Hearthstone’s Forged in the Barrens latest card reveal has brought forth support for the newest keyword, Frenzy.
The newest card shown off is a Legendary Warrior minion, High Overlord Saurfang, which costs seven mana, has a 5/4 statline, and a Battlecry that revives two of your friendly Frenzy minions that died. After they are brought back to life, Saurfang deals one damage to every other minion on the board, which lets you activate their Frenzy abilities.
Saurfang gives Warriors an avenue to exploit the new keyword by providing a way to set up powerful combos by reviving your expensive Frenzy minions that died earlier. At the time of this reveal, Warrior only has one Frenzy minion teased so far, Warsong Envoy, which is a good card on its own but does not synergize well with Saurfang’s game plan since you want to bring back stronger minions.
Currently, the most expensive Frenzy minions in the game that Warrior can naturally access are the neutral Razormane Raider and the recently revealed Barrens Blacksmith. While this pair being revived could lead to a massive board-wide buff and the chance to deal massive damage, the order of the revival will be random, making this current theorized combo inconsistent.
With High Overlord Saurfang’s arrival, it can be safely assumed that Warrior will be getting more important Frenzy cards which will assist in their Legendary minion in providing maximum payoff.
While High Overlord Saurfang’s effect should mainly be used as a high value or combo tool, if you’re in a desperate pinch and had no Frenzy minions died previously, you can just play Saurfang as a 5/4 minion for his free Whirlwind effect attached. This is not recommended, however, and should only be used if you’re struggling against a wide aggro deck and need to survive.
Forged in the Barrens will release at the end of the month on March 30. Players can pre-purchase the expansion in one of two different bundles from Blizzard’s online store or in the Hearthstone client.