It's a strong effect for a 1 mana spell and adds to the Prismatic Lens pool for Duel Paladin and other such builds. But I think it'll be hard to justify putting it into most Paladin decks - I can't really see how it would fit into any particular strategy (simply being a target for Prismatic Lens is barely worth it). Buff and Divine Shield builds aren't really a thing for Paladin anymore.
Extremely powerful card in any Paladin deck. Obviously great in Dragon builds, but having such a powerful battlecry AND lifesteal should make it a serious consideration in basically any archetype. Definitely makes me hold out hope for my dream of creating a viable Heal Dragon Paladin deck!
Very powerful - an auto-include in Dragon or Heal Paladin builds. I'm still hoping to realize my dream of creating a good Heal Dragon Paladin deck; I've tried in previous expansions but there just hasn't been enough support. With all the dragons in this set I'm starting to think it could be viable. Has obvious synergy with self-damaging cards like Thekal too - let's just hope that the new card that destroys your opponent's armor isn't played too often!
A tricky condition to play around - I imagine there'll be lots of times where you have to trigger the sidequest with sub-optimal boards. But it only costs 1 mana and has the potential to be busted on the right kind of board. With the hero power and cards that summon multiple minions like Sky Claw, you can see how this could scale super quickly. Paladin is getting some cleverly-designed cards this expansion that create different types of interactions.
Very powerful card, particularly if you can get in out early. Turn 1 Glow-Tron, turn 2 Micro-Mummy and this on Turn 3 (or coined on turn 2) would be an insane start. The claw itself is a mech so can be buffed, and if you can keep it alive it'll buff any other mechs you play too. A great addition to any aggro or midrange paladin builds.
This card is busted in a Pure Paladin build; a free 4/2 with your Truesilver Champion. We'll have to see whether that archetype is viable - if it is, this will clearly be one of its defining cards. Will certainly see lots of experimentation early on.
This card is insane, particularly in more aggro builds and even in midrange, providing that you can keep control of the board. 2 mana for a 3/6 with taunt is great value. It's also super interesting design in how it creates a different kind of interaction between you and your opponent. I expect this to see quite a bit of play across a few different Paladin builds.
An archetype-defining card and one that will see lots of experimentation. Like with duplicates in highlander decks, there's always the possibility of putting one or two neutrals in that have very powerful effects, e.g. Zephrys. I feel like these Pure Paladin builds will probably be outclassed in the long run, but certainly has potential. I hope it gets more support in later expansions and doesn't end up being the next Cryostasis Shaman.
The effect reminds me a bit of Valany'r in how it can repeat itself endlessly. With Valany'r it didn't turn out to be that useful, as Buff Paladin builds at the time were too slow for the meta, but I certainly think that this will see play if Dragon Paladin is a thing.
I think the trick with this card will be to find the best circumstances to take advantage of the symmetric effect. Against aggro decks and opponents with few cards in their hand would be advantageous, and even though the opponent gets the first chance to make use of the 10 mana, you still get an 8/8 on the board, which they'll have to deal with. I really want Dragon Paladin to work, and if it does I think this card will be a main feature of the deck, but it will take some experimentation to see if that archetype is even viable in the meta.
Insane 1 drop for Mage. Arcane Missiles with a 1/1 attached, and also the Arcane Missiles you get works with the 'spells not starting in your deck' synergy for Mana Giant.
Very simple to complete, and 1 mana for a 6/6 is clearly great value. Not 100% sure how effective this will be in practice, though. What is a mage going to do with a 6/6 dragon on the board (that you can't attack with until the enxt turn)? I'm also struggling to see how the spell synergies and dragon synergies will fit together in this expansion, and this card exemplifies that.
More expensive than the other 'explorer' cards in other classes, so I think you'd really have to justify that +2 spell damage. There are some decent dragons you could discover, though, in Malygos, Aspect of Magic and Cobalt Spellkin. Imagine discovering Malygos Aspect of Magic and being able to play it straight away next turn.
1 mana draw 3 is obviously insane, and it has support in this expansion with . Works great with . Seems like a certain include for Spell Mage. But based on what I've seen from Theorycrafting Livestreams so far I'm wondering what the late-game of this deck will be. Once you've drawn all your spells and cycled through your deck, what's your win condition? Especially as you'll be using a lot of your spells dealing with huge dragons and other minions on the board.
Fantastic low-cost removal, and the fact that the battlecry (when holding a dragon) is 'discover' makes this insane. A definite include in dragon-based Mage decks.
Obviously has great synergy with Malygos Aspect of Magic, so you can play your upgraded spell for free. Could be even more effective as a combo finisher. If you had Pyroblast and Fireball in your hand, you could play this, the 'free' Pyroblast and the Fireball for 16 damage to the face. Nice!
Flavorful and strong. Reminds me a lot of Meteor from Un'goro. Provides some great flexibility for removing minions. I imagine that when this card is used successfully, it will be a bit like pulling off a really good Defile when that was in Standard. Great design.
A strong card, as the condition to reduce its cost is not that difficult, particularly with the new cards Violet Spellwing and Cobalt Spellkin. Should certainly see inclusion in 'Small Spell Mage' decks alongside Mana Cyclone and Chenvaala.
Hard to evaluate in some ways, as it's hard to judge the extent to which Mages will be able to get off lots of small spells in a small space of time. Definitely works well with the new cards Violet Spellwing and Cobalt Spellkin, though, and even just summoning one 5/5 elemental is really great value - 3 mana for 7/10 in stats!!
A powerful card, and an auto-include in any Dragon Mage deck I would say. Personally, though, I think that dragons will be weaker in Mage than most other classes this expansion. The low-cost spell support is very strong, however, so there will definitely be viable decks - will just be interesting to see the extent that dragons feature in them.
It's a strong effect for a 1 mana spell and adds to the Prismatic Lens pool for Duel Paladin and other such builds. But I think it'll be hard to justify putting it into most Paladin decks - I can't really see how it would fit into any particular strategy (simply being a target for Prismatic Lens is barely worth it). Buff and Divine Shield builds aren't really a thing for Paladin anymore.
Extremely powerful card in any Paladin deck. Obviously great in Dragon builds, but having such a powerful battlecry AND lifesteal should make it a serious consideration in basically any archetype. Definitely makes me hold out hope for my dream of creating a viable Heal Dragon Paladin deck!
Very powerful - an auto-include in Dragon or Heal Paladin builds. I'm still hoping to realize my dream of creating a good Heal Dragon Paladin deck; I've tried in previous expansions but there just hasn't been enough support. With all the dragons in this set I'm starting to think it could be viable. Has obvious synergy with self-damaging cards like Thekal too - let's just hope that the new card that destroys your opponent's armor isn't played too often!
A tricky condition to play around - I imagine there'll be lots of times where you have to trigger the sidequest with sub-optimal boards. But it only costs 1 mana and has the potential to be busted on the right kind of board. With the hero power and cards that summon multiple minions like Sky Claw, you can see how this could scale super quickly. Paladin is getting some cleverly-designed cards this expansion that create different types of interactions.
Very powerful card, particularly if you can get in out early. Turn 1 Glow-Tron, turn 2 Micro-Mummy and this on Turn 3 (or coined on turn 2) would be an insane start. The claw itself is a mech so can be buffed, and if you can keep it alive it'll buff any other mechs you play too. A great addition to any aggro or midrange paladin builds.
This card is busted in a Pure Paladin build; a free 4/2 with your Truesilver Champion. We'll have to see whether that archetype is viable - if it is, this will clearly be one of its defining cards. Will certainly see lots of experimentation early on.
This card is insane, particularly in more aggro builds and even in midrange, providing that you can keep control of the board. 2 mana for a 3/6 with taunt is great value. It's also super interesting design in how it creates a different kind of interaction between you and your opponent. I expect this to see quite a bit of play across a few different Paladin builds.
An archetype-defining card and one that will see lots of experimentation. Like with duplicates in highlander decks, there's always the possibility of putting one or two neutrals in that have very powerful effects, e.g. Zephrys. I feel like these Pure Paladin builds will probably be outclassed in the long run, but certainly has potential. I hope it gets more support in later expansions and doesn't end up being the next Cryostasis Shaman.
The effect reminds me a bit of Valany'r in how it can repeat itself endlessly. With Valany'r it didn't turn out to be that useful, as Buff Paladin builds at the time were too slow for the meta, but I certainly think that this will see play if Dragon Paladin is a thing.
I think the trick with this card will be to find the best circumstances to take advantage of the symmetric effect. Against aggro decks and opponents with few cards in their hand would be advantageous, and even though the opponent gets the first chance to make use of the 10 mana, you still get an 8/8 on the board, which they'll have to deal with. I really want Dragon Paladin to work, and if it does I think this card will be a main feature of the deck, but it will take some experimentation to see if that archetype is even viable in the meta.
Insane 1 drop for Mage. Arcane Missiles with a 1/1 attached, and also the Arcane Missiles you get works with the 'spells not starting in your deck' synergy for Mana Giant.
Very simple to complete, and 1 mana for a 6/6 is clearly great value. Not 100% sure how effective this will be in practice, though. What is a mage going to do with a 6/6 dragon on the board (that you can't attack with until the enxt turn)? I'm also struggling to see how the spell synergies and dragon synergies will fit together in this expansion, and this card exemplifies that.
More expensive than the other 'explorer' cards in other classes, so I think you'd really have to justify that +2 spell damage. There are some decent dragons you could discover, though, in Malygos, Aspect of Magic and Cobalt Spellkin. Imagine discovering Malygos Aspect of Magic and being able to play it straight away next turn.
1 mana draw 3 is obviously insane, and it has support in this expansion with . Works great with . Seems like a certain include for Spell Mage. But based on what I've seen from Theorycrafting Livestreams so far I'm wondering what the late-game of this deck will be. Once you've drawn all your spells and cycled through your deck, what's your win condition? Especially as you'll be using a lot of your spells dealing with huge dragons and other minions on the board.
Fantastic low-cost removal, and the fact that the battlecry (when holding a dragon) is 'discover' makes this insane. A definite include in dragon-based Mage decks.
Obviously has great synergy with Malygos Aspect of Magic, so you can play your upgraded spell for free. Could be even more effective as a combo finisher. If you had Pyroblast and Fireball in your hand, you could play this, the 'free' Pyroblast and the Fireball for 16 damage to the face. Nice!
Flavorful and strong. Reminds me a lot of Meteor from Un'goro. Provides some great flexibility for removing minions. I imagine that when this card is used successfully, it will be a bit like pulling off a really good Defile when that was in Standard. Great design.
A strong card, as the condition to reduce its cost is not that difficult, particularly with the new cards Violet Spellwing and Cobalt Spellkin. Should certainly see inclusion in 'Small Spell Mage' decks alongside Mana Cyclone and Chenvaala.
Hard to evaluate in some ways, as it's hard to judge the extent to which Mages will be able to get off lots of small spells in a small space of time. Definitely works well with the new cards Violet Spellwing and Cobalt Spellkin, though, and even just summoning one 5/5 elemental is really great value - 3 mana for 7/10 in stats!!
A powerful card, and an auto-include in any Dragon Mage deck I would say. Personally, though, I think that dragons will be weaker in Mage than most other classes this expansion. The low-cost spell support is very strong, however, so there will definitely be viable decks - will just be interesting to see the extent that dragons feature in them.