Introduction

We last wrote about Hearthstone in the traditional sense of the game during the Barrens expansion. Since then, I meant to write reviews of the Sunken City expansion, but things got busy. And, so, we join Hearthstone nearly a year later with the release of Festival of Legends. Hearthstone Festival Part 1 brings cards from 3 classes; Death Knight, Demon Hunter, and Druid.

Speaking of things getting busy, I’m sure that I will repeat this several times this week during the various projects I need to update. I already discussed it in the finale episode of the podcast. Now, I write about it here. My days over the last few weeks go like this; I wake up, I go to work, I pick up Quinn, take him to play, watch play, come home, maybe work out, cook dinner, take Aiden to soccer, come back home, play around on the computer or watch TV for a half hour or so, rinse and repeat. So, things have been busy.

A Note Before The Review

Having last reviewed Hearthstone cards about a year ago, I went to look at that article. It surprised me how in depth I made the review. I split the cards into the decent, good, and great categories. Then, I built a deck around the great cards. Quite the undertaking, to be sure. But, a good idea is a good idea. Plus, I’m on vacation now, so I have a bit of time over the rest of the week to make it happen.

Death Knight

Decent: Both of these cards are pretty good, but situational. Immediately, I think of something like Sylvanas for either or both of them as an absolute eff you to opponents playing big minions. As I look now, I think we can have fun with Saurfang or Cage Head (more on him in a bit) shenanigans.

Good: Hardcore Cultist is a fun little card. If you pull off the finale (spend your last mana on the card), you get consecration on a stick for one less mana. Harmonic Metal becomes Dissonant Metal every other turn where the numbers swap, which is a cool little effect. Cage Head works very well with the other cards mentioned in the decent category, so maybe I’ll make an extra deck with some deathrattle effects.

Great: As I look at these cards, I think I might have tried to combine two strategies. One involves manipulating health to advance cards and the other uses corpses in a similar manner. In my limited experience playing Death Knight, corpses are plentiful and can be worked into any strategy as a secondary win condition. We all know that whatever I build won’t win you any tournaments. But, hopefully it plays fun and brings joy.

Health/Corpse Manipulation Death Knight

Demon Hunter

Decent: As expected, the finale cards have decent upside. Taste of Chaos is no different. You know I like a discover card, too. Unfortunately, I don’t play enough Demon Hunter to even consider any kind of control strategy, which is where that fits. 2 mana for 2 1/1 dudes and the opportunity for a third with outcast just doesn’t do it for me.

Good: These cards push you in a definite rush direction. Even while writing this, I considered that direction. After all, I more or less admitted in the last section that I have no idea how to build control Demon Hunter. I know it’s possible. I played a minionless control Demon Hunter through last expansion. I just can’t build it myself. So, why not the rush minions? I don’t know. Too obvious, I guess.

Great: After all that crap I talked about not being able to build a control Demon Hunter deck, it sure looks like I picked cards that lend themselves to control. I think my thought process for this article is trying to build around the legendary spell for each class. In this one, I saw a weapon control deck with some lifesteal thrown in. That’s the one thing i always wished for as a rogue when I started playing Hearthstone.

Demon Hunter Weapon Control?

Druid

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Decent: Well, the druid cards broke the streak of building around the legendary spell. I tried, but there’s just no synergy between the card and anything else that I might want to do with my deck. It’s a fun card with some utility, but just not what I want. Same with Peaceful Piper. A decent card with pretty good utility. So, they both fit in this section.

Good: These three cards work very well together. They do what big druid wants to do and make big dumb creatures to wallop your opponent. I think they might find a place in a Prince Highlander Druid deck if that’s even a thing. If not, I might just make it a thing. I know I say these things and then I never follow through. But, let me make a note of it now. Big dumb druid deck and whatever I said for Death Knight earlier. Ha!

Great: All of these cards either improve attack or armor or take advantage of that improved attack and armor. That led to an obvious deck idea similar to the Demon Hunter above. You can either use your attack and armor as removal and play more control or just try to race the opponent. Not knowing what the current meta is, I’m not sure which is more likely.

Druid Attack/Armor Manipulation Deck

The Verdict

Hearthstone Festival Part 1 gives us Death Knight (first time we reviewed the class), Demon Hunter, and Druid cards. Overall, the decks seem fun and decent. The druid deck is a bit of a mess, so I definitely want to revisit the class with another deck, probably in wild. After I finish the series, I will consider coming back to any other ideas that I have. Well, i’ts late, but I powered through to finish the Hearthstone Festival Part 1. Here’s hoping the rest of the series goes quicker and more smoothy.