Construct Pylons
The Protoss are highly dependent on discounts, so this spell offers the easiest and cheapest way to accelerate our game plan. Construct Pylons is comparable to old Innervate for Protoss cards. Remember that it works on any type of card, so it can also cheat out Artanis.
We consider this to be the strongest Druid card in the set, by far. If Druid manages to make a Protoss package work in any of its decks, Construct Pylons will be the main reason why.
Score: 4
Carrier
A very expensive late game minion, but one with a versatile ability. Against passive opponents, Carrier can deal up to 16 damage to the opponent’s hero upon entering play. Against more proactive strategies, Interceptors are likely to help us clear the board.
Carrier is also a massive threat, as its ability is persistent, meaning that the opponent simply cannot afford to ever ignore it. With 14 health, it’s extremely difficult to kill without hard removal.
To properly evaluate it, we must think about the earliest ‘reasonable’ turn we can play it. Druid does have access to ramp, but it also needs to discount Carrier. Warp Gate and Construct Pylons can help us drop Carrier at 6 mana, which seems quite good. Add Photon Cannon, Artanis and Chrono Boost, and there is some consistency in which Carrier drops at a relatively cheap cost.
We’re a bit skeptical of Carrier’s immediate impact on the format, mostly because single target removal is so strong in the current format, while Mind Control effects can absolutely destroy us. However, we think there might be more space opening for this card post-rotation. This is a Druid spin on Warrior’s Troublemaker.
Score: 2
Immortal
Immortal’s battlecry effect triggers if we have 4 mana to spare when we play it, so the idea is to discount it, which helps us turn it into a massive taunt. A 10/16 taunt with divine shield should absolutely end faster matchups, as most aggressive decks don’t have single target removal that can get through it.
Immortal basically costs 11 mana. Much like Carrier, we think it’s a realistic proposition to discount it to around 5-6 mana reasonably quickly. At 6 mana, Immortal is a powerful stabilizer and threat, but one that is extremely vulnerable to single target removal. Post-rotation, after Titans are gone, this should be better.
While we can see Immortal and Carrier being played in the same deck, there might be too much competition for the discount effects that enable them.
Score: 2
Final Thoughts: Druid’s set may have more success in March, when efficient and game warping answers to big minions rotate to Wild. However, Construct Pylons is so good that it might see immediate play with the ‘neutral’ Protoss package, without needing Carrier or Immortal to work out.