And then they were three Old Gods in Hearthstone (Free). After C’Thun and N’Zoth, Blizzard unveiled Y’Shaarj, the biggest of the Old Gods and once the head of the largest empire on Azeroth. The third of the gods from the upcoming Whispers of the Old Gods expansion, Y’Shaarj is, of course, a 10-cost Legendary and has the highest stats of the Gods we’ve seen so far with 10 Attack and 10 Health. His effect, though, is on the disappointing side, at least with what we know so far about the expansion. At the end of your turn, Y’Shaarj puts a minion from your deck into the battlefield. First, a couple of clarifications: as with other similar effects, Y’Shaarj’s won’t trigger battlecries, and cards with end of turn effects that are pulled out of your deck will not activate those effects, which pretty much demands you build a very specific deck if you’re not to waste your cards’ battlecries and effects.
His effect is very similar to Varian Wrynn’s, which hasn’t seen that much play recently. At least Y’Shaarj only pulls one card, so he won’t mill you as quickly as Varian. Still, most comments I’ve seen describe the third God as the most disappointing of the three because he’s too slow and his effect doesn’t have the immediate impact a 10-mana card needs to have. People really expected to see something special, and this version of Y’Shaarj definitely hasn’t impressed many.
Blizzard unveiled another card today, Ancient Harbinger, whose mission is to ensure you draw that God before the end of the match. At the start of your turn, the 6-mana 4/6 minion puts a 10-cost minion from your deck into your hand, something that can make players who are gambling with big minions feel a bit more comfortable that if nothing else, they’ll probably have that expensive card in their hand.
Of course, you first have to draw Ancient Harbinger at a convenient time, then play it and hope he survives a turn, and then make it to turn 10 (or thereabout) to play that 10 mana cost card (God or otherwise). A few too many ways that plan can go wrong, I think. We’ll see when all the cards come out and Standard hits whether the meta will slow enough to allow for these big guys, but I think not many will go the Y’Shaarz route. So, what do you think of this God? Disappointed, or pretty much what you expected?
