Druids and Shamans receive some much-needed (?) love.

Only a few hours after the last reveal, two new cards from the upcoming set Whispers of the Old Gods have been unveiled. Druids and Shamans receive some love with Mire Keeper and Hammer of Twilight respectively, a pair of cards sure to shake up the meta.

Mire Keeper is a four mana 3/3 whose battlecry lets you choose between two strong effects, as is the case so often with Druid cards. The new 4-drop will either summon a 2/2 Ooze (no mention of taunt or other effects) for a total 5/5 statline, or it will allow the player to gain an empty Mana Crystal, effectively attaching [card]Wild Growth[/card] to a 3/3 body. As Blizzard has already confirmed in a recent tweet, choosing the extra mana will not reward the player with Excess Mana (and thus a card draw) when played at ten mana, which means the effect would simply go to waste unless the player chooses the Ooze.

Mire Keeper appears to be a strong addition to the Druid's arsenal; attaching Wild Growth to a minion, even an overcosted one, should help reducing the risk of losing the early game and help Druids ramp into their late game threats without losing board control. Playing [card]Wild Growth[/card] on turn two and Mire Keeper on turn three would allow the Druid to spend six mana on turn four, a tempo advantage which is certainly hard to overcome for the opponent. Combine this with [card]Living Roots[/card] or [card]Raven Idol[/card] on turn one for some early tempo or card draw respectively, and the game might be over before it has even begun.

Much like [card]Death's Bite[/card] and [card]Truesilver Champion[/card], Hammer of Twilight is a 4-attack weapon with two durability; unlike its counterparts, however, the new Shaman weapon costs five mana instead of four. The higher cost is due to its Deathrattle, which spawns a 4/2 Elemental (again, no mention of any effects on the minion) for the player upon the weapon's demise.

Having another body on the board is always nice, but a 4/2 statline leaves a lot to be desired and since the Elemental realistically won't come out until turn six (and thus won't be able to attack until turn seven) unless the Shaman cheats out Twilight Hammer earlier or gets it destroyed by his opponent, the usefulness of a 2-health minion might not outweigh the cost. Still, along with Thing from Below and Master of Evolution, Hammer of Twilight might breathe some new life into the Control Shaman archetype. [card]Reincarnate[/card] it, if you will.

Which one of the two cards revealed today do you like better? Let us know in the poll!

You can follow the reveal of the new expansion with our Whispers of the Old Gods full card list here.