Hearthpwn

Quote from memo333 >>

Same decks. Different players. Lame

 not at all actually

Quote from emicampo >>

they have big money in their accounts, thats why they tolerate the "ungratefulness"

 You're mixing up blizzard, the executive and company, and blizzard, the game developers. The first camp are swimming in money. The second camp? Working from home in this pandemic while making a respectable, but by no means rich wage.

The people working on the balance? Not in the first camp.

 This is what Lord Jaraxxus should have been in the first place..

Quote from DarkArchon21 >>

Good majority of it is off tho. He rated a good chuck of the Demon Hunter cards as 2's and 3's when most of them are 4's and 5's. I feel like i have to more accurately rate them now so that i can feel a sense of justice.

Spectral Sight is like a 4.5 not a 2.
Immolation Aura is more accurately a 4 than a 3. It's a half cost Consecration that can hit Deathrattles.
Chaos Nova is a 4.5 not a 3. Anytime u Chaos Nova it's when it greatly benefits you. Especially in a Highlander deck running one of these will be clutch.
Sightless Watcher is way better than a 2 it's like a 3.5 at worst. Card order manipulation is very powerful to line things up for lethal, board clears, combos or too curve out.
What was already mentioned Priestess of Fury is a 4.5/5 card not an a 3. Same goes for Raging Felscreamer 4.5 card.
Altruis the Outcast is far from a 2.
Command the Illidari is no way a 2 maybe try a 3.5-4. It's the stronger version of Coordinated Strike.
Chaos Strike a 2? 
Aldrachi Warblades a 2? I mean i can go on for almost this whole list. Aldrachi Warblades is fantastic. This will heal you for like 9 health at worst in a class where heal regeneration is important.

Just keep in mind, my ratings are from 1-4. There's no 5 (even though I half jokingly gave Maive a 5 because she should be an autocraft).

So I think that makes things a lot different. The difference between what cards are a 2 and 3 is very narrow.

I was waiting for your review, as always no disappointment and useful insights.

10/10.

Welcome to another set review. We are coming up on a set rotation, but I don't think it will be as impactful as rotations in the past. The three sets leaving are some of the weakest sets in Hearthstone history. And the sets staying are among the strongest. The big shake up are the new classes, Demon Hunter and Priest. Demon Hunter is sure to have a big impact....Priest, not so much. All in all, I think  this was a pretty uneven set. Some classes got nuts good cards. And those nuts cards largely fit into Galakrond decks. Some classes got a lot of trash. There are 1 or 2 new ideas that will be a lot of fun. As such, I imagine our future will be very Galakrond and Highlander heavy.

Review time

Demon Hunter To no one’s surprise, I think Demon Hunter will be a competitive hero this format. While it is hard to say exactly what kind of Demon Hunter deck(s) will come out on top, the class looks like it should be able to field competitive Aggro, Midrange, and maybe even combo decks. The only Demon Hunter archetype that I am not sold on yet is a controlling version. Since there are SO many DH cards, I will try to give each “build” it’s due in this discussion. Aggro/Outcast
This seems like the easiest version of DH to build. Lots of low cost cards looking to manipulate your hand to cash in on Outcast, tear through your deck, and go face. Midrange-Highlander
I think this will actually be the most successful version of the deck. It will still run a lot of the same outcast package, but it will also include some bigger endgame demon bombs (discounted by Felscreamer) and/or Highlander legendaries. Combo/Illidari
This deck is harder to piece together, but I think it could be something that plays out similar to Quest Hunter, but with Wrathscale Naga as a finisher (and again maybe Highlander cards). I could see Gadgetzan Auctioneer being considered in something like this too. Control/Big Demon
I don’t think this version of the deck is there yet. The big demons I want to reduce with Felscreamer and play are the ones that can go face to end the game, Antean and Priestess. Coilfang is also good enough to be considered here, but I’m not feeling the others. As for individual card ratings, generally, if I think a card would be played in multiple types of DH decks, it got a 3 or 4. More niche stuff got 2’s. Bad ones got 1s.

Blur: 1
Twin Slice: 3
Battlefiend: 3
Consume Magic: 3
Crimson Sigil Runner: 3
Mana Burn: 1
Shadowhoof Slayer: 1
Ur’zul Horror: 2
Blade Dance: 2
Chaos Strike: 2
Feast of Souls: 2
Furious Felfin: 2
Immolation Aura: 3
Netherwalker: 2
Sightless Watcher: 2
Spectral Sight: 3
Umberwing: 4
Aldrachi Warblades: 2
Altrius the Outcast: 2
Coordinated Strike: 2
Eye Beam: 4
Satyr Overseer: 3
Soul Cleave: 2
Wrathscale Naga: 2
Kayn Sunfury: 4
Raging Felscreamer: 3
Soul Split: 1
Chaos Nova: 3
Command the Illidari: 2
Glaivebound Adept: 3
Imprisoned Antaen: 3
Metamorphosis: 4
Skull of Gul’dan: 4
Warglaives of Azzinoth: 2
Warspike Brute: 2
Fel Summoner: 1
Flamereaper: 2
Priestess of Fury: 3
Coilfang Warlord: 3
Hulking Overfiend: 2
Inner Demon: 2
Nethrandamus: 1
Pit Commander: 1

Druid Druid got some interesting cards, but none that really made me want to turn away from Quest or Treant Druid. Some cards do fit into those decks, but aren’t a substantial improvement. Msshi’fn is cute, and can fit in Quest Druid, but it’s not a massive improvement to the deck’s endgame. Maybe it’s better than Phaoris. Glowfly is another wave of tokens, but is probably worse than Wispering Woods. Satyr could be key to a new Malygos deck, but I think it’s otherwise not very interesting. Ysiel could work in that deck, but there aren’t really spells worth casting. The outlier here is Overgrowth, which I could imagine becomes core to a non-quest Ramp Druid. (Quest Druid will almost certainly prefer to stick with Nourish.) I could imagine Marsh Hydra fitting into both Ramp and Quest druid, and it could possibly a 4-star card.

Ysiel Windsinger: 1
Archspore Msshi’fn: 2
Marsh Hydra: 3
Glowfly Swarm: 3
Germination: 1
Fungal Fortunes: 2
Ironbark: 2
Overgrowth: 4
Imprisoned Satyr: 3
Bogbeam: 2

Hunter

Hunter is obviously looking to go a Beast Buff direction, and I think that deck could work. Time will tell if that is a better midrange deck than Highlander. Sadly, I suspect it may not be better. King Krush on 7 is probably much simpler than Leoroxx and Tundra Rhino pieces. Luckily, many of these pieces can also easily see play in Highlander.  And it certainly doesn’t seem better than Dragon Hunter. I would say that Quest Hunter is basically dead without Leeroy, so if you are looking for big bursty combos, Beast Buff hunter can fill that niche.

Beastmaster Leoroxx: 2
Zixor, Apex Predator: 2
Nagrand Slam: 3
Augmented Porcupine: 2
Scrap Shot: 3
Mok’Nathal Lion: 2
Pack Tactics: 3
Scavenger’s Ingenuity: 4
Imprisoned Felmaw: 1
Helboar: 2

Mage

All Spells Mage looks like a meme to me right now. Hunter was able to have so much success with it because of the combination of Barnes/Y’Shaarj and the grindiest Death Knight ever. All Spell Mage doesn’t have any of that working in its favor at the moment. So ultimately, while some of the All Spell Mage are individually strong, I don’t think they are enough to carry. Likewise, I don’t think the payoff is there for the secret synergy cards that Mage got. That deck, however, is probably better than All Spell Mage at least. It did, however, receive a few interesting cards that I could see being played in Highlander Mage, which may be all that Mage has going for it this format.

Astromancer Solarian: 3
Evocation: 3
Apexis Blast: 1
Apexis Smuggler: 2
Deep Freeze: 2
Imprisoned Observer: 1
Font of Power: 1
Netherwind Portal: 2
Incanter’s Flow: 1
Starscryer: 2

Paladin Paladin was going to need a lot of help, since almost all the worthwhile mechs are rotating. Luckily, I think the Librams are that. You could run a Pure Libram Paladin, but I think that deck has holes, and it’s likely you will need to fill them, at least initially, with Neutral cards. But, since I think all the Libram cards are good, Paladin will get some good ratings here. Murloc got some cards, but I have trouble imagining playing that deck without the high roll Lens possibility. Dragon Murloc was pushed, but never really worked, and I don’t think it got anything here that changes it.  They are good, stand-alone cards, though. They may find their way into other decks by virtue of being singularly strong.

Lady Liadrin: 3
Murgur Murgurgle: 2
Libram of Hope: 3
Underlight Angling Rod: 2
Aldor Truthseeker: 3
Libram of Wisdom: 3
Imprisoned Sungill: 2
Libram of Justice: 3
Hand of A’dal: 2
Aldor Attendant: 3

Priest

I think priest is going to be a hard class to predict because the class got entirely revamped. Lucky for us, Res-Galakrond Priest will still mostly be around. <crickets> Only 1, maybe 2, of the Ashes cards fit in that deck. I wouldn’t be surprised to see that Reliquary goes into this deck both as a way to add lifesteal and to extend the game by constantly adding prime to your deck.

“Zoo” priest was at its best when it was comboing people to death. But a minion focused Highlander deck seems entirely reasonable. Will it be better than other highlander decks? Probably not. Will it be a better galakrond deck than Res Priest? Probably not. But Soul Mirror is a hell of a card.   Tl;dr I think if you’re playing priest, it’s Res Priest with Galakrond.

Shadow Word Ruin: 4
Scarlet Subjugator: 1
Psychic Conjurer: 1
Power Infusion: 2
Natalie Seline: 3
Kul Tiran Chaplain: 2
Soul Mirror: 4
Reliquary of Souls: 3
Skeletal Dragon: 3
Sethekk Veilweaver: 1
Psyche Split: 2
Dragonmaw Overseer: 1
Dragonmaw Sentinel: 2
Apotheosis: 3
Imprisoned Homunculus: 2
Renew: 2

Rogue Rogue got the goods. The secret synergy stuff looks good. The stealth synergy stuff looks good. The Galakrond stuff is obviously good. It’s an embarrassment of riches. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see some combination of all of this stuff being one of the best decks in the format. The payoff for Stealth and Secret, respectively, are Greyheart and Blackjack. These two are so good that it makes you want to play the package. The packages themselves are fine, but nothing spectacular. But they are elevated by their payoff cards. If I had to bet, I think a Stealth Galakrond Rogue is where we will see things headed. Greyheart gives you a way to keep digging through your deck, and Stealth minions are prime candidates for Praise Galakrond and/or Cold Blood.

Akama: 3
Shadowjeweler Hanar: 4
Greyheart Sage: 4
Bamboozle: 2
Ambush: 2
Ashtongue Slayer: 2
Blackjack Stunner: 4
Cursed Vagrant: 1
Dirty Tricks: 2
Spymistress: 2

Shaman Shaman is in trouble. It is already the worst class in the game, and I don’t think it got anything that changes its position. It got a smattering of okay cards, but none of them really do anything. Hagatha is gone, Shudderwock is gone. There’s maybe a slight chance for a Murloc/Desert Hare/Sea Giant/Burn decks. Those got a few tools, but I don’t know if they’re enough to dig shaman out of the very deep hole it’s in. Vasj goes face, though, and she does it well.

The Lurker Below: 3
Lady Vashj: 3
Boggspine Knuckles: 3
Shattered Rumbler: 1
Torrent: 2
Vivid Spores: 2
Bogstrock Clacker: 1
Marshspawn: 2
Serpentshrine Portal: 2
Totemic Reflection: 1

Warlock Warlock got a handful of fine cards. It got some handlock stuff that looks flashy, but probably won’t overcome the fact that we lost Mountain Giant. It got some zoo stuff that’s okay, but probably doesn’t change the fact that Rogue is still a massive road block. It did get a small package of cards that I am incredibly interested in: Hand of Gul’dan and Nightshade Matron (along with expired Merchant). You can absolutely tear through your deck with these cards. I also think they work with the Galakrond package – because Expired Merchant can copy Galakrond when you’re done drawing cards, and Veiled Worshipper doubles down on the card draw. I think there’s something here. There’s also a REALLY highroll-y Demon Buff package (Shadow Council and Scrap Imp). I don’t think the deck is terribly consistent, but it will blow you out sometimes, and you will be very upset.

Keli’dan the Breaker: 2
Kanrethad Ebonlocke: 2
Darkglare: 2
Shadow Council: 3
Enhanced Dreadlord: 2
The Dark Portal: 1
Imprisoned Scrap Imp: 3
Hand of Gul’dan: 4
Nightshade Matron: 4
Unstable Felbolt: 2 (3 if it works without a minion on your side of the board)

Warrior

Warrior received a few decent cards, but they all seem like role players rather than stars. Since Galakrond Warrior is so strong, this is probably a good thing. The loss of Acolyte of Pain is a big deal, though. It will be interesting to see how that loss is overcome. If a warrior control deck exists, its probably Highlander. I don’t think any other version is powerful enough without Boom. The cards  that seem like they will see a good amount of play, though be unspectacular, are Corsair Cache, Bladestorm, and Warmaul Challenger. They’re all individually powerful, and have a lot of synergy with your standard “warrior things.”

Kargath Bladefist: 2
Bulwark of Azzinoth: 2
Bladestorm: 3
Warmaul Challenger: 3
Bloodboil Brute: 3
Scrap Golem: 2
Corsair Cache: 4
Bonechewer Raider: 2
Sword and Board: 2

Neutrals There’s one card that matters here. Maiev. She is a Zilliax level craft. The only time I could see you excluding her is if, as a deck, you are doing something hyperspecific and all 30 cards are incredibly synergistic. There are a few other noteworthy ones. Kael’thas has her place. Overconfident Orc is as close to Tar Creeper as we’ve seen in a while. Frozen Shadoweaver and Burrowing Scorpid look like solid utility minions that should see play here and there. Bonechewer Brawler is a surprising bundle of stats and effect. Guardian Augmerchant looks very good, but I’m not sure where I’d play him right now.  

Kael’thas Sunstrider: 2
Al’ar: 2
Magtheridon: 1
Maiev Shadowsong: 5
Teron Gorefiend: 2
Waste Warden: 2
Replicat-o-tron: 1
Mo’arg Artificer: 2
Scrapyard Colossus: 2
Blistering Rot: 1
Infectious Sporeling: 1
Supreme Abyssal: 1
Bonechewer Vanguard: 2
Dragonmaw Sky Stalker: 2
Scavenging Shivarra: 2
Rusted Raider: 2
Rustsworn Cultist: 1
Disguised Wanderer: 1
Felfin Navigator: 2
Burrowing Scorpid: 3
Terrorguard Escapee: 1
Overconfident Orc: 4
Frozen Shadoweaver: 3
Imprisoned Vilefiend: 1
Bonechewer Brawler: 3
Rustsworn Initiate: 1
Ethereal Augmerchant: 1
Spellbound Ashtongue: 2
Rocket Augmerchant: 2
Guardian Augmerchant: 3