The initial reviews were fairly consistent: Hungry Dragon had star potential, and Drakonid Crusher was, well, an arena card. Another dumb, fat minion printed under the misconception that becoming a Big Game Hunter target is an upside. Now that the dust has begun to settle, though, it's become clear that Hungry Dragon is unlikely to live up to the hype. With a 3/7 chance of summoning a minion with greater than 1 health, its 4 mana cost doesn't mention the removal and resources it uses up.
Blackwing Technician and especially Blackwing Corrupter do seem to be just as good as expected, but in order to run them, a deck needs enough dragons to reliably activate their Battlecries, and the options are limited. If dragon decks don't want to run 2 copies of Hungry Dragon, they need other cards to include. The late game legendary dragons are, perhaps with the exception of Onyxia, exceedingly slow and control oriented, while the lower cost dragon cards seem destined for a midrange or tempo deck. What exactly is the gameplan of a deck running Blackwing Tech and Azure Drakes as well as Ysera? Enter the humble Drakonid Crusher, a late game dragon that fits perfectly in a midrange/tempo playstyle.
I have been testing Drakonid Crusher in a dragon version of midrange Druid, and the results impressed me. Over 45 games, I played Drakonid Crusher in 10, 8 of which were wins. Compare that to 17 losses and 18 wins in games where I didn't play Drakonid Crusher (it's not a fantastic meta for Druid). To be fair, this doesn't account for games where Drakonid Crusher never made it out of my hand, but contrast that with Nefarian, which I tested for about a dozen games. There was never a game that went long enough for Nefarian to make it out of my hand. Chromaggus has made it to the board with reasonable frequency, but with 2 Azure Drakes and 1 Hungry Dragon (2 is too many for such a risky card), a 5th dragon is needed. It’s worth wondering why not run 2 Drakonid Crushers instead of 1 and a legendary dragon, and in fact I tested the deck for a while with 2 Drakonid Crushers. All I can say is that the second one felt clunky, but feel free to experiment!
| Matchup | W/L | Crusher? |
| Aggro Paladin | L | N |
| Control Warrior | L | N |
| Dragon Paladin | L | N |
| Druid | L | N |
| Druid | L | N |
| Face Hunter | L | N |
| Handlock | L | N |
| Mech Mage | L | N |
| Midrange Hunter | L | N |
| Midrange Hunter | L | N |
| Midrange Hunter | L | N |
| Midrange Hunter | L | N |
| Patron Warrior | L | N |
| Rogue | L | N |
| Zoo | L | N |
| Zoo | L | N |
| Zoo | L | N |
| Control Warrior | W | N |
| Control Warrior | W | N |
| Druid | W | N |
| Face Hunter | W | N |
| Face Hunter | W | N |
| Face Hunter | W | N |
| Mech Mage | W | N |
| Midrange Hunter | W | N |
| Rogue | W | N |
| Rogue | W | N |
| Rogue | W | N |
| Tempo Mage | W | N |
| Tempo Mage | W | N |
| Tempo Mage | W | N |
| Tempo Mage | W | N |
| Zoo | W | N |
| Zoo | W | N |
| Zoo | W | N |
| Control Warrior | L | Y |
| Druid | L | Y |
| Control Warrior | W | Y |
| Druid | W | Y |
| Druid | W | Y |
| Handlock | W | Y |
| Patron Warrior | W | Y |
| Patron Warrior | W | Y |
| Priest | W | Y |
| Tempo Mage | W | Y |
I don't recall a single game where Drakonid Crusher died to Big Game Hunter. Partly this is due to players not expecting it, and using their removal on other cards, but think for a moment about some of the most popular decks in the meta. Patron Warrior runs 2 Executes but rarely BGH; Zoo rarely runs BGH or any other hard removal; Handlock these days often cuts BGH; no popular versions of Hunter run BGH, and Hunter's Mark is usually used by the time Drakonid Crusher drops; Tempo Mage rarely runs BGH; Rogue rarely runs BGH. The pressure from a 9/9 on the board can be enough to close out games that otherwise would require Druid to top-deck a multiple card combo. In games where Drakonid Crusher gets played as a 6/6, so much the better, since it is safer while you continue to fight for the board.
Though I tested Drakonid Crusher in Druid, hopefully the potential in other classes is apparent. In a less bursty tempo dragon deck, the card may even be stronger, since in games where it could be played as a 9/9, the opponent would be losing critical tempo by using BGH, allowing the dragon deck to close out the win before value advantage from BGH would begin to matter.
Briefly, you might be wondering why I chose Dragon Druid over the more popular Paladin or Priest archetypes. Blackwing Corrupter functions like a third Wrath, and since Druid is lacking in removal, it helps immensely. It’s so good that I tested the deck for a while with 2 Blackwing Corrupters, but with only 5 dragons, the second copy was dead too often. Mind Control Tech, already a good card in Druid, substantially mitigates the drawback from Hungry Dragon, as do Keeper of the Grove and the hero power. I don't claim that Dragon Druid is superior to standard Midrange Druid, but I don't know any standard Druid list that can reliably beat Tempo Mage or hold its own against Zoo, and Dragon Druid, currently 5-0 against Tempo Mage and 3-3 against Zoo, appears to be able to do that. Worth looking at? I think so.
