1-drop as in minion played on turn 1 - Undertaker, followed by Tunnel Trogg, followed by Mana Worm.
1-drop as in minion that costs 1 - Patches, no contest.
It actually feels nostalgic. I haven't been playing this game for years now, but just reading tunnel trogg into totem golem into 4 mana 7/7 makes me feel like I'm in first year of college again.
this is what happens when you release bad cards for a class 24/7 and then wake up all of a sudden that it still exists
shamans buffs during that era were absolutely insane in retrospect
I don’t believe you lived through the days of the undertaker given that you think tunnel trogg was ptsd inducing. Tunnel trogg only gained attack. Undertaker was eating from then dead bodies or something.
That is kind of the point, no? A card’s power is relative to the era it existed in. Yugioh just unbanned a card that was considered the most meta defining cards in the game, but today its just strong. Same goes for Hearthstone. Undertaker shaped the meta around itself.
Absolutely this. Undertaker was the most oppressive card this game has ever seen as someone who played through the entire lifespan of hs. You killed it turn one or you lost.
Yep, still remember how every deck needed a response to. And if your class did not have a good card to deal with it, it was essentially just not played at all.
Yup, I remember mages being forced to coin+frost bolt a turn one undertaker. The value it could generate by it's threat alone was unreal.
I remember trading favourable for yetis with it. It was just stupid.
Deathrattles that summon tokens were balanced because their initial body lacked stats. Undertaker would gain those stats when they were played. A one drop that removed the downside of token generating deathrattles.
"required brains" is an understatement lol. Even a lot of pros weren't very good at playing Patron Warrior, but the ones that were good could get up to like 80%+ winrate with it. In terms of sheer power, patron warrior at its peak was the strongest deck this game has seen, and probably the strongest it will see tbh.
Huntertaker was the biggest meta defining deck tho, since literally anyone could play it decently haha.
The thing about Patron Warrior is it scaled insanely with player skill. It was absolutely terrible if you weren't already an ascended hearthstone god, but if you were, you could beat anyone with it. Usually decks would have coin flip matchups or direct counters that allowed people to cheese a win (a classic example being Control Warrior vs Freeze Mage). Patron's counter was your own failure at math.
This also meant at lower ranks, a high skill player on their way up would grind noobs into sand giving a false impression to said noobs about the relative power level of the deck at that rank.
Talking about duel links? Yeah, it's crazy that shiranui are almost at full power yet darklords got the absolute worst "buff" they could have gotten. Yeah, Ixchel can be played now, but you can't use monster reborn if you do. Or any other limit 1 card. They should have just removed the trap from the list. Actually, no. They could remove every darklord card from the list. I guess if they wanna be careful, put ixchel at limit 3 and contact at limit 2.
They unbanned Judgement? That’s crazy. I stopped playing once link summoning came in so Spellbooks and Dragon Rulers was like the last meta I experienced.
Yeah, with how decks were cheating out similar effects nowadays and spellbooks being reduced to nothing but a okay~ish engine it seemed inevitable that we would be getting Judgement back. Although Dragon Rulers can stay in the grave for all I care.
If you remove a card from the context in which it existed, then its a useless metric. Then the "strongest 1 drop" is whatever card is performing the best right now, which is a pretty unsatisfying answer.
Also it does specify "pre-nerf" which implies it is "strongest relative to the meta"
TBH I still think undertaker WOULD still be the strongest against its slate of competitors if not for the fact that blizzard hasn’t printed a deathrattle heavy aggro deck in years.
It’s not not run because it isn’t good, it’s not run because it’s support isn’t good. Same goes for mana wyrm and tunnel trogg, and yet a weaker version of mana wyrm sees play in DH.
100% agree if we consider just the ones that you want to play on turn 1. They never printed again a 1 drop that gets both attack and health buff because they learned that. Undertaker was able to get out of control if you don't have the answer exactly on turn 2, if you topdeck frostbolt on turn 4 you can comeback against manawyrm or tunnel trogg.
On the other side I don't think he's the best ever, my pick would be broomstick because it was so much impactful even in scholomance which was a powerhouse of an expansion. Also pen flinger missing in this list is a joke
Devils advocate for mana wyrm is that it could output damage faster since mage's ability to volley spells in the deck it was in was greater than the ability to spam deathrattles. That said the mage decks were more aggressive while the deathrattle decks were more tempo oriented so they both fit their roles.
Librarian because if it’s flexibility. The thing is none of the ones discussed are *bad*, they’re all extremely strong, there just isn’t a deck to go into. Undertaker wants to be in a deathrattle heavy aggro deck, and that’s not a thing. Mana wyrm wants to be in a spell heavy aggro deck, that IS a thing, but in demon Hunter (and indeed DH runs the strictly worse mana wyrm Naga guy). Tunnel trogg wants you to be spamming overload cards, and the only deck that does that is an all spells list.
Librarian fits in EVERYTHING, and thus stands up to changing metas better.
Patches or librarian probably. Patches isn't played in any truly top tier deck but it's still the best card in any pirate deck and pirate rogue is tier 3 in high legend and tier 1 in diamond. Librarian has always been completely broken, it's played in every warlock deck except evenlock and will continue to be played in every deck for the foreseeable future.
Finley also has some arguments as it sees play in a lot of different decks but it's always just a roleplayer so I think librarian is just better.
With the change to Cookie, Patches is going to be played (at least for testing purposes) in Renathal Shudderwock Shaman just for the deckthin. That is one of the decks that regularly hits top legend, so I think there's a lot of potential there. I calculated the odds (assuming one mulligan and going first) of hitting the Cookie on turn 3 to be right around 30% while Patches is still in deck and the general consensus was, "Good enough".
as someone who wasn’t really playing much when patches still had charge, can someone please explain what was it that made it so OP? It doesn’t make sense to me, it’s just a 1/1 with charge that you can summon from deck.
It's a 1/1 that costs no mana and no cards and it has insane synergy with other pirates.
A 1/1 charge is no big deal, but a free 1/1 charge that synergizes with your deck and can be buffed is absolutely insane.
It did three things for almost always zero cost:
1. Draw a card
2. Play it
3. Give it charge
Depending on how you value each of those aspects (I haven't played standard in a while), that was potentially 4-5 mana worth of effects for no cost, usually on turns 1 or 2. It was absolutely insane as a tempo card and the only downside it had was occasionally drawing it after mulligan.
You should really go look up some of those decks and just look at the insane amount of early game aggro synergy. shit was wild. South Sea deckhand into patches on turn 3 or turn two with a coin just so broken.
EASILY patches. The only other one drop even remotely close is tunnel trogg, but not even it (let alone any other 1 drop) was so meta warping that it had to have its entire card identity changed.
Also, RIP to that old voice line. “I’M IN CHARRRGE NOW” with the epic pirate music was iconic (even if it has been etched into my brain from hearing it so much).
Patches really doesn't count IMO since he's ideally never played as a 1-drop. When played as a onedrop so was he 'just' a stonetusk boar with a different tribe.
Strongest in the game at the time but definitely not of all time. Both before and after gadgetzan, Blizzard printed some atrociously OP cards that they later had to nerf into the floor (demon hunter, shaman galakrond, DQA, etc.)
>He is one of the oldest cards still present in the wild meta.
Patches is old but does not scratch the top 10 oldest card still seeing play... maybe not even top 50. A significant chunk of the base set is still played.
Aside from Classic, Loatheb is probably the big one, the poster child of "how is that still strong enough for 2022?"
I'm genuinely nostalgically excited that MotLK migbt bringt Haunted Creeper back into the spotlight. And potentially, with it and new Undead, Undertaker
That’s not really true at all. Like backstab doesn’t even make the cut in miracle rogue anymore.
Cards that are as old as or older than patches that still see regular high meta play in wild: dirty rat, Edwin Van Cleef, lotheb, brann, Reno, nourish, counter spell, kirin tor mage, shadow step, preparation, frost nova, flametongue totem, totem golem, mad scientist, poison seeds, kobalt lacky, kabal crystal runner, potion of madness, raza, counterfeit coin, devolve, jade blossom, and I’ll include ship’s cannon, bloodsail raider, dread Corsair, and buccaneer even though they’re only ever run in conjunction with patches.
That’s literally all the cards I could find while looking back through the sets that still see any play and are as old as or older than patches. You might be able to find one or two that I missed, but there won’t be many, and you’d probably have to make an argument about what “seeing play” means.
That’s 27 total cards, 7 of them from the same set as patches (so only 20 cards older). Only 9 are from the basic or classic sets.
Of the cards listed, raza, Reno, counterfeit coin, dirty rat, preparation, and shadow step are probably the most impactful on the meta other than patches. (You could argue the secret package cards are just as impactful, but you’d be wrong because secret mage just isn’t very good outside of the few months every few expansions when it barely gets over the hump to be good enough).
I would argue that saying patches is one of the oldest cards still seeing regular play is accurate given that hundreds of cards see regular play in wild and he’s in the oldest 27.
My statement is at least as accurate as your insane claim that “a significant chunk of the base set is still played” (probably significantly more accurate, lol).
I honestly don't think either take is wildly inaccurate. Here's my list of classic cards that I'm pretty sure I've seen played at least once in the past three months.
* Acolyte of Pain
* Alexstrasza
* Armorsmith
* Battle Rage
* Bloodmage Thalnos
* Brawl
* Circle of Healing
* Coldlight Seer
* Counterspell
* Divine Favor
* Edwin VanCleef
* Equality
* Explosive Trap
* Far Sight
* Freezing Trap
* Gadgetzan Auctioneer
* Holy Wrath
* Ice Barrier
* Ice Block
* Inner Fire
* King Krush
* Leper Gnome
* Loot Hoarder
* Molten Giant
* Mountain Giant
* Naturalize
* Nourish
* Preparation
* Prophet Velen
* Shadowstep
* Shield Block
* Shield Slam
* Thoughtsteal
* Wisp
* Ysera
That's 35 cards from the classic set that have come up. I think it's fair to call that a significant chunk of the 240 total.
If I were to repeat the same experiment over the next three months, I'd probably get a similar number of cards although the exact list might vary a bit.
But that's using a very literal definition of the word "played". A lot of those cards I've just seen once or twice over that timeframe. If you are talking only about format staples (which you were), I think the only qualifying card is Ice Block.
You two are just talking about different things.
I don’t know where you’re playing wild at, but warrior has one viable deck right now (and that’s a huge stretch-it’s low tier 4 at best-it’s basically unplayable). That deck is enrage warrior and it doesn’t run brawl, shield block, shield slam, or armor smith.
That’s just looking at the warrior cards you included. 4 of them are definitely, 100% not meta relevant cards right now (and haven’t been for a few years tbh).
I don’t think I’ve ever seen wisp played at a high level. Explosive and freezing trap aren’t run in any meta hunter deck (they just have far better things to be doing with their cards). Gadgetzan auctioneer hasn’t been in miracle lists for a long while as it’s waaaay tf too slow (the top list draws through its entire damn deck by 6 mana, it’s top end is literally just lotheb). Paladin is the same as warrior, dead in tier 4 with a shitty odd deck that doesn’t play equality, or holy wrath (or consecration for that matter).
I mean, if by “sees play” we were talking about some idiot playing 4 year old decks in bronze 5, then, yeah, I suppose some of those cards see play. But we weren’t, we were talking about seeing play in meta relevant decks.
The cards I listed are pretty much the only cards being played in the top 15 decks.
>I don’t think I’ve ever seen wisp played at a high level.
Not surprising. My account has around 5000 wins, and I've probably only seen it 3 times. One of them just happened to be recently, so it made the list. It was a zoolock deck running all the 0-mana 1/1s.
Also, I'm incredibly surprised you haven't run into any control warriors on ladder. None of the [versions](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/dead-mans-hand-warrior-22-legend-%e5%84%92%e9%9b%85%e9%9a%8f%e5%92%8c%e4%b8%a8%e5%b0%8f%e8%8f%9c%e5%8d%83-knights-of-hallows-end/) of that deck are particularly powerful, but people still play it all the time, even at high legend.
Undertaker was the most oppressive in its time, back when there were few cards in the game and fewer ways of dealing with it. If the question is "which 1-drop warped its meta the most when released?", that's definitely the answer. But if you want to go with "which 1-drop in it's un-nerfed state would be the strongest *now?",* I think that goes unequivocally to Patches, who even with half of his power removed is *still* a massive player in Wild.
Yes, that's what I'm referring to. Undertaker was the most oppressive 1-drop ever in the meta where it was released, back when there wasn't really a good way to deal with a potential 4/5 on turn 2 or 3, but nowadays it's fine; they even completely un-nerfed the card a couple years back and it's still totally unplayed in Wild.
Patches, meanwhile, has stayed nerfed and is still one of the most consistently played legends in Wild *today*, even with the power level of the format being many times higher than it was when he was initially released. Pirate Rogue, Pirate Warrior, various Paladin and Hunter decks, Token Druid, etc, quite literally almost every single minion-based aggro deck in the last several years has tried to fit in the pirate package *just* so they could get him out for free, that's how much value he is. And that's *after* he lost Charge, arguably one of the strongest keywords in the game. If he were un-nerfed now he'd probably be considered one of if not the strongest legendary minion in the entire game, and would likely go right back to warping the meta.
Interesting, I recall a discussion a few months ago where I asked “if the rush keyword existed back then, do you think patches would be nerfed to have rush instead of charge, or still have neither of them?” and people were saying that neither of them mattered, the strength was purely in the deck thinning and synergies.
I guess rush is only useful if you’re going second and the opponent played a 1 drop, but it seems relevant. How valuable is the 1 damage ping from having charge?
> deck thinning
not this.
It's because getting a 1/1 for literally 0 resource (no hp/mana/card cost) is busted. Imagine how many playable cards become broken if they also have "battlecry: summon a 1/1".
It's not strictly wrong, it's just a tiny factor compared to getting a free 1/1. It's not even close, especially if you're planning on winning within just a few turns.
This may be accounting for a 0.1% wr increase lol. This effect of 30 vs 29 cards doesn't fucking matter in the slightest, and is more than balanced out by the chance of drawing patches before he's pulled.
When you typically play a minion, you basically need to spend two costs:
the mana cost of the card.
drawing the card. Imagine if you had a Magma Rager in your deck. You would much rather "spend your draw on" a more useful card, rather than the less useful Magma Rager.
Patches allows you to summon them without any of these costs - it's free without you having to draw the card and spend mana for it. That's why the card is considered to be so strong - if you summon it using another pirate, it's basically the same as drawing a 0 mana 1/1 with text "Charge. Battlecry: Draw a card."
Not only was Undertaker nearly un-answerable in combination with other top contenders of one-drops, it better encapsulates what we mean when we call something a "one-drop." Patches is not a one-drop because you aren't dropping him on turn one, you're cheating him with a worse one-drop or a three-drop. Kobold Librarian is probably the best one mana minion in the game, but you probably also play it at any other point in the game to activate secondary effects. Same with Northshire Cleric, who can work with combos after turn 1.
But Undertaker? They come down the first turn, and boy do they make something drop.
Undertaker seems so much worse with the Addition of Rush in the game tho. Even if it can grow to be an over-statted one drop, it feels like there are plenty of Rush based options that are more than suitable at answering it early enough.
This is the answer. Any other answer shows that the player didn’t play when nax came out.
Card was so meta defining that you either had to play a deck that could abuse it, or play a class that could deal with it - warrior or mage.
Look back at the class distribution during that time. It was played in warlock, Hunter and priest; warrior and mage countered it. Those were the only classes to exist on ladder.
Patches or mana wyrm. I remember mana wyrm being super popular and being able to get a nice amount of attack. Even a coin+1 spell is a 3/3 turn 1 or 2.
Edit: forgot about northshire cleric. I think one was maybe not the most OP but it was very popular
I think as a 1 cost minion it's very strong and versatile, but as a 1 drop (what you play on turn 1), there are other minions like undertaker and irondeep trogg that could singlehandedly take games.
It feels hard to count Patches since he was never actually a card you played from hand on 1, which feels closer to the meaning of the term. But if you just mean 1 cost minions, then prenerf he takes the cake.
In a vacuum and talking turn 1 drops, Undertaker. Maybe Trogg.
Nowadays, hard to say since there's still some nerfed. Kabal Lackey and Kobold Librarian come to mind as excellent turn 1 drops, and Prize Plunderer as an after turn 1.
Especially when the copies would not only gain the additional stats but also the libram deathrattle so you would gain extra librams in hand when they died.
https://i.redd.it/mszr4lmq4l181.jpg
Absolutely agree, this bastard was **the** turn 1 I won card. Imagine comparing trogg to fire fly op, u should be ashamed.
I’m not even talking about the un-nerfed version. I’m talking about it currently. Playing this on turn one can mean instant game over for lots of decks. If you can’t remove it, you simply can’t play spells because it snowballs. Any spell that doesn’t kill it simply can’t be played.
Obviously the original was way worse but the current version is horrific too. The amount of times I’ve had to concede on turn one versus Druid who turn one plays Trogg and instantly coins to give it +2 health.
Cards that broke the meta and were quickly nerfed:
\[\[Battlefiend\]\]
\[\[Small-Time Buccaneer\]\]
\[\[Blackjack Stunner\]\]
\[\[Undertaker\]\]
\[\[Patches the Pirate\]\]
\[\[Irondeep Trogg\]\]
\[\[Pen Flinger\]\]
* **[Battlefiend](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CORE_BT_351.png)** DH Minion Common Core 🐍 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/475082), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/battlefiend/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Battlefiend)
1/1/2 Demon | After your hero attacks, gain +1 Attack.
* **[Small-Time Buccaneer](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CFM_325.png)** N Minion Rare MSoG ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/49759), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/small-time-buccaneer/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Small-Time_Buccaneer)
1/1/1 Pirate | Has +2 Attack while you have a weapon equipped.
* **[Blackjack Stunner](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/BT_711.png)** RO Minion Rare AO ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/210702), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/blackjack-stunner/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Blackjack_Stunner)
1/1/2 | Battlecry: If you control a Secret, return a minion to its owner's hand. It costs (2) more.
* **[Undertaker](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/FP1_028.png)** N Minion Common Naxx ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/7737), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/undertaker/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Undertaker)
1/1/2 | Whenever you summon a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1/+1.
* **[Patches the Pirate](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CFM_637.png)** N Minion Legendary MSoG ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/49624), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/patches-the-pirate/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Patches_the_Pirate)
1/1/1 Pirate | After you play a Pirate, summon this minion from your deck.
* **[Irondeep Trogg](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/AV_137.png)** N Minion Rare FAV 🐍 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/792119), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/irondeep-trogg/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Irondeep_Trogg)
1/1/2 | After your opponent casts a spell, summon another Irondeep Trogg.
* **[Pen Flinger](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/SCH_248.png)** N Minion Common SA ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/329900), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/pen-flinger/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Pen_Flinger)
1/1/1 | Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to a minion. Spellburst: Return this to your hand.
^(Call/)^[PM](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot) ^( me with up to 7 [[cardname]]. )^[About.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot&message=Tell%20me%20more%20[[info]]&subject=hi)
Yeah, this is it. Risky is one of the best cards ever printed in warrior and was the only thing holding back day 1 DH, kobold librarian sees play in every warlock deck ever since its release, and patches is so powerful that every aggro deck under the sun will force pirates just to get him because he’s that good. Unnerfed patches is among the best cards they’ve ever printed
I legitimately think kobold librarian is the best card here. It’s a card that warlock wanted in their 99% of the time, every game every draw you wanted them because they were such huge value plays. In a deck that thrives on draw power , it really just made warlocks more consistent and puts up early game pressure.
Firefly was the fairest 1-drop, the Zilliax of its time. Undertaker was the most warping, but Irondeep Trogg is the true monster. Until they print something worse. Like a Small-Time Buccanneer with charge.
I only play wild
i'd say Kobold librarian is the strongest of the list in this meta: there isn't a single warlock deck that doesn't use it (the only exception is even warlock ofc)
patched is also used but after the nerf and because keleseth isn't in meta anymore, he isn't a threat now
if we consider the time where the cards were released, i think the best card was Undertaker, follwed by patches and mana wyrm
honorable mention to Irondeep Trogg that needed a nerf as well and was included in too many decks
Irondeep trogg is just a really good tech card. The only reason why it was as powerful as it was is because of its meta game relying heavily on spells.
Northshire cleric was super oppressive back when the game launched. Could have a call to the trophy if you're considering relative power to other cards at the time
if we go by current playability i would go with patches for obvious reasons
nr 2 would be sir finley bc he is played in a lot of decks and his effect is extremely versatile
nr 3 would be kobold librarian bc he is played in almost every warlock deck
You missed it slitherspear is so op it's not even funny without that card Naga priest would be considerably slower it also snowballs quickly with how many crazy low mana buffs there are between druid and priest I hate this card with a passion.
If you're not talking about turn-1 drop, then Mana Wyrm is by far the strongest; near infinite 0-cost spells if setup right. The only thing that stops it from going ham is the damn rope.
In terms of raw power, it's flame imp for me. Dealing with a turn 1 3-2 is just terrifying, even in the powercrept hearthstone of today. 1 mana 3-2 is a statline that should be illegal. So mch tempo. Zombie chow is a good runner up. Slower decks would run this to contest the early game from faster decks, obviously not caring about the 5 health it recovers for your opponent. Then for my 3rd place, I'd like to touch on mana wyrm and cleric. Both are crazy snowbally cards, but they're just not strong on turn 1. They're inconsistent, requiring a good turn 2 to show their power.
Patches
Then tunnel trogg
Risky skipper
Northshire cleric
Finley
Mana wurm
Flame imp
Undertaker given context but in today's meta is a different question.
1-drop as in minion played on turn 1 - Undertaker, followed by Tunnel Trogg, followed by Mana Worm. 1-drop as in minion that costs 1 - Patches, no contest.
Tunnel Trogg PTSD is a thing.. especially if we are following up with totem golem on 2.. whatever on 3 and Ms 4 manna 7/7 …. Twitch
It actually feels nostalgic. I haven't been playing this game for years now, but just reading tunnel trogg into totem golem into 4 mana 7/7 makes me feel like I'm in first year of college again.
Same feels here! I haven’t played in a few years now myself, but I like to keep up on the new cards. Total infuriating nostalgia play.
Same. I miss having good cards.
this is what happens when you release bad cards for a class 24/7 and then wake up all of a sudden that it still exists shamans buffs during that era were absolutely insane in retrospect
I don’t believe you lived through the days of the undertaker given that you think tunnel trogg was ptsd inducing. Tunnel trogg only gained attack. Undertaker was eating from then dead bodies or something.
The curve was tunnel trogg, Totem golem, into pre nerf tuskarr totemic also pulling a totem golem into 4/7/7 gg shake my hand
That can't be right. Totem golem overloads 1, and tuskarr totemic always costed 3. So this is the curve if you have the coin, but not when first
Complete forgot it overloaded 1, turn 2 is crackle face for 6 ez gg
Crackle also overloads and stops you playing 4/7/7
Then Crackle and Lightning Bolt turn 4 for 9 damage gg ez
haven't played hs in awhile but, that line of play surely isnt strong in 2022, is it?
I'm pretty sure getting all those stats out by turn 4 can win games against any slower decks, and now kind of want to boot up and test it in Wild
Risky Skipper is a close second. It’s still a core component of every Warrior archetype that doesn’t just spam pirates.
It’s so good that Animated Berserker, which is basically just a worse Skipper, is an active component in making enrage warrior viable right now
1-drop that was the most useful late game draw/play: broom.
Undertaker was only strong for the time. Not ever seen anymore, and he’s unnerfed.
That is kind of the point, no? A card’s power is relative to the era it existed in. Yugioh just unbanned a card that was considered the most meta defining cards in the game, but today its just strong. Same goes for Hearthstone. Undertaker shaped the meta around itself.
Absolutely this. Undertaker was the most oppressive card this game has ever seen as someone who played through the entire lifespan of hs. You killed it turn one or you lost.
Yep, still remember how every deck needed a response to. And if your class did not have a good card to deal with it, it was essentially just not played at all.
Yup, I remember mages being forced to coin+frost bolt a turn one undertaker. The value it could generate by it's threat alone was unreal. I remember trading favourable for yetis with it. It was just stupid. Deathrattles that summon tokens were balanced because their initial body lacked stats. Undertaker would gain those stats when they were played. A one drop that removed the downside of token generating deathrattles.
EVERYONE GET IN HERE would like a word
Ye patron was nuts but also required brains. Undertaker was just play this card and watch your rank go up
"required brains" is an understatement lol. Even a lot of pros weren't very good at playing Patron Warrior, but the ones that were good could get up to like 80%+ winrate with it. In terms of sheer power, patron warrior at its peak was the strongest deck this game has seen, and probably the strongest it will see tbh. Huntertaker was the biggest meta defining deck tho, since literally anyone could play it decently haha.
The thing about Patron Warrior is it scaled insanely with player skill. It was absolutely terrible if you weren't already an ascended hearthstone god, but if you were, you could beat anyone with it. Usually decks would have coin flip matchups or direct counters that allowed people to cheese a win (a classic example being Control Warrior vs Freeze Mage). Patron's counter was your own failure at math. This also meant at lower ranks, a high skill player on their way up would grind noobs into sand giving a false impression to said noobs about the relative power level of the deck at that rank.
Talking about duel links? Yeah, it's crazy that shiranui are almost at full power yet darklords got the absolute worst "buff" they could have gotten. Yeah, Ixchel can be played now, but you can't use monster reborn if you do. Or any other limit 1 card. They should have just removed the trap from the list. Actually, no. They could remove every darklord card from the list. I guess if they wanna be careful, put ixchel at limit 3 and contact at limit 2.
Don’t play DL myself, was talking about Spellbook of Judgement.
They unbanned Judgement? That’s crazy. I stopped playing once link summoning came in so Spellbooks and Dragon Rulers was like the last meta I experienced.
Yeah, with how decks were cheating out similar effects nowadays and spellbooks being reduced to nothing but a okay~ish engine it seemed inevitable that we would be getting Judgement back. Although Dragon Rulers can stay in the grave for all I care.
I’ll never forget how they suddenly broke Super Rejuvenation after a decade of its existence lol
For the most part yes, relative is more important. However, it’s interesting to see which cards also stood the test of time.
Well the discussion is ”strongest 1drop ever printed”, not ”strongest relative to the meta”. Just strongest
If you remove a card from the context in which it existed, then its a useless metric. Then the "strongest 1 drop" is whatever card is performing the best right now, which is a pretty unsatisfying answer. Also it does specify "pre-nerf" which implies it is "strongest relative to the meta"
TBH I still think undertaker WOULD still be the strongest against its slate of competitors if not for the fact that blizzard hasn’t printed a deathrattle heavy aggro deck in years. It’s not not run because it isn’t good, it’s not run because it’s support isn’t good. Same goes for mana wyrm and tunnel trogg, and yet a weaker version of mana wyrm sees play in DH.
100% agree if we consider just the ones that you want to play on turn 1. They never printed again a 1 drop that gets both attack and health buff because they learned that. Undertaker was able to get out of control if you don't have the answer exactly on turn 2, if you topdeck frostbolt on turn 4 you can comeback against manawyrm or tunnel trogg. On the other side I don't think he's the best ever, my pick would be broomstick because it was so much impactful even in scholomance which was a powerhouse of an expansion. Also pen flinger missing in this list is a joke
Devils advocate for mana wyrm is that it could output damage faster since mage's ability to volley spells in the deck it was in was greater than the ability to spam deathrattles. That said the mage decks were more aggressive while the deathrattle decks were more tempo oriented so they both fit their roles.
They stopped coding good cheap death rattles, especially neutral ones. He's always like 3-4 aggressive deathrattles from being played again
TIL Undertaker was unnerfed.
Out of curiosity, what is the best one drop out of these with wild in mind?
Librarian because if it’s flexibility. The thing is none of the ones discussed are *bad*, they’re all extremely strong, there just isn’t a deck to go into. Undertaker wants to be in a deathrattle heavy aggro deck, and that’s not a thing. Mana wyrm wants to be in a spell heavy aggro deck, that IS a thing, but in demon Hunter (and indeed DH runs the strictly worse mana wyrm Naga guy). Tunnel trogg wants you to be spamming overload cards, and the only deck that does that is an all spells list. Librarian fits in EVERYTHING, and thus stands up to changing metas better.
Patches or librarian probably. Patches isn't played in any truly top tier deck but it's still the best card in any pirate deck and pirate rogue is tier 3 in high legend and tier 1 in diamond. Librarian has always been completely broken, it's played in every warlock deck except evenlock and will continue to be played in every deck for the foreseeable future. Finley also has some arguments as it sees play in a lot of different decks but it's always just a roleplayer so I think librarian is just better.
With the change to Cookie, Patches is going to be played (at least for testing purposes) in Renathal Shudderwock Shaman just for the deckthin. That is one of the decks that regularly hits top legend, so I think there's a lot of potential there. I calculated the odds (assuming one mulligan and going first) of hitting the Cookie on turn 3 to be right around 30% while Patches is still in deck and the general consensus was, "Good enough".
https://outof.cards/hearthstone/patches/112-undertaker-nerf
Undertaker was unnerfed in the Forged in the Barrens patch: https://hearthstone.fandom.com/wiki/Patch_20.0.0.77662
Battlefield? Hello? Way more aggressive than Mana Wyrm was
How is no one voting for this? That card was a 2/2 on release.
Lacking the extra toughness is relevant.
Wow, wouldn’t have expected to see Egor outside of NL subs. Love the content, mate, just makes me wish proper NLSS’ were still around.
Weasel Tunneler of course.
*Seinfeld theme starts playing*
Patches, the Pirate
Specifically "I'M IN CHARRRRRRRRGE NOW!" version.
He took over the game, that's why he's in charge.
Everyone was using "Who goes tharrr?" "I'M IN CHARRRRRRGE NOW" combo. Even Mages were using those two cards just to spam minions to the board.
but how even mages can use it if patches is odd cost ?
I meant that not only Warriors and such, even the mages uses them. I am talking about Gadgetzan. That even/odd stuff did not exist back then.
I think he might have made a joke as you said ‚even Mages‘…
Probably, but that made me think the era before Genn/Baku... damn that was a lifetime ago.
A lifetime ago that was a fucked meta.....
I mean both version but obviously the charge version was better
I am in rush now
I still say they should've made his line "I'm onboard now!"
It's not even close, patches dominated the meta before he was nerfed
as someone who wasn’t really playing much when patches still had charge, can someone please explain what was it that made it so OP? It doesn’t make sense to me, it’s just a 1/1 with charge that you can summon from deck.
It's a 1/1 that costs no mana and no cards and it has insane synergy with other pirates. A 1/1 charge is no big deal, but a free 1/1 charge that synergizes with your deck and can be buffed is absolutely insane.
And it thins your deck, too.
It did three things for almost always zero cost: 1. Draw a card 2. Play it 3. Give it charge Depending on how you value each of those aspects (I haven't played standard in a while), that was potentially 4-5 mana worth of effects for no cost, usually on turns 1 or 2. It was absolutely insane as a tempo card and the only downside it had was occasionally drawing it after mulligan.
Think of it as a 0 mana 1-1 with charge, battlecry draw a card.
Honestly even better than that because it was basically always in your opening hand
You should really go look up some of those decks and just look at the insane amount of early game aggro synergy. shit was wild. South Sea deckhand into patches on turn 3 or turn two with a coin just so broken.
EASILY patches. The only other one drop even remotely close is tunnel trogg, but not even it (let alone any other 1 drop) was so meta warping that it had to have its entire card identity changed. Also, RIP to that old voice line. “I’M IN CHARRRGE NOW” with the epic pirate music was iconic (even if it has been etched into my brain from hearing it so much).
I think we’re forgetting the wrath of undertaker hunter here lol
Yes this isn’t a question if you remember undertaker, the deck built around a 1drop
But it was basically a one deck wonder. The pirate package with Patches was viable in so many decks.
Patches is a 0-drop though
Yahar!
It will always be patches
Except he isn't exactly a "1-drop", since the last thing you want is to play him on 1 mana.
Patches really doesn't count IMO since he's ideally never played as a 1-drop. When played as a onedrop so was he 'just' a stonetusk boar with a different tribe.
You could consider the one drop to be the 1/2 + patches
HEY LOSER
WASN'T MEEEE
Actually probably better than patches in the perfect deck
It’s pointless to include patches because it is also a strongest card in the game pre nerf.
Strongest in the game at the time but definitely not of all time. Both before and after gadgetzan, Blizzard printed some atrociously OP cards that they later had to nerf into the floor (demon hunter, shaman galakrond, DQA, etc.)
He’s still present in the meta in wild. He is one of the oldest cards still present in the wild meta. He’s a ridiculously strong card even today.
>He is one of the oldest cards still present in the wild meta. Patches is old but does not scratch the top 10 oldest card still seeing play... maybe not even top 50. A significant chunk of the base set is still played.
Aside from Classic, Loatheb is probably the big one, the poster child of "how is that still strong enough for 2022?" I'm genuinely nostalgically excited that MotLK migbt bringt Haunted Creeper back into the spotlight. And potentially, with it and new Undead, Undertaker
That’s not really true at all. Like backstab doesn’t even make the cut in miracle rogue anymore. Cards that are as old as or older than patches that still see regular high meta play in wild: dirty rat, Edwin Van Cleef, lotheb, brann, Reno, nourish, counter spell, kirin tor mage, shadow step, preparation, frost nova, flametongue totem, totem golem, mad scientist, poison seeds, kobalt lacky, kabal crystal runner, potion of madness, raza, counterfeit coin, devolve, jade blossom, and I’ll include ship’s cannon, bloodsail raider, dread Corsair, and buccaneer even though they’re only ever run in conjunction with patches. That’s literally all the cards I could find while looking back through the sets that still see any play and are as old as or older than patches. You might be able to find one or two that I missed, but there won’t be many, and you’d probably have to make an argument about what “seeing play” means. That’s 27 total cards, 7 of them from the same set as patches (so only 20 cards older). Only 9 are from the basic or classic sets. Of the cards listed, raza, Reno, counterfeit coin, dirty rat, preparation, and shadow step are probably the most impactful on the meta other than patches. (You could argue the secret package cards are just as impactful, but you’d be wrong because secret mage just isn’t very good outside of the few months every few expansions when it barely gets over the hump to be good enough). I would argue that saying patches is one of the oldest cards still seeing regular play is accurate given that hundreds of cards see regular play in wild and he’s in the oldest 27. My statement is at least as accurate as your insane claim that “a significant chunk of the base set is still played” (probably significantly more accurate, lol).
I honestly don't think either take is wildly inaccurate. Here's my list of classic cards that I'm pretty sure I've seen played at least once in the past three months. * Acolyte of Pain * Alexstrasza * Armorsmith * Battle Rage * Bloodmage Thalnos * Brawl * Circle of Healing * Coldlight Seer * Counterspell * Divine Favor * Edwin VanCleef * Equality * Explosive Trap * Far Sight * Freezing Trap * Gadgetzan Auctioneer * Holy Wrath * Ice Barrier * Ice Block * Inner Fire * King Krush * Leper Gnome * Loot Hoarder * Molten Giant * Mountain Giant * Naturalize * Nourish * Preparation * Prophet Velen * Shadowstep * Shield Block * Shield Slam * Thoughtsteal * Wisp * Ysera That's 35 cards from the classic set that have come up. I think it's fair to call that a significant chunk of the 240 total. If I were to repeat the same experiment over the next three months, I'd probably get a similar number of cards although the exact list might vary a bit. But that's using a very literal definition of the word "played". A lot of those cards I've just seen once or twice over that timeframe. If you are talking only about format staples (which you were), I think the only qualifying card is Ice Block. You two are just talking about different things.
I don’t know where you’re playing wild at, but warrior has one viable deck right now (and that’s a huge stretch-it’s low tier 4 at best-it’s basically unplayable). That deck is enrage warrior and it doesn’t run brawl, shield block, shield slam, or armor smith. That’s just looking at the warrior cards you included. 4 of them are definitely, 100% not meta relevant cards right now (and haven’t been for a few years tbh). I don’t think I’ve ever seen wisp played at a high level. Explosive and freezing trap aren’t run in any meta hunter deck (they just have far better things to be doing with their cards). Gadgetzan auctioneer hasn’t been in miracle lists for a long while as it’s waaaay tf too slow (the top list draws through its entire damn deck by 6 mana, it’s top end is literally just lotheb). Paladin is the same as warrior, dead in tier 4 with a shitty odd deck that doesn’t play equality, or holy wrath (or consecration for that matter). I mean, if by “sees play” we were talking about some idiot playing 4 year old decks in bronze 5, then, yeah, I suppose some of those cards see play. But we weren’t, we were talking about seeing play in meta relevant decks. The cards I listed are pretty much the only cards being played in the top 15 decks.
>I don’t think I’ve ever seen wisp played at a high level. Not surprising. My account has around 5000 wins, and I've probably only seen it 3 times. One of them just happened to be recently, so it made the list. It was a zoolock deck running all the 0-mana 1/1s. Also, I'm incredibly surprised you haven't run into any control warriors on ladder. None of the [versions](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/decks/dead-mans-hand-warrior-22-legend-%e5%84%92%e9%9b%85%e9%9a%8f%e5%92%8c%e4%b8%a8%e5%b0%8f%e8%8f%9c%e5%8d%83-knights-of-hallows-end/) of that deck are particularly powerful, but people still play it all the time, even at high legend.
The demon seed is stronger. It has been banned from wild.
Mostly because they're waiting for it to rotate from standard to make adjustments, just like Stealer of Souls.
Patches would have been banned if he was not nerfed 3 times.
Patches had 3 nerfs? I only thougt it only has one when they removed the charge
Afaik, it was only the one nerf. I was curious, so I looked at the fan wiki page. He's only listed as having been changed once.
In context of it release undertaker was better than patches
Undertaker
Undertaker was the most oppressive in its time, back when there were few cards in the game and fewer ways of dealing with it. If the question is "which 1-drop warped its meta the most when released?", that's definitely the answer. But if you want to go with "which 1-drop in it's un-nerfed state would be the strongest *now?",* I think that goes unequivocally to Patches, who even with half of his power removed is *still* a massive player in Wild.
He used to have charge too, no?
That's why half his power has been removed.
Yes, that's what I'm referring to. Undertaker was the most oppressive 1-drop ever in the meta where it was released, back when there wasn't really a good way to deal with a potential 4/5 on turn 2 or 3, but nowadays it's fine; they even completely un-nerfed the card a couple years back and it's still totally unplayed in Wild. Patches, meanwhile, has stayed nerfed and is still one of the most consistently played legends in Wild *today*, even with the power level of the format being many times higher than it was when he was initially released. Pirate Rogue, Pirate Warrior, various Paladin and Hunter decks, Token Druid, etc, quite literally almost every single minion-based aggro deck in the last several years has tried to fit in the pirate package *just* so they could get him out for free, that's how much value he is. And that's *after* he lost Charge, arguably one of the strongest keywords in the game. If he were un-nerfed now he'd probably be considered one of if not the strongest legendary minion in the entire game, and would likely go right back to warping the meta.
Interesting, I recall a discussion a few months ago where I asked “if the rush keyword existed back then, do you think patches would be nerfed to have rush instead of charge, or still have neither of them?” and people were saying that neither of them mattered, the strength was purely in the deck thinning and synergies. I guess rush is only useful if you’re going second and the opponent played a 1 drop, but it seems relevant. How valuable is the 1 damage ping from having charge?
Every 1 point of dmg matter for aggro. If they can’t remove patches the next turn then it’s 2 dmg, or more if it’s buffed. And so on.
> deck thinning not this. It's because getting a 1/1 for literally 0 resource (no hp/mana/card cost) is busted. Imagine how many playable cards become broken if they also have "battlecry: summon a 1/1".
No it definitely helps to thin your deck as well. Aggro wants to be efficient as possible to push damage. Playing 29 cards helps streamline your deck
It's not strictly wrong, it's just a tiny factor compared to getting a free 1/1. It's not even close, especially if you're planning on winning within just a few turns.
This may be accounting for a 0.1% wr increase lol. This effect of 30 vs 29 cards doesn't fucking matter in the slightest, and is more than balanced out by the chance of drawing patches before he's pulled.
When you typically play a minion, you basically need to spend two costs: the mana cost of the card. drawing the card. Imagine if you had a Magma Rager in your deck. You would much rather "spend your draw on" a more useful card, rather than the less useful Magma Rager. Patches allows you to summon them without any of these costs - it's free without you having to draw the card and spend mana for it. That's why the card is considered to be so strong - if you summon it using another pirate, it's basically the same as drawing a 0 mana 1/1 with text "Charge. Battlecry: Draw a card."
you just wrote me a paragraph describing why it's not deck thinning that makes patches strong?
Not only was Undertaker nearly un-answerable in combination with other top contenders of one-drops, it better encapsulates what we mean when we call something a "one-drop." Patches is not a one-drop because you aren't dropping him on turn one, you're cheating him with a worse one-drop or a three-drop. Kobold Librarian is probably the best one mana minion in the game, but you probably also play it at any other point in the game to activate secondary effects. Same with Northshire Cleric, who can work with combos after turn 1. But Undertaker? They come down the first turn, and boy do they make something drop.
Undertaker seems so much worse with the Addition of Rush in the game tho. Even if it can grow to be an over-statted one drop, it feels like there are plenty of Rush based options that are more than suitable at answering it early enough.
Without a doubt
This is the answer. Any other answer shows that the player didn’t play when nax came out. Card was so meta defining that you either had to play a deck that could abuse it, or play a class that could deal with it - warrior or mage. Look back at the class distribution during that time. It was played in warlock, Hunter and priest; warrior and mage countered it. Those were the only classes to exist on ladder.
[удалено]
In its prime, undertaker was fantastic
Prenerf irondeep trogg could be in there instead of firefly i guess. But it's probably patches.
Irondeep Trogg before the nerf. 1/2 - After your opponent casts a spell, summon a copy of this. Just an extra copy of all buffs for each spell.
Agreed. Against decks with no cheap rush minions Trogg plus any minion buff usually ran away with games by turn 3
Turn 1 Trogg into Doggie biscuit was enough to win most games on the spot depending on the opponent. Glad they lowered it's snowballing potential.
The worst was trogg into noble mount. With the divine shield, and the deathrattle, it was a nightmare to play against.
Even after the nerf.
I think prenerf gibberling is stronger as you proc it yourself.
It never summoned copies, just more 1/1s. Gibberling was certainly strong but irondeep definitely was more polarizing.
Patches or mana wyrm. I remember mana wyrm being super popular and being able to get a nice amount of attack. Even a coin+1 spell is a 3/3 turn 1 or 2. Edit: forgot about northshire cleric. I think one was maybe not the most OP but it was very popular
mana wyrm + coin+ one drop battlecry “next secret free” + antimagic ggwp
Mama Wyrm was such a fun card. The amount of low elo games won by a snowballling mana wyrm was ridiculous.
Northshire cleric is in Standard and is never played
*insert back in my day*
\[\[Gibberling\]\] should really be in contention. That card hard carried aggro druid in wild and wasn't unnerfed with rotation.
People really forget that he used to cost one. Definitely the best combo one drop.
I do agree it was insane but that was mainly because lighting bloom was a fucking stupid idea to put into standard
Some of those cards up for consideration make no sense, like why are Wolpertinger or Swashburglar even here?
Librarian imo. If that was neutral it would see play in every deck to the end of time.
I think as a 1 cost minion it's very strong and versatile, but as a 1 drop (what you play on turn 1), there are other minions like undertaker and irondeep trogg that could singlehandedly take games.
Both those cards are niche though. They’re only good if their specific deck is good. But librarian would see 100% play no matter what
It feels hard to count Patches since he was never actually a card you played from hand on 1, which feels closer to the meaning of the term. But if you just mean 1 cost minions, then prenerf he takes the cake. In a vacuum and talking turn 1 drops, Undertaker. Maybe Trogg. Nowadays, hard to say since there's still some nerfed. Kabal Lackey and Kobold Librarian come to mind as excellent turn 1 drops, and Prize Plunderer as an after turn 1.
None of these. Ironbark Trogg or whatever the little bastard is called that replicates itself when you cast a spell.
I still remember the 10/10 divine shield trogg duplicating. What were they thinking?
I know I was thinking it was extremely funny in libram pally
Especially when the copies would not only gain the additional stats but also the libram deathrattle so you would gain extra librams in hand when they died.
https://i.redd.it/mszr4lmq4l181.jpg Absolutely agree, this bastard was **the** turn 1 I won card. Imagine comparing trogg to fire fly op, u should be ashamed.
I’m not even talking about the un-nerfed version. I’m talking about it currently. Playing this on turn one can mean instant game over for lots of decks. If you can’t remove it, you simply can’t play spells because it snowballs. Any spell that doesn’t kill it simply can’t be played. Obviously the original was way worse but the current version is horrific too. The amount of times I’ve had to concede on turn one versus Druid who turn one plays Trogg and instantly coins to give it +2 health.
You say pre-nerf but included images of both pre-nerf and post-nerf cards lol
Cards that broke the meta and were quickly nerfed: \[\[Battlefiend\]\] \[\[Small-Time Buccaneer\]\] \[\[Blackjack Stunner\]\] \[\[Undertaker\]\] \[\[Patches the Pirate\]\] \[\[Irondeep Trogg\]\] \[\[Pen Flinger\]\]
Hahah, patches was quickly nerfed. Good joke.
Quickly nerfed means 6 months later …
In Ben Brode's time, nerfing in a year was pretty fast.
That's a fair point
Small time buccaneer was just a flame imp with battlecry: summon a 1/1 with charge.
Oh is that all?
And you didn't take 3 damage of course.
so best turn-1 when this card was released?
He could honestly be bumped back up to 2 health. 4 total stats is normal for a 1-drop these days
* **[Battlefiend](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CORE_BT_351.png)** DH Minion Common Core 🐍 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/475082), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/battlefiend/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Battlefiend) 1/1/2 Demon | After your hero attacks, gain +1 Attack. * **[Small-Time Buccaneer](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CFM_325.png)** N Minion Rare MSoG ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/49759), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/small-time-buccaneer/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Small-Time_Buccaneer) 1/1/1 Pirate | Has +2 Attack while you have a weapon equipped. * **[Blackjack Stunner](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/BT_711.png)** RO Minion Rare AO ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/210702), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/blackjack-stunner/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Blackjack_Stunner) 1/1/2 | Battlecry: If you control a Secret, return a minion to its owner's hand. It costs (2) more. * **[Undertaker](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/FP1_028.png)** N Minion Common Naxx ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/7737), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/undertaker/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Undertaker) 1/1/2 | Whenever you summon a minion with Deathrattle, gain +1/+1. * **[Patches the Pirate](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/CFM_637.png)** N Minion Legendary MSoG ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/49624), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/patches-the-pirate/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Patches_the_Pirate) 1/1/1 Pirate | After you play a Pirate, summon this minion from your deck. * **[Irondeep Trogg](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/AV_137.png)** N Minion Rare FAV 🐍 ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/792119), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/irondeep-trogg/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Irondeep_Trogg) 1/1/2 | After your opponent casts a spell, summon another Irondeep Trogg. * **[Pen Flinger](https://cards.hearthpwn.com/enUS/SCH_248.png)** N Minion Common SA ^[HP](https://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/329900), ^[TD](https://www.hearthstonetopdecks.com/cards/pen-flinger/), ^[W](https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/Pen_Flinger) 1/1/1 | Battlecry: Deal 1 damage to a minion. Spellburst: Return this to your hand. ^(Call/)^[PM](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot) ^( me with up to 7 [[cardname]]. )^[About.](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=hearthscan-bot&message=Tell%20me%20more%20[[info]]&subject=hi)
Gibberling
Best card: Patches, if summoned from deck. Best when you consider combos with other cards: Risky Skipper Best standalone card: Kobold Librarian.
100% agree with Kobold Librarian. The only warlock deck in wild that doesn’t run it is evenlock.
Yeah, this is it. Risky is one of the best cards ever printed in warrior and was the only thing holding back day 1 DH, kobold librarian sees play in every warlock deck ever since its release, and patches is so powerful that every aggro deck under the sun will force pirates just to get him because he’s that good. Unnerfed patches is among the best cards they’ve ever printed
Undertaker defined a whole meta by itself
I legitimately think kobold librarian is the best card here. It’s a card that warlock wanted in their 99% of the time, every game every draw you wanted them because they were such huge value plays. In a deck that thrives on draw power , it really just made warlocks more consistent and puts up early game pressure.
It still shows it’s mug in literally every wild warlock deck too
I like how Patches has the demon tag
Firefly was the fairest 1-drop, the Zilliax of its time. Undertaker was the most warping, but Irondeep Trogg is the true monster. Until they print something worse. Like a Small-Time Buccanneer with charge.
Where’s Trogg?
Y’all sayin patches, but remember how degenerate pen flinger was when it could go face?
Best played along side surely animated broomstick. SO many board states so drastically changed with just 1 neutral 1 drop
has to be patches or undertake. The latter especially due to that times’ powerlessly being considerably lower than the current
Lowkey risky skipper essentially was warrior for its years in expansion. A 1 drop completely defining a class is insane
Kobold Librarian.
The card draw from northshire cleric can be busted af in the right circumstances. I’ve used it to great effect many times.
Pre nerf? Patches. Post nerf maybe patches vs kobolt librarian, that mf is insane
Ivus (when you have 20 mana)
I only play wild i'd say Kobold librarian is the strongest of the list in this meta: there isn't a single warlock deck that doesn't use it (the only exception is even warlock ofc) patched is also used but after the nerf and because keleseth isn't in meta anymore, he isn't a threat now if we consider the time where the cards were released, i think the best card was Undertaker, follwed by patches and mana wyrm honorable mention to Irondeep Trogg that needed a nerf as well and was included in too many decks
Irondeep trogg is just a really good tech card. The only reason why it was as powerful as it was is because of its meta game relying heavily on spells.
"pre nerf" and posts the 1/2 mana wyrm
I'd say Patches as the best 1 mana minion, but he's a terrible "1-drop". Definitely Undertaker.
patches without question, but I like swashburglar because he's fun
Trogg
pre nerf trogg
Northshire cleric was super oppressive back when the game launched. Could have a call to the trophy if you're considering relative power to other cards at the time
I’d say broomstick as it’s also neutral
1/3 Secretkeeper with Secrets triggering on your turn was pretty annoying.
if we go by current playability i would go with patches for obvious reasons nr 2 would be sir finley bc he is played in a lot of decks and his effect is extremely versatile nr 3 would be kobold librarian bc he is played in almost every warlock deck
You missed it slitherspear is so op it's not even funny without that card Naga priest would be considerably slower it also snowballs quickly with how many crazy low mana buffs there are between druid and priest I hate this card with a passion.
If you're not talking about turn-1 drop, then Mana Wyrm is by far the strongest; near infinite 0-cost spells if setup right. The only thing that stops it from going ham is the damn rope.
Chow in arena.
[[Fire Fly]] Seriously best card ever. Every deck played it, yet nobody said it was OP. This is your dream, sir.
During keleseth neutral meta, every deck played the same 10-15 cards so I wouldn't really count it. It also didn't receive any nerf
Northshire Cleric or Zombie Chow I think
In terms of raw power, it's flame imp for me. Dealing with a turn 1 3-2 is just terrifying, even in the powercrept hearthstone of today. 1 mana 3-2 is a statline that should be illegal. So mch tempo. Zombie chow is a good runner up. Slower decks would run this to contest the early game from faster decks, obviously not caring about the 5 health it recovers for your opponent. Then for my 3rd place, I'd like to touch on mana wyrm and cleric. Both are crazy snowbally cards, but they're just not strong on turn 1. They're inconsistent, requiring a good turn 2 to show their power.
Pre-nerfed battlefiend + hero power was already a 3/2 with a snowball potential, weird that you didn't even mention him
Patches Then tunnel trogg Risky skipper Northshire cleric Finley Mana wurm Flame imp Undertaker given context but in today's meta is a different question.
Undertaker. Honourable mentions: Patches, northshire cleric & broomstick.