Belligerent Gnome

Belligerent Gnome Card

Belligerent Gnome is a 2 Mana Cost Rare Neutral Minion card from the Rastakhan's Rumble set!

Card Text

Taunt Battlecry: If your opponent has 2 or more minions, gain +1 Attack.

Flavor Text

Maybe don't put this one in your garden.

Belligerent Gnome Additional Information

Belligerent Gnome Card Review

Poor, poor Silverback Patriarch, he can’t catch a break. But if I had to compare this card to something, it reminds me of Wyrmrest Agent rather than Silverback Patriarch. Both cost 2 mana and are 1/4’s that conditionally transform into 2/4’s with Taunt. Unlike Wymrest Agent, however, even if this card’s condition isn’t met, it still has Taunt. Let’s be honest – an unconditional 2/4 Taunt for 2 mana would be great and it would see play in many different decks. But a 1/4 Taunt for 2 mana… well, I wouldn’t say the same thing about it. It’s pretty weak. We have a 2 mana 1/5 that doesn’t see any play despite being a Mech (Upgradeable Framebot), and I don’t think that adding Taunt while removing 1 health would fix that. Druid even has a 1/5 Taunt, which can also be a 1/2 Scarab with Poisonous (Druid of the Swarm) and while the card is okay, it’s not good enough to see play in slower Druid builds. So now, whether this card will see play or not depends on how often this condition will come up.

The main issue with this card is that it’s not really a 2-drop. Maybe if you’re going second and your opponent has a 1-drop into a 2-drop opening (or something similar, which puts them at 2 minions on T2), or when you go first and your opponent coins two 1-drops, but those things don’t happen every game. I’d wager that most of the time, this card would be a 1/4 on Turn 2, and that’s not great – this card would be most impactful on Turn 2.

Another “issue”, but that’s maybe not really an “issue”, is that this is not exactly an anti-Aggro card. To be perfectly honest, I think that faster decks might play it more than Control. I mean, even Tar Creeper was quickly adopted by Aggro, and it’s like the opposite of Aggro card, since it has only 1 Attack on your turn. But protecting your board is always good. For me, this card should be a great fit into faster decks, especially Even decks that don’t play Prince Keleseth anyway, such as Even Paladin or Even Shaman. They are struggling for good 2-drops, since it’s an incredibly important mana slot (as they need a good 2-drop on T2 and T3). Talking about Keleseth, any deck running Keleseth also probably won’t drop it to play this guy. I honestly can’t wait until Keleseth finally rotates out, so decks could actually play a variety of 2-drops instead of being stuck with Keleseth, because it’s just the best one.

Right now, I don’t think that this card will see a lot of play in Control. You wouldn’t want to play it over Tar Creeper (which is not only unconditional, but it also kills any 3 health minions that decide to hit it), and you don’t want to put too many early game Taunts. But Tar Creeper rotates out in the next expansion after Rastakhan’s, which might give this guy an opening. But I think that it will see play in more Midrange-ish decks, like Even Paladin or Shaman I’ve mentioned above. But it still ultimately depends on the meta – the more board flood decks there are (Odd Paladin, Zoo Warlock, Even Shaman etc.) the better this card becomes. 2/4 body doesn’t scale too well into the mid/late game, so realistically you want to be able to play it in the early game as often as possible.

Overall, it’s pretty solid now, but I think that it has even more potential after the rotation. Plus it heavily depends on the meta, since its effect is better the more board flood decks are being played (like MCT, but to a lesser extent).

Card rating: 7/10 until Tar Creeper is in Standard (because you wouldn’t want to play it over Tar Creeper in decks that can play 3-drops), but can get better after it rotates out. 

Leave a Reply

68 Comments

  1. Creepy TallKinGuy
    November 21, 2018 at 4:21 pm

    This man is rallyng for the bats? This man is insane get him out of my sight.
    But still by his own seems like a decent card on his own 3/5.

  2. drzibago
    November 15, 2018 at 5:17 am

    I do NOT like it much. Difficult to activate batllecry in turn 2 and no impact after turn 4. No tribe or spell synergies like Vulgar Homunculus. Battlecry should add +2 attack to be an interesting card I guess.

  3. Greg
    November 14, 2018 at 7:19 pm

    Slow reveal schedule = a 2 mana (at best) 2/4 taunt get a 4.1 star and 50 comments. Decent card but let’s see more

  4. Cyrus Bahraini
    November 14, 2018 at 1:50 pm

    This is a great card whoever does not think so is just simply not a great hearthstone player. There is a 3 mana 1/4 taunt currently this is even better simple as that.

    • For the Alliance and the Light
      November 14, 2018 at 6:59 pm

      Silverback Patriarch has yet another card whose stats are way better than his, poor gorilla.

    • Tricklas
      November 15, 2018 at 3:34 am

      Wouldn’t say that. This card is not bad at all. but i guess u can’t consistently trigger the effect to really wanna run this card. 1/4 Taunt is okay but not enough. Pleeted beatle is still better.

    • Warptens
      November 15, 2018 at 9:06 am

      there’s a 2mana 1/4 taunt (that gives cthun taunt) that saw no play

  5. billius
    November 14, 2018 at 2:25 am

    if your opponent has 2 or more minions out then chances are you’re gonna want something better than a 2/4

    • CypherC
      November 14, 2018 at 8:31 am

      You must be rank 25.

      • Zek
        November 14, 2018 at 11:04 am

        Well, it’s not a good card on its own.

        • Jonnymeerkat
          November 14, 2018 at 1:09 pm

          It’s a fine card on it’s own, and to say that “if your opponent has two minions you probably want something better than a 2/4” is mind-numbingly stupid. Any justification for such a critique requires you to ignore from its cost or the fact that initiative is not always available.

          It’s two mana. What better are you expecting with two mana?

          And if initiative is what you are complaining about, I guess every non-battlecry/rush/charge minion sucks.

          • Warptens
            November 15, 2018 at 9:09 am

            “What better are you expecting with two mana?”
            keleseth?
            defile?

  6. MockRock
    November 13, 2018 at 9:40 pm

    Let’s say the entire meta is nothing but aggro. In that case, if you’re going second, you can probably activate this fairly consistently to answer your opponent’s 1 and 2 drop. If you’re going second, though…you can’t really play this on turn 2 unless your opponent uses the coin (or against certain cards like Lost in the Jungle). That makes this card kind of sketchy.

    But wait, we don’t live in that world! Many decks aren’t aggro, or even midrange. AND not all aggro decks will even meet this condition on turn 2, most notably Odd Rogues and their turn 2 knives. AND this card is dramatically worse than Keleseth.

    I’m not sold on this card. If you could always guarantee the condition was met, it’d be a card you would play but wouldn’t be the strongest one in the deck by any means. With its condition NOT being particularly reliable on turn 2, though? I’m not seeing it, and definitely not before Keleseth rotates.

    • MockRock
      November 13, 2018 at 9:41 pm

      Obviously I meant to say “second” then “first” instead of “second” twice.

    • CD001
      November 14, 2018 at 5:40 am

      “most notably Odd Rogues and their turn 2 knives” – would put the kibosh on the alternative T2 where they Cold Blood a Firefly though.

      “AND this card is dramatically worse than Keleseth.” – to be fair, in a tempo-based deck EVERYTHING is worse than Keleseth on T2; it’s a game-winning card if you drop it early.

    • Jonnymeerkat
      November 14, 2018 at 12:57 pm

      You lost all credibility when you compared the card ago Keleseth, as if it’s not a good card because it’s not as good as arguably the best 2 drop in the game.

      • MockRock
        November 14, 2018 at 1:02 pm

        Umm…yeah. Comparing it to a card it’ll be mutually exclusive with is a very fair, obvious thing to do.

        Not that it particularly matters to you, though, since your entire reason for visiting this site seems to be going around trying to start fights.

        • Jonnymeerkat
          November 14, 2018 at 1:11 pm

          So you stand by the logic that, essentially, any two drop that isn’t better than Keleseth is not a good card?

          That’s laughable.

        • Jonnymeerkat
          November 14, 2018 at 1:13 pm

          And actually I visit this site for the good reviews from the authors. In the meantime, I read reviews from the audience.

          I really enjoy some people’s reviews, especially Soup And Salad’s. Unfortunately the site is also littered with terrible reviews based on indefensible logic, like this one. Alas, so is reddit and nearly every other site. ADWCTA and Merps are great though.

          • MockRock
            November 14, 2018 at 1:51 pm

            Buddy, there are many people that visit this site, you’re literally the ONLY one I see regularly hurling out insults at whoever’s card opinion you disagree with. You can try and twist that in your brain to come up with any conclusion other than “I’m a toxic person,” but I won’t. Never respond to me again, I don’t like you and won’t answer anything else you have to say.

        • Qrik
          November 15, 2018 at 3:39 pm

          You’re a weird guy MockRock. It doesn’t seem to me that jonnny was “hurling out insults” at you. Just calm down a bit.

          • MockRock
            November 15, 2018 at 4:47 pm

            Who are you, and in what universe is this your business?

          • Elizabeth4106
            November 16, 2018 at 4:00 pm

            I think Jonnymeerkat was a little harsh but I think he’s right that’s it’s bad to rate this card (or any other 2 drop) based on its comparison to Keleseth. Sure, it’s not, but no one is considering dropping Keleseth based on whether a single 2 drop is released that’s better than Keleseth. 1. That’s not going to happen and 2. You either want to play 2 drops or you don’t and run Keleseth.

            The author’s review basically tracks with this sentiment.

  7. Soup And Salad
    November 13, 2018 at 7:50 pm

    Belligerent Gnome is a great anti-aggro card that aggressive decks would want to also play because it is a lot of stats for two. It reminds me a lot of Wyrmrest Agent. Granted, that’s not a difficult comparison to make.

    However, the only turns it would really make a difference would be turns two and three, which happen to be turns in which your opponent could quite easily not have two or more minions on board. Zoo Warlock and Odd Paladin may almost always get to that point, but other like Odd Rogue might not. It is also probably rather meta dependent. If aggressive decks are not prevalent, this will see little if any play.

  8. Warptens
    November 13, 2018 at 7:05 pm

    Vulgar homonculus is clearly better than belligerent gnome, yet doesn’t see play in control warlocks because it’s not good enough and doesn’t see play in aggro warlocks because keleseth. So I’d say belligerent gnome has 0 chance of seeing play outside of even decks.
    It’s most likely to see play in even paladin, because it’s the even deck with the worst 2drops and the gnome has taunt which helps protect the recruit of turn 1. It might see play in even shaman too.

    • Soup And Salad
      November 13, 2018 at 7:54 pm

      Vulgar Homunculus isn’t seeing play in Control Warlock because it’s a demon, and getting Voidlords off of Bloodreaver is much better.

      • Warptens
        November 14, 2018 at 8:39 am

        It’s true that vulgar homunculus being a demon messes things up for control warlock and cube warlock.
        However, there’s also mechathun warlocks, they don’t play cube or lackey or guldan, and so don’t care about demon tags.
        And mechathun warlocks don’t play vulgar homunculus (even tho they play spellstone, so it’s basically a 2mana 2/4 taunt with an upside)

        • Soup And Salad
          November 15, 2018 at 3:29 am

          Mecha’thun Warlock also already plays about ten two cost cards, five of which draw more cards. For a combo deck, drawing cards is more important than an early game taunt minion, especially when the match-up the deck is inherently optimized against, control, doesn’t care about a 2/4 with taunt.

          • Warptens
            November 15, 2018 at 9:14 am

            Most mechathun warlocks play voidwalker
            So they definitely do care about early game taunt minions

          • KarmenD10
            November 15, 2018 at 10:15 am

            Jonnymeerkat was a little harsh but he’s right that reviewing cards based on how they compare to the best cards in the game is a pretty bad way to accurately assess card reveals.

          • Soup And Salad
            November 15, 2018 at 3:33 pm

            To Warptens

            Not always, and its inclusion or exclusion in the deck doesn’t have that big of an impact on the deck’s winrate. In fact, the a decklist without Voidwalker is currently the best in terms of winrate for Mecha’thun Warlock according to HSreplay.

          • Warptens
            November 15, 2018 at 6:14 pm

            @Karmen which is why I’m comparing it to a card that does not see play.
            @Soup The fact that voidwalker is not always included is actually an indicator that belligerent isn’t good. Because belligerent is inferior(1) to homunculus which is inferior(2) to voidwalker which doesn’t see that much play. Therefore belligerent won’t see play.

            (1) should be obvious by looking at the card
            (2) voidwalker is played in most list unlike homunculus

  9. D930065
    November 13, 2018 at 6:19 pm

    Good card. Maybe even shaman or even paladin will run this.

  10. Jed
    November 13, 2018 at 5:14 pm

    Ye it seem ok

    3/5

  11. MrPoison
    November 13, 2018 at 5:08 pm

    I’d use this in my surrender to sadness deck

  12. Declan423
    November 13, 2018 at 3:48 pm

    As good as this card seems I doubt it will be used for midrange and control as it makes sense only against board flood decks or going second against aggro. However, if there is an aggressive meta after keleseth rotates out I can see this being added to aggressive decks to help with mirror matches. Plus it is a solid arena card so expect it to see some play there

  13. DukeStarswisher
    November 13, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    2 mana 1/4 is already a good taunt. An obvious card against aggressive decks. They sure do love these neutral taunt fellas.

    • Jirwin
      November 14, 2018 at 12:52 am

      not really, the 2 mana 1/4 that gave cthun taunt was always unplayable

      • DukeStarswisher
        November 14, 2018 at 8:10 am

        Giving C’thun taunt was terrible. THAT was why it was unplayable. This is pretty much a neutral wyrmrest agent except it always comes with taunt no matter what.

        • Spacemoose
          November 16, 2018 at 2:05 pm

          Are you retarded? How the hell did cthun having taunt decide anything in a cthun deck?

          • DukeStarswisher
            November 19, 2018 at 7:23 am

            wtf?… If you read my comment slowly your brain might pick up that giving C’thun taunt was a bad idea so no one played it.

            Also:

            “Are you retarded”

            I’m already sure I’m wasting my time even responding to you.

        • Spacemoose
          November 24, 2018 at 9:21 am

          You obviously have comprehension issues, so i’ll try to repeat the question slowly, respecting your “special” needs.

          How…..does…..C’thun….having….taunt….decide…anything….in….a….C’thun….deck?

  14. Dustin
    November 13, 2018 at 1:11 pm

    there must always be… a tar creeper…

  15. Nidnam
    November 13, 2018 at 12:56 pm

    Meh… it’s basically a neutral Vulgar Homunculus… nothing special

  16. Tuscarora87
    November 13, 2018 at 12:54 pm

    Neutral Vulgar Homunculus (conditional attack / no self hurting). It’ll be used in midrange, control, even… decks.

  17. Nickname23
    November 13, 2018 at 12:42 pm

    It’s basically a more conditional Wyrmrest Agent, which was a good card in Dragon Priest. You can play this in Midrange decks to defend against early agression or in Control, if you want to go full on Anti-Aggro.
    Nice little 2-drop, nothing overwhelming, but a decent tech option.

    3.5/5

    • MilesTegF
      November 13, 2018 at 12:56 pm

      I was thinking it reminded me of Twilight Guardian but Wyrmrest Agent seems like a better comparison actually.
      I think this is a pretty strong card, In standard is similar to Vulgar Homunculus that sees a lot of play (it does however has its stats+taunt guaranteed).
      Would be surprised if it didn’t see constructed play. 4/5

      • Nickname23
        November 13, 2018 at 1:51 pm

        Agreed. Should see constructed play. If you are facing an aggressive metagame, it could be really valuable for some decks. Vulgar is a better card, of course. However, Taunt is guaranteed on this card, too.

        • MilesTegF
          November 13, 2018 at 3:08 pm

          You are right i missread. i thought the taunt was conditional as well.

        • Jirwin
          November 14, 2018 at 12:54 am

          the mana lines up really badly though, if it had +1 mana for +1/1 maybe but i think this lines up really badly and on 3 itll get killed with hero power/3 drop

  18. Vincent
    November 13, 2018 at 12:17 pm

    There are way better 2 drops. Don’t like cards that depends on opponent 2.5/5.

  19. Jonnymeerkat
    November 13, 2018 at 12:04 pm

    It’s always hard to tell how relevant a card will be in constructed because it is so meta-dependent. However, this is a properly stated minion, with taunt, with a nice distribution of those stats given that it does have taunt, AND pure upside that is fairly easy to proc, especially late game, helping this card remain helpful even if you play it mid to late game.

    In arena, this is an above-average card by a decent margin.

  20. Fareh
    November 13, 2018 at 11:29 am

    Im not so crazy on this… I mean, a 2/2 still trades with this in 2 swings, or a 2/3 survives… or if u have 2 x/2 minions 1 dies and the other stays alive… I dont think would be that good

    • Fareh
      November 13, 2018 at 11:31 am

      Misread… expected the effect to bepersistent like Tar Creeper and its a Battlecry… Thats a lot better… in some scenarios… my biggest concern is, in this Battlecry, this would not be playable until turn 3 at least…

    • Fareh
      November 13, 2018 at 11:33 am

      Misread… its a Battlecry… so thats better in some scenarios… but that means this its not coming until turn 3 at least…

      • Gugus_Patacus
        November 13, 2018 at 12:04 pm

        Well zoo usually have 2 minions on board by turn 2.

        • Blimey
          November 13, 2018 at 3:11 pm

          When going first, on turn 2 right now this would almost always be a 1/4 even vs aggro. Vs slower decks always a 1/4.

          The only deck that can put 2 minions out on T1 is Odd pally, with Lost in Jungle; or by coining hero power or double 1 drops (which is usually a bad play, as the coin is better served for coining out Fungal or LevelUp).
          Zoo can coin double 1 drops too, but again, it’s not super common;
          and anyway if Belligerent Gnome is played in decks, people will play around it.

          So it’s a 2/4 half of the time on T2 vs aggro and later in the game when behind on board, which is okay, but what decks would actually play that? And 1/4 taunt is only good enough to be played vs Odd pally.

          And as it’s been the case this past year, there’s still the issue of Keleseth being too good so that 2 mana minions like this are just not worth playing until next April.

          People were going crazy when that 1/5 mech was announced last expansion, and how did that turn out?

          I think the only deck that would play this card is Even shaman. Because they have quite a few ways to buff attack on 3. It’s actually a great card for that deck if there’s a lot of aggro. If the meta is slower then extra value from Nimbus wins out.

          • Qwerty019283
            November 13, 2018 at 4:08 pm

            the reason about upgradeable frame bot

          • Qwerty019283
            November 13, 2018 at 4:09 pm

            is that keleseth is OP and mechs are too weak as a tribe. this is not tribal, and when keleseth rotates out it will become strong.

  21. Thraben
    November 13, 2018 at 11:24 am

    This is exactly what we need right now. I’m so sick of dealing with odd pally and Zoolock

  22. SizlaRun
    November 13, 2018 at 11:12 am

    It’s an amazing anti-aggro card but it depends on the meta, it’s amazing against decks that spam a lot of minions turn 1-2 like odd paladin and zoo but if it’s more of an « tempo meta » I don’t think it’ll be played, tar creeper would be far better

  23. NIGHTxBLADE
    November 13, 2018 at 11:10 am

    Rip snowball decks

  24. NIGHTxBLADE
    November 13, 2018 at 11:10 am

    Yay im first.This is BROKEN

    • Jonnymeerkat
      November 13, 2018 at 11:59 am

      This coming from the guy that said Giggling Inventor was terrible when it was first revealed.

      You are way to quick to say cards are broken or terrible. Boo you.

      • Gugus_Patacus
        November 13, 2018 at 12:05 pm

        He is right to be fair, 2/4 taunt for 2 is really good.

        • Jonnymeerkat
          November 13, 2018 at 3:30 pm

          It’s good. It’s also conditional, and nowhere near “broken.”

      • NIGHTxBLADE
        November 14, 2018 at 2:42 am

        shut up bch i never said that lol loser