Can we also get the patch notes soon? It’s difficult to judge these cards without knowing the changes that might occur.
As for the new reveals:
WarBlade:
This card looks weak. It’s 2 mana for a 1/4 that might buff your other dudes if you have a golem. However, Lyonar already has a lot of other things it wants to play on 2 mana, from Windblade adept to Azurite lion. Maybe it might see play, but it would have to be alongside the other powerful 2 drops.
Wind Striker:
Those two jet engines arms only do half as much damage as the twirl from a snow chaser. What? As for the card itself, I think that people give it much less credit that it deserves. I would compare it to Arclyte regalia. In this ping-heavy meta, Arclyte is likely to block incomming damage roughly 2-3 times, and deal 4-6 damage while blocking. However, it is especially weak to continuous pings. Striker can also tank 4 hits, but does less damage while giving a bit of reach. Striker also gives two bodies that demand different types of removal, which is pretty valuable. What truely sells it though is Sirocco. I initially judged Sirocco harshly, but it might possibly be the best card released this expansion. It is the only card that benifits from you just playing things. Not healing, or making things die, just playing things. If Golem Vetruvian was o work, Sirocco would be absolutely terrifying.
I am a bit dissapointed, though, that Sajj still has no reliable healing. There is still some hope in the balance changes, but I’m beginning to loose faith.
Blood Echoes
This card is hilarious! Alone, this card gives you a net negative effect (randomly shuffling your minions) for 3 mana, but with support, you can get a free Sarlac! Or 6 free wraithlings! Or, even better, A free life-swing while also buffling Death Knell. Much like Golem Swarm with Vetruvian, Arcanist combo is clearly the Abyssian archetype that Counterplay is pushing for. While I’m not too sure whether this card will make the cut, seeing how it requires you to have a 5/1 survive, I will certainly try to go full combo. I commit to my gimmicks, unlike those pansies who don’t run obliterate in Cassyva because it’s “not meta.”
GodHammer
"Whoever holds this hammer, if he is worthy, shall possess the power of Starhorn." Also, obligatory comment about how something called “GODHAMMER” deals less damage than smacking someone with a flower…
This is very clearly a Starhorn Card. Godhammer works by having your general stay far away from the battle while your minions do all the work. Vaath is too much of a face-monkey to handle such a delicate tool, so it falls upon Starhorn to wield this hammer. With this, you are essentially paying 1/2 as much mana for 1.5 war surges spread over two turns, decent enough on its own. However, if you happen to have a Moloki Huntress on the board, then things are about to get spicy! I’m glad that Starhorn is getting some support that is not pure face damage this expansion.
Iceshatter Gauntlet
This card is useless! If I wanted cold mittens, why spend mana when I can just go outside and wander around in Canadian Winter?
Loreweaver
I think that the design gods at CPG heard the pleas of Songhai players everywhere and brought to them another way to get even more phoenix fires. The most obvious deck that this card fits under in good old-fashion spellhai. Not the Disgusting Shim’zar “spellhai”, but the old spellhai, where the only minion were spells and everything else were spells. Loreweaver works best in decks with a high percentage of cheap spells, so that you can trigger spell synergy more reliably and refill your hand. In that deck, this card might reliably draw 2 cards per turn while not giving any to your opponent, beating out Spelljammer. Unfortunately, the Vortex nerf may have killed the deck… Anyhow, I can see this card performing well in other Arcanist decks as well. If you have a 50/50 spell : minion ratio, you get 1.5 cards each turn and more consistency. Furthermore, you don’t help your opponent, unlike spelljammer, and you get a free arcanist. Note that your opponent can see when you have drawn a spell by looking at your card count, and that this does not trigger from “add” effects like Lantern Fox, or Calligrapher.
Boulder Breacher
Seems Decent, though it’s not anything to write home about. I feel that Brightmoss golem probably beats this minion due to higher stats and no board requirement. When you’re getting beating by Brightmoss golem, yo better reconsider your choices as a duelyst card and maybe think about getting a job as say… an actor? I heard Gainax has a certain anime that you might fit into…
Grimes
It was at this point that I realized the true purpose of this expansion; to frustrate the playerbase as much as pos… I MEAN TO GIVE GAUNTLET GOOD LATEGAME OPTIONS. Heuf. That was close. Almost made a Freudian slip there. This expansion introduces many terrific lategame cards at the rare rarity, namely EMP and this guy. This means that gauntlet players can rejoice and start drafting rare fatties as powerful as some legendaries. As for the card itself, I’m still working on the mean outcome, but I think it’s safe to say that this mickey-mouse knockoff is pretty strong.
Edit: You get on average about 5.6 mana worth of stuff from him on top of his original body. There is roughly a 1/4 change of getting at least one game-ending threat and a roughly 50% change of getting absolute garbage both times.
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