Card Rotation Analysis: Druid

After nearly two years of unquestioned meta power, Druid’s come crashing down. The weight of so many Classic set nerfs finally dragged Druid back to the bottom of the pile. Will the upcoming rotation push Druid further into the undergrowth? Or will a reduced card pool be enough to make the class survive without its cheap Classic ramp?

Un’goro: Big Promise

Big Druid was pretty close to being viable

Un’goro was all about Big; or more specifically, cards with 5 or more attack. Cards like the Quest, Tortollan Forager, Giant Anaconda and of course Tyrantus himself all supported a more traditional ramp n’ bomb playstyle than the then-popular Jade Druids. Unfortunately, Jade Druid merely took what was useful (Earthen Scales) and left the rest by the wayside, with Quest Druid rarely rising above meme-tier. Fortunately for meta diversity, Living Mana did spawn a new and vicious breed of Token Druid.

With Druid’s ramp much diminished, the Big playstyle encouraged by Un’goro was largely already gone. However, while these cards may not leave with much mourning, the loss of Living Mana is a big deal. The core card of any hyper-aggressive Druid, without it we are unlikely to see many aggro malfurion archetypes take off.

Knights of the Frozen Throne: Ultimate Power

Knights of the Frozen Throne was where Druidstone really kicked off. Three cards in particular defined the class in all the time since. But before those, some honourable mentions. Druid of the Swarm and Crypt Lord are extremely efficient and sticky low-cost minions with potential for both aggressive and defensive playstyles. Meanwhile, the initially panned Hadronox eventually rose to the spotlight, forming the core of a powerful Taunt-focused deck.

What will Druid do without it?

However, we can’t avoid talking about the three big cards for Druid from this expansion. Spreading Plague, Ultimate Infestation and Malfurion the Pestilent. Not only did these cards find a home in virtually every Druid deck, they defined them. Spreading Plague is a one-card win condition against weak wide boards as well as impeccable stall. Ultimate Infestation is unparalleled card draw, and Malfurion the Pestilent is good in virtually any situation.

Without these cards, Druid at a severe risk of losing not only powerful tools, but also much of the entire reason to play the class outside of high-cycle Mecha’thun decks. With no good way to draw, sustain, or beat wide boards, the loss of these cards could be apocalyptic.

Kobolds and Catacombs: Solid Support

Kobolds gave Druid a good selection of solid options that went well with existing archetypes. These are the quiet workhorses that make decks work. The only real miss was Grizzled Guardian; every other card was a key component in some form of competitively viable deck.

Of these, the most versatile were Branching Paths, Jasper Spellstone, Oaken Summons and Ironwood Golem. Where the Ironwood/Oaken package was a flexible but solid defensive early package, Branching Paths was used in virtually every Druid deck as draw, health or burst on demand. Spellstone also filled in a key weakness across the board, giving Druid the most efficient removal it’s ever had.

Without these cards, Druid may still cling to life, but will undoubtedly be far weaker across the board. While direct replacements may not be necessary, the class will undoubtedly need other strong cards.

Druidstone or Druid’s Done?

It’s not looking good for our antlered pal Malfurion. Almost everything that makes Druid good is either nerfed or leaving. Even Mecha’thun Druid, the only archetype not completely gutted, loses a bunch of cheap spells. Every other strategy either loses its core win condition or the majority of its key cards. Druid won’t just need a bump; it may well need resuscitation.

Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment via hearthstone.gamepedia.com.

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