Well, it's Thursday now and all the hero cards, Traitor and faithful Alliance/Horde alike, have been spoiled. On Tuesday, I talked about a few of the hero cards seemingly at random, saying what initially came to mind when I saw them and musing over where they might take deck building. Only two days left until the Sneak and all the new cards from SotB hit the public eye, and only two more days to look over what cards we do now and ponder what changes they might bring.
Fallingstar/Fallenstar
Night Elf Warrior - Fury/Traitor
1, Flip Fallingstar 
Allies in your party with damage have +2 ATK this turn.
2, Flip Fallenstar Fallenstar deals 2 melee damage to target hero or ally without damage.
Use only on your turn.
Fallingstar is the new, rather androgynous-looking Alliance warrior hero. Seriously, the obvious cleavage on Fallenstar and the lack of 'plate-like' armor made me double-take to make sure they were supposed to be one and the same good guy/treacherous evil twin pair.
In Constructed, I don't see Fallingstar replacing Fillet as the Alliance fury warrior of choice at the moment. Shadowmeld doesn't compare with Escape Artist in terms of making your hero "untargetable" nor preventing him or her from getting slammed by a opposing big fat ally's attack.
If Bloodbath, however, is ever going to see any play I think it's going to be on the side of the Alliance. Yes, there's Mya and the Bearlady, but a dual-wielding Traitor Bloodbathing a Wisp will net you +2 attack for your hero for 3 resources as often as you can afford to pay for it.
Neither of the flips are particularly spectacular for Limited. If you're ahead in terms of board position and tempo with your little blue men towards the end of the game, Fallingstar's flip might help you seal the deal a turn or two sooner than you otherwise might have, but you probably would've been on your way to victory anyway.
It also might help you make a good ally trade where one wasn't possible before, or make the opponent think twice about that Holy Nova or Arcane Blast, but again, it's conditional on having damage counters on your ally already.
Fallenstar has a nice two for two printed on the front side of her card, but it's nothing more than that.
Ixamos the Redeemed/Ixamos the Corrupted
Draenei Shaman - Enhancement/Traitor
3, Flip Ixamos the Redeemed, exhaust one of your Totems Ready target ally.
2, Flip Ixamos the Corrupted, destroy a friendly Totem Ready Ixamos and all of your weapons
Ixamos the Redeemed has one of the cheapest ways to ready an ally on your turn outside of Metzen the Reindeer on the side of the Alliance. And that in itself is nothing to shake your nose at.
Being a Draenei, he also has access to ways of buffing all your allies attack power with Heroic Presence and Ka'lai the Uplifting so if your opponent's not careful, a friendly totem and a ready ally with big enough attack power could easily net you damage in the double digits in a single turn with Ixamos' flip. Not bad.
Shaman's been kind of written off lately as a Tier 2 class, but if you find yourself across the table from a Ixamos the Redeemed at the Sneak this Saturday, don't let this flip power catch you off guard. Gabbles and Stoneclaw Totems, for example, are commons, and an opponent could easily lock down your side of the board for a turn or two, then send 14 damage your way without blinking an eye.
On the Corrupted side of things, Ixamos the Corrupted allows you to ready your hero and weapons for more ways to let your shaman attack multiple times in the same turn. Shamans already have plenty of ways of doing this and, being a Traitor, Ixamos the Corrupted can't even use Stormstrike or Shamanistic Rage. Unless the rare Shaman traitor card has some powerful synergize with him, I don't see Ixamos' traitor side seeing much play.
Jonas White/Jonas the Red
Undead Rogue - Assassination/Traitor
3, Flip Jonas White, exhaust an ally in your party That ally deals melee damage equal to its ATK to target ally.
2, Flip Jonas the Red When target friendly ally deals combat damage to an ally this turn, destroy both.
Another example of very cool art on a hero card for Jonas White. Nicely done, Mr. Tallman.
Jonas White has got a fairly decent flip for Limited. In essence, it's a lot like Sharpshooter Nally's, which gives target hero or ally long range, except Jonas' power can only be used on an ally. In Limited, though, that's not as big of a problem as it would be in Constructed.
He's an equally viable Assassination rogue option for the Horde, though Zomm will be better if you opt for a strictly solo in an ally light environment, while Jonas White gives you access to Cannibalize for that strategic heal to stay in the game.
If you've get a rogue weapon on Saturday, Jonas the Red is a hero to consider. If you got a chance to peak at a Scrye, or saw the post in the general forums, Traitor rogues get something called Sacrificial Poison, which forces the opponent to destroy allies in his own party at the start of every one of his turns. In Sealed, that can mean big card advantage.
Plague Fleshbane/Plague Demonsoul
Undead Warlock - Demonology/Traitor
2, Flip Plague Fleshbane If Plague would be dealt damage this turn, you may choose a Demon in your party. If you do, that damage is dealt to that Demon instead.
2, Flip Plague Demonsoul If a Demon in your party would be dealt damage this turn, it's dealt to Plague instead.
Along with being the art chosen for the first place playmat at the Sneak this weeekend, Plague Fleshbane's flip is going to be pretty wicked... in Constructed. The situation where it really comes in handy (namely, when your hero is being targeted by a nasty powerful damaging ability) isn't going to be as prevalent in Limited or at the Sneak Preview event.
It's not that the flip's bad, but it doesn't generate any card advantage for you. I'd much rather have a protector who could jump in the way and trade ally for ally then put all the damage that I would normally be dealt onto an unsuspecting Demon in party instead. Thankfully, it doesn't target, so you could dump the damage on, say, Rulrin, if you really wanted to. Though with his one health he'll only be able to take the damage dump once.
Though decent, both of these Horde warlocks are far out-shined by their Alliance counterparts. Both of the Marlowes' flips are just plain ridiculous. They're able to effectively reduce your hero's health total from the start of the game (unless, of course, you're able to end it by earlier than turn 6). You may see Demonsoul around Constructed in the sure to by many attempts to jankify Ripped Through the Portal, but frankly speaking his Alliance counterpart from a purely "heroic" perspective is simply better.
Vor'na the Disciplined/Vor'na the Wretched
Blood Elf Mage - Frost/Traitor
3, Flip Vor'na the Disciplined Allies can't attack this turn.
3, Flip Vor'na the Wretched At the end of this turn, the player whose turn it is destroys each ally in his party that neither attacked nor entered play this turn.
Given the right circumstances, Vor'na the Wretched could be the best new hero for Limited in terms of pure card advantage. And all she needs is one common to do it (Cold Front). Her extremely low health is the big disadvantage of playing her, but for the mage class (which has been notoriously frail and easy to kill), this flip power and its mirror Tomb of Ice are important steps in the right direction.
If you sit down across from a Vor'na the Wretched player, I would all but assume that they're going to have either a Cold Front or a Tomb of Ice handy, so be careful not to overextend yourself to early, and to keep your options for card draw open until you absolutely need them.
If you're playing a class with substantially higher health, don't sweat letting a few points of damage through if you need to, because one good turn for the opponent might mean you just lost your entire side of the board.
Outside of Limited, though, I think the Horde-faithful version of the Vor'na card might be the better hero. She's the first Blood Elf frost mage in the game, and with the combined recursion power of Solanian's Belongings and Cold Snap, a Vor'na "Cold as Ice" build may become a viable option in the near future.
Though they were never "previewed" the new Frost specific cards for SotB were unveiled courtesy of the updated FAQ, and it looks like part of Frost's new direction will involve shutting down your opponent's hand via making it's maximum size smaller and making cards played from it more expensive.
Lady Katrana Prestor/Onyxia
15 Remove all of your cards in all zones from the game and start an Onyxia Raid.
How fortuitous! Usually I must leave my lair in order to feed.
This is a straight up fun card, but I wouldn't sweat it too much. Sure, there are ways to make this happen sooner than turn 15 and people will be trying to find them, but it's more a TCG accomplishment to take a picture of and put up on your wall than something to spend to much time striving after.
***
So good luck at those Sneak previews this weekend and don't forget to post tournament reports and new card impression for everyone to read! And if you do get that awesome Vor'na + Cold Snap combination or Ixamus, a totem and Gabble, snap a grin and flip it, sir, flip it good.
-Ryan
Tags: Warcraft
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