by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

Sylvanas has had her ups and her downs.  She used to be almost a staple legendary in every deck before she was changed from a 5 cost to a 6.  Personally, I’ve seen her considerably less throughout the ladder but even though she’s now a 6 cost, she’s still absolutely devastating if you use her effectively.

What I have seen from a lot of players is that she’s laid down and it’s your opponents job to dance around her.  You can end up with them flooding the board (via Unleash the Hounds) or some nonsense, taking out Sylvanas and netting you the 1/1 you’ve always wanted.  This is YOUR game, let her work for YOU!  And there’s a couple of ways to make that happen.

Let me set up a little scenario for you.  Your opponent has dropped something nasty like Ragnaros, Ysera, Giants, take your pick.  They may have even gone so far as to drop it among several other 3/4’s or 4/5’s with taunt and just creating a board that’s horrific.  This combo can only be done on turn 10, but likely if the board is that gross, you’re close to turn 10 or past that anyways.  So here’s where the magic happens.  Bring whatever minions your opponent has down to 5 health with any minions you have on the board (minus Mr. Nasty because you’re gonna take control of him). Drop Sylvanas and then Shadowflame her.  That will do 5 damage to all minions on the board AND kill her.  Anyone who can read card abilities will see that when Sylvanas dies, she takes control of a random enemy minion.  So there goes all those horrid taunts and minions, and say hello to Ragnaros or Ysera….on YOUR side of the board.  Even if you get something like an Ancient of War that’s now a 5/5 due to the kill, you still have a taunted 5/5 and most likely a clear board.  Will you get an 8/3 Ragnaros or a 4/7 Ysera?  Yup.  You sure will.  But it’s now your opponents problem to deal with and not yours.  You can thank me later for the 8 damage to their face or the card Ysera puts in your hand.

The same type of thing applies to the Void Terror but the catch is that your opponent can only have 1 big minion on the board.  It happens more often than not.  Your opponent blows his mana on an Ancent of War (5/10 with Taunt), uses his hero power on your face and now that 5/10 is your problem to deal with.  Lay down Sylvanas and then a Void Terror.  You now have an 8/8 and a 5/10 with taunt.

These combo’s are fairly situational but still very effective in many ways.  Again, you have several ways to kill Sylvanas yourself.  Don’t waste 6 mana to let your opponent dance around it and leave you with garbage.  Use her to the fullest and turn the tables one sacrifice at a time!