At this point, I think it’s fair to say that The League of Explorers has been a surprise hit. Many people, myself included, thought that it was going to be a very lackluster expansion, and we have been proven wrong. Discover is an amazing mechanic, and both of the Legendary Explorers that have been released have been a huge splash into the competitive scene. Now comes the third explorer.
The newest explorer is Sir Finley Mrrgglton. He’s a one mana 1/3 Murloc who reads: “Battlecry: Discover a new Basic Hero Power”. This is one of the most interesting cards in the entire game. First, the Discover mechanic, if you are unaware, works by giving you a selection of three possible choices. So three basic hero powers will pop up on your screen, and you will choose one of them to become your hero power for the rest of the game. It is unconfirmed at this point whether you will be able to choose your own pre-existing hero power.
The biggest question most people ask is: “Why would I want to change my hero power?” This is a very valid question, because most heroes have hero powers that have strong synergy with their decks. Why would they want to get rid of that?
Well, there’s one class that has a fairly sub-par hero power, as many of you are aware. That class is Shaman. Their hero power creates a random totem for you, and while each of the totems is very good situationally, the fact that it is random which one you get makes the power extremely weak. Also, Shamans have been making a comeback recently with very aggressive decks, which their current hero power simply doesn’t help at all (with the possible exception of the spell power totem). By putting Sir Finley in their deck, Shamans will have a very high probability of being able to pick one of the more aggressive hero powers. Hunter and Mage hero powers are very aggressive, and Druid and Rogue hero powers are right behind them if the goal is to deal face damage. Warlock’s hero power is often considered the best one in the game for aggressive decks, so there are many options to choose from, the odds of being given none of these is extremely low. If a Shaman is able to play this on turn one, he will be able to curve out using his new-found power to potentially decimate any opponent. Not to mention that in an aggressive deck, having a 1/3 on turn one is decent in and of itself.
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All that being said, there’s one other class that I see Sir Finley working quite well in, although it’s not one anyone has been talking about. That class is Warlock. Having just mentioned how powerful their hero power is, you may be wondering whether I’m insane or not, but let me explain. Warlocks make use of their hero power to get great card advantage. In aggressive Warlock decks, these cards hit the battlefield as fast as they are drawn, but in slower decks such as Handlock, Malylock, and Renolock, the cards often build up in hand, allowing the Warlock to hold answers for any threat. This is very good for him, and he wouldn’t want to change this. However, when it reaches late game, health totals start being an issue, and the Warlock begins running out of cards. At a certain point, taking two damage and removing a card from his deck could actually hurt rather than help. In many control matchups, this ends up being the case. Since the Warlock has such card advantage anyway, holding a single one mana card isn’t too debilitating, and then, when life tap begins to be an issue, they can play Sir Finley and either heal back up or grab that little bit of extra damage to close out the game.
There is a lot of potential with Sir Finley, and after the last two Legendary Explorers made such a big splash onto the scene, I look forward to seeing what decks will form around the newest Explorer. I shall be expecting many Shamans on the ladder next week!
