Forbidden Flame - "flexibility is more important than efficiency"
That completely depends on the deck you're playing. It's simply out classed by Frostbolt and Fireball in so many cases, so I can't ever see it replacing those. Fireball is strictly better when 4-7 damage is needed, and at 8 it's a strictly worse Flame Lance. But, hey, the question to ask is " is it better than anything you are currently using?" ...All i can come up with is Arcane Missiles / Arcane Blast in Tempo Mage, because it gives more reach to a deck that often runs out of steam.
Ancient Harbinger - "6 health is decent and potential upside is massive. High Priority Threat"
By turn 10 you've likely already drawn half your deck, so there's only a ~50% chance of the effect even being useful. It's a tempo loss that aggro doesn't care about, and Midrange + Control already want to deal with. I'm expecting people will experiment with it for the first few weeks then find the 'long-term investment' is too costly for a mostly tempo driven game.
I didn't say too much about Forbidden Flame because I wanted it to fit on one line but you summed up my thoughts on it.
The thing with Ancient Harbinger is even if you drew your 10-drop already, your opponent doesn't know that so they're still likely to expend some resources they don't want to in order to handle it.
Its slightly better because it has better Power Overwhelming synergy. You lose Defender of Argus synergy but I think the PoW effect comes up slightly more often and is more significant. There are already Warlock decks that run Argent Squire so Possessed Villager is basically guaranteed a spot in those decks instead.
I'll post my own Tier System guesses here (rather than starting yet another thread) because this is the thread I'm closest to agreeing with overall.
Meta-Defining
C'Thun - C'Thun decks will be pretty prominent and successful. A couple classes' C'Thun decks will be tournament material, but even several that aren't tournament-worthy will still be a common sight on ladder.
C'Thun's Chosen - I'm not sure whether all C'Thun synergy cards are worthwhile, but I'm sure of this one. It might even be more annoying in those decks than C'Thun himself.
Steward of Darkshire - Mark my words, this card will keep Aggro Paly alive and cancerous. You'll get really, really sick of facing this card.
Thing from Below - Midrange Shaman will become viable, and this card will be a staple in it.
Flamewreathed Faceless - Compare with Boulderfist Ogre. Even with one less attack, it would be a significant improvement due to being played earlier. With BGH nerfed, could be truly monstrous.
Darkshire Councilman - Amazing boost to Zoolock. Summoning lots of little minions is easy (see: how many knives their Jugglers can throw). And this only needs to proc once before it's ok value.
Widely Played
Ragnaros, Lightlord - A very good card, one of the reasons Control Paladin will be strong.
Ancient Shieldbearer - I'm guessing Warrior will be one of the stronger C'Thun classes, because this card is pretty nuts.
Hallazeal the Ascended - Not as good as the new Ragnaros or anything, but this will make it into Midrange Shaman decks, which will be pretty good based on their other new cards.
Blood Warriors - Will keep Patron Warrior alive in spite of losing Death's Bite, and might even make it into some other Warrior decktypes. Better than most of the community seems to think it is.
Ravaging Ghoul - It's not that great, but will be a necessary card in Patron and other whirlwind-friendly decks in Standard.
Possessed Villager - Zoo already runs Argent Squire. This will be slightly better for Zoo than Argent Squire. 'Nuff said.
Mark of Y'Shaarj - Druids can run enough Beasts to make this great.
Beckoner of Evil - Has a solid niche as the main 2-drop in C'Thun decks.
Blade of C'Thun - This is incredible value in C'Thun Rogue. Especially against other C'Thun decks. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that this will make C'Thun Rogue strong in spite of Rogue's other weaknesses after that darn Blade Flurry nerf.
Dark Arakkoa - Will make C'Thun Druid strong. Unlike what some other people think, won't see play outside C'Thun decks.
Princess Huhuran - Actually pretty good even if its ability whiffs. A much less risky Feign Death.
Hooded Acolyte - Even without the C'Thun buff, this has the coveted Water Elemental stat line. With 6 health and lots of heals in Priest, should live long enough to buff C'Thun quite a bit.
Infested Wolf - Sticky like Haunted Creeper. Slower, but still great for Midrange Hunter.
Rallying Blade - A strong piece of that Steward of Darkshire deck.
Disciple of C'Thun - Basically an Argent Horserider (a fine card) plus a C'Thun buff.
Eternal Sentinel - Will just take over the place of Lava Shock, since it's also fine to play on-curve.
Selfless Hero - A strong piece of that Steward of Darkshire deck.
Forbidden Ritual - Flexibly generating tons of 1/1's is great in Zoo, especially with combos like Knife Juggler or Darkshire Councilman.
Moderately Played
N'Zoth the Corruptor - If nothing else, he'll be a strong optional finisher to add to Control Paladin, which will become a fairly strong deck archetype.
Yogg-Saron, Hope's End - At first I was definitely going to file this card under the "just for fun" category lower down. But after looking at the statistics of how many non-targeted beneficial spells there are, i think this card will actually see competitive play here and there, as a panic button in games that you're otherwise losing.
Hogger, Doom of Elwynn - Better than most people think it is. A good addition to Patron Warrior, a good C'Thun counter, and might even occasionally get just thrown into random decks with no particular synergy.
Mire Keeper - Not as great as a lot of people seem to think, but will sometimes get included anyway as an additional Wild Growth.
Infest - Better than many people seem to think. But not a must-include.
Undercity Huckster - Not as good as a lot of people seem to think. Half a Burgle is a pretty tame deathrattle. Except in Unearthed Raptor decks, I'm not sure this will get played any more than Undercity Valiant has seen play.
N'Zoth's First Mate - The value on this card is incredible, but that won't be enough to get it into Control or Patron Warrior lists. So the question is whether it will help make Aggro Warrior or Pirate Warrior viable. I'm guessing yes, but not to the point where they become top-tier.
Vilefin Inquisitor - Definitely a staple in non-OTK Murloc Paladin. Again, I'm guessing such a deck will be moderately successful, but not huge.
Forbidden Healing - It's not that strong a card, but will sometimes get used anyway as a stall tactic in Control Paladin, which will be pretty prominent.
Forbidden Shaping - Some Priests will find room for this flexibility. Others won't.
Doomcaller - Underwhelming when played on curve. Bringing C'Thun back for a second run is amazing -- if the meta is slow enough that the game isn't already decided after playing C'Thun the first time.
Twin Emperor Vek'lor - I don't think it's amazing, but it's a decent-value way for C'Thun decks to survive until the late game.
Faceless Summoner - Great value on average, and therefore will get included in some decks even though it's not really synergizing with how Mage decks work.
Psych-o-Tron - The new Sludge Belcher. But the crazy number of Taunts competing with it in this expansion keeps it from being one tier higher.
Shadowcaster - Insane potential, but very combo-dependent. I think people will stubbornly keep trying it out whether or not it really "works."
Usher of Souls - Even without its ability it's a Pit Fighter. I think C'Thun Warlock will be a mid-quality deck. Unless this deck is pretty zoo-ish, it'll be hard to get this ability to trigger may times.
Bloodhoof Brave - Pretty strong, but for a deck archetype that's always struggled. Fantastic to Bolster.
Cyclopian Horror - Usually at least at least as good as Sen'jin, fantastic against Zoo style decks. Again, so much competition from other Taunts this expansion.
Demented Frostcaller - A lot better than the community seems to think. Will be a major headache to deal with. Takes skill to get value out of it though.
Shadow Strike - Very meta-dependent. If all your opponents are playing Thaurissan or other high-value, expensive minions with 5 health, it will earn a place.
Bloodsail Cultist - Best pirate in a long time. Especially in combination with First Mate (turn 4!), will go a long way toward making Pirate Warrior playable.
Shatter - Some deck will figure out how to freeze enough to make this fantastic removal. Maybe the deck that also uses Demented Frostcaller.
Cult Sorcerer - Can a spell-heavy C'Thun deck be a thing? Even if it's not, this card might get played just for the solid stats and cheap spell damage.
Blood To Ichor - Fair substitute for Cruel Taskmaster. Fantastic for popping all those divine shields.
Journey Below - If Museum Curator is worth playing, this is too, especially in a deck with Unearthed Raptors.
Bladed Cultist - Bad on Turn 1 without The Coin. Bad in the late game. But SO strong in other early turns. Will tempo-focused Rogue decks be worthwhile?
Fiery Bat - Much like Huge Toad, which is decent. Might be a needed 1-drop for Aggro Hunter after nerfs.
Zealous Initiate - Great for tempo/aggro vs. tempo/aggro matchups. Poor vs. Control.
I Make No Prediction - These Cards Could Go Either Way
Giant Sand Worm - Better than most people think it is, this card could be a devastating board clear. It's a question of whether the right Hunter deck for it to exist will be a thing.
Ancient Harbinger - Better than most people think, it will at least be excellent removal bait.
Herald Volazj - Optimistically, might be a sleeper hit just for duplicating cheap staple cards.
Skeram Cultist - 7/6 stats are a lot better than people seem to think, especially with BGH nerfed. But C'Thun decks might be pretty crowded, so this may or may not make the cut.
Cult Apothecary - Excellent Healbot replacement if the meta is "swarmy" enough. But might be a Freeze Mage-only thing.
Forbidden Flame - We'll see if the flexibility is worth the lack of value.
Deathwing, Dragonlord - Will the meta be slow enough for really, really slow Dragon Control decks?
Bog Creeper - At first glance it looks like a typical noob trap, but it's close enough to Ancient of War to make me wonder if non-Druids might start using it in a similar manner.
Crazed Worshipper - Strictly better than Fen Creeper, but that's not saying much. Probably good in C'Thun Warrior? But might be popular in C'Thun decks in general ... I'm just not sure.
Forbidden Ancient - Usually better than Forbidden Shaping, yet Druid doesn't need the on-curve flexibility as much as Priest ...
Niche Use
Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound - Only worthwhile in decks that can "cheat" it out early (Astral Druid, Ancestor's Call Shaman, Naga Sea Witch). Which won't be that prominent.
Wisps of the Old Gods - People are right that this card is pretty terrible overall. However, I think it could be a great 1-of in Zalae's Summoner Druid deck. Also somewhat redeemed by synergy with Fandral Staghelm.
Cho'gall - He isn't good with enough spells to make it into most Warlock decks! Just comboing him with Siphon Soul and Shadowflame is too inconsistent. However, I see some promise in putting him into combo-Lock decks together with Rafaam.
Scaled Nightmare - Not good if you don't build a deck around it. But potentially devastating in a deck where you buff it (maybe with Djinni too, maybe with Conceal).
Cabalist's Tome - IMO, the loss in tempo is only worth it in Reno Fatigue Mage builds.
Validated Doomsayer - Might see a little use in aggressive decks, similar to Fel Reaver.
Eater of Secrets - A tech card, rarely seen in Standard but pretty good in Wild.
Faceless Shambler - I think a few decks will manage to find some uses for it. Mostly Handlock, or in combination with Steward of Darkshire?
Spreading Madness - Better than people think. Can be used as AoE in control-ish Warlock decks, if they're worried about facing Demonlocks (so Demonwrath is bad) or if they use cards that benefit from self-harm (Gurubashi, Imp Gang Boss, Acolyte, Patron, Floating Watcher in Wild).
Anomalus - Great value against decks like Handlock or Dragon Control, terrible in most other matchups. I'm guessing some deck will find it worthwhile, but I have no idea which one or how.
Malkorok - Good value on average, but quite risky. Most Warriors have enough weapons already (and would rather use Gorehowl) that they just won't find a a spot in their deck for this, with 7 armor. But some deck somewhere will find a way to build around this value.
Corrupted Seer - Do murloc decks need board clears at all? This seems really expensive, but I can't shake the feeling that it will find a niche somewhere.
Power Word: Tentacles - Optimistically, might be used for synergy with Lightspawn and Inner Fire.
Darkspeaker - This is really cool, but getting good value out of it (consistently) will take some real cleverness. Maybe making buffs like Power Overwhelming become permanent?
Evolved Kobold - Something can take advantage of the spell damage, I hope, in spite of the terrible stats.
Southsea Squidface - I really, really want to rate this card higher. But the timing of when you get the Deadly Poison effect just seems too unreliable. In the end, I'm not sure this ends up being any better than Dark Iron Dwarf.
Feral Rage - Might go into Druid decks that focus on the hero attacking a lot. Pretty awesome with Fandral Staghelm.
Addled Grizzly - Good for Token decks. Unlike Spawn of N'Zoth, can be activated multiple times on the same turn that you play it (without using removal on your own minion).
Forlorn Stalker - I think even Deathrattle Hunter decks will struggle to make good use of this consistently.
Silithid Swarmer - The disadvantage is pretty minimal in Rogue or in a weapon-heavy Warrior. (Pirate Warrior?) Are 3/5 stats for 3 enough ahead of curve to find a spot in a deck? I think so, in just the right deck.
Embrace the Shadow - Most Priest decks will prefer just 2 Auchenai's, with bodies built in. But maybe OTK Priest will be a thing.
Darkshire Librarian - If this is played on curve and there are no surprises, it's essentially just a vanilla 3/2 ... meh. But will Zoo topdeck it late-game, with an empty hand, often enough to make it great?
Nat, the Darkfisher - Probably useful in Mill decks. Otherwise interesting but not quite worthwhile.
Twilight Geomancer - Poor stats, but might be worth it in the slowest C'Thun decks.
Evolve - I don't think it deserves the hype it's getting. SO MUCH RNG (lots of chances to get a Doomsayer), and depends on being able to build up a board in the first place. Terrible anti-synergy with overload. Still might be great in token or battlecry Shaman decks.
Will Be Played Just For Fun, but Not Competitively
Servant of Yogg-Saron - The saving grace of Yogg is the Law of Large Numbers. If he casts 15 random spells, you're almost certain to benefit overall. One spell is much more "swingy." Outside of Casino Mage shenanigans, Mage will just have better 5-mana options.
Shifter Zerus - Usually not as good as just putting a consistently good card in your deck in the first place.
Won't See Play
DOOM! - Warlock decks just don't need the card draw.
Stand Against Darkness - Even with buffs, this just isn't good enough by the time you can cast it.
Spawn of N'Zoth - Shattered Sun Cleric doesn't really get played anymore, and the situations where this is any better than that are too rare.
Eldritch Horror - Like Captured Jormungar, but even slower and without beast synergy. Mediocre (at best) in Arena, useless in Constructed.
Nerubian Prophet - If Knight of the Wild wasn't good enough to make Beast Druid a thing, then this won't be any more successful.
Midnight Drake - The decks with lots of cards in hand aren't the decks that want really agressive stat distributions.
Squirming Tentacle - Obviously significantly worse than Fierce Monkey, which is a good card but not a fantastic one.
Stormcrack - At first glance I was excited, but really, this is very similar to Shadow Bolt (meh). Being able to play it one turn earlier will seldom matter (e.g. a Totem Golem or something Innervated).
Duskboar - I'd rather play the new Worgen, and I'm not sure it's any good. This is just so fragile, even with Beast synergy.
Divine Strength - too defensive for aggro, too low-impact for control.
On the Hunt - Basically Elven Archer with Beast synergy. I don't think that's enough to make it see play when Elven Archer doesn't.
Primal Fusion - Tempting potential value, but kind of win-more. I just foresee it being hard to make room for it in a 30-card deck.
IMO you underrate Forbidden Shaping. It can work as an good late game card, or fill your early game curve. Yeah, you might argue that chances are it might give crap minion, but it might give also really good outcome. And against some decks even having some sort of a turn 2 play, which priest not always has is valueable. IMO it's best forbidden card, at least close second. Forbidden Flame, on the other hand, IMO won't see play, because it's really non-efficient removal and not so versatile as you might think. Damage output is so low, it won't likely remove minions which cost even the same or less mana.
IMO you underrate Forbidden Shaping. It can work as an good late game card, or fill your early game curve. Yeah, you might argue that chances are it might give crap minion, but it might give also really good outcome. And against some decks even having some sort of a turn 2 play, which priest not always has is valueable. IMO it's best forbidden card, at least close second. Forbidden Flame, on the other hand, IMO won't see play, because it's really non-efficient removal and not so versatile as you might think. Damage output is so low, it won't likely remove minions which cost even the same or less mana.
If you play it before turn 6 about half the time you're going to get a garbage minion which dies for free. Why would you put that in your deck when you can just run something that actually does something like an AoE or an actual minion.
Haha really? That's stupid. These are both amazing cards. Deathwing will bring a renaissance for dragon decks, and Embrace will make shadow/otk priest viable.
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My name is ProudNitro. I am a theorycrafter and a custom card creator. I also make tier lists for expansions. Here's one for Whispers.
Haha really? That's stupid. These are both amazing cards. Deathwing will bring a renaissance for dragon decks, and Embrace will make shadow/otk priest viable.
You could already do 20 damage with Prophet Velen double Mind Blast. The problem with that deck never was that you couldn't do enough damage. You have plenty of damage. The problem is that Priest card draw isn't consistent, you don't have enough stall and all the combo pieces are useless individually.
As for Deathwing, Dragonlord, I ask you. How good is a 10 mana 12/12 can't be targeted by spells or hero powers. Surprisingly, not that good. That's basically all Deathwing, Dragonlord is.
Haha really? That's stupid. These are both amazing cards. Deathwing will bring a renaissance for dragon decks, and Embrace will make shadow/otk priest viable.
You could already do 20 damage with Prophet Velen double Mind Blast. The problem with that deck never was that you couldn't do enough damage. You have plenty of damage. The problem is that Priest card draw isn't consistent, you don't have enough stall and all the combo pieces are useless individually.
As for Deathwing, Dragonlord, I ask you. How good is a 10 mana 12/12 can't be targeted by spells or hero powers. Surprisingly, not that good. That's basically all Deathwing, Dragonlord is.
No, it's really not. New Deathwing is so completely combo-able in practically any dragon deck. Most of the dragons you'd want to trigger with this don't have battlecries, so it's an incredible card. It's susceptible to silence but even then you've not really lost any tempo because it has stats ~2 mana better than average. You don't even have to discard cards! I don't understand. It's like you and I are looking at totally different cards here.
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My name is ProudNitro. I am a theorycrafter and a custom card creator. I also make tier lists for expansions. Here's one for Whispers.
Haha really? That's stupid. These are both amazing cards. Deathwing will bring a renaissance for dragon decks, and Embrace will make shadow/otk priest viable.
You could already do 20 damage with Prophet Velen double Mind Blast. The problem with that deck never was that you couldn't do enough damage. You have plenty of damage. The problem is that Priest card draw isn't consistent, you don't have enough stall and all the combo pieces are useless individually.
As for Deathwing, Dragonlord, I ask you. How good is a 10 mana 12/12 can't be targeted by spells or hero powers. Surprisingly, not that good. That's basically all Deathwing, Dragonlord is.
No, it's really not. New Deathwing is so completely combo-able in practically any dragon deck. Most of the dragons you'd want to trigger with this don't have battlecries, so it's an incredible card. It's susceptible to silence but even then you've not really lost any tempo because it has stats ~2 mana better than average. You don't even have to discard cards! I don't understand. It's like you and I are looking at totally different cards here.
The thing is, once you get to higher mana cost cards you can't really follow the normal "twice the mana cost is good" rule since you should expect to get better things than that when a card takes up your whole turn. (see Dr. Boom, Ragnaros the Firelord, Y'Shaarj, Rage Unbound, any decent late game card) so for that reason 12/12 is just decent for 10 mana. Not even good. The thing is with Deathwing, Dragonlord is that most dragon decks don't actually run that many dragons. Usually 8-9 and most of them aren't very big because ironically the strength of dragon decks isn't their late game but rather their mid-game and early game. Most dragon decks only run 1 maybe 2 big late game dragons so what you're primarily getting of of Deathwing, Dragonlord are Azure Drakes and Twilight Guardians without the battlecry and even those aren't guaranteed since you would rather play a 3/6 Taunt and and a 4/4 draw a card than a 10 mana 12/12 meaning that by the time you actually play Deathwing, Dragonlord you'll have almost no dragons in your hand for him to pull.
Come on now, Shifting Shade and even Demented Frostcaller are not worse than Servant of Yogg-Saron. Even if you think they are equally bad, Servant of Yogg-Saron is fighting for the same mana spot as Ethereal Conjurer and Azure Drake.
Come on now, Shifting Shade and even Demented Frostcaller are not worse than Servant of Yogg-Saron. Even if you think they are equally bad, Servant of Yogg-Saron is fighting for the same mana spot as Ethereal Conjurer and Azure Drake.
Servant of Yogg-Saron is a stupid card and makes me very upset that its in the game. Its basically an even more radical version of Imp-losion. Most of the time when you roll a 2 on Imp-losion on a 3 Health minion it loses you the game. SoYS, though technically has a bigger downside when it fails is slightly less likely to "roll a 2" than Imp-losion and if rolling a 2 already loses you the game most of the time then there's not actually as much of a difference between that and Hellfireing your own board.
Embrace the Shadow is actually pretty decent imo. Why? Because it costs 2 mana. 1 with Thaurissan. Auchenai costs 4. If u play OTK Velen priest or OTK Zombie chow+Rivender priest - it is insane value: 1 your combo costs 2 mana less, 2 you dont need to wait for your Auchenai to come into your hand, specially if you used one of them to clear board 3 you can use both your Auchenais to clear board or gain board advantage, and still can have your win condition.
Definetely not very good in usual control priests. But is quite good in OTK priest decks. Even Malygos deck can use it (and not Auchenai which is just too much mana to be played on same turn with Malygos). How competitive those decks though in tournament plays? We will see in new patch, cheaper combo is definetely a big deal here.
Embrace the Shadow is actually pretty decent imo. Why? Because it costs 2 mana. 1 with Thaurissan. Auchenai costs 4. If u play OTK Velen priest or OTK Zombie chow+Rivender priest - it is insane value: 1 your combo costs 2 mana less, 2 you dont need to wait for your Auchenai to come into your hand, specially if you used one of them to clear board 3 you can use both your Auchenais to clear board or gain board advantage, and still can have your win condition.
Definetely not very good in usual control priests. But is quite good in OTK priest decks. Even Malygos deck can use it (and not Auchenai which is just too much mana to be played on same turn with Malygos).
Like I said, the problem with OTK Priest isn't that they don't have enough damage. It's that, unlike Freeze Mage, they lack consistant card draw and stall mechanics.
Embrace the Shadow is actually pretty decent imo. Why? Because it costs 2 mana. 1 with Thaurissan. Auchenai costs 4. If u play OTK Velen priest or OTK Zombie chow+Rivender priest - it is insane value: 1 your combo costs 2 mana less, 2 you dont need to wait for your Auchenai to come into your hand, specially if you used one of them to clear board 3 you can use both your Auchenais to clear board or gain board advantage, and still can have your win condition.
Definetely not very good in usual control priests. But is quite good in OTK priest decks. Even Malygos deck can use it (and not Auchenai which is just too much mana to be played on same turn with Malygos).
Like I said, the problem with OTK Priest isn't that they don't have enough damage. It's that, unlike Freeze Mage, they lack consistant card draw and stall mechanics.
Thats why its at least good in these decks. U dont need to save your 2nd Auchenai cause its your only win condition left and u can get your combo faster. That said, its still rather more of a fun decks and I agree it probably wont see alot of competitive play. But I definetely see this played in those decks. This card is good for those kind of decks and "meh" card in others.
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Isn't Possessed Villager just like an Argent Squire though?
I'll post my own Tier System guesses here (rather than starting yet another thread) because this is the thread I'm closest to agreeing with overall.
Meta-Defining
Widely Played
Moderately Played
I Make No Prediction - These Cards Could Go Either Way
Niche Use
Will Be Played Just For Fun, but Not Competitively
Won't See Play
Wow, This Is Really Terrible
Mostly agree, I'd bump Spawn of N'Zoth, Cabalist's Tome, and Mukla, Tyrant of the Vale each up a layer but other than that our opinions are pretty close
IMO you underrate Forbidden Shaping. It can work as an good late game card, or fill your early game curve. Yeah, you might argue that chances are it might give crap minion, but it might give also really good outcome. And against some decks even having some sort of a turn 2 play, which priest not always has is valueable. IMO it's best forbidden card, at least close second. Forbidden Flame, on the other hand, IMO won't see play, because it's really non-efficient removal and not so versatile as you might think. Damage output is so low, it won't likely remove minions which cost even the same or less mana.
Put Embrace the Shadow and Deathwing, Dragonlord in probably won't see play.
My name is ProudNitro. I am a theorycrafter and a custom card creator. I also make tier lists for expansions. Here's one for Whispers.
My name is ProudNitro. I am a theorycrafter and a custom card creator. I also make tier lists for expansions. Here's one for Whispers.
Faceless Summoner will see play, obviously.
Optimistically putting Servant of Yogg-Saron in May see major play. Similarly to Yogg-Saron, Hope's End its just something you need to test.
Demented Frostcaller and Shifting Shade both unplayable.
Shifting Shade isn't quite as bad as I initially thought of it but still bad.
You can see a really angry, dumb, pissy essay I wrote on Demented Frostcaller HERE
And an even pissier essay on Shifting Shade here.
(part of my anger may or not stem from Princess Huhuran losing the vote)
Come on now, Shifting Shade and even Demented Frostcaller are not worse than Servant of Yogg-Saron. Even if you think they are equally bad, Servant of Yogg-Saron is fighting for the same mana spot as Ethereal Conjurer and Azure Drake.
Embrace the Shadow is actually pretty decent imo. Why? Because it costs 2 mana. 1 with Thaurissan. Auchenai costs 4. If u play OTK Velen priest or OTK Zombie chow+Rivender priest - it is insane value: 1 your combo costs 2 mana less, 2 you dont need to wait for your Auchenai to come into your hand, specially if you used one of them to clear board 3 you can use both your Auchenais to clear board or gain board advantage, and still can have your win condition.
Definetely not very good in usual control priests. But is quite good in OTK priest decks. Even Malygos deck can use it (and not Auchenai which is just too much mana to be played on same turn with Malygos). How competitive those decks though in tournament plays? We will see in new patch, cheaper combo is definetely a big deal here.