Although the reveal season for March of the Lich King is yet to start, Team 5 has already revealed a good portion of the new Death Knight cards during the announcement video. And we've already made sure to dive deep into the class as a whole. 

While we don't have the full picture yet, a few cards already stand out to us because of their remarkable power level. Yes, their future playability will greatly depend on the Rune mechanic: it doesn't matter if a card is busted, if the Rune it's bound to is unplayable! Therefore, more than for any other class, Death Knight's cards need to be addressed as a whole. But that still won't stop us from pointing out at some of the DK tools which, in our opinion, have what it takes to play a major role in the upcoming March of the Lich King meta. 

Disclaimer: Just so you know, the cards you'll see below aren't being listed in any specific order.


Patchwerk

If you thought Mutanus the Devourer was annoying, you'll definitely lose your mind over this one. Patchwerk gives up Mutanus' board presence for a much, much more disruptive effect: when Death Knight becomes available as a class, decks that run very few, crucial minions will meet a formidable foe.

While the Blood Rune requirement will stop this card from being included in every kind of DK decks, we think that lists with at least one Blood Rune will be mandatory just because of this unit. We wouldn't be surprised to see Patchwerk being eventually bumped to 8 mana or seeing its Rune requirement going up to 2.


Plague Strike

This card looks so packed with power. Let's compare it with some other cards that have a similar effect:

  • Deliverance costs 1 more mana and you need to meet the Honorable Kill condition, which is what has always held back the card from seeing play.
  • Flanking Strike costs 2 more mana, doesn't require the minion to be killed but the summoned Wolf doesn't have Rush.
  • Natural Causes can go face and always summons a 2/2, but without Rush and with smaller reach (the difference between 2 and 3 damage is bigger than you might think).

Plague Strike represents such a strong early game swing, especially if you're going second against an aggressive deck: turn 1 coin into this spell is pretty much guaranteed to kill any 1-drop, instantly flipping the board's balance.

Based on what we've seen so far, most of the good stuff is either Blood or Frost, so we'll have to see how much support Unholy will receive, but this doesn't change the fact that this card (in a vacuum) is very impressive.


Vampiric Blood

Vampiric Blood Card Image

The triple Blood Rune requirement means that if you're playing Vampiric Blood, you'll have to give up on every Unholy and Frost card, but (un)holy moly, what a card. Vampiric Blood seems like a potentially very annoying tool to play against, especially if Death Knight will receive ways to heal efficiently. Pair it with Prince Renathal and Reno Jackson for that extra spice!

While more Health doesn't do much by itself, we'll have to see what other Blood Rune cards the class will receive: Patchwerk, for example, is a very solid start.

The only way we can see this spell being balanced out is that it requires 3 Corpses to be upgraded and, as we explain in our Death Knight Deep Dive, Blood Rune cards aren't particularly proficient in that field; however 2 mana gain 5 Health is still pretty damn good.


Glacial Advance

If this card didn't go face, it would've still been quite good: a Shadow Bolt with Preparation attached to it is a respectable effect. However, Glacial Advance can go face, which is insane to us. Let us make it clear for you: this is a 1 mana deal 4 damage spell with just 1 Frost Rune as a deckbuilding limitation! The tempo of this card is insane, and so will be its playrate in December.

Just like for Patchwerk, we wouldn't be surprised to see a swift change to Glacial Advance: maybe one less damage point or one more Frost Rune. In the meantime, this card seems bonkers, so be prepared to abuse it as much as you can.


Icy Touch

Another card that does a lot for very little mana investment. Mage has Frostbolt, an already good card, but Icy Touch is cheaper and therefore strictly better: you always give up 1 burn damage for 1 less mana investment.

Moreover, Icy Touch has no Rune restriction: meaning that it can slot into any Death Knight deck! Based on the cards we've seen so far, we expect this spell to be used at least in a Frost-heavy build in combination with Overseer Frigidara, so that you'll be able to kill or Freeze anything that survives your Consecration-like effect.


Honorable Mentions

Horn of Winter - Difficult to judge because we don't know what combos Death Knight might be able to pull off, but there is no way in heaven or hell that a card with this effect doesn't see play. No. Way.

Frostwyrm's Fury - The viability of the triple Frost archetype really depends on what (and how many) other cards with 3 Frost Runes we'll receive, but Frostwyrm's Fury seems to be a fantastic start for the deck.


What do you think about the Death Knight cards that have been revealed so far? Which ones are your favorites? Let us know in the comments below!