When new cards are announced, the Hearthstone community stirs more than ever. Expansions and Adventures keep Hearthstone alive, as a dynamic metagame is key to card games. It is in these times that the majority of the community looks to professionals for their opinion on the upcoming content. Many pros do not shy away from giving their opinion, albeit in various forms. Some make YouTube videos, others make spreadsheets and every once in a while you'll find a blog or article on it.
In this article you will find the 5 worst cards and the 5 best cards according to the pros' reviews, plus a small bonus. To determine the list I compiled data of pros who rated the cards with numbers, e.g.: 4/5 or 8/10. These scores added up created a score for each card, resulting in a bottom 5 and top 5. To reflect the thoughts of more pros, you will find quotes underneath cards from players who did not rate with numbers themselves, but still agree with the general consensus.
The worst
#5 – [card]Silvermoon Portal[/card]
The 4-mana slot has always been clogged, not least for Paladins. [card]Piloted Shredder[/card] dominated when it was still in Standard, and more recently [card]Keeper of Uldaman[/card] has become the go-to card for the class. [card]Blessing of Kings[/card], often regarded as a 4 mana 4/4 with charge, has been losing its popularity but is still a powerful card. Decks have been popping up including [card]Djinni of Zephyrs[/card], but none appear strong thus far.
About Silvermoon Portal Thijs stated: “2 mana +2/+2 is already a spot where I don’t think it’s worth it. You also need board control and you can just play Keeper of Uldaman, which is way better.”
#4 – [card]Pantry Spider[/card]
Now that the card has already been released, people have started to realize that Pantry Spider has amazing synergy with [card]Evolve[/card]. For 4 mana one can summon two random 4-drops; often a big tempo play. In the ideal situation both the spiderlings could even transform in the infamous Flamewreathed Faceless. However, upon reveal, Pantry Spider didn’t seem too exciting, as it was mostly placed in the beast-playing classes Druid and Hunter.
StrifeCro, who did see the Evolve-synergy, says: “(…) Druid has better turn 3 beasts by far, and Hunter has [card]Carrion Grub[/card] which is comparable and also not that playable. Pantry Spider could be a great card in Evolution Shaman, but that deck becoming strong is something that I would not expect.
#3 – [card]Pompous Thespian[/card]
As [card]Frostwolf Grunt[/card] cried in its coffin, many wondered why Pomous Thespian was released in an Adventure, and not in an expansion such as Goblins vs. Gnomes or The Grand Tournament. In a card pool as small as an Adventure’s it is felt that there should be little to no vanilla cards, since we don’t get new cards often. The only other vanilla card to be released in an Adventure thus far was [card]Murloc Tinyfin[/card], which has the small upside of having the ‘Murloc’ tag.
As Chakki put it in his joint card review: “I’m disappointed that this is in our 45 card set. Why couldn’t they just save this for an expansion? Oh well… bad card.”
#2 – [card]Moroes[/card]
Infinite value, that is what Moroes theoretically could provide. Theoretically. That is if your opponent doesn’t play any form of AoE damage or random damage card and, to state the obvious, not a single viable deck plays without AoE. There’s synergy to be found with [card]Steward of Darkshire[/card] and [card]Knife Juggler[/card], but it was [card]Hobgoblin[/card] that possibly could’ve made Moroes really shine, hadn’t it been banned in Standard.
Trying to give a positive spin to the card Brian Kibler notes: “It could be a card that finds a role in decks that are looking to play a bunch of minions and continue to refill the board (…), but I’d be hard pressed to really see this card taking off in constructed play.”
#1 – Purify
Never has a card caused such outrage upon its reveal as Purify, and it should be no surprise that this card tops the list. Paying 2 mana to draw a card is bad, and as a sacrifice you also have to make your own minions (with the exception of [card]Eerie Statue[/card] and [card]Ancient Watcher[/card]) worse? The Hearthstone subreddit flooded with debates, jokes, and demands for an explanation from the developers. That explanation came in the form of Lead Designer Ben Brode releasing a video explaining what the thought process behind Purify was and, ultimately, agreeing that it might’ve been a mistake to release Purify in this Adventure.
As for the pro-scene, Frodan hit the nail on the head when during the live reveal of Purify he hesitantly said, after a long quiet period: “I always love making my own minions… worse.”
The best
#5 – [card]Kindly Grandmother[/card]
Very reminiscient of [card]Haunted Creeper[/card], the Kindly Grandmother is a very potent 2-drop. In some aspects it’s slightly worse than the spider from Naxxramas – it spawns only one token, wich is easier to deal with – but there are some big upsides to it too. First of all, both the Kindly Grandmother and its token the Big Bad Wolf are beasts, which allows for strong synergies like [card]Houndmaster[/card] and [card]Kill Command[/card]. Secondly, 3 attack is a big threat in the early game and, when combined with the aforementioned synergies, needs to be dealt with.
Reviewing the card, Reynad said: “The fact that you’ll be able to guarantee to have some board presence as a Hunter is gonna make your Houndmasters absurd. It’s going to give you some game against your hard match ups like Zoo; it’s just a super powerful beast card.”
#4 – [card]The Curator[/card]
At first glance, the effect of the Curator seems a bit too specific for its cost. A 7 mana 4/6 is awfully bad, even with taunt. Just take [card]Twin Emperor Vek’lor[/card] if its effect doesn’t trigger as an example. However, the seemingly odd combination of drawing a Murloc, Dragon and Beast is stronger when analyzed further. It’s still a grey area what Murlocs could fit in, but [card]Azure Drake[/card]s fit in many decks, and [card]Stranglethorn Tiger[/card]s are appearing more and more every day. All of a sudden, this card is comparable to a pre-nerf [card]Ancient of Lore[/card], but with taunt.
Firebat noted: “I could see this card being extremely competitive in a lot of decks, especially Druid. You [card]Innervate[/card] this bad boy out, draw two cards, refill your hand and you’re good to go. It’s like Innervating Ancient of Lore.”
#3 – [card]Medivh's Valet[/card]
Tempo is key in Hearthstone and, inherently, tempo swings are extremely powerful. Medivh’s valet is exactly a card that’s able to provide such a swing. [card]Fire Elemental[/card] was the first card to have the ‘deal 3 damage’ battlecry effect, followed up by [card]Blackwing Corruptor[/card]. It is no coincidence that both of these cards are regarded as very strong; they create big tempo. Its requirement could be hard to be met as your opponent may try to trigger your Secrets before you can play this card. An exception to this is, in most cases, [card]Ice Block[/card], which basically guarantees to stay active for a long time.
Trump says about Medivh’s Valet: “I love this card because it enables different decks. Do you know how much mana ‘deal 3 damage’ is worth? It’s basically worth 2 mana. So that’s tremendous value (…). It encourages Secrets build, Control build, perhaps Reno?”
#2 – [card]Barnes[/card]
The king of Karazhan’s drama department has already caused a lot of frustrating moments in the game. From the moment it was shown many saw the potential of getting a 1/1 [card]Ragnaros the Firelord[/card], [card]Sylvanas Windrunner[/card] or [card]Tirion Fordring[/card] on the board – often said to be a game winning play on turn 4. Barnes is what the Hearthstone developers like to call a ‘build-around’ card, as it doesn’t easily fit in any deck. After all, getting a 1/1 minion which usually has a battlecry effect or even no effect at all is far from ideal. It has to be noted that, should a 1/1 copy of a deathrattle minion be summoned by Barnes, that minion will be summoned by [card]N'Zoth, the Corruptor[/card] in its full glory, making Barnes’ effect even more powerful.
About Barnes, Amaz said: “I think Barnes is really insane. If you build your deck right, you’re alway gonna get some value no matter what. Imagine you put this in a Reno Rogue deck with N’Zoth, and you get a 1/1 [card]Tomb Pillager[/card]: you get a coin so that’s fine. If you pull an [card]Undercity Huckster[/card] that’s insane. It has a lot of potential to be good.”
#1 – Menagerie Warden
Whereas Purify was heavily criticized for being too bad of a card, Menagerie Warden was its opposite: it received criticism for being too strong. Various streamers and pros named the design ‘lazy’, as it provides Beast Druids with a humongous powerplay. The most ideal situation, playing this card on a [card]Stranglethorn Tiger[/card], allows for a 6 mana 10/10 that deals 5 damage as a battlecry. When running the numbers on it, the Menagerie Warden is already good when played on most 3-cost beasts, and even copying an [card]Enchanted Raven[/card] is not horrible.
Gaara stated: “This card is nuts. I don’t know why you would print a card like this. It may be even a bigger mistake than Purify. Because when a card is bad, you just don’t play it. But when a card is broken, it’s not fun. It will be a staple in every deck and dictate the meta and, eventually, all you will see is decks that try to beat this card.”
Bonus
The card pros don't agree on
Reviewing cards is tough: time's proven that more than once. [card]Troggzor the Earthinator[/card] was thought to be overpowered, but it was rarely seen. On the other hand, [card]Dr Boom[/card] unexpectedly turned out to be a staple in many decks. There are always different opinions on cards, but in this Adventure Nightbane Templar takes the crown. With a standard deviation of 3(!), the pros do just not have a straight opinion on this card. The obvious deck this belongs in is Dragon Paladin, but even the style of Dragon Paladin was debated. Some argued for a more aggressive deck, whilst others see Control Dragon Paladin happening.
Chakki rated the card 2/10, and stated: "I don't really see what it does. It gets you into [card]Keeper of Uldaman[/card] or [card]Blessing of Kings[/card] but.... I think it's unplayable. Other Paladin decks are just better; you just run N'Zoth."
Thijs was a little kinder towards the card, but still no fan of it: "I don't think this is necessarily a good card for Paladins. The only good thing about this card is that Paladins have a weak spot at 3-drops. But I still think it's too hard for Paladins to pull off the dragons, so I don't think this card is gonna be too flashy. I think there's potential, but even saying there is potential I don't think you will see it."
On the completely opposite side stands StrifeCro, who rated this card 5/5 - the only card to get this rating from him: "A very strong new card for Dragon Paladin, this is 4/5 worth of stats for 3 mana. This is on the [card]Muster for Battle[/card] levels of power and could give us a new age of Midrange Paladin anchored by dragons instead of dudes. Paladin has long been the class with some of the strongest midrange cards, but before GvG had too weak of an early game and after GvG became too meta warping with a strong early AND mid game. As of now, we still don’t have a super powerful turn 1 and 2 minion, but Nightbane Templar combined with [card]Netherspite Historian[/card] can enable Midrange Dragon Paladin just off of the sheer power level of the cards.
