Actually Benedictus could be good if Void Contract saw any play.
I would argue, that Archbishop Benedictus has been always good. He gives us more juice and delays the fatigue - this makes him a good powerful value generator for control decks. He was used in quest priest last expansion. I think the reason why priests don't play him in standard anymore is because they prefer to have a better win-condition (Mecha'thun). This is my personal opinion, I don't know if this is really the case. Archbishop Benedictus is only bad against aggressive decks, since you dilute your deck there and you might not get a powerful board clear on time. Speaking of which, priest lost a lot of powerful AoEs after the previous rotation so the class got weaker in general.
Before Void Contract there was (and still is) Rin, the First Disciple. Benedictus can be used after the warlock plays Azari, the Devourer. I am also skeptical that the warlock spell will ever see play. Outside of a combo meta, this card is really punishing. While warlock CAN refill his deck again (w/ Glinda Crowskin + Baleful Banker), we can't revive the strong cards discarded this way. Let's imagine how we lose our DK - bunch of 2/2s and 3/7s can't compensate the loss. So there won't be any danger of this card becoming popular (unless warlock gets a card, that shuffles all destroyed ones back into the deck, but such an effect would be super OP; and unless we are in a heavy combo meta).
Cards that draw cards are rarely trash that doesn't see any play. But is there a Priest deck that wants to draw 1-cost minions on turn 7+? If some kind of Aggro Priest becomes a thing, it may run this card.
But it's definitely awful for Res Priest. You will just clutter your res pool with useless 7/7s and 0/3s that don't do anything relevant to your game plan.
Actually Benedictus could be good if Void Contract saw any play.
I would argue, that Archbishop Benedictus has been always good. He gives us more juice and delays the fatigue - this makes him a good powerful value generator for control decks. He was used in quest priest last expansion. I think the reason why priests don't play him in standard anymore is because they prefer to have a better win-condition (Mecha'thun). This is my personal opinion, I don't know if this is really the case. Archbishop Benedictus is only bad against aggressive decks, since you dilute your deck there and you might not get a powerful board clear on time. Speaking of which, priest lost a lot of powerful AoEs after the previous rotation so the class got weaker in general.
Before Void Contract there was (and still is) Rin, the First Disciple. Benedictus can be used after the warlock plays Azari, the Devourer. I am also skeptical that the warlock spell will ever see play. Outside of a combo meta, this card is really punishing. While warlock CAN refill his deck again (w/ Glinda Crowskin + Baleful Banker), we can't revive the strong cards discarded this way. Let's imagine how we lose our DK - bunch of 2/2s and 3/7s can't compensate the loss. So there won't be any danger of this card becoming popular (unless warlock gets a card, that shuffles all destroyed ones back into the deck, but such an effect would be super OP; and unless we are in a heavy combo meta).
Benedictus didn't see any play vs Rin because there wasn't a reason for him to be honest, rin is so slow and she will only burn 4 cards or so, this wont justify running benedictus, but Void Contract is a single card, and can be played in turn 2 using BloodBloom, benedictus and Spirit of the Dead could help priest counter Void Contract ( if it saw any play )
I think this is just a good card period. Priest has plenty of good one cost cards that it wouldn't mind pulling from the deck, and this card's stats are just on curve anyway.
Bwonsamdi, the Dead's effect only applies to minions. I think you need the spirit's effect to make drawing your 1-drops on turn 7 valuable.
I think Bwonsamdi, the Dead looks like a playable card, but it's hard to imagine having the time to get value out of this. Some use cases might include:
A draw engine to help revive some Meme Priest decks. Test Subject + Stonetusk Boar involves two 1-Cost minions, so maybe this helps? But it's a huge meme, and there's no need to consider this seriously. I've also seen ideas for a new Zerek's Cloning Gallery use where you play Spirit of the Dead and then you (hopefully) get 2x Radiant Elemental from the Gallery and can use a discounted Spirit Lash to put extra 1-Cost copies of good stuff in your deck. Maybe that's useful, but a 10-mana Academic Espionage that only puts 7 cards into your deck seems pretty awful.
A draw engine for an Aggro Priest deck. This is kind of interesting, but by turn 7 your aggro deck is either already about to win or has lost the game, so drawing a bunch of 1-Cost minions is either unnecessary, or will be too little, too late.
Some new OTK Priest deck. A lot of people are talking about Star Aligner, but that requires successfully playing two Star Aligner's with a Spirit of the Dead, getting them killed before the spirit dies, and drawing into a singleton card to pull off the combo. Seems like a fun meme, but a hard puzzle to put together. (Yes, the spirit has stealth, but it's still vulnerable to AOE effects.)
A value/draw engine with Spirit of the Dead. This seems like the most practical, as getting any massive discount on a minion is great. Academic Espionage has been surprisingly viable, but a big part of that is being able to draw those cheap cards. Relying on a single legendary minion to draw those cards probably isn't good enough, so you'll need a fair amount of card draw in addition to him. It might work with deathrattle synergies, though, thanks to cards like Reckless Experimenter along with Dead Ringer and Loot Hoarder enabling you to use the spirit to cycle to your big draw engine and repopulate your deck with future cycle tools.
Ultimately, to me Bwonsamdi, the Dead seems like a playable, but not critical card, in a deathrattle synergy deck that wants to use Spirit of the Dead for extra value. The spirit is where the value really is, and Bwonsamdi is just icing on the cake. And I think that's a good thing - the game should be enriched by the powerful effects of legendary cards, but it shouldn't hinge on them.
I think Bwonsamdi, the Dead looks like a playable card, but it's hard to imagine having the time to get value out of this.
How hard is it to imagine getting value out of this? Resurrect priest is a legitimate T2 deck that is largely focused on a 9-mana legendary spell. Mech'Thun is also a T2 deck. A hunter deck with a ton of control elements is a T1 deck. This is the slowest HS has EVER been,
I don't know how good this card will be, but the time argument seems misplaced.
Benedictus didn't see any play vs Rin because there wasn't a reason for him to be honest, rin is so slow and she will only burn 4 cards or so, this wont justify running benedictus, but Void Contract is a single card, and can be played in turn 2 using BloodBloom, benedictus and Spirit of the Dead could help priest counter Void Contract ( if it saw any play )
I have to disagree on some points:
First off Rin, the First Disciple might be slow, but she was and she is still used in every control warlock deck nevertheless. A warlock could fetch her pretty late, he could also fetch her within the first six turns. The hero power helps us draw the important cards fast and if the priest player doesn't pressure the warlock one at all, you can safely assume how the warlock will draw aggressively to find her. This is because she acts as a win-condition against slow control and mid-range decks. She isn't a reliable tech against combo, I don't deny it, but unlike Void Contract she is safer to use. Let's not forget, that the warlock spell is also RNG dependent. If your opponent drew almost all of their important combo pieces, you might not destroy the leftover ones in their deck. It's a 50-50 if they end up being in the non-discarded pile.
However for combo decks I prefer to use Demonic Project. This is easier to use and less riskier. I can give you as an example the case of mecha'thun priest or warrior. Since they have to get rid their hand of the rest of the contents, they expose their combo to be countered. Or with some druid decks - they indicate the presence of a combo piece by playing Dreampetal Florist. Demonic Project can still whiff in some cases (due to bad timing or bad RNG), but it will still be used, because it offers less risks and it's more flexible.
I don't understand why people suggest running Bloodbloom just to activate the effect of this card faster. Against proactive decks you will be using 2 very clunky cards*, one of which is completely useless. So once again I don't think this 2-card combo will make the cut. Especially not in a meta, which is not a heavy combo one. Like I said in the previous comment, I can see this spell elsewhere, but warlocks have to get a busted card, which will refill their deck again.
Now back to Archbishop Benedictus. I will continue to state, that his purpose is supporting control decks and that his effect is powerful in general. The reason why he wasn't or isn't used atm is because 1) control priest got weaker after the rotation, 2) the stronger archtypes from this class in standard are combo ones currently. Let's observe the history of Benedictus since he was implemented in Koft
When he came out, Machine-gun Priest was born. He wasn't used in that deck, because it already had a win-condition. It only needed to draw Prophet Velen and bunch of burn cards and voila. At the same time there was another popular deck back then and it was Big Priest. Benedictus didn't offer anything exciting, so he wasn't included there either. In K&C Spiteful priest was formed, but as a mid-range deck it couldn't profit from the aforementioned legendary. Its main strategy was to pressure the opponent at all times and Benedictus could have also given the priest cheap and crappy spells, which would have ruined the outcome of Spiteful Summoner and Grand Archivist. Year of the raven kicked in and priest's board control pool got weaker. I consider as an honorable mention the loss of Netherspite Historian too, because she generated a third or potentially a fourth Duskbreaker. I can vagely remember the popular decks from that time, but I can name 2 of them - control (which evolved into quest and it featured Benedictus) and Mind blast priest. Since the second decks acts like a combo one, its main goal was to draw the burst and to burn down the opponent. Boomsday came along and we have Mecha'thun and resurrect priest.
And of course Benedictus won't be used in those decks, his effect only hinders their main strategy. No combo deck cares about value. All they want is to draw the important pieces and to burn down their opponent. That's their win-condition and Benedictus is not suited for them. He is suited for a control deck. And since priest's control arsenal got weaker and they don't have a hand disruption, there is no point to play control priest in the first place. Odd warrior is better. Warlock is better.
"Benedictus didn't see any play vs Rin because there wasn't a reason for him to be honest, rin is so slow and she will only burn 4 cards or so". Like I said in the 2nd paragraph, this is the worst case scenario. However even then you would want to copy the few remaining cards of your opponent's deck - if you play control, the fatigue is part of your win-condition.
Note*
Bloodbloom could be used with Twisting Nether, however you have to take into consideration that unlike some classes (priest, mage) warlock doesn't have many expensive spells and you might not get enough value from this card. Control warlock decks mostly consist of minions and of cheap spells. If you don't have Twisting Nether or Siphon Soul, then this card will just spare you 2 mana and eat a hand slot. Does this make it a reasonable inclusion - I think the answer is more than obvious.
[edit] Imho the only possible home for Void Contract would be Mecha'thun warlock, since it will allow them to get rid of their deck faster. In this case Benedictus and the spirit cards won't be important, because priests can't save themselves from this combo. They don't have hand disruption cards yet.
Anyone can explain me how this slow mechanics plus legendaries in synergy with this will work when I will be dead in turn 5 against odd aggro tier 1 decks? Or am I missing something?
Do you think top3 tier 1 decks will be control this time?
Yeah pretty easily - the vast majority of top decks are pretty slow. You might die to aggro, but when only 10% of the meta is aggro, who cares.
that's how the spirit cards work they are all synergistic with the loa card that's why you will be getting a loa and 2 matching spirit in 3rd of dec
Actually Benedictus could be good if Void Contract saw any play.
Its name comes from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_Samedi
I need this card for Miniature Warfare brawl.
Love the tribes.
I would argue, that Archbishop Benedictus has been always good. He gives us more juice and delays the fatigue - this makes him a good powerful value generator for control decks. He was used in quest priest last expansion. I think the reason why priests don't play him in standard anymore is because they prefer to have a better win-condition (Mecha'thun). This is my personal opinion, I don't know if this is really the case. Archbishop Benedictus is only bad against aggressive decks, since you dilute your deck there and you might not get a powerful board clear on time. Speaking of which, priest lost a lot of powerful AoEs after the previous rotation so the class got weaker in general.
Before Void Contract there was (and still is) Rin, the First Disciple. Benedictus can be used after the warlock plays Azari, the Devourer. I am also skeptical that the warlock spell will ever see play. Outside of a combo meta, this card is really punishing. While warlock CAN refill his deck again (w/ Glinda Crowskin + Baleful Banker), we can't revive the strong cards discarded this way. Let's imagine how we lose our DK - bunch of 2/2s and 3/7s can't compensate the loss. So there won't be any danger of this card becoming popular (unless warlock gets a card, that shuffles all destroyed ones back into the deck, but such an effect would be super OP; and unless we are in a heavy combo meta).
Bad card. 400 dust
Combo players gonna love this
This is pure joke. Hope, the rest of set will prove me wrong.
Where shall I start...
Cards that draw cards are rarely trash that doesn't see any play. But is there a Priest deck that wants to draw 1-cost minions on turn 7+? If some kind of Aggro Priest becomes a thing, it may run this card.
But it's definitely awful for Res Priest. You will just clutter your res pool with useless 7/7s and 0/3s that don't do anything relevant to your game plan.
Rin, the First Disciple is much slower than Void Contract, and not every priest deck runs mecha'thun,
Benedictus didn't see any play vs Rin because there wasn't a reason for him to be honest, rin is so slow and she will only burn 4 cards or so, this wont justify running benedictus, but Void Contract is a single card, and can be played in turn 2 using BloodBloom, benedictus and Spirit of the Dead could help priest counter Void Contract ( if it saw any play )
There's a good chance this will end up being too slow (unless the meta slows down even further), but in a vacuum it looks really powerful.
This plus Spirit of the Dead plus Reckless Experimenter = serious shenanigans
Bwonsamdi, the Dead's effect only applies to minions. I think you need the spirit's effect to make drawing your 1-drops on turn 7 valuable.
WE HAVE A DEAL
Can't wait for a priest to copy Luna's Pocket Galaxy and play Bwonsamdi, the Dead for extra memes.
Why is the rum gone?
Blood of The Ancient One + Bwonsamdi, the Dead could be dangerous.
I think Bwonsamdi, the Dead looks like a playable card, but it's hard to imagine having the time to get value out of this. Some use cases might include:
Ultimately, to me Bwonsamdi, the Dead seems like a playable, but not critical card, in a deathrattle synergy deck that wants to use Spirit of the Dead for extra value. The spirit is where the value really is, and Bwonsamdi is just icing on the cake. And I think that's a good thing - the game should be enriched by the powerful effects of legendary cards, but it shouldn't hinge on them.
How hard is it to imagine getting value out of this? Resurrect priest is a legitimate T2 deck that is largely focused on a 9-mana legendary spell. Mech'Thun is also a T2 deck. A hunter deck with a ton of control elements is a T1 deck. This is the slowest HS has EVER been,
I don't know how good this card will be, but the time argument seems misplaced.
I have to disagree on some points:
First off Rin, the First Disciple might be slow, but she was and she is still used in every control warlock deck nevertheless. A warlock could fetch her pretty late, he could also fetch her within the first six turns. The hero power helps us draw the important cards fast and if the priest player doesn't pressure the warlock one at all, you can safely assume how the warlock will draw aggressively to find her. This is because she acts as a win-condition against slow control and mid-range decks. She isn't a reliable tech against combo, I don't deny it, but unlike Void Contract she is safer to use. Let's not forget, that the warlock spell is also RNG dependent. If your opponent drew almost all of their important combo pieces, you might not destroy the leftover ones in their deck. It's a 50-50 if they end up being in the non-discarded pile.
However for combo decks I prefer to use Demonic Project. This is easier to use and less riskier. I can give you as an example the case of mecha'thun priest or warrior. Since they have to get rid their hand of the rest of the contents, they expose their combo to be countered. Or with some druid decks - they indicate the presence of a combo piece by playing Dreampetal Florist. Demonic Project can still whiff in some cases (due to bad timing or bad RNG), but it will still be used, because it offers less risks and it's more flexible.
I don't understand why people suggest running Bloodbloom just to activate the effect of this card faster. Against proactive decks you will be using 2 very clunky cards*, one of which is completely useless. So once again I don't think this 2-card combo will make the cut. Especially not in a meta, which is not a heavy combo one. Like I said in the previous comment, I can see this spell elsewhere, but warlocks have to get a busted card, which will refill their deck again.
Now back to Archbishop Benedictus. I will continue to state, that his purpose is supporting control decks and that his effect is powerful in general. The reason why he wasn't or isn't used atm is because 1) control priest got weaker after the rotation, 2) the stronger archtypes from this class in standard are combo ones currently. Let's observe the history of Benedictus since he was implemented in Koft
When he came out, Machine-gun Priest was born. He wasn't used in that deck, because it already had a win-condition. It only needed to draw Prophet Velen and bunch of burn cards and voila. At the same time there was another popular deck back then and it was Big Priest. Benedictus didn't offer anything exciting, so he wasn't included there either. In K&C Spiteful priest was formed, but as a mid-range deck it couldn't profit from the aforementioned legendary. Its main strategy was to pressure the opponent at all times and Benedictus could have also given the priest cheap and crappy spells, which would have ruined the outcome of Spiteful Summoner and Grand Archivist. Year of the raven kicked in and priest's board control pool got weaker. I consider as an honorable mention the loss of Netherspite Historian too, because she generated a third or potentially a fourth Duskbreaker. I can vagely remember the popular decks from that time, but I can name 2 of them - control (which evolved into quest and it featured Benedictus) and Mind blast priest. Since the second decks acts like a combo one, its main goal was to draw the burst and to burn down the opponent. Boomsday came along and we have Mecha'thun and resurrect priest.
And of course Benedictus won't be used in those decks, his effect only hinders their main strategy. No combo deck cares about value. All they want is to draw the important pieces and to burn down their opponent. That's their win-condition and Benedictus is not suited for them. He is suited for a control deck. And since priest's control arsenal got weaker and they don't have a hand disruption, there is no point to play control priest in the first place. Odd warrior is better. Warlock is better.
"Benedictus didn't see any play vs Rin because there wasn't a reason for him to be honest, rin is so slow and she will only burn 4 cards or so". Like I said in the 2nd paragraph, this is the worst case scenario. However even then you would want to copy the few remaining cards of your opponent's deck - if you play control, the fatigue is part of your win-condition.
Note*
Bloodbloom could be used with Twisting Nether, however you have to take into consideration that unlike some classes (priest, mage) warlock doesn't have many expensive spells and you might not get enough value from this card. Control warlock decks mostly consist of minions and of cheap spells. If you don't have Twisting Nether or Siphon Soul, then this card will just spare you 2 mana and eat a hand slot. Does this make it a reasonable inclusion - I think the answer is more than obvious.
[edit] Imho the only possible home for Void Contract would be Mecha'thun warlock, since it will allow them to get rid of their deck faster. In this case Benedictus and the spirit cards won't be important, because priests can't save themselves from this combo. They don't have hand disruption cards yet.
Yeah pretty easily - the vast majority of top decks are pretty slow. You might die to aggro, but when only 10% of the meta is aggro, who cares.
This card, together with the spirit, is gonna be really good. Not only does it have good stats already, its effect could be devastating!