by JR Cook - 9 years ago     show comments

Blackrock Mountain will finally release tomorrow, which means that the Goblins Vs. Gnomes Meta Block has finally come to its end. With that said, today its a good day as ever to take a look at how GvG changed the game.

When GvG was first announced, a lot of people where hyped about the potential of cards such as Vol’jin, Enhance-o-Mechano, and even Fel Reaver. Explosive Sheep and Jeeves were also looked by some as potential game changers. Bouncing Blade and Feign Death were two cards that got a lot of love in the pre-GvG hype, but both of them failed to live up to it. Finally, Shrinkmeister and Recombobulator also got some attention, and while they did make it to the Priest Deck, Priest didn’t exactly dominate this block.

Now with the benefit of hindsight, it is time for me to make a highly opinionated TOP 5 List of the cards that had the biggest impact during the GvG period.

Ok, I lied. With Honorable Mentions and stuff, this might as well be a Top 10 list. So, sue me!

On second thought don’t sue me, I’m broke as hell. I’d rather have you help a brother out by white-listing us on Ad-block. Pretty please? Also, I heard your chances of getting Golden Cards on packs rise if you support our Patreon, but that might just be a misguided rumor.

Cheap plugs aside, here’s my list for Most Influential Cards of the Goblins vs. Gnomes Expansion!

Honorable Mentions:

Shield Maiden didn’t drastically change the way Control Warrior is played, be the little gnome added a lot of power to it. Imp-losion is a really strong Warlock card that might have a lot of impact on the Demon decks of the future, but those days aren’t here yet. Glaivezooka gave face hunter some extra oomph, and made sure that Hunter remained firmly dominant.

Finally the Antique Healbot gave a lot of Healing Capability to classes that otherwise were really limited in that aspect, perhaps I should’ve ranked that dude higher because that sounds really influential. Plus that robot is holding a heart and I’m a sucker for Robot Love (Please don’t inquire about my browser history).

5. Muster for Battle + Quartermaster

Before GvG Silver Hand Recruits were just 1/1 dudes, after GvG they became a force to be reckoned with. Quartermaster turns lowly 1/1 into power DUDES at 3/3, and the mere threat of this buff has made sure that Paladin opponents everywhere have prioritized cleaning up your recruits, even if they some times have to trade unfavorably. By itself, Quartermaster wouldn’t probably see as much play though, and that’s where Muster of Battle comes in. Muster is another card that is strong by itself, but it gets insane with the Quartermaster synergy. Muster is good enough early to warrant two copies in a lot of Paladin Decks, and having two Musters means that putting at least one Quartermaster in your deck will probably get you some value.  Combined, they are not only a super strong force that can recover the board in an instant, but more importantly the threat that they pose WILL make opponents play around them.

This is enough to make them Numero Cinco on my list.

4.Tinker’s Sharpsword’s Oil

Rogue had been hit pretty hard with nerfs. The mana cost bump for Gadgetzan and Leeroy Jenkins left a big dent on Miracle, the dominant Rogue Archetype at the time. But Tinker’s Sharpsword Oil made sure that Rogue was to remain relevant on the meta. Not only does Tinker’s provide Rogue with a way to do insane burst damage by itself, but it also combines with Blade Flurry for even more burst and some of the deadliest board clear available in the game.

Before Oil, getting a big Blade Flurry was a lot harder. Now with 4 possible weapon boosters in the deck, the Rogue will more often than not have a way to take back a board, and this will buy him just the time that he needs to pull off some of their crazy Preparation Techniques and all that burst that we’ve come to love and hate so much.

3. Mechwarper

Mechwarper is by itself one of the most powerful cards in all of Hearthstone. The potential that this silly robot is just insane if left unchecked, and most of you have experienced first hand more than a few times losing impossible games against Mech Mages with a killer starting hands. While Mech Decks didn’t take over all the classes, the sheer power of Mech Mage and the option to build an also solid Mech Shaman made sure that the Mechwarper earned his place on this list.

2. Piloted Shredder

This guy is good, just super good. It has to be picked over 90% of the time in arena. And at least 1 copy is included in a huge amount of constructed decks. He’s probably one of the cards that you will more often encounter while playing, and its not surprising to see why. Piloted Shredder redefines what a sticky minion is, and of course how can we forget how many eSport moments this card has given us? From Doomsayers, to Vitality Totems, to Patient Assassins, and even Frostwolf Grunts blocking otherwise lethal damage. What about a Nat Pagle that drew you too many cards and caused you to lose via Fatigue?

Piloted Shredder has been so prominent that cards got worse and better depending on the trading potential that they had against him, how’s that for influential?

Plus, he’s given Trolden a lot of ammo. And we all know that influence in Hearthstone is measured in how often you appear on Trolden.

1. Dr. Boom

Speaking about Trolden, how funny can those Boom Bot Explosions be?

But all joking aside, sitting at the top of the mountain we have Goblins vs. Gnomes most Balanced Card. Seriously, this is perhaps the most Balanced in the history of Hearthstone itself. The most Balanced card in all card games period! (how do you insert a Kappa face here?)

Ok well, this card is a tad overpowered. But the problem isn’t so much that it is overpowered, but rather that he is also an all-purpose card which dominates over all competition. Dr. Boom is just too valuable, and unless you are running an hyper-agressive deck, or some sort of combo concept, you can probably find him a spot on your deck. Boom is a card that is extremely well represented in the meta, probably the most popular of class legendaries over mainstays such as Loatheb and Sylvanas. While its sheer power can certainly be countered and dealt with, it somehow forces you to tech against it.

For that very reason the Big Game Hunter has become another staple of the meta. The Good Doctor has made sure that there aren’t many decks around that don’t pack at least one 7+ attack minion, which means that there aren’t many decks around that don’t include BGH.  This has a huge impact on the meta; since minions with +7 attack are in constant threat of being instantly removed, they likely won’t see play unless they can have immediate impact on the board.

Dr. Boom might not be a horribly overpowered and broken card like the Undertaker, who often won games almost by itself, was. But it is just powerful and versatile enough to shape the meta around him. This is what makes him my #1 pick for  GvG’s most influential card, and also makes him something that should’ve been addressed a long time ago via Nerf Bat to the face.

How hard do disagree with my list? How hard do you want to hit Dr. Boom with a nerf bat? Magnets, how do they work?

Let me know using the comments below or hit me up on twitter @DannieRay23