think it's at least on the same level as Mana Tide, and that card sees plenty of play. Solid, powerful legendary.
7
"In the Grand Tournament, you win, or you pack The Skeleton Knight."
3
Pretty sexy card tbh. Could be used as a control finisher in some kinda board control focussed Mage/Warrior/Druid deck. Also notable is the beast synergy the created Kodos have in Druid.
1
Could make saproling tribal a viable choice in standard...