Articles

Timothy Rivera

Hi everyone, and welcome back to to Time is Money. Last week I did evaluations of the Death Knight class specific cards and what has improved and what has weakened with the newest set release Crown of the Heavens.

Druid was one of my favorite decks to draft in Triple Throne of the Tides. I really enjoyed playing with Mark of Goldrinn. I feel the that common ability for each class was the most important in determining a class's power because it was far more likely to get multiple copies of that card than any other class ability. Mark of Goldrinn would make any ally a huge threat. I also really enjoyed the token aspect of the class. This was something unique to Druid, and after drafting a couple Fungal Growth there is a playable strategy that can put your opponent in a hard spot quickly.

Let's take a look at how Druid shapes up now with Crown of the Heavens in the mix.

Heroes

Wildseer Varel - Wildseer Varel has increased in value because of the six Essence attachments and Malfurion's Gift in Crown of the Heavens. I have had good success with these Essence abilities, often playing them for only one resource. Essence of Defense will be the main attachment of the series you will go after in this deck.

Fama'sin the Lifeseer - This flip power has gotten slightly worse because of Crown of the Heavens. In Throne of the Tides, there were cards (Fungal Growth], Bottled Rage, Surge of Power) that you benefited from by having lots of tokens. By adding in one pack of Crown of the Heavens you decrease your chances of opening these cards that work well with the token strategy.

Arisella, Daughter of Cenarius - This is one of the ongoing flip powers that I hate for Limited, but love in Constructed. I have found it hard to flip so far in Limited, and when I do flip, it is because I just played out my expensive ally. I found it easiest to flip this hero early with Brogre, so you may want to focus on the Ogre allies since they all have huge butts.

Edge - Alliance. Being able to search your deck for a Wild Roots, Mark of Goldrinn, or any of the Essence abilities is very powerful for the cost.

Allies

Davius, Herald of Nature - Ramping up resources in Limited has gotten even better, especially when you can play fatties one turn earlier. Davius, Herald of Nature has slightly gone up in value.

Akasi, Herald of Nature - I mentioned before that the attachments have gotten better with Crown of the Heavens. These make the value of Akasi, Herald of Nature increase. It is also nice to note that she combos well with Horngrim, enabling her Empower on turn 3 in non Druid decks.

Abilities

Ferocious Cat Form - Arisella, Daughter of Cenarius makes this card playable. It is nice that Crown of the Heavens is the first pack in the draft as you know how to build your deck based on if you have this card or not. If you open this card or you get a chance to play it, I would suggest trying it out. The cards you will want to take aggressively once you have this cat form are Stonebranch, Ancient of War and Crabbyfin. Its worthy of a first pick if you are willing to gamble on it, but not too great later in the pack once you have chosen a faction.

Malfurion's Gift - Malfurion's Gift is a very good talent. The abilities of the past that have brought back allies have always been first picks in Limited. This card reminds me of Rebirth because of this one being instant. Malfurion's Gift is slightly more powerful than its predecessor as it also buffs the ally it brings back. The best target is always going to be an ally with Protector, allowing you to make combat difficult for your opponent. I would be willing to take this ability first pick.

Mark of Elderlimb - Mark of Elderlimb is another card that helps build your token army. I have already given my opinion on how the token decks are now weaker, so I think this card is marginal at best in draft. You will find it is best to play it on an ally with Elusive, but even better than that is not playing it at all unless you have Fungal Growth.

Mark of the Ancients - Mark of the Ancients is an interesting ability that I find hard to evaluate. If you play it on turn 4 you will not lose out on the resource in your curve. The +1/+1 is neat, but it's not going to be game breaking. If I had any cards that benefited from attachments like Braeo Darkpaw, I would play this ability. I would not take it first pick, but I would start keeping an eye on them around 6th pick.

Monstrous Boon - Blah, a purely Constructed card. Davius, Herald of Nature is a good ramp ally as you do not fall behind on the board when you play it. Monstrous Boon is completely the opposite as you need to take turn off to play it. The ramp you will receive is hardly worth that effort.

Wild Cascade - I'll ask Tripp Allen what he thinks of this card. Another card that does more in Constructed, but probably a card that should not see much play due to its cost.

Boundless Wild - This card is still very powerful and gains from having Overwhelm, but still loses from having less packs of Throne of the Tides. You should still take this early in any Druid deck.

Fungal Growth - Fungal Growth still begs you to build your deck around it. If you take this ability, those Mark of Elderlimbs start looking more attractive. If I randomly had both talents, I think this would win out more often as I have had that many positive experiences with it.

Mark of Goldrinn - Still the best attachment in Druid. I think Mark of Goldrinn has slightly improved with the increase number of Elusive allies in Crown of the Heavens.

Stalwart Bear Form - Stalwart Bear Form has a lot of powers and is still board dominating. It should be taken every time you get a chance at it.

Verdant Boon - More tokens and good in the right deck.

Wild Roots - Wild Roots is still a great removal ability. I think it gets better as there are less packs for Empower allies meaning leaving an ally on the board is less of a liability.

Equipment

Bottled Life - Weaker with the decreased power of the token deck.

Evaluation

Druid is still a very well-rounded class. With two strong forms, good attachments, and a decent token deck, Druid should always be on the top of your options for draft.

As of right now I would put my rankings for the classes as:

1. Druid
2. Death Knight

I will continue to update this as I get more familiar with the set and as each week goes by.

Do you agree or disagree? Speak out in the forums as I love to hear and learn from you as well. If you would like to contact me, feel free to email me at tim@dailymetagame.com. Next week we will take a look at Hunter.

-Timriv
@DailyMetagame

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