by JR Cook - 8 years ago     show comments

Hi Danny Donuts here again. Right now we are halfway through the release of the new cards from ONiK. This article will be a recap of what has happened in the past few weeks as the Wings of Karazan have released. It is really interesting to see some of the decks that have been made viable by the new cards introduced, and how the meta changes week by week. These comments that I am making should be taken with a grain of salt, as the meta is currently in flux, and these decks that are currently good may not be as the meta is shaken more by the next two weeks, or as it settles down in the upcoming months.

Week 1

Great

Priest of the Feast

I believe that everyone complaining about Purify really led to this card being underestimated. At this point, it has been extremely powerful in all priest decks, as having a secondary source of healing is very helpful while trying to survive in priest.

Good

Arcane Anomaly

Arcane Anomaly has been an above average card, but it has not been broken. It is good in aggressive spell powered decks, most notably aggro mage decks.

Pantry Spider

Pantry Spider has been used a bit more than I predicted in my card review. This is actually due to the second body being a 3 mana card as well. This works incredibly well along with Evolve in shaman.

Arcanosmith

Arcanosmith has been much better than I anticipated; as I did not really view its utility as having two bodies is useful especially when trying to stall out the board. This has been useful in the Evolve Shaman list mentioned above, as well as in Fatigue Rogue. Both these decks are not top tier, but they are close to being good decks.

Enchanted Raven

Enchanted Raven has allowed for Beast Druid decks to start forming. However, they are currently not a top tier deck, and mostly are aggro decks. However, when Menagerie Warden is released, the Beast Druid archetype will start to take off.

Cloaked Huntress

Cloaked Huntress has allowed hunters to come back into the meta, along with secrets. There have been many variations of hunter running this deck, such as pure Midrange Hunter, as well as Lock and Load. It will take a while until an optimal list has been found.

Firelands Portal

This card has been a bit slower than expected, but it has been included in Reno Mage lists that have been starting to become more common on ladder. I believe that the card will be played more in Reno/Grinder Mage when Medivh’s Valet has been released.

Ivory Knight

Ivory Knight has been a great inclusion to Paladin, as it is rather valuable to have a variable heal in your deck. If needed, you can choose a large spell to heal a lot, or you could use the spell as just a spell. The versatility of this card shows a good amount of promise. This card has brought about a bit more N’Zoth and Anyfin Paladin back onto the ladder.

Maelstrom Portal

Maelstrom Portal has allowed for new aggressive spellpower shaman decks. It has led to some new decks being made, such as the new “Zeus” deck that has been seen on ladder.

Silverware Golem

Silverware Golem has been tested in current Zoo builds, and it is currently on the cusp of being playable. It will be really exciting to see this card fully in action when Malchezaar’s Imp has been released.

Bad

Protect the King!

This card has been tested out in bolster warrior decks, but the archetype has not taken off yet.

Moroes

Moroes has not found his niche yet, as there are currently a lot of ways to clear 1 health from the board, even if it is stealthed. In my opinion it will take a bit before Moroes sees play.

Deadly Fork

This card has been a dud so far. I have not seen it being played in any archetypes, nor any pro player putting it into any rogue lists.

Week 2

Great

Arcane Giant

Arcane Giant has added an interesting flavor to current decks that are being played in the meta, and has been slipped into many meta decks that run many spells, such as token druid, tempo mage, miracle rogue, and OTK warrior. This card is so powerful that Blizzard will have to be careful on what spells they print in the near future, as this card is close to being broken.

Barnes

Barnes has been an interesting inclusion, and is a blast to play. When you play a deck that is build around getting a good card out of Barnes, then the card is rather powerful. He has become an auto inclusion in all deathrattle decks that already existed. The only issue is that you can only play one copy of Barnes, and sometimes when you build around him your curve is too top heavy. There has been a lot of playtesting around Barnes, and I feel that the best is yet to come with him. I feel that after the meta has settled down that there will be a Barnes deck top tier.

Onyx Bishop

Onyx Bishop is rather good, as adding an additional resurrect effect has helped build a Resurrect Priest archetype that is pretty consistent. It is really good with Injured Blademaster and Priest of the Feast.

Wicked Witchdoctor

Wicked Witchdoctor has made a bigger splash than I anticipated. It has allowed for shaman to have its own version of the token druid archetype, using Bloodlust as a finisher.

Kindly Grandmother

Kindly Grandmother has found its way into Midrange Hunter. This card has been similar to Nerubian Egg combined with Haunted Creeper, and both of the beast tags have been rather beneficial in Midrange Hunter.

Bad

Moat Lurker

Moat Lurker has had very little time to be experimented with, and it has not had an immediate impact on the meta. It is a rather slow card, so it will require a deck to be built around it before it becomes popular.

Silvermoon Portal

This card has been tested out in Buff Paladin decks, and has been average, but due to its mana cost being four, it has to compete with a lot of more Paladin cards, and it typically is not as powerful as them.

Swashburglar

Swashburglar has not seen much play, as rogue cannot float any cards yet. However, I foresee a new rogue archetype after Ethereal Peddler has been added next week.

Pompous Thespian

While I have tried this card in bolster warrior, I do not feel that it has any viability as a playable card in constructed.

Kara Kazham!

Kara Kazham! has not been too impactful, being about as good as Silverhand Knight, which sees no constructed play at all.

Overall the release of Karazhan has been a splash of new cards. It has been really interesting to see new decks, and not know exactly what you are playing against. These past two weeks have been a fun mixture of playing old and new. It will be exciting to experience this again for the next two weeks.