That isn't to say that the expansion isn't introducing new concepts. Between legendary weapons and the Recruit keyword along with additional class identity, trying to piece together how each class will perform once the expansion releases has made for some enjoyable analyzing. Therefore, I am once again reviewing Hearthstone cards even though I have no professional qualifications to do so and I hope those who read it will enjoy it (if only due to the fails) as I do writing them.
Much like in my past reviews, cards will appear in the same order as they do in Disguised Toast's visual guide. The rating criteria, as always, will apply to Standard Constructed and Arena deckbuilding and are intended to be relevant until either the first set of card changes are made (which happened pretty quickly last expansion) or the next expansion releases. The ratings are as follows:
Terrible: This card will see little to no play to the point of being unworthy of even lower tier decks.
Bad: This card will see a little play, but mostly in lower tier decks.
So-So: This card has potential and will mostly see play in lower or middle tier decks.
Good: This card will see a fair amount of usage in higher tier decks.
Great: This card will be important in higher tier decks or is meta defining to the point of needing change, even if it ends up being used in a lower tier deck.
As one can see, I've reworded the rating criteria a bit more to emphasize card usage in decks and arena drafts though the way I rate cards should be pretty similar to past reviews, meaning many of them will likely be horribly wrong.
This card makes Ironforge Portal pretty sad and could be useful to use in a deck that reliably runs useful 4 mana or less minions such as Fandral. However, it comes at the expense of running useful Battlecry minions such as Mire Keeper that wouldn't want to be pulled out by this spell. I could see a deck being built around its usage but despite benefits such as deck-thinning I think Druids have more impactful things they can do already. In Arena, prospects are a little bleaker.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
This is one of the minions that I imagine Druids would run in a deck heavily using the Recruit mechanic. While it does have a sturdy body, it's only a little sturdier than a Shieldmasta and the drawback can make it difficult to retain board control even with the many cards Druids have available to provide Armor.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Serving as something of an alternative to Earthen Scales, this card can increase the bulk of a minion and provide some Armor. Aside from basically serving as an activator for Ironbark Golem, Earthen Scales seems a lot more versatile and potent, even if sometimes the result is buffing a 1/5 Taunt and gaining 2 Armor. Running both doesn't seem to be a good idea either, even when considering the following card.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
A slightly weaker Arcane Blast is already somewhat okay but the fact it can be upgraded with just the Hero Power to a relatively potent removal spell makes the prospects of this card's usage promising. What is especially nice about this card is that it deals a high amount of damage to a minion for low cost, which helps to patch up Druid's susceptibility to large minions they have difficulty removing and unlike Poisonous minions, this solution is faster and more reliable.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The statline of this minion is naturally made up for by its potent Deathrattle. However, that doesn't seem as unfair as some of the other cards Druids have available. What makes this a bit worse in my eyes is the deckbuilding requirement needed to consistently cheat out two decent 4-cost minions while cards like Spreading Plague don't have as much of a deckbuilding requirement.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
Normally I'd welcome a bit more ramp but attaching it to a Deathrattle makes it a lot slower, especially compared to the more reliable and faster Wild Growth, Jade Blossom, and Mire Keeper. Once the latter two rotate out this card might see more use but in the meantime...
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
When it comes to comparable effects, it's inferior to Arcane Intellect, somewhat inferior to Savage Roar, and limited compared to Greater Healing Potion. However, between the flexibility and Druid mana ramp, this seems like a decent card that might see usage in a number of types of Druid decks.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This card is clearly meant to be put into a deck running the two Druid Recruit cards and while there's a fair bit of value to be had, I have a couple of problems with how well that deck will turn out. First of all is that a 3/5 with no board-impacting effects is a rather subpar card to Recruit from the deck especially as the game progresses. Second of all, there doesn't seem to be enough reliable Recruit support to keep pulling Astral Tiger out of the deck more than a few times. I'm certain a deck using this and the Recruit cards will be made but Druids seem to have far better options.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
The Deathrattle of this card is quite potent and lends itself to a couple of applications as far as I can see. One is to quickly ramp up to 10 Mana, preferably by destroying the weapon using Medivh and using strong cards such as Ultimate Infestation. Another way to use the weapon is to set up a combo that involves using 20 or even 30 Mana if Kun is involved. The former method can be a little slow, but reliable, guaranteeing at least one Mana of ramp in the worst case. The latter method is risky and vulnerable to weapon destruction that ruins the combo. Overall, it seems like a solid legendary weapon to run in any Druid deck that needs 10 Mana Crystals.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
With the relatively weak 2/4 statline of this minion, its best application is in one big combo. The best of these combos would involve Kun and the legendary weapon, maximizing Mana to produce a large, impactful board state at the very least. Outside of this gimmick, there don't appear to be many reliable ways to make Ixlid work.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
Multi-Shot is currently the only notable 4 Mana spell for Hunter at the moment, so another one is strongly welcomed. Flanking Strike, as a souped up version of On The Hunt, seems quite strong and is highly likely to be included in many Hunter decks including a certain new archetype that's being pushed this expansion.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
At 3 Mana, this minion has the potential to be strong since it curves right into Houndmaster. It's also decent with Toxic Arrow. However, it will have to contest with some other decent 3 Mana minions such as Rat Pack and Cave Hydra's effect is slow and avoidable, meaning the chance it'll be used in a Constructed deck is lower.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
Hunters needed weapons and while this is a ranged weapon that Rexxar properly uses to take potshots at enemies without fear of reprisal, the statline is pretty subpar. It's probably not even good enough for the archetype Blizzard is trying to push for Hunters this expansion, though it's okay for Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is a fun Secret since there's a couple of Poisonous minions that can be summoned as the new target, which can have devastating effects. More realistically, this is just useful for preventing some face damage which is useful in a control situation. Despite both of these strengths, I remain unconvinced that this is good in the Constructed format especially compared to other Secrets, though I wouldn't object to randomly generating it.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Considering the minion's statline, it would need a fairly strong Deathrattle to make it worthwhile to use. Savannah Highmane and Abominable Bowman come to mind along with another card in this expansion. The problem becomes apparent when considering the other possible Deathrattles a Hunter can run that aren't as good to copy. Furthermore, this card seems weak not necessarily because the Battlecry is weak, but because since this card only has a Battlecry, it lacks certain Deathrattle synergy such as with the cost reduction provided by Corpse Widow.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
The baseline effect of this card summons 6/6 worth of stats which is strong but not too unfair. Since only two Secrets are needed to fully upgrade the card and there's a few Secrets such as Freezing Trap that are worth running in general, this card might see some play in Hunter decks purely for the stat-based power. Even without Secrets, this card is very strong in Arena as well.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
Memeing about the card aside, I like the deckbuilding idea needed to empower this card. However, the power level of To My Side! is horrendous because of how undershot it is. In the worse of the two cases, this card is basically a 6 Mana Animal Companion, which is severely overcosted. In the better of the two cases, this card is efficient in a sense but summoning two Animal Companions is not that strong for the cost. Furthermore, unlike with the stronger, more expensive Call of the Wild, the reliability of To My Side! is a lot lower since one might summon the wrong Animal Companions. Meanwhile, Call of the Wild always guarantees a Charge and Taunt that helps to swing the board state, which is probably why that card got nerfed.
To make things worse, this card is absolutely dreadful in Arena since the chance of activating the superior effect is basically zero.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
Hunter gets another removal spell that is expensive and has an interesting concept that forces the opponent to position their minions well even though it effectively creates a zugzwang scenario if Explosive Shot and Deadly Shot are both run. I think this spell will be most effective in a meta where removing two minions in general is good. It will also almost certainly see play in the lower ranks where there's more potential to punish mistakes. From a competitive standpoint, however, the card's probably not quite as good.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary weapon has a more impactful effect compared to To My Side! that makes the Spell Hunter archetype worth considering. However, I see a few problems that will keep the deck from being good. Firstly, there's a distinct lack of draw that damages the consistency of the deck and makes it impossible to run the few minions that might be worth putting in. Secondly, Hunters have a distinct lack of sustain and while they can do a bit to prevent face damage, it's not as proficient as other classes such as Mage. Finally, while Rhok'delar has an impressive effect, between its randomness and the power level of Hunter spells it doesn't seem to be that good for closing out a game. I'm sure the deck will be tried and even piloted to Legend, but doing so would be rough.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Much like the legendary weapon, this legendary also has a fairly impressive effect that makes the 8 Mana for a 6/6 body worth it. Kathrena helps to thin out the Hunter's deck by up to two cards and there's many beasts even with low Mana costs that are worth pulling out. She's also a Deathrattle card, meaning there's a lot of synergy potential to the point that between all the cards already available and the cards introduced in this set, there's a good chance a more Deathrattle-oriented Hunter deck will appear. If, however, this doesn't happen, she'll probably find a place in Midrange Hunter.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
A minion that uses the Joust mechanic except with spells serves as an interesting introduction to the emphasis on playing big spells that this expansion features for Mages. Unfortunately, a few classes such as Priest and Warlock come to mind when thinking of decks that play big spells that could ruin this effect, which hurts its consistency a little bit. Furthermore, I expect decks that primarily run big spells to run a small amount of useful cheaper spells such as Arcane Intellect or Primordial Glyph mostly because of how strong they are, which in turn might weaken this card. While there's some other cards that I do think will be used a bit more, this will probably sit on the sidelines when it comes to building high tier decks.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
While its statline isn't remarkable, it appears to be cheaply costed to allow it to combo with spells to provide the Mage with some sustenance. While this seems favorable to use with big spells, it's pretty decent to use with many small spells especially if the Mage can afford to expend them. As a bonus, it's an Elemental, making it useful for synergies including the spellstone card that Mages get. Therefore, I think it'll be useful in most Constructed Mage decks but particularly ones that run the quest and want to generate more spells.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Bad.
While this card has a slow form of randomness to it that may make it unplayable for several turns, I'm pretty sure it helps to fulfill the quest. If not, it can at least take the form of cards that generate spells, which Mages have even more of now thanks to this expansion. At the very least since Mages seem to really love random spells, it fits their class theme, so even if it doesn't show up in any highly noteworthy decks, which it probably won't, it'll be fun to use especially since it's a card of Common rarity.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
When this was first revealed, I thought that Mages might have to go out of their way to build a deck around upgrading the effect and while there's a fair amount of Elemental synergy including the Death Knight hero, I didn't think Lesser Ruby Spellstone was a good fit into such a deck even with its highly efficient spell generation. Now that all the cards are revealed, I think it won't be too bad to build around upgrading the effect at least once, which would make this card really good considering its casting cost.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
At the cost of an extra Mana and playing the Mage class, one gets access to a souped up version of Snipe. Depending on the situation, this either serves a similar role as Mirror Entity and Frozen Clone or the opposite. For example, if face damage doesn't matter, one could just play a weak minion to trigger the secret, but the player would need to do the opposite if they want to avoid face damage and risk triggering one of the other two Secrets. Ultimately I don't think this is worth adding to the deck but is useful to get off of card generation.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Aside from being an Elemental minion, this card's effect is pretty solid for providing some additional Mana efficiency. While this might make Arcane Artificer weaker in some situations, it does set up for some devastating combos and allows the player to empty their hand to generate or draw more cards. The minion's stats are pretty decent too especially in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
The flavor of this card is fantastic considering it's referencing a Dungeons and Dragons artifact. The effect, however, might not be so great depending on the situation. It's excellent for activating certain effects such as the next card's, but the random spell that each scroll casts may end up being dangerous for the player. If interactions with this card work the way I think they do, I doubt it'll see a lot of high-level play, though I imagine it'll be experimented with.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
In the right deck, this card is roughly as effective as Excavated Evil in its worst case. This means it can generally get much better from there and while some randomness is involved that can prevent a total board clear, dealing 3 damage to all minions for 5 Mana is pretty good. It may even be run in decks where the worst case scenario is closer to a 5 Mana Volcanic Potion but the likelihood of that happening is small.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
This legendary weapon runs counter to the big spell-oriented thematic that this expansion seems to be pushing since due to card generation and a need to hold onto some cards, drawing many cards seems unnecessary. Instead, I expect this weapon to be run in a more aggressive style of Mage that tries to use cards quickly though that comes at the risk of having the weapon put into a museum. Even if the weapon is left unbroken, there is a very realistic risk of fatigue that makes me wish the weapon lost one durability each time its effect activated. The weapon is also costly, causing it to expend tempo. Overall, I'm not convinced that this card is that good but it might see some play in lower tier decks.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
Getting a decent activation of this effect is already pretty easy with Mage decks since there's a good chance cards such as Cabalist's Tome and Flamestrike are run in addition to the new Dragon's Fury. Add in the fact that randomly generated spells could also contribute and it's pretty easy to imagine a board of six 5/5 Dragons that are rendered immune to a commonly used board clear. With that said, achieving victory with this card is a little slow and not entirely reliable but surprisingly, I don't think that's too bad. My reasoning is that one can substitute a single card for this legendary and have an additional win condition or at least a major threat that the enemy will have to deal with. I think that's enough to justify its addition to a fair number of Mage decks.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Its underwhelming stats prevent it from doing too much in the early game but because of how potent the Deathrattle could potentially be, enemies may think twice about letting it trigger. In addition to some Silver Hand Recruit synergy such as a certain card later in the set but also cards like Steward of Darkshire, the minions are cheap and benefit very well from a Paladin's handbuffs since three are sent to the hand. This in turn can help the Paladin with their board presence from about Turn 3 onward if needed. The drawback is this process can end up being very slow, making it less practical in aggressive Paladin decks (plus it makes Divine Favor worse).
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
At the cost of 3 Mana, a 2/4 is an okay statline, especially when considering it can be augmented by handbuffs. What really makes this card strong in my opinion is the fact it packs healing which is strongly welcomed in the early game against aggro matchups. It's also not too bad for other matchups where life total matters such as against Priest decks, though in that case it's susceptible to certain cards. Ultimately this card is welcome in many Paladin decks.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Unlike with Purify, Potion of Heroism almost always provides a beneficial effect in the form of Divine Shield. This provides a number of benefits such as the fact it counts towards the Paladin quest and activates some Divine Shield synergies. It also most importantly provides draw, meaning this card cycles itself in addition to providing a beneficial effect that can result in a tempo gain. That fact seems like more than enough to make this card usable in many decks even if it does require a friendly minion since Paladins can readily summon one.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
One of the few "unidentified" cards introduced in this expansion takes the form of a Paladin weapon. A 2/2 weapon for 3 is a little weak on its own but each of the four effects it can have are quite powerful. However, three effects are "win more" effects which might dampen its effectiveness. On the other hand, two can be run for a chance at a desirable effect and all of them are at least somewhat effective in an aggro Paladin deck so it'll probably be good.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
While Paladins heal a lot and will almost certainly be able to upgrade this card, doing so will probably take a few turns. This means that the card will see use later in the game when a 4/4 or 6/6 with Taunt isn't as big of a deal. Furthermore, I find it difficult to think this would compete with a lot of other Paladin cards since it can't get handbuffed and there's plenty of other good spell and minion options available already. However, this card is great to get off a card generation effect like Ivory Knight.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This card has some decent Silver Hand Recruit synergy, most notably that it will cost 1 if used after Stand Against Darkness. However, while that results in an awesome turn 6 board state, it falls over pretty easily to a 1 damage AoE since it will also pop the Divine Shield, leaving this minion susceptible to whatever comes next. It'll probably have more luck in Arena than Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
Serving as something of a Recruit form of Small-Time Recruits, this slightly more expensive spell is more impactful than its younger cousin(?). In fact, the two cards work well together since Small-Time Recruits can be used to draw some of the 1-cost minions out of the deck on turn 3. The player can then follow up with Call to Arms on turn 4, greatly increasing the chance of dropping 2-cost minions that are ideally more potent and thinning out the deck further. I'm highly certain two copies of this card will be welcome in any sort of aggressive Paladin deck. It's not that bad in Arena either since it pulls out low cost minions that a player probably don't want to draw anymore.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
I'm not sure if this spell is better than Quartermaster but it certainly has some nice synergy potential. Stand Against Darkness might come to mind but that combo is expensive. Instead, I think this card if it's used at all will be paired with Lost in the Jungle and tokens created by Drygulch Jailer because it's a cheaper and more flexible. Unfortunately, unlike with Dragoncaller Alanna, this combo is more vulnerable to getting board cleared especially by certain Mage and Priest cards.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
An anti-weapon destruction, handbuff weapon certain makes for a potent legendary weapon for Paladins. Even the possible susceptibility to the minion getting silenced is not too bad since there's a minion that can bring back destroyed weapons, which also helps to spread this weapon's effect around.
This card's cost might hold it back a little though since while dealing two swings of 4 damage and granting +4/+2 to a minion afterwards is decent, having it cost 6 Mana every time and waiting for the buffed minion to die makes for a slow value grind that'll take awhile to culminate into an advantage over the opponent. Also, once the Paladin is out of minions, they're out of luck with using this weapon much longer. I'll probably personally have some fun with it but I don't think it's going to be that great.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Great.
Almost certainly a minion meant to support the Paladin quest and while the deck is virtually nonexistent as far as I can tell, this minion helps to provide a secondary win condition with a fairly huge, though silenceable and probably removable, minion. This is useful to a degree since a deck running the quest will have one more way to avert Galvadon's destruction or perhaps this minion can be played afterwards. However, instead of overzealously overrating such a deck like I did last time, I'm going to instead say that such a deck will perform poorly. It'll be fun at least.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
The second of the unidentified items takes the form of a spell that provides an okay +2/+2 for 3 Mana. Half of the additional effects are quite strong since they effectively provide two copies of the minion. Aside from the definitive benefit for Deathrattles to complete the quest, it's also nice spell to cast on minions like Lyra or Radiant Elemental. Sometimes the bonus effect might just be Lifesteal though, which can be a bit of a bummer and probably keeps this from being used all the time.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This card is cheap and might be nice for copying a decent spell out of the opponent's deck but much like similar cards such as Thoughtsteal, it's hard to justify adding this to established Priest decks in Constructed. This is especially the case considering some of the other potent additions in this expansion.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
I initially thought this card was bad but then I realized how much Priests would like to have an extra Coin or two. I can see two immediate usages for Coins in Priest. The first is to feed them to Lyra to create more spells and provide Mana to cast more spells that also proc Lyra's effect. The second is to reset Shadowreaper Anduin's Hero Power and provide Mana to provide more options to reset it and increase damage output. While Priest is already in a great spot with all of its synergistic interactions, this card might push it into the territory of needing a nerf.
Also, it's a Deathrattle meaning it's decent option for playing to complete the Priest quest. It's also a decent target to resurrect for even more Coins.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Reno Highlander Priest had a variant that ran some Dragons when Mean Streets of Gadgetzan came out because of how powerful Drakonid Operative was. Now with this new Dragon there might be another resurgence of Dragon usage in the current iteration of Highlander Priest in addition to all of the other Priest decks that can afford to add a few Dragons and this for its amazing board clear potential. This was one of the earlier reveals and a lot of people were praising this card and I am in agreement with them; this card is very strong and a great addition to the Priest's arsenal.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
The requirement to upgrade this card is not too bad considering Priests have a lot of spells they like to cast and while the fact the minions are different helps reduce the amount of bad resurrections there are. With that said, this spell is a little expensive even when considering the possible discounts from Radiant Elemental. Also, having to cast 8 spells to fully upgrade the card and make it worth the casting cost will take a bit of time, so its usage might be a little limited.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
There are a fair number of decent Deathrattle minions that Priest uses that's worth resurrecting even 1/1 copies of. While there's a chance Marin's treasure chest might be among the resurrected minions, it's probably worth the risk for a chance to create a 1/1 Obsidian Statue or the like. This spell is also really good for progressing the Priest quest.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This spell is incredibly good removal and while there's some hilarious meme potential that involves shuffling a lot of bad minions on the Priest's side into the deck, the more practical usage involves bloating the opponent's deck with minions they may have trouble drawing and clearing the board of threats, including pesky Deathrattles and buffed minions. This is especially nasty against Bonemare plays due to the sheer amount of tempo loss and even though its Battlecry is strong, it would need to be drawn and played again (after which it and its buffed ally die to Shadowreaper Anduin).
Since I play Handbuff Paladin a lot, I'm going to loathe this card and frankly I think it might be unhealthy for the game because of how strong the removal is in a class that already has so many tools available.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
The effect of this card is very useful for activating a number of Priest cards such as Shadow Word: Pain. While it requires a Dragon to activate, it's probably more useful later on in the game anyways since it would want to perform a swap on a minion with at least 4 Attack. The statline of the minion is passable as well, though there are better minions to play at 3 Mana for Priest.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Unlike the 4 legendary weapons that preceded this one, this is one that players will definitely want to destroy. While playing the weapon itself constitutes a tempo loss, Priests can easily play 3 spells in a turn and are encouraged to because of cards like Lyra and Shadowreaper Anduin. Finding cheap spells with Shadow Visions or even infinitely chaining them with a couple of Radiant Elementals out can lead to devastating results as well. Ultimately it is highly certain that this card will show up in many Priest decks.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Considering the statline of this card, it's weird that it also gets what to me is a drawback since while it's possible that the opponent will be unable to capitalize on the extra turn they're given, it's more likely that the Priest playing this card will be punished severely. The fact that it's a Dragon might help its playability and an extra turn for Priests is welcomed especially to set up a devastating combo, but the risk is far too great. The card is fascinating though and I look forward to seeing players trying to use it.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
This is a nice card for summoning a Deathrattle minion such as Jade Swarmer, though the combined statline is a little weaker compared to a card like Barnes. I can't particularly think of anything game-breaking for Rogues with this card, but it's certainly one that might be worth playing around with.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
Rogues become the fourth Secrets class with the addition of three new Secrets starting with Cheat Death. This one is similar to Getaway Kodo but is a mana neutral play by comparison which may be useful for playing a strong minion for cheap later on It's not too bad for completing the Rogue quest either, I guess.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The next Rogue Secret is similar to Misdirection but is guaranteed to attack another enemy's minion assuming there are more than one on the board. Because of this fact, it seems pretty easy to play around and since it also only triggers by attacking the hero, minions can be used to trade until the enemy is in a good position to trigger the secret. While this does help to delay, it's hard to say this Secret is that good.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This minion will most likely be used to draw the legendary weapon from the Rogue deck in Constructed. It's pretty good for fetching other weapons such as Obsidian Shard too. On top of this, the minion's stats are okay considering how strong the Battlecry since it at least contests the board.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Xaril is minion with an identical statline for its cost and much like I believe this card will be, it was good. However, it'll be played a little differently since its effect is a Combo instead, meaning it's more likely to be played on later turns or on turn 3 with a Coin. Regardless of how the Combo is activated, drawing 2 minions from the deck is generally quite useful for what is basically 2 Mana and will especially be enjoyed in aggressive Rogue decks.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
This spellstone starts as an expensive Deadly Shot and seems unreliable considerings cards like Assassinate and Vilespine Slayer are readily available. It's also a little demanding to upgrade and make into a potent destroyer of enemy minions, though there are more tools than ever to ensure the Rogue can play some Deathrattle cards. All of these points culminate into a possible usage of this card but more as an additional form of removal rather than relying on it.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
For an additional Mana, Beneath the Grounds becomes a 4/4 minion that shuffles the Ambush cards into the player's deck instead of their opponent's. While shuffling Ambush cards into the opponent's deck could be useful for dealing with Highlander mechanics, this variant offers more personal agency since the deck can be thinned out with draw, such as in a Miracle deck, to maximize the chances of summoning many 4/4s. With that said, it'll probably take a couple of turns to coax all of the Ambushes out, making it a little slow in Constructed in particular.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
The final Rogue Secret is similar to Ice Block in a sense but has to be played more carefully to prevent the benefits from being squandered by a clever opponent. Furthermore, unlike with Ice Block, this Secret doesn't appear to actually block lethal damage so it'll be harder to use to prevent a fatal blow. I expect the Secret will be used when the player's health starts dipping below 15 at most since it can reliably stop a lethal turn that way, but the fate of its usage is questionable.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
The memes about Blade Flurry's nerf can finally cease since Rogues at last have a very powerful weapon in the form of their virtually indestructible legendary. With just spells, Kingsbane will be a 5/3 weapon with Lifesteal and Poisonous for 1 Mana but thanks to minions such as Naga Corsair and Southsea Squidface, this weapon can be buffed even more. Incidentally, the fact Leeching Poison will stick to the weapon helps provide the Rogue with a significant amount of sustain. The weapon is also resilient since its destruction simply sends it back to the deck, which might buy the opponent some time but simply delays the inevitable.
While draw engines can be used to make Kingsbane easier to topdeck, Cavern Shinyfinder will guarantee at least two Kingsbanes. It's also a decent card to have to stave off Fatigue especially since the weapon can be overwritten by either of the Rogue's Hero Powers. Overall, this weapon is phenomenal and I look forward to messing around with it.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
This legendary is fairly flexible since it can help bring back some useful minions, preferably with strong Deathrattle or Battlecry/Combo effects. It could also just be used to complete the Rogue quest or sustain the play of 5/5 minions. Either way, this legendary will probably see use in some of the stronger Rogue decks.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Kobold Hermit is the start of a new type of Shaman deck that emphasizes the usage of Basic Totems. When comparing against the Shaman's Hero Power, this minion makes the process of summoning Basic Totems more reliable and also comes with a 1/1 body. This means it's more likely to be used to summon the totems needed later on in the game whether it's to meet the criteria of a certain other minion's Battlecry or because spell power is needed. Because of this, it might be able to fit into some Shaman decks, though I doubt they'll be that good.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
Much like with Kobold Hermit, this card will probably be played later in the game to make the most of its effect since 8 damage is liable to overkill many early game minions. It's nice to have the option to though unlike with its equivalent Flame Lance. This'll probably show up in more control-oriented decks but said decks probably won't be that strong.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
Shamans get another fairly potent healing spell that could be useful for maintaining a strong board but the best usage that comes to my mind is to heal the hero for 12. This provides a lot of staying power and is far more reliable than the Healing Wave of the past. Minions can also be played afterwards to contest the board on later turns, which means there's a bit of a skill component to determine play order. Sometimes the spell might not work out though since the enemy could intentionally leave minions alive to dampen the effects of Healing Rain on targets.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
This spell is really expensive for what it does and almost certain needs to be upgraded all the way to make it efficient. Fortunately, it's not too difficult to upgrade it since there's a fair number of cards with Overload that are worthwhile to use. Lower tier spellstones can also be used in a pinch to duplicate a Taunt or a minion with a strong effect. Combo potential is virtually impossible without previous setup though, which might make this spell really hard to use to the point I wager many decks, especially of the Priest variety, won't allow such shenanigans.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This spell is useful for a totem-oriented Shaman deck to help fortify the board state. While it summons random totems as a replacement, there's a good chance that it'll make the Hero Power more reliable for summoning the one or two totems they need assuming the replacement totems are undesirable. With that said, it might have to compete with Spirit Echo, which is probably better since totems that are affected by it can be replayed for combo purposes.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
This is a solid card for setting up combos because it's cheap and can be made even cheaper because it's an Elemental. There's also some awesome Battlecry minions available for Shaman including a couple that will be added in this set. I think this'll definitely see play in higher tier Shaman decks because of those reasons.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The totem-oriented thematic reaches its peak in the form of this 5 Mana minion. It already has okay stats by itself but it can help swing the board state by summoning Al'Akir when the requirement is met. While the requirement could probably be met without much problem with the right deck, being able to summon a free Al'Akir for a little cheaper doesn't seem incredibly game-breaking. There is some fun combo potential to be had including with the legendary minion Shamans are getting but it does come at the expense of possibly running a few cards with weaker effects especially in the early game. Also, the combo can be ruined pretty badly by cards like Dirty Rat.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
This card is unique in that it's the only one that can be cast an infinite amount of times in a single turn. Aside from wishing this mechanic was used a little more frequently, there's some fun things that one can do with this card that could potentially result in a one-turn kill. More realistically, this spell provides a more focused Evolve option to avoid undesirable evolutions. This will be especially useful with this expansion since it seems to be introducing a lot of cards intended to "nerf" Evolve effects such as high-costed minions with poor stats and Battlecry effects. Either way, I appreciate the chance to reroll repeatedly since that in itself tends to dampen the negative effects of randomness.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Instead of playing Tortollan Primalist, why not play a 3/3 weapon that can trigger an identical effect multiple times? This appears to be the idea for The Runespear and while it may seem terrible, Shamans do have access to a lot of spells that affect one or both sides of the board or otherwise don't require targets, meaning they can get access to more board clears, Evolves, Devolves, and so on. I think there's so many of these spells available to Shaman that they can reliably Discover one every time they attack. The problem is whether it's the spell the Shaman needs at the time and it doesn't help that the weapon is expensive to cast too.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
Given its stats of 7/7 for 6 Mana, I was expecting a minor drawback and in a sense, its Battlecry can be one sometimes. However, I see it as more of a benefit when used properly and there are many options available. As a general rule, I see this becoming a great card to return Battlecry minions to the player's hand to activate them again which can result in numerous combos such as the ability to summon multiple Al'Akir with Windshear Stormcaller. This alone merits adding it to many Shaman decks, especially since as an Elemental, it's subject to receiving a cost discount.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion makes Kobold Hermit look like a joke since not only does this minion have vanilla stats for 1 Mana, but it also basically uses the Warlock Hero Power for free. Considering the spellstone that Warlocks get, taking damage from this minion can also be seen as an upside. Overall, this little guy is very powerful and I'd gladly play it almost any time possible.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Great.
Voidwalker's bigger brother comes with a small drawback that, much like with Kobold Librarian, could be seen as a benefit because of the Warlock's spellstone. Taking 2 damage is also a relatively minor downside compared to some of the other Warlock minion downsides. The point is this minion is pretty strong too.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Great.
While this can't target the enemy Jaraxxus, it might be useful for killing an expendable minion such as Possessed Villager to restore some health which can be useful in earlier stages of the game. It can also activate useful Deathrattles such as Devilsaur Egg. Considering some of the other tools Warlocks have, neither of these uses seem that great though.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
For double the Mana, this spell in its weakest form does one more damage than Drain Soul does making it a subpar but usable spell. Fortunately, upgrading it is very easy thanks to new and existing cards. This results in a fairly powerful spell that can remove a larger minion and/or heal damage that was taken to upgrade the spellstone to begin with. I could easily see this spell being added to decks that run Kobold Librarian and Vulgar Homunculus and are in need of a control option.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion reminds me of Skelemancer in a sense and while Warlocks can kill it with relative ease thanks to a few cards, being able to Recruit a Demon for 5 Mana and then some seems very slow. This is especially the case with a class that can Hero Power (and play cards like Kobold Librarian) to draw cards and thin out the deck that way and has options like Krul to instantly summon many Demons. I'm sure someone will pull off something cool with this though.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
The 4 Mana 7/7 meme returns in the form of a card intended to stave off aggression from the opponent. There's a range of uses for this card such as an aggressive deck that sacrifices Health to ultimately empower this minion or a handlock-like deck that uses this minion as a Molten Giant replacement. Either way, I'm highly certain this minion will see a fair bit of use and the fact it's a Demon might help too.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
The stats of this minion are underwhelming even with its Deathrattle considered and it's quite expensive. While it's possible to cheat it out with a number of cards, I've already stated that I don't think Possessed Lackey is good and Krul along with Bloodreaver Gul'dan are pretty highly costed. With that said, the card's not exactly bad either, just probably not worth considering for higher tier decks that may want to use other options.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
The Discard Warlock archetype has been criticized for a while because of how random the discards are, making it an unreliable deck to play. Since Deathwing, which is one of the most reliable ways to discard cards that the player wants to discard, is prohibitively expensive to play, why not have a relatively cheap spell that uses his Battlecry effect instead? This card is not only useful for wiping the board but it's perfect for finishing off the Warlock quest, which can be played the following turn. In fact, I think this spell will help to make Discard Warlock a much better deck since a player could just Life Tap for a couple of turns, use Cataclysm, then play Nether Portal and refill their hand after.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
The Warlock legendary weapon is a fun one for cheating out expensive Demons such as Voidlord. However, because the effect activates at the start of the turn, it's vulnerable to being destroyed and wasting 5 Mana. Furthermore, the tempo loss may simply not be worthwhile even if Voidlord is guaranteed to drop the following turn. Because of this, I think the future of this weapon's usage in a competitive environment is bleak.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary minion's stats are poor and unfortunately, so are the minions summoned by the first 3 seals. Since the seal spells are fairly expensive to cast at 5 Mana each, it'll either end up taking a few turns to reach the deck destroying Azari. Alternatively, with Bloodbloom the Warlock will be spending a lot of their Health to reach the final seal, which is a risky proposition even with the life gain Warlock has access to. Overall I guarantee someone will try the deck for the purpose of amusement but because of the sheer amount of tempo and/or life lost to destroy the opponent's deck, which doesn't even guarantee a win against certain decks, this card is almost certainly bad.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
The final unidentified card takes the form of another spell that, in all four cases, are quite useful. This is because one is basically a Shieldmaiden, another staples Iron Hide and Arcanite Reaper together, the third is a little weaker but it's a more powerful Bash that could help remove some minions or deal face damage, and the final version provides a lot of Armor which can be useful for a few cards including cards added in this expansion. The fact the spell always provides Armor helps to make it consistent to the point I can see it being used in Warrior decks that can afford to spend the 6 Mana.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion is similar to the Ironbark Golem above but I think this Warrior version will fare better because the class is far better at gaining Armor to the point of allowing this minion to attack. However, while its stats are pretty solid at 6 Mana it doesn't seem to be that far above the power curve if at all, so it probably won't do too well in Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
Going a bit out of order since this card is apparently supposed to be Common quality and it's a fairly strong one at that. It's basically a cheaper Cult Apothecary that generates Armor instead of Health that has better stats for its cost. I'd say that's pretty good for Warriors even if they do have decent options already such as Armorsmith, which can combo with damaging effects that ruin aggro.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion doesn't seem that great in Constructed since while the stats are decent for a 3 Mana minion, the drawback will probably result in a suboptimal attack. Much like Ogre Brute, this minion isn't too bad in Arena though.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
A deck could probably be built around this to guarantee a decent minion summon and while I enjoy the ideas that could arise from this, I think there's a better Recruit option for Warriors that is worth exclusively using. It's also really bad in Arena since one wants to draft lower cost minions.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Once upgraded once, this rather expensive spellstone is efficient to use. In Arena, there's a decent likelihood of equipping at least one weapon to perform the upgrade. In Constructed, however, summoning multiple 5/5s is liable to getting board cleared especially by Priests. It's also probably a little too expensive to be used as a stopper to aggro.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
When used with high Armor, this is one of the most powerful board clears, but it can end up being costly to use. Fortunately, this spell can be used strategically to minimize the Armor spent and in the worst case, there's plenty of ways for the Warrior to gain Armor. It can also be used at low Armor to activate friendly minion effects, though the likelihood of doing this is very low.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
In the right deck this will basically kill any enemy minion for little cost. This might be enticing but the weapons lack durability, which might limit how effective it is at removal. There's also a lot of other decent options available such as Shield Slam. I guess in a meta where there's a lot of important minions to remove, this might be used but it doesn't seem like a high priority removal to add. On the plus side, it should always be able to deal at least 2 damage.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary weapon is a lot of fun not necessarily because it's good but because there's some serious combo potential with at least it, Dead Man's Hand, and a strong minion worth using the Recruit mechanic on. Personally, the choices that came to mind were Rotface and Grommash, but the grand prize for what to Recruit probably goes to the new legendary Warrior minion. With that said, it might be worth using all 3 at once because of Dirty Rat. Either way, this weapon opens up some win condition potential for Dead Man's Hand Warrior, so it'll probably see some use even if the weapon is expensive and has poor stats for its cost.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary minion has the potential to be very strong and since it costs 8 Mana, it can be used with Bring It On! on turn 10 to always summon a 10-cost minion alongside it. The worst case scenario for this, which should be common even without the aforementioned combo, is a 6/6 (or 7/5), meaning there's a fair amount of value to be had here though nothing that seems to be incredibly game-breaking. However, if the value produced by this minion was accumulated somehow it might be able to overrun even the most stubborn opponents and Warriors have the tools to do that in the form of Dead Man's Hand and the legendary weapon. Because of this, I strongly believe there will be a deck based around the usage of all three and it'll perform fairly well, though it'll probably still get wrecked by Priests at least.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
After playing around with this for a while I found that while the treasures this guy could give the player are amazing, being able to play this, which is costly in itself, break the treasure chest, and use the treasure to its fullest effect was pretty hard to do. That's not to say there isn't a (very slow) deck that can make this minion work but the chances of playing Marin and having it work out seem quite low, especially if one relies on a specific treasure. It's nice that everyone got a copy for free though.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
If it was possible to somehow disenchant the card produced by this it would probably be the best card out of every single set. Even though that's not possible, being able to copy a minion that wants to be copied for 3 while also playing a 2/2 seems like a pretty strong effect that is welcomed in many decks. I expect someone to find some awesome combos using this card, such as with Grumble, World Shaker.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
King Togwaggle has very poor stats for its cost but it also has a hilarious effect that probably won't see much use in competitive play even if it completely screws up the opponent's strategy (since they can swap the decks back). Still, the possibility of swapping a horrible deck for another player's mighty netdeck at least gives some players a chance to play with cards they might not be able to afford. Therefore, I expect this card to be loved by F2P/low paying players who benefit most from it, including myself.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Master Oakheart is probably one of the best Recruit cards in the set since the restrictions are fairly easy to build around and offer the opportunity to pull out some enormous cards such as Voidlord, the Tar cards, Gilded Gargoyle, and so on. It can also help to pull out smaller minions that would be bad to topdeck. While it won't be a good fit in every deck because of the risk of pulling useful Battlecry minions out, this legendary's Neutral status will almost certainly ensure that it finds a home in at least a few decent competitive decks since even if it costs a whopping 9 Mana.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The meme potential of this 4 Mana 20/20 is incredibly dank but what is most surprising is it might see a fair bit of play even though it may never leave dormancy in many matches. This is because it could be teched in to deal with slower decks because a removal will have to be saved for this minion and also because there's a higher chance all the candles will be drawn. Furthermore, since 3 candles are shuffled into the opponent's deck, it disables Highlander effects, making this legendary an effective tech card against what the Highlander Priest that I believe will become dominant.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
In addition to possibly being a direct reference to a Dungeons and Dragons monster, this minion has some useful applications. For instance, it can activate and duplicate Deathrattle effects but it can also duplicate minions with useful effects that might be wanted later. This works especially well with cheap minions such as Drygulch Jailer but can be used in a slower fashion to devour large minions over a couple of turns. Its stats are fairly decent too for 5 Mana considering how strong the effect can be, though its durability may make its own Deathrattle difficult to activate.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
While its stats are poor for 3 Mana, its Battlecry is more than worth it and will almost certainly find a place in any deck running at least a legendary weapon. It might even be better to exclusively run the legendary weapon in cases where a strategy relies on its usage. It's also not too bad for just returning a decent weapon of other rarities so the player can use it again, which also makes it a solid choice in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
There's some fun gimmicky ways to summon huge minions with this by running a minion-heavy deck with only a couple expensive spells but this is more likely to be run in a spell-heavy deck with an emphasis on expensive spells, making it a possible choice to use for classes like Priest and Mage. Considering the stats of this minion are 4/4, a 3 cost or higher spell would probably need to be revealed to generally turn out a good result, meaning decks have to be built at least somewhat carefully. With that said, I feel like there's better options for such decks than this minion.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
With this minion, a player's control over their spellcasting is taken out of their hands somewhat in favor of just randomly casting what will probably be draw spells and other spells where the targeting doesn't matter too much. This in itself requires a fair bit of deckbuilding just to make this one minion, which is expensive and has poor stats in itself, work. I'd be inclined to give it a pass because of this.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
The amount of tempo gain when this is played for 0 is modest at best since a 4/4 body, while strong, doesn't mean as much by turn 5 or so when it can actually be played. It might be nice to play after playing spells such as Cabalist's Tome though, so the usage of this card isn't likely to be entirely nonexistent.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
Given the cost and statline of this minion, it'll realistically Recruit a single Dragon and while it might be useful for removing said Dragon from the deck, that generally doesn't seem to be worth it unless it's one of the two Deathwings. Even then, the chances of having this scenario happen would require a finely tuned deck and a hand with a Dragonhatcher that also doesn't have a good Dragon to Recruit by the time on has 9 Mana Crystals is pretty low. Therefore, I think this card's pretty bad.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
Confuse on a minion's Battlecry makes for some interesting tech that can help to make minions easier to kill and especially ruins a Shaman's totems. It can also greatly increase the Attack of durable minions, which can result in a lethal combo. What's also nice is that the minion has vanilla level stats for its cost so it can be played for 3 Mana just to contest the board. Overall, I expect some highly skilled players to find a way to make use of this since unlike Confuse, it's a Neutral card.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion seems like a fun one to throw buffs on since it has an exclusive Elusive effect but its stats seem pretty weak, meaning a combo would probably be needed to maximize its survivability. Furthermore, there's effects that can get past Elusive such as Silence and minions such as Vilespine Slayer. Therefore, I doubt this card will see much use.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
This minion seems similar to Nerubian Prophet in the sense it'll slowly lower its cost over time. This effect will have more of an impact in Arena where playing an extra minion with fairly decent stats for cheap will provide more of an advantage. In Constructed, this dies to Shadowreaper Anduin and a lot of other things.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
This minion has an interesting effect that might end up creating a few copies that in turn, would probably appreciate handbuffs. I'll personally try this out at least once but considering how easy it'll generally be to kill these and how long it'll take to overrun an opponent with sheer value, this is probably not that good even in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
I like the idea of this minion since it'll almost certainly activate its effect in decks that want to fight off aggro. However, there are other minions that also cost 3 Mana such as Tar Creeper and Stonehill Defender that'll end up competing with this to the point I doubt this poor guy will stand a chance.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
For +1/+2, this minion has the potential to summon a Poisonous minion that'll immediately kill it. Joking aside, this probably won't be that great in Constructed since there's already a fairly big Taunt for 6 Mana that doesn't see play, but it shouldn't be too bad in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
First of all, this minion is probably not that good in Constructed since it'll usually be a 6/6 for 5 Mana which isn't particularly strong. In Arena, there could be some useful applications since the transform effect can be used on a damaged minion to make it a 6/6 and a chance to play about 6/6 of stats for 5 Mana isn't too bad either.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Aside from being a Dragon which could be useful for some synergies, I think the prime usage of this minion will be to discount a legendary weapon to improve its combo potential or accelerate the player's ability to use it. It can also help to make other weapons less costly to use too, which might be helpful sometimes.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
While the stats of this minion are great for a 1 Mana minion, the drawback seems a little too severe to make it usable especially since the opponent may get a Gravelsnout Knight of their own. Probably not worth using much in Arena either.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
There's some amusing tricks that could be used with this to make the Hero Elusive but to do so is complicated and requires a fair number of cards. This might be teched in to put a serve as a spelltaunt or Hero Power taunt against certain decks though, but even then this minion will only be able to absorb 6 damage unless it gets buffed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
The first use that comes to mind is to combo this with Pint-Size Potion for an easy removal. It can also be used to erase some 1 Attack threats in both Constructed and Arena. However, the swing potential in some cases might be low because of the statline of this minion. I imagine some players will try to tech this in especially when the meta allows for it but I'm not convinced that it'll see a lot of competitive usage.
Also, I'm surprised this set even got a Mech.
In Constructed and Arena, this is So-So.
I'm almost certain this minion refers to the Shrieker from Dungeons and Dragons and if so, it's a pretty great reference. However, it's weak considering its statline and effect together for 3 Mana are barely going to be worth 2 Mana unless this minion somehow lives for several turns.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
As I've already said that Oaken Summons is not that good, I don't think this one's too great either. It's fun to think of a deck this might work in though and given its stats and cost, it might even work out sometimes.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Given the stats of this minion, it's unlikely that an opponent will bother to kill it and may go out of their way to prevent the player from doing so as well. Even if it happens to die within a turn, the 8-cost minion it tries to summon may not even be in the deck anymore and while there are some really impactful 8 Mana minions, I feel like there's better ways of cheating them out such as running more draw and just playing them since in my opinion, that's the superior option.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
This is a fairly decent card in Arena and it might see some usage in aggro decks due to its superior stats at 4 Mana. There's probably better or at least competing options out there though.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
This frail minion is basically two Magma Ragers, one after another. Unfortunately, even for 4 Mana this probably isn't good enough because of how frail both minions are.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
This reminds me of a mix of Menagerie Magician and Sunborne Val'kyr but its stats are inferior to both. While it can produce 6/6 worth of stats, this isn't that great in Constructed and while it might be nice in Arena, the fact two other minions need to be alive to make the most of the effect is probably a little too demanding.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
This is supposed to be a Dragon, right? I'm not sure what else to say besides that since it's probably better to run certain legendary Dragons such as Ysera instead. It's a solid card to draft in Arena though, especially if it actually is a Dragon.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
Unlike the similar Disciple of C'thun, the Battlecry effect of this minion is a little unreliable. However, it can be useful for taking out many small minions at once, so it might merit some usage in Arena even with its poor stats. It also helps that Disciple of C'thun can't be drafted in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This minion has slightly weak stats at 3 Mana but it's workable and in addition to that it has an effect that could reliably activate on at least one or two minions. It might be able to activate on more in Constructed but I doubt the 1 extra Health is worth adding a couple copies of this to a competitive deck, even if it likes having a strong board state.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
More weapon destruction is welcome in this expansion but this one costs as much as Harrison Jones and there's already a couple cheaper weapon destruction minions available with relatively good stats. Therefore, the priority for using this minion for weapon destruction is not in a good spot.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is the only minion in the entire set without any text. It is, however, a 1/3 Beast for 1 Mana which means Hunters will like it and Druids, with their Mark of Y'Shaarj, even more so. This'll probably be used in some sort of aggressive deck from the latter class at least. It's not too bad in Arena either.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion is basically made to defeat Cobalt Scalebane, which has become prevalent in a couple of decks as far as I can tell. It's also a popular Arena card. Beyond this application it can greatly damage or kill other Dragons as well and it even has nice stats for a 3 Mana minion. Overall, it's pretty good at least in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
This takes Earthen Ring Farseer, reduces the heal by 1, then applies it to all friendly characters. That's pretty good at least in an Arena environment, though it might not have as much luck in Constructed for similar reasons as Earthen Ring Farseer, which is almost never used as far as I can tell.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Great.
This minion has poor stats even with the extra Taunt it summons. If it manages to live at least a couple turns, which is a little demanding by turn 5, it might be able to get some value but there's far better options for 5 Mana in both Constructed and Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is a superior version of River Crocolisk which isn't used in Constructed but is decent in Arena. The fact its Deathrattle provides 3 Armor probably matters more in Constructed and this could serve as a bit of anti-aggro, though it's probably not a high priority option.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
This minion is similar to Razorfen Hunter but it reverses the stats of the Beast and its master. This fact is more useful for classes that like Beasts and this also effectively nerfs Evolve effects. However, because it's so similar to Razorfen Hunter I doubt it'll see much use in Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is an upgraded Earthen Ring Farseer with an addition point of nearly everything including healing. It's probably not that great in Constructed and it might not be quite as good in Arena either because of competing 4 Mana minions.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Sneaky Devil reminds me of the old version of Blood Imp. It costs more though and is basically a Raid Leader with stealth. This might be enough to make the difference in Arena but in Constructed it's liable to die to a board clear.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is basically a weaker Validated Doomsayer with the same weakness of dying without doing anything in return if it's attacked before it receives an Attack buff. This fact alone makes it barely worth using at all, especially since a 4/4 isn't incredible (though an unconditional 4/4 would be pretty good in Arena). I do like the fact it's basically a mimic though.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
The fact this has Taunt in addition to Poisonous does mean it might be able to draw some spells or take a couple of minions with it. That fact alone makes it worth considering in Arena and it might even occasionally be used in Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Statistically, this card provides immense value in the form of 14/14 of stats for 8 Mana and it's a Beast to boot. However, the Deathrattle could potentially be a drawback since the opponent may prefer taking 7 damage from the board each turn instead of allowing more minions to be played. This is probably a bigger deal in Constructed where the board is also liable to being frozen or cleared with ease.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
Even though its stats are weaker, the Divine Shield probably makes it a bit better than Shieldbearer, which was used in the past. Wax Elemental might be able to help stave off early aggression and protect other minions but it's probably not that great compared to other options. The fact that it's an Elemental probably doesn't help it either.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
This might be nice for helping to ensure that an enemy minion gets poisoned and dies. However, its statline is very weak and there's probably better Poisonous options such as Giant Wasp which are also underused.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
This concludes my review for the Kobolds and Catacombs set. The statistics for cards of each rating goes as follows:
Druid
This card makes Ironforge Portal pretty sad and could be useful to use in a deck that reliably runs useful 4 mana or less minions such as Fandral. However, it comes at the expense of running useful Battlecry minions such as Mire Keeper that wouldn't want to be pulled out by this spell. I could see a deck being built around its usage but despite benefits such as deck-thinning I think Druids have more impactful things they can do already. In Arena, prospects are a little bleaker.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
This is one of the minions that I imagine Druids would run in a deck heavily using the Recruit mechanic. While it does have a sturdy body, it's only a little sturdier than a Shieldmasta and the drawback can make it difficult to retain board control even with the many cards Druids have available to provide Armor.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Serving as something of an alternative to Earthen Scales, this card can increase the bulk of a minion and provide some Armor. Aside from basically serving as an activator for Ironbark Golem, Earthen Scales seems a lot more versatile and potent, even if sometimes the result is buffing a 1/5 Taunt and gaining 2 Armor. Running both doesn't seem to be a good idea either, even when considering the following card.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
A slightly weaker Arcane Blast is already somewhat okay but the fact it can be upgraded with just the Hero Power to a relatively potent removal spell makes the prospects of this card's usage promising. What is especially nice about this card is that it deals a high amount of damage to a minion for low cost, which helps to patch up Druid's susceptibility to large minions they have difficulty removing and unlike Poisonous minions, this solution is faster and more reliable.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The statline of this minion is naturally made up for by its potent Deathrattle. However, that doesn't seem as unfair as some of the other cards Druids have available. What makes this a bit worse in my eyes is the deckbuilding requirement needed to consistently cheat out two decent 4-cost minions while cards like Spreading Plague don't have as much of a deckbuilding requirement.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
Normally I'd welcome a bit more ramp but attaching it to a Deathrattle makes it a lot slower, especially compared to the more reliable and faster Wild Growth, Jade Blossom, and Mire Keeper. Once the latter two rotate out this card might see more use but in the meantime...
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
When it comes to comparable effects, it's inferior to Arcane Intellect, somewhat inferior to Savage Roar, and limited compared to Greater Healing Potion. However, between the flexibility and Druid mana ramp, this seems like a decent card that might see usage in a number of types of Druid decks.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This card is clearly meant to be put into a deck running the two Druid Recruit cards and while there's a fair bit of value to be had, I have a couple of problems with how well that deck will turn out. First of all is that a 3/5 with no board-impacting effects is a rather subpar card to Recruit from the deck especially as the game progresses. Second of all, there doesn't seem to be enough reliable Recruit support to keep pulling Astral Tiger out of the deck more than a few times. I'm certain a deck using this and the Recruit cards will be made but Druids seem to have far better options.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
The Deathrattle of this card is quite potent and lends itself to a couple of applications as far as I can see. One is to quickly ramp up to 10 Mana, preferably by destroying the weapon using Medivh and using strong cards such as Ultimate Infestation. Another way to use the weapon is to set up a combo that involves using 20 or even 30 Mana if Kun is involved. The former method can be a little slow, but reliable, guaranteeing at least one Mana of ramp in the worst case. The latter method is risky and vulnerable to weapon destruction that ruins the combo. Overall, it seems like a solid legendary weapon to run in any Druid deck that needs 10 Mana Crystals.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
With the relatively weak 2/4 statline of this minion, its best application is in one big combo. The best of these combos would involve Kun and the legendary weapon, maximizing Mana to produce a large, impactful board state at the very least. Outside of this gimmick, there don't appear to be many reliable ways to make Ixlid work.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
Hunter
Multi-Shot is currently the only notable 4 Mana spell for Hunter at the moment, so another one is strongly welcomed. Flanking Strike, as a souped up version of On The Hunt, seems quite strong and is highly likely to be included in many Hunter decks including a certain new archetype that's being pushed this expansion.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
At 3 Mana, this minion has the potential to be strong since it curves right into Houndmaster. It's also decent with Toxic Arrow. However, it will have to contest with some other decent 3 Mana minions such as Rat Pack and Cave Hydra's effect is slow and avoidable, meaning the chance it'll be used in a Constructed deck is lower.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
Hunters needed weapons and while this is a ranged weapon that Rexxar properly uses to take potshots at enemies without fear of reprisal, the statline is pretty subpar. It's probably not even good enough for the archetype Blizzard is trying to push for Hunters this expansion, though it's okay for Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is a fun Secret since there's a couple of Poisonous minions that can be summoned as the new target, which can have devastating effects. More realistically, this is just useful for preventing some face damage which is useful in a control situation. Despite both of these strengths, I remain unconvinced that this is good in the Constructed format especially compared to other Secrets, though I wouldn't object to randomly generating it.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Considering the minion's statline, it would need a fairly strong Deathrattle to make it worthwhile to use. Savannah Highmane and Abominable Bowman come to mind along with another card in this expansion. The problem becomes apparent when considering the other possible Deathrattles a Hunter can run that aren't as good to copy. Furthermore, this card seems weak not necessarily because the Battlecry is weak, but because since this card only has a Battlecry, it lacks certain Deathrattle synergy such as with the cost reduction provided by Corpse Widow.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
The baseline effect of this card summons 6/6 worth of stats which is strong but not too unfair. Since only two Secrets are needed to fully upgrade the card and there's a few Secrets such as Freezing Trap that are worth running in general, this card might see some play in Hunter decks purely for the stat-based power. Even without Secrets, this card is very strong in Arena as well.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
Memeing about the card aside, I like the deckbuilding idea needed to empower this card. However, the power level of To My Side! is horrendous because of how undershot it is. In the worse of the two cases, this card is basically a 6 Mana Animal Companion, which is severely overcosted. In the better of the two cases, this card is efficient in a sense but summoning two Animal Companions is not that strong for the cost. Furthermore, unlike with the stronger, more expensive Call of the Wild, the reliability of To My Side! is a lot lower since one might summon the wrong Animal Companions. Meanwhile, Call of the Wild always guarantees a Charge and Taunt that helps to swing the board state, which is probably why that card got nerfed.
To make things worse, this card is absolutely dreadful in Arena since the chance of activating the superior effect is basically zero.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
Hunter gets another removal spell that is expensive and has an interesting concept that forces the opponent to position their minions well even though it effectively creates a zugzwang scenario if Explosive Shot and Deadly Shot are both run. I think this spell will be most effective in a meta where removing two minions in general is good. It will also almost certainly see play in the lower ranks where there's more potential to punish mistakes. From a competitive standpoint, however, the card's probably not quite as good.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary weapon has a more impactful effect compared to To My Side! that makes the Spell Hunter archetype worth considering. However, I see a few problems that will keep the deck from being good. Firstly, there's a distinct lack of draw that damages the consistency of the deck and makes it impossible to run the few minions that might be worth putting in. Secondly, Hunters have a distinct lack of sustain and while they can do a bit to prevent face damage, it's not as proficient as other classes such as Mage. Finally, while Rhok'delar has an impressive effect, between its randomness and the power level of Hunter spells it doesn't seem to be that good for closing out a game. I'm sure the deck will be tried and even piloted to Legend, but doing so would be rough.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Much like the legendary weapon, this legendary also has a fairly impressive effect that makes the 8 Mana for a 6/6 body worth it. Kathrena helps to thin out the Hunter's deck by up to two cards and there's many beasts even with low Mana costs that are worth pulling out. She's also a Deathrattle card, meaning there's a lot of synergy potential to the point that between all the cards already available and the cards introduced in this set, there's a good chance a more Deathrattle-oriented Hunter deck will appear. If, however, this doesn't happen, she'll probably find a place in Midrange Hunter.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
Mage
A minion that uses the Joust mechanic except with spells serves as an interesting introduction to the emphasis on playing big spells that this expansion features for Mages. Unfortunately, a few classes such as Priest and Warlock come to mind when thinking of decks that play big spells that could ruin this effect, which hurts its consistency a little bit. Furthermore, I expect decks that primarily run big spells to run a small amount of useful cheaper spells such as Arcane Intellect or Primordial Glyph mostly because of how strong they are, which in turn might weaken this card. While there's some other cards that I do think will be used a bit more, this will probably sit on the sidelines when it comes to building high tier decks.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
While its statline isn't remarkable, it appears to be cheaply costed to allow it to combo with spells to provide the Mage with some sustenance. While this seems favorable to use with big spells, it's pretty decent to use with many small spells especially if the Mage can afford to expend them. As a bonus, it's an Elemental, making it useful for synergies including the spellstone card that Mages get. Therefore, I think it'll be useful in most Constructed Mage decks but particularly ones that run the quest and want to generate more spells.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Bad.
While this card has a slow form of randomness to it that may make it unplayable for several turns, I'm pretty sure it helps to fulfill the quest. If not, it can at least take the form of cards that generate spells, which Mages have even more of now thanks to this expansion. At the very least since Mages seem to really love random spells, it fits their class theme, so even if it doesn't show up in any highly noteworthy decks, which it probably won't, it'll be fun to use especially since it's a card of Common rarity.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
When this was first revealed, I thought that Mages might have to go out of their way to build a deck around upgrading the effect and while there's a fair amount of Elemental synergy including the Death Knight hero, I didn't think Lesser Ruby Spellstone was a good fit into such a deck even with its highly efficient spell generation. Now that all the cards are revealed, I think it won't be too bad to build around upgrading the effect at least once, which would make this card really good considering its casting cost.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
At the cost of an extra Mana and playing the Mage class, one gets access to a souped up version of Snipe. Depending on the situation, this either serves a similar role as Mirror Entity and Frozen Clone or the opposite. For example, if face damage doesn't matter, one could just play a weak minion to trigger the secret, but the player would need to do the opposite if they want to avoid face damage and risk triggering one of the other two Secrets. Ultimately I don't think this is worth adding to the deck but is useful to get off of card generation.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Aside from being an Elemental minion, this card's effect is pretty solid for providing some additional Mana efficiency. While this might make Arcane Artificer weaker in some situations, it does set up for some devastating combos and allows the player to empty their hand to generate or draw more cards. The minion's stats are pretty decent too especially in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
The flavor of this card is fantastic considering it's referencing a Dungeons and Dragons artifact. The effect, however, might not be so great depending on the situation. It's excellent for activating certain effects such as the next card's, but the random spell that each scroll casts may end up being dangerous for the player. If interactions with this card work the way I think they do, I doubt it'll see a lot of high-level play, though I imagine it'll be experimented with.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
In the right deck, this card is roughly as effective as Excavated Evil in its worst case. This means it can generally get much better from there and while some randomness is involved that can prevent a total board clear, dealing 3 damage to all minions for 5 Mana is pretty good. It may even be run in decks where the worst case scenario is closer to a 5 Mana Volcanic Potion but the likelihood of that happening is small.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
This legendary weapon runs counter to the big spell-oriented thematic that this expansion seems to be pushing since due to card generation and a need to hold onto some cards, drawing many cards seems unnecessary. Instead, I expect this weapon to be run in a more aggressive style of Mage that tries to use cards quickly though that comes at the risk of having the weapon put into a museum. Even if the weapon is left unbroken, there is a very realistic risk of fatigue that makes me wish the weapon lost one durability each time its effect activated. The weapon is also costly, causing it to expend tempo. Overall, I'm not convinced that this card is that good but it might see some play in lower tier decks.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
Getting a decent activation of this effect is already pretty easy with Mage decks since there's a good chance cards such as Cabalist's Tome and Flamestrike are run in addition to the new Dragon's Fury. Add in the fact that randomly generated spells could also contribute and it's pretty easy to imagine a board of six 5/5 Dragons that are rendered immune to a commonly used board clear. With that said, achieving victory with this card is a little slow and not entirely reliable but surprisingly, I don't think that's too bad. My reasoning is that one can substitute a single card for this legendary and have an additional win condition or at least a major threat that the enemy will have to deal with. I think that's enough to justify its addition to a fair number of Mage decks.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Paladin
Its underwhelming stats prevent it from doing too much in the early game but because of how potent the Deathrattle could potentially be, enemies may think twice about letting it trigger. In addition to some Silver Hand Recruit synergy such as a certain card later in the set but also cards like Steward of Darkshire, the minions are cheap and benefit very well from a Paladin's handbuffs since three are sent to the hand. This in turn can help the Paladin with their board presence from about Turn 3 onward if needed. The drawback is this process can end up being very slow, making it less practical in aggressive Paladin decks (plus it makes Divine Favor worse).
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
At the cost of 3 Mana, a 2/4 is an okay statline, especially when considering it can be augmented by handbuffs. What really makes this card strong in my opinion is the fact it packs healing which is strongly welcomed in the early game against aggro matchups. It's also not too bad for other matchups where life total matters such as against Priest decks, though in that case it's susceptible to certain cards. Ultimately this card is welcome in many Paladin decks.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Unlike with Purify, Potion of Heroism almost always provides a beneficial effect in the form of Divine Shield. This provides a number of benefits such as the fact it counts towards the Paladin quest and activates some Divine Shield synergies. It also most importantly provides draw, meaning this card cycles itself in addition to providing a beneficial effect that can result in a tempo gain. That fact seems like more than enough to make this card usable in many decks even if it does require a friendly minion since Paladins can readily summon one.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
One of the few "unidentified" cards introduced in this expansion takes the form of a Paladin weapon. A 2/2 weapon for 3 is a little weak on its own but each of the four effects it can have are quite powerful. However, three effects are "win more" effects which might dampen its effectiveness. On the other hand, two can be run for a chance at a desirable effect and all of them are at least somewhat effective in an aggro Paladin deck so it'll probably be good.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
While Paladins heal a lot and will almost certainly be able to upgrade this card, doing so will probably take a few turns. This means that the card will see use later in the game when a 4/4 or 6/6 with Taunt isn't as big of a deal. Furthermore, I find it difficult to think this would compete with a lot of other Paladin cards since it can't get handbuffed and there's plenty of other good spell and minion options available already. However, this card is great to get off a card generation effect like Ivory Knight.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This card has some decent Silver Hand Recruit synergy, most notably that it will cost 1 if used after Stand Against Darkness. However, while that results in an awesome turn 6 board state, it falls over pretty easily to a 1 damage AoE since it will also pop the Divine Shield, leaving this minion susceptible to whatever comes next. It'll probably have more luck in Arena than Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
Serving as something of a Recruit form of Small-Time Recruits, this slightly more expensive spell is more impactful than its younger cousin(?). In fact, the two cards work well together since Small-Time Recruits can be used to draw some of the 1-cost minions out of the deck on turn 3. The player can then follow up with Call to Arms on turn 4, greatly increasing the chance of dropping 2-cost minions that are ideally more potent and thinning out the deck further. I'm highly certain two copies of this card will be welcome in any sort of aggressive Paladin deck. It's not that bad in Arena either since it pulls out low cost minions that a player probably don't want to draw anymore.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
I'm not sure if this spell is better than Quartermaster but it certainly has some nice synergy potential. Stand Against Darkness might come to mind but that combo is expensive. Instead, I think this card if it's used at all will be paired with Lost in the Jungle and tokens created by Drygulch Jailer because it's a cheaper and more flexible. Unfortunately, unlike with Dragoncaller Alanna, this combo is more vulnerable to getting board cleared especially by certain Mage and Priest cards.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
An anti-weapon destruction, handbuff weapon certain makes for a potent legendary weapon for Paladins. Even the possible susceptibility to the minion getting silenced is not too bad since there's a minion that can bring back destroyed weapons, which also helps to spread this weapon's effect around.
This card's cost might hold it back a little though since while dealing two swings of 4 damage and granting +4/+2 to a minion afterwards is decent, having it cost 6 Mana every time and waiting for the buffed minion to die makes for a slow value grind that'll take awhile to culminate into an advantage over the opponent. Also, once the Paladin is out of minions, they're out of luck with using this weapon much longer. I'll probably personally have some fun with it but I don't think it's going to be that great.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Great.
Almost certainly a minion meant to support the Paladin quest and while the deck is virtually nonexistent as far as I can tell, this minion helps to provide a secondary win condition with a fairly huge, though silenceable and probably removable, minion. This is useful to a degree since a deck running the quest will have one more way to avert Galvadon's destruction or perhaps this minion can be played afterwards. However, instead of overzealously overrating such a deck like I did last time, I'm going to instead say that such a deck will perform poorly. It'll be fun at least.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Priest
The second of the unidentified items takes the form of a spell that provides an okay +2/+2 for 3 Mana. Half of the additional effects are quite strong since they effectively provide two copies of the minion. Aside from the definitive benefit for Deathrattles to complete the quest, it's also nice spell to cast on minions like Lyra or Radiant Elemental. Sometimes the bonus effect might just be Lifesteal though, which can be a bit of a bummer and probably keeps this from being used all the time.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This card is cheap and might be nice for copying a decent spell out of the opponent's deck but much like similar cards such as Thoughtsteal, it's hard to justify adding this to established Priest decks in Constructed. This is especially the case considering some of the other potent additions in this expansion.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
I initially thought this card was bad but then I realized how much Priests would like to have an extra Coin or two. I can see two immediate usages for Coins in Priest. The first is to feed them to Lyra to create more spells and provide Mana to cast more spells that also proc Lyra's effect. The second is to reset Shadowreaper Anduin's Hero Power and provide Mana to provide more options to reset it and increase damage output. While Priest is already in a great spot with all of its synergistic interactions, this card might push it into the territory of needing a nerf.
Also, it's a Deathrattle meaning it's decent option for playing to complete the Priest quest. It's also a decent target to resurrect for even more Coins.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is So-So.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
The requirement to upgrade this card is not too bad considering Priests have a lot of spells they like to cast and while the fact the minions are different helps reduce the amount of bad resurrections there are. With that said, this spell is a little expensive even when considering the possible discounts from Radiant Elemental. Also, having to cast 8 spells to fully upgrade the card and make it worth the casting cost will take a bit of time, so its usage might be a little limited.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
There are a fair number of decent Deathrattle minions that Priest uses that's worth resurrecting even 1/1 copies of. While there's a chance Marin's treasure chest might be among the resurrected minions, it's probably worth the risk for a chance to create a 1/1 Obsidian Statue or the like. This spell is also really good for progressing the Priest quest.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This spell is incredibly good removal and while there's some hilarious meme potential that involves shuffling a lot of bad minions on the Priest's side into the deck, the more practical usage involves bloating the opponent's deck with minions they may have trouble drawing and clearing the board of threats, including pesky Deathrattles and buffed minions. This is especially nasty against Bonemare plays due to the sheer amount of tempo loss and even though its Battlecry is strong, it would need to be drawn and played again (after which it and its buffed ally die to Shadowreaper Anduin).
Since I play Handbuff Paladin a lot, I'm going to loathe this card and frankly I think it might be unhealthy for the game because of how strong the removal is in a class that already has so many tools available.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
The effect of this card is very useful for activating a number of Priest cards such as Shadow Word: Pain. While it requires a Dragon to activate, it's probably more useful later on in the game anyways since it would want to perform a swap on a minion with at least 4 Attack. The statline of the minion is passable as well, though there are better minions to play at 3 Mana for Priest.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Unlike the 4 legendary weapons that preceded this one, this is one that players will definitely want to destroy. While playing the weapon itself constitutes a tempo loss, Priests can easily play 3 spells in a turn and are encouraged to because of cards like Lyra and Shadowreaper Anduin. Finding cheap spells with Shadow Visions or even infinitely chaining them with a couple of Radiant Elementals out can lead to devastating results as well. Ultimately it is highly certain that this card will show up in many Priest decks.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Considering the statline of this card, it's weird that it also gets what to me is a drawback since while it's possible that the opponent will be unable to capitalize on the extra turn they're given, it's more likely that the Priest playing this card will be punished severely. The fact that it's a Dragon might help its playability and an extra turn for Priests is welcomed especially to set up a devastating combo, but the risk is far too great. The card is fascinating though and I look forward to seeing players trying to use it.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
Rogue
This is a nice card for summoning a Deathrattle minion such as Jade Swarmer, though the combined statline is a little weaker compared to a card like Barnes. I can't particularly think of anything game-breaking for Rogues with this card, but it's certainly one that might be worth playing around with.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
Rogues become the fourth Secrets class with the addition of three new Secrets starting with Cheat Death. This one is similar to Getaway Kodo but is a mana neutral play by comparison which may be useful for playing a strong minion for cheap later on It's not too bad for completing the Rogue quest either, I guess.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The next Rogue Secret is similar to Misdirection but is guaranteed to attack another enemy's minion assuming there are more than one on the board. Because of this fact, it seems pretty easy to play around and since it also only triggers by attacking the hero, minions can be used to trade until the enemy is in a good position to trigger the secret. While this does help to delay, it's hard to say this Secret is that good.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This minion will most likely be used to draw the legendary weapon from the Rogue deck in Constructed. It's pretty good for fetching other weapons such as Obsidian Shard too. On top of this, the minion's stats are okay considering how strong the Battlecry since it at least contests the board.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Xaril is minion with an identical statline for its cost and much like I believe this card will be, it was good. However, it'll be played a little differently since its effect is a Combo instead, meaning it's more likely to be played on later turns or on turn 3 with a Coin. Regardless of how the Combo is activated, drawing 2 minions from the deck is generally quite useful for what is basically 2 Mana and will especially be enjoyed in aggressive Rogue decks.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
This spellstone starts as an expensive Deadly Shot and seems unreliable considerings cards like Assassinate and Vilespine Slayer are readily available. It's also a little demanding to upgrade and make into a potent destroyer of enemy minions, though there are more tools than ever to ensure the Rogue can play some Deathrattle cards. All of these points culminate into a possible usage of this card but more as an additional form of removal rather than relying on it.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
For an additional Mana, Beneath the Grounds becomes a 4/4 minion that shuffles the Ambush cards into the player's deck instead of their opponent's. While shuffling Ambush cards into the opponent's deck could be useful for dealing with Highlander mechanics, this variant offers more personal agency since the deck can be thinned out with draw, such as in a Miracle deck, to maximize the chances of summoning many 4/4s. With that said, it'll probably take a couple of turns to coax all of the Ambushes out, making it a little slow in Constructed in particular.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
The final Rogue Secret is similar to Ice Block in a sense but has to be played more carefully to prevent the benefits from being squandered by a clever opponent. Furthermore, unlike with Ice Block, this Secret doesn't appear to actually block lethal damage so it'll be harder to use to prevent a fatal blow. I expect the Secret will be used when the player's health starts dipping below 15 at most since it can reliably stop a lethal turn that way, but the fate of its usage is questionable.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
The memes about Blade Flurry's nerf can finally cease since Rogues at last have a very powerful weapon in the form of their virtually indestructible legendary. With just spells, Kingsbane will be a 5/3 weapon with Lifesteal and Poisonous for 1 Mana but thanks to minions such as Naga Corsair and Southsea Squidface, this weapon can be buffed even more. Incidentally, the fact Leeching Poison will stick to the weapon helps provide the Rogue with a significant amount of sustain. The weapon is also resilient since its destruction simply sends it back to the deck, which might buy the opponent some time but simply delays the inevitable.
While draw engines can be used to make Kingsbane easier to topdeck, Cavern Shinyfinder will guarantee at least two Kingsbanes. It's also a decent card to have to stave off Fatigue especially since the weapon can be overwritten by either of the Rogue's Hero Powers. Overall, this weapon is phenomenal and I look forward to messing around with it.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
This legendary is fairly flexible since it can help bring back some useful minions, preferably with strong Deathrattle or Battlecry/Combo effects. It could also just be used to complete the Rogue quest or sustain the play of 5/5 minions. Either way, this legendary will probably see use in some of the stronger Rogue decks.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Shaman
Kobold Hermit is the start of a new type of Shaman deck that emphasizes the usage of Basic Totems. When comparing against the Shaman's Hero Power, this minion makes the process of summoning Basic Totems more reliable and also comes with a 1/1 body. This means it's more likely to be used to summon the totems needed later on in the game whether it's to meet the criteria of a certain other minion's Battlecry or because spell power is needed. Because of this, it might be able to fit into some Shaman decks, though I doubt they'll be that good.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
Much like with Kobold Hermit, this card will probably be played later in the game to make the most of its effect since 8 damage is liable to overkill many early game minions. It's nice to have the option to though unlike with its equivalent Flame Lance. This'll probably show up in more control-oriented decks but said decks probably won't be that strong.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
Shamans get another fairly potent healing spell that could be useful for maintaining a strong board but the best usage that comes to my mind is to heal the hero for 12. This provides a lot of staying power and is far more reliable than the Healing Wave of the past. Minions can also be played afterwards to contest the board on later turns, which means there's a bit of a skill component to determine play order. Sometimes the spell might not work out though since the enemy could intentionally leave minions alive to dampen the effects of Healing Rain on targets.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
This spell is really expensive for what it does and almost certain needs to be upgraded all the way to make it efficient. Fortunately, it's not too difficult to upgrade it since there's a fair number of cards with Overload that are worthwhile to use. Lower tier spellstones can also be used in a pinch to duplicate a Taunt or a minion with a strong effect. Combo potential is virtually impossible without previous setup though, which might make this spell really hard to use to the point I wager many decks, especially of the Priest variety, won't allow such shenanigans.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This spell is useful for a totem-oriented Shaman deck to help fortify the board state. While it summons random totems as a replacement, there's a good chance that it'll make the Hero Power more reliable for summoning the one or two totems they need assuming the replacement totems are undesirable. With that said, it might have to compete with Spirit Echo, which is probably better since totems that are affected by it can be replayed for combo purposes.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
This is a solid card for setting up combos because it's cheap and can be made even cheaper because it's an Elemental. There's also some awesome Battlecry minions available for Shaman including a couple that will be added in this set. I think this'll definitely see play in higher tier Shaman decks because of those reasons.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The totem-oriented thematic reaches its peak in the form of this 5 Mana minion. It already has okay stats by itself but it can help swing the board state by summoning Al'Akir when the requirement is met. While the requirement could probably be met without much problem with the right deck, being able to summon a free Al'Akir for a little cheaper doesn't seem incredibly game-breaking. There is some fun combo potential to be had including with the legendary minion Shamans are getting but it does come at the expense of possibly running a few cards with weaker effects especially in the early game. Also, the combo can be ruined pretty badly by cards like Dirty Rat.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
This card is unique in that it's the only one that can be cast an infinite amount of times in a single turn. Aside from wishing this mechanic was used a little more frequently, there's some fun things that one can do with this card that could potentially result in a one-turn kill. More realistically, this spell provides a more focused Evolve option to avoid undesirable evolutions. This will be especially useful with this expansion since it seems to be introducing a lot of cards intended to "nerf" Evolve effects such as high-costed minions with poor stats and Battlecry effects. Either way, I appreciate the chance to reroll repeatedly since that in itself tends to dampen the negative effects of randomness.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Instead of playing Tortollan Primalist, why not play a 3/3 weapon that can trigger an identical effect multiple times? This appears to be the idea for The Runespear and while it may seem terrible, Shamans do have access to a lot of spells that affect one or both sides of the board or otherwise don't require targets, meaning they can get access to more board clears, Evolves, Devolves, and so on. I think there's so many of these spells available to Shaman that they can reliably Discover one every time they attack. The problem is whether it's the spell the Shaman needs at the time and it doesn't help that the weapon is expensive to cast too.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
Given its stats of 7/7 for 6 Mana, I was expecting a minor drawback and in a sense, its Battlecry can be one sometimes. However, I see it as more of a benefit when used properly and there are many options available. As a general rule, I see this becoming a great card to return Battlecry minions to the player's hand to activate them again which can result in numerous combos such as the ability to summon multiple Al'Akir with Windshear Stormcaller. This alone merits adding it to many Shaman decks, especially since as an Elemental, it's subject to receiving a cost discount.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
Warlock
This minion makes Kobold Hermit look like a joke since not only does this minion have vanilla stats for 1 Mana, but it also basically uses the Warlock Hero Power for free. Considering the spellstone that Warlocks get, taking damage from this minion can also be seen as an upside. Overall, this little guy is very powerful and I'd gladly play it almost any time possible.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Great.
Voidwalker's bigger brother comes with a small drawback that, much like with Kobold Librarian, could be seen as a benefit because of the Warlock's spellstone. Taking 2 damage is also a relatively minor downside compared to some of the other Warlock minion downsides. The point is this minion is pretty strong too.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Great.
While this can't target the enemy Jaraxxus, it might be useful for killing an expendable minion such as Possessed Villager to restore some health which can be useful in earlier stages of the game. It can also activate useful Deathrattles such as Devilsaur Egg. Considering some of the other tools Warlocks have, neither of these uses seem that great though.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
For double the Mana, this spell in its weakest form does one more damage than Drain Soul does making it a subpar but usable spell. Fortunately, upgrading it is very easy thanks to new and existing cards. This results in a fairly powerful spell that can remove a larger minion and/or heal damage that was taken to upgrade the spellstone to begin with. I could easily see this spell being added to decks that run Kobold Librarian and Vulgar Homunculus and are in need of a control option.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion reminds me of Skelemancer in a sense and while Warlocks can kill it with relative ease thanks to a few cards, being able to Recruit a Demon for 5 Mana and then some seems very slow. This is especially the case with a class that can Hero Power (and play cards like Kobold Librarian) to draw cards and thin out the deck that way and has options like Krul to instantly summon many Demons. I'm sure someone will pull off something cool with this though.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
The 4 Mana 7/7 meme returns in the form of a card intended to stave off aggression from the opponent. There's a range of uses for this card such as an aggressive deck that sacrifices Health to ultimately empower this minion or a handlock-like deck that uses this minion as a Molten Giant replacement. Either way, I'm highly certain this minion will see a fair bit of use and the fact it's a Demon might help too.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
The stats of this minion are underwhelming even with its Deathrattle considered and it's quite expensive. While it's possible to cheat it out with a number of cards, I've already stated that I don't think Possessed Lackey is good and Krul along with Bloodreaver Gul'dan are pretty highly costed. With that said, the card's not exactly bad either, just probably not worth considering for higher tier decks that may want to use other options.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
The Discard Warlock archetype has been criticized for a while because of how random the discards are, making it an unreliable deck to play. Since Deathwing, which is one of the most reliable ways to discard cards that the player wants to discard, is prohibitively expensive to play, why not have a relatively cheap spell that uses his Battlecry effect instead? This card is not only useful for wiping the board but it's perfect for finishing off the Warlock quest, which can be played the following turn. In fact, I think this spell will help to make Discard Warlock a much better deck since a player could just Life Tap for a couple of turns, use Cataclysm, then play Nether Portal and refill their hand after.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
The Warlock legendary weapon is a fun one for cheating out expensive Demons such as Voidlord. However, because the effect activates at the start of the turn, it's vulnerable to being destroyed and wasting 5 Mana. Furthermore, the tempo loss may simply not be worthwhile even if Voidlord is guaranteed to drop the following turn. Because of this, I think the future of this weapon's usage in a competitive environment is bleak.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary minion's stats are poor and unfortunately, so are the minions summoned by the first 3 seals. Since the seal spells are fairly expensive to cast at 5 Mana each, it'll either end up taking a few turns to reach the deck destroying Azari. Alternatively, with Bloodbloom the Warlock will be spending a lot of their Health to reach the final seal, which is a risky proposition even with the life gain Warlock has access to. Overall I guarantee someone will try the deck for the purpose of amusement but because of the sheer amount of tempo and/or life lost to destroy the opponent's deck, which doesn't even guarantee a win against certain decks, this card is almost certainly bad.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Warrior
The final unidentified card takes the form of another spell that, in all four cases, are quite useful. This is because one is basically a Shieldmaiden, another staples Iron Hide and Arcanite Reaper together, the third is a little weaker but it's a more powerful Bash that could help remove some minions or deal face damage, and the final version provides a lot of Armor which can be useful for a few cards including cards added in this expansion. The fact the spell always provides Armor helps to make it consistent to the point I can see it being used in Warrior decks that can afford to spend the 6 Mana.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion is similar to the Ironbark Golem above but I think this Warrior version will fare better because the class is far better at gaining Armor to the point of allowing this minion to attack. However, while its stats are pretty solid at 6 Mana it doesn't seem to be that far above the power curve if at all, so it probably won't do too well in Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
Going a bit out of order since this card is apparently supposed to be Common quality and it's a fairly strong one at that. It's basically a cheaper Cult Apothecary that generates Armor instead of Health that has better stats for its cost. I'd say that's pretty good for Warriors even if they do have decent options already such as Armorsmith, which can combo with damaging effects that ruin aggro.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion doesn't seem that great in Constructed since while the stats are decent for a 3 Mana minion, the drawback will probably result in a suboptimal attack. Much like Ogre Brute, this minion isn't too bad in Arena though.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
A deck could probably be built around this to guarantee a decent minion summon and while I enjoy the ideas that could arise from this, I think there's a better Recruit option for Warriors that is worth exclusively using. It's also really bad in Arena since one wants to draft lower cost minions.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Once upgraded once, this rather expensive spellstone is efficient to use. In Arena, there's a decent likelihood of equipping at least one weapon to perform the upgrade. In Constructed, however, summoning multiple 5/5s is liable to getting board cleared especially by Priests. It's also probably a little too expensive to be used as a stopper to aggro.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
When used with high Armor, this is one of the most powerful board clears, but it can end up being costly to use. Fortunately, this spell can be used strategically to minimize the Armor spent and in the worst case, there's plenty of ways for the Warrior to gain Armor. It can also be used at low Armor to activate friendly minion effects, though the likelihood of doing this is very low.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
In the right deck this will basically kill any enemy minion for little cost. This might be enticing but the weapons lack durability, which might limit how effective it is at removal. There's also a lot of other decent options available such as Shield Slam. I guess in a meta where there's a lot of important minions to remove, this might be used but it doesn't seem like a high priority removal to add. On the plus side, it should always be able to deal at least 2 damage.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary weapon is a lot of fun not necessarily because it's good but because there's some serious combo potential with at least it, Dead Man's Hand, and a strong minion worth using the Recruit mechanic on. Personally, the choices that came to mind were Rotface and Grommash, but the grand prize for what to Recruit probably goes to the new legendary Warrior minion. With that said, it might be worth using all 3 at once because of Dirty Rat. Either way, this weapon opens up some win condition potential for Dead Man's Hand Warrior, so it'll probably see some use even if the weapon is expensive and has poor stats for its cost.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This legendary minion has the potential to be very strong and since it costs 8 Mana, it can be used with Bring It On! on turn 10 to always summon a 10-cost minion alongside it. The worst case scenario for this, which should be common even without the aforementioned combo, is a 6/6 (or 7/5), meaning there's a fair amount of value to be had here though nothing that seems to be incredibly game-breaking. However, if the value produced by this minion was accumulated somehow it might be able to overrun even the most stubborn opponents and Warriors have the tools to do that in the form of Dead Man's Hand and the legendary weapon. Because of this, I strongly believe there will be a deck based around the usage of all three and it'll perform fairly well, though it'll probably still get wrecked by Priests at least.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Neutral
Legendaries
After playing around with this for a while I found that while the treasures this guy could give the player are amazing, being able to play this, which is costly in itself, break the treasure chest, and use the treasure to its fullest effect was pretty hard to do. That's not to say there isn't a (very slow) deck that can make this minion work but the chances of playing Marin and having it work out seem quite low, especially if one relies on a specific treasure. It's nice that everyone got a copy for free though.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
If it was possible to somehow disenchant the card produced by this it would probably be the best card out of every single set. Even though that's not possible, being able to copy a minion that wants to be copied for 3 while also playing a 2/2 seems like a pretty strong effect that is welcomed in many decks. I expect someone to find some awesome combos using this card, such as with Grumble, World Shaker.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
King Togwaggle has very poor stats for its cost but it also has a hilarious effect that probably won't see much use in competitive play even if it completely screws up the opponent's strategy (since they can swap the decks back). Still, the possibility of swapping a horrible deck for another player's mighty netdeck at least gives some players a chance to play with cards they might not be able to afford. Therefore, I expect this card to be loved by F2P/low paying players who benefit most from it, including myself.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Master Oakheart is probably one of the best Recruit cards in the set since the restrictions are fairly easy to build around and offer the opportunity to pull out some enormous cards such as Voidlord, the Tar cards, Gilded Gargoyle, and so on. It can also help to pull out smaller minions that would be bad to topdeck. While it won't be a good fit in every deck because of the risk of pulling useful Battlecry minions out, this legendary's Neutral status will almost certainly ensure that it finds a home in at least a few decent competitive decks since even if it costs a whopping 9 Mana.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
The meme potential of this 4 Mana 20/20 is incredibly dank but what is most surprising is it might see a fair bit of play even though it may never leave dormancy in many matches. This is because it could be teched in to deal with slower decks because a removal will have to be saved for this minion and also because there's a higher chance all the candles will be drawn. Furthermore, since 3 candles are shuffled into the opponent's deck, it disables Highlander effects, making this legendary an effective tech card against what the Highlander Priest that I believe will become dominant.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
Epics
In addition to possibly being a direct reference to a Dungeons and Dragons monster, this minion has some useful applications. For instance, it can activate and duplicate Deathrattle effects but it can also duplicate minions with useful effects that might be wanted later. This works especially well with cheap minions such as Drygulch Jailer but can be used in a slower fashion to devour large minions over a couple of turns. Its stats are fairly decent too for 5 Mana considering how strong the effect can be, though its durability may make its own Deathrattle difficult to activate.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
While its stats are poor for 3 Mana, its Battlecry is more than worth it and will almost certainly find a place in any deck running at least a legendary weapon. It might even be better to exclusively run the legendary weapon in cases where a strategy relies on its usage. It's also not too bad for just returning a decent weapon of other rarities so the player can use it again, which also makes it a solid choice in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Great. In Arena, this card is Good.
There's some fun gimmicky ways to summon huge minions with this by running a minion-heavy deck with only a couple expensive spells but this is more likely to be run in a spell-heavy deck with an emphasis on expensive spells, making it a possible choice to use for classes like Priest and Mage. Considering the stats of this minion are 4/4, a 3 cost or higher spell would probably need to be revealed to generally turn out a good result, meaning decks have to be built at least somewhat carefully. With that said, I feel like there's better options for such decks than this minion.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
With this minion, a player's control over their spellcasting is taken out of their hands somewhat in favor of just randomly casting what will probably be draw spells and other spells where the targeting doesn't matter too much. This in itself requires a fair bit of deckbuilding just to make this one minion, which is expensive and has poor stats in itself, work. I'd be inclined to give it a pass because of this.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Terrible.
The amount of tempo gain when this is played for 0 is modest at best since a 4/4 body, while strong, doesn't mean as much by turn 5 or so when it can actually be played. It might be nice to play after playing spells such as Cabalist's Tome though, so the usage of this card isn't likely to be entirely nonexistent.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
Given the cost and statline of this minion, it'll realistically Recruit a single Dragon and while it might be useful for removing said Dragon from the deck, that generally doesn't seem to be worth it unless it's one of the two Deathwings. Even then, the chances of having this scenario happen would require a finely tuned deck and a hand with a Dragonhatcher that also doesn't have a good Dragon to Recruit by the time on has 9 Mana Crystals is pretty low. Therefore, I think this card's pretty bad.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
Confuse on a minion's Battlecry makes for some interesting tech that can help to make minions easier to kill and especially ruins a Shaman's totems. It can also greatly increase the Attack of durable minions, which can result in a lethal combo. What's also nice is that the minion has vanilla level stats for its cost so it can be played for 3 Mana just to contest the board. Overall, I expect some highly skilled players to find a way to make use of this since unlike Confuse, it's a Neutral card.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion seems like a fun one to throw buffs on since it has an exclusive Elusive effect but its stats seem pretty weak, meaning a combo would probably be needed to maximize its survivability. Furthermore, there's effects that can get past Elusive such as Silence and minions such as Vilespine Slayer. Therefore, I doubt this card will see much use.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
This minion seems similar to Nerubian Prophet in the sense it'll slowly lower its cost over time. This effect will have more of an impact in Arena where playing an extra minion with fairly decent stats for cheap will provide more of an advantage. In Constructed, this dies to Shadowreaper Anduin and a lot of other things.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
Rares
This minion has an interesting effect that might end up creating a few copies that in turn, would probably appreciate handbuffs. I'll personally try this out at least once but considering how easy it'll generally be to kill these and how long it'll take to overrun an opponent with sheer value, this is probably not that good even in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
I like the idea of this minion since it'll almost certainly activate its effect in decks that want to fight off aggro. However, there are other minions that also cost 3 Mana such as Tar Creeper and Stonehill Defender that'll end up competing with this to the point I doubt this poor guy will stand a chance.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
For +1/+2, this minion has the potential to summon a Poisonous minion that'll immediately kill it. Joking aside, this probably won't be that great in Constructed since there's already a fairly big Taunt for 6 Mana that doesn't see play, but it shouldn't be too bad in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
First of all, this minion is probably not that good in Constructed since it'll usually be a 6/6 for 5 Mana which isn't particularly strong. In Arena, there could be some useful applications since the transform effect can be used on a damaged minion to make it a 6/6 and a chance to play about 6/6 of stats for 5 Mana isn't too bad either.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Aside from being a Dragon which could be useful for some synergies, I think the prime usage of this minion will be to discount a legendary weapon to improve its combo potential or accelerate the player's ability to use it. It can also help to make other weapons less costly to use too, which might be helpful sometimes.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Bad.
While the stats of this minion are great for a 1 Mana minion, the drawback seems a little too severe to make it usable especially since the opponent may get a Gravelsnout Knight of their own. Probably not worth using much in Arena either.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
There's some amusing tricks that could be used with this to make the Hero Elusive but to do so is complicated and requires a fair number of cards. This might be teched in to put a serve as a spelltaunt or Hero Power taunt against certain decks though, but even then this minion will only be able to absorb 6 damage unless it gets buffed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
The first use that comes to mind is to combo this with Pint-Size Potion for an easy removal. It can also be used to erase some 1 Attack threats in both Constructed and Arena. However, the swing potential in some cases might be low because of the statline of this minion. I imagine some players will try to tech this in especially when the meta allows for it but I'm not convinced that it'll see a lot of competitive usage.
Also, I'm surprised this set even got a Mech.
In Constructed and Arena, this is So-So.
I'm almost certain this minion refers to the Shrieker from Dungeons and Dragons and if so, it's a pretty great reference. However, it's weak considering its statline and effect together for 3 Mana are barely going to be worth 2 Mana unless this minion somehow lives for several turns.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
Common
As I've already said that Oaken Summons is not that good, I don't think this one's too great either. It's fun to think of a deck this might work in though and given its stats and cost, it might even work out sometimes.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Given the stats of this minion, it's unlikely that an opponent will bother to kill it and may go out of their way to prevent the player from doing so as well. Even if it happens to die within a turn, the 8-cost minion it tries to summon may not even be in the deck anymore and while there are some really impactful 8 Mana minions, I feel like there's better ways of cheating them out such as running more draw and just playing them since in my opinion, that's the superior option.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
This is a fairly decent card in Arena and it might see some usage in aggro decks due to its superior stats at 4 Mana. There's probably better or at least competing options out there though.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Good.
This frail minion is basically two Magma Ragers, one after another. Unfortunately, even for 4 Mana this probably isn't good enough because of how frail both minions are.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
This reminds me of a mix of Menagerie Magician and Sunborne Val'kyr but its stats are inferior to both. While it can produce 6/6 worth of stats, this isn't that great in Constructed and while it might be nice in Arena, the fact two other minions need to be alive to make the most of the effect is probably a little too demanding.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
This is supposed to be a Dragon, right? I'm not sure what else to say besides that since it's probably better to run certain legendary Dragons such as Ysera instead. It's a solid card to draft in Arena though, especially if it actually is a Dragon.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
Unlike the similar Disciple of C'thun, the Battlecry effect of this minion is a little unreliable. However, it can be useful for taking out many small minions at once, so it might merit some usage in Arena even with its poor stats. It also helps that Disciple of C'thun can't be drafted in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This minion has slightly weak stats at 3 Mana but it's workable and in addition to that it has an effect that could reliably activate on at least one or two minions. It might be able to activate on more in Constructed but I doubt the 1 extra Health is worth adding a couple copies of this to a competitive deck, even if it likes having a strong board state.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
More weapon destruction is welcome in this expansion but this one costs as much as Harrison Jones and there's already a couple cheaper weapon destruction minions available with relatively good stats. Therefore, the priority for using this minion for weapon destruction is not in a good spot.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is the only minion in the entire set without any text. It is, however, a 1/3 Beast for 1 Mana which means Hunters will like it and Druids, with their Mark of Y'Shaarj, even more so. This'll probably be used in some sort of aggressive deck from the latter class at least. It's not too bad in Arena either.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Good.
This minion is basically made to defeat Cobalt Scalebane, which has become prevalent in a couple of decks as far as I can tell. It's also a popular Arena card. Beyond this application it can greatly damage or kill other Dragons as well and it even has nice stats for a 3 Mana minion. Overall, it's pretty good at least in Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Good. In Arena, this card is Great.
This takes Earthen Ring Farseer, reduces the heal by 1, then applies it to all friendly characters. That's pretty good at least in an Arena environment, though it might not have as much luck in Constructed for similar reasons as Earthen Ring Farseer, which is almost never used as far as I can tell.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is Great.
This minion has poor stats even with the extra Taunt it summons. If it manages to live at least a couple turns, which is a little demanding by turn 5, it might be able to get some value but there's far better options for 5 Mana in both Constructed and Arena.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is a superior version of River Crocolisk which isn't used in Constructed but is decent in Arena. The fact its Deathrattle provides 3 Armor probably matters more in Constructed and this could serve as a bit of anti-aggro, though it's probably not a high priority option.
In Constructed, this card is So-So. In Arena, this card is Good.
This minion is similar to Razorfen Hunter but it reverses the stats of the Beast and its master. This fact is more useful for classes that like Beasts and this also effectively nerfs Evolve effects. However, because it's so similar to Razorfen Hunter I doubt it'll see much use in Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is an upgraded Earthen Ring Farseer with an addition point of nearly everything including healing. It's probably not that great in Constructed and it might not be quite as good in Arena either because of competing 4 Mana minions.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Sneaky Devil reminds me of the old version of Blood Imp. It costs more though and is basically a Raid Leader with stealth. This might be enough to make the difference in Arena but in Constructed it's liable to die to a board clear.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is So-So.
This is basically a weaker Validated Doomsayer with the same weakness of dying without doing anything in return if it's attacked before it receives an Attack buff. This fact alone makes it barely worth using at all, especially since a 4/4 isn't incredible (though an unconditional 4/4 would be pretty good in Arena). I do like the fact it's basically a mimic though.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Terrible.
The fact this has Taunt in addition to Poisonous does mean it might be able to draw some spells or take a couple of minions with it. That fact alone makes it worth considering in Arena and it might even occasionally be used in Constructed.
In Constructed, this card is Bad. In Arena, this card is So-So.
Statistically, this card provides immense value in the form of 14/14 of stats for 8 Mana and it's a Beast to boot. However, the Deathrattle could potentially be a drawback since the opponent may prefer taking 7 damage from the board each turn instead of allowing more minions to be played. This is probably a bigger deal in Constructed where the board is also liable to being frozen or cleared with ease.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Good.
Even though its stats are weaker, the Divine Shield probably makes it a bit better than Shieldbearer, which was used in the past. Wax Elemental might be able to help stave off early aggression and protect other minions but it's probably not that great compared to other options. The fact that it's an Elemental probably doesn't help it either.
In Constructed and Arena, this card is Bad.
This might be nice for helping to ensure that an enemy minion gets poisoned and dies. However, its statline is very weak and there's probably better Poisonous options such as Giant Wasp which are also underused.
In Constructed, this card is Terrible. In Arena, this card is Bad.
Final Statements
This concludes my review for the Kobolds and Catacombs set. The statistics for cards of each rating goes as follows:
- In Constructed, I rated 26 Terrible cards, 37 Bad cards, 23 So-So cards, 37 Good cards, and 13 Great cards.
- In Arena, I rated 14 Terrible cards, 22 Bad cards, 41 So-So cards, 47 Good cards, and 12 Great cards.
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