Defender of Argus
Mana: 4
Attack: 2
Health: 3
Crafting cost: 100
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Rare
Battlecry: Give adjacent minions +1/+1 and Taunt.
TC: If you tend to use a lot Shattered Sun Clerics to buff your minions, this is a great cheap upgrade to consider crafting.
Used judiciously, it's a powerful support card which can change the entire context of the board by creating two buffed minions on either side of it, which your enemy has to remove thanks to the Taunt.
Also consider the Sunfury Protector as a weaker alternative – it's two mana cheaper, but loses the +1/+1 buff.
Harrison Jones
Mana: 5
Attack: 5
Health: 4
Crafting cost: 1600
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
Battlecry: Destroy your opponent's weapon and draw cards equal to its Durability
DG: This card changed the metagame all by itself. Suddenly you couldn't risk playing weapons like Doomhammers or Sword of Justice .
Hunters were giving me two cards with Eaglehorn Bows instead of 10 damage after I proc their secret [trigger a card placed face down until a certain condition occurs] for them. This card may well be partly responsible for the new weaponless hunters.
Pyroblast
Mana: 10
Crafting cost: 400
Class: Mage
Rarity: Epic
Deal 10 damage.
TC: Little explanation required for this: It's a brute force finisher for Mages. Once you've drawn Pyroblast, the name of the game is reducing your opponent to 10 health in time for you the first turn on which you receive ten mana crystals. You'll be surprised how focused having this clear goal makes you.
The fact you can hit the hero regardless of taunt cards makes it almost impossible to defend against, other than with secrets. Obviously it can also be used as an (admittedly very expensive) removal card against OP minions.
Mind Control
Mana: 10
Crafting cost: N/A
Class: Priest
Rarity: Common
Take control of an enemy minion
PW: This is a pricey late game card, but what it does is offer the ability to both remove an awesomely powerful enemy minion and then play it yourself. It's an Assassinate plus a killer minion on the board for you.
It's reasonable to expect a Priest deck to have at least one Mind Control knocking about, so when playing against a Priest deck your foe will have to be very careful about slapping high powered minions down in case you bring them over to your own hand. It's less mind-bogglingly ridiculous now than when it cost 8 mana, but still a potent threat to worry about.
Leper Gnome
Mana: 1
Attack: 2
Health: 1
Crafting cost: 40
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Deathrattle: Deal 2 damage to the enemy hero.
TC: Every deck needs some low cost pawns to play in the early turns, and the Leper Gnome is one of the best cheap cards.
Its Deathrattle means that pretty much however your opponent chooses to kill it, short of wasting a removal card – in which case, fine! You're still getting great mana value – they'll be taking a two-damage hit. The more defensive Argent Squire , and the versatile Elven Archer , are also strong one-mana options.
Ironbeak Owl
Mana: 2
Attack: 2
Health: 1
Crafting cost: 40
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Common
Battlecry: Silence a minion.
TC: Definitely does not look badass, but hugely useful nonetheless. It's silence ability will remove all abilities and buffs from a single minion – which is particularly effective against large late game minions with Taunt, or ramped-up minions using Stealth. Being a beast, it also synergises well with Hunter decks. Druids have a more expensive option when it comes to silencing minions in the form of the versatile Keeper of the Grove card, which can alternatively opt to deal two damage as its battlecry.
PW: Don't forget that silence can also be applied to your own minions, meaning you can use it to remove unwanted attributes like the 'Can't attack' condition on your 4/5 Ancient Watcher . Sneaky owls!
Acidic Swamp Ooze
Mana: 2
Attack: 3
Health: 2
Crafting cost: N/A
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Basic
Battlecry: Destroy your opponent's weapon.
PW: One of the first things I learned in Hearthstone was the value of the Acidic Swamp Ooze. Some of enemy heroes have nasty weapons and this card gets rid of those cheaply.
Keep it in your hand to deal with weapon-wielding classes like Warriors, Rogues and Paladins – but remember that Shaman and Hunter decks can also pack weapons. Even if you're sure you're up against a weaponless deck the Ooze is still a decent low cost 3/2 minion for you to play as required.
Bloodmage Thalnos
Mana: 2
Attack: 2
Health: 1
Crafting cost: 1600
Class: Neutral
Rarity: Legendary
Spell Damage +1. Deathrattle: Draw a card.
TC: Aside from looking absolutely badass, Thalnos is as good as inexpensive legendaries get. (Well, he's cheap in terms of Mana, not Dust if you want to craft him.)
Two mana for even a single turn of +1 spell damage and then drawing a card when he, inevitably, dies is well worth the cost. Make sure you play him once you can afford to also immediately cast a spell for maximum value.
