The Comprehensive Reign of the Black Empire Preview

 

Shadow Dance

An AOE spell that works like Backstab but can also hit face. We would say that an unconditional and asymmetrical 1-damage AOE that is good enough to see play would cost 1 mana, so Shadow Dance gives us a 1-mana discount on the condition that the minions are undamaged.

This is not a difficult condition to meet, considering minions are healthy when they are first developed. The main issue with this spell is that 1 damage usually does not clear most early-game minions in the format, so we either need to pair it with additional removal or run spell damage.

While spell-damage packages have existed in Rogue, they mostly see play when Rogue needs spell damage to support its win condition, rather than support removal. A deck built around Morchie and Chrono Daggers, for example, is the most likely to utilize Shadow Dance.

These decks are not common in Rogue’s history, but they do sporadically appear. We respect 0-mana cards that do something, so we think there is a decent chance that Shadow Dance will become a competitive card at some point.

Score: 2

Broadchamber Tunneler

Tunneler generates 2/1 Larvae that cast a hero power from another class in their combo keyword. These generated Larvae have distinct colors for their respective classes, so they count as cards from another class.

A 1-mana 1/3 that generates any minion with value should be powerful and common in Rogue. It is not just a good turn 1 play, but it can act as a turn 2 play in similar vein to a Fire Fly, just better in every way. While Larvae cannot start a turn, they make it easier for Rogue to chain multiple cards a turn.

Furthermore, this set incentivizes Rogue to stack its deck with combo cards to leverage various payoffs, such as Wandering Seeker, The Unknowable One and Aqir Goliath. However, even if we run none of these cards, Tunneler is a possible inclusion strictly due to being a combo-friendly 1-drop in Rogue.

Score: 3

Aqir Swarmer

A second Larva generator, Swarmer is a worse body, and its value is packed into a deathrattle, but it can generate two Larvae. This card is not as generally useful as Tunneler on paper, as it requires us to run a deck that values the Larvae as combo cards to activate synergies.

The good news is that we suspect most Rogue decks will be interested in this package, even if they do not utilize it as a primary win condition, such as Wandering Seeker.

The possibility of discounting Aqir Goliath more consistently, as well as the prospect of duplicating Swarmer with Agent of N’Zoth to help us generate more Larvae in a N’Zoth deck, encourages us to run Swarmer.

Should be less common than Tunneler but has several prospective strategies that can make good use of it.

Score: 3

Agent of N’Zoth

This minion is potentially worth a lot of value on paper. Generating a minion from our deck, one that possibly has a high-value deathrattle, is a great deal on a 2-mana 3/2. The target minion needs to be in hand, so we need a significant number of deathrattle minions in our deck to make sure a turn 2 Agent of N’Zoth does not whiff.

The need for a larger deathrattle package means that Agent’s effect is difficult to direct to one desirable target. N’Zoth himself wants a high counter of deathrattles rather than a curated package.  This slightly lowers the average quality of what we generate and narrows the possible strategies that can play Agent with maximum effectiveness. The strategy will be about spamming deathrattles to rapidly discount N’Zoth rather than copy the best minion.

A great card in N’Zoth decks, which is an Old God that Rogue is very likely to utilize.

Score: 3

Incubate

The last Larva generator, Incubate is a little different because it is a spell. This means we might lose initiative generating Larvae, but it opens the possibility of generating Larvae at no cost thanks to Preparation.

Incubate has the best synergy with Aqir Goliath, as it generates the highest number of Larvae we can produce with a single card, and those Larvae nearly fully discount Goliath by themselves. We need a single other combo card to pair with them and Goliath is free. This is a realistic proposition by turn 4.

This spell should also be the most important generator if we are trying to leverage Wandering Seeker and The Unknowable, as these payoffs benefit from Larva stacking. It is less powerful in other decks, as it is a weaker standalone card compared to Tunneler. It may cause us to fall behind if we are playing a deck that is not aggressively built around Larvae.

While we do think the Larva package can produce good results in some Rogue decks, which will establish Incubate as a core card for them.

Score: 3

Aqir Goliath

Note that Goliath is discounted by every combo card, not just Larvae. Larvae are strong enablers of Goliath, but Rogue can run additional cheap combo cards that would make the prospect of fully discounting Goliath relatively trivial in the mid-game. A fully discounted Goliath, especially early in the game, can decide matchups.

Note that Rogue is not currently blessed with card draw. It is in a rare spot where its card draw options in standard are surprisingly underwhelming. This increases the relative value of Goliath, as there are not many good alternatives.

Goliath represents a unique opportunity to swing the board while gaining card advantage in the process. We always highly value these types of cards, as they give us an advantage in both core battles in any Hearthstone game: The battle for initiative and the battle for resources. Rarely do cards accomplish both things.

We believe that Aqir Goliath is the strongest incentive to run Larva generators in Rogue decks that do not necessarily build around them aggressively. It might carry Tunneler, Swarmer and Incubate into almost every Rogue deck.

Score: 4

Shadowcrafter

Class minions are significantly stronger than neutrals, so the quality of the minion pool here is high. We do not even fall behind while generating an Assemble minion, as a 3/2 is a standard stat line for a 2-drop. Any 2-mana 3/2 that generates value is worth considering, and Shadowcrafter generates high-quality value.

Shadowcrafter is awkward on-curve and may not seem like a true 2-drop, since it requires combo activation, but its synergy with Aqir Goliath could make up for it. It is also a great target for Foxy Fraud and can help us put a surprising amount of pressure on the opponent as early as turn 2.

The more we thought about this card, the more we realized that it is an unofficial part of the Larva package with Goliath, but it is independently strong in a similar vein to Broodchamber Tunneler, since it can see play outside of the context of the package.

Score: 3

Wandering Seeker

Seeker is either a swing card or a finisher, one with a clear game plan. We run a deck that is stacked with combo cards, including the Larva package, which generates the cheapest combo cards we can accumulate. We chain Seeker alongside a bunch of them, which causes it to repeatedly shoot damage at the opponent.

This damage can help us clear opposing minions, making it a swing card. Alternatively, that damage can go face, turning it into a finisher.

We have two issues with Seeker. The first is that the damage is not that high even if we get to the late stages of the game. It is not a win condition that can reliably kill defensive decks. It is hard enough to accumulate enough combo cards by turn 10, but even if we play Seeker with six copies of Larva, which requires a unique hand state, that is only 18 damage.

The second issue is that it requires us to fully commit to a ‘Combo Rogue’. This makes it a bad fit in archetypes that dedicate card slots to other synergies. Combo cards must represent the primary synergy in a deck that runs Seeker.

And yet, we cannot look to OTK opponents with Seeker. We must exert board pressure and deal minion damage to win. This deck is feasible, but if it does not work, Seeker will have no other place to be.

Score: 2

Drest’agath

A 4-mana 6/4 that tutors our win condition sounds like a great deal. But the interesting thing about Drest’agath is that it becomes an Old God generator if we have already drawn our Old God, or we do not run an Old God in our deck. A deck is restricted to running a single Old God, but this card allows us to play different ones over the course of a Hearthstone game.

How good are randomly generated Old Gods? C’Thun would be an undeniably bad roll. N’Zoth would be bad if we did not run deathrattles, but Rogue is likely to use N’Zoth more than any other Old God. Yogg and Y’Shaarj can be useful, as they do not require specific support. So, if we drew our Old God and then played this card, we have a good chance of finding something useful.

Of course, the main upside of this card is that it significantly increases the consistency of finding our own Old God. It has great synergy with N’Zoth specifically, since it both tutors it and discounts it, while N’Zoth can resummon it and trigger its deathrattle. We can even generate more copies of Drest’agath with Agent of N’Zoth.

We suspect this card is mandatory for any Rogue deck that runs an Old God, on top of offering a pathway to randomly generate additional win conditions.

This legendary makes Rogue potentially the most consistent and flexible Old God utilizer with the highest value potential. We like Old Gods, so we like this card.

Score: 4

The Unknowable One

This legendary buffs all combo minions in our hand to 6/6. It clearly targets Larvae most effectively, as it turns them into 1-mana 6/6 threats. The buff does not affect the board or our deck, which means it is very demanding when it comes to its ideal conditions.

We need to have a hand full of combo minions before playing the legendary. We also need to draw the legendary, which we do not have a reliable tutor for.

We view The Unknowable One the same way we view Seeker. It requires aggressive deckbuilding that is fully committed to a Combo package. If we manage to land this buff on many minions, it can provide backbreaking pressure on the opponent, especially if we manage to generate Larvae early and then drop it on turn 5.

However, against decks with good forms of mass removal, it might not do enough. We are a bit hesitant to get behind a fully committed Combo deck due to its questionable effectiveness against strong defensive decks with removal and life gain.

Score: 2

Final Thoughts

Black Empire Set Rank: 3rd

Overall Power Ranking: 2nd

In an expansion themed around the Old Gods and introducing them as powerful late-game win conditions, Rogue might be best positioned to generally abuse them with brutal efficiency.

Another reason to be happy as a Rogue player is that the class is welcoming a new package that generates 1-mana cards. Rogue loves to generate 1-mana cards. They have historically smoothed the class’ play patterns out, which is why we are high on Larvae. It also helps that Larvae can help us drop a free big minion that draws a card.

When it comes to Rogue’s late game, it has so many options available to it. It can fully lean into Larvae with Seeker and The Unknowable One to overwhelm the opponent or batter it with damage. It can complement the Herald package with these new glue cards. It can utilize N’Zoth alongside Web of Deception to repeatedly reload the board. It is a fantastic fit for Yogg-Saron thanks to the Ayaya Shell and Jade Golem coins.

And whenever we think about an Old God deck, we should remind ourselves that Rogue can tutor or generate them with Drest’agath. No other class can generate multiple, different Old Gods during the same game to this extent, but this could be a real game plan for a N’Zoth Rogue. This establishes Rogue as a potential value powerhouse.

It is hard not to respect the class that is so well-equipped to utilize the cornerstone legendary minions of the expansion. If the Old Gods are any good, then Rogue should be good as well.