Scourgewar So Far...

[AUStarwars]

We here at Infogathering wanted to take this space to discuss the new Scourgewar cards as they become available...since it's not as much fun to discuss them one at a time we will be updating these articles a few times over the next couple of weeks before the prerelease. The cards are in the general order that we have learned about them from the main UDE site. Leave comments, hope to stir up some good discussion!

-Kilix the Unraveler: Now that we have seen 2 other nerubians I am not impressed with their depth simply because you have to play them OVER the Aldor or the Scryer. That being said we have probably not seen all of our spidery friends and/or any equipment/locations/quests they may be able to play. So far Kilix is the best of the pack being a 7/7 protector that Ancestral Recalls you when he comes into play. So here we have a general win condition costed ally that more than replaces himself. Does that make him a viable win condition for a control deck? Is he a decent late game option for a mid range deck? The answer to the second is that he (it?) probably will not actually be able to protect anything since almost every viable aggro deck is playing some sort of "destroy target ally" card main deck (Sudden Death, Death Shock, the ability to counterspell him, Taste of Divinity to an extent, etc). So while he fits my main condition for an ally, in that he more than replaces himself the turn he comes into play, he MAY cost a bit much to see much play. Again, we still need to see more Nerubians, but so far my vote is that you will always find a better option...

-Tuskarr Kite: This card may see play for classes that have problems drawing cards..that being said you have to have an ally that is just sitting around every turn doing nothing to use it..maybe this set will have some of those...maybe

-Spectral Kitten: Ok here we go..would it really have been overpowered as a 5/5 for 3 that is a univeral pet and is a crusade for your neutrals and a +1/0 or 0/+1 for your other guys? Will it finally make Valeera playable since she becomes a free 3/4? Probably...So where does he fit in? First of all he has an immediate effect on the board, especially on the Horde side..can he go into a Horde aggro deck? Is he better as a 3 drop than Jojabee in a Koozar style vomit aggro deck? Well, if you had 3 allies in play in that style, you are talking about a 4/4 for 3 that bolts your opponent when it comes into play, or trades up..sounds like a good deal...Now let's talk about cream dreams with the kitty: Sandbox Tiger on 2, Kitty on 3. You have a 4/4 for 2 attacking on turn 3...wow..thats a lot of damage..efficient, solid damage and not a hard combo to really pull off imho...so how does one pull off that combo? Well, first you HAVE TO HAVE SCRATCHED OFF LOOT SPECTRAL KITTENS..you all understand that right? What is the secondary market going to be for Scratched off Kitties? Will they be $50? Will they be more? Can that deck work if you are able to even get the Kitties? I am not sure, but we are standing on the precipice of something we have never seen: a secondary market for scratched off loots...good luck. Personally I still feel this card is insane and will see play.

-King Varian Wrynn: First of all for you lore nerds out there (and yes, I finally stopped playing the MMO a few months ago but I still like the Lore) his ability resembles Lo'gosh because the King was captured, got amnesia, and fought in the arenas as Lo'gosh..somehow he got his memory back and regained his Kingship from his son (and really bad card)...but anyway, who cares right? So he costs 9, which means he MUST win you the game, does he do that? Well his CIP ability seems pretty easy to pull off for at least -4/-4 (Ally, Hero, Quest, Location) which in todays day and age is essentially "come into play, wrath your opponents board, continue to wrath it every turn, and have a 9/9 protector in play that is targetable"..is that good enough for 9? Who knows...if you can protect him, sure...but he certainly gains you the card advantage immediately..I think he just may not be good enough since you will probably not be able to wait until turn 9 to wrath the board, but who knows, id love to be proven wrong..there are mid range/control decks that are vulnerable in the late game to the aggro decks vomitting out enough allies to swarm for the final few points, and Varian stops that, so there may be room for him in the metagame

-Living Bomb: so you play your win condition on turn 1, and 10 turns later it has to stay in play, and not be destroyed, spell suppressed, bounced, sneezed on, winked at, breathed on..yeah ok...hello $1 box welcome to your new friend...and this ability is so good in the mmo..

-Encrusted Zombie Finger: what a cool name! I never had this wand, so if it exists in the MMO, it sucks..fyi..so caster classes get a free striking weapon for 2 each turn...do they need it? Again, what you have to understand is an every changing metagame that may or may not feature rotation (our local store Another Universe will be piloting what I call "Heroic Format" (you know from Heroics in the MMO) which is "two block constructed" or "standard constructed")..you have to remember that this deals frost damage, which also may be signifcant later..overall I would say this card is "not bad, not great" but could make for an interesting aggro warlock/priest/mage deck (probably Warlock to combine with other cards we will see in a minute)

more after the break...leave your thoughts

[DustyH]

Nothing Nerubian excites me at all. The seven drop is ok, but probably to expensive. The other two we've seen are conditional cards, which I don't like, that aren't even great when their conditions are met(albeit easily met).

Kitten seems solid enough to see some serious constructed play. I don't think it will reach the heights of 50, but probably 10-20 isn't out of the question.

Living bomb is almost certainly a casual card, but I still like it. If mage got something like an instant speed wrath of God I could see it being playable, maybe some more instant speed allies too. The problem will come when you have to tap out to kill guys, and it leaves the card open to destruction because you can't counter.

King Varian I think should have costed 8. At 9 I almost always would rather have greench as his effect is generally irrelevant that late in the game. Battles aren't won by allies attacking on turn 9 usually.

Zombie finger is obviously really solid in limited, but I don't think will see much constructed play. 2 damage is pretty useless in this enviroment...maybe ok against koozar?

[AUStarwars]

-Twilight Vanquisher Knolan: free allies ftw! It did not work out well for Valeera and her zero constructed play, but I think Knolan is going to be a much different story. The first question is how relevant will a free 3/2 shadow resistance ally be in the early turns of the game? Well considering you are essentially getting a free 2 drop, the damage will build up in a hurry. The key is to find early drops that cause Shadow Damage. We know that many cards in this set are going to deal or prevent Shadow Damage, as discussed by R+D, so there may be more 1 drops and early abilities out there that will supplement this strategy, but for now there are very viable options.

First of all you have aggro superstar Bloodsoul clearing the way for this free 2 drop powered body on turn 2. Although Grogmor Deathmore (yes, a DK ally from the starter that isn’t Vanessa or Wanda) is harder to give Ferocity to, a turn 1 or free weapon will give Knolan a chance.

The class that seems to have the best options to make full use of Knolan is Warlock. They already get Promises of Darkness for the ability to play Knolan on turn 1, essentially getting you a free turn for your 2 drop. They also get Doom Blossom as well, but this will give you a “fair” turn 2 Knolan. If you are on the draw there may be a target for a turn 1 Death Coil as well, again with a turn 2 Knolan. Shadowburn on 2 against an ally is also a viable option since we don’t want to lose the resource sending the damage at the hero, but Steal Essence is another guaranteed option on 2. Going into turn 3 Warlock has many DOTs that can tick that cost 2, but who wants a 3/2 on turn 3…come on, that’s a bit late or "fair".

Priests are also well set up to get Knolan into play on the cheap. Touch of Darkness is another very efficient turn 1 play to get Knolan into play on turn 1. Mind Spike or Omens of Terror will also get the job done on 2. There may be a target for a turn 1 Shadow Word: Anguish if you are on the draw. Shadow Word: Death is also a viable option on turn 2. Finally on turn 2 you have shadow priest superstar Shadowfiend…just what Koozar decks need, more free allies…

So you can see that sneaking Knolan into play is not a difficult task for a Priest or Warlock based aggro deck to get into play early. Bloodsoul alone may be enough to warrant his inclusion in most Horde aggro decks, but in practice you will need secondary ways of cheating him into play. So I see him having a pretty large effect on Horde aggro decks of the future…the only problem being that the AOE effects seem to be improving…

[AUStarwars]

Kitten seems solid enough to see some serious constructed play. I don't think it will reach the heights of 50, but probably 10-20 isn't out of the question.

Remember my price ideas were for scratched off kitties only...I just think if the "loot deck" is viable the supply/demand for scratched off kitties will drive the price to very large levels...also keep in mind if the card is playable it will be "cool" to play with scratched loot versions anyway...kinda like an EA

[jaxtheripper]

Kitten Image was incorrect according to ude: his effect now reads other non alliance non horde allies have +1+1.

http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/wow/en/news/article.aspx?aid=6679

[DustyH]

Kitten Image was incorrect according to ude: his effect now reads other non alliance non horde allies have +1+1.

http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/wow/en/news/article.aspx?aid=6679

He got that hence, "Ok here we go..would it really have been overpowered as a 5/5 for 3 that is a univeral pet and is a crusade for your neutrals and a +1/0 or 0/+1 for your other guys?"

I was a little confused at first too.

[LwoodY2K]

I think it would clearly have been overpowered as a 5/5. I don't know if it would have been meta-defining, though, as I'm not sure it would be better than Adam. Becomes a meta question really - Adam is much better against control while the cat is more plain ol' beatdown.

[Khazdor]

Could have done without the Mage symbol on there...but other than that he's about what I'd expect from a 10-drop master hero.

[Legrow]

Guys, c'mon, don't post cards that haven't been previewed yet. Speculate all you want, just no pictures.

[AUStarwars]

I agree, I have NDAs with UDE and I will not discussed cards that have not been released on the main site or affiliates, no matter what knowledge I may have of them...but please chime in on the cards discussed thus far!