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Hi there, and welcome back to Daily MetaGame for another week-sized dose of World of Warcraft TCG goodness. For those of you wondering where Corey is this week, we’re on a bi-weekly timetable, so you will have to come back next week for another dose of vintage Classic goodness. As you have probably guessed by the series title, I’ll be writing about the Core format and its glorious intricacies.
The Core format is about to go through its very first block rotation. Arguably its arrival was a rotation in and of itself with the loss of the original Heroes of Azeroth block. Players were forced to make-do without [Slow] or [Wraith Scythe], but still had access to heavy hitting March of the Legion cards.
It would be very easy to scan the March of the Legion block for a list of the ten most influential cards, but that does not really give a complete picture of how big a shake-up to the Core meta the loss of the block is. What we as players need to look at instead is how many of the block's archetypal cards the current tier one decks lose in the shuffle, prior to Worldbreaker’s influx. This allows us to see which decks simply need to tweak their quest base, and which decks might need a new hero altogether.
Here is a rough list of the decks any player should expect to come up against if a Core tournament were to take place this weekend:
Kuma Token Aggro
This deck is an aggressive Horde Shaman build that uses faction staples such as [Broderick Langforth] and [Nathanos Blightcaller] alongside [Feral Spirit] and [Signet of Manifested Pain] so that the deck is always in a position to use [Ringleader Kuma]’s flip to burn through an opponent.
LBT Death Wish
[Lord Benjamin Tremendouson] does his best to suit up in a plethora of Warrior equipment before smashing the opposing hero to a pulp. The powerful search card [Keys to the Armory] allows the deck to run single copies of situational cards like [Amani Mask of Death] as well as find a combo piece such as [Greaves of Ancient Evil]. [Reconstruct] brings it all back if it’s destroyed whilst [Death Wish] sets the whole thing in motion.
Bloody Mary Death Wish
A transfer from the hugely successful East Coast build that propelled three players into the 2010 World Championship Classic Top 16, this Horde take on Death Wish eschews the bulk of LBT’s equipment for [Dethvir the Malignant] and the [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord]/[Kor'kron Vanguard] combo.
Turov/Vor’na Flickers
An archetype that doesn’t often win by killing the opposing hero, it combines the powerful suite of Mage ongoing abilities such as [Mana Sapphire], [Conjured Cinnamon Roll] and [Mystic Denial] with all of the class's best interrupts to win through an attrition of card advantage. [Flickers from the Past], with either [Netherbreath Spellblade] or your choice of Master Hero, locks the game for the Mage player.
Zaritha Tirion Awakened
[Zaritha] teams up with [Highlord Tirion Fordring] and the rest of the Argent Crusade faction for a stream of unique allies to halt the enemy advance. [Ancestral Awakening] let’s you pop an ally at a moment’s notice, whilst [Wind Shear] and [Voice of Reason] protect your team long enough for [King Varian Wrynn] himself to wreck house.
Zorks
[Zorak'tul] rose to fame in the hands of Daily MetaGame’s very own Chris Reilkoff, designed to completely annihilate Death Wish and the host of aggro decks in the format. [Deadliness] has been joined in Icecrown by [Poach], and the utility allies at the Horde’s disposal are now lead into battle by the enigmatic [Thrall, Warchief of the Horde]. If you can survive him and break through the [Boots of Utter Darkness], [Kel'thuzad] is more than happy to pick up the pieces.
Lanthus’ Earthmother Swarm
A complete surprise in the Top 8 of Darkmoon Faire Antwerp was the [Lanthus the Restorer] deck piloted by Moritz Köstler. In truth the formula is simple: take the best early game Alliance allies, throw a buff on them in the form of either [Gift of the Earthmother] or [Earth Mother's Blessing], and turn sideways. Throwing such a beast onto [Ashnaar, Frost Herald] will see your opponent subjugated in short order.
That’s a list of seven dominant archetypes in the format right now, all of which are highly represented on the competitive and social scene. Notable mentions go out to the various Warlock, Rogue, Death Knight and Mage mid-range decks, as well as the infamous true combo deck Rip’N’Flip, but the above is what amounts to Core’s current metagame. So how are they affected by the loss of the following sets on December 14th, Worldbreaker’s scheduled release date?
- March of the Legion
- Servants of the Betrayer
- The Hunt for Illidan
- Darkmoon Faire
- Magtheridon’s Lair
- Black Temple
The two most glaring losses on an archetype level are [Ringleader Kuma] and [Flickers from the Past]. The majority of the success afforded to Enhancement Shaman Aggro is down to the raw power of the Tauren’s game winning flip. Whilst [Netherbreath Spellblade] offers some recurrence power to Mage, it was recurring Flickers endlessly that was the real kick in the teeth for an opponent. Mage Control did exist before Flickers though, and similarly Shaman Aggro had a champion before Kuma, but both cards fundamentally define the current format and are not easy to replace.
LBT Death Wish has a real hard time of it, losing both its versatile removal cards. A lot of players were surprised by the exclusion of [Puncture] from the Class Starters, especially given the inclusion of cards like the Druid’s [The Natural Order], and you cannot argue with the relative power of a card that can kill two of the three persistent card types. Losing one such card from your deck would force you to bulk it out with alternatives, but losing a second in [Vindicator’s Brand] leaves the deck finely poised to either be refurbished with Worldbreaker or shut up shop until Classic seasons rolls around. Death Wish’s transition to Bloody Mary may be the way the deck goes come January’s Realm Qualifier season.
Speaking of universal removal, Warlock is hit by the loss of the omnipresent [Banish to the Nether]. Whilst no definitive Warlock list made my cut for the contemporary meta, there can be no denying that if you sit down opposite one you know you are about to be assaulted by [Hesriana] and [Lessen of the Nether]. Fortunately, Warlocks have an abundance of removal in a similar vein such as [Suspended Curse] just lying in wait, and is in a good shape to take Worldbreaker’s good wishes and evolve above and beyond its current position in the Core food-chain.
Mage is equally hit by the loss of the well-tempo placed [Nether Fracture], and whilst it has alternatives, not all of them curve so well and as such might force a change of thought in the midgame for many Mage decks.
Zaritha and Zorak’tul emerge relatively unscathed as we enter the transition phase. All of their dominant abilities are from the Drums or Scourgewar block, leaving with plenty of tricks up their sleeves. The Tirion decks do lose access to [Collidus the Warp-Watcher] for a summonable board-sweep, but since a lot of its power is founded in Argent Crusade allies as well as more recent unique Alliance or Horde options it will almost certainly survive the incoming changes.
What won’t survive however are the quest bases. There can be no denying it – World of Warcraft Trading Card Game is a game based heavily on card advantage due to the your resources having the power to draw you cards. When Core was announced, an effect that was immediately recognizable was the fact that cards such as [One Draenei's Junk...] and [To Serve Kum'isha] left players without the cheap draw options that had sustained decks in the past. Similarly, [Orders from Lady Vashj] and [Akama's Promise] are leaving the station for better lives. They’re joined by [Forces of Jaedenar], [Falling to Corruption] and [A Warm Welcome]. Whilst a lot of this block’s quests survive via Class Starters, these specific quests are all wiped out.
The loss of Orders, Akama’s and Falling have a serious impact on how the faster aggro decks draw cards. I personally feel (prior to Worldbreaker of course) that the era of the [Tuskarr Kite]’s prominence is about to arrive three-fold as the Aggro decks either adopt quests like [Concerted Efforts] and force through an applicable curve or fall back on quests that for 4-5 resources can provide a decent number of cards.
It is worthy of note that besides the obvious losses, not many of these top-tier decks are crippled from the rotation. The majority of these archetypes will transition, and Worldbreaker does offer some mouth-watering possibilities. What is known is that new class and race combinations will be available, most notably of course the arrival of worgens for the Alliance and goblins for the Horde with their relevant racial keywords and associated bit-bobs. But now there will be the possibility for a Dwarf Shaman, or even an Undead Hunter. Ever wanted a Gnome Priest? In a few short weeks you’ll be able to have one.
My next article is due before the new set struts its stuff, so I’ll be bringing you a decklist for a Horde variant of the Zaritha Tirion deck I mentioned above. I’ll talk you through how I built the deck, its strength and weaknesses and why I think it will be a great deck to take forward into the new Core format. New sets are always an exciting time, but heading into a qualifier season this will give us a good base to see how we can take existing favourites and make them work regardless of whether 220 new cards have just popped up!
-Jack Fejer
Jack Fejer has been a consistent mainstay in the WoW TCG writing community. He has been playing the game, doing tournament coverage, and writing for various sites in the community since 2006. He is also one of the biggest voices for the United Kingdom in the WoW TCG, and has been working on his own website and community for the UK, Zapped Giants, since the start of the game.
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