Hearthstone Blackrock Mountain Adventure: A Legendary Card Rundown
It’s been over a month since the first wing of Blackrock Mountain opened and the drip-feed of new cards began. Now, with the whole thing out in the open, it’s time to review some cards! I will be casting my critical eye over the legendary cards that dropped with the expansion in an attempt to see who are the winners and, of course, who are the losers.
1) Emperor Thaurissan
Thaurrisan was the first legendary to become available from the adventure, unlocked by beating the first wing. One could argue that the hearthstone meta-game has been forever changed by the release of this card. Dr Boom and Sylvanas were perhaps the only legendary cards that could be considered ‘essential’ for any hearthstone collection, Lets take a look at what the Dark Iron Emperor does. First off at the end of every turn he reduces the mana cost of ALL of the cards in your hand by 1. Before the BRM Adventure hit, there were very few cards that reduced the cost of other cards, and those were all either one-shot or temporary effects. Once your opponent plays thaurrisan, there is nothing you can do; everything in his hand is going to cost one mana less at the end of his or her turn. You could do a lot worse on your turn six than put this guy onto the board.
One thing I’ve learned from Magic: The Gathering is that screwing around with mana costs is a very powerful ability, and that cards that do it with so few conditions not only warp the metagame, but warp the design of future cards around them. We have seen relatively few neutral aggressive minions at 1 mana of late because of the Warlock hero power, for example. I can imagine a whole chunk of design space being closed off as a result of Thaurissan being a thing, and for that reason I’m inclined to believe that the card is a grave mistake. A mistake that you should exploit before the nerf bat comes a-swinging; you can fit him in all but the most aggressive decks.
Verdict: Winner… For now.
2) Majordomo Executus
TOO SOON, YOU HAVE AWAKENED ME TOO SOON, EXECUTUS! Ahem…
Majordomo Executus costs 9 mana. For that, he better damn well win you the game, or he isn’t worth it. Unfortunately, he’s more likely to lose you the game. He’s a 9/7 for 9 mana, which is pretty big, but not enough alone to make us interested. Let’s see what else he does… He turns you into Ragnaros when he dies? Now you have my attention! So he’s kind of like a convoluted Jarraxus then? Sure, why not. But what does being turned into Ragnaros actually do for you? Unfortunately, this is where the card falls down. You see, the Ragnaros that you become is very similar to the Ragnaros card… including the 8 health. It’s worth noting that you lose any armour you may have had when Executus’ Deathrattle triggers. So this puts you in a tight spot. Your hero power may now allow you to purge your foes with flame, but you are wide open to any and all burst damage that your opponent may have. And this is not a meta where bursty finishes are rare. Rogues have Tinker’s Sharpsword Oil and Southsea Deckhand. Druids have Force of Nature + Savage Roar. Warriors have Grommash Hellscream. Hunters have almost any two cards in their deck. Dealing 8 damage to someone’s face that late into the game is not difficult, and that is the risk of Executus. He is a very fun and interestingly designed card though so I guess he has that going for him, which is nice. I still would not put him in your deck for the ladder, even in the absence of any alternatives.
Final Verdict: Loser, but casual favorite.
3) Rend Blackhand
Oh boy. Rend Blackhand. The trouble with Rend is that he demands that you jump through too many hoops to get value out of him, and gives you mediocre stats for those times that you just want to play him for no value. He’s a 8/4 for 7 mana who blows up a legendary minion when he enters play. But only if you are holding a dragon in your hand. If it weren’t for that last bit he might have been somewhat a decent option, especially for those with a small collection. To be frank, though, I wouldn’t play him if he could unconditionally remove a legendary minion. The problem is that he is too expensive, and Big Game Hunter henceforth BGH, and who is often better) might be to blame for that. The other problem is that he has pitiful stats. I would have preferred him as a 6/5, or even a 5/5. The reason for this is that 5 is a much better number than 4 in hearthstone. Chillwind Yeti is considered a better card than Lost Tallstrider, for example. Hearthstone is one of those games where health is more desirable than attack much of the time. If you’ve just played out Rend Blackhand, you might have removed a threatening legendary card like, say, Ysera, but you’ve spent most of your mana to do it and what you’re left with is a fairly flimsy bloke who could get knocked over by a stiff breeze.
Verdict: Loser
4) Chromaggus
I want to like Chromaggus. I really do. He has great stats – 6/8 for an 8 mana minion is fine and he can bury your opponent with card advantage while avoiding the ever-present spectre of Big Game Hunter. He seems most promising in classes like Priest, Paladin, Druid, and warlock where you can draw on the same turn as you cast him or can cheat him out early. However, I just can’t seem to get him to fit into any decks. There are always much better options. Chromaggus isn’t like Thaurissan, who can be thrown into most decks very easily Chromaggus needs some build-around, and that can lead to pitfalls. The thing is that Chromaggus can’t guarantee value. Unless you are able to draw on the same turn as you play him (unlikely at 8 mana), you will have to wait until your next draw step to get any value, at which point there is a good chance that Chromaggus will have been removed. He’s not like Kel’Thuzad, everyone’s other favorite 6/8 legendary, who finds it much easier to get value on the turn he comes down. He comes off as a worse Ysera most of the time. Regardless, i see a lot of fun to be had with Chromaggus and he is still my favorite card from the set. I’ve tried putting him in a Dragon Paladin shell to see if I can make him work alongside cards such as Dragon Consort and Solemn Vigil. At the end of the day, we are going to be seeing people try to make a dragon deck work in the wake of the BRM Adventure and Chromaggus is one of the few top-end dragons who isn’t total rubbish (like Nozdormu), or too conditional (like Malygos).
Final Verdict: Rookie of the Year, flavor of the month.
5) Neferian
Ah yes, Neferian. The Big Cheese. The Final Boss. Neferian is the third leader of the Black Dragonflight to have his own card. But is it any good?
Well, it’s not terrible. As I said with Majordomo Executus 9 mana better be winning you the game and Neferian might actually do that. He gives you two random spells from whatever class your opponent is, and the cards he gives you could be what makes you come out on top in the end. The thing is, those spells could be awful. Druids in particular have some god-awful spells. Naturalize, moonfire, and Savagery to name a few. Regardless, resolving him creates card advantage, and that tends to get you closer to victory in the long run. The issue here, obviously, is that he dies to BGH, a copy of which gets tucked into the majority of decks . Those two cards better be worth it, then.
Most classes have ‘the dream’. A two card combo that you can use to create insane value over your opponent Paladins could give you Consecration and Equality. Druids could give you Force of Nature and Savage Roar. Rogues could give you preparation and Sprint. Most classes have a two card combo that you can use to your advantage. Of course, every class has at least one dud that you never want to see, but that’s the risk you take when you play this guy.
Final Verdict: In every dragon deck, in Ysera’s Shadow.
So that’s it from the legendary cards of Blackrock Mountain. It’s been a mixed bag, but overall i feel that they have more potential and play-ability than the the offerings from Naxxramas (Loatheb aside, of course). I think that the focus on dragons was far more interesting than something as mundane as Deathrattle, and it has opened up potential for Dragon themed decks, which did not previously exist. I eagerly look forward to the next solo adventure that Blizzard send our way.