an were then still two runs in arrears but Wallace, who had opened in the previous seven Championship matches, effectiv

As expected, Blizzard announced its next expansion for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft at this past weekends BlizzCon. The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan, Hearthstones fourth full-scale expansion, is set to be released in early December and will consist of 132 cards.The biggest change shown thus far is a series of tri-class cards, a departure from the past in which cards have all either been playable by one specific class or by all classes. This addition goes along with the general theme of the expansion set of three warring factions in the city of Gadgetzan, a neutral desert trading outpost found in World of Warcraft. The expansion draws heavily on the gangster film segment of film noir, with a generally lighter tone than the previous full expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods, that had tentacled monsters consuming souls rather than brightly covered gangsters in fedoras and pinstriped suits. MSG will also be the last set of new cards until next years rotation that will shuffle Blackrock Mountain, The Grand Tournament, and League of Explorers out of the Standard format.Well be discussing the card set and how the cards are likely to affect competitive play in the coming weeks, but today, were focusing on ESPNs card reveal, the Grimestreet Pawnbroker.How does this card fit in competitive play and how likely will it have a key part in the upcoming meta? While there are many cards still to be released, the Grimestreet Pawnbroker does use variants of mechanics with a long history in Hearthstone.Lets start with the basics. Its at three mana, 3/3 card at its core, a common stat configuration in Hearthstone. 3/3s match up poorly with the three mana 3/4 cards, of which there are many, so the playability of a 3/3 depends on it having a valuable effect.Looking at class cards, there have been ten 3/3 cards, of which about half have seen significant play at some point: Aldor Peacekeeper and Steward of Darkshire in Paladin, SI:7 Agent in Rogue, Silverware Golem and Void Terror in Warlock, and Ravaging Ghoul in Warrior. All of these cards have a significant effect to go along with them, one with the potential to be abused, whether its SI:7s ability to do damage and affect the board immediately, Silverware Golems ability to be played for free, or the Whirlwind which attaches to Ravaging Ghoul, which triggers other Warrior effects.The Pawnbrokers effect is a Battlecry, giving a random weapon in your hand +1/+1, these days, most likely a Fiery War Axe, Fools Bane, or Gorehowl. Weapon effects are common in Warrior, but we havent seen an effect quite like this, with the usual effect being to either give the player a weapon (NZoths First Mate, Arathi Weaponsmith, Malkorok) or enhancing a weapon already in play. This card instead applies its effect to the weapon cards themselves, making a Fiery War Axe a 4/3 weapon, Fools Bane into a 4/5, and Gorehowl into an 8/2 (which allows a face damage turn without destroying the weapon).But is this card good enough to see play in the likely Warrior builds? Thats a bit trickier. Affecting the card itself is a bit slow - a Warrior wants to be playing the Fiery War Axe on Turn 2 or Turn 1 with coin against decks with an aggressive early game, not waiting until Turn 4 to play a 4/3 weapon instead. A 4/5 Fools Bane can remove more cleanly cards like Azure Drake and Tomb Pillager (more often than not, the Warrior will have already had to deal with one or both Totem Golems).The best way to think of a card is a Shattered Sun Cleric (three-mana 3/2 that gives +1/+1 to a minion) for weapons instead of an on-board minion. The Cleric is a playable card, but its just not good enough to find a spot in highly-refined decks. Its certainly better than Ogrimmar Aspirant, a three-mana 3/3 that gives +1 attack to an equipped weapon with Inspire -- not enough of an effect considering you need to use five mana for it not to be vanilla -- but Aspirant wasnt even close to making any tournament decks. The effect is also less useful to an aggressive Pirate build as the Pawnbroker cannot buff the Rusty Hook equipped from NZoths first mate, while Bloodsail Cultist, a 3/4 for the same mana cost, can.Warrior has a lot of competition for the three mana slot and its hard to see this card fitting right now in most decks. Among class cards, Bash, Fierce Monkey, Frothing Berserker, Ravaging Ghoul, and Shield Block all vie for spots in decks and a Warrior can run only so many three-drops. And Im not sure that Pawnbroker fits Warriors goals better than any of these cards. If Pawnbroker makes it into competitive Warrior decks, I think it would have to be after the rotation, when Bash and Fierce Monkey leave.In Arena, this card is more likely to see play simply because a three-mana 3/3 is more playable. Deaths Bite remains in Arena and getting from four attack to five attack for turn four on-curve is the best scenario for Pawnbroker, allowing Warrior to more easily deal with a wide array of five-health four drops (the Yetis, Senjin Shieldmasta, Violet Teacher, etc.) without the fear of Harrison Jones, a card that is less available in Arena.In summary, its a neat card with a new spin on weapon enhancement. It might not fit in existing Warrior decks, but if theres a midrange or an aggressive Warrior deck out that can still get enough armor to make use of an enhanced Fools Bane and maybe an Arcanite Reaper, this could be a powerful card.But really, whats the fun of a card unveiling if its just accompanied by one persons opinion? To get a wider view of where this card fits into the world of Hearthstone, I requested input from other members of the community.The first place I turned to for a second opinion was Brian Kibler, a veteran card pro -- hes in the Magic: The Gathering Hall of Fame -- and also a designer involved in a number of trading card games, such as the original World of Warcraft Trading Card Game.It seems like a potentially powerful effect that helps hit certain health flashpoints with mid-game weapons (could be great with a Deaths Bite-type weapon to follow it up, for instance) or to let heavy-hitting late-game weapons do more damage. It pairs very well with Gorehowl, for instance, which can hit for 15 total across two attacks if you can butt if with the Pawnbroker.Kacem Noxious Khilaji, an analyst, streamer, and broadcaster noted for his deck experimentation shared a more optimistic view of the Pawnbroker than I did. This card is awesome. It will either make Bloodsail Cultist better because of the redundancy or given how straight forward it is, make it obsolete, said Noxious in a short interview. You play Fiery War Axe on Turn 2 and this on Turn 3 and you can probably get a good Arcanite Reaper on Turn 5. This might be the basis for an alternate win condition in some Warrior builds.Chris ChanmanV Chan, the host and developer of Value Town also believes that the Pawnbroker could lead to a different type of deck, one that could be a Face Warriors dream.Its different than Upgrade since you cant upgrade the weapon activated. Thats the kicker with this card, but even one 6/3 Arcanite Reaper is well worth it. When you do hit, its ridiculous in a deck like Face Warrior. 3/3 isnt that bad of a body and even if you whiff, its not terrible. If this card became prevalent, you can guarantee that Acidic Swamp Ooze and Harrison Jones will be played even more than they already are.For the Arena side of Hearthstone, I consulted with Mike SimCopter1 Bender, who specializes in this part of Hearthstone.This is a decent minion that provides potential upside while sacrificing few stats (one stat point in this case, since true three-drops have a baseline of seven stat point). This card fits multiple playstyles: It can help midrange decks get the extra weapon value they need to keep the board, it can help face-oriented decks generate enough burn to win a match they might otherwise have lost. With that being said, I think Grimestreet Pawnbroker is best used as a midrange value generator that lets your weapons clear pressure from enemy minions.On the downside, if the Battlecry doesnt hit or isnt relevant, its going to be lackluster. A three mana 3/3 is below-average in an arena meta where high state minion on-curve in games. Luckily Warrior has quite a few weapons these days, but it would be a lot better if it interacted with Arathi Weaponsmith, Upgrade!, NZoths First Mate, or Malkorok.Ozzie Smith Cardinals Jersey . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Tim McCarver Jersey .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. http://www.authenticcardinalspro.com/cardinals-dexter-fowler-jersey/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Dexter Fowler Jersey . LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. Steve Carlton Jersey . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July.Worcestershire 163 (Hogan 4-44) and 150 for 2 (Fell 65*) lead Glamorgan 280 (Bradd 98, Wallace 67*) by 33 runsScorecard Tom Fell and Joe Clarke breathed life back into promotion-chasing Worcestershires victory hopes with an unbroken third wicket stand of 95 against Glamorgan on day two of the Specsavers County Championship clash at New Road.The pair joined forces at 55 for 2 with the home side still 62 runs in arrears after Glamorgan had extended their first innings from an overnight 118 for 5 to 280 all out. Glamorgan may be left to rue dropping Fell on two - a low chance spilled by keeper Mark Wallace off Graham Wagg.Fell went on to complete his second Championship 50 - from 101 deliveries with nine fours - since returning to the side after being given the all clear in his battle against cancer. By the close the 22-year-old was unbeaten on 65 and Clarke 32 with Worcestershire leading by 33.Glamorgan had resumed on 118 for 5 after 15 wickets had gone down on the opening day and a combination of Will Bragg and the lower order earned them a sizeable first innings advantage.Leach made an early breakthrough when Owen Morgan shouldered arms and had his stumps shattered.Bragg, who resumed on 75, moved to within two runs of his third Championship hhundred of the season but then pushed forward to Ed Barnard and was bowled via the inside edge.dddddddddddd He struck 16 fours in his 133 ball innings.Glamorgan were then still two runs in arrears but Wallace, who had opened in the previous seven Championship matches, effectively shepherded the last three wickets in adding 119 runs.Skipper Jacques Rudolphs decision to return to the top of the order led to Wallace moving down to No 9 and he responded by making an unbeaten 67. He struck 10 fours and a six in his 78 ball knock and added 75 for the eighth wicket with Wagg.Leach struck twice in an over to remove Wagg and Michael Hogan before Barnard accounted for Lukas Carey. It completed a fourth five-wicket haul of the season for Leach who returned 5-106 from 22 overs to take his Championship tally to 45 for the campaign.Worcestershire needed a solid start to their reply but Brett DOliveira drove loosely at Wagg and was caught behind.Skipper Daryl Mitchell looked in good touch but after making 33 he pulled a short ball from Carey into the hands of Craig Meschede at mid wicket but then came the Fell-Clarke rescue act. ' ' '