benoitballs's Comments
Corsair Cache
I think Pirate Warrior doesn’t want to be spending 2 mana to draw a card, even if it’s as good as Ancharr. Not saying I wouldn’t experiment with it, but gut reaction I think I don’t see that fitting too well. Lance is definitely a good target for this; lackeys are just good.
I think they’re really pushing the Bulwark strategy with a card like this because you want to be playing that card; and you want to be able to target it because it’s a singleton. Last expansion’s Platebreaker is making sense with the new Warrior cards here: Bulwark protects you while you armor up; Cache lets you target draw Bulwark; Hoard Pillager lets you re-equip Bulwark and keep armoring up.
Idk if what they’re pushing is necessarily going to be good; but clearly they think warrior gaining stupid amounts of armor (a la Tank Up) would be the way forward. Should be a nightmare match when you’re trying to climb ranks though because games will take 25 minutes.
Libram of Justice
Okay, the new Libram, that 5 drop dragon are both excellent healing cards that I would happily play in a control paladin.
Keli'dan the Breaker
Please stop with the Flik comps–this card is like a highrolly Godfrey. The condition that you have to Miracle it is awkward, but you can definitely do things to make this work. My thoughts are more along the lines of Plot Twisting it back into your deck to get the board clear; I really DON’T love the 6 mana 3/3 Siphon Soul play unless you absolutely have to.
Don’t get me wrong–this is strong and will absolutely see play in slower Warlock decks; I just think this is nothing like Flik at all aside from the mana cost. I’ll give it a 4/5 because it requires you to draw it, and tapping/Plot Twisting for it turns it into Twisting Nether + a 3/3, which is really strong albeit a little inconsistent.
Priestess of Fury
This is a solid card. It’s essentially Avenging Wrath (which has seen play in decks) on a 6/7 body for 1 more mana and 1 less damage. In an aggro deck, this card might actually make the 4 mana 4/4 that discounts a demon worth playing because it curves really nicely and also acts as an okay finisher post-Leroy.
This could be one of the few DH cards above 5 or 6 mana that sees play because maximizing Skull of Guldan limits your mana curve to some extent. I’d only toss in maybe one copy to my aggro lists and treat it like a Leroy/Avenging Wrath, but I can definitely see some experimentation.
I think this card is a 3.5/5, because it sort of requires a little help to work and it’s definitely no carry for any deck, but in the right deck it could really perform well.
Skull of Gul'dan
This card is so overwhelmingly good that there’s virtually zero competitive reason to play DH without this, which is problematic because this card requires you build your deck pretty low to the ground on the mana curve.
Let’s just say you outcast this, draw three 3-mana cards, and play all of them in the same turn. That takes 5 mana to draw three cards and have a 9 mana play–meaning this can be a (-4) mana play…and we thought Call to Arms was broken af???
This card is one of the strongest cards I’ve ever seen in recent memory, and it’s absolutely going to limit DH card design until it rotates. I’m glad they didn’t introduce it as one of the basic or classic cards for DH, because I don’t want another class to pay the “Prep Tax” like rogue for too long.
7/5, this card is insane; and if you build DH trying to climb ranks without out this card, you are too.
Coilfang Warlord
This card in like almost any other class is good, and it’s good in a vacuum; but DH does not want to be playing 8 drops. DH wants to be playing Skull of Guldan, and drawing 8 drops prevents you from Outcasting it. It’s amazing for midrange, good enough in some control decks, but DH I don’t think will play either of those decks given how aggressive its card pool and hero power are.
I don’t see this card seeing a lot of play. Skull of Guldan is–when Outcasted–something ranging from effectively (-4) to 2 mana, draw 3 cards (depends on how much of a discount you get). Limiting your ability to have insane, meta-breaking tempo turns like that.
Cool, strong card– 2/5 in DH.
Libram of Justice
This is incredible. Assuming this gets discounted, another Equality effect is great; especially one that lets you immediately remove a minion without any kind of combo. Paladin already has great sources of healing, and that’s about to get better with the other Libram they printed, so I expect to see this in every control paladin.
4/5, don’t sleep on this card.
Libram of Hope
Its amazing given the support they printed for it. 4.5/5 because you need to discount it, but this is exactly what control pally needed.
Bulwark of Azzinoth
So the cool thing about this card is that you can play it and trade into a minion at the cost of 2 durability and 0 face damage. I hope this sees play, but I’m really not sure the optimal way to use it. Part of me wants this to go into Galakrond to really abuse the free weapon trade, but that seems too slow.
I DON’T see control warrior using Greenskin/Upgrade for this card because those cards are just awful for control warrior when you haven’t played this. Probably the best use for this card is to prevent lots of damage against large minions, so in theory you’re clearing small stuff, keeping the big guys up, not taking damage, and armoring up to shield slam them later?
Idk, this card is really awesome, but I’m not really sure if this will see play. I can’t really rate this card. If it sees play, it’ll be amazing; if it doesn’t, it’s because the card is just not good.
Akama
I like how everyone acts like rogue can’t play 6 drops when Galakrond Rogue exists and:
A.) Can just play it for free, or
B.) Is happy to play it alongside other free things.
The 3/4 is going to be good for that deck early on because it sticks on board, and then it adds value later on when it’s done trading. I think the 3/4 alone is worth putting in decks, and the 6/5 is just nice to have if it doesn’t get AoE’d off the board.
This is not a card for aggro decks; I don’t think we should be pushing that narrative.
Card is a 4/5. Gally Rogue isn’t leaving the meta and wants this.
Warmaul Challenger
This card is so freaking cool. I’m curious to see if they really start pushing more enrage/rampage stuff since they’re now rotating out Acolyte of Pain, which allowed that deck to draw a ridiculous amount of cards.
This card has very obvious synergies with Armorsmith and Frothing Berserker, but I’m not really sure those are impactful enough. I see this card as sort of an early removal tool for warrior without conditions, and it’s going to leave like a 1/4 or 1/6 in play most of the time. If there’s a way to buff this up after you play it, then this card is insane. If not, I think this card is kind of meh; I don’t think 1 attack minions in warrior accomplish a ton after turn 3. It’s a shame this can’t target your own stuff too, but that’s probably too strong with that guy that gives you Boom Bots.
One deck it DOES work nicely in is Galakrond, if you can get that +4 buff on it; then it’s suddenly a really efficient removal card with a body.
I WANT to rate this 5/5, but it’s probably like 3/5.
Lady Liadrin
This is a lot of value. Not really sure it’s going to see play for a while, but when Pally has a viable control deck again, this will be in it. Will be looking to see if we get a half-decent Spikeridged type of spell this expansion, because control Paladin without Shirvallah/Holy Wrath doesn’t have the cards yet.
Zixor, Apex Predator
Obviously this card is like 5/5 and stupidly useful, but my immediate reaction to it is to combo with it. Clear the Path instant trigger, and then find a way to cheat out a rhino and you can smack for 22.
If you pair this with Clear the Path, you’re getting 20/20 for 9 mana on 5 bodies, each with rush. It makes drawing Clear the Path late suddenly a good draw if you haven’t played the Prime card yet. This is the kind of strong synergy that can push a deck to that next level; however, this card is good as a standalone too. I honestly think Hunter is in a dangerously strong position right now.
Astromancer Solarian
Love it. The base form is 100% playable, and the 7 drop should amount to a pretty insane board swing since there are almost no positive effects for your opponents’ minions. Spell damage is always really nice, and on a 3/2 body or a 7/7 body, it’ll be useful.
A note: if the 7 drop casts any of mage’s AoE spells, they’ll all benefit from the spell damage, which is really, really nice. It would be really cool if the Malygos spells were in the pool, but also, it’s probably not likely.
I’d give this card a 5 star rating because I really don’t see what Mage deck *won’t* be playing it; it requires absolutely zero support, it’s capable of just snowballing a game out of hand, and it’ll almost always be useful in some capacity. It fits tempo, and Reno Mage will be happy to add it since Reno’s losing a lot of strong stuff with the rotation.
Shadowjeweler Hanar
Seems pretty highrolly, but 1/5 is probably going to stick for a turn, so if you get the right secrets, this card could make rogue really disruptive early on. Comment below pointing out that secret keeper is super good with this; that alone could be enough of a win condition since rogue can always just slap on a weapon and Eviscerate for burst.
I’d give this card a 3.5/5 or a 4/5. Definitely needs some support, but discovering secrets from classes with playable secrets can be really strong.
Nether Breath
This is going to be the star of Warlock I think. Alextrazsa+Bloodmage Thalnos+2x this card+1x Soulfire is basically freeze mage, but in a class that gets to draw a card every turn and now has a hand size of 12. The real question I think will be how well can control lock handle pressure, and if you put in a dragon package, 2x Hellfire and 2x 5/5 Hellfire dragon should more or less do the trick. Yikes.
I really think this card won’t see play. 4 mana discover/play a secret is a really weak tempo play and I don’t really see what deck could fit it in. Corrupted it seems fine, but you have to wait until turn 6 to play it AND have a 5 mana card. I just think I’d always rather have Keysmith because it’s at least a body to contest early turn stuff/provide extra chip on something bigger.
I’d give this like 1 star.