This is really good with Zul'Jin. Beast hunter dropped out of the meta for a bit but it's still a solid deck, and this could be a very welcome inclusion. I like that it turns any 1/1 beast you drop on one (Shimmerfly, Springpaw) into a potential threat that has to be dealt with, whereas in the past at worst it'd be one buff on a Hyena.
That fact that this doesn't create a copy of the discovered card can be a major detriment though. Back in the day you'd want to Shadow Visions Mind Blasts because that would extend your kill-range by 5 apiece for every copy.
Don't get me wrong, tutoring spells is still amazing, especially for 1 mana and with a body attached, but it also has downsides compared to shadow visions.
I like cards such as these existing just for the sake of causing unexpected situations if they're discovered or randomly generated. It's one of the neat things about Hearthstone IMO.
Mech hunter used to be a thing and this might help bring it back, although I don't think this one card by itself is enough. Unlike Cybertech Chip, this is a decently statted minion that's also a mech.
One of the weaknesses of mech hunter was a lack of card draw or resource generation. Other than ursatron they were pretty much stuck drawing 1 card per turn, so it was pretty easy to run them out of stuff.
I find this card exciting, although I'm not sure it's really a tech card or rather just an annoying tempo play. I mean, it's disruptive, sure, but it doesn't hose specific (niche) decks the way tech cards normally do.
I suppose this card might see play in elemage. It's a fair deal in terms of stats per mana, but these days cards have to be a bit unfair to see standard play. Maybe the rest of the deck and the possibility of cheating this out early will tip the scales in its favour, but for now I think Bonfire elemental is the more appealing 5-drop simply because most decks have plenty of ways to deal with 1-health tokens these days.
I'm not a huge fan of quest druid and I don't like this approach to shoring up its weakness, which is supposed to consist of 4 turns of sitting on your ass. This kind of efficiency makes it impossible for aggressive decks to even get a dent in the druid before all the yucky double choose one shenanigans come out.
I don't see a compelling reason to play this in standard ATM. You'd rather want a guaranteed 1/1 token as a deathrattle than the chance to maybe buff a minion, assuming a) there's one left in play when this dies and b) that minion doesn't have a higher attack.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting the card and it actually adds its damage on top of what the minion-to-buff already had, but even then it seems kinda underwhelming. A situational +2/+0 permanent buff on a 2/1 body.
This is definitely geared more towards the Bloodsworn Mercenary variant of aggro warrior but I have my doubts about how good it is with those subpar stats.
I've been a fan of Elemage ever since Un'Goro so I'm definitely going to try this out even if it still kind of looks like an arena deck. At least there's the sidequest for crazy card draw.
I could see this work in aggro warrior, I could definitely see this work in control warrior. The class has a million different ways to abuse whirlwind effects and this is a 1 mana 1/3 with a wild pyromancer effect.
You can pull off some crazy out-of-nowhere board resets with this card if you're lucky. It costs 2 so you can play it alongside a discovered Twisting Nether, but you can also pick up Fiendish Circle + Plague of Flames and a whole bunch of AoE in the form of Hellfire, Shriek, Dark Skies, Shadowflame even.
I think this card is deceptively powerful because it does a LOT in the right deck, IE a control warlock. Of course, this requires a viable control warlock deck to work, so there's that. Maybe the new handlock can run it?
It looks like a decent zoo card at first glance, but I just don't think it's cheating enough to warrant the inclusion. Yeah, if you highroll a flame imp that's 5/4 stats for 3, which is fine but still not terribly exciting thanks to power creep. Compare it to the 3/3 that turns a lackey into a 5/5.
Even if it just snipes a token it's still a 6/5 for 5 that Did A Good. If nothing else, this makes an even stronger case for splashing dragons in highlander hunter, but I could definitely see tempo dragon hunter be a deck.
Weird card. Rogue traditionally doesn't really run 2 drops because of the hero power. This is a fine card but I don't really see it changing that dynamic. Maybe with enough support pirate rogue will be a thing again but I don't think this is the card that does it.
People forget that MEdivh was played because the stick came with a 7/7 so you didn'T really lose any tempo.
This is a 4-mana do nothing.
Most good legendaries are at 8 or 10-mana. Shaman doesn't haven an 8-mana spell and only one 10-mana spell, which is incredibly slow as well.
5-mana is a bad spot full of terrible outcomes.
Only 6 could be reasonably considered, and I don't think running 4 spells total is enough (unless you run some weird big Shaman thing with Eureka or some BS)
Medivh was a lot harder to play alongside spells though. Since you're only paying for the stick here, you get a better one that can be played earlier or on the same turn you clear the board with a mid-cost spell.
Skull of the Man'ari was "5 mana do nothing" and it saw a ton of play in the top deck of the day. It's patently absurd to evaluate a card like this based on what it does on the turn it's played when the card is clearly designed to set up powerful subsequent turns.
This is really good with Zul'Jin. Beast hunter dropped out of the meta for a bit but it's still a solid deck, and this could be a very welcome inclusion. I like that it turns any 1/1 beast you drop on one (Shimmerfly, Springpaw) into a potential threat that has to be dealt with, whereas in the past at worst it'd be one buff on a Hyena.
That fact that this doesn't create a copy of the discovered card can be a major detriment though. Back in the day you'd want to Shadow Visions Mind Blasts because that would extend your kill-range by 5 apiece for every copy.
Don't get me wrong, tutoring spells is still amazing, especially for 1 mana and with a body attached, but it also has downsides compared to shadow visions.
I like cards such as these existing just for the sake of causing unexpected situations if they're discovered or randomly generated. It's one of the neat things about Hearthstone IMO.
Mech hunter used to be a thing and this might help bring it back, although I don't think this one card by itself is enough. Unlike Cybertech Chip, this is a decently statted minion that's also a mech.
One of the weaknesses of mech hunter was a lack of card draw or resource generation. Other than ursatron they were pretty much stuck drawing 1 card per turn, so it was pretty easy to run them out of stuff.
I find this card exciting, although I'm not sure it's really a tech card or rather just an annoying tempo play. I mean, it's disruptive, sure, but it doesn't hose specific (niche) decks the way tech cards normally do.
At least they're giving evolve shaman some consistency so it's less of a highroll if you get blown out by a early mutate or explosive evolution.
Still wish they'd address the issue of discountable minions instead of slapping nerfs on individual offenders like Mogu Fleshshaper.
To be clear, the tokens are basically 1/1 water elementals?
Edit: Yes they are. https://outof.cards/hearthstone/cards/8690-ice-shard
I suppose this card might see play in elemage. It's a fair deal in terms of stats per mana, but these days cards have to be a bit unfair to see standard play. Maybe the rest of the deck and the possibility of cheating this out early will tip the scales in its favour, but for now I think Bonfire elemental is the more appealing 5-drop simply because most decks have plenty of ways to deal with 1-health tokens these days.
Thanks, I hate it.
I'm not a huge fan of quest druid and I don't like this approach to shoring up its weakness, which is supposed to consist of 4 turns of sitting on your ass. This kind of efficiency makes it impossible for aggressive decks to even get a dent in the druid before all the yucky double choose one shenanigans come out.
I don't see a compelling reason to play this in standard ATM. You'd rather want a guaranteed 1/1 token as a deathrattle than the chance to maybe buff a minion, assuming a) there's one left in play when this dies and b) that minion doesn't have a higher attack.
Maybe I'm misinterpreting the card and it actually adds its damage on top of what the minion-to-buff already had, but even then it seems kinda underwhelming. A situational +2/+0 permanent buff on a 2/1 body.
This is definitely geared more towards the Bloodsworn Mercenary variant of aggro warrior but I have my doubts about how good it is with those subpar stats.
I've been a fan of Elemage ever since Un'Goro so I'm definitely going to try this out even if it still kind of looks like an arena deck. At least there's the sidequest for crazy card draw.
I just hope this isn't coming to battlegrounds D:
I could see this work in aggro warrior, I could definitely see this work in control warrior. The class has a million different ways to abuse whirlwind effects and this is a 1 mana 1/3 with a wild pyromancer effect.
Nuts!
You can pull off some crazy out-of-nowhere board resets with this card if you're lucky. It costs 2 so you can play it alongside a discovered Twisting Nether, but you can also pick up Fiendish Circle + Plague of Flames and a whole bunch of AoE in the form of Hellfire, Shriek, Dark Skies, Shadowflame even.
I think this card is deceptively powerful because it does a LOT in the right deck, IE a control warlock. Of course, this requires a viable control warlock deck to work, so there's that. Maybe the new handlock can run it?
It looks like a decent zoo card at first glance, but I just don't think it's cheating enough to warrant the inclusion. Yeah, if you highroll a flame imp that's 5/4 stats for 3, which is fine but still not terribly exciting thanks to power creep. Compare it to the 3/3 that turns a lackey into a 5/5.
Does it give one from each bucket guaranteed or could you get 3 dragons, or 2 lackeys and a mech, say?
I really like the design of this card, including the demon tag. Probably not as exploitable as happy ghoul, but definitely similar.
Even if it just snipes a token it's still a 6/5 for 5 that Did A Good. If nothing else, this makes an even stronger case for splashing dragons in highlander hunter, but I could definitely see tempo dragon hunter be a deck.
Weird card. Rogue traditionally doesn't really run 2 drops because of the hero power. This is a fine card but I don't really see it changing that dynamic. Maybe with enough support pirate rogue will be a thing again but I don't think this is the card that does it.
Medivh was a lot harder to play alongside spells though. Since you're only paying for the stick here, you get a better one that can be played earlier or on the same turn you clear the board with a mid-cost spell.
Skull of the Man'ari was "5 mana do nothing" and it saw a ton of play in the top deck of the day. It's patently absurd to evaluate a card like this based on what it does on the turn it's played when the card is clearly designed to set up powerful subsequent turns.