Good stats and taunt. But won't see play because à bunch of legendary isn't a good enough win condition nowaday
What's considered "good enough nowadays" is almost certainly going to change drastically when this set is released. Most decks are being hit pretty hard.
More indicative of this card's likely strength is the shift over time from legendaries being expensive and impactful cards to being cheaper and more useful cards, which doesn't always mean big late game value, and which therefore means this card is less impactful in the late game than Elise 1.0 was when she came out.
You all have to realize that when a whole new season starts you have FAR less legendary cards to get randomly. That means you are more likely to get higher quality legendary cards in the beginning of the season and new expansion.
As the year goes on and more expansions are added, this will probably get worse and worse, UNLESS all the legendary cards are nothing but crazy good.
In Wild, for example, the card pool for legendary minions varies in power and cost so drastically, that this would be terrible there.
But in Standard, it will be far stronger. Keep in mind you can get another copy of this card too. Meaning if you don't like what's in your hand, try try again.
That's also why Warrior with their get 2 Dragons spell, is going to be really strong in Standard initially if there are very few dragons and they are good. But in Wild, I think its quite terrible because there are too many sub par dragons to get.
in animation here Arch-Villain Rafaam adds also wild legendary minions to hand. I wonder if it adds from only standard pool or from all. They generally reveal for only standard. It is kind of confusing.
Memedeck-seeker. Always tries to build new decks. Hates tournements, streamers, netdecks and poor-o players. ah, but a tournement mode could be great !!!
It brings cards in from whatever format you are playing in. So Standard means standard legendary cards only. Unless the card specifically is worded like Toki and gives you a previous format Legendary.
It actually makes this a better card in standard. There are less 'bad' legendary cards to get pulled. Someone can probably do a legendary count in the upcoming standard and determine the 'average' value from this card.
Good card effect but lazy card design Re-introducing the golden monkey.
It's also thematic as in the villain got the artifact from a previous expansion. I think its fine, but would have preferred a slightly different take on it. For example.
Battlecry: Replace your hand and deck with Legendary minions, but only from Neutral and League of Evil classes.
Good card effect but lazy card design Re-introducing the golden monkey.
It's also thematic as in the villain got the artifact from a previous expansion. I think its fine, but would have preferred a slightly different take on it. For example.
Battlecry: Replace your hand and deck with Legendary minions, but only from Neutral and League of Evil classes.
That would make a lot of sense.
meh, we just have to accept the fact, that Rafaam ate the monkey
Good card effect but lazy card design Re-introducing the golden monkey.
It's also thematic as in the villain got the artifact from a previous expansion. I think its fine, but would have preferred a slightly different take on it. For example.
Battlecry: Replace your hand and deck with Legendary minions, but only from Neutral and League of Evil classes.
That would make a lot of sense.
meh, we just have to accept the fact, that Rafaam ate the monkey
I mean, they're reusing villains from the past (although I saw the Fortune Teller as more of a puppet master / narrator than a villain), so thematically speaking, reusing effects from respective expansions isn't any more lazy than the concept of reusing the villains themselves. I didn't expect all-new everything in a year that the solo content (connected to the expansions as always) has an overarching story revolving around these villains from the past coming back for revenge.
Short version: this card is fine because it's a rehash of an old token card that's relegated to wild anyways.
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Rage quitting: the best way to ensure your opponent knows they beat a giant baby.
I mean, they're reusing villains from the past (although I saw the Fortune Teller as more of a puppet master / narrator than a villain), so thematically speaking, reusing effects from respective expansions isn't any more lazy than the concept of reusing the villains themselves. I didn't expect all-new everything in a year that the solo content (connected to the expansions as always) has an overarching story revolving around these villains from the past coming back for revenge.
Short version: this card is fine because it's a rehash of an old token card that's relegated to wild anyways.
I see your point and I agree to a certain extent, though imho Arch-Villain Rafaam is nothing more than a pale imitation of Elise Starseeker. Which is a shame, because he is the main villian in the upcoming expansion and the organizer of the Dalaran heist. He deserved more.
Elise's design introduced the journey mechanic. You went on an adventure, in order to find a mythical and in an unknown location burried artifact. Every control deck wanted to find the Golden Monkey and play with shiny legendaries. And the feeling of having went through many obstacles (cycling your deck) and getting rewarded for it was amazing.
I don't have anything against a rehash of an old mechanic, but Rafaam does it in a very uninspiring way. He just pukes the legendaries w/o we having achieved anything. I know he is a thief, but man many of the warlock legendaries are unique. Lord Jaraxxus, Glinda Crowskin, Rin, the First Disciple, High Priestess Jeklik, Cho'gall (before Bloodbloom was designed). I would argue, that even Mal'Ganis falls in this category.
Dunno, sicknantos, you think that "reusing effects from respective expansions isn't any more lazy than the concept of reusing the villains themselves", but I actually think that a small rework wouldn't have done any harm to Rafaam's design. I find the idea of him giving us EVIL specific legendaries very interesting, since this would make him more flavourful and fitting. After all he is the mastermind of this scheme and he assembled all of the evildoers in one place.
I see your point and I agree to a certain extent, though imho Arch-Villain Rafaam is nothing more than a pale imitation of Elise Starseeker.
I think it's really strong as is, but it would be nice if there was some element of discover to it maybe.
Like you pick between three artifacts and that decides the focus of the legendaries you get. Or they could have given him three artifacts again, and one of them is just the golden monkey... that probably would have been a bit more flavourful and improve the versatility of the card.
I see your point and I agree to a certain extent, though imho Arch-Villain Rafaam is nothing more than a pale imitation of Elise Starseeker.
I think it's really strong as is, but it would be nice if there was some element of discover to it maybe.
Like you pick between three artifacts and that decides the focus of the legendaries you get. Or they could have given him three artifacts again, and one of them is just the golden monkey... that probably would have been a bit more flavourful and improve the versatility of the card.
In my post I didn't say, that I find Rafaam to be weak and underwhelming. I was just commenting on his design. I haven't changed my initial opinion, that he is a poweful legendary with a lot of potential. I'm still planning to insta-craft him, if I don't open him from packs.
My problem was the lack of creativity in his design. Most of the warlock legendaries feel innovative and unique and it is a shame that Rafaam isn't part of that. Your idea about the three artifacts isn't a bad one, however I personally prefer badhank14's, where we get legendaries from the EVIL league only. After all, Rafaam's entrance quote is:
Togetherwe will rule Dalaran.
It doesn't make any sense, that he recruits cards from classes, which are considered to be Dalaran's protectors.
Naahhh... I've never been a fan of those random mechanics... This card could either win or loose you the game just based on luck. It also takes away some of the fun deck building part since you can just discard a whole hand that you gave time and effort when building.
Good stats and taunt. But won't see play because à bunch of legendary isn't a good enough win condition nowaday
I think he's meta defining because he's a wincon in every zoolock and many control warlocks, at least in standard will be winning when they turn useless spells/tech cards into powerful legendaries. I still remember control Warrior used to run Elise to turn their hand full of useless spells, board clears, cycle cards into big, powerful legendaries to outvalue you with.
I see your point and I agree to a certain extent, though imho Arch-Villain Rafaam is nothing more than a pale imitation of Elise Starseeker.
I think it's really strong as is, but it would be nice if there was some element of discover to it maybe.
Like you pick between three artifacts and that decides the focus of the legendaries you get. Or they could have given him three artifacts again, and one of them is just the golden monkey... that probably would have been a bit more flavourful and improve the versatility of the card.
In my post I didn't say, that I find Rafaam to be weak and underwhelming. I was just commenting on his design. I haven't changed my initial opinion, that he is a poweful legendary with a lot of potential. I'm still planning to insta-craft him, if I don't open him from packs.
My problem was the lack of creativity in his design. Most of the warlock legendaries feel innovative and unique and it is a shame that Rafaam isn't part of that. Your idea about the three artifacts isn't a bad one, however I personally prefer badhank14's, where we get legendaries from the EVIL league only. After all, Rafaam's entrance quote is:
Togetherwe will rule Dalaran.
It doesn't make any sense, that he recruits cards from classes, which are considered to be Dalaran's protectors.
Yeah, I wish they considered the flavor more too. I design Hearthstone cards for fun, though I never enter any contents.
I like to 'fix' cards both in theme and in power level. This seems like a no brainer to me. They are going to have a storyline. They are going to form a league of evil beings. Why not go double down on Rafaam and give us only Neutral and Evil legendary cards? That to me would be really cool.
And here is the real kicker. The card could change in flavor and power as we go along. For example, imagine that one of the villains betrays Rafaam and joins the good guys. Or one of the good guys joins the League of Evil. Then when you play the card, the card will actually change as well.
I mean how cool would that be? As expansions come out, the card changes ever so slightly and tells a story in itself.
They are adding more lackeys, so why not a card like Rafaam?
This also heavily counters the new Bomb Warrior that is being pushed. You get a handful of legendary minions rather than game ending explosions in your deck.
Sure the RNG is obvious, but so is the fact that if Bomb Warrior is good, this card is a hard counter to it.
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What's considered "good enough nowadays" is almost certainly going to change drastically when this set is released. Most decks are being hit pretty hard.
More indicative of this card's likely strength is the shift over time from legendaries being expensive and impactful cards to being cheaper and more useful cards, which doesn't always mean big late game value, and which therefore means this card is less impactful in the late game than Elise 1.0 was when she came out.
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You all have to realize that when a whole new season starts you have FAR less legendary cards to get randomly. That means you are more likely to get higher quality legendary cards in the beginning of the season and new expansion.
As the year goes on and more expansions are added, this will probably get worse and worse, UNLESS all the legendary cards are nothing but crazy good.
In Wild, for example, the card pool for legendary minions varies in power and cost so drastically, that this would be terrible there.
But in Standard, it will be far stronger. Keep in mind you can get another copy of this card too. Meaning if you don't like what's in your hand, try try again.
That's also why Warrior with their get 2 Dragons spell, is going to be really strong in Standard initially if there are very few dragons and they are good. But in Wild, I think its quite terrible because there are too many sub par dragons to get.
I want a golden version of this card sooooo badly.
https://playhearthstone.com/en-us/expansions-adventures/rise-of-shadows/
in animation here Arch-Villain Rafaam adds also wild legendary minions to hand. I wonder if it adds from only standard pool or from all. They generally reveal for only standard. It is kind of confusing.
And also Golden Monkey has same effect so that also makes me think like they bring some new stuff like Toki, Time-Tinker with Arch-Villain Rafaam.
Memedeck-seeker. Always tries to build new decks. Hates tournements, streamers, netdecks and poor-o players.
ah, but a tournement mode could be great !!!
It brings cards in from whatever format you are playing in. So Standard means standard legendary cards only. Unless the card specifically is worded like Toki and gives you a previous format Legendary.
It actually makes this a better card in standard. There are less 'bad' legendary cards to get pulled. Someone can probably do a legendary count in the upcoming standard and determine the 'average' value from this card.
Good card effect but lazy card design
Re-introducing the golden monkey.
It's also thematic as in the villain got the artifact from a previous expansion. I think its fine, but would have preferred a slightly different take on it. For example.
Battlecry: Replace your hand and deck with Legendary minions, but only from Neutral and League of Evil classes.
That would make a lot of sense.
meh, we just have to accept the fact, that Rafaam ate the monkey
I mean, they're reusing villains from the past (although I saw the Fortune Teller as more of a puppet master / narrator than a villain), so thematically speaking, reusing effects from respective expansions isn't any more lazy than the concept of reusing the villains themselves. I didn't expect all-new everything in a year that the solo content (connected to the expansions as always) has an overarching story revolving around these villains from the past coming back for revenge.
Short version: this card is fine because it's a rehash of an old token card that's relegated to wild anyways.
Rage quitting: the best way to ensure your opponent knows they beat a giant baby.
I see your point and I agree to a certain extent, though imho Arch-Villain Rafaam is nothing more than a pale imitation of Elise Starseeker. Which is a shame, because he is the main villian in the upcoming expansion and the organizer of the Dalaran heist. He deserved more.
Elise's design introduced the journey mechanic. You went on an adventure, in order to find a mythical and in an unknown location burried artifact. Every control deck wanted to find the Golden Monkey and play with shiny legendaries. And the feeling of having went through many obstacles (cycling your deck) and getting rewarded for it was amazing.
I don't have anything against a rehash of an old mechanic, but Rafaam does it in a very uninspiring way. He just pukes the legendaries w/o we having achieved anything. I know he is a thief, but man many of the warlock legendaries are unique. Lord Jaraxxus, Glinda Crowskin, Rin, the First Disciple, High Priestess Jeklik, Cho'gall (before Bloodbloom was designed). I would argue, that even Mal'Ganis falls in this category.
Dunno, sicknantos, you think that "reusing effects from respective expansions isn't any more lazy than the concept of reusing the villains themselves", but I actually think that a small rework wouldn't have done any harm to Rafaam's design. I find the idea of him giving us EVIL specific legendaries very interesting, since this would make him more flavourful and fitting. After all he is the mastermind of this scheme and he assembled all of the evildoers in one place.
I think it's really strong as is, but it would be nice if there was some element of discover to it maybe.
Like you pick between three artifacts and that decides the focus of the legendaries you get. Or they could have given him three artifacts again, and one of them is just the golden monkey... that probably would have been a bit more flavourful and improve the versatility of the card.
In my post I didn't say, that I find Rafaam to be weak and underwhelming. I was just commenting on his design. I haven't changed my initial opinion, that he is a poweful legendary with a lot of potential. I'm still planning to insta-craft him, if I don't open him from packs.
My problem was the lack of creativity in his design. Most of the warlock legendaries feel innovative and unique and it is a shame that Rafaam isn't part of that. Your idea about the three artifacts isn't a bad one, however I personally prefer badhank14's, where we get legendaries from the EVIL league only. After all, Rafaam's entrance quote is:
Together we will rule Dalaran.
It doesn't make any sense, that he recruits cards from classes, which are considered to be Dalaran's protectors.
Its really good card for new players with budget decks thats all
Naahhh... I've never been a fan of those random mechanics... This card could either win or loose you the game just based on luck. It also takes away some of the fun deck building part since you can just discard a whole hand that you gave time and effort when building.
It's a great card, but I don't like it...
I think he's meta defining because he's a wincon in every zoolock and many control warlocks, at least in standard will be winning when they turn useless spells/tech cards into powerful legendaries. I still remember control Warrior used to run Elise to turn their hand full of useless spells, board clears, cycle cards into big, powerful legendaries to outvalue you with.
I'm crafting this.
Yeah, I wish they considered the flavor more too. I design Hearthstone cards for fun, though I never enter any contents.
I like to 'fix' cards both in theme and in power level. This seems like a no brainer to me. They are going to have a storyline. They are going to form a league of evil beings. Why not go double down on Rafaam and give us only Neutral and Evil legendary cards? That to me would be really cool.
And here is the real kicker. The card could change in flavor and power as we go along. For example, imagine that one of the villains betrays Rafaam and joins the good guys. Or one of the good guys joins the League of Evil. Then when you play the card, the card will actually change as well.
I mean how cool would that be? As expansions come out, the card changes ever so slightly and tells a story in itself.
They are adding more lackeys, so why not a card like Rafaam?
I don't play as warlock anymore but if I did I would craft this. I love Elise ;)
ok a 7/8 with Taunt and Battlecry for 7.
Battlecry : RNG
Wincondition after play: RNG
RNG/10
My current mage deck (wild,reno,otk,highlander)
My current hunter deck (wild,reno,highlander)
"The game is dead"
Every salty hearthstone player
This also heavily counters the new Bomb Warrior that is being pushed. You get a handful of legendary minions rather than game ending explosions in your deck.
Sure the RNG is obvious, but so is the fact that if Bomb Warrior is good, this card is a hard counter to it.