The only card that is good for arena of the new one is Sludge Belcher really but let start with the class cards.
Like most other secret Duplicate is pretty awful. The main issue with Secret in Hearthstone overall is that while one might think they are awesome and staple cards like in Yu-gi-oh. They suck... While a complete Secret deck can be quite annoying the main difference is the effects requirement and first of all that the player cant pick what it should affect.
Duplicate is an excellent showcase of why secret are mediocre on Hearthstone (Hunter Secret deck is the best by far. and only real viable right now while Secret like Ice block is good in freeze mage). If the player could decide what the secret should trigger on it would be pretty good. Right now how good is it to get 2 1.1 cards? Useless, sure Duplicate is great if you play out a Rag etc they cant kill rag with transformational cards like Hex but have to kill it then you get 2 Rags awesome. Also note that Duplicate is hard countered by cards like hex/poly. Means that the opponent will give u 2 1.1 when the kill the sheep...
The big issue in Arena is of course that you wont even have cards which are barely worth having more off. The chance of Duplicating something of value is pretty low even in constructed but its clearly really low in Arena.
Then Secrets cost 3 mana and are a huge Tempo lose in Arena. Then what people who pick this (as I have seen it a lot actually) seems to miss is that its one of the biggest tempo loss of secrets. Mirror Entity usually leads to a bad minion but at least you get a minion. Vaporize usually kills a 1,1 but at least something dies. With Duplicate you next turn have to play the cards, playing Duplicate at turn 3, get 2 copies of your 2 drops means u get the effect at turn 4 of playing them at they will be small minions at turn 4, amazingly huge tempo loss.
This card is only good with strong support cards for Secrets.
Webspinner is another lackluster arena class card. This one Duplicate and Voidcaller (very likely) is in the bottom of the new class cards.
The problem with Webspinner is the overall problem with Hunter. Do you have enough beast synergies?
I like Hunter, I always defended them before UTH was buffed and said I could easily go 7+ with them and I still do. But its because of their great removal, good functional secrets and strong class cards like Savannah highmane and Animal Companion.
Hoping for beast cards is always a downer in Arena, sometimes it works out and you get a great deck sometimes it fails.
Webspinner is RNG on top of RNG. Its like eating ice cream of RNG with sprinkles of RNG on top.
In one way Webspinner is better in arena then in constructed as you can get any beast card, so even if your deck don't have a king krush etc you might get it. But getting a mediocre beast card is only good if it can be supported with Houndmaster, hyena etc.
In Constructed its a good card because if you do play a beast the deck will have all the support cards, you might have a few in arena.
That being said, this card is like a cheaper novice engineer but with a worse draw. But it also can be buffed etc. It has some value, but I would never recommend picking this card unless for 2 reasons.
You are going super aggro and just want cheap minions, might as well take this as your 1 drops.
You got a lot of beast synergy.
Wow --- I was thinking before hand on the cards and what to say and I could for the life of my not even remember this guy at first. Took me a while.
That speaks volumes really.
In my 30 or so Arena runs this week I have only seen this card once!
The Stoneskin Gargoyle clearly needs support cards. I think its a pretty funny card in constructed. buff it with something like Blessing of Kings and its super annoying. Its also pretty good versus the Zoolocks and similar cheap minion spam. Really good with taunt if they cant kill it one go.
But thats a recipe for disaster in Arena. Arena is all about 2 for 1 cards. Card the requires your opponent to lose 2 cards for it. This card does almost nothing alone and requires the player to instead pay 2 cards to make it do anything really. Double fail type of cards. Its a 1 for 2 card, which as mentioned is horrible. But its also a luck based card, its only functional if the draft gets enough support cards for it.
Clearly some classes should avoid this card like the plague as they barely can buff it but even the others like Druid should be wary. Placing it in a constructed deck for druid works fine with also adding in cards like Ancient Guarding creating 2 great buff targets for the druid taunt buffs. But how often does an arena deck has that? Very rarely.
This card is not recommend for any class, but it might be pick-able if you already have a lot of support cards.
Ah finally a playable new Naxx Card. I love this card in constructed for control deck. Its a great anti weenie card, so great vs Zoo, tempo rouge etc.
Unstable Ghoul is a really good priest card as its a way to get a cheap early aoe, which priest is in dire need of. It combos great with cards like Pyromancer and so on.
In Arena its, not as good. You likely got a lot of minions instead of having some type of late game focus. So it will hit your guys as well.
That being said, this card for the most time is just another 2.3 Trade with a 3.2 and both dies. Fight a 2.3 and no one dies. Basically this card most games becomes just another 2 drop that can trade. Potentially it can kill of something extra but on the same time it can kill of your guys.
So its a lot riding on what deck you are trying to Draft. Are you drafting towards a control warlock this is great card, zoolock this card is a big minus. For Rouge this card could be a staller for a control rogue but...how often do anyone attempt to draft that.
Its always decent in Priest as the lack of Aoe is so prevalent for priest. While its good for e.g Control paladin it also kills the paladin 1,.1 ruins it for shamans etc... so its a card that its definitely class dependable.
Its actually really good in Mage. Mage got a lot of Aoes already so its stacks with that, nice. But most of all it hurts several guys so you can finish them of with the mage class ability. Somewhat works for Druid, combos with swipe especially. And lastly it can trigger enrage stuff so thats works in favor for warrior (and also works great in my priest deck)
Priest ++ Mage++, Druid + Warrior +, Hunter +(face hunter), -Rogue -Warlock -Shaman -Paladin
This is a real gem of this week. (of the lower Rarity ones) Its a great annoying card. A good comparison card ins Sunwalker. This card is pretty much Sunwalker for 1 mana less.
It stands as a very in the way taunt card, after kill it another taunter appearance. It actually got a great cost as well. Its Senjin and Goldshire footmen in 1, playing those two cards separately would cost 5 mana just like this card so the mana cost for this card could arguably be higher as its the same cards value but also the same mana value.
Its a great control card as it slows down the opponent a lot and it easily earns a turn or sometimes even 2. Making it great in Priest,Paladin, Druid etc.
But actually its biggest strength just like Sunwalker is that late game it will require the opponent to at least hit it twice with (talking minions excluding spells like Polymorph) this means it slows down the opponent, yes I repeat that a lot as the real power is that its an amazing hunter card and a great aggro mage/rogue card.
When you are playing a tempo rogue in arena dropping sunwalker turn 6 is huge as it will protect your smaller minions the opponent has to attack it at least twice to remove it and you can keep going for face. Same for Mage really.
But for hunter wow, Hunter who is soon to win by shooting at the face at + turn 10. This card like sunwalker is so good as it stops them from hitting you for 2 turns as they often only have 1 minion out and it has to kill this card and the left over slime alone. Thats another 4 damage in face, huge value. Of course the hunter also has more or less the same effect from dropping it turn 5 like with a Rogue. While both Rouge and Mage also has some face damaging in the late turns going as well.
The Deathrattle also makes it annoying VS aoe which also synergies with the aggro classes. Overall a very strong card for pretty much any class. It cost is great so really 5, not to overly expensive for aggro not overly to cheap for control.
Hunter ++ Mage ++ Rogue ++ Priest + Druid + Paladin + Warlock + Warrior + Shaman +
Loatheb is a huge game changer in Constructed, he don't hard counter Miracle Rogue etc. But he definitely makes them lose 1 turn which can be definitely be the difference from a win or lose.
I play handlock in constructed so I think its a huge answer for me vs those kind of decks he is good against. Because he is usually not dropped at turn 5 but later, this means I can life tap, play him. And then the next turn life tap thats 3 extra card I can draw to get my next taunt buff for example.
Its pretty obvious why he is not as good in arena, those type of deck he is made to counter like miracle or freeze mage simply never is drafted. Ergo his main strength is not existing.
But what he does do is protect VS Aoe. With mages being such a overrated class and everyone picking it all the time, Loatheb can definitely ensure victory being dropped when having a few minions out.
Still I think it has to be said that Loatheb is a little of a win more card. Hes great when you are ahead and want to stay ahead. Because of this he shines in tempo building aggro decks. E.g Rogue but also in Mid range power decks like a shaman with a bunch of fire elementals.
All that being said, I am betting my money on a nerf on Loatheb. Its simple math, he is a 5.5 with a great ability. That's 10 stats for 5 mana and no drawback. Easily compared to Sylvanas that is a 5.5 for 6 with a great ability. Sylvanas used to cost 5. Even if his ability does nothing he is still not overpriced with his stats. It would be boring if he gets to cost 6 like so many other legendaries, so a stat reduction is something I think will happen.
That also means that of course hes a great pick in Arena, he is always at least a great turn 5 drop.
Hunter + Mage + Rogue + Warlock + Shaman +
