It’s almost here! Dr. Boom has returned to his secret laboratory in the Netherstorm, marking the launch of Hearthstone’s new expansion, The Boomsday Project. With the new set of cards dropping today, we’ve selected the best card in each of Hearthstone’s nine classes, to help you get an idea of which cards you should consider crafting, alongside a short explanation of how they should fit into some of the new decks.

　　The Boomsday Project brings legendary inventors to the game, along with their inventions which come in the form of powerful spells. We are used to seeing legendary minions in Hearthstone, but this is the first expansion to introduce legendary spells. I know what you are thinking, what could possibly be stronger than cards like Ultimate Infestation or Pyroblast? You’ll have to check our list and find out!

　　‘Magnetic’ is the new keyword that is exclusively available to some Mechs, giving players the ability to fuse them together. By placing a Magnetic minion on the left side of another Mech, we’ll be able to make stronger minions on the board. For example, say there is a 1/5 Mech on the board and you place a Magnetic 2/6 Mech with Taunt and Lifesteal to the left of it. This will combine the two Mechs together to create a 3/11 Mech with Taunt and Lifesteal.

　　The Boomsday Project expansion also debuts two brand new card types: Project cards and Omega cards. Project and Omega cards are not guaranteed for every class, but it's important to note that all Projects are Spells and all Omega cards are Minions. Project cards are all about sharing, meaning that they grant a powerful bonus to both you and your opponent. Whether you’re gaining two mana crystals or equipping a weapon and some armor, the Project spell dishes everything out evenly. Using a Project at a time where you can make better use of it than your opponent may be the key to getting ahead in a game.

　　Omega cards seem like ordinary cards at first, however they unleash their power when played at full mana. Take the Shaman card, Omega Mind for example. As a two mana 2/3, it’s perfectly playable on curve without any real downside. When played at ten mana, Omega Mind gives all of your spells Lifesteal for the duration of the turn. Usually, when you draw a low mana minion late in the game it may not be the most helpful tool, but Omega cards may end up being more useful if they are close to the bottom of your deck.

　　

Biology Project

Despite giving both players two mana crystals, this card will nearly always put Druids ahead. Thanks to the current meta, there are a number of popular Druid decks (Malygos and Token to name a few), making it difficult for players to be able to mulligan in preparation for this card. Rather than alter the meta, in which Druid is already incredibly strong, this card serves to make Druid even more powerful. At just one mana, Biology Project will make it possible for Druids to play cards that usually pose late-game threats much earlier. With an ideal opening hand, Big Druids will now be able to play Master Oakheart as early as turn three, providing them with a strong board early on as they ramp. In particular, surviving the early game against aggro decks can be slightly tense for current Big Druids, however, Biology Project should remove many of those worries by giving Druids more options.

　　If a turn-three Master Oakheart isn’t intimidating enough, a turn-three Ultimate Infestation should put things into perspective. Utilising Biology Project, Wild Growth, Nourish and Innervate in the first couple of turns will enable Druids to unleash Ultimate Infestation earlier than ever before. Sure, the opponent will have five mana by the time this card is played, but there aren’t many threatening answers available for most classes at this point in the game. Of course, we cannot expect these lucky early draws and mulligans every time we play these decks, but it's fair to say that Druid just got even more powerful and let’s be honest, Druids already have a tonne of options.

　　

Kangor's Endless Army

It’s difficult to assess how powerful this card will be without knowing how good mechs will be, however, any card that gives you a powerful board of minions is not to be slept on. We’ve already seen strong mech cards already such as Zilliax. Having the option to resurrect a minion like this and have it create an immediate impact alongside two other mechs is a frightening prospect for almost any class. Peter Whalen, Hearthstone Game Designer at Blizzard, has confirmed that if the Val’anyr buff lands on a magnetic minion and gets attached to a mech, that minion will carry the buff when summoned via Kangor’s Endless Army. This army of mechs could get very scary if used very late in the game.

　　The synergy with Grand Archivist could be devastating in a mech only deck, providing you don’t run any other spells. Summoning a 4/7 minion along with a range of mechs on turn eight is a good way to say, “okay, this board belongs to me now.”. The question remains whether or not Paladins will feel the need to include a range of spells in their mech decks.

　　

Lab Recruiter

This card should look familiar to Rogue fans as it is very similar to the Blackrock Mountain card, Gang Up. Lab Recruiter allows Rogues to fill up their deck with the minions of their choice, providing it’s one of their own. At only two mana and featuring a generous statline, Lab Recruiter comes into its own when combined with the Rogue legendary spell, Myra’s Unstable Element.

　　The general idea is that you destroy your deck with Myra’s Unstable Element, then you create your own version using the minions left on your side of the board and in your hand. How good can that be? Take Pogo-Hopper as an example. You can only have two Pogo-Hoppers in your deck, but with Lab Recruiter, that number goes up to five Pogo-Hoppers. Add another Lab Recruiter into the mix for eight Pogo-Hoppers, then add Valeera the Hollow for a potential of sixteen Pogo-Hoppers! You’ve also got cards like Fal'dorei Strider which will almost certainly see much more play alongside Lab Recruiter. At worst, Lab Recruiter becomes one of the best meme cards in the game when used in a Burgle Rogue deck with Tess Greymane at the forefront.

　　

The Soularium

We’ve already seen how powerful a one mana, draw one card and discard the other two spell can be (Tracking in Hunter), but what if you could use those other two cards? The Soularium gives Warlocks the ability to draw three cards for a single mana crystal. Yes, there is the slight downside of having to throw away any cards you don’t want to use, though in some instances this might be somewhat of a benefit.

　　The obvious home for this card is any type of Zoo deck. There’s no way this card doesn’t become a staple in every aggressive Warlock deck. Already this card can be slotted into preexisting desks making it an almost guaranteed craft for Warlock players. The Soularium also gives some support to the forgotten Warlock Quest (Lakkari Sacrifice). Unlike every other Warlock card that forces you to discard random cards, The Soularium gives you the option to choose which cards you want to get rid of. Playing Lakkari Sacrifice has always been seen as a risky move, at least this legendary spell helps to minimize some of the risks.

　　I can’t see this being used in anything but Zoo decks due to the risk of drawing anything above five mana. Imagine the worst case scenario: you draw Deathknight Guldan and are forced to discard it due to the high mana cost. In most matchups, that’s enough for you to lose the game. A risky player may want to take the gamble and throw this into the Cube Warlock deck in a desperate attempt to find lethal… but that’s not something I would recommend doing.

　　

Dr. Boom, Mad Genius

In keeping with the last few expansions’ additions of Hero cards, Dr. Boom, Mad Genius is The Boomsday Project’s new Warrior hero. With a hero power that changes every turn (switching between five different types), this card not only provides Warriors with an aggressive board of Mechs with Rush but also continues to give them armor, more Mechs and additional damage to the opponent’s board and face. It’s worth mentioning that the hero powers are selected at random each turn, rather than working on a predictable cycle. While this will certainly make the game more interesting, players will need a strong, balanced deck in order to remain competitive.

　　While you could argue that Dr. Boom looks like a strong day-one craft, it might be worth holding out until we’ve taken a proper look at how well the new Mech cards synergize. With the new keyword ‘Magnetic’ being a central theme this expansion, and with Dr. Boom relying so heavily on Mechs, building a deck around this hero should be very easy. That said, compared to the consistent level of control we see with Garrosh, it’s currently quite difficult to weigh up how powerful Dr. Boom’s hero powers will be in Warrior decks going forward. Judging by the other cards that Blizzard have selected for Warrior this time around, pairing Dr. Boom with Mechs should make for a strong late-game, balanced with his alternating hero powers. The fact that he can discover further Mechs should mean that you’ll always have something to play.

　　

Topsy Turvy

At a glance, this card doesn’t appear to be impressive at all when you consider the other options available, however, it has a number of not so obvious advantages. This card is an instant include in Inner Fire decks, though you will most likely only need one copy of it rather than two as you’ll already have Inner Fire. Depending on how the meta ends up shaping up, perhaps we’ll be seeing more Topsy Turvy decks rather than Inner Fire.

　　So, why do you need another copy of Inner Fire? Unlike Inner Fire, Topsy Turvy can be used to kill minions with zero attack, the main one being Doomsayer. This card also avoids Skulking Geist’s battlecry meaning you won’t have to worry once turn six arrives. Finally, this is a fantastic cycle card for Lyra the Sunshard and the Priest weapon, Dragon Soul as it costs zero mana.

　　

Research Project

Drawing cards always costs a premium in Hearthstone, but that is not the case when it comes to Research Project. This project card’s downside allows your opponent to draw two cards, though if you are careful you can use this to your advantage by forcing your opponent to mill additional cards.

　　This deck already has a home in Aluneth Mage as it allows you to draw faster to your legendary weapon and burn cards. You could also slot this into the non-quest version of Exodia Mage to draw your combo pieces as soon as possible. Exodia Mage isn’t concerned about giving your opponent any cards as the majority of the cards in the deck exist purely to stall the game out for as long as possible. Likewise, Aluneth Mage isn’t worried about the opponent’s card draw so long as it gathers enough cards to send damage directly to the enemy’s face.

　　

Venomizer

It’s easy to compare Venomizer to Stubborn Gastropod, but it’s Venomizer’s magnetize ability that takes the card to another level. As a standard two drop, Venomizer can safety contest the board against any early anti-aggro card like Tar Creeper and Lone Champion just like Stubborn Gastropod. The problem with the majority of low-cost minions is that they can struggle to have an impact in the mid to late game due to their low health. Venomizer’s strength comes from its versatility to be useful at almost any point during the game.

　　You have to take every mech into consideration to understand how strong Venomizer can be. Upgradable Framebot is a two mana minion with a crazy stat line but it isn’t threatening due to its low attack. By turn three, you can combine Upgradable Framebot with Venomizer for a 3/7 poisonous mech. At eight mana, players can combine Missile Launcher with Venomizer to clear the entire board, patching up one of Hunter’s biggest weaknesses. If Mech Hunter becomes a force in the meta, expect Venomizer to be a staple of these decks.

　　

Electra Stormsurge

One of the ways you can evaluate just how powerful a card is by increasing the mana cost and judging whether you’d still keep it in your deck. I truly believe this card could be a five mana 1/1 minion and it would still see play in most Shaman decks. At only three mana, featuring a decent stat line and an elemental tag to boot, Electra Stormsurge deserves a spot in practically every viable Shaman deck.

　　Aggro decks can combine this card with Lava Burst for a six mana Pyroblast, or if you have some minions on board you could combo Electra with Bloodlust for eight mana to give each minion an additional six attack. Shudderwock decks run a load of different spells that can be so much better thanks to this card. Need to clear a board? Use Electra with Volcano to deal thirty damage to an entire board. Desperately in need of some health right before your Shudderwock lands on the board? Play Healing Rain after you place Electra on the board to heal for twenty-four. Elemental Shaman decks can utilize that elemental tag by playing Electra and Earthen Might. This combo buffs Electra up to 7/7 and draws you two more elemental minions for only five mana. I can’t imagine a world where this minion is not a staple in every Shaman deck, it really is that powerful.

　　That’s it for our most anticipated Hearthstone cards from The Boomday Project. Do let us know in the comment section below what you are looking to craft when the expansion releases on August 7th. Hearthstone is available for free on PC, Mac, and mobile platforms.