So with the latest patch notes, and the removal of Nightmare Amalgam, the Menagerie build that was so overpowered has now been reduced to crumbs. Fact is, cards like Zoobot, Menagerie Magician and even the reckful Lightfang Enforcer are now useless unless you play The Curator.
Today I tried several builds that would help me get a Menagerie build, however I am falling behind, trying to acquire too many minions, and stacking up is harder than before. Dropped from 5700 to 5300 doing so.
So a change is in order with these cards, would you reckon?
I agree it is somewhat silly that Zoobot and Menagerie Magician remain with no single dragon to buff aside from the Curator's Amalgam. I mean, it's alright that some heroes can benefit from specific minions more than others, but outside of Curator, these two cards make little sense to any other hero for most of the time. They already said that they are not sure about adding a new tribe without cutting another one entirely, so I guess we won't get dragons anytime soon (even though I think they could replace Bolvar, Fireblood and Righteous Protector any day and nobody would notice).
But for Menagerie in general: It's a lot weaker now, because you can't just get an Amalgam or two that you could buff very reliably early on and switch in things like Hydra easily later. Just to be clear, I'm ok with that. I'm also glad that it indirectly nerfs Murlocs further, since seeing the very same board (giant, divine, poisonous murlocs) every single time in the lategame was getting annoying, and should be a lot harder to accomplish now.
But the only decent early beast is Rat Pack, and the best early single murloc is Murk-Eye... not exactly premium minions, and without them, picking Zoobot or Magician is almost pointless for half the game, and Lightfang much more difficult to make good use of (even more, if you also want a demon).
Lightfang buffs everything BUT dragons, so it technically hasn't been made worse. And I think it's still very strong, since buffing a Cave Hydra and a Cobalt Guardian can be massive. It's just more situational, which is ok in my opinion.
However, with the next patch, I think they should at least add a few dragons. I personally like the Menagerie strategy and think it should stay, but it needs something to fill the massive gap that Amalgam left behind. You can probably still make it work, but it will happen a lot less often.
Let's put this into perspective. Menagerie magician is +2/+2 to beast and murloc on a 4/4. How does that compare to Virmen Sensei? I think what you need for a menagerie build, really, is crowd favourite. That's what will drive you, big piles of stats from that. The main issue is that it comes online late - though I feel you overstate the death of it. You can't - currently - maximise the use of the menagerie stuff, and it's still better than some other cards.
This would give dragons 13 cards / supports which is right with Demos (12) and Murlocs (10) but would probably play similar to beast where you want to continually upgrade the tavern every few turns since it gradually gets better and better. I think one way or another it will be based on hand buffing which is certainly going to make Dragons skill testing with knowing when to hold em and when to fold em
Curator builds are definitely playable, but they're not something you can really "go for" anymore. For example, last game I went murlocs early on, then managed to get double Lightfang Enforcer from the triple rewards. Picked up a Cave Hydra and Security Rover, then Annihilan Battlemaster. Steamrolled the rest of the round.
I find the semi-menagerie builds are still viable as long as you don't commit to it too early. For instance I was playing as Bartendotron and got a bunch of good early mechs so I started getting deep in that and once it hit mid/late rounds I started picking up some beasts(Cave Hydra is a BIG one) and a single murloc because I could see that the others were picking the buff murlocs and selling them so I started that up too. I've skipped out on Zoobot because +1/+1 isn't worth it but Menagerie Magician is still worth the +2/+2 in stats even if it only hits one minion, especially if you can get Brann on the Board too. Lightfang I feel hasn't been viable since its' nerf, but if you can triple it quickly its worth it, but you really need to ramp up fast for that.
But for the most part, large scale early on menagerie builds are dead for every class except for Curator.
So a change is in order with these cards, would you reckon?
There's no reason to expect menagerie builds to work. They did before, and now they don't.
If it's not a good strategy at the moment, don't use it.
But the cards you listed aren't useless -- you can still use them as you transition from one tribe to another, or if you want to go for a hybrid build. They just aren't as OP as before, and that's OK.
So a change is in order with these cards, would you reckon?
There's no reason to expect menagerie builds to work. They did before, and now they don't.
If it's not a good strategy at the moment, don't use it.
But the cards you listed aren't useless -- you can still use them as you transition from one tribe to another, or if you want to go for a hybrid build. They just aren't as OP as before, and that's OK.
Looking at it, menagerie magician was pretty insane compared to the alternatives. Virmen is just shown up entirely by it, as is the mech one.
ETA - it appears that Rafaam can sometimes menagerie, too. Free 1/1 amalgam! :P Or 2/2, actually. Golden amalgam token! :P
This is a risky yet rewarding strat, and with everyone chasing murlocs or beast cleave, you might get away with top 2 . As someone mentioned before, it`s good not to plan it, and just let it fall. But honestly, it`s tougher now to not plan menagerie. Yet, it is dang satisfying to win like this. Managed to get one just now, Actually won it :)
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So with the latest patch notes, and the removal of Nightmare Amalgam, the Menagerie build that was so overpowered has now been reduced to crumbs. Fact is, cards like Zoobot, Menagerie Magician and even the reckful Lightfang Enforcer are now useless unless you play The Curator.
Today I tried several builds that would help me get a Menagerie build, however I am falling behind, trying to acquire too many minions, and stacking up is harder than before. Dropped from 5700 to 5300 doing so.
So a change is in order with these cards, would you reckon?
Either remove them or add more Dragon type cards.
Thoughts?
I feel like they're setting up a big update that will include dragons?
The dragons will come in january
I agree it is somewhat silly that Zoobot and Menagerie Magician remain with no single dragon to buff aside from the Curator's Amalgam. I mean, it's alright that some heroes can benefit from specific minions more than others, but outside of Curator, these two cards make little sense to any other hero for most of the time. They already said that they are not sure about adding a new tribe without cutting another one entirely, so I guess we won't get dragons anytime soon (even though I think they could replace Bolvar, Fireblood and Righteous Protector any day and nobody would notice).
But for Menagerie in general: It's a lot weaker now, because you can't just get an Amalgam or two that you could buff very reliably early on and switch in things like Hydra easily later. Just to be clear, I'm ok with that. I'm also glad that it indirectly nerfs Murlocs further, since seeing the very same board (giant, divine, poisonous murlocs) every single time in the lategame was getting annoying, and should be a lot harder to accomplish now.
But the only decent early beast is Rat Pack, and the best early single murloc is Murk-Eye... not exactly premium minions, and without them, picking Zoobot or Magician is almost pointless for half the game, and Lightfang much more difficult to make good use of (even more, if you also want a demon).
Lightfang buffs everything BUT dragons, so it technically hasn't been made worse. And I think it's still very strong, since buffing a Cave Hydra and a Cobalt Guardian can be massive. It's just more situational, which is ok in my opinion.
However, with the next patch, I think they should at least add a few dragons. I personally like the Menagerie strategy and think it should stay, but it needs something to fill the massive gap that Amalgam left behind. You can probably still make it work, but it will happen a lot less often.
The Curator says hello
Let's put this into perspective. Menagerie magician is +2/+2 to beast and murloc on a 4/4. How does that compare to Virmen Sensei? I think what you need for a menagerie build, really, is crowd favourite. That's what will drive you, big piles of stats from that. The main issue is that it comes online late - though I feel you overstate the death of it. You can't - currently - maximise the use of the menagerie stuff, and it's still better than some other cards.
Just looking at what dragons might end up coming into play and here is my prediction
Hero: Galakrond - HP - 1 cost: Give all Dragons in your hand +1/+1
1 Star: Twilight Whelp & Wyrmrest Agent
2 Star: Hoarding Dragon, Midnight Drake, Twilight Drake - I feel like Hoarding Dragon would be a 3, but it feels like it would be more fun at 2
3 Star: Dragon Speaker & Tasty Flyfish
4 Star: Sleepy Dragon & Chillmaw
5 Star: Dragon Breeder & Cobalt Scalebane - I feel like Scalebane would be fine at 4, but since it could buff anything 5 seems more likely
6 Star: Emeriss & Scaled Nightmare
This would give dragons 13 cards / supports which is right with Demos (12) and Murlocs (10) but would probably play similar to beast where you want to continually upgrade the tavern every few turns since it gradually gets better and better. I think one way or another it will be based on hand buffing which is certainly going to make Dragons skill testing with knowing when to hold em and when to fold em
The menagerie is finally what it was supposed to be, an menagerie, and not just amalgams with whatever strat you want.
It's not as strong now without dragons, but they're coming. It's still better than any other buff card if you can hit 2 things with it
Curator builds are definitely playable, but they're not something you can really "go for" anymore. For example, last game I went murlocs early on, then managed to get double Lightfang Enforcer from the triple rewards. Picked up a Cave Hydra and Security Rover, then Annihilan Battlemaster. Steamrolled the rest of the round.
I find the semi-menagerie builds are still viable as long as you don't commit to it too early. For instance I was playing as Bartendotron and got a bunch of good early mechs so I started getting deep in that and once it hit mid/late rounds I started picking up some beasts(Cave Hydra is a BIG one) and a single murloc because I could see that the others were picking the buff murlocs and selling them so I started that up too. I've skipped out on Zoobot because +1/+1 isn't worth it but Menagerie Magician is still worth the +2/+2 in stats even if it only hits one minion, especially if you can get Brann on the Board too. Lightfang I feel hasn't been viable since its' nerf, but if you can triple it quickly its worth it, but you really need to ramp up fast for that.
But for the most part, large scale early on menagerie builds are dead for every class except for Curator.
Weekly Card Design Competition 10.15
There's no reason to expect menagerie builds to work. They did before, and now they don't.
If it's not a good strategy at the moment, don't use it.
But the cards you listed aren't useless -- you can still use them as you transition from one tribe to another, or if you want to go for a hybrid build. They just aren't as OP as before, and that's OK.
"Why, you never expected justice from a company, did you? They have neither a soul to lose nor a body to kick." -- Lady Saba Holland
Looking at it, menagerie magician was pretty insane compared to the alternatives. Virmen is just shown up entirely by it, as is the mech one.
ETA - it appears that Rafaam can sometimes menagerie, too. Free 1/1 amalgam! :P Or 2/2, actually. Golden amalgam token! :P
This is a risky yet rewarding strat, and with everyone chasing murlocs or beast cleave, you might get away with top 2 . As someone mentioned before, it`s good not to plan it, and just let it fall. But honestly, it`s tougher now to not plan menagerie. Yet, it is dang satisfying to win like this. Managed to get one just now, Actually won it :)