The Comprehensive Across the Timeways Preview

Static Shock

This spell is worth 2 damage for 0 mana, 1 of which can go face. This is a strong rate for the cost when we compare it to a card like Moonfire or Backstab. At a pinch, we can remove a 2-health minion in the early game for no mana investment, or cleanly wipe out a couple of 1-health bodies. In terms of early game board control, Static Shock is very efficient.

When we add potential synergies to the equation, Static Shock becomes even better. It is a strong enabler for Flux Revenant and Stormrook. It is a great damage source with Muradin’s weapon. Giving the class a good 0 mana card makes it easier to fit Elise into a Shaman deck.

Guaranteed to see play in different kinds of Shaman decks.

Score: 4

Lightning Rod

As a standalone card, Lightning Rod is unplayable. The drawback required to deal 4 random damage to an enemy minion is too steep and conditional. It requires us to have a minion in play, which is far worse than a spell like Spirit Bomb, which is both targeted and can be played regardless of our board state.

Lighting Rod needs to be completely carried by synergies, with Flux Revenant and Stormrook offering the best friendly minion targets for its effect. We could even embrace an “Enrage” theme and run Acolyte of Pain. The point is that unless we turn the friendly damage into a valued upside, there is no chance of Lightning Rod making it into our deck.

This is a bad card that can get carried by a competitively viable Stormrook. Otherwise, it will be forgotten. We think this spell was harshly balanced and could have targeted an enemy minion without being remotely overpowered (we already have the technology to target multiple minions).

Score: 1

Primordial Overseer

A 2 mana 3/4 that draws a card is fantastic. We can even play Overseer on curve with the help of Pop-Up Book or Static Shock. We can envision this 2-drop being utilized by different kinds of Shaman decks, should they possess enough Nature spells to consistently activate it.

The main slight against Overseer is that it is a very weak card to draw off the top, as its baseline form is useless. We have seen success from past minions, many of them coming from the Naga tribe in Voyage to the Sunken City, carrying a condition similar to this. But Naga minions worked off every spell, while Overseer is limited to a specific spell pool. It does not require jumping through hoops in the deckbuilding phase, as Shaman does have access to a sizeable number of constructed-worthy Nature spells, but it cannot go straight into every Shaman deck with the expectation it can perform.

Score: 2

Flux Revenant

An early game target for Static Shock and Lightning Rod, Flux Revenant is a taunt that grows when it is damaged friendly Nature spells. A single buff trigger turns it into a 3/5, which represents great stats for the cost. However, unless we have Static Shock, we cannot play Flux Revenant on curve with any great joy. A 1/4 taunt is easy to value trade in the early game, so we need to play it alongside Nature spells or risk finding little value from it.

We view Revenant as a secondary Nature spell target in a deck centered on Stormrook, which has a more impactful and game winning ability. It can help us stabilize in faster matchups, but we find it hard to believe it is a good minion to spend on when facing slower decks. Only playable in a specific archetype.

Score: 2

Thunderquake

A Whirlwind that generates a Static Shock, which makes Thunderquake compare favorably to Swipe when we combine the effects on the same turn. The fact we can save Static Shock for a later turn, makes Thunderquake far more flexible. Any effect, when broken into playable pieces that combine for the same mana cost, becomes stronger. Thunderquake only sacrifices 1 total damage to be 1 mana cheaper than Swipe. It does damage our own minions, but either our deck is too passive to care, or we turn this self damage into an advantage in an “Enrage Shaman” archetype with Stormrook and Flux Revenant.

In the early game, Thunderquake can answer a wide variety of board states. It can kill a 3-health minion, a couple of 2-health minions, or wipe 1-health minions while saving Static Shock for a later power spike. It also scales with spell damage extremely well, if Shaman ever revisits such synergies.

Versatile removal is hard to pass up for any Shaman deck with late game aspirations.

Score: 4

Nascent Bolt

This is a strange spell. Dealing 5 damage to a minion for 3 mana is not terrible, but not something that we should value in constructed play. Some 5-health minions do exist on turn 3, but Nascent Bolt will likely overkill most other minions we face on that turn. This is not an efficient card on turn 3. It becomes stronger in the mid-game, but we are not sure we value the removal effect at this cost. For 3 mana, we want to be able to assassinate any minion. Damage-based single target removal that costs 3 or 4 mana usually does not see play for that reason.

Then we have the condition, which gets stranger. If the minion survives, we draw 2 cards. If we combine the effects together, the card seems great for the cost. We get an Arcane Intellect on top of 5 damage to a minion for the cost of Arcane Intellect.

But which enemy minion in the mid-game realistically survives 5 damage? And why would we spend 3 mana to not kill an enemy minion? If that minion is large enough to survive Nascent Bolt, we probably need to completely kill it or risk losing the game.

As for the friendly fire theme that Shaman seems to have with Nature spells in this set, Nascent Bolt is even more bizarre. Casting this on Flux Revenant or Stormrook makes no sense, as it is akin to playing a conditional Arcane Intellect. It is a terrible play.

This is not a good removal spell, nor is it a great source of card draw. It is neither here nor there. At 2 mana, we would have considered it playable. At 3 mana, it is too weak.

Score: 1

Stormrook

The biggest Nature spell payoff in this set, Stormrook summons a random 5-mana minion whenever we damage it with a Nature spell. Accumulation of Static Shocks, Lightning Rods and Pop-Up Books can allow us to execute a single swing turn in which we summon a board of 5-drops as early as the mid-game.

This strikes us as a Razzle-Dazzler type win condition that offers a board-based threat to a Shaman deck built around a minion-light and cheap curve. Its success is dependent on how quickly and consistently we can execute a Stormrook play. If we can find Static Shocks early and play a turn 5 Stormrook with great effectiveness, then this card will be the real deal. However, if Stormrook only ends up a turn 7 play, then it might be too late to beat slower decks.

Razzle-Dazzler was strong at 6 mana but fell off at 7, because turn 7 is the point in which mass removal becomes abundant and powerful. Even the most defensively robust decks can struggle dealing with a huge board or a huge threat on turn 5, but the later the game goes, the more likely they are to find removal, and/or have enough mana to use it.

So, the question is whether Stormrook can consistently make a big board on turn 6. We believe the card is slightly stronger than a 7 mana Razzle-Dazzler, but we are not convinced it is as strong as a 6 mana Razzle-Dazzler, which was extremely powerful and got nerfed as a result.

Score: 2

Instant Multiverse

Speaking of big stat bombs, Instant Multiverse offers us a board with a wild variance of outcomes on turn 6. Note that this spell can summon 3 4-drops, but it can also summon a 10-drop and a 2-drop. There is no rule to the number of minions we summon, just their total cost. Note that it takes limited board space into consideration. The Rewind is meant to be a slight boost in the spell’s favorable outcomes.

We like the idea of the spell but are extremely wary of its back-breaking Overload. If our board is dealt with, we are likely to lose the game due to having 4 mana available on turn 7. This spell also does not compare favorably with a properly supported Razzle-Dazzler, or even Once Upon a Time, a spell that is currently available in Standard and never touched.

We find it hard to believe that Multiverse is better than Once Upon a Time, as Rewind surely is not worth an extra 3 mana overload, even when taking into consideration Multiverse’s higher variance. This does not look good enough.

Score: 1

Farseer Wo

Wo is a curious value engine that has two important traits. Wo works on any spell, not just Nature spells. It discovers spells, rather than generating them.

Its ability to go off on any spell means that it does not just work on cheap spells like Static Shock, but it works on coins generated by Cash Cow. Wo can also chain through its own discovered spell, making it a late game miracle turn that can only stop once it runs out of mana.

The fact we discover spells means we are much more likely to find cheap ones that extend the miracle turn. Ironically, Wo’s elusive keyword, which makes it tougher to kill as an on-curve threat, can be a drawback if we want to use a targeted spell on it to keep the chain going, such as Static Shock.

An “Enrage Shaman” using Lightning Rod and Static Shock on its own minions, primarily Stormrook and Cash Cow, may have space for Wo as a late game value engine. But without Cash Cow, we cannot see the legendary working particularly well. It can be viewed as a slower, but more flexible Instructor Fireheart. We think it is likely too awkward to fit.

Score: 1

Muradin, High King

Unlike most Fabled cards we have seen this set, every single individual piece here is a powerful card on its own.

High King’s Hammer is a 12 damage Windfury weapon with infinite late game scaling that cannot be stopped by weapon tech and needs no further support to solo kill a defensive opponent that does not successfully counter pressure the Shaman. It represents a real clock on the opponent, as a second Hammer is worth 20 damage.

Avatar Form is a Consecration with an extra 2 attack buff, which becomes insane when used to buff a character with Windfury, such as us holding High King’s Hammer. A Shaman equipped with the first High King’s Hammer and Avatar Form deals 14 damage to the face and 4 damage to the board in two swings.

Muradin draws High King’s Hammer and attaches its stats to himself, so if Muradin draws the baseline Hammer, it is a 5 mana 6/6 with Windfury and Rush, which is nuts. Muradin will also attach the Hammer if it is in our hand or equipped on our hero!

This fabled legendary looks unreal. A three-card win condition that can finish off every late game defensive turtle. The Hammer shuffling back to the deck may sound slow, but it is important to realize that the second Hammer is worth 20 damage. Shaman does not need to do much else in the late game beyond surviving while re-equipping it. A life-stacking Death Knight or an armor-stacking Warrior cannot outlast this.

The reason this is important is that Shaman has been begging for a late game closer for a long time, often forced to be the one to pressure an opponent with the better late game. Now, opponents cannot sit back and let the Shaman run out of resources. You must pressure the Shaman or die. This change of dynamics is extremely important.

Do not get us started on the possibility of equipping High King’s Hammer with Weapons Attendant in a Pirate Shaman deck or using Triangulate to copy Avatar form. There are obscene possibilities to turn this Hammer into one of the scariest cards in Standard. Only one way to rate it.

Score: 4

Final Thoughts

Across the Timeways Set Rank: 4^th

Overall Power Ranking: 6^th

The revival of the Shaman class could be upon us, with an exciting set that represents a change of pace, as well as what could be the strongest fabled legendary in the set.

Muradin looks completely bonkers. A three-card late game win condition, with three individually powerful cards that do not require significant support to be useful. This legendary is a boost for every Shaman deck going forward, as it can be considered an automatic inclusion for them. Terrific AOE, an extremely powerful rush minion and an infinitely scaling weapon that represents a clock on its own.

Where Muradin could be particularly disgusting is in Pirate Shaman. Watch out for this aggressive deck, which possesses serious late game scaling. It has the capability of equipping High King’s Hammer with the greatest consistency thanks to Weapons Attendant. It can run a curated spell pool to leverage Avatar Form with Triangulate. It is an ideal enabler of Devious Coyote.

Another route that is heavily promoted in this set is to take advantage of the terrific Static Shock and Thunderquake to run an “Enrage Shaman” deck, one that looks to self-damage its own minions for mid-game benefits. Stormrook is the archetype’s primary win condition, and its success is dependent on the timing in which it can consistently go off.

But even if this specific archetype does not work out, we would remind players that Nebula and Terran Shaman are archetypes that can massively benefit from the addition of Muradin, as their main weakness is their ability to close out games. Terran Shaman is a Triangulate/Avatar Form abuser in waiting, while Nebula Shaman can run Muradin simply to punish passive opponents, changing the dynamics of several matchups.

Expect Shaman to become a very different class compared to the shy and reserved presence it displayed during Un’Goro. It will become faster, more efficient, and ruthless in its pursuit of the opponent’s face. Hammer down.