Some of the team at Amber Flight Gaming have put together some quick thoughts on a few of the cards from Hearthstone's latest Mini-set, Wailing Caverns. The Wailing Caverns Mini-set is part of the Forged in the Barrens expansion, and included 35 all-new cards. Here's what the team has to say so far about some of the cards from the set and the impact in the meta.
Itachi:
Wailing Vapor - Potentially gives way for Elemental shaman by way of a high health, snowball effect on a 1-cost minion. Where have we seen this formula succeed?
Final Gasp - In addition to being nice and flavorful, it's a 1 mana kill something (usually) and summon a 2/2 with a decent ability. I think it's a very reasonable play in Warlock.
Kresh, Lord of Turtling - I love turtles and this one packs quite a bite! 8 armor is nothing to scoff at, especially considering how difficult it is to remove a 9 health body. In addition to that, the deathrattle equips a Pyroblast!
Nejiboston:
Felrattler - Gives a nice bump to the Deathrattle Demon Hunter archetype. Summoning a Rush minion from your Deathrattle Summoners is very effective for getting board advantage. Its Deathrattle effect also gives the deck a bit of game against swarm decks, where it struggled a lot before.
Deviate Dreadfang - Very similar to the old "Exotic Mountseller", which created huge board swings with very cheap spells. The Dreadfang requires Nature spells, but since it always gives a rush minion, it is extremely effective at swinging the board in your favor. It can also be tutored for cheap with "Living Seed", which is a card that could finally see some time in the spotlight.
Mutanus the Devourer - Great tool that can be played in Control decks to try and gain an advantage in a Control mirror and pull out a high value minion, as well as drop a stat bomb on the board. It's also effective at trying to rip a win condition out of your opponent's hand; Alexstraza the Life-Binder, Il'gynoth, Tenwu of the Red Smoke, N'zoth God of the Deep, and Tickatus are some of the excellent pulls in the current meta.
Dragonrider:
Floecaster - This card is fairly easy to discount, and will become even easier as more cards get added to the standard pool. We have seen multiple cards that get discounts, such as Devout Pupil, Bloodboil Brute, Frenzied Felwing, and especially Corridor Creeper that all saw fairly consistent play. As mages move away from the No-Minion archetype, this minion seems like a solid choice for many mage archetypes.
Judgement of Justice - There are already many valid secrets being played in Paladin, and this new one doesn't seem like an exception (at least a one-of inclusion). The fact that the effect will trigger regardless of where the enemy minion is attacking makes this card feel even more tricky to consider when playing around potential secrets, and will more severely punish slower decks that focus on only having one or two bigger minions on the board.
Doctorfeesh:
Stealer of Souls - Super interesting card that has not as much synergy in Standard play currently. However, this card feels made for Wild when combined with cards like Plot Twist and minions that give immunity to your hero such as Violet Illusionist and Mal’Ganis. Expect this card to create a viable new Warlock deck in Wild as we see a lot of experimentation to create an OTK as early as turn 3 or 4. Stealer of Souls has a similar feel to Darkest Hour, but not as broken powerful as the previous iteration of Darkest Hour, which was nerfed as a Wild specific nerf.
What do you think of the Mini-set cards so far?
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