LogFAQs > #957583916

Okay, quick review.

Biggest removals:
Murloc Tidecaller
Toxfin
Faceless Taverngoer
Mythrax the Unraveler

Most of the rest that's going away is kinda whatever. I'll miss some of these cards, but most just ended up being filler that you didn't want in your tavern anyway.

New heroes:

Nguyen looks potentially fun, but also headache-inducing as you try to make a major decision every single turn alongside everything else you're doing. I think it has high-roll potential and a considerable skill gap, but my hunch is that it will ultimately be middle of the pack.

Cariel Roame looks pretty meh. Pay 1 for +1/+1 is usually not worth the cost early on. Later, it's like getting an Aggem/Charlga to the board for 1. The beauty of those other effects is that they're passive, and in Aggem's case, potentially very repeatable. While yes, once upon a time, we had...Bolvar? Uther?...some paladin that buffed neutrals +1/+1 and was decent, but I think that hero in a current meta even with the same support minions would perform terribly. My prediction is that Cariel is low tier 3.

Beasts:

Leapfrogger looks fun as a strong tier 2 if you have beasts. Sewer Rat is 5/5 in stats out the gate. Both of these are ridiculous by old standards.

Bird Buddy is obscene. Suppose you lead with a Sewer Rat, it dies, and then your opponent kills the turtle that results. Rest of your beasts get +2/+2. Other deathrattles, other taunts, etc are just going to rev this up even higher. I expect this card will be stupidly powerful out of the gate and has to be nerfed to Avenge (2).

Reanimating Rattler is also ridiculous, especially on a deathrattle beast like...Palescale Crocolisk, which is a guaranteed +6/+6 and maybe more (unless you have exactly 1 other beast, which dies first.) Give it reborn, though, and this can be a holdover until you can find Goldrinn. More importantly, it means non-Goldrinn builds aren't beholden to buff-on-play effects.

Demons:

Impulsive Trickster is whatever, but Icky Imp is potentially ridiculous. I see this as a good alternative to tokens on tier 1 because it's 3 packets of damage and later 3 demons to die or for effects like the infernal that grows on summoned demons.

Impatient Doomsayer is considerable generation potential if you're looking to spam-cycle demons for Wrath Weavers, which is safer now that Mal'Ganis has basically become a tier 4 minion.

The two eat-for-stats effects are hilarious, and Famished Felbat is going to be incredible free scaling. Even if we assume an average tavern minion at tier 6 is going to only be 3/3, that's still over 20/20 in stats per turn. If you're also cycling for an Insatiable Ur'zul, demons can have some legit growth potential. (Sidenote: you want to run one non-demon because there's only 6 in the tavern at most normally.)

Mechs:

Pupbot is adorable and probably more powerful than our current 2/2 reborn overlords given how powerful Divine Shield can be. Pair that with a Grease Bot, for instance for some routine scaling. Mechano-tank is kinda whatever.

However, the jawdropper here is Holy Mecherel. Didn't Blizzard learn their lesson before? Holy Mack didn't need poison to be an awful card. You get two of them and they just miraculously just keep trading off divine shields back and forth. Considering they can both inherit DS from other minions, too, and this is going to be a card that will be a fan of scam builds and will create tons of tension until Blizzard finally capitulates and takes it out of the game.

Omega Buster is amazing. Goldrinn for mechs, basically. This is a real reason to take mechs to 6. And since mechs thrive off divine shield more than beasts thrive off anything else, I dare say this is considerably better than Goldrinn. I sincerely expect we're going to see some mech builds with 2 mecherels taunted, a couple omega busters, a baron, and two other divine shield bots.

Murlocs:

Without Tidecaller or Toxfin, murlocs are in a little bit of a strange place. However, Saltscale Honcho is a great non-battlecry buff effect that the tribe very much needed. Even more ridiculous is Swolefin, which can be as much as 16/8, and a triple goes to 32/16+24/12 = 56/28. That's with no Brann. You better believe you're going to see this fish punching through some stuff in the mid game.

SI:Sefin is a powerful, if unreliable replacement for Toxfin. Murlocs keep their poison identity, but you have to keep this card on the board, which is kinda weak for a 5, and you have to get 3 things to die first. I suppose you put existing poison up front and hope that dies off first because it's not very clear if it can retarget an already-poisonous murloc.

I do not understand the point of Seafood Slinger unless you can use it on tavern minions. About the only minion this is good for is SI:Sefin or maybe King Bagurgle. It comes down way too late to be good for Saltscale or Warleader. Someone wanna explain the strategy here?

Dragons:

Some crazy stuff in dragons. The new tier 1 can become a 32/3 on its own if you keep it. It gains health if you also have a Whelp Smuggler on board.

Tarecgosa is interesting, but I'm trying to figure out which effects you want to apply to it. Are there that many in-combat effects that this benefits from? Whelp Smuggler + Spawn of N'Zoth? Or is it all about the new Prized Promo-Drake, which turns Tarecgosa into an early tier Razorgore?

Prestor's Pyrospawn is a fantastic card that says fuck you to divine shield mechs. It might be the only thing that keeps Holy Mecherel from becoming an obnoxious meta-defining card.

Pirates:

Defiant Shipwright is mostly just stats on board unless you're playing Patches. Briny Bootlegger is some nice economy, and you don't have to worry about it not dying. Two of these fuel each other, and keeping one around doesn't feel anywhere near as bad as a Warden of Old.

Peggy Brittlebone is a sleeper that is going to be very powerful. Think of this being run with a strong bloodgem generator. Think of this with some of the new generator cards. At worst, you can buy 3 minions a turn and get +3 in the process, but the real craziness starts when you've got Hogger in play. APM pirates are suddenly not just about buffing Salty Looter and waiting for a Southsea Strongarm to buff your other minions.

Tony Two-Tusk makes your pirates golden, which I see as far more useful than Seafood Slinger since pirates often have passive effects that are meaningful to double. It's also going to be hilarious when this triggers mid-battle and saves something from dying due to the small stat bump. The real question is...how realistic is it to have 5 minions die while keeping this and another non-golden pirate alive? Sans exodia build, I think this is asking too much.

Nosy Looter is whatever. It's the grand fucking prize if you're playing Galakrond, but under any other circumstances it probably materializes too late to do much good. Even a YOLO build is going to need something with stronger tempo than a 7/6 to stabilize. My bet is it gets removes with the next real update. Either I'm underestimating it and it's oppressive, or I'm right and it's useless. There really is no sweet spot for this card.

Others:

Smogger is great. Dazzling Lightspawn is mini-Nomi and probably partners well with him, even if you're only likely getting at most +2 per turn. (Maybe you can get to 3 with a Djinni.) Recycling Wraith is okay for cycling. Master of Realities is underwhelming compared to Garr.

Gemsplitter is a silly follow-up to Tough Tusk.

Budding Greenthumb will take some setting up, but could pay off nicely. Witchwing Nestmatron is decent value, but what do you want to be playing to capitalize off the battlecries? Murlocs? Elementals? Now pirates? Just hope for a mug?

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Conclusion: I have no idea what I'm going to aim for tomorrow, but Bird Buddy, Mecherel-Buster, and Peggy APM all look like good options.

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