Hearthpwn

I was bummed at first that I got Making Mummies as my free quest, but having built a paladin deck around it I now think it's the most underrated quest of the expansion. HSReplay seems to agree.

SlydE, I have a request for the Wild list format to make it more useful. As it stands, it seems to mainly concentrate on wild-only cards, only mentioning standard cards occasionally when the card is much better in wild than standard (i.e. Kingsbane prior to Leeching poison nerf). However, due to higher power level of wild, many Tier 1-2 standard cards do not make the cut in wild (i.e. Kathrena Winterwisp is not anywhere near as powerful in wild as in standard).

Instead of being treated as a supplementary list to Standard, therefore, can Wild section have its own complete list, otherwise it's not quite obvious which cards are worth crafting and which aren't. 

I never understood the appeal of Mojomaster Zihi or why it's considered Tier 1 until I saw this: 

Is Prince Keleseth relevant in wild? I want to craft him, but knowing that he'll only see play for the next 4 month in standard, I don't want to craft a card that will be relegated to meme status in wild. Currently my wild decks aren't strong enough to see competitive play, but I plan to change that as my collection grows.

Quote from psykechan >>

Mojomaster Zihi, and High Priestess Jeklik are NOT performing well, be careful!

When in doubt, listen to SlydE. :)

With that said, I've been having a ton of fun with Jeklik: https://hsreplay.net/replay/gSfDuwuSt2v2H3Yj5rvDfW

For those interested, here is the deck I put together: https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1214446-grant-me-wings-discardlock

From testing, I came to conclusion that even now the Quest is still not worth playing, it only gets in the way.

So I'm on the fence about crafting Zilliax. It is a tier 1 card right now, no doubt, and will be in standard for a long time. I fully agree with its value (which many players seem to miss) in basically being a super-buff to any mech. What scares me, however, is that we're unlikely to see further mech support in future expansions, and even now mech decks aren't really tier 1. Realistically, as awesome as it is now, this card will only get weaker as time goes on unless we see another high-statted mech or two in the next expansion.

Based on my own games, I'd say that the must-craft cards of Boomsday are the following:

• Zilliax: amazing versatility, a must-have card in any mech-heavy deck, imo a safe tier 1 once the tiers are decided.
• Whizbang the Wonderful: best way to test many popular decks, while the decks made by designers are often not as powerful as the meta decks, they usually serve as the barebones for the meta decks players build. This card itself is hard to put in a tier, since the decks it generates are not tier 1 themselves, however.

Other honorable mentions (probably tier 2 eventually) go to:

• Kangor's Endless Army: Paladin can create massive mechs quickly, but a single large minion is easy to remove. This is a good way to keep the pressure going after your big mechs have been removed. In a way it's like DK Gul'dan's battlecry to get your demons back.
• The Storm Bringer: In general really good, especially since you'll be using it on a bunch of 1-2 mana minions/totems. Sometimes I play it on almost dead minions right after trading with the opponent. It's a good way to regain the board and often disorients the opponent.
• Flobbidinous Floop: A devious card that can enable several creative archetypes and play styles. It even makes Mechac'thun viable, which would otherwise be a meme.
• Floop's Glorious Gloop: amazing synergy with board clears and very powerful vs agro decks. Most players don't use this card well, but I had one opponent completely destroy my Odd Paladin simply by playing this card at the right time in his Treeant Druid deck. The momentum he gained from this card alone was such that I could never catch up again. He basically played 2-3 turns worth of cards in a single turn.

Decent, but not amazing:

• Dr. Boom, Mad Genius: Despite getting this as my freebie I have yet to play it myself, but have experienced playing against it multiple times. The card is interesting, but seems too inconsistent to make it into tier 1 decks. Other hero cards usually have enough power to turn the tide of battle, this one does not seem to. If you're already behind, this card won't help you to catch up.
• Boommaster Flark: It's a decent card that's probably a must-craft for the Bomb-Face Hunter archetype Blizzard is pushing this expansion, problem is that so far I have not been impressed with this build compared to others. It seems to run out of gas too early and does not produce as much pressure as other agro decks. The deck does have potential but needs more deathrattle synergies.

Poor/Trash (IMO):

• Myra Rotspring: usually discovers a pretty mediocre deathrattle in an already clunky Deathrattle Rogue deck. In standard Deathrattle Rogue isn't worth playing, and in wild you're better off replacing Myra with something like Sylvanas Windrunner anyway.

Other cards I'm not sure about yet.

Sitting on 16k dust, on the fence whether to craft Bloodreaver Gul'dan given that the meta could completely change in the next 2 weeks. I happened to open all cards needed for Cubelock except him and have been playing the deck today (without him), I really enjoy it but the fact that it may become unplayable scares me. How is Gul'dan DK in wild?

Quote from Sillyraptor >>

I believe Countess Ashmore should drop down a tier. I love the card but aside from it's initial experimentation it has yet to find a solid home in a deck. It was somewhat played in Cubelock because of the draw 2 on a 6/6 body but now that the deck is less tanky its hard for her; she's also seeing some experimentation in Odd Quest Warrior to draw a death rattle/taunt and rush(usually Darius) but she's not used that often. She's still a great card that i'm SURE will end up back in tier 2 (might I dare say tier 1) maybe next xpac with more support or as more decks are refined, but for now I think she should drop

 She finds home in several Hunter decks, including 2 different variants of Control Hunter (life leech and poison). The synergy of putting Dire Frenzy on a Vicious Scalehide and then pulling 2 buffed scalehides and 1 Rotten Applebaum next turn is amazing and great segway into Emeriss play. Although I'm probably one of the only 3 people playing Control Hunter on the entire server.

On similar note, however, I don't understand why Azalina Soulthief is rated so highly. I tried her in a few decks and have not been impressed so far. She does make interesting plays once in a blue moon like being able to steal the enemy Sulfuras but overall I'm not impressed using her in my decks (she works ok in Odd Paladin and Burgle Rogue, but is easily replaceable). Moreover, her hero power is mainly useful to obtain more outs when you exhausted them. Having only 3 mana left is not enough to play any of those outs, nor is a 7-mana 3/3 body on board without taunt going to save you.

Quote from SlydE >>

For the record, hunter DK is in tier 1 now. That was a lot of noise for a slight oversight that was fairly quickly corrected...

• In face hunter it helps you continue fighting if you exhausted your other resources.
• In spell hunter it's a great way to get those minions that you didn't put in your deck.
• In control hunter it's a must have (Emeriss is just a win-more card).

Also (in reply to other posts calling Control Hunter a meme), it bugs me when people call Control Hunter a meme. A meme is a joke deck that's unplayable unless you get extremely good RNG or opponent is a friend who goes out of his way to help you setup the combo. Control Hunter has a low win rate but is completely playable and can hold its own against other strong control decks (priest, warlock even before the nerf, druid). The only reason Control Hunter is not viable is because of the agro meta and that there is no consistent way to heal yourself as a hunter yet. Here is my version of Control Hunter that I've been playing for about a month now with 45% win rate: https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1101043-control-hunter. In fact, the sudden rise of Spell Hunter should bd a great indicator of how seemingly poor deck can rise to the top with minor card changes to other classes.

The meta isn't the same as it was during K&C so you're comparing apples to oranges. If you check HSReplay, you'll notice that the 3 decks that have highest win rate against Spell Hunter are: Paladin (especially even), Spiteful Druid, and Cubelock (https://hsreplay.net/meta/#tab=matchups). Paladin and Cubelock were at the top both before and after Witchwood, so it's no surprise that Spell Hunter was trash during K&C and also no surprise that it remained this way after Witchwood. However, since the 5/22 nerfs things have changed. If you check how the meta shifted over the last 48 hours you will notice the following:

• Even Paladin win rate dropped from 64% to mid-50s (I can't get exact rate since the archetype seems to have disappeared from the sortable list)
• Spell Hunter win rate skyrocketed to 62.4%: https://hsreplay.net/decks/#playerClasses=HUNTER&gameType=RANKED_STANDARD&sortBy=winrate

I'd go by what HSReplay says (https://hsreplay.net/decks/#playerClasses=MAGE&gameType=RANKED_STANDARD&sortBy=winrate) rather than an anecdote from a poster here if you want a safe craft. Honestly, looking at how the meta is shifting I may craft myself a R'hok Delar for a Spell Hunter.

Honestly, I'd recommend the epics (although 1 legendary is 4 epics, not 4-5 + 2-4 rares) since it opens up more doors for you. Many legendaries simply make the deck better, but aren't crucial to it. Although I have crafted legendaries that I simply couldn't do without, such as Baku and Deathstalker Rexxar.

I wouldn't craft even the "safe" legendaries most people recommend, like Thalnos or Leeroy, however, since you can often substitute worse-performing but still viable cards for them. But you have to be smart about what you craft with epics as well, Primordial Drake is probably a good idea, Doomerang not so much.

Quote from Highwayman37 >>

 

Quote from Honorshammer >>

• Needed for Control Warlock: 1 more Doomsayer, 1 Voodoo Doll and Rin, the First Disciple
• Needed for Quest Rogue : Sonya Shadowdancer, and Zola the Gorgon
• Needed for Control Priest: Shadowreaper Anduin
• Needed for Spiteful Druid: Prince Keleseth
• Needed for Even Paladin: Genn Greymane, Sunkeeper Tarim
• I also lack Baku the Mooneater for Odd Rogue and Odd Paladin

Budget is 5000 dust. Which cards to craft? 

I'm a Control lover. My favorite classes are Priest and Warrior. SRA seems like a nobrainer. I almost crafted him but then the Raza nerf hit and I wasn't sure how he'd do after rotation. I also feel like I could use a Quest Rogue as it is the deck I struggle with the most and I'd get to learn it better by playing it.

Good list and questions.  Personally I'd argue that Genn and Baku are both safe and arguably "necessary" crafts at this point.  In terms of control I'd probably go for the Control Warlock package, I play it and Rin is a lot of fun if you can pull it off.  However if Priest is your favourite class, SRA is a great card.

Sunkeeper may get nerfed soon (something I personally strongly disagree with but oh well) and Quest may get nerfed again if you can believe that so I'd wait on both of those as well as Zola and Sonya as those two may not see too much play if Quest is nerfed yet again.  

So I'd recommend, based on your personal preferences:

Genn, Baku  & SRA.

I crafted Baku the Mooneater and don't regret it. Got Azalina Soulthief from a cardpack, and while it does seem gimmicky on the surface, it actually does well in my odd paladin deck as a finisher if the game drags on too long.