Check out Part 1 of the Will's March of the Legion Hero review from last week!

Okay, Horde fans, it’s your turn! This week it’s time for the red team, as we go through the individual Horde heroes from March of the Legion. Will Horde dominate the Booster Draft scene like it did at U.S. Nationals?
 

Right now, I have more experience with the Horde than I do Alliance. It seems that the power of the blood crew—Bloodsoul, Bloodblade, and Bloodeye—isn’t as obvious to some players as it is to others. The easiest way to end a game is to attack the hero, and all of these allies bring big size to their bargain cost. It’s hard for an opponent to race the sheer power of these allies, so they’ll be trying to slow down the game by trading their allies for yours. However, since your allies have 3, 5, and 8 health, respectively, there won’t always be an easy solution. I always try to draft the fastest decks I can at the beginning of a format because players will be experimenting with ally curves and deck needs, so decks are typically a turn or two slower now than they will be in two months. These Horde allies are the best way I’ve found to take advantage of that. If you want to take advantage of these allies before everyone gets on the train, these are the heroes you’ll be playing.

Zag’zil

Troll fans, rejoice! Compared to Heroes of Azeroth, March of the Legion has fewer weapons that need immediate answers, but the March of the Legion weapons are just as deadly. With the lack of equipment destruction in the class abilities and the need to answer cards like Runesong Dagger, Zag’zil is a great hero for Booster Draft. He’s even better for Sealed, where you’re guaranteed to meet a deck with weapons toward the tail end of the tournament if you’re doing well. This Troll can give you the boost needed to answer your opponent’s bomb and take the win when it counts most.

Bloody Mary

This power isn’t as good as it first seems, but it’s still potent enough to see action. This can make your 3 ATK / 3 health allies stomp opposing 3 ATK / 3 health allies, but that’s obvious. While this would’ve been an amazing flip power in Heroes, the focus in March of the Legion is the butt. The booty. Appreciate the rump! Either your ally has a big frontside or backside. Bloody Mary gives you the option to save your allies from the small ATK values of the larger-health allies. Also, you can always save 2 resources and use it when your opponent tries to alpha strike, which is sure to make him or her play differently. Whether you choose to use the flip early or late, Bloody Mary will make your opponents work harder.

Taheo Skyspeaker

If you want to know how I’m winning most of my drafts, it’s by using this hero combined with his overlooked class. If you think this is the same old Druid from the last sets, you’re wrong! His flip is clearly good, and he has a big health total. When Krol Blade, Annihilator, and Stellaris aren’t around, direct Druid damage quickly takes hold as the best answer to annoying allies. With the deepest base of quality commons around, and people still shying away from the class due to its lack of potency in Heroes of Azeroth, pick Taheo early and get in some wins before everyone else catches on!

Urrth

Considering the health of the majority of the allies in March of the Legion, this hero is probably better than Memri the Channeler. Using 3 resources to draw a card is about average, and you can consider any hero’s power to be an extra card in hand. So all that’s really happening is trading a normally specific “extra card” (the one on the hero) for a random card in hand (one from the deck). It’ll be rare to get more than one card off Urrth. It’s possible, but not worth planning for..

Bo’ja, Arcanist Absolute

She’s certainly no Ta’zo. Mage was formerly the beatdown class, using cheap abilities and quick allies to kill the opponent before he or she could set up. Bo’ja is much better suited for Constructed shenanigans than she is for Limited, as the player would have to row a considerable number of cards just to make the flip worth it. The shining hope for Mages in Limited is that they will be an underdrafted class and that Magma Spike will kill tons of allies that other classes just can’t handle.

Chancellor Velora

The Horde Priest’s power is good, as it’s better than the majority of cheap flips in the set. Right now, I’m drafting beatdown with the class, as Mental Anguish is fine against the majority of players out there who are drafting clunky curves while they figure out the best strategies for the set. The flip fits well into the beatdown build, finishing off bigger allies after some direct damage, or it can kill off small allies if your early game stumbles.

Forang Deathrattle

Not only does Warlock have access to the majority of game-ending equipment, but it also has one of the best powers in the game from Forang Deathrattle. While Dizdemona always had the versatility to kill anything from Apprentice Teep to Guardian Steppestrider, Forang essentially starts the game with 30 health. The flip, however, is far from broken. As 3 health is the new standard for many early game beaters, this flip is more than fair by dealing only 2. Overall, this is one of my favorite flips in one of the best classes, and I think it’s also far more balanced than I originally thought, so kudos to the WoW TCG R&D team!

Kassandra Flameheart

With Scraps finding its way into players’ draft piles very late in the side event iPod drafts at the World Championship, this hero is getting a lot of action right now. Scraps is already huge, and this flip allows the Pet to take out practically any ally your opponent can muster, or deal an extra 3 damage straight to the opposing hero. That notwithstanding, Chaigon Steelsight is probably still better, but right now it’s close.

Hekto Starspire

This power is really good against opponents who play scared and refuse to attack into it, but it’s significantly weaker against seasoned players. Experienced players will simply send in all their allies except their best one, forcing the Hekto player to flip the Paladin or waste the entire turn. When playing against Hekto, that’s going to be the best play the majority of the time. The one thing that Hekto does offer is an out to giant attacking allies. No matter what your opponent has on offense, Hekto can answer it as long as it’s targetable. While a better Sealed hero than a Booster Draft hero, Hekto will see action regularly. Just don’t get greedy with the hero’s power. 

And there you go! Those are the Horde hero powers and some of the strategies I’ve been using to win drafts with this practically newborn set. As players get more comfortable with the new cards, I see huge potential for slower decks to take advantage of healing abilities coupled with big ally health totals, but for now I’m drafting Horde beatdown, even though my play style prefers the mid- to late-game decks.

I hope this guide helps you all out when choosing which hero to play as that virtual eighth card in hand. May you find the power of the bloodthirsty Horde beaters!

Until next week, good luck, and may your packs always have Devil-Stitched Leggings!