Hearthstone: Unexpectedly Great Rastakhan's Rumble cards following release

Hearthstone's newest gladiatorial card set was released overnight and already people are posting their insane combos and OTK's on the internet and generally having a lot of fun playing around with the new cards that Rastakhan's Rumble has brought them.

There are many cards that have proven pre-release predictions correct with many of the new cards turning out to be as good, or as bad as people thought they would be, but I'm here to bring you the unsung heroes of the set so far.

The cards that no-one is talking about but that are doing good things for the decks of those using them.

So without further ado, let's look at those below-the-radar cards that are actually proving to be really great cards.

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#1 Masked Contender

Masked Contender

This little unassuming neutral epic is objectively a decent card on its own, but I don't think anyone would have predicted that 'Masked Contender' would emerge as the early front-runner for best card in the entire Rastakhan's Rumble set.

But here we are with 'Masked Contender' proving to have the highest win-rate in the standard meta-game so far, this is even despite not being played all that much.

HSReplay has 'Masked Contender' as only being played 7,000 times since the expansion launched.

Still, prominent Hearthstone player Firebat has piloted a Masked Contender Secret Hunter deck to promising results.

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#2. Zul'jin

Zul'jin

When Zul'Jin, this expansion new hero card, was revealed many people reacted with.. indifference. Especially when compared to the fanfare that Dr. Boom got in the Boomsday expansion.

However, it turns out that everyone had forgotten how strong secret hunter and spell hunter were and these are two archetypes that got a ton of support in Rastakhan's Rumble.

Plus Zul'Jin's Battlecry is actually just nutty, with the ability to play every spell you've played this game.

People got hung up on the 'targets chosen randomly' caveat, but when you're playing 'Lesser Emerald Spellstone', a bunch of secrets and other cards that don't necessarily target all in one go you're getting a huge tempo swing.

Currently, HSReplay says Zul'Jin has been played 20,000 times and has a win-rate of 60.6% making him and 'Masked Contender' the two best cards of the set so far.

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#3 Treespeaker

Treespeaker

'Treespeaker' was the only treant support that Druid got this expansion, but I think it's enough to push the archetype towards something that can challenge in the same way 'Level Up' did for Even/Odd Paladin.

It's not seeing a huge amount of play so far, only 2400 times, but as the meta settles I truly believe there's an aggressive Druid variant out there with this,'Whispering Woods', 'Soul of the Forest' and 'Living Mana' that combine with 'Feral Roar' and 'Branching Paths' for a strong OTK style aggro deck.

I've tested out a Token Druid deck using Treespeaker and I've had a lot of fun with it.

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#4 Former Champ

Former Champ

Former Champ currently has the honour of being the least played card in the entirety of Rastakhan's Rumble and for good reason. It's 6/6 worth of stats for 5 mana, which is the current meta-game simply isn't enough.

However, if you put him in Rogue, and if you play him with 'Spirit of the Shark' you get yourself 11/11 worth of stats for five mana, spread across three bodies. This is considerably better.

I'm not saying this is a particularly game-breaking combo, and it is only for one class in combination with another specific card. All I'm saying is that 'Former Champ' might be better than people think.

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#5 Hi'reek The Bat

Hi'reek the Bat

This is currently among the least played legendary cards in Rastakhan's Rumble alongside 'Wardruid Loti' and 'Hakkar the Soulflayer', so naturally, it's the one I've spent the most time so far trying to make work. And I'm going to say right now, Hi'reek is actually good.

I've played the 'Hi'reek's Offering' structure deck a whole bunch and the deck certainly needs fine-tuning, but with 'Saronite Chain Gang', 'Spirit of the Bat' and a few other support cards it's almost there.

Obviously, it isn't as good as 'Zentimo' or 'Gral the Shark' when it comes to new legendary cards, but I truly believe in the right deck it can be devastating to the opponent.

Here's a tip for anyone playing around with Hi'reek, it works really well with 'Zola the Gorgon' if you're in a bind and need to play it early.