Hearthstone’s new even and odd cards are going to shake up the meta

When we first heard about Hearthstone’s Witchwood expansion, we got our first look at a new kind of card that called out cards with odd or even mana costs. Two powerful neutral Legendary minions were revealed in that initial stream:

• Baku the Mooneater, who has this ability: if your deck only has odd-Cost cards, upgrade your Hero Power. (Note: 0-cost cards count as even.)
• Genn Greymane, Baku’s counterpart, who has this ability: if your deck only has even-Cost cards, your starting Hero Power costs (1).

Just by being in your deck, these cards give you some powerful buffs — and my guess is they’re going to be some of the first Legendaries I craft when the expansion rolls around. Hearthstone has toyed with similar kinds of cards in the past, like Knights of the Frozen Throne’s Prince Keleseth, who gives all of your minions +1/+1 if you have no other 2-mana cards. However, you have to play Keleseth to get the bonus: these new cards have a huge impact just by being in your deck. (For my part, I’m already planning a handbuff Paladin using Baku and Keleseth. It’s gonna be great.)

These cards are really going to shake up deck design, as instead of building decks with a good curve of cards with different costs,  these new even and odd decks encourage you to use only half of your cards. But if you can make these zany decks work, you’ll have some big buffs. Designer Dean Ayala is here with a video that talks all about the new even and odd strategy, even suggesting some deck archetypes that will work great with the new cards. (He hasn’t caught on to my handbuff Paladin idea yet! Everyone is going to be so surprised by this one.)

And what’s a new Hearthstone video without a few card reveals? Baku and Genn won’t be the only cards to tout this new even and odd mechanic. For odd decks, you’ll find:

• Black Cat, a 3-mana 3/3 Mage minion with +1 spell damage and a Battlecry to draw a card if your deck has only odd-cost cards.
• Glitter Moth, a 5-mana 4/4 Priest minion with a Battlecry that doubles the health of all your other minions if your deck has only odd-cost cards.
• Gloom Stag, a 5-mana 2/6 Druid minion that gains +2/+2 if your deck has only odd-cost cards.

Even decks will presumably have their own lineup of cool options, though  Ayala only revealed one:

• Murkspark Eel, a 2-mana 2/3 Shaman minion that does 2 damage to a target if your deck has only even-cost cards.

However, get ready for disappointment, because Game Designer Mike Donais says there will only be a few of these even/odd cards — and not every class will have one. (Oh, no, my hypothetical Paladin deck may already be falling to pieces.)

The Hearthstone team promises more card reveals starting on March 26 with an 11 a.m. PDT livestream on the Hearthstone Twitch channel. After the team reveals whatever it’s revealing, we should see the usual assortment of reveals across the web. In short: stay tuned for more info on the Witchwood.