by OtakuMZ - 4 years ago     show comments

Introduction

Last updated: May 6th, 2020 – Patch 17.0.2

(Note: You may skip this section if you already read it in the another of the Year of the Phoenix crafting guides)

All new expansions have them, shiny new Legendary and Epic cards, but trying to collect all the new toys can get expensive very fast. The question that haunts everybody who is on a budget is which ones are really worth crafting and which ones are just not worth the investment if you are on a budget. The question is even more pronounced in the new system in which we get fewer duplicates, which means we open more new cards, but have less dust lying around.

As Epics and Legendaries are the expensive ones, we will give you reasoning why those cards seem relevant and which decks they are played in. We will categorize them into format “staples”, “nice to have” cards, and “sleeper” cards.” Staples are core to the most powerful decks and cannot be replaced without serious harm to the composition. Nice to haves are good additions to a deck, but replaceable without hurting the deck too much. Sleeper cards are interesting ones that have not found a place but which might be relevant in the future, or have found a place that just needs a little more support from future sets to become relevant. With recent changes to packs, we will not cover Rare cards any more as acquiring them is very easy and duplicates are a thing of the past. Please remember that these guides are meant to be for Standard only.

Take all suggestions with a grain of salt, though, as the meta might shift or balance changes come up. We, hsdecktech and I, will update those guides as the Year of the Phoenix is evolves. For your reference, we will indicate the Patch the guide is based on. Below you will find the links to the guides for each set.

Staples

• Astromancer Solarian – Highlander Mage/Dragon Freeze Mage: The front end is decent and adding another mini Puzzle Box to your deck that will not affect you negatively most of the times is great for all current Mage decks.
• Shadowjeweler Hanar – Galakrond Secret Rogue/Highlander Rogue: A value powerhouse that can win games on his own. This is a fringe “nice to have” card because it is necessary for the secret version of Rogue, but neither Rogue deck needs to run the secret package.
• Teron Gorefiend – Egg Warrior/Face Hunter: Egg Warrior is one of the strongest decks in the meta and Teron can play a big part in this. Face Hunter can abuse him as well with Toxic Reinforecments, Augmented Porcupine and other Deathrattles. He also has future potential for other decks. Great combo card overall, but beware his weaknesses to silence, bounce, and cards like Shadow Madness. Again, however, he’s a borderline “nice to have” card, because there are versions of both these decks that don’t run him.
• Kayn Sunfury – Tempo Demon Hunter: Great finisher/win condition for Demon Hunter against control decks.
• Metamorphosis – All Demon Hunters: 7-mana Pyroblast over two turns – do we need to say more?
• Soul Mirror – Galakrond Priest/Resurrect Priest/Highlander Priest: Amazing stabilizing/board clear tool for Priest – just slap it in your midrange or control Priest deck without thinking twice.

Nice to Have

• Kanrethad Ebonlocke – Zoo Warlock: The Warlock Prime has great front and back end. He synergizes well with Zoolock’s small demons to a big board early on while still giving you a decent refill late game. In control-type Demonlock or Handlock if that playstyle gets a little more support by new cards.
• Murgur Murgurgle – Murloc Paladin/Highlander Paladin: Great early game minion on the front end and good power on the back end.
• Zixor, Apex Predator – Highlander Hunter: Overall solid card that could use a better deck to call it home.
• Maiev Shadowsong – tech in many decks, especially Highlander versions: Maieve turned out not being the powerhouse everyone predicted but she is still a solid tempo tool.

Sleeper

• Akama: Stealth Rogue is good but not superior to the Secret version. Maybe this will change and therefore Akama could quickly be a staple card.
• Kargath Bladefist: Fibonacci runs this in his Tempo Warrior and Bomb Warrior also uses this card. Both decks seem inferior to Egg Warrior though. The perfect home for Kargath would be a Control Warrior, but this archetype is not valid at the moment as it gets demolished by Priest and most Rogues.
• Lady Liadrim: Librim Paladin is the perfect home for this lady and it is an intriguing archetype. Nonetheless, the power level is not there yet for this deck.
• Beastmaster Leoroxx: He could shine in a Control or OTK deck but the support isn’t there.

This wraps up this crafting guide. Make sure you check out the others as well be clicking through the links below. If you disagree for any reason, let us know in the comments below or send a tweet to @hsdecktech or @OtakuMZ1978.

Links to individual guides:

Year of the Phoenix Crafting Guide Hub (includes Galakrond’s Awakening Evaluation)

Ashes of Outland: Legendary Crafting Guide

Ashes of Outland: Epic Crafting Guide

Descent of Dragons: Legendary Crafting Guide

Descent of Dragons: Epic Crafting Guide

Saviors of Uldum: Legendary Crafting Guide (coming soon)

Saviors of Uldum: Epic Crafting Guide (coming soon)

Rise of Shadows: Legendary Crafting Guide (coming soon)

Rise of Shadows: Epic Crafting Guide (coming soon)

Classic/Initiate: Legendary Crafting Guide (coming soon)

Classic/Initiate: Epic Crafting Guide (coming soon)