One of the things to keep in mind is that the meta for Gadgetzan is dominated with either fast-hitting aggro pirate decks, or by super-long Reno control decks, meaning some cards like, say, Hozen Healer just doesn't do enough to really matter.
Will try to keep this a lot shorter than the earlier card reviews.
Crappy Cards:
- Blowgill Sniper: Too little stats, not enough Murloc synergy.
- Friendly Bartender: Decent but pointless.
- Gadgetzan Socialite: Voodoo Doctor is better.
- Backstreet Leper: Crap.
- Hired Gun: Crap.
- Street Trickster: Kobold Geomancer is better.
- Toxic Sewer Ooze: Acidic Swamp Ooze is better.
- Daring Reporter: Questing Adventurer is better.
- Hozen Healer: What minion are you going to heal when the pirate horde is whacking your face?
- Kooky Chemist: Crazed Alchemist is better.
- Tanaris Hogchopper: When is this ever useful?
- Worgen Greaser: Crap.
- Grook-Fu Master: Crap.
- Red Mana Wyrm: Too much mana to properly set up.
- Streetwise Investigator: When is this useful? Should've put in an AoE.
- Ancient of Blossoms: Crap.
- Big Time Racketeer: Crap in constructed.
- Backroom Bouncer: Play Flesheating Ghoul instead.
- Bomb Squad: Funny combo if your enemy has Sylvannas or if you have Evolve, but otherwise pointless.
- Spiked Hogrider: Play Black Knight instead.
- Weasel Tunneler: Can't deny that he's funny, though.
- Blubber Baron: If Bolvar can't see play...
- Fel Orc Soulfiend: Play Injured Blademaster instead.
- Defias Cleaner: Not the right meta for this dude; competes with Sylvannas and Aya anyway.
- Fight Promoter: Not a bad card, but comes too late and does too little.
- Leatherclad Hogleader: Crap.
- Wind-Up Burglebot: Crap.
- Auctionmaster Beardo: Until more efficient TGT cards leave? Crap.
- Sergeant Sally: Yeah, people all thought she'd be a great AoE clear, right? Nope, play Abyssal Enforcer or Ravaging Ghoul insetad.
- Genzo, the Shark: Not bad on paper, but by turn four if you play this you're likely to be murdered by pirates.
- Madam Goya: She hasn't found the right deck for her unique effect.
- Mayor Noggenfogger: Hilarious to watch, but not much else.
- Mark of the Lotus: Not a bad card, but the wrong meta for it. Maybe will rise to prominence when Jade Druids get better.
- Virmen Sensei: Crap, even in Beast Druid decks it competes with too many five-mana beasts.
- Celestial Dreamer: Crap.
- Pilfered Power: Crap.
- Lunar Visions: Nourish is a lot better and a lot more flexible, not necessarily crap though.
- Smuggler's Crate: A lot of the Hunter cards fall in this category simply because, well... they're not fast enough, but even moreso than Paladin or Warrior, the fact that some Hunter buff cards only buff beasts, and not all the cards that synergize with buffing mechanics are beasts means that despite arguably receiving two of the best 'benefit from hand-buff' cards, Goon Hunter ends up being the weakest and indisputably weakest of the Goon decks, and I don't see it changing any time soon. The 'random beast' thing that Smuggler's Crate does makes it a lot crappier than, say, Paladin's Smuggler's Run simply because Smuggler's Run hits everything in your hand, but with Smuggler's Crate you might hit your 4-mana or 6-mana cards, which isn't going to do much against the onslaught of cheap pirates.
- Shaky Zipgunner: Too slow, does too little.
- Hidden Cache: Crap secret.
- Trogg Beastrager: Too slow.
- Piranha Launcher: Crap.
- Knuckles: Doesn't do enough on turn five, might get better with more support?
- Freezing Potion: Pointless.
- Kabal Lackey: Crap.
- Cryomancer: Mages don't really want huge minions, they want huge spells.
- Potion of Polymorph: You do wanna direct what you sheep.
- Kabal Crystal Runner: Nowhere as good as Thing from Below.
- Grimscale Chum: Crap.
- Smuggler's Run: Not a bad card in theory, and actually one of the better Paladin cards, but the Paladin buff deck ends up being just way too weak.
- Getaway Kodo: Too easy to play around, never saw this being actually super-relevant.
- Grimestreet Outfitter: See Smuggler's Run.
- Meanstreet Marshal: Doesn't do enough even when buffed.
- Small-Time Recruits: I can't believe three-mana draw three cards is bad, but there it is. At least the hand-buff Paladin cards are semi-decent when you do get god draws and manage to outflank the pirate aggro. Small-Time Recruits are just blah.
- Pint-Size Potion: Turns out to be not that good, even when combo'd with Shadow Word: Horror.
- Shadow Rager: Ha ha.
- Gadgetzan Ferryman: Crap.
- Shadow Sensei: Not enough Stealth synergy.
- Lotus Assassin: Kinda pointless I think?
- Luckydo Buccaneer: Rogues really need better weapons, yeah? And better cards, considering five out of nine cards end up here.
- Finders Keepers: Put in the overload card you want instead.
- Lotus Illusionist: Awesome in theory, kind of difficult to pull off in reality.
- Seadevil Stinger: Not enough Murloc support, awesome in theory, crap at the moment.
- Unlicensed Apothecary: To be fair, whenever this little fucker gets created out of Devolve or Evolve or something like that it's fucking hilarious.
- Krul the Unshackled: I really tried to make him work, but the hit-to-miss ratio is way too big. He needs better demon buddies.
- I Know a Guy: Put in the Fierce Monkey or Bravehoof Brave instead of this card.
- Public Defender: Too crap on its own.
- Stolen Goods: Too slow, too unreliable.
- Sleep with the Fishes: Pointless in an aggro meta.
- Brass Knuckles: Too slow, does too little.
- Hobart Grapplehammer: Too slow even in Pirate Warrior decks. Tried to make him work, ended up cutting him for better two-drops.
- Grimestreet Informant: Crap stats, doesn't really fit any good niche.
- Don Han'Cho: Comes too late, effect is powerful but too unreliable. Might be somewhat better in a slower meta? We'll see.
- Kabal Chemist: The chances of getting a potion that doesn't synergise makes her crap.
Average Cards:
- Mistress of Mixtures: Actually pretty freaking decent, and ran in many a reno deck. Kind of lacking to the pirate onslaught, though.
- Naga Corsair: Comes too late for pirate weapon decks; doesn't add durability... yet actually pretty damn good once the meta slows just a tad and is a pretty good slot-in to replace STB.
- Doppelgangster: The only card that really makes the hand-buff mechanic even worth playing, even then he's way too slow to combat jades and pirates.
- Second-Rate Bruiser: An understated, boring card that's a pretty cheap and effective wall against aggro pirates.
- Burgly Bully: Don't see it much in the actual ladder, but damn does this ugly dude pull off some unexpected wins in tournaments.
- Finja, the Flying Star: Actually pretty decent if he gets to do his thing. Mind you, you do have to play murlocs but at least Finja isn't half-bad.
- Wrathion: He's not bad, but he's nowhere as good as I expected, maybe because of the super-fast meta I guess?
- Alleycat: Honestly still a decent opening for hunters, but when all you get are two 1/1's, while Warriors get two 1/1's, one of them with Charge and a 1/3 weapon... yeah.
- Dispatch Kodo: Somewhat decent, shame the rest of the Hunter cards are crap.
- Rat Pack: Also somewhat decent, a better Infested Wolf, but ruined by the crappy Hunter set.
- Greater Arcane Missiles: Not a card you want to put in your deck per se, but Mages rely on discovering cards via Cabalist's Tome, Babbling Book, Ethereal Conjurer etc that this card is pretty decent. Also a nice fit in Reno Mages.
- Grimestreet Enforcer: The card that makes Buff Paladin somewhat playable in lower ranks thanks to continuous effects.
- Grimestreet Protector: Great in theory, and would be awesome if given to Warriors at this point... but in Paladin, the dude just can't show off his full potential.
- Wickerflame Burnbristle: Ditto the above two Paladin cards.
- Greater Healing Potion: A pretty solid card, though Priests have some different healing options this acts as a nice mini-Reno in Reno decks.
- Mana Geode: Solid, but nowhere as good as the hype surrounding it initially paints it out to be.
- Dragonfire Potion: Surprisingly not that good considering how late it comes in the game, and people are already reverting back to Novas and making Dragonfire Potion a one-off. Still a very powerful tool, though.
- Shaku, the Collector: Not a bad card, actually! The continuous effect and the draw effect is actually pretty decent.
- Call in the Finishers: Turns out with Everyfin is Awesome this suddenly goes from a joke to a potential game-winning combo.
- Devolve: Mass mini-Hex. Not as good as the other AoE's Shaman has, but the times where it gets rid of like multiple deathrattles is enough to make it pretty damn good.
- White Eyes: A bit too slow for the current meta, but come on, by sheer value alone this card is awesome.
- Crystalweaver: Zoolock is hurting, but I did try a demonlock that enjoyed some success in the 10-5 rank, and Crystalweaver is an amazing buff tool to buff your army of cheaper demons.
- Bloodfury Potion: More or less the same reason as Crystalweaver -- pretty powerful in a specific deck.
- Felfire Potion: A huge AoE, like Dragonfire Potion it's proven to come out at too late a turn, but still potentially good if the meta slows down.
- Grimy Gadgeteer: The continuous effect is good, and the statline is better than Grimestreet Enforcer... but like it, it suffers from the fact that the hand-buff mechanic isn't quite there yet.
- Kabal Trafficker: A bit too slow for the current meta but some Reno decks still play her. She's a pretty value-oriented card.
- Grimestreet Smuggler: I just took pity on the hand-buff dudes and this card is somewhat decent, so she gets to be here. Hand buffing as a mechanic kinda fell on the wayside, though.
- Alley Armorsmith: Lots of value, though too slow for the current meta.
- Lotus Agents: A good card, just one that both comes in too late in aggro matches and one that competes with the arguably stronger Azure Drake.
- Kabal Courier: Doesn't look impressive, but there's a reason she's in many Reno Warlock/Mage/Priest decks -- you can discover a second Kazakus and that ain't no joke.
Good Cards:
- Dirty Rat: I said that the Dirty Rat's either going to be super-crap, or super-awesome, and it turns out that it's a pretty awesome niche card to put in decks, being surprisingly effective. It comes out early enough to wall some of the pirates, and if it gets to drag out things like Reno or Kazakus when fighting control decks you're not complaining.
- Druid Jade Archetype: [Jade Blossom, Jade Idol, Jade Behemoth] Lumped together, the Jade Druid cards go hand in hand. You're either playing all of these (plus Jade Spirit and Aya Blackpaw) or none of these. They're all very powerful and if Jade Shaman didn't have so much synergy with the pirate package Druid Jade would've ruled the metagame. Jade Blossom's basically tied to Wild Growth, Jade Behemoth is a powerful taunter, and Jade Idol works with Fandral, Gadgetzan Auctioneer and gives your deck infinite cards.
- Kun, the Forgotten King: People all hyped this card up to be super-awesome and super-powerful. It's... powerful, and very good, but not as awesome as people claim it to be simply because you don't really reach turn ten that often anymore. His effect is still pretty kickass, though, and Aviana-Kun-Brann-C'Thun combos are an absolute delight to behold.
- Volcanic Potion: Looks innocent, but a very powerful took against pirates in a Mage deck, arguably more essential nowadays than things like Flamestrike or Blizzard.
- Manic Soulcaster: Also deceptively simple, actually very powerful in Reno Mage decks.
- Inkmaster Solia: While not as powerful as I thought she would be, like Kun, when you get your Solia off (and it happens a lot more often than Krul) she's pretty damn good. Free Greater Arcane Missiles! Free Fireball! Free Pyroblast!
- Kabal Talonpriest: Very great in Dragon Priest and Reno Priest, mostly because Priest doesn't really have much competing for the three-mana spot, and being a 3/4 with a bonus effect is pretty dang powerful.
- Potion of Madness: Turns out that the large amount of low-attack minions makes this card pretty good. If it hit three-mana minions it would be broken, but even as it is, as a cheap disruptive spell it's pretty awesome.
- Kabal Songstealer: Not a super-essential card, but pretty good for its statline and effects, seeing a lot of play in Reno decks.
- Raza the Chained: Very awesome card that keeps Reno Priest alive to this moment despite seeing a fair amount of competition by Reno Warlock and aggro decks. Powerful effect, lots of combo potential.
- Rogue Jade Archetype: [Jade Shuriken, Jade Swarmer] Not as good as Jade Shaman, or even Jade Druid, but Jade Rogue is really not a bad card. Jade Shuriken is basically a potentially better SI:7 Agent, and Jade Swarmer comes in early enough to interact with unearthed Raptor. While not as good as the other two Jade decks, Jade Rogue still manages to hold its own.
- Counterfeit Coin: Unexpectedly awesome, Counterfeit Coin actually enables Miracle Rogue to be super-duper awesome at the moment.
- Shaman Jade Archetype: [Jade Lightning, Jade Chieftain, Jade Claws] Yeah, it synergizes very, very well with the Pirate Aggro early-game. Jade Lightning benefit from the spell damage cards that Shamans love, and while Jade Chieftain isn't seen in all shaman decks it's still very powerful in pure-Jade Shaman Midrange decks.
- Jinyu Waterspeaker: Because powerful weapons, a powerful early game, Totem synergy, Jade synergy, powerful board clears, 0-mana-5-5-with-Taunts and 4-mana-7-7's aren't powerful enough, Shaman gets this very powerful healing tool. No, the Jinyu doesn't see a spot in aggro shaman, but midrange jade Shaman decks make great use of this dude.
- Abyssal Enforcer: Very powerful tool for Warlocks, easily wiping out an entire board and still having great stats and demon synergy. Especially powerful in arena, which is why its draft rate ends up getting nerfed.
- Blastcrystal Potion: A great one-off removal tool in Reno Warlocks, and honestly I've seen this as a one-off in other Warlock decks as well.
- Grimestreet Pawnbroker: A pretty good card, actually, although doesn't see quite as much play as the Bloodsail Cultist simply because of lack of Pirate synergy. I do sometimes tech her in to replace Kor'kron Elites if I want a more weapon-centric Warrior deck, and adding the durability makes her so much better than Naga Corsair or Hobart Grapplehammer.
- Jade Spirit: Not so much a good card that her archetype is very good and she's pretty perfect for the 4-mana slot.
Great Cards:
- Small-Time Buccaneer (Pre-Nerf): A Flame Imp that doesn't damage you, and all you need is equip a weapon? Yes please. In fact, it's not just a one-mana 3/2, it's a one-mana 3/2 that summons a 1/1 with Charge. And activates other pirate synergies. It's going to be nerfed into a 3/1, making it vulnerable to pings and Maelstrom Portals and Ravaging Ghouls, but let's keep it real -- the Small-Time Buccaneer's still going to be good, just slightly weaker.
- Patches the Pirate: I'm in charge here is right. Patches, alongside the Small-Time Buccaneer and the rest of his legion of pirates, have completely taken over the meta. Yaaaar!
- Drakonid Operative: Huge, huge value. In addition to being excellently statted, you get to peek in your opponent's deck, and you get a discover. Plus it's a dragon. Drakonid Operative is the sole reason Dragon Priest is so powerful these days.
- Jade Claws: Heads and shoulders above the other Jade Shaman cards is the Jade Claws, which is absolutely powerful. A 2-mana 2/2 weapon is a slightly weaker Fiery War Axe, but it's a cheap weapon that synergizes with Small-Time Buccaneer (and Shaman already has Spirit Claws) and summons Jade Golems. Shit, this thing is very, very powerful.
- Aya Blackpaw: The queen of the Jade Lotus, Aya's pretty damn powerful and honestly a reason to play the Jade archetype itself. She's so powerful that I put her in some of my Aggro Shaman decks just to get that powerful battlecry-deathrattle duo combo going on.
- Kazakus: Arguably the only man brave enough to stand up against all the jade, Kazakus and his buddy Reno represent a very powerful deck archetype, and Kazakus himself and his custom potions are just so damned powerful, creative and very, very excellent and skill-demanding that he's definitely a great card even if he's not powerful in the meta. But he is.
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