by JR Cook - 11 years ago     show comments

Malfurion Stormrage, truly one of the most noteworthy figures in the Warcraft universe. When the Burning Legion came to invade Azeroth, it was the combined efforts of him and other champions that saw the Legion repulsed and the mortal races saved. If there was ever a worthy champion for the Hearthstone Druid deck, it’s Malfurion. Fittingly, he’ll command an almost outrageous amount of power. It’s my hope that the beta sees the class tweaked, but for this preview, we’ll just have to go with what we know. Considering all that’s available to the Druids, it would not be just to try and confine this preview to the standard two articles. No, Malfurion Stormage shall receive three, in an effort to ensure we touch on all of the features. Today, we’ll talk about the Druid hero power, the spells that feature multiple options, and finally the potential for boosting mana.

Malfurion has access two very interesting mechanics, the first, extreme versatility. There are five cards that, for exceedingly efficient mana costs, offer you the ability to choose between a number of powerful abilities, including direct damage and card draw. For those new to these previews, those are the two things that tend to win matches. We love damage, and we love cards. The other unique thing the deck does is ramp up mana, allowing for quicker access to higher tier turns.

Before we get into all of that though, let’s talk about the Druid Hero Power, Shapeshift.

Shapeshift

It wouldn’t be a Druid deck without the ability to change into some feral, four-legged creature. Thankfully, Shapeshift is just that. Two mana gives Malfurion Stormrage some teeth and a bit of an armor buff in the form of a +1 attack for the turn and +1 armor until it’s used up, acting as a strange hybrid between the Rogue ability Daggery Mastery and the Warrior ability Armor Up!. It’s not an awful power, but it’s certainly not top tier. It’ll allow Malfurion to take out some low tier minions early on and, if the board’s clear of creatures with taunt, even strike at the opposing hero, all while giving himself a bit more toughness.

Choose Your Own Adventure Spells

My love of Goosebumps compels me to address these spells as such, but it really is an adequate title. All of the following spells allow you, the Druid, to tailor your experience based on the situation. It’s all incredibly adaptive and honestly what I feel makes the deck so strong. I’d very much recommend running most, if not all of these cards.

Starfall

Alright, for five mana, you can either deal five damage to one target, or deal two damage to all targets. Let’s look at some spells from the other decks that have similar effects, but without the luxury of both being available to them in the form of one card. What cards deal two damage to all enemy creatures on the board? Consecration, four mana. Blizzard, five mana, also comes with a freeze. Lightning Storm, costs three mana, but has an Overload cost of two, meaning an ultimate mana cost of five. The Druid deck has access to this, as well as a practical nuke, and on the same card. It could be argued that Starfall is a bit more expensive than other options, or doesn’t come with a utility effect, but the fact is, it’s incredibly powerful for what it is and assists in offering the Druid deck a lot of flexibility.

Nourish

Another five mana card, Nourish is, in my opinion, infinitely less over the top than Starfall. I made mention earlier of cards that ‘ramp up your mana’, and this would be one of them. When cast, this spell allows the Druid to either obtain two additional mana crystals or draw three cards. It’s great because, if you have this on turn five and have some huge, game winning card in your hand, you can essentially minimize turn five (You’ll still have two mana to use because of the crystals from Nourish) in order to jump to turn eight. If your hand’s a bit light or you’ve hit the ten mana crystal cap, feel free to just draw three cards. Again, the card’s great because you have the choice, and you can figure out what to do based on the tempo of the game and what’s in your hand.

Wrath

Again, more direct damage, or less direct damage and a card, and all for two mana. If the board looks safe enough and you want to stock up on cards, take the one damage and additional card. If the opponent has dropped something menacing, nuke it down and feel more comfortable with the board situation. Wrath‘s ability to deal three damage on turn two makes it capable of taking out almost any threat your opponent can drop at that point.

Power of the Wild

This card might not seem like much, especially in the face of the other powerhouse choice cards available to you, but consider that, for two mana, it’s effectively a 3/2 creature in the early game. If you have Power of the Wild in the late game and have an armada of Treants, this card just makes them that much more menacing. Odds are, if this is in your opening hand, you won’t be using it on turn two to buff one, possibly two creatures. Very affordable card.

 Mark of Nature

Here’s another interesting card, and in my opinion, easily the most balanced of the choice cards. Three mana’s nothing to scoff at, and the benefits, while solid, aren’t in the realm of absolutely nuts. Mark of Nature bestows upon a minion either +4 attack or +4 health and taunt. It can definitely be handy when played on the right minion (something we’ll discuss later) but it’s at least somewhat circumstantial. I’d recommend, if possible, holding on to this card until later in the game when you can slap it on something with already impressive stats. Casting it early in the game probably means that something will hit hard, but be fairly squishy, or be a good meatshield, with potentially little return fire. If not for the taunt mechanic, it’d be an awesome card to play defensively on something like Nat Pagle, a card that features a really solid minion ability.

Mana Boosting

Mention was made earlier about the ability Druids possess to beef up their mana and essentially accelerate their turns. Along with Nourish, the Druids have two other spells, which we’ll look at now.

Innervate

This spell can either be really awesome or really useless depending on when you draw it. In the early game, the ability to give yourself two extra mana on the turn for no cost is great. It can mean dropping a five mana minion or spell on turn three, or something similarly devastating. However, given that there’s a limit of ten mana crystals, top decking Innervate late in the game makes the card effectively worthless.

Wild Growth

It’s there if you need it, but Wild Growth is, in my mind, just a weak card. It costs the same amount as Innvervate, but offers far less punch, awarding the Druid one empty mana crystal. Sure, that mana crystal is there for the whole match, where as Innvervate’s mana exists for one turn, but remember, past turn ten, this card is dead weight. As always, it’s up to you decide if it’s worth it, but considering decks only hold 30 cards, I could not, in good conscience, run one of this, let alone two. If you do run it though, and it pans out early, it’s just another opportunity to get the mana advantage on your opponent and drop a barrage of buffed Treants on them earlier than they’d like.

That’s all we’re going to look over today, but be sure to check back on Thursday when we finish out Druid spells. I maintain that this class is going to be the strongest around, at least in its current incarnation. What do you think though? Do these mechanics make the class too strong?