Hearthstone

[Raikaria]

My Keys to Victory (for this week's brawl)

Zoo isn't key, Silence is.
Mountain Giant is awesome.  (1) If you can fill your hand up, you can have one out by turn 4 or 5.  (2) The only things it will spawn are other giants or, as my unfortunate Pally opponent found out, DEATHWING.

It's also hilarious to see your opponents discover Zombie Chows will DEAL 5 damage if you also have a Soulpriest on the board.

Yeah I got my pack playing Priest; Mass Dispel. I also snowballed and got a lot of early damage with Undertaker because everything is Deathrattle [Hunter was down to 14 by the time it was dead]. Lil'Exorcist is godly too. So is Baron Rivendare.

Feign Death is also a card.

Dosen't change the fact I hate this brawl.

Also Priests are getting a 1 mana Heal 5 spell.

Paladins and Druids everywhere are looking at their 2 for 6 and 3 for 8 heals and crying.

[qMyon]

Also Priests are getting a 1 mana Heal 5 spell.

Yikes - Auchenai + 1 turn Thaurissan = 20 damage to face

Fist of Jaraxxus also sounds pretty interesting. A card that activates even when discarded is new. Living Roots sounds like it might help with resurrecting Token Druid. And Warhorse Trainer gives a little boost to Muster.

[Suikama]

....

this was on an ALT :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha: :colonveeplusalpha:

[Raikaria]

Yikes - Auchenai + 1 turn Thaurissan = 20 damage to face

Actually 4+2+2+1+1 = 10. You can pull that combo without Thaurissan.

[qMyon]

Actually 4+2+2+1+1 = 10. You can pull that combo without Thaurissan.

*Mentally reboots*

You're right. For some reason I had Auchenai costing 6 mana in my head. Hmmmm......

Thaurissan 36dmg OTK: Auchenai+2xMind Blast+2xFlash Heal+2xZombie Chow+Circle+2xLight of the Naaru - and still got 5 mana left over.

It's making me want to think of a Miracle Priest deck with Gadgetzan etc. Lightbombs, Novas, Shadow Words, Holy Fire, Shadow Madness to stall, Acolytes, Gnomes, PW:S, Mass Dispel, Northshires for draw, Justicar Trueheart to amplify heal, Prophet Velen/Malygos for alt win condition, and there's the rumored Power Word:Fortitude.........

Probably gimmicky as heck, but it would be interesting.

[Aya Reiko]

*Mentally reboots*

You're right. For some reason I had Auchenai costing 6 mana in my head. Hmmmm......

Thaurissan 36dmg OTK: Auchenai+2xMind Blast+2xFlash Heal+2xZombie Chow+Circle+2xLight of the Naaru - and still got 5 mana left over.

It's making me want to think of a Miracle Priest deck with Gadgetzan etc. Lightbombs, Novas, Shadow Words, Holy Fire, Shadow Madness to stall, Acolytes, Gnomes, PW:S, Mass Dispel, Northshires for draw, Justicar Trueheart to amplify heal, Prophet Velen/Malygos for alt win condition, and there's the rumored Power Word:Fortitude.........

Probably gimmicky as heck, but it would be interesting.

Don't forget Justicar Truehart + Auchenai + Valen = Ragnaros with aim!

edit--

Circle of Healing is minion only.

[Raikaria]

ARE YOU READY FOR RAMP?

Coin-Innervate this. Have 10 mana Turn 2 [And no cards but you'll run draw obviously]

[qMyon]

Don't forget Justicar Truehart + Auchenai + Valen = Ragnaros with aim!

edit--

Circle of Healing is minion only.

Circle's to proc the two Zombie chows, dealing another 10 damage.

[Suikama]

ARE YOU READY FOR RAMP?

Coin-Innervate this. Have 10 mana Turn 2 [And no cards but you'll run draw obviously]

kinda useless right now, but if we get more cards that do stuff like put cards on the top of your deck or more discard effects like fist of jaraxxus or something it could be legit

e: actually wait, it gives you 10 FULL crystals?
so you could do something like drop cult master + some charge minions and then drop this to get full mana and then cult master to restore your hand and then you can play even more stuff

[Kiro]

e: actually wait, it gives you 10 FULL crystals?
so you could do something like drop cult master + some charge minions and then drop this to get full mana and then cult master to restore your hand and then you can play even more stuff

At that point, you'd be at 5 mana maybe since you had to get the Cult Master out first (and have it survive). Doesn't seem a reliable strategy; this card would best be innervated out for the quickest possible ramp at Turn 1 or 2. Similar to Deathwing, you're a bit at the mercy of your topdecking, but you don't have an actual win condition on the board yet. It'll be great gimmicky fun, but inconsistent. You'd only use it once, but maybe you'd still run 2 for the better consistency at getting it. Actually, now that I think about it, it might not be as inconsistent if you hard mulligan for this strategy and stack top heavy. If such a Druid got really good/popular, we might see some of the less common removal teched back in like Deadly Shot.

Priest 1 mana heal probably won't be run by the most successful Priest decks because Light of the Naaru is better overall. Still a nice card to have in existence.

Ancestral Knowledge!!!!! Shaman card draw!!! We've been waiting for years for this card! It's fair too and is probably auto-include for every Shaman deck now.

And ranked rewards! Gotta push for 5 every month now so now there's motivation to eventually get all the golden portraits.

[Suikama]

You don't need to have Cult Master survive a turn if you use it later instead of on curve

Like say you both have a bit of a board built up and it's turn 8, you drop cult master, then drop this card which boosts you to 10 mana, then you trade your board in for a new hand and you have 10 mana to play whatever you get


Rank rewards is super nice finally

I just hope my internet doesn't lag to hell like it does sometimes during important matches...

[Bio]

But then you'd have to run a cult master which isn't that great unless you play token.

[Mr. Sacchi]

I decided that the last wing of naxx wasn't worth the 700 gold for me and spent my 400 saved up gold on 4 packs.

They gave me like 3 rares, 2 epics, 1 golden stormforged axe and Grull, my first legendary...

...I promptly proceeded to disenchant him and all of the cards I knew I wouldn't use to finish my Patron/Face Hunter decks :V

(Yes, I play face hunter when I'm not playing Mechrogue, come at me.)

[Suikama]

But then you'd have to run a cult master which isn't that great unless you play token.

Token druid could be legit now with that card that gives you two 1/1s for just 1 mana

[Raikaria]

Token druid could be legit now with that card that gives you two 1/1s for just 1 mana

Token Druid has always been legit. Savage Roar is, and has always been, one of the most OP cards in the entire game. [Compare Savage Roar to Bloodlust. It's a joke. Bloodlust costs 2 more mana but needs a 2 minion advantage just to break even]

[PX]

Blizzardplz

[Aya Reiko]

Blizzardplz

That basically happens whenever I leave any game.

[Suikama]

jesus fucking christ i want this card 10/10 would pledge alliegence to the alliance

[Aya Reiko]

jesus fucking christ i want this card 10/10 would pledge alliegence to the alliance

This better have a special summoning quote when played against a priest.

[Raikaria]

'Let me show you how it is done; Anduin'.

Also that awkward moment when you Thoughtsteal a Gorehowl and use it to oneshot your own father.

[qMyon]

jesus fucking christ i want this card 10/10 would pledge alliegence to the alliance

Sees "Varian Wrynn".

Gets hyped for Priest legendary.

LOLNOPE.

[Raikaria]

Sees "Varian Wrynn".

Gets hyped for Priest legendary.

LOLNOPE.

Varian is a Warrior; that's his in-game class and that's what he is.

Him being a Priest card would make about as much sense as Rouges getting Kael'thas as a legendary because they're both Blood Elves.

[Suikama]

Also Priest got Voljin anyways

so now they just have to make a deal to give each other's leaders back :V

[qMyon]

Varian is a Warrior; that's his in-game class and that's what he is.

Him being a Priest card would make about as much sense as Rouges getting Kael'thas as a legendary because they're both Blood Elves.

Yeah, I get it. It was just my first impulse given I'm not all that familiar with the lore.

[PX]

These new cards are RIDICULOUS. Also, Bear Trap is hilarious.

[Raikaria]

Warlock has received a grand total of 0 playable class cards this expansion.
Wilfred Fizzlebang: Sucks unless you draw one of your other class legends.
Demonfuse: The less said the better
Wrathguard: Seems cool until you remember it has 3 HP so trades with most 2 drops anyway; while even if it 2 for 1's with a 2-1 first you still are eating 5 face damage. This is the best card Warlocks have got.
Farsome Doomguard: Well... I guess it's a Bane of Doom buff? You're not gonna put him in your deck.
Tiny Knight of Evil: Most of the time this is a vanillia 3/2.
Fist of Juraxxus: You're not using deck slots for this
Void Crusher: SUICIDE DEMON! Also 5/4 for 6 sucks.
Dreadsteed: Garbage. Complete garbage.
Dark Bargain: If you are in a position where using this [And it's a 3 for 2 RANDOM trade] is a good idea you've probobly already lost.

Also TGT might as well be renamed to HUCK [Face] FUNTERS the expansion.

And Blizzard really want Pirate Rouges to be a thing. Hilariously Buccaneer is good enough in it's own right to probobly see play. Also Mill Rouges get a spell for them. Place 3 Ambushes in the enemy deck. These work like Burrowing mines. Except they summon you a 4/4 Nerubian. [Then the enemy draws so you're not giving them more cards to prevent fatigue]

And Druids got a hard removal card which dosen't have a completely crippleing downside. Because, you know, apparently Druids are not allowed weaknesses.

Also Mages can literally turn things into Huffers now. To quote someone: 'Face Hunter conformed deads. Huffer quits and goes to work for Mage'

Also:

Ice Rager - 3 mana 5/2 [Neutral]. Compare Magma Rager; 3 mana 5/1 Neutral
Evil Heckler: 4 mana 5/4 Taunt [Neutral]. Compare Booty Bay Bodyguard; 5 mana 5/4 Taunt. [Neutral].

Two cards have been outright powercreeped. Admittedly they didn't see play in the first place; but they're still power-creeped when instead they should have been buffed. This isn't even DrBoom vs War Golem where Dr.Boom has the un-printed downside 'you may only run 1 Dr.Boom'. This is 100% pure unadulterated power creep. It's on cards which were garbage and didn't see play but that's not the point. The point is it happened and Blizzard made 2 cards completely obsolete.

[Suikama]

Oh boyo time to look at some of the better cards

Druid gets decent hard removal now with Mulch. I think on average the card they'll get added to their hand won't be very useful (think of all the crap you get from portals + there's no mana reduction) and if you hit a big minion then there's a very small chance the minion they get will actually be better so I think this will see play.

Hunter got a shitload of control cards lol. Elekk looks like the best of them since at worst it's a Bloodfen Raptor and at best you draw a Highmane or something.
Dreadscale looks okay, basically a mini Geddon which is good for keeping the board clean.

Mage gets Huffer all day every day. On one hand it's worse than poly because you cant transform -> ping to remove something with this. On the other hand you can do things like poly your own dying minion and it still has the same silencing utility to screw over deathrattles.

Paladin gets Murloc Knight which is by far the best card in the game bar none not even close.
Challenger might help Paladin secrets be a thing, but it is kind of slow and I'm not sure if paladin secrets really have that much value turn 6 even if you get a whole bunch at once i dunno

Priest gets a 2 drop yay. And also shadow priest which looks silly especially when aggro is dying. Well then again maybe shadow priest can be a burst combo deck i dunno it's too hard to tell right now. Anyways more importantly Wyrmrest Agent gives more dragon synergy and anti aggro. Also the Priest legendary is just silly.

Rogue err, got Pirates yay? Buccaneer seems alright, makes your hero power a 2/2 like auto barber but it can further buff weapons if somehow it lives more turns and it also has a lower cost which means it has better combo synergy and of course it's a pirate.
Shady Dealer is potentially a 5/4 for 3 mana which is crazy especially if you coin it turn 2 but you need a turn 1 pirate to live somehow. Well it's still 4/3 with no pirates so you aren't really screwed if you cant.
Valiant is a weaker SI agent which could be useful. Turn 1 coin this guy removes stuff like Lepers which SI cant do.
Beneath the Grounds might be nice in like Mill Rogue? It basically gives you potential minion value as you mill. It's still a useless card on the turn you use it though. Also it makes their deck bigger which is counter intuitive to milling so eh.

Shaman gets... jesus christ Mistcaller looks crazy. Between this guy and the Totem stuff + new draw card, Shamans got the biggest buff by far, which was needed. Mistcaller is kind of slow by himself, but I think he works well in a generally low-curve minion-heavy deck, which would normally lose steam lategame, but now you get a 2 for 1 draw card and this guy buffing all your minions so you should be much better off.

Warlock...... okay yeah these cards suck not even gonna touch em. The discard archetype still needs way more support for it to be viable. Something like when this card is discarded draw a card would work as it turns discard negative effects into cycling. But right now there's literally just fist of jaraxxus. Yeah nope. Also all of these crappy demons effectively nerf Bane of Doom too.

Warrior gets Taunts and more taunts. Sparring partner is pretty much the perfect card to make taunt warrior a thing. Him with bolster is gonna result in some crazy value combos. Plus you can use him + black knight to kill anything. And taunt warrior should also be amazing with Varian.

As for neutrals, a lot of these look like arena cards, with all the common vanillas and POWERCREEP RIPMAGMARAGERANDBOOTYBAY.
Refreshment Vendor imo is probably one of the biggest nail in the coffins for aggro. Neutral 4 drop with a decent body, a solid heal, and effectively no drawbacks when used vs aggro. Now you can easily live to mid-lategame with turn 3 earthen, turn 4 vendor, turn 5 healbot.
Fencing coach might result in some cool inspire combos and decks, although being a 2 for 3 mana kind of sucks. 2 mana would have been much better but I guess they didnt want him to basically be a totally free hero power _{MEANWHILE MAD SCIENTIST}
Twilight Guardian is finally a dragon with taunt. 4 mana 3/6 with taunt is better than senjin so yeah he'll fit great into dragon decks.
Chillmaw is another taunt dragon and supposedly look to be created to be anti patron. An interesting this is you can kind of play around his own ability by having or not having dragons in your hand.


Personally I'm looking forward to Taunt warrior. It's too hard to tell now if it will be better or worse than Control or Patron, but man Varian is just too goood BV

[Kiro]

Warlock has received a grand total of 0 playable class cards this expansion.

The Warlock already got great flexibility in decks due to their Hero Power. I also agree they didn't get too much, but it doesn't really doom any of their current decks. The most interesting card of theirs might be Dark Bargain because there is no single card removal that actually removes 2 enemy minions (Twisting Nether and Deathwing aside). If the meta does slow down, I think that card has a place.

If anything, Rogues got seriously shafted. I don't think they got enough support for a Control archetype despite Anub'Arak. Cutpurse might be their most impactful minion, but it has to stay alive a turn. It's going to be Oil Rogue and Pirate Rogue, but it's hard to say if Pirate Rogue will be any good otherwise, it's just more of the same. Rogues are not very exciting at all.

High impact cards are most definitely there and it's unfortunate not every class got them.
Shaman: Mistcaller, Healing Wave, Ancestral Knowledge
Druid: Mulch, Darnassus Aspirant and Living Roots (1 mana choose). And Aviana.
Hunter: Acidclaw+Dreadscale, King's Elekk (2 drop with Joust draw) Powershot, and Ram Wrangler for their control archetype, much more exciting than any Rogue control.

I think only the above 3 classes truly got really exciting cards. The rest:

Paladin: Mysterious Challenger (6/6 with secrets), Seal of Champions (their version of Velen's Chosen). And a bunch of weird psuedo removal.
Priest: Holy Champion (solid 4 drop at last), Wyrmrest Agent (2/5 taunt if running Dragon Priest) to pair with Twilight Guardian.
Mage: Effigy. Not so much other things, but possibly Coldarra Drake and Fallen Hero.

Warriors got relative crap with the exception of Varian.

If Warlock, Rogue and Warrior get any deck types, it'll probably have to come from the unique neutrals for TGT.

Cut: Looks like my opinions are more or less mirrored with Suikama's.

[Suikama]

I think Taunt Warrior should be good. Sparring Partner is a great card even if it didn't give taunt (3/2 + taunt for just 2 mana). But because it does you can put taunt onto any minion you want, friend or foe, and synergize with a bunch of things like Black Knight. And then there's Bolster which looks poor by itself, but with a deck full a taunts + this guy giving taunt to everyone else, it would be too hard to get a good bolster off.
And the deck as a whole has synergy with Varian, since he can pull out a whole bunch of taunts in one turn, and that could save you from dying or even win you the game.

And of course you gotta run KT to make everyone's life completely miserable BV

[Kiro]

I think Taunt Warrior should be good. Sparring Partner is a great card even if it didn't give taunt (3/2 + taunt for just 2 mana). But because it does you can put taunt onto any minion you want, friend or foe, and synergize with a bunch of things like Black Knight. And then there's Bolster which looks poor by itself, but with a deck full a taunts + this guy giving taunt to everyone else, it would be too hard to get a good bolster off.
And the deck as a whole has synergy with Varian, since he can pull out a whole bunch of taunts in one turn, and that could save you from dying or even win you the game.

And of course you gotta run KT to make everyone's life completely miserable BV

Sparring Partner is good, but it pretty much is like a Sunfury Protector. The application on the enemy + Black Knight is obviously excellent to counter the 3/2's weak body late game. The thing is it feels like Taunt minions contradict the Warrior playstyle of swinging weapons and taking personal hero damage to leave your minions unscathed. To make Bolster worthwhile, you'd run more than average number of taunts, which means slightly fewer high impact legendaries. Taunt doesn't stop spell based removal which has almost always been the threat against such legendaries.

On the other hand, maybe the only taunts you need are Sludge Belchers and Twilight Guardians along with the Sparring Partner. And maybe 1-3 more taunts amongst Senjin and Sunwalker and maybe a Defender of Argus. Taunt Warrior is probably tantamount to Dragon Warrior in this case. It should be alright, but deck space is getting tight here.