Another week, another wing of Hearthstone’s Blackrock Mountain. Last week’s wing took us into the depths of the infamous Molten Core with a new trio of bosses to conquer and new cards for both the Shaman (who desperately needed some love) and the Warlock (who didn’t). Let’s dig in.
Molten Core
Week One wasn’t too challenging, but Week Two definitely took a smidge more effort to complete on Normal. Garr was a particularly fun fight. You have to kill him off by turn five or so. His Firesworn minions fill the board on turn one and take damage each turn from Garr’s one-damage AOE hero power. Once the Firesworn die (they have five HP) they each deal seven damage to the enemy hero, which means you’re screwed unless you’ve built up significant armor by then. I enjoyed this fight because I basically got to pack my deck full of enrage creatures and build up hilariously huge Frothing Berserkers to crush the boss with.
Notable new cards in this wing include the neutral Blackwing Technician, a hotly anticipated card that will surely be core to each and every dragon themed deck once the rest of those cards fill out the Blackrock Mountain set over the next couple of weeks, as well as the Lava Shock spell for Shamans and Imp Gang Boss for Warlocks. We’ll talk a bit more about those below.
The Return of Shaman?
Shaman has suffered for quite some time in Hearthstone and the general consensus was that the new Shaman cards, while nice, wouldn’t do a whole lot to push the class into viability. So far, it’s hard to say if Shamans are primed for a comeback. We’ve got one important piece of the puzzle in Lava Shock out now, which should help Shamans run a couple of key Overload cards again without killing tempo (e.g. Feral Spirit), but without Fireguard Destroyer, the second Shaman card coming with Blackrock Mountain, the jury is still out on the class. Still, I’ve been seeing the class quite a bit more lately on the ladder and we’ve even seen some Shaman in tournaments such as SeatStory Cup 3.
The Return of Zoo
That’s right everyone, your favorite aggro deck is making a comeback on the ladder to join with the likes of FaceHunter. Personally, I was excited for the new Imp Gang Boss card because it would fill the Warlock’s three drop hole and give me even more demons to field in battle. Who doesn’t want the dream of filling your board with endless imps and Mal’Ganis? Unfortunately, while Imp Gang Boss is still a great three drop on his own, he’s also even better for players looking to run good ol’ Zoolock again. Imp Gang Bosses’ synergy with Zoo staples such as Knife Juggler, Abusive Sergeant, Dire Wolf, and even Power Overwhelming can’t be understated. Zoo is back with a vengeance!
Looking Ahead
Week three goes live tomorrow and I’m super excited to finally unlock Dragon Consort. Unfortunately, it’s still a bit of a tease, as we’re a ways out from unlocking the rest of the dragon cards in Blackrock Mountain. It’s hard to say if I’ll even be able to put together a viable dragon deck just yet, but you can be damned sure I’m going to try anyway. I do have to say that with all the aggro on the ladder, I’m not even sure if dragon decks will be able to compete even if the cards are good enough to make a solid deck. FaceHunter is simply overwhelming right now and the resurgence of Zoo isn’t making life any easier on that front.
What’s your take on Wing 2 of Blackrock Mountain? Share your thoughts with us below!
