Hearthstone: Grand Tournament Card Reviews, Part 5

Now, for the remaining Class cards…

·       Mulch [Druid]: For three mana, destroy a minion and add a random minion to your opponent’s hand. It’s… kind of inefficient, actually. Yes, you might argue that it’s a more efficient Assassinate, but Druid already has a destroy-a-minion card in the one-mana Naturalize, which allows your opponent to draw two cards. And raising the cost by two while reducing the card they draw by one? I don’t think it’s particularly worth it. And while you can make an argument that Naturalize gives the opponent cards beneficial to them from their deck, and Mulch has the potential to give some horrid selections… it might also backfire and give your enemy really good minions. Don’t think this is going to be any good.

·       Knight of the Wild [Druid]: The remaining two cards revealed for Druid, again, push a Beast Druid deck, which was what other earlier-revealed Druid cards (Savage Combatant, Druid of the Saber, ) did. Knight of the Wild, which is a seven-mana with 6/6 whose cost is reduced by one whenever you summon a beast, is another card supported by beast cards… and it really depends on whether ‘summon a beast’ includes the alternate forms of the Druid of the X. I think it’s a bit too slow, especially since Druid has so many other choices in better minions in the Ancients. Yes, it would be nice to drop a 6/6 minion by paying two or three mana, but Knight of the Wild will have to stay in your hand for quite some time, and I don’t think it’s particularly worth it. Do like the fun little concept that the Knight of the Wild, being of the Dryad/Keeper of the Grove race, is all dressed up ready to joust with his own lower body as the mount.

·       Wildwalker [Druid]: A four-mana drop with 4/4, with a Battlecry of giving a friendly Beast 3 health. Another one for the Beast Druids, but one that, I’m afraid, is also underwhelming. It would be different if the Wildwalker gave 3 Attack, but adding three health isn’t really that spectacular of an effect. It is decent, I guess, since it’s only a health down from a Yeti and it adds three health to another minion, so I guess the Wildwalker is still playable in budget Druid decks.

·       Acidmaw/Dreadscale [Hunter]: For this expansion, the Hunter class is unique in that it gets not one, but two Class Legendaries, a previously unprecedented affair. Acidmaw and Dreadscale are twin Jormungars that serve as a joint boss fight in one of the Argent Tournament quests, and like the Val’kyr sisters revealed early on, Acidmaw and Dreadscale are both beasts who have identical stats, namely 4/2… but a wildly differing cost. Dreadscale costs three mana, which is fair for a 4/2, but Acidmaw costs… a whooping seven mana. Their effects? Acidmaw causes all minions on the board to be destroyed whenever they take damage, both yours and your opponents. Dreadscale, on the other hand, deals one damage to all other minions at the end of every turn. They are obviously meant to be played together for a gigantic board clear, but Dreadscale’s effect will hit Acidmaw… which will kill it? Even if Acidmaw’s effect doesn’t apply itself, Acidmaw will still die in two turns thanks to Dreadscale. It’s a really interesting concept for sure, but I don’t think Acidmaw’s effect is worth a seven-mana 4/2. Maybe if Acidmaw had slightly better stats (2/4? 2/5? It doesn’t need to attack, after all) or a lower cost, it might be playable – an Explosive Trap or a group of Hounds can effectively clear an entire board full of big minions. But as it is, I don’t think Acidmaw is going to find itself in many decks. Dreadscale? 4/2 for 3 mana is respectable, and it auto-whirlwinds every turn… which kind of pushes a Control Hunter deck. It definitely doesn’t fit in Face Hunters who loves its 2/1’s and 3/1’s, and even then without his big brother Dreadscale will absolutely suffer against Grim Patron decks. So great concept for the two of them, but I don’t think they’ll be as desirable as the other Hunter legendaries.

·       Stablemaster [Hunter]: Three-mana for 4/2, and a Battlecry of giving a Beast Immune for a turn. It’s a variant of Houndmaster, I guess, with one less health and giving a temporary Immune instead of a buff and Taunt… and while this is useful to protect, say, your fragile Acidmaw up there, or to save your Gahr’zilla or King Krush or whatever so they can make a free trade, I don’t think it’s worth it to spend a slot on this card. It could be useful, but I am of the opinion that the Houndmaster is still better for a control Hunter deck.

·       King’s Elekk [Hunter]: Oh, hey, an elephant! Well, Elekk. The Elekk is a two-mana 3/2 beast. And it has a battlecry of jousting, allowing you to draw a minion if it’s higher costed than the enemy. Yeah, if you get this guy from the booster packs, basically replace all the Bloodfen Raptors in your Hunter decks with this dude, and treat the Jousting as something that’s nice if you get it, but not particularly damning if you fail to do so – King’s Elekk is still a decent minion even without the Joust mechanic activated, which is not something that some of the earlier-revealed Joust creatures are.

·       Power Shot [Hunter]: More shots! Powershot, for three mana, deals two damage to a minion and the two minions next to it. It deals two damage to three minions, which is actually pretty decent – most boards don’t really have that many minions anyway, and it’ll serve as a decent herd-thinning to help your own creatures pick off the remaining enemies. Not sure if it’ll replace the rest of the Shots already in the Hunter’s arsenal, but it’s certainly an interesting card.

·       Bear Trap [Hunter]: Another excellent trap for Hunters. Hunters really do get good secrets, don’t they? Like all Hunter secrets, it’s two mana, and after your hero is attacked, the Bear Trap summons what’s basically an Ironfur Grizzly. Unlike Explosive Trap, where the damage hits the opponent’s field the moment attack is declared, your hero does receive the damage either way and the bear comes out later. But either way the Bear Trap is great value – Ironfur Grizzly normally costs three mana and is a really solid minion, and being able to summon it for two mana? Pretty great. Despite the image showing a bear trap (y’know, a trap for bears), I do like the little pun that its effects is actually a trap which is a bear. Oh, Blizzard, you and your puns.

·       Arcane Blast [Mage]: For one mana, deal two damage to a minion. This spell gets double bonus from Spell Damage. A decent spell, I suppose, arguably better than Arcane Missiles (which deals three damage at random) especially if your deck is already heavy in Spell Damage minions. I still think Spell Damage isn’t going to hit it off, but there are definitely enough cards out there to build a Spell Damage deck. Not sure if it’s going to be viable or not, but Arcane Blast itself is pretty decent whether you have a Spell Damage deck or not – one mana for two damage is the standard for many spell cards (Arcane Shot, Holy Smite) and this one gets a potential bonus to become four or six damage, which would be great value.

·       Polymorph: Boar [Mage]: Oh, this spell. It’s hilarious! Hail the Huffer! For three mana, you basically polymorph a minion into a Huffer. It can be used like the old classic Polymorph – to remove gigantic monstrous threats like your opponent’s eight-cost or nine-cost minions. For one less mana, you’re facing a Huffer instead of a 1/1, but sacrificing a minion to deal two damage is certainly preferable to dealing with Deathwing or Malygos or Antonidas. But it’s also got decent value compared to the standard Polymorph – you can use it on your own minions now and it’ll have value too! You can turn a wounded minion into a 4/2 with Charge, or simply just upgrade one of your early-game minions like the Mana Wyrm into an actual threat. Definitely a fun and useful little spell.

·       Dalaran Aspirant [Mage]: Four mana 3/5 with Inspire: gain Spell Damage +1. It’s a Yeti with one less attack, and the ability to stack Spell Damage as many times as you want so long as you keep pinging things in the field. The question is whether it’s worth it – to buff your Arcane Blast, Master of Ceremonies and other general spells – and I don’t think it is. It could find some use on a more spell-oriented deck, but I’d rather have a Yeti or a Shredder any time.

·       Enter the Coliseum [Paladin]: For six mana, destroy all minions except for each player’s highest attack minion. It’s an interesting card for sure, and I think it’s intended primarily for a board clear – you clear all but one of your opponent’s minion to face off against one of yours. If you had a relatively m’eh board, say, maybe only Silver Hand Recruits, then you can use Equality and pop the other dude. I dunno. It’s kind of a niche effect that’ll be a bit hard to pull off in my opinion, and it’s going to be something that we’ll actually have to see in action to see how good it is.

·       Competitive Spirit [Paladin]: Oh, hey, another Paladin secret. When your turn starts, give your minions +1/+1. It’s… not that great either. Yes, it’s better than most other non-Avenge Paladin secrets, but I still don’t think it’ll redeem Paladin Secrets enough that people will make Paladin decks with Mad Scientist and Mysterious Challenger and whatnot. It might see play… but on the other hand I don’t think it’ll be all that useful unless you already have a full board, and even then a Stormwind Champion or a Quartermaster would be far more useful.

·       Mysterious Challenger [Paladin]: Speaking of Paladin Secrets, this is a minion that’s trying to push Paladin Secrets. Like the Spell Damage mage I’ve ranted about above, I don’t think it’s going to happen. Paladin Secrets are iffy to mediocre at best, and while the Mysterious Challenger summons one of each Secret into the field and it would be insane if it were in a Hunter or Mage deck… for Paladins it’s going to be m’eh. The Mysterious Challenger is a six-drop for 6/6, which isn’t anything to write home about. I dunno, I don’t think this one card’s going to make a Paladin Secret deck suddenly viable.

·       Seal of Champions [Paladin]: For three mana, give a minion +3 Attack and Divine Shield. Relatively decent value, I suppose… I’d still rather use Blessing of Kings or Blessing of Might which is already included in the standard Paladin deck, since a three mana spell is a bit expensive for what it does. It’s pretty decent, though, and might see some use in a deck with Blood Knight or one that just wants to aggressively trade with enemies.

·       Murloc Knight [Paladin]: OH MY GOD THE ADORBS I CANNOT. The Murloc Knight is adorable. Like, super cute. The frog is suitably cute-looking, the Murloc itself is all dressed up in a fun little Argent Tournament armour and holy shit this is easily my favourite card in this expansion. It’s cute. It’s like really really cute. The Murloc Knight is a four-drop for 3/4, pretty respectable, and with Inspire you summon a random Murloc. Obviously the best value would be in a Murloc deck and the Murloc Knight can summon, well, Murloc Warleader or Slitfin Spiritwalker would be the most ideal ones, but it can also summon itself – which means the next turn you use your hero power you’ll get two Murlocs. Not to mention the Murloc Knight itself gains bonuses from Murloc Warleader and Grimscale Oracle and all those dudes. Definitely one that’ll make all those mrgrlglrglrgl decks even more powerful… shame it’s a Paladin-only card.

·       Confessor Paletress [Priest]: The Priest Legendary is a seven-mana 5/4, which is pretty shitty stats for a seven-drop… but with Inspire: Summon a random Legendary minion. Like what the fuck. A 5/4 isn’t a bad body to have on the battlefield, but if you inspire, you get a free Legendary, straight into the field. You can get freaking Aviana, and every card in your hand costs one. You can get classics like Ysera, or Deathwing, or Malygos, or Ragnaros, or Sylvanas, or Emperor Thaurissan. It’s definitely not going to survive its first turn because unless you have taunts on the field your enemy will want to kill Paletress with all haste, so you’ll need to play her on the ninth turn… or combo it with Fencing Coach in the sixth turn. Definitely one that’ll make Priests even more frustrating to fight against. So long as you get the Inspire effect off… the average legendary costs more than four mana, so for what is a net nine mana, you get a 5/4 and a random legendary. So long as you didn’t get, say, Millhouse Manastorm or Lorewalker Cho or the Murloc, it’s definitely value. And you’re more likely to get a great legendary than a bad one.

·       Shadowfiend [Priest]: A three-mana 3/3. Whenever you draw a card, reduce its cost by one. It’s a decent, if gimmicky card, giving you a small bonus to one or two cards while still being a slightly sub-par three-drop. It’s not that great, though, and while I appreciate the relative uniqueness of the card, I don’t think most existing Priest decks will want to put this dude in them.

·       Spawn of Shadows [Priest]: Four mana, 5/4, with Inspire: deal four damage to each hero. The Shadowbomber on steroids, I guess? Except it does damage every time you heal something. 5/4 is an okay-ish stat distribution for four mana, but it’s really only going to see use in an aggressive Priest deck… which isn’t what Priests are meant to be. Dunno. I don’t see this guy really being all that useful except in the lategame, and even then why take unnecessary risks by dealing four damage to your face every turn?

·       Wyrmrest Agent [Priest]: Oh hey, look, more dragon support! Wyrmrest Agent is a two-drop 1/4, and if you’re holding a dragon it becomes a 2/4 with Taunt. And for two mana, 2/4 with Taunt is absolutely great value. 1/4 not so much, but you damn better be playing this card in a dragon deck, otherwise what the hell are you doing? Certainly a great acrd in a Priest dragon deck, with the big question being whether a Priest dragon deck is all that viable. 

·       Convert [Priest]: For two mana, put a copy of an enemy minion in your hand. Thoughtsteal’s cousin, except you can choose which minion on the field you want to copy. Honestly not that useful in my opinion – you’ll need to spend more mana summoning said minion into the field, and really I’m not quite sure what’s the point, when Priest already has access to Mind Control which has the added bonus of removing the minion from your opponent’s control and kinda immediately summoning it to your side. Maybe it could be useful? I dunno. Never really played the card-stealing Priest all that much.

·       Power Word: Glory [Priest]: For one mana, choose a minion. Whenever it attacks, restore four health to your hero. Kinda like the Paladin spell ‘Blessing of Wisdom’, except this one heals instead of drawing a card… and I think it’s not all that. The Priest can already heal 2 health every turn, and has access to Flash Heal and all sorts of other fun healing mechanics, and I don’t think this is going to be especially useful.

·       Beneath the Grounds [Rogue]: For three mana, shuffle three ‘Ambush’ cards into your opponent’s deck. Every time your opponent draws an Ambush card, they draw another card and you get a 4/4 Nerubian (the dude from Nerubian Egg). It’s a long-term card, like Bear Trap above, and definitely is of great value. Three mana for a 4/4 minion is already great value, and you have the potential to get three 4/4’s for three mana. Granted it’s going to spend three mana, and maybe you can use it in a Mill deck with Coldlight Oracle/Gang Up/Shadowstep or something like that, but that’s going to be a bit too gimmicky. Still, an interesting card whether you have a deck tailor-made for it or not, and it’s kind of like the GvG legendary Iron Juggernaut – which sneaks a ‘deal 10 damage to your hero’ card into your opponent’s deck. Ultimately I think it’s a bit too slow for Rogue decks, but if executed well it can be devastating.

·       Shady Dealer [Rogue]: A three-mana 4/3 which becomes a 5/4 if you have a pirate. Nothing too fancy – it’s already decent (if fragile) value for three mana, and if you’re already playing a Rogue Pirate deck, a three-mana 5/4 is great value. Take note that the Shady Dealer is not a Pirate himself, though, which might hurt the Pirate synergy in the deck.

·       Undercity Valiant [Rogue]: A two-mana 3/2 with Combo: deal 1 damage. Sorta like the SI:7 Agent’s younger cousin, I guess. Pretty decent to include in a Rogue deck if you need a two-drop. And I definitely am a fan of the artwork for this particular card. Again, nothing too special – just a solid card. If you can’t activate the combo it’s basically a Bloodfen Raptor, if you can then you get a small little bonus. Solid little card.

·       Buccaneer [Rogue]: This one, unlike Shady Dealer, is actually a Pirate. A one mana 2/1 that’ll give your weapon +1 Attack whenever you equip it. The problem is, well, if it’ll survive until you do equip a weapon. I guess he can be useful in a Pirate Rogue deck, and might help out in a Rogue deck that depends on a weapon combo… and a 2/1 is pretty decent for a one-drop, but it’s nothing too exciting.

·       The Mistcaller [Shaman]: Or Mistcaller Yngvar, as he is really called in World of Warcraft. Apparently they cut out his actual name because it’s unpronounceable? Eh. The Mistcaller is a pretty awesome card – it’s a six-mana 4/4, which naturally is shitty value, but it immediately gives all the minions in your hand and deck +1/+1. And that’s pretty awesome, except he’s a Shaman legendary, so none of your totems get that bonus. And all those War Kodos summoned by the Thunder Bluff Valiant and Murlocs summoned by Neptulon don’t get the bonuses either. So… not quite as OP as he initially seems. And by turn six the game’s kind of already progressed enough that you either have the advantage or not, and I don’t think the Mistcaller’s good enough to turn the game around like some other legendaries will. 

·       Elemental Destruction [Shaman]: Three mana, deal 4-5 damage to all minions. Overload five. That is a ridiculous amount of damage for three mana. And, yes, overload five kind of basically shuts down your entire next turn, but it close to guarantees a full board wipe even if it deals four damage to everything. Of course it’s relatively situational and you’ll want to use it if the board is dominated by your opponent (bye Grim Patrons) but I dunno… overload five is a bit too much to handle, so we’ll see if the overload is acceptable or render this ridiculous board clear unplayable.

·       Dark Bargain [Warlock]: Destroy two random enemy minions, discard two random cards… for six mana. It’s comparable to the Siphon Soul spell, which for the same six mana cost, destroys a select enemy minion and restores three health. I guess this one can kind of play with Fist of Jaraxxus and Tiny Knight of Evil (below)? It’s like every card is getting a mechanic pushed. Beasts for Druids, totems for Shamans, control for Hunters, secrets for Paladins, Spell Damage for Mage… and card discarding for Warlock. And it’s not going to be all that great, honestly. Six mana is a bit too expensive and, yes, it will be useful if your opponent’s only got two or three minions and you don’t have much in your hand, but six mana! That’s expensive. Time will tell, I suppose, whether this card is actually useful.

·       Tiny Knight of Evil [Warlock]: The Teeny-Tiny Knight of Evil, which is another adorable jouster – an Imp in armour riding a Felhound – is a two-mana 3/2, again another Bloodfen Raptor clone, what gains +1/+1 any time you discard a card. And it’s a demon, of course. It’s decent value on its own, and I don’t think you have to push the card-discarding gimmick, but if you happen to do it, well, a two-mana 4/3 is pretty bomb. Fun enough to use, I guess, though I don’t think a Discard Warlock deck will really catch on.

·       Void Crusher [Warlock]: A six-mana 5/4 demon with Inspire: destroy a random minion for each player. Which sounds awesome… except you have a chance of destroying your own minions. Including the Void Crusher itself, a six-mana minion. Unless you’re desperate and your opponent has a single Malygos on the field and you have no reliable way to take it out, I don’t think Void Crusher is playable at all. Other minions fit the six-mana slot far better.

·       Fearsome Doomguard [Warlock]: A seven-mana 6/8 demon card with no other effects. Kind of m’eh, I think… it’s just solid, a War Golem with an attack switched to health… and nothing much to it. I suppose it’s refreshing to have a high-level Warlock minion that doesn’t nuke the field like the Infernal or discard cards or deal damage to your hero, but the Fearsome Doomguard isn’t too exciting… unless you summon it via Bane of Doom or Voidcaller. In which case, it’s absolutely great value. Pretty decent, I guess.

·       Magnataur Alpha [Warrior]: A four-mana 5/3 that also damages the minions next to whomever it attacks. Kinda like Foe Reaper, but with a stat distribution of 5/3. It’s going to probably attack once and deal 5 damage to three enemies, and most likely die next turn. And that is, if it survives the first turn that it’s summoned. Overall unless you have taunts at your disposal, the Magnataur’s not going to be anything special.

·       Sparring Partner [Warrior]: A two-mana 3/2 with Taunt, and Battlecry: give a minion Taunt. It kind of makes Bolster somewhat playable because now you’ve yet another card that guarantees even more taunts on the field. I guess the mini-mechanic they’re pushing for Warriors in this expansion is Taunt? Again, like all the other two-mana 3/2’s above, Sparring Partner is a decent two-drop slot that replaces the poor Bloodfen Raptor. It’s decent, again, in Control Warrior and might actually help out to support the Magnataur and keep it behind a wall of Taunters.

·       Orgrimmar Aspirant [Warrior]: Oh, another card with cool artwork! That wolf really looks furious. The Orgrimmar Aspirant is a three-mana 3/3 with Inspire: give your weapon +1 Attack… which is decent value, if nothing particularly special to write home about. Again, not really something too exciting, but still a relatively solid card on its own. Honestly don't have much to say about this card.

Overall I don’t think the Meta is going to change too much. It’s going to get shaken up a bit, probably, with the emergence of some Hero Power focused decks, and some cards will certainly worm their way into already-established decks that are dominating the metagame. It all looks to be relatively exciting, however, and I do like that while there’s a power creep against Basic cards (the one everyone gets at the beginning of the game) there’s not really much to displace the Classic cards (the original booster packs) so we’re not quite at that stage of a TCG’s life where the new expansion will render the older cards unplayable.

I do absolutely like the support for dragon decks, and they’re giving Control Hunter and Beast Druid some real support. There are a fair amount of decent cards and some poor cards in this expansion, but really they can’t all be good cards. There’s also a large amount of RNG-based mechanism here with ‘summon a random beast/legendary/spell’ and Jousting (which is basically a toss-up) being a overreaching theme in the set. I also did like that the Arena’s going to drop packs from all three available Booster Sets instead of just Grand Tournament sets – currently the arena only drops GvG packs. Loads of awesome artwork this expansion, and I for one can’t wait to waste all my money for some TGT packs, efficiency be damned.