Maybe its just me, but why does everyone seem to run Inventor's Focal Sword in Mage or Warlock? I realize it moves some DoTs and such, but it seems SO narrow. Anyone have a thought or two?

Not only does is switch around DoTs, but it also moves things like Power Word:Fortitude.

Most of them only run 2 at most, so you shouldn't draw more than 1, and it can be used as an actual weapon late game when you have a lot of unused resources. If worst comes to worst, you can set it as a resource instead of a useful card.

Yeah, I'd tend to agree. Sidedeck'ed its ok, but I still can't justify copies in the main deck.

Yeah it just feels like the epitome of a sidedeck cards. Its narrow, although its powerful when it matters. It just seems like its not very often that it matters. There are only a small handful of DoTs that you would need to relocate, as most of them don't matter unless they sit there for quite awhile (most of fireball's damage is on the first hit unless you have a protracted game). There are also a large percentage of decks that just do not hit you with any targeted ongoings - hunter, shaman, paladin, warrior (sure there are some like rend that don't see a ton of play, but come on...).

Here's the total list of cards it affects.


1 HOA-146 Rend
1 HOA-095 Deadly Poison
1 HOA-030 Primal Mending
1 HOA-094 Crippling Poison
1 HOA-120 Corruption
1 HOA-024 Mark of the Wild
1 HOA-039 Marked for Death
1 HOA-161 Guard Duty
1 HOA-081 Mind Control
1 HOA-047 Arcane Intellect
1 HOA-058 Polymorph
1 HOA-063 Blessing of Protection
1 HOA-020 Entangling Roots
1 HOA-062 Blessing of Might
1 HOA-162 Interest You in a Pint?
1 HOA-087 Shadow Word: Pain
1 HOA-083 Power Word: Fortitude
1 HOA-053 Fireball
1 HOA-121 Curse of Agony
1 HOA-064 Blessing of Wisdom
1 HOA-059 Pyroblast


Classes it affects:

Druid
Hunter(Hardly)
Mage(Majorly)
Paladin(Majorly)
Priest(Good amount)
Rogue(Hardly)
Warlock(Good amount;CoA is huge)
Warrior(Fair amount of Warrior decks run Rend)

Also, the reason that I'd play it in a main deck is because it can be used to attack! 2 for 1 isn't bad in the late game when you have no hand and 8 unused resources.

I think it's strictly a sideboard card; everyone plays weapon and armor destruction, which is typically wasted (at least against a mage deck).

Out of sideboard, it does prevent curses, kills Paladins (if you can't already), and screws up rogues (poison FTL). Most importantly, it stops warlock from cursing you out, which is usually what they'll board in to (if they aren't maindecking it).

This is an excellent card that owns mirror matches. Also gives the Herod's Paladin strong game against any DOT heavy classes. I mean come on "you can wear your curse of agony chump" The trick is to play it when you are going to use it


This card Rocks 2 main deck and 2 side deck!

Rise to the Challenge, sir, Rise to the Challenge.

That was actually my point exactly! It only helps vs. the above, its just too narrow - although being able to search it out would make it more maindeckable.

Running 2x with no tutors is asking to not have it when you need it, and draw it when you don't. That goes for any card.

Besides, if sean says it's a good idea, you know it's bad.

I personally believe Inventor's Focal Sword is a weak card even for sidedeck. It provides a cute little trick, however to me that cute little trick doesn't seem as strong as other cards in that slot could be.
1. Focal Sword handles pesky DoT's and etc.
To me, I would rather have either have Burn Away or Confessor Mildred if I was afraid of ongoing abilities. Not only does it handle the DoT's, they also handle the other powerful ongoing abilities such as Master of the Hunt and Shadowform, etc.
2. Late game Focal Sword can deal damage.
2 resources for 1 damage, though not cost effective, does get the job done. Wouldn't it, however, be better to run Rod of the Ogre Magi. Sure it costs 3 more resources to put it into play, but this is late game remember and what you get is a psuedo long-range damage source. And seeing how you are playing Mage or 'Lock conserving life points is crucial. Pally's don't care because they always have better weapons.
3. I could always drop Focal Sword as a resource.
True dat. but you could also drop a quest. Play a quest that replaces itself, such as Your Fortune Awaits, or a quest that could be literally back breaking late game, such as In Dreams, seems a little better.

Now when I say this is a weak card doesn't mean it isn't a bad card. I just believe it is percentage points weaker than other options available. And those percentage points make or break your game.

Yes, the trick is cute, but it can also be deadly.

Sure, you can Burn Away the DoTs, but why would you want to do that when you can just turn the DoTs against your opponent with IFS?

If your opponent has Shadowform in play and you move a SW:P onto himself, he will be taking 2 damage per turn. Not only is he dealing damage to himself, but he is forced to waste a Holy spell just to get rid of Shadowform.

In most cases, i'd much rather use an opponent's ability against himself rather than destroy it.

It all really depends on the player and their local metagame, though.

I see more and more Mage, Paladin, Shadow Priests and Warlocks popping up each and every week. If running them maindeck will increase my chances of taking game one then i'm all for it.

If you go through that list, you notice that 90% of them are playable, and oft-played. That's far more important than the sheer number of cards it affects.
It's also reusable, which makes it better than a simple Burn Away.

This thing is a game changer when dealing with Preist, Warlock, & Mage. That's for starters... The fact that it can fix some tights spots with Warrior DOT's just makes it better.

While it is narrowly focused on only moving ongoing abilities, that is quite better than a card that jsut removes them. Add to it that Focal Sword is REUSABLE. None of the other on-going ability removal is.

While I think it going to primarily be a sideboard card in the end, but to deride its usefulness and ability is absurd. This is a great card that is going to prove its usefulness agaisnt mirrors and the Horde Priest Control decks running around. That and Warlock DOT.

I never meant it was bad or that it doesn't have a place in the sideboard. The card is absolutely fine, but I was just pointing out that it seemed odd as a main deck card. Many people seemed to slip it into every caster main deck as though it was a staple main deck card.