I definitely agree with you on the desire to have a weaker 3rd expansion for the Year of the Raven. That said, I would be okay with a similar power level to KnC and Gadgetzan as long as every class has a viable or semi-viable meta deck to play with. Part of (or most) the reason the post-nerf Witchwood meta was so fun to play was because there was a reliable way to make at least one deck work in the meta for each class. I’m hoping for something similar in the post-nerf Boomsday meta (and hoping the 3rd Raven expansion gives Priest some much-needed TLC 🙁 ).

Honestly, I can handle all of Druid’s ridiculous armor gain, stalling tactics, and offensive/defensive spells. Even when fighting against Taunt druid, I’ve always felt that I at least stand a chance of victory, if I can play my cards with as much efficiency and effectiveness as I can squeeze out of them. Against any of Druid’s OTK or combo decks (Malygos, Togwaggle, Mecha’thun), I feel as though I’ve lost before I’ve played my first card (similar to fighting Jade Druid back when Gadgetzan was the newest card set). This difference in feeling like victory is slim versus feeling like I’ve already lost makes all the difference in the world, at least to me.

That would certainly make sense, that the battlecry would make Mecha’thun even more annoying. Perhaps the opponent’s side of the board might also need to be cleared before its deathrattle could be triggered? That doesn’t counter Warlock’s Cataclysm combo, though, and potentially makes the card outright useless (or extremely situational) for other classes…it’s difficult to nerf something so crazy without either completely changing it or rendering it completely useless, it seems…

In my opinion, it’s not so much combo decks that are the problem. Cool combo decks or plays (like setting up a massive VanCleef in Miracle Rogue for example) can be extremely fun for both the player using it and the player defending against it. The real problem in the current meta is the fact that most or all of the combo decks being played are OTK decks (using the cards you mentioned: Malygos, Shudderwock, and Mecha’thun) that have few ways to disable or otherwise meaningfully counter their effects. It’s definitely not enjoyable to play against a deck that can kill you no matter what one plays to defend against it. I loathe Shudderwock in particular because death seems to be inevitable thanks to all of the unblockable battlecries in that deck. Granted, I am a control player as well: two players answering each others’ threats and seeing who had the most effective use of their tools is my idea of a really fun time.

As for suggestions on nerfing Mecha’thun, I would (as crazy as it sounds) actually be liable to change the Deathrattle to a Battlecry (Mecha’thun would then have to not count itself as on the battlefield). This would completely disable Mecha’thun Priest, and would mean that decks that use Mecha’thun would have to get rid of even more cards before playing their killing combo. Mecha’thun would then be a completely standalone card, used only when everything else in one’s deck has failed rather than as a main win condition for the deck. I’d love to hear some thoughts on this idea, especially potential problems with said idea.

I remember seeing it as an infrequent anti-aggro tech in Elemental Mage during the early portion of the KFT meta. Beyond that, I’m not sure that it’s seen play in a major competitive deck.

Honestly, this card is kind of disappointing for a Paladin legendary. While its effects do look relatively fair for its mana cost, it doesn’t offer much beyond doubling healing. In Priest, this card would be incredibly powerful, if not outright broken. However, as a Paladin card, there are a limited number of healing synergies to play. Especially if Odd Paladin remains a powerful deck in the Boomsday meta, Kangor just doesn’t have a standard-competitive deck to fit into at the moment. (Should be immensely fun with a casual Healadin deck, though!) The meta will determine its usage, but I predict that it will be either part of a fringe Healadin deck or largely forgotten about.

I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for deck/class stealing cards, so seeing this card printed makes me very happy. That said, I’m not entirely sure how much play it will see. On the plus side, this card has the potential to regularly generate huge amounts of value. Most class cards, for most classes, are at least playable at 1 mana. However, as others have pointed out, you’d be spending 4 mana that wouldn’t impact the board state, and you still have to actually draw the cards you generated. Its rate of play may depend on the meta of Boomsday more than anything else.

Fair point. Whether comboing this card with Dorian is worth it or not would also depend on the power of the large minion in question (for example, I would love to get a 1/1 copy of Obsidian Statue just for drawing it, but it may be too slow and require too many moving parts. If nothing else, this can draw you a powerful minion for the later-game.

As a bizarre cross between and , this does have the potential to:
a. Resurrect a full board of minions from your opponent’s class-and as we saw with N’Zoth, this effect is incredibly powerful
b. Be a tankier and more controllable version of Yogg, as it casts EXACTLY the same spells you did over the course of the game from your opponent’s class
The deck archetype that this card fits in isn’t particularly powerful at the moment IMO, but this could be the end-game a Thief rogue deck is looking for.
Besides, it looks really fun to play with! I’ll definitely experiment with it if I obtain it after the expansion’s release.

This looks like a potentially powerful play in Big Priest (if it is still viable after the expansion) or big minion decks in general. Playing this on turn 4 ensures that you get a large minion in your hand (or in Wild, a minion like Barnes to cheat out larger minions). Someone could feasibly combo this with Dollmaster Dorian to get both a large minion and a 1/1 copy of said minion. Otherwise, it could be feasibly useful when you’ve drawn all of your 1-2 cost minions and need something a little larger on the board (e.g. Tar Creeper). It’s nothing spectacular in my opinion, but it’s not awful either.

Excellent and informative article! I did notice that Rogue is not mentioned in the Secret portion of in-game terminology:
“Currently only three classes have Secrets: Hunter, Mage, and Paladin.”