Uldum’s Quests have been remarkably successful. Not only are most viable, none appear to be extremely overpowered. Most achieve their stated design goal of reinforcing a more flexible alternative to Un’goro’s Quests. They are relatively easy to achieve, while not providing the kind of ridiculous power we saw from the likes of the Warrior, Rogue and Mage Quests.
Unfortunately, not every class Quest hit this delicate balance. Warrior’s Hack the System, Warlock’s Supreme Archaeology and Mage’s Raid the Sky Temple all have middling-poor win rates and terrible play rates. But things might not be as bad as they seem. These low-tier Quests could end up improving a lot.
One day, Warriors may need a Boom alternative.
The Warrior Quest isn’t the worst, but it definitely lacks a purpose. When Warrior’s can get ludicrous hero power value from Doctor Boom, giving up a card and your turn one for a few 4/3s doesn’t seem worthwhile. But this will change when Doctor Boom rotates or eats a nerf. Then, Warriors may turn to the Quest for the value they need to close out games.
What’s more, there’s a severe lack of cheap, efficient high-durability weapon options for Warrior. Upgrade can work, but is hardly worth it as a 1 mana 1/3. And Weapon’s Project is so anti-tempo it severely hinders the deck’s midrangey gameplan. With more potent Weapon options for Warrior, we could see the Quest being a decent option in certain metas.
The Warlock Quest is by far the least effective of the 9 options. Its stringent requirements and mediocre reward are compounded by the general weakness of the class. There’s simply not enough support for a late-game Warlock deck currently, let alone one that gives up early tempo to play the quest. Finally, the reward requires a lot of deckbuilding sacrifices to gain its full potential.
But Supreme Archaeology could easily go from terrible to powerful. All that’s needed is more ‘Plot Twist’ type effects. If Warlock gets more efficient cards on those lines, it could activate the Quest far more reliably, allowing it to draw through its deck while cheating out massive minions early. And when Warlock can cheat out massive minions early, it can become scarily strong.
Mana Cyclone’s 2nd best buddy after elemental evocation.
Mage’s Quest is another Quest that has a lot of unrealised potential in the current card pool. Currently, Mage is centralised around Luna’s Pocket Galaxy and Conjurer’s Calling, with occasional support from big spells or Highlander tools. As such, the rapid-cycling spell generation takes a backseat.
But this style of gameplay could easily make a comeback. More spell generation like Magic Trick to power up the Mana Cyclone package, or more spellcasting synergy along the lines of Flamewaker or Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which could make the Quest a worthwhile option. The main hurdle would be finding a use for such a hero power when Conjurer’s Calling and Mountain Giant kills your opponent so much faster. But this problem may be handily solved by the nerfhammer.
Images courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.
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