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Oliver Gehrmann

Hello everyone and welcome to another preview for the soon to be released Crown of the Heavens! Ever since I got a first glimpse of what the set had to offer *hint* way back in November, I couldn't wait to find out more. All of the four cards that were showcased seemed like they had the potential to cause a huge shift in the metagame. This is one of the reasons why we never seem to lose interest in the game; it's always evolving which means it never gets boring! With that in mind, let's take a look at what Death Knights will bring to the table, come February:

Is that an angry Ghoul or what?!

Chances are whatever I'll be saying from now on, you won't listen anyway. "Card game mode" has taken over and you immediately started putting together decks that abuse Dark Transformation in one way or another. That's one of the greatest aspects of the card; it IS powerful and it's possible to abuse it.

Let's talk about this card's Constructed applications. It certainly does turn your Ghoul into a monster; its effect is a lot more powerful than Mark of Goldrinn and in my personal opinion, it can even compete with Gift of the Earthmother, arguably the best attachment printed so far.

This isn't much of a surprise, considering the rarity of the card, the fact that you're limiting yourself by selecting Unholy as the talent of choice (which really isn't much of a problem) as well as the restriction that you can't play it on any ally, as it needs to be a Ghoul. This sounds like quite a lot to deal with, but it really isn't. The rarity only comes into play in Limited formats as it will tell you how likely it is to open the card. Let me throw in "Corpse Explosion" and "Gargoyle" and you will no longer consider "Unholy" to be a restriction, which means there's only one limitation left: You need a Ghoul to make it work.

The most powerful card for generating Ghouls is Army of the Dead as it could always swing a game in your favor, but as soon as you start thinking a little more outside the box and explore the possibilities, you'll stumble upon Twisted Death Pact, Brothers in Death, and last but certainly not least, Unholy Ground. So far, players saw few reasons to include the ongoing ability in their decks. Now, with the additional benefit of being able to turn an ally of your choice into a 10 / 10 killing machine with a built-in Vanquish, this strategy seems a lot more appealing to me.

As I'm in a rather cheery mood just now, here's a decklist I just threw together for your consideration:

Hero: Ghoulmaster Kalisa

Allies: 29
4 Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen
4 Sava'gin the Reckless
4 "Fungus Face" McGillicutty
4 Obsidian Drudge
4 Bronze Warden
4 Bronze Drake
3 Gargoyle
2 Sinestra

Abilities: 16
4 Unholy Ground
4 Death Strike
3 Chains of Ice
2 Withering Decay
3 Dark Transformation

Equipment: 9
4 Etched Dragonbone Girdle
3 Bottled Death
2 Sorrow's End

Locations: 4
4 Twilight Citadel

Quests: 2
2 Seeds of Their Demise

Even though this deck doesn't feature some of the expensive cards, it's perfectly capable of grinding a game out and winning during the later turns. I would be lying if I told you I've tried it out myself, so I'll just leave you alone with your own thoughts at this point and hope you won't take me too serious and hold it against me.

Now I'd like to talk about the card when it comes to the Limited formats. I often fail to correctly predict the impact a card has on the Constructed formats most of the times, so my first impulse is usually trying to figure out how it can affect your Limited strategy. In my personal opinion, the single best thing about the Aftermath block is its focus on drafting decks instead of single cards. Granted, you'll have a much higher chance of winning a draft when you open Ozumat, however, if I built a fast deck featuring a number of Empower effects that I can easily make work from early on, it's not that unlikely that I can put you in such a desperate position that you might not even make it all the way to turn 8.

Alright, let's now take Dark Transformation and try to think of other cards that help you make the most of it. To an experienced Throne of the Tides drafter, Death's Duo will immediately come to mind. The common ability is rather strong on its own and can give you a huge tempo advantage – after you played it, your opponent is staring down two threats he has to deal with, both able to trade with smaller allies or dish out quite some damage. If you opted to go red and used Ghoulmaster Kalisa's flip on your own turn 2, your opponent won't even know where to start, trying to fight back your Horde of Ghouls!

However, things will turn out rather differently as soon as you add Dark Transformation to the mix! The ability not only allows you to simply trade your pumped up Ghoul with up to three (!) opposing four drops, it also provides you with the option to hit your opponents Hero for 10 AND destroy his four drop "for free". This creates a superior board position for you; your opponent will need some form of direct removal to deal with your Ghoul or he can scoop his cards right there.

What I'm saying is: Dark Transformation wins Limited games almost all on its own! Granted, you need a Ghoul but as soon as you're able to keep one on the field and have enough resources to follow it up with the ability, there's next to nothing your opponent can do to turn the game around!

Alright, that concludes my preview of Dark Transformation. If you read this far, be sure to leave me some feedback, point out what I forgot, and totally blame me for the decklist.

I hope to see many of you when we'll have the first European Sneak Preview since Cryptozoic took over, which will take place January the 28^th in my city of choice, Berlin. Here's a link to the Facebook event set up by the amazing guys from the Polish WoW TCG community. I also shared some advice on the wall explaining all of you how to make your way from the main train station or the airport to the venue, so go and check it out!

See you there or see you in Cannes!

- Oliver Gehrmann (soulwarrior@soulwarrior.net)

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