How to use the Old Gods - Hearthstone: Madness at the Darkmoon Faire

Hearthstone's next big expansion is just one day away from release. Madness at the Darkmoon Faire is set to arrive this coming Tuesday and will feature over 150 new cards, some new mechanics, and something cool for long-time followers of World of Warcraft. Yes, the Old Gods are back!

For today, Shacknews is going to offer an overview on the Old Gods and offer a primer on how to use them. Here's what they do and which types of decks you'll want to consider packing them into.

The Old Gods

(10) C'Thun, the Shattered (6/6)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
Start of Game: Break into pieces. Battlecry: Deal 30 damage randomly split among all enemies.

(10) Y'Shaarj, the Defiler (10/10)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
Battlecry: Add a copy of each Corrupted card you've played this game to your hand. They cost (0) this turn.

(10) N'Zoth, God of the Deep (5/7)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
Battlecry: Resurrect a friendly minion of each minion type.

(10) Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate (7/5)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
Battlecry: If you've cast 10 spells this game, spin the Wheel of Yogg-Saron.

Analysis: The Old Gods have returned and they all have new twists on their original forms.

First, let's look at C'Thun, the Shattered. Rather than build C'Thun up over the course of the game, he's instead split into four pieces:

Body of C'Thun: Summon a 6/6 C'Thun's Body with Taunt.
Eye of C'Thun: Deal 7 damage randomly split among all enemies.
Heart of C'Thun: Deal 3 damage to all minions.
Maw of C'Thun: Destroy a minion.

All of these pieces cost 5 mana each and once they're all used, C'Thun is shuffled into the player's deck. That means running a C'Thun deck means you're in for a long ride. It's not going to be for everybody, unless you're able to shuffle through your deck quickly and have enough control tools to keep the game going while you rummage through the pieces.

There are two classes who can best put C'Thun to good use. Galakrond Rogue can stand on its own just fine and if it's fully upgraded, can significantly discount the C'Thun pieces or C'Thun himself. Likewise, Heistbaron Togwaggle will help you go through your deck and pick out enough discounted C'Thun pieces to make this deck work.

Spell Mage is the other deck that can make this work, mainly because the C'Thun pieces are all considered spells. So putting it into your deck wouldn't wreck your Font of Power or Apexis Blast play. Plus, the C'Thun pieces would count heavily towards triggering Learn Draconic.

If you're playing other classes, you can give C'Thun a shot, but think hard about this one, because these are going to be slow decks.

Y'Shaarj, the Defiler will see the most play in Warlock decks, mainly because of the new Tickatus legendary. These decks will be filled with Corrupted cards and Y'Shaarj putting them all back in your hand with a (0) cost is a no-brainer.

There are a few other decks that can make good use of Y'Shaarj. Druids running Strongman and Carnival Clown while Priests can play this with their Fairground Fool and Auspicious Spirits cards. Experiment with this one in other decks, because it has the potential to add a lot to almost any deck running Corrupted cards.

N'Zoth, God of the Deep is going to work mainly in the new Menagerie Warrior archetype. It's meant to work with the various minions you pull from Ringmaster Whatley. While it won't bring them back with any kind of buffs, having a fresh Deathwing, Mad Aspect is nothing to sneeze at.

Another class to watch is Druid. Druid will have a lot of big bodies, like Fizzy Elemental, Marsh Hydra, and Ysera, Unleashed. N'Zoth will bring all of those big bodies back at once. Your success will depend on how quickly you can ramp your Druid with spells like Wild Growth and Overgrowth.

Lastly, there's Yogg-Saron, Master of Fate. He's just as random as ever. Only now he comes with a wheel. If you cast 10 spells over the course of your game, you'll spin the wheel and get one of the following:

Curse of Flesh: Fill the board with random minions, then give yours Rush.
Devouring Hunger: Destroy all other minions. Gain their Attack and Health.
Hand of Fate: Fill your hand with random spells. They cost (0) this turn.
Mindflayer Goggles: Take control of three random enemy minions.
Mysterybox: Cast a random spell for every spell you've cast this game. (targets chosen randomly).
Rod of Roasting: Cast 'Pyroblast' randomly until a player dies.

There's a 19 percent chance of hitting everything, except for Rod of Roasting, which has 5 percent odds.

There are a handful of these effects that will benefit you, but a lot of it is left up to random chance.

So before long, you'll be like WWE NXT Superstar Johnny Gargano, pictured above, and you'll learn to hate wheels. Just like the original Yogg-Saron legendary, this Yogg will giveth and taketh away just as easily. You can get a low roll on Curse of Flesh or you can be on the wrong end of a Rod of Roasting. Spin the wheel, make the deal!

If you insist on taking this chance, just about any class in the game will work with Yogg-Saron. The catch is, you have to cast ten spells, so make sure you either pack enough spells into your deck (should be easy if you're playing Mage, Priest, or Shaman) or pack in enough minions that can generate spells, like Cobalt Spellkin or Wandmaker.

The Old Gods are back and they'll all be playable with Hearthstone: Madness at the Darkmoon Faire. The expansion releases this Tuesday. Be sure to read more about the latest Hearthstone update.