Just my take on the cards in the Kumanjaro expansion that I have experience with thus far:
Dire Wolf: very, very good. Adds a keener edge to Redclaw openings, and makes for a very powerful Pet. Regularly rolling for 6-7 dice + 50% Bleed is no joke, and it has as much hp and even more armor than Adramelech with Redclaw around
. Won't help you against powerful non-living guards like Golems, but you can't have everything in life I guess.
Giant Wolf Spider: I used in a controlling Warlock build so far and it's been good. Being able to restrain creatures every turn is solid, but it works best in combination with other restraining effects, because some turns you need the extra chance for Tainted, or need the Spider to guard with its considerable bulk.
Guardian Angel: As you might expect, it's a rather good guard. Very hard to kill, between the defense and Aegis 1. I find that its Flying trait is a little misleading, though, because it is pretty much always going to be on guard. Restraining it is easier than you think. Definitely pulls its weight in its role, but it's not nearly as intimidating to swing into as a Knight.
Makunda: I've only tried him once, in an effort to do a cat tribal opening, but at least at the moment, I don't think cat tribal is viable on the offense like dog tribal is. Piercing +1 isn't a good enough reason to summon cats, and the cats that we currently have access to are situational. I could see Makunda being a good opening as part of a non-tribal pair or group of large animals, but don't try to force cat tribal. It just ain't there yet.
Healing Charm: Useful spell. It's not a substitute for more efficient healing spells like Minor Heal, but it's a nice surprise. I'll take 1 less die for the opportunity to bluff (even though I usually suck at bluffing)
.
Drain Soul: Probably about as close to a "kill" spell as Mage Wars is going to get. Really makes control Warlock much better, honestly, especially because I'm not a big fan of Drain Life. It allows you to make a Blood Reaper without hesitation, and the life gain can't be simply removed like Bull Endurance can. You're probably not going to be able to cast it more than once or twice a game, even with extra channeling, but when you do, you'll really appreciate the 12 point life swing.
Priest of Malakai: Definitely a good mage. For those of you used to playing against the Priestess and her relatively lower dice count, you're going to develop a grudging respect for Holy Avenger. Holy Avenger plays similarly to how Invisible Stalker plays, interestingly, since your opponent will usually wait until near the end of the round to swing with it so that the buff can be in effect. Knight of Westlock makes arguably the best one, and easily rolls 7-9 dice with little mana investment, which is very intimidating.
The times I have underestimated Holy Avenger, I've severely regretted it. Really, do your best to avoid it attacking your important creatures; anticipate and manipulate creature activations as best you can, because there are very few creatures that can withstand consecutive Avenger swings.
Well that's it for now. I'll post more when I play with the other stuff.
