The new Druid legendary is ruffling some feathers. Flobbidinous Floop, the gelatinous head of the Druid wing of Boom Labs, has immense potential. With the ability to copy the last played friendly minion, even across turns, worry and excitement flourish in equal measure. Forums and Reddit are filled with speculation and concern about its synergy with Malygos, Hadronox and King Toggwaggle. But is this well-founded? Will Flobbidinous Floop be as scary as he seems?
A Floopy Foe
Floop is a 4 mana 3/4 Druid Legendary with the ability to copy the previously played minion’s card text. The card is most readily comparable to the ability of Valeera the Hollow. But unlike Valeera, his cross-turn ability means that Druid can have access to any card text for only 4 mana.
There are huge possibilities with this, many of which slot perfectly into existing Druid decks. Malygos is a prime example. Druid can drop a Malygos on turn 9, and follow it up with Floop and a full 6 mana with which to cast spells. Alternatively, it can add consistency to the King Toggwaggle/Azalina combo of Mill Druid, given an Innervate or Biology project to gain the mana. He can even become yet another Hadronox in Taunt Druid, and even combo with Carnivorous Cube. But are all these combinations as threatening as they seem?
The Oaken Issue
One main issue with running Floop is his anti-synergy with Oaken Summons. With Aggro an ever-present, if diminished, threat, the ability of Druid to summon a 3/6 taunt with 6 armor for only 4 mana is vital to its survival. Losing 2 health, taunt and the ability to later combo Floop will be a huge flaw. Even versus control decks, not being able to tempo out a mid-game minion without threatening the basis for your combo is a huge risk.
On the plus side, this will only occur a minority of the time. With a decent chance to not pull Floop, it may be worth it to run him regardless.
A greedy gloop?
Another problem for Floop would be how niche his use is. Most Druids run few minions, so he will simply be an understatted 3/4 until you assemble your final combo. This is especially worrying considering that Ironwood Golem would give him a significant downside.
This does not mean a tempo Floop would be useless however. He potentially has a potent interaction with Arcane Tyrant, for an even greater tempo swing. He also works decently with cards like Alexstrasza, Carnivorous Cube, Primordial Drake or the Lich King in niche situations.
Don’t fear combos, fear combo enablers
However, all the discussion around Floop may be overshadowing even more worrying developments. Biology Project in particular seems to be a disgustingly powerful card, the equivalent of forcing your opponent to skip their first two turns in exchange for skipping yours. As a Ramp Druid, that’s a powerful prospect. Imagine the power of Turn 1 Doomsayer into turn 2 Doomsayer against aggro, all in one card.
We must also remember that many other yet to be released cards may counter or supersede Floop. But for now, it is certainly fun to theory-craft. Just don’t immediately assume our Druid overlords will dominate us for all time; at least, not necessarily through Floop.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via Hearthstone.gamepedia.com.
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