Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas Review

We review the best and worst of the new cards in Curse of Naxxramas in this week’s show! Everything from crazy Kel’thuzad to overcosted treants is on the table, so let’s not waste time chatting. This is an epic 3-hour show, and our first-ever card review. Let us know what you like, what you hate, and what we can do next time to make it more useful for you.

And, again, my apologies for the short break in the show. It was for a good cause, though! My son is happy and healthy, now almost 2 months old!

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The Links

Hello!

Scott is on the show this week
Topic: Curse of Naxxramas review
Reasons to be happy this week

Our Review Process

Our goal is not just to help you identify the most powerful cards in the set (although we are doing that). We want to help you understand why they’re powerful, what situations they’re best played in, and give you some fun ideas to play with all of the new cards, not only the best ones.

To do that, we suggest decks and combo cards for each card, and give each card two ratings:
Base Rating (0-5): Average value of the card, by itself, if played in all decks in the game.
Combo Potential (0-5): The high-potential value of this card, when played in an ideal deck that has synergy with it.

You can add the two scores together to get a rough estimate (out of 10) of the card’s overall value. But the specifics matter. A high Base Rating means the card has strong vanilla stats and doesn’t need synergy to be good. Rely on these cards in Arena. A high Combo Potential means that the card has a powerful effect that gets better with other, specific cards. Look for ways to exploit this when building decks in Constructed play.

What is Curse of Naxxramas?

What the expansion costs, and what it gets you
Our impressions of the solo dungeons and class challenges
Explanation of card rarity

Neutral Cards – Common

Dancing Swords

Josh says: Very high risk for a very low reward (1 bonus attack stat). Pass.
Scott says: Same.
Deck Recommendation: Mid-range Deathrattle deck, where you get an inherent bonus from the Deathrattle effect. (Aggro Paladin may be the best bet IMO, as it’s cost-efficient on offense and plays nicely with Divine Favor.)
Base Rating: 1
Combo Potential: 1

Haunted Creeper

Scott says: I’m a big fan. 3/4 for 2 is better than Harvest Golem!
Josh says: Crazy efficient on stats if the Deathrattle happens. And if not, they wasted a silence!
Deck Recommendation: Deathrattle, Hunter Beastmaster
Base Rating: 5
Combo Potential: 3

Mad Scientist

Josh says: Weak stats, but that effect is great — as long as you only have one Secret in your deck.
Scott says: I think it’s still great with more than one secret, though you obviously lose some control that way.
Deck Recommendation: Mage, Hunter, Paladin
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 5

Nerub’ar Weblord

Scott says: Hard to build around, and not good if you don’t.
Josh says: Agreed! It’s just as likely to annoy you as your opponent, and this card is not even close to being strong enough to build around.
Deck Recommendation: Druid, Rogue
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 0

Spectral Knight

Josh says: One of the hardest-to-kill minions in the game. Nothing else this big has the Shroud effect protecting it.
Scott says: I don’t rate quite as highly as others, but it is clearly above average. 0.5 mana for its effect is a good investment. Works in many decks as filler.
Deck Recommendation: Any deck that needs a beefy french-vanilla 5-drop.
Base Rating: 4
Combo Potential: 0

Stoneskin Gargoyle

Scott says: Too easy to kill. It’s possible this can dominate a game with buffs and luck, but too high-maintenance.
Josh says: You’re absolutely right. This looks much better than it is. Healing at the start of the turn, instead of end, really hurts it.
Deck Recommendation: Control Priest
Base Rating: 1
Combo Potential: 3

Undertaker

Josh says: Decent minion stats, and it’ll often draw out removal early because of the potential.
Scott says: He’s good, but there’s not enough deathrattle in the game to get insane effect from him.
Deck Recommendation: Deathrattle, Zoo (with a few deathrattle)?
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 4

Unstable Ghoul

Scott says: Not great under normal conditions, but plays really well with specific cards.
Josh says: I like this card m ore than Scott as a general pick. Fine stats with Taunt, and it kills any attacker with 2 health. Solid value for any Control deck.
Deck Recommendation: Control Warrior
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 4

Zombie Chow

Josh says: Great for early board control, when you’re not planning to deal damage before this dies anyways.
Scott says: I value this card less than most. Has a place, but I don’t think it’s remotely OP. Can be a liability unless drawn in opening hand.
Deck Recommendation: Shadow Priest Control, any Late-game control
Base Rating: 3
Combo Potential: 2

Neutral Cards – Rare

Deathlord

Scott says: Can be good, can also be a big liability.
Josh says: Luck be a lady tonight!
Deck Recommendation: Aggro Warlock, Control Paladin, Control Priest
Base Rating: 3
Combo Potential: 2

Nerubian Egg

Josh says: There’s so much potential here. This is the sort of card that just gets your mind racing with combo ideas.
Scott says: Great card, but only in decks that can properly support it. It’s simply unusable in most decks.
Deck Recommendation: Zoo, Shaman, Warrior Enrage
Base Rating: 0
Combo Potential: 5

Sludge Belcher

Scott says: YOU SHALL NOT PASS. Also, taunt across 2 creatures is better than just 2 normal creatures
Josh says: This guy will eat at least 2 hits, most often 3 in my experience. Taz Dingo what?
Deck Recommendation: Any control deck
Base Rating: 5
Combo Potential: 1

Wailing Soul

Josh says: Like the Nerub’ar Weblord, this seems like you’ll never see a board state where the effect doesn’t hurt you in addition to helping you. Weak stats leave me unimpressed.
Scott says: Because he’s under the vanilla curve, you only want him if your deck is built specifically to get value from his ability. Best combo is Equality, though other ‘drawback minions’ work well w/ him too.
Deck Recommendation: Control Paladin (Equality)
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 2

Neutral Cards – Epic

Echoing Ooze

Scott says: At its worst, leaves you with 2 1/2s, giving you 2/4 total for 2 mana. Also amplifies any buffs cast first turn.
Josh says: I see the potential here but I just don’t like it. It’s super high maintenance and forces you to make bad decisions, like playing buff cards on turns that you can’t use them immediately.
Deck Recommendation: Paladin, Druid
Base Rating: 3
Combo Potential: 3

Shade of Naxxramas

Josh says: You’ll rarely leave this in Stealth beyond 3/3, but it is a trading machine!
Scott says: Stealthed or no, continues to grow until killed. Demands an answer and therefore forces subpar enemy play in most cases. That’s worth at least 0.5 mana in my book.
Deck Recommendation: Any non-combo-based deck
Base Rating: 4
Combo Potential: 0

Neutral Cards – Legendary

Baron Rivendare

Scott says: Seems better than he is. Even in a deathrattle deck, you have to draw him and have other things line up to be useful. Stat numbers aren’t bad, but stat balance is horrible.
Josh says: I can confirm those stats. I soloed him last week and the dude barely scratched me! Push over.
Deck Recommendation: Deathrattle deck (Shaman)
Base Rating: 1
Combo Potential: 4

Feugen

Josh says: I love this card. Yeti 2.0 — 1 more mana for 2 more health gives this guy a massive life total with a hefty 4-damage for trading. Deathrattle effect is just silence bait, nothing more.
Scott says: Combo is hard to trigger, but this guy’s worth using vanilla
Deck Recommendation: Warlock
Base Rating: 4
Combo Potential: 1

Kel’Thuzad

Scott says: Super awesome card. Just pricey — as a super awesome card should be.
Josh says: Lots of cool potential, but you’ll pay for it with the games where you can never even play this.
Deck Recommendation: Control Priest, Control Paladin, Control Shaman
Base Rating: 5
Combo Potential: 5

Loatheb

Josh says: I’m not entirely sold on this card. You’re given up at least 1 health for that effect. How often were they not going to play a spell anyways? Seems very focused against specific decks.
Scott says: Fine card, but not the auto-include some people say. Slightly better than vanilla IMO.
Deck Recommendation: Miracle Rogue (for mirror match),
Base Rating: 4
Combo Potential: 1

Maexxna

Scott says: Compares to Boulderfist Ogre. Better against minions, worse against heroes.
Josh says: Susceptible to Silence, but that’s just about it. 1 more health than Boulderfist Ogre at the same cost
Deck Recommendation: Control Hunter, Control Priest
Base Rating: 3
Combo Potential: 1

Stalagg

Josh says: Four health is such a liability, but it will draw out the removal. Only worth it if you’re going for Deathrattle effect.
Scott says: Yup, agreed. 7/4 isn’t a good mix of stats, even though it’s on the vanilla curve.
Deck Recommendation: Warlock
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 1

Class Cards

Rogue: Anub’ar Ambusher

Scott says: Drawback seems pretty big in most cases. Not really sure how to turn it into an advantage.
Josh says: There are many more cards where this is a liability than a perk. The “random” factor makes it horrible.
Deck Recommendation: Combo- and Battlecry-heavy Rogue decks
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 1

Paladin: Avenge

Josh says: Secrets can’t proc on your turn, which means you can’t really control when to proc this or who it lands on. That’s a lot of conditions.
Scott says: Haven’t used it yet — I want it to be good, but I’m not sure it is. Ben Brode thinks it’s strong, but has been easy to play around when I’ve seen it in the wild.
Deck Recommendation: Paladin Swarm, Paladin Control
Base Rating: 3
Combo Potential: 1

Priest: Dark Cultist

Scott says: Strong card, absolutely above average. Have been surprised that it hasn’t performed stronger when I’ve seen it used.
Josh says: Easily the best class card in this new set. Awesome vanilla stats, and an effect that synergizes perfectly with this class.
Deck Recommendation: Control Priest
Base Rating: 5
Combo Potential: 4

Warrior: Death’s Bite

Josh says: Warrior is always welcome to have more weapons, and the Deathrattle effect is decent, if situational.
Scott says: Good card, fleshes out weapon spectrum for Warrior. Deathrattle can be very strong.
Deck Recommendation: Enrage Warrior
Base Rating: 3
Combo Potential: 4

Mage: Duplicate

Scott says: With infinite mana, this would be great. Requires discipline to control what triggers it, like Redemption. Hard to figure out where it shines most.
Josh says: Yeah, I agree. This is one of those cards that looks better on paper than in practice. Same mana as Arcane Intellect, and equal part perks/hindrances in comparison.
Deck Recommendation: Mage control
Base Rating: 3
Combo Potential: 2

Druid: Poison Seeds

Josh says: I really wanted to like this card, and it does have a few very specific combos that are fun, but it’s almost never worth the mana/card.
Scott says: This card sucks. I think I might rather play an Angry Chicken. Seriously.
Deck Recommendation: Druid Deathrattle
Base Rating: 0
Combo Potential: 1

Shaman: Reincarnate

Scott says: Lots of fun tricks with this thing. Can function as a poor-man’s silence. Can also restore Divine Shield. Reincarnate + Ancestral Spirit + Cairne Bloodhoof = LOLs for days
Josh says: More of a fun card than a reliable staple for any deck. Have fun with your Timmy combos, but don’t expect efficiency.
Deck Recommendation: Control Shaman
Base Rating: 2
Combo Potential: 4

Warlock: Voidcaller

Josh says: Ugh. This card was designed to make sure the popular Warlock decks stagnated. I want to play Warlock demon deck, and I really tried to, but it just isn’t competitive. It’s barely even fun.
Scott says: Avoiding casting cost of demons in hand is nice — avoiding drawback from them is even better in some cases.
Deck Recommendation: Warlock Demon mid-game
Base Rating: 1
Combo Potential: 3

Hunter: Webspinner

Scott says: Fun card that’s also good (on average).
Josh says: My Sindragosa attempt was saved when I top-decked this and it gave me a King Crush!
Deck Recommendation: Hunter Beastmaster, Hunter Deathrattle, Hunter Control
Base Rating: 4
Combo Potential: 2

Community

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iTunes Reviews

Card of the Week

Surprise on the show!

Farewell

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What you want to see in future episodes
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