Also because I'm really busy -- about to watch an entire season of Punisher, and I just got my copy of Pokemon: Ultra Moon, and thus haven't really gotten much in lieu of TV or manga up-to-date-ness. So, without further ado...
Feral Gibberer: Feral Gibberer is definitely not a good card. I keep trying to make Quest Hunter work, and Feral Gibberer is actually a great card in the shitty deck that is Quest Hunter. But other than that? The effect is neat, and the voice acting is hilarious. I guess it could find some niche roles as combo enablers in rogue or Raza priest decks, but without the ability to charge (or to give it charge, since it's not a beast like the Carnassa's Brood raptors) it's honestly pretty much kind of a cute but ultimately m'eh card.Level Up!: Yay WoW homage! But it's not a particularly good card, especially not in standard. There are some Silver Hand Recruit synergy cards in Standard right now -- Stand Against Darkness, Vinecleaver and Lost in the Jungle; plus the upcoming Drygulch Jailor -- but at 5 mana, giving dudes +2/+2 and Taunt just isn't that good especially when Quartermaster used to do the same thing, minus the Taunts, but adds a 2/5 body onto the field. And a bunch of taunts isn't particularly worth losing the 2/5 body. Overall, unless we see a lot of new Silver Hand Reccruit synergy cards, this doesn't look like a particularly viable archetype. Probably would be fun, though.
Sudden Betrayal: ROGUE SECRETS WHAT? So yeah, rogues are getting secrets, and I may have freaked out a little more than I should when I saw it. It's basically Hunter's Misdirection (remember that card? Neither do I) but instead it always attacks its neighbour, Betrayal-style. Except Betrayal has one minion deal damage to two other minions and it never saw play, and Misdirection also never saw play... so this one probably won't either.
Cheat Death: Oh shit, a Secret that Shadowsteps a minion? This is a better Getaway Kodo for sure, and unless you're playing in Arena, you do know that Rogues get one helluva mileage out of Shadowstep in the current meta. Even if they don't hit huge bombs like Leeroy, Bonemare or Prince Keleseth, even Shadowstepping things like SI:7 Agents and Vilespine Slayers are still pretty dang okay. This is even arguably better than Shadowstep, because the minion gets to basically live throughout its entire life and make trades or whatever, with the trade-off being that you can't choose which minion to Cheat Death. Still, a pretty tricky card, and definitely far more playable than Sudden Betrayal.
The Runespear: Shaman's legendary weapon is the Runespear, Cairne Bloodhoof's weapon in WoW lore... and I think I kind of agree with the gajillion haters of this weapon. It just looks so weak! Yes, a fair amount of Shaman spells aren't targeted (Bloodlust and Evolve targets only your side; Lightning Storm and Devolve targets only the enemy side) but there's enough cards that can target anything like Lava Burst or Jade Lightning around. Oh, and I think you still get overloaded? You can discover the spell, thankfully, which makes it not horrible, and you can get some value in the turn where you spend 8 mana for a crappy 3/3 weapon... but while it's not horrible it feels like such an awkward card that I don't see this card even really working out. So yeah. Likely a dud.
Branching Paths: Our first Choose Two card for druids, and it's confirmed you can choose the option twice. I suppose the price for versatility is something, and the whole concept of Choosing Twice is cool... but I do feel like it's pretty crap overall. If you double up on the effects -- gaining 12 armour is basically just Greater Healing Potion, which is decent. But drawing 2 cards is a shittier Arcane Intellect, and giving my minions +2 attack is a more expensive (albeit permanent) Savage Roar that also doesn't target my hero. It might see some utility as a tech choice due to simple Kazakus potion style versatility, but I dunno -- doesn't seem to really be something I'd want in my druid decks.
Duskbreaker: My reaction to Duskbreaker is identical to everyone else's -- they turned Excavated Evil into a minion? That isn't more expensive despite getting stats, but cheaper? And the body is a very respectable 3/3 for 4 mana? And it doesn't give your enemy anything in return, and it has the dragon tag to activate other cards? God damn. Dragonkin Operative and Netherspite Historian are still in the meta, and people are even using the dragon package within the Razakus archetype, so shit, maybe Dragon Priest's coming back? Even if Duskbreaker doesn't make waves in Standard (which I highly doubt) it's definitely going to be a great addition to Wild, allowing the Dragon Priest to stabilize in the early game before the big Dragonkin Operative and other larger dragons start being dropped. I would stop short from being 'the best card in the expansion' before seeing much, but it certainly is a good card.
Kathrena Winterwisp: The first class legendary minion! It's an obscure NPC I recognize, because a week before she's revealed I was actually mucking around with a night elf WoW character in Darkshore. Darkshore? I think that's the zone. The one with the Soggoth questline, anyway. Winterwisp is one of the quest-givers there! And as a card she's... okay? A more situational Aya Blackpaw, where she's an 8-mana 6/6 will recruit a beast as a battlecry and deathrattle. See, if both beasts recruited are like, I dunno, Savannah Highmanes or King Krushes or Swamp King Dreds or Charged Devilsaurs it'd be awesome. The thing is that hunter decks have.... low-cost beasts. Like, I don't think I'd even be happy if Winterwisp recruits like a Bearshark. Of course, though, as part of the recruit mechanic it does mean that you decide what cards to put into the deck with Winterwisp, and you definitely don't want her in a deck with the Alleycat/Firebat into Crackling Razormaw opening. The thing is, really, without seeing the rest of the set, I'm not sure if that theoretical early-beast-less hunter deck is even going to be viable. Cool concept, but could be another Dred.
Twig of the World Tree: Jeez, this card! It's a legendary weapon you don't actually want to break if you see it wielded by the opponent. It's an absolutely shitty 4-mana 1/5, which means your enemy needs to play Medivh or attack 5 times to actually get the deathrattle effect to trigger. But the deathrattle effect? Gain 10 mana crystals? God, that's basically Astral Communion or Kun. Not empty mana crystals, straight-up full Nourish mana crystals. I just am thankful this doesn't fit in jade druid, but it does fit in a variation of big druid... and even if the druid doesn't use the twig to ramp up, the twig definitely can be used to refresh the mana crystals to play Kun, which will refresh the mana crystals to play Deathwing, which when dies will summon the other Deathwing... god, it does sound a bit horrifying, and only the rather convoluted way that the combo is triggered gives me some solace. Pretty cool weapon, though.
Rummaging Kobold: Oh, hey, this card! It's a cool card in design -- you return one of your destroyed weapons into your hand. Another Twig! Another Ashbringer or Jaraxxus's weapon! It's definitely a powerful effect, especially if the other legendary weapons are more on the line of Twig or Aluneth as opposed to Runespear. And Rummaging Kobold at least means that you have to replay your weapon. It's ultimately a 3-mana 1/3, though, and that's kinda shit, so I'm not sure that he'll even find a place in a weapon-heavy deck.
Zola the Gorgon: HAHAHAHA GORGONZOLA oh you Blizzard game designers and your puns, you. Zola is a legendary 3-mana 2/2 that can add a golden copy of a friendly minion into your deck, basically combining the Shadowcaster and Brewmaster effects -- and the first thing that crosses my mind is 'cool, I can Keleseth more than two times in a game'. Zola is 3-mana, so unlike Cheat Death above you can actually slot her into any Keleseth deck. And it's golden, just for the hell of it. I dunno. Probably not the best card out there, but it certainly does seem like a pretty fun card to muck around with.
Spiteful Summoner: Spiteful Summoner is a 6-mana 4/4 that will reveal a spell from your deck, and summon a random minion of the same cost. In other words, kind of like Forbidden Shaping? Sort of? Again, like Kathrena Winterwisp, you have to want to muck around with your deck to make sure all the cards are big ones. Like, using druid as an example, maybe you run a weird list where the only spells are Nourish and Ultimate Infestation? The real thing stopping this from going 'holy shit Imma build a deck out of this right now' is that most classes rely so much on cheaper spells, while classes that can conceivably cut them out (Warlock, Shaman) don't have a lot of expensive spells to trigger. Obviously the dream scenario is for Spiteful Summoner to hit the 10-mana spells like Pyroblast and UI, or 8-mana spells like Twisting Nether... but how practical is it? It does sound like it has got the potential to be pwoerful, but feels more like a card that demands a bit too much from deck-building. We'll see when more cards are revealed -- it's either pretty good but difficult to play, or just plain bad. I'm leaning more towards the former.
Seeping Oozeling: A hunter rare card that's a 6-mana 5/4 that copies a deathrattle from your deck. I guess you can have the Oozeling copy Kathrena Winterwisp? And Sylvanas in Wild? Because nothing else really feels like you'd want the Oozeling to copy -- if you say Savannah Highmane, I'm asking why you're not playing the inarguably better Savannah Highmane itself anyway. So yeah. Doesn't seem to be good, even with all the deathrattle support Hunter had from the Frozen Throne expansion.
That's all from me for today's Hearthstone card reveals. While a fair amount are underwhelming, I am kind of excited to see where we go from here as we head to December. I'm slightly lagging behind on regular reviews, I know, but a combination of watching the Gintama anime, playing Pokemon Ultra Moon and trying to hit legend (rank 6 now, hopefully I can get it in 8 days) and a slight burnout on reviewing manga and TV episodes do mean that I'm taking things somewhat slowly right now -- I'm not stopping at all, things just probably are slightly more delayed.
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