One Night in Karazhan: Card Preview Week 1

The Data Reaper Team Previews Week 1's Karazhan Cards.


Karazhan LogoOne Night in Karazhan is here! As new wings open every week, we will go over the cards that are released and evaluate their potential. We’ve assembled a team of Data Reaper contributors who have written their thoughts on the set, and we will provide you their opinions on the cards every Thursday.

The scoring is as follows:

5 – Staple core card, Meta-defining.

4 – Strong, will see play.

3 – Decent, has potential to see play.

2 – Weak, situational, niche.

1 – Terrible, unplayable.

Below is a spreadsheet that summarizes all of our contributors’ scores.

Enchanted RavenEnchanted Raven

Gallon: 4

“Obviously a much needed one drop for Beast Druid, Enchanted Raven is a decent turn one option.  Although no Zombie Chow, it still trades evenly with most other one drops and the best case scenario of Mark of Y’shaarj is incredible.  However, the real strength of this card is as curve filler for druid on otherwise awkward turns.”

HC015: 4

“Raven might make Beast Druid a viable tier 1 or 2 deck. Beast Druid tends to be more aggressive than other archetypes and before the expansion it was missing multiple solid 1 drops, only having Living Roots and Finley as staples in the archetype. It has a great statline and matches up very well against most of the 3/2’s in the meta. How much play this card sees will be based on how good Beast Druid is.”

HotMeowth: 4

“This will be a staple in Aggro Beast Druid; it is a really strong turn 1 play that can be followed up by a lot of spells and minions that have beast synergies. I am not sure if this will work in a slower/midrange beast druid though, since the card itself is mainly better for aggressive builds, and is not as strong in a token or ramp oriented list. We will have to see if this card can compete with the current tier 1 Token Druid archetype.”

Fenom: 5

“There’s a reason why Blizzard hasn’t made a single minion between 1 to 3 mana that has full stats and no drawbacks. At such an early stage of a game, you just want the biggest minion you can play, no fancy special effects necessary. Now comes along this and no 1-drop will ever be as good as this unless Blizzard blatantly breaks the stats budget. Not only does this minion have full stats, it is also a Beast. So when it is combined with Mark of Y’Shaarj, you basically get a 4/4 Beast with charge on turn 2 for just one net card.

Wwlos: 4

“It’s vanilla, it’s not shocking and it will see play. The beast tag is the actual impressive aspect of the card.”

EndOfDays: 5

“Early game drops that beat the curve in terms of stats tend to end up being very powerful. In addition to that, it has the beast tag, which has obvious synergy with Mark of Y’Shaarj, a combination that can be game-winning on turn 2. Not a lot of 1-drops have that kind of impact on the game.”

Average score: 4.3

Firelands PortalFirelands Portal

Gallon: 3

“Decent but not very playable spell for Mage.  Tempo decks already have enough low cost burn and good creatures that this card is mostly obsolete.”

HC015: 3

“You can live the Yogg Dream with Firelands Portal to face into Leeroy. Haven’t played Tempo Mage enough to know if it will fit. Buffs Conjurer also.”

HotMeowth: 3

“This card can work in a slower type of Tempo Mage, probably best fits in the current Chinese Tempo Mage list with Ice Block and slower cards for stalling. This card has a lot of value and it will be really impactful late game, it just needs a viable control/tempo archetype to fit, since it is too slow for standard Tempo Mage.”

Fenom: 3

“You break even with this card if the minion is about 4/4. The worst case scenario is Starving Buzzard, which is only 3/2, and unless you’re a Reno Mage with a Jeweled Scarab ready to go, it’s nothing more than that. There are several other vanilla bodies less than 4/4, although Grim Patron is much better if you have two mana left over. After that, you’re not sad. Summoning Stone is only a 0/6, but obviously your opponent would be scared of leaving it alive. Like Grim Patron, Nexus-Champion Saraad is much better than just its body if you have two mana left over. Hero power and spell synergy aside, the best case scenarios by far are Earth Elemental and Doomguard.”

Wwlos: 3

“This card will be played, it’s five damage that can hit face and summon a minion. It will be clunky a lot the time though, and often frustrating to have in your hand. It’s an odd case of an underwhelming card that will be played anyways. Hard to explain.”

EndOfDays: 4

“This card has tremendous value. It develops a minion as well as provides burn for face damage or removal. Cards that pack two effects while not sacrificing cost tend to be powerful. The only downside to this card is that it comes in late, but a Tempo Mage list that runs Faceless Summoner will likely replace it with this card. Control or Reno Mage will also find a place for it, and it is also a good Hail Mary lethal option with Doomguard or Leeroy as potential spawns.”

Average score: 3.2

Deadly ForkDeadly Fork

Gallon: 1

Rogue really needs a proactive 3 drop, but this isn’t it.  A 3/2 on 3 contests barely anything, and the fact that the weapon costs 3 does this card no extra favors, just too awkward to play in any current form of Rogue.

HC015: 2

Weak body for 3 mana with a deathrattle that is slow for Rogue. The weapon is 3 mana, which makes the curve awkward.  Rogue usually wants to play Tomb Pillager/Violet Teacher on turn 4, into Azure Drake. 3 mana 3/2 weapon is still powerful but it feels clunky. Might possibly be a tool for N’Zoth Rogue?

HotMeowth: 1

“The deathrattle isn’t a fiery war axe, so it might be too slow and clunky when rogue archetypes generally focus on tempo rather than value.”

Fenom: 1

“The weapon costs 3 mana, so the combined cost of the two cards is too expensive for this card to be good, even value-wise.”

Wwlos: 1

“What an incredibly slow and underwhelming card. This will never feel good to play, it just seems unplayably bad.”

EndOfDays: 1

“Seems terrible. Why would you pay 1 more mana for a bad 2-drop and then pay 1 more mana for a Fiery War Axe that you can only play in the mid-game?”

Average score: 1.2

Silverware GolemSilverware Golem

Gallon: 4

“Sometimes you go Imp into coin Soulfire the Tunnel Trogg, discarding Silverware Golem turn 1.  Sometimes you Soulfire and discard Soulfire.  At its worst it’s a 3/3 for 3, but that isn’t nearly good enough.  Its best is far, far better, and makes this card worth considering, even if the RNG of random discard is a drawback.”

HC015: 3

“In a perfect RNG world this card is insane. It doesn’t really fit in current Zoo because the deck already has powerful 3 drops, so it would be put in a deck more focused on discard. Has potential to be one of the most powerful cards in the set but I gave it a lower score due to randomness and the situations where you have to play a 3 mana 3/3 that does nothing.”

HotMeowth: 2

“It is only good if you can actually discard it, it might be a 1 of to run in discard zoo, but it is still inconsistent.”

Fenom: 3

“This is another piece that can make discard warlock viable.”

Wwlos: 4

“3 mana 3/3 that also pushes the discard mechanic just fine. It seems pretty strong, not sold on the mechanic so I don’t feel that I have much to say about it.”

EndOfDays: 4

“The only reason I did not give this card the maximum score is because maybe, just maybe, this discard Warlock archetype is not going to be a thing after Malchezaar’s Imp is released. This minion has potential for some insane RNG board swings in the early game that rival Tuskarr Totemic’s. The salt possibilities are endless. It also synergizes particularly well with Doomguard.”

Average score: 3.3

Arcane AnomalyArcane Anomaly

Gallon: 3

“Worse than Mana Wyrm, but Mana Wyrm is busted.  I don’t think it fits into any current builds, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Arcane Anomaly finds its way into an extremely early game-oriented version of Tempo Mage.”

HC015: 3

“Interesting card that I can’t really make a judgment on until I play it.”

HotMeowth: 2

“Zoo doesn’t run much spells, and in tempo spell-oriented decks, health gain for minions isn’t really impactful. This might actually be good in Priest as a 1 drop though, since it synergizes with Power Word Shield and other spells later on like Tentacles, it works with Priest hero power too. Hooray! One good card for Priest to help with its early game.

Fenom: 3

“This is like Mana Wyrm but for health. It’s probably not better than any class 1-drop, but can used as filler.”

Wwlos: 3

“So reverse Mana Wyrm? I can’t tell if that’s good enough. This card is actually tough to evaluate. It probably just isn’t good enough to take the spot of most of its competition, but I think the value is nice and fine.”

EndOfDays: 3

“This card is actually not bad in aggressive variants of Paladin that play a lot of cheap buffs. Has great synergy with Divine Strength in particular.”

Average score: 2.8

Pantry SpiderPantry Spider

Gallon: 2

“Mediocre filler card.  The beast tag could make it a little better than I give it credit for, but I don’t see this making any waves in the competitive scene.”

HC015: 2

“Matches up very poorly against all the 2 mana 3/2 in the meta.”

HotMeowth: 1

“Just a bad card that may give you another Houndmaster target.”

Fenom:  1

“Not much needs to be said about this card. This is just a different way of putting stats on minions from, say, Razorfen Hunter. The card does nothing for a competitive deck.”

Wwlos: 3

“This card is annoying, and curves into Houndmaster super well. It might just be good enough considering that synergy. This is not an amazing card by any means, but 2/6 in stats that curves into HM probably makes it better than most people are evaluating it at.”

EndOfDays: 1

“Two beasts on turn 3: hard for your opponent to remove, almost guaranteeing Houndmaster value on turn 4. Nah, just kidding. This card sucks.”

Ivory KnightIvory Knight

Gallon: 1

“Bad card.  This is a much worse version of so many cards.  Only good if it pulls Lay on Hands or Anyfin if you are playing Murloc Pally.  Too inconsistent with the bajillion secrets clogging up discover for paladin.”

Wwlos: 2

“Cool idea but 6 mana slot in Control Paladin has more impactful cards with Cairne and Syl. Does Paladin really need more heal or card draw?”

HotMeowth: 2

“Extra accessory for Control Pally because the archetype already has tools that serves a similar if not better role. And again, for the 6 mana spot, there are better cards to run already, like Sylvanas, Cairne, Justicar, Enter the Coliseum. There are possibilities of this seeing play in combo centric Control Paladin decks though, like Murloc or OTK.”

Fenom: 2

“If you disregard the extra card you get, then you need to pick Lay on Hands or Anyfin Can Happen to break even. If you value the extra card, then just a 4 mana spell allows you to break even. If your opponent is the aggressor, then you obviously value the heal much more than the card, in which case Lay on Hands is by far the best option. In a control matchup, unless you discover something you can need to use immediately, you usually want to pick a card that gives you more board value later, like Stand Against Darkness or a buff card. Even A Light in the Darkness would do. If you don’t find anything you like, and you run Elise Starseeker, you can just hold on to the spell and wait for another chance to turn it into something better.”

Wwlos: 3

“This card is playable. It provides a lot of value in a control game. Heal, stats, and raven idol in the long game is pretty relevant. Is it too slow? Possibly. I really like this card in a Reno variant, or just as a one of in general. This card will be much easier to value after play.”

EndOfDays: 2

“This card is just painfully slow. Compare it to Ethereal Conjurer and it just seems bad. Paladins have a lot of cheap spells, so on average, the heal will not be very significant. The Discover effect might be worth it in Reno lists. “

Average score: 2

ArcanosmithArcanosmith

Gallon: 3

“If you think of this card as a 4 mana 3/2, gain 5+ life (due to overkill) this card doesn’t seem so bad!  This is another card on a long list of pseudo-Healbots in this set.”

HC015: 2

“No idea what to make of this card but looking at it, it seems bad. Could be a fun card to experiment with though.”

HotMeowth: 1

“3/2 and a Shieldbearer is 3 mana. Yes it is 3/7 worth of stats for 4 mana, but splitting those stats up makes it so much weaker.”

Fenom: 1

“This is a very creative way to allocate stats, to put it nicely.”

Wwlos: 2

“There is a 4 mana 4/2 summon a 0/4 with taunt in TESL, and it has been pretty strong for me in the game’s short lifespan. That game also has like 30% of the cards HS has, so I’m just going to assume the weaker version of that card is bad.”

EndOfDays: 1

“A 3/2 that summons a Shieldbearer with 1 extra health. Why is this in the game?”

Average score: 1.7

Protect the KingProtect the King

Gallon: 2

“This is a bad Unleash the Hounds, which already doesn’t see play.  Just not good when every Warrior is running two Ravaging Ghouls.”

HC015: 2

“Warrior has better ways to deal with board. Doesn’t really work with whirlwind effects that are commonly seen in Warrior now. Dead card in control matchups. If you want to combo with Bolster you need to run Bolster in your deck for a 2 card 5 mana combo which is clunky. Unleash the Taunts is very meh.”

HotMeowth: 2

“Bolster boys, don’t think it synergizes with most warriors, since they run whirlwinds.”

Fenom: 2

“This is a very interesting card, especially when combined with Bolster. However, this suffers the same predicament as Cult Apothecary, do you want to get value from your card or do you want to just clear the board? At least if you’re a warlock with 9 mana, you can do both with Shadowflame, but playing Protect the King right before Brawl would be pointless.”

Wwlos: 2

“Damn it, Iksar, Bolster isn’t a thing! Well, maybe it is. I don’t know. Hounds with taunt and no beast tag seems underwhelming but could actually just work, I don’t hate it at all.”

EndOfDays: 1

“Only good with Bolster and only good against aggressive decks that flood the board. Seems like too many conditions to make it playable.”

Average score: 1.8

Cloaked HuntressCloaked Huntress

Gallon: 4

“Playable version of Kirin Tor Mage.  Statline is much better for chewing smaller minions up, hunter secrets are actually playable unlike in Tempo Mage.  Also, the new secret is incredibly good and this does a good job of making it even more viable.  Almost certain it will see play as a replacement for Carrion Grub.”

HC015: 3

“Strong body for 3 mana but there are a few issues. Hunter is pretty clogged at the 3 slot already with Companion, Bow, Kill Command, UTH, Grub although not all those cards are played on 3. Also requires the deck to run at least 2 secrets most likely and there is the need to have it in hand at the same time. In the perfect situation it is 3/4 body that has a 2 mana battlecry, worst case it’s a 3 mana 3/4 which is almost good enough to see play.”

HotMeowth: 3

“This card has a decent body for 3 mana, and its effect can create a powerful tempo play that can swing the game. In a Yogg & Load deck, it can synergize with lock & load really nicely as early as on turn 5 if you have 2 or more secrets in hand. The problem with this card is that it forces you to build a more secret-heavy and spell-oriented hunter, which reduces consistency of having a strong minion to be played on curve.”

Fenom: 4

“This card is similar to Kirin Tor Mage, but its effect is an aura as opposed to a battlecry, and it works for all secrets played, as opposed to just the next one. You can sort of build your own 3 mana Mysterious Challenger, except you need to have the secrets in hand. The dream is to combine this with Lock and Load to cycle every secret in your hand instantly for free. Overall, it’s a decent card that may or may not see regular play; it depends on how many Hunter secrets are played.”

Wwlos: 5

“I love this card. Alone at 3/4 in stats it can always be a strong turn 3 tempo play, getting any secrets, even just 1, is absolute insane value. Sure we can do crazy things with Lock and Load and a bunch of secrets, and that’s cool, but this card’s lack of real downside mixed with extreme upside will make it one of the best cards in the entire set. “

EndOfDays: 3

“There are two reasons why this card is not as good as it seems. First of all, secrets in general aren’t as strong as minions because of their reactive nature, so you need to have a really good reason to include them. Secondly, Mad Scientist allowed you to play secrets for free and not get punished for drawing them, which is not the case here. Hunters lack card draw, and it’s really important for them to have high minion density. This minion requires you to have around three secrets in your deck to consistently make it better than a 3-mana 3/4 on turn 3. I’m not convinced it’s worth it.”

Average score: 3.6

Priest of the FeastPriest of the Feast

Gallon: 3

“4 mana 3/6 body is actually quite good and the effect is more than just incidental.  However, this card is just decent, not great, so I don’t see how it could pull priest out of the gutter.”

HC015: 3

“Good body for 4 mana but it doesn’t help Priest issue of not doing anything in the early game.”

HotMeowth: 2

“Strong 4 mana body that Priest needs to synergize with buff, the effect really doesn’t help much except stalling; it would be really nice if it was somewhat targetable for combo synergies.”

Fenom: 3

“This is a nice card for priest. It presents a potential headache for aggressive opponents. They may not want to completely ignore it. Currently, the only Priest minion that is any bit scary to leave up is Auchenai Soulpriest.”

Wwlos: 2

“Another four drop for Priest. This card will never get enough value to be playable. Stats aren’t the worst though.”

EndOfDays: 2

“Just a very underwhelming card. On curve, it’s worse than Water Elemental. When not played on curve, it’s hard to argue it’s better than the more consistent and versatile Darkshire Alchemist. Priests need effects that help them fight for the board, not heal themselves before they eventually concede.”

Average Score: 2.5

Maelstrom PortalMaelstrom Portal

Gallon: 4

“Miles better than Arcane Explosion.  Not sure just what this card fits into, but it has incredible potential.”

HC015: 2

“Arcane explosion minor buff. Doesn’t fit in any current Shaman as Lighting Storm would probably still be the preferred AoE in a more Midrange/Aggro deck. Doesn’t find a place in Control either. Could only really work if Shaman gets a powerful spell power card.”

HotMeowth: 2

“It heavily synergizes with spell damage, but Control Shaman already has enough AOE removals. This card looks moderately strong, but it doesn’t seem to fit in Aggro or Mid-Range Shaman, since those decks are more minion centric early game, and Lightning Storms would be a better pick for the 1 or 2 AOE’s they need.”

Fenom: 5

“If Aggro Shamans are already running Lightning Storm, then this card is usually much better and should replace Lightning Storm for them. When you’re supposed to be on the board already, you don’t need much damage from an AOE to maintain the tempo. Sure you probably still have to use some minions to complete the clear, but you probably only need to make value trades at that point, and you get a new minion anyway. Or, at a later point in the game, you can use Doomhammer to clean up. Mid-Range shamans still need to keep at least one Lightning Storm if they want to use this card. For Control Shamans, this doesn’t do enough damage.”

Wwlos: 5

“Power Creep much? As Shaman, with the inclusion of Spirit Claws, we will be adding even more spell power to our decks, so this card will often be able to squeeze consecration value for 2 mana and a minion; I actually think this is the most underrated card in the set. It’ll probably be insane, and again blizzard has really gifted Shaman in an expansion.”

EndOfDays: 3

“This is a really good card in terms of value. I could see it being run as a pseudo third Lightning Storm in Mid-Range Shaman for added consistency. It’s a strong tech option against Zoo and other token spawning archetypes, which can give Shaman fits since it doesn’t deal with one health minions very efficiently.”

Average score: 3.5

MoroesMoroes

Gallon: 1

“Ghoul”

HC015: 1

“Warriors like to whirl now.”

HotMeowth: 1

“Can compete for worst legendary overall. Can’t really say it is a power creep, because even Imp Master is better.”

Fenom: 2

“Some big buff cards would have to be played on this card for it to serve any purpose. Otherwise, almost every viable deck in the game is prepared to sweep one health minions over and over again.”

Wwlos: 1

“Why are we wasting legendary spots on this?”

EndOfDays: 1

“Disappointing design. Gets killed by literally every AOE and too slow.”

Average score: 1.2

Contributors

This article was brought to you by the following members of the Data Reaper Team:

gallonHC015hotmeowthFenomEndofDayswwlos