Hearthpwn

 Not gonna neg on all the effort this obviously took but I strongly disagree with a lot of takes here.

Primordial protector for example is a cycle card that cycles into a high impact spell and summons a ton of stats onto the board. And the only deckbuilding requirement is that your deck have expensive spells. It always pulls the most expensive one.

I am disappointed you think Frenzy archetype is so shit in its own expansion. Fortunately I have hope for it this year (and the next). Because next expansion is Stormwind, Evelyn Forrest or Lakeshire. As we had Alliance cards in Barrens for sake of parity and to avoid angering the fanboys I expect some Horde in those places, and so more Frenzy.

The expansion after that will be a clash of Alliance and Horde, probably in Alterac Valley, more Frenzy. Minisets will also hopefully add even more Frenzy.

I have hope this deck, and mage hero power, will come into their own. Such a massive waste of effort if they don't.

Quote from Darksun200 >>

 Kolkar Pack Runner 1 star? really? standalone it's a good card but combo with a cheap 1 or 2 cost spell and it gets better, MUCH better if it sticks.

 I dunno, I could be totally wrong about that one but Hunter traditionally hasn't used large strings of cheap spells, and neither has it really been able to leverage tokens effectively. The class is getting some good spells in the upcoming set so I admit it's not crazy to think this card is strong.

Quote from ShadowAldrius >>

 Not gonna neg on all the effort this obviously took but I strongly disagree with a lot of takes here.

Primordial protector for example is a cycle card that cycles into a high impact spell and summons a ton of stats onto the board. And the only deckbuilding requirement is that your deck have expensive spells. It always pulls the most expensive one.

Oh shit I totally missed that lmao, good catch. Yeah that could dramatically change the card's viability, but it's still expensive and unreliable so...maybe I'm still "right" for the wrong reasons.

Quote from Neko_Tamo >>

I am disappointed you think Frenzy archetype is so shit in its own expansion.

 I think Frenzy Warrior is good though...

@HoraceStapleton from your review I got the feeling you think Frenzy warrior will be a tier 3 or at best tier 2 deck.

Quote from Neko_Tamo >>

@HoraceStapleton from your review I got the feeling you think Frenzy warrior will be a tier 3 or at best tier 2 deck.

 Oh yeah, looking back over it I guess that's understandable. I did rate Overlord Saurfang a bit lower than I remembered, but that's partially because I think cards like Warsong Commander and Whirling Combatant are really good and you might choose them over Saurfang in a Frenzy deck.

Vile Call – 1 Star: If we look at the cards that have been successful with Il’gynoth, all of them do not require much setup beforehand: Felscream Blast deals its damage immediately, and you can play Aldrachi Warblades early and keep it out until you need it. This card, like Insatiable Felhound, can only combo with Il’gynoth if the minions it generates stick, and that’s just not reliable enough.

Why does it necessarily have to be comboed with il'gynoth to be played?

Aldrachi Warblades and Eye Beam were both played often before he even existed. By itself, Vile Call is a good, proactive turn 3 play

Pack Kodo 1 star? 3 mana 3/3 Beast that discovers reach for Hunter is an excellent card.

Great early. Usually discovers the best card you'll use down the line. Amazing late game as it will usually discover the weapon Hunter will need to help finish the damage to the dome. Or whatever other option you'll need at the time will work too. Pack Kodo is flexibility and reach all in a solid body with a relevant minion type.

You're high if you're giving this 1 star.

Just a formatting thing: you can use the card number to get the right cards for the ranked spells. It can be found in the URL.

[card]464317[card]

is Fury (Rank 1).

Quote from HoraceStapleton >>

 

Grimoire of Sacrifice – 2 Stars: “Destroy a friendly minion” effects, similar to “discard” effects, have typically only worked out in aggressive decks; think Grim Rally and the new Ritual of Doom. The only deck I could imagine running this is Galakrond Warlock, which is rotating out before this can make an impact.

 Why not use Grimoire of Sacrifice in a Zoolock? Throw in those eggs (Boneweb Egg has amazing synergy with Wicked Whispers on its own, Nerubian Egg will work too) and you have a nice board clear for aggro mirrors. Since Zoolock is an archetype that doesn't strictly go face but cares about board state, that sounds good for me.

First of all, thank you for your efforts.

Everyone has their own opinions on cards and mine differ for around 60-70% of the cards from yours, but I can see some of your points.

However, I would like to point out this card below because I think you are extremely wrong in that case:

Veteran Warmedic – 1 Star: This card is fairly clunky and, while many Holy spells are cheap, it requires significant setup to be worth the effort. It’s not horrible; it’s simply outclassed by the many better options available to Paladin.

I have said this durig Thijs' card rating stream (I agree quite a lot more with Thijs and Regis' ratings than with yours btw.) and I am going to repeat it here again, so you can quote me in a couple weeks:

Veteran Warmedic will get nerfed! It's a super easy 5-star card that requires literally no setup in a certain paladin deck that is already strong in standard, unlike you describe... Libram Paladin. The token it produces is a premium buff target for any of the deck's buffs spells, and especially Blessing of Authoritaaah!. The fact that the card produces more bodies to buff is extremely relevant in LIbram Paladin to not strand on buffs in your hand and with Blessing of Authoritaaah! on the tokens, it is effectively shutting down aggro lists while having a dangerous threat on the board that any slower deck needs to deal with (just like the high-cost Libram spell btw) + the Warmedic who created it and who also needs to be removed as well before getting out of control. Not to mention, Broom is absolutely insane with it. This card is crazy good and will 100% see a nerf if Libram Paladin will be one of the top tier standard decks, which I envision it to be. Also, there is a holy package in the new set with the new 1-drop and the mercenary that both fit nicely into this deck AND increase the consistency of Warmedic tremendously.

What an awesome read while everybody is waiting for the expansion to drop. Thanks for your time and effort! Really enjoyed this one. 

I don't like this style of competitive ratings where good cards sometimes get 1 or 2 star because they don't see a lot of play, I prefer purely synergy based ratings that try to explore the possibilities of every card and let the meta settle itself instead of actively trying to predict the most powerful cards and decks ahead of the release, we often get terribly wrong anyway.

Like Sunwell Initiate who gets a 1 star rating because it's not an actively synergystic card with any deck and Hearthstone is a lot about combos these days, but is objectively a very powerful tempo 3 drop that could potentially be very disruptive or sticky if you don't have exactly 4 damage on board or in hand, maybe it's effectively going to be worth 1 star in the next meta because we have so many good cards to build decks with, but as a standalone card, it's one of the best spider tanks in the game worth at LEAST 3 stars.

I think every card should get a meta rating and a standalone rating, would be much more fun !

Nonetheless, good work, and I'm going to read it in detail now, maybe i'll be surprised.

If anyone is like me I suggest watching Brian Kibler's reviews he is very much into that kind of synergy based ratings and not so much into the competitive side of things, he tries to explore every card.