New Demon Hunter Minion - Zai, the Incredible

It's got some potential as one of the few ways DH can get non-draw card advantage, and it is a lot of advantage, but it seems too slow for DH's style.  The statline is just so poor and doesn't seem like it will see play outside of control DH, which remains to see high-tier viability.

I don't think this fits any tempo-based DH deck since it seems too slow. It could be a great tool for a control deck (like a Big Demons deck or something), which I would love to try. 

It's just a combo card.

Duplicate your Twin Slices, then combine them with Il'gynoth and Aldrachi Warblades.

It's my first idea, but there Will be better combos for sure.

This card has an interesting effect, I'm not quite sure what type of deck it would go in, but it's early and all the cards haven't been revealed yet, so we will wait and see.

There's plenty of potential for this card, especially in combo and control. But precisely because of that we know this will probably not see play until more support are revealed. Its stats and cost is perhaps too forbidding to purposefully play it in anything else other than combo or control.

In any case, we can almost be certain that some form of tempo or soul dhunter will be dominating the class in the next expansion, all the more pity that an interesting and powerful value card will get sidelined until further notice.

Zai, the Incredible is a interesting card that actually has a lot of synergy with outcast cards like Twin Slice. But i feel like the REAL synergy is to copy cards like Skull of Gul'dan for even more draw, mana cheating and tempo plays. Actually copying a Skull of Gul'dan on turn 5 with Zai, the Incredible, and playing Skull of Gul'dan on turn 6 & 7 might be the strongest combo for Zai, the Incredible. Can't wait to try this combo in a C'Thun DH deck! (Maybe i can finally pull Brann Bronzebeard or C'Thun for once with Skull of Gul'dan..) 

Standard: I think this will see play in aggro DH, Combo DH and Soul DH. What? That's nearly every DH Deck? Well yeah, cuz it's a great card! 

Wild: It's ODD Costed, so do i even need to mention anything else? That deck will probably experiment with it at the very least.

Overall Zai, the Incredible seems like a strong card with a lot of SCARY potential. Not OP Strong, but still really strong. Zai, the Incredible is pretty... incredible. (ba dum tss.) 

This card just doesn't seem worth it in DH when you consider the fast pace the class moves at and how slow this card is. Comparing Zai, the Incredible to Ringmaster Whatley, Whatley adds more cards to hand, requires less set up to gain the maximum benefit from their effect, and has a better stat line that is more resistant to minion trades and the many ways to deal 3 damage to a minion. It seems better to me to just run more card draw rather than Zai if you're looking for more resources in hand as the card draw will provide you consistent resource quality both on demand and without the setup.

If a slower Demon Hunter deck that uses this to get extra copies of a combo piece + removal/taunt/etc., this could be good. The problem, as always, is that no such deck currently exists, but maybe this set will change that. Not likely to see play in odd DH, but hopeful to see this in another deck for DH.

Even tough i think this will be to slow for Tempo DH i still think this could see play in different decks but also in some Tempo Lists.

5 mana 5/3 draw 2, while you can manipulate which 2 cards you want and if they were out casted they still are and can be activated again..

Dunno why the first commenter saying it's bad, the floor value of this card is already very high, and if you get the good result (more copies of twin slice for example, or more eye beams) it's really valuable

Its a decent card and a really good addition to control DH (if this should be a thing). I would probably include this into any non-aggro DH deck. You are all too focused on the combo potential (too clunky), in my opinion this is a control value card and not a combo enabler in the first place.

Could be nice copying an "Outcasted" card but seems to have very low impact when played. Besides that is pretty "expensive" as a legendary, it should be epic at least in my opinion.

I thought generating cards was supposed to be a weakness of DH. They already have excellent card-draw. A legendary minion that generates cards feels out of place in DH. Interacting with left/right-most cards in hand is the the demon hunter part of it, but otherwise it would look fine a Shaman or Mage or Priest or Rogue card; the classes that are good at generating cards.

Would be broken in Mage or Priest. In DH it probably won't be played, if there won't be a broken combo.

This card seems way too situational and slow to be played imo. I mean, best case scenario you probably copy another Lapidary or a Bladed Lady and go face, but like I said, just way too slow. Either that or you need a low curve to vomit everything out at once, but apart from Stiltstepper and Twin Slice, DH does not really have any high impact cards that can be outcasted and played on the same turn.

Ok, so while the card is a pretty interesting one, I can't seem to find where I can slide them in:

• Aggro DH doesn't want a 5 mana 5/3 and has better draw;
• Soul Fragment DH can make use of the card to make more Soulshard Lapidarys or Twin Slices for extra burst but Il'gynoth can also represent that while being cheaper and harder to remove
• Token DH simply doesn't have a reason to use this nor does it have the time to summon a 5 mana 5/3 that doesn't summon tokens
• Big Demon DH likes to keep their demons on their deck to cheat them out and to not clog their hand. However, in this archetype, there is merit in playing this card for generating more answers, which is important because Demon Hunter has very few cards purely designed to answer threats in their arsenal. But even in this scenario, you're probably behind on board and summoning a 5/3 for 5 mana that can be answered swiftly while keeping up pressure on you.

In short, Zai, the Incredible is really cool, but really awkward.

I can see this working but very meta dependent...

I, for one, do not mind seeing DH get a so-so legendary.

Imagine a combo deck with Il'gynoth, Aldrachi Warblades, and Twin Slice. You could play the Warblades and use Zai to copy the Twin Slice. Then next turn play Il'gynoth and six slices for a grand total of 28 damage.

I don't know if this card will be used at all, but it will definitely be fun to play around with.

we always love that outcast Synergy

Haha my thoughts exactly.
Good resume.

I think that this will be an auto-include in pretty much every DH build.  For 5 mana, you get 2 more cards to play, which is something that DH REALLY wants without necessarily having to spend mana to draw more cards... and add that you get 5/3 body with it?  Not bad at all.  Granted it can die to most board control out there, the fact that you could potentially get 2 more pain in the ass copies of cards that your opponent really doesn't want you to have... that is tough to beat 

I don't see how this is going to be bad.  It going to be so much fun playing against 2x Metamorphosis.  Were probably going to get some more broken outcast effects in the next 4 expansions and this card will copy them and put them in or close to the outcast position.  I can't stand this class and wish it could be deleted.

The best scenario is when you can copy outcast cards, but it requires a lot of setup and maybe is too slow right now

Quote From FrostyFeet

Barring maybe some weird combo decks, this card seems outright bad to me. Weak stats for its cost and requires a lot of setup if you have certain copy targets in mind. With the cards revealed so far I can't imagine this seeing play.

Think it'll be less about certain target(s) and more about tempo gain with added value for situational.
As weak as the stats may be, I do think it will see play - time will tell

It's a tutored draw-type effect that puts the cards in optimal outcast positions.  Also allows you to have multiple copies of Legendaries, which could be fun with some of the Old Gods for control DH (If that's a thing).  Seems fun and pretty strong.

Eh seems strong some duplication never hurt anyone but where does it put the copies? Next to their clones or to the far right of your hand?

Pretty meh compared to the other legendary

Cool card, but hate the stats... then again, having better stats would make it OP probably.

Too slow, and just not as good as the other Legendary. Won't see much play outside of experimentation.

Great as a combo card, fine enough as just some additional value generation. She has aggressive stats (though obviously bad for the cost) which is fine, that's really what you want in Demon Hunter anyway. I'll be running her in all my lists.

Bad stats, card generation tho

One day we will see a good combo. Not this expansion, but we're getting there.

I just don't see this one having a place in Demon Hunter right now. It would require some serious hand manipulation to be able to target what you want to copy and that would often mess up your outcast targets.

Might actually be a bit awkward to copy the cards you want, the right side especially.

Good value, terrible stats.

A fun card, but I can't think of a practical way that will earn it a spot in any deck

And a year later, the copy I opened is patiently awaiting for its time to shine ... will it come?
Only dust can tell ^^