Saronite Taskmaster

Saronite Taskmaster Card

Saronite Taskmaster is a 1 Mana Cost Common Neutral Minion card from the Rastakhan's Rumble set!

Card Text

Deathrattle: Summon a 0/3 Free Agent with Taunt for your opponent.

Flavor Text

Don't even think of asking for time off.

Saronite Taskmaster Card Review

Oh, a balanced version of Zombie Chow. To be completely honest, it’s not that much different in Aggro, but then again, Zombie Chow was never really exploited by Aggro (sometimes by Midrange, yes, but not really by Aggro). However, it is significantly worse than Chow was if you want to put it in a slower deck. The thing is, if you’ve played against a faster deck, healing them for 5 was completely irrelevant in the early game. It’s like you’ve played a 1 mana 2/3 with no downside at all. This downside, on the other hand, is much more noticeable, since you’re putting an extra body on your opponent’s side – even more, an extra body that will help them block your attacks from early minions and keep their own minions alive for longer.

So I honestly don’t see this being played in Control as an Aggro counter – 2/3 body is nice, but giving them 0/3 Taunt might put you behind if you have no easy way to get through it. In case of faster decks, however, a 0/3 Taunt will cost them 3 damage most of the time, sometimes 4 if they can’t deal exactly 3 damage. Yes, they would love to see that 3 damage go to the face. But on the other hand, having a stronger body on T1 will often make up for it – not only it deals more damage to the opponent, but also can make some early trades a 1/3 could not.

That said, it might be a little problematic in the Aggro mirrors too. It’s great if you’re ahead – killing a 0/3 Taunt won’t be an issue then. But if you’re behind, then you can’t really drop it, as it will often be traded for free and your opponent will get a 0/3 Taunt for their trouble. That 0/3 Taunt can then serve as a buff target for Fungalmancer, for example, and actually be used to kill you back. So the card works best if you’re playing Aggro and you’re in the lead, so usually vs slower decks. Can also work quite well for Midrange decks that want to curve out as best as they can.

All in all, I think that this card might find some play, but it’s definitely not as good as Zombie Chow was.

Card rating: 6/10

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26 Comments

  1. TheArcanist
    December 3, 2018 at 11:03 PM

    This is basically a much, and I mean really much, better Zombie Chow. Unless the enemy can buff the 0/3 in some way, this is like giving them 3 Health. Also, this fu*ks up Rez Priest and Taunt Druid. And enables a combo with Void Ripper. Good card.

  2. DukeStarswisher
    November 26, 2018 at 2:04 PM

    This is a solid turn one no matter what type of deck you are playing. And if Rez priest wants to silence, then they have to use premium silence (0 mana) or wait until turn 4 for more options.

    But even not considering rez priest it is such a good card.

  3. Fleetwood2
    November 23, 2018 at 10:47 PM

    People talking about Resurrect Priest. I think this card is more of Hadronox counter than anything.

  4. Scarecrow72
    November 22, 2018 at 11:29 AM

    Oh, it’s a Deathrattle. Ressurrect Priest not that dead now.

  5. Whym
    November 22, 2018 at 11:07 AM

    Time to dis-enchant barnes i guess.

  6. minti
    November 22, 2018 at 8:53 AM

    OMG This card is actually AMAZING. no joking here. I so much wish it can retire the ressurect priest from all formats

  7. Hello
    November 22, 2018 at 8:50 AM

    As long as aggro is in the meta and aggro has buff cards like funglemancer I just don’t think the will be good. This basically gives them a free shield bearer. Aggro decks would all love a free shield bearer to protect their damage dealing minions.

  8. GlosuuLang
    November 22, 2018 at 3:48 AM

    Zombie Chow is back, boys. 4.5/5, will become a staple.

  9. Vincent
    November 22, 2018 at 2:23 AM

    Chow 2.0, really cool card.

  10. Dr. Roshima
    November 22, 2018 at 1:10 AM

    More tools to f*** up priests resurrect pool. Good guy taskmaster

  11. Spyder9899
    November 22, 2018 at 12:00 AM

    I have a feeling this will see a lot play. Not only in aggro.

  12. Soup And Salad
    November 21, 2018 at 10:12 PM

    Saronite Taskmaster looks to be a retrain of Zombie Chow that could heal for more or less health depending on the exact state the board is in. While this format will be very different from where it was when NAXX was around, this should still see some play if snowballing early is important, especially in April. Five stats for one mana will tend to be good as long as whatever drawback it has is neither immediate nor gives your opponent something that will actively impact the board. Simple as that.

  13. Jed
    November 21, 2018 at 8:29 PM

    This make me sad.

    4/5 seems good

  14. Tuscarora87
    November 21, 2018 at 8:06 PM

    Notice, this Chow 2.0 guy can disrupt some decks with an unwanted summon.

  15. Omnitarian
    November 21, 2018 at 7:58 PM

    Seems legit. Might even be useful to support target-a-minion cards that can clog your hand if there’s no enemy minions to hit (Flanking Strike, Pyromancer, anything with Overkill…)

  16. Saronite chaingang
    November 21, 2018 at 7:36 PM

    How long can this go on?

  17. Piterno
    November 21, 2018 at 7:13 PM

    It’s a good aggro card. It’s better than Zombie Chow, since it “heals” 3 instead of 5, and could curve out a spellbreaker on the taunt minion and completely remove the negatives.

    4/5

  18. New deck
    November 21, 2018 at 7:10 PM

    Errm… where’s the token

  19. Liam
    November 21, 2018 at 7:09 PM

    How long can this go on?