This new 1-drop might open a lot of deckbuilding opportunities for Mages.
In the early days of Hearthstone, cheating Mage secrets into play, especially with [card]Mad Scientist[/card], was one of the most effective ways to play the class. As the card rotated out of standard, non-Freeze Mages reverted back to a secretless playstyle and built the modern versions of Tempo Mage.
Kabal Lackey, a new 1-mana minion coming with Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, could change all that. Kabal Lackey has the same effect as [card]Kirin Tor Mage[/card], making the next spell played this turn cost 0 mana, but is put on a much cheaper body which can be squeezed in to fill the curve more easily than his big cousin. This essentially makes the Lackey a lucrative option for all Mage play styles, especially considering the power of class secrets.
Tempo and Aggro builds would want Kabal Lackey to easily trigger [card]Flamewaker[/card] pings, grow a [card]Secretkeeper[/card] or activate the effect of [card]Medivh's Valet[/card] to generate tempo. Secrets such as [card]Mirror Entity[/card] and [card]Counterspell[/card] were both popular in the days of Mad Scientist and Kabal Lackey could very well make for a resurgence. On the other hand, slower decks such as Freeze Mage or value-based Tempo Mages could combo the card’s effect to generate [card]Fireball[/card]s from [card]Archmage Antonidas[/card] as early as turn eight, or - the dream of every Freeze Mage player - cast [card]Alexstrasza[/card] and [card]Ice Block[/card] on the same turn!
What do you think about Kabal Lackey? Vote in the poll below and visit our Mean Streets of Gadgetzan spoilers page to view all revealed cards thus far.
