Hearthstone: Kobolds & Catacombs - Analyzing Val'anyr

As part of its upcoming Kobolds & Catacombs expansion, Hearthstone is adding an interesting new mechanic that takes weaponry to a (literal) new level. Legendary weapons are now a part of the game, giving each of the game's nine classes a Legendary weapon to wield. Each of these weapons has the potential to impact the game in various ways and Shacknews is going to break each of these arms down one-by-one.

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We're halfway home on the weapon analyses. So for the fifth analysis, let's take a look at the virtuous Paladin. And for its weapon, the Pally will be pulling from deep within the World of Warcraft lore.

(6) Val'anyr (4/2)
Type: Weapon
Class: Paladin
Rarity: Legendary
Deathrattle: Give a minion in your hand +4/+2. When it dies, reequip this.
Source: IGN

Val'anyr At A Glance

Val'anyr is something of a different weapon for Paladin players. Those 4/2 stats should look familiar, given that they're on the much cheaper Truesilver Champion. So why go with this more expensive version of a tried and true weapon? Well, it's certainly a nice effect, giving one minion in-hand a nice buff. The best part is that the Deathrattle gets around the usual Ooze/Harrison Jones counter, offering an immediate benefit to the Paladin player and opening the door to the weapon coming right back in a couple of turns.

But it might be a little tougher to pin down which particular Paladin decks can benefit from this weapon.

Val'anyr Synergies

Handbuff Paladin is a tough thing to measure, because that deck type sure looked pretty good going into last year's Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, only for it to ultimately fizzle. But let's table that for a moment.

One of the best of the Paladin options involves Pirates. Paladin players will be able to keep their opponents on their toes with strong Pirate minions, like Southsea Captain, Phantom Freebooter, or Blackwater Pirate. Balance this out with cards like Bonemare or Saronite Chain Gang and Paladin has an ample amount of good cards that can be boosted.

For something a little more traditional, the Murloc Paladin should be able to hang strongly with opposing decks until Val'anyr is able to boost any of them. The boost will be useful on any Hydrologist, Bluegill Warrior, Rockpool Hunter, Murloc Tidecaller, or Murloc Warleader. Combine this with spells like Spikeridged Steed and it's a solid deck.

And of course, after bringing up the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion, it's worth mentioning that the average Buffadin deck running Smuggler's Run, Grimestreet Outfitter, and Grimestreet Enforcer can make some nightmarishly huge minions. Imagine those buffs combined with the Val'anyr buff on a Doppelgangster? Ouch!

There are still four more weapons to break down and Shacknews will be here to analyze them in the next few days. Kobolds & Catacombs is set to hit Hearthstone on Thursday.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?