Hearthstone: Kobolds & Catacombs - Analyzing Woecleaver

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 nearing the end of the weapon analyses. So for the eighth analysis, let's take a look at the Warrior.

(8) Woecleaver (3/3)
Type: Weapon
Class: Warrior
Rarity: Legendary
After your hero attacks, Recruit a minion.
Source: ahq eSports

Woecleaver At A Glance

There's nothing particularly impressive about Woecleaver's 3/3 stats. That means the Warrior's new weapon is mainly acting as a showcase for Hearthstone's new Recruit mechanic.

I've made mention of this throughout the course of the card analyses, but the jury's still out for me when it comes to the Recruit mechanic. Since Recruited minions don't have active Battlecries, I don't really see the true potential in it. But maybe there's something to this weapon. Let's give it a closer look.

Woecleaver Synergies

While the other Legendary weapons seem to lend themselves to certain deck types, I have to admit that Woecleaver is a bit of a headscratcher for me.

It won't fit into a lot of Control Warrior decks, since those rely on board control above everything else. Maybe Dead Man's Hand Warrior can make this work, but any Recruited minions won't be able to take advantage of the Dead Man's Hand spell.

It certainly won't fit into Quest Warrior decks, because the Quest conditions require Taunt minions be played. Recruited Taunt minions will not count towards the Un'Goro Quest, which is too bad, because it would be an easy way to get that ball rolling.

At 8 mana, it's far too slow for Pirate Warrior. Most good Warrior players should have the game wrapped up by the time Turn 8 rolls around, so Woecleaver wouldn't even see action there.

So what can this weapon do? Well, it'll work best with the Warrior's top Legendaries. I'm looking at Grommash Hellscream, Rotface, and the new Geosculptor Yip as strong examples. It can also summon some other top-level Legendaries, like The Lich King, Ysera, or even Charged Devilsaur.

But let's go back to that Dead Man's Hand Warrior. If Recruited minions are out, what's the best way to ensure they're still around to be Recruited later? The best answer is actually the Whirlwind/Blood Warriors combo? Did you Recruit a minion by accident? Then give it some damage and just bring another copy right to your hand with Blood Warriors. And let Dead Man's Hand keep the party going.

Aside from that, I'm hard-pressed to find a particularly good deck type for Woecleaver. The Warrior has so many better weapons out there and so many other deck types that work without this weapon. Best of luck to anyone opting to wield this, but finding a good home for this weapon is a tough nut to crack.

There's only one more weapon to break down and Shacknews will be here to analyze it on Thursday morning, hours before the expansion goes live. Kobolds & Catacombs is set to hit Hearthstone tomorrow.

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?