Hearthstone has a date set for its third and final expansion for 2019. It's now set to arrive on Tuesday, so get ready to see a whole lot of dragons! Blizzard has summoned every dragon it could bring together to take flight for Hearthstone's next expansion, Descent of Dragons.
Card reveals for Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons have begun and that means it's time for Shacknews to once again break them down one-by-one. Before we start, let's look at one of the big themes for this expansion: Galakrond. Galakrond is a total different animal, so we won't mix his cards in with these analyses. We'll look at each class' Galakrond separately. For now, let's focus on the other cards and how they'll affect the Standard and Wild metas.
If you've missed the analyses so far, take a moment to catch up:
Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons card analyses (Part 1)
Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons card analyses (Part 2)
Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons card analyses (Part 3)
Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons card analyses (Part 4)
Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons card analyses (Part 5)
Let's officially wrap up the card reveals from the Hearthstone community.
(5) Platebreaker (5/5)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Battlecry: Destroy your opponent's Armor.
Source: Douyu
Analysis: AAAAAAHHH!!! What is THIS???
This just obliterates the Control Warrior as everyone knows it. There's no more hoarding Armor, because this just takes that Armor and hits for all of it as soon as it hits the board. This is a total game-changer and it's not like it's tied to a bad minion, either. A 5-Cost for 5/5 is totally standard. And it's a COMMON, no less!
On top of that, High Priest Thekal is totally unplayable now. The risk is no longer worth the Paladin player going from 29 Armor to zero Armor and one Health.
It's such a relative low risk inclusion that it's hard not to picture this finding a place in a lot of decks as a tech card.
(2) Wyrnrest Purifier (3/2)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Transform all Neutral cards in your deck into random cards from your class.
Source: Polygon
Analysis: Here's a total meme card, along similar lines as Renounce Darkness. Because let's face it, if you want cards from your class, you'll pack your deck with cards from your deck. Ones that you want.
I could see Arena players maybe taking a chance on this every now and then, but no serious Standard player is going to pack this into their deck.
(0) Embiggen
Type: Spell
Class: Druid
Rarity: Epic
Give all minions in your deck +2/+2. They cost (1) more (up to 10).
Source: Lt. Eddy Games on YouTube
Analysis: One thing to note about Druid decks it that some can revolve around big bodies. So here's a spell to make them even bigger. But unlike the Priest's Surrender to Madness spell, this is a much more usable spell. For one thing, it's a free spell! It costs zero! That right there makes this pretty handy.
The other thing to note is the downside, which increases minion costs by one. However, there's a workaround to this. Dreampetal Florist is here to reduce a few minion costs. How about Anubisath Defender, which is a free play, no matter what if there's a spell of 5-Cost or greater played. How about a big Rabble Bouncer? Or a 10/10 Sea Giant?
There are ways around this to the point that Embiggen is going to be a crazy powerful spell. Druid players can even equip spells like Dreamway Guardians and Landscaping to stay on curve. A thumbs up for the Druid.
(1) Treenforcements
Type: Spell
Class: Druid
Rarity: Rare
Choose One - Give a minion +2 Health and Taunt; or Summon a 2/2 Treant.
Source: Promotional email from Blizzard
Analysis: One of the first "Choose One" cards for the Druid in this expansion and it's a pretty good one. It's either a 2/2 on Turn 1 or it's a +2 Health spell that grants Taunt. The Quest Druid will like this, but it can also fit into some nice Treant Druid decks, especially ones that are running Embiggen.
(7) Goru the Mightree (5/10)
Type: Minion
Class: Druid
Rarity: Legendary
Taunt. Battlecry: For the rest of the game, your Treants have +1/+1.
Source: Promotional email from Blizzard
Analysis: This is the other card revealed in that Blizzard email and it's got a strong 5/10 stat line to start. At worst, it's Ancient of War. But the draw is that it boosts every Treant going forward by +1/+1. The problem with that is, Treants are mostly an early game play and this is a Turn 7 play at the earliest.
Well, there is one exception. The Forest's Aid is a tougher removal after dropping Goru. Five 3/3 Treants are noticeably more challenging to get off the board, especially when Twinspell means there's a second round waiting.
(3) Blowtorch Saboteur (3/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Epic
Battlecry: Your opponent's next Hero Power costs (3).
Source: Inven.co.kr
Analysis: Saboteur is poking and laughing at this card. The effect is pretty inconsequential and it's not enough of a handicap to make throwing this into your deck worthwhile.
The best you can say is that the 3/4 stats make Blowtorch Saboteur a half-decent Arena pick.
(4) Dragonmaw Poacher (4/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: If your opponent controls a Dragon, gain +4/+4 and Rush.
Source: Hupu
Analysis: I didn't know I wanted an anti-Twilight Drake, but that's certainly what this looks like. This is a strong Turn 4 play and given how many Dragons are going to be around, it's hard to imagine this not filling a lot of decks as a tech choice. And if this hits the board, it's an 8/8 on Turn 4. That's a crazy strong minion in the early game and a big payoff for relatively little risk.
(3) Dark Skies
Type: Spell
Class: Warlock
Rarity: Epic
Deal 1 damage to a random minion. Repeat for each card in your hand.
Source: Prince33 on Twitter
Analysis: This card targets minions on the board, but the downside is that it targets every minion on the board, including your own. That basically makes this a poorer Spreading Madness. It's not reliable enough a removal spell to use under any circumstances and it's one of those spells you'll dread seeing off a random effect. This is no good.
(5) Faceless Corruptor (5/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Rare
Rush. Battlecry: Transform one of your minions into a copy of this.
Source: RDU on YouTube
Analysis: This is a very strong card, provided there's something on the board to work with. Yes, a 5/4 Rush is pretty nice, but two 5/4 Rush minions is even better. So it's a potential Turn 5 play in a zoo deck, but to maximize it's potential, it might be worth waiting an extra turn for another minion to hit the board.
If you need an expendable minion to work with, well... that's exactly the kind of thing that Lackeys were made for, right?
(8) Murozond the Infinite (8/8)
Type: Minion - Dragon
Class: Priest
Rarity: Legendary
Battlecry: Play all cards your opponent played last turn.
Source: Master Wang on Douyu
Analysis: A literal way to turn the tables on your opponent. This one requires some thinking and some head-scratching to think about how exactly this works. So let's put our thinking caps on.
So if your opponent plays a single-target removal spell, you probably won't want to play this afterwards. If your opponent plays something random, like Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron, you might think about it. If the opponent plays a total board clear spell like Twisting Nether, you'll probably want to lay back a turn.
With the downsides out of the way, think about how well this plays with something like a Hero card. Your opponent wants to play Hagatha the Witch? Well, now you get to play Hagatha the Witch! If you're playing Wild, how about getting a free Death Knight? Or how about a free Galakrond?
The opportunity for shenanigans is definitely here with this card. Get creative with this one and make it work to your advantage.
So all that remains now is the 47 cards revealed during this week's Blizzard livestream. We'll break these down over the next couple of days. Then, we break down Galakrond. Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons is set to release on Tuesday, December 10.
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replyOzzie Mejia posted a new article, Hearthstone: Descent of Dragons card analyses (Part 6)
