Hearthstone’s Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion card reveal season has started! We can expect to see multiple cards revealed on daily basis for the next couple of weeks leading up to the expansion itself.

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

Nerubian Unraveler

Nerubian Unraveler is an epic neutral card from Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion. It is a six-mana 5/5 minion with a special effect that causes spells to cost two more mana as long as Nerubian Unraveler is on the board unsilenced.

The effect of Nerubian Unraveler is one we have not seen in a while. Back in Naxxramas, Loatheb was a five-mana 5/5 that caused your opponent’s spells to cost five more mana the following turn. It saw a lot of play, as such an increase in mana cost, even if for just a single turn, could disrupt numerous combos and change the course of the game.

Nerubian Unraveler is clearly weaker than Loatheb: it costs more mana for the same statline, it is not nearly as effective at preventing spells from being cast as if the opponent has a board to trade into it the effect ends instantly, and the effect is symmetric, it affects both players. On the bright side, the effect can last for multiple turns if Nerubian Unraveler stays alive.

Therefore, Nerubian Unraveler will not see similar universal play as Loatheb: Loatheb was just good against any deck, you could almost always find an opportunity to disrupt your opponent’s gameplan with it, and even in the worst case, it was a five-mana 5/5, a decent enough minion to play on curve.

Nerubian Unraveler, on the other hand, is not a strong play for its stats, does not completely lock out your opponent from casting spells, and also hinders your own ability to cast spells, thereby limiting the decks it can fit in.

Nerubian Unraveler can still see play: heavily minion-based decks do not care about the downside, and there are numerous powerful spells in the meta right now that you’d be happy to delay a little: Firelands Portal, Spikeridged Steed, Dragonfire Potion, and Bloodlust to name a few. Whether they stay in the meta in Knights of the Frozen Throne is another matter, of course.

It is a tech card, and one with two conditions: there must be enough good targets for it, and your own deck must not be too vulnerable to it. That’s a pretty tall order, but one that can happen occasionally.

Synergies and other effects

The most obvious synergy Nerubian Unraveler has is with Atiesh: as it increases the mana costs of spells, it actually gives more costly minions from Atiesh at the same time. I don’t think anyone will use this effect to “buff” their own Atiesh though, but playing a Nerubian Unraveler into an existing Atiesh can be a double-edged sword.

Nerubian Unraveler, as a six-mana minion, is also one possible result from the common Evolve combo, Evolve + Doppelgangster. It’s hard to say who would benefit from that the most though, as Evolve Shaman has its share of spell, but on the other hand, if you get to pull off the Doppelgangster combo as Evolve Shaman, your opponent would really like to clear that board.

You can also get Nerubian Unraveler from Moonglade Portal. Again, who benefits from it depends on the decks and the current situation.

Likewise, Nerubian Unraveler is one possible outcome from Devolving a seven-mana minion, which can limit your ability to use area-of-effect spells or other spells as a follow-up, more often benefitting the opponent than you. It is a rare occurrence, so you would generally not try to play around it, but it can cost a game here and there.