Single-target removal is cheap and plentiful enough that just playing this and hoping it survives a turn is not realistic. As such, you need to get a payoff out of his ability on the same turn you summon him in order for this card to be playable in constructed.

Right now, there are no great tools to take advantage of his ability on the same turn you play him, so this would need a lot of support to see play. 1/5

Druid doesn’t have great options with Naturalize and Jasper Spellstone rotating out.

Other than that… Shadow Word: Death and Forbidddn Words for Priest, Polymorph and Fireball and Voodoo Doll for Mage, Siphon Soul and Voodoo Doll for Warlock, Walk the Plank and Sap and Assassinate and Unidentified Contract for Rogue…

I could go on. Killing this could be awkward for Paladin and Druid without a board, and Shaman has only one clean answer in Hex, but every other class has 2+ answers.

Yeah, and it’s entirely fair for people to enjoy playing combo decks. It’s a game, and we’re all trying to have fun.

At the same time, I think it’s unhealthy for the game when powerful decks have a very repetitive playstyle. Many people flock to powerful decks regardless of playstyle, and when all games with and against that deck play out very similarly, that makes the game less fun- like how games with an Odd Paladin always revolve around their hero power. Combo decks also have this problem.

If some people love to play Quest Mage even though it has a low winrate, then good for them! If tons of people are playing Malygos Druid because it has a high winrate… then I think that’s not good for the game’s play experience.

Very cool spell, very cool synergy with Crystal Stag and with the new Druid Legendary. Druid needed a bunch of good cards from this expansion, and the expansion delivered- and in a non-toxic way, too! Well, except for Jepetto. 5/5

Happy Ghoul this ain’t. The crystalizer + crystal power + Crystal Stag combo is cool, but drawing those 3 specific cards by turn 5 is spectacularly unlikely. This can be a great tempo card on turn 10 or so, but that’s decidedly different from playing one or two free 3/3s on turn 3.

Cool card, should see play in midrange druid. 4/5

Good tempo + good value = good card. 4/5

I disagree with most of the comments on this card. I think this is a fine card that could see play in a Priest control deck.

This is not a good combo card. Even if you resurrect both Prophet Velen and Malygos, you only have enough mana left over to cast one Holy Smite. With the higher mana cost this has compared to Diamond Spellstone and no Radiant Elementals, you just can’t reasonably pull off an OTK combo with this.

This does not herald a return of Big Priest. Big Priest had Barnes and later Shadow Essence to cheat out its big minions, then Eternal Servitude to start resurrecting them early. Are you just going to play no minions till turn 7, then manually play Prophet Velen into some Lich King replacement into Ysera? That is not a good plan.

It could work with some version of Wall Priest, but as Orasha said, it’s gonna be a lot weaker without Shadow Visions, Oakheart, Psychic Scream and Eternal Servitude.

I mostly see this as a big spell that pops up a powerful board, like a half-power version of the N’zoth and Bloodreaver Gul’dan Battlecries, and also similar to the new Mage spell, Power of Creation. I think that’s fairly powerful as a lategame threat for Control Priest. 4/5

I agree, this card should give us a few more turns of leeway. Blizzard should increase its mana cost by 3 and raise its stats accordingly, then it would be perfect!

A 1-mana Archmage Antonidas won’t let you kill your opponent from full health in a single turn though, not with Simulacrum and Molten Reflection rotating out of Standard.

It’s not about power level, it’s about playstyle. Playing against combo decks is the opposite of my idea of having fun. The games always play out the same way, which means the matchups become really old, really quickly.

It’s also about polarized matchups. If you’re control warrior and you match up vs. Mecha’thun Warlock, what’s the point of even playing out the game if you have no chance of winning? Skill and decision-making and randomness should contribute to give you a fighting chance, but if you’re a control deck and you get matched up against a combo deck, then you’re just screwed.

As someone who enjoys playing control decks and has a lot of fun in control mirror games, I resent combo decks for crowding out control decks, as they did in the Year of the Raven especially.

Balance-wise, of course I could just play aggro or combo myself. I don’t enjoy those playstyles, though. If Control mostly isn’t viable again, I’d rather not play at all.

I don’t think Dragon Paladin will be a thing, but this card should see play anyway. 3/2 for 3 mana is a little overcosted, but that’s a small price to pay for the enormous value this provides. Not just that, this also fills out your curve as a 3-drop that gives you a 4-drop. 5/5

This combines two great flops of Hearthstone: Dragon Paladin, and handbuffs. Too slow vs. Aggro, not impactful enough vs. Jepetto combo decks. Needs more supporting cards before it sees play. 2/5

Combo decks are back! Did you miss them? I sure as hell didn’t.

Maly Druid: Play this, get Malygos. Or if you didn’t get Malygos, Floop Jepetto to ensure you do. If you drew Maly first, you can still play Jepetto to get a 1-mana Floop. Whichever way, you end up with a 1-mana Malygos, which you then combo with Double Swipe + Double Moonfire for lethal.

OTK Priest: You need to hit either Velen or Malygos with this. Next turn, you play your 1-mana combo minion + Vivid Nightmare + Double Mindblast = Lethal.

I haven’t even played against it and I already hate this card. If it becomes Meta-defining, I’m just gonna quit Hearthstone. 5/5

This is pretty decent on turn 2, especially after your opponent played a 3/2 minion. It’s pretty terrible if you draw it later in the game however; maybe a Murloc deck wants this, but this looks safe to skip otherwise. 2/5

This makes all of the Hunter damage spells a lot stronger, obviously. The problem is that most Hunter damage spells suck. Are you going to include Multishot in your deck because synergy with one card in your deck can make it a little less awful? Didn’t think so.

Hunter has 3 good damage spells that this can interact with: Kill Command, Wing Blast and Baited Arrow. Synergy with spell damage is maximized for AoE spells, and for cheap damage spells you can spam; it’s worst for single target spells, expensive spells, and spells that can’t hit face (hello Flame Lance).

Synergy here is good with Kill Command; decent with Wing Blast; and poor with Baited Arrow. This can be good, but it needs more support in the form of good Hunter spells with good spell damage synergy. 2/5

Great with Scarab Egg, but the likelihood you’ll draw both of these cards early is way too low compared to the payoff. This needs more support (a replacement for Devilsaur Egg) before it sees play. 2/5

I fully expect more minion-heavy Priest decks to be a thing, and for this card to be a staple in them. 4/5

Decent for a Secret Aggro Paladin deck. 3/5

Good effect on a good body. I can’t imagine what kind of Druid deck would not want this guy. 5/5

Okay tempo, great value. 4/5