5 most OP cards in Goblins vs Gnomes

In December, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft received its first major expansion with the 100+ card release of Goblins vs Gnomes, with a variety of new game mechanics and introducing the tribal minion type of ‘Mech’ to the game.

However, as with all new releases, some cards tend to feel always a little overpowered, particularly when you’re on the receiving end of a devastating combo that leaves you lost for words. The vast majority of cards are fairly balanced and give all the classes (Sorry, every class BAR Rogue) playable new cards to work with, though some of them may require nerfing just to keep everything fair in Ranked Ladder (and keep Gfinity admin staff from pulling all of their hair out!)

Let’s countdown what we at Gfinity feel are the 5 most overpowered cards in Goblins vs Gnomes!

Priest used to be the worst class in the game, end of story.

This was until the Curse of Naxaramas set was released in the Summer, giving the class more early-mid range options that fitted into the then popular Deathrattle build. Control Priest has always had a place in the meta, but Vol’jin makes it a real contender for one of the strongest control decks available.

Your opponent plays a big minion or Taunt? That’s fine, Vol’jin now gave itself that health and left your opponent’s creature with a measly 2. Even aggro builds such as Warlock Zoo and Deathrattle Hunter use cards such as Doomguard and Savannah Highmane – meaning even in these matchups Vol’jin will not be a dead card. Synergy exists with existing Priest cards such as Auchenai Soulpriest and Holy Smite that will clear your opponent’s minion completely from the field after using Vol’jin. Priest used to struggle making tempo plays that would bring themselves back into the game against heavier control decks – this card has given them a way to do so.

When a game begins to snowball out of reach, you can normally put it down to one of two things – you misplayed, or you had no answer to a Mechwarper opening.

The ability to play a 2/3 in Mechwarper, on turn 2 (or turn 1 with the coin) and follow it up with 2 more 2/1’s in Clockwork Gnomes which become free because of Mechwarper’s ability is one that cannot be ignored. Being able to spiral the game out of control from here is easy – Piloted Shredder’s cost 3, Sky Golem’s 4, it’s a common saying across both Magic The Gathering and Hearthstone that reducing the mana cost of a minion by 1 can usually make it overpowered.

A staple in every single Mech based deck, make sure you have an early game answer to it or be prepared to be on the receiving end of many losses!

What looks like a really underwhelming card at first glance, and something pro players and casuals overlooked prior to the release, is Muster for Battle.

This card has single-handedly strong armed Paladin into the meta-game by giving them an early game option that isn’t terrible. Paladin has some of the best late game cards in Lay On Hands and Tirion Fordring and now with this card available are a force to be reckoned with.

It doesn’t stop there though – being able to be buffed with the card Quartermaster that gives your recruits +2 +2 gives you a more than stable board and allows you to make valuable trades. Plus you get a handy 1/4 weapon that clears up those pesky 1/1 tokens every class seems to have!

Okay, remember what I said about if a card costs 1 less then it is more than likely to be overpowered?How about if the mana cost was reduced by 3?!

That’s exactly what new Mage card Unstable Portal does – it will put a completely random minion from any class into your hand with a reduced cost of 3. Now, of course you could end up with a card that costs 1 mana and have made an overall loss – but if you pull anything that’s 2 mana or greater, you’ve gained tempo in a mana reduction!

The amount of fun you can have with this card is incredible – summoning the 9/7 Warlock Legendary Mal’Ganis for 6 mana that makes your hero immune, or playing Sylvanas Windruner herself for just 3!

Pro player Andrey ‘Reynd’ Yanyuk voted this card to be the most overpowered card prior to the set being released – and boy he wasn’t joking.

Dr Boom. This card has made it’s way into just about every single deck on ladder. Handlock, Control Warrior, Hunter, Midrange Shaman – you name it, Dr Boom is in it.

Just about every single person associated with Hearthstone disregarded this card prior to release for its similarity to War Golem – a 7/7 for 7 that is considered trash tier. What makes Dr Boom so strong are his Boom Bots – 1/1 tokens that deal 1-4 damage to a random character when destroyed. These work well to break up the opponents minions for an AoE board clear and, I can guarantee if this card is used against you, the bots will explode for maximum damage where you hoped they wouldn't.

Using the card when you’re behind allows the ability to trade up effectively and when you're ahead it’s another huge awkward threat for your opponent to deal with. 90% of the Hearthstone community is calling for a nerf on this card, personally, I have to agree with them.

Dr Boom is 100% the most OP card of the Goblins v Gnomes set.

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