The Comprehensive Reign of the Black Empire Preview

Wormriddled Wriggler

A 1-mana 3/3 is a strong minion for an aggressive deck. The drawback could be circumvented with the right support, though most of the cards that would help an Aggro DH refill its hand have long rotated out. Magnifying Glaive or Sightless Magistrate, for example, would have been great with Wriggler.

We are sceptical of an aggressive deck being able to thrive in the upcoming format without strong draw effects, so a minion that leads to card disadvantage does not seem to be arriving at an optimal timing. We are also not fans of this card in decks that do not frontload pressure.

But this is one of the most bloated 1-drops and the moment Aggro DH does find its way to the format; Wriggler should be one of its core cards. At a pinch, the shuffle effect could help us activate an Outcast card that is stuck in our hand. In different circumstances, we would give it a higher score. Bibliomite did need to get buffed to see play and we consider this to be a 1-mana Bibliomite.

Score: 2

Hungering Cavern

Any card that costs 0 mana under some circumstances is one that should be looked at under a microscope. Cavern is conditioned on one of our minions dying. This does make it a bit more difficult to use if we are playing a passive, defensive deck, but this set provides plenty of support for the class to have this condition activated with relative ease, even for slower decks.

We can compare it to pre-nerf Eye Beam. While it only deals 2 damage and does not cleanly remove many of the common early-game minions in the game, it is versatile enough to go face.

If we had any faith in Quest Demon Hunter, this card would be amazing for that archetype. But besides that, any deck with proactive board development or alternatively, one that utilizes Sigil of Hatching and Encircle, will consider Hungering Cavern for its last few slots. Good filler.

Score: 3

Attentive Tender

Tender does seem a little bland on the surface, but we think this is one of the better Assemble cards, as 1-cost minions have the highest potential to swing the game with hijacked abilities from bigger minions.

The main issue with this minion is that it has no synergy with the rest of the Demon Hunter set or any prospective archetypes. It does not further any win condition we may have. If it does see play, it will be utilized as a generic “good card” we put into our deck because of its high-quality discover pool. Not too different from the way Creature of Madness was utilized in many decks: a discover card with blow-out potential.

That is not a slight on the card. Our impression with Assemble is that it is strongest when the minion is cheap, and you cannot get much cheaper than what Tender offers you. We will trust the blow-out potential and suspect that it will be a ubiquitous inclusion.

Score: 3

Blind Harrower

Another 3-drop generator, but far worse than Tender. Harrower’s stats are worse, while its full potential is conditioned on Outcast, a difficult keyword to activate for many resource-focused strategies.

While Harrower can generate two cards, the quality of the pool is not great. If we are desperate for this effect, Illidari Studies seems drastically better, as we have far better control of when and how to utilize it. It is difficult to get behind Harrower when Studies is already one of the weaker cards in most Demon Hunter decks. This is bad filler.

Score: 1

Sigil of Hatching

An expensive Sigil that promises a swing turn to follow. Spending 4 mana initially to do nothing is a painful price, but 9-attack power across three rush minions is no joke and can deal with a variety of threats, both big and small. In the context of this set, Sigil provides the strongest support to activate Sha’kar, as it banks three rush minions that we develop for ‘free’ on the turn we want to play Sha’kar. Of course, it becomes an incredible nuke post-Sha’kar, setting up 9 charge damage for 4 mana.

Sigil of Hatching is also a strong enabler for Remnant of Rage. We can see Remnant becoming stronger across all Demon Hunter decks that utilize Sigil. This could be helpful in improving the class’ consistency, as Demon Hunter does not currently have the best card draw tools besides Remnant.

We think this spell looks a bit weak by itself, but synergy with other elements could push it to become surprisingly common. If Sha’kar emerges as a competitive win condition, then Sigil’s role becomes drastically more important.

Score: 3

Terror of the Wastes

The idea behind this minion is to follow up on Sigil of Hatching. We play Sigil on turn 4, clear the opponent’s board on turn 5 with rushers and then play Terror, which hits our opponent in the head for a whopping 7 damage while developing a threat. Terror can act as a pseudo rush minion, but we do not think a 5-mana 7/5 ‘blind’ rush minion is a good enough card for constructed play.

Alternatively, we play Terror of the Wastes in an aggressive deck as a top-end finisher. This relies on the deck to consistently develop boards that can help set up Terror on 5 via a single trade.

We do respect minions with the potential of dealing massive charge damage, but we are hesitant about the prospect of Aggro DH post-launch. Defensive decks are getting big spikes in power and look primed to outlast the Demon Hunter and deplete it of resources.

Score: 2

Tentacle Lash

This weapon’s stats are tiny for the cost, so we can only judge it in the context of the C’Thun abilities it can cast and its importance at activating C’Thun to cast triple-powered abilities.

When looking at the baseline C’Thun abilities, they all seem strong when attached to a single swing from this weapon. Three of them can be effectively used as defensive stabilizers. A C’Thun ability is worth 3-4 mana on average, making two abilities worth well over 5 mana. This means Tentacle Lash does not lead to us falling behind when we play it. When it resolves, it gets us ahead.

But this weapon’s true worth is its ability to trigger C’Thun twice, easing its triple activation timing. A double activator makes a C’Thun deck far more consistent in its ability to unlock C’Thun the moment we can play it.

C’Thun offers Demon Hunter a late-game win condition. We are not sure it is lethal enough to beat other defensive decks, but it provides a relatively low effort pathway to victory for just 7 deck slots, giving us a lot of flexibility to invest elsewhere.

Score: 3

Encircle

A massive wave of rush minions that equate to 15 attack split into 5 bodies. This draws parallels to Druid’s Scale of Onyxia. Scale of Onyxia’s main advantage is that it was played in a class with ramp, so its 7-mana cost cannot be considered a significant disadvantage compared to Encircle when it comes to its timing. The larger number of bodies made the spell more efficient in trades, though it could be limited by board space and not gain full value. Encircle does have an additional drawback, which is summoning a random 1-drop for the opponent. This 1-drop can be cleared by one of the rushers or ignored for a more important threat.

While we do think Scale of Onyxia is the better spell, it was a meta-defining tool for Druid back in the day, and we do not think Encircle is miles away in its effectiveness.

Much like Druid, Demon Hunter tends to struggle dealing with large minions. Encircle provides a versatile removal tool that can deal both with wide boards and tall threats. It has great synergy with Remnant of Rage, essentially guaranteeing a full discount. Just as a standalone removal card, it has serious merit for any Demon Hunter deck with late-game aspirations, as it can help the class turn the corner against pressure.

When we add the prospect of Sha’kar, Encircle becomes a 15-damage nuke. There is no guarantee that Sha’kar becomes a competitive win condition, but in this scenario, Encircle is not just versatile removal, but the class’ primary finisher.

We believe that a worse Scale of Onyxia, in the current Hearthstone climate, could still represent a powerful card.

Score: 3

Ravitz

This legendary can provide a board swing when paired with other summoned minions by giving them rush, but Ravitz’ prohibitive cost means it is a difficult turn to execute. Furthermore, Demon Hunter is getting plenty of rush minions to summon already, which makes Ravitz seem a bit redundant.

The immunity buff could help us make a favorable trade, but we cannot use it more than once a turn, as the minion we buff cannot die. Generally, we are not fans of these effects when they are tied to an expensive minion, as successful usage becomes more dependent on a suitable board state since we do not have as much mana to manipulate trades.

It is worth mentioning that Ravitz on an empty board is a 4/4 rush with immune, but is that worth 4 mana and a slot in our deck? Considering the absence of real synergy that Ravitz promotes with other prospective strategies, we are inclined to say no.

This minion’s best chance of seeing play is in Void Demon Hunter, as it is the one deck that can summon big bodies for cheap, but even in this case, it is hard to get a “chain reaction” off. If we want to give a single minion rush, why not use Defias Smuggler?

Score: 1

Broodqueen Sha’kar

Sha’kar requires us to meet an extremely difficult requirement on paper. We need five friendly minions to die on our turn, while still having 5 mana left over to spend on Sha’kar. This either requires our opponent to leave the perfect board for us to trade into (they will not) or an elaborate setup on our part.

The main card that can help us accomplish this feat is Sigil of Hatching, which provides us with three rush minions at a banked mana cost the next turn. This leaves us with two minions that can be generated with Gorishi Stinger or Insect Claw.

This setup is difficult, but possible to get done as early as turn 6, or more realistically, turn 7. The reward feels like a quest reward, though we still need to find Sha’kar in our deck before we can get it.

As for what happens after Sha’kar is active, the opponent is in massive trouble. Encircle becomes a 15-damage nuke. An Illidari Inquisitor gains Windfury on the opponent’s face. Every Gorishi Stinger now deals 4 damage to the face. We could even play Titanic Thrasher as a more versatile Inquisitor. The damage potential of a post-Sha’kar Demon Hunter is very high.

We will note that the opponent can prevent us from landing Sha’kar by not playing anything on their side of the board when we develop Sigil of Hatching. By not playing anything, they could be ceding the board for us to take over and pressure through conventional means but delaying our “quest completion” might be worth it to them.

A difficult win condition to execute in theory, with plenty of counterplay, but one that wins the game when it is achieved.

Score: 2

Final Thoughts

Black Empire Set Rank: 8th

Overall Power Ranking: 9th

Demon Hunter needs to find a novel strategy to gather attention and interest. And when the current expansion is so late-game oriented, its search for such a strategy will involve finding an effective win condition that can compete with other late-game strategies.

There are three pathways that we can identify in Demon Hunter from which a deck can be built around. There might be more, but these are the most clear-cut ideas we have found.

C’Thun offers a small package of cards that can make a big impact. Demon Hunter’s Tentacle Lash is a double activator for C’Thun, making the Old God more consistently activate its tripled abilities. There is flexibility in how it can be built, as the Old God does not command many deck slots. The weakness of C’Thun is that it is not a fool-proof plan to beat defensive decks, but perhaps the addition of Broxigar alongside it can be enough.

N’Zoth has a lot of potential in Demon Hunter on paper. The introduction of Crystalline Golem means that Ravenous Felhunter has a new friend. The prospect of a grindy deck that summons endless taunts is raising its head. However, the absence of Tuskpiercer could significantly hurt Felhunter’s consistency.

Sha’kar is the most lethal win condition of them all. It turns some of Demon Hunter’s defensive tools in this set into offensive nukes. An active Sha’kar likely spells doom for the opponent. However, Sha’kar looks difficult to activate, requires specific setup and is open to counterplay.

The class does not inspire great confidence, but it has plenty to experiment with. Ideas from this set are not what it will be missing.