Top 5 Legendaries released in the Goblins vs. Gnomes Expansion

With Blizzard’s most recent Hearthstone expansion being over a month old, the dust has settled and people are finally starting to play only the cream of the crop cards. Cards like Tinkertown Technician are finding their way into any deck using the mech type simply because of how powerful the card is under the right circumstances. The expansion also brought into the meta 20 new legendaries to dabble with, and just like the other cards in the set there are a few legendaries that stand out amongst the others. This top five will be looking to mix both arena and constructed picks so some of the cards listed might not seem like the best pick in a constructed setting but is instead a great pick up if it comes up as an arena choice. Without further delay, here’s my top 5 legendaries released in the expansion.

#5: Foe Reaper 4000

This card might seem a weird addition if you’re a player who only looks to rank up in constructed, but as an arena player this is probably one of the best legendary cards released, and one of the best arena cards you could pick up. For 8 mana, you get a card that is incredibly durable and always forces your opponent to remove it the turn it’s played. At 9 health, this puts him out of range of any giants and if not dealt with immediately, he’s guaranteed to stifle your opponent. If your opponent doesn’t have hard removal, he has to slow down what he’s playing and ultimately you force him to play one card at a time. The great thing about Foe Reaper 4000 is the fact that he can swing away at a low attack minion and still get the benefit of doing 6 damage to any units around him. Don’t be surprised if you see your opponent run in his entire field into your Foe Reaper if he lacks the proper removal for it, as this is one of the hardest cards to deal with in the game.

#4: Neptulon

Now Neptulon might seem like a weird choice to include in this list but overall, he’s a solid card in both arena and constructed. Although his stats aren’t any better than that of the vanilla card War Golem (7 Attack and 7 Health), Neptulon is also adding four cards to your hand. Although these cards are all murlocs they ultimately fill your hand as fuel for cards that need to be removed when played. Which ultimately means that your opponent needs one type of removal for Neptulon, and then another set of removal for when the murlocs are played. The largest downside of Neptulon is the fact that 3 overload is a big issue to deal with. Playing Neptulon on turn 7, when you’re behind on the board is asking for trouble yet Shaman is one of the best classes in terms of having removal for opponent’s cards which makes it a likely scenario that slamming Neptulon on a relatively empty board won’t detriment you all too much. Overall he’s an incredibly high value card based on the stats he’s giving you, but he’s a little situational when it actually comes to playing him.

#3: Mal’ganis

It’s tough for me to put Mal’ganis at number three simply because I believe he’s about equal in power compared to my pick for second. I’d also like to comment that I like the direction Blizzard has so far taken with legendary cards for the warlock class, which is to make them incredibly big and powerful cards. Mal’ganis is a 9 mana card with 9 attack and 7 health, but his biggest boost in power is the effect. Not only does Mal’ganis buff other demons with a +2 attack and +2 health buff, but he also makes your hero immune to damage. This means that if Mal’ganis somehow manages to survive past the turn he is played, you can life tap without incurring a health penalty. This effect can also be looked at as a pseudo-taunt as it forces you to target him if there’s nothing else on the board. The reason why I believe this card is such a powerful legendary is because Mal’ganis is the catalyst for the viability of demon-specific warlock decks. Other cards introduced in Goblins vs. Gnomes like Felheart and Floating Watcher add value to demonlock, but Mal’ganis closes out the lack of end game that most demonlock players showed.

#2: Vol’jin

Vol’jin is an absolute must play card in any priest deck that you can think of. His ability to swap his health with the health of any enemy minion while also being at a moderate mana cost of 5 allows you to play him on turn 6 or greater as a source of removal with the addition of other cards like Holy Smite. Another interesting mechanic of Vol’jin is the fact that he forces your opponent to choose what card he wants to have silenced, as the card Vol’jin swaps his health with is not bonded with Vol’jin if you choose to silence him. The biggest downside of Vol’jin is the fact that he isn’t a card you slam down on the board when you’re already ahead and requires the board to be in slight favour of the opponent to really benefit from its effect. Another issue brought about Vol’jin is the fact that his effect isn’t all threatening against lower cost decks that run cards with just as low of a health value that he begins with. With that being said though, I believe Vol’jin will quickly become one of the best Goblins vs. Gnomes legendaries if the meta begins to open to decks more focused on large minions and controlling the board.

#1: Dr. Boom

I’m sure a lot of people expect this card to be in the number one spot, and he rightfully deserves his place. As of right now, Dr. Boom is a must have in any deck that’s looking to pump out late game creatures because he’s a powerful body on his own, with the additional benefit of pumping out two bombs which have the ability to deal anywhere from 2-5 damage to an opponent’s minion or life total. With Dr. Boom, there’s very little downside to playing him the turn he’s available because he provides a way to remove whatever your opponent plays and a multitude of different ways to do so. Although there is some randomness involved in getting some lucky bombs, he fills a slot that no other card fit in because there were no good 7 drops before the Goblins vs. Gnomes expansion was released. This put Dr. Boom on a pedestal that no one can currently touch as the only other 7 mana legendaries are Troggzor, which is situationally good but overall a tad underwhelming, or class specific ones instead.

Overall, the quality of legendaries released in Goblins vs. Gnomes were generally really good. There’s only a few legendaries that aren’t solid cards on their own, and those that aren’t are usually filled with flavourful effects such as Mekgineer Thermaplugg or Mogor the Ogre, two of my personal favourites released. With this expansion, it leaves me wanting to see what other cool legendaries end up being designed in future expansions, which leaves me coming back for some more Hearthstone action for many months to come.