Karazhan Revisited: Top and Bottom Tier Cards

by OtakuMZ - 4 years ago

With Mean Streets of Gadgetzan hitting in less than one month it is the right time to take another look at the impact of the cards of the last released adventure: One Night in Karazhan. No doubt about it, the setting and the flair of the adventure was great, but how did the cards impact the meta? What were the best and worst cards, what other highlights and disappointments brought the set? I will walk you through some categories and will try to give you an objective evaluation (in the non-subjective categories).

Generally, OniK was not well received despite the cool disco theme and the amazing location that is Karazhan. Why? The meta did not change enough by the newly released cards. It did make known archetypes, namely Malygos Druid and Midrange Hunter even stronger despite the nerfs that come alongside the expansion. Atop, new decks were scarce with only Secret Hunter rising steadily in popularity and power until it became one of the most represented decks in the World Championships 2016 at BlizzCon.

Note: There is no internal rating in the categories because this would just be a mostly subjective interpretation depending on decks preferred or accustomed with. The cards in each group are are just sorted by mana cost.

Top Five Cards

The two Shaman cards provide so much early game control to make Midrange decks the beast they are, dominating the meta since the set’s release. Cloaked Huntress, as already mentioned, was able to create the new “Secret Hunter” archetype single-handedly and Arcane Giants made all Malygos- or spell-based strategies so much more viable. Priest of the Feast is a strong card, even though the class itself lacks the power right now, there is little doubt that this card will haunt us in the expansions to come with the strong priest cards we already got spoiled from the Gadgetzan expansion.

Honorary mentions:

Although Barnes has the potential to wiff, he is strong when pulling out copies of e.g. Ragnaros or other minions with powerful instant or deathrattle effect but because of the unreliability he did not make the cut into the top 5. Kindly Grandmother is great but just below the very best cards.

Bottom Five Cards

Pompous Thespian, Protect the King and Kara Khazam! are just bad cards or lack synergy. Purify was discussed too much and here is not the place to repeat the community’s outrage again. Moat Lurker, despite the cool concept, is just too slow and the possible combos are too hard to pull off to make him even considered in competitive decks. The idea behind the card was good nonetheless.

Biggest Letdowns

I was imagining that Arcane Anomaly would be similar in power level than Mana Wyrm, but its promises were not held. Medivh suffers a lot in a tempo heavy meta and is just too slow. Menagerie Warden is most likely the most surprising candidate here. It is a powerful card, no doubt! Nevertheless, it is overshadowed by the sheer strength of Malygos Druid which withheld Beast Druid from becoming a thing in the actual meta.

Biggest Surprises

Never underestimate the power of 1-drops, especially if they provide card advantage. Althoug random, Mage spells are generally good and blank draws are the minority. Cat Trick surprised in Secret Hunter not only because it is another mechanic that has to be tested out while playing around secrets but also because it is really strong. Wicked Witchdoctor was the most surprising cards, initially mocked by a lot of pro players, but it turned out to be very powerful and archetype defining.

Best Card Design

Medivh’s Valet does not play a big role in actual competitive decks, but its a very well-balanced and designed card overall that might see play in the future. Violet Illusionist is a great fatigue card by design that encouraged a lot of people to explore these archetypes. Ivory Knight is a very playable and overall greatly constructed card that gave Paladins the right tool they needed without being overpowered; I would love to see more cards like that.

Worst RNG

The hit or miss potential of Barnes is almost comparable to Yogg-Saron and that is everything the competitive environment does not need.

Best Artworks

This is just my personal opinions, you might agree or not but it is hard to argue about personal taste 🙂

Note: sizes of these cards varied because I had to link an external source for the golden card. Source: hearthpwn.com)

Personal Favorite Card

As described above the balance and mechanic of this card are so well done without being overpowered that this card was for me the best card of the set. I also like the chess reference to the instance in WoW.

That concludes my list for the Karazhan adventure. Do you agree or disagree? Anything I have missed? Please leave a comment below, or tweet @OtakuMZ1978.