Two drops aren’t what they were. When it comes to efficiently making a pro-active play on turn two, chances are you aren’t playing a two-cost card. Either you’re coining a three drop, playing a one drop or two, or just hero-powering and calling it a day. Sure, you might tempo out the odd Sorcerer’s Apprentice or Underbelly Angler, but it’s rarely a play you love to make. But with the Saviors of Uldum expansion imminent, two drops are back with a vengeance. With both class and neutral options looking promising, will the two drops finally stop sucking?
Synergistic Neutrals
One pleasant surprise is the new bevy of strong, synergistic neutral two-cost minions. These won’t go in every deck, but they’re a great boost to certain archetypes looking for a specific effect. Firstly, there are the mechanically interesting two-drops. Cards like Spitting Camel, Quicksand Elemental and Injured Tol’vir put old but under-used effects into efficient bodies. These cards can help bolster certain archetypes like Priest or Tempo Warrior.
Meanwhile, there are also explicit synergies with the likes of Highlander decks or Quests. These come mainly from the Zephyrs the Great and Questing Explorer, which give a huge early bonus from running these low tempo archetypes. Questing Explorer in particular will work wonders to help overcome some of the typical problems of a Quest deck starting a card down.
Powerful Class cards
As well as synergistic neutrals, there are some uncomplicated, powerful Class two-cost minions. Notably, these help out classes that have a weakness in that slot. A great example is Warrior’s Frightened Flunky. This is a 2 mana Stonehill Defender with only a smidgen worse stats.
Meanwhile, Priest and Paladin got efficient Reborn minions that can supplement a wide board. Paladin also received the immense potential of Sir Finley of the Sands. Shaman’s Sandstorm Elemental is a ludicrously efficient mini AOE on a stick, and EVIL Totem can quickly snowball out of control. Meanwhile, Warlock’s Expired Merchant can be great setup for Discard combos.
Early spells
As well as minions, early reactive spells are also dropping in with the new expansion. This looks to mean that even if there’s no strong pro-active turn two play, you may well have a decent defensive option.
The best of these is Penance. This two mana Priest spell ‘Penance’ is extremely strong, in many situations as good as Warrior’s TGT card Bash, but a whole mana cheaper. Meanwhile, Mage and Rogue got extremely efficient synergistic draw effects. The former discounts and draws a secret, and the latter is just a cheaper Burgle with Quest synergy. Finally, Paladin got Subdue, comparable with a 2 mana Polymorph. Overall, these cards seem to be extremely strong, and will help to stop turn two involve such difficult choices.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.
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