Hearthstone’s Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion card reveal season is underway! We can expect to see multiple cards revealed on daily basis leading up to the expansion itself.

In this post, I take an in-depth look at Bonemare.

Bonemare

Bonemare is a Common Neutral card from Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion. It is a seven-mana 5/5 minion with a Battlecry to give a friendly minion +4/+4 and Taunt.

Now, that’s a lot of stats. You get a 5/5 minion and a buff that combines Blessing of Kings and Taunt, all in one card for a discounted price.

However, are those stats enough for Bonemare to see play, considering how late in the game it hits the board? Jade Chieftain is a similar card, a seven-mana 5/5 that summons a Jade Golem with Taunt, therefore usually providing a similar amount of stats as Bonemare, and Jade Chieftain does not make the cut in nearly all Jade decks.

Bonemare has some upsides to it though: As it buffs an existing minion, that +4/+4 part is essentially able to charge, providing opportunities for value trades or additional reach to face. Furthermore, Bonemare requires no other synergies except for a minion on the board, and it is a Neutral card – now any class has access to a powerful minion buff in the late game.

That Neutral part is really interesting. Would you play Bonemare over Malkorok in a Tempo Warrior? Would you play Bonemare over Swamp King Dred or Volcanosaur in Midrange Hunter? Classes that previously had no access to such buffs can now consider whether those buffs can add another angle to their gameplan and make them stronger.

Bonemare seems best suited for midrange decks to be near or at the top of their curve. It needs to have a target on the board, so a somewhat minion-centric approach is needed to gain value from it. It is too slow for pure aggro, and control decks might not have a good target for it when needed.

The fact that Bonemare gives both Taunt to help a midrange deck defend against aggro and immediate damage to help a midrange deck keep the pressure up against control makes it an interesting choice with some nice potential synergies with a minion-based gameplan.

I cannot pinpoint a deck where Bonemare could see play, but I can see possibilities. It is definitely a card that needs to be playtested.