Akama

Class: Rogue

Rarity: Legend

Type: Minion

Mana: 3

Stats: 3/4

Stealth, Deathrattle: Shuffle ‘Akama Prime’ into your deck.

Akama Prime

Class: Rogue

Rarity: Legend

Type: Minion

Mana: 6

Stats: 6/5

Permanently Stealthed.

Developer Comments

Akama leads the Ashtongue tribe of Broken. Appearing subservient to Illidan at first, Akama secretly conspired with Maiev to raise a rebellion against Illidan. And now, those sneaky tendencies deliver on being a solid Stealth minion for Rogues, returning later as Akama Prime, the Stealthiest minion Hearthstone has seen. Beware though, he may not be directly targetable, but AoEs will still hit him, and he'll still have to attack Taunt minions, so save some removal for those Taunt minions, to ensure he can continue surviving and attacking the enemy face!

As the year of the Phoenix is upon us, the new expansion, “Ashes of Outlands” has been revealed. In this expansion, Demonhunter was added as a new class, and many other changes are to come. One of the biggest changes is the addition of “Prime Legendary” cards.

The Prime Legendary cards come in two parts. The first time you summon the card, it's a decent card with a small effect. Upon dying, an upgraded version of the legendary - the Prime version - is shuffled into your deck. The exclusive card reveal for Inven this time is a Rogue class Prime Legendary card, Akama.

Akama appears in Warcraft III and World of Warcraft as the leader of Ashtongue tribe of Broken. In Warcraft, he is permanently stealthed, like Starcraft’s dark templar. This ability helped Akama retrieve the Black Temple from Magtheridon. The Prime Legendary Akama card brought this ability 100%.

The normal Legendary Akama card is a 3-mana 3/4 stat stealth minion which isn’t too special. However, if the Deathrattle is activated, “Akama Prime” is shuffled into your deck which costs 6 mana with 6/5 stats. The biggest strength Akama Prime has is that it’s permanently stealthed. This means that Akama Prime stays stealthed even after attacking, remaining untargetable.

Usually, a 6/5 stat for a 6-mana card is considered bad, but since Akama Prime is permanently stealthed, it can’t be targeted by single-target spells, so unless the opponent has AOE spells that deal more than 5 damage or something like the Priest’s new card, Shadow Word: Ruin.

More than anything, since it’s permanent stealth, it means that Akama Prime stays safe after buffing it with cards like Cold Blood. If Akama Prime is laid on the board, the opponent would have to use a valuable spell or place a Taunt card to prevent getting 6+ damage to the face every turn. Also, the normal Akama card is also stealthed, so it’s less likely for it to have the Deathrattle canceled due to silence.

By using Shadow of Death or Togwaggle’s Scheme, you can mix extra Akama or Akama Prime cards in the deck. Those cards can be brought back easily with Stowaway.

Of course, this card also has a weakness. As all Prime Legendary cards are, the Deathrattle has to be activated and shuffled into the deck. If you’re not able to pick Akama Prime in time, it would be difficult to utilize it properly. Also, you have to wait for a turn, so compared to cards like Leeroy Jenkins, who is going to the Hall of Fame, the tempo is rather slow. If you take away the fact that Akama is permanently stealthed, it’s only a minion with 6/5 stats that costs 6 mana; it’s also hard to use your mana efficiently.

However, you have to consider the recent meta for Rogues are Galakrond and highlander decks. If you transform to Galakrond and draw Akama Prime to summon him with 0 mana while pressuring your opponent with several spells and Lackeys, wouldn’t it be awesome? As much as Leeroy Jenkins is going away to the Hall of Fame, Akama may become a new finisher.