Everyone has some treasures/passives they like and some they tend to instinctually avoid, so I thought it’d be helpful to have a thread where everyone evaluates the treasures they have have left an impression on them and highlight their strong and weak points so it can help people with no experience with those treasures.
I’ll note that unless treasures guide me differently I like drafting a lot of 2-4 mana cards to get the board early, and then some big bombs like Lich King/ Sylvanas/ Kel’Thuzad so a couple board clears won’t leave me out of gas, and my evaluation is probably influenced by that.
Upon writing this, and while I left out treasures that I hadn’t a strong impression of, I realized 2 things. First of all I tend to experiment with treasures more than I do with passives. And second of all this post is much, much longer than I originally expected. I’m mainly still posting this since people can search for the treasure they are interested in at the time.
TREASURES
Annoy-o Horn - 7 mana: Fill your board with annoying minions
At first I wasn’t a big fan of the card because the annoying minions have 1, 2 or 3 attack so it seemed underwhelming, but anyone who remembers how good giggling inventor was will know how wrong I was. Especially at chapter 4, filling your board with 2 or (mainly) 4 attack divine shield minions tended to be game ending. Prime discount target at the inn, I’d like to try it in a buff deck like druid.
Banana Split - 2 mana: Give a minion +2/+2. Summon 2 copies of it.
It’s cheap enough that you can combine it with something like a Lich King or a Ragnaros for a great tempo boost. It requires you to have something big in board or in hand for best results so often it won’t be the best pick, but a solid one nonetheless.
Dagwik Stickytoe - 3 mana 2/5 stealth, when it attacks an enemy hero steal a card from his hand.
With my playstyle I run the risk of running out of fuel if I draw my cards in the wrong order. This card can single handedly make me favored in the late game. It denies their synergies and gives you more options. Prime target to get 3 copies of when the opportunity presents itself in the tavern (and the possibility to multiply minion treasures is why I tend to favor them over spell/weapon ones). One of the best treasures.
Dreamgrove Ring - 9 mana: Discover a legendary minion, summon 5 copies of it.
The reason I thought annoy-o horn was bad was because I was comparing it with this card. Making tall and wide boards (ie. strong minions and many of them) is almost impossible for most decks, and this card usually does just that. Just be careful with it if you know your opponent is playing cards like psychic scream/vanish etc.
Elder Taggawag - 3 mana 4/4 Battlecry: Deal 4 damage to all enemy minions. Deathrattle: Put this card back in your deck.
Flamestrike on a stick for not even half the mana? And he recycles himself giving me more AoE and staving off fatigue? And I can potentially get more of them at the tavern? Sign me up!
EVIL Propaganda - 10 mana: Take control of all enemy minions.
The ultimate panic button. Unconditional board removal that doesn’t even trigger deathrattles (at least if you have enough board space) and usually leaves you with a tall and wide board too. The downside is that it requiring 10 mana means that you risk being dead before you can use it and not having the potential to multiply it makes you more likely to never draw it. For these reasons I would still prefer Elder Taggawag as my AoE of choice in most of my decks but when this works it’s a thing of beauty.
Gnomish Army Knife - 5 mana: Give a minion Charge, Taunt, Divine Shield, Stealth, Poisonous and Windfury.
The keywords means that practically any minion can assassinate 2 enemy minions in a pinch, but it’s mainly useful in closing out games if you have a big minion. Two times I picked it for the memes was when I had a priest deck full of buffs with spells costing health, and when I had edwin with a 0 mana echo spell. Since I didn’t have much card draw I never got off the big combos, it was still ok without them, but underwhelming compared to most treasures since single target removal isn’t that hard to come by.
Hyperblaster - 3 mana 1/5 weapon Poisonous. Your hero is immune while attacking.
The bosses don’t have weapon removal so it’s practically kill 5 things. It’s great for what it does, although depending on your deck you might skip it for a treasure that gives you AoE or some more proactive development.
Loyal Henchman - 1 mana 1/1 Taunt, Start of game: Draw this. Each turn this is in your hand give it +1/+1.
Really efficient for the mana, but that’s misleading. You want a treasure that can turn the game around. An extra 7/7 on turn 7 isn’t going to do that, even if it costs 1 mana.
Master Scheme - 3 mana: Draw 1 card, deal 1 damage, gain 1 armor, summon 1 1/1 boom bot. Upgrade each turn.
It reminded me of a 3 mana UI so I was looking forward to picking it, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s really good if you draw it early, but as a topdeck it can be underwhelming and it often fails to turn the tide. It’s not bad by any means, but usually there are better treasures next to it.
Soulreaper’s Scythe - 5 mana 6/1 weapon Deathrattle: Summon all minions killed by this weapon this run.
Weak early on, but it can help you build a tall and wide board for later bosses while also being a bit of removal. It’s really great in warrior where you can upgrade it (or if you have Greenskin) and have it pay off more early. Unless it would risk your run you should be really picky with what you kill and not kill the boss until you’ve killed something good with it.
Super Simian Sphere - 5 mana: Summon a King Mukla with Immune and can’t be targeted by hero powers or spells.
It practically kills one of their cards each turn, it’s an amazing value generator. That being said, immune and can’t be targeted, doesn’t mean it will stick forever. Vanish will return it to your hand as a regular mukla, obsidian statue can still snipe it at random and sylvanas could steal it. If you know how the boss can deal with it and you play it after you bait those cards it’s practically game over. Its main disadvantage is that it takes a couple of turns to have a noticable effect, so picking it without enough early game can be dangerous. Really fun to combine with a Vargoth.
Swampqueen’s Call - Transform your minions into legendary minions. Echo.
This is really cool if you have few spells and manage to get it discounted at the tavern. You can also do this with emerald goggles if it’s your only card. Rush and charge legendaries mean you’ll clear their board and push face damage and lyra/antonidas means you’ll get some extra cards. Unless you have the goggles it’s mainly a meme pick since it way more inconsistent than the other picks. Probably never worth it in chapter 3 since hitting darkness is -1 board space when it’s already limiting.
The Muscle - 4 mana 4/5 Battlecry: Get 3 random cards, they cost 0.
A card that gives you both value and tempo is bound to be good. It also can be multiplied at a tavern since it’s a minion, which is always a plus. In a vacuum I’d value the 3 mana kobolds higher, but it might be the pick if the deck was weak and I wanted to highroll or if I had brann/ the double battlecry totem and it was up against stickytoe.
Untold Splendor - 1 mana: Shuffle 5 treasures in your deck.
Often treasures can turn the tide by themselves. Having 5 of them is fun but it delays when you can play your first treasure, and if you don’t play at least a second your investment won’t have payed off. It could be worth it if you have enough card draw or if the treasures next to it really, really suck, but it’ll rarely be the best choice.
PASSIVES
A Prince’s Ring Replace your hero power with a random death knight one.
This is way worse than it initially seems. A warrior hero power at the wrong time could end your run, and even if most death knight hero powers are upgrades over your normal one, they normally aren’t big enough upgrades to justify using a passive for.
Captured Flag Your minions have +1/+1
It used to be the best treasure and it’s still one of the best. I’d probably only skip it if it was up against robes of gaudiness as the first treasure or maybe for rocket backpacks in a deathrattle deck. It allows you to pick an early curve deck and have it not lack impact too.
Crystal Gem You start the game with an extra mana crystal.
Nothing too flashy but it’s surprising how much work it can get done. It really helps in not being overwhelmed against the final bosses who start with more mana than you.
Elixir of Vim Draw 2 extra cards each turn. You are immune to fatigue.
I’ve been impressed by this card. I’ve only picked it when I had something Dr. Boom or Deathstalker Rexxar to generate more value, but even when I burned them I never lost because I ran out of cards. It’s important that you value keeping your OP cards and treasures more than curve, since curve tends to be interchangeable and you’re likely to draw into one, while you might burn your OP cards if you don’t keep them.
Emerald Goggles Your left-most card costs 2 less.
Cheating tempo is good and this can cheat lots of tempo in one turn. Having an expensive card or something you want to save can kill this treasure though (rip evil propaganda pickers) which is why I don’t think it’s captured flag levels of good. In a high curve deck I might even prefer crystal gem over it, but it gets better the lower your curve is, and if you run out of cards it can do some silly things with Swampqueen’s Call.
Expedite Your minions cost 1 less.
Obviously not good if you’re going for something like a miracle priest, but most decks are really minion heavy and playing just 1 minion per turn would make it as good as crystal gem. Really good passive that can pay out multiple times per turn and although it has lower potential than something like goggles, it’s a lot more consistent.
Mysterious Tome Start the game with 3 random secrets.
I’ve been impressed by the averageness of this passive. I’ve picked it when it was next to passives I’ve considered bad like a prince’s ring and recycling, and I’ve never thought that it was useless or run winning. It’s a safe pick when the other options don’t excite you.
Potion of Vitality Double your starting health.
It doesn’t give an value. It doesn’t give any tempo. By normal hearthstone logic it should be bad but it’s anything but. The final bosses will likely start the match by pummeling you using their extra mana, this ensures you’ll stay alive until you can throw your bombs. It also can indirectly give you value by allowing you to postpone your AoEs. You need something else to cheat some tempo, but it’s an excellent supporting treasure.
Robes of Gaudiness Your cards cost half (rounded down). You may only play up to 2 cards per turn.
As the first treasure it’s by far the best. Pick high value cards and enjoy your free wins. As second treasure I usually have too many low value cards for it to be worth it. It cheats tempo so efficiently and you can get board so early it’s probably the only treasure where I wouldn’t value potion of vitality as a secondary treasure. The thing to be careful of is that since you can play your whole hand really early, if your opponents has good board clears (like psychic screams, or cyanigosa with freezes) then you can run out of threats. Don’t overextend if you aren’t familiar with the boss’s deck unless you have something like UI or master’s scheme to refill.
Rocket Backpacks Your minions have rush.
There is a reason why people kill Shaw and ask for Dr. Boom nerfs. Cards with initiative are OP, and if your minions have it then you’re almost never lacking it. Great in any deck, especially amazing in deathrattle decks, this is one of the best passives.
Scepter of Summoning Your minions that cost more than 5 cost 5.
It’s a great treasure, it allows you to cheat a ton of tempo, but it can be really tricky. Picking too many 5+ cards might mean you’re dead before you can effectively use them by the last bosses, and picking too many curve cards can leave you with too little threats if you don’t draw right. Getting extra time by passives like potion of vitality and crystal gem can really smooth things out. Note that scepter and summoning and robes of gaudiness is really powerful if you get it in that order (making your most expensive minion cost 2), but getting them the other way around would be useless (order matters).
Small Backpacks At the start of the game draw 2 extra cards.
It’s a decent passive no matter your deck, but unless you have a deck with tons of utility (buffs, removal, etc.) then you’re probably better served with a passive that cheats out tempo.
Stargazing Your hero power costs 1 less and you may use it twice per turn.
I thought of this card like a crappy justicar’s ring and I underestimated it. This is one of the top tier treasures. This card is so good, that with the help of a couple flametongues and thrall deathseer, I’ve managed to beat Haro setting sun on heroic with a flood deck. The best part about this card is that even if you change your hero power, it keeps working. Changed to Dr Boom? Get 14 armor/ deal 6 damage/ discover 2 mechs etc. for just 2 mana. Finished the warrior quest? Get 2 ragnaros shots per turn. Even with some starting hero powers it’s going to be broken. Like the starting shaman one in totem shaman, like the mage hero power that discounts etc. Some hero powers are worse with it, but it’s definitely a passive to take notice of.
![:grin:](https://dacy5cilkxabf.cloudfront.net/en/hearthstone/images/emoji/twitter/grin.png?v=6" ":grin:")
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