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With Blackrock Mountain releasing its first wing this week, Blizzard has revealed all of the cards that will be added into Hearthstone with the new adventure. I’ll go over seven of the new cards that have been revealed in this article with the remaining seven covered in one last article. We’ll look at the three remaining legendaries and some of the first cards that will be released with the expansion. Some look like guaranteed mainstays in the new meta game, while others make for better comic relief than competitive cards. Either way, fun times abound.
First up is Emperor Thaurissan, the first legendary that we’ll get and easily the best. His stat line may be a little undervalued for the cost, but his ability to reduce the mana costs of the cards in your hand makes up for it. Since it triggers at the end of your turn, you’re guaranteed to get some value out of him. There’s also the fact that there aren’t too many great turn 6 plays in the game already. I have no doubts that Thaurissan will enjoy the same kind of popularity as Naxxramas‘ Loatheb as there simply isn’t a deck that he’s bad in.
This guy is hilarious, but also extremely impractical. When Majordomo Executus dies, your hero will be replaced with Ragnaros the Firelord and your hero power will now deal 8 damage to a random enemy. It sounds awesome, but then you realize that Ragnaros only has 8 health and this transformation leaves you extremely vulnerable. It could act as a heal if you’re desperately low on health, but it will only get you so much and you can’t heal higher than 8 afterwards. This could have some potential in Warrior with the aid of armor for added surviability, but will most certainly be relegated to joke card in all other scenarios.
Chromaggus straddles the line between being good and being goofy. On the one hand, his stat line isn’t great and his effect has a good deal of randomness to it. On the other hand, the simple virtue of having more cards in your hand than your opponent is a major advantage. In control-focused decks, he could be viable as a late-game asset that keeps your resources plentiful. However, he may not be practical enough for many decks.
The new Rogue spell, Gang Up, certainly isn’t a card that many competitive decks can fit in. Getting three minions of your choice from what’s currently on the board sounds nice, but you still need to draw into them afterward and this can cost you a great deal of tempo. However, it will be great in a certain type of joke deck called Mill Rogue. Mill is the tactic of intentionally filling your opponents hand inorder to burn their most important cards and to kill your opponent with fatigue damage once their deck runs out. One weakness of the deck is that you tend to burn yourself out as quickly as your opponent, so a card that increases the size of your deck would certainly be useful. It’s not a great card, but I’m definitely glad to have it.
Randomness is a factor in the Priest’s Resurrect spell, but it may still be viable at a competitive level. Odds are fairly good that you’ll get at least a 2 mana minion and that will be decent value. If you get anything bigger, then this card is incredible. The biggest problem is that the odds will depend on the minions that your opponent is using and high aggression with smaller minions is very popular at the moment. It’s a good card, but now might not be the best time for it. Oh, and speaking of aggro…
UPDATE: I JUST noticed that the card specifies friendly minions, so my problem with getting a bad minion from your opponent is not actually an issue. This card is 100% awesome.
Raise your hand if you hate face-damage Hunters! Quick Shot is strong just as a 3 damage spell for 2 mana, but the added effect of card draw when your hand is empty makes this insane as a late-game topdeck. Your best hope is to try and bait your opponent into spending it in the early game where it will still get good value but won’t lock down a win. Otherwise, the nightmare of your opponent drawing into lethal has just gotten worse. Hunter is currently incredibly strong and this card is only going to make them more powerful than ever before.
Finally, we have Druid of the Flame, a 3 mana 2/5 for Druid. You have option of making it a 5/2, but you’re never going to. It’s okay, but pretty bland for a class exclusive minion. It is worth noting that transformation is immune to silence, so whichever buff you pick will stick. Also, both forms count as beasts, so this may encourage players to use Druid of the Fang more. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but it can be viable in most decks.
There are only seven more cards to cover and they’ll be here soon. Until then, let us know which cards you’re most excited to play with.
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