Shim'Zar-cards that need appreciation from us

[DieMango]

Just a Thread to discuss cards that REALLY no one uses but kinda work (its a new Expansion and there are alot of cards that coud be awsome…when you let them)

Wood Wen

(Tested in Inner Oasis Vet and Lockdown Lyonar)

Just a Fun little Guy wich has the critical 2 health syndrom. Well as i mentioned above is Inner Oasis vet pretty good for him. Stoping giant dudes and protecting your Araki Hunter with an Cheese dervish buys you some time…

Lockdown Lyonar is just a good place for him because all those sticky high health minions. Suntide Maiden and Woo-Wen is pretty annoying and anything with Forcefield becomes a nightmare. Still you woud say that Lyonar has enough provoke but…

Conclusion:
…a Anti Aggro card wich isnt that bad and opens up some interesting disignchoices when making a Provoke deck…

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Gnasher

(Tested in Lyonar and Zoo decks)

Now this one was just something i was testing if it is viable in Budget decks…i am very surprised that he hold up. Gets some interesting Synergy with Lion-Heart-Blessing and is another good target for Wood-Wen.

He is like a bigger Jaxi, in the sense of something that you dont want to waste dispell on and dont want to kill.

Conclusion:
…very solid 4 drop actually for Factions that need a decent 4 drop (Lyonar…sometimes Songhai…even Vanar when combined with Mark) might be just a B-class card but sometimes beats Diolitas or Primus by a little bit (but really needs a deck that allows such an low-value card…but isnt a slow card due to the akward tempo gain when your opponent trys to remove it.

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Golden Mantella

(Has its place in Battlepet-decks…mostly Pokemon-Starhorn)

Another akward 4 drop that surprisingly works.

Battlepet decks (focusing on Starhorn-decks) dont bother about sticky minions…thay just need a good way to spam Battlepets and keep the hand full.

So the only thing wich makes Golden Mantelly not suck is that it replaces itself and gives a rendom battlepets wich either cost one and is just way better then any other battlepet at one mana or is a faction Battlepet wich is always 2 mana and useally better then your normal battlepet…

Conclusion:
…Just works because a huge 4 drop isnt better then a Minion that gives you a card back and a value-battlepet (srly…the token battlepets are preeeetty good…the only thing wich makes this viable)

So? Any other minions that need some appreciation? Like Master Zendo…or the Monkey King…stuff i didt test yet but seem interesting…any thoughts?

[oranos]

Except for wood, I see those cards in gauntlet all the time. I even run gnasher in a dying wish deck( it is a very solid 3 drop after lurking fear)

[priestly]

Um I actually run Wood Wen in my Kara Control deck (currently Diamond moving towards S-rank) and it’s extremely strong there. Helps a lot in coping with the forty trillion burst combo decks you see these days.

[deltathunder]

These are gauntlet cards for sure.

Gnasher is a counter-play to battle pets. I pick it in gauntlet all the time. (fills a role similar to the Naga that deals 2 to all around it opening gambit.) Especially when you can force an enemy battle pet to attack into your Gnasher. With it positioned well - to blow up for 3 damage to all enemies around it - it provides good AOE clear, plus some extra damage to the enemy general.

The Golden Mantella is a great gauntlet card as well. It’s a 4/2 for 3, that draws a card - (pretty much a Void Hunter). Even if the battle pet you “draw” isn’t useful, you can just replace it to make it pseudo-draw a random card from your deck. I like all the “put a random battle pet into your action bar” cards in gauntlet for this very reason. Utilizing the replace mechanic, you turn the 1 cost pet into a card from your deck, so it costs 3 crystals for a 4/2, but costs no card draws, because it replaces itself. A perfect early game Gauntlet card.

I quite often pick the Wood Wen in Gauntlet. Being able to make one of your large Golems (Brightmoss Golem, Stormmetal Golem) into a provoke minion is quite good. This will restrict enemy movement, and allow you to capitalize on positioning errors that they have made.

So, while these three cards do not show up regularly in the ‘legendary filled’ Ranked play mode, they are all stars in Gauntlet decks. Primarily due to their ability to establish an early game board presence, while having some late-game potential through their game texts - so they aren’t a dead card draw during the later stages of a match.

[keago]

It’s kinda hard to appreciate anything with all the OTK flying around. As usual songhai needs to be brought down to earth before we can start exploring anything.

[BlankTrack]

I think Solarius(6 M 3/3 Zeal Draw 3 cards end of turn) is extremely underrated. You get a guaranteed 3 cards at the end of your turn, and often times your opponent will silence it or cast a spell to take it out before you can draw more. That leaves with a +3 Card Advantage, but down anywhere between 0-6 Mana of Tempo. As long as the game isn’t going to end that turn, or the following drawing 3 cards and leaving a body is incredibly strong.(Compare to Heavens Elipse.)

Late game you can Roar it and a 5/3 body trades very well with mid/lategame minions. If you can Roar 2x it is a 7/3 which you can cash in for just about any minion.

I also run 3x Beamshock and 3x Sundrop, and a fairly low curve so it isn’t too hard to prevent overdraw.

[thefirstgokun]

Coming back to this thread because I think this card needs a spotlight. Sun Wisp is so great. I play Replace Lyonar, which is actually pretty great with Inquisitor Kron right now, and Sun Wisp is the best card for filling your hand when you need more stuff to replace. Crappy curve? Sun Wisp to the rescue! 2 Mana left over? Sun Wisp has your back! It’s such a great draw card that beats out all those awkward 3 drops (Sojourner, Blazehound, Void Hunter) and its one of my new favorite cards. I just feel good playing it.

[atd09]

Sun wisp don’t need no appreciation. It’s a good card!

[Sorostaran]

Zendo

Yeah, it’s good. It seems like some players still consider Grandmaster Zendo mostly a gimmick card to run with Hamon Bladeseeker or something to steer the enemy general into, but it’s really a powerful card in itself.

Having run Grandmaster Zendo on my P2W account for, ironically, staying power, I pulled two of these, along with a Battle Panddo and Ki Beholders, off the 2,200 Gold saved for Shim’Zar on a F2P account which didn’t have enough Songhai cards previously to play Songhai seriously (missing almost all of Jux/Fox/Boar/OBS/HE, and having no Spelljammer). With the pair of these, the lone Battle Panddo, and the Ki Beholders, I didn’t need to reroll Songhai quest on that F2P account anymore, even missing most of the core set Epic/Legendary power cards.

It’s not difficult to get 8 damage off one of these while pinning the enemy general, and 12 damage off one isn’t that uncommon. It’s very good at saving games from the dreaded Songhai stall. It’s like immediate damage, position control, and staying power rolled into one for 6 mana, buying you time, position, and still working toward lethal. Personally, I like Grandmaster Zendo in Reva over Kaleos because position gain for Kaleos isn’t worth as much.

Instead of trying to explain what’s been said above on what Grandmaster Zendo does, it’s easier to see it at work in a Songhai stall scenario. Here the opponent was able to reset the game while at very high health (thanks to an unanswered Aymara Healer), but Grandmaster Zendo was able to push immediate and sustained damage and dictate position simultaneously, very much the antithesis of one-trick Nimbus/Frostiva. =S

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Had to eat a raw Aymara Healer 10-health swing, but things were looking up.

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A random Circle of Desiccation decided to strike, but Circle of Desiccation was crap even when it looked like awesome value. =S

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Grandmaster Zendo showed up to punish the Vetruvian for surrendering the initiative with the Circle of Desiccation play by chipping in a quick 12 damage in a turn and a half while extinguishing all hopes of the Vetruvian reaching the Heartseekers by land in time.

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Topdecked the lone Spiral Technique too late to save Grandmaster Zendo, but his sacrifice was not in vain, as the second and third Aymara Healers were too late to save the Vetruvian from defeat.