Delving Deep - World of Warcraft Trading Card Game

by Scott Landis

30 September 2011

Welcome back! Hopefully I will see many of you faithful readers in my home city of Philadelphia later today for the Throne of the Tides Sneak Preview and then the Darkmoon Faire tomorrow. Enjoy the Reading Terminal Market Friday or Saturday, as it is not open on Sunday, and if you want a good cheesesteak, go with the original and take a cab to Pat?s, not Ginos. The Convention Center is right in the heart of Chinatown so if you are a fan of Asian food there are many options for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, or Vietnamese (I recommend the local Pho places or Dim Sum personally). There is also a Maggianos across the street from the Convention Center if you want to run the always exciting family style, a sure bet that Maggianos loses money on that transaction with us gamers after a long day of card flipping. There is also a Melting Pot if you are romantically inclined, but please do not go to Chili?s next door..this is a major city with fabulous local eateries, so don?t go to Chili's! If you are looking for fancier places, just ask me, and I can point you to some great Iron Chef Garza places in the city, if tapas eating is your type of thing.

You are not here to listen to me wax poetically about my birth place, however. You want some WoW TCG tournament advice! Last week I started taking a look at the new Core environment, but the release of Throne of the Tides that is the first thing on everyone?s mind, so why should I not satisfy my faithful fans? Several individual cards will make a gigantic splash on the Constructed scene, from Core Constructed up to Classic. Without further testing it is hard to nail down the future metagame, especially in a Core format where over six sets are rotating out and only one is entering. As I said last week, DMF Philadelphia will be a starting point for evaluating the new Core format since the Worldbreaker block will make up almost 3/4s of the available card pool. All that being said it is never too early to look at themes of new sets as a whole and where they may fit in as you begin to brew decks. I want to start the review of Throne of the Tides with one of my favorite new effects in the set: Delve.

?The process of delving into the black abyss is to me the keenest form of fascination.?
-HP Lovecraft

Delve is one of the best effects in the history of WoW and in my opinion the best keyword in Thrones. Early on it allows you to better set up your mid game turns, especially important if you have a specific card that is key to your strategy like Aspect of the Wild or Etched Dragonbone Girdle. It also helps enable true combo decks if they turn out to exist in the new Core world. Lastly Delve plays quite well with the new Enrage effect, setting you up for having that ally on top of your deck on the key Enrage turn.

Hopefully this effect will be built upon in the remaining sets of Aftermath Block because this is just the tip of the iceberg in abusing this powerful keyword. The main question I wanted to answer when analyzing the cards with Delve is this: what is the true cost of this keyword? Delve does not, and should not, have a non-zero cost since theeffect to look at the top two cards of your deck and set up your future draws (or get rid of excess cards) has value at every turn of the game from start to end. Since I am not a member of R&D, this discussion is less about what adding Delve to a cost should be and more of an analysis of the current crop of Delve cards and if the opportunity cost added to the card makes up for that stated non-zero added cost to the actual cards.

As Delving does not actually draw you a card, it is hard to put a value on what cost you should pay for this effect, but unlike recent keywords such as Aberration or Time is Money, the power level on the Delve card itself may actually be immaterial next to the effect itself. That is how powerful Delve truly is. Adding the ability to draw a card when an ally enters play or when an ability is played usually adds one to the current cost. For example, a 3/2 for 2 is the standard ally size, so adding 1 to it gives you Blizzazz (a 3/2 for 3 that draws you a card when it enters play). Arcane Shot is similar, with one damage for two resources instead of a standard one for one, again allowing you to draw a card when it is played. Quests have a similar cost. In this new world of Core the standard to draw a card with a preexisting condition, like a damage type dealt (ex. Corrosion Prevention) or an ally type entering/leaving play (ex. Challenge to the Black Flight) is two resources. This realistically nets you two cards since the resource stays in play, but I covered that in detail years ago. With no preexisting condition, the new Core standard is four resources to draw a card. So in order to evaluate Delve we need to decide: is looking at the top two cards of your deck and rearranging them and/or putting them on the bottom of your deck equal to or less valuable than drawing a card?

?Double, double toil and trouble;Fire burn and cauldron bubble.?
-Witches, Macbeth

The easiest place to find the true cost of Delve is to start with the Delve poster boy Samaku, Hand of the Tempest. For the low cost of one resource (not the cheapest Delve cost as we will see later) and more importantly at instant speed you can Delve. Of course as a hero flip ability you are saving yourself the opportunity cost of having to draw the card, but I believe a one cost instant speed ability to Delve would be worth at least one resource. Samaku is definitely one of the best enablers in the set by setting up powerful mid game shaman combos.

Track Enemy has a similar cost to Smaku?s flip and the added ability to typically trigger Delve twice on one card, once when you play the ability and once after attacking with it, is extremely powerful for the low cost of one resource. Hunter control has seen fringe play in the past and Track Enemy can go a long way to recreating the archetype. More importantly it will allow you to find the key cards in your deck or at least set up explosive late turns for the current Hunter aggro deck. Imagine putting it on a Boomer. Talk about some real deck manipulation!

Molten Scorch is another ability that really highlights that the true cost of Delve is between zero and one resource. Typically a three damage instant ability will cost two usually with minor drawbacks (ex. Elemental Flames hitting only allies, Shadow Word: Death?s potential reverb damage). A universal three damage will usually cost three resources, with an additional ability (ex. Healing from Drain Essence, Unpreventable damage of Chasten). Molten Scorch thus most closely resembles these latter abilities, so here Delve has such a small opportunity cost, and is sure to see play across Core and Classic for its efficiency.

Fel Summon to me really pushes the power of Delve as a late game option. In Core, card drawing will still be at a premium and early game card sifting to set yourself up defensively in the early to mid game is a powerful option. Late game Fel Summon gives you the ability to find your finishing ally of choice, whether it is Sinestra, Al?akir, Cho?gall, etc. Cheap and efficient abilities with use throughout the course of the game are hallmarks of potential tournament level cards.

Furious Strike is simply amazing. Used defensively as early as turn one, Furious Strike allows you to set up your early game and trades with popular early game rush allies. Furious Strike is never a dead card in the Warrior arsenal since most are designed as control builds that eventually strike out with hero combat in the late stage of the game. The Delve will allow you to set up that powerful late game, with all the flexibility that a turn one instant sets you up for. It is a very powerful option for Warriors of the future.

Next to these class options, Alethia Brightsong might be the second best Horde one drop ever printed. At the least I feel it will be the second most played Horde one drop ever, next to Broderick of course. A one drop on curve ally with the requisite two ATK is huge, since you do not lose tempo in the matchup at all by playing her. Chances are she will help you set up your following turns, especially if it is something as strong as a second turn Enraged Faceless Sapper. It is hard to compete with a four damage Ferocity ally on two, and Alethia helps you set that up perfectly. Naz?jar Harpooner is another solid option for early game on-table Delving, especially for Alliance decks.

Lastly the two Delve resource options really push the cost ratio of the effect. I believe that Seeds of their Demise will be one of the most played quests in Core, and potentially in Classic as well. Many cards key off of flipped over quests, the Green Dragonkin at the minimum, and flipping a quest for free for value is huge for that sub archetype. Throne of the Tides adds another location to the already crowded Core lineup containing Kor?kron Vanguard/Fordragon Hold and Twilight Citadel. Throne of the Tides will definitely see play in Classic and it would not surprise me to be one of the top cards in the set for that format with the emphasis on pure control and various combo decks.

?By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes.?
-Witches, Macbeth

So overall Delve is a perfectly costed keyword added to the cards it is a part of. Most of the time for the best Delve cards it adds literally zero to the perceived cost of the card itself, especially in the early game. Setting up your future draws and getting yourself closer to your better cards right on curve is an invaluable option on a powerful early game card. Delve is a skill intensive effect and works quite well with other abilities in Thrones, especially Enrage. Personally I cannot wait to start building decks that center around Delve and prove its over the top power level.

Hope to see you all in Philly, and good luck in the DMF!

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Source: http://www.wowtcg.com/articles/2011/09/30/eye-storm-delving-deep

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