I thought it would be fun to attempt to rank the new class legendaries in the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion based on how I’ve seen them played thus far.
What is a class legendary? Each of the nine classes has a new legendary card in the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion that only that class has access to. There are plenty of neutral legendaries of course that all classes can play - we’ll look at those at a later time. So, which class legendary do I think is best? Read on (or more likely just scroll down) and find out!
9. Flame Leviathan - Mage
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The Mage legendary is the most disappointing of the bunch. Not only is the card week for a legendary it also doesn’t seem to fit the mage “kit” all that well - there’s no magic, spell or otherwise mage-like feel to it. It seems like it would be a much better fit as a neutral legendary rather than a class legendary. As a 7/7 for 7 mana, Flame Leviathan is essentially a War Golem (a 7/7 for 7 with no card text) that deals 2 damage to all characters when it’s drawn. While this may help Mages put a stop to aggro and rush decks, it’s obviously unpredictable as to when this will trigger as it only happens when it’s drawn potentially causing it to do more harm than good. The ability also tells the opponent when you have it in your hand so they can ready their Big Game Hunter.
8. Bolvar Fordragon - Paladin
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If there’s one card that’s been discussed the most in this expansion it could very well be the Paladin legendary Bolvar Fordragon. When he’s in your hand, every time one of your minions dies he gets +1 attack. To make the most of this you’ll obviously want to have him in your hand as early as possible. The problem is keeping him in your hand, especially in an opening hand, prevents you from getting more useful cards as he takes up a spot. The other concern is that if he’s silenced, not only does his value become severely diminished but you also wasted that card slot in your hand on this now powerless card. Then there’s the issue of not drawing him at until much later in the game. It seems that the best play for Bolvar, assuming you draw him early, is in the late game once you’ve drawn out any potential silence or Hex/Polymorph cards your opponent may have been hanging on to. With more aggressive decks you could gain +1 attack nearly every turn and in slower control decks he could become a late game problem for your opponent.
7. Mal’Ganis - Warlock
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Watch out, here come the demon themed decks! The popular “handlock” warlock decks (which are control decks where the warlock hero power is used to draw up to a large hand of cards that will combo well with each other) are going to become even stronger. The +2/+2 buff to other demons makes this an obvious choice for late game demon decks. Making your hero Immune not only puts you in a great defensive position it also allows you to use the Warlock hero power without taking any damage essentially helping set up a game winning situation. Even scarier is the possible combo with Voidcaller, a 3 / 4 for 4 mana that puts a random demon from your hand into play when it dies. This means it’s possible to have a turn 4 or 5 Mal’Ganis enter play.
6. Trade Prince Gallywix - Rogue
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Gallywix has good stats as a 5 / 8 for 6 mana and has very interesting mechanic. When the opponent plays a spell, the rogue gets a copy of it and the opponent receives a special Coin card.
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What I like the most about Gallywix is that he’ll help bring new and interesting rogue decks to the game. The ability to gain copies of spells an opponent uses is not only strong offensively but will cause opponents to slow any spell-based attacks until they can deal with Gallywix. Obviously if your opponent can find a way to capitalize on the free coin to gain an advantage you could allow them to gain some momentum. I’m really hoping we’ll see some unique uses for Gallywix and bring rogues away from the miracle-rogue playstyle we all see on the ladder.
5. Vol’jin - Priest
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Vol’Jin is an amazing card that will find it’s way into many priest decks. It has many uses in both midrange and control decks. He’s also a great catch-up card for when you’re loosing board control. On it’s own as a 6/2 for 5 mana the card isn’t that great but with the ability to swap health with any minion on the board is incredibly powerful. With priests having multiple ways of dealing two damage including the 1-cost Holy Smite (deals two damage to a target), Vol’jin can stop almost any threat in its tracks while coming into play with tremendous stats. On top of that his 7 health 7 means he can avoid the sights of Big Game Hunter.
4. Gahz’rilla - Hunter
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Frightening. A 6/9 beast for 7 mana could be a problem but when its attack doubles every time it takes damage, it could quickly grow into quite the obstacle. You can bet that hunter opponents will be hanging onto any cards they might have that can deal with this monster. There are so many ways to get this card to grow out of control including something as simple as using an Elven Archer on it. You have to also acknowledge the potential bringing him into play early with a Webspinner or the new Call Pet card - draws a card and if it’s a Beast it costs 4 mana less. Worse, a Tundra Rhino that gives beasts charge - yikes.
3. Neptulon - Shaman
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A 7/7 for 7 mana with an overload of 3. Not so good. When it comes into play the owner adds 4 random murloc cards to their hand. Very good. Murlocs have the potential to synergize with each other very well and to suddenly pick up four of them can help get out of sticky situations or pull ahead in controlling the board. However, with the overload of three (meaning three mana the turn after the card comes into play will not be usable) could prevent some of those murlocs from coming into play the same or following turn especially if you bring Neptulon into play on turn seven. Even so, imagine top decking this card late in the game when you have few-to-no cards left in your hand - this could rebound you right back into the game if not give you a straight up advantage.
2. Malorne - Druid
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I think nearly every druid deck will be running this card. It’s a great value as a 9/7 for 7 mana and has no downside or drawback. When it dies it gets shuffled back into the players deck to be drawn again in a later turn. Even hunters can potentially use this card if they get lucky with a Webspinner as Malorne is a beast. This is just a really solid card. If you’re a druid facing off against a mage or shaman, you better bet on them saving a Polymorph or Hex for the moment you put Malorne on the board.
1. Iron Juggernaut - Warrior
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The new warrior legendary is my favorite of the bunch. The card is incredibly powerful especially in control decks that slow the game down increasing the chance that its ability will trigger. When the Iron Juggernaut comes into play, the following card is shuffled into the opponent's deck:
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Basically this legendary is a timed Pyroblast on top of 6/5 for 6 mana. What’s more, if you’re able to pick Iron Juggernaut off the board and play him again, an additional Burrowing Mine will be placed in the opponent’s deck. This would be completely devastating. The mine will make players think twice about using any card draw abilities with this thing in the deck. The other reason I love Iron Juggernaut and placed it in the number one slot is because of how fun it is due to the excitement and tension the mines create. I’d love to see more mechanics like this where there’s some sort of expiring clock where both players are left wondering how much time is left.
Now that we’ve had some time to play with the new expansion, what are your thoughts on these new legendaries? Have you seen any crazy combos or uses of these legendaries? Let me know in the comments below!
Further reading:
