Icecrown Previews - Master of the Elements

September 11, 2010

Icecrown is so close; I can feel the chills it will bring. Or, maybe that chill is the feeing in my bones that I get when a storm is about to hit. Yes, that feels right…

Have you ever wanted your Squall Totem to deal damage too? Now you have Thunderstorm. Being able to exhaust the opponents team has always been a very powerful ability seen over and over again in decks throughout the game, the reason cards like Squall Totem and Eye of the Storm see so much play. But with Thunderstorm you are dealing damage on top of exhausting their team and readying resources for each damage dealt.

Being able to exhaust their guys for the turn and doing damage and on top of that you will probably ready three or more resources. Playing a Thunderstorm or two or combined with a Mikael the Blunt can decimate an opposing party, buying you crucial time to develop you own party or draw needed cards. Or, use those resources for completing quests or playing other instants like a Mana Spring Totem or Chain Purge.

Now this can be a bit more narrow than Squall Totem if you are playing against a solo deck since it is a bit more expense to play but there can be ways to make the ready resources ability of this card better. Playing quests like Swift Discipline and Ring of Blood: The Blues Brothers can help make it so Thunderstorm is essentially free or even give you extra resources. Maybe even Metzen the Reindeer to give them guys that you can kill.

Using this in complement with Mounts would work well too. Using it with Great Elekk would allow Shaman to have a reliable AoE ability. Or, go the Horde route and use Swift Timber Wolf to flip Swift Discipline for free and give your opponent the extra guy to ready that additional resource.

I think an Alliance build would be strongest use of this card. Great Elekk and Mikael the Blunt are great support for Thunderstorm. Add in Metzen the Reindeer to give your opponent some guys and you could use Twin Spire Ruins to bring back Mitzen or Mikael the Blunt to recharge the Ruins or to deal some more damage. You will be killing guys faster than lightening strikes.

Thunderstorm is another strong ability added to the arsenal of Shamans elemental fury and a much needed board clearer in the right situations. I can’t wait to see these new cards in action and we will soon see the rest that Icecrown has to offer.

-Dan Clark

cryptozoic's posterous