More FoO Previews

Today, I've actually got 4 cards to talk about, 2 days worth of previews on the main site and 2 more cards that have been spoiled through other means. First, let's take a look at the official previews.

Moonfire
Druid-Instant Ability
Cost: 2

Attach to target hero , and your hero deals 1 arcane damage to it.

Ongoing: At the start of your turn, if Moonfire is in play, your hero deals 1 arcane damage to attached character.

(1) --> Put Moonfire into its owner's hand.

First, a couple of quick rules clarifications on this card for anyone who may not know. 1) If you use the return to hand ability while the beginning of turn effect is on the chain, the damage will not happen because Moonfire specifically says it has to be in play to deal that damage. 2) There are no timing tricks to use this to kill an ally and somehow bounce it back to your hand as well.

At first, this card seems a little underwhelming, but one of the things tha I haven't seen mentioned about it is the fact that you can just pick it up and put it right back down using up all of your open resources at the end of your opponent's turn. Coupled with some damage boosts like Moonkin Form or Chromatic Cloak, it can actually become a major problem relatively quickly.

One of the other potential uses for this card is just spreading damage around so that you can play smaller allies and trade them with bigger ones just by sprinkling some damage around with the Moonfire.

Yet another potentially abusable option for the Moonfire spam is the Druid hat from Onyxia's Lair. When you get into the mid-game, especially with a Moonkin Form, you can continuously bounce your own Moonfire and replay it to ready your Stormrage Cover. If you have the extra resources you can sift through your deck or you can just prevent 2 damage with each playing of the Moonkin Form.

Overall, I think this card is better the more I think about it. Hopefully there are some other good Druid cards so that a Balance Druid is a possibility in the next set.

Next up is today's preview card, Silencing Shot.

Silencing Shot
Hunter Instant Ability
Cost: 4

Marksmanship Hero Required

You may exhaust one of your ranged weapons rather than pay Silencing Shot's cost.

Your hero deals 2 ranged damage to target hero or ally. If you targeted a hero, its controller can't play abilities this turn, and you may interrupt an ability card he played.

These are the types of previews that make me happy I don't have to write glowing reviews. Let me tell you why this card isn't nearly as good as a lot of people seem to think it is.

First, the card that this one is being compared to a lot is Shield Bash. On the surface, they seem to have a lot in common. They both allow you to exhaust an equipment instead of paying their cost. However, there is a big difference here. The Warrior card lets you exhaust a shield while the Hunter ability forces you to exhaust a weapon.

This may seem insignificant, but it's actually very significant. A Warrior with a ready shield is nothing shocking. In fact, if a Warrior has a shield equipped you really expect it to be ready on their opponent's turn. A Hunter who leaves their ranged weapon ready is telegraphing that they have a Silencing Shot. There's simply no reason, other than exhausting all your resources, not to attack with that ranged weapon. If you're exhausting all your resources every turn, why do you have a weapon with a strike cost? This is very much a bait card, where you have to bait your opponent into walking into a trap and good players will generally be able to sniff out these traps.

Let me give you another reason why this card just isn't that good. People have finally started to realize that interrupts just aren't that good in this game. Counterspell, Arcane Torrent, Shield Bash, Kick. None of them see any play. Some of that may have to due with the fact that they are in classes that just aren't very good, but for the most part interrupting abilities just isn't that big of a deal.

The one use I can see for this card though is in the sideboard of Elendril Rapid Fire combo decks. They aren't as good as Azarak and Azarak can't use Silencing Shot. There are some potentially deadly cards that a Hunter can face when trying to go off such as Hammer of Justice, Intercept, Frost Trap, etc. This could be a serviceable option for stopping opponents from stopping you. However, even then, it's probably only a sideboard card in a sub-optimal deck.

This next card is one that a message board user over at the UDE main boards said his TO got from UDE for running a Sneak Preview.

Force of Nature
Druid Ability
Cost: 4

Balance Hero Required

Put 3 1/1 Treant tokens into play with Ferocity.

This card is good on a lot of levels. For one, it brings an element of Ferocity to the Alliance. So far the only Ferocity they have is Leeroy Jenkins. This card could be the Thunderhead Hippogryph for Alliance Druids.

It also gives Druids a good source of card advantage and board control vs. the Alliance rush decks as these tokens will generally be able to trade with probably a 2/1 and a 3/2 or sometimes even 3 2/1's. The ability to take out multiple allies with a single card is one of the things that almost all classes have lacked and gaining this card will be another step in the right direction for Balance Druids.

Today's last card is a new quest that has popped up on eBay.

Leader of the Bloodscale.
Quest

While an ally with cost five or more is in your party pay (1) to complete this quest.

Reward: Draw a card.

I guess this is the control answer to Defias Brotherhood. It's certainly very playable and I can't imagine a control deck not running this card, it's just too easy and cheap. In Horde mid-range decks that top out with Moko and the increasing in popularity Stone Guard Rashun, having this and Torek's Assault and possibly even Counterattack gives them a ton of cheap card draw. So far, the few quests we've seen from this set seem to be at least on par with what we got in Dark Portal if not better. I think quest selection (after Defias, RtS, obv.) is going to become an even bigger part of deck construction with another set. There are already a lot of really good quests out there and with what looks like more on the way, I will be interested to see if some control decks start running a few more to guarantee they will always have some to complete.

Fires of Outland Previews

There are 5 new cards I haven't covered yet. I'm sure you have seen the four from the Sneak Previews and the one on UDE's site today. Now I'll tell you what I think about them.

Dragon's Breath
Mage Instant Ability
Cost: 3

Fire Hero Required.

Your hero deals 3 fire damage divided as you choose to any number of target heroes and/or allies. A character dealt damage this way loses all powers this turn.

This card is at least a step in the right direction for control mages. The biggest problem with this card for control mages is that control mages draw a big advantage from being frost mages. Don't be shocked if this card ends up like a little mini-Chain Lightning for aggro Ta'Zo decks. When they get the opportunity to take out 2 allies with one card or 1 big protector, it can really swing the early tempo in their favor. The fact that it's an instant is also good as is shuts off ferocity. Alliance should also get a Fire Mage this time around which will open this card up to them as well.

Unfortunately for control mages this is Fire spec'd, which means the frost mages can't use it, and it still has that one nasty word in it, target. Jeleane Nightbreeze remains a major problem for Mages and this card does nothing to help that problem.

Overall, it's a very solid card that will probably end up in a lot more aggro decks than control decks.

Kulvo Jadefist
Alliance Ally
Cost:3
ATK/Health:4/4

Protector
When Kulvo Jadefist attacks, he has -2/-2 this turn.

I was actually a little surprised to see this card as Alliance. I expected it to be Guardian something for the Horde. I'm going to say right now, that I think for control decks this guy might be better than Parvink for one simple reason, Parvink has a nasty tendency to die to Perdition's Blade. Kulvo, with his 4 butt is bigger than most removal abilities at that point in the game, bigger than Perdition's Blade and bigger than any ally that's going to attack him. So in the face of a Perdition's Blade he will either take an ally out with him instead of just dying to the blade, or be an effective Time Walk as your opponent won't be able to make any more attacks if they want to wait until the next turn to finish him off with the Blade. If they don't have a Blade, Kulvo will still almost always result in the same 2-for-1 that Parvink does with the exception that his 2-for-1 will result in 2 allies being removed from the board which is actually a better 2-for-1 than the 1-for-1 board trade with the extra card in hand you get from Parvink. It will definitely require some testing to determine which three drop fits in control decks now, but I'm a pretty big fan of Kulvo right now.

Hurlorn Battlechaser
Horde Ally
Cost:4
ATK/Health: 2/1

Long-Range
When Hurlorn Battlechaser enter play, he deals 2 ranged damage to target hero or ally.

Talk about guys that don't suck. This guy is really good. Despite the fact that Jeleane and Merry are running around everywhere, this guy will almost never be without a target. His long-range will rarely have a measurable effect on the game, but it will mean that your opponent has to deal with it immediately. If you have a couple protectors who could keep him alive for a couple of turns he can completely decimate your opponent. I wouldn't ever expect that of him, but the fact that he will almost always be 2-for-1 is very good. One of the things I like about this card is that it's probably not very good in a rush deck. One of the traps of designing good control cards is not accidentally making them also really good in rush. Chain Lightning is a perfect example. This card is definitely pure control because rush doesn't generally want to spend four resources for 2 ATK.

Arcane Blast
Mage ability
Cost:3

You pay (1) less to play Arcane Blast for each other card in your graveyard named Arcane Blast. Your hero deals 3 Arcane Damage to target hero or ally.

While this card isn't spectacular it could find a home in a Ta'zo aggro deck. Three damage for three resources is about normal so the first one is just an average card. But if you can draw more than one, every subsequent one just becomes better and better. With the Dragon's Breath above, Ta'zo has access to a lot of very efficient burn. It will be interesting to see if it can somehow translate into a competitive deck.

To Serve Kum'isha
Quest

Pay (2) to complete this quest. Reward: Reveal the top three cards of your deck. Put a revealed card with cost of (3) or more into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your deck.

This is another really good quest. I like the fact that the quest selection continues to get better. I already like the other quest we've seen from this set Corki's Ransom. This one is another really good one, especially for control decks. It's almost impossible for a deck like Warlock control to miss with this card. It makes me wonder if there is one for cheaper cards to though which would also be really good, but I digress. I think that UDE has seem some of the concerns over the beatdown decks and are releasing some good control cards to show us that hopefully FoO will help bring balance back to the metagame. These cards are all pretty solid, with a couple of them having the potential to be outstanding. I personally am really looking forward to this set.

Two-Headed Ogre

I've been wanting to play 2-headed ogre a lot lately, but there seem to be precious few rules. So I'm turning to you all to tell me what you think on some of the finer rules that would be different from a standard game.

First, the deck limit. Should each deck only be legal by itself, or should the restriction of 4 apply to both decks?

Duplicate heroes. Allowed or no?

Uniqueness. Does uniqueness (in reference to cards that are unique like Magni or Thrall) apply to each individual or each party?

Do teammates sit side-by-side or across from each other? This one seems obvious to me, but a lot of people are saying because the policy documents in terms of team sealed say that players would alternate, that means the teammates should be forced to sit opposite one another instead of next to each other which just seems silly to me.

I think that's the only things I can come up with rules wise that seem to be really different. Leave your answers here or email me at blyonsmagic@yahoo.com

Metagame Madness 7/24

It's been a few weeks since I last did Metagame Madness, and I've collected a lot of results and since we're now so close to Nationals, I'm just going to give the specific hero breakdowns. First I'm going to do total since the release of Dark Portal and then totals since the last Metagame Madness.

Phadalus-81
Pagatha-30
Dizdemona-24
Grennan-24
Telrander-23
Sen'Zir-22
Gorebelly-19
Azarak-19
Bulkas-16
Nimaasus-16
Elendril-15
Aleyah-10
Zenith-9
Omedus-9
Kayleitha-6

So we've got 15 heroes that have secured at least 5 top 8's over the course of the "season." We also have a lot of versatility after the top dog. Phadalus has run out to an amazing 81 top 8's. Pagatha, who has the second most has only managed 30. I know there are a lot of people who claim the game is balanced. But it's pretty hard to make that argument when the winningest deck has more top 8's than the next three decks combined.

I think the main reason people refuse to accept Phadalus's unbalance is the fact that so many people have a preconception about what an unbalanced deck should look like. When people think of an unbalanced deck, they think of a deck that is incredibly powerful and wins in four or five turns (or less). For those of you familiar with other games, think Ravager Affinity and Light Show. People expect to see some all powerful monstrosity that devours everything in its path.

Phadalus is not that deck. But it is unbalanced. The numbers don't lie.

Now let's take a look at what might be far more relevent to those of you hoping to use this information to get an idea of what to expect at Nationals. These are the numbers from just the last three weeks.

Phadalus-29
Pagatha-12
Grennan-8
Nimaasus-8
Sen'Zir-6
Bulkas-5
Dizdemona-5
Aleyah-5
Omedus-4
Gorebelly-3
Azarak-3
Elendril-3
Zenith-3
Telrander-2

No other hero has more than one. As you can see, in Metagame Madness' hiatus, not much has changed. I would say that Telrander is officially dead. Bulkas is making a nice little recovery. Aleyah has started to make a little name for herself, but WAYYYYY out front is still Phadalus.

I find this information hard to believe based on some of the "facts" that have been presented around the Internet in the last few weeks. Pagatha destroys Phadalus. The early game protectors plus the great removal is too much for Phadalus. Grennan loves Alliance rush decks, eats 'em for lunch. Nimaasus is just basically a better version of Phadalus. You get the Draenei cards plus Consecration, Hammer of Justice, and Blessing of Freedom. Bulkas was designed to beat rush decks so it crushes Phadalus, obv.

Now I'm sure at this point most of you are wondering why I seem to have such a giant crush on Phadalus. The truth is, I don't. I don't like Phadalus. In fact, I dislike him very much. But there are a lot of people trying to downplay how good the deck is. The fact of the matter is Phadalus is the best deck. It's not close, and I'm not going to stick my head in the sand and pretend like it's just another good deck.

For a quick comparison I want to show just raw stats from Magic's regionals to give a relative idea of what balance looks like. I won't list the decks themselves or even their names, just show how many top 8's were the most, second most, etc. These are out of ~160 total top 8's.

25
21
15
13
13
10
9
9
7

The top deck of the format only managed about 16% of total top 8's, but more importantly look how close the next decks were. So what you're looking at is not one definitive best deck with a bunch of others slugging it out for best deck that's not Phadalus, but a group of decks that would be the top decks, followed by a second group of decks that would be your Tier 2 or playable decks with anything else probably being considered rogue.

Another good example is the pre-Dark Portal metagame where the top three decks were Grennan, Dizdemona, and Elendril. While Grennan held on to the top spot the entire season, it wasn't by a ton over the other 2 decks. You had a group of the top decks (Grennan, Dizzy, Elendril) followed by contenders (Sen'Zir, Gorebelly) and everything else would probably be rogue.

But in the current metagame, Phadalus is taking a little over 30% which by itself isn't a terrible number especially considering we are only 2 sets into the game. What is bad is that the next best deck, Pagatha, is only bringing in about 12%, so there's not really that group of decks you look for at the top of the metagame, but one deck that stands out above the rest. All the others are basically just playing for the title of best deck that isn't Phadalus. If you still don't believe me go look at the numbers one more time.

I want to clarify that I'm not saying this to turn people off of the game or slam on the design team or say Magic is better. Things are what they are. What I am trying to say is that, for better or worse, the metagame is unbalanced right now. You can either accept that or you can continue to pretend that everything is perfectly balanced. Choose wisely.

If you chose to accept the reign of Phadalus, continue reading. If you chose balance, skip ahead to the next paragraph. As a deckbuilder, things can be easier in an unbalanced, defined metagame. What you're really looking for is a deck that has a very good matchup vs. Phadalus with the other matchups being far less important. If you go on just the fact that Phadalus is likely to represent anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 the field, the numbers alone say you would probably play it around 3 times in a nine-round tournament. Given the fact that Phadalus also seems to have a high tendency to win, and you can factor in more at the top tables late in the day so you may see even more than that. Due to the unbalance, you can expect to see Phadalus more than once, while probably only facing each of the other Tier 2 decks once each. This means that a weak matchup vs. Sen'Zir for instance, isn't that bad since you probably won't have to play against it more than once. You can't take a lot of bad matchups to beat Phadalus because you probably won't play enough Phadalus decks to warrant bad matchups in all the others, but you don't have to be good against everything. Compare this to the HoA metagame where you couldn't just build a deck to beat Grennan because you were just as likely to face Dizzy and Elendril all day so your deck really had to be more balanced vs. the field.

Okay, now that we've got the Phadalus fest out of the way let's take a look at some of the other decks there. Pagatha remains in the second spot, most likely due to her being Phadalus's toughest matchup. While it's hard to argue with Chris McMurry's success with the deck, I like the version that Matt Spreadbury played in Austin better. I think a lot of Chris's success has stemmed from him being an excellent player, but that deck while having a very potent endgame is also very vulnerable to a lot of hate for its big game enders. I like Matt's version because he still has the excellent early game but can turn on the beats much quicker in the middle. This allows him to beat down Phadalus before they can wait out to Magni or Yeti+Heroic Presence. The apparent death of solo decks other than Bulkas is also a positive sign for Pagatha heading into Nationals.

Grennan has gone the way of the Horde mid-range to sneak back up into third. I really like Horde mid-range right now and Stone Guard Rashun is a beating. An efficient body, he also shuts of ferocity and makes protectors all but worthless late in the game. Throw in the Shaman abilities and you've got the makings of a winner.

Bulkas has started to make a comeback which is a little surprising to me since Chipper, Moira, and Purge are still running around everywhere. Here's the nice thing about Bulkas though. Assuming it can bring its cards (specifically Cruelty and Wraith Scythe) online and keep them around, it destroys Phadalus. The problem of course is that Phadalus has very good answers both main and sideboard to the biggest threats. However, the potential to beat Phadalus combined with the very good matchups vs. the other decks (the Horde decks which don't have Chipper/Moira specifically) means that Bulkas is becoming a better choice once again.

I plan on talking about Gorebelly this week over at TCGplayer so I'll hold my comments until then for that deck.

Azarak to me, really feels like the deck to play if you want to play Bulkas, but don't want to shell out the cash for Stronghold Gauntlets. It does a lot of the same stuff, just not as well. It does have the potential to cripple rush decks though with multiple early game Lightning Reflexes.

Well, that's gonna wrap up this refresher course with the real numbers in the metagame.

Fires of Outland: The Loot

Today was Friday which means another of our weekly previews leading up to the release of Fires of Outland. Today we got a look at the loot cards in the new set. Since I don't play the MMO, I'm obviously not going to talk about the in-game awesomeness that these new cards bring. I will tell you what I think about these cards in the TCG though.

Goblin Gumbo
Instant Ability
Attach to target ally. Ongoing: Attached ally has -2 ATK. When Goblin Gumbo enters a graveyard from play, put it from that graveyard on top of its owner's deck.

The card is definitely not terrible. It's going to be a solid card against rush decks. It's almost like a re-usable Polymorph against little allies. The cost is low enough that it's not out of the question to play it. The extra benefit though can sometimes be a drawback.

First, a quick rules point. If they have some way of removing the target before Gumbo actually attaches, it will not go back to the top of your library since it never entered play.

Now to the downside of the card. It goes back on top of your library. I know at first glance this seems like a good thing since you get to keep using it over and over, but a savvy player (particularly one with a lot of cheap allies) will just start running the targets into whatever can kill them so that you either have to stop playing the Gumbo or keep drawing the same card every turn like some bad episode of The Twilight Zone.

Overall, I think the potential to essentially lock yourself out of the draw step will be this card's downfall, but it is probably worth testing out.

The next card is Gone Fishin.

3
Ability
Ongoing, (2), Exhaust -->Draw three cards and skip your next turn. Use only on your turn.

I'm not going to lie, I don't like this card at all. It's got the potential to be very, very bad. When you break the game down and say that there are three very basic types of decks, aggro, control, and combo. One of those has absolutely no use for this card. I have a hard time imagining a control deck wanting to skip a turn to draw some cards, even if you can recursively draw those cards. I could be wrong on this, but I can only see a very small window where a control deck would want to use this card against other control decks. Even in that very small window (between say turns 5-8), it's pretty risky, especially given the ease of card draw through quests. Even if you did ever activate this, I can't really see using it more than once or maybe twice, which means you would generally be better served by completing say, In Dreams. The fact that you have to use it on your own turn means you are not only giving your opponent two turns, but also advance knowledge of the second turn. This is much worse than say Lay on Hands skip your turn because you can use it at your opponent's end of turn so they don't get to play that turn knowing they have another free one coming.

This card actually seems like it could be really good in an aggro deck. In the mid-game when your opponent has just wiped out all your allies, and you have nothing left, skip a turn and get some new cards or skip two turns and take a mid-game mulligan (of course, giving your opponent all those turns kinda undoes all the extra card drawing. While I'm not going to say that this is either incredible or not worth it, I will certainly try it out in my aggro decks.

It's the last type of deck where cards like this really scare me. WoW is yet to see a viable combo deck (unless you count Gorebelly, which isn't purely a combo deck), but these are the kinds of cards that fuel them. This card is essentially three free cards to a combo deck on its kill turn. Knowing that you fully intend to win this turn means you won't have another turn to skip. Getting 2 of these into play is just unfair should a combo deck ever rise up as that will be 6 cards for it the turn it goes off. Right now, I don't see any immediate problems, but just having cards like this in the game begins to open the door. So far, the designers have done a good job of keeping things like this in check so I'm not too worried, but this is definitely the type of card you look for when trying to "go off."

We also got a free peek at Battle Preparations. This card to me is just awful.

Ability
Cost: 4
Allies can't attack until after your next turn.

Sure, it combos nicely with Gone Fishin (in the same way that Sentry Gwynn combos with From the Shadows). The aforementioned janktastic combo aside, this is another prime example of what control decks don't need. If a control player is going to take his fourth turn to do absolutely nothing, then he deserves to lose. Turn 4 is one of the most important turns in a game (except control on control) and doing nothing to either develop your own board position or hinder theirs is not the way to win matces.

Ironically, I could see a use for this card in aggro vs. aggro matches. I could see an aggro deck possibly playing this on say turn 6. Not only do you keep your opponent from doing any damage to you, he also can't take out any of your allies on his turn. While it's not spectacular, it may be worth testing. Unfortunately, this is supposed to look like a control card, but the only remotely feasible application of the card is in aggro decks.

Our last preview card is the loot I most want (because it's going to fetch some super prices on eBay). It's Spectral Tiger

Ally
Cost: 4
ATK/Health: 4/3
Alliance:Elusive allies in your party have +1 health.
Horde:Allies with ferocity in your party have +1 ATK.

While this guy will be a fine pick in draft (although he would be better as a 3/4) I'm not sure that he makes the cut for Constructed. On the Alliance side, Elusive allies have really been replaced by Untargetable ones so his ability isn't really going to do anything and he's just not as good as Moira for two reasons. One, his 3 health makes him much more likely to get killed by a single 2 drop, and two, he doesn't destroy equipment.

On the Horde side, despite the fact that he has 1 more ATK, I still think that Hippo is just better. Ferocity is worth more than one point of ATK. He might be OK as a second 4-drop in an aggressive Horde deck, but I think that I would rather play Zarg there despite how easy he is to kill. One thing that I have come to realize with WoW is that you just can't play allies who have good abilities when they stay in play for more than one turn because they generally won't stay in play more than one turn. Allies generally need to have an immediate effect on the board to be worth playing and this guy really doesn't.

Drafting the Classes

When you draft World of Warcraft, the most important decision by far that you will make is whether you are Horde or Alliance. After that, which class you choose to play is the next important decision regarding the direction of your deck. Today, I'm going to talk about the classes and which ones are good to draft, and which others are not so hot.

Hunter

I think Hunter is by far the top class. Hunter has access to 2 things that make it better than the other classes. 1) They can use most of the really good weapons in the game. Almost all of the heavy hitters in gray are useable by this class and being able to use cards like Krol Blade and Scimitar of the Nexus Stalkers is very good in a format where having a solid weapon can make all the difference. 2) Pets. Hunter has access to some incredibly efficient allies in the form of its pets. Bloodclaw, Rayder, Hootie, and Chops are all very good picks and commons. Old Bones is incredible as an uncommon 4-drop. Most of these allies are considered high pick value, but you can get a lot of them later than you should since Hunter is the only class that can play them.

Looking a little deeper, Hunter also has some very good common abilities. In Heroes of Azeroth there are only 2 Hunter abilities that are common that aren't pets, Arcane Shot and Ravenous Bite. Conveniently, they are both very solid cards. Moving on to Dark Portal, there are three commons there that are also all very good. Trophy Kill may be the best common in Dark Portal as it will relatively cheaply kill big allies that pose significant problems otherwise. Wing Clip is cheap removal that can have a secondary purpose in a pinch, and Point Blank is a decent card but the problem I have with it is early in a game when the battle for board position is in full swing, your hero doesn't get attacked as often. It's better against the Horde aggro decks that tend to try to kill you faster than trying to achieve board position through favorable trades. It's worth a mid pick, but don't go crazy scooping these things up. Hunter tends to be a pretty popular class, so if you open something worth going into Hunter, you generally have to do more early on to make sure you cut it off from your neighbors.

Shaman

This class also has the luxury of getting to use most of the good weapons in the game. It also has access to slightly better armor than the Hunters, but not the pets which are probably the best abilities in the game. To make up for that lack of great allies masquerading as abilities, Shamans just get brutal abilities. In Heroes of Azeroth, you get Frost Shock and Lightning Bolt at common. Frost Shock has the extra versatility of being instant and aving an extra ability tacked on while Lightning Bolt just goes beatdown, dealing 4 damage for only 3 resources. Healing Wave isn't a terrible common, but most of the time you'd like to have instead. Searing Totem is also an uncommon here and another very good card.

When you move on to Dark Portal there are only a few cards that are worth picking in the common slot with Shock and Soothe and Ancestral Spirit. Surge of Life again is not terrible, but you would probably rather have something else.


Warrrior/Paladin

I put these two classes together because you tend to play them for the same reaso. With these classes you want the gray cards more than the purples. In the equipment department, these classes are a little better than Hunters and Shamans because they get all the heavy armor in addition to all the good weapons. Warrior has the advantage of getting the Dwarf Destroyer, but that's a rare so we're not too concerned with it. You don't really go into either of these classes looking for great abilities, but they have a couple of solid ones. Hammer of Justice is probably the best of the ones you are likely to get. Execute isn't bad if you end up as a Warrior, but the real reason you go into these classes is for the equipment you'll end up with.

The plate armor can also soak up a lot of damage over the course of a game. Just even 2 pieces of armor can cause some major headaches for your opponent. Draconian Deflector in particular can cause some major problems. Giving protector to your hero can be one of the most game changing abilities in draft.

Another nice side effect of playing the plate armor classes is the higher health total. The Warriors have the highest health total of any class in the game. While the difference is relatively small, sometimes even one point of health can make a difference.

Warlock

The first of the classes that can't use most of the melee weapons, Warlocks, in my opinion, have the best ability set in the game. Like Hunters, Warlocks also get pets, but their selection is far less spectacular. The only one that is common is Sarmoth. While Sarmoth is still good in limited, he's not quite as good as he is in Constructed.

Fear is a card that I think gets overlooked. It's not that good in Constructed because of the prevelence of Alliance rush decks where bouncing one and two drops because it's just too easy to put them back out. But in draft, 3,4, and 5 drops see a lot more play and so Fear, which only costs 1 becomes a very solid tempo play. When they exhaust all their resources on turn 4 and you can essentially wipe out that turn for 1, I think that card is definitely worth playing. It's much the same reason Karkas Deathhowl is so good in draft.

One of the problems with Warlocks in draft is that their best abilities in HoA are uncommon. Shadow Bolt and Steal Essence are both very solid cards, but the fact that they are uncommon makes them much harder to see unless you get them early because there just won't be that many at the table.

In Dark Portal they get a decent pet in Morfiel. Its ability isn't great, but a 4/4 body for 4 resources is pretty good anyway. But also in Dark Portal, Warlocks get probably the best common in the game for draft right now, Shred Soul. If you are a Warlock, it's an easy first pick. If you haven't decided yet, it's a really good reason to get into Warlock. After that, there's not a whole lot to pick from in Dark Portal. Eye of Kilrogg isn't bad, but the common abilities are a little shallow here.

Based on ther popularity in Constructed, Warlock tends to be a popular class to draft in WoW. This can make it very hard on you if you're not the only Warlock at the table because their best cards are all uncommon.

Rogue

I actually really like drafting Rogues. They still get to use a lot of good weapons plus because of the fact that they are perceived to be bad in Constructed a lot of that carries over to draft meaning that they are generally underdrafted. They have some very good cards in the common and uncommon slots like Coup de Grace and Sinister Strike (this of course assumes you have a weapon). The fact that Rogues have gotten a bad rap in Constructed is actually very good for them in draft because no one seems to want to draft them meaning you can get some of their best cards very late in a draft.

Druid

I also like drafting Druid for the same reason that I like drafting Rogues, no one else drafts them. I rate Rogues a little higher because they get to use weapons, but Druids have a lot of really good cards too. Natural Selection and Nature's Majesty are very good removal spells and in Dark Portal specifically, you can pick up some very good cards, very late in the draft. From now on, when you draft, watch how many Cat Forms and Cyclones are still floating around your table at the end of the draft.

Mage

Mages suffer from having such a low health total. Starting 3 or more health points behind most of the popular heroes is just a huge drawback. While Mages definitely have some solid abilities, they also suffer from the fact that their low health total means you almost always have to draft an aggressive deck with them. Drafting is all about being flexible and forcing yourself into an aggressive strategy early isn't flexible. If you're already drafting an aggressive deck, Mages can actually be one of the better classes for that. One of the nice things about most of their abilities is that they can serve as removal or double as finishers when you're close to ending the game. Ta'Zo has one of the best flip abilities for draft of any hero in the game, so drafting Horde Mage aggro decks are actually pretty successful.

Priest

Priests have a few decent abilities, but for the most part I steer clear of Priests. The only two cards they have that I would really want are Power Word:Shield and Shadow Word:Death. Other than those two cards, I don't really like any of the Priest cards. I don't draft them, and neither should you.

The Nationals Metagme-Sen'Zir

Getting back to Constructed today, we're going to start taking a look at some of what I consider to be the Tier 2 decks. For any people who really like these decks, keep in mind when I say a deck is Tier 2, I don't mean it is worse than the Tier 1 decks. It's just not as popular.

Today we're going to take a look at a deck that has spent the majority of its time flying way below the radar despite being a very solid deck with the numbers to back it up, Sen'Zir mid-range.

This deck hasn't made any top 8 appearances so I'm just going to use a recent Regionals top 8 decklist.

2 Bestial Wrath
3 Trophy Kill
3 Wing Clip
3 Master of the Hunt
4 Scout Omerrta
4 Waz'luk
4 Gellrin
3 Taz'dingo
3 Hur Shieldsmasher
2 Moko Hunts-at-Dawn
4 Hootie
3 Chops
4 Thunderhead Hippogryph
4 Fury

2 Lord Alexander's Battle Axe

4 Torek's Assault
4 Chasing A-me
4 Kibler's Exotic Pets

This deck has a lot of raw power in it. There's a lot of efficiency early on, backed up by sheer, brute force in the later game. It doesn't have much in the way of tricks. This deck has one goal and one goal only, smash face. Coincidentally, it does that very well. This deck's biggest strength tends to be its ability to overwhelm the control decks that are geared to handle the cheaper Alliance rush decks. This deck is far more resilient in the face of the weenie hate that continues to pop up because it's guys are bigger and have Ferocity. Throw in Bestial Wrath and Sen'zir's flip ability and getting rid of one Fury can pose problems.

The deck is not without its weaknesses though. I played a deck similar to the Sen'Zir builds in a local tournament a few weeks ago, but I played Azarak for Warmaster Hork and Hidden Enemies on Debros. The deck has a lot of power, but the thing that I disliked most was that it never felt like I had any control over the deck. Let me explain that. When I played the deck, it felt like whether I won or lost was almost entirely decided by my draws. I didn't have much room to really play the deck. I hope that this point is coming across the way I intend because it's a little hard to put into words.

Let's take a look at some matchups.

Phadalus-From my experience, this mathup really comes down to how well your opponent plays Phadalus. If they play well, you're going to have some problems. The problem for Sen'Zir here is that the entire game is basically dictated by Phadalus. As a Sen'Zir player, you can't start trying to make a bunch of 2-for-1's with your bigger allies thinking you'll eventually run them out of cards and your big guys can take over. They simply don't run out of cards, so your strategy is basically to race. This is where the skill of the Phadalus player comes in. If they know how to control your aggression while maintaining their own, your only chance is to draw significantly better than they do. You don't get as many attacks as they do so you can't waste any of them. Where you will spend 5 resources to play 1 big guy, they will spend 5 resources to play 3. The fact that they play so many guys (and more importantly that their 2's trade with your 5's) this is a very tough matchup for Sen'Zir.

Pagatha-This matchup is better for Sen'Zir. Pagatha doesn't particularly like big allies or ferocity. Most Pagatha decks are better suited for handling swarms of small allies and for good reason. But turns 5 to 9 are really Pagatha's weak point. When the heavy hitters start to come out but before Spirit Healers and Fel Armors really kick in . This deck handles Lok'helar slightly better than most because of the Ferocity and a Bestial Wrath on Fury can let him attack.

Telrander-This matchup is the reason Wing Clips are in the deck. One well-timed Wing Clip will end the game. This matchup is almost a pure race with neither deck really caring much what the other is doing (outside of the aforementioned Wing Clip). As a Sen'Zir player you have to understand here that you can't get caught up in trying to remove the early ally rush because that's what they want you to do. If you spend your early turns focusing on the allies, then you won't have time to kill them once they get all Feral'd up. Make smart trades when you need to (such as a Taz'Dingo for a Jeleane) but your big guys need to be going to the face. With Frost Traps in the board this matchup becomes easier games 2 and 3.

Bulkas-I'm going to be honest, many of these Tier 2/Tier 2 matchups I haven't tested very much. From my experience in this one, it seems to favor Sen'Zir. Bulkas is another control deck that was really designed to beat up on the rush decks. The signature card of the deck, Cruelty, is more of a mild annoyance than anything. Hur Shieldsmashers main help make sure there's no annoying armor soaking up your damage. The deck isn't particularly designed to handle such big allies and most with Ferocity. If they manage to get the Ranged weapon + Wraith Scythe + DD Breastplate going, you could be in trouble, but a Hur Shieldsmasher can put a quick end to that.

Gorebelly-This one seems like it favors the Gorebelly deck a little bit. It has enough of an early rush to put Sen'Zir in a hole and then finish it with the one big turn. Much like Telrander, I think that Sen'Zir has to simply race here and make a good trade or 2. But again, the big guys have to go the dome. Wing Clips are big in this match, and I think I would try to save them for the Heroic Strike turn and hope they are relying on Rak and not Mortal Strike. This matchup and Telrander make me think if I were playing this deck I might want to find room for Frost Traps. The hero doesn't attack much and the one turn of no attacks can be enough to win a close game. It would also be solid against Phadalus.

Azarak-This deck is similar to Bulkas, but I think this one is slightly better vs. Gorebelly. It doesn't have much in the way of answers to Mortal Strike, but it also has Wing Clips for the Rak turn, Frost Traps to slow things down and it can bring its ranged weapon online sooner than Bulkas. With any support the ranged weapon can pose a problem because it can take out your allies without them getting to deal any damage back. A lot of the allies are big enough to survive one hit with a Blackcrow, which is very nice and the Ferocity also means they will at least get one attack in before they get taken out. Basically, you just want to play all your guys and swing with them. Frost Trap is decent here as it stops the Rapid Fire turn, which can drag the game out some, but don't overestimate that ability. Azarak can win without Rapid Fire, so don't think shutting down that turn is the same as shutting off a Mortal Strike.

Grennan-Grennan has a definite trump card in this matchup. Stone Guard Rashun is definitely a problem. He shuts off your ferocity, which essentially just makes your guys overcosted. If you don't remove him quickly he can single handedly win the game for your opponent. One of the problems in this matchup is they have almost as much beef as you with early beaters thrown in. This matchup is probably close, but I would think that the slight edge goes to Grennan because of SGR.

Nimaaus-Normally, this is where I just say that this deck is very similar to the Shaman deck and this matchup plays much the same way. Unfortunately, this is one of those times when that's not true. Hammer of Justice is a significant thorn in your side against a Paladin rush deck. Used on a Moko or Fury it can effectively soak up 10 damage, which will often be enough to let them finish you off before you finish them. This is also one of the times that Consecration tends to be worse than Chain Lightning since it can't take out a Fury, but the added effectiveness of Hammer of Justice slightly helps that.

Tomorrow, I would like to talk some more about drafting before I finish up the week with more Constructed analysis.

Fires of Outland Previews

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about the first round of Through the Dark Portal previews and here we are now getting our first taste of Fires of Outland. I, personally am hoping for some good control stuff to balance out the game a little bit, but I'm sure most of you already knew that. We actually got 4 previews today, so I'll just get right to it letting you know what I think of them.

First up is Shawn of the Dead

Horde Ally
Cost: 5
ATK/Health: 5/3

When Shawn of the Dead attacks, you may put an ally card from target opponent's graveyard into play under your control.

If you swtiched Shawn's stats, he would probably be busted. As he is I think he's got a lot of potential. There are a couple of things worth noting here. First, his ability triggers when he attacks. He doesn't have to deal damage to an opposing hero, just attack. This also means you get the guy immediately. This means if you get a Ka'lai or something similar, Shawn will have the bonus for that attack.

I could see this ally making it into a lot of Horde decks. He will have his uses in both rush decks as a top end of the curve to recycle all the protectors your control playing opponent has used on you early in the game. He also poses in immediate problem for Pagatha decks that like to drop a Lok'helar into their graveyard for recursion. Notice also, that he has no drawback to the ally such as coming in with damage on it, going away when Shawn leaves play, or you needing to have the requisite amount of resources to have played him.

I can also see this guy going into protector heavy control decks. If you can run this guy out against an aggressive deck and get him one attack, he can start ressurecting their army to fight for you. He will be especially good against Horde decks where you can take their guys with Ferocity.

His 3 health is a concern as that opens him up to many of the removal spells in the game and also a lot of the allies as well, but like I said earlier if his stats were reversed, he might be too good.

Our next doesn't suck either.

Latro's Shifting Sword
Cost: 4
Used by:Rogue, Hunter, Warrior
ATK: 3
Strike: 2

Your hero has dual wield.
You pay (2) less to strike with other swords.

There were a lot of people who were ready to declare dual wield the best card in Dark Portal when it was new. There were several problems with Dual Wield that made it rather ineffective and just not that good really. Fast forward to Latro's Shifting Sword and we have a much better dual wielding ability. This is only one of a cycle of weapons that have dual wielding built in. This removes the two biggest problems with the card Dual Wield. 1) The card disadvantage associated with getting Dual Wield blown up, and 2) The fact that you actually had to draw the Dual Wield and two different weapons to make it worthwhile (assuming of course it didn't immediately get blown up).

Latro's sword (and the rest of the cycle presumably) remove the card disadvantage as getting your ability to dual wield removed will require removing one of the weapons anyway. Also, you now just need to draw the two weapons with no need for the Dual Wield card as well since one of the weapons will now grant it instead.

There is a drawback though. You will stay have to pay extra for the ability to dual wield, as Latro's sword costs 4.

Now just remember all the cool stuff that everyone said about Dual Wield when it premiered in Dark Portal except now it actually has a chance. When you look at the classes who can use this, the Gorebelly aggro/combo decks seem like a natural fit as two weapons makes Heroic Strike ridiculous. Warrior control decks will probably still prefer a shield in their off-hand slot though.

I can also see Azarak control decks making use of these weapons. They now have the ability to play two melee weapons and a ranged weapon (Warriors have this ability as well, but only Bulkas uses it and I think they will stick with Shields unless one of the Dual Wield weapons is really good). Wraith Scythe will have all kinds of ways to trigger in Azarak decks now, which could mean good things for the Orc Hunter after U.S. Nationals.

I'm not really going to say anything about Rogues here. They've made some top 8's but they're still really the bottom class in the game. I know there are a lot of people who like Rogues, but every time I say something good about the class, they go and continue to suck.

Corki's Ransom
Quest

Put Corki's Ransom in it's owner's hand and pay (2) to complete this quest.

Reward: Draw a card.

This card is ridiculous. There's no reason to run an Alliance deck and not run this card. Once you get to the point in the game where you don't need anymore resources, this is simply an extra card every turn for two resources. Sadly, this is a great card for Phadalus decks. They may still want to ramp up to 9 resources to play Magni, but at the same time they get cheap, recurrable card draw in quest form. Cheap card draw in quest form is one of the main reasons rush decks are so good in this game. Go ahead and make it recurrable and indestructible and you've got a ridiculous card. It's going to be really good in control decks as well as they also like cheap recurrable card draw. The inability to keep playing resources and using the Ransom hurts the control decks far more than the rush decks since they will usually want more resources to work with, but that's still no reason not to play this quest. I have a feeling this may soon be considered the best quest in the game.

And finally:

Chen Stormstout
Ally
Cost: 7
ATK/Health: 6/6

When Chen Stormstout enters play, say "I bring PANDA-MONIUM!" and opposing allies can't attack this turn.

(3), Say "Another round?" --> Target ally can't attack this turn.

This guy's funny and the flavor is nice, but there's no way he's going to make it into any constructed deck.

Drafting-Horde Allies

Today, I wanted to get back to drafting a little bit. Don't fear, I'm not done with the individual deck reviews yet, but since Nationals is a multi-format event, we have to be prepared for more than just the top decks in Constructed. Today, I want to move on the Horde's common ally selection. One thing that I want to address before I get to the actual review is why I don't rank all the cards from 1 to whatever. The reason is very simple. After about your fourth pick, you should start picking based on needs and what you can expect for the rest of the draft. The further you get into the draft, the more your current choices will be determined by the ones you've already made. For example. if you were lucky enough to pick up 2 Moira's and a Tristan in HoA, but no three drops, it doesn't really matter that Vindicator Enkallus is better than Durdin Hammerhand. You NEED three drops, so Durdin would be the pick there.

Moving on the talk about Horde allies, Horde can be a little bit trickier to draft than Alliance. With both factions, you can go either control or aggro. But with Alliance that is generally determined by how many big drops you got and to a lesser extent what abilities you have because many of the low-mid-level allies are desired for both aggro and control. Jeleane Nightbreeze is going in any Alliance deck that has her in the pile. Alliance can flow more seamlessly between the two.

Horde control decks and Horde aggro decks generally want different cards. Zorn Stormfury is a perfect example. The Horde rush decks that are very popular right now consider this guy a very high pick. Horde control however, isn't going to have a whole lot of use for the little guy. The aggro deck is usually easier to draft because Horde is dangerously low on big allies so the control decks generally need some help from the uncommons and rares to be good.

Here are my rankings for the Horde Allies:

Heroes of Azeroth
1-drops

Wanted:

Gartok Skullsplitter
Voss Treebender

Playable:

Katali Stonetusk
Kagra of the Crossroads

Junk:

Brigg

The one-drops require a little extra information here. In a control deck I probably wouldn't play Kagra, and I wouldn't be terribly excited about playing Ka'tali. Sure he can trade with opposing one-drops early, but when you draw him late, he's just average if that. The 2/1, I would probably play in a control deck, but I wouldn't go out of my way to draft them.

In an aggro deck, the 2/1's are mid-to-high level picks and the other 2 become more playable. Kagra's ferocity becomes much better with some Zorn's or For the Hordes, and Ka'tali can save one of your guys to let it keep attacking which is a very solid tempo play.

2-drops

Wanted:

Confessor Mildred
Guardian Steelhorn
Jin'lak Nightfang
Zorn Stormfury

Playable:

Mias

Junk:

Orgrimmar Grunts

Most of the 2-drops are pretty solid. Like I said before, Zorn is really only a top pick in aggressive decks and if you can get more than one that can be very deadly. I'm not as big on Mias as some people. She will more often that not, take out the worst card in their hand and then just die. She's not a spectacular tempo play, and control decks would rather play something besides a 1/1 on turn 2. I'll play her if I don't have anything else in the slot, but I'm not usually too happy about it.

3-Drops

Wanted:

Benethor Draigo
Taz'Dingo
Vesh'ral

Playable:

Hur Shieldsmasher

Junk:

Bala Silentblade

Horde's three drops are all very solid in both aggro and control. I only listed ur as playable because there are several other 3-drops both in HoA and Dark Portal that I would rather play in my main deck. I will usually pick up one or two if I get the chance because there is some annoying armor out there, but most of the time I want one of the other guys who are just better. I've always wanted Bala to be good for some reason, but every time I've ever given her a shot she's just not good.

4-drops

Wanted:

Karkas Deathhowl
Vaerik Proudhoof

Playable:

Ophelia Barrows
Watcher Mal'wi
BG Mal'wani

Junk:

None

I've already prepared myself for the flood of hatemail regarding Ophelia Barrows, but she just doesn't so it for me anymore. There's just not that much graveyard recursion to make her ability spectacular. It will occasionally be great, but a lot of times it will just be ok. She's never going to trade with anything higher than a two-drop. She's a decent tempo play as it will probably take 2 attacks to kill her, but the two allies that attack her are likely to both survive (or be one drops and trading 4-drops for 1-drops is not how you win at WoW), meaning she slowed your opponent somewhat, but didn't do much about the allies still staring you down. I'll still play her, but there are a lot of other allies I would rather play and Horde 4-drops are quite strong in Dark Portal.

I listed Mal'wi as playable because he's a solid body if nothing else, but I'm not usually happy when he makes my deck. Mal'wani is probably junk, but he has the ability to randomly be incredible. I've played him a few times with very mixed results, but especially against savvy opponents who will manage his damage, he's probably no good.

5-drops

Wanted:

Kulan Earthguard
Wazzuli Wildmender

Others:

None

If you thought Alliance was short on 5-drops check out all the whopping Horde offerings. Luckily, they are both very good, but should generally only make it into control decks. If you are playing Horde control, you almost can't pass these guys because 5-drop is so thin and it just gets worse in the next set.

6-drops

Wanted:

Fata'fi
Zygore

Playable:

Besh'iah

Junk:

None

Fata'fi is very good, but I hate Zygore. Compared to Moira he is far inferior. If your opponent doesn't have a target he's just a grossly overcosted blank whereas Moira is still in a very efficient body. With Zygore you have to wait to play him until after your opponent has played their weapon, but Moira can get in there and get some swings in and then take out a weapon should it come out later. It's a very tough situation when your opponent is playing one of the weapon classes, but you don't know if he has one in the deck. Do you hold Zygore back for a threat he may not even have, or do you go ahead and play him and risk getting crushed by a weapon you could have destroyed? Also, Moira's 4 health means she will oftentimes be a 2-for-1 against weaponless decks simply by trading for 2 opposing allies. Despite all of this, Zygore should still be a relatively high pick because of how good weapons are in the format.

I list Besh'iah as playable because her 4 health at least means she can usually take out 2 allies and Horde 6-drops are still very thin.

Through the Dark Portal

1-drops

Wanted:

Julia Graves
Scout Omerrta
Waz'luk

Playable:

Ra'chee
Tiril Dawnstrider

Junk:

None

Again all the 2/1's are good and are very good in rush decks. I kind of like Ra'chee in control decks because he's a cheap heal effect on a big ally, that might let them take out one more guy than they would have otherwise, and Tiril Dawnstrider has had his uses for me, but he's far from spectacular.

2-drops

Wanted:

Bhenn Checks-the Sky
Debros Cousin to Moon
Grunt Baranka
Kalnuf Eagleheart

Playable:

Elithys Firestorm
Leeza Tomb Robber

Junk:

Arealun
Dayna Cousin to Sun

Bhenn checks the sky is a great tempo play in the mid game. For rush decks he can either exhaust an important protector or stop a big ally from attacking long enough to get some extra damage in. In control decks, he can stop a crucial attack in the mid-game to allow you time to make better trades for yourself.

Debros is better in rush decks and significantly better if you have a way to give her Ferocity.

Elithys Firestorm is junk for rush decks as she will devastate you, but she can be solid in a control deck, where the damage she does to your own guys won't be as crushing.

3-drops

Wanted:

Boneshanks
Ja'zaron

Playable:

Greefer
Morik

Junk:

Bluffwatchers
Magran Proudstep

These are pretty easy. Boneshanks is nuts in limited. Ja'zaron is also very good. A lot of people don't like Morik, but he's not terrible in the Horde rush decks where you hope to kill your opponent before those extra cards ake a difference.

4-drops

Wanted:

Guardian Steppestrider
Katsin Bloodoath
Outrider Zarg

Playable:

Ghank
Nyn'jah

Junk:

None

The top 3 here are all beasts. Katsin gets even better late in the game, but a 5/3 on 4 is no slouch either. Ghank is solid and will quite often net a solid 2-for-1, but sometimes it can be hard to get the conditions just right as the ally has to have damage on it and be exhuasted. His best use is late in the game when your opponent has just taken out one of your smaller allies with a big one hoping to take out more in the following turns.

I'm personally not a fan of Nyn'jah as he is just too clunky. He's still a 3/3 for 4 which you could play with no text if you needed to, but when his ability is best is when you already have a weapon so that he's Zygore. He usually won't live long enough for you to do much with the weapon you jack though, assuming your opponent even has a weapon. That's my biggest problem with the Horde's anti-equipment allies. When your opponent doesn't have a target, they aren't very good, but Moira, Chipper, and Ka'vai all have solid stats as well as equipment breaking capabilities.

5-drops

Wanted:

None

Playable:

Sister Rot

Junk:

Braynu Wildbloom

5-drops are even worse here as we have one that's not too exciting due to her 2 health, and one that has a good effect but too late to really abuse it.

6-drops

Wanted:

Vanda Skydaughter

That's the only uncommon 6-drop in Dark Portal for Horde. If you're playing control and need a 6-drop this is your only option in Dark Portal other than the rare and Race-spec'd Dramla Lifebender or the uncommon (and not very good, Tanwa the Marksman. Take her if you need 6-drops. Rush decks can also take her as an occasional big body can help finish off a teetering opponent.

The next few weeks look to be pretty exciting as not only is Nationals approaching, but so is Fires of Outland. That means Constructed preparation, Draft preparation, and new cards to review. Looks like it's going to be busy around here.

The Nationals Metagame-Telrander Cat Form

My Nationals metagame breakdown continues today with a breakdown of one of, if not the most explosive decks in the format, Telrander Cat Form. For reference, we'll use Matt Loomis' Top 8 deck from Darkmoon Faire:Chicago since it is the most recent version.

4 Apprentice Teep
4 Apprentice Merry
3 Latro Abiectus
3 Jeleane Nightbreeze
2 Chipper Ironbane
4 Parvink
2 Moira Darkheart

4 Cat Form
4 Claw
4 Rake
4 Predatory Strikes
4 Nature of the Beast
4 Heart of the Wild

4 Zapped Giants
4 Finkle Einhorn at Your Service
4 Crown of the Earth
2 Battle of Darrowshire

Side deck

2 Moira Darkheart
2 Chipper Ironbane
4 Alas, Andorhal
2 Nature's Majesty

This deck took everyone by surprise when Pierre Malherbaud took it to a Darkmoon Faire Championship. It took off in popularity right after that as it seemed like everyone wanted to play a good Druid deck.

The deck is capable of some very explosive draws. Turn 4 goldfishes aren't out of the question, with turn 5 being a common occurrence. However, to get that explosiveness, the deck has to sacrifice some consistency. For me in testing this deck is the polar opposite of Pagatha control. Where Pagatha is rock solid vs. ally based strategies but struggles against some of the solo builds, Telrander is gold against solo strategies but struggles against the ally based decks.

The problem I run into playing Telrander against ally based decks is that while you're packing a rush shell with the Teeps and Merry's, etc., It's not as much as they have. All too often you will find yourself trading allies early on while trying to set up your Form cards. With no ally control other than your own allies you simply have to try to outrun every deck you play because you can't go sending Telrander in as board control like you would with Bulkas or Azarak. The problem I have with this deck is that it simply cannot play control. Telrander players are forced to win before they die, and when your opponent knows this it gives them a lot of control over the match.

Another problem I have with Telrander is the vulnerability to bad draws and ability removal. You have 12 cards that are blanks when you're not in Cat Form and 4 more (Rakes) that aren't very good. While it doesn't happen very often, it's still possible to go through the first 5 or 6 turns without seeing a form card. What's worse is the amount of Chippers running around than can kill your Form cards and with Shamans playing Purges in their boards, games 2 and 3 against Phadalus are rough to say the least. While the raw power of the deck alone may carry you to 2 or 3 wins throughout a tournament, the dependency on Cat Form will lead to at least as many losses when you either don't draw it or simply can't keep one in play.

If you can't already tell, I'm not a huge fan of this deck. I generally prefer consistency over raw power as I just want my deck to keep me in the game. I don't particularly like the idea of playing a deck where I'm hoping to see a specific card in my opening hand every game. Especially one that is as easily removed as Form cards are. Sure, you can leave 2 resources open at all times to save your Cat Forms, but then you're playing 2 resources behind and just getting pummeled by resource advantage.

Now that you know how I feel about this deck, let's move on to some matchups.

Phadalus-I'm going to be very honest here. I think this matchup comes down to the playskill of the Phadalus player in many instances. There is one major flaw here for Telrander and I mentioned it earlier. Telrander cannot play control, so it simply has to commit to trying to outrace Phadalus. This is where the playskill of the Phadalus player comes in. Despite probably being the best deck and the most consistent, Phadalus probably can't just flat outrun Telrander most of the time. A good player will understand that his deck can play a little bit of control here knowing that Telrander has to win fast because there are simply no defensive cards in the deck (except possibly Parvink). A good Phadalus player who understands the matchup will be able to control the tempo and keep it in his favor waiting for a perfect time to play Chipper to cripple the opponent. Games 2 and 3, Phadalus gets Purge which is even worse for Telrander. Someone who has just picked up Phadalus and doesn't know the matchups well, will often times assume since Phadalus is a rush deck that it wants to race here as well, and that person will lose a lot of times in this matchup and then curse how lucky their opponent was. Banking on your opponent not knowing how to play their deck isn't the fastest ticket to the top tables, though, and I think this matchup favors Phadalus. Even more games 2 and 3.

Pagatha-There's not too much to say here. This matchup is honestly almost a bye. Pagatha's only hope is to play enough protectors to stay alive long enough to get an Ice Lord into play and hope you don't have Rake or Claw. This matchup points to one of the things that makes picking a deck in a defined metagame so dicey. If you think that there will be a lot of Pagatha decks as a foil to Phadalus, Telrander is a perfect choice as this is probably its best matchup. But if your guess is wrong, you could really pay the price for it.

Dizdemona-Again, from what I've been gathering these are mostly Dizdemona aggro decks. This is similar to Phadalus. One thing to note here is be careful with your non-Untargetable allies. This deck empties its hand quickly and Shadow Bolts can be devastating. Chipper is still a problem here. I honestly haven't tested this matchup very much, but I would say it is still in Dizzy's Favor, but not as much as the Phadalus match.

Sen'Zir-This matchup depends a lot upon whether the Sen'Zir deck runs Wing Clips and/or Old Bones. Neither of these decks really play defense at all. If Sen'Zir doesn't run Clips or Bones, it is probably at the disadvantage here. Telrander is faster and Sen'Zir doesn't have much in the way of defense. This is a matchup where you're almost always just going to attack directly to the face. About the only time I can think of attacking allies is a Jeleane into a Fury. You don't really like to leave 5/3's around when you can take them out with your 2-drops. When possible, try to leave a Parvink back to soak up an attack unless attacking with her wins the game right now. Telrander is generally about a turn faster than Sen'Zir but the matchup is still relatively close.

Bulkas-This is a matchup that Telrander enjoys. Most Bulkas lists are designed to handle rush decks. Cruelty loses a lot of its effectiveness in this matchup. Bulkas can take a while to really get rolling, and in the meantime you can just pound away. They don't run many protectors and not all of them run Intercept which is the only card that can stop you from attacking. Like Pagatha, Bulkas is a very good matchup for you.

Gorebelly-Whether you realize it or not, these decks are very similar. Both run aggro shells backed up by explosive win/finishing conditions. Telrander has the advantage in this match though because of the weapon removing allies. With no weapon Gorebelly can't fire off the combo and most likely won't have any chance in keeping up in the damage race. When you go up to the full complement of 4 Moira, 4 Chipper in game 2, it becomes an even better matchup.

Azarak-Another solo-deck. Another near bye.

Grennan-I will be perfectly honest here, I haven't played a single game in this matchup. Having said that, I think that Telrander would just play his natural-straightforward-kill-them-in-five-turns game plan and try to win before Grennan can stop him. Game 1 seems like it would probably be pretty close, but Grennan gets to bring in 4 Purges which is pretty bad. Like I said though, I haven't playtested this matchup at all, so this is just theory.

Nimaasus-In most matchups, Nimaasus is a lot like Phadalus, but in this particular matchup, Nimaasus is probably worse for Telrander than Phadalus. Purge can be devastating, but so can Hammer of Justice. That card is just brutal, negating 2 attacks by the hero and netting the Nimaasus player a card. Nimaasus may lack some of the efficiency of Grennan, but it doesn't show in this matchup. This is probably Telrander's worst matchup.

Well, there you have it. I'm personally not a huge fan of this deck because I think it beats itself too often for my liking and is very vulnerable to a lot of the hate out there right now, but it's still one of the two most explosive decks in the game (along with Gorebelly) and despite the inconsistency, it also will have more than its share of Oops, I Win draws as well.

The Nationals Metagame-Pagatha Control

I didn't get very many Regionals results for this week, and there was nothing particularly interesting about the ones I did get. Phadalus took another 6 slots out of 16 reported. Due to the relatively low relevence of a metagame breakdown this week, I will save these results and due Metagame Madness next week. Today, I will continue the deck breakdowns with Chris McMurry's pet, Pagatha Control.

Pagatha Control
Chris McMurry-Top 8 Darkmoon Faire: Chicago

4 Sarmoth
2 Lok'holar the Ice Lord
3 Guardian Steppestrider
3 Zygore Bladebreaker
4 Guardian Steelhorn
2 Infernal
2 Shadow Bolt
2 Shred Soul
2 Shattering Blow
3 Fel Armor
3 Shadowburn
4 Steal Essence
2 Cannibalize
2 Spirit Healer
3 Rain of Fire
3 Nemesis Skullcap

4 The Haunted Mills
2 Counterattack
4 A Donation of Silk
4 In Dreams
2 Poison Water

The first thing I want to point out is that there are a lot of ways to build a Pagatha deck. The Warlock has a lot of very strong abilities which gives you a lot of options when making the card choices for your deck. As with almost any deck, specific choices you make can have major implications on the way your matchups with other decks play out. Likewise, the exact builds of your opponents' decks will cause changes in the matchups. When I talk about the matchups in a moment, I will use my results testing against this decklist against standard lists of the the other decks. That gives us the best idea of how the matchups are likely to play out and the relative strenghts and weaknesses of the deck.

This deck has one huge advantage going for it, it's Phadalus's worst matchup. This deck is packing a lot of cards that rush decks don't want to see. Infernal, Rain of Fire, and Cannibalize are all nightmare cards for anyone looking to ride a wave of cheap allies to victory. This deck looks to slow down the early game with cards like the Guardians and Sarmoth to protect and solid removal in cards like Steal Essence and Shadow Bolt. If it can survive to the mid-game, Nemesis Skullcap and Cannibalize return most of the health that has been lost in the early game.

The deck has several win conditions once it hits the late game. The most obvious is Lok'helar + Spirit Healer. Any deck that doesn't have graveyard or ability removal will simply get locked down by the Ice Lord. He will keep all their allies dead and the ones who don't die immediately won't be able to attack anyway. If the opponent does manage to remove Lok'helar, Spirit Healer just brings him back out.

Should the unending recursion plan fall through, there is the fall back plan of Fel Armor. Fel Armor serves two functions. First, it turns Nemesis Skullcap from a mild annoyance to an outright force. Healing three damage a turn + another three for every ability you play makes getting any damage to stick very difficult. Second, it turns up the heat with all of the damage dealing abilities. While it is possible to burn out your opponent with a bunch of Fel Armor'd Shadowburns and Steal Essences, the thing I have seen most often in our testing is just playing a late Rain of Fire when you have more than enough resources to continually pay for it and letting it just deal three a turn until they're dead or within range of all the firepower in your hand. This is especially difficult to get out of since the Rain also does three to all opposing allies and anything that can survive the initial three is unlikely to make it through the burn that will inevitably follow from the hand.

Okay, so this deck is pretty good against Phadalus. What are the weaknesses then? Well, the deck doesn't particularly like heroes that can deal a lot of damage without the need for pesky allies. Telrander, Gorebelly, Azarak, and the newer versions of Bulkas pose significant problems to this deck. Warlock's best weapon against solo strategies has historically been Ancient Cornerstone Grimoire, but it doesn't do much to stop any of these decks except Telrander which runs Chipper anyway to blow it up.

The deck still doesn't have a great early game and with only 2 Infernals and 2 Cannibalizes can sometimes find itself losing to decks it is very strong against based on less than optimal draws. It is also particularly vulnerable to an end of turn Yeti + Heroic Presence which not all Shamans run, but many do. The deck is also vulnerable to ability removal as its main win conditions center on Spirit Healer and Fel Armor.

Let's move on and analyze some of the matchups.

Phadalus rush-This deck is really designed to beat this deck. With the high statted Guardian and Sarmoth to slow the initial rush and Infernal and Cannibalize to power through the midgame, this deck doesn't mind facing off with the top dog. You will occasionally lose to weak draws where you don't draw the finisher you need, but for the most part this is why you play Pagatha. The matchup can get a little tougher after sideboard when they bring in Purge, but it's still pretty in your favor.

Telrander-This matchup is just not good for you. There's just not a whole lot this deck can do about a hero that attacks for 7+ a turn. With no ability removal, your only real hope is to throw out enough road blocks and heal enough to stay alive long enough to get a Spirit Healer in play and an Ice Lord in the graveyard. If you can keep Lok'helar in play and he doesn't get Raked or Clawed, he will end the game quickly while also stopping Telrander from attacking. This sounds like a good plan, but it rarely works out this way. Your other option would be to bring in Grimoires and hope they don't draw Chippers long enough for you to get to the endgame. This is a really bad matchup for Pagatha.

Dizdemona rush-This is probably the least talked about deck that is doing well. This matchup is kind of accidentally really good for Pagatha. A lot of the same reasons why Phadalus is such a good matchup are true here. Dizdemona sacrifices a little bit of Phadalus mid game for more explosive finishers and Luppo. Protectors, Infernal, and Cannibalize are still major problems here. This is another good matchup.

Sen'Zir-Any deck that is going to rely on allies is going to lose a lot to Pagatha. This deck uses fewer allies who attack for more. The Guardians are still very good here and a couple removal spells plus a Cannibalize will usually result in a win for Pagatha. This one is actually usually easier because their allies cost more than Phadalus's, so your removal generally costs the same or less than the allies it is removing.

Bulkas-The Bulkas list that TAWC played in Chicago had been updated with this deck specifically in mind. The Zygore/Spirit Healer combo powered Chris past Tim Batow in the final round of Swiss in Austin and the TAWC guys came prepared to not let that happen again. Now packing Ophelia Barrows, this matchup went from good to bad for Pagatha. When you're playing against a deck that packs as much equipment as Bulkas, one or two Zygores is simply not good enough. In Austin, it was the power of recurring Zygore that led to Chris's win. If you can only destroy one or two of their equipment (unless you can also apply some heavy pressure like Phadalus) you're really better off just doing something else. Again, this is a deck that does a lot of damage with just the hero which poses problems for Pagatha. A Grimoire may help, but it just delays the inevitable. They will usually just heal to full with the Wraith Scythe before bringing out Thunderfury and swinging twice a turn with it. This is a pretty weak matchup against the updated Bulkas decks.

Gorebelly-This is quite possibly Pagatha's worst matchup. You can usually handle the initial attacks, but there is no answer to the Mortal Strike/Heroic Strike/Rak combo. Occasionally, a single Gorebelly can be enough to stop it, but the one comfort in this matchup is that if you can bring the Spirit Healer/Zygore online, they will not have an answer so they will be forced to play the weapon and one-shot in one turn. Sometimes they can do this, but a lot of the time if you make it that far a Lok'helar will end the game prety quickly. If they bring in any graveyard or ability removal though, you will be in trouble here as well.

Azarak-This is another matchup that is just really bad. Assuming you had a way to stop them from just bludgeoning you to death with Blood Fury, you have absolutely no answer to Rapid Fire. With no instant speed equipment removal, no way to stop Azarak from attacking, not enough protectors to stop all the damage and almost no way to win before they Rapid Fire, this matchup is just atrocious. We haven't played it very much because it's just so bad, but the times we have played it, Pagatha just couldn't win. This is a bad matchup, but the good news is the deck isn't that popular.

Grennan-A lot of the matchups for Pagatha seem very lopsided to me. Most of the ally based decks have a very uphill battle against the Undead Warlock, while the solo decks almost have a bye. Grennan is one of the few ally based decks that has a fighting chance. This matchup is very deck dependent. If Grennan plays Ophelia, it is pretty even. It might even slightly favor Grennan. If they don't play Ophelia, it's definitely in favor of Pagatha, but not as much as some of the other ally based matchups. This is kind of a game of cat and mouse as Grennan plays some threats and tests the removal abilities of Pagatha trying to get something to stick. Cannibalize is one of the key cards here. If a decent-sized Cannibalize resolves, it is very difficult for Grennan to muster enough damage to finish it. This is one of the areas Ophelia is so key. This and removing Ice Lords so they don't come back. Game 2 can be pretty dicey for Pagatha if Grennan plays Ophelia because he will also bring in Purge. With Purge to take out Fel Armors and Ophelia keeping the graveyards clean, Pagatha will have a hard time mustering a win condition. If Grennan doesn't run Ophelia and the Purges are left to handle both Spirit Healer and Fel Armor, then Pagatha still has inevitability on her side. Overall, this matchup is pretty close with Ophelia's presence or absence determining who has the slight edge.

Nimaasus-This deck is so similar to Phadalus that instead of going in depth, I'll just mention the major differences and how Pagatha should feel about them. Hammer of Justice isn't much of a problem. Consecration is on par with Chain Lightning. Azuresong Mageblade can pose some problems as Draenei decks already draw a lot of cards and this can put them into the realm of too many cards for you to fight off. It usually won't stay long before Zygore breaks it, but it's the biggest worry you have that is different than the Shaman deck. It's still a favorable matchup for Pagatha with your biggest fear being Are We There Yeti? + Heroic Presence. They also lose Purge from the board which is very nice for Pagatha.

That's it for the Pagatha breakdown, next up on my list is Telrander.

The Nationals Metagame-Phadalus Rush

We're just about six weeks away from Nationals, so I wanted to do a quick breakdown of each of the top decks. What are their strengths and weakness? What improvements could me made to them? How do they match up vs. the other top decks? Today, I'm going to start with the King of the Hill, Phadalus Rush.

For reference: Brad Watson's Dream Machine Winning Decklist

1 King Magni Bronzebeard
1 Leeroy Jenkins
3 "Chipper" Ironbane
3 Moira Darkheart
4 Parvink
4 Apprentice Teep
4 Apprentice Merry
4 Jeleane Nightbreeze
4 Korthas Greybeard
4 Chain Lightning
4 Searing Totem
4 Earth Elemental Totem
4 Perdition's Blade

2 The Missing Diplomat
2 Battle of Darrowshire
4 Rescue the Survivors
4 The Defias Brotherhood
4 Chasing A-Me 01



Right now, it looks like this will be the deck to beat at Nationals. If you can't consistently beat Phadalus rush, you should probably find another deck. So what makes this deck so good. Two things. Consistency and efficiency.





For anyone who has never played a deck like this, most of your draws are very similar. You just play out guys, occasionally removing your opponent's allies with Perdition's Blade or Chain Lightning (which is incredible in the mirror) and just smash face. One of the things that makes this deck so deadly is the lack of quality mass removal. Since there are so few cards that truly punish a player for overcommitting, a Phadalus player can usually just continue to play allies with impunity, knowing his opponent will generally be forced to deal with each ally one at a time.





Another thing that makes this deck so good is the card drawing ability. Between Parvinks, Rescue the Survivors, and Defias Brotherhood, this beatdown deck can outdraw some of the control decks of the game. This is especially brutal since one of the main deterrents of rush decks is their tendency to run out of steam if the initial onslaught doesn't end the game. But the draw power of Phadalus decks allows them to go further into the game without running out of gas.





Speaking of endgame power, this deck also runs one copy of King Magni Bronzebeard and 2 copies of Missing Diplomat to go get him for those games when the early rush isn't enough.





The one thing that makes Phadalus so popular, in my opinion, is how easy it is to play. Compared to most of the other decks available, Phadalus is very simple to play. Just put out as many allies as your resources allow, occasionally stopping to remove a troublesome opposing ally and attack. The fact that the deck isn't very hard to play means that sometimes weaker players can pick it up and still post pretty good results with it which leads to better numbers. It's also very cheap to put together which adds in the easy to play category.

Rush decks in general also have the ability to truly punish bad draws. If you're playing against a Phadalus deck (or any rush deck for that matter) and you stumble out of the gates, you're going to be dead quickly. This "Oops I win" factor also leads to better numbers for rush decks as even in their worst matchups they will occasionally win based simply on opponents' weak draws.



The recent addition of Perdition's Blade has made this deck even better. This very efficient weapon combined with its comes into play ability add another dimension of versatility to this deck. While many people say that the Blade is broken, I will say that it's just very good. The word broken gets thrown around far too often these days, but just to show that the card isn't truly broken, to the other top tier deck Pagatha control it is merely a weapon. Slightly less important than a Krol Blade. If Blade were truly broken, every deck would have to have an answer to it specifically. It is still very good, though.



So what are this deck's weaknesses?

Unfortunately, the deck doesn't have a lot of weaknesses, but if there is one it is mass removal. Cards like Chain Lightning and Consecration that can remove multiple small allies in one fell swoop can hurt the Shaman player's efficiency. The problem right now is that the mass removal is so much more expensive than the allies it removes. Given the card drawing power of the rush decks, it's just too easy many times for them to recover from a board decimating play.

Brad Watson's deck also runs Chipper and Moira main to take out problem cards like Lightning Reflexes, Cruelty, Skullflame Shield etc. Purges can come in from the board to make using abilities less likely to result in advantage since Purge is all but certain to cost less than the ability it removes.

If I could pick the one single card that most Shaman decks will truly hate to see, I would pick Infernal. He has a non-targeted mass removal effect that is attached to a large ally, which they will have more problems removing than if it were an ongoing ability or or equipment. Since Infernal is an ally and not a one-shot ability like a Chain Lightning, it has to be removed before the Shaman player can even think about trying to recover.

Let's take a look at the matchups vs. the other top decks.

Telrander-This particular build of Phadalus might not always be faster than Telrander, but it's more consistent. In game 1, Chupper poses a problem to Telrander because even if the Telrander player leaves 2 open to save Cat Form, he doesn't get it back until the end of the turn. Many times in this matchup, that one turn can mean the difference between winning and losing. Throw in Perdition's Blade and Chain Lightning and Phadalus will win the ally battle. Win the Purges come in after sideboarding it moves even more into Phadalus's favor. A final factor here is that the Telrander deck is more likely to encounter a bad draw as it is occasionally possible to miss a form card. From our testing, the games in this matchup always seem really close, but Phadalus generally comes out on the winning side.

Pagatha control-Warlocks, and Undead ones in particular, have a lot of cards that Phadalus doesn't particularly like to see. Chris McMurry runs Rain of Fire main. Given the popularity of Alliance rush decks these days, that is a pretty solid choice. A turn 4 Rain of Fire game 1 into turn 6 Infernal is almost impossible to overcome. Guardian Steelhorn and Sarmoth have a nasty habit of slowing the deck's initial rush and Cannibalize in the mid-to-late game can often seal the deal. Depending on the build of the deck this matchup can range from kinda bad to downright atrocious. The saving grace for Phadalus in this matchup is that sometimes Pagatha will miss some early plays and Phadalus can get enough damage in early to finish the game. For the most part, though, you're not going to be too happy when your opponent shows you a Pagatha.

Dizdemona-Most of the Dizdemona decks I've seen have been of the rush variety. They use generally the same ally set as Phadalus except some run Morfiel for an efficient 4-drop and some go up to Infernal for opposing rush decks. They also add Luppo Shadlefizzle to the mix of allies and get to play the efficient Warlock burn cards like Steal Essence and Shadow Bolt. When you throw in Ritual Sacrifice, they can make a pretty mean rush deck. In this matchup, Phadalus tends to win because of the non-ally cards it plays. Chain Lightning, Searing Totem, and Perdition's Blade will very often make the difference in this matchup. Dizdemona still wins its fair share of games because it is an Alliance rush deck, and winning the die roll tends to be critical in these type matchups, but Phadalus will win more often going second than Dizdemona.

Sen'Zir-This deck really seems like it's been forgotten about, but it continues to post solid numbers. This is a pretty good matchup for Phadalus. The Sen'Zir deck relies on its efficient pets and bigger allies to win in the mid-game. Phadalus has allies that are cheaper and more efficient. Generally if both players just race, the Phadalus player will win. The Sen'Zir deck is usually forced into accepting the role of control or just racing and taking what wins it can get. Even in the race scenario, the you can usually just make a couple of well timed attacks or protects that will extend your health total long enough for you to win. In this matchup, you should generally focus on dealing as much damage as possible directly to your opponent's hero since you don't really want to get into the late game where they will be playing a big ally nearly every turn. Only make trades that are very advantageous to you. They will try to win an attrition war, but your superior card drawing makes that very difficult. This is a pretty good matchup for you which is one of the main reasons this deck hasn't become more popular.

Bulkas-This matchup is heavily dependent on your build of Phadalus. With Brad Watson's build that runs Chipper, Moira, and Chasing A-Me main and Purge in the sideboard, this is a very good matchup. Keeping Cruelty offline is your main goal and Chipper allows you to do that in game 1, while adding Purge in game 2 makes it far easier. A lot of times you won't be able to hit a weapon because of Stronghold Gauntlets, but you can usually save Moira for their shields, whether it be the traditional Skullflame (which is a nightmare for you if it stays in play) or the updated Drillborer Disk. There's not much more to say here, but if you change the deck and take out Moira, this matchup gets a little closer and if you take out Chipper or Purge from the board it actually becomes a bad matchup. The less you do to disrupt their plan, the less likely you are to win. This is one of the matchups where you play less pure aggro and a more tempo-control game. Your goal should be to apply the maximum amount of pressure while not allowing them to set up what they want to do.

Gorebelly-A lot of people laugh when I say this, but I compare this deck to Telrander. It's a basic ally rush deck that throws in an atypical and potentially explosive finisher to make up for the lack of an endgame. Surprisingly, this matchup plays similar to Telrander. You are generally faster and now you have Chipper AND Moira to run interference on the big finish. Searing Totem is an even bigger house in this matchup due to the absence of untargetables. So far, I haven't seen a big problem beating this deck in testing with Phadalus.

Azarak-This matchup is very draw-dependent. Azarak has several cards that you hate. A turn one Lightning Reflexes is pretty bad. If they choose to play Hootie that's worse. The cards that are very bad for you in this matchup are, Wraith Scythe, Lightning Reflexes, and Blackcrow. Frost Trap isn't that bad because it doesn't do anything to your board position. You have to stop Wraith Scythe or they will heal damage by attacking with Blackcrow and swinging back with the Scythe. They will generally take out 2 of your guys per turn (one on yours, one on theirs) and heal 3-7 damage. Lightning Reflexes like, I've already mentioned, needs to be removed or it will effectively soak up anywhere from 10-25 damage through the course of the game. If they draw 2 it will be very hard to overcome. Blackcrow poses a problem for 3 reasons. Number 1, they get to take out allies without taking damage back and if they play Edgemaster's Handguards they will do it without spending any resources. Number 2, Rapid Fire allows them to wipe out your entire board. Number 3, it allows them to Dual-Wield. This allows them to not only take out two allies per turn, but also heal for 2 attacks with Wraith Scythe. You want to play this matchup a lot like you play Bulkas. Apply as much pressure as possible while disrupting their gameplan. Brute force won't be enough here.

Grennan-These decks are gaining in popularity mostly due to this matchup. This is a tough one for you. Opposing Searing Totems and Chain Lightnings pose significant problems. One thing that a lot of people seem to forget is that you can kill Totems with Chipper. Grennan will also use the incredibly efficient Perdition's Blade against you. They will try to fight off your initial onslaught and then win through superior allies like Stone Guard Rashun and Moko. This is one of the matchups that is solely about brute force. You want this game to end as quickly as possible because if you get into an end game war against better allies backed up by Chain Lightnings and Perdition's Blades, you are going to lose. One thing to remember here is to complete Defias Brotherhood any time you have the chance. They will be removing most of your early game allies and if you don't draw enough cards, you will lose the war of attrition. So any time you can, make sure you complete your Brotherhoods. Other than that, just play guys and smash with them. This is a pretty rough matchup.

Nimaasus-Nimaasus rush decks have risen based on the power of Consecration and Blessing of Freedom in the Phadalus matchup. Consecration can wipe out your board while a Blessing of Freedom can completely negate a Chain Lightning. They don't get Perdition's Blade or Searing Totem though and that poses some problems for them in this matchup. Consecration may be better than Chain Lightning but it's not THAT much better, and your other Shaman abilities affect the game sooner. This is generally a pretty solid matchup. Like the Dizzy match, Nimaasus will win its fair share going first, but Phadalus will win more on the play than Nimaasus. If this matchup were actually bad, more players would be playing Nimaasus, but as you can see most rush players are sticking with the Shaman.

That covers what I have to say about Phadalus rush. Next time, I'll cover the Pagatha control decks.