Living Flame
A 2 mana 2/2 that tutors a fire spell. Such cards are usually solid for constructed play, as any early game minion with a respectable body that maintains card advantage is something to keep an eye out for. Every class will have access to fire spells too thanks to this mini-set, though most of them might not be worth tutoring.
We can see this card ending up in plenty of classes down the road, but Shaman and Mage look like the best fits currently. Baking Soda Volcano is a standout tutor target. A Fire Elemental Mage deck in the future should love this card.
Score: 2
Classes: Mage, Shaman
Petal Picker
This is a massive addition for Imbue archetypes going forward. A 3 mana 2/3 that draws two cards is a fantastic effect for the cost, comparable to Ethereal Oracle. The condition is easy to meet for every Imbue deck, as upgrading the hero power is a priority for these strategies anyway. This is particularly strong in Druid, as it should be able to consistently trigger a Petal Picker on curve thanks to its free Imbue at the start of the game.
Looking at the Imbue classes, we do not think anyone passes on Petal Picker. Some classes are starved for card draw (Priest, Shaman). Others have card draw effects that are strictly inferior (Druid, Hunter, Mage). Imbue Paladin can never have enough card draw.
We are not sure Petal Picker makes an unplayable archetype competitive by itself, but for some Imbue decks that received other promising additions (Druid, Hunter) or are close to being competitive already (Mage), Picker could put them over the top.
Score: 4
Classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Shaman
Zaqali Flamemancer
A very strange card. A 6 mana 4/4 is incredibly slow. The discount potential is massive but requires a tricky condition to activate that may need help in the deck building phase. Considering the high investment of 6 mana to get anywhere, along with the questionable consistency, our instincts tell us that this card is not competitive. On turn 6, competitive “big” decks start scamming big stats to blow out the opponent. Flamemancer does not accomplish anything near that. Admittedly, this is a tough one to wrap your head around without testing.
Score: 1
Tindral Sageswift
A 4 mana 4/3 that the opponent does not want to kill on their turn, as they get blown up by a massive AOE effect that also hits their face. The best way to play around Tindral is to put taunts in front of it, or to ignore it and race to the face. The AOE is not particularly powerful if Tindral dies on our turn.
Where things get very sketchy for the opponent is when ignoring Tindral becomes impossible to do. Buffing Tindral accomplishes that, but there are two examples we are very curious about.
Death Knight can buff Tindral with Orbital Moon to create a lifestealing taunt that completely obliterates every aggressive deck that tries to rush it down. A Tindral with reborn sounds disgusting. In a deck that already runs Orbital Moon, such as Starship Death Knight, this could become a low hanging win condition in faster matchups.
But the scariest proposition is playing Tindral in Demon Hunter, becoming the prime resurrection target for Ravenous Felhunter. The possibility of summoning a swarm of Tindrals, which the opponent cannot ignore but also cannot clear without taking massive face damage and seeing its board obliterated, sounds suffocating. Ball Hog might heal us, but its damage is less reliable and is open to counterplay through big boards. The only counterplay to an army of Tindrals might be taunts.
This could be a meta defining legendary.
Score: 4
Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter
Fyrakk the Blazing
Rune of the Archmage was a powerful card that enabled crazy comebacks in the Mage class. This is a 9-mana neutral minion version of it, which casts exclusively fire spells. Fire spells are powerful and versatile, capable of clearing boards and sending a lot of damage to the opponent’s face.
Every class having access to Fyrakk means it is extremely likely to find a home, and it is not difficult for us to envision many classes who will be interested. Every slow deck, in principle, can utilize Fyrakk as a late game nuke, but some synergies do exist that make it stronger. Death Knight can cheat it out with Maladaar. Druid and Warrior can ramp into it. Shaman can cheat it out with Murmur. Rogue can discount it with Scoundrel and bounce it multiple times.
It is hard for us to see Fyrakk not become a meta defining win condition in at least one class. We would not be surprised, for example, if it outperformed Ashamane in Rogue. Might be the standout card of the set.
Score: 4
Classes: Everything
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