Activate the Obelisk: Hoo boy. Activate the Obelisk might be my favourite quest out of the eight, now that we've seen all of them. Priest have always had a bit of an identity problem where they're supposed to be the 'healing' class, but it's kinda hard to design a badass, game-winning card when winning the game tends to be done by dealing a metric ton of damage to the enemy. Shadowreaper Anduin represents the shadow priest sub-class from WoW, dealing a barrage of damage from the hero power and turning the class from 'heal and survive' to 'machine gun your opponent to death', but whie that's cool, that's not quite the rest of the Priest class is all about. So to have a quest that's completed by you restoring 15 health is pretty dang interesting and flavourful, and for the reward to basically be an upgraded version of the healing hero power, but with a mini Blessing of Kings bundled in... that's one helluva powreful hero power. You heal 3 health to anything regardless, and if you heal a minion, they get +3/+3. That's absolutely sweet!
Now the problem is, of course, how you get to completing the quest as fast as possible, and, honestly, I don't really see it as that much of a problem. Between the abundance of reborn minions, Priest's own inherently large amount of large-health minions and area heals like Circle of Healing, it's not going to be that hard to complete this quest. Hell, in wild in particular you can honestly just run any old regular Priest deck like Dragon Priest or Combo Priest or, hell, even Big Priest, and just pop the quest up right before you cast Greater Healing Potion or something along those lines. If nothing else, the vastly improved hero power is going to help out in honestly keeping your minions away from death while also making them even more resistant to removal. I do think that this is easily one of the more powerful Quests from this set, and even if it isn't, it's definitely got my vote for being one of the coolest.
Bazaar Burglary: Oh wow, this one is an interesting one. I've always low-key loved the Burgle Rogue archetype, knowing in my heart that it's a deck that honsetly isn't any good. Academic Espionage, Tess Greymane, Spectral Blade, Tak Nozzwhisker... none of them honestly end up panning out that well, and while Rogue does have some really solid "Burgle" cards like Blink Fox, Vendetta, Underbelly Fence, Hench-Clan Burglar and Swashburglar... we don't really quite have as explosive an endgame card other than Tess. It's just a vague feel of "generate cards, value ... profit?"
And Bazaar Burglary is a quest that sort of tries to alleviate this. You only have to add four cards from other classes into your hand. Not play. Just add them to your hand. Which means that you could go turn 1 quest, turn 2 Clever Disguise, turn 3 Blink Fox and turn 4 Hench-Clan Burglar and you basically get the quest done on turn 5. You do admittedly basically do nothing for the first 2 turns, which kinda sucks, and as always it's a deck that struggles against fellow Rogues, but the hero power is pretty damn powerful. It's easily compared to the Baku/Justicar upgraded hero power, only instead of a 'mere' 2/2 weapon, you equip a 3/2 weapon that makes your hero immune while attacking. That's pretty damn strong, and whether you choose to go full smorc with said weapon or just clean out the board with impunity is up to you. Honestly, I'm a huge, huge fan of this quest. I still don't rate this one as highly as some other people aroud the internet, I am definitely interested in this quest and really do hope that I crack open either this one or the Priest one on day one.
Unseal the Vault: Unseal the Vault is an interesting quest to give to Hunter. You have to summon 20 minions, which isn't terribly hard to do, but it will take quite a while to reach the end of this quest. There are certainly ways for Hunter to do this, of course. Summoning minions means that deathrattles count, minions summoned by Saronite Chain Gang style battlecries count, and so do cards like Desert Spear, Unleash the Hound or the new Plague of Locusts. But even if you try-hard and push all of your turns into summoning the maximum amount of minions every time, it's going to take quite a while before the quest is completed. Granted, the reward is pretty dang powerful, essentially making use of the large boards you have and permanently buffing them all by +2 attack. As some of the hero powers in the solo adventures have shown us, this is pretty powerful.
The problem, of course, is whether Hunter can actually make a deck and complete this quest in a timely fashion, and I'm honestly not sure. People can and will play around the Quest by playing around Unleash the Hounds and clearing the board and withholding their removals and waiting for your huge board bombs, and in Wild in particular I'm not sure that this is ever going to be a viable deck. It is a very, very interesting one, of course, and the mass-buff hero power is likewise something that we've never seen in a collectible card before. I personally think that Unseal the Vault still requires a bit more support before it becomes completely viable, but at the same time it's probably going to take a while before this deck becomes like a top tier deck. I would love to be proven wrong, though, because despite my slightly negative outlook, this definitely looks like a pretty fun deck to play if nothing else.
Vessina: Vessina was always one of my favourite playable heroes in the Rise of Shadows story mode, and it's pretty damn cool to see her as a card in this one! Vessina herself is kind of a powerful minion. A 4-mana 2/6 is a pretty nice, defensive body, but she is basically a walking Bloodlust. Whenever you're Overloaded, Vessina gives the entire board +2 attack, and as Likkim has proven, this means that both the turn you play an Overloaded spell, as well as the turn afterwards, Vessina's effect will trigger. With a neat abundance of cheap Overload cards like Zap, Lightning Bolt and Sludge Slurper, triggering Vessina isn't going to be difficult. And honestly, as a pretty solid minion herself, Vessina might very well stick around for another turn. Honestly, I don't really want to be super-duper overhyping this card, but Vessina's a minion that would probably see play even in Wild. She will definitely see play in Standard. Overall pretty awesome card.
Zephrys the Great: We got a quartet of interesting neutral legendaries, but none is as interesting as Zephyrus. He's a 2-mana 3/2 that activates off of the Reno/singleton mechanic... and as a battlecry, he will allow you to Discover the "perfect card", which, as shown in various demonstrations, means that it is going to work off of what turn you are in, the state of the board, and the cards in your hand to pull from a range of cards in the Basic and Classic set and give you something useful. The examples shown include playing him on an empty board at turn 3, where he will give you cards like Animal Companion or Brightwing, which would both be pretty great to play on turn 3. Play him with an enemy's board full on turn 9, and he'll show up with Flamestrike and Brawl. It's genuinely interesting, and while it's kind of a shame that he only draws from the relatively narrow pool of Classic and Basic set, he feels like a very solid multipurpose legendary, and if nothing else is going to be a very, very fun card to muck around with.
Octosari: Big octopus creature! Octosari's got a cool artwork, but probably won't see constructed play. I get it, he's an octopus. 8 cost, 8 attack, 8 health... and it draws 8 cards. Which is way too much and will more often than not burn a couple of your cards. And as a deathrattle, it's not going to go off every time you want him to. He's a hilarious card, but I don't foresee Octosari really seeing a lot of ladder play.
Siamat: Siamat, on the other hand, might be the brand-new Zilliax or original Dr. Boom of the expansion, being a neutral legendary that is just almost always good. A 7-mana 6/6 that you can choose to give two keywords among Rush, Taunt, Divine Shield or Windfury? Those are amazing keywords to choose from, and it means that Siamat's going to test your decision making skills. Are you sure your enemy doesn't have removal for the next turn? Give Siamat Windfury. Really desperate to murder a couple of your enemy's minions? Rush and Windfury to take out multiple smaller minions. You want Siamat to survive an immediate trade? Rush and Divine Shield will help you hold on to the 6/6 body. You just want to turtle things up? Make a big Annoy-o-tron with Taunt and Divine Shield. Siamat might be a wee bit overhyped by the community, myself included, but definitely looks like a very powerful all-purpose card. A huge fan of this one.
King Phaoris: Not that much a huge fan of this one, and I have a suspicion that King Phaoris is added just so that the 10-mana pool for Conjurer's Calling is slightly diluted. Granted, this same expansion also threw in Colossus of the Moon and the common 10/10 Taunt, so it's not all bad. Phaoris himself is a 10-mana 5/5, which is kind of a bad statline, and he summons a minion equal to the cost of every spell in your hand. Which means that Phaoris is a shitty topdeck, but might be useful in certain situations. He's the sort of legendary that suddenly refills the board, like Chef Nomi or Dragoncaller Alanna, but unlike those two, what you have to do with Phaoris is a bit different -- hold on to your spells instead of spending them. It's not a terribly difficult ask, but it's definitely an odd one, and you ight honestly be forced into making some weird plays just to make sure you get value from Phaoris in the end. I guess you could muck around with him in big spell druid or big spell mage? My gut instinct says that Phaoris is more impractical than practical, although at least it's a fun effect.
Pharaoh Cat: Oh shit, this one is pretty damn powerful. Swashburglar was played all the time even in decks that don't necessarily have the strongest Pirate or Burgle synergies. Pharaoh Cat is a beast, which is a tag that doesn't really matter all that much in rogue (other than, of course, looking pretty adorable) but the fact is that it's a 1-mana 1/2 that adds a card to your hand. For the most part, Reborn minions tend to range from being decent to straight-up good, and sometimes you get genuinely good cards like Tomb Warden or Grandmummy, which also double as cards from other classes. Plus, y'know, it's a 1-mana card, which also triggers combos in the late game. Pretty awesome card all around, and honestly, seems to be one of the better Rogue cards even if the Burgle Quest doesn't pan out.
Shadow of Death: A very interesting card, actually! Even without taking into account the potential combo, Shadow of Death is a 4-mana spell that acts similarly to Fal'dorei Strider. Except instead of 4/4's, you get copies of whatever minion you pick -- loads of late-value bombs are available for your picking. And unlike something like Tog's Scheme, you don't even have to re-cast the minion! The downside is, of course, the fact that you essentially spend 4 mana doing nothing, similar to TGT's Beneath the Grounds, where for the turn you cast this you essentially do nothing. But when you take into account the combo people are thinking you could do with Myra's Unstable Element to get rid of your deck, then play Leeroy Jenkins, then Preparation and Shadow of Death... then play anything that draws a card, like Shiv or Novice Engineer or something, then you basically get 24 damage with four Leeroys on board. I can actually really see that working out, honestly, which is a combo deck I won't mind actually trying out.
Sinister Deal: For one mana, you discover a Lackey! It's a Lackey generating card, and we've seen both EVIL Recruiter and Tekahn that synergizes amazingly well with Lackeys. I still kind of don't think that Warlocks have quite enough Lackey cards to reliably be a deck, but we now have a pretty useful one-mana generator, and unless I'm missing something, this is the only Lackey generator that allows you to discover and select a Lackey you might be desperate for? Like, you need to desperately clear a minion this very turn and you need either the Kobold or Goblin Lackey... either way, a pretty powerful card for the Lackey synergy, and it's going to depend on how viable the Lackey Warlock deck is.
Worthy Expedition: A pretty simple card that will see the most play in those Quest Druid decks, Worthy Expedition basically just allows you some flexibility in adding extra board-clears or extra large minions once you completed the druid quest. Comparable to Raven Idol, I suppose, and Raven Idol definitely saw play. Not much to say here, it's certainly a very solid card.
Oasis Surger: So one of the powerhouses once you complete the druid quest (Cenarius and Tending Tauren also look mighty powerful), without the quest or Fandral, Oasis Surger is... it's kind of standard. For 5 mana, you either get a 5/5 with Rush or two 3/3's with Rush, comparable to a less powerful Crystal Stag, I suppose. But the sheer jump in value when you summon the Surger with Ossirian's Tear active... two 5/5's with Rush, for 5 mana. And the bodies can potentially get buffed by Cenarius or Power of the Wild or Tending Tauren or some of the other powerful Druid Choose One buff cards. A very solid card and one that's going to see a lot of play if quest druid ends up being a meta deck.
Crystal Merchant: A pretty neat card to help boost your Quest Druid. I still don't think Quest Druid will still be particularly powerful, since 'floating' mana is still not something I see as something you really do want to do, but Crystal Merchant at least helps to give you a benefit by essentially acting as a cheaper, conditional Mana Tide Totem. A 2-mana 1/4 with an upside is... it's not great, but it's decent while you build up your gameplay to reach the Ossirian Tear hero power. Still don't believe Quest Druid will be super powerful, but the Crystal Merchant will definitely help that deck a fair bit.
Garden Gnome: Another card that cares for Druids holding a large spell like Anubisath Defender, the Garden Gnome is a far worse card if you topdeck her, since she's a 4-mana 2/3. If you are, though, she ends up being kind of a 6/7 spread across three bodies, two of which are Treants. That's kind of all right, honestly... kind of a bit too slow for Token Druid, perhaps? Holding a big spell isn't a big ask, but Garden Gnome just feels... decent. She doesn't feel super powerful, just all right. And that's okay.
Swarm of Locusts: And this is how you potentially complete the new Hunter quest. You fill the board with rushing Locusts, which can help you to complete the quest, and synergizes very, very well with the board-buff quest reward hero power. Plus, obviously, it's pretty great with Scavenging Hyena as well. It is comparable with Unleash the Hounds, I want to say, except more expensive.
Ramkahen Wildtamer: A pretty solid, if simple, card. A 3-mana 4/3 passes the vanilla text, and it duplicates a random Beast in your hand. Certainly more reliable than that one expensive spell from Rastakhan's Rumble that never saw play. I'm not sure if this one will eventually make the cut, though. The 3-cost slot is a historically competitive one in Hunter, and as a non-Beast herself, I'm not sure if the Wildtamer is going to be powerful enough to see play.
Hyena Alpha: Oh, hey, Hunter Secret synergy! I guess with the nerf to poor Emerald Spellstone, you need more incentive for Hunters to play secrets. Hyena Alpha is a 3/3 that summons two 2/2's if you control a Secret. In total, that is basically a 4-mana 7/7 split across three bodies, and Hunters love extra bodies, particularly with that Quest. It's not too big of an ask to have Hunter decks that play Secrets on curve, so I definitely can see Hyena Alpha being included in decks.
Flame Ward: The reveal video for this card, done by AmazingLP, is, well, pretty damn amazing. But Flame Ward is essentially a gimped version of Explosive Trap. It triggers after a minion attacks your hero, so you can't have the attacking minion die when the Secret triggers like how it works with Explosive Trap. It also doesn't hit the enemy face, which is another point in its favour. It's definitely not something you'll probably want to run in Wild, whereas in Standard you might just be obligated to fit this in just because it's a decent Secret, not because it's particularly good.
Ancient Mysteries: More Secret mage help, and this one is a 2-mana spell that tutors a Secret and turns its cost to zero. Basically, it gives your Secret a 1-mana discount, which when you think about it that way, kinda makes this a shittier Kirin Tor Mage bundled with an admittedly powerful tutor effect. In Wild, this card is essentially worthless because Arcanologist does the tutoring effect and comes with a 2/3 body, while you have multiple cards that'll discout your secrets like Kirin Tor Mage and Kabal Lackey. In Standard, this one will definitely see play in Secret decks because tutor effects are powerful.
Dune Sculptor: A pretty powerful arena card, a pretty decent card in general, but I'm just not sure if it will ever make it into a proper deck. Instead of generating spells, this wacky mage minion generates minions instead whenever you cast a spell. And it's definitely not bad, and the statline's decent, but I really don't see the Dune Sculptor making a lot of waves or being inserted to existing decks like Conjurer's Calling or whatever. Maybe in standard you really need 3-drops for your Reno highlander deck and you have to put in Dune Sculptor? Or maybe it's for the ultimate value generator to combo with the quest reward hero power and its constant spell generation? It's a good card, just not spectacular.
Naga Sand Witch: Kinda like old Naga Sea Witch, but works permanently with spells. It's all right, I guess, but probably a bit too inconsistent considering Mage has its share of cheap spells out there. It's neat to get like a 5-mana Flamestrike or whatever, but if you're gunning for that large of a discount, might as well play something like Luna's Pocket Galaxy, or try and replicate Sorcerer's Apprentice or whatnot. Neat but impractical.
Pharaoh's Blessing: This is Blessing of Kings, but for 2 extra mana, you get Divine Shield and Taunt... and honestly, it's not worth 2 extra mana. Comparing this to Spikeridged Steed, which came with a taunt, a deathrattle and a lot more stats, Pharaoh's Blessing is honestly frankly pretty embarrassing. If you don't want to compare this with Wild cards, this also kind of compares pretty unfavourably to things like Ziliax or A New Challenger. I think so far, this is probably the only class card I look at and go "yeah, that's pretty bad".
Ancestral Guardian: Yet another Reborn card, and another one you might consider for that Making Mummies quest? A 4-mana 4/2 Lifesteal and Reborn is pretty powerful, kind of comparable to Piloted Shredder with a guaranteed drop and lifesteal tossed in. It doesn't quite do enough to see play elsewhere, but it's definitely pretty neat if that Paladin Quest deck does end up panning out. Paladin's just all over the place this expansion, yeah? I really don't see much of a unifying theme.
Subdue: 2-mana set a minion's attack and health to 1. This is basically soft removal, combining Aldor's Peacekeeper and Equality's effect on a single target. The reason Dark Conviction never really saw play is that a 3/3 is pretty hard to remove without the body from Keeper of Uldaman, but Subdue's basically going to help you, well, subdue any huge threats. I'm not sure if you can waste a slot for Subdue instead of just running Equality, but with the Equality nerf, I guess you do. Decent, if not spectacular, card.
Penance: This card's basically like Warlock's Drain Soul, but with the numbers swapped around a little, yeah? A perfectly balanced board control spell for Priest, dealing damage and restoring health. I feel that with the new quest, that lifesteal part is the crucial part of this equation that makes you want to run this over one of the Shadow Words. Pretty decent, but I'm not sure if it makes the cut for most decks.
Holy Ripple: It's small Holy Nova! For 2 mana, you deal a 1-damage AoE, and heal your characters by 1. Spirit Lash did see play, and while the healing is significantly less for Holy Ripple, it's still a pretty neat board control tool. A lot of Priest's AoE board-control tools tend to come above turn 5, particularly in Standard, so Holy Ripple would definitely be a good addition to Priest's arsenal.
Sandhoof Waterbearer: Just a really solid card, like a miniature version of Ragnaros Lightlord from Old Gods, except everything is a 5. He's a 5-mana 5/5 that restores 5 health randomly. Significantly more powerful than a Lightwell for sure, and a minion that's just decent all around. It's the sort of thing you put in a deck when you're not sure what to pad things out with, but probably also one of the first cards you remove if you are trying to refine your Priest deck, y'know? Honestly, I can't be too hard on this one. Waterbearer is honestly a very, very solid card, and, again, with Reborn cards in this expansion, I might very well be undervaluing just getting even more heals in play.
Embalming Ritual: For one minion, you give a minion Reborn, which... as a keyword, may or may not be all that useful. Certainly Priest has some minions that really could benefit from being reborn, like Obsidian Destroyer or Convincing Infiltrator, but I'm not sure if you do really want to waste a card slot giving a minion Reborn instead of running a resurrection card, a large heal, or something like Wretched Reclaimer. A cheap spell's always good, and it's not the worst card out there, but I feel that this one definitely could've been better.
Wretched Reclaimer: An interesting card. This is basically Shaman's Reincarnate from Curse of Naxxramas placed on a minion. Reincarnate was sort of played every now and then back in the day, and this one comes with an extra 3/3 body for one extra mana. Of course, for maximum value, you want to use this on something with Reborn. Or a Deathrattle minion with Reborn. There are definitely ways to abuse Wretched Reclaimer, and, if all things fail, like Psychopomp it's almost always going to be positive tempo anyway. Even if you don't do anything fancy and just basically re-heal a minion after a value trade, it's still something, y'know? A very decent card, and one that I can definitely see do some really powerful things.
Clever Disguise: It's 2-mana Burgle, which basically fills in the mana curve for a Burgle Rogue between the 1-mana Pilfer and Swashburglar, and the 3-mana Blink Fox... and, more importantly, a very important one for Quest Rogue. It's interesting that this one also only specifically gives you spells instead of any card -- I'm genuinely not sure if it's going to really matter, but the Burgle value is definitely there. While clearly inferior to these effects tied to a minion, it's another weapon in the Burgle Rogue toolbox that is definitely going to be impactful if Burgle Rogue is impactful.
Sahket Sapper: An interesting minion? A 4-mana 4/4 pirate with a deathrattle that casts Sap randomly isn't that great at first glance, particularly against zoo decks or classes like Shaman or Paladin. It's a delayed effect too... until you consider the fact that you can trigger the deathrattle with things like Necrium Blade and the like. And that's kind of a fun little quasi-removal. Maybe there's some weird Pirate shenanigans you can pull off? People are pointing to Hooktusk decks in Standard, and I kinda shrug at that. Interesting card, though I don't foresee this being particularly powerful in Wild.
Mogu Fleshshaper: A giant-style minion that's... just a 3/4 with Rush? I... I dunno. Why would you ever play this over a Sea Giant? Even if the ask is admittedly not that much for Shaman, Sea Giant's always better. And if you want a proactive Rusher, there are way better options out there.
Sandstorm Elemental: Kind of like a variation on Maelstorm Portal, which is a very viable card that still sees play to this day in Wild. It's attached to a minion (and also an Elemental, for what it's worth), and unlike Maelstorm Portal's randomness, it's a guaranteed 2/2. You do get the single Overload point, which isn't that bad, honestly. It's not as spectacular as some of the other cards in this set, but I really do think that Sandstorm Elemental is a genuinely decent minion that's going to see play in ladder.
Totemic Surge: Oh hey, it's the offensive variant of Totemic Might! Which, actually, probably isn't half-bad! It's a permanent buff to your totems, and this expansion does give us that Splitting Axe that doubles the totems on the battlefield, which synergizes well with this. Ultimately I do think that all this Totem synergy is still a bit too cute to see play, particularly in Standard, but it's not a bad card.
Neferset Thrasher: A slightly overstatted 3-mana minion for Warlock that, for a change, doesn't deal its damage upfront like Flame Imp or Pit Lord. Which means that you can actually control when it deals damage to your hero. It's worth noting that Neferset Thrasher's first attack would come to play on turn 4, activating the Diseased Vulture. Is that good enough for that zoo warlock deck, though? Probably. I'm not sure if Standard has enough cards that cares for self damage that much, but maybe the Diseased Vulture is enough? I'm not as enamoured with the Thrasher as most people out there, but hey.
Armored Goon: Kind of a way to offset the "you must attack with your face many times" aspect of the new Warrior Quest, the Armored Goon is a 6-mana 6/7, vanilla stats, that gives your hero 5 armor every time you attack. And that's decent. I just am not convinced that you really do need this card, y'know? It's a neat way to shore up that one weakness, but I'm honestly pretty sure that Quest Warrior has a lot of better defensive tools, and that's even if you build your Quest Warrior primarily defensively. Decent card for arena, though.
Injured Tol'vir: It's Damaged Stegotron's little brother! And probably the ideal two-drop for that quest priest, who wants to begin its healing quest as soon as possible. A 2-mana 2/3 Taunt with the potential to be healed up to 2/6 is definitely more than decent enough, and as an early game taunt it's actually going to be pretty damn useful for that Quest Priest deck anyway to survive against aggro. Not the most exciting card, but definitely one that's going to help Quest Priest out if it becomes good.
Phalanx Commander: A simple Murloc Warleader style effect for Taunt minions, without itself having Taunt. A 5-mana 4/5 that buffs your board with attack is just all right, and, again, it's a card that's definitely meant to buff that Taunt Warrior deck. At this point I'm kind of convinced that buff Taunt Warrior's going to probably work out, at least in Standard, and Phalanx Commander might be a one-off inclusion to act as essentially kind of a conditional Bloodlust.
Body Wrapper: An... interesting card? You sort of get the option to recycle one of your minions that died earlier in the game, but you shuffle it into your deck. A 4-mana 4/4 with an upside is not the worst card out there, but it's just so slow and I really can't think of a specific deck archetype that needs this specifically.
Quicksand Elemental: A very interesting effect to give to a random neutral card. A 2-mana 3/2 elemental that essentially casts Pint-Sized Potion is... it's definitely not bad, but I do wonder what deck specifically needs this. It's a powerful minion that can really end up giving you one hell of a value trade. I don't know, though. It seems pretty good on paper, but could be more of a tech card if those pesky zoo decks start to swarm the ladder.
Candletaker: Let's go through the Reborn minions, because we've got five Neutral options in addition to the ones we've covered before. Candletaker is basically a vanilla-statted minion with Reborn. A 3/2 that summons a 3/1 upon death is comparable to that Revenant kobold dude from K&C, which is decent in Arena but never saw play in constructed. Even with the Reborn synergy, Candletaker's going to fall by the wayside for sure since her statline isn't that great.
Khartut Defender: A more interesting Reborn card, at 6-mana, Khartut Defender is actually filling a niche that's like a combination of a bunch of older cards like Sludge Belcher (a Taunt you have to kill twice) and Rotten Applebaum (neutral healing). A 6-mana 3/4 Taunt is pitifully small, though, so the initial body isn't that great, and the delayed, incremental heal isn't going to be as impactful as the larger body and larger heal given by the Rotten Applebaum. The Khartut Defender isn't a bad card by any means, and I might just be disillusioned because I'm so used to Wild's power level. Maybe when Witchwood rotates out the Khartut Defender will end up seeing more play because there's just less neutral healing and Taunt options out there? Regardless, this is a card I can actually see being experimented with and sticking around in things like the Taunt Warrior or Reborn Paladin decks.
Temple Berserker: A weird, shittier Amani Berserker with Reborn? It does kind of mean that the Reborn version of the Temple Berserker will always come back as a 3/1, which is interesting, but it really doesn't do enough to justify inclusion, honestly. It's an interesting way to mix up the keywords, but this minion is so pack filler it hurts.
Bone Wraith: And now a simple card that's actually kinda strong! Bone Wraith is a 4-mana 2/5 with Taunt and Reborn, which means that without any buffing shenanigans, it's already a 4-mana 2/5 taunt that summons a 2/1 taunt upon death. It's comparable to a slightly weaker (but cheaper) Sludge Belcher, and we all know how much Sludge Belcher is played in the past. Honestly, I can definitely see Bone Wraith seeing some play here and there in decks that have an excuse to include him. He's a pretty solid four drop.
Wrapped Golem: Wrapped Golem is exactly Obsidian Statue from League of Explorers, with two less health but the Reborn keyword attached to it. And... I dunno, Reborn is a lot less impressive when you come back as a 7/1 and gets killed by a rushing locust or whatever, y'know? Obsidian Statue was mostly decent in Arena, and Wrapped Golem is definitely going to be decent in Arena as something that's going to be a pain in the ass to deal with, but otherwise I don't really see the Wrapped Golem showing up in constructed. A neat little variation that shows how different the power level at this point in time has became, honestly.
Mortuary Machine: It's like Fel Reaver or Bittertide Hydra, a 5-mana 8/8 neutral. What's the catch this time, though? Instead of self-harm (either your deck or your health), the Mortuary Machine gives any minion your opponent plays Reborn. Which... yeah, I did kind of low-key diss that Reborn does summon a 1-health version of the minion that's easy to remove, but the option of giving your opponent the ability to flood the board with minions that all regenerate? If you do this to something like a Murloc Shaman, Mech Hunter or a Taunt Warrior you are just committing tactical suicide. In Arena with its limited removal tools, unless you're in a topdeck war, you're also committing suicide. Which means that the Mortuary Machine's only ever going to be good against a select option of decks and has a chance to bakfire really, really badly. It's a highly interesting effect for sure, and yeah, you maybe can get this with Rush with the Dr. Boom hero, but the potential drawback's way too large to really consider.
Conjured Mirage: People compare the Conjured Mirage to something like a minion-based Frost Nova. She's a 3/10 Taunt for 4 mana, which is massive as all hell, but will return to your deck eventually. And, sure, there's the anti-fatigue side of it, but the Mirage can just get removed, y'know? It just seems pretty impractical (if admittedly very flavourful and cute) to rely solely on this to protect yourself instead of something more impactful like an Applebaum or a Bone Wraith. The other option, of course, is to use Conjured Mirage in a Silence Priest deck, where with the Mirage's massive 10-health, means that if the Mirage sticks on board, she can one-shot the enemy after getting double Divine Spirited and Inner Fired. A card I don't foresee as being good, but one that at least might be the basis of a funny meme deck.
Mischief Maker: Essentially, the Mischief Maker is kind of like a neutral Gnomeferatu, only with stats that are below the vanilla test, and also sometimes it fucks up your deck instead of your opponent's. Unlike the Gnomeferatu, where the worst-case scenario is you burning an unimportant card (which is still denying your opponent a resource), the Mischief Maker might very well give one of your good cards to your enemy in exchange for an early-game one. Interesting concept, hilarious Indiana Jones themed art, but definitely unplayable.
Blatant Decoy: An... interesting Deathrattle? It's sort of a limited Dirty Rat effect but for both players, which may or may not be useful. It's another combo-disruption tool, but one that you really have to work for, y'know? The Decoy is a shitty 6-mana 5/5 body, which, in turn, only has its effect as a deathrattle. And sometimes it just backfires and doesn't draw out that important combo minion you want to kill, y'know? Just play something like Hecklebot if you really want to fuck their combo up.
Dwarven Archaeologist: And now for a bunch more boring neutral minions that I really don't have much to say. This one is a decently-statted 2-cost minion that gives a discount to Discovered cards. It's a powerful effect if it gets off, but way too impractical to fit as one of your 30 cards in a deck for constructed play. Interesting effect, but strictly an arena card.
Vulpera Scoundrel: An understatted minion that discovers a spell... or if you don't like any of the ones offered, you can just go full random. It wouldn't be a constructed-viable card, honestly, outside of maybe Reno-style decks. The battlecry isn't terrible, and a mystery choice is kinda fun to make this not entirely boring, but all classes by this point have more powerful ways to generate more cards. Pretty great in Arena, for sure, though.
Golden Scarab: The reference to Jeweled Scarab is cute, but this card's basically unplayable outside of Arena. The tempo loss of playing a 2/2 on turn 3 is felt more than a 1/1 on turn 2, and the benefit of curving out isn't going to be that good.
Beaming Sidekick: A 1-mana 1/2 that gives a minion +2 health permanently is... it might see play in Standard Priest, maybe? It just feels so underwhelming, though I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see this one actually cropping up in budget zoo lists.
Bug Collector: A more immediate version of Hench-Clan Hogsteed, but without the Murloc tribe, and with the Rush on the 1/1 body. It's not the worst card out there and is decent in early-game Arena, maybe, but definitely not powerful enough for Constructed.
Spitting Camel: Maybe you see a point of a camel that spits on your other minions? Maybe in one of those self-damage Warlock or Warrior decks? It's a continuous effect that might accidentally kill a minion, too. It's not the worst card out there, again, and 2-mana 2/4 is over the vanilla test, but the camel seems just impractical.
Desert Hare: For 3 mana, you get three 1/1 beasts. And people are clamoring for this to go into the Hunter Quest (or Wild Evolve Shaman), which it might very well do... but I dunno. I really am not that impressed with the Hunter Quest, and even then an Open the Vault deck is going to have way, way better token-generating choices. Not impressed with this one.
History Buff: Conditional, single-target hand-buff? Yeah, that's definitely not going to see play. Guaranteed full-hand hand-buff already struggle to see play as it is.
Serpent Egg: A strictly worse Nerubian Egg. It has one more health on the egg (which is something you don't want) and one less stat on the summoned token (also not something you want). Which maybe makes it fine in Standard, but man does this card look bad in Wild. I wouldn't be surprisde if this ends up being decent in Standard, but it's never going to see the light of day in Wild.
Faceless Lurker: Maybe you're so desperate for taunts that you want this card in your Taunt Warrior deck? It's not a bad card, but a 5-mana 3/6 Taunt is very much pretty bland (it's Fen Creeper), so the Lurker is something that really needs to be hand-buffed to even get value, and all you get is just a slightly-larger Taunt with no other effects and a particular aversion to Silence. At that point, why not just run Ziliax or Rotten Applebaum as your five-mana Taunt?
Pit Crocolisk: It's a far, far shittier-statted North Sea Kraken. A cheaper cost and a slightly stronger battlecry, but the body's so small for 8 mana. Kinda decent in arena, I guess.
Living Monument: It's great to get out of random generation effects like Conjurer's Calling or Evolve, but he's never going to be a card you want to put willingly into your deck. One of those 'neat to have in the pool, nothing you'll want to willingly include' things.
Wasteland Scorpid: Hey, look, it's a shittier version of Maexxna, who's already an unplayable legendary!
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My rapid-fire ratings -- honestly, it's particularly hard for this expansion, because I am kind of unfamiliar with the Standard meta, while so many of the cards (particularly the neutral ones) look so interesting and could easily be decent or be terrible. From a design standpoint, I definitely give Saviors of Uldum two thumbs up, and if nothing else, Arena's certainly going to be interesting...
Druid Cards:
- 5: N/A
- 4: Untapped Potential, Anubisath Defender, BEEES!!!, Overflow
- 3: Elise the Enlightened, Crystal Merchant, Oasis Surger, Worthy Expedition
- 2: Hidden Oasis, Garden Gnome
- 1: N/A
Honestly, I really don't think Druid got a single bad card in this expansion -- even the 2/5 cards here could definitely arguably be 3/5. Even the cards I don't think will ever see the light of day in Wild (like Overflow) is going to fill a niche in Standard. And, sure, I'm not convinced that any of the Druid archetypes we're getting in this set is suddenly going to be Tier 1, but between the Untapped Potential Choose One deck, and the "hold a big spell in your hand" archetype going on, as well as potential Elise shenanigans, I really do think that Druid got a pretty dang solid set of cards this time around. Good stuff.
- 5: N/A
- 4: Hyena Alpha, Hunter's Pack
- 3: Wild Bloodstinger, Scarlet Webweaver, Dinotamer Brann, Unseal the Vault
- 2: Ramkahen Wildtamer, Pressure Plate, Swarm of Locusts
- 1: Desert Spear
Hunter's... interesting. We're kinda sorta split into a couple of archetypes here, which is nice. Unseal the Vault is a very interesting quest that plays differently from most Hunter decks we're familiar with, and while it's going to be exciting to experiment with (and it did admittedly get a couple of good support cards) ultimately I don't think it's going to be super viable. On the other side of the spectrum, we've got a bunch of Secret synergy cards, and a couple of interesting miscellaneous beasts. I don't think the Hunter cards are as solid as the Druid or Warlock ones, but there are definitely enough interesting ones here that I wouldn't be surprised if either the quest, Brann, the Hyena or the Webweaver suddenly becomes the new dominant hunter card.
- 5: Cloud Prince, Arcane Flakmage
- 4: Reno the Relicologist, Ancestral Mysteries
- 3: Dune Sculptor, Tortollan Pilgrim, Raid the Sky Temple
- 2: Flame Ward, Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron
- 1: Naga Sand Witch
Mage's... hoo boy. Between Cloud Prince, Flakmage, Ancestral Mystries and Flame Ward, we certainly have a lot of support for Secret Mage, and even if that doesn't materialize in Standard, I am already looking at my half-decent Wild Secret Mage deck and nodding at the thought of very easily improving the power level of this one. Reno the Relicologist is a pretty decent motiavtion to play with a Reno-style deck once more, and, again, particularly in Wild. The Mage quest, while looking a bit impractical, also kinda seems that it could work out relatively decently.
That said, though, I don't quite have as high of an opinion on some of the cards here. I still am not particularly sure where Dune Sculptor, Tortollan Pilgrim, Puzzle Box or Naga Sandwich fit in. Particularly the latter two. That's all right, though, because, again, none of those even look bad. They just look like they're just waiting for the right deck to call home.
- 5: N/A
- 4: N/A
- 3: Micro Mummy, Sandwasp Queen, Subdue, Tip the Scales, Making Mummies
- 2: Sir Finley of the Sands, Ancestral Guardian, Brazen Zealot
- 1: Salhet's Pride, Pharaoh's Blessing
Paladin's kind of all over the place, and unlike the previous three classes, I don't think any of them have enough support to really work out. And, sure, Wild Paladin is still dominating with good old Genn and Baku, but in Wild in particular I genuinely can't see any of these cards really playing out. I'm not impressed with either Sir Finley or the Quest, particularly the reward. The Reborn minions are decent, but not enough to really motivate me to play the quest, y'know? Tip the Scales might see play in Wild in conjunction with Anyfin Can Happen, but I honestly think that it's just going to be experimented with and eventually abandoned. It's just a random Murloc synergy card in a set without a lot of Murloc Paladin support.
And then you have a smattering of random 1-health minions with Salhet's Pride very loosely connecting them with a weak attempt at synergy, and then you have a couple of random standalone cards like Subdue (which admittedly is decent in Standard) and the extremely underwhelming Pharaoh's Blessing. Overall, not particularly impressed.
- 5: Activate the Obelisk, High Priest Amet
- 4: Grandmummy, Psychopomp
- 3: Wretched Reclaimer, Sandhoof Waterbearer, Holy Ripple, Plague of Death
- 2: Embalming Ritual, Penance
- 1: N/A
Priest, on the other hand... is a lot more interesting. Activate the Obelisk, as mentioned before, is a very, very interesting card and even over in neutral we've got a couple of cards that might work well with it. Grandmummy is a very, very interesting Reborn card that might make zoo priest work, and so do Psychopomp and Wretched reclaimer, both of whom really seem to work well in some sort of super-value Reborn/Deathrattle/resummon deck. High Priest Amet is such an interesting legendary that someone is going to try and make an OTK deck with it.
The other cards are sort of standalone tools, but so multi-purpose! Waterbearer is just good all around, and so are Plague of Death and Holy Ripple as a super-final and kinda-cheap removal respectively. Even Penance and Embalming Ritual, neither of which I'm super impressed with, aren't strictly bad. Huge, huge fan of the Priest layout this time around, and I'm going to have fun experimenting with the Priest class this time aroud.
- 5: Pharaoh Cat
- 4: Bazaar Burglary, Shadow of Death
- 3: Anka the Buried, Bazaar Burglar, Clever Disguise
- 2: Whirlkick Master, Plague of Madness, Sahket Sapper
- 1: Hooked Scimitar
We do have a bunch of interesting cards this time around for Rogue as well. Bazaar Burglary, Clever Disguise and Bazaar Burglar are all great additions to the pool of Burgle Rogue, and honestly that quest might very well push Burgle Rogue from a mostly 'haha fun' deck to relevancy. Pharaoh Cat is just a very, very solid card all around. Both Anka the Buried and Shadow of Death are potential OTK deck generators, which I am genuinely curious to see if they'll work. Plague of Madness is kinda all right, I suppose, even if I do think that Rogue has a lot of better removal.
There are admittedly a bunch of cards I'm not super impressed by, but they're not bad. Sahket Sapper just looks impractical, Whirlkick Master is cute but also not going to be the next Underbelly Angler, and the Scimitar is just underwhelming. Still, again, a pretty fun smattering of cards!
- 5: Vessina
- 4: Sandstorm Elemental, Plague of Murlocs
- 3: Weaponized Wasp, EVIL Totem, Corrupt the Waters, Earthquake
- 2: Totemic Surge, Splitting Axe
- 1: Mogu Fleshshaper
Shaman's got an... interesting quest. My gut instinct is still sorta wibbly-wobbly with Corrupt the Waters and its Battlecry-synergy hero power, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up working out, either as a standalone deck or in conjunction with Shudderwock. Vessina just looks great all around as detailed above, and we've got Sandstorm Elemental, Earthquake and Plague of Murlocs which all look like pretty great removal options for Shaman depending on what you need.
We've got two mini-synergies that I'm not sure will work out. EVIL Totem and Weaponized Wasp edge towards a Lackey Shaman which might sort of work with the quest, but the Wasp is so powerful I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Shaman just puts the Lackey package just for the tempo. Meanwhile, EVIL Totem, Splitting Axe and Totemic Surge make up a bizarre weird totem-flood deck that... is cute, but I don't see it working out particularly well. There's also the Fleshshaper, which just kinda sucks.
- 5: EVIL Recruiter
- 4: Diseased Vulture, Dark Pharaoh Tekahn, Riftcleaver, Sinister Deal
- 3: Expired Merchant, Neferset Thrasher
- 2: Plague of Flames, Supreme Archaeology
- 1: Impbalming
Hoo boy Warlock Warlock Warlock. I personally don't think that Supreme Archaeology, the quest, is going to work out that well. It's so bizarre that people will try and make it work, with Plot Twist and all sorts of wacky cards that shuffle cards into your deck and whatnot, but I personally don't think the payoff is good enough. Maybe in wild we'll get a buffed up version of that janky Plot Twist/Darkest Hour deck? Eh. Expired Merchant is an interesting card, and I can see it being played in Wild in particular to duplicate some of Warlock's biggest bombs.
What is impressive, though, are two different sets of cards that might honestly even co-exist in the same deck. EVIL Recruiter, Sinister Deal and Dark Pharaoh Tekahn are amazing Lackey-tempo tools, particularly the Recruiter, and I honestly could see a simple zoo Warlock with the Lackey package just snowballing out of control with tempo and board presence. Meanwhile, Neferset Thrasher, Riftcleaver and Diseased Vulture ends up being kinda-sorta hanging out together as this self-harm Warlock archetype, but the Vulture in particular seems so idal to the zoo mentality that I wouldn't be surprised to see zoo and aggro warlock lists mix and match these genuinely powerful cards with each other. Honestly, Warlock just gets a lot of great cards this time around, and I'm just waiting to see what we get out of them.
Not particularly impressed with either Plague of Flames or Impbalming, both of which seem way too cute and janky, but it's okay. Warlock got enough good stuff this expansion.
- 5: Frightened Flunky
- 4: Bloodsworm Mercenary, Restless Mummy, Into the Fray, Tomb Warden
- 3: Plague of Wrath, Armagedillo
- 2: Armored Goon, Hack the System, Livewire Lance
- 1: N/A
I was very iffy on the handbuff-taunt Warrior deck, but the more they reveal, the more that it honestly looks like the deck will end up taking form. Into the Fray, Frightened Flunky, Armagedillo and Tomb Warden all honestly look like pretty great cards, and that's not to mention already good Taunt cards both in older sets and in Warrior, and I honestly can see this being just a pretty damn powerful deck. Combine it with the old Un'Goro Taunt Quest and Bolster, and we might honestly see a resurgence of old-school "taunt till you get Ragnaros" deck, only this time around the Taunts can probably fight back.
Bloodsworn Mercenary is also a very interesting standalone card that can just give some really great value, while Restless Mummy is a good minion for the Rush package if you like Rush more than Taunt. Plague of Wrath isn't the best removal card out there, but it's a neat alternative to Brawl. On the other hand... I'm just not impressed with the Warrior Quest, and out of the eight we see here, I do think that the Warrior one is the least interesting one and the one that feels the jankiest. Armored Goon sorta helps that quest game plan, but I don't think it's going to be especially good either. Livewire Lance is... sorta there? I kinda wished this lackey-generating card was given to Shaman or Warlock instead, who actually can make use of the Lackey synergy. It's all right.
- 5: Siamat
- 4: Zephrys the Great, Bone Wraith, Khartut Defender
- 3: Beaming Sidekick, Murmy, Fishflinger, Injured Tol'vir, Neferset Ritualist, Questing Explorer, Quicksand Elemental, Serpent Egg, Infested Goblin, Vulpera Scoundrel, Body Wrapper, Conjured Mirage, Phalanx Commander, Wasteland Assassin, Wrapped Golem, Colossus of the Moon
- 2: Mogu Cultist, Jar Dealer, Bug Collector, Dwarven Archaeologist, Kobold Sandtrooper, Spitting Camel, Candletaker, Desert Hare, Mischief Maker, Faceless Lurker, Blatant Decoy, Pit Crocolisk, Anubisath Warbringer, Octosari, King Phaoris
- 1: Temple Berserker, Vilefiend, Generous Mummy, Golden Scarab, History Buff, Sunstruck Henchman, Desert Obelisk, Mortuary Machine, Wasteland Scorpid, Living Monument
Y'know, as much as I lump a lot of the neutrals in the 3/5 slot, man are the neutrals in this set really interesting, and I wouldn't be surprised to, say, see cards like Fishflinger and Murmy be staples in a Murloc deck; or Injured Tol'vir in a quest priest deck; or Infested Goblin or Phalanx Commander as a crucial part of Taunt Warrior; or Serpent Egg in standard zoo Warlock... sure, there are some stinkers and some obvious pack fillers, but we have those in every expansion, and if nothing else, they'll end up being neat additions to things like evolution or Conjurer's Calling pools. We also have a fair bit of wacky disruption tools, which I don't see seeing a whole ton of play, but I appreciate it so much that we're finally allowing disruption to actually try and counter those pesky combo decks. Speaking of combo decks... between Mogu Cultist, Desert Obelisk and Conjured Mirage, we do have a couple that might actually work out, y'know? If nothing else, they'll be interesting.
Out of the cards here, the particularly stand-out ones are Siamat, of course, as a multi-purpose good neutral legendary; Zephyrus for being a potentially useful card in singleton Reno decks; plus Khartut Defender and Bone Wraith for being the next Sludge Belcher.
And... and that's about it from me! That's a lot of words, and I for one am super duper pumped to play this expansion, which genuinely feels a lot more wacky and different from the previous one. Rise of Shadows and Rastakhan's Rumble just feels so... balanced, y'know? There are more insane-looking cards in this one that I'm going to have fun with them.
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