Mister_Joy
04-12-2011, 07:06 PM
For those that don't yet know, dailymetagame.com has posted a complete spoiler on the upcoming set War of the Elements, the second set in the Worldbreaker block. Among the many changes in rules and cards are these two: (1) Heroes no longer have Talent restrictions. Plus, they keep the permanent flip effect that began in Worldbreaker (although Arena Grand Melee was the precursor). (2) The Talent keyword has been tweaked to accommodate the change in heroes. The words "[X] Hero Required" have been rewritten, although Talents are still restricted to older heroes. An example of this is one of the cards I'm previewing here, one of the new Hunter Pets.
Loque, Hunter Pet (1), Ally-Spirit Beast, 7-cost, 8 (Arcane) ATK / 8 health, Rare.
Beast Mastery Talent (You can't put Marksmanship Talents or Survival Talents in your deck.) Elusive, Stealth, Untargetable. Damage this ally would deal is unpreventable.
Nice, right? Like Deuce from Icecrown Citadel, only Beast Mastery Hunters can use it, and they make great partners. Cryptozoic featured this card in one of their preview articles, and said its only weakness (especially for Sealed format) is the lack of Ferocity. Well, that's not hard to achieve with something like Ruby Enforcer, but it's the new Alliance Hunter hero that really cinches the deal.
Huntsman Gorwal, Alliance Hero, Worgen Hunter, 28 health, Uncommon.
[Front] (5) —> Flip Gorwal. Pets you control have [B]Ferocity. (They can attack immediately.)
All Pets with Ferocity, plus being a Worgen (ties to Aberration), means some SERIOUS trouble. Combined with cards like Deuce, Shredder, Buzz, Master's Stable, Merciless Gladiator's Crossbow, etc., the Beast Mastery Hunter may become a "phoenix" archetype (died for a while, now reborn). And that's not mentioning some of the other new Hunter cards in War of the Elements.
Kind of interesting that the Horde's new Hunter doesn't have this effect... until you consider the decision to make Ferocity a race-based keyword instead of just faction-based. The new Horde Hunter hero isn't quite as demented/vicious as Gorwal, but he's still respectable:
Baxxel Geartooth, Horde Hero, Goblin Hunter, 28 health, Uncommon.
[Front] (4) —> Flip Baxxel. Pets you control have [B]Assault 2. (They have +2 ATK on your turn.)
It's not a bad trade-off. Loque loses that instant Ferocity from Gorwal (easily replaceable with Ruby Enforcer), but becomes a 10 / 8 attacker that can't be protected against, is damned hard to hurt, and deals unpreventable damage. That's pretty cruel, and it just means that players facing Loque (in either faction) had better be prepared to kill him FAST.
Hunters (specifically) get an additional 13 cards besides the aforementioned Pet and Heroes: another Pet, six Equipment (three Weapons, 2 Armor, 1 Item), and six Abilities (including a reprint of Arcane Shot—better artwork, in my opinion). Of these 13, only two relate to the theme of this post:
Donatello, Hunter Pet (1), Ally-Turtle, 2-cost, 1 (Melee) ATK / 5 health, Common.
Protector (This ally may exhaust to become the defender when an opposing hero or ally attacks.)
Flavor Text: "He's my real hero in a half-shell." —Grumpherys
(Insert droll sarcasm here): Ha...Ha...Haaaa...
Cobra Shot, Hunter Instant Ability - Survival, 4-cost, Rare.
Your hero deals nature damage to target hero or ally equal to the combined cost of a Pet and a Ranged weapon you control.
Loque + just about ANY Ranged weapon = (A) GUARANTEED ally-killer, or (B) at least 1/3 of ANY Hero's health in damage. Just be wary of Nature Resistance.
It's probably just as well that the Alliance got the instant Ferocity. The Horde doesn't really need too many more excessively dangerous cards (Broderick Langforth, anyone?). I personally look forward to seeing more Beast Mastery Hunters appear in the future. The class really needed a booster.
The complete spoiler for War of the Elements is here (it takes a while to load, so be patient): http://www.dailymetagame.com/waroftheelementsspoiler.aspx
I hope this has been interesting, so to round it up, how about a mock-example of a new deck-list (incomplete, Core-format)? Have a nice day!
Hero: Huntsman Growal
Allies:
Akiko the Alert x4
Banzai x1-4
Boomer x1-4
Buzz x1-4
Cold Bones x1-4
Deuce x4
Dundee x1-4
Fang x1-4
Hissy x1-4
Loque x1-4
Mothra x1-4
Shredder x1-4
Tesla x1-4
Abilities:
Bestial Resurgence x1-4
Cobra Shot x1-4
Empty the Stables x4
Eyes of the Beast x1-4
Intimidation x4
Kill Command x1-4
Lesson of the Beast x1-4
Master's Call x4
Master's Stable x1-4
Tuskarr Kite x1-4
Equipment:
Merciless Gladiator's Bow of the Phoenix x4
Merciless Gladiator's Pursuit x1-4
Super Simian Sphere x1-4
Locations:
Arathi Basin x1-4
Eye of the Storm x1-4
Quests:
A Proper String x1-4
A Question of Gluttony x1-4
A Tale of Valor x1-4
Darkness Calling x1-4
Finding the Source x1-4
Mystery Goo x1-4
Scourge Tactics x1-4
That's Abominable! x1-4
The Essence of Enmity x1-4
The Grimtotem Weapon x1-4
The Torch of Retribution x1-4
Loque, Hunter Pet (1), Ally-Spirit Beast, 7-cost, 8 (Arcane) ATK / 8 health, Rare.
Beast Mastery Talent (You can't put Marksmanship Talents or Survival Talents in your deck.) Elusive, Stealth, Untargetable. Damage this ally would deal is unpreventable.
Nice, right? Like Deuce from Icecrown Citadel, only Beast Mastery Hunters can use it, and they make great partners. Cryptozoic featured this card in one of their preview articles, and said its only weakness (especially for Sealed format) is the lack of Ferocity. Well, that's not hard to achieve with something like Ruby Enforcer, but it's the new Alliance Hunter hero that really cinches the deal.
Huntsman Gorwal, Alliance Hero, Worgen Hunter, 28 health, Uncommon.
[Front] (5) —> Flip Gorwal. Pets you control have [B]Ferocity. (They can attack immediately.)
All Pets with Ferocity, plus being a Worgen (ties to Aberration), means some SERIOUS trouble. Combined with cards like Deuce, Shredder, Buzz, Master's Stable, Merciless Gladiator's Crossbow, etc., the Beast Mastery Hunter may become a "phoenix" archetype (died for a while, now reborn). And that's not mentioning some of the other new Hunter cards in War of the Elements.
Kind of interesting that the Horde's new Hunter doesn't have this effect... until you consider the decision to make Ferocity a race-based keyword instead of just faction-based. The new Horde Hunter hero isn't quite as demented/vicious as Gorwal, but he's still respectable:
Baxxel Geartooth, Horde Hero, Goblin Hunter, 28 health, Uncommon.
[Front] (4) —> Flip Baxxel. Pets you control have [B]Assault 2. (They have +2 ATK on your turn.)
It's not a bad trade-off. Loque loses that instant Ferocity from Gorwal (easily replaceable with Ruby Enforcer), but becomes a 10 / 8 attacker that can't be protected against, is damned hard to hurt, and deals unpreventable damage. That's pretty cruel, and it just means that players facing Loque (in either faction) had better be prepared to kill him FAST.
Hunters (specifically) get an additional 13 cards besides the aforementioned Pet and Heroes: another Pet, six Equipment (three Weapons, 2 Armor, 1 Item), and six Abilities (including a reprint of Arcane Shot—better artwork, in my opinion). Of these 13, only two relate to the theme of this post:
Donatello, Hunter Pet (1), Ally-Turtle, 2-cost, 1 (Melee) ATK / 5 health, Common.
Protector (This ally may exhaust to become the defender when an opposing hero or ally attacks.)
Flavor Text: "He's my real hero in a half-shell." —Grumpherys
(Insert droll sarcasm here): Ha...Ha...Haaaa...
Cobra Shot, Hunter Instant Ability - Survival, 4-cost, Rare.
Your hero deals nature damage to target hero or ally equal to the combined cost of a Pet and a Ranged weapon you control.
Loque + just about ANY Ranged weapon = (A) GUARANTEED ally-killer, or (B) at least 1/3 of ANY Hero's health in damage. Just be wary of Nature Resistance.
It's probably just as well that the Alliance got the instant Ferocity. The Horde doesn't really need too many more excessively dangerous cards (Broderick Langforth, anyone?). I personally look forward to seeing more Beast Mastery Hunters appear in the future. The class really needed a booster.
The complete spoiler for War of the Elements is here (it takes a while to load, so be patient): http://www.dailymetagame.com/waroftheelementsspoiler.aspx
I hope this has been interesting, so to round it up, how about a mock-example of a new deck-list (incomplete, Core-format)? Have a nice day!
Hero: Huntsman Growal
Allies:
Akiko the Alert x4
Banzai x1-4
Boomer x1-4
Buzz x1-4
Cold Bones x1-4
Deuce x4
Dundee x1-4
Fang x1-4
Hissy x1-4
Loque x1-4
Mothra x1-4
Shredder x1-4
Tesla x1-4
Abilities:
Bestial Resurgence x1-4
Cobra Shot x1-4
Empty the Stables x4
Eyes of the Beast x1-4
Intimidation x4
Kill Command x1-4
Lesson of the Beast x1-4
Master's Call x4
Master's Stable x1-4
Tuskarr Kite x1-4
Equipment:
Merciless Gladiator's Bow of the Phoenix x4
Merciless Gladiator's Pursuit x1-4
Super Simian Sphere x1-4
Locations:
Arathi Basin x1-4
Eye of the Storm x1-4
Quests:
A Proper String x1-4
A Question of Gluttony x1-4
A Tale of Valor x1-4
Darkness Calling x1-4
Finding the Source x1-4
Mystery Goo x1-4
Scourge Tactics x1-4
That's Abominable! x1-4
The Essence of Enmity x1-4
The Grimtotem Weapon x1-4
The Torch of Retribution x1-4