Death Speaker Blackthorn revealed in Hearthstone’s Forged in the Barrens expansion

More Deathrattle support for Demon Hunters has been shown in Hearthstone’s Forged in the Barrens latest card teaser.

The newest card revealed is a Legendary Demon Hunter minion, Death Speaker Blackthorn, which costs seven mana, has a 3/6 statline, and a powerful Battlecry which can summon three Deathrattle minions from your deck that cost five or fewer mana.

The past few reveals for Demon Hunter have been focused on a new archetype, which pushes the class toward Deathrattle minions and being able to cycle them from your deck and summon them with ease through varying abilities. In the current iteration of Hearthstone, meaningful Deathrattle minions that cost four or five mana for Demon Hunters are far more limited and difficult to come across.

While the newest class has access to Renowned Performer, Fishy Flyer, and Disguised Wanderer, if you’re fishing for more lower-tiered minions, there will need to be more Deathrattle minions to aid this strategy in finding success.

Death Speaker Blackthorn himself is an interesting tempo payoff for this strategy. While seven mana can oftentimes be considered too slow for an aggressive deck, sometimes a pile of stats and potent effects can be enough top end for midrange decks. Cards like Dr. Boom from Goblins vs Gnomes and Guardian Animals from Scholomance Academy before it was nerfed to eight mana has proven this to be effective.

Aside from the fact that this ability is effectively drawing your Deathrattle cards and playing them for free, the power of this ability increases if there are keywords tied to the minions summoned, like Rush from the previously-mentioned Renowned Performer or Fishy Flyer.

Death Speaker Blackthorn’s strength and viability will be tied to how many powerful Deathrattle minions he can cheat out from your deck in quick succession. On the current pattern of Demon Hunter reveal season, we can safely expect a few more Deathrattle cards to be joining the class.

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.