Hearthpwn

I have to disagree with folks who aren't excited about this type of play. It's still early, and I could end up being wrong, but it really feels like the Odd/Even thing opens up interesting ways to play different classes:

Odd Priest: Glitter Moth along with the upgraded hero power opens up a new way to get value out of getting value out of Inner Fire in a tempo deck without relying on it as your sole, OTK win condition, and it opens up shenanigans with Void Ripper similar to Confuse during the brief spike in OTK Priest before last year's rotation.

Odd Druid: Gloom Stag is massively overstated taunt. Along with the upgraded hero power and tools like Earthen Scales, Naturalize, and Lesser Jasper Spellstone, Druid is shaping up have a taunt archetype for an attrition style similar to the old Control Warrior style of play.

Even Shaman: Murkspark Eel and the 1 cost hero power (along with Flametongue Totem and Primalfin Totem) give you a lot of board flood and early board control power, but prevent you from running Bloodlust, so Even Shaman can look a lot like an old Shaman deck, but with a new win condition.

*Odd Mage has been teased a bit with Black Cat, but so far I haven't found that particular card super compelling. I think it could be a useful cycle tool in an Odd Big Spell Mage deck, but there hasn't been enough revealed for me to be confident that the upgraded hero power can get you through the early turns, or that the cycle on the cat is enough to make the deck move.

Murkspark Eel is obviously a really great tool akin to Medivh's Valet and could be great in a Totem focused tempo or aggro deck with Genn Greymane. I've seen a few people say that the loss of Bloodlust in "Even Shaman" would mean the board swarm would be pointless, but I like of a Shaman board flood deck that doesn't use the same old win condition.

"Even Shaman" will still have access to strong cards like Flametongue Totem and board building cards like Kobold Hermit and Primalfin Totem, and could use Murmuring Elemental to turn Murkspark Eel into a strong mid-game tempo play. Maybe "Even Elemental Shaman" could work as the win condition in place of Bloodlust. It would have this and cards like Fire Elemental for tempo swings, and Kalimos, Primal Lord or some Grumble, Worldshaker combo to finish the game.

I love this card. For starters, 5 mana 4/8 taunt is so good that it actually makes you question (even if only for a second) whether or not it's worth not running Spreading Plague and Ultimate Infestation.

Beyond the sheer power level of this card, it's great that a viable "Odd Druid" deck would mean not running a lot of the classic druid cards that have been staples in Druid for a long time - you'd really see something fresh for a change. You'd still have access to some ramp (and they may add more odd ramp), and while the powered up hero power from Baku the Mooneater may not be as good as the eventual Malfurion the Pestilent hero power, it's still a good way to control the early game and quickly upgrade Lesser Jasper Spellstone.

I really like Glitter Moth. When I started thinking about how Baku the Mooneater might fit into a Priest deck, I immediately thought about Inner Fire because the more powerful hero power makes it easier to keep high health minions healthy and turn that HP into attack. Historically it's been relevant only as an OTK with Divine Spirit, but with something like this, maybe it could be leveraged as more of a tempo play or finisher within a tempo based Inner Fire deck. I'm very excited to see the way the Odd/Even aspects can change the way we play/think about old archetypes.

I've been playing a lot o Dude Paladin lately, and the sad truth is that the only way to win that match up is with good luck and Tarim. You can tech for the match with Spellbreaker, but at the end of the day there's only so much you can do because they have so much healing.

It's much more important in that match up to get divine shield minions into play early and to have Rallying Blade available to buff them and make Defile harder for your opponent.

Quote from SlydE >>

 

5: Introducing tech cards is a much better option
We have Kezan Mystic and Eater of Secrets, but IMO, introducing more and better tech cards against secrets is a much better option than moving Ice Block to Hall of Fame. There are other more creative ways to play against Ice Block like Curse of Rafaam too, and there is much to be explored!

Quote from Gunnolf >>

With Level Up! printed, I am surprised it wasn't a thing sooner considering that the deck has really been prevalent in wild for a while and the main missing combo piece for standard was a Quartermaster like effect!

I'm having a hard time finding the source, but the ranked floors are unchanged.

Edit - Here it is, a tweet from Ben Brode: https://twitter.com/bdbrode/status/956597453716795397

Noble Vaporize.

I think the main problem with discard warlock is all the cards that discard cards do so at random. I think there are 3 solutions to this;

1) make all discard cards choose the card you discard, thereby removing the random element entirely. The problems with this is the discard cards would be much more powerful and probably need to be nerfed, and blizz would have to program the ability to select one of your cards with a battlecry.

2) make all discard cards use some sort of parameter for their discarding; for example, "discard one of the highest cost cards in your hand" or "discard a random warlock card from your hand, if you have no warlock cards in hand, discard a random card instead." The problems with this is it's still random somewhat, and it requires alot more text which might exceed the four lines of text rule

3) make the cards that get a bonus from being discarded eg Silverware Golem have the text "if you would randomly discard a card, discard this card instead." The problem with this is the cards with these effects would need to be balanced 

Plague Scientist + Wild Pyromancer gives Rogue great mass removal.

Plague Scientist + Stonetusk Boar = Assassinate with a 2/3 on board

I would love a huge 'aha' moment like that. Admittedly, Blizzard knows when they are making good and bad cards and has said they make a mixture of both for the health of the game. If the quest doesn't align with this card, then I'll be disappointed that they used a legendary as a throw away.

Anyone feel like this indicates that the Druid quest might make beasts in your deck cost much less? like 3-5 mana less after you beat the quest (perhaps of playing somewhere between 6-7 beasts)? Just a thought. I'm probably wrong though but you have to think that they would incentivize playing this card in some manner or another.