The Comprehensive Reign of the Black Empire Preview

 

Sundancer

We view this 2-drop as a mediocre minion that generates a mediocre buff. None of the numbers on this minion are impressive, but the only case for it to see play is that the opponent does not want to ignore it as it threatens to snowball. A Sundancer on turn 2 that is left alone can get buffed on turn 3 to a 4/6 and keep going. Alternatively, just having a reasonable body on turn 2 that demands an answer is acceptable for a proactive deck to have.

The problem here is that everything involving Sundancer is “fair”. There is no acceleration of stats on curve that can be produced by this card’s snowballing. We need to continuously spend mana fairly on vanilla buffs to make use of it. Furthermore, in an aggressive Paladin deck, we would rather have Maiev backed up by Beatrix. In Aura Paladin, we would rather build around Scarlet Bruiser.

As for a candidate to be included in an End of Turn package, this minion feels like a waste to utilize Inspiring Maul on. The End of Turn effect is not impressive to replicate.

Score: 1

Humble Judgment

Drawing 3 cards for 3 mana is a good deal. The drawback, however, can be significant in a deck that runs various late-game minions. As much as their abilities are often the reason they slot into decks, reducing their stats will still impact their performance. A spell-heavy Paladin deck does not seem to be a realistic proposition either.

Therefore, this spell is more suitable for aggressive decks that have a large percentage of small minions. Aggro Paladin’s last iteration would fit well with Humble Judgment, even buffing most of its minions’ stats. Holy Bola has failed to make an impact in the archetype, so this seems to offer another attempt at providing the deck with card draw. We will be surprised if this deck sees much interest, but this spell could be okay there.

Score: 2

Lightcaller

A 3-mana 4/2 weapon with lifesteal is enormous. This weapon kills every single early-game minion in the format and can answer many mid-sized threats, all while healing us for 8. The drawback of healing the opponent makes it weak for any deck with a proactive game plan that aims to pressure, as we have no interest in healing our opponent for 8. It is great if we prioritize stabilizing in faster matchups, as that is what Paladin generally struggles with when it must deal with decks that can be on the board faster than it does.

Good for control decks who aim to stall, but bad for current Paladin decks. Unless a new, much slower archetype emerges for class, this weapon will not see play in the immediate term.

Score: 2

March to War

This spell offers mana flexibility at the cost being too fair for constructed play. There is not a single mana breakpoint in which this spell summons a strong minion for its mana cost. If we play it in the early game, then we are developing an Argent Squire or a Shielded Mini-Bot, which might have been good enough in 2015. At higher mana cost, the spell becomes even worse, as we are summoning a minion that has no immediate impact on the board.

If Paladin is ever in a position where it has a lot of mana to spend and nothing to spend it on besides March of War, it is likely losing the game. There is no great synergy with the rest of the Paladin set either. Oathbinder’s Aura is the one interaction worth noting, but two mediocre cards rarely make for a good combination.

Score: 1

Sandcrafter

End of turn effects are generally powerful if we view them as standalone abilities. What makes them balanced is often their attachment to slow bodies that are difficult to develop. The possibility of slapping an End of Turn effect on a cheaper minion provides a pathway for the Paladin to scam the opponent. Add Inspiring Maul to the equation and we can double up the devastation.

Sandcrafter does not have great synergy with Scarlet Bruiser or Recruitment Aura, but that has not stopped Paladin from running a suboptimal target for these cards before (Violet Treasuregill).

Ultimately, Assemble cards can be inconsistent with how they impact the game. Some End of Turn effects are undeniably weak, but it is unlikely that we get three terrible options. A 2-mana 3/2 that discovers a card of relatively good quality could be good enough for constructed play.

Score: 2

Sun’s Reckoning

An Arcane Explosion that shuffles an incredible AOE spell once it is cast. Final Reckoning is an extremely powerful stabilizer that can blow out aggressive decks on the spot. The tricky part is that it is difficult to find fast enough to impact fast matchups on paper. We need to draw Sun’s Reckoning, spend 2 mana on it when it is unlikely to deal with most early-game threats, then draw Final Reckoning.

Turns out that Dragonscale Armaments is still in the format and has been waiting for a new job in constructed. The pairing of these two spells makes Final Reckoning a much more consistent find. The only issue is that we may have to give up on Violet Treasuregill in the process.

We do suspect that Paladin will figure out how to use this spell and it will make a big impact on prospective Paladin decks, including the possibility of introducing a more defensive-minded Paladin deck in the future. Together with Lightcaller, Paladin’s ability to stabilize against aggressive decks should be improved.

Score: 3

Oathbinder’s Aura

A 3-mana investment that turns our Holy spells into cards that also summon divine shield minions. If we look at most playable Holy spells in constructed, most of them are auras themselves, which presents some level of anti-synergy.

We generally do not want to spend mana on auras, rather we want to pull them out of the deck with Gelbin. This is also true for Halls of Origination, which we view as the ideal Ursol target. It is not a terrible outcome to set up Oathbinder’s Aura on turn 6 or 7, then hard cast Halls of Origination, but this is not what Aura Paladin should be prioritizing.

The scenario in which Oathbinder’s Aura seems to put the most pressure on the opponent is when we play it on turn 3, then we spend full mana on spells on turn 4 and 5. This is not a consistent curve by any means and lies on drawing specific cards in the correct order. Reinforcement Aura or Vigilant Sentry are stronger standalone on turn 3. Furthermore, the aura does not nothing on the turn we pull it with Gelbin. We think it is a pass even for Aura Paladin decks.

Score: 1

Halls of Origination

Split damage is often the best form of damage-based removal in the game, since it can affect different kinds of boards and has no chance of overkilling minions. The lifesteal effect is guaranteed to be resolved fully, as the damage will fully hit face if there are no minions in play.

If we had a spell in constructed with Hall of Origination’s effect, it would be powerful at 4 mana. The fact we are also summoning a random 8-drop on top of it for a total cost of 8 mana, makes Halls of Origination a guaranteed swing card.

But what is most important to remember is Ursol’s existence in the format. It just received an incredible target for its ability. Turning this spell into an Aura for 3 turns is a game-winning play. We suspect most, if not all competitive Paladin decks, will utilize this pairing at the top end of their curve.

Incredible value in any style of matchup. Ends the game on the spot against aggressive decks, while putting a backbreaking amount of pressure on slower decks. Drastically stronger than Renewing Flames.

Score: 4

Rajh

What we like about this legendary is that passive hero powers are free. Not needing to spend mana to get value from a hero power will usually result in an upgrade, unless we are talking about Silver Hand Recruit decks.

However, Rajh is a slow card and is not guaranteed to give us a great hero power. Admittedly, this is probably the most difficult Assemble card to evaluate, because it does not even generate a known commodity in a minion. It transforms it into a unique hero power, which changes how we would evaluate the text we are creating.

The stats and costs do not matter. How good is the average text of a card when turned into a hero power? It is hard enough to evaluate cards without having any data on their performance. This takes things into another level.

Our suspicion is that a 5-mana 4/4 that can instantly win the game because of some persistent hero power is not great gameplay, so we would assume this was not balanced to be too strong. Paladin currently does not want to prolong the game too much, which conflicts with what we think Rajh is intended to be: a slow value accumulator.

Score: 2

Amitut, Keeper of Amitus

Amitut packs our deck with free value if we run a bunch of Holy spells. It does not count spells in our hand, only the ones we have not drawn. The good news is that it is a big taunt, so it does not leave us completely defenceless. The bad news is that it costs 7 mana, which makes it very slow. Its ability is also slow, as it requires us to draw the cast-when-drawn spells to make an impact on the game. Amitut does not cast them for us.

Aura Paladin has auras, which are relatively high-value spells we do not mind casting for free. Halls of Origination is likely the best target for this card, with Flight Maneuvers also looking strong as it is cast without shattering. If Aura Paladin can afford running a greedier card to beat slower decks, then Amitut represents big value over the course of a long game.

This is an Aura Paladin secondary win condition to beat slower decks with, generating sustained pressure alongside Gelbin and Ursol. If it ends up being too much to run all three, we will value Gelbin and Ursol higher on the priority list.

Score: 2

Final Thoughts

Black Empire Set Rank: 11th

Overall Power Ranking: 10th

Paladin might have received the least impactful set of this expansion, but even this set would seem reasonably strong if compared to some of the stuff we have seen over the last couple of years.

When it comes to Aura Paladin, it will likely experiment in a few different directions. One is the addition of Halls of Origination alongside Ursol and even Amitut, which provide it with more late-game power. At the other end, Sun’s Reckoning could help improve its faster matchups. It may have to decide whether to drop the End of Turn package to make way for the new cards, as the archetype is tight on space.

When it comes to the Old Gods, Paladin might not be too receptive to them. Yogg-Saron theoretically fits well with auras, as it gives charge to whatever minions we summon with auras at the end of the turn. However, that means giving up on the Pure payoffs, which is hard to stomach considering their current importance.

This does mean that Paladin is unlikely to significantly change its look and feel and we are mostly looking at upgrades on existing decks. Its most notable additions are a new spell for Ursol to target and an AOE that conflicts with one of its best cards (Violet Treasuregill).

In a Hearthstone environment where nerfs are frequent and decks do not stay on top for long, it becomes increasingly important to be attractive. We do not think Paladin fits that description.