Hearthstone, like most collectable card games, is constantly evolving. Cards like Chillwind Yeti and Sen’jin Shieldmasta have been left behind in favor of Piloted Shredder and Sludge Belcher, and decks that were powerful before have been evolved or abandoned as the meta shifts. The character classes also go through their own transformations, typically through new cards that promote a different style of play. Blackrock Mountain has brought us three cards in particular that try to change/update cards for the Warlock, Druid, and Warrior classes, so today we’re going to analyze them to see how they compare to their counterparts.

At first glance Demonwrath seems like an obvious auto-include in most Warlock decks. A three mana Consecration would be perfect in almost any deck, and the slight drawback of hurting your own non-demon cards only helps Warlocks activate the effects of Nerubian Egg or Haunted Creeper. It also won’t damage your health pool when it’s activated, so Demonwrath will never kill you for trying to clear the board like Hellfire can.

However, there are a few drawbacks to keep in mind. For starters this isn’t a be-all end-all of Warlock AOE, since it’s less effective in decks like Zoolock or Handlock without as many demons as Demonlock. There’s also the abundance of three-health creatures to consider, particularly in nuisances like Snowchugger or Piloted Shredder that won’t die to a simple Demonwrath. You can work around this flaw in several ways, such as with Imps or spellpower, but those options generally mean that you’ll need to spend more than three mana. This sounds like a bigger problem than it is, because keeping your demons alive to deal additional damage has a much bigger impact than a Warlock might expect, but it’s something to think about if your deck has problems keeping demons on the board. Lastly, and perhaps the most obvious of all, is that running into other Demonlocks when you have Demonwrath will arguably give you a dead draw, which is especially painful if that player chose to run Hellfire instead.

Overall I think Demonwrath has a lot of potential, but Demonlock may need to rely a little more on spellpower than before to have options against decks like Mech Mage and Grim Patron. I’m excited to see if this leads to some demon-type spellpower minions in future expansions.

Ironbark Protector is a ridiculously huge, powerful minion that rarely sees play in constructed due to its high mana cost, the prevalence of Big Game Hunter, and the simple fact that it really doesn’t do anything besides acting like a big slab of meat. Volcanic Lumberer, on the other hand, fills in the same role for nine mana and one less attack, but its special “minion death” ability makes it well worth the cost.

Volcanic Lumberer can easily replace Ironbark Protector in almost any situation because you’ll probably be able to reduce its cost down to eight mana or less on any given turn. A typical one-for-one trade will give you a seven mana 7/8 with taunt, while strong plays with Swipe could reduce Lumberer’s cost down to six or less. Violet Teacher’s value also increases exponentially when she’s in a deck with Lumberer, since she can create an army of 1/1s for you to destroy on your following turn.

Critics might list Lumberer’s lower attack and higher mana cost as determents, but the mana cost really only comes into play when you’re topdecking, and almost everything dies just as easily to seven attack as it does to eight. Simply put, if you’re going to use Ironbark Protector there’s almost no reason to not swap him out for Volcanic Lumberer instead, though you may want to tweak your deck slightly to take full advantage of this towering inferno.

Revenge exists in a weird place, development wise, because it’s living in a world with Mortal Strike where Warriors have tiny health pools. The most successful Warrior decks right now usually have fifteen or more armor at any given time, especially in slower match-ups against certain classes, so low health is never really a reality unless the Warrior is close to death anyway. Enrage Warrior might have less durability than a Control Warrior, but Enrage Warriors generally have such weak minions that three damage would hurt their existing minions rather than help them. The only real benefit Revenge’s three damage bonus gives you is against a Mech Mage and their onslaught of three health minions, but if you’re that low against a Mech Mage then you’re liable to die anyway.

Meanwhile, Revenge’s primary effect is just Whirlwind for twice the cost, which is pretty terrible considering that Whirlwind exists primarily as a combo card for all Warrior decks. Adding one mana to any given combo is generally awful, especially when it delays your Grommash Hellscream finisher, Grim Patron field swarm, or whatever cards you may draw from Acolyte of Pain. Throughout my playtesting there was almost never a moment when Revenge worked better than Whirlwind would have, particularly when I had other minions on the field that couldn’t afford to lose the three health when all I wanted to do was Execute a big creature.

Overall I think these three cards represent an incredibly positive trend in Hearthstone. It shows that Blizzard is more than willing to expand their game mechanics while also supporting potential for new deck types. It’s just a shame that Warriors were left on the wayside when they tried to “improve” Whirlwind with Revenge. Maybe with a few more cards in another expansion we’ll have “low health Warrior” become a viable deck, but it won’t be happening today.