Hearthpwn

Quote from CasmX >>

I must say, you have made very insightful thoughts, but let me disagree on some of them. We have discussed the pros and cons of this card in the previous pages, you also mentioned some of them in your post, so I won't bring them back. Instead I will only add the following counter-arguments: 1) you are kinda looking the cards in a vacuum, but not in the context of the different decks and their strengths and 2) everything depends on how the meta will shift. 

Starting off with Assassinate - this card doesn't see play, because that card is way too expensive for rogue, aka the squishy class. Don't forget that they don't have reliable ways to control the board, nor to sustain themselves and thus they can never rely on a more defensive strategy. Not when they have Sap and Vanish in order to slow down the opponent, until they gain the upper hand. So it's either going to be a tempo or a combo one. Tbh I would gladly replace Siphon Soul with this one, just because warlocks have a lot of heal already and having a cheaper single-target removal doesn't sound bad at all. Assassinate as an additional hard removal can be really valuable in some decks. Yes, everything depends on how slow the meta really is (if you are facing aggro decks, then you would concentrate on the AoEs more) and in that case you would run it as a tech. 

As for mage - well, as a disclaimer to my previous pro-arguments I will say that w/o Ice Block the state of the control decks is kinda questionable. Mage always relied on the blocks to get a second or a third chance to regain board control and to win from there. Ice Barrier and some healing cards are still there but running many expensive stuff (DK, the 9 mana 3/3 minion) will be way more punishable than before. Against value decks like control dragon priest or Cubelock in wild I definitely see reasons why the mages will run an additional hard removal against them. 

As for warrior - Quest Baku maybe (instead of Execute). I agree, that warrior has plenty of single-target removals, now they just need another AOE to withstand aggressive decks, but once again an additional tech won't be a bad thing. Everything just relies on the meta. 

Then there's the question, how many activators does a player need for this card to be worth a deck slot?

But you won't run those activators just for the sake of that card. If you have other cards to go with them (Whirlwind-effects for Execute, Defile, Sacrificial Pact for Possessed Lackey, Mortal Coil for cycle), then this card just gives you more value for those activators.

As for your last paragraph - You may be right, the card may not find a home in the newly build decks, but imho that won't be because the card is bad, but only how the meta would have formed like. I think, that if aggro or combo decks become popular, then there won't be a reason to run multiple hard removals. If however we see a lot of slower and value ones, then two copies or as a one-off can still be used.