Belated analysis of DKs

The Death Knights are a contentious lot. Many are powerful, many exacerbate draw RNG, many can lead to nigh impossible to win games. Let's unpack them.

One of the themes of the DKs are alternative playstyles. Let's take one way of playing a class and change how they approach the game. Imo the best designed DKs make you and your opponent play the game differently. If your DK doesn't do that, I feel that's points against it.

Another aspect of DKs is the choice to play it. Changing the hero power can get massive value over several turns, so if there's no incentive to wait to play the card, this removes interesting play surrounding the DK.

Another aspect to consider is counterplay. How does your opponent play against the DK? Is this fun? Is it challenging? Is there anything you can do to improve your chances?

Let's go down the list:

• Malfurion the Pestilent

This fella has seen a ton of play, both because of his power level and the popularity of Druid. Why is he strong? He does everything, gains you life on play and sets up taunts, increases damage with the hero power, can make spiders to deal with big things, you name it. Does he change your playstyle? Not really. You can armor up every turn and play like a control warrior, but you're not locked into that. Is there an incentive to wait to play him? Not really. Your hero power is pretty much strictly better, and the battlecry is static. Also, he belongs in just about every druid deck ever because he's so flexible. Are you killing your opponent? Check. Are you surviving? Check. Are you creating a board? Check. He's just too good not to run. Is there any counterplay? Not really. He's just a better druid, better hero power. You'll win the same way you won before, just there's a larger mountain to climb. Overall, I feel this DK was not a well designed card because of that. He's strong, but boring.

• Deathstalker Rexxar

This is another strong, playable DK, but I like him WAY more than Malfurion. Firstly, he completely changes your playstyle. Your hero power went from aggressively threatening your opponent's life total to possibly single handedly giving you value value value. If he was in any other class, he would be problematic, but in Hunter, I feel it works really well. Changing playstyle, check! Choice to play it? Absolutely. First, if your aggressive strategy is working out, you want your old hero power. You have to choose to give that up. Also, the battlecry is situational. Do you want to play it early to start building beasts or wait for a good board to clear? Tons of choice goes into the play. Also, if you're an aggressive deck, you're not sure if you want to have him in there as an alternative win condition. Counterplay? Ehh...sort of? As an opponent, you KNOW you have to beat down the hunter, so start playing aggressive. You can breathe a little easier if your health total was shrinking, as your opponent won't do 2 damage a turn. So this creates a different game dynamic, but you have very little control over what obnoxious beasts are coming down against you. Design wise, this DK was a success and hella fun.

• Frost Lich Jaina

Oh boy. This one... Firstly, the choice to play it is pretty much made up for you. Unless you're a super aggressive mage deck, DK Jaina goes in. And you want to play her as early as possible. If you can play her and survive, you play her. Alternative playstyle and counterplay kind of go hand in hand. One cool thing about DK Jaina is the new mini-game that goes into playing against her: how do we get water elementals/stop her from getting them? It encourages very weird plays like making inefficient trades to play around the hero power, or killing your own minions with your pings. It's definitely neat, but her power level is WAY too high compared to other cards, and her power is directly proportional to how early you draw her. Compare DK Jaina to Dragoncaller Alana. Alana requires an entire deck archetype to support her, and she is a powerful card to close out the game. DK Jaina requires absolutely no support and is way stronger, even in Big Spell mage. Design wise, DK Jaina was a cool idea with the alternative styles of play, but the exacerbation of draw RNG and the lack of choice surrounding playing her makes her problematic and overall a bad card.

• Uther of the Ebon Blade

Man, I wanted something more interesting than this. Alternative playstyle? You're still playing control paladin; you're still trying to survive; you're still making dudes, just slightly bigger. There's the janky Berdo OTK, but overall, Uther is just a lot of healing, a solid weapon, and slightly better hero power. Choice to play it? Not really. I guess you want the healing, sort of, you want the weapon to be relevant, but play him early, and start making bigger dudes. It's not a compelling story. Counterplay? Weapon removal and the paladin loses 90% of the reason to play him. Also not a compelling story. Design wise, anything that says "win the game" is a little interesting, but overall, he's a dud.

• Shadowreaper Anduin

Here's an interesting guy. Your "the light shall burn you" controlling hero power turns into a crazy mage hero power that resets. Bam, completely different playstyle. You are now killing your opponent, either with a combo or chipping away at their health total. You're no longer dropping a big thing, hero powering, and passing. You're playing a bunch of little things, and pinging in between. When to play it? Tons of choice. Do you wait for a killer battlecry? Will you die without the healing? Can I kill him with hero powers in upcoming turns? Cool stuff. Counterplay? You see him change, you're asking similar questions: can he kill me with his hero powers? How much healing does he have left? Do I want to just survive his damage or try and race him? Your vs. priest matchup changes completely. Design wise, ignoring the insane Raza oversight, I'd say he's a well designed DK that adds a lot of interesting gameplay to many matchups.

• Valeera the Hollow

This is another cool card. Definitely powerful and adds a lot of value, but you are replacing your dagger, which is a strong hero power. So, alternative gameplay: Rogues are all about tempo tempo tempo. This hero when played is 9 mana stealth. You're giving up a LOT of tempo to play her. Also, rogues tend to like to play a lot of cards a turn. DK encourages you to space out your resources over several turns to double up. Definitely changes up the game plan. Choice to play her? Do you need your dagger anymore? Can you afford to not do much this turn? Do I want to wait for the battlecry to be relevant? Lots of choice. Counterplay? Not terribly much, outside of possibly messing with their hand size. They're just going to have more value. You'll have to pay attention to higher burst damage, as double cold blood or double evis extends their reach. You do get essentially a free turn to out tempo them, but other than that, you've just got to accept their double cards. Overall, a well designed card, but not terribly compelling to play against.

• Thrall, Deathseer

Kinda cool, kinda silly. Choice to play? You only want to play DK Thrall in a deck with a wide board. You want the battlecry to be relevant, but you probably want to play him early to get the hero power rolling. Definitely choices there. Alternative playstyle? Quite different. You're focused a lot more on the mana costs of things now, not just their stats and effects. Also, looking for trades and transforms as a pseudo heal is also a change. Counterplay? You want to kill his overcosted things to prevent potential transforms. You can also leave undercosted things up, as transforming is likely a downgrade. Overall, he's a well designed card, if a little weak on the power level.

• Bloodreaver Gul'dan

Here's another contentious card. Choice to play? His power level makes him hard to not put in your deck. Zoo runs a 10 cost card; that's how powerful he is. When to play him? That's actually a decent choice. His hero power is obnoxious, but you don't get to draw anymore. Also, do you want to wait for the battlecry to be relevant, or play him early and start sucking faces. Alternative playstyle? You turn into the control in almost every matchup. Hero power, pass, and your opponent may struggle to overcome that alone. Warlock usually doesn't sit and wait (Rin notwithstanding), so it does change things up. Counterplay? You can transform things to make his summon worse, but outside of that, once DK Gul'dan gets played, you've just got to eat the hero power every turn. It's extremely oppressive. Overall, I think he was a cool idea, but just a bit too powerful. Zoo runs a 10 cost card!

• Scourgelord Garrosh

Here's an interesting fella. A DK that you don't necessarily want to play in a control deck. You lose your +2 armor HP and get a whirlwind. Whirlwind is good, usually, but not every turn. How do you make him work for you? Interesting deck building challenge AND interesting playstyle change during the game. The weapon is unique and can lead to clever plays (and clever ways to play around it). Counterplay? You KNOW he has a whirlwind, so don't play into it. You might want to leave some of his guys up so his HP hurts his side as well, and his health total isn't constantly going up. Positioning and weapon removal for his weapon, and as an opponent, DK Garrosh isn't too bad to play against. Design wise, really cool: not put in every warrior deck, strong in some situations, fun for both sides, and balanced. 10/10

• Bonus: Hagatha the Witch

Newcomer to the party, Hagatha is interesting. Do we play her? Like Gul'dan, you usually jam her in every Shaman deck. When do we play her? Decent questions here. Her battlecry is symmetrical, so you don't want to kill your own board. Her HP can clog your hand, so you don't want to play her too early. Earlier means more value, but she generally makes enough value so you might not want to play her early. Counterplay? Not much. You can keep up with how many random cards, but you can't stop Hagatha from generating healing or burn or silences or board clears or whatever. You want to kill the shaman faster, but that's about all you can do. Overall, it's a neat design that can lead to interesting, unique games, but her power level is a bit too high and doesn't offer your opponent much option on how to deal with your power. Overall, pretty fun and interesting design, but can leave a sour taste when you lose to her.

Overall, I think most of the DKs were a success, but the ones that are problems stick out, in particularly DK Jaina for the draw RNG, DK Malph for just being strong, boring, and in every deck, and Gul'Dan for the oppressive hero power.