Abyssal Depths
This card seems very underwhelming. Drawing 2 cards for 4 mana is worse than a vanilla Arcane Intellect and certainly worse than most card draw engines we’ve seen in the Demon Hunter class. For this card to be a consideration, it must be used as a specific tutor. One scenario to consider is drawing Vanndar in a Big Demon Hunter deck, but it’s still very awkward on curve. This could have cost 3 mana.
Score: 1
Glaiveshark
Consecration on a 4/3 stick, with a condition that’s easy to fulfill for the class. A pre-equipped weapon enables a big swing in the mid-game, but even without a weapon, Glaiveshark is a nice play on turn 5 with a hero power. Just good and might be useful in both defensive and aggressive decks. Remember that the damage goes face.
Score: 3
Bone Glaive
Arcanite Reaper with a small upside. This weapon starts to make more sense once you look at Azsharan Defector. We can potentially deal 15 damage over two turns, so maybe this is a win condition for aggressive DH decks, but we’re still not too thrilled about this interaction because of how vulnerable it is to being overwhelmed through the board.
Score: 2
Multi-Strike
This card has great synergy with the class. It offers 2 damage for 1 mana but scales incredibly well with other attack modifiers and weapons, allowing you to double tap into you damage potential by either clearing minions or directing face damage. Works well with Dreadprison Glaive and Aldrachi Warblades. Answers an Irondeep Trogg and very likely a staple in decks that run Jace Darkweaver due to its Fel spell school.
Score: 3
Predation
This card instantly demands that every Demon Hunter deck considers utilizing the Naga tribe. A 0-mana 3 damage burn spell that can go face is just very good and you can always play it immediately after dropping a Naga minion. Extremely versatile, gets out of the way of Outcast cards, and not even that bad at full cost in case of emergency. Also, likely to find a place in slower combo strategies with a package of Nagas since it works perfectly with Lady S’theno. Just very, very good.
Score: 4
Azsharan Defector
A 5/3 rusher on 4 is unlikely to be a good enough card to stand on its own and this card’s interaction with Bone Glaive doesn’t scream like a winning play. We don’t love this card in Deathrattle Demon Hunter either because the deathrattle doesn’t have an immediate impact on the board. But maybe cheating it out with Razorfen Beastmaster or Death Speaker Blackthorn makes Defector a little more bearable and allows us to set up the Bone Glaive turn to finish our opponents off. Optimistic.
Score: 1
Wayward Sage
Sage is basically a free 2/2 that you can use to either flood the board early on or bank its reduction for a bigger turn later. Mostly fits an aggressive DH deck because of how it can enable early blow outs alongside 1-drops and how easy it is for a deck with a low curve to play it in Outcast form. It’s a bit more difficult to utilize the reduction to enable combo pieces.
Score: 3
Coilskar Commander
This card has quite a bit of defensive potential. Three 2/6’s with taunt can stop many aggressive decks in their tracks in a Spreading Plague fashion. The only problem with Commander is its high cost and difficulty in activation, which is an issue for many of these cards, though being able to tutor it with Crushclaw Enforcer helps. Investing multiple spells on it isn’t easy, and it’s a bad draw off the top because of how slow it is to activate. We’re a bit weary of expensive cards in the class when the Outcast mechanic is usually so important for most of its decks, though Skull of Gul’dan is leaving.
Score: 2
Lady S’theno
An intriguing build-around card. This card can be used as a major snowballing threat, or a finisher. S’theno hits face when the board is cleared, so you could combo her with multiple spells to deal significant burst damage to the opponent. When the board isn’t clear, she leverages spells to act as a pseudo-AOE tool that can devastate an opponent’s board and swing the game. We just can’t see S’theno not become a major component at some point in the future. Would be a staple in every competitive DH deck that currently exists.
Score: 4
Xhilag of the Abyss
This colossal provides a wide board by itself that must be dealt with immediately, or it threatens to end the game due to the scaling damage potential of Xhilag’s stalks. It has some immediate impact on the board, and it can be cheated out with Sigil of Reckoning due to its demon tag. It’s a bit expensive for Demon Hunter, but it’s likely that decks will strongly consider topping out their curve with Xhilag.
Score: 3
Final Thoughts
Voyage to the Sunken City Set Rank: 6th
Overall Power Ranking: 10th
There are many different types of pain. There is muscle pain. There is headache. There is building Demon Hunter decks after Skull of Gul’dan has rotated.
Demon Hunter is losing so many critical cards in rotation that only an extraordinary set could make up for it. While the class did get some good cards, they don’t feel like they cover for the huge losses, and the Core set changes have done little too.
We will have to adjust to the loss of Ashes of Outland, Scholomance Academy and Darkmoon Faire. The class was truly pumped with power during its year of initiation, and now the well is running a bit dry.
There’s some interesting stuff to explore, but this is the class we struggled to theorycraft the most. Deathrattle Demon Hunter could stick around with Skull, but its finishing potential isn’t exciting and the same is true for Aggro Demon Hunter. Maybe an Arcanite Reaper that sometimes dredges Leeroy Jenkins is good? Maybe we’re coping.
Or perhaps Fel Demon Hunter can find a build worthy of competitive play thanks to Lady S’theno, Glaiveshark and Predation? We also have Multi-Strike juicing up our Jace a little more. Is there any way Final Showdown can exist without Glide, or is this week the questline’s last hurrah?
Illidan isn’t hopeless, but he might be the underdog of the upcoming format.
