With a little under 24 hours left until the new Hearthstone expansion drops, I have been ferociously theory-crafting deck ideas and building my hype like I would build a deck. This next expansion, The Witchwood, has a ominous and dark fairy tale vibe that seems to take inspiration from The Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen. There are pixies, sprites, werewolves, hunters, and of course, witches. Add a couple new keywords (Echo and Rush) and a new Shaman hero card and we got this cauldron kicking baby! Speaking of Shaman… is this class finally able to escape mediocrity? Kobolds and Frozen throne added mechanics that simply were not strong enough and thus Shaman has been one of the weakest classes, seeing almost no top level play. Before we go further, let’s take a look at my most hyped cards.

5. Lifedrinker

I need to know how big this bug actually is. Is it the size of a mosquito? Or perhaps an elephant? The card art does not reveal this but ultimately unimportant because the battlecry has enormous potential. Restoring health through the early game against aggro or self inflicted (Warlock) is important. Adding a minion while restoring health is even more important. While a 4 cost 3-3 is lackluster, the effect absolutely makes up for it. If this was a 4-4 it would be high tier and in many decks from this upcoming meta. I will be revisiting this card further down this list.

 

4. Lady In White

Priest was my favorite class for a very long time. In fact the first deck that ever moved me up past rank 15 was an inner fire/divine spirit combo deck. In the current meta an extremely powerful deck is the combo priest that makes use of those two cards as well as the dragon synergies. However there are some integral dragon cards rotating out including Netherspite Historian and Drakkonid Operative. The question now is “will we see a top tier priest deck that focuses more on the inner fire combos?” Lady In White brings serious potential and the battlecry is exciting yet I implore you to consider this. If this card is not in hand by turn 6, the power level drops drastically. The idea is that you have a deck full of low attack/high health minions that otherwise have low board presence and Lady In White is used to make them viable. Therefore it needs to be played by turn 6 or turn 7 at the latest to have a chance at overpowering an aggro deck. That being said and for nostalgia reasons, I will be building decks with this card as the centerpiece on Day 1.

 

3. Blink Fox

SO cute. SO majestic. SO powerful. Beaming blue and white the Blink Fox fits into the “Other Class” mechanic that Rogue has utilized or a couple years and is being pushed heavily in the Witchwood. There are 4 cards being added to Rogue that have this steal from the other class effect and if building this deck, Blink Fox is auto include. I can also see this card fitting into almost every other Rogue archetype. Maybe not Kingsbane Rogue but you get the point. Fantastic stats. Fantastic effect. Fantastically cute. Also a very good arena card.

 

2. Prince Liam

This is 100% my meme selection on this list. You better believe I am going to build a deck almost completely full of 1 drops and then play this. That is certain. What I am not certain about is why the card art is so odd looking. Reminds me of the time we forgot a blue dyed easter egg under the sofa and was subsequently crushed. Prince Liam… why do you look the way you do?? For the meme bro.

 

1. Shudderwock

Holy hell is this card going to be a blast. I am foaming at the mouth over here imagining all of the ridiculous scenarios that can be setup. Not sure how effective or game changing they will be but they sure will be fun to watch and it is absolutely bordering meme territory. I am going to urge everyone to try this card out and make your best battlecry centric deck. Include cards like Saronite Chain Gang and Lifedrinker. You could even try to get a 1 cost Murmuring Elemental (battlecries trigger twice) by either using Grumble World Shaker or Fire Plume Harbinger and then on turn 10 setting of the Shudderwock twice. Good times.