• 21

    posted a message on The Exhaustive Forged in the Barrens Preview

    Below I have written a guide detailing my predictions for the upcoming cards in the Forged in the Barrens 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

    Fury (Rank 1) – 5 Stars: Seriously? They hyped up the removal of Twin Slice just to include a card which is frequently better than it? I’m not a huge demon hunter hater myself, but man, this thing is going to be really annoying for the next two years…

    Razorboar – 4 Stars: This is the first in a long line of 4s I’m going to give to Demon Hunter’s deathrattle cards. Simply put, Razorboar is absolutely busted and is comparable to Nerubian Egg in the value it provides. Demon Hunter doesn’t have much in the way of Deathrattle synergy, but this is more than good enough to make the class interested.

    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.

    Razorfen Beastmaster – 4 Stars: Another great card that allows for more mana cheating. This card is dependent on good 4-mana deathrattles to function well, but fortunately the neutral section has one I’m quite intrigued by.

    Sigil of Silence – 1 Star: While this spell is cheap, silence effects typically only work well when they are immediate. You don’t want to be waiting around for the effect, so there’s not much you can really do with this.

    Tuskpiercer – 5 Stars: A 1/2 weapon which draws a card? For one mana? This card’s power level is comparable to Ancharrr and it will see play not just in Deathrattle Demon Hunter, but also in any deck which runs even a small number of deathrattle cards. Obscene.

    Sigil of Flame – 3 Stars: Reminds me of Imprisoned Observer, but the effect is faster, stronger, and cheaper (with no body, sadly). This could easily fit into any slower Demon Hunter deck; the only question is how playable those decks will be. I predict there will be at least one which will pick this up.

    Vengeful Spirit – 4 Stars: Extremely good when the Outcast effect pops off, but the curve of a potential Deathrattle deck makes it a little awkward to get out of your hand. Still a good card but not quite as game-breaking as it looks at first glance.

    Death Speaker Blackthorn – 4 Stars: It’s Captain Hooktusk, but cheaper, and Hooktusk wasn’t around when Taelan Fordring was around to tutor her. I was initially skeptical of Deathrattle synergies working out, but this card is more than good enough to justify building around, and the class is getting some other great cards which work well with it.

    Kurtrus Ashfallen – 3 Stars: A significantly improved version of Illidari Felblade which could fit in if Outcast synergies are strong enough in Demon Hunter. With Kor’vas, Illidari Studies, and Gan’arg Glaivesmith, this could be a legitimate direction for the class.

    Demon Hunter Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 5th

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 3rd

    Overall Ranking: 4th

    Demon Hunter has had a great first year, but this hasn’t come without a cost: most of its premier, meta-defining archetypes have suffered multiple nerfs since then. However, there’s room for further optimism. Aggro Demon Hunter is losing almost nothing from rotation and the cards that it got in Barrens should be respectable replacements. Those bored of this archetype can give Deathrattle Demon Hunter a shot, since this deck also shows promise and potentially could be even stronger (but my money is on Aggro as the better deck). Either way, Demon Hunter should be in a healthy spot: a strong, competent class, but far from being the meta-breaker it used to be

     

    Druid

    Pride's Fury – 1 Star: Reminds me of Adapting Spores which never saw play. It’s too reliant on having a board set up, and its effect is far from game-winning when it pops off. All in all, a very sad replacement for Savage Roar.

    Thickhide Kodo – 3 Stars: Pretty bland and uninspiring. It’s really not that much better than TAZDINGO, which doesn’t see any serious play at all. So why does it get three stars? Well, there’s an upcoming card which we really, really want to run, and it’s looking for serviceable taunt cards. This might fit the bill.

    Thorngrowth Sentries – 1 Star: It’s not a terrible card, but it just doesn’t do enough. The Taunt Druid synergies that the class is getting overall aren’t particularly amazing, and this is never a card that you’d want to run without some clear synergies. It does work well in Gibberling Druid, but I suspect the loss of Savage Roar will be a deathblow to that deck.

    Living Seed (Rank 1) – 1 Star: The base form is bad, the 5-mana form is barely passable, and the final, 10-mana form, is…slightly above average? This doesn’t even come close to making a Beast Druid deck viable, and it might not even make the cut if such a deck existed. In all fairness, considering that Druid is the ramp class, it makes sense that its Rank card is one of the worst of the bunch.

    Mark of the Spikeshell – 2 Stars: This would be a lot better if Druid had a good 1-mana Taunt minion to target this with (think Enchanted Raven to the original Mark of Y’Shaarj). As it is, I don’t think it makes the cut in any Druid deck. I could be totally wrong here, but I think it’s too awkward.

    Razormane Battleguard – 5 Stars: Comparable to Foxy Fraud, but with the added upside of being able to repeat the effect if it sticks. The taunt minions you play will help the card stick, and even if it doesn’t, it’s such a good deal that I can’t imagine Druid failing to make this work.

    Celestial Alignment – 2 Stars: It’s so cool that I wish I could give it a higher rating, but unfortunately it looks like a meme. Paying 7 mana to do nothing is quite punishing, and the payoff isn’t amazing enough to justify it. On the bright side, it really messes up Lorekeeper Polkelt!

    Druid of the Plains – 1 Star: Good stats for the cost but doesn’t have the synergy it needs to be viable. Beasts in Druid haven’t been good outside of Guardian Animals, and this can’t be pulled with that card.

    Guff Runetotem – 4 Stars: I could see this really popping off. There’s a lot of cheap Nature spells that will work well with this (Innervate, and I assume Nature Studies, are the two best examples). This could work in a token deck, but I think it could also work in ramp-focused decks as well.

    Plaguemaw the Rotting – 1 Star: Oh dear. Cards which rely on having a board to function have traditionally not been good unless their effect is game-winning. This card requires BOTH sides to have a board (and your board specifically needs Taunt minions), but the effect is laughable for the required setup. This is one of the worst legendaries in the set and it will be shocking if it sees any play.

    Druid Class Summary:

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 8th

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 8th

    Overall Ranking: 10th

    Druid’s prospects look grim. It’s currently kept alive by Token decks, but without a powerful win condition in Savage Roar, those decks will die out after rotation. What does it get to replace them? We have Razormane Battleguard, an incredibly strong card for a weak archetype, and what else? Ever since the Guardian Animals nerf, ramp strategies have done poorly in any meta which is even slightly aggressive, so what can the class do?

     

    Hunter

    Pack Kodo – 1 Star: Contrary to what I suspect the general opinion will be, I believe a Beast Hunter deck will be playable after the rotation. However, the deck really doesn’t want to run beasts which don’t directly synergize with handbuffs, so this will not make it in.

    Piercing Shot – 2 Stars: This is coming into Standard at the completely wrong time. Face Hunter is losing a lot of the cards which previously made it viable, and this isn’t good enough to stop the bleeding. It’s too bad, because it would be a pretty solid addition if the archetype was still good.

    Wound Prey – 4 Stars: I like it quite a bit; when compared to Springpaw, it looks pretty good. Hell, some would argue it’s better since it deals the same damage for less mana. The only problem is the lack of obvious synergies in the set to demand this card’s inclusion (except maybe Barak Kodobane),

    Prospector's Caravan – 2 Stars: Hunter has quite a few cards which could make this work. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t strong enough to make the final cut. Its effect is slow, and there are quite a few cards in the meta which can instantly kill it when played on curve.

    Sunscale Raptor – 5 Stars: This is the third expansion in a row Hunter has gotten an insane 1-drop, and this is likely better than the other two. The card has great synergy with the plethora of handbuffs available to the class, and at worst, it’s a 1 mana 1/3 with an upside. Should be a no-brainer inclusion.

    Tame Beast (Rank 1) – 4 Stars: Really clever design choice here: Druid, the class which ramps the easiest, gets the weakest Rank card, while Hunter, a class which rarely makes it to Turn 10, gets the strongest one. Fortunately, it doesn’t need to wait until Turn 10 to summon a 4/4 beast with Rush, which is pretty good on its own and gets even better when you take a look at one of Hunter’s legendaries…

    Kolkar Pack Runner – 1 Star: Man, this card is so weird. They do realize that Unseal the Vault is rotating, right? I mean, Blood Herald will be happy to see Hunter players trying to summon lots of tokens, but I can’t imagine a functional archetype which is interested in this. Am I missing something?

    Warsong Wrangler – 4 Stars: Unlike beast buff cards of the past, this one can choose which beast gets buffed. That dramatically improves the consistency of buffing the right target, and it also means we have a little bit more leeway to run beasts which don’t directly synergize with buffs (such as, say, Helboar).

    Barak Kodobane – 3 Stars: This card obviously offers excellent value. However, it’s still unlikely to see play in the upcoming meta because if we look at Beast Hunter, it doesn’t have many 1 or 3 cost spells that it wants to run, and if we look at other Hunter archetypes…well, how much chance do those have of really seeing play? A great card to look at for the future, but I think attempts to add suboptimal cards to Beast Hunter to justify Barak will be unsuccessful.

    Tavish Stormpike – 5 Stars: This was a card I was initially unsure of due to its awkwardness, but upon further reflection, I think the class has enough good beasts to make this a good win condition. It’s a great way of getting the buffed cards in your deck out on the field, and if it sticks for a turn, your opponent will be in a world of pain.

    Hunter Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 4th

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 10th

    Overall Ranking: 7th

    Hunter is coming into the new year with the worst Year of the Phoenix cards, so it’s understandable that some will dismiss the class. Now, at the risk of overestimating Hunter’s beast synergies for the third time, I can actually see a real deck emerging, and some of the cards in the core set heavily support the archetype as well (Dire Frenzy, anyone?) Hunter’s not going to be one of the strongest classes, but if it’s playable, then I’m exited for it.

     

    Mage

    Oasis Ally – 4 Stars: I’m going to make a bold prediction: Secret Mage is going to be the best Mage deck after rotation. Furthermore, this is a great secret for it to run, as it synergizes well with Game Master, an upcoming neutral minion, and the Freeze package.

    Refreshing Spring Water – 2 Stars: This is a great buff for Spell Mage, a deck currently stuck in Tier 4. Will it be enough to make the deck a competitive threat? Not really; Spell Mage is losing a lot to the rotation and it will need more than this to keep up. In other decks, the effect is far to inconsistent to ever be worth considering.

    Runed Orb – 4 Stars: A solid replacement for Frostbolt. If Spell-Damage decks continue to exist, they will pick this up in a heartbeat, but even if they don’t, the card is good enough as a standalone to potentially warrant inclusion.

    Flurry (Rank 1) – 3 Stars: Not a bad value for the cost, although this will only really see play with the help of cards like Glacier Racer. It compares favorably to Cone of Cold and has synergy with the legendary, so it’s not unthinkable that a Freeze package will make it into a deck at some point.

    Reckless Apprentice – 1 Star: I wanted to believe in this archetype so bad, which is what makes this rating so painful to give. This card is mediocre on its own, which means it’s reliant on having a Fallen Hero in play or having played a Wildfire or two beforehand. The tragic thing is that this is one of the better cards that the archetype received.

    Rimetongue – 1 Star: This card is rather awkward to set up, and the payoff for each Frost spell played is lackluster. Mage just doesn’t have enough cheap Frost spells to justify putting this in your deck.

    Arcane Luminary – 2 Stars: Remember Cyclone Mage? That deck could have really used a card like this, but now it’s long gone, and many of its most important pieces (such as its namesake) are rotating. Mage just doesn’t have the card generation that it used to have.

    Wildfire – 1 Star: You’re spending 2 mana to do nothing. Remember how bad Dinomancy was? This is even worse because the “upgraded” hero power is dramatically weaker. If a Hero Power focused deck is forced to run cards like this, that’s already a massive warning sign.

    Mordresh Fire Eye – 1 Star: Theoretically, this could be a decent win condition for Hero Power Mage. The thing is, it’s slow, difficult to set up, and it doesn’t win you the game even after being played. It’s not really good enough on its own, either.

    Varden Dawngrasp – 4 Stars: A versatile card which puts the original Frost Nova to shame. It’s perfectly fine as both a standalone and a piece of the Freeze Mage puzzle. We all know how oppressive AoE freeze effects are. There’s no reason to think this card won’t be just as oppressive.

     

    Mage Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 9th

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 5th

    Overall Ranking: 9th

    Unfortunately, the rotation will be crueler to Mage than most other classes. All of its key archetypes will be losing cards which are crucial to how they perform. Its new set doesn’t inspire much confidence (get it? Inspire?) and while the Freeze cards look decent as a package, they can’t singlehandedly carry a deck to success. Maybe its secret archetype can survive losing its Uldum cards and coast by into playability? I don’t know, it’s kind of a long shot.

     

    Paladin

    Galloping Savior – 4 Stars: The effect is rather hard to trigger, which ironically makes it function excellently in decks with Cannonmaster Smythe and Northwatch Commander. However, the payoff isn’t super impressive: compare it to Rat Trap and it appears underwhelming. Paladin wants secrets, but this might suffer the same fate as Open the Cages last expansion; I can’t guarantee that it’s good enough to make it in.

    Invigorating Sermon – 4 Stars: Expensive board-wide buffs like this can be hard to set up, but Silver Hand decks are good at flooding the board, which should help a lot. The hand and deck buffs are rather slow but will be very oppressive over time.

    Knight of Anointment – 3 Stars: Pretty good value in any deck which runs a decent number of Holy spells. Because Paladin currently has so many great options available to it, it is unlikely a deck focusing on Holy synergies will materialize, but this could still see play as a standalone.

    Northwatch Commander – 5 Stars: A 3/4 which draws a card is great value, and the relative ease of getting secrets in play will help this along quite well. It's a bit weaker when played on Turn 4 or later, and your opponent might proc your secrets ahead of time, so it would be nice if there was some way of cheating a secret out on the turn we play this...

    Soldier's Caravan – 4 Stars: Most of the caravans are pretty bad, but this one feels like the benefit is worth the risk of it suffering removal: Two silver hands on the board can be leveraged to great effect. Add that to the fact that Paladin has recently received a ton of support for the Silver Hand archetype while losing very little (IIRC Air Raid is the only significant loss), and the deck should be pretty clean.

    Sword of the Fallen – 5 Stars: Secrets in Paladin weren’t looking so hot until this card showed up. The ability to cheat out THREE secrets from your deck is busted beyond belief. This card will be instrumental in bringing the long-ignored secrets to the forefront of the class.

    Conviction (Rank 1) – 5 Stars: This card is monstrously good for Silver Hand decks. One of the major issues with the archetype in Darkmoon Faire was the lack of a good way to leverage the Silver Hands into something truly threatening, since there weren’t many good ways to buff them. At 5 mana, this card offers +6 attack on the board if you have two minions, which is easy to achieve. Conviction gives the Silver Hands some sorely needed aggression.

    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.

    Cannonmaster Smythe – 5 Stars: What an interesting effect! Losing the secrets temporarily isn’t a huge downside, and the benefit from playing this is very large. This card will easily make it into any deck which runs a lot of secrets, and there’s plenty of incentive to do so.

    Cariel Roame – 4 Stars: I can see the potential here. Even if Roame doesn’t stick for a second swing, an Emperor Thaurissan effect is clearly very enticing. Libram Paladin will greatly appreciate additional mana discounts, and I don't think this is redundant with the Aldor cards. Looks very nice.

    Paladin Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 3rd

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 1st

    Overall Ranking: 1st

    Paladin is an embarrassment of riches. Ashes of Outland and Scholomance Academy gave it two of the strongest sets it has ever received, and while the Silver Hand cards from the Darkmoon Faire haven’t made an impact yet, the additional support from the Core Set might push it into playability; and not only that, Soldier’s Caravan is easily the best “caravan” card and should help the deck quite a bit. If Librams and Silver Hands both fail (they shouldn’t), the class also has great Secret synergy available, with Sword of the Fallen and its triple-Mad Scientist effect screaming to be played. In exchange for all these great new cards, Paladin is only losing its infamously bad Year of the Dragon sets (still, RIP Ramp Paladin). The class looks so, so good and it should be extremely oppressive for the next four months.

     

     

    Priest

    Desperate Prayer – 4 Stars: This card is a huge buff for virtually all Priest archetypes. Control decks don’t care about healing the enemy’s face and they’ll gladly take the healing, whereas any deck running Xyrella will be thrilled at the prospect of dealing up to 10 damage to all enemy minions. An absolutely phenomenal addition to Priest’s arsenal.

    Devouring Plague – 1 Star: 3 mana for 4 damage is a very bad trade and tacking on Lifesteal doesn’t do much to help that. Think of how bad Soul Cleave is; this isn’t much better, and even the life-gain synergies Priest has won’t cause this to see play.

    Power Word: Fortitude – 3 Stars: This is a pretty good card in a fairly weak archetype. While the synergies with Sethekk Veilweaver are obvious, spell-heavy Priest decks have failed to make an impact in the Darkmoon Faire meta, and when you see the other cards the deck is getting, it will become apparent that this isn’t changing soon.

    Lightshower Elemental – 5 Stars: Dang, this card is overtuned. 8 health to all friendly characters? And it’s not even understatted? And it has taunt? This is a card so good it will easily be a buildaround for the new Heal Priest archetype, and it will probably see play even if that archetype doesn’t pan out (but it probably will).

    Soothsayer's Caravan – 1 Star: This is a minion in a deck which really wants to be running spells instead, and not a particularly good one at that. This card is so weak if removed on the turn it’s played, and it’s especially horrible when you’ve fallen behind. The payoff if it sticks to the board? A single randomly generated spell. This isn’t even close to worth the effort.

    Void Flayer – 2 Stars: Another minion designed for a spell-centric deck. This is a little bit better than Soothsayer’s Caravan, but it’s still not amazing even when you have 5+ spells in hand.

    Condemn (Rank 1) – 4 Stars: An excellent board clear for Priest. Control decks are comfortable playing the long game, so the 5 and 10 mana forms will frequently become relevant. We all know how good Breath of the Infinite is, and this card is usually going to be just as good, or even better.

    Priest of An'she – 4 Stars: This is a pretty good payoff card, although it would be significantly worse if Desperate Prayer didn’t exist. Unlike the other Heal Priest cards, this probably won’t see play outside the archetype because standard Control-focused Priest decks don’t care about big piles of stats, but the Heal Priest deck should be strong enough to warrant a 4-star rating regardless.

    Serena Bloodfeather – 3 Stars: This is the card that Natalie Seline whishes she could be. If you play it against any large minion (let’s say an 8/8), then you’ve just summoned a 5/5 which debuffed an enemy minion for 4/4, and this is all for 2 mana. Now, this card is fairly weak against aggressive decks with small minions like Aggro Rogue, which means it’s a meta-dependent choice which isn’t always going to be amazing. However, when it pops off, it’s a great tech card.

    Xyrella – 5 Stars: So, uh, Flamestrike is a card which is priced at 7 mana, and it doesn’t come with a body. With a simple Flash Heal, this can do Flamestrike’s job at a 3 mana discount, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because if you need more damage, you can stack other healing cards before playing Xyrella. And then, of course, there’s always Desparate Prayer, which can singlehandedly deal up to 10 damage to the entire enemy board for four mana. This is easily one of if not the best legendary cards in the expansion and there’s no scenario in which Priest sees play but doesn’t find a way to make this work.

    Priest Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 2nd

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 7th

    Overall Ranking: 5th

    Priest is getting a really cool set with both some obviously broken cards along with a few that I think are being slept on hard. Priest isn’t known for big minions, but I think cards like Darkspear Berserker, Hecklefang Hyena (yes, really), and Priest of An’she promote a tempo-based Heal Priest deck which can control the board while turning the damage dealt to your hero into a positive. If that doesn’t work out, Priest still has possibly the best new legendary in Xyrella, and it can always go back to the tried and true Control playstyle.

     

    Rogue

    Efficient Octo-bot – 4 Stars: Four health can be tricky to deal with on Turn 2, and the mana cheating offered by Octo-bot will make your Field Contact combos so much easier to set up. You can also play mindgames with your opponent with this card: If dropped on an uncontested board, it might make your opponent reluctant to play 3-attack-or-less minions in order to avoid triggering the effect.

    Silverleaf Poison – 2 Stars: This card could end up a lot better, but it has to compete with the draw engines of Greyheart Sage and Swindle, and as a result it might not see play. It is also heavily reliant on the success of Swinetusk Shank, another card of dubious quality.

    Wicked Stab (Rank 1) – 5 Stars: Rogue games are frequently not going to make it to 10 mana, so we have to ask ourselves: Is the 5 mana variant good enough? The answer is an unambiguous “yes”; Eviscerate has been in so many Rogue decks over the years and this is a version without the Combo requirement.

    Field Contact – 4 Stars: The card draw is superior to the card generation Whirlkick Master offered, which helps make up for the higher cost. Anyone who was afraid Combo Rogue was going to die after rotation will be glad (or upset) to see this card.

    Oil Rig Ambusher – 4 Stars: 4 mana for 4 damage and a body is a great deal, but the condition is quite steep and it will suck to draw this early. Fortunately, the class has Secret Passage, which should help this card out the way Plot Twist helped Keli’dan the Breaker see play.

    Paralytic Poison – 1 Star: Weapon Rogue is an extremely selective archetype with a lot of great cards to choose from. Most of these cards severely outclass Paralytic Poison, since you don’t want to be attacking minions with your weapon; you want to go face instead.

    Swinetusk Shank – 2 Stars: It seems like a no-brainer inclusion, but Weapon Rogue already has Self-Sharpening Sword, which is so much better and also not reliant on bad/mediocre poisons to churn out the damage. Weapons are not something you want to have too much of, which means there’s a good chance this doesn’t pass the test of viability.

    Yoink! – 1 Star: It’s very cute, but it doesn’t do nearly enough to justify running. Most of the available hero powers are mediocre and not in-line with your game plan (the only ones you really want are the Hunter and maaaaaybe the Warlock one), and Rogue has so many good cards available to it that it will never consider fooling around with this.

    Apothecary Helbrim – 2 Stars: Poison-based decks don’t appear to be particularly strong, especially if they’re forced to run mediocre cards like this. The poison pool isn’t terrible, but it still has some cards which you don’t want to put in your deck, so I suspect it will be best to forgo this entirely.

    Scabbs Cutterbutter – 5 Stars: That’s a crapton of mana-cheating. Scabbs is Foxy Fraud on steroids and he will be able to trigger some insane tempo plays. A double pre-nerf Preparation effect is absolutely nothing to scoff at, so if I had to pick one nerf candidate out of the entire set, it would probably be this card.

    Rogue Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 6th

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 2nd

    Overall Ranking: 3rd

    Rogue doesn’t need much from this set to continue to dominate, and fortunately it did end up scoring a few great cards in the mix of mediocrities. The biggest questions going forward for Rogue’s two best archetypes are: will Aggro Rogue be able to shake off the nerf to Nitroboost Poison, and will Combo Rogue be able to survive the loss of some great cards? In both cases, the answer will probably be “yes”, and Valeera should still remain a top contender in the Barrens meta.

     

    Shaman

    Arid Stormer – 1 Star: This is highly dependent on activating the elemental ability to succeed, since a 2/5 on its own is very weak. Elementals as a tribe have a pretty terrible track record of seeing play due to the awkwardness of the way they work, and this isn’t impactful enough to change that.

    South Coast Chieftain – 4 Stars: The payoff isn’t anything spectacular: a 3/2 which deals 2 damage is just OK, not amazing. But unlike, say, Arid Stormer, it’s also relatively easy to activate, and the next card will make it dramatically easier to do it on Turn 2…

    Spawnpool Forager – 5 Stars: What an excellent one-drop! You can almost think of it as a 1 mana 2/3, and it gets even better when you realize how nicely it curves into South Coast Chieftan. It can even be used in non-Murloc decks to decent effect.

    Earth Revenant – 3 Stars: Unlike the other Elemental cards, this could work just fine on its own in a control deck. Of course, this means if Control Shaman fails to make an impact, this will likely spend the next four months sitting on the bench. The success of that archetype is highly questionable, especially with so many of its best cards rotating out.

    Nofin Can Stop Us – 4 Stars: Savage Roar for Murloc decks, but even better due to the stat buffs being permanent. Remember that Blessing of the Ancients saw play at 3 mana, so even without the Murloc buffs, the baseline isn’t horrible. This is going to be a great finishing blow for the deck to deliver.

    Tinyfin's Caravan – 2 Stars: This is probably not good enough for Murloc Shaman. It’s not aggressive at all, and the benefit from having it stick a turn is fairly minor. Card draw is good, but it’s not this good.

    Chain Lightning (Rank 1) – 3 Stars: Solid control tool, but this is even more dependent on Control’s success than Earth Revenant. It has quite a lot of synergy with Shaman’s Spell Damage set, but those cards are designed more for aggro, not control.

    Lilypad Lurker – 1 Star: This has got a really cool design and artwork, which is why I’m not thrilled to rate it so low. As a removal card, it is highly dependent on the opponent’s board and frequently cannot be played even when the condition is fulfilled. It is weak as a standalone, and Shaman does not have a good reason to run many Elementals. All in all, a massive disappointment.

    Bru'kan  3 Stars: There's quite a few good Nature spells that Shaman has in its arsenal which could make this viable. The problem we run into is that Spell Damage synergies in Shaman have been a failure up until this point. Could this see play as a standalone? Possibly. However, it will probably not be meta-warping enough to define a new archetype, and that's a shame.

    Firemancer Flurgl – 4 Stars: So now we’re giving Shaman its own Altruis. Cool. Granted, this is less flexible since it only works with murlocs, but the cheaper cost makes it easier to combo, and anyone who remembers Aggro Demon Hunter knows how good the effect can be when it gets a combo going. With additions like this, Shaman won’t be too upset to lose a lot of its good murloc cards; the replacements are fantastic and will really help the archetype make an impact.

    Shaman Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 7th

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 9th

    Overall Ranking: 8th

    Shaman’s got some good things going for it, but none of the cards are particularly mindblowing and it’s relatively weak Year of the Phoenix sets mean it has quite the hole it needs to climb out of. Murloc Shaman seems decent, but there’s not really a whole lot else that the class has to work with, so it’ll be shit out of luck if the fishmen can’t pull through. Control Shaman also feels like a long shot and is not an archetype I realistically expect to succeed. All in all, a rather disappointing predicament for Thrall.

     

    Warlock

    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.

    Imp Swarm (Rank 1) – 1 Star:  On curve, this card is very bad, and the 5 mana form isn’t really worth the wait. This is only truly good enough for constructed Zoo decks at 10 mana, and those decks usually try to end the game before then. If Deathmatch Pavillion was too slow, I don't see how this ends up working out.

    Kabal Outfitter – 4 Stars: Seems like a decent card for Zoo Warlock, albeit not a game-breaking one. Deathrattle buff effects are typically pretty weak, but Battlecry buffs are quite good, and the combination of the two should push this card into viability.

    Apothecary's Caravan – 3 Stars: I’m not too keen on the Caravans, so it’s ironic that this turns out to be one of the stronger cards in the Warlock set. The effect is strong enough where I could legitimately see it being worth the risk of it failing to stick, and Warlock has some great one drops that it would love to cheat out.

    Blood Shard Bristleback – 1 Star: Warlock loves powerful healing, and this will usually get us more than the baseline of 6. The problem is that it comes with a condition, and that condition requires turning our deck into garbage. Intentionally fatiguing ourselves is not going to be a viable strategy.

    Soul Rend – 2 Stars: Five damage to all minions is a lot, and it’s not unthinkable that this sees play in a more generic control deck instead of Fatigue Warlock. The problem is the drawback: what happens when you burn your Tickatus or whatever other win condition you’re running? Even in Fatigue Warlock this is a problem, since there’s no guarantee Neeru Fireblade won’t be burned as well. Ultimately, this is likely too risky to see play.

    Altar of Fire – 1 Star: So, when building a successful archetype, there are cards which are strong enough for us to want to build around, and then there are cards which we reluctantly play for the synergy. Altar of Fire is about as far into the second category as you can get: Warlock isn’t going to be winning any fatigue races, so the “upside” is usually never relevant, and the card has basically no other redeeming qualities. Even if the archetype it is designed for sees play (it won’t), this card is so bad it will stay firmly in your collection and likely never leave.

    Barrens Scavenger – 1 Star: This card, on the other hand, is a great example of the first category. Its power level is on par with Bladed Lady, and the condition is even easier to set up within the archetype it was designed for. Unfortunately, that archetype is shit, and outside of it, the card is dead until the very end of the game.

    Neeru Fireblade – 1 Star: Chef Nomi was playable because he typically won you the game instantly when played. Neeru’s effect is designed to grind the opponent out, but this doesn’t work at all when you’re fighting against the fatigue clock. An infinite portal of imps sounds excellent in theory, but the reality is you’re only going to be living for a few more turns after this is played, and the bottom line is it’s not fast enough to function as the oppressive win condition it’s supposed to be.

    Tamsin Roame – 3 Stars: This would probably get a higher rating if it could combo with Twisting Nether, but alas. Fortunately, there are still a few decent spells we can work with. Drain Soul is a great standalone spell and we’re happy to have another free copy, while Siphon Soul is mediocre on its own but very powerful with this card. Throw in Mortal Coil and Grimoire of Sacrifice, and this could be a decent addition to Control Warlock.

    Warlock Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 10th

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 6th

    Overall Ranking: 6th

    Warlock hasn’t received a single set this bad since Rise of Shadows; hell, this one might even be the worst set it’s ever gotten. So is the class going to die? Not necessarily; Zoo Warlock is staying mostly intact throughout rotation, and Warlock also has Soul Fragments and Tickatus to work with. Control strategies are admittedly a little questionable, so Warlock’s present situation is similar to Shaman’s in that it has one good aggressive deck as its best shot of meta-relevance.

     

    Warrior

    Bulk Up – 4 Stars: I think, for the first time in quite a while, a Taunt package actually has a realistic change of seeing play in Warrior. What’s nice about Bulk Up is that it also provides card generation along with the buff: you can kind of think of it as similar to Scavenger’s Ingenuity (and it’s even better if the Taunt minion has already been buffed). A very respectable addition.

    Stonemaul Anchorman – 1 Star: I was ready to give this a high rating until I realized Frenzy could only trigger once. That change prevents this card from becoming an efficient draw engine and instead renders it a mediocrity. Warrior didn’t run Big Ol’ Whelp, so why would it run this?

    Whirling Combatant – 5 Stars: Absolutely crucial addition to Enrage Warrior. It’s reminiscent of Risky Skipper in that its effect can have an enormous benefit if you know what you’re doing, but at it’s baseline, it’s a respectable removal tool.

    Conditioning (Rank 1) – 3 Stars: I’m a little skeptical here, but the existence of Mor’shan Elite prevents me from rating it any lower. Without the prospect of buffing your Elites, the card seems quite weak, since the 2 mana form is awful, and at 5 mana it’s just OK.

    Outrider’s Axe – 5 Stars: Finally, just what Warrior has desperately needed: a good Weapon. Outrider’s axe is obviously very good when it draws three cards, and we know from Ancharr just how oppressive a weapon attached to a draw-three effect can be. The only issue with this card is that it competes with Warrior’s strong arsenal of weapons, many of which already cost 4 mana, but I have faith that this will come out on top. I mean, do you really want to use Reaper’s Scythe over this?

    Warsong Envoy – 4 Stars: A 1/3 for 1 mana is serviceable enough, but the Frenzy effect means it can be intimidating even later in the game. With 3 or more damaged characters, the effect provides a huge buff which means this humble one-drop can end up dealing an impressive amount of damage. The only issue with this card is the anti-synergy with the legendary: that alone could cause this card to be cut from the deck.

    Mor’shan Elite – 5 Stars: So, let’s imagine a hypothetical worst-case scenario when not a single one of the handbuff effects is playable in Warrior. This is still a 5 mana 8/8 with Taunt, with the only condition being your hero needs to have swung his weapon this turn. Weapons have been a crucial part of the class’s identity for a long time, and the class has several great 4 mana cards to get the job done: Reaper’s Scythe, Sword Eater, and now the new Outrider’s Axe.

    Rancor – 3 Stars: Definitely one of the weaker AoE effects in a class rife with AoE, but its synergy with Frenzy prevents it from being ruled out. If this kills an average of 3 minions, you can think of it as “deal 2 damage to all minions, and gain 6 armor”, which seems just barely good enough.

    Overlord Saurfang – 3 Stars: There are some good Frenzy minions that we can resurrect with Saurfang, but it does encourage us to forgo the smaller ones like Warsong Envoy. The deckbuilding restriction isn’t too severe, but in order to get enough good resurrections, we will likely have to run suboptimal cards such as Taurajo Brave or Stonemaul Anchorman, and that’s not inspiring much confidence.

    Rokara – 1 Star: The best way to evaluate this card is to think of it as a 3 mana Power of the Wild with a 2/3 Rush attached. That seems passable at first, but the problem is that this card is in Warrior, which isn’t a token class and doesn’t really want to flood the board. Now, it doesn’t strictly NEED a board to work, and it can buff Rush minions that enter play along with it and survive. Unfortunately, most Rush cards don’t have a lot of health, and the ones that due are typically expensive and difficult to combo with. Easily one of the most overrated cards in the entire set.

    Warrior Class Summary

    Forged in the Barrens Ranking: 1st

    Year of the Phoenix Ranking: 4th

    Overall Ranking: 2nd

    How fitting that a Barrens-focused expansion would be giving Warrior such an excellent set. The Frenzy mechanic seems designed specifically for this class since the tools available to Warrior are the best for abusing the mechanic. Furthermore, Warrior is drawing from excellent cards in its previous sets which have synergy with a Frenzy-focused build; we all know how good Bloodboil Brute and Grommash Hellscream are already. Top it off with one of the best weapons in the meta combined with the busted Mor’shan Elite, and Warrior appears as if it will continue the excellent performance we’ve seen from it over the past year.

     

    Neutral

    Barrens Trapper – 3 Stars: This could make the cut in Deathrattle Demon Hunter. What’s interesting about this one is that the cost manipulation can allow Razorboar and Razorfen Beastmaster to cheat out higher-cost minions than they normally could.

    Crossroads Gossiper – 5 Stars: Any deck which runs secrets will strongly consider picking this up. Fortunately, we’ve got four classes, all with respectable secret synergy, so this card has a great chance of seeing play.

    Darkspear Berserker – 4 Stars: I can see two good applications for this card. The first is in Deathrattle Demon Hunter as something big you can cheat out, and the second is in a Heal Priest deck which plays self-damage cards with upsides so that it can heal easily.

    Death’s Head Cultist – 5 Stars: It’s like a cheap Khartut Defender. A very good defensive option to counter aggro, and the Deathrattle synergy doesn’t hurt either. A variety of decks will be interested in this.

    Far Watch Post – 2 Stars: I have to say I’m quite skeptical of Watch Post decks. The watch posts are weak individually, and this card in particular is so bad that it might not see play even in the archetype it was designed for. 4 health can be tricky to remove on Turn 2, though, so this could make it in as a good Turn 2 play.

    Gold Road Grunt – 1 Star: Possibly the worst Frenzy minion in the set. It’s easy for your opponent to play around, and we typically don’t want to self-damage it for the effect.

    Gruntled Patron – 2 Stars: This feels like too large of a downgrade from Grim Patron for it to be worthwhile, a card which might not even see play if it were around today. It will likely be experimented with and found to be lacking.

    Hog Rancher – 1 Star: A vanilla effect which doesn’t offer enough to be Constructed-worthy. We have better options as far as beasts are concerned.

    Injured Marauder – 2 Stars: This might make it into a Heal Priest deck, but Priest doesn’t have an enormous amount of cards which heal minions, so it could just sit on the shelf.

    Kindling Elemental – 1 Star: A huge buff for elemental decks. Is it enough to make them viable? Not even close.

    Lushwater Murcenary – 4 Stars: Great payoff for having a Murloc on the board, which will be easy for Shaman to do on Turn 2. Also perfectly fine later in the game, though less impressive at that point.

    Lushwater Scout – 4 Stars: The attack buff is great for Murloc Shaman. Rush is also fairly decent, although it is more of a defensive ability so it’s not as good as it could be.

    Oasis Surger – 3 Stars: Looks like a passable card for Hunter, but not one it would be thrilled about running. Handbuffs improve it quite a bit, and the damage to the hero is exactly what Hunter wants to be doing.

    Peon – 1 Star: The value is alright, but I think it is outclassed by Wandmaker. The slightly higher health typically isn’t going to compensate for the unreliability.

    Ratchet Privateer – 1 Star: This card would be much better if Ancharr was still playable. As it is, the various other weapon buffs that Warrior and Rogue have at their disposal outshine this.

    Razormane Raider – 3 Stars: Looks pretty bad until you realize that, when played on an empty board with a followup like, say, Cruel Taskmaster, this becomes a good replacement for Kor’kron Elite. However, your opponent’s board must be empty, or this becomes unreliable, and that could kill the card.

    Sunwell Initiate – 1 Star: One of the weaker Frenzy minions. 4 health on Turn 3 isn’t too difficult to remove, and it’s not a card you want to self-damage for the effect.  

    Talented Arcanist – 2 Star: Spell Damage decks don’t look particularly great, but this card is very nice in them. Unlike most other SD cards, you can just drop it on two and you don’t need to worry about it “sticking” or anything like that, which is great because SD deck often struggle to come up with earlygame plays.

    Toad of the Wilds – 3 Stars: Druid and Shaman have a lot of Nature spells, so this could work out fine. The problem is that the decks which would be interested in an early Taunt are probably not going to be top-tier contenders, but it’s a good card regardless.

    Venomous Scorpid – 5 Stars: Emperor Cobra is off crying in a corner somewhere. Vulpera Scoundrel also had a similar effect, but without poisonous, and that card saw some play. This should be able to worm its way into some decks just fine.

    Burning Blade Acolyte – 3 Stars: Very enticing pull for Death Speaker Blackthorn. When combined with Barrens Trapper, Razorfen Beastmaster can drag it into the field too.

    Hecklefang Hyena – 3 Stars: Some might be quick to dismiss this as pack filler, but I don’t think so. It’s like Vulgar Homunculus without the Taunt, and

    Horde Operative – 2 Stars: Interesting tech card, but it depends on Secret decks being a huge part of the next meta, and while there will probably be one or two good ones, that isn’t enough to put a 3 mana 3/4 into a Constructed deck.

    Mor’shan Watch Post – 3 Stars: Easily the strongest of the watch posts. When placed on an unchallenged board, your opponent will be strongly encouraged to use a spell to deal with it. If not, they’ll have a lot of trouble removing it since the minions the watch post summons can remove the opponent’s minions played.

    Taurajo Brave – 3 Stars: Six mana is quite a large investment for a single target removal, especially one which requires another card to combo with it. The only class which can make use of this is Warrior, which would love to resurrect this with Saurfang.

    Barrens Blacksmith – 4 Stars: That is an extremely powerful Frenzy Effect. Any deck which cares about buffing the board will try to make this work, although the fact that you need to damage it is quite the challenge for any class that isn’t Warrior.

    Crossroads Watch Post – 2 Stars: Pretty good in conjunction with with Mor’shan Watch Post, although it does require a board to already be setup to function. That alone could prevent the card from making a dent in the meta.

    Primordial Protector – 1 Star: Is the return of Spiteful Summoner decks upon us? I doubt it, the high cost of this card means you’ll have to wait a while for the payoff, and that’s going to give you trouble compensating for the extreme deckbuilding condition. Remember how bad Spiteful was at 7 mana? This is even more expensive.

    Southsea Scoundrel – 1 Star: The main issue with this card is that your opponent will have access to the card you discover before you do, which explains why the stats are higher than average. I don’t really see a deck that would be interested in this: maybe if Rogue had some thief/pirate synergy, it could work, but right now it doesn’t.

    Spirit Healer – 1 Star: I’m not confident that playing this and stringing together a chain of Holy spells is going to be a playable strategy in any class. Its viability depends both on having a good board and Holy spells ready to go in hand, and that level of setup strikes me as excessive.

    Blademaster Samuro 4 Stars: This is fairly reliant on Handbuffs to succeed, and Warrior and Hunter can provide them. Because of its high health, the Frenzy effect can easily trigger after attacking a minion, which is excellent for preventing your opponent from building a board.

    Kargal Battlescar – 3 Stars: And, topping off the watch posts, we have this excellent win condition. Watch post decks are going to be highly reliant on drawing this, but fortunately its high cost means we can tutor it with Taelan Fordring.

    Kazakus, Golem Shaper – 5 Stars: Forgoing the other 4-cost cards in order to build a golem is frequently a winning trade for a lot of decks, and the golems you can create are often enough to decide games. The “summon a copy” ability in particular feels very overtuned and is frequently going to be the best pick.

    Mankrik – 3 Stars: Could work in decks with lots of card draw. I’m a little skeptical because the payoff isn’t amazing, and the card can be very slow if you don’t draw the 3/10 in a timely fashion. Because its power level is highly dependent on the timing, this could end up preventing the card from seeing widespread play.

    Shadow Hunter Vol’jin – 4 Stars: This is already seeing some play, and there’s no reason to think it will stop anytime soon. A single target “removal” attached to a minion with the potential to break combos is excellent, and we have the proof just by looking at the last meta.

     

     

     

    Posted in: General Discussion
  • 1

    posted a message on The Exhaustive Forged in the Barrens Preview
    Quote from user-31021151 >>

    All wrong, as always.

    Animated Broomstick: 1 Star – Cute, but giving minions Rush just isn’t a very strong effect.

    Pen Flinger: 1 Star – Outclassed by Guardian Augmerchant.

    Tour Guide: 1 Star – I always thought Water Boy would have seen play if it had been usable in Odd Paladin, and I guess Wild will show us if I was right. Too bad this review doesn’t take Wild into account.

    These are his Scholomance previews btw. Just a taste of what you're dealing with here.

    IIRC a lot of people slept on Pen Flinger and Animated Broomstick; I know I wasn't the only one who thought those cards were memes. If we're cherry picking here, I was literally the only person who was right about Ogremancer being good and people are finally starting to realize it.

    Posted in: General Discussion
  • 1

    posted a message on Epic Tier List & Crafting Guide

    All the new cards have now been placed. Soon I will update the placement of cards from older expansions.

    Posted in: Card Discussion
  • 3

    posted a message on Epic Tier List & Crafting Guide
    Welcome To The Epic Tier List & Crafting Guide!
    This thread's main purpose is to advise how to craft cards based on card play and winrates. If you are not sure which card to craft, then this is the appropriate place to ask. We only recommend dusting golden epics until you know you will not buy any more packs from the corresponding set.
    Disclaimer: A thread like this can not please everyone; the meta game is dynamic, so if you have suggestions or know possible uses for cards, feel free to tell them here! We recommend you to use links and sources to clarify your claim more.
     
    Please note that some cards may not be craftable and only obtainable from adventures and rewards.
     
    * = Recently updated
     = Editor's choice safe crafts
    # = Recommended as a one-off (Only for Tier 1-2-3)
    Standard Sets



     -
     Scholomance Academy
    Argent Braggart - Strong tempo play in pure paladin.
    Cabal Acolyte - Great synergy with Wave of Apathy
    Devout Pupil - Staple in pure paladin.
    Guardian Animals - Buildaround card in ramp druid.
    Survival of the Fittest - Staple in ramp druid.
    Secret Passage - Sees play in all relevant rogue decks.


    - Ashes of Outland

    Bamboozle - Staple in Galakrond secret rogue.
    Glowfly Swarm - Buildaround card in spell druid.
    Greyheart Sage * - Sees play in highlander and galakrond rogue.
    Mo'arg Artificer - Sees play in a variety of control decks, especially control warlock.
    Nagrand Slam - Great winrate, mainly used in highlander hunter.

    Warglaives of Azzinoth - Staple in aggro demon hunter.


    DHI - Demon Hunter Initiate
    Eye Beam - Staple in aggro demon hunter.

    GAW - Galakrond's Awakening
    Boompistol Bully - Excellent counter to Galakrond decks such as warrior or rogue.
    Escaped Manasaber - Sees play in a variety of highlander decks.

    - Descent of Dragons
    Dark Skies - Strong board clear for quest warlock.
    Rolling Fireball * - Strictly better Flame Lance, solid removal option for mage.
    Stormhammer - Staple in dragon hunter.

    - Saviors of Uldum
    Bloodsworn Mercenary - Enrage warrior is still strong even after the nerfs.
    Livewire Lance - Staple in enrage warrior, playable in any tempo-based warrior deck.
    Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron # - Staple in highlander mage.
    Tortollan Pilgrim # - Staple in highlander and big spell mage.
    Vulpera Scoundrel # - Used by a variety of classes and decks.

     – Rise of Shadows
    Power of Creation # - Staple in highlander mage, great synergy with Tortollan Pilgrim.

     - Classic

    Doomsayer# - Historically good card, playable in many slower decks.
    Murloc Warleader - Staple in murloc paladin, good winrate.
    Snake Trap # - Staple in highlander and secret hunter, good winrate.
    Twisting Nether 
    # – Staple in quest warlock.




     - Scholomance Academy
    Devolving Missiles - High playrate, but hurt by nerfs to druid.
    Flesh Giant - Staple in zoo warlock.
    Potion of Illusion - Buildaround card in tortollan mage.
    Steeldancer - Staple in weapon rogue.


    - Ashes of Outland

    Bladestorm * - Playable in control warrior.
    Libram of Hope * - Staple in pure paladin.
    Sethekk Veilweaver - Playable in highlander priest.

    Underlight Angling Rod * - Good value card, staple in murloc paladin.
    Warmaul Challenger * - Sees play in a variety of warrior decks.

    - Descent of Dragons

    Fate Weaver * - Staple in Galakrond priest.
    Lightforged Crusader * - Buildaround card for pure paladin, solid winrate.
    Toxic Reinforcements *- Sees success in aggressive face decks.
    Umbral Skulker - Sees play in Galakrond rogue.
    Veiled Worshipper * - Huge payoff for Galakrond warlock, decent winrate.

     - Saviors of Uldum

    Anubisath Defender * - Playable in a variety of druid decks.
    Plague of Death * - Staple in all priest decks.

     – Rise of Shadows
    Wrenchcalibur * - Playable in control warrior.

     - Classic

    Brawl
    * - Staple in slower warrior decks, good winrate.
    Force of Nature - * Staple in treant druid.
    Preparation - Playable in malygos and highlander rogue.
    Pyroblast * # - Staple in big spell mage.
    Sea Giant - Historically strong card which is seeing less play at the moment.
    Shield Slam - Staple in control warrior, good winrate.
    Southsea Captain - Playable in pirate warrior, hurt by nerfs but still has a good winrate.


     - Scholomance Academy
    Combustion - Playable in highlander mage.
    Transfer Student - Sees play in several highlander decks.
    Trueaim Crescent - Playable in highlander hunter.


    - Ashes of Outland

    Apexis Blast - Buildaround card in spell mage.
    Augmented Porcupine - Playable in face hunter.
    Boggspine Knuckles - Staple in galakrond shaman.

    Skeletal Dragon - Playable in most priest decks.

    DHI - Demon Hunter Initiate

    Wrathscale Naga - Buildaround in token demon hunter, mediocre winrate.
    Wrathspike Brute - Sometimes used in highlander demon hunter.

    - Descent of Dragons
    Dragon's Pack - Hurt hard by recent nerfs.
    Kobold Stickyfinger - Tech card which performs decently against warrior and demon hunter.
    Sanctuary - Niche card for pure paladin: good against control but weak against aggro.
    Skyfin - Sees some play in hunter and paladin, but overall dragon/murloc hybrids haven't taken off.

     - Saviors of Uldum
    Crystal Merchant * - Played in embiggen druid, also still works in quest druid.
    History Buff - Interesting effect, playable in highlander rogue and zoo decks.
    Psychopomp * - Staple in resurrect priest which has a lower winrate currently.
    Splitting Axe * - Playable in totem shaman.
    Tip the Scales - Sees play in murloc paladin, good winrate but low playrate.
    Wild Bloodstinger # - Playable in highlander hunter, also a tech option vs combo decks.

     – Rise of Shadows
    Crystalsong Portal - Usable in treant druid but can be replaced.
    Mana Cyclone - The DoD elemental package boosted cyclone mage's winrate, but not by much.
    Magic Carpet * - Has not adjusted well to the zoolock nerf.
    Omega Devastator * - Formerly strong card which currently sees little play.
    Waggle Pick * - Often played in aggressive rogue decks.
    Witch's Brew - Sees play in galakrond shaman, hurt by recent nerfs.
    Unidentified Contract * - Value card which sees some play in galakrond rogue.

     - Classic
    Avenging Wrath 
    - Occasionally used in pure paladin.
    Cabal Shadow Priest
    * - Used in a variety of priest decks despite the low playrate.
    Far Sight - Playable in Galakrond shaman decks which struggle in the current meta.
    Hungry Crab * # - Decent tech card against murloc decks.
    Icicle * - Performs decently in highlander mage, low playrate.


     - Scholomance Academy
    Ceremonial Maul - Playable in big warrior which is a dying archetype.
    Felosophy - Low winrate but good synergy with Desk Imp.
    Runic Carvings - Playable in totem shaman.
    Totem Goliath - Playable in totem shaman.
    Void Drinker - Control warlock has been hurt by the druid nerfs.

    - Ashes of Outland
    Apexis Smuggler - Decent card, but secret mage lacks enough synergy to be competitive.

    Darkglare - Sometimes used in zoolock, but performs poorly in that deck.
    Marsh Hydra * - Used in big druid, a slow and ineffective archetype.
    Shattered Rumbler -
    Spell shaman has a low winrate.
    Waste Warden - Niche tech card, performs poorly in the current meta.

    DHI - Demon Hunter Initiate
    Flamereaper - Commonly used in highlander demon hunter.

    GAW
    - Galakrond's Awakening
    Chaos Gazer - Very weak effect which is often useless when played on curve.

      - Descent of Dragons
    Chromatic Egg - Very slow, but can work in quest paladin.
    Cumulo-Maximus * - Struggles to find a home after the rotation.
    Embiggen * - Embiggen druid has fallen off hard in AoO.

    Mana Giant - Sees play in cyclone mage which is not a strong archetype. T2 in Wild.
    Necrium Apothecary - Has not recovered from the nerf.

    Ramming Speed * # - Mediocre removal option for warrior.


     - Saviors of Uldum
    Blatant Decoy - Staple in big paladin and shaman, low winrate currently.
    Diseased Vulture - * No longer sees any play in zoolock.
    Micro Mummy * - Played in a variety of weak decks.
    Plague of Murlocs * # -  Shaman is not in a great spot competitively.
    Riftcleaver - Effect is not worth the downside.
    Scarlet Webweaver # - Niche card which does not currently see much play.
    Shadow of Death - Poor winrate but does have some synergy with Stowaway.

     – Rise of Shadows
    Batterhead - Played in slower priest and druid decks, low winrate.
    Dragon Speaker - Dragon paladin is playable but unimpressive.
    Hench-Clan Hag - Niche card for token decks.
    Lazul's Scheme - Playable in miracle priest, very low winrate.
    Muckmorpher - Staple in big shaman which is a niche deck in the current meta.
    Nine Lives * - Sees little play currently.
    Shadowy Figure - Low winrate, but good synergy with Grave Rune.
    Unseen Saboteur - Niche tech card against spell heavy decks.

     - Classic
    Ancient of Lore 
    - Playable in heal and quest druid, low winrate.
    Ancient of War - Does not make the cut in most quest druid decks, bad winrate.
    Big Game Hunter * # - Tech option against large minions, low playrate.
    Doomhammer * - Has not found a new deck after the rotation.
    Faceless Manipulator - Playable in slower mech paladin decks, low winrate.
    Gladiator's Longbow - Sees very little play but playable in slower hunter decks.
    Gorehowl - Niche card for minion-heavy warrior decks.
    Lay on Hands - Staple in spell paladin, low winrate.
    Spellbender - Playable in secret mage, low winrate.


     - Scholomance Academy
    Ancient Void Hound - Extremely slow card.
    Educated Elekk - Very weak effect which can hurt more than it helps.
    Enchanted Cauldron - Meme card, sees very little play.
    Krolusk Barkstripper - Effect hard to trigger.
    Playmaker - Niche effect, low winrate.


    - Ashes of Outland

    Pit Commander - Big demon hunter has a very low winrate.
    Replicat-o-tron - Very niche effect which is difficult to make use of.
    Shadow Council - Meme card.


    GAW - Galakrond's Awakening

    Shadow Sculptor - Often a worse Gadgetzan Auctioneer, low winrate.

     - Descent of Dragons
    Blowtorch Saboteur - Lacks any form of synergy to justify using in your deck.
    Dread Raven - Dread Raven OTK decks are not viable.
    Envoy of Lazul - Priest's thief synergies have historically performed poorly, and this is no exception.
    Grizzled Wizard - Meme card.
    Tentacled Menace - Extremely unreliable, frequently helps your opponent.
    Transmogrifier - A liability.
    Scion of Ruin * - Galakrond warrior lost the cards that made it viable with the rotation.
    Secure the Deck - Lacks any synergy in standard, awful winrate.
    Wyrmrest Purifier * - Has a low playrate after the standard rotation.

     - Saviors of Uldum
    Body Wrapper - Very unreliable card, you usually will not get what you want.
    Desert Obelisk - This is a card for casual mode, not recommended on ladder.
    Dwarven Archaeologist - Meme card, effect difficult to make good use of.
    Mischief Maker - Possible tech card vs decks going on fatigue but very low winrate.
    Mogu Cultist - Mogu decks have terrible winrates.
    Mortuary Machine - Meme card, often a worse Fel Reaver.
    Whirlkick Master - Slow card, effect difficult to make use of.

     – Rise of Shadows
    Arcane Fletcher - Has meme potential in midrange hunter.
    Azerite Elemental - Meme card.
    Big Bad Archmage - Very slow card.
    Crystal Stag - Oasis Surger performs similarly without a condition.
    Darkest Hour - Meme card.
    Duel! - Big paladin decks are not viable.
    Jumbo Imp - Difficult to discount efficiently.
    Portal Overfiend - Weak card for Plot Twist Warlock.
    Whirlwind Tempest - Meme card, playable in experimental big shaman decks.

     - Classic

    Bane of Doom - Very unreliable card, low winrate.
    Barrens Stablehand - Meme card.
    Bestial Wrath - Meme card.
    Blood Knight - Niche tech card, useless in the current meta.
    Earth Elemental - Playable in heavy-overload decks, very low winrate.
    Kidnapper - Overpriced card, outclassed by better removal options.
    Mindgames - Meme card, playable in fun steal decks.
    Patient Assassin - Outclassed by better removal options for rogue.
    Pit Lord - Playable in demonlock, very low play and winrate.
    Shadowform – Often a liability, meme card.
    Sword of Justice * - Sees very little play after the rotation.


     Standard ranking change log for Year of the Dragon:

    14 August
    Transfer Student to Tier 2
    Guardian Animals to Tier 1
    Argent Braggart to Tier 1
    Devout Pupil to Tier 1
    Survival of the Fittest to Tier 1

    29 May
    Skeletal Dragon Tier 1 to 3
    Marsh Hydra Tier 2 to 4
    Greyheart Sage Tier 2 to 1
    Underlight Angling Rod Tier 3 to 2
    Warmaul Challenger Tier 4 to 2
    Bladestorm Tier 5 to 2
    Flamereaper Tier 2 to 4
    Embiggen Tier 1 to 4
    Scion of Ruin Tier 1 to 5
    Toxic Reinforcements Tier 1 to 2
    Veiled Worshipper Tier 1 to 2
    Rolling Fireball Tier 2 to 1
    Cumulo-Maximus Tier 3 to 4
    Lightforged Crusader Tier 3 to 2
    Wyrmrest Purifier Tier 3 to 5
    Anubisath Defender Tier 1 to 2
    Plague of Death Tier 1 to 2
    Psychopomp Tier 1 to 3
    Crystal Merchant Tier 2 to 3
    Micro Mummy Tier 2 to 4
    Plague of Murlocs Tier 2 to 4
    Diseased Vulture Tier 3 to 4
    Splitting Axe Tier 5 to 3
    Batterhead Tier 1 to 4
    Magic Carpet Tier 2 to 3
    Omega Devastator Tier 2 to 3
    Power of Creation Tier 2 to 1
    Waggle Pick Tier 2 to 3
    Jumbo Imp Tier 3 to 5
    Wrenchcalibur Tier 3 to 2
    Unidentified Contract Tier 4 to 3
    Force of Nature Tier 1 to 2
    Mountain Giant moved to HoF
    Sea Giant Tier 1 to 2
    Doomhammer Tier 2 to 4
    Sword of Justice Tier 3 to 5
    Avenging Wrath Tier 4 to 3
    Cabal Shadow Priest Tier 4 to 3
    Icicle Tier 5 to 3

    18 April
    Flamereaper to Tier 2
    Wrathscale Naga to Tier 3
    Wrathspike Brute to Tier 3
    Pit Commander to Tier 5
    Warglaives of Azzinoth to Tier 1
    Apexis Blast Tier 1 to 3
    Marsh Hydra to Tier 2
    Augmented Porcupine to Tier 3
    Nagrand Slam to Tier 1
    Apexis Smuggler to Tier 4
    Libram of Hope to Tier 5
    Underlight Angling Rod to Tier 3
    Sethekk Veilweaver to Tier 2
    Greyheart Sage to Tier 2
    Boggspine Knuckles to Tier 3
    Shattered Rumbler to Tier 4
    Darkglare to Tier 4
    Shadow Council to Tier 5
    Bladestorm to Tier 5
    Warmaul Challenger to Tier 4
    Replicat-o-tron to Tier 5
    Waste Warden to Tier 4

    12 April
    Eye Beam to Tier 1
    Apexis Blast to Tier 1
    Skeletal Dragon to Tier 1
    Glowfly Swarm to Tier 1
    Bamboozle to Tier 1

    8 April
    Cards moved to Wild section

    29 March
    Stormhammer Tier 2 to 1
    Crowd Roaster Tier 1 to 2
    Masked Contender Tier 1 to 2
    Stampeding Roar Tier 2 to 3
    Boompistol Bully to Tier 1
    Escaped Manasaber to Tier 1
    Chaos Gazer to Tier 4
    Necrium Apothecary Tier 2 to 4
    Shadow Sculptor Tier 4 to 5
    Fate Weaver Tier 5 to 4
    Wyrmrest Purifier Tier 4 to 3

    25 January
    Shadow Sculptor to Tier 4
    Stampeding Roar Tier 5 to 2
    Embiggen Tier 2 to 1

    18 January
    Dragon's Pack Tier 1 to 3
    Scion of Ruin Tier 2 to 1
    Anubisath Defender Tier 2 to 1
    Mountain Giant Tier 2 to 1
    Psychopomp Tier 3 to 1
    Dark Skies Tier 2 to 1
    Crystal Merchant Tier 4 to 2
    Preparation Tier 3 to 2
    Umbral Skulker Tier 3 to 2
    Changed Livewire Lance's description
    Force of Nature Tier 3 to 1
    Batterhead Tier 3 to 1
    Bloodsworn Mercenary Tier 2 to 1
    Doomsayer Tier 2 to 1
    Far Sight Tier 4 to 3
    Power of Creation Tier 1 to 2
    Necrium Apothecary Tier 1 to 2
    Embiggen Tier 3 to 2
    Shield Slam Tier 1 to 2
    Brawl Tier 1 to 2
    Twisting Nether Tier 3 to 1
    Tortollan Pilgrim Tier 1 to 2
    Book of Specters Tier 3 to 2
    Changed Witch's Brew's description
    Rolling Fireball Tier 1 to 2
    Haunting Visions Tier 2 to 3
    Big Bad Voodoo Tier 3 to 4
    Omega Devastator Tier 3 to 2
    Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron Tier 1 to 2
    Southsea Captain Tier 4 to 2
    Thunderhead Tier 1 to 3
    Supercollider Tier 2 to 1
    Pyroblast Tier 2 to 3
    Lightforged Crusader Tier 2 to 3
    Glowstone Technician Tier 1 to 2
    Ramming Speed Tier 4 to 3
    Necrium Vial Tier 1 to 3
    Faceless Manipulator Tier 3 to 4
    Tip the Scales Tier 2 to 3
    Hidden Wisdom Tier 1 to 4
    Vivid Nightmare Tier 4 to 3
    Wispering Woods Tier 3 to 2
    Baleful Banker Tier 3 to 2
    Smolderthorn Lancer Tier 3 to 2

    17 December
    Micro Mummy Tier 1 to 2
    Psychopomp Tier 1 to 3
    Tip the Scales Tier 1 to 2
    Plague of Death Tier 1 to 4
    Anubisath Defender Tier 2 to 3
    Crystal Merchant Tier 2 to 4
    Diseased Vulture Tier 2 to 3
    Livewire Lance Tier 2 to 1
    Plague of Murlocs Tier 3 to 2
    Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron Tier 3 to 1
    Splitting Axe Tier 3 to 5
    Tortollan Pilgrim to Tier 1
    Body Wrapper Tier 4 to 5
    Shadow of Death Tier 5 to 4
    Hench-Clan Hag Tier 1 to 4
    Omega Devastator Tier 1 to 3
    Waggle Pick Tier 1 to 2
    Batterhead Tier 2 to 3
    Power of Creation Tier 2 to 1
    Wrenchcalibur Tier 2 to 3
    Big Bad Archmage Tier 4 to 5
    Crystal Stag Tier 4 to 5
    Crystalsong Portal Tier 4 to 3
    Jumbo Imp Tier 4 to 3
    Mana Cyclone Tier 4 to 3
    Witch's Brew Tier 4 to 3
    Dragon Speaker Tier 5 to 4
    Shadowy Figure Tier 5 to 4
    Unidentified Contract Tier 5 to 4

    15 December
    Dragon's Pack to Tier 1
    Stormhammer to Tier 2
    Lightforged Crusader to Tier 2
    Dark Skies to Tier 2
    Kobold Stickyfinger to Tier 4
    Scion of Ruin to Tier 2
    Toxic Reinforcements to Tier 1
    Rolling Fireball to Tier 1
    Veiled Worshipper to Tier 1
    Umbral Skulker to Tier 3
    Mana Giant to Tier 4
    Necrium Apothecary to Tier 1
    Dread Raven to Tier 5
    Envoy of Lazul to Tier 5
    Fate Weaver to Tier 5
    Ramming Speed to Tier 4

    10 December
    Added all DoD Epics (awaiting placement)
    Removed Doom in the Tomb Epics

    12 October
    Micro Mummy Tier 2 to 1
    Plague of Death Tier 3 to 1
    Bloodsworn Mercenary Tier 1 to 2
    Livewire Lance Tier 1 to 2
    History Buff Tier 4 to 3
    Splitting Axe Tier 4 to 3
    Scarlet Webweaver Tier 3 to 4
    Magic Carpet Tier 2 to 1
    Waggle Pick Tier 2 to 1
    Power of Creation Tier 3 to 2
    Crystalsong Portal Tier 3 to 4
    Batterhead Tier 4 to 2
    Hench-Clan Hag Tier Tier 4 to 1
    Sul'thraze Tier 3 to 2
    Dreampetal Florist Tier 3 to 2
    Necrium Vial Tier 5 to 3
    Thunderhead Tier 2 to 1
    Omega Mind to Tier 3
    Nightmare Amalgam Tier 2 to 1
    Hidden Wisdom Tier 4 to 1
    Doomsayer Tier 1 to 2
    Ancient of War Tier 3 to 4
    Sword of Justice Tier 4 to 3
    Astral Communion to Tier 5
    Mysterious Challenger to Tier 1
    Lock and Load to Tier 4
    Call of the Wild to Tier 1
    Renounce Darkness to Tier 5
    Lightbomb to Tier 1

    7 September
    Livewire Lance Tier 2 to 1
    Bloodsworn Mercenary Tier 2 to 1
    Seaforium Bomber Tier 3 to 4
    Voodoo Doll Tier 2 to 3
    Astromancer Tier 2 to 3
    Haunting Visions Tier 2 to 3
    Power of Creation Tier 2 to 3
    Psychopomp Tier 2 to 1
    Mountain Giant Tier 1 to 2
    Mana Cyclone Tier 1 to 4
    Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron Tier 1 to 3
    Tortollan Pilgrim Tier 1 to 3

    27 August
    Shadow of Death Tier 4 to 5
    Jumbo Imp Tier 5 to 4

    24 August
    Cathedral Gargoyle Tier 4 to 5
    Beryllium Nullifier Tier 4 to 5
    Cannon Barrage Tier 4 to 5

    20 August
    Mogu Cultist Tier 4 to 5
    Duel! Tier 5 to 4

    New classic card from Patch 14.6.0.31761 has been added:
    Barrens Stablehand to Tier 5

    17 August
    New SoU cards are placed:
    To Tier 1:
    Puzzle Box of Yogg-SaronTip the Scales and Tortollan Pilgrim.
    To Tier 2:
    Anubisath DefenderBloodsworn MercenaryCrystal MerchantDiseased VultureLivewire LanceMicro MummyPsychopomp and Vulpera Scoundrel.
    To Tier 3:
    Plague of DeathPlague of MurlocsScarlet Webweaver and Wild Bloodstinger.
    To Tier 4:
    Blatant DecoyBody WrapperHistory BuffMogu CultistRiftcleaverShadow of Death and Splitting Axe.
    To Tier 5:
    Desert ObeliskDwarven ArchaeologistMischief MakerMortuary Machine and Whirlkick Master.

    Ancient of War Tier 5 to 3
    Omega Mind Tier 4 to 5
    Omega Defender Tier 4 to 5
    Dreampetal Florist Tier 4 to 3
    The Beast Within Tier 4 to 5
    Snapjaw Shellfighter Tier 4 to 5
    Gurubashi Hypemon Tier 4 to 5
    Auchenai Phantasm Tier 4 to 5
    Dragon Speaker Tier 4 to 5
    Southsea Captain Tier 3 to 4
    Gorehowl Tier 3 to 4
    Far Sight Tier 3 to 4
    Pyroblast Tier 3 to 2
    Hungry Crab Tier 3 to 2
    Voodoo Doll Tier 3 to 2
    Sandbinder Tier 3 to 2
    Hidden Wisdom Tier 3 to 4
    Augmented Elekk Tier 3 to 2
    Unseen Saboteur Tier 3 to 4
    Witch's Brew Tier 3 to 4
    Unexpected Results Tier 3 to 4
    Smolderthorn Lancer Tier 3 to 4
    Big Bad Voodoo Tier 3 to 4
    Waggle Pick Tier 3 to 2
    Power of Creation Tier 3 to 2
    Muckmorpher Tier 3 to 4
    Shield Slam Tier 2 to 1
    Preparation Tier 2 to 3
    Force of Nature Tier 2 to 3
    Faceless Manipulator Tier 2 to 3
    Big Game Hunter Tier 2 to 3
    Wispering Woods Tier 2 to 3
    Book of Specters Tier 2 to 3
    Supercollider Tier 2 to 1
    Prismatic Lens Tier 2 to 1
    Glowstone Technician Tier 2 to 3
    Crowd Roaster Tier 2 to 3
    Omega Devastator Tier 2 to 1
    Hench-Clan Hag Tier 2 to 4
    Crystalsong Portal Tier 2 to 3
    Rat Trap Tier 2 to 1
    Thunderhead Tier 1 to 2
    Master's Call Tier 1 to 2

    30 June
    Big Game Hunter Tier 3 to 2
    Rat Trap Tier 1 to 2
    Batterhead Tier 3 to 4
    Big Bad Archmage Tier 3 to 4
    Glowstone Technician Tier 4 to 2
    Jumbo Imp Tier 4 to 5
    Necromechanic Tier 4 to 3

    19 June
    Untamed Beastmaster Tier 4 to 5
    Stampeding Roar Tier 4 to 5
    Crowd Roaster Tier 3 to 2

    17 June
    Faceless Manipulator Tier 3 to 2
    Town Crier Tier 2 to 1
    Snake Trap Tier 2 to 1
    Hench-Clan Hag Tier 3 to 2

    13 June
    Master's Call Tier 2 to 1
    Reckless Experimenter Tier 4 to 5
    Treespeaker Tier 3 to 4
    Witch's Cauldron Tier 3 to 4
    Thunderhead Tier 3 to 1
    Doomhammer Tier 4 to 2
    Sword of Justice Tier 5 to 4
    Unidentified Contract Tier 4 to 5
    Unexpected Results Tier 5 to 3
    Haunting Visions Tier 3 to 2
    Prismatic Lens Tier 3 to 2
    Crowd Roaster Tier 2 to 3
    Mana Cyclone Tier 2 to 1

    26 May
    Preparation Tier 1 to 2
    Waggle Pick Tier 1 to 3
    Augmented Elekk Tier 2 to 3
    Supercollider Tier 1 to 2
    Masked Contender Tier 2 to 1
    Hench-Clan Hag Tier 2 to 3
    Shield Slam Tier 1 to 2
    Rat Trap Tier 2 to 1
    Town Crier Tier 1 to 2
    Omega Devastator Tier 1 to 2
    Wrenchcalibur tier 1 to 2

    21 May
    Murloc Warleader Tier 2 to 1

    18 May
    Wrenchcalibur Tier 2 to 1
    Masked Contender Tier 3 to 2
    Duel! Tier 4 to 5
    [card]Mana Cyclone/card] Tier 3 to 2

    16 May
    Mossy Horror Tier 2 to 3

    12 May
    Prismatic Lens Tier 2 to 3
    Doomhammer Tier 3 to 4
    Arcane Keysmith Tier 3 to 2
    Seaforium Bomber Tier 2 to 3
    Arcane Fletcher Tier 4 to 5
    Nine Lives Tier 2 to 3
    Force of Nature Tier 1 to 2
    Wispering Woods Tier 1 to 2
    Crystalsong Portal Tier 1 to 2
    Faceless Manipulator Tier 1 to 3

    6 May
    Mana Cyclone Tier 4 to 3

    5 May
    Supercollider Tier 2 to 1
    Ancient of Lore Tier 5 to 4
    Sword of Justice Tier 4 to 5
    Pyroblast Tier 4 to 3
    Blood Knight Tier 4 to 5

    3 May
    Supercollider Tier 1 to 2
    Omega Defender Tier 5 to 4
    Sandbinder Tier 5 to 3
    Ancient of War Tier 4 to 5
    Twisting Nether Tier 2 to 3
    Smolderthorn Lancer Tier 2 to 3
    Wrenchcalibur Tier 1 to 2
    Augmented Elekk Tier 1 to 2

    29 April
    Seaforium Bomber Tier 1 to 2
    Omega Mind Tier 5 to 4

    28 April
    Voodoo Doll Tier 4 to 3
    Crystallizer Tier 4 to 2
    Ectomancy Tier 4 to 5

    27 April
    Void Contract Tier 4 to 5
    Juicy Psychmelon Description changed from "Struggles to find a home in the meta."
    Hidden Wisdom Tier 2 to 3
    Master's Call Tier 1 to 2
    Magic Carpet Tier 1 to 2

    25 April
    Haunting Visions Tier 4 to 3
    Hidden Wisdom Tier 4 to 2
    Far Sight Tier 4 to 3
    Cabal Shadow Priest Tier 3 to 4

    20 April
    Omega Devastator Tier 2 to 1
    Power of Creation Text changed from: "Staple in Khadgar Mage, above-par winrate."
    Dreampetal Florist Tier 2 to 4
    Force of Nature Tier 2 to 1
    Gorehowl Tier 2 to 3
    Southsea Captain Tier 2 to 3
    Masked Contender Tier 2 to 3
    Prismatic Lens Tier 3 to 2
    Treespeaker Tier 4 to 3
    Baleful Banker Text changed from "Staple in Holy Wrath Paladin, reasonable winrate."
    Town Crier Tier 2 to 1
    Cannon Barrage Tier 3 to 4

    17 April
    Added remaining RoS cards to the list.
    Whirlwind Tempest to Tier 5
    Hench-Clan Hag to Tier 2
    Portal Overfiend to Tier 5
    Azerite Elemental to Tier 5
    Batterhead to Tier 3
    Big Bad Archmage to Tier 3

    15 April
    Duel! Tier 5 to 4
    Soulwarden Tier 3 to 4
    Nightmare Amalgam Tier 3 to 2
    Darkest Hour description changed: "Tier 2 in Wild."
    Jumbo Imp Tier 5 to 4
    Magic Carpet to Tier 1
    Wispering Woods Tier 4 to 1
    Force of Nature Tier 4 to 2

    13 April
    Mountain Giant Tier 2 to 1
    Crystalsong Portal Tier 2 to 1
    Power of Creation Tier 3 to 2
    Unseen Saboteur to Tier 3
    Omega Devastator to Tier 2
    Darkest Hour to Tier 5
    Jumbo Imp to Tier 5

    12 April
    Added several  cards to the list.
    To Tier 1:
    Waggle Pick
    Wrenchcalibur
    To Tier 2:
    Crystalsong Portal
    Nine Lives
    To Tier 3:
    Muckmorpher
    Power of Creation
    Witch's Brew
    To Tier 4:
    Arcane Fletcher
    Crystal Stag
    Dragon Speaker
    Mana Cyclone
    Unidentified Contract
    To Tier 5:
    Duel!
    Shadowy Figure



    Vivid Nightmare Tier 3 to 4
    Necrium Vial Tier 3 to 5
    Sul'thraze Tier 2 to 3
    Big Bad Voodoo Tier 4 to 3

    11 April
    Mountain Giant Tier 1 to 2
    Blast Wave Tier 2 to 4
    Big Game Hunter Tier 2 to 3
    Cabal Shadow Priest Tier 2 to 3
    Arcane Keysmith Tier 2 to 3
    Seaforium Bomber Tier 4 to 1
    Immortal Prelate Tier 4 to 5
    Murloc Warleader Tier 3 to 2
    Avenging Wrath Tier 3 to 4
    Reckless Experimenter Tier 3 to 4
    Vivid Nightmare Tier 2 to 3
    Book of Specters Tier 3 to 2
    Spellbender Tier 3 to 4
    Rat Trap Tier 3 to 2
    Splitting Image Tier 3 to 4
    Stampeding Roar Tier 3 to 4
    Omega Agent Tier 3 to 4
    Pyroblast Tier 3 to 4
    Augmented Elekk Tier 4 to 1
    Voodoo Doll Tier 2 to 4

    For details on how Standard will rotate, check out this thread!

     

    Wild sets and best standard crafts in Wild

    Standard (Wild Ranking)
    Mana Cyclone – Staple in quest mage.
    Mana Giant – Staple in quest mage.

     – The Witchwood
    Book of Specters
    * - Staple in quest mage.

     – Kobolds & Catacombs
    Branching Paths  - Very flexible card, staple in most druid decks.
    Psychic Scream - Very strong card, sees play in Reno Priest
    Voidlord - Staple in most warlock decks, including reno and cubelock.

     – Knights of the Frozen Throne
    Nerubian Unraveler – Staple in Darkest Hour Warlock, decent winrate.
    Ultimate Infestation - Staple in jade druid, also sees play in ramp druid.

     – Journey to Un’Goro
    Bloodbloom * - Staple in Mecha'thun and Darkest Hour Warlock.
    Primordial Glyph 
    - Staple in quest mage; playable in a variety of decks.
    Shadow Visions  - Staple in several priest decks, especially control.

     – Mean Streets of the Gadgetzan
    Dirty Rat # - Strong tech card against combo and OTK decks.
    Dragonfire Potion #* - Powerful board clear for reno priest.

     – One Night in Karazhan
    Arcane Giant – Strong finisher in quest mage, but will soon be nerfed.

     – Goblins & Gnomes
    Lightbomb # - Staple in many priest decks, good winrate.

     – Hall of Fame
    Ice Block #* - Staple in control and secret mage, very good winrate.


    Standard (Wild Ranking)
    Darkest Hour * – Strong buildaround card for warlock.

     – Rastakhan’s Rumble

    Masked Contender
     # – Staple in secret rogue, playable in any secret deck.

     – The Boomsday Project
    Juicy Psychmelon 
    – Does not have any home in the current meta, but has niche potential in the future.
    Supercollider # – Playable in any slower warrior archetype.

     – The Witchwood
    Baleful Banker * - Staple in Holy Wrath Paladin.
    Rat Trap # - Staple in secret and highlander hunter, great winrate.
    Sandbinder # - Often played in highlander decks as a reliable tutor of Zephrys the Great.
    Town Crier - Staple in any warrior deck with very solid winrate.
    Wispering Woods * – Playable in token druid, good winrate.

     – Kobolds & Catacombs
    Arcane Tyrant 
    - Often played in big spell and reno mage, good winrate currently.
    Call to Arms 
    - Staple in murloc and giant paladin; strong card in any aggro deck.
    Corridor Creeper - Nerfed hard but still sees play in odd paladin and evolve shaman.

     – Knights of the Frozen Throne

    Gnomeferatu # - Tech card vs combo decks, currently sees play in renolock.
    Obsidian Statue  – Staple in slow priest decks.
    Skulking Geist #* - Tech vs jade druid which is popular in the current meta.
    Treachery * – Staple in treachery warlock, playable in Mecha'thun warlock.

     – Journey to Un’Goro
    Charged Devilsaur 
    - Often played in Darkest Hour Warlock, good winrate.
    Gentle Megasaur – Finisher in murloc decks, very good winrate in shaman and paladin.
    Gluttonous Ooze # - Strong tech card, sees regular play in control and highlander decks.
    Vilespine Slayer - Staple in odd rogue, playable in any rogue deck.

     – Whispers of the Old Gods
    Call of the Wild * - Recently buffed, good winrate.
    Vilefin Inquisitor – Strong card in murloc paladin but low playrate.

     – The Grand Tournament
    Garrison Commander
     - Playable in even shaman and even hunter, good winrate.
    Twilight Guardian - Sees some play in dragon priest, decent winrate.

     – Goblins & Gnomes
    Feign Death 
    #- Playable in deathrattle hunter.
    Quartermaster 
    * - Staple in odd paladin.


     – Rastakhan’s Rumble
    Auchenai Phantasm # - Playable in reno priest.
    Crowd Roaster - Playable in all dragon decks.
    Master's Call - Formerly strong, but midrange hunter is a dying archetype.
    Soulwarden * - Playable in discolock, decent winrate.
    Splitting Image * - Playable in secret mage.
    Stampeding Roar - Excellent synergy with Winged Guardian and Oondasta.

     – The Boomsday Project
    Dreampetal Florist
    * - Playable in combo druid decks.
    Glowstone Technician - Strong card even though paladin is not currently in its best spot.
    Necromechanic # - Playable in highlander and mech hunter, decent winrate.
    Omega Agent - Playable in handlock which recently received a lot of support.
    Prismatic Lens
    Holy Wrath paladin is significantly weaker post-nerfs.
    Thunderhead
    – Playable in even shaman.

     – The Witchwood
    Arcane Keysmith 
    # - Often played in highlander mage.
    Mossy Horror 
    # - Tech card vs swarm decks, playable in highlander decks.
    Nightmare Amalgam
    * - Versatile card for tribal decks, low playrate.
    Vivid Nightmare
    - Sees play in quest priest, mediocre winrate.
    Voodoo Doll 
    # - Often played in highlander mage and questlock, lower winrate after nerfs.

     – Kobolds & Catacombs
    Carnivorous Cube # - Staple in cubelock and deathrattle hunter.
    Cataclysm # - Staple in Mecha'thun Warlock.
    Dragon's Fury – Playable in reno and control mage, reasonable winrate.
    Reckless Flurry * - Playable in odd warrior, worse winrate in SoU.
    Spiteful Summoner - Build-around card, playable in druid and priest decks.
    To My Side! - Staple in spell hunter which sees little play in the current meta.
    Unstable Evolution # - Playable in evolve shaman.
    Void Ripper # - Playable in odd paladin and rogue but low playrate.

     – Knights of the Frozen Throne

    Corpsetaker
     - Often played in even shaman, playable in other even decks.
    Simulacrum # – Decent winrate and staple in exodia mage running Emperor Thaurissan.

     – Journey to Un’Goro
    Bittertide Hydra – Sees little play but playable in aggressive decks.
    Meteor # – Playable in reno and big-spell mage.

     – Mean Streets of the Gadgetzan

    Kabal Trafficker # - Playable in renolock, good winrate but low playrate.
    Rat Pack – Playable in beast hunter, used to be staple in many hunter decks.
    Sleep with the Fishes #* - Playable in control and fatigue warrior.
    Small-Time Recruits - Playable in murloc paladin, rise in winrate.

     – Whispers of the Old Gods
    Cabalist's Tome # - Slow card but playable in exodia mage, has also seen play in control mage.
    DOOM! # – Playable in reno and Mecha'thun Warlock.
    Faceless Shambler 
    - Sees play in evenlock, lower playrate recently.

     – The Grand Tournament

    Mulch – Mediocre winrate but a hard removal option for druid.
    Mysterious Challenger - Staple in secret paladin, good winrate but low playrate.

     – Goblins & Gnomes
    Enhance-o Mechano 
    - Playable in mech and swarm decks, big rise in winrate.
    Fel Reaver # - Sees play in mech hunter with good winrate, playable in any aggressive deck.
    Hobgoblin - Sees play in zoolock, big rise in winrate.

     – Curse of Naxxramas
    Echoing Ooze - Surprise tech in swarm decks, low play and winrate.

     – Hall of Fame
    Molten Giant
     – Often played in evenlock and heal paladin, strong synergy with High Priest Thekal.
    Mountain Giant * - Frequently played in evenlock, mediocre winrate.


     – Rastakhan’s Rumble
    A New Challenger...
    - Occasionally used in slower paladin decks, mediocre winrate.
    Big Bad Voodoo
    - Low playrate, hurt by recent shaman nerfs.
    Blast Wave – Playable in highlander mage, mediocre winrate.
    Haunting Visions – Playable in both aggro and galakrond shaman, hurt by recent nerfs.
    Mosh'Ogg Announcer - Struggles to find a home in the current meta.
    Smolderthorn Lancer - Playable in Galakrond warrior and highlander warrior.
    Sul'thraze # - Playable in highlander warrior, also playable in quest decks.
    Treespeaker - Playable in treant druid, good winrate.

     – The Boomsday Project
    Academic Espionage - Niche card for thief rogue, low winrate.
    Astromancer # - Playable in highlander and freeze mage.
    Augmented Elekk * - Used in a variety of weak decks, poor winrate.
    Crystallizer - Sometimes played in zoo decks, low playrate.
    Seaforium Bomber * - Niche card for bomb warrior and quest shaman.
    Unexpected Results - Sees fringe play in cyclone mage.
    Weaponized Pinata - Low winrate but a niche card for mech decks.

     – The Witchwood
    Cathedral Gargoyle 
    - Dragon paladin has a low winrate.
    Hidden Wisdom
    - Does not have a home in the current meta.
    Spectral Cutlass - Low winrate, anti-synergy with Bazaar Burglary.
    Witch's Cauldron – Playable in zoo and swarm decks but low playrate.

     – Kobolds & Catacombs
    Crushing Walls - Playable in spell hunter, low winrate.
    Dragonhatcher - Has seen play in big and taunt druid.
    Evasion – Playable in mill and Malygos rogue, low winrate.
    Fal'dorei Strider - Fell flat after recent rogue nerfs, sees little play.
    Grand Archivist - Playable in Spiteful Summoner decks, very low playrate.
    Twilight Acolyte * - Staple in dragon priest which has low playrate currently.

     – Knights of the Frozen Throne

    Blackguard - Sees little play, outclassed in heal paladin.
    Bring It On! - Sees some play in fatigue warrior, low winrate.
    Dead Man's Hand – Playable in fatigue and recruit warrior, low winrate.
    Doomerang - Hurt by recent rogue nerfs, sees very little play.
    Drakkari Enchanter - Sees some play in big druid, synergy with Emperor Thaurissan.
    Fatespinner - Niche card for token druid, low winrate.
    Meat Wagon - Sees some play in mech deathrattle paladin, okay winrate.
    Rattling Rascal - A liability but has strong synergy with Evolve.
    Snowfury Giant – Playable in heavy overload decks.

     – Journey to Un’Goro
    Blazecaller 
    – Playable in elemental decks which are fringe in the current meta.
    Bright-Eyed Scout * - Sees very little play but has niche potential in big spell mage.
    Chittering Tunneler - Sees very little play but decent winrate.
    Curious Glimmerroot * – Niche card for reno priest, mediocre winrate.
    Dinosize – Situational card which sees some play in even paladin.
    Giant Anaconda – Playable in Mecha'thun Druid, low winrate.
    Living Mana – Often played in token druid, good winrate but low playrate.
    Primordial Drake *- Playable in dragon and control decks, very low playrate.
    Stone Sentinel - Playable in elemental shaman, low winrate.

     – Mean Streets of the Gadgetzan
    Fight Promoter - Playable in hand-buff decks, low winrate.
    Mana Geode – Sees very little play but playable in proactive priest decks.
    Manic Soulcaster - Playable in reno and control mage, low play and winrate.

     – Whispers of the Old Gods
    Eternal Sentinel - Playable in overload aggro shaman, low winrate.
    Forbidden Healing - Tech option for heal paladin.
    Giant Sand Worm - Sees very little play but a niche card for recruit hunter.
    Wisps of the Old Gods – Low playrate but playable in token druid.

     – The Grand Tournament
    Arcane Blast - Low winrate, has seen play in burn mage.
    Beneath the Grounds - Tech option for mill decks, low winrate.
    Coldarra Drake - Sees little play but playable in inspire decks.
    Elemental Destruction - Playable in control shaman, low winrate.

     – Goblins & Gnomes
    Ancestor's Call – Staple in Malygos and big shaman, which are niche archetypes.
    Clockwork Giant - Tech card vs control decks, very low playrate.
    Coghammer - Niche card for mech paladin, good winrate but very low playrate.
    Crush - Low win and playrate but playable in slower warrior decks.
    Demonheart – Sees very little play but playable in demon decks.
    Piloted Sky Golem - Playable in midrange decks, decent winrate but low playrate.
    Siltfin Spiritwalker - Often played in murloc shaman, low playrate.



     – Rastakhan’s Rumble
    Cannon Barrage - Slow card, effect difficult to make good use of.
    Drakkari Trickster – Very unreliable card, possible tech against Kingsbane in Wild.
    Gurubashi Hypemon – Too expensive, effect difficult to make use of.
    Gurubashi Offering - A liability.
    Ice Cream Peddler - Meme card.
    Immortal Prelate – Buildaround in buff paladin, very low winrate.
    Linecracker - Staple in meme BEEEES!!! OTK deck.
    Snapjaw Shellfighter - Interesting meme card, useless in the current meta.
    Surrender to Madness - Synergy with Spirit of the Dead, very low winrate.
    The Beast Within - Meme card for beast decks.
    Untamed Beastmaster - Unreliable meme card for beast decks.
    Void Contract - Expensive tech card vs combo decks, useless in the current meta.

     – The Boomsday Project
    Beryllium Nullifier 
    – Does not have an use in any constructed deck.
    Ectomancy 
    - Meme card for demon decks.
    E.M.P. Operative - Extremely situational tech card.
    Goblin Prank - Meme card .
    Holomancer - Does anyone know any use for this card?
    Loose Specimen - A liability.
    Necrium Vial - Deathrattle rogue is not viable.
    Omega Defender - Meme card.
    Omega Mind # - Does not have a home in the current meta.
    Power Word: Replicate - Meme card, has seen play in Test Subject OTK decks.
    Reckless Experimenter - Meme card for deathrattle decks which lack synergy.
    Star Aligner - Meme card.

     – The Witchwood
    Bogshaper - Playable in elemental shaman, very low winrate.
    Deadly Arsenal - Synergy card which lacks support, very low winrate.
    Deathweb Spider – Slow card, effect difficult to make use of.
    Muck Hunter - Outclassed by better 5 mana options.
    Ratcatcher - Meme card.
    Splitting Festeroot - Extremely slow card.
    Totem Cruncher - A liability.
    Toxmonger - Very low winrates, staple in quest hunter in Wild.
    WANTED! - Overpriced card, outclassed by better removal options.
    Worgen Abomination - Meme card, effect difficult to make use of.

     – Kobolds & Catacombs
    Astral Tiger 
    – Playable in undatakah druid, very low winrate.
    Bladed Gauntlet - Tech option for control warrior, very low winrate.
    Deck of Wonders - Meme card, staple in casual decks.
    Level Up! - Struggles to find a home after nerfs.
    Rummaging Kobold - Meme card for weapon decks.
    Shimmering Courser - Understatted, effect hard to trigger.
    Windshear Stormcaller – Effect difficult to trigger.

     – Knights of the Frozen Throne
    Abominable Bowman 
    - Pretty inconsistent card.
    Cryostasis - Meme card for freeze shaman.
    Deathaxe Punisher - Sees very little play, synergy with High Priestess Jeklik.
    Embrace Darkness – Overpriced, slow card.
    Furnacefire Colossus - Effect difficult to make use of, low winrate.
    Glacial Mysteries - Very slow card, outclassed in secret mage as a tutor.
    Light's Sorrow - Synergy card which lacks support, very low winrate.
    Spectral Pillager - Outclassed by Vilespine Slayer.
    Tomb Lurker - Very unreliable card.
    Toxic Arrow – Unreliable card which sees very little play, low winrate.

     – Journey to Un’Goro
    Biteweed - Very low win and playrate, has seen fringe play in miracle rogue.
    Dinomancy - Fun meme card, has seen play when it had been released.
    Emerald Hive Queen - A liability.
    Explore Un'Goro - Meme card.
    Primalfin Champion - Effect hard to trigger, playable in quest paladin.
    Spirit Echo – Very weak and inconsistent card, outclassed by better card draw options.
    Stampede - Unreliable card, very low playrate.
    Sudden Genesis - Very situational card.
    Tortollan Primalist - Meme card.

     – Mean Streets of the Gadgetzan
    Blubber Baron - Understatted, effect difficult to trigger.
    Brass Knuckles - Meme card for handbuff decks.
    Burgly Bully - Sees very little play, low winrate.
    Defias Cleaner - Very low play and winrates.
    Fel Orc Soulfiend - Why wouldn't you play a 3/4 instead?
    Finders Keepers - Unreliable, overcosted card.
    Greater Arcane Missiles - Unreliable and overcosted card, low winrate.
    Leatherclad Hogleader - Very low winrate but playable vs control decks.
    Luckydo Buccaneer - Playable in pirate rogue, decent winrate but low playrate.
    Lunar Visions – Slow card, outclassed in a crowded slot for druid.
    Lotus Assassin - Stealth rogue is not a viable deck.
    Lotus Illusionist - Very unreliable card, playable in fun evolve decks.
    Meanstreet Marshal - Unreliable card, low winrate.
    Pilfered Power – Meme card, playable in experimental token druid.
    Piranha Launcher - Very slow card.
    Unlicensed Apothecary - A liability, once known for Evolve shenanigans.
    Weasel Tunneler - Meme card, playable in experimental quest priest deck.
    Wind-up Burglebot - Meme card.

     – Whispers of the Old Gods
    Ancient Harbinger - Meme card, effect difficult to make use of.
    Blade of C'Thun - Expensive removal for C'Thun Rogue, see C'Thun.
    Blood of The Ancient One - Meme card.
    Blood Warriors - Very situational card.
    Crazed Worshipper - Playable in C'Thun decks, see C'Thun.
    Cyclopian Horror - Meme card, you’d better play Sen'jin Shieldmasta instead.
    Darkspeaker – Often a liability, meme card.
    Embrace the Shadow - Very situational card, low winrate in heal priest.
    Forbidden Ancient – Meme card, playable in defensive druid decks.
    Forbidden Flame - Low playrate, outclassed by better removal options.
    Hammer of Twilight - Sees very little play, low winrate.
    Renounce Darkness - Meme card, playable in fun casual decks.
    Scaled Nightmare - Slow card, sees very little play.
    Shadowcaster - Outclassed by Zola the Gorgon.
    Tentacles for Arms - Meme card.
    Twilight Summoner - Sees very little play, outclassed in deathrattle decks.
    Validated Doomsayer – Often a liability, meme card.

     – League of Explorers
    Djinni of Zephyrs 
    - Meme card for buff decks, sees very little play.
    Naga Sea Witch - Low playrate after nerf, has seen play in giant hunter and handlock.

     – The Grand Tournament
    Astral Communion 
    - Astral decks have very low winrate currently.
    Charged Hammer - Slow card, outclassed in midrange shaman decks.
    Confuse - Meme card.
    Crowd Favorite - Sees very little play, low winrate.
    Dark Bargain - Poor value card which sees very little play, low winrate.
    Dreadsteed - Meme card, once played in heavy demonlock.
    Enter the Coliseum - Outclassed by better board clear options.
    Frost Giant - Meme card for inspire decks.
    Grand Crusader - Very unreliable card.
    Kodorider – Meme card, sees very little play.
    Lock and Load - Meme card, hunter lacks combo synergy.
    Magnataur Alpha - Understatted, unreliable card.
    Master of Ceremonies - Very inconsistent card.
    Poisoned Blade - Extremely slow card.
    Recruiter - Very slow card.
    Sea Reaver – Very unreliable card.
    Shadowfiend - Inconsistent card, very low win and playrate.
    Sideshow Spelleater - Unreliable tech card vs inspire decks, very low playrate.
    Stablemaster - Meme card, sees very little play.

     – Goblins & Gnomes
    Anima Golem - A liability.
    Bouncing Blade - Very unreliable card.
    Cogmaster's Wrench - Very inconsistent card.
    Dark Wispers - Poor value, sees little play.
    Echo of Medivh - Very sitautional card.
    Junkbot - Meme card for mech decks, sees very little play.
    Mini-Mage - A liability.
    Recombobulator - Meme card.
    Sabotage - Very unreliable card, low winrate.
    Shadowbomber - Sees very little play, low winrate.
    Steamwheedle Sniper – Outclassed in a crowded slot for Hunter.
    Tree of Life - Slow card, outclassed in mill druid.
    Wee Spellstopper - Meme card, sees very little play.

     – Curse of Naxxramas

    Shade of Naxxramas – Very little played, used to be staple in old midrange combo druid.

     – Hall of Fame
    Captain's Parrot - Meme card.
    Glitter Moth - Meme card for odd priest.
    Gloom Stag - Meme card for odd druid.


    Wild ranking change log for Year of the Dragon:

    30 May
    Darkest Hour Tier 1 to 2

    18 April

    Darkest Hour to Tier 1
    Mana Cyclone to Tier 1
    Mana Giant to Tier 1
    Book of Specters Tier 2 to 1
    Carnivorous Cube Tier 2 to 1
    Psychic Scream Tier 2 to 1
    Voidlord Tier 2 to 1
    Nerubian Unraveler Tier 2 to 1
    Bloodbloom Tier 2 to 1
    Primordial Glyph Tier 2 to 1
    Dragonfire Potion Tier 3 to 1
    Arcane Giant Tier 3 to 1
    Supercollider Tier 1 to 2
    Juicy Psychmelon Tier 4 to 2
    Rat Trap Tier 1 to 2
    Town Crier Tier 1 to 2
    Cataclysm Tier 3 to 2
    Fal'dorei Strider Tier 4 to 2
    Psychic Scream Tier 2 to 1
    Corpsetaker Tier 2 to 4
    Obsidian Statue Tier 3 to 2
    Vilespine Slayer Tier 1 to 2
    Call of the Wild Tier 3 to 2
    Garrison Commander Tier 4 to 2
    Twilight Guardian Tier 3 to 2
    Feign Death Tier 3 to 2
    Steamwheedle Sniper Tier 5 to 3
    Echoing Ooze Tier 5 to 3
    Crowd Roaster Tier 2 to 3
    Master's Call Tier 2 to 3
    Soulwarden Tier 4 to 3
    Smolderthorn Lancer Tier 2 to 3
    Splitting Image Tier 4 to 3
    Augmented Elekk Tier 4 to 3
    Dreampetal Florist Tier 2 to 3
    Glowstone Technician Tier 2 to 3
    Prismatic Lens Tier 2 to 3
    Arcane Keysmith Tier 2 to 3
    Nightmare Amalgam Tier 1 to 3
    Twilight Acolyte Tier 3 to 4

    13 October
    Dark Wispers to Tier 5
    Coghammer to Tier 4

    1 October

    Star Aligner to Tier 3
    Wild Ranking Added - Auchenai Phantasm to Tier 3
    Southsea Captain to Tier 1
    Far Sight to Tier 2
    Gnomeferatu Tier 3 to 2

    September 7
    Quartermaster Tier 1 to 2
    Dragonfire Potion Tier 1 to 3
    Ice Block Tier 3 to 1
    Curious Glimmerroot Tier 3 to 4
    Primordial Drake Tier 3 to 4
    Gluttonous Ooze Tier 1 to 2
    Darkest Hour Tier 2 to 3
    Bright-Eyed Scout Tier 3 to 4
    Obsidian Statue Tier 1 to 3
    Psychic Scream Tier 1 to 2

    20 August
    Twilight Acolyte Tier 2 to 3
    Vilespine Slayer Tier 2 to 1
    Skulking Geist Tier 3 to 2
    Astral Communion Tier 3 to 5
    Fal'dorei Strider Tier 3 to 4
    Doomerang Tier 2 to 4
    Astral Tiger Tier 4 to 5
    Sleep with the Fishes Tier 4 to 3
    Feign Death Tier 4 to 3
    Treachery Tier 4 to 2
    Reckless Flurry Tier 2 to 3
    Arcane Tyrant Tier 3 to 2
    Bloodbloom Tier 1 to 2

    30 June
    Spirit Echo Tier 4 to 5
    Blazecaller Tier 3 to 4
    Void Ripper Tier 2 to 3
    To My Side! Tier 2 to 3
    Mysterious Challenger Tier 1 to 3

    13 June
    Voidlord Tier 1 to 2
    Crushing Walls Tier 3 to 4
    Molten Giant Tier 1 to 2
    Carnivorous Cube Tier 1 to 3

    26 May
    Ice Block Tier 2 to 3

    21 May
    Primordial Drake Tier 2 to 3

    20 May
    Murloc Warleader to Tier 1 
    Siltfin Spiritwalker Tier 3 to 2
    Gnomeferatu Tier 2 to 3
    Charged Devilsaur Tier 1 to 2
    Vilefin Inquisitor Tier 1 to 2
    Call to Arms Tier 1 to 2
    Vilespine Slayer Tier 1 to 2
    Wispering Woods to Tier 2
    Rummaging Kobold Tier 4 to 5

    16 May
    Mossy Horror to Tier 4
    Cataclysm Tier 2 to 3
    Twilight Acolyte Tier 1 to 2
    Doomerang Tier 1 to 2
    Fal'dorei Strider Tier 1 to 3

    15 May
    Frost Giant Tier 4 to 5
    Glacial Mysteries to Tier 5
    Siltfin Spiritwalker Tier 4 to 3

    14 May
    Juicy Psychmelon to Tier 3
    Master's Call to Tier 2
    Magic Carpet to Tier 2
    Small-Time Recruits Tier 4 to 3

    12 May
    Abominable Bowman Tier 4 to 5
    Wisps of the Old Gods Tier 5 to 4
    Nerubian Unraveler Tier 1 to 2
    Darkest Hour Tier 1 to 2

    6 May
    Omega Devastator to Tier 3
    Waggle Pick to Tier 2
    Crystalsong Portal to Tier 2
    Force of Nature to Tier 3
    Faceless Manipulator to Tier 3
    Doomsayer to Tier 2
    Brawl to Tier 2

    5 May
    Djinni of Zephyrs Tier 4 to 5
    Dragon's Fury Tier 2 to 3
    Living Mana Tier 3 to 2
    Spiteful Summoner Tier 2 to 3

    28 April
    Enhance-o Mechano Tier 4 to 3

    27 April
    Level Up! Tier 4 to 5
    Bloodbloom Tier 2 to 1
    Giant Anaconda Tier 3 to 4
    Enter the Coliseum Tier 4 to 5

    25 April
    Twilight Acolyte Tier 2 to 1

    24 April
    Hobgoblin Tier 5 to 3

    21 April
    Molten Giant Tier 2 to 1
    Garrison Commander Tier 5 to 4
    Junkbot Tier 4 to 5
    Grand Archivist Tier 3 to 4
    DOOM! Tier 2 to 3
    Bloodbloom Text changed from: "Staple in Mecha'thun Warlock."
    Ice Block Tier 1 to 2

    20 April
    Doomerang Text changed from "Staple in Kingsbane and pirate rogue, good winrate."
    Manic Soulcaster Tier 3 to 4
    Evasion Tier 3 to 4
    Arcane Tyrant Tier 2 to 3
    Nerubian Unraveler Tier 3 to 1
     Wild ranking added. Darkest Hour put to Tier 1.

    15 April
    Rummaging Kobold Tier 5 to 4

     

    References


    The list has been assembled using data from:

    Special Thanks To

    all users who have made suggestions to keep the guide updated!

    Posted in: Card Discussion
  • 2

    posted a message on Ben's Scholomanc Academy Set Review

    Thank you for taking the time to write this up. The main disagreements I would have is that I can't see Token DH as any worse than Tier 3. Ace Hunter Kreen is absolutely ridiculous with the Token set and he is so easy to combo with cards like Coordinated Strike, Trueaim Crescent, Command the Illidari, etc. that he really does wonders for the deck.

    Also, I will say that Spell Damage Mage seems incredibly schizophrenic. You have cards that fit well into control like Combustion and Brain Freeze, but then you have Mozaki who seems to encourage a lot of cheap burn spells? I don't know what this deck is trying to do exactly, although maybe you've theorycrafted an interesting idea that I haven't thought of.

     

    Posted in: Card Discussion
  • 6

    posted a message on The Exhaustive Scholomance Academy Card Preview

    Below I have written a guide detailing my predictions for the upcoming cards in the Scholomance Academy 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

    Double Jump: 5 Stars – This card is very similar to Tracking from Hunter in that it does nothing but cycle and yet still works because it can give you an extremely important card that you can play immediately. Using it well will take some skill since it requires you to know what Outcast cards are still in your deck and whether or not playing Double Jump is worth the risk. A powerful, yet well designed card.

    Fel Guardians: 3 Stars – A welcome boost for Token Demon Hunter, albeit not one which makes or breaks the archetype. Tokens will probably be able to scrape into Tier 3 this expansion, which isn’t great but is certainly much better than where they were before Scholomance.

    Marrowslicer: 5 Stars – A strong weapon which entices us to run a Soul Fragment deck. I think this package will fit in nicely with Aggro Demon Hunter, even if not all of the soul fragment cards are geared towards aggression.

    Soulshard Lapidary: 5 Stars – That’s a lot of attack. You can think of this card like a cheaper Blazecaller that also synergizes with all the Demon Hunter cards which improve based on your hero’s attack. It is dependent on drawing those Soul Fragment generation cards, but you’ll have six of them in your deck, so the bonus should be fairly consistent.

    Vilefiend Trainer: 2 Stars – A little bit too fair; even when outcasted, the benefit just isn’t very impressive. However, Token Demon Hunter may pick this up as a necessary evil, so all is not lost.

    Cycle of Hatred: 1 Star – This goes into the pile of “strong board clears that won’t see play due to Control Demon Hunter lacking a good win condition”. Unless Malicia can provide that win condition (and IMO she’s better in aggro), this won’t be the powerhouse that it looks like at first glance.

    Glide: 5 Stars – Functions extremely well in Aggro Demon Hunter, which is already a powerful deck which appreciates the ability to refill. Decks with more expensive cards might also want to try this, since the card is strong even without the ability to mess with your opponent’s hand. The word “auto-include” is wildly overused, but in this case it is completely warranted.

    Magehunter: 1 Star – Very interesting tech card, but this meta is likely not going to be one where Magehunter is in demand. Sure, you’ll see some deathrattles and buffs on occasion, but not frequently enough for this to be relevant.

    Shardshatter Mystic: 3 Stars – This is obviously a very strong card, but Aggro Demon Hunter isn’t looking for board clears. Rather, it tries to take control of the board early on and then build from there, which is the opposite of what Shardshatter Mystic does. Control Demon Hunter doesn’t look like it’s going to get much better, so this card will probably not make the cut (but it will see experimentation).

    Ancient Void Hound: 1 Star – Big Demon Hunter is very far from playable, and on its own, this card is far too slow. It’s a step in the right direction, but the archetype needs more than this.

    Star Student Stelina: 5 Stars – This card could be one of the most powerful in the set. It has the potential to immediately disrupt the opponent’s response to your turn, which means that if you are ahead when playing Stelina, you will likely stay ahead. That’s huge for aggressive decks like Aggro Demon Hunter which rely on solidifying the earlygame. Stelina’s going to be as annoying as she looks.

    Druid

    Gibberling: 4 Stars – If there’s one class which is well equipped to take advantage of this, it’s Druid. The class has tons of cheap spells which manipulate mana, so an early highroll with this card isn’t that hard to achieve. Token Druid is not the greatest deck in Standard right now, but I suspect this card will be an important tool in reviving it.

    Nature Studies: 5 Stars – Even if every new Druid archetype turns out to be a bust, this card will still see play because the Exotic Mountseller decks will be interested in this. Beyond that, cards like Gibbering encourage Druid to run cheap spells in decks which otherwise might not be interested (such as Token Druid). The card only fails is if Druid is unplayable, and that looks pretty unlikely.

    Partner Assignment: 1 Star – 1 mana to generate 2 cards is not a bad deal, and Beast Druid will need every earlygame card it can get its hands on. Unfortunately, such a deck is likely to be mediocre, but if it succeeds, this card will be a staple in the archetype.

    Twilight Runner: 2 Stars – Absolutely insane when compared to Stranglethorn Tiger; this card is the definition of pushing an archetype. This gets a higher rating than most of the Beast Druid cards because there’s a good chance it will at least be tried out in other decks.

    Survival of the Fittest: 3 Stars – The main problem with this card is the absurd cost, which combined with the lack of an immediate board impact makes it tricky to work with. This means we will have to find some way to cheat it out for it to ever work. Fortunately, the next card down should help us achieve that goal without too much trouble.

    Forest Warden Omu: 5 Stars – The most obvious application of this card is pretty straightforward: pair it with a cheap spell to get a “free” 5/4 on the board. That’s pretty good on its own, but where I think this card starts to break the game is when paired with Germination. The ability to refresh your mana crystals twice will essentially give you up to 30 mana to work with in a single turn. Now, meme cards like Survival of the Fittest seem like viable options to put into your deck. It will be immensely heartbreaking if this card is ever nerfed to 7 mana, but to be honest, that might end up becoming necessary.

    Hunter

    Carrion Studies: 1 Star – A Deathrattle Hunter deck could work, but this card will not see play in it. There are too many undesirable deathrattles that can be discovered for this to be worth the card slot.

    Wolpertinger: 4 Stars Alleycat was easily the best card in the MSoG Hunter set, and this is a strictly better version of it. Hunter has strong handbuff synergies available to the class, but even if they don’t work out, this will probably at least end up as a filler card in Highlander Hunter.

    Bloated Python: 4 Stars – One of the reasons Beast/Deathrattle Hunter failed in AoO was because there simply weren’t enough strong deathrattles for Mok'Nathal Lion to abuse. This, however, is the strongest deathrattle that Hunter has available to it, and it also curves very nicely into the lion. Perhaps it’s time to take a second look at the AoO beasts which didn’t see play before.

    Overwhelm: 4 Stars – Strong removal card even if you only have one beast on the board. Will likely see play in most variants of Beast Hunter and might even make the cut in Highlander.

    Krolusk Barkstripper: 1 Star – When I theorycrafted a Beast Hunter deck, this is one of the cards that didn’t make the cut. Deadly Shot has long since stopped seeing play, and I don’t think the extra cost along with the hassle of triggering Spellburst is made up for by the large body.

    Professor Slate: 2 Stars – This card is absolutely insane with Rapid Fire, but unfortunately Hunter is not really a removal class and the Slate/Rapid Fire package will likely be overshadowed by the other things Hunter can do. This gets a 2-star rating because I believe it will see some experimentation in Highlander Hunter before eventually being cut.

    Mage

    Firebrand: 3 Stars – Nothing too exiting, but an all-around decent card which Highlander Mage can use. Due to its low cost (and the availability of cheap spells in Mage) the Spellburst should be relatively easy to activate.

    Lab Partner: 3 Stars – When looking at all the spell damage cards, it is unlikely that a pure “Spell Damage Mage” deck will be good enough to see serious competitive play. Despite that, this is still a strong one-drop that should be included in Highlander Mage.

    Cram Session: 1 Star – Whether or not a card succeeds in Highlander Mage is typically dependent on how well the card can stand on its own. Cram Session completely fails in this regard, and adding a large “spell-damage” package to the deck to justify running the card is sadly not going to be worth it.

    Wyrm Weaver: 2 Stars – At a higher cost, Spellburst is more difficult to wield effectively as opposed to Firebrand. Highlander Mage is also not a deck known for repeatedly casting a large number of spells in one turn. I don’t predict this card making it past the experimentation phase.

    Combustion: 4 Stars: – Strong card which can justify its inclusion into Highlander Mage with just a few spell-damage based cards. It won’t be in every variant of the deck, but it will see a fair amount of use.

    Mozaki, Master Duelist: 1 Star – Pretty unimpressive. It requires several spells in order to get decent value from the effect, and even then, your opponent can just kill it the next turn. Too slow, too clunky, and too weak to ever be a serious consideration.

    Paladin

    First Day of School: 4 Stars – Pure Paladin suffers from a lack of good one-drops, but this should help solve that problem. There’s a good chance that at least one of the cards you get will be playable on Turn 1.

    Judicious Junior: 1 Star – Good arena card, but outclassed by Amber Watcher which costs less and gives the health faster.

    Blessing of Authority: 1 Star – Even though the buff is enormous, giving your opponent a whole turn to react to it severely limits this card’s utility. When Paladin has so many strong buffs available to it, it’s hard to see this one making it in.

    Goody Two-Shields: 3 Stars – The main trouble with this card is that Spellburst cannot be activated the same turn this is played, which means frequently this is just a 4/2 with Divine Shield. However, for 3 mana, that’s not so bad. This should sometimes make it into Pure Paladin.

    Argent Braggart: 5 Stars – The highest in the battlefield will typically have very high stats, especially with cheap buffs like Libram of Wisdom available. This card could be priced at 3 mana and it would still be fair. At 2 mana, it’s obscene.

    Turalyon, the Tenured: 1 Star – One of the worst removal options Paladin has in its arsenal. This will usually only kill one minion, and in that case you’re better off using literally anything else. It’s unbelievable how bad this is.

    Priest

    Draconic Studies: 1 Star – Priest’s Dragon synergy is mediocre; it’s only ever worked in Highlander Priest, which is a deck deep into Tier 4 currently. This expansion will do very little to make a Dragon Priest deck workable.

    Frazzled Freshman: 1 Star – When I first saw this card, I expected it to be extremely good. Upon closer inspection, Zoo Priest is not even close to viable and it is unlikely that Highlander Priest will make a comeback. This card is the definition of “stuck in the wrong class”.

    Initiation: 2 Stars – Galakrond Priest likes removal, so it will probably experiment with this card a bit. However, 4 damage for 6 mana is so atrociously weak that it is unlikely to survive to the final draft. You can think of this as a 6 mana 4/4 that deals 4 damage, which is so bad it makes Aeon Reaver look good.

    Power Word: Feast: 1 Star – So close, and yet so far. This curves very nicely into Frazzled Freshman and will make him difficult to deal with on Turn 2. The problem is that this card only works in Zoo Priest, a terrible archetype which has never seen any serious play.

    Cabal Acolyte: 4 Stars – Galakrond Priest is starved for turn 4 plays, and this isn’t a bad one. The Spellburst effect is very strong, and when paired with Gift of Luminance, this could be very hard for your opponent to deal with. 6 health also means that it is likely it will survive as a tempo play, which means it is safe to use on curve.

    Mindrender Illucia: 1 Star – The only reason Azalina saw play was because her effect was permanent. This card is only useful if your hand is close to empty, and if so, you’re probably losing the game and you’re going to need more than this to come back.

    Rogue

    Plagiarize: 1 Star – Rogue secrets have not recovered from the Hanar nerf and Plagiarize does very little to encourage us to bring them back. As a standalone, the card is far too weak, frequently giving us only one card that we don’t particularly want.

    Vulpera Toxinblade: 1 Star – After considering a “weapon rogue” deck, it looks vastly inferior to Galakrond, and will probably not even work as a package inside Galakrond decks. The benefit this card provides is marginal, and comboing it with something like Steeldancer is tricky because of how easy this card is to remove.

    Self-Sharpening Sword: 2 Stars – Could feasibly work as a decent standalone card despite its archetype being weak. The main problem, though, is that Rogue simply has better options available to it. It’s also horrendously weak to weapon removal (although it’s questionable how in-demand that will be).

    Shifty Sophomore: 4 Stars – Stealth Galakrond Rogue conspicuously lacks a four-drop, and this is exactly what the deck is looking for. The Spellburst ability is relatively weak, but that’s fine because Stealth ensures we will trigger it more consistently.

    Secret Passage: 4 Stars – An autoinclude in all forms of Galakrond Rogue, which I expect will be around Tier 2. Galakrond Rogue typically doesn’t run all of the possible invokes, so Secret Passage will be very helpful in finding the remaining ones before playing Galakrond. Future Rogue decks will also keep an eye on this card based on how useful it will be in aggro decks.

    Infiltrator Lilian: 4 Stars – Another good 4-drop that Stealth Galakrond Rogue can fit right in. The value is good for the cost, and Rogue wants all the good Stealth minions that it can get its hands on (hell, even Worgen Infiltrator saw play in some builds).

    Shaman

    Rune Dagger: 4 Stars – There are two directions to take a “spell damage Shaman” deck in. You can either fill it with burn spells and aggressive cards (like Arcane Watcher), or you can make a control deck. The burn variant will probably end up stronger than the control variant, and it will be very interested in this card to consistently proc Arcane Watcher on Turn 3.

    Tidal Wave: 1 Star – Control Shaman has powerful spells already, but it lacks a win condition, and this set hasn’t given Shaman an obvious one. This spell is good on its own (and even better with spell damage) but it does not fix the fundamental problem with Control Shaman, which is why it will fail.

    Diligent Notetaker: 3 Stars – Burn Shaman may want to consider this. Getting back another spell which can hit face could be very scary for your opponent. I’m not 100% sold on whether it’s worth it or not, but it’s definitely a possibility.

    Molten Blast: 4 Stars – This card fits into the Burn Shaman archetype well, and it can create a lot of small tokens for you to take advantage of via Storm's Wrath or Vessina. This is the main reason why a Spell Damage Shaman deck will be more interested in aggression than control.

    Totem Goliath: 5 Stars – Totem Shaman is already a decent deck, but it can struggle if it loses the earlygame. This is a very strong card for the midgame which curves nicely into Splitting Axe on the very next turn.

    Instructor Fireheart: 2 Stars – Not a terrible card, but it’s hard to imagine it fitting into any of the upcoming Shaman archetypes. The best I could imagine for Fireheart is for it to function as a refill option in the lategame, but that’s probably not worth a deck slot. This card could surprise me, though.

    Warlock

    Demonic Studies: 1 Star – Ultimately not worth a deck slot even if you are running a deck with some demon synergies. There are too many bad demons which can be discovered for this to be decent.

    School Spirits: 4 Stars – A Volcanic Potion with an upside is never a bad thing, and 2-health minions have been extremely prevalent in the meta recently (mainly thanks to Demon Hunter). Warlock’s Soul Fragment package seems to be geared more towards control, and the class already has many decent tools to do just that.

    Boneweb Egg: 3 Stars – The discard bonus doesn’t strike me as all that relevant, since most discard cards target the highest-cost card. However, this should still work out well in Zoolock, and I think that deck will be decent enough.

    Shadowlight Scholar: 4 Stars – Good value for the cost as it’s essentially a 3-mana Flanking Strike. Does the job of encouraging us to run the Soul Fragment package, although in my opinion it’s not as ridiculous as something like Soulshard Lapidary.

    Void Drinker: 4 Stars – A big body like this will be obnoxious for aggressive decks to punch through. Control Warlock decks may want to cut Abyssal Summoner for this (or run both).

    Archwitch Willow: 1 Star – Here’s an idea: how about we make the set’s legendary synergize with big demons, and then print not a single supporting card to back it up? The limited support given to this archetype in previous sets is not enough for Willow to work out in the upcoming meta. At least she’s good in Wild.

    Warrior

    Athletic Studies: 4 Stars – The ability to discount your next Rush minion is extremely useful, as we’ll see in a minute. Not an amazing card on its own, but another card in this set makes this worth running.

    In Formation!: 1 Star – The Taunt synergies that Warrior currently has are fairly weak and haven’t seen play since Uldum, and a mediocre “2 mana add 2 random cards” isn’t going to change that. There are too many weak Taunt minions in the game for this to be impactful enough.

    Reaper's Scythe: 5 Stars – Warrior is always looking for powerful weapons, and this is one of the strongest that the class will have. Spellburst works very nicely on a weapon because it becomes easier to activate, and having this up will discourage your opponent from playing their minions wide. Add in some of Warrior’s powerful synergies like Corsair Cache, Steeldancer, and Doctor Krastinov, and this card will be played in almost every serious Warrior deck.

    Troublemaker: 3 Star – Very scary card with the potential to snowball out of control if left alone. As soon as this is summoned, your opponent will need an immediate answer or they will be overwhelmed by all the minions this summons.

    Playmaker: 5 Stars – Ridiculously good with cards which have already proven to be very strong on their own, such as Restless Mummy. Reminiscent of pre-nerf Bloodsworn Mercenary in that decks will likely be built around abusing its powerful effect.

    Rattlegore: 1 Star – Fun meme card, but too slow by far to ever see play. It does nothing when played, it’s weak to silence, and it just isn’t strong enough to justify a deck slot.

     

    Demon Hunter/Hunter

    Blood Herald: 3 Stars – Despite its insane synergy with Swarm of Locusts, this will not bring Quest Hunter back from the dead. At least Token Demon Hunter can always use it.

    Demon Companion: 5 Stars – Will likely see play in Aggro Demon Hunter and as a 1-of in Highlander Hunter. Both those decks are currently Tier 1 and will probably remain so in the Scholomance meta.

    Trueaim Crescent: 3 Stars – Looks very strong, but Aggro Demon Hunter has weapons which are more in line with its game plan available to it. This will probably end up in Token Demon Hunter, a far weaker archetype. Hunter’s not really a token class, so I doubt it will see much play there either.

    Ace Hunter Kreen: 4 Stars – Token Demon Hunter is the most obvious place for this card, but this is getting a higher rating than the rest of the token-based cards because it is likely that Hunter decks will be able to make good use of it. At the very least, Highlander Hunter should consider adding Kreen to its arsenal.

    Druid/Shaman

    Lightning Bloom: 3 Stars – Pre-nerf Innervate with a significant downside. However, mana manipulation is so strong, and Druid in particular has so many cards which encourage this (such as Gibberling) that this card will probably make its way into some decks.

    Groundskeeper: 4 Stars – This card will probably see play in Druid purely based on its ability to provide survivability, which is something any deck looking to abuse Omu will want as much of as possible. Shaman, on the other hand, is too interested in aggression to seriously consider this.

    Runic Carvings: 5 Stars – A key component in both Token Druid and Totem Shaman, two decks which look to be among the strongest of their respective classes. Also very nice from a design perspective as an expensive “Choose One” spell which isn’t broken in Quest Druid. We will certainly see a lot of this in a few days.

    Speaker Gidra: 3 Stars – I can’t bring myself to rate such an economical removal card any lower, but it is a serious problem how clunky this card is. If you cast it with, say, a 4 cost spell, you’ve spent a two-card combo just to summon a cheaper Siamat. Druid will want some control tools so it will certainly consider this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the final verdict is that Gidra just isn’t consistent enough.

    Hunter/Druid

    Adorable Infestation: 2 Stars – Not very impressive. 1-cost handbuffs have a history of not working out well, and ultimately I don’t think this card does enough to even make the cut in Beast Hunter.

    Teacher's Pet: 3 Stars – Druid does not have the tools to make this work, but Hunter loves seeing beasts with strong deathrattles. Teron Gorefiend and Mok’nathal Lion will both be very interested in this one, although it might end up being too slow for the class.

    Guardian Animals: 1 Star – This card is bait. Don’t fall for it. The deckbuilding restriction is so extreme (no beasts which are bad when summoned) that it’s unthinkable that this card could ever realistically work in either class.

    Shan'do Wildclaw: 4 Stars – This card is one of the major reasons why I’m optimistic about Beast Hunter’s chances of success. Most of Hunter’s beasts benefit greatly from a deckbuff, and so do Hunter’s card generation options (like Ramkahen Wildtamer and Hunting Party). I don’t think the “transform into a friendly Beast” option is quite as good, but there are some scenarios where it may be preferable.

    Mage/Rogue

    Wand Thief: 4 Stars – Simple, yet elegant. This is both one of the strongest one-drops available to Rogue and also an easy choice for Highlander Mage. It is a shame you can’t play it on Turn 1, but that’s a small price to pay.

    Brain Freeze: 1 Star – Whenever you intentionally damage a minion, you generally are doing so because you want to remove it that turn. This is why freezing and dealing damage have typically not worked out very well together. Despite this, the card can be viewed as a slightly worse Holy Smite, and those have seen play in the past, but there’s only so much space in Highlander Mage and I don’t think this makes the cut.

    Potion of Illusion: 3 Stars – While there might be some crazy combo decks out there that want to use this, it is unlikely that any of them will get past the experimentation phase. Alternatively, this could be used in Highlander Mage to get extra copies of Reno, Zephrys or other desirable minions. Realistically, that’s probably the only application for this card that will work out.

    Jandice Barov: 3 Stars – It’s always good to have a strong standalone card like this, but Highlander Mage is likely to be the only deck which uses it. Galakrond Rogue runs many minions which are synergistic and therefore will struggle to make space for this, but Mage should be able to fit it in without too much trouble.

    Paladin/Priest

    Wave of Apathy: 1 Star – Feeling pretty apathetic about this card myself. We’ve seen from history that cards which lower an enemy’s attack rarely see play, especially not when the effect isn’t permanent. Priest and Paladin both have better removal cards that they can use instead.

    Gift of Luminance: 4 Stars – Fantastic with Cult Acolyte, but otherwise not worth the effort. Fortunately, the synergy with Cult Acolyte is so strong that this card should see play regardless.

    Devout Pupil: 4 Stars – Will likely work out just fine in both classes. Paladin of course will add this to any deck which runs the Libram package, and Priest has a few cards like Renew and Apotheosis to make this worth considering.

    High Abbess Alura: 5 Stars – Very interesting card in that it is complete garbage in Priest and simultaneously broken in Paladin. Most of Priest’s spells are removal based, and therefore are horrendous with Alura. Paladin, however, has a ton of great buffs which it would happily cast for free with Alura. Imagine cheating out a Libram of Hope with this; now that’s just insanity.

    Priest/Warlock

    Raise Dead: 4 Stars – Getting two cards for free is great value, and the “downside” can actually come in handy with all of Warlock’s self-damage cards. With this, now we can play Diseased Vulture and Darkglare on curve. This should end up as a staple in Zoolock as a great refill option.

    Brittlebone Destroyer: 3 Stars – Unlike the other three cards, Priest can actually use this. The class has a lot of good, cheap healing spells (like Renew), and the value is great. I’m not sure if Warlock will be able to capitalize on it as much, but it depends on how good Control Warlock ends up.

    Flesh Giant: 4 Stars – Another crucial component in Zoolock which encourages us to run the self-damage package. This is a powerful tempo play that can come down as early as Turn 5 which will be a massive headache for our opponent to remove.

    Disciplinarian Gandling: 4 Stars – Atrocious in Priest, but in Warlock this could function as a capable replacement for Tekhan which functions well with non-lackey cards. This is the finisher that Zoolock needs to be great.

    Rogue/Warrior

    Cutting Class: 5 Stars – This card won’t see any play in Rogue, which has better card draw options, but in Warrior this is insane. Warrior has a lot of great weapons with 3 or more attack, like Wrenchcalibur or Reaper’s Scythe, and this can be easily discounted to 2 or less as a result.

    Coerce: 4 Stars – Looks pretty good. The combo effect isn’t too hard to achieve since you don’t frequently play removal cards on curve anyway, so 3 mana to destroy a minion ends up being a pretty good deal.

    Steeldancer: 4 Stars – This card is tricky to evaluate since you generally want to be summoning at least a 3-cost minon, which is tough to do on curve. However, I believe that Steeldancer still warrants inclusion even if you usually will have to wait until turn 5 or 6 to get a good effect. Still, it is a shame that Corsair Cache got nerfed; if it weren’t for that, this would get a 5-star rating.

    Doctor Krastinov: 5 StarsCaptain Greenskin saw quite a bit of play in Enrage Warrior, and this card is even better. Losing one attack for Rush is a winning trade, and Warrior has a lot of good cards which synergize with high weapon attack.

    Shaman/Mage

    Primordial Studies: 3 Stars – There are some fairly weak options that this card may saddle you with, but because Spell Damage is a mechanic which works well when combined with spells, the cost reduction is a strong point in the card’s favor. This will at the very least be tried out in Burn Shaman and may even end up as a staple.

    Trick Totem: 4 Stars – This set is adding a lot of spells to the “3-or-less” pool which are strong when randomly cast (such as the Studies cards), so the chances of getting a horrendous lowroll are not as high as one might expect. This will probably not see play in all variants of Totem Shaman, but will likely be used enough to warrant a 4.

    Devolving Missiles: 1 Star – A vastly inferior and less consistent version of Devolve, a tech card which probably would not see play in Standard today. You’re better off using actual removal spells to deal with your opponent’s minions.

    Ras Frostwhisper: 5 Stars – Remember how good Despicable Dreadlord was? Ras is an even better version of that. Burn Shaman will gladly run him because he can target face, and Highlander Mage will follow suit even if that deck doesn’t end up running many spell damage related cards.

    Warlock/Demon Hunter

    Spirit Jailer: 5 Stars – This is exactly the kind of card that Aggro Demon Hunter wants to run, and while it doesn’t quite follow the Control Warlock game plan, that deck will likely still run this. A must-have for all Soul Fragment decks.

    Soul Shear: 5 Stars – The inverse of Spirit Jailer: this card is good in Control but not so much in Aggro. Still gets the 5 star treatment since I believe both decks will run it.

    Felosophy: 2 Stars – The most likely scenario for this card is that Zoolock will test it out and subsequently be disappointed by it. There are so many better things both classes could be doing than giving a minor handbuff to their cards.

    Soulciologist Malicia: 5 Stars – The buildaround card for Soul Fragment decks which can easily fill the board and overwhelm your opponent. Alternatively, you can use it as a powerful removal card (which Warlock will be interested in). Soul Fragment decks will likely be very strong next expansion, and all of them will obviously run Malicia.

    Warrior/Paladin

    Shield of Honor: 4 Stars – Comparable to Rampage, and in some instances even better. This should frequently be used in Enrage Warrior considering how easy it is to procure damaged minions to buff.

    Commencement: 1 Star – Cool flavor, but Recruit decks are not even close to viable. There’s unfortunately no way something with this big of a deckbuilding restriction will ever work.

    Ceremonial Maul: 4 Stars – Spellburst is a great effect to have on weapons, and if you cast a spell which costs 3 or more, you’re essentially getting a discounted Arathi Weaponsmith. That’s a pretty good deal, and it doesn’t even take into account the potential to summon very large minions with expensive spells.

    Lord Barov: 5 Stars – Even if the effect is not as fast as you might like, this is still a 3 mana Twisting Nether. You can even damage your own Barov with cards like Sword and Board to get the effect immediately. Any deck which is even a little bit interested in board control will run this.


    Neutrals

    Animated Broomstick: 1 Star – Cute, but giving minions Rush just isn’t a very strong effect.

    Crimson Hothead: 1 Star – Not the worst card in the 1-star category, but the spellburst effect isn’t strong enough to justify running it.

    Desk Imp: 1 Star – Will join Snowflipper Penguin and Tinyfin Murloc in the “never saw play” menagerie.

    Divine Rager: 1 Star – Has there ever been a good card with “Rager” in its name?

    Fishy Flyer: 2 Stars – Playmaker might be interested in this, but otherwise not good enough.

    Intrepid Initiate: 3 Stars – Decent earlygame card, but reliant on casting cheap spells. Will see some niche play here and there.

    Lake Thresher: 1 Star – Did you get baited into building a deck around Guardian Animals? Well, here’s an even worse card which you might be interested in.

    Manafeeder Panthara: 2 Stars – This is a difficult card to rate. The effect is clearly powerful since the stats and effect are great for their cost. Unfortunately, it’s hard to picture a deck where this belongs. I don’t know, maybe someone out there will come up with somewhere interesting to put this

    Ogremancer: 4 Stars – Deceptively powerful card, especially in a meta where cheap spells are everywhere. Even if you only proc the effect once, the stats are still quite good for the cost.

    Onyx Magescribe: 1 Star – Spells are cool, but this card is very slow. Not a huge fan.

    Pen Flinger: 1 Star – Outclassed by Guardian Augmerchant.

    Plagued Protodrake: 1 Star – If Rattlegore is too slow, then this card certainly is.

    Smug Senior: 1 Star – Play a bad card to add another bad card to your hand. Sounds great.

    Sneaky Delinquent: 2 Stars – Not quite good enough for Galakrond Rogue, but close.

    Sorcerous Substitute: 4 Stars – A big bundle of stats is quite a nice cherry on top of Burn Shaman. I doubt Highlander Mage will pick it up since it's rather weak as a standalone. 

    Steward of Scrolls: 5 StarsAzure Drake which discovers a spell instead of drawing a card is pretty good. This should be a consideration in any deck which cares about Spell Damage (including Highlander Mage).

    Tour Guide: 1 Star – I always thought Water Boy would have seen play if it had been usable in Odd Paladin, and I guess Wild will show us if I was right. Too bad this review doesn’t take Wild into account.

    Wandmaker: 4 Stars – A cheaper Cobalt Spellkin with a slightly weaker effect. Cheap spells are in high demand, so this will likely make the cut.

    Wretched Tutor: 2 Stars – I could see some control decks picking this up since it is annoying for zoo/token decks to deal with. Still just a little bit too clunky in my opinion.

    Cult Neophyte: 1 Star – Very minor effect which at best is a slight annoyance for your opponent. It’s no Loatheb.

    Robes of Protection: 3 Stars – Now this could be extremely annoying. Zoo decks could make great use of protection for their minions, and while it doesn’t protect against AoE, most control decks run targeted spells and they will hate to see that they are useless against this.

    Voracious Reader: 5 Stars – So, Jeeves still sees some play in Wild, and this is a version of him which costs 2 mana and doesn’t refill your opponent’s hand? If your aggressive deck cares about card draw, this is a must-include for it.

    Educated Elekk: 1 Star – Shuffling cards into your deck is not a very strong effect, even if you get 2 or more good spells. In some cases, it can even be a negative if the spell does not synergize with your deck.

    Enchanted Cauldron: 1 Star – Not a bad card, but too random for any deck to actively seek this out.

    Transfer Student: 4 Stars – I’d rate this card 4 stars right now as it sees play in Highlander decks, but nothing else. I think it will be no better and no worse when the rest of the set arrives.

    Headmaster Kel'Thuzad: 5 Stars – I’ve seen some people say this card is too clunky to fit properly into control decks. Are you guys crazy? There are so many great spells which cost 5 or less that can kill multiple minions (Hagatha's Scheme, Ramming Speed, Dark Skies, Starfall, Rolling Fireball, etc.) and any deck which runs these will consider Kel’Thuzad. The combo between this and Hagatha's Scheme in particular is so strong that this might give Control Shaman the win condition it so desperately needs.  

    Keymaster Alabaster: 1 Star – This could have worked if we had things like Research Project or Naturalize in Standard, but sadly, we do not. Even though this gets one star, keep an eye on it, as all it needs is one cheap card that lets your opponent draw to be worth consideration.

    Lorekeeper Polkelt: 2 Stars – Cool effect, but I just don’t think it does quite enough to work out. Maybe some aggro decks could use this to stop themselves from drawing all their cheap cards in the endgame. I don’t really think so because aggro decks need cards which immediately fight for the board, and this card doesn’t do that.

    Sphere of Sapience: 4 Stars – Won’t work well in decks which require heavy synergies, but Highlander decks should appreciate the effect, especially considering how this could help their consistency problems.

    Vectus: 5 Stars – This should fit in very nicely in Beast Hunter, which uses a lot of deathrattles. Egg Warrior will also be very interested, considering how consistently the whelps will have the deathrattle of Serpent’s Egg.

     

    Posted in: General Discussion
  • 3

    posted a message on Easy climb spells only Druid

    I'm playing a similar deck right now and I'm at a 65% winrate (over 31 games). My version runs Crystal Power, Garden Gnome, Aeroponics, and both copies of Soul of the Forest and Force of Nature. In exchange, it cuts Dreamway Guardians, Keeper Stalladris, Rising Winds, Archmage Vargoth, and Blessing of the Ancients.

    Posted in: Easy climb spells only Druid
  • 7

    posted a message on The Exhaustive Ashes of Outlands Card Preview

     Below I have written a guide detailing my predictions for the upcoming cards in the Ashes of Outlands set. I will be using the same grading scale that Vicious Syndicate uses, where cards are ranked from 1 to 4, with 1 being the worst and 4 being the best. 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. Fair warning: this review will not include cards from the Basic and Initiate Demon Hunter sets, and will mainly be focusing on the "Ashes of Outlands" Demon Hunter cards.

    Demon Hunter

    Ashtongue Battlelord: 2 – If Control Demon Hunter is forced to resort to this, that’s a good sign that the deck isn’t going to turn out well. A slightly overtuned Sen'jin Shieldmasta is simply not nearly enough to slow down most competent aggro decks. High Priestess Jeklik was a similarly statted minion with discard synergy to boot, and yet she saw very little play. Cards like this do not bode well for the success of control in Demon Hunter.

    Crimson Sigil Runner: 4 – Outcast is not much of a problem since this card can usually be played as soon as you draw it. Not quite as busted as Town Crier since you shouldn’t always play it on curve, but a solid card nonetheless.

    Fel Summoner: 1 – Reminds me a lot of Coffin Crasher which never saw play. The statline is horrific, it’s vulnerable to silence, and it has no immediate impact on the board. I don’t like it at all.

    Immolation Aura: 3 – Respectable earlygame clear which deals with decks like Treant Druid very easily. Will it be enough to make Control Demon Hunter work? Probably not, but it’s one of the better cards the archetype received for sure.

    Netherwalker: 3 – Regardless of whether or not demon synergies pan out in Demon Hunter, this card will still see play. The value is good for the cost, and none of the demons available to Demon Hunter are terrible.

    Spectral Sight: 4 – Again, outcast works well with cheap cards and especially works well with card draw, since card draw usually doesn’t need to be played until your hand is close to empty. Aggro decks will easily make use of this because of how quickly cards are played from hand.

    Coilfang Warlord: 1 – It’s not BAD per se, but it appears to be designed for arena, not constructed. There’s not enough synergy to justify putting it in your deck.

    Imprisoned Antaen: 2 – One of the better Dormant minions for sure. Its effect isn’t easy to play around but is weaker than the Reno the Relicologist effect because it can target face. The statline isn’t great but the battlecry is powerful enough that you can easily justify running this in slower Demon Hunter decks. Sadly, I think Control just isn’t going to work out for Demon Hunter, so I can’t justify giving it more than a 2.

    Furious Felfin: 3 – It’s pretty good but it’s not really an aggro card, and unless you run something like Twin Slice you won’t be able to play it on curve. It’s fine, but I don’t think it’ll see much play outside of control.

    Priestess of Fury: 2 – Not a particularly good card when played from hand but decent when summoned by Pit Commander. It can be pretty annoying if your opponent is unable to deal with it quickly, but minions tend to have short lifespans, so I doubt the damage will add up to a lot in most cases.

    Skull of Gul'dan: 4 – Unbelieveably overtuned. Even without outcast, the card is good for the cost. With outcast, the mana reduction will frequently take away the loss of tempo you would normally have to deal with by playing this card. If Skull of Gul’dan gets nerfed to 6 or even 7 mana, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.

    Pit Commander: 1 – This card is the main reason why I’m not optimistic about Control Demon Hunter working out well. If this is supposed to be the “win condition” of such a deck, then it’s far too slow, it forces us to run only large demons, and it dies to a single board clear. Control Demon Hunter will need to conjure up something much more impressive if its wants a real shot at relevancy.

    Warglaives of Azzinoth: 2 – All the complaints I brought against Control Demon Hunter apply to this as well. The bottom line is that the class is far better suited for aggro. Nonetheless, this is still a better Fool’s Bane, so I can’t count it out entirely.

    Kayn Sunfury: 4 – Very scary card that can blow through early defenses all on its own. Addresses one of the biggest weaknesses of Demon Hunter. In short, Kayn is going to be a staple in any Demon Hunter deck which cares about aggression.

    Metamorphosis: 4 – A cheaper and more flexible Pyroblast is highly enticing. If this card gets out of control, the meta may be forced to add in anti-hero power tech to deal with this. Metamorphosis is a powerful finisher which is difficult for most opponents to reliably prevent.

    SUMMARY: Illidan is beginning his Hearthstone career at an inherent disadvantage. He doesn't have the rich card pool that other classes have access to, and while the Initiate set is intended to make up for this, it's still not quite as much. To overcome this problem, it looks like Blizzard has opted to print him strong cards, which means Demon Hunter will likely end up as a powerful, yet one-dimensional class. I would specifically place it as the 3rd best class in the game, which is an impressive feat considering that other classes have much more available to work with.

    Druid

    Bogbeam: 2 – I’m not a fan of the deck archetype that this card is stuck in, but once you get to turn 7 this a significantly better Backstab. It might see a little bit of play here and there in any Druid deck which can ramp up quick, but that’s about it.

    Imprisoned Satyr: 1 – A very slow card with an unreliable effect? I imagine people will try to build “big” decks around cards like this and be sorely disappointed. This isn’t the kind of effect you need to justify running Dormant cards.

    Overgrowth: 1 – Four-mana-do-nothing does not inspire much confidence in a meta as aggressive as the one we are in right now. In order for a greedy card like this to work, we’d have to slow things down a LOT. The payoff cards for getting to seven mana also seen rather weak and uninspiring, not to mention that it’s a terrible topdeck in the lategame. Besides, Druid has much better options as far as ramp goes.

    Fungal Fortunes: 3 – This card isn’t as good as something like Book of Specters since decks typically run fewer spells than minions, but Druid can make it work out well enough anyway since Quest Druid already runs a crapload of spells and can make excellent use of this. Unfortunately, I don’t believe any other Druid archetypes will want to use Fungal Fortunes (certainly not Embiggen Druid, at least), but a solid performance in Quest Druid is good enough to warrant a 3.

    Germination: 1 – Weaker cards than this have seen play in the past such as Molten Reflection, but the reason Molten Reflection worked was because it had a specific combo that it fit right into. What minion does Druid have that could possibly justify running this card? Ysiel? She has better things to cast than Germination. Lucentbark? Bleurgh. This card might see play in the future, but for the upcoming meta? Pass.

    Ironbark: 2 – +1/+3 and Taunt to a minion isn’t terrible, even without the discount, but I can’t think of a particularly good reason to put this in your deck when Druid has much better options available, and by the time you hit 7 mana you generally have better things to do than to give a minion a small buff for free.

    Glowfly Swarm: 4 – I suspect this card will either be busted or terrible, but because Druid has so much support already for decks with lots of expensive spells, along with support for token decks, I can’t really envision this card being bad. Token Druid already runs more spells than minions, and that deck is always looking for more 5-or-more cost spells to add to the roster. Quest Druid can also flood the board with this due to the sheer number of spells in that deck, so I could even see it working out fine in there.

    Marsh Hydra: 1 – Adding a random minion to your hand is not a particularly strong effect which does not justify running what is essentially the 7-mana equivalent of a Burly Shovelfist. It also doesn’t help that, with Rastakhan rotating, Druid is losing almost all of the “big beast” support. Now, to be fair, the 8-mana pool of minions is pretty strong, so I can imagine Marsh Hydra as a good arena pick, but the lack of synergy is a huge hurdle that I doubt this card can get over.

    Archspore Msshi'fn: 3 – Msshi’fn Prime doesn’t blow me away, but Druid is very good at cycling and shouldn’t have too much trouble consistently getting to him. I can imagine this card fitting in well in any Druid deck that can draw well.

    Ysiel Windsinger: 2 – It’s not nearly the powerhouse that pre-nerf Aviana is. Even though Druid has an enormous amount of good, expensive spells to work with, it can't play more than one per turn since there is no effective way of gaining extra mana (the effect is a downside for Innervate). Once it's on the board, it's vulnerable to removal because of how bad its stats are, and you will need it to survive for a turn in order for it to be cost efficient. Unless there's some crazy combo out there that I'm missing, I don't think this will work out all that well.

    SUMMARY: Sadly, Druid ended up with one of the weaker sets this expansion. There's some potential here, and Druid can probably slot some of the new cards in with existing archetypes, but it's unlikely that all-new, successful decks will emerge. Still, Druid has a solid foundation to work with, so while it will probably take a hit, it will still end up as the 7th best class overall.

    Hunter

    Helboar: 4 – Hunter always appreciates good 1-drops and this is no exception. Even without the porcupine package, this is a good amount of value for the mana, and it’s a deathrattle too which Hunter definitely wants more of.

    Imprisoned Felmaw: 2 – Not impressed. Imprisoned Satyr sucks because its effect is far too inconsistent for the massive tempo loss. This card sucks because of how easily your opponent can play around it. Still, it can target face, which means Face Hunter might be able to make decent use of it.

    Scavenger's Ingenuity: 4 – Drawing a card and giving it a big buff for 2 mana is a pretty sweet deal on its own (compare it to Stolen Goods), but what really sells me on this card is the synergy. The lion, the porcupine, and the apex predator’s prime all become completely busted with this card, and it’s hard for me to NOT see this card working out, even if Hunter is losing a lot of its good beast cards.

    Mok'Nathal Lion: 3 – A 5/2 with Rush is not particularly good (compare it to Steel Rager which never saw play) but Hunter still has a decent slew of deathrattles to work with. While it is a shame that Spider Bomb is rotating out, this still has obvious synergy with the porcupine and Zixor, and I could even see a hybrid mechrattle/beast deck working out with this card because of Oblivitron. Oh, and Teron Gorefiend? Greedy Deathrattle decks are some of the most fun decks in Hearthstone, and Mok’Nathal allows you to indulge in a ton of greedy fantasies.

    Pack Tactics: 4 – Not only does this work well with the porcupine package, but I can also see plently of other decks, like Face Hunter, which would consider this over Snake Trap. Imagine a 3/3 Kobold Sandtrooper. Or a Phase Stalker. The possibilities are limitless with this new secret.

    Scrap Shot: 3 – At first glance this card looks completely inferior to Scavenger’s Ingenuity, since instead of drawing a card, you pay two more mana to deal three damage. However, this has the added upside of the player having some control over what gets buffed since they can just play the beast they don’t want buffed, and then play this. Not a great card, but probably good enough to make it into a deck with the porcupine.

    Augmented Porcupine: 4 – A card I would normally never consider running but suddenly becomes relevant due to Mok’Nathal Lion simply existing, even if you fail to combo this with any of the buff cards. Let’s say you’re playing against an aggro deck and you lay this down on 3. Does your opponent ignore it and go face? If they do, they run the risk of you playing the lion and clearing their entire board. As a result, the porcupine can force aggressive opponents to make suboptimal trades and lose some of their progress. I have high hopes for this one.

    Nagrand Slam: 1 – Boy, this looks terrible. 10 mana for a horrendously inconsistent “board clear” which lacks any kind of synergy? This right here might be one of the worst cards in the set.

    Zixor, Apex Predator: 3 – This card would be a 4 if Master's Call were still in standard, but even without it, Zixor is still pretty strong. Hunter’s not as good at cycling as Druid, but it’s getting Scavenger’s Ingenuity which will guarantee you draw Zixor Prime if he is the only beast in your deck. I can see Zixor seeing play in a Deathrattle Hunter deck with the lion and porcupine, but I also predict that the Zixor/Ingenuity package will be included on its own in other Hunter decks as well.

    Beastmaster Leoroxx: 1 – People seem to be going crazy over Leoroxx but I’m not seeing it. Most of the beasts Hunter is getting this expansion are ones you do NOT want to summon from hand (e.g. Zixor Prime, Mok'Nathal Lion) which means that Leoroxx will only see play in a “big” beast hunter deck. Problem is, Hunter is losing a lot of the beasts that would work in such a deck (i.e. Oondasta, Witchwood Grizzly, Amani War Bear), and what does it have left over? King Krush, Savannah Highmane, and Tundra Rhino, three cards which are weak to play from hand (aside from maybe Highmane) and have very little synergy outside of Leoroxx. Combine that with the fact that it’s a terrible topdeck and it doesn’t jive well with Hunter’s traditional style of “play things quickly from your hand” and the situation looks pretty grim for Leoroxx.

    SUMMARY: How long has it been since Hunter was bad? The class has a rich card pool to work with in the Year of the Dragon, so Rexxar's not too upset about losing class staples like Springpaw, Master's Call, and Zul'jin. In addition, the upcoming expansion is bringing an enormous number of strong tools that Hunter can use in current decks, or even create new archetypes. Hunter will likely emerge as the 2nd best class when all is said and done.

    Mage

    Incanter's Flow: 4 – So, you’re playing minionless mage and you get this card which discounts EVERY SINGLE CARD in your deck? I love it. One of the best cards in the set and a potential nerf candidate. I predict it will see play even in Mage decks which run minions. Fantastic card.

    Netherwind Portal: 3 – The payoff isn’t great, but the secret is easy to proc. It’ll fit into minionless mage just fine, but I’d be surprised if it found its way into any other deck. As for Secret Mage, that deck needs a lot more help than just this and Apexis Smuggler.

    Starscryer: 1 – Uhhh, OK? Mage doesn’t have any spells they want to target, and this minion does a terrible job of fighting for the board since she dies to a ping. I’ll need something better than a slightly better Loot Hoarder to win me over.

    Deep Freeze: 2 – A little too expensive for what it does. Despite that, it could still see play because of both the cost reduction from Incanter’s Flow and the demand for minion-generating spells that minionless mage will have. Still, this card really pales when compared to things like Power of Creation.

    Font of Power: 3 – In order for minionless mage to work, it needs a way to generate minions through spells, and on that front, this card delivers. Mage minions are generally not THAT great, which is definitely a strike against this card, but with three options available you will often get something that is useful to you. Not quite as good as something like Omega Assembly (since, y’know, the minions won’t have rush) but solid nonetheless.

    Imprisoned Observer: 1 – This has the same problem that Chronobreaker has: board clears are significantly weaker when your opponent can play around them. Boy, the Dormant mechanic is not looking good.

    Apexis Smuggler: 2 – Obviously this is completely busted in Wild but just taking Standard into account, this card addresses one of the biggest problems with Secret Mage, and that is how quickly the deck runs out of resources. Will this be enough to push the Uldum secret package (which has potential as proven in Wild) into Standard relevancy? Not on its own, but we can always dream.

    Apexis Smuggler: 3 – We know from Karazhan just how good Firelands Portal was and this is a Firelands Portal that can come down as early as turn 3 when taking Incanter’s Flow into account. I’m optimistic about minionless mage, and cards like this are part of the reason why.

    Evocation: 4 – Fantastic lategame option for Mage. This is one of those cards which can fit into just about any deck and work out well enough (even one which tends to have big handsizes like Highlander Mage). Now, generating random spells is usually not as good as drawing cards, which means this might not be on the same power level as something like The Soularium, but if you are low on cards, the chances of you getting something you want are pretty high.

    Astromancer Solarian: 2 – I’m a little on the skeptical side here. Mage isn’t great at cycling since it’s losing a lot of its good card draw (like Stargazer Luna and Book of Specters) and Solarian Prime doesn’t really strike me as a reliable win condition. Sure, the spells you cast aren’t going to hurt you so long as they aren’t Conjurer's Calling, but in the end I think this card is just a little bit too slow.

     SUMMARY: Will Mage finally stop being a one-deck pony this expansion? Minionless Mage shows a lot of promise, since Mage appears to have the spells it needs to make such a deck work. As for Highlander Mage, that deck isn't losing a whole lot from the rotation and could be one of the better decks in the format (although with the Hunter weakness it's unlikely to be Tier 1). I'm going to put Mage at around the 5th spot, although the class could really impress in the Ashes of Outlands meta.

    Paladin

    Aldor Attendant: 4 – Mana cheating is a powerful mechanic and the Librams are respectable even when ignoring the potential discount. Aldor Attendant can potentially cheat a LOT of mana considering how easy it is to “go infinite” with Libram of Wisdom, to say nothing of getting out an early Libram of Hope. Very scary card.

    Hand of A'dal: 3 – Pretty good. Doesn’t have quite the burst power of Blessing of Kings, but it cycles, so I can’t really say this card is bad. It’s not getting a 4 because I don’t think Libram Paladin really NEEDS this, and I don’t think it’ll see much play outside of Libram Paladin. Still, not a terrible card.

    Libram of Justice: 3 – Probably the weakest of the Librams and the one that’s the least likely to see play outside of a Libram-devoted deck. If you don’t have a board yourself, this is a significantly worse version of Equality. The weapon helps, but taking a lot of face damage to clear a board (slowly) is not a great way of dealing with the immediate threat of death.

    Aldor Truthseeker: 3 – Again, the Librams work well enough on their own that reducing the mana cost isn’t even necessary for them to function. Everything that I said about Aldor Attendant applies to Aldor Truthseeker, although I would argue that Truthseeker is a little worse since he’s slower and the Librams of Wisdom don’t really need more than a (2) decrease.

    Imprisoned Sungill: 3 – Now THIS is the kind of Dormant minion I can get behind. Skipping your turn one is not nearly as devastating as, say, skipping a turn two or three, and the payoff is difficult for your opponent to play around. Paladin may be losing Prismatic Lens, but Scalelord is a deceptively strong card and he requires a board in order to drop him down on curve and win the game. If you play the Sungill on turn three, you are guaranteed to have three murlocs ready to gain Divine Shield, and there is nothing your opponent can do to stop it.

    Libram of Wisdom: 4 – She’s hot.

    Libram of Hope: 3 – At 9 mana, this card is fair enough to be a decent arena card, and nothing more. However, when discounted enough to play it as early as turn six, or even five, then it becomes a win condition against aggro. However, with the infinite buffing that Libram of Wisdom provides and the massive restock that Liadrin gives, Libram Paladin won’t slouch against control either. Can you tell I’m exited for this archetype?

    Underlight Angling Rod: 4 – If Murloc Paladin can survive the loss of Prismatic Lens, this card will be instrumental in why. Its power level is comparable to post-nerf Ancharrr (which is still the best card in Pirate Warrior): It has more attack, but it gives you a random murloc instead of drawing one. Fortunately, the murloc pool is solid overall; there really aren’t any “lowrolls” that you have to worry about, so I have little doubt that Murloc Paladin will be a strong archetype this expansion.

    Lady Liadrin: 4 – There was a fair amount of skepticism when this card was first revealed but now that we know how the Librams work, I think it’s fair to say Liadrin will be quite the powerhouse. Because the cost reduction applies to Librams that have not yet been generated, Liadrin will be immediately impactful if you have played/discounted enough Librams. Liadrin is also the reason why Libram of Wisdom is so powerful, since you will reliably be able to fill your hand with a lot of free Wisdoms that will last you throughout the game. Liadrin has enormous potential and I wouldn’t be surprised if she turns out to be one of the better cards in the set.

    Murgur Murgurgle: 3 – Honestly not very good on its own. Murloc Paladin is no longer going to be fast at cycling without Prismatic Lens, and the prime is not something you want to pull from Tip the Scales. This gets a 3 only because of how good I think Murloc Paladin will be, and I can’t imagine cutting this card from that deck, but I expect this to be one of the more disappointing cards in the archetype.

    SUMMARY: A lot is riding on the success of this set. Paladin may be the only class in the game with better Year of the Raven sets than Year of the Dragon sets. The rotation is going to kill all of its exisiting archetypes (no Boomsday means no Mech Paladin, no Rastakhan means no Holy Wrath Paladin). Fortunately, both of the archetypes being pushed in Ashes of Outlands look like they have a decent shot of success. This probably won't be enough to catapult the class to the higher tiers, but Paladin will still probably land at about the 6th spot. Despite this, Paladin players should be happy, since things could have been much, much worse for Uther.

    Priest

    Apotheosis: 2 – A lot of lifesteal cards are being pushed in this set without a clear synergy uniting them together. Right now, this card isn’t powerful enough to justify running in your deck, but it’s possible that it will see play in future expansions.

    Imprisoned Homunculus: 3 – Demons in Priest? Anyway, this card has good stats when you get it on turn 3, and it can stave off early aggression quite well despite being a Dormant card.

    Renew: 1 – One mana “discover a card” is an effect which rarely sees play, and I doubt the minor upside of restoring 3 health will change that.

    Dragonmaw Overseer: 3 – Looks very scary; I can see it spiraling out of control in the early game. A shame that it isn’t very difficult to remove, but it has fantastic synergy with both Imprisoned Homunculus, Dragonmaw Sentinel, and Reliquary of Souls (if that is still up on Turn 3). This is what Priest needs in order to fight for the board early on.

    Dragonmaw Sentinel: 2 – As noble as Blizzard’s efforts are to make Dragon Priest work, the archetype will need much more than just a good turn two play in order to work. It’s not hopeless, but it’s certainly an uphill battle.

    Psyche Split: 3 – A clunky, greedy card, but one with potential nonetheless. Obviously, this works extremely well with Reliquary Prime despite the awkwardness of a 12-mana combo since Reliquary Prime is so hard to remove. Beyond that, this also has synergy with Priest’s deathrattle package, and things like Grave Rune become absurd with this card.

    Sethekk Veilweaver: 2 – As a Uldum card this would have gotten a 4. However, with Combo Priest being thoroughly gutted I can’t really envision a place for this card. Still, it combos nicely with Apotheosis and Renew so it could work out decently.

    Skeletal Dragon: 1 – The statline isn’t great and the effect is weak. This could only ever work in a dedicated Dragon Priest deck, but that deck is far from playable.

    Reliquary of Souls: 4 – Priest doesn’t have much in the way of competition for one-drops, but even if it did, this card would probably still work fine due to its synergy with Priest’s earlygame package. Meanwhile, Reliquary Prime is its own win condition: it has absurd potential with both Grave Rune and Psyche Split and it isn’t easy for your opponent to instantly remove due to its evasive nature. We can all be thankful Priest is losing most of its cycling potential.

    Soul Mirror: 3 – Not as good as Lightbomb or Mass Hysteria, but it could still work fine. It comes down a turn later than Lightbomb, but you get a copy of any minion which isn’t killed by this. I appreciate the care in giving Priest a board clear which doesn’t work at all in Resurrect Priest. Good call on that one.

    SUMMARY: This set isn't terrible, but the Priest class as a whole is in an awkward position. Resurrect Priest is losing two of its best cards, Mass Hysteria and Zerek's Cloning Gallery, and isn't getting anything to make up for those losses. This current set seems focused on two things: Dragon Priest (which I doubt will work) and some form of buff/board control deck which is a little hard for me to even visualize, let alone see it succeed. It's not going to be the worst class, but it will probably end up in 9th place regardless.

    Rogue

    Cursed Vagrant: 2 – I’m very optimistic about Stealth Rogue but this just seems a little too slow. The base statline isn’t great, and unlike other stealth minions this is weak to silence. The value is good for the cost, though, but aggressive decks really aren’t that interested in out-valuing their opponents rather than just killing them as quickly as possible.

    Dirty Tricks: 3 – Spells are so ubiquitous in Hearthstone that it’s generally not very easy to play around this. I have little faith in the secret package, but I could see Dirty Tricks being run as a standalone.

    Spymistress: 4 – Rogue is another class which is always on the lookout for good one-drops and Spymistress fits the bill here. 3/1 isn’t a great statline since the minion dies to a ping, but Stealth solves that problem on its own. This card is more or less a cheaper version Twisted Worgen, which was priced at 2 mana, so I expect many Rogue decks, not just ones based on stealth, to use it.

    Ambush: 1 – Not too difficult to play around. Poisonous is a historically weak mechanic, and while this does allow the poisonous minion to attack first, it can only do so if your opponent’s board is empty and they have no way to clear the Ambusher. Otherwise, the Ambusher just dies as soon as he is summoned.

    Ashtongue Slayer: 4 – Three burst damage is huge for aggro decks, and while Immune is a little superfluous, it does allow you to turn your stealth minions into removal pieces if the situation calls for it (like if you need to clear a Taunt in the way).

    Blackjack Stunner: 1 – Very powerful card…in Hunter. Rogue does not have nearly enough secret support to justify running this.

    Bamboozle: 4 – I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Bamboozle is the best of the Rogue secrets we have so far. Favorable trades are such an important part of the game and the unpredictability of this secret makes playing around it difficult (unless your opponent just wants to go face). The main reason this gets a 4 and the other secrets don’t is because this card fits well into Stealth Rogue: Once your stealth minions have attacked, they benefit greatly from an evolve upgrade, and because Stealth Rogue is aggressive, your opponent cannot ignore your minions.

    Greyheart Sage: 3 – Rogue has a good set of Stealth-related cards, and the payoff here is huge. A stealth-based deck will probably be on the aggressive side, so it will need a way to refill, and Greyheart Sage can get that job done. Additionally, stealth minions are generally sticky, only dying to untargeted effects, so the sage should be able to combo fairly easily with your stealth minions on the field.

    Akama: 3 – Definitely one of the sleepers of the set. Galakrond Rogue is excellent at cycling, and the ways to remove this are pretty limited (Rogue’s lackeys can make things difficult for Rotnest Drake to hit it, Flamestrike won’t kill it, Brawl is unreliable, Plague of Wrath will never target it, etc.), and if left unchecked this can be 6 damage to the face every single turn. Spooky.

    Shadowjeweler Hanar: 1 – Just so we’re clear, I want the Rogue secret package to be good. But from what I’ve seen, the deck does not have nearly enough support to work. As for Hanar himself, the secret pool is honestly pretty bad (just ask Desperate Measures) and what you get will rarely have any synergy with the deck you’ve put together.

    SUMMARY: Rogue is one of the better classes in the game and will likely get even better post-rotation. Stealth Rogue looks great both as a standalone and as a possible addition to Galakrond Rogue, and while Secret Rogue isn't quite there yet, I could see some secret cards working in currently existing Rogue archetypes. I'm going to make the bold prediction that Rogue will end up in 1st when all is said and done, and Valeera will probably end up so strong that she will prompt some much needed nerfs to her class (looking at you, Heistbaron).

    Shaman

    Marshspawn: 2 – The effect is very good but the problem with this card is the difficulty of playing it on curve. Shaman is losing most of its versatile spells which cost two or less (aside from Invocation of Frost and Rockbiter Weapon) and didn’t gain any in this expansion. A lot of the strength of cards like Marshspawn comes from the ability to play them on curve, so he will probably have to wait at least one expansion before he sees play.

    Serpentshrine Portal: 4 – Compare this to Bash. For one overload, we get a three-cost minion instead of three armor? That’s a massive upgrade to a card that was already considered pretty good (or so I’ve heard, TGT was before my time). Not only that, but this card has synergy with the Control package and the fact that it’s a spell means it can trigger your elementals. Pretty sweet deal.

    Totemic Reflection: 2 – Will this card bring Totem Shaman into relevance? Absolutely not. Will it see play despite the lack of cards that work with Totems? Probably. Even if you cast this on a hero power Totem, you’re still getting a good deal for the mana spent. This won’t be in every deck but it’s good enough to warrant a little bit of play.

    Bogstrok Clacker: 2 – It’s decent value for the cost but evolve effects don’t really have much synergy right now and I don’t really see this dragging Shaman out of the gutter. Still might see play if Evolve Shaman turns out to be a legitimate deck.

    Torrent: 3 – Control Shaman looks like it might finally become the real deal. Casting spells isn’t hard for a class like Shaman, and the payoff is great. Way better than Crushing Hand.

    Vivid Spores: 1Soul of the Forest only sees play in token decks and Shaman post-rotation isn’t really in a position to go that direction. Even if it was, it has a better, cheaper option in Soul of the Murloc.

    Boggspine Knuckles: 3 – Evolve effects attached to a weapon are easier to combo with things such as Desert Hare, but in order to do this effectively you’ll have to wait until turn six (or five with the coin). Evolve Shaman in 2020 is certainly not going to be the aggressive, highrolly menace that it was during Doom in the Tomb, but a card like this can provide a significant amount of value that could keep things competitive for the archetype.

    Shattered Rumbler: 4 – This is another one of those cards good enough to make an archetype on its own. Dragonmaw Scorcher was good enough as is, but this is a stronger version of him with a very easy-to-proc condition attached. If Control Shaman pans out, and I think it will, Shattered Rumbler is going to be a big reason why.

    Lady Vashj: 3 – I could see this working out if the meta is midrange-heavy with minions on the bulkier side, because then the spell damage would actually matter, but Shaman’s not a cycle-heavy class without Spirit of the Frog, so I think the unreliability will be a significant problem. Still, I can see this as one of the weaker cards in a Control Shaman deck, so I’ll give it a 3.

    The Lurker Below: 4 – 6 mana 6/3 “clear all tokens from your opponent’s board” is nothing short of busted. Token decks don’t run a lot of big minions, so they will have a hard time playing around him. I expect decks like Treant Druid and Murloc Paladin to be relevant in Ashes of Outlands, and this card is an excellent counter to them.

    SUMMARY: Shaman is currently the worst class in the game and it's not even close. On top of that, all three of its Year of the Raven sets gave the class good cards which it is sorry to lose. So is Shaman doomed to irrelevancy? I don't think so; the set it's getting looks pretty good, and Control Shaman will probably be no worse than Tier 2. I don't know if Shaman will be able to materialize any better archetypes, which is why this class will likely only be the 8th best, but there's still some hope.

    Warlock

    Hand of Gul'dan: 4 – The card draw addresses one of the biggest weaknesses with the Discard mechanic, and can be semi-reliably drawn with Expired Merchant and Nightshade Matron. Even when played rather than discarded, it’s not as much of a raw deal as something like Fist of Jaraxxus. Hand of Gul’dan will allow Warlock incredible cycling opportunities that benefit the Prime greatly.

    Nightshade Matron: 2 – Pretty weak card if Hand of Gul’dan is not the highest cost card in your hand. Unlike Expired Merchant, you’re not getting what you discard back, so there are situations where playing this just isn’t worth it.

    Unstable Felbolt: 3 – 3 damage to a minion isn’t worth damaging your own to achieve, but this card is still solid when your side of the board is empty. A worse Holy Smite will likely still be pretty good.

    Enhanced Dreadlord: 2 – A greedy card which does have the major upside of improving your demon resurrect pool. Might be too slow for Kanrethad decks, and unlikely to see play without Kanrethad.

    Imprisoned Scrap Imp: 3 – Warlock hand sizes tend to be large, so this should fit right in with Handlock’s game plan. Skipping turn 2 doesn’t bother me that much, since Handlock is on the slower side already and frequently just spends their turn 2 tapping.

    The Dark Portal: 2 – Maybe, I guess. My concern with this one is that the condition is not super easy to pull off, even for Handlock, and once we finally get there, our “reward” with this card is just a slightly better Far Sight. I can envision Handlock lists where this doesn’t make the final cut.

    Darkglare: 3 – The body is better than Diseased Vulture, and the effect essentially gives you free Life Taps. However, you need to have 2 mana before you life tap, so you won’t be able to access the “free” taps immediately. Diseased Vulture and Neferset Thrasher saw play in the past, so it’s not unthinkable that this card could bring them back from the dead.

    Shadow Council: 1 – Meme card. The buff is not worth filling your hand with random junk that has no synergy with itself.

    Kanrethad Ebonlocke: 4 – Possibly the very best Prime in the game. Warlock is already good at cycling and just got better at it due to Hand of Gul'dan. The Prime works as a win condition even if the demons you resummon aren’t very large. Excellent synergy with Expired Merchant. In short, a phenomenal card which will almost certainly spawn a new archetype in Warlock.

    Keli'dan the Breaker: 4 – Uhh, yeah, so this card is absurd. 6 mana 3/3 “destroy a minion” is only a little bit worse than Flik Skyshiv, and a Twisting Nether with a 3/3 body for 2 mana cheaper is equally great. This will see play in any Warlock deck which isn’t aggro.

    SUMMARY: Gul'dan has come a long way since his terrible RoS set. Descent of Dragons was a huge boon for him, giving him access to multiple playable archetypes which have worked out decently. This set will likely see a revitilization for Handlock as well as some useful tools for Control as well. Warlock looks to end up as the 4th best class in the game and will hopefully rebound from his current sub-par state.

    Warrior

    Bonechewer Raider: 1 – This is outclassed heavily by other removal options available to Warrior. Furthermore, in the earlygame when enemy minions are starting to be played, you’re less likely to have a damaged minion to target. It’s no Restless Mummy.

    Imprisoned Gan'arg: 2 – This card isn’t terrible but it seems to be intended for decks like Quest Warrior, which has little use for a one-drop and needs much more than this to become playable.

    Sword and Board: 1 – What the hell is this? It can’t even go face? 2 armor is such a small upside which in no way justifies running a worse Arcane Shot. Awful.

    Bloodboil Brute: 3 – It’s not as ridiculously easy to discount as pre-nerf Mogu Fleshshaper but it has the upside of being much, much better when played. The body’s good enough on its own that you won’t even need to combo it with Mutate. Will likely see play in a variety of Warrior decks.

    Corsair Cache: 1 – In Pirate Warrior, you need an effect much more powerful than this to justify running a two-mana-do-nothing card. Bomb Warrior might have appreciated this but that deck has long since been powercrept out of the meta.

    Scrap Golem: 1 – You might have been happy to see this from Omega Assembly, but Warrior is losing almost all the mech support it has and this will rarely be better than a Booty Bay Bodyguard which gives you 4 armor. Yes, I am aware of the synergy with Armagedillo and I am not impressed.

    Bladestorm: 1 – This card will make you miss Warpath. There are far too many scenarios where the “bladestorm” ends too early, before you can clear even half of what you want to clear. In addition, Control Warrior is losing so much that the deck will probably not be salvagable, and this isn’t helping.

    Warmaul Challenger: 3 – Another good card people are sleeping on. Let’s say your opponent plays something like a Phase Stalker or an Aldor Attendant on turn 2, and you follow it up with this. You’ve effectively played a 1/4 with “Deal 3 damage” attached. This card is an excellent removal piece which Control Warrior will sorely need as it loses its Year of the Raven sets.

    Bulwark of Azzinoth: 1 – So, your opponent needs to hit it about 4 times to get rid of it. Now, let’s say each attack averages about 2 damage. By the time the bulwark is gone, you’ve effectiely played a 3 mana card which reads “Gain 8 armor”. Now all of a sudden cards like Healing Touch don’t seem so bad anymore. Utter garbage, probably the worst legendary in the set.

    Kargath Bladefist: 3 – Doesn’t seem too bad. The prime isn’t overly impressive and with the loss of Town Crier and Akali, the Rhino, Warrior doesn’t appear to have any targeted draw for it. Regardless, Galakrond Warrior is good at cycling so it’s not hard to see Kargath fitting in well there. 

    SUMMARY: Warrior has been a fantastic class for the last year or so, but now it's losing its excellent Year of the Raven sets. What does it get to make up for that loss? A lot of unplayable crap and a few decent cards which are not good enough to spawn new archetypes on their own. Galakrond Warrior might survive, sure, but Control Warrior is dead on arrival, and Taunt Warrior looks no good. What else does the class have to fall back on? Pirates? Bombs? Warrior will almost certainly end up as the 10th best class in the format and it has this atrocious set to thank for it.

    Neutral

    Bonechewer Brawler: 2Amani Berserker is a little stronger in Aggro decks but that doesn’t mean this card is bad. May see play in an Aggro Warrior deck which runs both cards.

    Bonechewer Vanguard: 2 – This will probably end up as nothing more than a good arena card, but with all that health its “enrage” effect could be abused heavily.

    Burrowing Scorpid: 3 – Very strong card in Stealth Rogue, which I expect will be a worthy deck. Doesn’t get a 4 because if Stealth Rogue fails, so does this card.

    Disguised Wanderer: 1 – Spooky, but minions that die to pings are generally weak, no matter how high the attack.

    Dragonmaw Sky Stalker: 3 – Even when you factor out the dragon synergy this card really isn’t any worse than Cairne Bloodhoof.

    Ethereal Augmerchant: 1 – Losing trade.

    Felfin Navigator: 4 – Murloc decks like to go wide, and this card rewards them for doing so. Any decks which cares about Murloc synergy will run this.

    Frozen Shadoweaver: 3 – Freeze lacks synergy but this is a generally good card which might see some scattered play in various decks.

    Guardian Augmerchant: 2 – Now THIS is the kind of effect you need to justify damaging your own minions. Hand of Protection sucks, sure, but this gives you a body on top of the effect, and Hand of Protection doesn’t. It can also function as a better Elven Archer if the situation calls for it. Could work in Paladin or Warrior, but I won’t make any promises.

    Imprisoned Vilefiend: 3 – Rush is a good keyword for Dormant minions since it allows you to take back control of the board sooner. Won’t need much synergy to perform well in decks.

    Overconfident Orc: 4 – Good statline even without the buff, and great with the buff. This card is about on the same level as the dynamic duo Stonehill Defender/Tar Creeper from Un’Goro. Hell, maybe even better.

    Rocket Augmerchant: 1 – Remember how shitty Charge is? Yeah…

    Ruststeed Raider: 4 – A five mana Amani War Bear is fantastic even if it comes with a post-trade drawback. I expect this to be a common choice in Control decks, especially ones which care about Rush like Warrior.

    Rustsworn Cultist: 3 – A 3/3 body isn’t bad if it’s coming with a Soul of the Murloc to boot. This might worm its way into token decks.

    Rustsworn Initiate: 2 – Decent value, but I doubt there will be much demand for Spell Damage in the upcoming meta.

    Scavenging Shivarra: 1 – Bad statline and an unimpressive effect.

    Soulbound Ashtongue: 3 – Could work with a deck that cares about controlling the board early on. The downside doesn’t seem too bad.

    Supreme Abyssal: 1 – What’s the point of controlling the board if you can’t leverage that control to hurt your opponent?

    Terrorguard Escapee: 2 – Some Warrior deck could make this work. IIRC Cornered Sentry saw play, and this card is similar enough.

    Blistering Rot: 1 – The upside isn’t worth the extra mana compared to Echoing Ooze.

    Infectious Sporeling: 1 – Too slow, plus it can backfire on you.

    Scrapyard Colossus: 1 – I can’t really imagine this seeing much play. It’s too slow for deathrattle decks, and big decks are all bad, so this thing really would need a miracle. Maybe in a future meta.

    Mo'arg Artificer: 2 – Looks like a meme card at first but it does have some serious implications for control decks, since it can be the push you need to get your spells to clear the opponent’s board.

    Replicat-o-tron: 1 – Most of the good handbuff cards we have can’t target this (for example, Scavenger’s Ingenuity and Armagedillo). It’s no Faceless Corruptor.

    Waste Warden: 1 – Very good against tribal decks but its narrow tech application and low base statline means it leaves a lot to be desired when fighting non-tribal decks. Probably won’t see play unless Murloc Paladin exceeds even my high expectations.

    Al'ar: 2 – It’s all fun and games until your opponent silences the ashes.

    Kael'thas Sunstrider: 2 – We’ve already seen this card in action in Standard and the results are less than impressive. It appears to be one of the weaker cards in Quest Druid and it hasn’t made a splash anywhere else. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any new decks which will be able to deal with how clunky he is.

    Magtheridon: 1 – Looks powerful until you think about the implications. It functions as a board clear, but it’s terrible against aggro. Even if you manage to overcome the huge tempo loss, this thing dies to a single piece of hard removal. In short, it’s not worth the hassle.

    Maiev Shadowsong: 4 – Dormant is an extremely devastating keyword to give a minion, considering how heavily overtuned the dormant minions are for their cost. This is extremely close to a 4 mana 4/3 “destroy a minion”, which means it will invariably lead to some massive tempo swings.

    Teron Gorefiend: 3 – Insanely strong deathrattle for a 3-drop, with a significant downside attached. Still, if deathrattle decks take off (and the Hunter set indicates they will) they will want to find ways to abuse Teron if they can.

     

     

    Posted in: General Discussion
  • 1

    posted a message on Which card are you glad is rotating out?

    Witchwood: Lifedrinker. This card helped enable face decks which I am really not a fan of, and let's not forget its ability to deal 6 burst damage in Quest Shaman.

    Boomsday: Venomizer. I know this card hasn't been relevant since RoS, but I still have PTSD from Mech Hunter, and don't get me started on the combo with Missile Launcher.

    Rastakhan: Time Out! By the time Paladin plays this card, they are generally close to their combo and all you can do is sit there for two turns and wait for it to happen.

     

    Posted in: General Discussion
  • To post a comment, please login or register a new account.