I agree with your assessment on control vs control, I was probably simplifying it too much.
However, I think the comparison to Drakonid Operative is a bit sketch cause Operative allowed for discover. Most of the issue I have with Alabaster is that you don't know what you'll get. Drakonid Operative is far better in this regard, and the 5 mana means Operative comes out earlier and is easier to pair with the card you discover.
Personally I'm pretty excited about this card, if only for the fact that it looks like it puts Combo back on the menu. This past menu seriously lacked that, and hopefully this checks Galakrond Priest.
Discount Maly or this card with Satyr -> Play both -> Moonfire -> Swipe -> Swipe/Starfire(?) -> Moonfire = 30 damage.
Stats-wise it's fine, but no one runs War Golem for a reason. As for effect, we need to first establish this card never sees play in aggro or fast midrange, because you never run 7 mana cards in those decks. So as control, It seems strong but take a second to think about how it plays against various archetypes.
Against Control you can get board clears, healing and value. Only one of those is good, and its value. Like if you get a galakrond you're nutting. But as a control deck versus another control deck, you don't need board clears or healing. Most of the time, this card is bad. If you wanted a threat there are better choices. If you wanted value, there are better choices.
Against Aggro, you get burn and small minions. Neither of those are good against aggro. To win this matchup you need taunt, healing and board clears. Alabaster is none of these, and it never finds you one either. It's a War Golem which lets you pay 1 mana for 2-3 mana cards, none of which matter because you'll be dead by the time those cards can attack on Turn 9. Also, a lot of aggro right now is highly synergistic. Totem Shaman runs totems, enough said. Demon Hunter runs attack synergy and weapons.
Against Combo this is even more useless. Either you find worthless combo pieces, or once again, board clears and draw. If you wanted draw or board clears, you should've put them in your own deck.
This card runs into the same issue that thief Priest cards had - it's that enemy cards are generally not good against the enemy deck. They fixed the problem with Thoughtsteal by making it cheap. This is not cheap.
I think the only place this is good is against midrange, and only if you get lucky and hit a 4+ mana card, which is not guaranteed. If I had to name a deck this goes in I think Embiggen Druid could use this well, but even then stuff like Winged Guardian and the Hydra thing are better because they have relevant keywords.
First off, I doubt anyone thinks this will see play in Priest. The buff spells Priest plays are in general too big to be able to get this out early, so Galakrond Priest doesn't want this (and also why would they even want a 4/5 to begin with). The only Priest deck running small spells is Tempo Priest, but that deck needs early game, not a card which is conditional on you having played other cards - that deck's biggest weakness is card draw, so having a dead card is devastating.
Paladin is where this is mostly considered, but looking at Libram Paladin I'm not convinced this goes in. Think about this card versus control and then aggro. Against Control, Libram Paladin doesn't have the early game to curve out and kill their opponents, so a lot of the time you play to a kind of value-y slow burn, where you chip them down over time by using heal to maintain board control. If you look at the deck, it lacks strong 6 and 7 drops to finish out a game. Playing a 0 mana 4/5 could help here, but only if it's 0-2 mana. When I'm playing Libram Pally, if I don't draw Libram of Wisdom, I'm playing 2-3 spells on my minions before turn 7. And if your strategy is only good when you draw another card, especially in a class like Paladin which lacks card draw, I doubt it'll be good.
Against aggro, we need to consider how often we can stick buffs on our minions. The answer is not much. Most forms of Aggro right now are close to Midrange strategies - they trade. Which means your Yeti is coming down too late to impact the board most of the time. This card is made even slower because it lacks keywords which interact with enemy minions. Our win condition is healing and taunting, and this card does neither.
Overall, unless fast aggressive buffs are printed for Paladin or Priest I don't quite see this card making the cut.
The idea is that Glide chucks the healing/clears into the deck while refueling the DH.
Generally, people like to be rewarded for doing well, and if Priest has managed to stabilize and has card advantage against the DH, they deserve to be rewarded for surviving, but Glide prevents this in the same way Divine Favor did, only arguably in a more oppressive form - not only is it gas for the DH it eliminates the card advantage control decks are built around. Given how strong Aggro DH is currently, this card only exacerbates the problem.
Remember 5 mana skull? Powerful draw options see play in aggro decks with burn capability since it's more potential burn cards to throw at the opponent's face. And this is where Glide gets even worse, because the counterplay to burn for control decks is to try and heal out of range. But Glide reshuffles your hand into your deck, which gets rid of your heal options - generally Control's first priority is to stabilize and then heal, so most Control decks won't have had the opportunity to use all that healing when it's just ripped out of their hands, and then they die.
That being said, I don't like how you're being downvoted like this. Even though you're wrong it's counterproductive to discussion if everyone shits on you instead of answering your question.
Yeah, it's definitely one of the main issues with the deck. I've thought about adding Zephrys for the combo turn - play Beastmaster first to let Zephrys know you have the damage, then play Zephrys and get Silence so we can beat one taunt. Unfortunately I don't own Zephrys so I can't really test it.
Also, which card did you sub out for Scrap Shot? I've been trying to fit one in as well, but I haven't found the right card to cut.
Oh my lord. I don't know why there aren't any comments here about this card, but somebody needs to say it. To this day I will refuse to understand how this card saw print in its current state given how morally abhorrent and fundamentally terrible the concept behind this card is. This card blows chunks, guys, and it needs to be mentioned.
The question we must ask ourselves is where does this card fit? That's an important thing to consider when designing a card, what kind of existing strategy will this card fit into, or what kind of new strategy might be birthed from this card? The original Webspinner saw play in midrange/aggro Hunters, so maybe that was the idea. But 6 mana for 3/3 in stats would never see play in an aggro deck + random beasts are kind of worthless. Does this see play in a control deck? But 6 mana for 3/3 in stats would never see play in a control deck + random beasts are worthless. Does this see play in a combo deck? But 6 mana for 3/3 in stats would never see play in a combo deck + random beasts are worthless.
This card is the pits. What a waste of digital cardboard.
I'm a bit confused as to how to play the control matchups - it feels like this deck just gets outvalued too easily and isn't capable of being agressive enough to find the damage before you get blown out.
What has your experience been like? I'm specifically talking about Galakrond Priest, because it feels like that matchup is just unwinnable.
Don't forget about Pure Paladin and All Spells Mage.
I think the issue is that the card just has too little downside for being a tech card. When you put a tech in your deck, you should have to balance the drawback of playing a weaker than average card sometimes for the payoff of playing a stronger than average card in other games. Albatross has too little downside to call it really a tech card, since it's a decent minion that has an okay effect even against decks that it doesn't specifically counter.
To be honest, though this card is pretty great. I honestly feel like card generation should be a Shaman thing at this point, because it does kind of feel like a mystical thing Shaman's could do.
Looking at the footage from streamers playing new decks, this card is quietly one of the clutchest Control DH tools out here. This card is better than Bone Wraith in terms of defensive viability, and imo, by quite a bit.
Hmmm. I'm a dumbass. The card has taunt and divine shield.
Don't be like me kids.
The devs stated this wasn't true on the stream. It's left off because there's too much text.
Now we can know two guys!
I dunno man, both of the Libram discounters are odd.
I agree with your assessment on control vs control, I was probably simplifying it too much.
However, I think the comparison to Drakonid Operative is a bit sketch cause Operative allowed for discover. Most of the issue I have with Alabaster is that you don't know what you'll get. Drakonid Operative is far better in this regard, and the 5 mana means Operative comes out earlier and is easier to pair with the card you discover.
Personally I'm pretty excited about this card, if only for the fact that it looks like it puts Combo back on the menu. This past menu seriously lacked that, and hopefully this checks Galakrond Priest.
Discount Maly or this card with Satyr -> Play both -> Moonfire -> Swipe -> Swipe/Starfire(?) -> Moonfire = 30 damage.
I for one welcome our new Khun.
Stats-wise it's fine, but no one runs War Golem for a reason. As for effect, we need to first establish this card never sees play in aggro or fast midrange, because you never run 7 mana cards in those decks. So as control, It seems strong but take a second to think about how it plays against various archetypes.
Against Control you can get board clears, healing and value. Only one of those is good, and its value. Like if you get a galakrond you're nutting. But as a control deck versus another control deck, you don't need board clears or healing. Most of the time, this card is bad. If you wanted a threat there are better choices. If you wanted value, there are better choices.
Against Aggro, you get burn and small minions. Neither of those are good against aggro. To win this matchup you need taunt, healing and board clears. Alabaster is none of these, and it never finds you one either. It's a War Golem which lets you pay 1 mana for 2-3 mana cards, none of which matter because you'll be dead by the time those cards can attack on Turn 9. Also, a lot of aggro right now is highly synergistic. Totem Shaman runs totems, enough said. Demon Hunter runs attack synergy and weapons.
Against Combo this is even more useless. Either you find worthless combo pieces, or once again, board clears and draw. If you wanted draw or board clears, you should've put them in your own deck.
This card runs into the same issue that thief Priest cards had - it's that enemy cards are generally not good against the enemy deck. They fixed the problem with Thoughtsteal by making it cheap. This is not cheap.
I think the only place this is good is against midrange, and only if you get lucky and hit a 4+ mana card, which is not guaranteed. If I had to name a deck this goes in I think Embiggen Druid could use this well, but even then stuff like Winged Guardian and the Hydra thing are better because they have relevant keywords.
Pretty sure this card is bad -
First off, I doubt anyone thinks this will see play in Priest. The buff spells Priest plays are in general too big to be able to get this out early, so Galakrond Priest doesn't want this (and also why would they even want a 4/5 to begin with). The only Priest deck running small spells is Tempo Priest, but that deck needs early game, not a card which is conditional on you having played other cards - that deck's biggest weakness is card draw, so having a dead card is devastating.
Paladin is where this is mostly considered, but looking at Libram Paladin I'm not convinced this goes in. Think about this card versus control and then aggro. Against Control, Libram Paladin doesn't have the early game to curve out and kill their opponents, so a lot of the time you play to a kind of value-y slow burn, where you chip them down over time by using heal to maintain board control. If you look at the deck, it lacks strong 6 and 7 drops to finish out a game. Playing a 0 mana 4/5 could help here, but only if it's 0-2 mana. When I'm playing Libram Pally, if I don't draw Libram of Wisdom, I'm playing 2-3 spells on my minions before turn 7. And if your strategy is only good when you draw another card, especially in a class like Paladin which lacks card draw, I doubt it'll be good.
Against aggro, we need to consider how often we can stick buffs on our minions. The answer is not much. Most forms of Aggro right now are close to Midrange strategies - they trade. Which means your Yeti is coming down too late to impact the board most of the time. This card is made even slower because it lacks keywords which interact with enemy minions. Our win condition is healing and taunting, and this card does neither.
Overall, unless fast aggressive buffs are printed for Paladin or Priest I don't quite see this card making the cut.
Trump is crying right now
Think about the insane Skydiving Instructor synergy. You can consistently tutor this minion then bounce it back to hand.
The idea is that Glide chucks the healing/clears into the deck while refueling the DH.
Generally, people like to be rewarded for doing well, and if Priest has managed to stabilize and has card advantage against the DH, they deserve to be rewarded for surviving, but Glide prevents this in the same way Divine Favor did, only arguably in a more oppressive form - not only is it gas for the DH it eliminates the card advantage control decks are built around. Given how strong Aggro DH is currently, this card only exacerbates the problem.
Remember 5 mana skull? Powerful draw options see play in aggro decks with burn capability since it's more potential burn cards to throw at the opponent's face. And this is where Glide gets even worse, because the counterplay to burn for control decks is to try and heal out of range. But Glide reshuffles your hand into your deck, which gets rid of your heal options - generally Control's first priority is to stabilize and then heal, so most Control decks won't have had the opportunity to use all that healing when it's just ripped out of their hands, and then they die.
That being said, I don't like how you're being downvoted like this. Even though you're wrong it's counterproductive to discussion if everyone shits on you instead of answering your question.
Yeah, it's definitely one of the main issues with the deck. I've thought about adding Zephrys for the combo turn - play Beastmaster first to let Zephrys know you have the damage, then play Zephrys and get Silence so we can beat one taunt. Unfortunately I don't own Zephrys so I can't really test it.
Also, which card did you sub out for Scrap Shot? I've been trying to fit one in as well, but I haven't found the right card to cut.
Oh my lord. I don't know why there aren't any comments here about this card, but somebody needs to say it. To this day I will refuse to understand how this card saw print in its current state given how morally abhorrent and fundamentally terrible the concept behind this card is. This card blows chunks, guys, and it needs to be mentioned.
The question we must ask ourselves is where does this card fit? That's an important thing to consider when designing a card, what kind of existing strategy will this card fit into, or what kind of new strategy might be birthed from this card? The original Webspinner saw play in midrange/aggro Hunters, so maybe that was the idea. But 6 mana for 3/3 in stats would never see play in an aggro deck + random beasts are kind of worthless. Does this see play in a control deck? But 6 mana for 3/3 in stats would never see play in a control deck + random beasts are worthless. Does this see play in a combo deck? But 6 mana for 3/3 in stats would never see play in a combo deck + random beasts are worthless.
This card is the pits. What a waste of digital cardboard.
I'm a bit confused as to how to play the control matchups - it feels like this deck just gets outvalued too easily and isn't capable of being agressive enough to find the damage before you get blown out.
What has your experience been like? I'm specifically talking about Galakrond Priest, because it feels like that matchup is just unwinnable.
Is this list missing dragon's pack because it's bad, or because the deck is meant to be budget?
Don't forget about Pure Paladin and All Spells Mage.
I think the issue is that the card just has too little downside for being a tech card. When you put a tech in your deck, you should have to balance the drawback of playing a weaker than average card sometimes for the payoff of playing a stronger than average card in other games. Albatross has too little downside to call it really a tech card, since it's a decent minion that has an okay effect even against decks that it doesn't specifically counter.
Sounds really cool. I wouldn't hold my breath on it, but if it does work, that's pretty dope.
Might even be worth considering in standard as a late game value engine or finisher.
Why would that let you get infinite uses?
"Shaman's weakness is card generation".
To be honest, though this card is pretty great. I honestly feel like card generation should be a Shaman thing at this point, because it does kind of feel like a mystical thing Shaman's could do.
Looking at the footage from streamers playing new decks, this card is quietly one of the clutchest Control DH tools out here. This card is better than Bone Wraith in terms of defensive viability, and imo, by quite a bit.