Shadow Bolt for midrange, small AoE for aggressive lists, this card seems crazy good.

Quote From BloodMefist

Shadow Bolt for midrange, small AoE for aggressive lists, this card seems crazy good.

Not to mention that increased spell damage is a thing : bonkers! 

This is a nice alternate version of Rolling Fireball. Of course it works well with the new Headmaster Kel'Thuzad card, but it's also a nice way to get around those Elusive minions that you can't directly target. 

man o man thank goodness for this spell, it's so much stronger than Arcane Explosion and isn't reactive like Flame Ward.

My first question is : is the excess damage dealt to the adjacent minions the same or is it split between them?

Its a good card, but since its easy to play around it, its not going to blow anyone's mind out.

Synergize well with Mo'arg Artificer for some truly ridiculous removal turns. But at that point you might as well just play Rolling Fireball

Love positioning matters cards. Really simple and nice effect. 

To those wondering it is the same damage to both neighbors. So if it hits a card with 2 health, it'll deal 2 damage to the left and right minions. 

Quote From Emptyness

And this one base cost is 3, so you can discover it from Magic trick and get a discount.

Primordial Glyph gives a 2 mana discount, Magic Trick discovers a spell less than 3 but no discounts.

Years before, Jade Lightning saw play in nonjade decks.

3 mana deal 4 dmg to a minion is okish, in addition, the aoe potencial is really sweet against swarm decks.

It's okay I guess? It wants to be used with Spell damage but Mage doesn#t really run spell damage so it's just Shadowbolt with a rare bonus.

Looks pretty great for a control deck, chances are it’d manage to do a lot to slow down an aggro deck. Kind of useless against control though

Definitely good enough for highlander decks. 

Good enough for Standard Highlander Mage, but I can't see it included elsewhere. (3) for 4 is still too slow, the versatily of the shape helps a little bit, but not too much.

Just compare to what Dark Skies can do for the same amount of mana.

An interesting removal card. It could see play as a second volcanic potion if demon hunter continues to be the top aggro deck, and this is potentially better than volcanic against discardlock.

Has a potentially weird interaction with spell damage which could be interesting.

[Hearthstone Card (Shadowbolt) Not Found] that requires a lot more skill to use.. AMAZING! I like this card already! It punishes opponents for using low statted minions, and it hard counters Faceless Lackey. This card (to me) seems like a solid pick for most, if not nearly all control mage decks. And will certainly see play in Highlander Mage. 

Also you can pull this from cards like Magic Trick and Wand Thief, so expect to see this card A LOT!

Seems pretty decent ! Nice card.

I'll just copy what I said on Rolling Fireball: It's a good card, nice mechanic as well. It will see play depending on the meta, but highlander is gonna love it for sure. Also in the magic pool, so that's great!

Quote From FrostyFeet

I keep thinking about Satyr Overseer getting grilled with this and it makes me happy.

Totally agree, this is a fantastic counter. I think wide-board aggro decks in general will get hit hard by this played on curve.

Seems very powerful, can punish reckless positioning, can be played around but even then it is probably still powerful, specially cause mage has varying damage ranges (mostly thanks to the hero power)

Just good. FWIW, 2 health appears to be the new early game breakpoint for strong early game minions.

At least is seems mana friendly for the effect

Nice effect in the vacuum but IDK how it will play out in practice if anything its a 3 damage remove something and then ping whatever is next to it. Seems solid since it could remove up to 3 minions.

This card is flexible, and efficient. You can use it to clear 3 small minions, or one big minion. It is one card that can remove multiple cards. This makes it good both for board advantage and card advantage, which are both very important. 5/5 stars.

Okay I've had time to compare this spell with some others and I think it's really strong. 

Mage in standard has been missing early AOE since Shooting Star and Celestial Emissary rotated, making them reliant on Flame Ward which can either be removed (very rarely) or activated in a way to avoid massive loss on your opponents side. 

This can be used in conjunction with cards like Mo'arg Artificer or any spell damage minion to clear a board early on before it gets too big so you don't have to wait until turn 5 for Rolling Fireball. 

If I understand the video correctly, the excess damage is dealt to BOTH adjacent minions instead of splitting it up evenly.

Will most definitely see play in highlander decks, will probably be a follow up spell for the Devolving Missiles 

The more I look at this card, the more I think it's really lackluster.  You basically NEED + Spell Damage in order to make this good.  Yeah, it's Shadow Bolt for mage, but mage already has a number of damage spells.

This card is a crazy good early removal/early mini AoE for Mage. 

I like that they keep using the excess damage mechanic! Pretty good card that benefits greatly from extra spell damage.

I'm not a super fan of this card. If we don't overkill is a "frostball" with +1mana +1damage (not so great imho).
If we will overkill we are going to aspect 1-2 damage to neighbors. This can be super strong against agro deck, otherwise is needed to be in control of the board (to set the card with some trade) or have some spellpower.

So...for now it's an "ok card" for me

There's enough flexibility in this Shadow Bolt-esque card that it should be powerful in a lot of decks. It's especially nice as a mini Meteor if you can tack a little spell damage on.

Powerful yet balanced, beautifully designed, so far my favorite card in this expansion.

Strong, versatile removal that scales very well with spell power. Will definitely see play in Reno Mage.

This spell is just that good, with all the 2-hp minion running around.

Highlander Mage would love efficient early game AoE, heck, they even ran Imprisoned Observer for a bit. Combustion serves that roll better than Imprisoned Observer ever could, since its faster and can also be early single target removal. Combustion is efficient flexibility, and that is pretty much the only flexibility that sees standard play nowadays.

Reminds me a Bit of Powershot, except it's more flexible.

Nice mechanic and spell

I like it, especially now with the SP focus on Mage this expansion

usefull... Will try it a lot

Board positioning cards are one of my favorite types of cards.

Clever effect. Needs brain power to play. Nice card.

3 cost 4 dmg on a minion is already nice, the excess dmg going to another minion is nice but i don't see the excess being used too much

It's flexible removal, I think this goes into Highlander Mage.

Really good, especially when you get maximum value on multiple minions.

This card is going to be a staple until it rotates. It's Shadow Bolt with a very strong upside, and it fills a void in Mage's current board control for the early game.

Now that spell damage is being pushed in Mage too, this card is definitely going to be the go-to removal for Mage until this rotates.

It's also nice that it forces board placement thoughts from the opponent.

Solid. Nothing too crazy, I don't think.

4 damage will remove most of bodies around 4-5 cost, and Mage can always ping. The spill over is situational. But for (1) more you get hard hitter, face blaster Fireball, and even it isn't run much right now. 

I originally rated this a 3, but after seeing the whole set, I think it is at least a 4.

Spellpower mage incoming?

One of the strongest tools Mage is getting imo. For 1 mana extra you get +1 damage on a frostbolt, plus splash damage onto neighbouring minions. For most spells, +1 spell damage isn't really enough to feel that good, but with this, amplifying the effect, it will be noticed.

If Spell Damage Mage works, I think this card will play a good sized role in that. I expect this to be in most Highlander Mages as well.

Very solid card.

Nice semi board clear, it gives minion positioning an important place again

Pretty good, especially in a Spell Damage Mage deck.

Solid control. Middle weak minions look around nervously.

Love a good tricky AoE. I am, I must admit, one of those horrible people who actually likes mathematics puzzles, and while this is a tiny little baby one, against a full board I know I'm going to like puzzling out where the best spot to throw this is.

Since they're pushing the Spell Damage archetype, this card will really shine if that kind of deck works.