The Comprehensive Into The Emerald Dream Preview

Horn of Plenty

Several spells that resemble Horn of Plenty (Nature Studies, Planted Evidence) have been released in the past and they have seen competitive play. Horn of Plenty is a bit of a mix between Studies and Evidence, as the discount only applies to the discovered spell, but the discount persists through turns.

The ability to discover a spell at a net cost of 0 mana should be appealing. Nature spells are a high-quality pool of 18 cards. Ward of Earth and Flipper Friends can be cheated out on turn 3 and provide a genuine board swing, for example. A discounted Shaladrassil is an amazing find in the late game. Photosynthesis is another strong value discover. You are unlikely to whiff.

Furthermore, this spell is worth a full Imbue in a deck with Hamuul, as it is a Nature spell that discovers another spell. This should be a popular choice amongst different Druid decks.

Score: 3

Ward of Earth

We like finding this spell with Horn of Plenty, but we are less impressed with it as a constructed card. Even in a Hamuul deck, spending 5 mana for half of an Imbue does not ramp up our hero power quickly enough. If we value a random 5-drop at 4 mana, then the additional armor and taunt makes it pass the vanilla test, but we would like to do more than that in constructed. Even if the format’s power level drops off with rotation, we do not think a 5-mana Ironforge Portal makes the cut.

Score: 1

Evergreen Stag

A keyword filled Boulderfist Ogre. Stag is a very sticky taunt that can force quite a bit of life gain, as the Elusive keyword makes it difficult for the opponent to remove it without minion trades. Realistically though, we should only play this card in a Hydration Station deck, where we can draw it with Tortollan Traveler and drop it on turn 4. But Hydration Station has been severely weakened by nerfs to the card itself and Zilliax. If the compensation for Warrior is Tortolla, while Druid gets Stag, then we cannot be optimistic about Station Druid’s chances of competing.

Score: 1

Symbiosis

This card reminds us of Discovery of Magic. 1-mana spells that discover other spells without a baked in discount require some synergy to be competitive. Symbiosis certainly has it, as it is a great spell in a Hamuul deck, worth a full Imbue at a cheap cost. Additionally, the discover pool for Symbiosis is small and has cards of good quality, many of them are defensive tools that can help the Druid survive early or stabilize in the mid-game.

Should Hamuul prove to be competitive, Symbiosis will be involved, but we do not think it has a home outside of it.

Score: 2

Dreambound Disciple

The math checks out well for Disciple. It discounts two of our hero powers to 0 mana, which means it saves us more mana than what we paid for it. It is a 3/3 that gives us 1 mana.

Of course, a basic hero power is not worth spending 2 mana on, so for Disciple to be a worthwhile card, we need to play it in a deck that upgrades its hero power into one that fits the cost. In Hero Power Druid running Groovy Cat, this card would have been a staple, for example.

In a post-rotation world, Disciple’s main home should be an Imbue deck with Hamuul, allowing us to spend no mana when we are summoning Plant Golems. But otherwise, we do not see where it goes.

Score: 2

Photosynthesis

If we split the effects apart, Photosynthesis looks like a decent generation tool. We are paying 1 mana to restore 6 health and 2 more mana to generate 3 spells. When effects combine, they are usually stronger, as we remove the cost of playing a card to get them. Note that we can get any Druid spell, not just Nature spells, so the discover pool is of lower quality compared to Horn of Plenty.

Where Photosynthesis becomes valuable is in an Imbue deck with Hamuul, as you are looking at a 4-in-1 enabler, worth two full Imbues at the cost of a single card slot in the deck. This ramps our Plant Golems like no other card. It may not develop a board but having a heal effect can be nice against decks looking to burn us down.

Much like most Nature spells in this set, it should be good in Hamuul decks, but questionable outside of it.

Score: 2

Reforestation

Spending 2 mana to draw a card is almost never good enough. Tutors at this cost usually have an added benefit that makes them worth playing (like Birdwatching). The only thing Reforestation has is its flexibility, acting both as a minion tutor and a spell tutor.

Of course, once the spell sits in our hand for 3 turns, it becomes Swindle-esque, which is a good card. But that requires us to wait a long time.

The immediate comparison goes to Frost Lotus Seedling, which is about to rotate. We think Seedling is a stronger card, as it draws the same number of cards when it is activated, while adding a whopping 10 armor for just 1 extra mana. It is a much bigger payoff and far less punishing to keep in the opening hand as it can function as a genuine stabilizer in faster matchups.

There are cases where we can see Reforestation’s baseline effect become acceptable. If we run a spell heavy deck with the goal of tutoring a minion win condition, then we might value that effect as good enough for 2 mana. But this requires a unique setup, with the full acceptance that in any other scenario, this spell is bad.

Score: 2

Grove Shaper

Grove Shaper offers Druid a board-based win condition and a form of card advantage. We have seen plenty of cards with this effect in the past, but Shaper adds a value twist, as it “recycles” every Nature spell we have played while it is on the board. Every time we play a Nature spell, we store it in a Treant, then the spell goes back to our hand once the Treant dies.

Violet Teacher-esque cards are all about timing. Grove Shaper costs 5 mana, which is a lot for a deck that may look to pressure opponents through the board. As an example, 4-mana Raylla, Sand Sculptor, did not make an impact on the format. Druid also does not have great board buffs post-rotation, so we do not have faith in a Token-style deck built around Grove Shaper in the immediate term.

As for Hamuul, we are not convinced this card is worth a slot in an Imbue deck, as we will be looking to spam spells from turn 1 and not save them for a Shaper turn. We suspect there will be no desperation for card advantage to an extent that requires Shaper.

This card can become decent the moment Druid receives its next Cultivation, but probably not before that.

Score: 1

Hamuul Runetotem

Hamuul is the most unique Imbue card in the set. Rather than getting specific class cards that Imbue, Druid can build a deck with a small restriction and turn every spell in it into an Imbue card. Note that once Hamuul activates at the start of the game, every spell we play can Imbue, not just Nature spells! If we generate spells with Photosynthesis, they are all fair game.

The Imbue hero power for Druid is simple. Plant Golems remind us of Jade Golems. A source of infinitely scaling threats. Thanks to Hamuul, our potential to Imbue is higher than any other Imbue deck, which means Plant Golems can get crazy in the late game. If we run every neutral Imbue card and a deck full of spells, we can easily scale up Plant Golems to have more than 10/10 stats. Add Sing-Along Buddy and this can stress the removal toolkit of any defensive deck.

Of course, the caveat is that it takes time, and we are usually summoning one threat at a time. This leaves the deck vulnerable to big board swings, the most notable of them is The Ceaseless Expanse. Jade Druid had the advantage of being able to develop several Jade Golems in a single turn, which made reloading the board easier. Nature Druid does not have that luxury.

We are concerned that a deck based on such incremental gains will become a sitting duck to opponents with swing potential. For that reason, we are wary of Hamuul’s competitive chances.

Score: 2

Forest Lord Cenarius

Cenarius is a late game card that offers us either big taunts or board wide buffs, in the spirit of Classic Cenarius. We expect to use the board buff option less often, as Druid decks that rely on flooding the board will rarely ever get to turn 10. Summoning 5/5 taunts will be more common if we are looking to play a Ramp Druid deck that tries to stabilize. However, we could summon a couple of 5/5 taunts and then buff them to 6/8’s too.

It is hard not to compare this card to Eonar and feel underwhelmed. Yes, Cenarius as a standalone card offers us more immediate board development, but Eonar is much more versatile. Furthermore, Druid loses important ramp cards in rotation that makes 10-cost cards less attainable goals.

Even if Druid does get more ramp in the future, we do not see Cenarius becoming more than a fringe card. It is irrelevant in faster matchups, while slower decks should have the removal capabilities to deal with it. It is a standalone stat bomb that does not synergize with other cards to a notable extent. We usually skip those.

Great pick from Malorne. Not in our deck.

Score: 1

Final Thoughts

Into the Emerald Dream Set Rank: 10^th

Overall Power Ranking: 11^th

It is not looking good for Malfurion. The Emerald Dream is, ironically, where he might prove to be the weakest he has been for a while.

The first reason we are pessimistic about Druid’s chances this expansion is that it is losing its only current competitive decks. Hero Power Druid is effectively rotating. Dungar Druid is losing Titans, Zilliax and Wild Growth through Malfurion’s Gift. 

That leaves some semblance of a Hydration Station Druid that looks drastically outclassed by the armor stacking potential of other classes. The one great addition for Ramp Druid decks is Shaladrassil with Sleep Under the Stars looking like one of its best enablers. If Ramp Druid does find success, we suspect it will be through this path. 

But what about Imbue Druid, you say? The major difference between Jade Golems and Plant Golems is that you could reload the board far quicker with Jades. With Plant Golems, you cannot summon more than two at a time, and that’s with the help of Sing-Along Buddy.

Strategies that try to develop incremental advantages in the late game are vulnerable to strategies with big swings. While the format may not be as swingy post-rotation, we still expect late game strategies to have strong comeback mechanics.

And, when it comes to the late game, The Ceaseless Expanse is the biggest counter to Plant Golems you can possibly imagine. Despite the nerf to Expanse’s stats, we suspect the card will only become stronger in the expected slower format. If Druid is not fast enough to kill opponents by turn 8-9, then it will inevitably see all its pressure wiped out in one turn. Its tools to come back at this stage of the game are weak.

Perhaps, Druid being weak in the Emerald Dream will be lore accurate. If the class flops, then we can just pretend Malfurion is asleep.