N'zoth in golden rarely disappoints me in ladder games. If not legendary, make golden your weapons and counter cards (Twilight hammer and Spellbreaker, for instance)
Running double Excavated Evil, I feel your deck will reach this point in game where this card will clears your board, haunts you back with no minions left in hand.
How has Prince Malchezaar been for you? I have not tried it before so I'd like to know what kind of cards have affected your gameplan. But I'm now keeping my opinion in the negative.
Since you are not running any of the Resurrect package, I'd consider double Shadow Madness which really helps against 3/2 statline minions.
Elise over Malchezaar seems great if you are running many situational cards like Shadow Madness, Excavated Evil and Shadow Word:Horror. If so, you should also make the deck more draw-oriented (though admittedly Priest is bad at this)
This card is essentially Frost Nova with a taunt. But as it is a neutral card and can be used by many combo decks, I like to see this costing more at 6.
I don't like this card included in the meta, however. Frost Nova should be Mage-specific interaction and it is disgusting pulled off N'zoth.
Keeping Inner fire to burst down Nefarian's last stage seem to work pretty well in this brawl. The other player keeping Ancestral Healing will make this even more sick.
There seems to be a secret way to kill Nefarian, even from health as enormous as full 200 health.
And yes, Priest cards still don't look impressive after this brawl :(
I'm calling this card too strong - while 1/1 stat on the copy is not too impactful on the board, it can be Silence or Evolve. And if pulling Gadgetzan Auctioneer on Turn 4 is not sick enough, the times when they pull Sylvanas Windrunner or the creme de la creme Deathwing, Dragonlord can spell easy GG (or it eats a Hex or Sap).
But well, this card kills many Warrior (from board swarming, summoning a minion worthy of attention, or getting a sticky minion - this card can do all three).
I hope the next announced cards help retain semblances of aggro, and decks for F2P players they can strive towards.
Hyped up for Ramp Druid! Y'Shaarj, Sylvanas, Ragnaros, Taunt with divine shield, Emperor, Fandral... it's just too damn much good stuff - and I almost forgot Ysera and Dragonlord value
It's not really good for tempo-oriented aggressive Mage as each banana token need to have extra +1/+1 effect before it breaks even to its worth of mana. (About 1 1/2 to 2 random missile, or two Mana Wrym on board). Too costly and situational to be impactful on the board, whereas Faceless Summoner is more reliable in this regard.
But Call of the Wild is good exactly because it's not just a removal. Other times, it's a taunt to force enemy into trading, or a tool to remove 5 health minions (like Emperor Thaurissan) while building a board. It's versatile, therefore it is good.
The common builds are (they actually have other names, I just assign these arbitrarily) Aggresive-board, Midgame-board/ midrange, Lategame-survival. They do exactly what they say, but usually achieves them the same way by piling on minion pressure. As mentioned by MrMeatshake above, you need to puch hard for tempo if you are playing lategame-survival.
Coherent drafts will help you have a rough idea whether to pick Sen'jin Shieldmasta or Kor'kron Elite on your 20+ cards. But remember that you won't stick to your plan every time whenever chance presents itself.
Some cards work better together:
The so-called synergy. This happens when combinations of 2 cards or more (usually you only get 2) is far more powerful than other 2 card combinations available. Some realistic examples would be Knife Juggler-Unleash the Hounds, Muster for Battle-Avenge, Mechwarper-other Mechs. double Fireball to face.
What is important to note is that later in the draft you need to watchout for synergy cards and put lower evaluation when cards that fare well with it are not drafted. And also an interesting observation: Burn cards will rate better the more you have them, since you have more liberty of throwing them into their face, or to play control. This only applies for unconditional spells/ removal - Backstab, Shadow Strike, Execute, Dark Iron Skulker will not fit this category of cards
Curving out:
Generally, I like to keep 1-3 drops in hand, with occasional strong 4 drops. Then, coin is used either early if you are playing Aggressive-board, or to curve out better. Sometimes it is better to float one mana than to use it effectively using hero power, because hero powers are often worth one mana or less (except Mage, Rogue, Priest and Druid's if removes a minion)
Playing around:
Area of Effect cards are uncommon, but many times it doesn't harm you to play around them. In those scenarios, do try to avoid their AoE from having too much value. Note that Corrupted Seer is a thing now.
Mind Control Tech is a fairly common card going 6 win upwards, which can completely turn around a board you already have. It is better to play around it if it can lose you games you shouldn't otherwise have lost.
Bait out hard removals with mid-sized minions. Hard removals gets rated much higher with this expansion due to large minions and Bog Creeper.
4-5/5 used to be a very desirable stat-line to have, and still very much is. 4-5 Attack kills many, 5 health survives many. 5 attack used to be my special number for punching through notorious taunt like Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Sludge Belcher, Sunwalker.
A 2/3 stat for a 2 drop is more charming than 3/2 stat if you are a ping class.
Drafting face heal is often not desirable, but is somewhat acceptable if you choose to draft Lategame-survival or you are a Warlock. Otherwise you want to keep your heal to support your minions. Earthen Ring Farseer, Ragnaros, Lightlord, Refreshment Vendor are the three cards often worth considering.
Draft every good weapon offered to you, especially if you are a Warrior. You generally want to draft more mid-game presence minions if that happens - ideally while your opponent develops 2 minions to be sacrificed by your weapon, you get to develop 1 minion. And beware of weapon saturation (general rule of this is to make your weapon have different attack values, and to prioritize weapon when 2 or more is in the hand)
1
N'zoth in golden rarely disappoints me in ladder games. If not legendary, make golden your weapons and counter cards (Twilight hammer and Spellbreaker, for instance)
0
My five cents:
0
Klaxxi-Amber Weaver summon
I'm gonna light you up, sweetcheeks!
5
3
This card is essentially Frost Nova with a taunt. But as it is a neutral card and can be used by many combo decks, I like to see this costing more at 6.
I don't like this card included in the meta, however. Frost Nova should be Mage-specific interaction and it is disgusting pulled off N'zoth.
0
Keeping Inner fire to burst down Nefarian's last stage seem to work pretty well in this brawl. The other player keeping Ancestral Healing will make this even more sick.
There seems to be a secret way to kill Nefarian, even from health as enormous as full 200 health.
And yes, Priest cards still don't look impressive after this brawl :(
2
Three little pigs - Kill three Huffer with Kindly Grandmother or Big Bad Wolf
You'd probably be long dead before that happens though HAHA
0
I'm calling this card too strong - while 1/1 stat on the copy is not too impactful on the board, it can be Silence or Evolve. And if pulling Gadgetzan Auctioneer on Turn 4 is not sick enough, the times when they pull Sylvanas Windrunner or the creme de la creme Deathwing, Dragonlord can spell easy GG (or it eats a Hex or Sap).
But well, this card kills many Warrior (from board swarming, summoning a minion worthy of attention, or getting a sticky minion - this card can do all three).
I hope the next announced cards help retain semblances of aggro, and decks for F2P players they can strive towards.
0
Was nerfed from 2 mana 2/2 Charge, dies at the end of the turn
1
Priest Silence, will make some sick turn 4
2
Hyped up for Ramp Druid! Y'Shaarj, Sylvanas, Ragnaros, Taunt with divine shield, Emperor, Fandral... it's just too damn much good stuff - and I almost forgot Ysera and Dragonlord value
0
It's not really good for tempo-oriented aggressive Mage as each banana token need to have extra +1/+1 effect before it breaks even to its worth of mana. (About 1 1/2 to 2 random missile, or two Mana Wrym on board). Too costly and situational to be impactful on the board, whereas Faceless Summoner is more reliable in this regard.
2
My guess is leaning to inter-race synergies, as all are invited to Karazhan
0
But Call of the Wild is good exactly because it's not just a removal. Other times, it's a taunt to force enemy into trading, or a tool to remove 5 health minions (like Emperor Thaurissan) while building a board. It's versatile, therefore it is good.
0
Pick your overall draft strategy:
The common builds are (they actually have other names, I just assign these arbitrarily) Aggresive-board, Midgame-board/ midrange, Lategame-survival. They do exactly what they say, but usually achieves them the same way by piling on minion pressure. As mentioned by MrMeatshake above, you need to puch hard for tempo if you are playing lategame-survival.
The hero will affect your drafting strategy. It's easy for Rogue to draft Midgame-board and Aggressive-board, the latter being not recommended out of fear of being out of cards. Hunters typically fall into Aggressive-board as Shadybunny have mentioned in this LOE Arena guide http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/the-arena/133001-in-depth-arena-hunter-guide.
Coherent drafts will help you have a rough idea whether to pick Sen'jin Shieldmasta or Kor'kron Elite on your 20+ cards. But remember that you won't stick to your plan every time whenever chance presents itself.
Some cards work better together:
The so-called synergy. This happens when combinations of 2 cards or more (usually you only get 2) is far more powerful than other 2 card combinations available. Some realistic examples would be Knife Juggler-Unleash the Hounds, Muster for Battle-Avenge, Mechwarper-other Mechs. double Fireball to face.
What is important to note is that later in the draft you need to watchout for synergy cards and put lower evaluation when cards that fare well with it are not drafted. And also an interesting observation: Burn cards will rate better the more you have them, since you have more liberty of throwing them into their face, or to play control. This only applies for unconditional spells/ removal - Backstab, Shadow Strike, Execute, Dark Iron Skulker will not fit this category of cards
Curving out:
Generally, I like to keep 1-3 drops in hand, with occasional strong 4 drops. Then, coin is used either early if you are playing Aggressive-board, or to curve out better. Sometimes it is better to float one mana than to use it effectively using hero power, because hero powers are often worth one mana or less (except Mage, Rogue, Priest and Druid's if removes a minion)
Playing around:
Area of Effect cards are uncommon, but many times it doesn't harm you to play around them. In those scenarios, do try to avoid their AoE from having too much value. Note that Corrupted Seer is a thing now.
Mind Control Tech is a fairly common card going 6 win upwards, which can completely turn around a board you already have. It is better to play around it if it can lose you games you shouldn't otherwise have lost.
Bait out hard removals with mid-sized minions. Hard removals gets rated much higher with this expansion due to large minions and Bog Creeper.
Mindgames:
Link Removed: http://hearthstoneplayers.com/mastery-hearthstone-arena-play-advanced/
Other (minor) things:
4-5/5 used to be a very desirable stat-line to have, and still very much is. 4-5 Attack kills many, 5 health survives many. 5 attack used to be my special number for punching through notorious taunt like Sen'jin Shieldmasta, Sludge Belcher, Sunwalker.
A 2/3 stat for a 2 drop is more charming than 3/2 stat if you are a ping class.
Drafting face heal is often not desirable, but is somewhat acceptable if you choose to draft Lategame-survival or you are a Warlock. Otherwise you want to keep your heal to support your minions. Earthen Ring Farseer, Ragnaros, Lightlord, Refreshment Vendor are the three cards often worth considering.
Draft every good weapon offered to you, especially if you are a Warrior. You generally want to draft more mid-game presence minions if that happens - ideally while your opponent develops 2 minions to be sacrificed by your weapon, you get to develop 1 minion. And beware of weapon saturation (general rule of this is to make your weapon have different attack values, and to prioritize weapon when 2 or more is in the hand)