Wing 2 Card Analysis - The League of Explorers
Hello guys, Sigma here, a Legend player, deck architect and guide writer here, on Hearthpwn! I will be writing a small series of analysis on the wings of the League of Explorers Adventure just to give you a better insight into what you should expect from these cards, how OP some of these cards really are, and if there are maybe some hidden effects or tactics behind some of these cards.
So here is the analysis of the second wing, enjoy!
Introduction
In order to present to you these 10 cards to its best, I will divide them into three tiers, first one being the God tier, second one being the Meh Tier and the third one, which is at the same time the worst one I will name, let’s say… Savagery Tier, as the Druid card will most likely never see play. Most of the analysis will be directed at the Ladder play, but I will note Arena for some cards where note is due.
I will give it my best to analyse all of the cards thoroughly as I personally can, but as every other human, I might also be wrong, as some pros were for cards like Dr. Boom and Mysterious Challenger, so if you do disagree with me I would love to hear it in the comments below or if you agree, well, great minds thing alike!
I will try to illustrate what are the chances of these cards fitting some of the archetypes that are currently present in the meta, or what new decks could be made by including this card in them or completely revolving around them. You will also be able to see me discussing these cards live on Twitch, Facebook, and Twitter.
As most people love the sweet stuff at the end, like eating the hard chocolate on the bottom of an ice cream cone, I will start off with the Savagery Tier and move up to God Tier. So, let’s start with the 10th card of the top 10 of the second wing of League of Explorers! *queue League of Explorers music*
Savagery Tier
10. Reliquary Seeker
The lovely Warlock 1/1 Blood Elf minion for 1 mana that has a battlecry which states: If you have 6 other minions, gain +4/+4.
Will it fit current decks? Most likely not.
Classic Zoo/Midrange Zoo - Zoo is the deck type where I would fit her the most. But, in order for me to explain to you why it won’t even be able to work in this deck I would like us to take a look at Gormok the Impaler. As I had Gormok in my Midrange Zoo, I did research on how good he is. It turned out that the effect is triggered on turn 4 in less than 15 % of cases. As the game progresses, the chances are rising, but still not for enough for it to be a part of a Zoo deck, and especially a part of a Midrange Zoo deck.
If Gormok isn’t working out the way people hoped, there is no hope for the poor Reliquary Seeker as you will hardly have 6 minions on the board to start off with, and if you actually do, then the game will more or less already be won and there won’t be a need for a 5/5 minion for 1 mana. The only way how this card can see proper play is to use it after an Imp-losion, a dead Haunted Creeper and a damaged Imp Gang Boss. But too many ifs for the competitive meta to like it.
Demonhand/Handlock/Reno Warlock – As you will mostly likely NEVER have 6 minions on the board, this card will never be played in any kind of control warlock.
Will new decks be made for it? Most likely not.
There might be a deck that has for example Dreadsteeds, and if you manage to make enough copies of them and have a lot of constant minions on the board, whereas you add a minion or two to the board on the same turn as the Seeker and THEN you manage to throw it out as the final card. But that’s too situational and competitive doesn’t like situational. Even though the card itself can fit nicely after an Imp-losion and a dead Haunted Creeper and a Imp Gang Boss hit multiple times, it’s far too situational to see any play.
9. Excavated Evil
5 Mana Priest spell that deals 3 damage to all minions and goes straight into your opponents deck.
Will it fit current decks? Most likely not.
Dragon Priest – I believe it will not be fitting as Holy Nova both heals your minions and damages theirs. Chillmaw was one of the cards that most people were or are still very sceptical to have in their dragon priests as it will mostly harm your board and that’s not good if you want to keep the tempo up of course. This card will not only damage your board, but will help your opponent damage it even more.
Control Priest – It might work in some kinds of fatigue priest, and if the meta is heavily aggro oriented, but the problem is that the card costs quite a bit, and whatever you managed to setup against aggro will probably be removed with its usage.
Will new decks be made for it? They might.
As everyone is slowly turning to fatigue decks slowly, this card might actually see play in some kind of a fatigue priest that will be drawing the best, or should I say worst out of priest cards just to clear the board and just to push your opponent into fatigue. I have to say that I honestly doubt it will see any competitive play or high ladder play.
ARENA NOTE: This card is actually a pretty good common card for a priest in arena. If you don't manage to get a Holy Nova or a Lightbomb, this works out perfectly as a replacement.
Meh Tier
8. Fierce Monkey
3 mana 3/4 Warrior Beast Minion with Taunt.
Will it fit current decks? It might.
Patron Warrior – The only thing why it might be good in a patron warrior is that the patron warrior needs to survive until the 5th turn where the party starts happening. Even though the spells that warrior got like Bash are doing a good job at that, a minion on the board is never bad. I don’t think it will be in any Patron decks though.
Control Warrior – 3 mana spot is something a control warrior has been missing for a while, only having the lonely Acolyte of Pain and Shield Block to fill it out. With the inclusion of Bash the spot has been filled a bit better, with a lot of warriors starting to run any combination of the Bash and Shield Block (1/1, 2/1 or 1/2). This might be played, just one copy or maybe even two, and people might find it fitting the 3 mana spot even better than any of the two spells I mentioned beforehand.
Reno Warrior – It’s actually pretty good for Reno warriors. Having one copy of a taunt card that will help you get into that late game even easier will be a solid addition indeed. Maybe the biggest reason why it’s in the Meh part and not in the Savagery part.
Will new decks be made for it? They might.
Ever since the release of TGT Blizz has been trying to push Bolster Warrior down our throats, and maybe with this card they just might succeed in that. A pretty solid early to mid game taunt, that becomes a proper beast when buffed with Bolster. It might even maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe be a part of some kind of tempo warrior decks, but we will see.
SIDENOTE: This card might actually buff Webspinner a LOT. This card fits perfectly in the concept of a midrange hunter and is a great buff for Arena warrior! #arenawarriorsmatter
Note: Next two were a tight fit in between Meh and God cards but were pushed into the Meh ones due to Sigma’s mistrust of the ladder’s acceptance of odd cards.
7. Ethereal Conjurer
5 mana Mage 6/3 minion that discovers a spell as a battlecry.
Will it fit current decks? It might.
Tempo Mage – I believe this card won’t see any play in a tempo mage even though it has high attack. The mage spell that you are going to get might be awesome, but it will be just too slow for a tempo mage.
Freeze Mage – I actually firmly believe that this card might see play in any kind of control mage, simply because you will probably get a pretty solid card. Even that body doesn’t matter when you will get another possible Fireball or Frostbolt, or even another aoe removal like Flamestrike or Blizzard. It might be a bit difficult in a freeze mage as you will probably HAVE to use Blizzard over the Conjurer and that’s why it might not be a part of freeze decks.
Echo Mage – As I mentioned beforehand, this minion’s body is pretty bad, but the fact that it will basically work as creating a new spell and put it into your hand is good on it’s own and might find it’s place in some kind of either an echo mage or a grinder kind of mage.
Will new decks be made for it? They might.
With this card there might be a new age of control/grinder mages and another Polymorph or a Fireball, or a Flamestrike can be absolutely devastating.
6. Tomb Spider
4 mana cost 3/3 neutral beast minion that discovers a beast as a battlecry.
Will it fit current decks? I believe so.
Face Hunter – Too slow of a card, won’t fit in this concept.
Midrange Hunter - This is where the card might fit perfectly. One or even two copies might boost the midrange hunter into the skies and make decks which run two Houndmasters a daily sight. The fact that any of the Hunter Beasts like Savannah Highmane or neutral ones like Stranglethorn Tiger might be discovered or even a Haunted Creeper can be, ultimately, pretty crazy. Discover is going to hit this game like a train, in a good way, as I believe it’s probably the best mechanism from the creation of the game.
Will new decks be made for it? I believe so.
Control Hunters and Beast Druids are probably going to start popping up, at first in casual but then (hopefully) in ranked as well. Both concepts have been buffed massively from the introduction of The Grand Tournament and I am sure will only continue on getting buffed, just like the Discard Warlock.
SIDENOTE: The next one is going to disappoint a lot of you, but after long consideration, it’s meh for the bro of Magni.
5. Brann Bronzebeard
3 mana cost 2/4 neutral minion that makes your battlecries trigger twice.
Will it fit current decks? Most likely.
Note: I will note only the decks that I believe it might fit into to some point, again least value from top to most value on bottom. And I am taking into consideration that you make it a combo FROM your hand, as it probably won’t survive not even a single turn on the board. If it does though, it’s a one way ticket to Value Town. Against aggro he can even be played as a tempo card and might even survive.
Handlock – Yeah, the card fits nicely with Twilight Drake in theory, but as an experienced handlock player, I can tell you that no Handlocks will wait for turn 7, just to play this combo, and then get their patiently planned minion reduced to 4/1. Probably won’t see play in handlock.
Control/Dragon Priest – Fits very nicely with the Shrinkmeister, very nicely indeed. Too situation though I have to say, and wouldn’t be able to be used with the Cabal Shadow Priest as well, as the whole combo would cost 11 mana. Still good with Shrinkmeister for combos though.
Midrange Hunter – 2x Ram Wrangler. A bit situational, but it can cause an easy instant gg.
Control Warrior – 2x Shieldmaiden Battlecry. Oh my. That’s an awful lot of armor. Warrior can actually allow himself to wait and set up the combo as it’s so ridiculously resilient to most decks due to constant stacking of armor. Besides that, Antique Healbot might start having a steady spot in control warriors as it gives you 16 (!!!) health when the battlecry is triggered twice.
Mill Rogue – 2x Coldlight Oracle is a LOT of cards. It will make mill rogue more difficult to play, but also miles deadlier then it has been so far. Control decks beware.
Midrange Paladin – 2x Quartermaster. Now, this is sick. Midrange Paladin can also allow himself to save up Brann and play him on turn 8 as the Quartermasters are usually played from turn 8 on, for the most optimal plays. So this I can see happening, I will try it out for sure in mine. Again, 2x Antique Healbot is crazy.
Will new decks be made for it? Most likely not.
As the card itself isn’t that durable and probably won’t be making a strong, durable impact on the game, I believe it will just be used to buff up already good decks, and no new decks will be made that solely revolve around using battlecries twice.
Now, onto the crème de la crème of the second wing! Drumroll please!
God Tier
4. Keeper of Uldaman
4 mana cost 3/4 Paladin minion that sets a minion’s attack and health to 3 as a battlecry.
Will it fit current decks? Undoubtedly.
Secret Paladin – I don’t think this deck will fit the Secret Paladin mechanism simply because you can use an Aldor Peacekeeper to put enemy minions in order, and your minions don’t really need a buff when you have Blessing of Kings and Avenge.
Midrange Paladin – I believe this card will find it’s spot here simply because it’s both good to buff your own minions or to make heavy enemy minions into a 3/3 and it leaves you a 3/4 on the board which isn’t bad at all!
Aggro Paladin – I am afraid to say that this card might find it’s way to the aggro paladins and we might see some crazy Djini Uldaman buff aggro variations which will surely make us hate paladin even more.
Will new decks be made for it? I believe so.
I firmly believe that the aggro paladin will make it’s comeback with this card. It just feels too good to pass on a card that can buff the Nerubian egg or the Dragon egg and make you swarm the board pretty easily.
3. Tunnel Trogg
1 mana cost 1/3 Shaman minion that gains +1 for every locked mana crystal after an Overload card is played.
Will it fit current decks? Undoubtedly.
Mech Shaman – Even though the Totem Golem is played in mech shamans, it won’t replace the mechs or mech synergy cards that are a part of the mech shaman at the moment. It might be played as the shaman is basically shit if you don’t manage to assemble early aggression.
Aggro Shaman – I believe that there might be something to this with this card included. After Sir Finley Mrrgglton is included, these two cards might actually make the guys at the shaman camp stir up a little bit and start making their concoctions.
Midrange Shaman – I believe this is probably the card shamans were praying and hoping for. Much better than the current Zombie Chow, this card just rules. Synergy with Totem Golem, Feral Spirit, Lightning Bolt, Crackle, Fireguard Destroyer, or maybe even Ancestral Knowledge. Oh my, oh my. Maybe an even better Mana Wyrm, survives to most of the early game aggression of the current meta, and might hold of those pesky hunters and help you setup your board properly.
Will new decks be made for it? Undoubtedly.
We will probably see Aggro Shamans in the next couple of months and people trying to get as much as possible out of Crackles and Lightning Bolts and much more people taking their golden shamans from the shed, blowing the dust off of them and trying them out in their quest for legend. Coin + Feral Spirit on turn 2 will become a regular play!
2. Mounted Raptor
3 mana cost 3/2 Druid beast minion that summons a random 1-Cost minion as a Deathrattle.
Will it fit current decks? Undoubtedly.
Double Combo Druid – I believe this card might steal the spot of the Shade of Naxxramas completely as it serves as a perfect follow-up for a coined Darnassus Aspirant/Wild Growth and it will make druid the King of Sticky. (Get out of here Snoop Dogg!)
Aggro Druid - Oh man. Aggro druids will become an even bigger problem for us as this will for sure be ran in the list. It just makes the whole thing a lot stickier and with that, a brutal Savage Roar is just behind the corner. The only thing that would suck is getting a Zombie Chow out of it.
Will new decks be made for it? Undoubtedly.
I firmly hope that the beast druid will be viable one day, as I made one myself, which I will be working on. And this card is probably what the beast druid has been waiting for. A good, strong 3 mana minion that will help you make the board stickier than the menus in your local restaurant.
1. Unearthed Raptor
3 mana cost 3/4 Rogue minion that copies a friendly minion’s Deathrattle effect.
Before you say something along the lines of: “This card as number 1? Nonsense Sigma. How could you? Brann ftw lol!” let me clarify something. As a deck architect, and I can say this in the name of every deck architect out there, when something new comes out as stealing a minions Deathrattle, we get extremely hyped, as it opens a completely new path to deckbuilding. This card might not fit into the current rogue deck which is the oil rogue, but it opens up a completely new approach to rogue. So instead of me telling you how much it won’t fit into current rogue decks, which are unfortunately scarce, let me answer this question.
Will new decks be made for it? DAMN RIGHT THEY WILL.
This can open the full world of versatility to rogue, just imagine the possibilities. Copying a Piloted Shredder, a Nerubian Egg, Sylvanas Windrunner, even Anub'arak for a Midrange/Control Rogue or even some kind of an aggro rogue where you can copy a Leper Gnome. Or even in some kind of a combo deck where you can copy Bloodmage Thalnos, or Maybe even an Anubisath Sentinel. Or a coin collector rogue, with Cutpurse, Tomb Pillager and the Unearthed Raptor getting the Deathrattle from the Tomb Pillager?
Stalagg & Feugen Rogue? Why the hell not!
I stand for diversity in Hearthstone, let’s bring rogue back boys!
And that’s about it for the 2nd wing guys, I tried to keep it short, but this kind of got out of hand. I hope you enjoyed it, I hope I gave you a bit more insight into the 2nd wing from the perspective of a Hearthpwn Deck Architect, and if you think I made a mistake or if you agree with some of my opinions, please share them in the comments below!
If you would like to get in touch with me directly or come check out my stream where I practise for my tournaments, or where I try to reach legend with all kinds of interesting and new decks, stop by at www.twitch.tv/sigmasrb or come say hello, or you know, “man your guide is very wrong!” at www.facebook.com/sigmasrb or www.twitter.com/sigmasrb. I also do all kinds of events like Hearthstone Trivia, Viewer Tournaments that have awesome rewards and many more! Some of the videos of my crazy plays can be found at www.youtube.com/sigmasrb!
Cheers,
Sigma
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It has been a year almost and they are still good
Well, the tiers are ill-named. Ethereal Conjurer is not a "God" card, but it's very, very good in the right deck. After playing with it a lot, I think any non-combo deck that uses Azure Drake should replace it with Conjurer. While you might get a third Ice Block or Fireball in freeze mage, it's more important to draw through your own deck so that you don't get Alex, Healbot or Antonidas a turn too late. However, in tempo or midrange it's very, very powerful to get an additional spell that's appropriate to the current or next turn. I think the Spell Damage on Azure Drake is often irrelevant. The only considerations are 1) How valuable is it to draw through your own deck; and 2) How much do you care about +1 health. Again, after playing with it I think too many people are over-valuing the +1 health over getting a spell when you need it. It's rare that your opponent can trade with it for free, and even if they trade up they've still used a card, while yours replaced itself. If it actually survives a turn the 6 damage will either trade up or go to face. Think of it this way; would you play a card that took a Frostbolt out of your opponent's hand, and put it in yours?
Some analysis were alright. But overall, a poor analysis imo..
The first version of it was 2x longer, but it had to be shortened so that you don't scroll through it for one hour. All of these things need to be taken under consideration when you evaluate someone's analysis. And if you do make thorough evaluation, you should also include what did the author miss out, or what would make his analysis "not poor", because if you don't it just seems like you are just trying to be negative.
Thank you for the comment nontheless.
Yep, have to agree with many of the guys here. You are completely wrong about Reliquary Seeker. It gives exactly the consistency zoowarlocks were missing. Its not about having 6 minions and therefore you are winning, if you play zoo, you must understand everything in your board gets wiped at some point, you are not winnign with a zoolock by having 6 1/1s on board, so as some guy said down here, commiting 1 more mana to a board were for example flamestrike at turn 7 killing most of your minions, a 5/1 reliquary will still be alive. Im 10-2 with the new zoo-deck. Same that reynad has, absolutely fun to play also. And yes, I've managed to get the 5/5 reliquary in 80-90% of the games. And its excelent to pop out a mirror entity secret too.
Not to mention, a 97 legend player using it... Lol.
That's exactly why there are Sea Giants in the game. To stabilize your board which is mainly chaotic with the big output of your minions to the board. Zoo is very, very open to a LOT of AoEs, that's something that you have to understand. A lot of Control Warriors, Dragon Priests with Holy Novas, I won't even go into how many paladins we have now with their blasted Consecrations. Besides the fact that the Imp-losion is a good minions creator and board filler, I wouldn't put so much trust into it to trigger so many minions. I believe Sea Giant is enough. I agree with the Flamestrike point, but there aren't that many of them right now, and that's not even the problem, there are just so many better minions to put in the spot which might even give you something else except just hard stats. And they don't need anything to get triggered, you can just drop them whenever. I don't think zoo as an archtype has a lot of space for making combos, it's mainly about chunking out minions and trying to hold control of the board while putting constant pressure on the face. Besides that, I don't think anyone can tell me that I am completely wrong, only after 1 week of having the card in the game. There have been countless cards taht people were really hyped about, and then really determined that the card works and WILL WORK (really important) simply because they saw a pro playing it and having success, which relies on so many factors from which I explained most, while the card will die out in the long run. This analysis is a shot at the long term stance of the cards in the game.
Look, this is getting out of hand. There is no need for attacks like this. So let me summarize this in a couple of short points and I will refer to this topic no more:
- Card is playable, probably not for 10th position but that's how I felt while writing this. I still don't think card will stick long term.
- I do like to believe that I have solid knowledge of the game as I've been posting legend decks and writing extremely detailed guides for them for more than 6 months now.
- If someone comes to me and tells me I am COMPLETELY WRONG based on 11 games or seeing a pro like Reynad play it on ladder, I will stand up for my opinion. What kind of an analyst would I be if I changed my opinion based on such small evidence?
- That also doesn't mean that I will never change it or that I am not open to change.
Short story shorter, I am a guy that likes to get into debates over something I am passionate about, so if some of you felt attacked, don't be. I am very grateful that you take the time to comment and to be a part of my little article, be it a praise or a critique. I hope you will come around in the next 3 weeks and check out my other guides and enjoy them like this one if you did, or enjoy them more if you didn't. :)
Time has past...
What is now your opinion about Reliquary Seeker?
Reliquary Seeker I disagree, I'm sure that it will work in ZOO. Costs 1 mana, so it can be easily played on turn 5 with Imp-losion, so it shouldn't be compared to Gormok the Impaler because Gromok takes whole turn to be played and Seeker is a filler. And it is really easy to get 6 minions with imp-losion and creepers.
Tomb Spider I agree that it will work in some decks, with time we will see more and more of this minion because this minion is good and people will see the upside. I think that random beast is often better than draw a card.
raptor hype
Awww yeah.
You are selling Brann way short.
Do you mind saying how exactly?
I got it a few times from Dark Peddler and every time I got +/4/+4 on it (always on one turn with Imp-losion).
Based on my experience this minion is good in Zoo, because you are filling the board with Imps from Imp-losion and 1/1 spiders, and removing it with AoE with bunch of 1/1s is not amazing since it takes whole turn.
Also when you play Zoo against Control Warrior or Priest you expect to lose, so you shouldn't care about worst match-ups.
While you are only dedicating one mana, you also spend a card. If you had decided to fill that spot with something else like sea giant or azure Drake (azure Drake it's own argument, but basically it buffs imp-losion)
Well it depends on Zoo list, because I run a Zoo deck without Giants or Dr Boom, really aggressive one that has a lot of good match-ups. Works amazingly against paladin and mage but is bad against priest and control warrior, but it is from one version of a deck perspective.
Alright that seems fair. Provided you have six WEAK cards on the board, reliquary seeker provides a card that survives a flamestrike or a hellfire. I do, however believe that a floater (a card that draws another card for you) is more useful, because it gets you closer to your win condition (or whatever card you want next). If, however, you just run a whole slew of small cards, I can deal with reliquary seeker
Thanks for the analysis of the cards. Can't wait for the dust to settle and see hat cards are and aren't used.
You are most welcome! Yeah same haha.