We've got new cards revealed for Fractured in Alterac Valley!
- Hero Cards make a return in Alterac Valley, featuring the Mercenaries.
- New Keyword: Honorable Kill - Bonus effect if the card deals exact lethal to an enemy minion on your turn.
- Drek'Thar and Vanndar Stormpike are a part of a special faction war event - read more about it here.
Comments
Now we need to know which is better: Wildheart Guff, or Celestial Alignment.
NOOOOOOOOOOO MORE NERF CARDS
Paladin just been given one very powerful ender, as well as basically making Rustrot Viper a mandatory card, because if cariel comes out and you dont have viper you're technically dead. Rounding up damage you take is one thing, being able to essentially turn the tide with that massive hero power is quite another.
Guff is quite another thing. Im not seeing it. Pretty sure there's plenty of support cards yet to be revealed, but it doesn't really look that good, does it? Fact of the matter is druid has plenty of ways to take advantage of extra mana, but games rarely get to the point where they have an insurmountable mana advantage. Half the time, or indeed most of the time, you'll much rather be drawing cards.
Honorable kill gets a good start, because Siphon Mana and Bloodseeker looks sick.
Wildheart Guff is a Shield Block and Wild Growth in one on the turn you play him, so that seems good value for 5 mana. After that, drawing cards for 2 mana is just good. It's hard to predict how useful it is to ramp beyond 10 mana, but even if that rarely matters, I think it's still a good card. If there is any space in the meta for Ramp Druid, this hero card will be in it.
Edit: The card text doesn't say it's an empty mana crystal, so if the wording is consistent (a daring assumption in Hearthstone, I know) that would mean it's a filled crystal and it would be better than Wild Growth.
Agreed. But for a hero card, especially next to Cariel, guff looks like something that needs some support cards to truly shine.
Im not saying it won't be in nearly every druid deck, simply because being able to ramp for 1 and gain some armor is just invaluable. Its good, just not broken, at least not yet. Maybe its the same deal like Malfurion the Pestilent, where its the most underwhelming on paper but yet manages to terrorize the meta simply because it complements all the broken druid cards available at that time.
That new Hunter weapon sure looks like fun!
And it looks like it’s bugged already! It says gain +1/+1 but goes from a 2/2 weapon to a 3/1 weapon in the example video. Maybe they recently updated it to add a durability and the video was made when it just gained attack
so from a power standpoint, which freebie is better?
I personally think that Stormpike is bonkers.
Vanndar Stormpike is more interesting for the decks I like to play, but his deck building restriction is more difficult and the pay-off is delayed: you need to draw the discounted cards first and even though you pay less to summon them, you do need additional mana or an additional turn to actually put them on the board.
Drek'Thar on the other hand gives you stats on board immediately. The current aggro decks do play minions over 3 mana, but in for example Zoo Warlock or Quest Hunter they are replaceable. I can also imagine that a new small minions + burn deck is feasible in for example Shaman, Rogue or Mage.
Maybe Drek'Thar could also be used to tutor out specific minions in a mostly spells deck. I'm thinking of aura buff cards like Sorcerer's Apprentice or deathrattles, but I don't know if there are any in Standard that are relevant. There is always Bloodmage Thalnos of course.
I'm sure both will see play, but I'd be surprised if Drek'Thar doesn't end up in a top meta deck, while I'm less sure Vanndar will stick around. That said, they go into very different decks, so they don't compete for inclusion directly.
The choice is obvious for me, since I have almost all heavy control Warlock cards golden in Wild. Vanndar fits great to control decks, so I want it golden. I don't really care whether my aggro cards are golden or not, so I can easily craft or open a regular Drek'Thar.
Yuu get 3 minions on the board for 4 mana on T3/T4, that should tell you something :) Not saying Stormpike isnt interesting, but will you get to even play anything in his deck.
With those new legendries, poor ol' Kazakus, Golem Shaper is gonna have a hard time finding a hom.
Why it always a guy representing horde?
Well I hope control gets some love in this expansion. Tired of those stupid combo decks and games ending by turn 7.
I like that the legendary quest will give us whichever golden faction leader we didn't choose. No long term worries about choosing the wrong one.
Oh my, that Cariel Hero card looks quite powerful although I guess the weapon is balanced via Rustrot Viper and the hero power is balanced by the fact that Paladin doesn't have endless minions (or ways to add them to their hand). I wonder if weapon revival will be a thing in this expansions. If yes, Paladin actually has a shot at beating other lategame strategies like the Quests.
I love the fact that the mercenaries are equiped with wow-gear found in the (mini)-sets
Mana cheating for Mage. Nice, just what the class needs... They should print more card draw, too.
Guff is so cool! Excited to try him in wild even though it’s probably too slow. Interesting being able to wild growth every turn though, could change break points or even *gasp*make people cut Celestial?
Stuff will be in the database soon (tm)