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GRADES

I will be grading each card in the new Omens of the Past expansion for both ranked and draft play. I am going with a A+ to F grading scale this time out. A breakdown of the grading scale:

A’s: Straight bombs or very efficient cards, the best cards in the set.

B’s: Strong playables. Cards that push you into a given faction in draft.

C’s: Role players and cards you rarely cut from your deck in draft.

D’s: Narrow cards that usually don’t make the cut.

F’s: It would be a mistake to add this to your deck.

NEW MECHANICS

Spark: Cards with Spark have an additional effect when played after the enemy player has taken damage this turn.

Mentor: Cards with Mentor have an additional effect when played if you exhaust one of your units as a Student. Units that are already exhausted can’t be used as a Student.



Cloudsnake Hatchling

Ranked: C

This could see play in a flying theme deck or as a Spark enabler.

Draft: D+

I would avoid this unless I had lots of Spark cards, particularly 2 and 3 cost ones, or if I had many weapons.



Hearty Stranger

Ranked: D

This might make the cut in the Stranger deck to protect your strangers from Lightning Storm.

Draft: F

Even with lots of strangers this probably is too low impact.



Snowcrust Yeti

Ranked: B

This is a nice piece for any aggressive Primal deck and a fun tool for any Yeti tribal deck. It also can do a good job of turning on Spark and is annoying for control decks. The downside is the number of value 1/1’s running around but in the right deck this will be a solid player.

Draft: C+

I like 2/1’s for 1 in draft because they can trade up with the large number of 2/2’s or even 3/2’s that exist in the format. They can also allow for an aggressive start against a stumbling player.



Weather the Storm

Ranked: F

Draft: D

This is a weak trick, but if you are desperate for interaction this could be used.



Cloudsnake Breeder

Ranked: C-

This is a lot of stats for 2 power, but it is only at its best if it can be turned on early in the game. This might be too hard to pull off, but if you do it could see play.

Draft: C-

This is a fine two drop with upside, although it can be hard to turn it on early in the game.



Dragonbreath

Ranked: C-

This could see play in a deck where turning units into a student is relevant to your strategy, but this is a risky play otherwise as a fast spell can ruin you.

Draft: C+

This is efficient removal, but remember that it does exhaust your unit so you won’t be able to play this and attack with the student. You also can be blown out by opposing fast removal, so you need to be a little careful when casting this.



Maelstrom Bell

Ranked: F

Draft: F

I don’t think the effect is worth all of the time this takes to get going in either format.



Mating Call

Ranked: F

There could be some funky combo deck that uses this, but playing it fairly doesn’t seem wise.

Draft: F

This is very unlikely to do anything in draft.



Talon Dive

Ranked: F

This seems like not a great card even in an all fliers deck.

Draft: D-

A very narrow trick that I would be hesitant to add to my deck unless I had 8+ fliers.



Trailblaze

Ranked: B+

This is a strong effect, especially at fast speed, for controlling decks. There is not much fast card draw/deck manipulation, so this is a notable inclusion.

Draft: C

This is a fine card to add to most draft decks, but it isn’t super exciting.



Yeti Snowchucker

Ranked: D

If the Yeti deck needs more two drops, this is serviceable.

Draft: C-

Reckless makes this a bit worse than your normal two drop, but you should still play it if you need two’s. It is also a near guaranteed way to turn on Spark even if you have to trade.



Cloudsnake Harrier

Ranked: B

This is an efficient card that can lead to some powerful plays. It gets really fun in multiples.

Draft: B+

The raw stats make this a great play in draft and the spell damage bonus can be quite good as well.



Cobalt Ring

Ranked: C+

In a deck looking to do things with the Void, this is repeatable and resilient way to do get cards there. The downside is that it is quite slow.

Draft: C+

If you have a late game oriented deck, this is a strong card to help in the late game to ensure you continue to draw gas.



Crafty Yeti

Ranked: C-

More Yeti options! This one is pretty weak on rate, but I’m not ruling it out because the effect is nice.

Draft: C

I like this as a way to smooth out your draws, just make sure to have enough cheap units to turn it on. Even normal 2/2’s for 2 can do this a lot of the time.



Foothills Alpha

Ranked: F

Draft: D+

I am not super excited by this, but if you need a three drop you can do worse.



Icebow

Ranked: F

Draft: C+

I like this as there are a number of situations where you can kill a unit with the effect.



Mind Link

Ranked: D

Here are the relevant transform cards, the clause is to prevent shenanigans with Rain of Frogs and Knucklebones: Unstable Form, Deranged Dinomancer, Cirsco, the Great Glutton, Shimmerpack, Statuary Maiden.

I think this pairs best with Unstable Form and possibly Statuary Maiden, but I don’t think that adds up to a strong deck right now. Keep an eye on it for other new cards that may transform things, because I think with a few more it could become interesting.

Draft: F

If you have 2+ Unstable Forms, I might consider it, but that is pretty unlikely.



Skyrider Vanguard

Ranked: F

Draft: C

This is a fine playable in a normal deck, but if you have a ton of fliers it goes up a grade level.



Stormcrasher

Ranked: F

Draft: B-

One of the better Primal commons, you want as many of these as you can get.



Jotun Cyclops

Ranked: F

Draft: C

A fine four drop, but nothing too exciting.



Ridgeline Watcher

Ranked: F

Draft: C

Another serviceable four drop, I do like putting weapons on this to make it a harder to deal with threat.



Serpent Mount

Ranked: F

Draft: C+

This is a solid threat that can turn into a good blocker if the opponent has cheap fliers to block it.



Skyward Seer

Ranked: C

This is a nice value card, but the body/cost are bad enough that it won’t be amazing.

Draft: B

This is good if you just have a few normal common fliers, but if you have a powerful uncommon, rare, or legendary flier it gets way better.



Torgov, Icecap Trader

Ranked: B

There is enough going on here and the price is right. It will be fun to see how fast people can get to 15 cards in the void to make this nuts.

Draft: A

This dominates the board on turn 4 and provides some excellent card selection.



Pearlescent Drake

Ranked: A

The rate on this is very strong assuming you can reliably Spark it. This can end games quickly.

Draft: A+

Even without Sparking it, this is a huge bomb.



Skywalk Instructor

Ranked: F

Draft: C+

This is a strong card, but it takes some time to set up. Hopefully you have enough ground defense to live while you get your learning going.



Swindle

Ranked: C+

We don’t have much raw card draw at this rate, so despite this being a little slow I am not ruling it out.

Draft: B

It is a tempo hit in the mid game, but if you survive you are very likely to win if you Spark this.



Watcher of the Big Ones

Ranked: B

This is a lot of stats from one card, granted you need to deck build around it, but if there is a mid-range Mentor deck, this is likely a big part of it.

Draft: A

This is decent without Mentor, but to earn the A you want 2+ Mentors. It is an overwhelming amount of stats if you Mentor it.



Boltcrafter Shaman

Ranked: D

The effect is powerful, but this probably costs too much.

Draft: C-

This can be exciting if you have a lot of spells that do damage, but pretty bad otherwise.



Cirso’s Meddling

Ranked: F

Draft: D+

If you are desperate for interaction, this is a mediocre playable.



Iceknuckle Jotun

Ranked: F

Draft: C

If you need a six drop, this is okay but if you can’t Spark it, it is quite weak.



Lumbering Gruan

Ranked: F

Draft: C+

The rate is strong on this and the effect prevents it from taking combat damage when it blocks, so you can block bigger units safely, but this is likely the biggest thing on the board. You also are more likely to just read his ability as can’t block and just use it as an attacker in most cases.



Adaptive Predator

Ranked: C

I am not ruling this out in the Dinosaur deck.

Draft: A-

You have to be careful to not play too many 6+ cost cards, but this is the one you want barring Rares/Legendaries. It has been shocking to me how often this card wins the game on its own in draft. My favorite thing to do is to put Hunter’s Harpoon on it. Well as a spoiler for future review, I like putting the Harpoon on just about anything. Either way, the Predator doesn’t need help, it just needs you to get to 7 power so he can win the game for you.



Icequake

Ranked: F

While you have to take a close look at any sweeper, this one just costs too much to be relevant.

Draft: C-

This is a powerful effect, but it can often be too late by the time you are able to cast it.

Thanks for reading, and come back soon for the Shadow cards next!

-Ben Chapman

@bchap55

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