20 cards from Hearthstone’s Scholomance Academy expansion to keep an eye on

Hearthstone’s newest expansion, Scholomance Academy is now live That period of time right after a new expansion comes out is certainly the most exciting time to play. Nothing is concrete yet — everyone is trying out new ideas, playing with new decks, and experiencing the new cards. And we wouldn’t want you to be left behind on the fun. So here’s a look at some of the cards that are looking promising so far.

It bears to keep in mind that this is not a guide on which cards you should craft. When it comes to crafting cards, it’s usually better to wait at least a couple of weeks, to ensure that you don’t waste your hard-earned Dust into cards that may end up not being as useful as imagined. This is simply a list of cards that have potential to be good and you might want to keep an eye on!

Now, without further ado…

Neutral Cards

Lorekeeper Polkelt

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 4 mana
• Stats: 4 attack / 5 health
• Text: Battlecry: Reorder your deck from highest Cost card to lowest Cost card.

While I admit I’m not too big on combo decks, lots of players are — and this card was made for them. It can potentially allow you to know exactly what you’re going to draw on the next few (or several) turns, guaranteeing that key pieces of your combo will invariably find themselves in your hand.

Sphere of Sapience

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Weapon
• Cost: 1 mana
• Stats: 0 attack / 4 durability
• Text: At the start of your turn, look at your top card. You can put it on the bottom and lose 1 Durability.

Drawing cards is one of the most powerful things you can do in any card game. Getting to decide what you draw, doubly so. Cards like this will always be potentially powerful. Even if no deck exists for it immediately, it will always be on someone’s radar, and might arise when we least expect it.

Vectus

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 5 mana
• Stats: 4 attack / 4 health
• Text: Battlecry: Summon two 1/1 Whelps. Each gains a Deathrattle from your minions that died this game.

One of the most exciting cards from this expansion for me — but then again, I love Deathrattle-based decks. And if any Deathrattle-based deck is going to be viable in Scholomance, Vectus will be one of the reasons for it.

Voracious Reader

• Rarity: Rare
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 2 mana
• Stats: 1 attack / 3 health
• Text: At the end of your turn, draw until you have 3 cards.

This was made for Aggro, like Jeeves before it, years ago. You can fill your deck with cheap cards and spend them with no fear, as long as this guy is on the board to refill your hand. This is a very strong card for sure.

Single-class cards

Demon Hunter

Glide

• Rarity: Rare
• Type: Spell
• Cost: 4 mana
• Text: Shuffle your hand into your deck. Draw 4 cards. Outcast: Your opponent does the same.

I never expected Hearthstone to get a disruption card like this — but I’m okay with it. Counterplay makes games better, and this card ensures that Demon Hunter will always have some sort of counterplay against combo decks, by forcing them to have to find their combo pieces all over again (assuming they already had them).

Druid

Forest Warden Omu

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 6 mana
• Stats: 5 attack / 4 health
• Text: Spellburst: Refresh your Mana Crystals.

Guess who’s back? Back again? Kun is back! Tell a friend! Kun was one of the most popular Druid legendaries ever, and Omu seems well-fitted to recreate those days. If you simply use this card and activate its Spellburst effect, it’s a 5/4 almost for free, which is already strong. And it has that permanently lingering combo potential as well.

Twilight Runner

• Rarity: Rare
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 5 mana
• Stats: 5 attack / 4 health
• Text: Stealth. Whenever this attacks, draw 2 cards.

Holy moly. A 4-health minion with Stealth is almost guaranteed to be able to attack at least once — so you’re almost guaranteed to draw at least two cards from this one. Remember how omnipresent Azure Drake was as a 5-drop? Yeah, turns out that solid stats and card draw for 5 mana is very powerful, and Druid is going to be well-served again.

Hunter

Krolusk Barkstripper

• Rarity: Epic
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 4 mana
• Stats: 3 attack / 5 health
• Text: Spellburst: Destroy a random enemy minion.

This is a perfect fit for Hunter on all accounts. It’s a Beast, it can immediately destroy a pesky minion that’s standing between you and your opponent’s face, and the only requirement for its activation is for you to cast a spell on the same turn — on a class that is full of cheap and useful spells. I’ll be surprised if this doesn’t make its way into a lot of Hunter decks.

Rogue

Secret Passage

• Rarity: Epic
• Type: Spell
• Cost: 1 mana
• Text: Replace your hand with 5 cards from your deck. Swap back next turn.

Some people are calling this the strongest card in this expansion, and I don’t blame them. For a single mana, you get to draw five cards. Sure, there are a couple of drawbacks to this: You only have one turn to play those five cards, and you lose access to whatever was in your hand for that turn. But even with those drawbacks, getting to draw five cards at once for a single mana — especially on a class like Rogue, full of cheap spells and Combo effects — is crazy powerful. I’m calling it now: This card will get nerfed at some point.

Paladin

Argent Braggart

• Rarity: Epic
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 2 mana
• Stats: 1 attack / 1 health
• Text: Battlecry: Gain Attack and Health to match the highest in the battlefield.

Wow. On a class like Paladin that lives and dies by buffing minions and making them as big as possible, this card is bonkers. You can cast a Libram of Hope for a very reduced cost and “duplicate” it with this minion for just two more mana. I believe that if Paladin is viable this expansion, this card will be included in it — no matter the archetype.

Dual-class cards

Hunter / Demon Hunter

Ace Hunter Kreen

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 3 mana
• Stats: 2 attack / 4 health
• Text: Your other characters are Immune while attacking.

I’ve already sung praises to this card in two different articles — if it doesn’t end up being good, I’ll be surprised. I’m positive that people will at least try to build decks around it. Considering that Hunter and Demon Hunter are probably the two strongest classes in the game right now, things would have to change considerably for Hunterace’s card not to be a staple of Scholomance Academy.

Demon Companion

• Rarity: Rare
• Type: Spell
• Cost: 1 mana
• Text: Summon a random Demon Companion.
  • The Demon Companions that can be summoned from this are:
    • a 2/2 with Taunt (like Misha, but smaller);
    • a 2/1 with Charge (like Huffer, but smaller), or;
    • a 1/2 with “Your other minions have +1 Attack” (you guessed it: like Leokk, but smaller).

All of the Demon Companions are very solid for a measly one mana, especially on aggressive classes like Hunter and DH. Animal Companion is an absolute Hunter staple, and this seems at least as useful as that one. Solid, very solid.

Warlock / Priest

Disciplinarian Gandling

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 4 mana
• Stats: 3 attack / 6 health
• Text: After you play a minion, destroy it and summon a 4/4 Failed Student.

Zoo Warlocks will love this — and it also has the potential to enable an aggro/zoo style of Priest, especially when combined with other cards Priest is getting this expansion, such as Power Word: Feast (which almost made it into this guide).

Flesh Giant

• Rarity: Epic
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 8 mana
• Stats: 8 attack / 8 health
• Text: Costs (1) less for each time your hero’s Health changed during one of your turns.

Giants in Hearthstone rarely disappoint. They always have a certain trigger condition that makes them cheaper and cheaper, and you can usually find at least one deck that can abuse that condition to make them cost very little, or even zero, in no time. Both Warlock and Priest are well-equipped with self-healing and self-damage effects, and I expect this minion might find a home or two for itself.

Priest / Paladin

Devout Pupil

• Rarity: Epic
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 6 mana
• Stats: 4 attack / 5 health
• Text: Divine Shield, Taunt. Costs (1) less for each spell you’ve cast on friendly characters this game.

This is already an auto-include in Pure/Libram Paladin, but that’s not all. Paladin in general has a lot of buffs — and so does Priest. It’s not very hard to imagine several decks for both of those classes that can effectively turn this card into a 4/5 Taunt with Divine Shield that you can simply play for free.

Paladin / Warrior

Lord Barov

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 3 mana
• Stats: 3 attack / 2 health
• Text: Battlecry: Set the Health of all other minions to 1. Deathrattle: Deal 1 damage to all minions.

While the Health reduction effect is commonplace in Paladin, it’s going to make a big splash in Warrior — especially combined with that class’s penchant for dealing one damage to everything, through several effects. If any kind of Control Warrior emerges, this will be in it. And I wouldn’t be surprised do see it in Paladin either.

Warrior / Rogue

Coerce

• Rarity: Rare
• Type: Spell
• Cost: 3 mana
• Text: Destroy a damaged minion. Combo: Destroy any minion.

It could be an extra Execute, but it’s oh so much more. Play it with its Combo effect, and it can destroy any minion for just 3 mana. That’s a very powerful effect for such a low cost. I’ll bet many Warriors and Rogues out there will rock this one, whether they’re aggressive, mid-range, or control.

Rogue / Mage

Potion of Illusion

• Rarity: Epic
• Type: Spell
• Cost: 4 mana
• Text: Add 1/1 copies of your minions to your hand. They cost (1).

I fully expect this card to break the game, somehow. Some intelligent deck-builder out there always finds a way to turn these crazy discounted minions that cards like this one create into some form of OTK combo. Exodia Mage might make a return. But even if it doesn’t, this could be a very strong card in Rogue, by allowing you to replay powerful Battlecries, and giving you more Combo-enablers.

Mage / Shaman

Devolving Missiles

• Rarity: Epic
• Type: Spell
• Cost: 1 mana
• Text: Shoot three random missiles at random enemy minions that transform them into ones that cost (1) less.

Can you imagine shooting these missiles while Archmage Vargoth is on your board? That’s just evil. But regardless of Vargoth’s presence, this is a very strong disruption card against strong enemy boards. It instantly nullifies Taunt, Stealth, Divine Shield, and an assortment of buffs. Paladins will cry, Priests will beg for mercy.

Ras Frostwhisper

• Rarity: Legendary
• Type: Minion
• Cost: 5 mana
• Stats: 3 attack / 6 health
• Text: At the end of your turn, deal 1 damage to all enemies (improved by Spell Damage).

Despicable Dreadlord on steroids, for two different classes. If you’re playing against any kind of aggro or midrange deck, this is a minion that will make your opponent need to react immediately, or their day will be ruined.

And there you have it! These 20 cards might end up finding their ways into viable decks in the near future. Which ones are you excited about? Are Druid, Rogue, Hunter, and Demon Hunter going to be the “winners” of this expansion, or do you think we’ll see any underdogs surprise everyone?