The Comprehensive The Great Dark Beyond Preview

 

Astral Vigilant

A 1 mana 1/1 that generates a minion from our deck represents strong value for the cost. Vigilant is only dependent on playing a Draenei first that we can copy, which is a fine condition to meet as it’s not expected to be a turn 1 play.

There are two ways to look at Vigilant. We can play it in a Draenei-focused tribal build, in which it will have high uptime but provide less targeted value. Or we play it in a deck with a small Draenei package, in which it may have less consistent uptime, but very targeted value. Being able to generate multiple copies of a key Draenei minion could be worth building around for a late-game-oriented plan.

It is cheap and versatile enough to find competitive play.

Score: 3

Classes: Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Warrior

Space Pirate

The discount theoretically makes Space Pirate cost a net 0 mana, but it is baked into a deathrattle and the utilization of a weapon. Effects inside a deathrattle tend to be slower than we expect them to be. There’s no guarantee we’ll be able to kill this minion before we can play the weapon for a discount, so ideas to play a 3-mana weapon a turn earlier are not a slam dunk (what if we go first and the opponent passes?).

This is an option for a pirate/weapon deck.

Score: 2

Classes: Demon Hunter

Starlight Wanderer

This 1-drop is worth 6 stats in total, which is very strong for the cost. The caveat is that the initial body is weak, while the other half of the stats come online once we play the next Draenei. The faster this happens, the better the effect is, as 3 stats are more meaningful on earlier turns.

Therefore, we consider this to be a strong card in decks with a heavy Draenei count, preferably multiple Draenei 2-drops that can immediately follow a Wanderer and present meaningful pressure.

Score: 3

Classes: Demon Hunter, Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Astrobiologist

A 2 mana 2/2 that discovers a card represents a strong effect for the cost, but a delayed discover is significantly worse than a battlecry, depending on which stage we are in the game. If we’re playing Astrobiologist on turn 2, then it makes no difference compared to a battlecry, as we don’t have the mana to spend on the discovered spell anyway. Once we get to the later stages of the game though, this minion becomes weaker.

Where Astrobiologist’s delayed discover could be convenient is in Hunter, thanks to Parallax Cannon. This is the only card that allows us to play the weapon on turn 3 and swing for 4 damage immediately.

Score: 2

Classes: Hunter

Braingill

This could represent a serious draw engine for murloc decks, which tend to flood the board aggressively. If we compare it to Loot Hoarder, it’s easy to understand the potential for its cost. Even if Braingill hits just 2-3 minions, it’s more than worth the investment in terms of card draw output.

The issue is that Braingill doesn’t put stats in play. It doesn’t immediately draw the cards. It just helps our reload if our minions do get cleared.

It’s hard to see murloc decks popping up this expansion. There have been almost no murloc support cards this year, so Braingill’s arrival at this timing is a bit strange. Only Shaman could feasibly run a small murloc package. Otherwise, it looks like a “big picture” card.

Score: 2

Classes: Shaman

Crystal Welder

A 2 mana 4/5 taunt is strong. The condition means we can’t play Welder on turn 2, unless very specific conditions are met. We need to have the coin, a 2-mana starship piece, and it needs to die in the next turn. Realistically, Welder can drop on turn 3-4 and present a decent roadblock for the opponent as we attempt to stabilize and scale our starship.

It’s a good card for starship decks, but they’ll need to run all available pieces to them for Welder to be consistent enough in the early game.

Score: 3

Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Warlock

Hologram Operator

A 2-drop that’s not really a 2-drop. For Operator’s effect to be useful, it needs to be played later in the game, so that we have mana to spend on the temporary Draenei it generates. Draenei have a wide variety of costs and effects, so we can’t expect any consistency when we pull the lever on this slot machine.

We don’t like this card, even for Draenei decks, because it’s very weak in the early game and we should have a better reload plan built into our deck than what Operator offers us.

Score: 1

Moonstone Mauler

A 2 mana 2/2 with a very slow effect. An aggressive elemental deck wouldn’t be eager to play this card, as it is weak in the early game. Mauler even carries anti-synergy in the Mage class, as asteroids are undesired draws from Blazing Accretion.

It makes a bit more sense in Shaman, especially if we’re leaning into a strategy that tries to shuffle as many asteroids as possible to exert some inevitability pressure on the opponent with Bolide Behemoth. Note that asteroids’ damage scales with spell damage, so a surprising spot for it could be in a Rogue deck that tries to imitate Garrote Rogue with Ethereal Oracle, Shadowstep and Quasar.

Score: 3

Classes: Shaman, Rogue

Stranded Spaceman

An initially weak 2 mana 2/3 that pays off in spades once we play a follow up Draenei minion. Rush is a powerful keyword in the early game, helping us gain back initiative, but can be useful throughout the game. The bonus health makes it easier for us to execute an efficient value trade and take control of the board.

Much like Starlight Wanderer, Spaceman requires a high density of Draenei minions that can benefit from the effect as quickly as possible.

Score: 3

Classes: Demon Hunter, Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Troubled Mechanic

This minion is a bit more awkward than it looks. A 2 mana 2/1 with divine shield that tutors a card sounds great, but the spellburst requirement means that Mechanic isn’t a great turn 2 play. Ideally, we pair it with a cheap spell on the turn we play it, so we’re guaranteed to get the draw.

We see two uses for Mechanic. In a deck with a heavy Draenei count, it acts as reasonable reload, with a body that scales well with buffs thanks to its divine shield. In a deck with a small Draenei package, it becomes a tutor for a potential win condition. Should we have the tools to consistently activate its spellburst (cheap spells), it should be a decent card.

Score: 3

Classes: Demon Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Crimson Commander

This 3-drop encourages an aggressive deck with a heavy Draenei count. The number of stats it produces in such a deck wouldn’t shame Painter’s Virtue. +2/+2 stats to all Draenei in hand, attached to a 3 mana 4/3 body means we’re barely paying any stat penalty for the ability. The only hidden restriction is the need for a big Draenei count so that we land the buff on as many minions as possible.

Should be one of the stronger cards in a dedicated Draenei deck.

Score: 3

Classes: Demon Hunter, Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Deep Space Curator

This minion is reliant on us playing a spell alongside it, so that it produces a free minion for us to play on the same turn, effectively “doubling” the mana value of the spell. The issue is that Curator is very weak in the early game. A 3 mana 2/4 is not a minion we want to play, so we need to use it later in the game, when we have more mana available to pair with an expensive spell.

We’re not fans of this card because it’s late-game-focused. Cheap minions tend to be strong competitive cards when they’re good early without falling off late. At the later stages of the game, our main deck synergies take priority. Curator’s effect should be mediocre in comparison.

Score: 1

Dimensional Core

Probably the weakest starship piece in the set, because it doesn’t have defensive keywords that help us prolong the game. It’s a weak pressure card instead. A 3 mana 3/2 with divine shield is barely better than a Scarlet Crusader.

If we’re playing a starship that scales off its stats, or we prioritize activating secondary starship payoffs, we’ll have to bite the bullet and run the card regardless. It does make our starship a bit more annoying to remove and helps starships that scale off their attack value. Reminds us of Devoted Maniac from Descent of Dragons.

Score: 2

Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Warlock

Escape Pod

We remember when Animated Broomstick was in the game. Escape Pod is drastically weaker in comparison. Costs 3 times the mana and only gives rush on a deathrattle to adjacent minions. It does have a Wriggling Horror buff baked in to compensate.

We can’t think of where we would want to run this card. Admittedly, Animated Broomstick was underrated when it was revealed. This effect can sneak up on us. The issue is that spending 3 mana makes executing a swing turn much more difficult. We still think this falls through the cracks.

Score: 1

Ethereal Oracle

One of the most impactful neutral cards of the set. A 3 mana 2/3 that draws two spells is an incredible deal, especially when it has a spell damage bonus that makes its spellburst activation more powerful.

We can pair Oracle with a cheap AOE effect, for example, to clear the board and reload on the same turn. It’s not common for decks to have the ability to swing the board and draw cards on the same play. When they do, they usually become powerful.

We expect this card to be a common inclusion in a variety of classes. Spell-Damage Druid, Asteroid Shaman and Control Priest decks are notable shoutouts for having particularly strong synergies with Oracle.

But we want to highlight how good Oracle should become in Rogue decks. It is incredible with Backstab, Preparation and Shadowstep. The latter turns Oracle into a seriously rapid draw engine. You could give this card a black border and it wouldn’t look out of place.

Absolute powerhouse and slick design.

Score: 4

Classes: Druid, Priest, Rogue, Shaman

Ur’zul Rager

Would still be unplayable if it could hit face.

Score: 1

Lunar Trailblazer

A “Big-Spell” enabler, Lunar Trailblader is more suitable for Shaman than it is for Mage, as it can discount it with Planetary Navigator. The discount carries over to the spell, much like Window Shopper, so we’re effectively double tapping.

Good card for Nebula Shaman, but we don’t expect to see it anywhere else. Possibly in Warrior if Dwarf Planet gets more support.

Score: 2

Classes: Shaman

Starscale Constellar

Would we even play a 5 mana 10/7 without spellburst? Power/Haywire Zilliax is a significantly stronger card than Constellar, yet barely sees any play. Bit of a strange card to consider when we already have a 4-mana minion with better stats and a better ability.

Score: 1

Lightfused Manasaber

Would we even play a 6 mana 6/6 rush minion with divine shield? It wouldn’t be the worst card in the world, but it probably doesn’t make the cut. Spellburst on an expensive minion is so difficult to use in comparison to a cheaper one.

Score: 1

Eredar Brute

The question that needs to be asked is at what cost does Eredar Brute become a good play we’re happy with. We can safely say that at 4-mana, a 5/6 taunt with lifesteal becomes a decent play. Any less than that and it’s a powerful roadblock for an aggressive deck.

For Eredar Brute to cost 4 mana, we need to have 3 enemy minions in play. We think this is a very realistic scenario, even for decks that don’t flood the board as aggressively as Pirate Demon Hunter. Against decks that are known for their board flooding capabilities, Eredar Brute becomes genuinely amazing. We can see Brute costing 2-3 mana every game against them.

This establishes Brute as a strong option for slower decks that look to stabilize against aggression. It feels like a tech card, but we think it’s going to be useful enough in plenty of matchups. Particularly good in Warlock thanks to its synergy with Endgame.

Score: 3

Classes: Druid, Priest, Warlock

Perplexing Anomaly

A perplexing card indeed. Stealth and Taunt can’t function together, so Anomaly’s keywords do have some diminishing returns. We can only realistically see this card being played in elemental decks, but both Mage and Shaman likely have better options at 3-mana. We think they pass on it.

Score: 1

Relentless Wrathguard

A demon that discovers a demon on a condition. We don’t think the condition is too difficult to meet, but even if we’re taking an optimistic stance, this card is only realistically seeing play in a Demon Warlock deck with Foreboding Flame. If that deck doesn’t work out, we don’t think this card sees play.

Score: 2

Classes: Warlock

Arkonite Defense Crystal

This is the stronger neutral starship piece, one we suspect will be difficult to pass up, unless our goal is to utilize starships in an aggressive strategy. Defense Crystal provides stabilizing power to starship decks, both in turning them into taunts, as well as generating armor. It’s particularly good in Death Knight (Guiding Figure) and Hunter thanks to Yelling Yodeler.

In terms of board control, the card isn’t great. A 4 mana 3/4 taunt is well under par. The hope is that the significant armor gain stalls the game enough for us to be able to launch a big starship and stop our opponent in their tracks. For that purpose, Defense Crystal will be essential.

Score: 3

Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Warlock

Galactic Crusader

A 7 mana 3/9 taunt is very, very bad. It is far too slow. By that point, hard removal makes our investment heavily backfire and lose control of the board. While Crusader does generate us some discounted value, there’s no guarantee that the Holy spells we get will be useful. The Holy spell pool is huge (43 spells!), with a significant number of weak cards that should have little impact by the time we get to turn 8.

Score: 1

Splitting Spacerock

This minion is incredibly sticky, carrying three layers of deathrattles to clear off the board. Still, for an expensive minion that doesn’t protect us or impact the board, it’s only realistically seeing play when it can be cheated out.

The two standout enablers here are Thunderbringer and Dungar. Spacerock instantly becomes the best elemental target to pull with the legendary taunt, as well as a good target for Dungar, though it does compete with Star Grazer in Druid. It’s possible we’re just happy to run both cards as part of the Thunderbringer package in this deck.

Score: 2

Classes: Druid, Hunter

Doommaiden

A late game disruption card with questionable reliability. With a cost of 4-mana, we’ll be looking to play this card in the late game in the hopes of finding an important piece required for our opponent to win a matchup. This card does nothing in faster matchups, as aggressive decks do not care about having their cards yoinked if it’s not from their hand.

Feels like a bad Control Priest card.

Score: 1

Ace Wayfinder

A 5 mana 5/5 with two bonus random keywords is not a playable constructed card, but the Draenei tag and future keywords given to the next Draenei makes it a stronger consideration for Draenei decks.

When building Draenei decks, we’ve found it quite difficult to leave out Wayfinder from lists. It has strong synergies in multiple classes because it’s a great sponge of other Draenei minions’ effects. We suspect it will become competitively viable as long as one of those decks successfully makes it.

It’s currently bugged with Velen (Velen doesn’t give the two bonus keywords to the next Draenei minion), but this interaction will be fixed shortly after the expansion’s launch.

Score: 3

Classes: Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Mutating Lifeform

This amalgam has terrible initial stats but gains a random keyword every time it takes damage. At 8-health, it’s difficult to kill on-curve, so we can expect it to gain at least one keyword, but that’s not enough to make it constructed worthy. It is very weak to direct removal and doesn’t have an immediate impact on the board. It’s also a worse 5-drop for Draenei decks compared to Ace Wayfinder. We don’t see where this card potentially goes considering its value is unreliable. Most keywords are not good dice rolls in specific situations.

Score: 1

Star Vulpera

We don’t expect starships to dominate the format to the point a terrible tech card such as this one could be justified. This card is meant to offer bad players a comforting way to answer something that scares them, when it shouldn’t, while making them feel clever when doing it. We call it the Republican card.

Score: 1

Red Giant

Adjacency is a difficult condition to constantly meet, even if we’re playing a deck with a very low curve. A deck with a low curve tends to be aggressive in nature, but Red Giant is not a great fit for its playstyle. Realistically, we’ll be lucky to fully discount it by turn 8, at which point most games are already decided for an aggressive archetype.

The sweet spot for a giant that’s not fully discounted is turn 4. We think it’ll be difficult to accomplish a 4 mana cost at this stage. It needs to be drawn, and we need to play 4 cards adjacent to it during the first 3 turns. Seems close to impossible.

What settles the unplayability of this card in our mind is that it needs to be in hand to be discounted, unlike other, playable giants.

Score: 1

Nexus-Prince Shaffar

The early released legendary, Shaffar has already proven its potential in Rogue, thanks to its interaction with Bargain Bin Buccaneer. For Shaffar to see play in other classes, we suspect it needs a similar setting, in which we can duplicate its spellburst across multiple bodies to constantly scale up.

Rogue is a unique fit due to its ability to function in a minion light build and its minion tutors. The rest of the set doesn’t seem to carry unique Shaffar synergies, so we suspect it will remain mostly played in one class.

Score: 3

Classes: Rogue

Kil’jaeden

Kil’jaeden removes our deck, replacing it with an endless portal of random demons that grow in power every turn. Card draw or minion tutors will work on the portal, but everything that is shuffled into our “deck” will be lost. It is a source of infinite value, albeit slow and poses some risks. Once we play Kil’jaeden, finding removal is off the menu. Our ability to contest boards is limited to developing bigger and bigger stats in play, in the hopes that our opponent will be overwhelmed. As a win condition, Kil’jaeden seems slow.

However, Kil’jaeden’s existence has massive implications on the format, as it gives decks the ability to remove the concept of fatigue. Such cards, even in weaker forms, essentially force attrition-based late game strategies to run them, such as in the case of Elysiana (or Renathal). Kil’jaeden is much stronger than Elysiana, so we expect it to be a mandatory inclusion for attrition decks.

Some classes do have inherent synergies with Kil’jaeden, especially Warlock. Warlock can use Foreboding Flame to turn it into a faster card or play it in a Wheel of Death deck to avoid taking fatigue damage.

Not a win condition with an overly intimidating clock, but a game changer, nonetheless.

Score: 4

Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Priest, Warlock

Velen, Leader of the Exiled

A late game payoff for Draenei decks. We suspect Velen will only be worth including in decks with a heavy Draenei count. The one exception could be Priest, due to its interaction with Askara, potentially turning into a recurring resource.

However, as powerful as Velen’s effect could be in a Draenei heavy build, it is tied to a deathrattle, making it very slow. A 7 mana 7/7 taunt is not an acceptable minion to play without massive benefits. It’s very vulnerable to silence, transformation, mind control or erasure effects. We do question whether Draenei decks, which seem to have aggressive tendencies, can afford to run such a slow card.

Score: 2

Classes: Paladin, Priest, Warrior

The Exodar

The cornerstone legendary of starship decks, Exodar seems like a mandatory inclusion if the game plan is to grow a starship to a significant size. While Exodar costs 8 mana, launching a starship without it already costs 5 mana, so we’re essentially paying 3 mana for a 6/10 and a protocol effect. These protocols scale with the size of the starship and can be very powerful.

Offensive Formation can help us clear the board or deal a sizeable amount of damage to the opponent’s face.

Emergency Repairs can give us a massive burst of armor to stabilize, which, combined with the armor gain of Arkonite Defense Crystal, should completely end faster matchups.

Crew Transport is a huge source of reload, allowing us to rebuild a new starship at a massively discounted cost.

The only awkward thing about Exodar is that its cost might make it difficult for us to trigger the starship’s spellburst on the same turn, but in those matchups where the spellburst is important, we can probably afford to wait a turn to have mana to cast a spell.

Exodar is probably the strongest in the Rogue class, due to Shadowstep and Breakdance serving as strong spellburst triggers, while turning a Starship Rogue deck into an endless value engine through bouncing Exodar and opting for Crew Transport.

Score: 4

Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Druid, Hunter, Rogue, Warlock

The Ceaseless Expanse

A 15/15 that destroys all minions is a stronger Deathwing without a drawback. It is reasonable to suggest that Ceaseless Expanse is a strong card the moment its cost is playable. Figuring out the timing of when it comes online is key to understanding how good it is.

We did some computations of Hearthstone games and reached the conclusion that Ceaseless Expanse can be discounted to 0 mana between turns 8-12, depending on how much drawing power the deck has, how much it develops minions in play and the nature of the opponent. Turn 8 shouldn’t be counted on for most Hearthstone decks, but around turn 9-11 is very realistic.

We believe this makes The Ceaseless Expanse an incredible card for any late game strategy, regardless of how much it can leverage the card. And we do have to say, several classes have compounding synergies that turn The Ceaseless Expanse into a disgustingly powerful card.

Druid, Priest and Hunter can tutor, copy and replay it multiple times. Rogue can Shadowstep and Breakdance it, just like it used to do with pre-rework Yogg-Saron. Shaman can play it on turn 6 with the help of Murmur. Death Knight and Warlock can drastically discount it through deck destruction effects. It goes on and on.

The more we dug in and theorycrafted, the more we realized how abusable this card is.

Our call for the most popular card of the expansion. Bow down to the new Yogg-Saron.

Score: 4

Classes: Everywhere

 

The Great Dark Beyond Summary of Ranks