As of this writing, all of the Hero cards in Knights of the Frozen Throne have been spoiled, and many of them are pretty damn sweet. Let’s cut straight to the chase and look at the who’s who of the Death Knights!
First up is [Malfurion the Pestilent], and its Hero Power, [Plague Lord]. Seven mana is pretty dang low for Druid, as it will have very little issue getting to that amount with the plethora of ramp effects available. The [Poisonous Spider]s are 1/2, and the [Taunt Scarab]s are 1/5, both of which are powerful options in various situations. The Hero Power, while seeming uninspiring, plays incredibly nicely with most Druid decks’ gameplans. The big caveat of all of this is that both effects are choose one effects, meaning that they both work with [Fandral Staghelm]! This is going to give much more value to Fandral as a card, and will contort a lot of strategies as a whole since both effects on both the card, and the Hero Power, are so powerful. I expect this card to be played in every non-hyper aggro Druid deck from now until rotation.
[Deathstalker Rexxar] comes in with a solid sweeping effect to stabilize against smaller aggro decks, and a Hero Power that resembles the powerful Kazakus effect, but with the entire Standard pool of Beasts. Essentially, you get to combine all of the effects of any three beasts to create a super-mega voltron beast (which can’t ever cost more than five mana, as noted by the devs). This allows for some serious staying power if you get a solid combination, but it can also provide some real stinkers. Even so, you’re getting a solid deal for two mana (plus the cost of the Beast itself). I think this card will see play across every single Hunter deck.
[Frost Lich Jaina] is my jam, and is the epitome of inevitability. Admittedly, her mana cost is going to make things incredibly restrictive unless you’re sitting on an [Ice Block], or, at minimum, an [Ice Barrier]. Getting a [Water Elemental] is an okay deal, but as said before, it’s imperative that you play this when you’re on a stable enough board. The premier play I see with this card will be the classic [Frost Nova] and [Doomsayer] combo. It’s also not the ideal card to end the game on the spot when cards like Sindragosa, Medivh, and Archmage Antonidas exist. I see this card filling a nice little niche if there’s one more Elemental we can have access to.
[Uther of the Ebon Blade] has an immediate impact on the game, being able to equip an upgraded [Ashbringer] on the spot and providing a lot more than the advertised five armor via Lifesteal on the weapon. When a card that costs this much affects the board instantly, you can’t help but look a whole lot closer.
The Hero Power is a “win the game” effect that will likely never happen, except for the few cases where you’re going to hold the fort down with [Stonehill Defender]s into whatever else you wind up getting, but you were probably going to win those games anyway. There’s no real need to throw any cloning effects or anything to make this happen faster. Getting a 2/2 instead of a 1/1 is really solid, however, and combined with a weapon that can essentially kill things for free over the course of three turns, will help you trade up with almost anything that isn’t entirely busted. Not only that, but making 2/2s is a much better clock at this point in the game.
The power level of this card is very in-your-face and upfront, which is a good thing. That said, I think this card will see heavy play early on because of how obviously powerful it is, but might taper off once decks begin to get more resilient and bulky.
Anthony has been competing in games for the better part of his adult life and is dedicated to improving his game, improving his community, improving himself as a person, and most importantly having fun and enjoying himself while doing so. You can check out his stream to find out which video game is the latest to catch his attention.