Grand Tournament Standouts

Greetings Travelers!

It's been a little longer than usual since my last post, but luckily this gave Blizzard time to preview the entire set for GvG and to announce the release date of the 24th. Any time a new set comes out, countless professional players rush to Youtube and Twitch for their set reviews. I enjoy hearing what the best players in the world have to say about the newest cards, but I don't like 2 hour long videos that go through every card in detail. So what I thought I would do is go through a few standout cards that I plan on focusing on when I begin crafting cards for the ladder.

The first Legendary I want to talk about is probably the strongest in a vacuum. A 10 mana card had better have a text box that wows you and Varian doesn't disappoint. I expect him to slot into Control Warrior builds immediately as well as possibly finding a home in a Dragon Warrior if that deck develops. Control Warrior aims to trade with your early minions one for one until they overwhelm you with one haymaker minion after another. Varian hits the board and can bring another bomb with him to completely take over the game. In a control mirror, the game often comes down to who gets the most out of their mana and who draws more cards. Varian not only draws 3 cards when he hits play, but he also has the potential to give you a huge mana advantage.

Rhonin is the other class Legendary that i think is going to make a big splash. He is similar to Varian in that he is a form of card advantage tacked on to a huge minion. The current Tempo Mage decks aim to leverage their minions with spell based effects alongside cheap efficient removal spells. The problem the deck has is transitioning to the late game. Rhonin is a finisher in his own right, but his Deathrattle provides an arsenal of cheap spells to fuel Mana Wyrms, Flamewakers, and Archmage Antonidas. And even without any of those getting 9 damage for 3 mana is an absurd rate. I don't expect him to break into Freeze Mage decks but Tempo and Mech varients will find a spot for Rhonin.

Dragon decks have been trying to worth their way into the metagame since Blackrock Mountain fully released. One of the reasons they haven't become a force on the ladder is that they lack mid-game Dragons to bridge them to the late game where cards like Malygos and Ysera can take over the game. Chillmaw has a unique effect in that his/her effect triggers when it dies rather than when it comes into play. Rather than give your opponent information about the contents of you hand when you play it, you leave them with a decision. They can trade their minions in to kill it assuming they will lose them anyway to the damage effect, or they call your bluff and use removal on it. Because it has taunt, your opponent does not have option to ignore Chillmaw.

The last Legendary I want to talk about is Eydis Darkbane. A 3/4 for 3 mana is already worth playing, but when you add on the text box we've got a real card to talk about. Aggro Paladin is already taking over to a certain extent and this card is an instant addition. Curving this card into Blessing of Kings on turn 4 will go completely uncontested in some games. If an aggressive Shaman deck emerges after TGT I think she slides right into that deck. And Mech Mage will instantly add her as well. This card is a perfect example of why Blizzard has been slow to add low-cost legendaries. The less mana available to answer a strong card, the more careful you need to be. Think Undertaker. Enough said.


Mulch might be the class card I am the most excited about. Druid has had the downside of weak minion removal since the beginning of Hearthstone. Wrath and Swipe while strong in some situations, do little against strong late game threats. Naturalize has always been an option, but giving your opponent 2 cards from their deck was too big of a cost. Mulch lands in a nice middle ground. We have to pay 2 more mana, but our opponent gets a random minion that they still have to pay for. There will be times that you give them a great minion and lose, but the tempo gained from killing any minion for only 3 mana should make this a worthwhile spell for most Druid decks.

The other piece of the Dragon deck puzzle is Twilight Guardian. This card serves as another mid-game card for Dragon decks that also happens to be a Dragon on it's own. That means that this card fills both roles within the same deck. It's stats become better than average because you have other dragons, and it also triggers your other cards abilities while it's in your hand. The possibility of going from Blackwing Technician on 3, to Twilight Guardian on 4, to Blackwing Corruptor on 5 with all of their effects triggered will lead to some very lopsided board states. It's also worth noting that 6 health is something of a sweet spot that allows this card to survive many situations that something like Senjin Shieldmasta would not. The second attack from a Death's Bite being just one example.

Healing Wave is not a fancy card by any means, but similar to Mulch, it fills a need that Shaman has had since day one. They have never had an efficient way to regain health. Shaman has been driven to the bottom rung of the Hearthstone ladder due in no small part to its inability to recover in the face of early aggression. Most of the time against an aggressive deck you will win the Joust with this card and gaining 14 health against a Face Hunter or Aggro Paladin will almost certainly win you the game outside of any Divine Favor shenanigans. It's not a big flashy legendary but it is damn good at what it does.




Darnassus Aspirant could be the best card in the set. Druid has fallen out of favor lately partly because of it's reliance on Wild Growth. Being able to accelerate the mana gain of the game is one of Druid's cornerstone traits. The Aspirant gives them a second card to accelerate them from 2 mana to 4. If your opponent can't answer this card on turn 2 then you gain a huge advantage and can start to take control of the board. If they do answer it, then you are back on curve. If a more aggressive token or aggro Druid deck hits, then this card will be a big reason why. Mirror Entity also hates seeing this card get played and should make for some fun fail moments.



Master Jouster is a card I am a little unsure about. When you win the Joust this card is insane. A full +1/+1 on Sunwalker is a really big deal. I already touched on the importance of 6 health before, and adding a divine shield on top of it would make this card a home run. However the nature of Joust makes this card a big risk. Against the aggressive decks this card should win the Joust most of the time. But in the midrange or control mirror, losing the Joust on this card will be backbreaking. There is a chance that this card helps to push aggro decks out of the metagame for a while, but I am really apprehensive to call it a home run just yet.



The last card I'm gonna talk about is pretty minor compared to all the legendaries and epics, but I think it is very good and pretty important. 2 damage for 1 mana is standard for spells without some kind of drawback. Living Roots adds in the option to create 2 1/1s instead, making the card better in all stages of the game. You no longer have to rely on your hero power and Wrath to deal with troublesome minions like Knife Juggler. And in the event you draw it later in the game, you can always make 2 minions and force your opponent to play around a potential Savage Roar. I really hope this card helps bring back the old Token Druid with Violet Teacher and all that good stuff.



Well that's it as far as cards I want to talk about today. I know some people will wonder why I didn't go into any of the Shaman Totem cards but I feel like those have been talked to death in other places and I want to wait and see what decks develop. Overload is such a tough mechanic to overcome but we will see what happens with it. Let me know what cards you are excited about.

As always, thanks for reading.

Until next time,
Chris