by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

Probably the most frequent question being asked in the community right now is, “What effect are the new Naxxramas cards having on the metagame?” It’s a tough question to answer, because there are a lot of implications to consider: The new cards themselves, the emergent value of existing cards due to new ones, new combinations, and – to top it all off – the interim periods where only certain cards are available, due to the gated release.

With some of those variables in mind, let’s take a look at some of the changes you can expect, broken down into wings…

The Arachnid Quarter (July 22)

You’ve already started to see what the first quarter’s rewards have done on the ranked ladder, in a limited capacity. Haunted Creeper and Nerubian Egg, in particular, were quickly appearing in Zoo-style decks. While it hasn’t made a deep impact yet, there is definitely a strong argument to be made for the Nerub’ar Weblord to feature in Druid decks, since their Choose One cards aren’t considered Battlecry minions for the purposes of the Weblord’s mechanic.

The new class cards aren’t seeing a ton of play, because their drawbacks make them somewhat combination dependent; the first Legendary, Maexxna, suffers from a similar situation (she desperately needs a visit from a Houndmaster).

Verdict: Look for the popularity of Haunted Creeper and Nerubian Egg to stay high in the short term, and to burst even further when the Military Quarter lands.

The Plague Quarter (July 29)

When the metagame is in flux, aggro tends to rule. Luckily, this week’s cards helped carve out a little room to breathe for other deck styles to fight back. The Unstable Ghoul is a popular addition to Control Warrior decks, as well as decks that feature Enrage minions or popular cards that benefit from taking damage, like Acolyte of Pain. Upgraded Harvest Golem with Taunt Sludge Belcher has some limited application in anti-aggro decks, but hasn’t caught on much yet. I expect to see him work his way into taunt-heavy control decks soon, potentially as a faster alternative to Sunwalker.

This week’s big winner is definitely the much anticipated Miracle slayer, Loatheb. There isn’t really an inherently better 5-drop in the game in terms of stats (factoring for drawbacks), and the Battlecry here is phenomenally powerful, particularly in the mid-game stretch. As more consistent counters to Zoo-style decks emerge, I expect to see Loatheb in a LOT of decklists.

Hunters and Mages got their class challenges this week. The new Mage secret hasn’t filtered into a good constructed list that I’ve seen as of yet, and Webspinner is getting used, but an open prayer to the lord and savior, RNGesus.

Verdict: Loatheb hasn’t landed in force yet, but will. RIP Miracle Rogues. The new Taunt minions are good, but not great, plays, and fit a couple of workable niches.

The Military Quarter (August 5)

Spectral Knight wing! We have some interesting things coming our way next week. I don’t anticipate seeing a lot of Dancing Swords in the wild, because giving your opponent card draw is a pretty serious opportunity cost for  a single extra stat point. I already made my case for Deathlord starting to see use in some taunt-driven decks – perhaps even a variant on the old Rogue anti-aggro tempo deck? – but it may or may not bear out. Spectral Knight is going to be a huge go-to card for a ton of decks. And, lest we forget, we finally get the thematic champion of Naxxramas, Baron Rivendare, whose feature is likely to lead to some experimental decklists.

Shaman and Warlock will be the next two class challenges. I don’t foresee a hugely viable deck spawning centered around Demons and Voidcaller, but maybe Heigan made a good case for this being workable. Reincarnate dropping the same week as Baron Rivendare absolutely cries out for Crusher Shaman to be revisited.

Verdict: Expect a week of unpredictable attempts to make Baron Rivendare stick, but the meta will probably swallow most of them whole. No huge shifts.

The Construct Quarter (August 12)

 This is where things are going to get interesting. All at once, you’re getting the terrifyingly valuable aggro starter in the Undertaker (the potential turn one combo with a Leper Gnome here is just unreal), the potentially devastating Mad Scientist, a powerful tempo play in Zombie Chow, and a couple of very interesting combination possibilities with Wailing Soul. A lot of people are looking at very specific combination plays, like Zombie Chow with Auchenai Soulpriest, but I think the big winner in this group is definitely the good-at-any-time Undertaker, which will actually probably be a better cornerstone for Deathrattle-heavy decks than Baron Rivendare.

The legendary pair of Feugen and Stalagg, and the tremendous free Thaddius they can spawn (even if the first one gets silenced!), are of possible interest to decks where going the distance is a part of the plan (really long-game Control decks of any class). Both 5-drops pass a vanilla stat test, and that 11/11 body for free is a crazy opportunity. It will take some experimenting to find the survivability required to make this play work, but it has big potential.

On top of all that, the two arguably strongest class cards drop in the same week. Death’s Bite looks all but mandatory for most any style of Warrior deck, and any Priest list that isn’t using Dark Cultist starting August 12 will be laughed out of the room.

Verdict: Aggro minions will look for even more aggressive opening hands than have ever been possible before, but will run into some tough Control opposition fighting to make the big late-game plays. Priest is going to take a big leap forward.

Frostwyrm Lair (August 19)

The final segment of Curse of Naxxramas is going to be one of the simultaneously least and most influential on the constructed meta. Prior to Naxxramas, Legendary card availability was less widespread; a larger portion of the total player base will have access to the Naxxramas legendaries than many of the core game legendary cards.

First things first, though, we get the buff-friendly Echoing Ooze and the removal-baiting Shade of Naxxramas. The former looks to be a staple in lower-curve Druid decks and hugely popular with certain styles of Paladin; the latter’s intimidating design is probably too slow for its cost in most deck styles. After unlocking both, however, the player will be treated to the game-breaking stylings of Kel’Thuzad himself. Played on to a not-empty board, he’s incredible – if your opponent cannot immediately silence or remove him on their turn, he’s unbelievably valuable. And that’s before we get into the possibility of using Faceless Manipulator or other options to get more than one of him out.

Sadly, Paladins – who will have waited patiently all this time for their class challenge – end up with the decidedly mediocre Avenge at the tail end of the long road to completing Naxxramas.

Verdict: Playing around Kel’Thuzad will become a very serious consideration from this date onwards. His design is viable in a lot of deck styles, but likely favours things like Ramp Druid or a late-game Priest deck.

That’s the whole story! What do you think is going to be the biggest meta shift over the next three weeks? Let us know in the comments!