Just as nearly all the Druid mass-buffs rotate out … but then again, this would be a terrible fit for aggro-token Druid as you’re never likely to have that many cards in hand when you could play this.

I suppose it combos OK with Nourish – but then I think I’d rather have a free 4/4 Arcane Tyrant on turn 5 than 6 or 7 1/1s on turn 9 (or Onyxia would be more popular). Unless there’s going to be some good token Druid support this is going to be pretty weak in Standard – I don’t think Soul of the Forest, Evolving Spores or Branching Paths are going to cut it.

I guess there’s some potential in Wild with Mark of the Lotus or Poison Seeds maybe.

In any other class this would be a good card – in Paladin it’s looking borderline broken O_o

Mountain Giants…

No – it’s not a Demon (thank gawd)…

Interesting – Warlock has disappeared…

Oki – maybe not every turn; but losing Fire Fly, Glacial Shard, Tar Creeper, Servant of Kalimos and Blazecaller is really not going to do any Elemental deck any favours – and, as already noted, Elemental decks aren’t really all that strong to begin with.

I can’t see the benefit from being able to summon 1-cost totems in Shaman outweighing the loss of those cards, especially with Evolve rotating out (though I’m interested to see what the Totem Cruncher is!).

For Mage it *might* be possible – but as soon as you play Frost Lich Jaina (which you’re going to do with an Elemental Mage) you lose the cost reduction on the hero power.

*Gazes into crystal ball … Totem Cruncher*

Hmmm… 4 mana 5/6 that destroys all totems and gains +1/+1 for each one “eaten”? I suspect making a Genn Shaman deck will be reliant on Totem synergy.

The problem with the Elemental synergies, mentioned for Mage and Shaman, is that to build any kind of Elemental deck you normally want to be dropping an Elemental every turn to ensure you proc the abilities on things like Kalimos, Steam Surger or Tol’vir Stoneshaper.

However, in an even-cost deck, you loose Fire Fly, Igneous Elemental and Servant of Kalimos – all things that generate additional Elementals to enable you to keep to stream going. Granted Mage gets to keep Flame Geyser, Steam Surger and Pyros so Elemental Mage might actually work slightly better than Shaman – despite the fact that Shaman gets some very cool even-cost Ellies.

… and there might even be room for some Coldarra Drake (6 mana) / Fallen Hero (2 mana) shenanigans in Wild!

You could build the deck here where it *is* implemented and then use the deck code to import it into Hearthstone as a kind of workaround I guess 🙂

To give the game it’s full title “Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft” – I think it’s rather unlikely.

The problem with secrets is that the more of them available the harder it is to play around them – is it Explosive Runes, Counterspell, Mirror Entity or Polymorph?

Dealing with that isn’t exactly a barrel of monkeys… especially with Explosive Runes. Mirror Entity and Polymorph you play around in the same way, drop a cheap card, preferably with a battlecry but *not* Deathrattle… with Explosive Runes you pretty much want to do the opposite.

There are plenty of spells that punish the opponent for going too wide with minions, I don’t see why there shouldn’t be something similar against Secrets – and Eater of Secrets is a really bad minion to have in your deck if your opponent isn’t running secrets (which, in most cases, they won’t be).

I’m surprised that some of the cheap mass-buff cards aren’t in this list…

Evolve + Doppelgangster combo is about the only thing that’s kept Shaman alive recently – one single combo that relies on an incredibly powerful, incredibly cheap card in the form of Evolve.

Aggro Token Druid was a menace primarily because of Mark of the Lotus.

Even Grimestreet Outfitter is now seeing some play thanks to Drygulch Jailor.

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t find weeny decks with mass buffs any fun to play against; I’d rather face off against Pirate Warrior – pre-Patches nerf.

Dirty rat though is the epitome of an “unfun” mechanic – getting beaten by having your hand/deck screwed over is never going to be fun – and I don’t think Blizzard _have_ taken that on board… Gnomeferatu, Skulking Geist (which exists just to defeat one of the most broken cards ever “printed” in Jade Idol). These are single cards that can completely destroy combo decks all on their own – why bother crafting a deck that has a big awesome win condition, that you know may struggle against aggro, if Control decks can just tech in a “defeat combo decks” card…

I’ll give Rin/Azari a free pass though as it’s such a long process to pull off 😛

… and Jades – I soooo can’t wait to see the back of Jades in Standard.

Totem Shaman was around long before Evolve Shaman – before Tuskarr Totemic was nerfed and Thunder Bluff Valiant rotated out; TGT was good for Totem Shaman and there hasn’t really been a strong totem package since.

Problem with Elemental Shaman though is that you need to be able to throw down Elementals every turn to proc the abilities of things like Kalimos; and with even-cost only cards you loose Firefly and Igneous Elemental… plus Glacial Shard which can be useful in a dual role there.

You also loose a couple of decent early anti-aggro taunts in the form of Hot Spring Guardian and Tar Creeper – not to mention Devolve and Maelstrom Portal both rotate out and Lightning Storm costs 3, so Zoolock and the aggressive Pally decks will be instant concedes.

… aaaand you’ll not be able to use Servant of Kalimos or Blazecaller both of which are incredibly useful on their own – but in Shaman, with Murmuring Elemental, they have a lot more potential.

Elemental Shaman isn’t really a very strong deck as it stands; I don’t think Genn and Murkspark Eel would make up for the loss of the odd-cost cards – but it will depend on what other even-only support becomes available for Shaman.

Most of the cards I’ll miss are from WotG … most I’ll be glad to see the back of are from MSG.

Hmmm… Mage without Frost Bolt, Fireball, Polymorph, Meteor, Blizzard or Doomsayer?

Volcanic Potion, Firelands Portal and Greater Arcane Missiles (which you might only use because of the “odds” restriction) all rotate out.

However… you do keep all the Secrets, Mana Wyrm, Arcane Artificer, Dragon’s Fury and Flamestrike … and Deck of Wonders (dubious utility), Dragoncaller Alanna and Frost Lich Jaina.

… and you’re probably going to throw in Baku if you’re building around the “odds” restriction anyway, so your Hero Power will deal 2 damage (until you DK, if you include her).

There might be something workable there…

Looks like this is going to be a Beast-focused expansion… just as Menagerie Warden rotates out of standard. Granted you can’t use it with this card but I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a complementary “even cost” card for Druid.

I think Genn/Shaman is only likely to become a thing if Totem Shaman returns… which it could with the right support. Being able to drop a token every turn for 1 mana could be useful with the right supporting cards – maybe.

Still won’t make Windshear Stormcaller worthwhile though – especially since you can’t use it with Genn.

Actually Thrall Deathseer *is* useful in decks other than those based entirely around Evolve… I chucked him in an Elemental Shaman deck because you’ve got some good but expensive battlecry minions and you’re not always gonna have Grumble in hand (if you’ve got him) at the right time.

Blazecaller, for instance, deals 5 damage (as long as you played an Elemental last turn – e.g. Fire Elemental) and gives you a 6/6 body on the board – which you can slam into something before evolving it into an 8 mana creature.

Sure it’s not a top-tier ladder deck but no Shaman decks are currently.

I think Vanish is the only genuinely good scenario… and at 7 cost you can just manage it in one turn with Preparation.

Not sure – for secret/spell hunter you get to keep all the secrets but lose all the synergy (Eaglehorn Bow – all current weapons in fact – and the Emerald Spellstone) except Prof. Putricide. Cloaked Huntress rotates out anyway.

You also can’t use Kill Command, Animal Companion, Tundra Rhino or Tracking.

It’s probably Face Hunter that most wants to ping the hero power every turn but whether that will be viable with only evenly costed minions remains to be seen – especially with no weapons, or spells that can go face.