Hearthstone 20: What is your Quest?

[Haruspex_Pariah]

In the past they took their time with reveals and now it seems like there are just hours between card reviews. Anyone thinks the expansion comes out extremely soon? (We didn't even have a prepatch that changes Wickerflame to "Life Steal" yet like we had with "Poisonous" on Cobra and Stealthy Assassin.)

According to Brode, folks got burned out when the spoiler period was too long.

Source: http://www.hearthpwn.com/news/2996-b...ill-return-alt

The pertinent excerpt is: What's the reason for announcing an expansion and not revealing new cards in the following weeks only to dump ~40 cards a few days before the expansion is released instead of having a steady stream of reveals?
We used to do a steady stream of new reveals of about 1 card a day, and it kinda dragged. The feedback we were getting was that hype was slowing down as we got closer to the expansion, and i think that's the wrong direction. Un'Goro had a dip in excitement, but ramped way up towards the release and used a similar strategy. Un'Goro felt awesome - let's see how this one goes!

Whether that's true or not, I guess Blizzard has data collection on that kind of thing?

[Divayth Fyr]

Spoiler: Moorabi

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Legendary Shaman Minion 6
Whenever another minion is Frozen, add a copy of it to your hand.
4/4

Spoiler: Prince Valanar

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Legendary Neutral Minion 4
Battlecry: If your deck has no 4-cost cards, gain Lifesteal and Taunt.
4/4

Spoiler: Frost Lich Jaina

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Legendary Mage Hero 9
Battlecry: Summon a 3/6 Water Elemental. Your Elementals have Lifesteal this game.
5



Hero Power:
Icy Touch 2
Deal 1 damage. If this kills a minion, summon a Water Elemental.

Spoiler: Cryostasis

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Epic Shaman Spell 2
Give a minion +3/+3 and Freeze it.

Spoiler: Dead Man's Hand

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Epic Warrior Spell 2
Shuffle a copy of your hand into your deck.

Spoiler: Venomstrike Trap

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Rare Hunter Secret 2
Secret: When one of your minions is attacked, summon a 2/3 Poisonous Cobra.

Spoiler: Shadowblade

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Rare Rogue Weapon 3
Battlecry: Your hero is Immune this turn.
3/2

Spoiler: Defile

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Rare Warlock Spell 2
Deal 1 damage to all minions. If any die, cast this again.

Spoiler: Eternal Servitude

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Rare Priest Spell 4
Discover a friendly minion that died this game. Summon it.

Spoiler: Doomed Apprentice

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Rare Mage Minion 3
Your opponent's spells cost 1 more.
3/2

Spoiler: Spreading Plague

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Rare Druid Spell 5
Summon a 1/5 Scarab with Taunt. If your opponent has more minions, cast this again.

Spoiler: Snowflipper Penguin

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Common Neutral Minion 0
1/1 Beast

Also,

Dreadsteed is changing to be: Deathrattle: At the end of the turn, summon a Dreadsteed.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Heh, I guess they decided they had to make sure that Defile didn't break the game with Dreadsteed. Unfortunately, this nerfs an already niche/mediocre card.

[Gandariel]

Will update my thoughts on these cards when I get a chance.

Just wanted to point out that I'm fairly saddened by the fact that the Mage hero card is indeed the one that leaked some time ago. It looks *super* weak.

[Hamste]

I really like the cast spell again effect if certain scenarios happen. Makes consideration of what your opponent may have way more important and playing around them.

I'm not sure how good defile or spreading plague are though. Neither are overly good with Auctioneer (defile because warlock doesnt need draw and spreading plague because it is 5 mana).

[Destro_Yersul]

Will update my thoughts on these cards when I get a chance.

Just wanted to point out that I'm fairly saddened by the fact that the Mage hero card is indeed the one that leaked some time ago. It looks *super* weak.

I'm sticking with 'has potential.' The hero power is a pretty big deal if it goes off a couple times.

[Gandariel]

I'm sticking with 'has potential.' The hero power is a pretty big deal if it goes off a couple times.

Yeah, but compare that to, say, Jaraxxus.

9 mana gets you 5 life, a 4-mana minion, an effect that gains you a bunch of life in the long run, and a hero power that is... good, but not game winning on its own.

Yes, it's a lot of stuff, and it's not *bad*, especially if you already have elementals on the field that can give you life immediately.

Overall, my concerns are two:
1) Jaraxxus closes the game in a much more direct way.
2) Elemental decks are usually midrangey, I don't think this is the "right" finisher for this kind of deck.

[Seerow]

I'm sticking with 'has potential.' The hero power is a pretty big deal if it goes off a couple times.

I totally see it making Kazakus elemental make a possibility. Pyros with life leech seems legit scary. Bonus water elementals and extra health regain gives mage the staying power it's lacked since losing reno

[Zevox]

Corpsetaker is a neutral card, so Paladin can put Wickerflame / Tirion and you have a 4 mana 3/3 with divine shield, taunt, and lifesteal (if Wickerflame is still in your deck). Likewise, Shaman has Al'akir so if you draw it before Al'akir, it'll have Windfury, Taunt, and Divine Shield.

I can see it seeing play, if Divine Shield Paladin becomes a thing (and they're pushing it), but Wickerflame doesn't see play a lot of times, so I don't think it's broken or overpowered enough to be consistently good and put into decks. Maybe a 1-off as the 29th or 30th card to fill out a deck.

True, Tirion is nice for this, as is Wickerflame in decks that want him. Al'akir... eh, Shaman hasn't used him in a long time, and Windfury isn't strong enough that I see it being worth it.

Fundamentally though, I'm not sure whether a 4 mana 3/3 with all of those effects or any select combination of them is quite good enough for constructed. It may be, but I could easily see it just not being good enough, due to the stats not quite being good enough for the mana cost.

Anyway, new cards!

Spoiler: So many cards...

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Sanguine Reveler: Probably not good. Maybe a Zoo could find a use for it - Possessed Villager comes to mind - but Zoo already has Flame Imp, and there's only so many 1-drops even Zoo wants.

Animated Berserker: Hm... seemed like it may have potential at first, but thinking about it, what do you really want this effect for? Only Acolyte of Pain seems that great. Maybe Bloodhoof Brave, in some circumstances. Armorsmith isn't worth it, I think - you'd rather have that extra point of health to make sure it survives against, for example, a 3/2. Other enrages aren't that good, so it otherwise needs to combo with things like Battle Rage, and I'm not so sure that's good enough. Maybe we'll see new cards that go with this and are strong, but as-is, I'm pessimistic.

Howling Commander: Seems good. Probably wants to just get run in a deck running only a small number of very good Divine Shield minions rather than a deck full of them though - you're much happier with it drawing Tirion than Scarlet Crusader.

Moorabi: Unless Shaman gets much better freeze cards, this is trash. If they do, though, perhaps some potential for a control/value Shaman.

Prince Valnar: Doesn't even look that impressive when his battlecry goes off. Continues the trend of these "Prince" legendaries being weak.

Frost Lich Jaina: Oh god, I want this to work. I'm pretty skeptical as to whether it will, as it's super slow, but this is just my kind of card. But Elemental Mage has never been a thing so far, and this is sketchy enough that I can't really expect it to push it into viability, so...

Cryostasis: Really? Wow, talk about weird design. Using this as a buff is awful. Using it to freeze something for your weapon to kill means you take an extra 3 damage doing it. Using it to freeze something for that legendary to give you a copy of is value, but super slow and might seriously contribute to you losing the board. Yeah, I'm not impressed.

Dead Man's Hand: Okay then, that's a neat one. Exactly one type of deck wants this: Fatigue Warrior. Is this card good enough to make that a thing again? Maybe... except that Jade Druid is still a thing, and would hard counter that deck worse than Control Warrior counters Freeze Mage. Maybe that's still okay, if Jade Druid can't stand up to enough other decks in the meta, maybe not. If I were the betting type, I think I'd expect this one to lay dormant for a while, perhaps even until the next rotation, but I think it'll probably see play someday.

Venomstrike Trap: Eh, okay, another fair secret for Hunter. Goes with their legendary I guess. Doesn't immediately strike me as great, but it's not bad, and with that legendary it may well find its place.

Shadowblade: Well that's nice - finally, Rogue gets a new weapon that's just good. Nice and solid, helps address one of Rogue's issues. Obviously good for arena, but does it see constructed play? I don't think it enables any new deck on its own, and I'm not so sure it fits into any existing one, so perhaps not. Nice for them to have around for the future if other new cards do enable a deck that would like it, though.

Defile: Ooo, that's strong. Just getting it to cast itself the second time is already Volcanic Potion for 2 mana, and I could definitely see setting up scenarios where it does more than that. Great in arena especially, and I could see it showing up in constructed too, if a more controly Warlock gets off the ground.

Eternal Servitude: Much more consistent Resurrect for twice the cost, which might actually be reasonable. I could see this finding a niche.

Doomed Apprentice: Tech card, maybe? Hard to see it as being strong enough to be a mainstay in any deck.

Spreading Plague: Seems iffy. I don't think it's worth casting unless you're getting at least three out of it, and even then, are three 1/5s with taunt really worth it? They're just kind of a speed bump. You'd rather have Druid of the Claw at that cost for taunt, except specifically against something like a Quest Hunter, playing a ton of cheap minions with 1-2 health each. But there's nothing like that in the meta now, and nothing so far would indicate there will be with the new set.

Snowflipper Penguin: Filler card, unless Hunter or Druid someday get some beast synergy so powerful than just being a 0-mana beast makes it worth it. I don't think anything that exists right now qualifies though.

[Joran]

I really like the cast spell again effect if certain scenarios happen. Makes consideration of what your opponent may have way more important and playing around them.

I'm not sure how good defile or spreading plague are though. Neither are overly good with Auctioneer (defile because warlock doesnt need draw and spreading plague because it is 5 mana).

Defile is going to be good and will replace Demonwrath in Control Warlock decks, with the important caveat that Warlock as a class is weak now.

[PsyBomb]

Is it just me, or did anyone else immediately pair Moorabi with Frozen Crusher in their head?

[HotPizza]

Now I can't get it out of my head.

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Heh, I guess they decided they had to make sure that Defile didn't break the game with Dreadsteed. Unfortunately, this nerfs an already niche/mediocre card.

What I'm hearing is buffs. This looks like a buff to me. To the tune of 800 dust, specifically, for a card that's already been removed from the game. I can approve.

Re: Frost Jaina.

I hate her hair. Seriously, what is with that. The single pink curl across was weird but okay ish. This is bleh.

Re: Frost Jaina Mechanics.

I think elemental mage has a chance to surface, with a bunch of removal (hello Meteor), and ways to 'summon' limitless value. I actually see a lot of reasons this card is better than Jaraxxus, sure the ping is a conditional to summon your Value, but often times you couldn't play Jaraxxus because it had Battlecry: Majordomo Yourself. This always gets you 5 Armor, and plays a 3/6 Lifesteal onto the board, so it's not an entirely dead turn like Jaraxxus tends to be.

The life steal will also mean that Combo decks have a difficult time burning you out over multiple turns. If you could build it to have a fair amount of value for Control, and withstand Aggro Rush, it might be legitimate.

My main issue with it is that Jade Druid is a deck, and as long as it is a deck, it obsoletes every other deck that wants a 20+ turn game.


Also re: Repeating cast cards, I'm guessing that they count as multiple casts for anything that counts "Played Spells". So if you're running Yogg for any reason, playing 4 1/5 taunts is also 4 spells towards Yogg, and 4 discounts off of Arcane Golems.

Also, something that occurs to me is that Violet Teacher + Defile = Board Wipe (at least, unless there's something that can survive 6+Minions on board damage). Though Warlock already has board wipe shenanigans.

(Hell, maybe it pops X draws from Gadgetzan, as if this card'd get run in Jade Druid)

Edit: Tbh, Defile + Possessed Villager is a pseudo board wipe for 3 mana. That might be legitimate, especially since both are cards you may run in warlock separately, and it's less then Equality+Pyro.

[Mando Knight]

My main issue with it is that Jade Druid is a deck, and as long as it is a deck, it obsoletes every other deck that wants a 20+ turn game.

Jade Druid is still somewhat dependent on having a good Auctioneer turn to give it the board presence/refill it needs to win late. Nerubian Unraveller and Doomed Apprentice could function as checks to the flood turn, as they stop Innervate as well as severely limit the Jade Idols themselves.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Defile is going to be good and will replace Demonwrath in Control Warlock decks, with the important caveat that Warlock as a class is weak now.

I love how Defile will reward clever board manipulation, too. Watch a Warlock wipe an entire enemy board because they managed to set up a 1-health/2-health/3-health/4-health cascade.

[Divayth Fyr]

Spoiler: Ice Walker

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Rare Mage Minion 2
Your Hero Power also Freezes the target.
1/3 Elemental

[Zevox]

Hm, that could have some potential. Maybe it could even be the card to make Shatter usable? Okay, probably not, Mage needs more freeze that good to make that happen, but still, worth thinking about if they get more.

[Nerocite]

Spoiler: Ice Walker

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Rare Mage Minion 2
Your Hero Power also Freezes the target.
1/3 Elemental

I'm getting TGT flashbacks. I wonder if the other classes will get hero power support as well, it's cool that this works with both regular and DK Jaina.

[Spore]

I'm getting TGT flashbacks. I wonder if the other classes will get hero power support as well, it's cool that this works with both regular and DK Jaina.

This should work with ALl targetted Hero Powers. Maybe even with Hunter.

[Zevox]

This should work with ALl targetted Hero Powers. Maybe even with Hunter.

True, but getting it in other classes is an exercise in RNG, so it usually doesn't matter.

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Hm, that could have some potential. Maybe it could even be the card to make Shatter usable? Okay, probably not, Mage needs more freeze that good to make that happen, but still, worth thinking about if they get more.

To be fair... no. I don't think this card ever sees play, even if freezing mage does become a thing. This is basically an Inspire, and we know how to value Inspire cards already. Given you are unlikely to get multiple uses off, is 4 Mana 1/3, Battlecry, deal 1 damage to a target and freeze it, a good card? Obviously not.

As an example... this-heropower-shatter = polymorph-ping without the proxy Silence that comes with the sheepifying. And isn't a 2-card combo.

I don't think this card is really worth thinking about even if there is more freeze synergy. At least, not unless it becomes dominant to the kind of level Quest Rogue got to.

(Edit: If there's other hero power boosts, maybe, but again, given we know how TGT went, I'm not inclined to put much faith into the "Inspire" archetype.)

[Divayth Fyr]

Spoiler: Meat Wagon

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Epic Neutral Minion 4
Deathrattle: Summon a minion from your deck with less attack than this minion.
1/4

[Mando Knight]

Spoiler: Meat Wagon

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Epic Neutral Minion 4
Deathrattle: Summon a minion from your deck with less attack than this minion.
1/4

So, it's normally bad, and will usually be just that. But if it's in a buff-heavy deck, it could get pretty crazy. Terrible for Arena.

[Zevox]

To be fair... no. I don't think this card ever sees play, even if freezing mage does become a thing. This is basically an Inspire, and we know how to value Inspire cards already. Given you are unlikely to get multiple uses off, is 4 Mana 1/3, Battlecry, deal 1 damage to a target and freeze it, a good card? Obviously not.

As an example... this-heropower-shatter = polymorph-ping without the proxy Silence that comes with the sheepifying. And isn't a 2-card combo.

I don't think this card is really worth thinking about even if there is more freeze synergy. At least, not unless it becomes dominant to the kind of level Quest Rogue got to.

(Edit: If there's other hero power boosts, maybe, but again, given we know how TGT went, I'm not inclined to put much faith into the "Inspire" archetype.)

I think that's excessively pessimistic. That card's only slightly understated and adds a powerful bonus to something Mage will be using a lot anyway - there's definite potential there, I think. More so than any Inspire card I can think of, which tended to be either very understated or not have an immediate enough effect.

Spoiler: Meat Wagon

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Epic Neutral Minion 4
Deathrattle: Summon a minion from your deck with less attack than this minion.
1/4

Well, that's the token "hey, we're trying to make handbuffs work!" card of the set, I guess. Seems like trash - totally worthless unless you buff it, and the only buff in the game that's all that good is Spikeridge Steed. And even that only gets this to summon a 1-2 attack minion.

[Joran]

Spoiler: Meat Wagon

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Epic Neutral Minion 4
Deathrattle: Summon a minion from your deck with less attack than this minion.
1/4

I can't wait until someone does something crazy with this card to pull out something like a Ysera.

Also, the first minion I think of when I see this card is Doomsayer.

[Divayth Fyr]

I can't wait until someone does something crazy with this card to pull out something like a Ysera.

Anything that gives (at least) +1 toughness + Crazed Alchemist/Kooky Chemist I guess? ;)

[Legoshrimp]

To me it looks like if it is going to see use it will be to combo with doomsayer, but probably won't work well enough to do it. It just costs way too much.

[The Glyphstone]

So I know we're all exciting about the cards, but a teaser for the real important part of the set slipped under the radar:

https://twitter.com/bdbrode/status/889545049117040641

[Zevox]

So I know we're all exciting about the cards, but a teaser for the real important part of the set slipped under the radar:

https://twitter.com/bdbrode/status/889545049117040641

Not sure what said teaser is supposed to be...

[The Glyphstone]

Not sure what said teaser is supposed to be...

It's a picture of Ben Brode's computer chair, the chair where he filmed the Ungoro Crater rap song from the last expansion after people petitioned him on Reddit to compensate for the lack of a song accompanying the set. So he's apparently going to give us another song for KotFT.