If you’re playing Zoo Warlock, and average Legendary minion will be more valuable than the average card in your deck by the point you can start playing this. Sure, you may get a Lorewalker Cho, but even Cho can be decent late or at least better than a Void Walker.

If you’re playing Control Warlock in a game that has gone late, the average legendary card is better at pressuring your opponent than the handful of anti-aggro tools and largely unnecessary extra sources of removal you’d have left. Elise Starseeker saw serious play in control decks specifically for that purpose, and this can is much faster than Starseeker was.

What makes you say that when Elise Starseeker did see quite a bit of play despite the effect of the card being doubly delayed?

Then why did Elise Starseeker see serious play in decks such as Control Warrior while that card was in Standard?

I’m guessing you weren’t playing around that time, but when a control mirror has entered its later stages, both players have likely ran out of threats their opponents must answer and as such only have answer cards in their hand. This card turns the unnecessary anti-aggro tools and unneeded removal options into on average decent threats, and keeping up the pressure with a new threat every turn is better than constantly responding to them.

The Forest’s Aid’s rate of 10/10 for eight many not seem great, but it is probably only one mana off of what most would consider on rate for that many stats. The Twinspell aspect of the card probably is worth more than one mana in it of itself, but unless there is some worthwhile new Druid Treant support alongside this or in the next year, I doubt it’ll see play while the Wispering Woods + Soul of the Forest combo is still Standard legal.

A lot of the time when playing against say Malygos Druid, I do feel as though I would have won the game if I had just one more turn, and Spellward Jeweler would allow me to live for at least one more turn.

While comparisons to Kobold Monk, a card that never really saw play, are easy to make, the most important difference here is that if the Monk dies, its effect ends while if this dies, its effect continues.

Jeweler may not delay every combo imaginable, it does also handle a large chunk of them and also clutch wins from decks like Tempo Mage. Most combos that don’t include Malygos are rotating out of Standard anyway.

This card will only ever be a tech option, but it should find a place in a format here and there before it rotates.

Kobold Monk could also be removed to end the effect and cost one more than this. If anything, this can easily been seen as a neutral Time Out! with a more limited effect but with a 3/4 body.

The question about Kalecgos is not whether it is good enough to see play but whether Mage will be in a place that can support his kind of effect.

I don’t think anyone can deny that a ten mana 4/12 with draw and play a usually high cost spell is not a powerful card in a vacuum. It’s just that most of Mage’s control shell is rotating out of Standard. Granted, the general level of Standard will be much lower than it is now, and maybe Blast Wave, Flamestrike, and Blizzard could be enough to keep the aggressive decks at bay long enough to play this.

Hagatha’s Scheme does seem like an effective piece of anti-aggro tech, especially when drawn early. If kept in the opening hand, it will be a deal five to everything effect.

Granted, when drawn latter, it will suck for the first couple turns and will not replace Lightning Storm in Midrange and Control oriented Shaman decks. Instead, it will supplement it much like Volcano did. To some extent, its even better since it has no Overload cost.

Forbidden Words is a very flexible piece of removal and could easily replace Shadow Word: Pain for the next couple years. Too bad Twilight Acolyte will never share a Standard format with this card.

Plus, it finally allows Priests to effectively deal with four attack minions.

A three mana 1/5 isn’t great at doing much other than killing 1/1 token, and EVIL Miscreant will need to compete with SI:7 Agent and Blink Fox for space within the deck.

However, it could still see reasonable play despite the heavy competition because the Lackey cards generally seem very strong. Plus, they can enable further combos in Rogue.

A Tempo Rogue could quite easily slot this is.

Chef Nomi would really only see play if there are enough control match-ups that are expected to go to fatigue. I know Odd Warrior won’t exist in Standard anymore when this new set is released, but that deck would at least consider playing Chef Nomi to get games that have already gone long to end a bit sooner.

A very specific sort of deck and meta game will be needed to make this card work consistently, but if your control deck needs a thirtieth card and you’re pretty sure a lot of games will go very long, this could be a decent option.

Elise Starseeker did see some serious play in control decks, and the ultimate effect of that card was doubly delayed. While this version of Rafaam has the effect of the Golden Monkey right away, it does come down later than than Starseeker. Granted, the Golden Monkey would almost certainly only get played late in the control mirror to push games over the edge.

If Control Warlock remains a viable archetype on ladder, there really isn’t any reason why it wouldn’t want to play this for the control mirror or midrange match-ups that are expected to go long.

To Pindead

This is not something anyone should want to play in a tempo deck. Five mana for 4/4 worth of stats is a complete tempo drain. You’re not always going to have spell cost reduction out on board for this, and the typical quest mage would rather keep Apprentices in hand to make the combo work. Even with spell cost reduction, it becomes a vanilla three mana 4/4, which there are better things for a Mage to play.

Quest mage does not struggle with completing the quest. It has trouble with surviving until they can complete the combo. This will not help with that problem.

You’re still paying five mana for 4/4 worth of stats total for the minor benifit of 2/2 of those stats coming as spells. I know this is cheaper than Mukla, Tyrant of the Vale, but that did absolutely nothing during its time in Standard and has the exact same text as this.

Paladin has better Wild Pyromancer enablers that can also work with other things, and none of them are a complete tempo drain.

Gilded Gargoyle is only seeing play in Priest because the coins help enable combos and Power Word: Shield cycles a card.

Some one drops maybe, but your list there is pretty much it.

The bananas are not worth full cards, maybe a third to a half of a card each. Generating cheap spells can be good, but this is more of a tempo drain than a value tool.

The problem with Quest Mage is surviving without Ice Block, not completing the quest. There are better spell generation tools for a miracle Rogue. Razorpetal Lasher may only add one spell to hand, but it’s cheaper and has only slight below rate stats. Priest doesn’t need more spells to pull off Lyra combos too, and Spiteful Summoner decks do not need spells.

If this were one mana cheaper, it could be fine, but as is, it’s a three mana 2/2 that does nothing to affect the board without dumping more mana into it.

I might agree with you if Paladin had anything to make this into more than a one mana deal four damage card.

Bloodclaw would be so much better of two attack could more consistently kill early game minions, but so many of them have three health.

“But the battlecry works with Heal Paladin,” a likely response.

Maybe… This seems to actually have anti-synergy with High Priest Thekal since he wants you to be at or near full health when you play him. Either way, if your early game weapon can’t kill a whole lot of the early game threats it’ll be going against, it’s not going to be great in a control deck. See Woodcutter’s Ax for another example of a card that seems good in control, but its stats killed it.

If it ends up working anywhere, it might be aggro, but Paladin doesn’t have any weapon buff cards to get much more out of the card.

How so? It’s five mana total for 4/4 worth of vanilla stats.