“Never fall back! Oh, never fall – ”
“Wait!”
“What’s that?!”
“They summoned the NERF LORD!”
“Hurry, fall back! Hurry, fall back!” (Fall back! FALL BACK!)

The impression I’m getting from this Hero card is that you want to play a Spell-light deck in order to make the most out of Varden’s Battlecry – and even then, would you? The problem with Mage spells getting recast at random is they need the “targets/casts at enemies” clause or you eat a Pyroblast to the face. And there aren’t really a lot of schooled Spells that Mage runs with a significant, immediate effect without a risk of backfiring.

Maybe as H0lysatan says, Mask of C’Thun gets reclassified as a Shadow Spell. That’d go a long way into making Hero!Varden worth it. Perhaps the better Spells to run would include Flamestrike for the Big Spell Mage memes or Wildfire, plus Build a Snowman for Frost school and… Arcane Intellect for the draw, or Arcane Overflow for the removal + minion? I’m genuinely not certain. The somewhat niche Honourable Kill effect seems a little too slow, especially since it needs targets. Did the devs think that Coldarra Drake Mage was going to be relevant again?

” One thing is anoying me a lot is the new Tamsin form. How she becomes that? When? :O”

There have been other decent explanations floating around on this, actually. The new Tamsin is known as a lich: a robed skeletal figure that holds a high position in the Lich King’s Scourge. In fantasy media, a lich also can’t truly die because its soul isn’t strictly attached to its body, because it’s encased in a special vessel known as a “phylactery”. If that word sounds familiar, that’s because we know it from the legendary spell Tamsin’s Phylactery. It’s likely that Tamsin, ever the resourceful necromancer acolyte, already stashed her soul in her perfume bottle as a backup plan.

You might wonder how Tamsin ever thought to go the lich route, but it’s hardly a surprise. Schoolmaster Kel’Thuzad himself went the same route in the original Warcraft III: despite Arthas’ slaying, he was reborn as the Archlich after Arthas went all death knight and brought Kel’Thuzad’s ashes to the night elves’ Sunwell. In fact, although Archlich Kel’Thuzad was one the earliest bosses players could defeat in WoW, it wasn’t until the Shadowlands expansion where players could destroy his phylactery in the Sanctum of Domination and finally bring true death to one of the series’ most enduring villains. Tamsin’s claim that she was the best of her class might not have been at all exaggerated…

Also, a slight correction. The Horde team isn’t dressed as soldiers, I keep mistaken Guff’s totem for an Alliance hammer like the one Cariel wields. Considering Tamsin is also a part of the Questline art, the analysis that Bru’kan is leading the team on the Varden rescue mission is accurate. Whoops!

Scabbs’ chapter was a good summation of Stormwind’s plotlines. As for why the mercenaries find themselves embroiled in a war despite their collaboration, we’d have to look at WoW lore – which isn’t my forte since I’m a HS main, not a WoW main, but I’ll try.

Alterac Valley is noted for being not only a location contested by the Frostwolf Clan and the Stormpike Expedition, but also a PVP battleground that gives the most Honour Points (prior to the Legion invasion, it seems, when the system was entirely removed), which explains the system used for the HS expansion. If the “Stormpike Expedition” sounds familiar, it’s because Tavish is supposed to be a HS-exclusive member of the clan, which explains why he’s the figurehead Mercenary represeting the Alliance – and much like Cutterbutter was before the Deadmines teamup, his opinion on the Horde was less than favourable. Rokara likewise makes sense as his counterpart given her steadfast loyalty towards the Frostwolf Clan.

None of this actually explains why the mercs are now fighting instead of working together, but we’ve seen that both Kazakus and Katrana (*cough* Onyxia) have been scheming a conspiracy that transcended the faction divide, just as the mercenaries worked together to defeat Edwin VanCleef. Something far larger than the team’s experiences at the Wailing Caverns, across the Barrens, and the Stormwind halls and alleys is at stake here. Given Hearthstone’s predilection for taking things in a lighthearted and ultimately heartwarming direction, I’d wager that the mercs aren’t so much reluctantly fighting each other as much as they’re trying to put up a facade of buying time for Varden to uncover the truth behind Kazakus and Katrana’s machinations.

Or maybe I’m just reading too much into Guff having the absolute time of his life in the Alterac trailer. It’d definitely play into the new expansion title: the mercenaries, while cognisant of the truth, are nonetheless divided – or “fractured” – into their factions. “Fractured” could also refer to the splitting of the ground after the Ice Lord gets unleashed upon the battlefield, a hint towards Kazakus and Katrana’s true plan?

We know Scabbs and Varden got thrown in the clink following Varden’s arrest by Xyrella’s group and Scabbs likely discovering the truth behind Katrana Prestor. By their Questlines, Varden’s journey is likely to take them to Silvermoon City in search for answers about the naaru shards, while Scabbs makes his own escape to spread the truth about the shard conspiracy. Perhaps to reach out to Tavish, who doesn’t have as much at stake in the story so far aside from being a trigger-happy bounty hunter. Which doesn’t make him any less fun, mind. Considering that Guff’s story took him into the Wailing Caverns mini-set, maybe Tavish will reference the Deadmines by diving into the depths to take on Edwin VanCleef’s crew for the shards that “shine all night”?

I’d made a mistake analysing Bru’kan’s Questline – apparently Guff and the others dressed up as Stormwind soldiers to get closer to the conflict? My guess is Bru’kan took it upon himself to defend Stormwind from the demon onslaught in his own way, not just to make it to Varden but also to safeguard the innocents that Tamsin endangered.

Mercenaries mode also confirmed that Kazakus is in close contact with Katrana, and the encounters from Blackrock Mountain seem to be a step-by-step retelling of the Hearthstone adventure of the same name. Maybe there’s another Nefarian encounter or card in the works? “Look, go play some Ranked Mode. This adventure is not for you.”

Yup. I’ve found that this also applies to effects like Snipe Shot and other “Start of game damage” effects. Tavish and Voone were dealing double to Casters when this effect triggered while I was grinding a Fire team. What crit damage does not apply is damage dealt in retaliation, e.g. if a Fighter attacks a Protector, the Protector’s damage dealt in return is not crit. I’m not sure if this was ever explained anywhere, mind.

Having played other F2P games that focus on character collection and grinding, one reason you might want to grind Mercenaries is to prep desirable characters before new content gets added. If you’re grinding to get specific heroes, it’s only going to get worse once other heroes get thrown into the game and dilute the pool.

Mercenaries is hardly the most exciting addition to Hearthstone right now, but the stakes are low and the dev team loses little by letting out this half-formed math equation simulator to the public. It’s an experience outside the PVP barrage of watching you whiff important draws or failing to roll the right tribes in Battlegrounds. It’s a PVE experience that I can work towards without being worried that I picked up the wrong bucket during a dungeon run. I would absolutely not call Mercenaries perfect. But for me, it hit the right spots that I need right now. If it gets Team 5 more endorphins from retaining my app being opened for longer, so be it.

“Also don’t forget to don’t not subscribe.”

I suppose one way would be to restrict the damage to “Take damage from your cards” like how the Amethyst Spellstones used to be powered up? They could go one step further and limit it to “Take damage from your class cards” to prevent Crystallizer abuse – which I imagine other readers might have already proposed in other comments.

“When The Demon Seed rotates to Wild, we will unban it and reposition the card to be more appropriate for the format.”

I’m going to take a leaf out of hirumaredx’s TheDuelLogs and say, “Could The Demon Seed be taken off the Wild format banlist? Maybe if Team 5 stopped creating self-damage cards or nerfed half the self-damage cards that already exist, they… could? The devs really enjoy making the ability to damage yourself a part of the Warlock playstyle and this trend has not exactly gone away, so the answer might likely be a “no”. How could they fix The Demon Seed to become unbanned? They kind of already have by making most of the deck’s major tools weaker in Standard format, and I don’t really see how they could weaken the Questline itself even more without making it unplayable there. The problem with Wild is its access to far too many self-damage tools. If the devs could force players to run Hecklefang Hyena and Ornery Tortoise instead of Crystallizer, that might help… But really, not making too many self-damage synergy cards would at least go a long way.”

Also I’m not sure Warrior genuinely needed the Pirate Quest help. It’s somewhat sad that a 1-drop needs to be buffed to a 2/2 with beneficial effect. Or funny, depending on who you ask.

Well then. Stormwind has certainly dropped on more spicy backstory that the Barrens chapters hinted at, and we got explanations for why the Questline featured the heroes thus. Rokara led the Horde team into Stormwind, and Bru’kan stepped in to protect the Stormwind citizens from harm. And Tamsin’s turned out to be a pawn like other characters looking for the shards… I’d agree with Tharid on the compelling storytelling. Cornelius’ fight is the first time I’ve played a match in Hearthstone that simply felt difficult to watch. You’re not so much clearing a final boss as much as you’re slowly killing an old man who has no chance of fighting back and begging his daughter to stop.

Onto gameplay, praying for low rolls is what you need to do for the mercenaries fight. I find that Rokara typically starts her turns with two copies of Conditioning in her hand, and she also usually has Blademaster Samuro and Tent Trasher in there too, which means it’s very easy for her to wipe your board and make a comeback thoroughly impossible. The only realistic way forward for that fight is clear out Bru’kan as fast as possible so Conditioning doesn’t go beyond Rank 2, or luck out with Tamsin’s perfume and get a board wipe. And Guff is… well, the Tamsin versus Guff part of the fight is just sad. Which I suppose makes sense because the two of them can’t bring themselves to actually hate each other.

I’d agree with you here. My experience on Pack Runner and Darkglare is that they’re epics I don’t usually draw into, and they’re combo pieces that require other cards to work. So you wouldn’t drop them on Turn 2, and I’d say you might not even drop them on Turn 4. Could you make a case that increasing the Mana required means it’s harder to drop two copies and build up combos? Sure, but what are the odds of holding onto both at the same time by mid to late game, with the resources to make them work? Funnily enough Darkglare was originally a 3-mana 3/4 (that refreshed two Crystals), so… the Circle of Life! Battlemaster is mostly only dropped for the KO, so you wouldn’t be dropping two copies – and it’s mostly on boards that already have large minions so they could make it cost 10 mana and it wouldn’t change the state of things.

Seconded. If anything, I’d say that Mage has not been doing all that great following the nerfs after Forged in the Barrens’ initial meta, with Face Hunter being the main counter for it as far as I remember – and those weren’t any more interactive.

I agree with you on the last bit. Battlemaster feels like it’s just one budget Wild Highlander deck away from being Tier 1.

From the four adventures we HAVE seen in Book of Mercenaries, it’s clear that Team 5 has some idea of how the mercs’ narratives are going to go down – and is moving onto continuing, if not tying up some of the looser ends. (Spoiler warning, in case it wasn’t clear!)

Guff and Rokara’s quests don’t go much further beyond what’s already established in the Book: they’re both young members of the Horde, full of heart for what they believe in, and the Book of Mercenaries tied it all up pretty nicely.

Varden’s questline continues from their fate at the hand of Xyrella’s group in Kurtrus’ chapter: after being forced to cover for Kazakus’ escape. Based on ripped audio files of the end of Varden’s questline, Varden has returned to Silvermoon in search of “answers”, likely to investigate the true nature of the naaru shards.

At the end of Xyrella’s adventure, both Scabbs and Tavish realise that they’ve both been hired by Katrana Prestor, but it looks like only Scabbs is following up on that lead. If not for Tharid mentioning it I wouldn’t have noticed Scabbs’ cameo in the Mage questline. He does declare “I can’t sit here! Stormwind needs me!” as his Summoning quote, so it sounds like he’s able to do something about his dire straits.

Did Cariel fall in battle to Kurtrus? It certainly seemed like it in Kurtrus’ adventure; Cariel has no death quote, no aftermath, although seeing her leading her group in the United in Stormwind trailer makes me think otherwise. “The Fallen”, I imagine, would refer to the 1-drops and comrades she’s had to lead and lose in the demonic invasion. As I mentioned in the page for Rise to the Occasion, it looks like the Roame sibling rivalry is about to reach a tragic conclusion.

What about Bru’kan? Tharid suggests that he’s holding back both the demonic invasion AND the Alliance attackers, but I’m not so sure – my lack of WoW familiarity aside, it looks like Bru’kan is sharing a vessel with Stormwind soldiers, based on the hammers they’re wielding. We know from Rokara’s adventure that Bru’kan is a stronger shaman than he lets on, he believes in compassion and finding your own way, even respecting Rokara when she extends this philosophy to enemies of the Horde. Bru’kan’s flavour text also reads: “Bru’kan, his body weathered and weary, felt his time nearing its end. Teaching brave champions like Rokara gives him hope for a greater future.” Is Bru’kan’s commanding of the elements a sign of him putting aside the differences between the Alliance and the Horde, and “uniting” them against a larger threat? Is Bru’kan going to go out with an elemental bang? Who knows, but seeing both his protege and himself on boats for their questline art, perhaps Bru’kan is once again demonstrating that he knows more than he lets on. Maybe he has one final lesson for Rokara yet…

My players, you look tired and angry! How ’bout some Stormwind cards?
From rogue to priest, some buffs at least – it shouldn’t be too hard!
And if our troubles are leaking – how ’bout a pack or three?
There’s no excuse, most players are used to getting content for free!

I don’t think “Casts when Drawn” spells count towards Educated Elekk though. Even so, I’m not sure you’d want Educated Elekk in the deck. Rogue has plenty of deck thinning options, between Cutting Class, Secret Passage and the Field Contact Miracle engine. Does Rogue need a Garrote deck, though, when Miracle Alex burn is already a reasonably solid list? Maybe Blizz is trying to push Grand Empress Shek’zara and Malevolent Strike… for some reason.

Umbral Owl, Celestial Alignment shenanigans? Off the top of my head those are the synergies that stand out, but how useful those would be is something I’m not getting just yet.

…Welp. It looks like the sibling rivalry between the Roame sisters isn’t going to end well.

Actually, they didn’t! If you assume that the brown rat is the Rat Token representative, there are clearly only three Rat Tokens in the artwork of Rats of Extraordinary Size. The art simply depicts the card having being played when there was already a full board and there are four 5/5 Rat Tokens in the player’s hand.

“But there’s clearly seven gray rats on the field!” you’d say, and, uh…