Below I have written a guide detailing my predictions for the upcoming cards in the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire set. Similarly to Trump, I will be grading each card from 1 to 5 stars, meaning:
5 Stars: Staple in a Tier 1 deck or a staple in multiple Tier 2 decks. 4 Stars: Occasionally used in a Tier 1 deck, a staple in a Tier 2 deck, or a staple in multiple Tier 3 decks. 3 Stars: Occasionally used in a Tier 2 deck, a staple in a Tier 3 deck, or a staple in multiple Tier 4 decks 2 Stars: Sees at least 1% of play in a Tier 4 deck or has seen some amount of tournament success. 1 Star: Fails to maintain a 1% playrate in Diamond or above.
I have tried to avoid watching other people's card reviews beforehand, so you can be confident that the opinions below are my own and not tainted by anyone else's perception. Enjoy.
Demon Hunter
Acrobatics: 4 Stars – An extremely strong card in a currently weak archetype, albeit one with room for improvement with the new set. Having effective forms of refill is important for Voracious Reader decks, so this should make the cut as long as Aggro Demon Hunter is viable (which it might not be, but I’m optimistic here).
Dreadlord's Bite: 3 Stars – This weapon is fair for the cost, but it directly competes with better options such as Marrowslicer, Umberwing, and Felsteel Executioner, and thus would normally end up outclassed. However, a certain new archetype may be able to make use of it…
Felscream Blast: 2 Stars – Normally, a card like this would need spell damage synergy to work, and Demon Hunter doesn’t have that. However, the new legendary wants lifesteal cards to work with, and this is one of the better ones available. For that reason, I’m not ruling it out entirely.
Insatiable Felhound: 2 Stars – Ashtongue Battlelord sees no play whatsoever. This card is arguably better, but Demon Hunter doesn’t have much use for a card like this. Similarly to Felscream Blast, the only reason this doesn’t get a “1” is because it’s possible that Il’gynoth could make use of it.
Line Hopper: 3 Stars – Demon Hunter has a good chunk of cheap Outcast cards that you can string together with this, and many of them draw cards. The question is whether Outcast strings will be reliable and consistent enough to fit into a constructed deck. My guess is that an Outcast Demon Hunter archetype will emerge, but not end up as a particularly strong choice (perhaps somewhere in Tier 3).
Redeemed Pariah: 3 Stars – Good card even if you can only play one outcast card; think Totem Golem without the overload. If you have it on the board when starting a Line Hopper chain, then it becomes even more ridiculous. But is a good card like this enough to spawn a new archetype? Only time will tell.
Relentless Pursuit: 1 Star – This spell is very underwhelming. Shadow Bolt is a weak card, and this isn’t much better. Even though this card helps activate Bladed Lady, Demon Hunter has better options to get to six attack than this.
Renowned Performer: 1 Star – This is pack filler in the same vein as Vilefiend Trainer. It’s fair for the cost, but Demon Hunter has no synergy with Rush, Taunt or Deathrattle strong enough to justify putting it in your deck.
Bladed Lady: 5 Stars – Oh my god this is absolutely insane. Think about how easy it is for Soul Demon Hunter to hit 6 attack, and then just imagine this coming down along with it. A great card for an archetype which is already the best in the game.
Throw Glaive: 2 Stars – This card would be ridiculous in any class which has a viable control deck. Sadly, Demon Hunter is poorly suited to take advantage of this. We want to be attacking face, not minions, and we don’t want to cut any of the really good removal cards that see play in Soul Demon Hunter, such as Shardshatter Mystic and Blade Dance, for this.
Expendable Performers: 1 Star – Someday they’re going to give Token Demon Hunter real support instead of one or two throwaway cards per expansion. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself…
Felsteel Executioner:3 Stars – As a potential 3 mana 4/3 weapon, it’s very tempting to put this in an Aggro deck, but the problem is the lack of activators for the weapon: you don’t want to be running a lot of 4 mana cards in decks with Acrobatics and Voracious Reader. Soul Demon Hunter might want to try this, but it already has Marrowslicer and Aldrachi Warblades, two weapons which are central to the deck and should not be replaced. Is six weapons too many? I think it probably is. The most likely scenario where this sees play is in a totally new archetype, but it’s hard to envision what that looks like or if it will exist at all.
Stiltstepper: 4 Stars – Only good in a deck with very few cards that cost more than 3 mana. Fortunately, Voracious Reader and Acrobatics highly encourage us to play a deck like that in the first place. It’ll be hard for aggressive decks to say no to this.
Il'gynoth: 5 Stars – Il’gynoth could potentially lead to the discovery of a new lifesteal-centric archetype, but what is more likely is that it will be used in conjunction with cards like Aldrachi Warblades and Soulshard Lapidary for a powerful swing. The prospect of dealing 12-16 damage to the face in just one blow is so overwhelming that Il’gynoth will almost certainly end up as a staple in Soul Demon Hunter. Just a fantastically toxic card which will likely lead to players teching in Acidic Swamp Ooze like crazy.
Zai, the Incredible: 3 Stars – A 5 mana 5/3 with a pseudo-draw 2 effect certainly isn’t bad, but the question is whether any deck want to include this over better options. Perhaps the synergy with Skull of Gul’dan will make it worthwhile? Perhaps the Outcast chains will be easier if this can generate more copies of cheap outcast cards? Perhaps a second Soulciologist Malicia makes the inclusion worth it? It’s not unthinkable that Zai makes the cut, but there’s no obvious archetype where she fits in well.
Druid
Faire Arborist: 1 Star – I like the card, but I don’t like the archetype it’s supposed to function in. Treant Druid has taken a pretty big hit since rotation, and I don’t see this bringing it back.
Lunar Eclipse:5 Stars – So, it’s like backstab but with 3 damage and no “undamaged” requirement? Hell yeah that’s good, sign me up. The only downside compared to Backstab is that you have to play a spell to get the cost reduction benefit, but that doesn’t seem very difficult for Druid to do.
Solar Eclipse:3 Stars – Very scary but needs a specific spell to double in order to work. You could combo this with Kael’thas and Survival of the Fittest, but that could end up being too clunky. It’s hard to say, which is why I’m giving this a tentative 3.
Fizzy Elemental: 1 Star – This card is so strange and so out-of-place that I feel like I’m missing something. Maybe N’Zoth wants it for its Elemental tag? I have no idea what this is doing in Druid, and I can’t envision a deck which wants a slightly better Burly Shovelfist. Who knows, maybe this will shock me somehow.
Moontouched Amulet: 4 Stars – This card makes sense in Y’Shaarj Druid, unlike Faire Arborist. It’s less awkward to play off-curve, and more impactful when generated by Y’Shaarj. I’d say it has a high chance of seeing play so long as Y’Shaarj is good in Druid, which it probably will be.
Umbral Owl:3 Stars – A good card to compliment a spell-heavy Yogg deck with Fungal Fortunes and Glowfly Swarm. I doubt such a deck will be top-tier, but it’ll probably be good enough to see some competitive play.
Cenarion Ward:1 Star – For an 8-mana card like this to see play, you either need it to have extremely strong synergy or it needs to be strong enough as a standalone that decks are willing to slot it in. This card is neither, and while it does get substantially better with Solar Eclipse, that’s not enough to convince me that this can work.
Guess the Weight: 1 Star – I really dislike the high probability of this ending up as a two-mana draw one. You need consistency, and this card does not provide that, which means it will be outclassed by the other forms of card draw Druid has available to the class. It’s not even particularly spectacular if you guess correctly.
Greybough: 1 Star – There are two major problems with this card. The first is that it is completely reliant on having other minions on the board when it dies in order to respawn. Many board clears will wipe the slate clean in one go, thus negating the deathrattle. The second is that there is not really an archetype that currently exists where this can fit in well. Is this supposed to be used in Treant Druid? I have no idea. Overall, a very underwhelming legendary.
Kiri, Chosen of Elune: 2 Stars – Initially this card looked very impressive until I realized that you could just put the Solar and Lunar Eclipses into your deck without Kiri. As a result, this card seems a tad unnecessary. Maybe it can help improve the consistency of some combo deck with Solar Eclipse, but I wouldn’t be surprised if most players just left it on the shelf.
Hunter
Dancing Cobra: 3 Stars – Could be potent enough to find its way into Highlander Hunter. Unlikely to see play in other decks because it doesn’t take advantage of any good synergies in this set, but it’s likely strong enough as a standalone.
Mystery Winner: 5 Stars – Busted; it’s like Secret Plan except better, 100% chance of seeing play. I will say I’m not particularly fond of the whole “reprint old cards which saw play, except better” thing Hunter has going on (like Wolpertinger last expansion).
Open the Cages: 2 Stars – Not really a fan of how hard the condition is to pull off, and the reward is a slightly cheaper Animal Companion. However, Hunter has a higher demand for secrets than usual this expansion, so this could make the cut.
Darkmoon Tonk:4 Stars – This one surprised me. After looking at the synergy between it and Maxima, I initially decided that this was probably going to be a one-star card. However, when theorycrafting a Highlander Hunter deck with N’Zoth as a win condition, it doesn’t look so bad. The synergy with Nine Lives and Oblivitron is probably enough to keep it in the realm of playability. I could be 100% wrong about this one, but it’s fun to go out on a limb every so often.
Petting Zoo: 5 Stars – Absolutely insane. Even with one secret, it’s good, and with multiples it becomes obscene. Encourages an aggressive board-flooding strategy which Hunter can make good use of.
Trampling Rhino: 4 Stars – Yay, Overkill’s back. Face Hunter can make good use of this, especially since it has some synergy with Scavenger’s Ingenuity. It's a good lategame card for a deck which could use a more potent lategame.
Don't Feed the Animals: 1 Star – It’s not the worst card I’ve ever seen in my life, but it’s very lackluster as a handbuff card even when corrupted. I mean, just compare it to Into the Fray. You aren’t going to be running enough beasts to justify this card.
Jewel of N'Zoth: 3 Stars – Very tempting, but Hunter only has a few strong deathrattle minions available to it, and running this card in a Deathrattle deck encourages us to cut weaker deathrattles (such as Ursatron and Zixor) just so we ensure that we only resurrect strong ones. This is definitely a card to consider, but it’s probably too clunky to make the final cut.
Maxima Blastenheimer: 1 Star – If you thought Jewel of N'Zoth had a bad deckbuilding restriction, just wait ‘til you see this. We have to forego earlygame minions entirely and rely on Hunter’s limited control tools just to play this, and while you might get a good highroll like Darkmoon Tonk or Scrapyard Colossus, what happens after your opponent answers those threats? What happens if you never draw this? Building a deck around Maxima is a fool’s errand, and I’d be shocked if this turned out to be any good.
Rinling's Rifle: 5 Stars – This card gives you a lot of value for the cost (think of it as a corrupted Ring Toss with a 2/2 weapon attached, albeit with weaker secrets). It’s a good way to set up a strong Petting Zoo turn, since you’re paying for the second secret up front (Turn 4 you play this, turn 5 you swing, play a secret, and then get 9/9 in stats). A natural fit for Secret Hunter, which should be very good in this meta.
Firework Elemental: 2 Stars – Elemental decks will be tempted to use it due to the tag and strong effect. However, the condition for the effect is brutal; you have to play a 6 mana card first before you can use it as intended. Problem is, Elemental decks will be incentivized to run a lot of cheap spells to justify cards like Mana Cyclone and Elemental Allies. I don’t think it makes the cut.
Game Master: 3 Stars – A little bit of an awkward card. You won’t be able to cheat out a secret any earlier than you normally would with it, and it’s generally not a card you want to play on Turn 2. This makes it a weird fit for Secret decks, which usually try to be aggressive. It’s not bad, but not quite “busted” enough to skyrocket Secret Mage to Tier 1 or anything.
Grand Finale: 5 Stars – Excellent win condition for Mage. The class has a good number of cheap elementals which means setting this up on Turn 7 shouldn’t be too hard, and the payoff is enormous. Absolute must-use card for the archetype.
Mask of C'Thun: 1 Star – I might be more enthusiastic about this if Dragoncaster still cost 6 mana, but Mage has long since abandoned big spells as an archetype, and it’s unlikely they’ll come back soon. Even if Highlander mage comes back, this just might not be impactful enough to make it in; it’s so glaringly inferior to Reno the Relicologist.
Ring Toss: 1 Star – The Corrupt keyword really kills this card. Looking at a Secret deck, there generally aren’t very many cards you want to be playing that cost more than 4 mana (Cloud Prince and Sayge ae basically the only ones), and the payoff isn’t good enough to justify how inconsistent the extra effect will be.
Occult Conjurer:3 Stars – This, along with the card below, is the real reason why I think Secret Mage has some potential. On turn 4, this is a strong earlygame play, and its condition is easy to activate when you have a secret which can reliably stay untriggered such as…
Rigged Faire Game: 3 Stars – Remember Sanctuary? That card had a good effect for its mana cost, but it never saw play because, as it turns out, it’s quite easy for your opponent to damage your face. Fortunately, when you have cards like Occult Conjurer, Cloud Prince, and Ethereal Arcanist which rely on secrets going untriggered, it’s fine for Rigged Faire Game to sit there for a few turns. If triggered, it gives the deck card draw, something the archetype lacks. Secret Mage is a very weak archetype at the moment, but these two epics help a lot to make it more competitive.
Deck of Lunacy:2 Stars – Fun meme card, but far too inconsistent to use in a constructed deck. Will likely see play in Spell Mage (a weak archetype that has consistently had a strangely high playrate for some reason), but it’s not doing much to boost the winrate, many of the spells you get from this are quite weak even when discounted. It might even be a liability.
Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon: 3 Stars – One of the reasons why Secret Mage was such a bust in Saviors of Uldum was the deck’s tendency to run out of steam to quickly. Sayge is a direct response to this, and when played on curve, it shouldn’t be too uncommon to get 3-4 cards from him. The issue with this archetype is that it still lacks appropriate aggression (no good Turn 1-2 plays, not much in the way of mana cheating, etc.), which is why I don’t think it will see that much success, but it could possibly work out in the end.
Paladin
Carousel Gryphon:3 Stars – Unlike most Corrupt cards, the initial card is fair for its cost (like Dalaran Crusader with one more health). The card is a little difficult to upgrade, and the corrupted version doesn’t blow me away, but the most promising thing about this card is surprisingly the Mech tag. With a big body like that, this could fit well into a N’Zoth Paladin deck.
Day at the Faire: 1 Star – In an aggressive Silver Hand deck, you are going to be playing with a low curve. You cannot afford to be waiting around to draw the small number of 4/5 cost cards just so you can play this and get a decent benefit. This problem could be overlooked if the other Silver Hand cards were decent, but we’ll get to those in a minute.
Redscale Dragontamer: 4 Stars – I can see multiple applications for this card. The first is N’Zoth Paladin, which will gladly take a minion with a Murloc Tag and can use it to draw Circus Amalgam or Amber Watcher. The second is in Murloc Paladin, where it can guarantee drawing those powerful Scalelords. At the end of the day, it’s a 2/3 that draws a card, and that’s pretty sweet.
Balloon Merchant: 1 Star – This is a poor man’s Quartermaster. The lower attack is quite a disappointment considering how important it is for aggro decks to be able to burst down their opponents, and while the Divine Shield is supposed to compensate for the lack of health, the archetype needs ways to leverage the silver hand recruits into something threatening, and this card just isn’t that threatening.
Carnival Barker: 1 Star – I actually like this card better than the OG Steward of Darkshire and wouldn’t be surprised if this saw play in, say, Odd Paladin in Wild. Unfortunately, this isn’t a Wild review, so I can just say that this card, while good, is stuck in an archetype which is nowhere near ready for competitive viability. Tragic.
Snack Run: 1 Star – Flash of Light saw play due to the high demand for card draw in Holy Wrath Paladin. This card discovers a spell instead, which is not a terrible tradeoff, but it’s not really what Paladin is looking for when choosing cards to actively put in its decks. In addition, it cannot heal minions, and will sometimes heal very little if the spell you want is cheap. Too often this will just be a Renew which costs an extra mana.
Hammer of the Naaru:3 Stars – Another pack filler/arena card which is thrust into competitive viability because of a tag. This is the only option N’Zoth has for a good-sized Elemental, and it comes with a strong weapon to boot.
Oh My Yogg!: 1 Star – This is actually a really obnoxious effect. It’s kind of like a cheaper Counterspell, and in many cases it can actually be better. The problem is that Paladin does not have much in the way of secret synergy, and a decent 1-mana spell is just too fair to make it into decks.
High Exarch Yrel: 3 Stars – Great card which fits into Pure Paladin extremely well, which is currently one of the best decks in the game. So why does this only get three stars? Because in a changing meta with powerful emergent decks which are adding new cards, High Exarch Yrel is literally the only card from the new expansion that Pure Paladin is interested in. Will the archetype be able to retain its dominant position in the meta by playing almost exactly as it did for the last four months? It’s not impossible, but I’d bet against it.
Lothraxion the Redeemed: 1 Star – This is the absolute worst new card for an archetype I already had no faith in. It’s a 5-mana-do-nothing in a deck that wants to be aggressive. It’s a terrible draw in the endgame. It’s completely redundant with Balloon Merchant (Double divine shield? Hello?). It utterly fails to give me a reason to play Silver Hand Paladin when there are so many better new decks available.
Priest
Fairground Fool: 1 Star – Bundles of stats might be OK in other classes, but in Priest there just isn’t anything you can do with a 4/7 that comes down on Turn 5 at the earliest. Very slow and very underwhelming.
Fortune Teller: 2 Stars – Violet Spellsword is a rather weak card and this feels reminiscent of that. In order for Fortune Teller to be “worth it”, you need a minimum of 4, but preferably 5 or more spells, which isn’t too hard for Priest, but is it going to be consistent enough?
Insight: 4 Stars – The card isn’t the strongest Corrupt card I’ve seen this set (although that title probably goes to another Priest card), but it’s quite good in Priest, which isn’t in a hurry to play this and appreciates the discount. This will be excellent with combo-based cards such as Sethekk Veilweaver, which can chain together lots of spells for a lot of value. Alternatively, you can play powerful win conditions like Murozond, the Infinite earlier. There are lots of great uses for this.
Auspicious Spirits:1 Star – This is a very long time to wait for what is likely just going to be a mediocre pile of stats. It is hard to think of a practical application for this, and I can’t see this as ever becoming more than pack filler.
Nazmani Bloodweaver: 5 Stars – In the past we’ve seen that it isn’t hard for Sethekk Veilweaver to generate powerful chains of spells. This card does it even better, and because Priest already has access to a lot of strong cheap spells, this is a natural fit. But if only there was a way to make the chains even more consistent…
Palm Reading: 5 Stars – Mana cheating is powerful, and Priest can afford to wait around to corrupt this. The class uses a lot of spells and will generally have enough in hand to make playing this worthwhile. As soon as you see this played, you better prepare for your opponent’s next turn to be extremely long and tilting as they play a ton of spells with their Veilweavers and Bloodweavers.
Blood of G'huun: 3 Stars – The card itself is just OK. It’s slow, and while Resurrect Priest has minions which are good when summoned from Blood of G’huun, the fact that it happens at the end of your turn is a problem (something like, say, Catrina Muerte isn’t as scary when she’s summoned without resurrecting anything). This card alone isn’t going to bring back the Resurrect archetype, but unfortunately, it’s not alone.
Idol of Y'Shaarj: 3 Stars – Boy, I hope I’m wrong about this one. As much as I want to call Idol of Y’Shaarj a one-star card, the fact of the matter is that Resurrect Priest has a shot of being viable in the new meta. Practically all of the cards in that deck are excellent with this, especially Blood of G'huun, so this could potentially be a meta-changer. Luckily, Resurrect Priest is something like a Tier 6 archetype at the moment, so we can all rest easy knowing the chances of it dominating the meta are slim.
G'huun the Blood God: 4 Stars – Drawing two cards and being able to play them immediately is tempting, and Priest is the most equipped class to take the health blow. This could lead to some unfair Turn 8s, but it’s possible that the good value is offset by the drawback. Remember, Riftcleaver sees no play due to a similar drawback, so this might not be quite as insane as it looks.
The Nameless One: 4 Stars – Silence, along with similar effects, have proven to be fantastic abilities in the current meta, as seen by the success of cards like Consume Magic and Devolving Missiles. If this were a Scholomance card, the correct rating would likely be 5 stars. The question is whether the high value of silence will continue on into the new meta. With the (likely) decline of Pure Paladin, the deck where silence performs the best, lI can’t say for certain that it will.
Rogue
Foxy Fraud: 5 Stars – Very strong card which highly incentivizes us to expand the “combo” packages in our deck. A free 3/2 is insane, especially when that free card can trigger the combo keyword. Rogue’s combo cards are already great, so it should be easy for us to find a place for this somewhere.
Sweet Tooth: 4 Stars – Possibly one of the best Corrupt minions. It’s not too hard to discount since Aggro Rogue’s curve isn’t as low as other aggressive decks, and the payoff is quite insane: a two mana 5/2 with stealth is very difficult to say no to.
Swindle: 4 Stars – 2-mana-draw-2 is quite a good deal, and the restriction is not very severe. In addition, Foxy Fraud can make fantastic use of this, allowing us to play it for free as early as turn 2. An excellent boost to Rogue already-great set of combo cards.
Prize Plunderer:3 Stars – It’s good with Foxy Fraud, but when it’s competing with combo cards that Rogue already has which are also good with Foxy Fraud, it might not be able to quite bring enough value. The payoff is especially sad when compared with cards like Edwin VanCleef.
Shadow Clone: 4 Stars – Seems like a decent secret, possibly one of the best that Rogue has. Kind of like Mirror Entity but way better. Secret synergy is quite strong in Rogue, so the class will gladly take another one without complaining.
Ticket Master:4 Stars – Galakrond decks tend to have an obscene amount of card draw, which increases the reliability of drawing Plush Bears. If that’s not good enough, the class can also slot in Stowaway, which becomes a 5 mana 10/10 if this has been played beforehand. Any Rogue deck which isn’t some aggro-stealth deck should be able to make space for this.
Cloak of Shadows: 2 Stars – Time Out! was good, but it primarily saw play in combo decks which needed the stalling. Will Rogue have decks like that? Maybe, but probably not. The other problem with this card is that it doesn’t nullify untargeted damage, making it weak against decks like Face Hunter.
Malevolent Strike:5 Stars – It’s a one mana Assassinate in any deck which runs C’Thun with the potential to be discounted further via Ticket Master. This, more than any other card, is what pushes C’Thun into viability in Rogue. It’s almost like Secret Passage for Aggro Rogue in that it is the most instrumental for pushing the archetype.
Grand Empress Shek'zara: 3 Stars – There’s a fair amount of luck needed to make this worth using. You’re not always going to discover a Plush Bear or a Shadow of Death, and Shek’zara is fairly mediocre if you whiff. I could see C’Thun Rogue cutting this entirely just based on the unreliability, but it’s possible that the highrolls are good enough regardless.
Tenwu of the Red Smoke:5 Stars – An autoinclude for any Galakrond Rogue deck. The synergy with Jandice, Togwaggle, Kronx, etc. is off the charts. You could even do something crazy like play a discounted Old God twice a turn with Tenwu. Possibly one of the best cards in the entire expansion.
Shaman
Cagematch Custodian: 4 Stars – Simple, yet important. Drawing weapons consistently will be crucial for any Aggro Shaman deck. Remember Rune Dagger in Aggro Shaman last expansion and how important it was to draw it or you were S.O.L? That deck was quite weak, but we might want to take another look at Rune Dagger with Cagematch Custodian around.
Revolve: 5 Stars – Not only is this a more consistent Devolving Missiles, but it also has great synergy with any deck which runs Desert Hare. Will such a deck be viable? Even if it’s not, this is still a better version of a card which was great in the last expansion. A surefire success.
Stormstrike: 4 Stars – Decent card which gets significantly better when taken into context with the rest of the Shaman set. Functions like Rockbiter Weapon with better tempo, which is great if you have Doomhammer equipped.
Dunk Tank:5 Stars – Phenomenal spell in what could be one of the top archetypes of Darkmoon Faire: Control Shaman. This deck has all the pieces for top-tier success except the most important one: it lacks a win condition. The Old Gods can provide the deck with the win condition it needs (my money’s on C’Thun, personally), and that means that this spell can shine in a great new upcoming archetype. Exciting!
Pit Master: 1 Star – You may be noticing a recurring theme with Corrupt minions. A pile of stats is significantly less impressive when it cannot be played on curve, so the only ones which I expect to have any viability are ones with some extra effect as a selling point (such as the one in the next class).
Whack-A-Gnoll Hammer:2 Stars – This weapon is alright, but it’s not powerful enough to push the new archetype on its own and could even be cut from the deck. Handbuffing is a slow mechanic for an aggressive deck, even when it’s tied to a Fiery War Axe. Uninspiring, but may see play if there are no better options.
Deathmatch Pavilion: 3 Stars – It’s not bad, but it would be better if Shaman had a 1-mana weapon, or a way to attack for free. It sucks that you’ll never be able to play this on curve, because if you could, it would be an excellent earlygame play that could be oppressive for your opponent. The card is still probably good enough to make the cut, but it’s not one of the better cards in Aggro Shaman for this reason.
Magicfin: 1 Star – Murloc Shaman is a dead archetype, and it typically played very aggressively back in Rise of Shadows. With that in mind, would that deck have very much use for random legendaries, most of which are expensive and won’t be relevant until the game is already over? Absolutely not.
Grand Totem Eys'or: 1 Star – Eys’or looks very strong, but this apparent strength may be misleading. Totem Shaman actually doesn’t run all that many “Totems” in their deck, instead running Totem generators like Tour Guide, Splitting Axe, etc. Thus, plopping it down on Turn 3 is a very weak play, and that means its only use may be as a board-wide buff for a field of totems. That’s alright, but that’s basically the only thing the archetype is getting, so will it be able to compete in the new meta with so little support? No, I don’t think so.
Inara Stormcrash:3 Stars – This card incentivizes us to run other weapons besides Doomhammer. That’s fine, but what are our options? We have Rune Dagger, Whack-A-Gnoll Hammer hammer, and…Stormforged Axe? This can also combo with spells which generate attack, like Rockbiter Weapon, but these combos come fairly late for an Aggro Shaman deck (around Turn 7-8 at the earliest). Still, it’s hard to say “no” to a potential 10 damage to the face in one turn, so Inara shouldn’t be counted out entirely.
Warlock
Man'ari Mosher: 5 Stars – The biggest thing holding back Warlock currently is the lack of healing. This card is a fantastic answer to that problem: when used on any big demon, this card can heal for 8-11 in one blow, which can shut burn decks out of the game entirely. If only there was some way to get those demons on the board in a timely fashion…
Midway Maniac:2 Stars – This card should be extremely grateful that this set has such good Demon synergy. Otherwise, it would never be considered. It curves nicely into Man'ari Mosher in a pinch, and it helps increase the likelihood of getting the benefit from Free Admission. That’s about all it has going for it, but that just might be enough.
Ring Matron: 3 Stars – Another Demon which seems like arena fodder but could make its way into a constructed deck due to the tag synergy. Dropping this on Turn 4 will be a lot of fun, and so will healing for 9 with Mosher.
Fire Breather: 4 Stars – This is an extremely good card in Demon-centric decks. It’s almost like a Duskbreaker with better stats that only hits enemy minions, and Duskbreaker was a unbelievably broken card. I imagine this will make it into pretty much every single variant of Control Warlock.
Free Admission: 5 Stars – Free Admission is bonkers. Card draw and mana manipulation are two of the best mechanics in the game, and the deckbuilding restriction for this isn’t even that strict (you can still slot in a few non-demon minions and still have about an 70-80% chance of activating the bonus). Even if you whiff, it’s still an Arcane Intellect, which is a viable constructed card. Yeah, I’m thinking Gul’dan’s back.
Wicked Whispers: 1 Star – Grim Rally with a better downside seems really good. Problem is, Grim Rally is designed for Zoo Warlock, so how good will that archetype be in this meta? After some theorycrafting, my estimation is “really bad”. It also sucks that the card you want to pair this with, Boneweb Egg, conflicts heavily with Free Admission.
Cascading Disaster:4 Stars – A card with a decent baseline which becomes absurd when fully upgraded. Because it’s a board clear, you don’t mind this sitting in your hand until the time you need it, and your deck should have good expensive cards that can help it along.
Revenant Rascal: 1 Star – An effective method of disruption for any aggressive Warlock deck. The problem is this: will there be any viable Warlock decks which want to go aggro? It’s unlikely, and control decks have better things to do than play a 3 mana 3/3.
Deck of Chaos: 1 Star – So, I heard a rumor that Deck of Chaos was planned to be released several expansions ago, when Warlock was stronger, but they held off on it because it was apparently “too strong”. I got no idea if that’s true or not, but if it is, it explains why they did not print a single card which synergizes with this in this set. The only deck I could see interested in this is a combo deck with Malygos, but for that to work, you need to draw and play Deck of Chaos before drawing Malygos. Perhaps Quest Warlock will make a return? Doubtful.
Tickatus: 5 Stars – Tickatus is an excellent win condition for Control Warlock. The deck has several good options for corrupting it, and when you do, you can copy it with Felosophy and mill ten cards from your opponent’s deck. If that’s not enough, you can play Y’Shaarj and do it again. Control Warlock appears to be one of the best archetypes in Scholomace Academy, and I expect that this card will be a key component in the deck.
Warrior
Minefield: 4 Stars – Excellent earlygame removal if you have no minions on the board, which is common for Warrior. Control decks will be glad to pick this up. Alternatively, you can use it for its synergy with things like Bomb Wrangler and pop off that way.
Stage Hand: 1 Star – A minor effect which doesn’t synergize with much that Warrior has. If you’re looking for a buff for something like Tomb Warden or Carnival Clown, you have better options than this.
Sword Eater: 5 Stars – An absolute monster of a card; Sword Eater is simply not fairly statted for what you get. Excellent synergy with several different potential archetypes, such as Pirate Warrior or N’Zoth Warrior. However, even if those archetypes fall through, Sword Eater is such a great standalone that it will likely see play regardless.
Bumper Car: 4 Stars – Not a bad card at all on its own, and it helps provide fodder for Playmaker and E.T.C., which is great. Parade Leader can also turn those small rushers into powerful removal tokens. Other than that, not much to say about it other than it’s a good piece to add to the upcoming deck.
Feat of Strength: 3 Stars – Taunt Warrior received great synergies in Carnival Clown which could end up being a powerhouse in the class. This is great for the deck and turns the clowns into a win condition all on its own. If Taunt Warrior works, then this card will see play, but that’s not guaranteed so I’ll stick with a cowardly 3 as far as my rating goes.
Stage Dive: 5 Stars – An excellent Corrupt card, especially when compared to may of the others. An attack handbuff is already quite impactful for Rush minions, but it becomes ridiculous when paired with cards like Playmaker and Scion of Ruin (and yes, I think the Galakrond package is worth running in a Rush Warrior deck). All you need to do is play a two mana card to reap the full benefits, so it’s hard to imagine passing up on this.
Ringmaster's Baton: 3 Stars – N’Zoth Warrior doesn’t strike me as the greatest archetype in existence, but this card will help it along. It’s a good amount of handbuffs with a decent weapon to boot, and it can be tutored with Corsair Cache.
Tent Trasher: 2 Stars – This card flat-out sucks. It’s hard to discount, it’s not particularly strong when you’ve taken the trouble to discount it (a 3 mana 5/5 with rush really isn’t anything gamebreaking), and it’s a mediocre minion to resurrect with N’Zoth. It may see some undeserved inclusion into N’Zoth Warrior just for the Dragon tag, but don’t be surprised if it gets cut.
E.T.C., God of Metal:5 Stars – An explosive finisher to Rush Warrior which is easy to combo due to its low cost and can potentially deal 8-12 face damage in a single turn. Darkmoon Faire has given E.T.C. plenty of small tokens to work with, so whenever you see this card come down, you can expect a lot of pain flying your way. Just a nutty ending to what could be a new top-tier archetype.
Ringmaster Whatley:4 Stars – 5-mana-draw-3 is good on its own, but adding a strong body along with it is just unfair. This card pushes the Menagerie archetype well, but it will need support in order to dominate, and if we look at the other cards that Warrior has received, none of them scream “busted” the same way this does. If the archetype works, Whatley will drag it across the finish line kicking and screaming, but if not, you can’t say he didn’t try his hardest to make it work.
Neutral
Banana Vendor: 2 Stars – It’s a phenomenal mill card, but will mill decks exist in the new meta? That’s unlikely, and if you’re just playing it for the bananas, I doubt it’s worth it since your opponent can make use of them too. Cyclone Mage ran Banana Buffoon back in the day, so perhaps this will be a fringe card in that deck.
Circus Amalgam: 4 Stars – If any N’Zoth deck ends up working out well, this card will be in the deck. It’s a good body for the cost and its “amalgam” status means it can function as one of the tribes you don’t have in your deck (such as Totems: I doubt any N’Zoth decks are going to be running those). It also helps cards which rely on drawing specific tribes, such as Redscale Dragontamer and Ringmaster Whatley, find what they need.
Circus Medic: 1 Star – The benefit from corrupting this is not worth the effort and I can think of a similar Darkmoon Faire neutral which takes this card’s role and does it better…
Claw Machine: 3 Stars – N’Zoth decks will want to consider this. It is also the best target for Oblivitron aside from Darkmoon Tonk. These are basically the only two realistic avenues for this card to succeed.
Costumed Entertainer: 1 Star – There’s just not enough good handbuff synergy to justify a 2 mana 1/2.
Darkmoon Dirigible: 1 Star – Can’t imagine any deck making room for what looks like pack filler. No, I don’t think Playmaker cares about the synergy here.
Darkmoon Statue: 3 Stars – You generally want to use this as a finisher, so we don’t mind waiting around for this to be corrupted. However, as far as finishers go, aggro decks might be able to do better than +1 attack to all minions.
Fantastic Firebird: 1 Star – I’m not sure “fantastic” is the first word that came to mind when looking at this card.
Fleethoof Pearltusk: 2 Stars – Looks mediocre but the Beast tag saves it from a 1. The corrupted form is excellent to resurrect with N’Zoth, and that could allow it to slide into some decks.
Gyreworm: 4 Stars – This is a conditional Flanking Strike at 3 mana. That’s certainly something which any deck which runs elementals will want to look at, and I can easily see this working in a Mage deck.
Inconspicuous Rider:3 Stars – This card is at its most powerful in Mage, but Mage’s secret synergy is mediocre at best. I don’t think it provides enough value to make the cut in either Rogue or Hunter because of how weak the body is.
Knife Vendor: 4 Stars – Face decks will want to consider this. That’s a good body and damage output for the cost, and the drawback isn’t very serious unless you’re in an aggro mirror. So, it’s meta dependent, but in a control heavy meta with lots of Old God decks, Knife Vendor should do well.
Optimistic Ogre: 1 Star – Haha, very cute, but no, a pile of stats with a downside is not good enough for constructed.
Parade Leader: 3 Stars – The success of Parade Leader is entirely contingent on whether Rush Warrior works out, because that is the only new archetype which can generate tons of small Rush minions (aside from something stupid like Token Demon Hunter). I think Rush Warrior will be strong, but only time will tell.
Prize Vendor: 3 Stars – Coldlight Oracle was certainly a great card, and even though this is weaker, it still provides a similar effect. Could see play, especially if any mill decks emerge.
Showstopper: 1 Star – Offensively, silence effects generally aren’t something you want to wait around for. If Silence Priest was viable, this could honestly work great, but alas.
Strongman: 4 Stars – Looks like pack filler at first glance but could be good: The cost reduction basically means it acts as a tempo boost for any expensive play: It’s reminiscent of Anubisath Defender in that regard. The synergy with Y’Shaarj is also excellent, and so this should work well in any deck with that card.
Wriggling Horror: 5 Stars – A great addition to any deck which can consistently flood the board early. Wriggling Horror is a phenomenal boost to aggro decks and certainly will be a powerful contender in the new meta.
Derailed Coaster: 3 Stars – Similar to Parade Leader in that it will need Rush Warrior to be good in order to even have a shot. Fortunately, I have faith in the archetype.
K'thir Ritualist: 1 Star – Even without the drawback, it’s underwhelming. With the drawback, it’s completely unplayable. There’s really not much that can be done here.
Safety Inspector: 2 Stars – Might actually be a sleeper hit, though I’d bet against it. The awkward thing about this card is that it’s not particularly great as a Turn 1 play, but later in the game when you typically don’t want one-drops, this can swap your low-cost junk into something more impactful. Is that worth a slot? I doubt it, but it’s definitely a card to keep an eye on.
Carnival Clown: 5 Stars – This card is utterly absurd in Druid. Simply put, it’s an incredible follow-up to Survival of the Fittest which singlehandedly turns it into a win condition in the deck. Warrior may also be able to harness it with Taunt Buffs, especially Armagedillo.
Darkmoon Rabbit: 2 Stars – Decent removal, but it’s so expensive and a lot of good control decks will have better options than spending 10 whole mana just to clear 3 minions. I should probably give this a 1, but the synergy with Idol of Y’Shaarj intrigues me and makes me think it could be a fringe viable card.
Horrendous Growth: 3 Stars – A good card for control decks to consider. It can be quite ridiculous after some time, but it is very weak if drawn near the end of the game, so its viability is questionable.
C'Thun, the Shattered:4 Stars – Very, very slow card which will need at least one of three things in order to work. Any deck which wants this needs to either: 1) tutor their Old God pieces 2) be able to quickly draw their entire deck, or 3) stall for ages. Galakrond Rogue can accomplish 1 and 2, while Control Shaman is the best deck in the game for 3. So, that’s two potentially powerful decks which are suited to make this into a strong meta contender.
N'Zoth, God of the Deep:3 Stars – Honestly, this is probably the weakest Old God, but it is by no means a bad card. Paladin and Warrior are potentially the decks which are most likely to use this with success, but neither of those theorycrafts looks like a top-tier deck. Still, we could see Druid or Hunter making something out of this, so who knows how strong it will end up when all is said and done.
Silas Darkmoon: 1 Star – Some people have been trying out combos with Silas, and right now those decks are all very weak. It may be possible that some new combo will emerge, but right now this is looking like a 7 mana Treachery, and that’s pretty abysmal.
Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate: 5 Stars – I’m quite pleased with the classes that utilize Yogg as a win condition, such as Mage, Druid, and Priest, and it will certainly be surprising if Yogg doesn’t work out. I should add the caveat that due to the variability of Yogg’s outcomes, he’s not a card you can plop down at anytime and expect it to work out, so there is a situational aspect to his strength.
Y'Shaarj, the Defiler: 4 Stars – Some may be tempted to dismiss this as the worst Old God, but I can see good applications for it in Warlock, Druid, and Warrior. There are a few corrupted cards like Carnival Clown and Strongman which singlehandedly push this into competitive viability, and in Warlock I love the prospect of getting back a free Tickatus. Just a great value generator which will be scary for control decks to handle.
Awesome write-up, you brought up some posibilities I hadn't thought of. I'm excited for this set and like to get people's perspectives in things like this
After reading your review, Kinda happy that most of my Legendaries I opened are 4,5 stars (the Old gods I got are C'Thun and Yogg). Thanks for the detail review
Before the expansion releases, I'd like to jot down a few reactions I had to learning of the general opinions of other reviewers, some of which surprised me quite a bit:
It's true that Trampling Rhino may not have been as good as I initially predicted. I have to admit that the body itself isn't all that impressive, and it doesn't benefit from the buffs as much as other cards might. This is one card which I might have been absolutely off the mark with.
I wasn't expecting Malevolent Strike to be...less than popular. Some people are saying that Rogue has already has good removal like Sap and Flik Skyshiv, but I'm pretty confident that a 1, potentially 0 mana Assassinate is a good enough reason to cut those other removal cards from your deck. The general consensus seems to be that C'Thun Rogue won't work, and I think that with the Galakrond package, Rogue has more than enough card draw to pull it off. So I can safely say that I disagree strongly with the other reviewers on this one.
I was mainly envisioning the Silver Hand cards to spawn their own deck, but others seem to think that they should be used in Pure Paladin. While this isn't crazy, I don't think this is better than what Pure Paladin can already do, so I struggle to see how the cards can justify inclusion in the deck. But who knows, they might surprise me.
Below I have written a guide detailing my predictions for the upcoming cards in the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire set. Similarly to Trump, I will be grading each card from 1 to 5 stars, meaning:
5 Stars: Staple in a Tier 1 deck or a staple in multiple Tier 2 decks.
4 Stars: Occasionally used in a Tier 1 deck, a staple in a Tier 2 deck, or a staple in multiple Tier 3 decks.
3 Stars: Occasionally used in a Tier 2 deck, a staple in a Tier 3 deck, or a staple in multiple Tier 4 decks
2 Stars: Sees at least 1% of play in a Tier 4 deck or has seen some amount of tournament success.
1 Star: Fails to maintain a 1% playrate in Diamond or above.
I have tried to avoid watching other people's card reviews beforehand, so you can be confident that the opinions below are my own and not tainted by anyone else's perception. Enjoy.
Demon Hunter
Acrobatics: 4 Stars – An extremely strong card in a currently weak archetype, albeit one with room for improvement with the new set. Having effective forms of refill is important for Voracious Reader decks, so this should make the cut as long as Aggro Demon Hunter is viable (which it might not be, but I’m optimistic here).
Dreadlord's Bite: 3 Stars – This weapon is fair for the cost, but it directly competes with better options such as Marrowslicer, Umberwing, and Felsteel Executioner, and thus would normally end up outclassed. However, a certain new archetype may be able to make use of it…
Felscream Blast: 2 Stars – Normally, a card like this would need spell damage synergy to work, and Demon Hunter doesn’t have that. However, the new legendary wants lifesteal cards to work with, and this is one of the better ones available. For that reason, I’m not ruling it out entirely.
Insatiable Felhound: 2 Stars – Ashtongue Battlelord sees no play whatsoever. This card is arguably better, but Demon Hunter doesn’t have much use for a card like this. Similarly to Felscream Blast, the only reason this doesn’t get a “1” is because it’s possible that Il’gynoth could make use of it.
Line Hopper: 3 Stars – Demon Hunter has a good chunk of cheap Outcast cards that you can string together with this, and many of them draw cards. The question is whether Outcast strings will be reliable and consistent enough to fit into a constructed deck. My guess is that an Outcast Demon Hunter archetype will emerge, but not end up as a particularly strong choice (perhaps somewhere in Tier 3).
Redeemed Pariah: 3 Stars – Good card even if you can only play one outcast card; think Totem Golem without the overload. If you have it on the board when starting a Line Hopper chain, then it becomes even more ridiculous. But is a good card like this enough to spawn a new archetype? Only time will tell.
Relentless Pursuit: 1 Star – This spell is very underwhelming. Shadow Bolt is a weak card, and this isn’t much better. Even though this card helps activate Bladed Lady, Demon Hunter has better options to get to six attack than this.
Renowned Performer: 1 Star – This is pack filler in the same vein as Vilefiend Trainer. It’s fair for the cost, but Demon Hunter has no synergy with Rush, Taunt or Deathrattle strong enough to justify putting it in your deck.
Bladed Lady: 5 Stars – Oh my god this is absolutely insane. Think about how easy it is for Soul Demon Hunter to hit 6 attack, and then just imagine this coming down along with it. A great card for an archetype which is already the best in the game.
Throw Glaive: 2 Stars – This card would be ridiculous in any class which has a viable control deck. Sadly, Demon Hunter is poorly suited to take advantage of this. We want to be attacking face, not minions, and we don’t want to cut any of the really good removal cards that see play in Soul Demon Hunter, such as Shardshatter Mystic and Blade Dance, for this.
Expendable Performers: 1 Star – Someday they’re going to give Token Demon Hunter real support instead of one or two throwaway cards per expansion. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself…
Felsteel Executioner: 3 Stars – As a potential 3 mana 4/3 weapon, it’s very tempting to put this in an Aggro deck, but the problem is the lack of activators for the weapon: you don’t want to be running a lot of 4 mana cards in decks with Acrobatics and Voracious Reader. Soul Demon Hunter might want to try this, but it already has Marrowslicer and Aldrachi Warblades, two weapons which are central to the deck and should not be replaced. Is six weapons too many? I think it probably is. The most likely scenario where this sees play is in a totally new archetype, but it’s hard to envision what that looks like or if it will exist at all.
Stiltstepper: 4 Stars – Only good in a deck with very few cards that cost more than 3 mana. Fortunately, Voracious Reader and Acrobatics highly encourage us to play a deck like that in the first place. It’ll be hard for aggressive decks to say no to this.
Il'gynoth: 5 Stars – Il’gynoth could potentially lead to the discovery of a new lifesteal-centric archetype, but what is more likely is that it will be used in conjunction with cards like Aldrachi Warblades and Soulshard Lapidary for a powerful swing. The prospect of dealing 12-16 damage to the face in just one blow is so overwhelming that Il’gynoth will almost certainly end up as a staple in Soul Demon Hunter. Just a fantastically toxic card which will likely lead to players teching in Acidic Swamp Ooze like crazy.
Zai, the Incredible: 3 Stars – A 5 mana 5/3 with a pseudo-draw 2 effect certainly isn’t bad, but the question is whether any deck want to include this over better options. Perhaps the synergy with Skull of Gul’dan will make it worthwhile? Perhaps the Outcast chains will be easier if this can generate more copies of cheap outcast cards? Perhaps a second Soulciologist Malicia makes the inclusion worth it? It’s not unthinkable that Zai makes the cut, but there’s no obvious archetype where she fits in well.
Druid
Faire Arborist: 1 Star – I like the card, but I don’t like the archetype it’s supposed to function in. Treant Druid has taken a pretty big hit since rotation, and I don’t see this bringing it back.
Lunar Eclipse: 5 Stars – So, it’s like backstab but with 3 damage and no “undamaged” requirement? Hell yeah that’s good, sign me up. The only downside compared to Backstab is that you have to play a spell to get the cost reduction benefit, but that doesn’t seem very difficult for Druid to do.
Solar Eclipse: 3 Stars – Very scary but needs a specific spell to double in order to work. You could combo this with Kael’thas and Survival of the Fittest, but that could end up being too clunky. It’s hard to say, which is why I’m giving this a tentative 3.
Fizzy Elemental: 1 Star – This card is so strange and so out-of-place that I feel like I’m missing something. Maybe N’Zoth wants it for its Elemental tag? I have no idea what this is doing in Druid, and I can’t envision a deck which wants a slightly better Burly Shovelfist. Who knows, maybe this will shock me somehow.
Moontouched Amulet: 4 Stars – This card makes sense in Y’Shaarj Druid, unlike Faire Arborist. It’s less awkward to play off-curve, and more impactful when generated by Y’Shaarj. I’d say it has a high chance of seeing play so long as Y’Shaarj is good in Druid, which it probably will be.
Umbral Owl: 3 Stars – A good card to compliment a spell-heavy Yogg deck with Fungal Fortunes and Glowfly Swarm. I doubt such a deck will be top-tier, but it’ll probably be good enough to see some competitive play.
Cenarion Ward: 1 Star – For an 8-mana card like this to see play, you either need it to have extremely strong synergy or it needs to be strong enough as a standalone that decks are willing to slot it in. This card is neither, and while it does get substantially better with Solar Eclipse, that’s not enough to convince me that this can work.
Guess the Weight: 1 Star – I really dislike the high probability of this ending up as a two-mana draw one. You need consistency, and this card does not provide that, which means it will be outclassed by the other forms of card draw Druid has available to the class. It’s not even particularly spectacular if you guess correctly.
Greybough: 1 Star – There are two major problems with this card. The first is that it is completely reliant on having other minions on the board when it dies in order to respawn. Many board clears will wipe the slate clean in one go, thus negating the deathrattle. The second is that there is not really an archetype that currently exists where this can fit in well. Is this supposed to be used in Treant Druid? I have no idea. Overall, a very underwhelming legendary.
Kiri, Chosen of Elune: 2 Stars – Initially this card looked very impressive until I realized that you could just put the Solar and Lunar Eclipses into your deck without Kiri. As a result, this card seems a tad unnecessary. Maybe it can help improve the consistency of some combo deck with Solar Eclipse, but I wouldn’t be surprised if most players just left it on the shelf.
Hunter
Dancing Cobra: 3 Stars – Could be potent enough to find its way into Highlander Hunter. Unlikely to see play in other decks because it doesn’t take advantage of any good synergies in this set, but it’s likely strong enough as a standalone.
Mystery Winner: 5 Stars – Busted; it’s like Secret Plan except better, 100% chance of seeing play. I will say I’m not particularly fond of the whole “reprint old cards which saw play, except better” thing Hunter has going on (like Wolpertinger last expansion).
Open the Cages: 2 Stars – Not really a fan of how hard the condition is to pull off, and the reward is a slightly cheaper Animal Companion. However, Hunter has a higher demand for secrets than usual this expansion, so this could make the cut.
Darkmoon Tonk: 4 Stars – This one surprised me. After looking at the synergy between it and Maxima, I initially decided that this was probably going to be a one-star card. However, when theorycrafting a Highlander Hunter deck with N’Zoth as a win condition, it doesn’t look so bad. The synergy with Nine Lives and Oblivitron is probably enough to keep it in the realm of playability. I could be 100% wrong about this one, but it’s fun to go out on a limb every so often.
Petting Zoo: 5 Stars – Absolutely insane. Even with one secret, it’s good, and with multiples it becomes obscene. Encourages an aggressive board-flooding strategy which Hunter can make good use of.
Trampling Rhino: 4 Stars – Yay, Overkill’s back. Face Hunter can make good use of this, especially since it has some synergy with Scavenger’s Ingenuity. It's a good lategame card for a deck which could use a more potent lategame.
Don't Feed the Animals: 1 Star – It’s not the worst card I’ve ever seen in my life, but it’s very lackluster as a handbuff card even when corrupted. I mean, just compare it to Into the Fray. You aren’t going to be running enough beasts to justify this card.
Jewel of N'Zoth: 3 Stars – Very tempting, but Hunter only has a few strong deathrattle minions available to it, and running this card in a Deathrattle deck encourages us to cut weaker deathrattles (such as Ursatron and Zixor) just so we ensure that we only resurrect strong ones. This is definitely a card to consider, but it’s probably too clunky to make the final cut.
Maxima Blastenheimer: 1 Star – If you thought Jewel of N'Zoth had a bad deckbuilding restriction, just wait ‘til you see this. We have to forego earlygame minions entirely and rely on Hunter’s limited control tools just to play this, and while you might get a good highroll like Darkmoon Tonk or Scrapyard Colossus, what happens after your opponent answers those threats? What happens if you never draw this? Building a deck around Maxima is a fool’s errand, and I’d be shocked if this turned out to be any good.
Rinling's Rifle: 5 Stars – This card gives you a lot of value for the cost (think of it as a corrupted Ring Toss with a 2/2 weapon attached, albeit with weaker secrets). It’s a good way to set up a strong Petting Zoo turn, since you’re paying for the second secret up front (Turn 4 you play this, turn 5 you swing, play a secret, and then get 9/9 in stats). A natural fit for Secret Hunter, which should be very good in this meta.
Mage
Confection Cyclone: 5 Stars – An even better Fire Fly which not only activates Gyreworm for the next turn, but also gives you cheap elementals which can be played later in the game to activate your Elemental Allies or Animated Avalance.
Firework Elemental: 2 Stars – Elemental decks will be tempted to use it due to the tag and strong effect. However, the condition for the effect is brutal; you have to play a 6 mana card first before you can use it as intended. Problem is, Elemental decks will be incentivized to run a lot of cheap spells to justify cards like Mana Cyclone and Elemental Allies. I don’t think it makes the cut.
Game Master: 3 Stars – A little bit of an awkward card. You won’t be able to cheat out a secret any earlier than you normally would with it, and it’s generally not a card you want to play on Turn 2. This makes it a weird fit for Secret decks, which usually try to be aggressive. It’s not bad, but not quite “busted” enough to skyrocket Secret Mage to Tier 1 or anything.
Grand Finale: 5 Stars – Excellent win condition for Mage. The class has a good number of cheap elementals which means setting this up on Turn 7 shouldn’t be too hard, and the payoff is enormous. Absolute must-use card for the archetype.
Mask of C'Thun: 1 Star – I might be more enthusiastic about this if Dragoncaster still cost 6 mana, but Mage has long since abandoned big spells as an archetype, and it’s unlikely they’ll come back soon. Even if Highlander mage comes back, this just might not be impactful enough to make it in; it’s so glaringly inferior to Reno the Relicologist.
Ring Toss: 1 Star – The Corrupt keyword really kills this card. Looking at a Secret deck, there generally aren’t very many cards you want to be playing that cost more than 4 mana (Cloud Prince and Sayge ae basically the only ones), and the payoff isn’t good enough to justify how inconsistent the extra effect will be.
Occult Conjurer: 3 Stars – This, along with the card below, is the real reason why I think Secret Mage has some potential. On turn 4, this is a strong earlygame play, and its condition is easy to activate when you have a secret which can reliably stay untriggered such as…
Rigged Faire Game: 3 Stars – Remember Sanctuary? That card had a good effect for its mana cost, but it never saw play because, as it turns out, it’s quite easy for your opponent to damage your face. Fortunately, when you have cards like Occult Conjurer, Cloud Prince, and Ethereal Arcanist which rely on secrets going untriggered, it’s fine for Rigged Faire Game to sit there for a few turns. If triggered, it gives the deck card draw, something the archetype lacks. Secret Mage is a very weak archetype at the moment, but these two epics help a lot to make it more competitive.
Deck of Lunacy: 2 Stars – Fun meme card, but far too inconsistent to use in a constructed deck. Will likely see play in Spell Mage (a weak archetype that has consistently had a strangely high playrate for some reason), but it’s not doing much to boost the winrate, many of the spells you get from this are quite weak even when discounted. It might even be a liability.
Sayge, Seer of Darkmoon: 3 Stars – One of the reasons why Secret Mage was such a bust in Saviors of Uldum was the deck’s tendency to run out of steam to quickly. Sayge is a direct response to this, and when played on curve, it shouldn’t be too uncommon to get 3-4 cards from him. The issue with this archetype is that it still lacks appropriate aggression (no good Turn 1-2 plays, not much in the way of mana cheating, etc.), which is why I don’t think it will see that much success, but it could possibly work out in the end.
Paladin
Carousel Gryphon: 3 Stars – Unlike most Corrupt cards, the initial card is fair for its cost (like Dalaran Crusader with one more health). The card is a little difficult to upgrade, and the corrupted version doesn’t blow me away, but the most promising thing about this card is surprisingly the Mech tag. With a big body like that, this could fit well into a N’Zoth Paladin deck.
Day at the Faire: 1 Star – In an aggressive Silver Hand deck, you are going to be playing with a low curve. You cannot afford to be waiting around to draw the small number of 4/5 cost cards just so you can play this and get a decent benefit. This problem could be overlooked if the other Silver Hand cards were decent, but we’ll get to those in a minute.
Redscale Dragontamer: 4 Stars – I can see multiple applications for this card. The first is N’Zoth Paladin, which will gladly take a minion with a Murloc Tag and can use it to draw Circus Amalgam or Amber Watcher. The second is in Murloc Paladin, where it can guarantee drawing those powerful Scalelords. At the end of the day, it’s a 2/3 that draws a card, and that’s pretty sweet.
Balloon Merchant: 1 Star – This is a poor man’s Quartermaster. The lower attack is quite a disappointment considering how important it is for aggro decks to be able to burst down their opponents, and while the Divine Shield is supposed to compensate for the lack of health, the archetype needs ways to leverage the silver hand recruits into something threatening, and this card just isn’t that threatening.
Carnival Barker: 1 Star – I actually like this card better than the OG Steward of Darkshire and wouldn’t be surprised if this saw play in, say, Odd Paladin in Wild. Unfortunately, this isn’t a Wild review, so I can just say that this card, while good, is stuck in an archetype which is nowhere near ready for competitive viability. Tragic.
Snack Run: 1 Star – Flash of Light saw play due to the high demand for card draw in Holy Wrath Paladin. This card discovers a spell instead, which is not a terrible tradeoff, but it’s not really what Paladin is looking for when choosing cards to actively put in its decks. In addition, it cannot heal minions, and will sometimes heal very little if the spell you want is cheap. Too often this will just be a Renew which costs an extra mana.
Hammer of the Naaru: 3 Stars – Another pack filler/arena card which is thrust into competitive viability because of a tag. This is the only option N’Zoth has for a good-sized Elemental, and it comes with a strong weapon to boot.
Oh My Yogg!: 1 Star – This is actually a really obnoxious effect. It’s kind of like a cheaper Counterspell, and in many cases it can actually be better. The problem is that Paladin does not have much in the way of secret synergy, and a decent 1-mana spell is just too fair to make it into decks.
High Exarch Yrel: 3 Stars – Great card which fits into Pure Paladin extremely well, which is currently one of the best decks in the game. So why does this only get three stars? Because in a changing meta with powerful emergent decks which are adding new cards, High Exarch Yrel is literally the only card from the new expansion that Pure Paladin is interested in. Will the archetype be able to retain its dominant position in the meta by playing almost exactly as it did for the last four months? It’s not impossible, but I’d bet against it.
Lothraxion the Redeemed: 1 Star – This is the absolute worst new card for an archetype I already had no faith in. It’s a 5-mana-do-nothing in a deck that wants to be aggressive. It’s a terrible draw in the endgame. It’s completely redundant with Balloon Merchant (Double divine shield? Hello?). It utterly fails to give me a reason to play Silver Hand Paladin when there are so many better new decks available.
Priest
Fairground Fool: 1 Star – Bundles of stats might be OK in other classes, but in Priest there just isn’t anything you can do with a 4/7 that comes down on Turn 5 at the earliest. Very slow and very underwhelming.
Fortune Teller: 2 Stars – Violet Spellsword is a rather weak card and this feels reminiscent of that. In order for Fortune Teller to be “worth it”, you need a minimum of 4, but preferably 5 or more spells, which isn’t too hard for Priest, but is it going to be consistent enough?
Insight: 4 Stars – The card isn’t the strongest Corrupt card I’ve seen this set (although that title probably goes to another Priest card), but it’s quite good in Priest, which isn’t in a hurry to play this and appreciates the discount. This will be excellent with combo-based cards such as Sethekk Veilweaver, which can chain together lots of spells for a lot of value. Alternatively, you can play powerful win conditions like Murozond, the Infinite earlier. There are lots of great uses for this.
Auspicious Spirits: 1 Star – This is a very long time to wait for what is likely just going to be a mediocre pile of stats. It is hard to think of a practical application for this, and I can’t see this as ever becoming more than pack filler.
Nazmani Bloodweaver: 5 Stars – In the past we’ve seen that it isn’t hard for Sethekk Veilweaver to generate powerful chains of spells. This card does it even better, and because Priest already has access to a lot of strong cheap spells, this is a natural fit. But if only there was a way to make the chains even more consistent…
Palm Reading: 5 Stars – Mana cheating is powerful, and Priest can afford to wait around to corrupt this. The class uses a lot of spells and will generally have enough in hand to make playing this worthwhile. As soon as you see this played, you better prepare for your opponent’s next turn to be extremely long and tilting as they play a ton of spells with their Veilweavers and Bloodweavers.
Blood of G'huun: 3 Stars – The card itself is just OK. It’s slow, and while Resurrect Priest has minions which are good when summoned from Blood of G’huun, the fact that it happens at the end of your turn is a problem (something like, say, Catrina Muerte isn’t as scary when she’s summoned without resurrecting anything). This card alone isn’t going to bring back the Resurrect archetype, but unfortunately, it’s not alone.
Idol of Y'Shaarj: 3 Stars – Boy, I hope I’m wrong about this one. As much as I want to call Idol of Y’Shaarj a one-star card, the fact of the matter is that Resurrect Priest has a shot of being viable in the new meta. Practically all of the cards in that deck are excellent with this, especially Blood of G'huun, so this could potentially be a meta-changer. Luckily, Resurrect Priest is something like a Tier 6 archetype at the moment, so we can all rest easy knowing the chances of it dominating the meta are slim.
G'huun the Blood God: 4 Stars – Drawing two cards and being able to play them immediately is tempting, and Priest is the most equipped class to take the health blow. This could lead to some unfair Turn 8s, but it’s possible that the good value is offset by the drawback. Remember, Riftcleaver sees no play due to a similar drawback, so this might not be quite as insane as it looks.
The Nameless One: 4 Stars – Silence, along with similar effects, have proven to be fantastic abilities in the current meta, as seen by the success of cards like Consume Magic and Devolving Missiles. If this were a Scholomance card, the correct rating would likely be 5 stars. The question is whether the high value of silence will continue on into the new meta. With the (likely) decline of Pure Paladin, the deck where silence performs the best, lI can’t say for certain that it will.
Rogue
Foxy Fraud: 5 Stars – Very strong card which highly incentivizes us to expand the “combo” packages in our deck. A free 3/2 is insane, especially when that free card can trigger the combo keyword. Rogue’s combo cards are already great, so it should be easy for us to find a place for this somewhere.
Sweet Tooth: 4 Stars – Possibly one of the best Corrupt minions. It’s not too hard to discount since Aggro Rogue’s curve isn’t as low as other aggressive decks, and the payoff is quite insane: a two mana 5/2 with stealth is very difficult to say no to.
Swindle: 4 Stars – 2-mana-draw-2 is quite a good deal, and the restriction is not very severe. In addition, Foxy Fraud can make fantastic use of this, allowing us to play it for free as early as turn 2. An excellent boost to Rogue already-great set of combo cards.
Prize Plunderer: 3 Stars – It’s good with Foxy Fraud, but when it’s competing with combo cards that Rogue already has which are also good with Foxy Fraud, it might not be able to quite bring enough value. The payoff is especially sad when compared with cards like Edwin VanCleef.
Shadow Clone: 4 Stars – Seems like a decent secret, possibly one of the best that Rogue has. Kind of like Mirror Entity but way better. Secret synergy is quite strong in Rogue, so the class will gladly take another one without complaining.
Ticket Master: 4 Stars – Galakrond decks tend to have an obscene amount of card draw, which increases the reliability of drawing Plush Bears. If that’s not good enough, the class can also slot in Stowaway, which becomes a 5 mana 10/10 if this has been played beforehand. Any Rogue deck which isn’t some aggro-stealth deck should be able to make space for this.
Cloak of Shadows: 2 Stars – Time Out! was good, but it primarily saw play in combo decks which needed the stalling. Will Rogue have decks like that? Maybe, but probably not. The other problem with this card is that it doesn’t nullify untargeted damage, making it weak against decks like Face Hunter.
Malevolent Strike: 5 Stars – It’s a one mana Assassinate in any deck which runs C’Thun with the potential to be discounted further via Ticket Master. This, more than any other card, is what pushes C’Thun into viability in Rogue. It’s almost like Secret Passage for Aggro Rogue in that it is the most instrumental for pushing the archetype.
Grand Empress Shek'zara: 3 Stars – There’s a fair amount of luck needed to make this worth using. You’re not always going to discover a Plush Bear or a Shadow of Death, and Shek’zara is fairly mediocre if you whiff. I could see C’Thun Rogue cutting this entirely just based on the unreliability, but it’s possible that the highrolls are good enough regardless.
Tenwu of the Red Smoke: 5 Stars – An autoinclude for any Galakrond Rogue deck. The synergy with Jandice, Togwaggle, Kronx, etc. is off the charts. You could even do something crazy like play a discounted Old God twice a turn with Tenwu. Possibly one of the best cards in the entire expansion.
Shaman
Cagematch Custodian: 4 Stars – Simple, yet important. Drawing weapons consistently will be crucial for any Aggro Shaman deck. Remember Rune Dagger in Aggro Shaman last expansion and how important it was to draw it or you were S.O.L? That deck was quite weak, but we might want to take another look at Rune Dagger with Cagematch Custodian around.
Revolve: 5 Stars – Not only is this a more consistent Devolving Missiles, but it also has great synergy with any deck which runs Desert Hare. Will such a deck be viable? Even if it’s not, this is still a better version of a card which was great in the last expansion. A surefire success.
Stormstrike: 4 Stars – Decent card which gets significantly better when taken into context with the rest of the Shaman set. Functions like Rockbiter Weapon with better tempo, which is great if you have Doomhammer equipped.
Dunk Tank: 5 Stars – Phenomenal spell in what could be one of the top archetypes of Darkmoon Faire: Control Shaman. This deck has all the pieces for top-tier success except the most important one: it lacks a win condition. The Old Gods can provide the deck with the win condition it needs (my money’s on C’Thun, personally), and that means that this spell can shine in a great new upcoming archetype. Exciting!
Pit Master: 1 Star – You may be noticing a recurring theme with Corrupt minions. A pile of stats is significantly less impressive when it cannot be played on curve, so the only ones which I expect to have any viability are ones with some extra effect as a selling point (such as the one in the next class).
Whack-A-Gnoll Hammer: 2 Stars – This weapon is alright, but it’s not powerful enough to push the new archetype on its own and could even be cut from the deck. Handbuffing is a slow mechanic for an aggressive deck, even when it’s tied to a Fiery War Axe. Uninspiring, but may see play if there are no better options.
Deathmatch Pavilion: 3 Stars – It’s not bad, but it would be better if Shaman had a 1-mana weapon, or a way to attack for free. It sucks that you’ll never be able to play this on curve, because if you could, it would be an excellent earlygame play that could be oppressive for your opponent. The card is still probably good enough to make the cut, but it’s not one of the better cards in Aggro Shaman for this reason.
Magicfin: 1 Star – Murloc Shaman is a dead archetype, and it typically played very aggressively back in Rise of Shadows. With that in mind, would that deck have very much use for random legendaries, most of which are expensive and won’t be relevant until the game is already over? Absolutely not.
Grand Totem Eys'or: 1 Star – Eys’or looks very strong, but this apparent strength may be misleading. Totem Shaman actually doesn’t run all that many “Totems” in their deck, instead running Totem generators like Tour Guide, Splitting Axe, etc. Thus, plopping it down on Turn 3 is a very weak play, and that means its only use may be as a board-wide buff for a field of totems. That’s alright, but that’s basically the only thing the archetype is getting, so will it be able to compete in the new meta with so little support? No, I don’t think so.
Inara Stormcrash: 3 Stars – This card incentivizes us to run other weapons besides Doomhammer. That’s fine, but what are our options? We have Rune Dagger, Whack-A-Gnoll Hammer hammer, and…Stormforged Axe? This can also combo with spells which generate attack, like Rockbiter Weapon, but these combos come fairly late for an Aggro Shaman deck (around Turn 7-8 at the earliest). Still, it’s hard to say “no” to a potential 10 damage to the face in one turn, so Inara shouldn’t be counted out entirely.
Warlock
Man'ari Mosher: 5 Stars – The biggest thing holding back Warlock currently is the lack of healing. This card is a fantastic answer to that problem: when used on any big demon, this card can heal for 8-11 in one blow, which can shut burn decks out of the game entirely. If only there was some way to get those demons on the board in a timely fashion…
Midway Maniac: 2 Stars – This card should be extremely grateful that this set has such good Demon synergy. Otherwise, it would never be considered. It curves nicely into Man'ari Mosher in a pinch, and it helps increase the likelihood of getting the benefit from Free Admission. That’s about all it has going for it, but that just might be enough.
Ring Matron: 3 Stars – Another Demon which seems like arena fodder but could make its way into a constructed deck due to the tag synergy. Dropping this on Turn 4 will be a lot of fun, and so will healing for 9 with Mosher.
Fire Breather: 4 Stars – This is an extremely good card in Demon-centric decks. It’s almost like a Duskbreaker with better stats that only hits enemy minions, and Duskbreaker was a unbelievably broken card. I imagine this will make it into pretty much every single variant of Control Warlock.
Free Admission: 5 Stars – Free Admission is bonkers. Card draw and mana manipulation are two of the best mechanics in the game, and the deckbuilding restriction for this isn’t even that strict (you can still slot in a few non-demon minions and still have about an 70-80% chance of activating the bonus). Even if you whiff, it’s still an Arcane Intellect, which is a viable constructed card. Yeah, I’m thinking Gul’dan’s back.
Wicked Whispers: 1 Star – Grim Rally with a better downside seems really good. Problem is, Grim Rally is designed for Zoo Warlock, so how good will that archetype be in this meta? After some theorycrafting, my estimation is “really bad”. It also sucks that the card you want to pair this with, Boneweb Egg, conflicts heavily with Free Admission.
Cascading Disaster: 4 Stars – A card with a decent baseline which becomes absurd when fully upgraded. Because it’s a board clear, you don’t mind this sitting in your hand until the time you need it, and your deck should have good expensive cards that can help it along.
Revenant Rascal: 1 Star – An effective method of disruption for any aggressive Warlock deck. The problem is this: will there be any viable Warlock decks which want to go aggro? It’s unlikely, and control decks have better things to do than play a 3 mana 3/3.
Deck of Chaos: 1 Star – So, I heard a rumor that Deck of Chaos was planned to be released several expansions ago, when Warlock was stronger, but they held off on it because it was apparently “too strong”. I got no idea if that’s true or not, but if it is, it explains why they did not print a single card which synergizes with this in this set. The only deck I could see interested in this is a combo deck with Malygos, but for that to work, you need to draw and play Deck of Chaos before drawing Malygos. Perhaps Quest Warlock will make a return? Doubtful.
Tickatus: 5 Stars – Tickatus is an excellent win condition for Control Warlock. The deck has several good options for corrupting it, and when you do, you can copy it with Felosophy and mill ten cards from your opponent’s deck. If that’s not enough, you can play Y’Shaarj and do it again. Control Warlock appears to be one of the best archetypes in Scholomace Academy, and I expect that this card will be a key component in the deck.
Warrior
Minefield: 4 Stars – Excellent earlygame removal if you have no minions on the board, which is common for Warrior. Control decks will be glad to pick this up. Alternatively, you can use it for its synergy with things like Bomb Wrangler and pop off that way.
Stage Hand: 1 Star – A minor effect which doesn’t synergize with much that Warrior has. If you’re looking for a buff for something like Tomb Warden or Carnival Clown, you have better options than this.
Sword Eater: 5 Stars – An absolute monster of a card; Sword Eater is simply not fairly statted for what you get. Excellent synergy with several different potential archetypes, such as Pirate Warrior or N’Zoth Warrior. However, even if those archetypes fall through, Sword Eater is such a great standalone that it will likely see play regardless.
Bumper Car: 4 Stars – Not a bad card at all on its own, and it helps provide fodder for Playmaker and E.T.C., which is great. Parade Leader can also turn those small rushers into powerful removal tokens. Other than that, not much to say about it other than it’s a good piece to add to the upcoming deck.
Feat of Strength: 3 Stars – Taunt Warrior received great synergies in Carnival Clown which could end up being a powerhouse in the class. This is great for the deck and turns the clowns into a win condition all on its own. If Taunt Warrior works, then this card will see play, but that’s not guaranteed so I’ll stick with a cowardly 3 as far as my rating goes.
Stage Dive: 5 Stars – An excellent Corrupt card, especially when compared to may of the others. An attack handbuff is already quite impactful for Rush minions, but it becomes ridiculous when paired with cards like Playmaker and Scion of Ruin (and yes, I think the Galakrond package is worth running in a Rush Warrior deck). All you need to do is play a two mana card to reap the full benefits, so it’s hard to imagine passing up on this.
Ringmaster's Baton: 3 Stars – N’Zoth Warrior doesn’t strike me as the greatest archetype in existence, but this card will help it along. It’s a good amount of handbuffs with a decent weapon to boot, and it can be tutored with Corsair Cache.
Tent Trasher: 2 Stars – This card flat-out sucks. It’s hard to discount, it’s not particularly strong when you’ve taken the trouble to discount it (a 3 mana 5/5 with rush really isn’t anything gamebreaking), and it’s a mediocre minion to resurrect with N’Zoth. It may see some undeserved inclusion into N’Zoth Warrior just for the Dragon tag, but don’t be surprised if it gets cut.
E.T.C., God of Metal: 5 Stars – An explosive finisher to Rush Warrior which is easy to combo due to its low cost and can potentially deal 8-12 face damage in a single turn. Darkmoon Faire has given E.T.C. plenty of small tokens to work with, so whenever you see this card come down, you can expect a lot of pain flying your way. Just a nutty ending to what could be a new top-tier archetype.
Ringmaster Whatley: 4 Stars – 5-mana-draw-3 is good on its own, but adding a strong body along with it is just unfair. This card pushes the Menagerie archetype well, but it will need support in order to dominate, and if we look at the other cards that Warrior has received, none of them scream “busted” the same way this does. If the archetype works, Whatley will drag it across the finish line kicking and screaming, but if not, you can’t say he didn’t try his hardest to make it work.
Neutral
Banana Vendor: 2 Stars – It’s a phenomenal mill card, but will mill decks exist in the new meta? That’s unlikely, and if you’re just playing it for the bananas, I doubt it’s worth it since your opponent can make use of them too. Cyclone Mage ran Banana Buffoon back in the day, so perhaps this will be a fringe card in that deck.
Circus Amalgam: 4 Stars – If any N’Zoth deck ends up working out well, this card will be in the deck. It’s a good body for the cost and its “amalgam” status means it can function as one of the tribes you don’t have in your deck (such as Totems: I doubt any N’Zoth decks are going to be running those). It also helps cards which rely on drawing specific tribes, such as Redscale Dragontamer and Ringmaster Whatley, find what they need.
Circus Medic: 1 Star – The benefit from corrupting this is not worth the effort and I can think of a similar Darkmoon Faire neutral which takes this card’s role and does it better…
Claw Machine: 3 Stars – N’Zoth decks will want to consider this. It is also the best target for Oblivitron aside from Darkmoon Tonk. These are basically the only two realistic avenues for this card to succeed.
Costumed Entertainer: 1 Star – There’s just not enough good handbuff synergy to justify a 2 mana 1/2.
Darkmoon Dirigible: 1 Star – Can’t imagine any deck making room for what looks like pack filler. No, I don’t think Playmaker cares about the synergy here.
Darkmoon Statue: 3 Stars – You generally want to use this as a finisher, so we don’t mind waiting around for this to be corrupted. However, as far as finishers go, aggro decks might be able to do better than +1 attack to all minions.
Fantastic Firebird: 1 Star – I’m not sure “fantastic” is the first word that came to mind when looking at this card.
Fleethoof Pearltusk: 2 Stars – Looks mediocre but the Beast tag saves it from a 1. The corrupted form is excellent to resurrect with N’Zoth, and that could allow it to slide into some decks.
Gyreworm: 4 Stars – This is a conditional Flanking Strike at 3 mana. That’s certainly something which any deck which runs elementals will want to look at, and I can easily see this working in a Mage deck.
Inconspicuous Rider: 3 Stars – This card is at its most powerful in Mage, but Mage’s secret synergy is mediocre at best. I don’t think it provides enough value to make the cut in either Rogue or Hunter because of how weak the body is.
Knife Vendor: 4 Stars – Face decks will want to consider this. That’s a good body and damage output for the cost, and the drawback isn’t very serious unless you’re in an aggro mirror. So, it’s meta dependent, but in a control heavy meta with lots of Old God decks, Knife Vendor should do well.
Optimistic Ogre: 1 Star – Haha, very cute, but no, a pile of stats with a downside is not good enough for constructed.
Parade Leader: 3 Stars – The success of Parade Leader is entirely contingent on whether Rush Warrior works out, because that is the only new archetype which can generate tons of small Rush minions (aside from something stupid like Token Demon Hunter). I think Rush Warrior will be strong, but only time will tell.
Prize Vendor: 3 Stars – Coldlight Oracle was certainly a great card, and even though this is weaker, it still provides a similar effect. Could see play, especially if any mill decks emerge.
Rock Rager: 1 Star – Do I need to elaborate?
Showstopper: 1 Star – Offensively, silence effects generally aren’t something you want to wait around for. If Silence Priest was viable, this could honestly work great, but alas.
Strongman: 4 Stars – Looks like pack filler at first glance but could be good: The cost reduction basically means it acts as a tempo boost for any expensive play: It’s reminiscent of Anubisath Defender in that regard. The synergy with Y’Shaarj is also excellent, and so this should work well in any deck with that card.
Wriggling Horror: 5 Stars – A great addition to any deck which can consistently flood the board early. Wriggling Horror is a phenomenal boost to aggro decks and certainly will be a powerful contender in the new meta.
Derailed Coaster: 3 Stars – Similar to Parade Leader in that it will need Rush Warrior to be good in order to even have a shot. Fortunately, I have faith in the archetype.
K'thir Ritualist: 1 Star – Even without the drawback, it’s underwhelming. With the drawback, it’s completely unplayable. There’s really not much that can be done here.
Safety Inspector: 2 Stars – Might actually be a sleeper hit, though I’d bet against it. The awkward thing about this card is that it’s not particularly great as a Turn 1 play, but later in the game when you typically don’t want one-drops, this can swap your low-cost junk into something more impactful. Is that worth a slot? I doubt it, but it’s definitely a card to keep an eye on.
Carnival Clown: 5 Stars – This card is utterly absurd in Druid. Simply put, it’s an incredible follow-up to Survival of the Fittest which singlehandedly turns it into a win condition in the deck. Warrior may also be able to harness it with Taunt Buffs, especially Armagedillo.
Darkmoon Rabbit: 2 Stars – Decent removal, but it’s so expensive and a lot of good control decks will have better options than spending 10 whole mana just to clear 3 minions. I should probably give this a 1, but the synergy with Idol of Y’Shaarj intrigues me and makes me think it could be a fringe viable card.
Horrendous Growth: 3 Stars – A good card for control decks to consider. It can be quite ridiculous after some time, but it is very weak if drawn near the end of the game, so its viability is questionable.
C'Thun, the Shattered: 4 Stars – Very, very slow card which will need at least one of three things in order to work. Any deck which wants this needs to either: 1) tutor their Old God pieces 2) be able to quickly draw their entire deck, or 3) stall for ages. Galakrond Rogue can accomplish 1 and 2, while Control Shaman is the best deck in the game for 3. So, that’s two potentially powerful decks which are suited to make this into a strong meta contender.
N'Zoth, God of the Deep: 3 Stars – Honestly, this is probably the weakest Old God, but it is by no means a bad card. Paladin and Warrior are potentially the decks which are most likely to use this with success, but neither of those theorycrafts looks like a top-tier deck. Still, we could see Druid or Hunter making something out of this, so who knows how strong it will end up when all is said and done.
Silas Darkmoon: 1 Star – Some people have been trying out combos with Silas, and right now those decks are all very weak. It may be possible that some new combo will emerge, but right now this is looking like a 7 mana Treachery, and that’s pretty abysmal.
Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate: 5 Stars – I’m quite pleased with the classes that utilize Yogg as a win condition, such as Mage, Druid, and Priest, and it will certainly be surprising if Yogg doesn’t work out. I should add the caveat that due to the variability of Yogg’s outcomes, he’s not a card you can plop down at anytime and expect it to work out, so there is a situational aspect to his strength.
Y'Shaarj, the Defiler: 4 Stars – Some may be tempted to dismiss this as the worst Old God, but I can see good applications for it in Warlock, Druid, and Warrior. There are a few corrupted cards like Carnival Clown and Strongman which singlehandedly push this into competitive viability, and in Warlock I love the prospect of getting back a free Tickatus. Just a great value generator which will be scary for control decks to handle.
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Very good review. A couple of things that I don’t quote agree with but I would say that I 95% agree.
well done!
Awesome write-up, you brought up some posibilities I hadn't thought of. I'm excited for this set and like to get people's perspectives in things like this
Nice. Very nice. Thank you. I’m mostly commenting so I can find this again in the future.
After reading your review, Kinda happy that most of my Legendaries I opened are 4,5 stars (the Old gods I got are C'Thun and Yogg).
Thanks for the detail review
Before the expansion releases, I'd like to jot down a few reactions I had to learning of the general opinions of other reviewers, some of which surprised me quite a bit:
It's true that Trampling Rhino may not have been as good as I initially predicted. I have to admit that the body itself isn't all that impressive, and it doesn't benefit from the buffs as much as other cards might. This is one card which I might have been absolutely off the mark with.
I wasn't expecting Malevolent Strike to be...less than popular. Some people are saying that Rogue has already has good removal like Sap and Flik Skyshiv, but I'm pretty confident that a 1, potentially 0 mana Assassinate is a good enough reason to cut those other removal cards from your deck. The general consensus seems to be that C'Thun Rogue won't work, and I think that with the Galakrond package, Rogue has more than enough card draw to pull it off. So I can safely say that I disagree strongly with the other reviewers on this one.
I was mainly envisioning the Silver Hand cards to spawn their own deck, but others seem to think that they should be used in Pure Paladin. While this isn't crazy, I don't think this is better than what Pure Paladin can already do, so I struggle to see how the cards can justify inclusion in the deck. But who knows, they might surprise me.
I manage the Epic Tier List and Crafting Guide. Come check it out!
Here are my predictions in The Exhaustive Ashes of Outlands Card Preview.