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Ryan Skinner

Pop quiz, hot shot: It's turn 6. You’re staring down an opposing board littered with the likes of the untouchable Edwin VanCleef and his thugs, the pesky Zudzo, Herald of the Elements, and the dreaded Mazu’kon. All your allies have been run through, and you’re left with nothing but your trusty weapon at your side. Things look bleak for your Warrior hero. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO?

If you answered “shoot the hostage” you get a gold star for your 90’s pop culture knowledge, but come the release of Crown of the Heavens, the answer you’d be looking for is “Bladestorm”.

I was excited when I was solicited to write my first card preview, and doubly so when I saw that it would be the new Warrior talent in Crown of the Heavens. A little personal history: I played WoW online back in the "vanilla" days, and my main was a Human Warrior. To anyone unfamiliar with the class in the MMO, know that playing a Warrior often means "tanking" your enemies. In other words, your shield is usually bigger than your weapon of choice. Borrriinnnng.

Me? I was stubborn, and long refused to conform to that mold. I chose my class because I loved the (perhaps misguided) idea of charging into battle screaming, swinging a weapon thrice my size against insurmountable odds and dealing more damage to more enemies than I could keep track of. When I picked up the TCG, this same ideology translated into a desire to play more solo style decks, weapons blazing on my way to victory. I feel this new Arms talent compliments that strategy nicely. Let's take a closer look at ways Bladestorm will help you decimate hordes of foes in decks to come.

It's news to no one that the current Core format is heavily dominated by allies, and strategies surrounding them. The metagame continues to revolve around this and a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality. Edwin? Mazu'kon? We can discuss possible answers to your opponent playing these and other cards all day long, but the simplest most direct answer of choice to date continues to be to get those cards on the board before your opponent does and let them deal with how to respond. With Bladestorm, even some of biggest threats in the format become fodder to your arsenal of armaments, no allies required. And if a good old fashioned board wipe isn't enough, when you're done you've got yourself a beefed up weapon ready to seal the deal with any survivors, or to go for the throat of the opposing hero. Speaking of which, a blade storm without blades is just a storm, so in the interest of leaving the Blizzards and Hurricanes to more refined classes, let's look at some weapon options currently in the Core format which would be fine targets for this extraordinary new utility.

There are three key elements I'd look for in a candidate:

• A cost below six, of course. Turn 6 is already getting into the late game arena; you don't want to still be waiting for a weapon when the time comes to attach this card to something.

• A cheap strike cost; ideally 0 so playing Bladestorm on curve means being able to swing away and benefit from its lovely +3 ATK the turn it hits the board.

• I’ve been touting the card’s AoE effect a lot, so I’m suggesting to look for a minimum 3 printed ATK. This will allow the AoE damage to immediately tackle big threats like aforementioned Mazu'kon. (Disclaimer: Yes, Mazu'kon does have Ferocity, and no, Bladestorm isn't Instant, meaning you'll likely still be eating some damage before being able to stick your sword in his gut... but you're a Warrior! That's what armor is for, right? And as far as solo strategies go, it's definitely an option to pursue in a world of limited solo options.)

So! Let's see what options we have that meet those criteria:

The best fit I see initially could be the Bloodied Arcanite Reaper. It drops a turn before Bladestorm, swings for free, will do at least 6 to each opposing ally when it receives its attachment, and maybe more if you are able to get in a timely heirloom Stash on turn 6. Not bad! Another weapon of choice may be Shalug'doom, the Axe of Unmaking. Its play and strike costs are ideal, and its variable ATK can still work out just fine if planned for appropriately. Even if you destroyed nothing to it, Bladestorm would still turn it into a free 3 ATK weapon, in addition to the AoE damage. And of course the popular Sorrow's End could also be a terrifying beat stick here, it’s variable power offering either a 9 damage AoE (with a greater than three cost card revealed), a 6 damage AoE plus free 6 damage strike (with a less than three cost card revealed), or better still a 9 damage AoE plus a free 9 damage strike (with an exact three cost card revealed)! I don’t know about you, but that’s not something I’d enjoy being on the receiving end of, by any means.

Straying a bit beyond the guidelines I provided, you'll also find reasonable targets in Scimitar of the Sirocco, Troggbane, Axe of the Frostbourne King, Akirus the Worm-Breaker, Poisonfire Greatsword, Ramaladni's Blade of Culling, or even just a trusty Fel Iron Hatchet if you're building a deck on the cheap or looking to ramp up a Warrior Class Starter Deck!

Bladestorm is restricted slightly by being an Arms talent, disallowing the use of competing Fury or Protection Talents in your deck if you choose this path for your hero. What does that mean for deck building? First off, you’ll have simultaneous access to arguably the most popular Warrior talent in the format: Juggernaut. A turn after dropping Bladestorm, Juggernaut could complement nicely by helping you avoid any unwanted entanglements with freshly played opposing Protectors, and by adding even more ATK to your hero, ideally getting you that extra reach to make that opposing hero stay down for the count.

And what do you miss out on with an Arms based hero? Protection talent Shockwave, and two Fury talents in Wild Hammer and Bloodsurge. Shockwave I feel has gone a bit under-appreciated but regardless hasn’t quite made a splash in the format yet, and the same can be said for the Fury tree with both cards being widely considered too slow, or too circumstantial, or too whatever-your-adjective-of-choice may be. Bottom line, you won’t be missing out on any major competitive staples by bringing Bladestorm to the table.

Core is of course not the only Constructed format to consider. In Classic you have all of the above and so much more to take into consideration as well. For Weapon targets you’ve got the beloved Edge of Oblivion at the top of my list, or perhaps the life-stealing Wraith Scythe? Or maybe you want your Betrayer of Humanity to be even more ludicrously lethal? But do you give up the glory of former top tier talent Death Wish in favor of mass AoE and oversized munitions? Only time will tell.

And how about this final thought on the topic of Constructed decks: Turn 5 Augment Steel, turn 6 Bladestorm. I don’t care what weapon you’re targeting, it’s going to be doing some serious damage. Silly concept? Perhaps. Awesome flavor? Absolutely.

Lastly, it would be wrong of me to evaluate a Crown of the Heavens card’s uses purely from a Constructed perspective, when we all know that R&D has had a keen eye on the Limited experience and playability of the cards therein throughout this block. When Crown of the Heavens hits shelves we’ll be looking at Draft and Sealed in a different light, with 1 Throne / 2 Crown Booster Drafts and 3 Throne / 3 Crown Sealed Deck card pools. With the weight leaning towards the newest set, it’s tough to say this early what shiny new equipment may be added into the format that works well with Bladestorm. I think it’s safe to say the following:

• Weapons in Limited can be very valuable, especially in a format with minimal removal. Making a weapon +3 ATK can be game changing.

• Allies are usually the name of the game in Limited (and especially so in this particular format if triple Thrones Draft has taught us anything), so a potential board wipe like Bladestorm could turn a losing match into a handshake in your favor.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this examination of Bladestorm. While very situational in Draft or Sealed, its potential in Limited as well as its plausible ability to again open the doors to the solo Warrior archetype is definitely something that excites me as a long-time lover of the class. This new talent may in fact be something to watch out for if you find yourself sitting across from a Warrior hero in the coming months!

-Ryan Skinner

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