Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (The Rest)

Hearthstone's newest expansion is just hours away from release. Get ready to head into the desert and continue the Year of the dragon with Saviors of Uldum. Blizzard is adding another batch of 135 cards to join the Standard and Wild rotations, including some new mechanics and some new quests.

We have only a few more cards remaining and that means it's time to hit the LIGHTNING ROUND! This is going to be a bit of a shorter Lightning Round than previous versions, just because we covered most of the final batch of cards as they were revealed during last week's livestream. Not everything was revealed during that stream, though, so we're here to cover the best of the rest.

Before we start, a quick recap of what we've unveiled to this point:

Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (Part 1)
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (Part 2)
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (Part 3)
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (Part 4)
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum - The livestream card reveals
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (Part 5)
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (Part 6)
Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum card analyses (Part 7)

Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum - Plague of Murlocs interview

Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum - A guide to all 9 quests

And now, let's get started.

The MVPs

(These are potential meta-definers and will fit like a glove in at least one meta deck.)

(2) Crystal Merchant (1/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Druid
Rarity: Epic
If you have any unspent Mana at the end of your turn, draw a card.

(5) Naga Sand Witch (5/5)
Type: Minion
Class: Mage
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Change the Cost of spells in your hand to (5).

Notes: Mmmm... Naga Sand Witch...

Crystal Merchant is practically made for the new Druid quest, not only allowing players to continue towards completing the quest condition, but also getting some extra cards in the process.

Naga Sand Witch stands to be a potentially deadly card in the hands of certain Mage players. What it means is that you can pack double Pyroblast into your deck and if you have both of these spells in hand, you can discount them to 5 mana a piece. That means 20 damage to face on Turn 10, which is enough to end the game in a lot of instances. Naga Sand Witch is going to be lead to a lot of cheap endings when going up against the Mage, so be on the lookout for this combo. And be on the lookout for big spells like Blizzard, Flamestrike, and Power of Creation. The latter will play beautifully with Khadgar.

Ladder Climbers

(These are cards that will likely appear in a majority of constructed/Ranked decks, since they'll work well with both new/returning cards.)

(2) Quicksand Elemental (3/2)
Type: Minion - Elemental
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Give all enemy minions -2 Attack this turn.

(3) Ramkahen Wildtamer (4/3)
Type: Minion
Class: Hunter
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Copy a random Beast in your hand.

(4) Garden Gnome (2/3)
Type: Minion
Class: Druid
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: If you're holding a spell that costs (5) or more, summon two 2/2 Treants.

Notes: Quicksand Elemental is something I could imagine going in as a hard counter to zoo decks, especially when combined with Mossy Horror. It's definitely something that could find its way into Battlecry Shaman decks, just because that Battlecry and the aforementioned Mossy Horror Battlecry makes Shudderwock fairly dangerous.

Ramkahen Wildtamer is a solid Turn 3 play, one that offers the Hunter player an extra resource that could come in handy in the late game. Garden Gnome will fit in nicely with Token Druid decks or basically any other Druid deck that's packing more expensive spells. Combine it with Dendrologist to find yourself a nice spell.

Situational Wonders

(These are cards that won't quite be constructed/Ranked staples, but will definitely support one or more decks in the current meta. You won't build around these, but they're worth experimenting with.)

(3) Vulpera Scoundrel (2/3)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Epic
Battlecry: Discover a spell or pick a mystery choice.

(4) Hyena Alpha (3/3)
Type: Minion - Beast
Class: Hunter
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: If you control a Secret, summon two 2/2 Hyenas.

(2) Spitting Camel (2/4)
Type: Minion - Beast
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
At the end of your turn, deal 1 damage to another random friendly minion.

Notes: Vulpera Scoundrel is one of the most interesting card designs to date. It allows players to pick one of three spells or a fourth choice: a mystery choice.

A boat's a boat, but the mystery choice could be anything! It could even be a boat!

Adding a spell to your hand is always a good idea, even if Vulpera's a bit expensive. But this one should be a lot of fun to experiment with.

Hyena Alpha could fit in nicely with a Secret Hunter deck, assuming that archetype starts to take off. Then there's Spitting Camel, which will actually synergize beautifully with Acolyte of Pain. This combo is a sure-fire card draw, which could be useful in the early game.

Wild Stallions

(You might not get a lot of mileage out of these in Standard Ranked play. But if you're playing Wild, you might want to consider these.)

(6) Blatant Decoy (5/5)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Epic
Deathrattle: Each player summons the lower Cost minion from their hand.

Notes: Not a lot for this category this time around. Blatant Decoy makes this list for what it could potentially do for Big Priest. If you're a Wild Priest player packing only the biggest bodies, you could exploit this Deathrattle to put something potentially larger on the board. Then you get your Resurrection effects rolling and overwhelm your opponent.

An Incredible Discovery!

(These are cards that don't quite fit in constructed/Ranked decks, but ones that you won't mind seeing off a Discover or RNG effect.)

(7) Wasteland Scorpid (3/9)
Type: Minion - Beast
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Poisonous

(10) Living Monument (10/10)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Taunt

Notes: You'll likely find the Wasteland Scorpid off a Beast-generating effect if you're a Hunter or off of something like Conjurer's Calling if you're a Mage. Regardless of how you pull this, it's not the worst result in the world. A high-health Poisonous minion is not something you should be turning down.

Speaking of Conjurer's Calling, Conjurer Mages are going to see a lot of Living Monument. If they use the spell on a Sea Giant, they now have the potential to pull a Living Monument off of it. And if you're the opponent, it's going to be discouraging to see a 10/10 Taunt pop up.

Arena Champions

(These are cards that don't quite work in constructed/Ranked decks, but will work beautifully in Arena mode.)

(6) Armored Goon (6/7)
Type: Minion
Class: Warrior
Rarity: Common
Whenever your hero attacks, gain 5 Armor.

(2) Dwarven Archaeologist (2/3)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Epic
After you Discover a card, reduce its cost by (1).

(3) History Buff (3/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Epic
Whenever you play a minion, give a random minion in your hand +1/+1.

(4) Body Wrapper (4/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Epic
Battlecry: Discover a friendly minion that died this game. Shuffle it into your deck.

(5) Faceless Lurker (3/3)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Taunt. Battlecry: Double this minion's Health.

(8) Pit Crocolisk (5/6)
Type: Minion - Beast
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Battlecry: Deal 5 damage.

Notes: Armored Goon has some nice stats on him, with an effect that's some nice icing on the cake. The other minions listed here all make for nice tempo plays, working nicely when played on curve with effects that are simply nice additiosn on top of their solid stats.

Pit Crocolisk could be the most underrated of the bunch. Its ability to deal five damage is outstanding in Arena and its 5/6 stats make it so that it's likely to stay standing after a turn.

Bottom of the Deck

(These are cards I don't foresee getting much play in either constructed or Arena.)

(2) Kobold Sandtrooper (2/1)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Deathrattle: Deal 3 damage to the enemy hero.

(5) Phalanx Commander (4/5)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Your Taunt minions have +2 Attack.

Notes: Kobold Sandtrooper's best quality is that it hits slightly harder than Leper Gnome, but those 2/1 stats are excessively weak.

Phalanx Commander not only sports mediocre stats for a 5-drop, but its effect is also backwards. You're not looking to boost a Taunt's Attack power. You want to boost its defense. There are combos available, but the Commander is too expensive to make them work. It's just a thumbs down all around.

And that's it! All cards have been analyzed and you are now ready for Hearthstone: Saviors of Uldum. The expansion is set to release later today.

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?