Everyone downvoting one of the most unique decks i’ve seen because yall aren’t good enough to understand/play it. Doesn’t make the deck good, but it is unique and it isn’t bad.

At minimum 4/5 card that easily could be a 5/5. I don’t know why it is rated so low given how obviously strong it is on a token deck that can cheat mana.

To add to my earlier comment on why this card’s likely very overrated, Firebat’s highlander demon hunter deck that wrecked everyone during the streamer’s test day didn’t run sightless watcher, and he ran 26 different demon hunter cards.

I’m trying to think how it would actually be used in game and it already seems massively overrated at its 4.9/5 rating. You aren’t drawing a card – you get to put one of three random cards on top of your deck. So how would this deck play out based on the situations people would play it?

1. You are able to top deck the right situational card the next turn:
So let’s say – as an example – your opponent’s board state is a bunch of 1/1s, and one of the three cards you get to choose from is AOE removal, so you choose that AOE removal spell. Then your opponent has their turn and plays sea giant, and with the changed board state, it turns out you actually would much rather have single minion removal than the AOE removal. Even if you are able to get the right situational card randomly out of the three selected, it doesn’t mean it will be what you need the next turn because your opponent will still have an additional turn.

2. You want your best cards
Many deck win-rates will come down to whether or not you are able to play your most powerful cards. So I play this card hoping to get one of my best cards on top. But what if you don’t get one of your best cards as one of the three random cards to choose from? Well that means all Sightless Watcher did was delay how long it takes for you to get to one of your best cards. If you had Prince Keleseth in your deck, this would give you an additional percentage chance of getting Keleseth early in the game. But very few decks have that massive of a win percentage swing based off a card like Keleseth.

3. You want a combo piece
So you get one of three random cards from your deck to be placed on top. This can be highly efficient near end of game, but even if you have 10 cards left there is only a 30% chance of being one of the cards you can choose from. And if you get anything other than a combo piece, you are again delaying how long it takes to draw it.

4. Helps fill out curve in early game
If I play it on 2, I’m much more likely to be able to spend 3 mana on 3 and 4 mana on 4. Also makes it more likely I find the right early game synergy. But how much is this actually adding to my ability to play on curve? There is going to be a mathematical answer to this, but the combination of A.) it being a 3/2 and B.) you could get a meh choice for next turn top deck makes me wonder if there is even enough benefits for the downside.

It is a neat mechanic, but it doesn’t actually draw any cards, and there is no guaranteed what those three cards will be – and any time you get a meh choice, it delays you getting to what you would actually want to draw. Tracking is great because you draw a card for 1 mana, and you thin your deck so you can get closer to the cards you want to play. Shadow Visions gave you a choice of 3 spells from your deck, and the one you chose it created an additional copy which was added to your hand. Sightless Watcher only gives you a chance of getting the card you want, and unless that card has draw, it doesn’t speed up your ability to go through your deck. If a card like Keleseth is released, or highlander mechanic works well in demon hunter with multiple highlander-type cards, I might change my mind, but for now, I’m very skeptical of this card and its 4.9 rating. And if it is good, it will be for the early game curve.

2/5

3 mana deal 4 damage to a minion and draw a card.

5/5. Sure you have to attack it into a minion (could activate secrets for example) and sure the card you draw is a rush minion. But this is a 3 mana deal 4 damage to a minion draw a card. In hunter. That’s just insane.

Kezan Mystic stole secrets, certain cards still minions, I don’t see why the weapon wouldn’t be stolen too. No reason to think the weapon breaks or deathrattle should trigger.

This is really well put, and I completely agree that it seems like the card by itself should be good enough for something to work. Midrange Warlock is kind of the golden goose of potential for the class given two of its major class traits can give warlock an edge on value in 1. Discard (Soulwarden great example of value) or 2. Self-inflicted damage (Riftcleaver as you pointed out). For whatever reason though, historically midrange warlock hasn’t taken off. It doesn’t help that warlock has largely just been given meme legendaries each new expansion, with the only great legendary (Lord Godfrey) best suited for control. The taunt invoke card (shield of Galakrond) seems like a great fit in any mid-game or late-game centric Galakrand deck (and a clear 2 of in priest), so there is definitely an intrigue as to the fit. But it feels like it is going to take a lot more support for warlock to be able to catch up to the current set of midrange reno decks, or even the caliber of something like mech paladin, and so much of Galakrand’s power level is dependent on how good the selection of invoke cards is. And maybe it is just a slightly more Midrangey Zoo that thrives on value?

I agree though that it feels like both Galakrond and the invoke package should work somewhere in theory – especially given cards like Veiled Worshipper – and maybe the right comparison to Veiled Worshipper is something like Bloodsworn Mercenary. Bloodsworn Mercenary was clearly a great tempo card, but warrior was a class that has previously struggled to support its tempo potential. However we have seen the Aggro-based warrior builds thrive at times during the past meta (albeit inconsistently), and Bloodsworn Mercenary really can provide massive tempo swings in the right situation.

Ultimately though it does appear the best use of Galakrond is still more zoo focused, and in regard to Galakrond Zoo, 3 questions still remain:
1. What will the rest of the invoke cards look like?
2. Is Zoo better off focusing around Galakrond or not?
3. Would Galakrond Zoo even run Veiled Worshipper?

1. Playing it on late turns is the worst case. For a worst case, drawing cards is quite solid. 2 mana to draw a card is always fine, which is exactly what I mean by it being life tap. Yes it’s not literally life tap and it’s using a card, but again, the worst case use of the card is life tap. And as anyone who has played warlock knows, using 2 mana to draw a card is always fine. Even on turn 7/8, this gets you ahead on mana curve while drawing a card for 2 mana, and that’s still pretty sweet.

2. But of course you play this card to have it early and in the mid-game, and if you have it early, you can get a massive boost to you win percentage. I mean there really aren’t many bigger advantages in the early game than this card besides Prince Keleseth, and even compared to Keleseth, this is a 2 of instead of a 1 of that doesn’t limit mana construction in your deck. Focusing on the worst case ignores how great this card is in the best case, and again, even in the average situation it’s pretty sweet. We know this because we had a pre-nerf wild growth at 2 mana forever, and Breath of Dreams is a pre-nerf wild growth that also draws you a card

3. You really only need 6-8 dragons in your deck to consistently be able to play this in the early game (smarter math people than me can give you the exact number). In a ramping deck, and especially in druid, it’s quite easy to put dragons in your deck. And the fact that Emerald Explorer is really good makes me all the more confident Druid will easily be able to run dragons.

We only know 3 of the Galakrond cards so far, and we have no idea how good the comparative invoke cards are. But a 4/5 taunt that works toward your Galarkond is pretty solid for 5 mana. At the very least Priest will be running it.

I have mixed feelings on this card because while I love the value it can generate – drawing 3 for 4 mana is awesome, let alone a 5/4 on top of that – it’s an awkward Zoo card, and Zoo seems to be what the Invoke/Galakrond build is targeting given the hero power (two 1/1 imps). And for those confused and wondering why this card is awkward in Zoo, time for a lesson on Zoo Warlock 101.

Zoo is a board control deck. It’s not blindly rushing face and it isn’t trying to build to something later on. You want to contest the board with strong early game minions, and then make smart trades as needed to control the board. Ideally your minions are higher health too so they can be sticky. Veiled Worshipper requires you to invoke twice before you get to draw 3. I don’t like that. I want every card I draw in zoo to be playable on turn 3 or 4, and if isn’t, it better be an 8/8 sea giant. I don’t know how good the invoke cards are (we’ve only seen 3 so far) and how low the mana cost is on average, but unless in the early game you can play 2 invoke cards and maintain board control while doing so, this card isn’t useful in zoo.

Now it’s entirely possible that there are a lot of great invoke early game cards. It’s entirely possible this card is so good when it generates value that it’s okay when you have to play it as just a 5/4 on occasion. It’s also quite possible there is a Galakrond build that just thrives on value. Galakrond Warlock might be much more midrange based, because cards like this can be very powerful for just having more good stuff than your opponent. A 4 mana 5/4 that draws 3 is awesome. Maybe it is even great in some variation of Quest Warlock. But as we saw with Dark Pharaoh Tekahn, value isn’t everything if there isn’t a way to make it work. And given the similarly high ratings, Veiled Worshipper gives me a little bit of deja-vu to Dark Pharaoh Tekahn’s release (one of two cards along with Desert Spear being underrated that made me make an account due to disagreeing with the rating). I will say though I’m a little more optimistic on Veiled Worshipper’s chances than I was on Tekahn’s given it’s a two of instead of a legendary, and especially since the value it generates is much more practical in use than Tekahn’s.

But until we see more invoke cards that prove me otherwise, I’m very hesitant.

Anyone who thinks this card matters because of the battlecry clearly doesn’t seem to understand what blizzard is going for with the “invoke” keyword. Every time you use a card with the word invoke you get Galakrond’s hero power. Priest gets a random priest minion added to their hand, Rogue gets a random lackey added to their hand, and Warlock? Warlock summons two 1/1 imps.

Every card you play with the word invoke gets you two 1/1s. What does that sound like? Zoo. It’s for Zoo. Galakrond itself could be played as a nice way for Zoo to retool in the mid to late game, but the real point is to swarm the board with minions. So that leaves us with two questions:

1. How good are the invoke cards?
2. Is Zoo better off building around this or without it?

The first one is impossible to say until we see the full-set, since this will come down to the playable quantity of invoke cards as much as the individual quality. And so far we’ve seen two warlock invoke cards and one neutral. But if Dragonblight Cultists gives you at worst a 3/1 with two 1/1s for 3 mana, I’m thinking Galakrond Zoo is gonna be pretty good. Will be interesting to see which version of zoo is better. But I do know it absolutely doesn’t matter which random demons you get off the battlecry.

Oh true good point it would be sooooooo awful to play this for 2 mana on turns 3, 4, or 5.

Yeah this card is insane whether it’s turn 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8. Ramping and drawing a card for 2 mana is always awesome. Even on turn 9-10 it’s just life tap without taking damage, and life tap is easily the best hero power in the game. Again, they literally just nerfed a version of this card that didn’t draw cards to 3 mana. It’s broken, and it will guarantee druid is running dragons until Blizzard realizes the mistake they’ve made.

Fireball +2 damage, Arcane Intellect +2 extra cards, and 1 mana polymorph. Well I’m sold, doesn’t matter what the rest of the advanced spells are if this is the power level we should expect. Especially since discover gives flexibility and mage is generally one of the easiest classes to run dragons in. 5 mana 2/8 body is thicccccc too.

5/5. Especially for the 3 mana sprint, because prep’s got nothing on new Maly (RIP Prep I’m still bitter)

Hmm Arcane Intellect is a very good card. Arcane intellect draws you 2 cards for 3 mana. Candle Breath draws you 3 cards for 3 mana.

5/5. Don’t overthink this worrying about dragons in rogue, this card is the uber nuts.

Remember that time they nerfed wild growth from 2 to 3 mana? Well it is back to 2 mana! But this time, you also get to draw a card. And since you get to ramp and draw, it makes holding dragons no problem! Oh and in case you were worried about the quality of dragons, this is the dragon expansion, so very likely there will be a couple absurd dragon cards announced over the next couple of weeks (like the druid minion Emerald Explorer, another very powerful card).

5/5 – Easiest one i’ve ever given, will very likely need to be nerfed, don’t know what Blizzard was thinking.

You are completely right on the reborn not keeping the buffs. Still adjusting to the new mechanics.

Now if only there was a class or deck archetype centered around battlecries this next expansion. Maybe a quest that centers around battlecries? And maybe a card that, I don’t know, copies the battlecry of every minion played prior.

But yeah even past shudderwock shaman shenanigans, a 6/6 windfury rush is already a nuts card. The extra versatility of divine shield or taunt is just an added bonus for more situations. So many other classes can combo it with additional synergy. The new 1 mana card Embalming ritual in priest makes this card able to deal up to 18 damage to minions in one turn. Lightforged blessing turns this into 12 damages of lifesteal. Spirit of the shark gives it all 4 effects, and shadowstep/waggle pick allow you to play it a second time for 5 mana. On turn 10 warrior can play this, get rush with one other effect, and after doing damage can use Bloowsworn mercenary to summon a second one.

This card isn’t Zilliax good, and 7 mana might be too steep for many decks, but it is a very good card. 4/5.

On first glance it easily one of the best 3 to 5 cards of the entire expansion. The value on the card facially is nuts. For 3 mana you get a 3/3 and a copy of any damaged minion. So 3 mana for 6/5 worth of value across two minions if you copy a 3/2 clockwork goblin. Because warrior has so many mechanism to deal damage to its own minions, combined with the sheer number of rush warrior minions, the damaged minion requirement is an extremely low barrier to meet. A taunt warrior build would love this card. A big warrior build would love this card. A mech warrior build would love this card. A quest warrior build would love this card. A face or weapon warrior build would love this card. And of course, any tempo or midrange warrior build would love this card. Again, 3 mana gives you a 3/3 and a copy of any damaged minion. Kok’ron elite combos alone lead to so much early burst damage, which is even more disgusting when combined with the weapon possibilities.

Essentially the only way this card isn’t run is if the only warrior decks that exist are the bomb warrior and control warrior archetypes we already see on ladder. And even then this card is so strong that those builds might rethink how they make it to find a way to take advantage of this card. The easiest way for bomb warrior to beat mech hunter for example is by getting early game tempo and winning the board. And this card inherently will give you more stats for 3 mana than almost any other similar mana card.

5/5 card that might only be a 4/5 because of warrior.

The natural comparison is 4 mana Annoy-O-Module, which also gives Divine Shield and Taunt but only a 2/4 and only to mechs. Annoy-O-Module can be played stand alone though and it’s magnetic attachment synergizes with Kangor’s Endless Army. Galvanizer can also lower the mana cost, and Glowstone technician can buff it in hand. Pharaohs blessing can be attached to any minion, and i think the real potential value from this comes with how sticky reborn (and deathrattle) minions are going to be in combination with the new quest. The new pally quest also gives a quick way to create a 2/2 of whatever minion Pharaoh’s Blessing is played on.

The main issue is 6 mana is slow (barring a prismatic lens build but there are cards that cheat out more value than this), it requires a minion on board, and will be competing against potentially better midrange archetypes.

That said if there is a quest midrange paladin build that develops synergy with this, or some sort of more control style build that relies on rush minions and lightforged blessing to give lifesteal, this card could be intriguing. Midrange hunter has already shown the potential value of lifesteal rush with vicious scalehide into dire frenzy, and this would be a minion with divine shield/taunt to stack on top of it. Still it works in hunter because duplicates are added to deck, it is easy to draw, and you only have to do the combo once to get 3 extra copies of it for 2 mana. Paladin of course though is a much more difficult set-up for more mana. But this is the kind of creative thinking you will have to do for this card to work.

For now it seems like a 2/5 with at least some theoretical potential.

Fantastic point on the reborn mechanic – I often forget about the forward looking aspects against the new cards but the reborn mechanic is the big new “thing.” If there is any popularity at all on the reborn mechanic, desert spear becomes that much more useful for its utility at cleaning up the 1 health reborn minions. And when you consider many of these reborn minions are going to have high attack value (or in case of a conjured sea giant into a divine shield 10/10, 10 attack), having the extra 1/1 rush is significantly more preferable to the chance you have to waste a kill command/marked shot/unleash the hounds.

Also will help deal with lackeys which are going to be even more abundant after this next expansion. Considering more often than not hatchet will be used to kill 1 health minions, the one 2 attack swing is less useful than a 1 attack swing and a 1/1 with rush in most situations.