[HS] One Night in Karazhan

[Spinny]

Yeah. A 3 mana 3/4, and Resurrect which is 2 mana. In one card.

Ohh i see, Still doesnt seem too good in practice :I

[Blake]

I've yet to look at everything, but the issue with liking the 5 mana 3/4 redirect is that... It's just an utter design failure.

 

It's a literal come nation of spider tank and ressurect, but that means it's underdesigned and, very likely, not up to snuff.

 

Call of the wild is 3x Animal Companion, but it's -1 mana. In addition to being not random.

 

I'm not sure if this would be too good as a 4 Mana, but you could easily make it a 4/4 or 3/5, and then you'd get true value and design from it.

[Shradow]

It's definitely not great. Usually when two or more cards effects are combined into one, it's better than playing them separately (like Twilight Flamecaller being a 1 mana 2/2 + Arcane Explosion, and like what you already said with Call of the Wild). This isn't really.

 

But like I said, hahahaha Priest. Seems like they might remain a joke a bit longer yet.

[Shradow]

 

 

Purify is so bad, I love it.

[Althemia]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot7nlHXPLqU&feature=youtu.be

 

Video confirms that Purify will not be added to Arena for Priest due to community backlash. We did it, reddit.

[ihop]

I had some spare time so figured I'd post my thoughts on each card in the set too-

 

[spoiler=Big]

Druid

Enchanted Raven - Lets you play Mark of Y'Shaarj on curve which is absolutely insane assuming it sticks to the board, and it's a pretty solid 1-drop for a fast deck like Beast Druid anyway, so it'll probably be played there. I feel like the possibility of going turn 1 Raven turn 2 Mark is so good that it'll be worth playing even if it's mediocre otherwise.

Menagerie Warden - Best card in the set, IMO. There are so many solid beasts to copy in Druid like Druid of the Claw, Savage Combatant and, best of all because it makes such a good curve, Tiger. I definitely think Beast Druid will be a top deck because the synergies it has, especially when you consider this class has Innervate, are just too good.

Moonglade Portal - Meh. If you assume that getting a random drop makes it worth 1 less than its cost, it's a 1 mana heal for 6 which is relatively good but not exactly worth playing. If you're healing face it's hardly worth it so the only time you're going to get serious value out of it is when you're healing up a damaged big Taunt, which won't happen often enough for it to be worthwhile.

 

Hunter

Kindly Grandmother - Hunter at the minute is a class with the best 6 and 8 drops in the game but a very mediocre midgame, especially around turn 2, 3 and 4. Whether this card helps with that is tough to say because when played on curve it kinda gives the opponent a breather for a turn to allow them to develop something, but then reinforces your turns 3 and 4. It's certainly higher value than the 2 current 2-drops but I feel like it's so bad at competing with the 2 mana 3/4s and 3/3 chargers being thrown at you that it's not really worth running. It's not great against Aggro because it puts you on the back foot and it's not even that great against Control because it gives them an extra turn to draw cards and stack armor and whatever else. It's hard to tell whether it'll be worthwhile, but I'm leaning towards no.

Cloaked Huntress - Weird, but kinda cool. It's really powerful if you can play it with several secrets and Hunter secrets are some of the best, but the trouble is that most Hunter secrets just about aren't worth playing without this and this just about isn't worth playing without Secrets. You have to be playing quite a few secrets to make this work properly and most of them just aren't good enough. Awesome Arena card though.

Cat Trick - Cool name! Jungle Panther is probably a little better than Ironfur Grizzly, but it's also easier to proc than Bear Trap which I see as being a downside because one of the biggest advantages of any Hunter secret is that it could be Freezing Trap and will therefore make your opponent jump through hoops to play round it. If you can proc it just by playing a spell it's going to be revealed much quicker than Bear Trap, which will always look like a Freezing Trap until your opponent is prepared to trigger Freezing Trap itself. 

 

Mage

Firelands Portal - Probably the best portal for two reasons - for one, if you apply the 1 mana value less rule you're getting 5 damage for 3 mana, which is quite clearly worth it, and also 5 is probably the best mana cost to summon a random minion for - Faceless Manipulator/Ram Wrangler are the worst ones and that's still not too horrible compared to Faceless Shambler at 4 and Corrupted Seer at 6, and there's always a chance of rolling Doomguard or Earth Elemental. It's probably not fast enough for Tempo Mage but it'll definitely see play in Reno Mage and other value oriented Mage decks and, of course, Arena.

Medivh's Valet - Mage secrets suck. Really bad. The only deck that regularly has secrets up is Freeze Mage, and the trouble with that is that the two times where you're most likely to need 3 damage for 2 mana are the two times where you won't have a secret up - very early in the game where you're trying to slow down early aggression, and on the last turn of the game where you're trying to burn the opponent down after your Ice Block is popped. Sure, it's still decent midway through the game, but I don't think it's worth the inconsistency.

Babbling Book - Slightly better than Novice Engineer, I suppose, but still pretty mediocre because the body is essentially worthless and there's always that chance you're going to get Shatter or Ice Lance or Spellbender or whatever. There just aren't enough Mage spells worth playing a 1 mana 1/1 for.

 

Paladin

Nightbane Templar - Meh, not really any better, and possibly worse, than Blackwing Technician which isn't a great card to begin with. 1 damage AoE is pretty prevalent and it's really bad if you're not holding a dragon, much worse than some of the other dragon cards. I don't think the upside is big enough to justify worth playing it.

Silvermoon Portal - Gosh, this is a crappy Portal. It's a +2/+2 buff, which is worth less than 2 mana, combined with a random 2-drop, also worth less than 2 mana, all bundled together for 4 mana worth of mediocrity. Sure, it has the advantage of being able to be played earlier in the game, but would you really want to? I'd always prefer to have the extra +2/+2 that Blessing of Kings gives.

Ivory Knight - Cool card, but you have to realise that some Paladin spells are reeeally bad. There are 8 downright crappy 1-drops that you really never want to be picking, 2 less crappy 1-drops (Blessing of Might and Humility) that you might consider picking but aren't worth summoning a 6 mana 4/4 that heals for 1 for, and Forbidden Healing which is actually really good but doesn't give you any direct heal. Sure, there are a few genuinely good spells which heal for a decent amount (Consecration, Enter the Coliseum, Blessing of Kings), a card so good that it's probably worth playing a 6 mana 4/4 for just to get it into your deck (Equality) and a couple of mediocre cards that heal you for a hell of a lot (Anyfin can Happen, Lay on Hands), but on the whole I think you're just going to be given crappy options too often for it to be worth playing, since it's such a big investment.

 

Priest

Purify - LUL

Priest of the Feast - It's... ok? 3/6 for 3 are solid enough stats and it'll heal you for a fair bit, but it doesn't really contribute that much to board presence which is what the class really needs. It's actually a pretty neat anti-aggro tool because of its statline, but it's a little slow.

Onyx Bishop - It's a little better than Resurrect purely because Resurrect is a card you will never ever play on turn 2 but might well consider playing on turn 5, which then leaves the question of how you fill the remaining 3 mana. This solves that problem, filling the spare mana with a Spider Tank which is certainly better than hero powering. It's still not great because it doesn't solve Priest's issue of having no early game while also having no hard AoE to deal with lategame threats, but it's not quite as simple as just a Spider Tank tacked onto a Resurrect.

 

Rogue

Swashburglar - Well, it's better than Babbling Book for two reasons - for one, it's in a class with absolutely no worthwhile 1-drops and it's also a pretty neat combo enabler. I'm not quite sure what sort of deck you'd play it in, but it's a pretty decent card. 

Deadly Fork - Aside from having the most ridiculous name ever, it's... ok. The main trouble is that 3/2 weapons get worse and worse as the game goes on and the earliest you're going to get this one is turn 4, 3 if you coin it out, and at that point it's not really as good as  was on turn 2 or 3. It also has the classic issue with Rogue weapons of making your Hero Power useless, so you might have a hard time filling out your curve if you're playing this on turn 4. The concept of Valeera attacking you with a fork is awfully amusing, though.

Ethereal Peddler - It seems Unearthed Raptor/Shadowcaster tier - very good if you get if off, but doesn't fit with the way Rogue plays. Having said that, there are now 3 cards that burgle and all of them are relatively good, so it's possible, just possible, that some kind of Burgle Rogue is created - I think it's unlikely, though.

 

Shaman

Wicked Witchdoctor - The trouble is that the sort of decks that benefit from having a lot of totems really don't play that many spells, at least not cheap ones. You really need to be summoning several totems to make this worthwhile and I think that's just too hard to do.

Spirit Claws - Insane if you roll Spell Damage totem turn 2, bad if you don't, and not insane enough to make it worth playing just for the 1 in 4 chance. I don't see it being played, but a cool idea.

Maelstrom Portal - Strictly better Arcane Explosion, but Arcane Explosion sucks so it'd have to be. It might well be worth playing, especially with spell damage, since it's so cheap and gives you a little body with it as well. A lot of 1-drops are very bad, but it's still something.

 

Warlock

Malchezaar's Imp - Well, it's kinda cool especially because it's so cheap so you can just throw it in there before playing a Soulfire or a Doomguard or a Librarian. I can't help thinking discard is still too random a mechanic to build a deck round, but it's getting closer and closer and it might finally be there.

Kara Kazham! - Pff, seems pretty bad to me. 5 mana is kinda steep for a bunch of small minions and the 1 attack over the average statline doesn't justify that. Warlock doesn't even have any way to really benefit from a bunch of medium-sized minions the way say, Paladin does anyway.

Silverware Golem - Another decent enough discard support card. It seems pretty great to be able to Soulfire and the summon this, but discard cards are still random so there's no guarantee it'll happen. Once again, there might be a discardlock deck, but I'm still unsure.

 

Warrior

Fool's Bane - Decent idea, but it's a Warrior card, and Warrior's a class full of AoE. Between Brawl, Revenge, Whirlwind and Ghoul something that damages you for a whole bunch and doesn't really do all that much damage for 5 mana isn't really worth playing.

Ironforge Portal - Meh. There are some reeally crappy 4-drops about, and 4 armor for 1 mana doesn't quite seem worth it. Then again, if you look at Shieldmaiden it's a 5/5 that gives 5 armor for 6, and this is about a 4/4 that gives 4 armor for 4. Maybe it'll be worth it after all.

Protect the King - Damn, this card sucks. It's like Unleash the Hounds except without everything that makes Unleash good - the ability to dictate the trades and pick off 0-attack stuff, the ability to use it as burst to hit face, the fact that it's AoE in a class without much good AoE, and the Beast synergy. This'll never see play outside of some gimmicky Bolster thing.

 

Neutral

Pompous Thespian - I guess every expansion needs a token "powercreep" card.

Zoobot and Menagerie Magician - I'll stick these both in the same boat, but I don't have much hope for either. Murlocs suck, you don't really play mana if any Dragons in Beast-based decks and you don't play many Beasts in Dragon-based decks. I don't have much hope.

Netherspite Historian - It's a pretty good value-oriented Dragon card, I guess. There are some seriously good Dragons about, and it means slow Dragon decks can run a slightly lower curve then rely on this to pull a high-value lategame Dragon. It might just make Dragon Paladin a thing, since extra Consorts are always going to be an advantage.

Runic Egg - ehh, not quite. It won't see play in Zoo Warlock because you don't really need the card draw, but it might possibly be played in sticky buff-based decks in other classes, but that still seems unlikely, I don't think it's quite good enough. 

Pantry Spider - Sure, 2 1/3s are above-curve stats on aggregate, but come on - they're 1/3s. I don't think this'll see play.

Arcane Anomaly - It has the potential to grow huge, to the point where it's very tough to kill, but I doubt it'll be worth it since all it'll do is peck for 2. Tempo Mage doesn't need it, and other spell-based decks probably have better things to run.

Arcanosmith - 4 mana is a lot for something with 0 attack. It's not like you can cheaply protect something with it in the way that say, Voidwalker can, and if you condense it it's basically a 3/2 and a little bit more than a Shieldbearer for 4 mana, which doesn't look good.

Violet Illustionist - Interesting one. I feel like it might just be better than Earthen Ring Farseer in Rogue since it has 1 more attack, demands removal, and lets you facetank anything and quite often you'll be facetanking more than 3 anyway. It obviously has downsides compared to Farseer too, but it might be worth it. I don't see it being played in any other class, however.

Book Wyrm - Well, destroying a 3-attack minion is cool enough but it seems a little bit understatted for that, although with the obvious advantage that it's a Dragon. To be honest, I feel like we'll be seeing more of this being discovered by Netherspite Historian than we will of it being played.

Avian Watcher - It's good - REALLY good if you pull it off, and it's actually pretty passable just to play for Tempo too. It might just be worth playing in Secret Paladin is some secret-based Hunter deck, though I'm not entirely sure because at the end of the day you really don't have a secret up that often.

Moat Lurker - Weird card, good if you silence it but not really worth it on the whole.

Arcane Giant - It's good, really good, but the trouble is that the decks in which it fits, Yogg Druid and Tempo Mage, don't really have that much need for a low-cost 8/8. It's possible that this is good enough to make the fact that it doesn't really fit irrelevant, since it really will become a 0 mana 8/8 late in the game, but idk if that's worth it or not. I do think we'll be seeing this guy around.

Barnes - God damn, this card is incredible. For one, it's really awesome in Freeze Mage, since, apart from Alex and Novice Engineer (which you can probably cut), everything you can pull in that deck is good. Acolyte and Loot Hoarder are worth it just for the cycle, Doomsayer requires removing and Thaurissan is obviously insane and potentially game-winning. I also think it has potential in decks like N'Zoth Warrior and Tempo Warrior (basically, anything that plays Deathrattles), since there's a bunch of decent targets and then that chance to pull a Cairne or Sylvanas or Rag and straight-up win the game. I think this card will be jabronied about a lot.

The Curator - Interesting. Forget the Murloc, but even if it just pulls a Beast and, say, an Azure Drake, it might be worth playing. 4/6 Taunt aren't horrible stats, and if you're pulling 2 cards for that it's probably worthwhile. It is really really slow, though.

Moroes - Hilariously bad. It dies to any AoE, and even to stuff like Knife Juggles and Flame Juggles, and for that risk you're getting... a 1/1 every turn? That's definitely not worth it.

Prince Malchezaar - Cool gimmick card, but not worth playing competitively - you still have to draw the cards so there's always a chance you have to draw a Milhouse or The Beast or a Skeleton Knight, not to mention you're also playing a Pit Fighter in your deck. Really fun, wacky card for new players, but it won't be relevant.

Medivh, the Guardian - This one's interesting. It's slow, but if you're playing expensive spells it's pretty cool - it's really awesome with Call of the Wild, for example, but it doesn't really fit in such a deck. Idk if it'll be worth running, it's hard to evaluate, but it just might be. Definitely a cool card

 

[Shradow]

I'll be really excited for Druid and Warlock this expansion.

 

Gonna try out Moonglade Portal in my Yogg Druid deck, and we finally have the tools for a really cool Beast Druid. Imagine Stranglethorn Tiger on 5 into turn 6 Innervate and then Mark of Y'shaarj it, then Menagerie Warden it.

 

Discard Zoolock variant could be fun. Imp of Malchezzar turn 1 into Succubus turn 2 discarding Silverware Golem is the dream.

[.Rai]

I only really respect excluding Purify from Arena if they follow through with their promise of revamping how Arena card selection works.

 

Otherwise, it feels like a wildly lazy cop out. Better than nothing, but there's clearly a multitude of ways they could fix the Purify problem, none of which are being implemented.

[Shradow]

Remove the "Hearthstone:" from this video title and it becomes something very different.

 

[Spinny]

Remove the "Hearthstone:" from this video title and it becomes something very different.

 

This is actually a great idea, also i agree, hearthstone doesnt really play around with nerfs and buffs to cards as much as i think i would considering how easy it is.

[Shradow]

So the chess match was really funking cool, and it's kinda hard on Heroic because I keep running out of pieces. I never was very good at chess.

 

The Priest Class Challenge being a funking Purify, self-silence deck is just adding fuel to the meme fire, though.

[Mugendramon]

how do I heroic chess q-q

[Miror B]

how do I heroic chess q-q

Positioning and double strikes, keep stronger pieces on the right (away from the enemy hero power) and try to get your monster advantage asap, since you can't stall due to having 15 less cards in the deck.

 

Also the Hero Power is more useful than you'd think, allowing you to change up the damage distribution for a turn.