The Comprehensive Into The Emerald Dream Preview

 

Critter Caretaker

A 1 mana 2/2 represents excellent stats for a 1-drop, stats that have consistently been played throughout the game’s history. The ability dissuades aggressive decks from playing Caretaker, but it is a great fit for control decks that just want to contest the board early and force trades. Later in the game, it gives us a heal and cannot be ignored. We expect this 1-drop to be popular.

Score: 3

Classes: Control decks.

Dreambound Raptor

Raptor is a pseudo 1-drop, as it is not a great minion to play on turn 1, but it is a minion to play alongside other minions, giving them bonus keywords. A 1 mana 2/1 would need to trigger at least two keywords to be a worthwhile investment, so it likely belongs in aggressive decks that flood the board.

Score: 2

Classes: Aggro decks.

Gnawing Greenfin

A 1 mana 1/1 that generates a card of low quality. Random Murlocs are not good, unless they are played in Murloc decks. We can only see Greenfin being useful in Murloc decks, and we do not see Murloc decks existing anytime soon.

Score: 1

Barkshield Sentinel

We do not see why we would ever play this card, even in decks focused on hero powering, like Imbue decks. A 2 mana 2/4 with taunt is not even that strong, especially when we can never develop it on turn 2.

Score: 1

Bitterbloom Knight

The first neutral Imbue. Knight has the most basic stats for a 2-drop, so it does not carry a significant penalty for having a unique ability. Cheap Imbue cards are valuable, as they help us accelerate our game plan as quickly as possible. We suspect this will see play in every Imbue deck.

Score: 3

Classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Shaman

Creature of Madness

A card that has already proven its usefulness in constructed play. The numbers favor Creature of Madness, as a Dark Gift is worth 2 mana. This means we are getting a “free” 1/2 on turn 2, while guaranteeing the payoff being available on turn 3, so there is no significant window in which we sacrifice initiative.

While we can see the card being useful in most classes, some can leverage it better than others due to available synergies, so we will highlight those: Hunter (Discover), Rogue (Bounces), Shaman (Evolve), and Warlock (Wallow).

Score: 3

Classes: Especially Hunter, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock

Daydreaming Pixie

A 0-attack minion that generates random, unreliable value is not something we can get behind. There are enough Nature spells in Druid to fill a deck, so there is no need to tap into this card. No reason to play this card in a Thief Rogue deck either as it has access to better thief card generators.

Score: 1

Petal Peddler

Shadow Ascendant for Dragons. Peddler has 4 health, so it is even harder to kill, though a bit more reliant on having a minion in play to be dangerous. A Giftwrapped Whelp into Petal Peddler sounds powerful, so we expect Peddler in proactive Dragon decks.

Score: 3

Classes: Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Tranquil Treant

A symmetric ramp card. There is a bit of tension with Treant, as the first player who kills this minion on their turn gives the opponent the unlocked mana crystal first. With Druid losing most of its ramp, it may look at Tranquil Treant as an alternative. Warlock running Fractured Power is another candidate to utilize the card. This should be considered a low-quality ramp card, so it will be played by decks that absolutely need to hit an expensive power spike.

Score: 2

Classes: Druid, Warlock

Twisted Treant

We do not understand why we would ever touch this card. It took us a minute to recognize the deathrattle hitting both players. We would not play this card if the deathrattle only hit a minion in the opponent’s hand.

Score: 1

Animated Moonwell

The baseline stats of Moonwell are extremely weak. A 3 mana 1/4 cannot be played on curve without a punishing response. A scenario in which we play a 4-mana spell to turn this into a threat is the best-case scenario but sounds like fantasy.

Score: 1

Dream Rager

Another Rager.

Score: 1

Fae Trickster

A 3 mana 2/4 that draws is strong, even if the draw is delayed inside a deathrattle. Trickster is a tutor for an expensive spell, which makes it a prime candidate for late-game-oriented strategies. The Dragon tag is a bonus that can be important if the class in question has an affinity with the tribe, such as Paladin, Priest and Warrior.

In Paladin, this card draws Renewing Flame. In Priest, it could fit in a deck that runs Tyrande. In Warrior, it can find us Chemical Spill or Hydration Station, which sounds particularly strong. In Warlock, it can find us Wheel of Death. Trickster can also help us draw Shaladrassil in any class.

Score: 3

Classes: Paladin, Priest, Warlock, Warrior

Curious Cumulus

This minion’s stats are too weak. We do not even think Cumulus protects us better than a 3/5 taunt in most situations.

Score: 1

Flutterwing Guardian

Guardian might be a relatively expensive Imbue minion, but it makes up for it by having great stats for the cost. A 4 mana 4/4 taunt with divine shield is great for stalling the game and might even apply some pressure against slower decks into an empty board. The important thing is that we get to Imbue without falling behind, making it a solid minion that should be an automatic inclusion in nearly every Imbue deck.

Score: 3

Classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Shaman

Mother Duck

This minion is a bit too weak to be a popular inclusion in board flooding decks, where it might fit in. Its stats for cost barely scrape the 4 mana threshold. Its best chance is in Paladin, as it offers a strong comeback follow-up to Crusader Aura. We would not bet on it.

Score: 1

Tormented Dreadwing

Drawing 2 dragons on a discount is a strong deathrattle effect, at the steep cost of playing a slow minion initially. A 5 mana 5/5 is going to set us behind, but once the deathrattle resolves, the value payoff is significant.

Since this is a dragon that draws dragons, we can only see it being played in a dedicated dragon deck. If Zarimi Priest opts for a slower game plan with Naralex, Dreadwing should be a good fit to accelerate the Zarimi turn. There is a smaller chance it sees play in Warrior or Paladin, in the case they opt for Illusory Greenwing.

Score: 2

Classes: Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Meadowstrider

This taunt is way too slow. The payoff is not even that good, as it only matters when entering fatigue. There are much better shuffle effects in the game if we want to dodge fatigue.

Score: 1

Scorching Observer

This minion is big deck fodder and nothing else. The best chance it has of seeing play in the upcoming format is in a deck with Cliff Dive, but even then, its impact is not that strong.

Score: 1

Briarspawn Drake

This big dragon is not just big deck fodder, as it is the most expensive dragon in the game with a strong end of turn effect, which can deal a lot of damage and impact board upon entering play.

Where Briarspawn Drake might be the most powerful is in a slower Zarimi Priest that runs Naralex and Ysera. In this combo, which can come down as early as turn 8, we can deal OTK damage to the opponent with no real counterplay (Naralex/Ysera/Briarx2/Zarimi). Technically, the Naralex/Ysera combo is neutral and can be played by any class, but Zarimi makes it far more dangerous.

Drake can also be a Cliff Dive target, though we have less faith in this direction.

Score: 3

Classes: Priest

Hopeful Dryad

Dryad generates a card of high-quality, which is not bad considering its stats are reasonable for a value 3-drop. Dream cards are all strong, though they are useful in different ways. We can see this card sneaking into late game strategies that are looking for ways to gain card advantage.

Score: 2

Classes: Control decks.

Envoy of the Glade

We are not sure how this card helps us win Hearthstone games. A mediocre body that transforms cards we put in our deck for random stuff that does not even carry a discount.

Score: 1

Illusory Greenwing

This dragon can be strong if we have ways to pull the shuffled dragon taunts quickly. Note that Illusions are minions, rather than cast when drawn spells. This means that Paladin’s Dragonscale Armaments do not draw them, but Dreamwarden does. This also means that Tortollan Traveler and Quality Assurance can draw Illusions, which makes Warrior a strong candidate to utilize Greenwing alongside Clutch of Corruption and Succumb to Madness. Other minion tutors, such as Birdwatching or Tormented Dreadwing, can also work.

We can see this card becoming a popular choice in Imbue Paladin, due to its synergy with Dreamwarden. We suspect this may be a better 4-drop to play in a Dragon Warrior compared to Afflicted Devastator. It’s a strong candidate for a slower Zarimi Priest deck. Demon Hunter likely prefers Arkonite Defense Crystal as its resurrection target for Felhunter and Felbat, but it is another option.

Score: 3

Classes: Paladin, Priest, Warrior

Sporegnasher

If this card ever sees play, it means Tortolla broke the game.

Score: 1

Scavenging Flytrap

We would not play this minion even if it were 2 mana cheaper.

Score: 1

Slumbering Sprite

This card seems like an intended inclusion in Imbue decks, as they like to click on their hero power, but we do not see the point. Imbue decks do not want to click hero power on turn 2. They want to Imbue. So, if we play Sprite on turn 1, we have done nothing.

Sprite/Hero Power is not even a positive play for initiative, because basic hero powers are bad. In Demon Hunter, it is borderline, but still not something we are interested in. Later in the game, the impact of a 1 mana 3/3 lessens, so the card does not scale well either. Hard pass.

Score: 1

Bloodthistle Illusionist

A card supposedly for Handbuff decks, but is it even a good one? The whole point of cards that summon copies of each other is that handbuffs hit them twice. With Illusionist, one of the minions always dies to one damage. The absence of information can be a source of annoyance to the opponent, but we think it can be reasonably played around to minimize accidents. This does not move us. We would rather have Saronite Chain Gang.

Score: 1

Resplendent Dreamweaver

A small payoff for Imbue decks, meant to help them bridge into the mid-game. Dreamweaver’s condition can be realistically met on curve by all Imbue classes, as they should look for Imbue cards in the mulligan but is far from guaranteed.

If there was a spell that dealt 5 damage to a minion, we would not pay 3 mana for it, but we would be happy if it cost 2. In this case, the math checks out well for a 4 mana 5/4 that casts it. Dreamweaver should help us get ahead or fend off a threat.

Having said that, we do not expect it to be an auto-inclusion in Imbue decks. Some Imbue decks will not run the maximum 8 Imbue cards that are needed to trigger Dreamweaver consistently by turn 4-5. Some Imbue decks will prefer other forms of removal. Some will prioritize slow matchups and find this minion to be underwhelming against passive opponents. This is not a home run.

Score: 2

Classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Shaman

Treacherous Tormentor

The math checks out well for Tormentor. This is a discover effect from a decent pool of cards, on top of adding a Dark Gift, with a good body for 4 mana. Paparazzi saw some fringe play in control decks. Tormentor is a similar, but superior card in terms of value for cost.

Still, we do not expect this card to see generic play. There needs to be some synergy for it to be justified. Two classes stand out here. It should be a strong inclusion in Warlock thanks to Wallow. It could be a serviceable option in Discover Hunter.

Score: 3

Classes: Hunter, Warlock

Ancient of Yore

This card reminds us of Frost Lotus Blossom. It is a neutral, scuffed version of Blossom. You can think of it as a Blossom with a smaller delay, at the price of a higher cost. The “Blooming” is in the form of a body, rather than the effect.

Drawing 2 cards while gaining 10 armor is an enticing value package for defensive decks in classes that do not have an abundance of card draw or sustain. The body is almost irrelevant here. We play Ancient of Yore to delay the game and dig for answers in faster matchups. In slow matchups, opponents are less likely to punish us for spending 5 mana without developing a board.

Score: 2

Classes: Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Druid, Mage, Priest, Shaman

Nightmare Lord Xavius

A very similar card to Tormentor, but even better, as we discover a minion from our deck, the highest quality of collectible cards we can find. If Dark Gift is worth 2 mana and discovering a minion from our deck is worth 1 mana, then Xavius just looks strong.

We will say that we do not believe this card is broken, as we are still playing a 4 mana 4/4 initially, which is not good for aggressive decks, or other fast decks. In addition, decks with a more diluted pool of minions will not find it to be as impactful as those with a curated minion pool. For Discover Hunter or Wallow Warlock, this is mandatory.

The way we view Xavius is as a Griftah type of card. A neutral legendary you can splash everywhere whenever there is a slot to fill. Xavius should be stronger than Griftah most of the time, so expect it to be one of the most highly played cards of the set.

Score: 4

Classes: Everywhere

Shaladrassil

A corrupted Shaladrassil generates insanely powerful cards, but the spell admittedly does require heavy investment. We need to spend mana on a card that costs at least 8 mana to corrupt it, then spend another 7 mana on Shaladrassil. The good news is that if we are playing Shaladrassil on turn 9, we have enough mana to spend on a Corrupted Awakening and a Corrupted Dream, which should be able to swing the board immediately.

We can see every control deck taking a good look at this spell and evaluating whether it can utilize it. Druid has Sleep Under the Stars, which allows us to corrupt and play Shaladrassil on the same turn. Sandbox Scoundrel corrupts Shalarassil in Rogue, as it discounts it in hand before corrupting it! Warlock has both Agamaggan and Wheel of Death, which incentivize a Shaladrassil addition in different ways. Mage has Skyla, which can discount and corrupt it more easily, or Kalecgos. Priest can play it as an Aviana follow-up to swing back board after falling behind. Same deal with Blood-Ctrl Death Knight running ‘The 8 Hands From Beyond’.

Almost every class has some way to leverage Shaladrassil. We expect to see a lot of it going forward.

Score: 4

Classes: Death Knight, Druid, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Warlock, Warrior

Naralex, Herald of the Flights

Dragons are a powerful tribe with numerous expensive minions, making Naralex a scary enabler for late game combos. There is a good reason why Alexstrasza is rotating out this year.

Naralex’s best friend is Ysera, Emerald Aspect, since we can play Naralex and Ysera on 8 mana, then instantly gain three extra mana to play three additional dragons on the same turn. The most powerful example exists in Priest, where we can play two Briarspawn Drakes along with Zarimi and instantly win the game. But this combo is available without Zarimi to every class in the game and still provides a massive swing turn.

Should Zarimi Priest opt for a slower game plan, Naralex will be the reason for its potential success. We can bet that such a Zarimi Priest deck will become far more popular than the Zarimi Priest iteration from the last year.

This is the kind of card that can get crazier with new dragons, but we believe Team 5 will probably not print a dragon that breaks the game in the way Zarimi does for the next two years.

Surely.

Score: 3

Classes: Mostly Priest

Malorne the Waywatcher

Malorne offers a secondary, late game payoff to Imbue decks. Wild Gods are powerful, especially when they cost 1 mana. Many of them can help us swing the game to an extreme extent. By turn 8-9, we should be able to activate Malorne at relative consistency if we run all the Imbue cards that are available to our class.

If maximizing the Imbue package is optimal, Malorne is a low hanging fruit to add to our deck. However, there could be some synergy clashes with Malorne. For example, Hunter may decide it does not want it to interfere with King Plush, as it is also a beast. Paladin may want to draw Ursol and Renewing Flames consistently from Ursine Maul.

If those things do not detract from a deck’s general game plan, Malorne should make our lives easier.

Score: 3

Classes: Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Shaman

Ysera, Emerald Aspect

The pre-release legendary of the set, Ysera has already given us a taste of what her role could be. However, this card may be unlocked further once the full expansion is out.

We say this because her best friend, Naralex, is on his way. This two-card combo is particularly scary in Zarimi Priest, as we have mentioned earlier. Otherwise, Ysera seems like a good fit in ramp decks, which traditionally have been Druid decks, but could be Warrior or Warlock decks now too thanks to New Heights and Fractured Power.

Another card to watch out for is Shaladrassil. Ysera, in combination with ramp, encourages a higher curve. A higher curve is more likely to be able to corrupt Shaladrassil. We would not be surprised to see these two cards played together often.

Score: 3

Classes: Death Knight, Druid, Priest, Warlock, Warrior

 

 

Into The Emerald Dream Summary of Ranks