The Comprehensive Descent of Dragons Preview

Data Reaper Report - Warrior

Sky Raider

Sky Raider

This is just a strong 1-drop. Comparable to cards such as Firefly and Pharaoh Cat, with the bonus of a tribal tag that could be very relevant if Pirate Warrior makes its return. If it does, Sky Raider will offer one of its stronger early game plays.

Score: 3

Awaken

Awaken!

Reminder that the hero power of Warrior’s Galakrond gives your hero 3 attack. This makes Awaken a weaker Swipe that damages your minions and yourself if you punch an enemy minion. That’s not bad for 3 mana, but it’s not incredible either. You usually want to play Whirlwind effects alongside others cards, and the 3-mana cost of Awaken makes that a little awkward and worse than Whirlwind or Warpath.

Score: 2

EVIL Quartermaster

EVIL Quartermaster

Pretty good card for its cost, we’re just struggling to see it fit into a specific deck. Aggressive Warrior decks will prefer Livewire Lance as the stronger lackey generator with removal utility on turn 3. Control Warrior is unlikely to find space to slot it in. Perhaps in a Highlander Warrior deck, if that ends up being worthwhile.

Score: 2

Ritual Chopper

Ritual Chopper

4 attack on turn 2 to remove an early game minion isn’t bad, but the weak second swing means that this weapon is rarely going to go 2 for 1. This is no Fiery War Axe on 2, but it’s something Warrior can use to fend early aggression to some degree.

Score: 2

Skybarge

Skybarge

Holy moly. That’s a stronger Ship’s Cannon right there. If you’ve ever played Wild and saw what Ship’s Cannon can do in a Pirate deck, you probably understand why we rate this card very highly.  It’s going to be a nightmare to remove on turn 3 and snowball games out of control. Pirate Warrior is getting some sweet cards that could push it into a major comeback in Standard format.

Score: 4  

Molten Breath

Molten Breath

Solid removal for a Dragon deck. Warrior still has dragon support left over from Rastakhan’s Rumble, so it might revisit a Control Dragon deck in this expansion with some of the new additions it has received. This breath isn’t one of the strongest ones, but it’s solid.

Score: 2

Ramming Speed

Ramming Speed

This card is completely redundant due to the presence of a far better option: Supercollider has three charges of Ramming Speed stored into it, so it’s difficult to imagine a deck that would want more of this effect. At 3 mana, it doesn’t seem worth considering at all.

Score: 1

Scion of Ruin

Scion of Ruin

Very nice invoke payoff card. It’s a dragon, so it could promote a Galakrond dragon deck, which would make sense with the tools available to the class. Most importantly, it has great synergy with Galakrond’s battlecry if it’s drawn off it. Summoning 3 copies of a 7/6 rush minion for 3 mana is crazy. Town Crier can also fish for this card. Looks promising.

Score: 3

Ancharr

Ancharrr

Absolutely ridiculous weapon. For 3 mana, we get a 2/3 weapon that draws 3 cards. That’s so far and above what a 3-mana card should normally do. Ancharr is basically a Raiding Party that does damage, and Raiding Party got nerfed for being too good. If Pirate Warrior makes it into the meta, this card will be the biggest reason why. But even if Pirate Warrior doesn’t make it as a tribal deck, there will likely be a Warrior deck interested in running a small pirate package alongside Ancharr.

Score: 4

Deathwing, Mad Aspect

Deathwing, Mad Aspect

Deathwing offers versatile removal for Control Warrior decks, but especially ones that utilize dragons and buffs, such as a potential Galakrond Warrior deck. It can act as single target removal, an AOE effect, and it does so while potentially developing a big threat that could stay alive after the attack phase. This versatility means that it’s rarely going to be a dead draw, which is a signal of a good card. Deathwing is likely the strongest addition in this set for any Control Warrior archetype.

Score: 3

Galakrond, the Unbreakable

Galakrond, the UnbreakableGalakrond, the ApocalypseGalakrond, Azeroth's EndGalakrond's Might

Warrior’s Galakrond has a strong hero power for early game board control, though such a deck would need to run armor gain to make sure it doesn’t fall too low in its life total. The hero power is also nice throughout the game, as it can slowly chip away at the opponent’s resources. Warrior’s invoke cards are reasonable, and the hero power means it can make good use of the invoke neutrals to maintain board control, but Warrior is certainly not as strong as Shaman when it comes to invoke payoffs. Where Warrior truly falls behind is the battlecry. It is the weakest battlecry out of all 5 classes when it comes to immediate board impact. Other than the weapon in the fully upgraded form, Galakrond has zero board development and zero effect on the opponent.

Drawing minions and giving them a big buff can sure close games in faster matchups, but there’s no guarantee that Warrior can beat late-game powerhouses with this effect. Most importantly, Dr. Boom’s shadow hangs over Galakrond, and we’re unsure whether this new Control Warrior is superior to the old one. If it isn’t, it may find itself deemed redundant until April.

Score: 2


 

Final Thoughts

Saviors of Uldum Set Rank: 5th

Overall Power Ranking: 6th

Warrior is a class in transition, and it received a pretty well-rounded set that could move it into a successful post-Dr. Boom era. If not now, then in April.

First, Pirate Warrior has received a few blockbuster cards that could bring its explosive return to the format. One reservation we have is that this is the first set in a long time that’s pushing the class into this archetype once again, so it might need support further down the road to lock its place in the meta. Ancharr and Skybarge are amazing cards, but it’s hard to say how this new deck fares against the more established field.

Control Warrior received support in the form of dragons and Galakrond. It seems that for this class, in stark contrast to Druid, the dragon tribe is serving a defensive role which also lines up with the few dragon pieces still left over from Rastakhan’s Rumble. We think a Galakrond Dragon deck has potential to succeed.

Our concern with such a deck, as well as the currently established Boom Control Warrior, is that DoD could introduce a few infinite value or damage mechanics that will prove to be extremely problematic for an archetype that will still be heavily reliant on its removal game plan. Therefore, we’re a bit cautious about Galakrond and Control Warrior. We think the hero card would have been a potential cornerstone of an aggressive deck, but the class invokes seem to be pushing things in a defensive direction while pirates are leading the SMOrc charge.

Middle of the pack is where we expect Garrosh to be.

 

 

 

10 Comments

  1. I really enjoy reading your insights. Thank you for your wisdom and the many laughs i’ve had when reading your articles. Maaaaaan throwing shade at bomb lobber, no idea why but i’m still chuckling at the narrator comment 20minutes later. May anyone reading this have a nice day!

  2. I have a feeling Warrior Galakrond is actually incentive to play an aggressive play style, as the invokes really promote face damage rather than control.

  3. Thanks for all the good work that you do, VS! I really enjoy the meta reports every week, and find your analysis head and shoulder above anyone else attempting the same. Just today I revisited your suggested decks for the Uldum expansion and whipped out Ninja Priest, and had fun on ladder for the first time in a long while. Keep up the awesome work!

  4. Nice job!

    I have a good feeling about priests, druids and mages decks. Still hope there will be no deck with 30%+ popularity.

Comments are closed.