by Jordan “TheJordude” Hong Tai

During Blizzcon, Blizzard that the newest Hearthstone expansion “The League of Explorers” will begin releasing on November 12^th. This expansion is aslightly different than the previous expansions as there will be more cards (45 over the usual 30) released as well as some of the challenges being puzzle based instead of just battling AI’s.

As a competitive player, I tend to just go through the expansions, get the cards and build new decks to try on the ladder. This article provides my top 5 picks of the new cards from The League of Explorers and my reasons for selecting them. Remember that these are my personal picks based on stats/effects and how I think they will perform and fit into current or new decks. You may agree, disagree, or like some cards better than others but here are my thoughts. I also want to note that my 4-2 picks are very similar and that my number one pick will trump them all.

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5. Eerie Statue

• Type: Minion
• Rarity: Rare

I think this is a very interesting card that can see potential in certain decks. I look at this card as being the big brother of Ancient Watcher. The effect is very similar as it is likely that there will be another minion on the board that blocks Eerie Statue from attacking. However, this minion will be threatening as a potential slap in the face if the board clears up and it activates. Like Ancient Watcher, this deck can find work in a deck like Handlock, where you can give it taunt to force your opponent to go through it, as well as being a strong target for Ironbeak Owl or Shadowflame. I also think this card can help push the Watcher Druid archetype, a deck that synergizes powerful minions with drawback effects by utilizing taunt givers or silences like Wailing Souls. Yes, this card can be sniped by Big Game Hunter, but that’s fine when your deck is filled with other 8/8’s, Dr. Boom, etc.

 

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4. Dart Trap

• Type: Ability
• Rarity: Common

Between Dart Trap and Sacred Trial, I’m going to have to give the edge to Dart Trap as Sacred Trial can be identified and played around for the entire game. Hero powering is a core part of Hearthstone. It is likely that your opponent will need to use their hero power to try and leverage the board in their favor, and when they do, 5 damage somewhere on their board/face! A reason why I didn’t like Bear Trap from The Grand Tournament was that it didn’t make a strong instant impact on the board in the way that Freezing Trap or Explosive Trap does. Dart Trap is similar to Freezing and Explosive Trap as it can have a strong impact on the board and gain the Hunter a lot of tempo. This is more relevant when you are playing against tempo/midrange decks where the 5 damage can hit relatively strong minions. The other side is that it can do a lot of damage to the face, which is Hunter’s specialty and will gladly take more burn. The trade-off of the powerful effect is that the damage is dealt randomly, so it can be inconsistent when it hits the wrong target.

 

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3. Tomb Pillager

• Type: Minion
• Rarity: Common

Tomb Pillager doesn’t look super exciting at first, but I think this card can have a lot of potential. With this new expansion it looks like Rogue can build a more minion based deck rather than the standard Oil Rogue, which focuses on using combos with spells. The 4 slot for Rogue is very competitive which is the main thing holding Tomb Pillager down, however let’s see the benefits of this card. A 5/4 body for 4 is a fair stat. A lot of people like the 4/5 body more as it trades better in the early game, however the 5/4 body can trade up such as Sludge Belchers, Loatheb, Emperor Thaurissan, etc. The coin is very powerful for the Rogue class. The obvious point is that it allows you to get ahead of your opponent on the board by accessing more mana before they do. This can be very significant as you gain the initiative, and you always want to be playing Dr. Boom before your opponent does. Other than that, the coin is also very useful for activating combos. Sometimes Rogue can have a clunky hand where they don’t have an easy way to start a combo, the coin helps with this. I think Tomb Pillager is the fix to Cut Purse. Cut Purse would be great as a 2/3 as the effect of gaining a coin is nice, but since it is a 2/2 body it doesn’t see play well, as it is very vulnerable.

 

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2. Desert Camel

• Type: Minion
• Rarity: Common

Like Tomb Pillager, Desert Camel is a new card that is challenging a very competitive mana slot in our current decks. For Hunter, they have Animal Companions and Eaglehorn Bow on Turn 3. However Desert Camel is another solid option to fill the 3 curve as it seems to be the most consistent play while developing a board. It is also a strong beast body in the turn before Houndmaster. The battlecry is also very powerful if your opponent is playing a midrange or control deck as they will likely not have a 1 cost minion in their deck. When this is the case, you gain a huge advantage by not only developing a strong 2/4 body and getting a free 1 cost minion to your field, but you also thin out your deck so that you don’t have to draw into that 1 drop in the later parts of the game. This is similar to how Mad Scientist is overpowered. The free value of pulling a card onto the field while thinning out your deck and making your future draws more reliable is just amazing for Hunter players. The reason why this isn’t my number 1 pick from the set is that ladder consists of a lot of aggro decks, so there is a good chance your opponent will have a free 1 drop as well which can be annoying to deal with. Hungry Dragon does not see as much play for this very reason.

 

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1. Unearthed Raptor

• Type: Minion
• Rarity: Rare

This card is my favorite of the set, and in my opinion, by far the best card in the adventure – exactly what Rogue needed in this meta. With the exception of SI: 7 Agent, which could not be played on turn 3 effectively anyway, Rogue was missing a strong 3 drop. Unearthed Raptor has the stats of Spider Tank, an already powerful body, as well as an amazing battlecry that pulls a lot of value when activated. The Deathrattle it copies is not even that important, as long as it copies a Deathrattle from your board you are getting so much from your 3 mana investment. Some can argue that it might be hard to pull off the Battlecry on curve, however this card will probably suit a more minion based midrange/tempo Rogue deck rather than the oil Rogue archetype. In this case your best target for a turn 3 Unearthed Raptor could possibly be Haunted Creeper, Loot Hoarder, or even Nerubian Egg. Other great Deathrattles to take later into the game are of course Piloted Shredder, Sludge Belcher, and Sylvanas Windrunner. Unearthed Raptor takes my excitement similar to how I saw Baron Rivendare. Being able to double up a Deathrattle is very powerful for leveraging your advantage in the game.

 

So those are my top 5 picks, I am excited for this new expansion and am looking forward to how the meta changes with the release of these new cards as well how players innovate new decks with them!

About the Author

My name is Jordan “TheJordude” Hong Tai, and I am a professional Hearthstone player currently playing for compLexity Gaming. I am a multi legend player that has only missed legend for a couple of seasons. I have peaked at rank 3 legend in NA, but the highest ending season position I’ve finished at has been around 120. I enjoy refining and testing out new decks and playing a lot of ladder. I also enjoy making content through Hearthstone/Esporting websites such as deck guides, reviews, etc. You can find me through these social media outlets:

• Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/TheJordude
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/TheJordude
• Twitter: @coL_TheJordude

by Jordan “TheJordude” Hong Tai

It’s time to join the bandwagon and write down my rant/thoughts on the Warsong Commander change that has been announced. What I wrote are 100% opinions so it’s up to you to agree or disagree, but if you want to read up on another person’s thoughts and perspectives, here you go.

Thought’s on the Nerf

So it was announced yesterday, October 13, 2015, that Warsong Commander is getting her effect changed, once again, from “Whenever you summon a minion with 3 or less Attack, give it Charge.” to “Your Charge minions have +1 Attack”.

As a Patron Warrior player myself, I was obviously initially disappointed as it was a deck I invested a lot of time into learning and was still trying to perfect it. Warsong Commander, being such a key card for the deck has turned almost completely unplayable and illogical. As Sottle pointed out on his twitter “Raid leader is a better card than Warsong Commander” which honestly is true. It costs the same amount of mana, except you don’t have the restrictions of only charge minions getting the buff for the trade-off of 1 health on the minion. From Blizzard’s stand point, yes, Warsong Commander was the card that made Patron Warrior a problem as it allowed board flooding and 70+ damage from hand possibilities, however the change on the card was way too extreme in my opinion. Right off the bat I could suggest 2 changes. First, simply making the card cost 4 or 5 mana seems completely reasonable. Making the card cost a bit more mana would mean Patron Warriors can’t flood the board, punishing your 2-attack minions as quickly, and it would be harder to pull off OTK’s without Emperor Thaurissan reductions which won’t come until post turn 6 anyway. Secondly, if you are going to change Warsong Commander’s effect completely, why not change the stats? I can see this card going off in very niche charge warrior decks with cards like Argent Horserider, Wolfrider, etc if the mana cost of Warsong was reduced to 2 (idea from Noxious), or if it had a slightly better body (where is Warrior’s 2/4?).

Aside from the changes to Warsong Commander, was Grim Patron Warrior really a big problem where it was “necessary” to make changes? Statistically (referring to Liquid Monk’s stats) Grim Patron had less than a 50% win rate on average. The average ladder player will commonly make “misplays” as it is a very challenging deck to make the correct calls. One time when I was on a group call with other pros, we were all teaching someone how to play Patron, and every one of us had different plays with different valid reasons. Patron Warrior is not even that common on ladder because of the difficulty of play and most people can’t be bothered unless they want to push for top ranks. The jokes and negative feedback on Patron Warrior are mainly due to the exposure it got from the results provided by the top professional players that have played thousands of games to learn and master the deck. For the average person, those results you see in the tournament will not be consistently common to your experience at home playing ladder.

For many players that have invested the time in learning the deck “Patron is the answer, not the problem” (quote from Tempo Storm’s JustSaiyan). For the Patron player, it was a deck where their skill level was rewarded by results, and it was an answer that they can rely on to the ever so frustrating Secret Paladin and other various aggro decks that don’t require as much practice by far. So the question still lingers, why not just reduce the power of the deck rather than completely removing the archetype? I guess we will never know, but looking forward here is what I think is to come after the change to Warsong Commander will come into effect.

Potential Shifts in the Meta

Paladin

Oh, is it Christmas already? Ever since TGT release the Mysterious Challenger Secret Paladin has been dominant on ladder and competitive play. Originally a lot of us thought that the deck will die down as players would learn how to play around the secrets better, but it turns out a 6/6 that pulls 5 secrets that chain and synergize with each other on turn 6 is pretttyyy hard to deal with. Patron Warrior was a way to keep the deck in check as it had a good matchup, however with Patron Warrior gone, who is going to answer the Challenger? Aside from just Secret Paladin, Midrange/Control/Inspire paladins have been an interesting idea that also seems very powerful for some time with the inclusion of Justicar Trueheart and Murloc Knight. The slower paladins have had troubles taking off mainly because the Patron matchup was terrible, but now that it’s gone maybe we will see some Silver Hand Recruits fill the board?

Warlock

This is something I am excited about. First I need to touch on Handlock which has been a popular tournament line up choice. Handlock had a good matchup on average against Patrons, which I believe is the main reason it was included in players lineups. However, Handlock suffers against very aggressive decks such as Secret Paladin and Hunter which will rise in popularity post Patron nerf. Handlock is also a bad matchup against Druid, which is in one of its best spots it has been in a while. Without players playing Patron, I can see the fall in popularity of Handlock as a result. Now for the fun part… the infinite value! Yes, I am talking about the good ol’ Dreadsteed that was released in TGT. Dreadsteed is probably in my top 3 cards from the new set as I feel it has a lot of potential. It is a unique card so far in Hearthstone which really holds true to the engine idea I referred to earlier. As a minion that will always stick to your board, constantly trading, giving you life with Sacrificial Pact, drawing you cards, etc. Dreadsteed can have a lot of power in the new meta, especially when a lot of decks have the freedom to play more minions on the board without fearing Frothing burst. The reason why Dreadsteed has not seen too much play and any competitive play, is because it was infinite value for the Patron player, a minion that would never die gave the Patron Warrior a full board, or an enormous Frothing Berserker. Without having to fear queueing into Patrons, Dreadsteed might be something to look into.

Rogue

Rogue is definitely a topic people haven’t touched too much on. When I talk to people about Rogue, the general response is usually “What’s that? A new class?” or “Rogue is in the worst spot it has ever been in”. I can’t disagree too much with them, Rogue got little to no love in TGT and has seen little play on ladder and tournaments. But why is this? On paper, Rogue does not seem that bad if built correctly. It has the right kit to deal with Paladin with Fan of Knives, Blade Flurry, Sap, etc. And if you build the deck with Violet Teachers, the tokens are also very useful for getting the board. Initially Rogue was considered decent against Patron Warrior, however that matchup changed as Patron players improved and it was no longer considered favoured. Another factor to point out was that Violet Teacher was somewhat a liability against Patrons as they would feed off of your tokens. However with Patrons gone, Violet Teacher is no longer punished and can be safely included in the deck to fight for board and provide bodies to land buffs. It’s also worth mentioning that since less people will generally be playing warrior, not many players will tech Harrison Jones and your buffed Dagger will have a higher chance of sticking and being able to set up.

Patron Warrior

Is the Grim Patron archetype completely dead? No, in my opinion I think Grim Patron can still be a viable card in an adapted build. It will still in Warrior due to the synergy with Inner Rage and the various Whirlwind effects. My idea is that Grim Patron will be used as an engine card. Like any card game, there are certain archetypes that depend on using cards as an engine to go through their deck and generate advantage. An example would be Cult Master drawing cards by throwing in tokens on the board, or in Yugioh Royal magical library used to draw extra cards in an Exodia deck. Grim Patron pre-nerf served as both an engine and a win condition. However with the nerf I think Grim Patron will solely be used as an engine card. Without Warsong you won’t be able to clear the board while developing your own off a simple 2 card combo, but you will still be able to go Patron, Inner Rage, Death’s Bite Whirlwind, Battle Rage to draw your deck. Obviously you don’t have the Warsong Commander potential for your win condition, therefore the idea of the deck would have to be cycling quickly, developing a Patron board, still having strong removals, and you would probably have bigger threats like Grommash and Dr.Boom (similar to how the old lists had bigger minions and were less all-in on the combo). Just like when Miracle Rogue was nerfed with Gadgetzan Auctioneer (which by the way is still a softer nerf than Warsong Commander) someone innovated Oil Rogue which has similar characteristics and was a tier 1 deck for most of GvG, this might also be the case if someone is able to successfully adapt and innovate Patron Warrior.

Conclusion

So those are my thoughts on the changes made to Warsong Commander, and what I think will come after it has been made. The decision is official so there is not much more to do but move on and just play some Hearthstone. Yes we will be salty for investing time in a deck to obtain success only for it to become unplayable, but this will also bring out the creativity and ability to adapt in the player. There is a lot of possibilities waiting, and maybe the TGT cards can finally be appreciated and more new archetypes will be born. Blizzcon is coming, who can adapt the most? Who will be cutting down the Christmas tree this year? One thing is for sure, not everyone will be getting in here and charging forward.

About the Author

My name is Jordan “TheJordude” Hong Tai, and I am a professional Hearthstone player currently playing for compLexity Gaming. I am a multi legend player that has only missed legend for a couple of seasons. I have peaked at rank 3 legend in NA, but the highest ending season position I’ve finished at has been around 120. I enjoy refining and testing out new decks and playing a lot of ladder. I also enjoy making content through Hearthstone/Esporting websites such as deck guides, reviews, etc. You can find me through these social media outlets:

• Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/TheJordude
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/TheJordude
• Twitter: @coL_TheJordude