Hearthstone is heading to the Darkmoon Faire for its next expansion, with the madness set to start just over a week from now on November 17. Which means we're slap back in the middle of a particularly frenzied reveal season, and boy do we have a spicy exclusive to show you. Say hello to the new Rogue Legendary, Tenwu of the Red Smoke.
As a member of the secretive Shado-Pan group, Tenwu visited the faire when the Old Gods attacked. Happily, he's always up for a fight. He's a 2-Mana 3/2 with a real Shadowstep-on-a-stick vibe, only better. Tenwu's text reads 'Battlecry: Return a friendly minion to your hand. It costs (1) this turn'. Being able to repeat powerful effects makes Tenwu one of the most exciting cards revealed so far, and I've already started thinking about all the synergies that he'll enable.
Of course you can't talk about a Shadowstep effect without mentioning Hall of Fame dodger, Edwin VanCleef. With Edwin, it's all about playing lots of low-cost cards to grow big and strong, so gaining an extra +2/+2 with the help of Tenwu will ensure Edwin is a chonky boi when he finally drops onto the board.
Galakrond Rogue continues to look good in Tier 2 at present, and there's no doubt it'll make room for Tenwu of the Red Smoke. Slamming down Kronx Dragonhoof after summoning Galakrond is already a power spike turn, but being able to return Kronx to your hand and replay it for 1-Mana is incredible value. That's right, that's two Devastations.
Similarly, pairing Tenwu with Heistbaron Togwaggle will let you pick an additional Fantastic Treasure. While we'll be bidding farewell to both of those cards in April 2021 when Rise of Shadows, Saviors of Uldum, and Descent of Dragons rotate out of Standard, we can enjoy this lunacy for a few months.
Another notable Battlecry card to consider is dual-class Legendary Jandice Barov. Imagine summoning two random five-cost minions with Jandice, then calling her back with Tenwu to repeat the process. Pulling this off in a single 8-Mana turn fills your board with six minions. Speaking of dual-class cards, pairing Tenwu and Steeldancer should make for a healthy turn seven. We've already seen Weapon Rogue doing work in Standard, so why not summon a second minion using Tenwu?
As more cards from the Madness at the Darkmoon Faire set are revealed, we're bound to spot more synergies. Ticket Master has a Deathrattle effect, so there's not much to work with there. Tenwu could work with the other new Rogue Legendary, Grand Empress Shek'zara, which lets you discover a card in your deck and draw all copies of it. If you're hoping to draw your deck quickly, this is one way to speed the process up.
At a push, you could certainly use Tenwu of the Red Smoke with the new 2/1 rare, Prize Plunderer, which has a Combo effect that allows it to deal one damage to a minion for each other card you've played this turn. If your opponent has a couple of hefty minions that are a little too intimidating, you could clear them without breaking a sweat with Tenwu.
Let's consider the greedy options and bring the Old Gods into the mix, though. These returning monstrosities have entirely new Battlecries in the upcoming expansion, and replaying them for just one Mana rather than 10 sounds ridiculously powerful. N'Zoth had a solid track record with Deathrattle Rogues in the past, and having the opportunity to resurrect a friendly minion of each minion type for a second time is sure to see the God of the Deep flood the board with allies.
