We move on from the Basic Set straight into the new Initiate set, the closest thing to a 'Classic' set the Demon Hunter has (though importantly not a Classic set for things like Zephrys, sadly).
This first part will take a look at all the Common cards available to the Demon Hunter from this set; the second will cover Rares, Epics and Legendaries. I've also brought back other members of the site!
As always with our reviews, we are 100% correct in our interpretations of how the cards will perform. There's no need to look at any of the previous reviews to check this, I did that for you already and I promise we totally got everything right.
One slice, two slice, red knife, blue knife.
Quote From sinti Twin Slice is an obvious stab at Twinspell mechanic phrased in a spell-out form to fit nature of Basic/Classic set. The card itself will have some nice synergy with your Hero attacking, since that is a core part of Demon Hunter playstyle. But what interests me more is its cost. It would have been fair at 1-Cost, given that as a single card, it does generate extra resources and opens up more plays with the copy, and Twinspell cards do cost roughly 1 Mana more than how much would a same card without Twinspell cost. Also since the card is technically supposed to belong to a "Classic" set for Demon Hunter, lower power level would be understandable. But no, they decided on 0-Cost.
I think in today's world where power level went up, most people wont probably even bat an eye, write the card off as too weak even. Now, why I'm talking about this in such lengths, I wonder, if this could actually be Blizzard setting up for some kind of Miracle archetype for Demon Hunter down the line. With two copies of Twin Slice, that is already 4 cards cycled via Gadgetzan Auctioneer, add another 0-Cost card DH got, Blur, and that's 6 already. Then there is Consume Magic, which is low cost enough for a cycle as well and has "Outcast: Draw a card" on top of it meaning that if you draw into it while cycling, you will draw an extra card. Just with these three spells, you can already cycle 1/3rd of your deck, which is an interesting thing to consider to say the least. What do you think?
Can't get your head checked now, can you?
Quote From Noxious A simple card with a clear effect. But wait! You could say [Hearthstone Card (Time Out) Not Found] and Blur are identical, but there is an important difference. Blur shields you from damage, but it does not protect you from freeze effects. This is important as Demon Hunter is shaping up to be a very hero attack-heavy class. This spell works both ways, of course. No one can damage you, but you can also deal damage with your hero without consequences. It is going to prove pivotal in situations where you have no choice but to strike a big attack minion with Illidan.
So... which head do I pet?
Quote From ShadowsOfSense It's kind of funny to see this enter the game at the same time as Battlefiend, because it's just… a lot worse. That's not to say Ur'zul Horror is a bad card, of course, it's just evidently a worse 1-drop than something coming out at the same time as it, which looks a little strange.
Having said that, having another aggressively statted minion for redundancy isn't a bad thing, and this will definitely find a home in any list looking to close the game out quickly. Demon Hunter looks like it might be able to have some big swing turns in terms of hand size thanks to Feast of Souls, meaning it probably won't mind running more than the average amount of lower cost cards. It's hard to say how much difference the added Attack makes compared to cards like Mecharoo or Possessed Villager, but I think having to resummon the subsequent token yourself is more than an adequate downside.
This isn't anything mind-blowing, but you need these sorts of cards when building a class from scratch. Something to help solidify its identity.
Nobody tell Mark we brought it back.
Quote From Noxious This is probably one of the most unique cards to come out of Ashes of Outland. Its effect is akin to Curse of Rafaam or Gnomeferatu in that it messes with aspects of your opponent's game that are generally "safe" from outside tampering; the actual consequences of this effect are more similar to Rebuke or Loatheb however, in that it forces the affected player to make worse plays. If you're scared of a big Mecha'thun showing up at the end of the game, this card can buy you an extra turn. Highlander Dragon decks can suffer from this greatly as well, with cards like Ysera, Unleashed - which are already hard to play - taking longer to make it to the board.
Using this card in the early game can also be quite devastating. If Handlock makes a comeback in Standard without Mountain Giant (go gently into the night), casting Mana Burn on the Warlock's fourth turn could spell big trouble.
I have high hopes that this card will show up in a lot of Demon Hunter decks. Its effect gets straight to the point and can prove an obstacle against virtually any deck, and with its very low mana cost, it could give aggro Demon Hunters gets an edge against a tough match-up.
Warlocks are spicier than Mages. Shamans are an acquired taste.
Quote From Demonxz95 Outcast is a pretty neat mechanic: If you play it from the left or right-most position in your hand, you gain the Outcast bonus.
So with the mechanic in mind, I'm really excited to see how it plays out. When you draw a card, it goes to the right of your hand, so if it has Outcast, it'll activate. For 1 mana, you can Silence a minion and cycle which seems pretty decent (and because it's cheap, you can play it when you topdeck it, and cycle). You can potentially then draw into another Outcast card, and then be able to use that Outcast effect again. Kinda eerily similar to Quick-Time.
How good this card will be is entirely dependent on how easy it will be to activate Outcast. If it's fairly easy, then it's a good card. If it's not quite that easy, then it isn't.
They keep wyrming their way back into the game. They must have a tunnel or something.
Quote From Demonxz95 If there's a DH card to look out for, I think it's this one. Despite the fact that DH is hard to review as it's basically like reviewing a custom class (only one that will actually make it into the game), it's pretty hard to imagine this card being anything but great. A 1 mana 2/2 with an upside is sure to be amazing. We already have Blazing Battlemage which sees quite a bit of play. This is just that, but better. It not only has Demon synergy, which may be relevant to some DH decks, but it also grows as a bigger and bigger threat. You don't need Blazing Battlemage when you have this, although maybe some really hardcore SMOrc DH decks will run both anyway. I imagine this is just an auto-include 1-drop in all DH decks until the end of time (or Team 5 chops it with their Gorehowl).
The aspect of a new Demon class however does make me wonder something: Will Warlock start running Sacrificial Pact specifically to counter DH?
Take these guys umber your wing.
Quote From sinti Umberwing might not look like much, but if you really think about it, doesn't this card look a little familiar? Just a tiny bit? No? How about now - Muster for Battle? I would actually go as far as call this a sleeper of the set. In a class that seems to have a lot of aggressive tools, this gives me some flashbacks. Added bonus, the tokens are Demons, so all kinds of synergies can be activated. And cards like Wrathscale Naga or Feast of Souls will gladly accept the sacrifice. I am very interested to see how this plays out.
The most ancient of orders - "Charge forward!"
Quote From ShadowsOfSense I already gave my thoughts on Coordinated Strike, and this is twice the effect for not-quite-twice the cost - a pretty balanced upscaling of the effect of a Basic card, all things considered.
This is a much better card than one might think, in fact. A Fireball that you can direct the damage of (albeit with some restrictions) is nothing to sniff at, and it beats Swarm of Locusts out by a whole 1 mana while only losing one minion. This isn't even really much of a downside, because like Swarm of Locusts a lot of the power of this card lies in how you combo it with other cards, often ones that you need to have on the board already.
This is going to see a lot of play in Demon Hunter, not necessarily because it's incredibly powerful - I'd say it's merely 'good' on its own - but because the rest of the class loves what this card can offer it. There are very strong combos available with this card, all of them on a single turn. This won't be the card nerfed if any of them are too powerful, but it will be integral to the effect.
Comments
FYI, Blur, Felheartened, Chaos Strike and a couple more cards aren't correctly displayed in their respective guide / list
https://outof.cards/hearthstone/cards/demon-hunter?card_set=52&display=images ; https://outof.cards/hearthstone/cards/demon-hunter?card_set=3&display=images : in both cases, bottom of the lists are missing
Those are the effects of cards, not the actual cards themselves. So for example, the Blur one is denoting that your hero is under the effect of Blur. Practically everything in Hearthstone, from cards to card effects to card buckets, is coded as a card.
If you set "Collectible" to "Yes" they'll no longer show up.
Thanks for the explanation and the prompt reply :)
Blizzard should ask you guys to make flavor texts for cards in the next set.
I much rather play Ur'zul Horror on Turn 1 and hold onto Battlefiend for a midrange combo
The outcast mechanic is actually a lot easier to activate than I once thought. Turns out that playing cards is quite easy for dhunters, and they're not exactly low on draw neither.
I think the Gadgetzan Auctioneer synergy doesnt make much sense since dhunters can already draw pretty fast all on their own. Its like 3 or 4 cycle cards and on top of all that is Skull of Gul'dan, practically a mini, slightly more expensive wondrous wand. Dhunters can probably play Chef Nomi with no support other than their cycle cards, just speculating.
The biggest difference between Blur and Time Out! is that the latter is active during your opponent's turn (when you would normally take the most damage), while Blur only protects you from damage taken on your own turn (normally from attacking things with your hero). In other words Blur is like a heal, but it does not guarantee you will live 'til your next turn.
The difference with freezing ends up practically non-existent, since the minions with freeze effects normally have to deal damage to freeze, so attacking them and taking 0 damage prevents that problem (I assume).
Woopsie! Good catch on that! I think that was one of my last reviews on the day I did it, so the this turn part flew over my head.
For context, in my Consume Magic review where I describe something as "kinda eerily similar to Quick-Time", Quick-Time is a custom keyword in my Time Traveler class. It's a bonus that activates if you play the card on the same turn you get it. Think Keli'dan the Breaker, although this is in a class with the tools able to use it a lot easier.