Hearthpwn

I think this is quite a neat design although in a real game this would never work. But let's imagine a shenanigan in which they exist. Basically, to pull this out, the rogue needs to be facing a priest. But if a priest faces a rogue running Romeo in their deck, they will be able to pull this combo off.  So, there is a nice “if the opponent tries to pull this off, I can pull this off” shenanigan.

However, it would more balance the effects and create a cool reference to the original story if both effects were Deathrattles such as “If both Romeo and Juliet died this turn, destroy the enemy hero”. Last note; Romulo and Julianne are the Warcraft allusions of Romeo and Juliet. Using those names had tied them better to Warcraft.

I like this design and it’s well balanced. However, the idea itself is not too exciting. I think this is one of those obvious card designs someone was guaranteed to make. I'm glad it made it to the finals though!

I like how differently this idea plays between 2 completely different classes. For a warlock, the effect protects from taking damage from you own hero power and other damaging cards while the paladin is protected when attacking a minion.  Very clever! However, the wording could have been tweaked from “heal it instead” to “restore that much Health instead” as with currently existing cards.

I really like the flavour of this one. As a Shaman you keep breaking lanterns to release the wisps inside while rogue summons the spirits from dying minions. Balance wise it works as well. Neat!

This is another card where the design is nice and well balanced, but someone was guaranteed to eventually make this design. It's still a simple but nice design!

Balance wise this looks ok. However, the idea and the difference between class identities don’t really stand out with this one.

I would love to have these cards in game! I think the stats themselves could be upped to 4/4 and 6/6 so that they would potentially turn the effect against the user if they need to swap the cards with an useless enemy minion.  This is one of the designs that got my vote! 😊

I like the flavour in this one! The card names fit the card mechanic well too. However, since it’s not the battlecry, gaining +1 health whenever a 1/1 minion is summoned could cause some balancing problems especially with the Silver Hand Captain and I would have increased the mana cost by 1.

This is my favourite card of the week! I love how differently this effect fits 2 completely different classes and how it’s perfectly tied with the cards. This one got my vote.

It’s smart that the coins are added to the hand at the end of the turn, preventing potentially infinite loops with Quest Completed! I am not too sure how Echo fits to the Guild Treasure Room but the flavour of it is neat and the card itself is well balanced!

I think the flavor and the artwork work well with both these cards. Priest’s oracle can vision the card while rogue’s scout will spy it. Neat!

Well balanced. Effect fits well both mage and shaman. I don’t have much to say about this card other than that it’s a very COOL design. 😊

Status: Uncertain

Worst losses:

• Ultimate Infestation
• Spreading Plague
• Branching Paths
• Oaken Summons
• Lesser Jasper Spellstone

The nerfs really gutted the class, but according to VS it remains playable despite them.

Mecha'thun Druid's win condition, Naturalize/Innervate, is still here even though its draw engine is heavily gutted. It can act as a check against decks that are too greedy (Odd Warrior says hi). It will need more low-cost spells to cycle through Auctionner though.

Blizzard will likely continue to push the Treant Druid archetype. It might become viable next expansion.

Status: Uncertain

Worst losses:

• Deathstalker Rexxar
• Lesser Emerald Spellstone
• Crackling Razormaw
• Devilsaur Egg
• Candleshot
• Flanking Strike

Hunter is the best class in the game right now, but it will likely not be the case in the future.

Midrange Hunter, the most played deck in the game right now, is also one of the least affected, but it will have issues. The rotation of Crackling Razormaw will leave a big hole in MH's curve, it's a bigger deal than the loss of DK Rexxar. However, the biggest problem for MH is that all of its worst matchups (Baku decks) will survive the rotation! Despite this, MH is a well-rounded deck that is unlikely to go away.

Secret Hunter remains playable, but is already lagging behind since the Spelltone nerf. It also loses its best secrets. However, Subject 9 remains, so I wouldn't completely throw the archetype away.

Cube and Spell will die. F.

The loss of Deathstalker Rexxar will also be a big deal. The card single-handedly made "control" Hunter viable by being an infinite value generator. Without it, the class is more vulnerable to late-game decks.

Status: Safe

Worst losses:

• Frost Lich Jaina
• Aluneth
• Explosive Runes
• Primordial Glyph

Mage remained medicore throughout 2018, and the nerfs to Mana Wyrm and Jaina's cleavage didn't help, but recently became better thanks to Odd-Aggro Mage.

Fortunately, Odd-Aggro Mage will likely remain viable in 2019. The only major loss is Explosive Runes, a card that can be replaced with burst. The downside is that the class' matchups against Paladin and Warrior are terrible, and these two classes will keep their decks! Fortunately, OAM can still feed on Midrange Hunters.

On the other hand, slow mage decks Odd-Control Mage and Big Spells Mage will disappear without Frost Lich Jaina and the big spell shell to carry them.

Mage is safe, but may run into the same issue as Shaman: becoming an ok but repetitive one-trick pony.

Status: Safe

Worst losses:

• Spikeridged Steed
• Stonehill Defender
• Sunkeeper Tarim
• Uther of the Ebon Blade

Uther is rubbing is hands. Paladin keeps all of its viable decks. It will likely become a dominant force in the early April meta.

Even Paladin and Secret Paladin are both tier 1 decks whose shells are mostly untouched besides Sunkeeper Tarim. Prepare the lube.

Odd Paladin doesn't have it as good, but it will remain viable because it fills a niche. Many decks just can't deal with unending waves of little 1/1 shits. Ironically its biggest loss of may also be Sunkeeper Tarim from Stonehill Defender.

If you don't want to invest in the new expansion, play Paladin. Watch out for Odd Warriors though...

Status: Threatened

Worst losses:

• Shadow Visions
• Radiant Elemental
• Duskbreaker
• Psychic Scream

Priest plays, take profit from the few weeks left before April because altar boy Anduin is going to get molested by the rotation. Priest's core set absolutely sucks and the class is therefore reliant on continuously getting good cards from expansions.

The only Priest decks that still have their core left are Wall Priest and Combo Priest. Yet wthout the resurrect package, the consistency-boosting Shadow Visions and effective AOEs, I doubt these two decks will go anywhere.

Is there hope for Priest?. At least Mass Hysteria will remain. Priest is the slowest class in the game so it absolutely needs a mid-game AOE to compensate for the first few turns spent on hero-power-emote. But Priest will need a win condition in the new set to stay viable.

Status: Safe

Worst losses:

• The Caverns Below
• Kingsbane
• Vilespine Slayer
• Elven Minstrel
• Fal'dorei Strider

Valeera always finds a way.

Miracle Rogue is an evergreen archetype, even if its shell changes every rotation. The loss of Vilespine Slayer is going to hurt, but it won't kill it. Mosh'Ogg Announcer looks like a good replacement for it. Odd Rogue will take advantage of the Midrange Hunter matchup.

The best innovations may come from Tempo, Pirate, and Even Rogue (which I lumped together because they're very similar). Captain Hooktusk is a ticking timebomb waiting to break the meta and be nerfed (and yes, she's hot). The tempo gain is just too huge. Since most good Pirates are even-cost and Sharkfin Fan is a thing, the Even variant of Pirate Rogue might also be viable.

Pogo Rogue and Thief Rogue may also fill the niche of increasing value generation, akin to Jade Druid. However, Rogue's utter lack of control tools means these decks will only be viable against truly passive decks (understand: Odd Warrior).

Status: Threatened

Worst losses:

• Kalimos, Primal Lord
• Volcano
• Healing Rain

 Shaman is already on the brink of disappearing, and the rotation won't help.

According to VS, Even Shaman remains viable despite the nuke of Flametongue Totem. However, ES' biggest issue is not its lack of viability but its boringness. The deck hasn't changed since Witchwood aside from minor adjustments like Menacing Nimbus. If Shaman gets an even-cost win condition, interest for the archetype might raise again.

What else if left for Shaman?

I feel like Overload Aggro Shaman is on the brink of viability, only one good overload card could push it over the top as a huge tempo deck.

Even if other Shaman decks suck, the class still has Shudderwock which can easily become broken (again) if a broken combo involving battlecries is printed. Hagatha the Witch is also a big value generator. There's room for improvement.

Status: Threatened

Worst losses:

• Bloodreaver Gul'dan
• Voidlord
• Lesser Amethyst Spellstone
• Kobold Librarian
• Defile

Tough times ahead for Warlock.

Like Priest, all of Warlock's primary archetypes are being gutted. We know from the Un'goro days that, despite what people thought before, the warlock is not invincible.

Zoo Warlock is an evergreen archetype even if the current iteration of it, that involves healing, will disappear. As long as Flame Imp and Doomguard exists, the archetype will exist. However, the question is whether it can be viable. It has to compete with Odd and Even decks (and Midrange Hunter) for early board control, so zoolock must received sticky early-game minions to remain viable.

Although Even Warlock loses DK Gul'dan, the deck is primarily based around hitting the face with big minions like Mountain Giant and Twilight Drake. Even if it doesn't receive any support, the deck might find this niche to occupy.

Meanwhile, Discard Warlock will be remembered as a failed experiment. Despite Blizzard's obvious efforts to push the archetype, it never became viable. It looks like the discard mechanic, being inherently negative, can't have archetypes built around it. F.

Status: Safe

Worst losses:

• Reckless Flurry
• Fire Plume's Heart
• Blood Razor

At last, 2 years after the nerf to Fiery War Axe, it looks like Warrior might become more than mediocre again.

Let's talk about Odd Warrior. According to VS, Odd Warrior is the most polarized deck in the game, with matchups that are either a breeze or completely unwinnable. It is similar to 2016-17 Jade Druid.

I've seen many saying that Odd Warrior will be OP as fuck after the expansion because of the rotation of infinite-value DKs and other cards, but it's unlikely to be the case for several reasons:

1. Reckless Flurry will go away. This will make Odd Warrior much more vulnerable to midrange or even aggro decks. AOE for Warrior are rares, it's extremely unlikely that warrior will get a new (ODD-COST) one in the new expansion
2. One single infinite-value card in the next expansion is enough to screw Odd Warrior
3. Even if no infinite-value card is printed, Warrior can still lose to finite value decks, particularily decks that delay fatigue (Academic Espionage anyone?)
4. Mecha'thun will still be a thing.

This doesn't mean that it will suck, Odd Warrior will remain a powerful deck in the meta and its extremely polarized matchups will continue to shape the meta even if OW itself won't be very powerful within it.

On the other hand, if OW receives an odd-costed infinite value generator and/or a win condition other than waiting for the opponent to die of old age, then it might indeed become over the top. However, the devs are probably aware of this and won't do it.

Could Warrior's redemption come from its Tempo side instead? Stats show that Rush Warrior is already a tier 2 deck capable of generating a good amount of pressure. However, one of the deck's issues is its price (9 legendaries!). People who want to play a midrange deck might prefer the traditionnaly cheap Midrange Hunter instead, which fills the same niche.