Hearthstone: Rise of Shadows Set Review

The evening of the launch of the latest Hearthstone expansion, Rise of Shadows, I open my packs and eagerly queue up for a game. After a short wait for a “worthy opponent” I find myself facing off against a Paladin. As we complete our mulligan, I prepare myself for the “None will survive” voice-line of Baku. But it never comes. With a sigh of relieve, I realize that Baku has rotated, and that this is a brand new meta. Finally, the Year of the Dragon has arrived.

The Year of the Dragon

Before we start reviewing the Rise of Shadows expansion, lets quickly take a look at the Year of the Dragon.

As always, the launch of the first expansion of the year also ushers in a standard rotation and a new Hearthstone year. But this time around, Blizzard decided to change things up a bit.

Non-classic cards were, for the first time ever, rotated to the Hall of Fame. Baku the Moon Eater and Genn Greymane from the Witchwood expansion were banished. These two cards were the biggest contributors to what many call the stalest metagame Hearthstone has ever seen. All odd and even related cards were also Hall of Famed, as well as Doomgaurd, Naturalize and Divine Favor. This alone is cause for celebration.

The rotation also means that Journey to Un’Goro, The Frozen Throne and Kobolts and Catacombs are no longer in standard. These three sets had by far the highest power level of all expansions, and their rotation will bring a welcome balance back to the game.

Lastly, the Year of the Dragon will be the first year where there is a continuous story being told. No longer will expansions be standalone events. All of the Year of the Dragon’s expansions will be connected and will continue telling the story starting off in Rise of Shadows.

The Rise of Shadows

The story of Rise of Shadows revolves around the League of E.V.I.L and some sinister plot involving an attack on Dalaran. You should know the 5 villains that make up the League of E.V.I.L. as they appeared in previous expansions. They are Madame Lazul, Dr. Boom, Hagatha, King Togwaggle and their nefarious leader Rafaam. As you may have guessed, each of these characters are represented by a Legendary card. I have to admit that I quite enjoy the design and flavor of these cards.

Togwaggle, for example, is represented as Heistbaron Togwaggle, with a Battlecry reading “If you control a Lackey, choose a fantastic treasure”. The treasure is based on the treasure obtained from Maryn the Fox in the Kobolts and Catacombs expansion. This insinuates that Togwaggle was able to steal Maryn’s treasure. I at least think this type of link between expansions is quite cool.

This expansion brings with it a host of new mechanics and key words. All the Villian classes get cards called Schemes. These cards increase in power the longer they are held in your hand. The other classes get cards with the keyword Twinspell. When you play a Twinspell card, a copy of it is added to your hand.

Rise of Shadows also introduces Lackeys. Lackeys are one mana minions that are generated from various cards. Each Lackey has a unique battle cry, and they are quite powerful.

You can have a look at all the new cards at Hearthstone’s official site.

All in all the expansion seems like a well balanced addition to the game. The power level is slightly higher than the previous three expansions, but still well balanced.

Cards to look out for

There are a number of very exciting cards in this expansion. Below are a few of the ones that I personally look forward to playing the most. Please don’t read this as a crafting guide. These are just cards that I think will be interesting, but might be terrible as the metagame develops.

Khadgar

At first glance this card doesn’t look all that impressive, but when pairing it with cards like Power of Creation, Conjurer’s Calling and even Jan’alai, it generates crazy value. That, and I am also a big fan of Khadgar.

Swampqueen Hagatha

I don’t actually think this card is going be as strong as some think it may be, but it is still an awesome design. Being able to “teach” two spells to your horror is very cool. It is a slow card, but the chances of getting a 5/5 on the board that casts Lava Burst and Bloodlust can swing the game. I am also very excited to see combos with Shudderwock.

Blastmaster Boom

He’s back! Or rather, Boom Bots are back! Bomb synergy is definitely going to be prominent in this expansion. And, given that the Boom Bots are mechs, this card will win games if it is played after Dr. Boom, Mad Genius.

Heistbaron Togwaggle

Like I mentioned earlier, I love the design of this card. From a power level point of view this is definitely a solid card. You can play this, giving you a 5/5 on board, and also discover and play 2 legendary minions on turn 6.

Meta prediction

As always aggro decks are dominating the early expansion meta. I suspect some of them will stick around for the duration of the expansion. Token Druid, ZooLock and Tempo Rogue were given some great cards to work with, and this should give them some longevity. Especially Tempo Rogue. This being said, there will be some strong control decks that should keep these aggro decks in line.

Warrior seems extremely strong with this expansion. The Dr. Boom hero card and its synergy with the great array of mechs will definitely be a staple in this meta. Blastmaster Boom may also stick around. It sucks to lose to an unlucky draw of a bomb, but people enjoy playing Bomb Warrior decks. I sincerely hope I am wrong, but the addition of Archivist Elysiana also creates the space for slow fatigue Warrior decks to emerge.

Mage received some awesome cards. Cards like Power of Creation, Khadgar, Kalecgos and Conjurer’s Calling are excellent value generators. And having Archmage Vargoth in the mix doesn’t hurt either. There will more than like be some sort of control mage deck emerging after the initial aggro meta.

Control Shaman will also be a thing. I saw some interesting Shaman decks being played on stream, but they were very unrefined. Given some time, I’m sure a strong, consistent deck will emerge (holding thumbs for a Swampqueen Hagatha/Shudderwock deck!). Murloc Shaman will also see some play, but I don’t think it is powerful enough to take on some of the other aggro decks.

This is just my prediction of what the meta will shape up to be. I could be completely wrong, so don’t spend your dust based on this. Rather keep an eye on sites like HSReplay to see in real-time what the meta is shaping up to be.

Conclusion

The Rise of Shadows is a really fun expansion. So far I have enjoyed playing it and I look forward to seeing what crazy decks the pro players come up with. However, Hearthstone needs more than just one great expansion. Blizzard needs to start working on alternative game modes and a tournament mode. Urgently. Hearthstone has been around for a very long time now, and though it still has a solid player base, it needs something new.