Icecrown Previews - The Light, and Knowing How to Swing It

September 8, 2010

We’ve already seen several cards from Icecrown, and I am sure you are as excited as I am to see more. Well today we have another treat for you with one of the Paladin cards from the upcoming set.

Blessing of Wisdom was a control Paladin staple for quite a while, and could continue to be one should the right decks come around again. Blessing of Freedom was also one of the best ways out there to protect either your hero or ally from targeted effects. Even the tiny Blessing of Might was used with much success when trying to boost the attacking Retribution Paladin. Now we have a new blessing: the Blessing of the Templar.

One of the great things about the Paladin blessings is that you are not restricted to only having one at a time. Unlike Seals and Auras, you are free to have as many as you can play. This means that you can have both your Blessing of Might out, as well as your shiny new Blessing of the Templar.

First of all, you get that initial bonus of +3 ATK the turn you play it. Then there is the Mend component. The damage taken by clearing out allies is quickly removed the following turn, setting up your hero to keep removing allies. Once the allies are gone, then you can heal up any extra damage while you and your allies finish off the opposing hero.

While a Limited bomb, this card also works in Constructed with the Jin’rohk, the Great Apocalypse and Resolute Aura deck. Not only does this help you stay alive longer with the three healing a turn, but it also pumps up that attack and blows up three more targets. You could even work in the quest Apply this Twice a Day, and Divine Plea for extra card draw.

Paladin not only protects its friends, but its own abilities as well. Antonidas's Aegis of Rapt Concentration and Concentration Aura will make sure you get Blessing of the Templar into play. And to stop it from being destroyed they have Blessing of Liberty, Shelter, and even Glimmer of Hope. All of these cards can be used to ensure several turns of the Templars Blessing.

Of course, an article from me wouldn’t be complete without a little be of jankyness, would it? Well how about breaking out an oldie but goodie, the Sword of Zeal. If you have Bonefist Gauntlets in play, you can drop the sword on turn 4, and on turn 5 play Blessing of the Templar, swing with the sword, and then ready all 5 of your resources. This lets you play even more cards on turn 5, and if you have a Rak Skyfury or other way to ready your hero and weapon you can do it all over again.

With all of those fun possibilities, you know I had to try and make a fun deck to play with this new card. I looked back at an old Thoros the Savior build, which relied on Jin’rohk to finish off a game. And since I couldn’t leave well enough alone, I also put in the Sword of Zeal to allow for resource readying shenanigans.

Hero: Thoros the Savior

Allies

3 Rak Skyfury

Abilities

4 Blessing of the Templar

3 Shelter

4 Resolute Aura

3 Seal of Wisdom

Equipment

3 Blackout Truncheon

3 Jin’rohk, the Great Apocalypse

4 Sword of Zeal

4 Vindicators Brand

2 Girdle of Razuvius

3 Aegis of the Vindicator

2 Black Felsteel Bracers

3 Cloak of Darkness

2 Tankatronic Goggles

4 Bonefist Gauntlets

Locations

4 Silvermoon City

Quests

4 Big Game Hunter

3 Bane of the Ilidari

3 Solanian’s Belongings

Of course, this is just a first draft at this deck. As we all know, there will be plenty of armor and weapons in Icecrown that I am sure would fit wonderfully into a deck concept like this. I, for one, am looking forward to building a few decks around this card. See you at the Release Party next weekend!