Hearthstone’s The Witchwood expansion reveals continue and we got to see Countess Ashmore, a new Neutral Legendary minion.
In this post, I take an in-depth look at the card and what kind of decks it could fit into.
Countess Ashmore
Countess Ashmore is a seven-mana 6/6 Neutral Legendary minion with a Battlecry: Draw a Rush, Lifesteal, and Deathrattle card from your deck.
Well, that’s an insanely powerful card! Pre-nerf Ancient of Lore and later on The Curator were considered some of the most powerful card-draw tools in the game, and Countess Ashmore continues along the same line. She has better stats than either of her predecessors, but she lacks the Taunt that made The Curator so powerful.
Her card draw effect is superb: drawing Rush, Lifesteal, and Deathrattle cards, not just minions, gives her a lot more flexibility as she can also be used to tutor for spells and weapons. Note that any cards that get the keywords from an effect or grant them to others are not included, you can only draw cards that have the keywords naturally.
In general, if you can draw two cards with Countess Ashmore, she is great. Sometimes you may be in a position to get full three draws, but there is no need to force the deck to include cards for all three draws. In some cases, it may even be enough to use Countess Ashmore to tutor for a key card.
Potential synergies for Countess Ashmore
What classes can make the most out of Countess Ashmore?
Warrior
Warrior is in an extremely good position to use Countess Ashmore for Rush and Deathrattle cards.
For Rush minions, there’s Muck Hunter, Darius Crowley, Militia Commander, and Redband Wasp. For Deathrattle cards, there’s at least Blood Razor and Woodcutter’s Axe, perhaps some minions too, although most likely you’ll be happy to tutor for a guaranteed weapon.
Paladin
A tutor for Val’anyr? Maybe for Primalfin Champion if you’re going for the Paladin quest? Or just Tirion? Deathrattles are easy for Paladin.
What about the other slots? Chillblade Champion is a decent enough Lifesteal minion, but the Rush side is still waiting for the right card.
Priest
Obsidian Statue is both a Lifesteal card and a Deathrattle. Spirit Lash can serve as another Lifesteal card. There are also plenty of other Deathrattle minions available from Tortollan Shellraiser and Coffin Crasher to Gilded Gargoyle, if you really want to tutor for a coin generator. Quest Priest, maybe?
Warlock
There’s Lesser Amethyst Spellstone and Drain Soul for Lifesteal, although probably only the Spellstone will see play. There are also lots of interesting Deathrattles, such as Voidlord, Possessed Lackey, and Rin, the First Disciple. Guaranteed Rin if you leave out Voidlords? Probably not fast enough.
Thing is, Warlock already has good card draw, so it might not need the Countess.
Hunter
Card draw in Hunter? I’m listening. Alas, it will be a bit more difficult for Hunter to make good use of the Countess. Deathrattle part is easy: Kathrena Winterwisp, Savannah Highmane, and Violet Wurm all fit the bill. Rush and Lifesteal more difficult. Sure, there’s Bloodworm, but even that is not that great. Hunting Mastiff as a Rush minion is still unproven, but could work.
Druid
Druid is in a similar spot to Hunter: Deathrattle is easy with Hadronox, Grizzled Guardian, and Astral Tiger, maybe even Twig of the World Tree if you’re going for some combo plays, but the other slots are more difficult to fill. Gilnean Royal Guard to use as removal?
Rogue
It’s hard to see how Rogue could use the Countess effectively. Spectral Cutlass is a Lifesteal weapon you might want to tutor for, but why not do that with Cavern Shinyfinder? At least Kingsbane decks want to use the Shinyfinder over Countess Ashmore, but perhaps Spectral Cutlass decks could be different.
You can also tutor for Sherazin, should it be playable in the upcoming meta. Cutlass-Sherazin near-infinite resources deck? Unlikely to be good enough.
Mage, Shaman
Mage and Shaman don’t seem to find much use for Countess Ashmore with the currently known card pool.
Appendix: Rush, Lifesteal, and Deathrattle cards by class
What cards are eligible to be drawn, then?
Neutral
Rush:
- Gilnean Royal Guard
- Muck Hunter
- Swift Messenger
Lifesteal:
- Bloodworm
- Pumpkin Peasant
- Deadscale Knight
Deathrattle:
- Splitting Festeroot
- Violet Wurm
- Sated Threshadon
- Silver Vanguard
- Bone Drake
- Cairne Bloodhoof
- The Beast
- Abomination
- Carnivorous Cube
- Rotten Applebaum
- Skelemancer
- Arfus
- Cursed Disciple
- Hoarding Dragon
- Meat Wagon
- Rattling Rascal
- Ticking Abomination
- Devilsaur Egg
- Eggnapper
- Harvest Golem
- Igneous Elemental
- Shallow Gravedigger
- Voodoo Doll
- Vryghoul
- Bloodmage Thalnos
- Loot Hoarder
- Plated Beetle
- Volatile Elemental
- Leper Gnome
Druid
Rush:
None.
Lifesteal:
None.
Deathrattle:
- Hadronox
- Grizzled Guardian
- Giant Anaconda
- Twig of the World Tree
- Astral Tiger
- Greedy Sprite
Hunter
Rush:
- Hunting Mastiff
Lifesteal:
None.
Deathrattle:
- Kathrena Winterwisp
- Abominable Bowman
- Savannah Highmane
- Exploding Bloatbat
- Raptor Hatchling
Mage
Rush:
None.
Lifesteal:
None.
Deathrattle:
- Pyros
- Shimmering Tempest
Paladin
Rush:
None.
Lifesteal:
- Chillblade Champion
Deathrattle:
- Tirion Fordring
- Val’anyr
- Arrogant Crusader
- Bellbringer Sentry
- Drygulch Jailor
- Primalfin Champion
Priest
Rush:
None.
Lifesteal:
- Obsidian Statue
- Acolyte of Agony
- Spirit Lash
Deathrattle:
- Obsidian Statue
- Coffin Crasher
- Tortollan Shellraiser
- Gilded Gargoyle
- Crystalline Oracle
Rogue
Rush:
- Cursed Castaway
Lifesteal:
- Spectral Cutlass
Deathrattle:
- Cursed Castaway
- Bone Baron
- Kobold Illusionist
- Sherazin, Corpse Flower
- Kingsbane
Shaman
Rush:
None.
Lifesteal:
None.
Deathrattle:
None.
Warlock
Rush:
None.
Lifesteal:
- Blood-Queen Lana’thel
- Lesser Amethyst Spellstone
- Drain Soul
Deathrattle:
- Voidlord
- Cruel Dinomancer
- Rin, the First Disciple
- Possessed Lackey
Warrior
Rush:
- Darius Crowley
- Militia Commander
- Redband Wasp
Lifesteal:
None.
Deathrattle:
- Direhorn Hatchling
- Blood Razor
- Mountainfire Armor
- Woodcutter’s Axe