Card reveals have begun for Hearthstone's next big expansion. The Boomsday Project will dive deep into science and technology, as part of the next set for the Year of the Raven.
This expansion features the new keyword Magnetic, new Omega Projects, and Legendary Spells. And as is the case with each new Hearthstone expansion, Shacknews is stepping into the lab to analyze each of the Boomsday Project's new cards. Before we get started, here's everything you might have missed:
Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project - The Dr. Boom, Mad Genius Design Interview
Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project - Analyzing Dr. Boom, Mad Genius
Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project Analysis Lab (Part 1)
Hearthstone: The Boomsday Project Analysis Lab (Part 2)
And now, let's continue with the next batch of cards.
(3) Omega Medic (3/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Priest
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: If you have 10 Mana Crystals, restore 10 Health to your hero.
Source: MKRR3 on YouTube
Analysis: Omega Medic isn't something I'd consider packing into a constructed deck, since there aren't a lot of high synergy possibilities here.
But Omega Medic is a solid Arena pick, with a decent 3/4 body to play on curve and a Battlecry effect that could prove beneficial in the later turns. I wouldn't expect to see this guy on the ladder, but Arena players should be pretty happy with this pick.
(7) Astromancer (5/5)
Type: Minion
Class: Mage
Rarity: Epic
Battlecry: Summon a random minion with Cost equal to your hand size.
Source: Dian Fuji on Panda.tv
Analysis: There aren't many Mage archetypes that fit into this card's effect, with maybe one exception. Early on in the Witchwood, I played around with an Elemental Mage and often found my hand overflowing, thanks to constant Discover effects from cards like Servant of Kalimos and card generation from cards like Ruby Spellstone.
Getting a big hand isn't as hard as it might look for Mage. Just avoid the temptation to fast track the process by using Aluneth, simply because of how easily that card can backfire.
(2) Celestial Emissary (2/1)
Type: Minion - Elemental
Class: Mage
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Your next spell this turn has Spell Damage +2.
Source: DDaHyoNi on YouTube
Analysis: Celestial Emissary won't be an Elemental that Mages will look to pack into their deck, necessarily. Not when Bloodmage Thalnos still provides a valuable card draw effect. But hey, are you picking this guy up from Servant of Kalimos or some other Discover effect? That's not too bad.
It's important to keep in mind that Celestial Emissary will only work on a single spell, so if you're a Big Spell Mage, make this guy count. Clear the board with that 6-damage Flamestrike or use something like Leyline Manipulator to maybe discount a Pyroblast you might have gotten off that Ruby Spellstone and go face for 12 damage.
(2) Cloning Device
Type: Spell
Class: Priest
Rarity: Common
Discover a copy of a minion in your opponent's deck.
Source: Eurogamer
Analysis: For the Standard player, nothing is ever going to replace Drakonid Operative. May he rest in peace. That just leaves little remnants of his effect, like this Cloning Device spell, which allows players to Discover a minion from the opposition's deck. That's not nearly as fun.
Cloning Device has very limited uses and it's hard to imagine this getting any play in constructed decks. But if you're messing around with Lyra the Sunshard and Radiant Elemental and this spell happens to pop up, then by all means, use it to its maximum potential.
(5) Giggling Inventor (2/1)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Summon two 1/2 Mechs with Taunt and Divine Shield.
Source: Zaltir on YouTube
Analysis: Look out! It's a 2/1 flaked by double Annoy-o-Trons! And while that may sound sarcastic, this effect is nothing to laugh at.
Remember how laughable Annoy-o-Tron first looked in Goblins vs. Gnomes and then remember how hard it was to actually get through one of these little jerks. Now imagine trying to get through two of them. In certain decks, Giggling Inventor could be a complete irritant. One of those decks is the Odd Paladin, which could plant Giggling Inventor on Turn 5 and then buff two of these minions up with Fungalmancer on Turn 6. While the effect doesn't look like it'll do much damage, the Giggling Inventor play could spiral into something out of control if not dealt with swiftly.
Fortunately, a few classes are equipped for the Giggling Inventor play. Warlocks packing Defile and Big Spell Mages packing Blizzard could counter this play rather easily. Also, be on the lookout for that one jerk packing the tech Mossy Horror, who may be joined by quite a few more jerks in the coming weeks.
(9) Zerek's Cloning Gallery
Type: Spell
Class: Priest
Rarity: Legendary
Summon a 1/1 copy of each minion in your deck.
Source: Omnistone Episode 56
Analysis: I'm looking for the big legendary impact and I'm just not seeing it. Don't let this card text fool you. It should really say "Summon a 1/1 copy of up to the first seven minions in your deck," because you can only fit so many minions onto the board.
The effect itself isn't a bad idea on paper, but 9 Mana is a lot to ask for. Unless those are some devastating Deathrattles in the deck, it's hard to say whether this is worth a Turn 9 play. And worse, the opponent has likely already built to their win condition at this point. The ideal counter for that is not to flood the board with 1/1s.
There could be an interaction that I'm not seeing, but after racking my brain on this one, I don't see this getting much play.
(4) Blightnozzle Crawler (2/4)
Type: Minion - Mech
Class: Rogue
Rarity: Rare
Deathrattle: Summon a 1/1 Ooze with Poisonous and Rush.
Source: OnlineStationNetwork on Facebook
Analysis: This minion really only works one way and that's if you trade it into another minion. By trading it into a mid-sized minion, it ensures a poisonous 1/1 Ooze that can Rush a much larger minion for maximum impact. But if your opponent kills this thing on their turn, then the Rush effect becomes useless.
It's a good novelty card and one that might come in handy in an Arena run. Just don't expect to see too much of this guy on the ladder.
(7) Star Aligner (7/7)
Type: Minion
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Epic
Battlecry: If you control 3 minions with 7 Health, deal 7 damage to all enemies.
Source: NGA.CN
Analysis: Here is this set's top meme card. It's Star Aligner, which takes Blizzard's love of the "7" stat to the extreme. But the Battlecry only works when there are three other minions with exactly 7 Health. So how in the heck would that work? Which Hearthstone minions even pack 7 Health? Glad you asked! Those would be:
- Hadronox (3/7)
- King Mosh (9/7)
- Cauldron Elemental (7/7)
- Charged Devilsaur (7/7)
- Grand Archivist (4/7)
- Gruul (7/7)
- Kalimos, Primal Lord (7/7)
- Violet Wurm (7/7)
- Abominal Bowman (7/7)
- Archmage Antonidas (5/7)
- Prophet Velen (7/7)
- Sated Threshadon (5/7)
- War Golem (7/7)
- Archmage (4/7)
- Boulderfist Ogre (6/7)
- Glinda Crowskin (3/7)
- Grumble, Worldshaker (7/7)
- Mossy Horror (2/7)
- Sunkeeper Tarim (3/7)
- The Beast (9/7)
- Bolvar, Fireblood (1/7)
- Carrion Drake (3/7)
- Doomguard (5/7)
- Duskfallen Aviana (3/7)
- Festeroot Hulk (2/7)
- Gurubashi Berserker (2/7)
- Nesting Roc (4/7)
- Tar Lurker (1/7)
- Voodoo Hexxer (2/7)
- Mogu'shan Warden (1/7)
- Oasis Snapjaw (2/7)
- Injured Blademaster (4/7)
- Doomsayer (0/7)
And that's all just in Standard.
So if anything could trigger this guy, it could be the Cubelock that suddenly sprouts out multiple Doomguards with Carnivorous Cube. It is a longshot to make Star Aligner work, but it is not impossible. You won't be seeing him pop up often, but you might see him at least once. Hearthstone fans anxiously await the inevitable Disguised Toast video.
(2) Cybertech Chip
Type: Spell
Class: Hunter
Rarity: Rare
Give your minions "Deathrattle: Add a random Mech to your hand."
Source: LiangYiWeiNa on Douyu
Analysis: Hunters really aren't much of a Mech-heavy class and I don't expect that to change after this expansion. Because of that, I don't expect the Cybertech Chip to see much play in Standard. It's certainly nothing to sneeze at in Wild, where Hunters can pull out Piloted Shredder or Antique Healbot.
Hunters seem to be doing just fine with their Spell builds and Beast builds, so don't look for Cybertech Chip to see much action.
(2) Pogo-Hopper (1/1)
Type: Minion - Mech
Class: Rogue
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Gain +2/+2 for each other Pogo-Hopper you played this game.
Source: Tars on YouTube
Anaylsis: Boingy! Boingy! Boingy!
If you think Rogue decks packing spiders is terrifying, now imagine a Rogue deck with lots of mechanical rabbits! And yes, it is entirely possible for Miracle Rogue to adjust its deck to unleash maximum spiders and maximum rabbits.
The Pogo-Hopper will play very nicely with the new Lab Recruiter that was unveiled earlier this week. This means shuffling multiple Pogo-Hoppers into your deck. That sounds like an even better idea than using the Lab Recruiter on Fal'dorei Strider, which can still generate spiders even by itself.
The new-look Miracle Rogue could be very dangerous in the new meta. And if the Rogue reaches Pogo-Hopper #4 or #5, there aren't going to be enough removal or Silence effects to deal with all of these mechanical misfits.
(1) Omega Assembly
Type: Spell
Class: Warrior
Rarity: Rare
Discover a Mech. If you have 10 Mana Crystals, keep all 3 cards.
Source: Hearthstone: Enter Boom Labs Episode 3
Analysis: A 1-Mana Discover effect has been plenty useful in the past, as seen with cards like I Know a Guy and Journey Below. So Omega Assembly by itself isn't bad. But in the late game, it's great for refilling a waning hand. And with the cost so cheap, it leaves more than enough room to play one of those discoveries.
In constructed, it's going to be a downright glorious card in a Dr. Boom deck. In Arena, it's going to replenish a lot of resources in the late game. Normally, these 1-Mana Discover spells aren't much to write home about, but Omega Assembly could see a lot of play in this new meta run by machines.
(8) Gloop Sprayer (4/4)
Type: Minion
Class: Druid
Rarity: Common
Battlecry: Summon a copy of each adjacent minion.
Source: DisguisedToast on YouTube
Analysis: As Toast notes in his video, this is an oddly expensive card for mediocre 4/4 stats. So naturally, this should do something crazy, right?
Gloop Sprayer will create copies of its adjacent minions, which should, theoretically set up a game-ending combo. I mean, what can opponents do against double Malygos or double Ysera? The trouble is, it's still an 8-Cost minion, so it's an expensive combo to pull off and usually must be pulled off in multiple turns. Fortunately, Twig of the World Tree is here to help by refreshing Mana with its Deathrattle.
As for Wild players, this will offer a new twist on the classic Aviana/Kun the Forgotten King OTK combo. Simply play Aviana, Kun, Malygos, Faceless Manipulator, and Gloop Sprayer for a quadruple Malygos! With seven Mana to spare, show no mercy to your opponent's face.
(2) Crystology
Type: Spell
Class: Paladin
Rarity: Rare
Draw two 1-Attack minions from your deck.
Source: Nayara Sylvestre on YouTube
Analysis: The heavy implication with Crystology is that its main focus is drawing cheap minions. That is not the case, though.
See, there are a surprising amount of good minions with only 1 Attack. Stonehill Defender and Tar Creeper are perfectly fine minions that only sport a base Attack value of 1. But how about something a little more legendary? Think Bolvar, Fireblood and Lynessa Sunsorrow. Don't worry so much about these cards being at the bottom of the deck, because Crystology is here to help pluck them out.
This is a spell that has a strong potential to see more play down the road and could be something that gets much better, depending on future expansions. For now, it's a pretty decent spell.
(7) Boommaster Flark (5/5)
Type: Minion
Class: Hunter
Rarity: Legendary
Battlecry: Summon four 0/2 Goblin Bombs.
Source: Inven
(1) Goblin Bomb (0/2)
Type: Minion - Mech
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Deathrattle: Deal 2 damage to the enemy hero.
Source: Inven
Analysis: This feels like an odd Legendary to put in a Hunter deck, but here we are. Boommaster Flark is Diet Dr. Boom, bringing along four 0/2 Goblin Bombs that all hit the face for two damage when destroyed. His 5/5 body isn't great, but if the Hunter player can attach Taunt or even Magnetic mechs onto those Goblin Bombs, this Legendary suddenly gets a little more useful.
The Goblin Bombs can also apparently be played a la carte as a Neutral Common. That should intrigue anyone with Magnetic Mechs, since the Goblin Bomb is a cheap attachment with a nice effect.
That's all for now! Keep an eye on Shacknews over the next few weeks for more card breakdowns for The Boomsday Project, leading all the way up to the expansion's release on August 7.
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