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Phillip Martin

Welcome adventurer, to the Throne of the Tides preview week. Over the next several days we will be debuting a large helping of tasty morsels for you World of Warcraft Trading Card Gameaholoics to devour.

Unless you have been living under a rock, then you have most likely noticed that our newest expansion has a significant focus on the non-Alliance non-Horde allies which make up Azeroth. While there is sure to be plenty of Murloc and Naga love to satisfy the avalanche of monster theme decks lurking around the corner, the struggle between the Blue and Red team continues with Throne of the Tides. Today we will be serving up two Alliance beaters that beg you to go into your think tank and come out with strategy molded around their awe inspiring presence.

Faithseer Jasmina shows the evolution of the Aberration keyword. The Worgen have staunchly positioned themselves as one of the hardest to kill races in the World of Warcraft TCG. While Aberration prevents non-combat damage, Jasmina basically says you have to hit her with your best shot in one single punch, or she will just wipe away the damage and keep on attacking.

But a 1/1 with a cool prevention ability wouldn't be enough, so Jasmina also comes with the power to get gigantic. Because Jasmina doesn't care what type of card you play, so long as you continue to empty your hand, I see her going in a variety of decks. Have an aggressive game plan? Playing Jasmina followed by three 1-drops will quickly turn her into a 2-cost 4/4 with room to grow. How about a control deck which focuses on keeping a hand stocked full of options? Playing our new Priest ally in the later portion of the game followed by several cheap abilities will give late-game decks a lean, mean, killing machine.

Most likely Jasmina will function as a broom, sweeping away opposing allies as quickly as they enter play. Her prevention power works best when she is taking in a constant stream of damage each turn, and the best way to make that happen would be by ramming her into the other team repeatedly. Even if the opponent is able to swing into her with a large enough ally to take her down, playing some cheap instant abilities can be a great way surprise your opponent while pumping her up large enough to avoid fatal damage.

Probably the most exciting aspect of Jasmina is having two or more copies in play at once. Call me greedy, but if you are going to focus on getting her huge over multiple turns, you may as well get more than one giant out of the deal.

I am hoping to see an achievement at the upcoming Battlegrounds require you to have a 100/100 ally in play. If there was ever an ally up to the task, it would be Faithseer Jasmina.

Our final preview for today showcases a revision to one of the forgotten faction leaders. In the style of recent makeovers King Magni and Cairne Bloodhoof have received, High Tinker Mekkatorque is back and he is looking better than ever.

Mekkatorque is easily the most exciting ally I have seen in a long while. I have always been a fan of Reconstructing large weapons back to the battlefield with Warrior and today's ally gives every class the ability to join the fun.

Death Wish Warrior is a Classic Constructed deck which focuses on returning Jin'rohk the Great Apocalypse to play as quickly as possible in order to shatter the opponent, his allies, and well...everything else they may have in play. Typically this recursion is done with Reconstruct, an ability which returns an equipment to play as long as its cost is equal to or less than the amount of resources you control. Mekkatorque has no such clause in his power, allowing you to return Jin'Rohk, or any number of other gigantic, game ending pieces of equipment into play no matter what turn it is or how many resources you actually have.

Dragonflight Great-Ring, Bangle of Endless Blessings, Gladiator's Aegis...each of these equipment cards have the potential to end the game on the spot, but each typically requires a significant investment in order to get them into play. Now with Mekkatorque, all you will need is a way to get them into your graveyard and the rest should be easy enough.

But the king of the gnomes does more than simply unearth your broken equipment. He also looks at the opposing graveyards. In the same vein as The Lich King, nothing is sacred with Mekkatorque. Do you happen to be playing against a deck just like the aforementioned Death Wish build? Now any equipment that happens to fall into their graveyard is just waiting to be plucked right back onto the battlefield for you to use against them.

Do not forget that Mekkatorque also gets large, and fast. Assuming you are returning an equipment to play each turn, the first time you attack with him it will be for at least six and if they do not find an answer immediately he will quickly climb to an 8/8 or 10/10.

Throne of the Tides is about more than showing some love to the monsters that comprise Azeroth. The WoW TCG's latest expansion gives plenty of new weapons to everyone's favorite faction. Stay tuned right here as we return tomorrow with a look at what goodies the Horde have added to their arsenal.

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