The Comprehensive United in Stormwind Preview

Sow the Soil

This is a flexible enough card that might be strong in a Token Druid deck looking to swarm the board. It’s not a card you’re eager to have on turn 1, but it’s serviceable in case you draw it and have nothing better to do. We do think it could be outclassed by health board buffs, which tend to be more important than attack in most cases (such as Pride’s Fury or Power of the Wild). But the major thing it has going for it is a combo with Solar Eclipse, which offers an alternative and cheaper finisher to Arbor Up.

Score: 2

Wickerclaw

The turn 2 Wickerclaw/Pounce is not even that rosy of a dream. This 2-drop is just weak. It’s very awkward with most of your attack modifiers, including your hero power. As an on-curve standalone play, Wickerclaw is underwhelming.

Score: 1

Best in Shell

This is one of the strongest defensive cards Druid has ever received. 14 health in taunts is no joke. This card puts enormous stats on the board for 6 mana, and it’s even tradeable. We’re not sure how often we’re going to trade it, considering it’s likely to be good in many situations, but that’s just more upside. It might also be a bit of a sleeper in terms of pressure output with how good it is at setting up an Eclipse/Arbor Up play, and how strong it is with Eclipse as well. A powerhouse of a card that’s likely to be played in many different Druid decks. Can completely shut down numerous matchups while providing ramping Druid decks extra resilience against their greatest foes. Best in set.

Score: 4

Vibrant Squirrel

A 1 mana 2/1 is weak. The deathrattle is a very slow effect that’s likely not going to matter in most games for a fast Druid deck. Adding it to Token Druid is unappealing because that deck is looking for resources early, and we suspect that Squirrel would be a mulligan trap and not worth keeping for turn 1, over finding Glowfly Swarm, Fungal Fortunes or Guess the Weight. A more aggressive Druid that curves out has little desire to backload power for an unreliable and inconsistent board-flooding tool. Squirrel shows all the signs of a bait card.

Score: 1

Kodo Mount

This card is a little awkward because it’s not easy to make use of its Rush utility. You’d have to play very cheap minions to combo with Kodo Mount in the mid-game to provide an effective swing. But it is a lot of stats for a 4-mana buff, so we can see situations where it’s played on-curve just to provide pressure and immediate damage as a sticky Blessing of Kings? Probably not good enough for this purpose.

Score: 1

Park Panther

This card packs quite a bit. A 4/4 rush for 4 is comparable to Kargath, but it has an extra 3 damage to go alongside it, which potentially makes it a stronger answer to the board than a Restless Mummy. You could value trade a smaller minion with the Panther and use the attack buff to kill another. That could be a 3-for-1 trade considering the opponent still needs to deal with the Panther. It’s also great with Living Seed: You could play the tutor on turn 2 and have a Panther follow-up on 3, which is a decent line of play. Regardless of its Quest Druid utility, it’s got a chance.

Score: 2

Composting

This looks like a tempting reload option for board flooding decks, but we strongly suspect it will end up being overrated and overvalued, similarly to Soul of the Forest. Composting’s issue is that it doesn’t do anything without board, its effect is slow, and it doesn’t even impact the board. We can see swarming Druid deck utilizing it, especially if they’re desperate for card draw and are unable to run Fungal Fortunes. Even then, we don’t think this card will be amazing. Just playable.

Score: 2

Oracle of Elune

This is the kind of card that can encourage a minion-centric board flooding deck in Druid. Oracle can act as an early game blow-out enabler alongside Lightning Bloom. There are multiple 2-mana targets it can easily snowball off. It can act as a late-game reloader that stretches resources and helps a deck’s longevity. Worth considering building around, especially with Razormane Battleguard. That interaction could be quite disgusting.

Score: 3

Lost in the Park

We’re lost too. This quest barely has support in the format. The cards that activate it are extremely awkward when it comes to the breakpoints required to efficiently trigger the different questlines (Pounce, Feral Rage, Amulet, Panther). The worst part is that we’re not sure it’d be worth working to complete the quest considering the reward is hardly game-winning and requires us to run more situational cards to make the best use of it (Mark of the Spikeshell).

Quest decks cannot play for initiative from the early game. They can’t be overly aggressive since they pass on turn 1 and start the game with one less effective card in their hand. This means that using any of the damage offensively in this deck, while ignoring the board is highly optimistic, which is why we’re gaining armor in the process (to offset using our face to clear minions). So, the 8 burst damage that Guff provides us is not going to finish the game, certainly not in slower matchups against decks with any kind of sustainability. Compare the quest reward to Illidari Inquisitor and Guff looks quite pathetic. Hard pass.

Score: 1

Sheldras Moontree

Sheldras looks like a cool card. The strong scenarios are obvious: Getting a free Survival of the Fittest, Guardian Animals, Cenarion Ward or Best in Shell can be game-winning. The problem is there is no guarantee that Sheldras will bail you out in any consistent fashion. We’re looking to ramp, which means we’re under pressure by the opponent, so when we hit 8 mana, we play Sheldras and hope for the best? That’s a recipe for getting killed.

Cast when drawn makes our spells cycle, so even if we roll a cheap spell that’s not a great Sheldras outcome (and there will be a few of those, it can’t be helped), at least we get to tap into the next card which might be the big spell we’re looking for. The problem is we could also just draw a minion and end up losing the game since we ramped into a 5/5 that did nothing.

For 8 mana, we’re usually looking for an immediate impact that’s guaranteed to capitalize on our ramp. Sheldras isn’t that. It could surprise us, but we prefer to be harsh rather than hedge like wimps. Don’t craft it before it proves itself.

Score: 1

Final Thoughts

United in Stormwind Rank: 6^th

Overall Power Ranking: 8^th

Druid’s United in Stormwind set is solid, but not amazing. We know that Token Druid was nerfed into oblivion, so it’s desperate for good cards. Clown Druid is doing well but might be feeling a little stale. Anacondra Druid is a promising new strategy that is trying to take the next step.

If there’s any card that could elevate a Druid strategy, it would be Best in Shell. We suspect that this card is going to be an all-star performer and the most likely one to carry a Druid deck to the top of the meta. We don’t really see other cards making that kind of dramatic difference to existing strategies. Sow the Soil and Composting are nice cards for Token Druid, but are they going to make up for the Gibberling nerf? Probably not.

The most interesting thing about the Druid set is a new strategy, or to phrase it better, a failing strategy that is getting some big upgrades. Taunt Druid failed to make its mark on Barrens, but many of its weaknesses are now being addressed. Composting provides it with reload, Sow the Soil is another finisher, and Oracle of Elune might be the most important addition because it increases the odds of the Druid having a strong opening.

How likely is it that new Druid strategies emerge? Taunt Druid is going to increase its consistency by a significant margin, so if we had to guess, this would be the new Druid deck to play. When it comes to Quest Druid, don’t hold your breath.